News - Archive

Celtic advanced to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup after edging St Mirren, while Falkirk prevailed against Hamilton Academical.

Neil Lennon's side exacted revenge upon St Mirren for their League Cup exit, as goals from Joe Ledley and Anthony Stokes helped Celtic into the last four of the Scottish Cup courtesy of a 2-1 win.

Portuguese striker Esmael Goncalves had got the Paisley side back on level terms following the Welshman's goal, but the hosts were held off during a tight second half.

Celtic took the lead inside five minutes as James Forrest raced down the right wing before crossing into the box for Ledley to head home from close range.

QPR manager Harry Redknapp has lashed reports of 'all-night benders' during his club's mid-season training camp in Dubai.

A report in the press on Saturday morning claimed numerous members of the team had told of huge bar bills in nightclubs as the squad drank every night and barely trained, with some players missing sessions altogether.

But, speaking at his post-match press conference after QPR's 2-1 win at Southampton on Saturday, Redknapp hit out at the claims, describing them as nonsense and an attempt to disrupt the club from a disgruntled agent.

"There was six or seven teams out (in Dubai) and we were the only one that trained every day," he told reporters.

Borussia Dortmund trimmed Bayern Munich's Bundesliga lead to 14 points thanks to a 3-1 home win over Hannover on Saturday.

A brace from Robert Lewandowski inside the opening 21 minutes had Juergen Klopp's side in the ascendancy at the Signal Iduna Park, but a Mohammed Abdellaoue goal five minutes before the interval breathed life into the contest.

Julian Schieber sealed the win for Dortmund in the 72nd minute, and the champions bridged the gap slightly on the leaders, who play relegation-threatened Hoffenheim on Sunday.

In other results, Schalke climbed to sixth thanks to a 4-1 thumping of Wolfsburg away from home.

Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick to drive Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Wigan and overtake Robin van Persie in the Golden Boot race.

Inspired by Suarez and Philippe Coutinho, who laid on two assists, the Reds raced into a three-goal lead by half-time after Stewart Downing opened the scoring and the Uruguayan magician struck twice.

And soon after the break, the away supporters were saluting Suarez again when he raced clear of the Wigan defence to complete his treble.

Reading had earlier lost to Everton while Aston Villa face a difficult match against Manchester City on Monday night but Wigan's leaky defence cost them a chance to boost their hopes of top flight survival.

West Ham ended a run of five straight Barclays Premier League away defeats as Jack Collison's strike secured them all three points at Stoke.

In a first half of few chances, Hammers defender James Collins' header clipped the bar before Collison netted in stoppage time, finishing on the turn after collecting a through-ball from his fellow substitute Ricardo Vaz Te.

It proved to be the winner, with Potters substitute Charlie Adam going close in added time at the end of the game by cracking a volley against the bar.

The hosts' protests that Guy Demel had handled in the area were then waved away by referee Jonathan Moss.

Luke Moore's first Premier League goal for a year gave Swansea their first home and away double over Newcastle since 1980. Moore, on as substitute, scored at close range to settle a feisty scrap in the Welsh team's favour.

Everton completed a routine win, only their second in the Premier League in two months, to keep the pressure on in the pursuit of Champions League places.

Goals from top scorer Marouane Fellaini, Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas improved a disappointing return for David Moyes's team in 2013 and kept them within six points of the top four. And they had to overcome considerable disruption to secure it.

Already without goalkeeper Tim Howard due to a back injury incurred in the midweek FA Cup victory over Oldham, they also lost captain Phil Jagielka within five minutes of the start following an over-zealous challenge from the Reading striker Adam le Fondre.