2013 » February » 10 - Archive

Freiburg have climbed to fifth place in the Bundesliga thanks to a 1-0 home win over Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday.

Things looked headed for a stalemate at the Mage Solar Stadion until Czech defender Pavel Krmas intervened in the 87th minute to put Freiburg ahead.

That goal was enough to secure all three points for the home side, and the win saw them vault from 10th to fifth in the Bundesliga standings.

Their cause was aided when Mainz were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Augsburg.

Adam Szalai put Mainz ahead two minutes before half-time when he picked up Junior Diaz's cross to slam the ball home from inside the box, but Sascha Moelders was on hand to thunder a header past Mainz goalkeeper Christian Wetklo in the 57th minute.

Feyenoord climbed to third place in the Dutch Eredivisie on Sunday, as both Ajax and Twente dropped points.

Feyenoord pulled level with second-placed Ajax on 44 points - both clubs are three points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven - thanks to their 3-1 home win over AZ Alkmaar.

Jean-Paul Boetius put the home side ahead after 25 minutes at De Kuip Stadion, but AZ were back on level terms just past the hour mark through Roy Beerens.

AZ suffered a hammer blow on 67 minutes when Nick Viergever was sent off, and Feyenoord midfielder Jordy Clasie restored his team's lead just five minutes later, with Tonny Vilhena sealing the win in the third minute of stoppage time.

Manchester United defeated Everton 2-0 on Sunday to move 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League table with 12 games to play.

United manager Alex Ferguson, perhaps with a tricky Champions League trip to Real Madrid looming on Wednesday, made three changes, Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones and Ryan Giggs all coming into the team.

Everton, meanwhile, brought former United man Phil Neville back but also required a late defensive change after Sylvain Distin dropped out in the warm-up, Johnny Heitinga his replacement

The hosts began the game strongly and might have taken the lead as early as the 10th minute. 

Sergio Ramos says Real Madrid cannot afford to make a single mistake against Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Spanish champions are in search of their 10th European title, with a round-of-16 first leg clash at home to United their next obstacle.

Although Ramos has denied that his side are obsessed with the competition, he is determined to make it to the final.

"I wouldn't call it an obsession," the Spain defender told The Observer.

"It's been a long time now and everyone says: 'This year la Decima, la Decima, la Decima'.

Paris Saint-Germain's Leonardo claims Roma want Marco Verratti on loan, but says the club have no intention of selling the player.

Verratti, 20, joined Paris Saint-Germain in the off-season from second-tier Pescara and has been likened to compatriot Andrea Pirlo after some impressive performances for PSG so far this term.

Leonardo has confirmed there has been interest in the player's services from his native Italy, but rubbished suggestions he could leave the club.

He told Sky Sport Italia: "I know that in Italy there has been a great deal of talk about this because he is a very strong midfielder who has never played in Serie A.

"It's only natural he wants to, but there is a zero percent chance of him leaving.

Former Tottenham captain Gary Mabbutt has revealed that Paul Gascoigne is in intensive care at a hospital in Arizona.

Concerns were raised over the 45-year-old's health when he recently broke down on stage at a charity event, revealing he had lapsed in his battle with alcoholism.

Gascoigne was moved to the intensive care unit following an adverse reaction during his detox programme at the Cottonwood rehabilitation centre last week, though Mabbutt has insisted his ex team-mate's condition is not life-threatening. 

Sergio Aguero says Manchester City's hopes of defending their title look "a bit grim" after a 3-1 defeat away to Southampton on Saturday.

A series of defensive mistakes cost Roberto Mancini's side dearly at St Mary's Stadium and if Manchester United beat Everton at Old Trafford on Sunday they will go 12 points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table.

However, while Aguero could not disguise the disappointment of watching the title slide from City's grasp with each passing week, he has insisted they will keep fighting for the rest of the campaign.

"Some days, nothing works the way it should," he wrote on Twitter.

"(Saturday) was one of those days. There's no excuse - we need to work hard to forge ahead.

Live - 23:45

Having a difficult Champions League encounter on midweek, Juventus were keen on finishing things early as they pour forward viciously straight from kick off. After series of pressure, the Turin outfit broke the dead lock just under 20 minutes mark with a long range effort from Mirko Vucinic. 

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says the pressure is on Real Madrid counterpart Jose Mourinho to win the Champions League.

The Spanish giants are 13 points behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race and the Real Madrid coach has already written off their chances of catching their rivals.

And, while United are still realistically challenging on three fronts this season, Ferguson expects the former Chelsea manager to focus his attention on Europe's elite club competition.

Ahead of United's Champions League last-16 first leg in Madrid on Wednesday, the Scot told reporters: "Their target is the European Cup this year.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney feels Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is the closest thing to Paul Gascoigne.

The 21-year-old caught the eye with a fine performance for England as they beat Brazil in midweek and the United forward sees similarities with the former Tottenham player, who is struggling with alcohol addiction.

"The way (Gascoigne) ran with the ball ... probably the closest thing I've seen to him is Jack, where he gets the ball and runs at players a lot quicker and a lot stronger than people realise," Rooney told reporters.

"It's great to see such a young player come in, against a team like Brazil, and put in a performance like that."

The Melbourne Tigers have further enhanced their chances of reaching the NBL finals with an impressive 84-71 win over the Adelaide 36ers.

Trailing by 11 at half-time (48-37), the Tigers used a 26-11 third term to take control of the match and powered away from their opponents in the final stanza for their 11th win of the season.

It means the Tigers (11-10) improve to third place on the NBL ladder, with the Sydney Kings (10-12) holding on to the final post-season position in fourth and the Wollongong Hawks (9-12) battling to stay in contention in fifth.

Five players scored double figures for the Tigers in Adelaide on Sunday, with veteran Adam Ballinger the best of them with 18 points.

Rafael Nadal has reached the final of the VTR Open in Chile, dismissing Jeremy Chardy in straight sets in their semi-final on Saturday.

In his return tournament from a seven-month layoff, Nadal has shown no signs of letting up - and the Spanish world number five dismissed the fourth-seeded Frenchman 6-2 6-2 in just over an hour.

Nadal served at a rock-solid 80 percent, and won 32 of 39 points behind his first ball in a domineering performance from the seven-time French Open winner.

The Frenchman also served well (79 percent), but only won 18 of 33 when he landed it on the first time of asking.

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri was disappointed with his side's first half in their 1-1 draw against Lazio in the Serie A on Saturday.

Hugo Campagnaro rescued a point for second-placed Napoli, equalising in the 87th minute after Sergio Floccari's early opener at the Stadio Olimpico.

While he was pleased with his side's performance after the interval, Mazzarri said the attitude of his players in the first half was poor.

"We gave the ball away a lot tonight and we lost a lot of the 50-50 battles for the ball," Mazzarri said. 

"We didn't enter the pitch with the right attitude, which to our credit has not happened often this season. 

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says goalkeeper Joe Hart has not been good enough this season.

The England international has made several high-profile errors for the English Premier League champions this campaign.

Hart's latest mistake was in the lead up to Southampton's second goal in their shock 3-1 win over City on Saturday.

Hart also failed to clear in the build-up to Jason Puncheon's opener at St Mary's, a defeat that Mancini admitted has all but ended their title hopes, and the Italian has pointed the finger at his goalkeeper.

"It was a really bad mistake from Joe," Mancini told reporters.

Bayern Munich centre-back Dante says Santos star Neymar asked about the club during their time together on international duty for Brazil.

Dante said the 21-year-old forward asked about life at Bayern, confirming his interest in plying his trade in the Bundesliga.

"I told Neymar there is nothing better than Bayern Munich," Dante told Sky Sport. 

"I said it would be a great club for him."

Neymar, who pledged his future to his boyhood club in the short term, is also wanted by Barcelona and Real Madrid, but blew the race for his signature wide open after admitting interest in a move to Bayern.

Live - 20:00

PSV Eindhoven failed to significantly extend their lead at the top of the Eredivisie after a 2-2 draw at Vitesse on Saturday.

A Dries Mertens spot-kick gave PSV the lead after 19 minutes before Wilfried Bony's penalty in the 77th minute levelled the scores.

But the deadlock was short-lived as Georginio Wijnaldum regained the lead for PSV a minute later before Bony again tied the game two minutes from time.

The loss of points for PSV means a win for second-placed Ajax against Roda on Sunday will reduce the gap at the top of the standings to only one point.

ADO Den Haag remained in the top-half with a 2-1 home triumph over NAC Breda.

Swansea coach Michael Laudrup praised Spanish attacker Michu as his brace powered the Welsh club to a 4-1 home win over QPR on Saturday.

After a prolific start to his Premier League career, Michu had gone the past six games without a goal but Laudrup feels the Spaniard provides more to the team that just goals.

"Maybe (the goalless run) was a bigger problem for him than us," Laudrup told Sky Sports.

"For me, who scores is not important, but he had been scoring a lot and then had a run without them, but that happens to everybody.

"He is not even a centre-forward, he is an offensive midfielder who can play there and score goals.

Reading manager Brian McDermott was disappointed a late penalty wasn't awarded to his team as they lost 2-1 at Stoke City on Saturday.

Goals to Robert Huth and Cameron Jerome established a two-goal buffer for Stoke before Adrian Mariappa reduced the deficit with seven minutes to go.

As the Royals were desperately seeking an equaliser in stoppage time, striker Adam Le Fondre went down in the box under pressure from Ryan Shotton but claims for a penalty were dismissed by referee Michael Oliver.

"Once we got to 2-1, I thought we would get it (a draw), and unfortunately the ref has missed a penalty at the end, the last kick of the game," McDermott said.

Fulham coach Martin Jol believes his side should have got the win against Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Defences reigned supreme as a goalless draw was fought out and while Jol was content with getting a point, he felt his side did not create enough in the final third.

"If you can't win, it's always good to get a clean sheet and a point," Jol told Sky Sports.

"Last year we were 1-0 up and then in the third minute of stoppage time they scored, so that was a draw as well.

"In the first half I thought we were the better team, controlled the game. Then you should score one or two goals, but we didn't.

"The point is okay, but I thought we should have had three points. I felt we were the better team but lacked a bit of momentum up front. If you are the better team you should exploit that and create more chances."

Three defensive howlers from Manchester City helped Southampton romp to a 3-1 win at a rocking St Mary's Stadium.

Jason Puncheon and Steven Davis took advantage of errors from Gareth Barry and Joe Hart to put the Saints 2-0 up after 23 minutes.

Edin Dzeko gave City hope shortly before half-time but Barry gave fresh meaning to the term 'comedy own goal' with a lethal side-foot into his own net two minutes into the second half.

What larks for Southampton, who sit six points clear of the relegation zone. What a shambles from the champions, whose title defence has almost completely disintegrated.