Daily Archives: January 10, 2016

Το κυρίαρχο πρόσωπο της αναμέτρησης ανάμεσα στη Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης και τη Ντεπορτίβο Λα Κορούνια για την 19ηηη αγωνιστική της Primera Division, βρισκόταν όλη τη διάρκεια στον πάγκο! Ο λόγος βέβαια για τον Ζινεντίν Ζιντάν, ο οποίος άρχισε με νίκη 5-0 την καριέρα του ως πρώτος προπονητής της Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης.

Το σκορ άνοιξε ο Μπενζεμά στο 15ο λεπτό και στο 22′ έδωσε τη «σκυτάλη» στον Μπέιλ. Ο Ουαλός όχι μόνο δεν έχασε τη θέση του στην 11άδα, αλλά ήταν ο πρωταγωνιστής του αγώνα. Στο 22’ έκανε το 2-0 και ακολούθησαν άλλα δύο τέρματα στο β’ ημίχρονο, προτού αντικατασταθεί. Ο Κριστιάνο Ρονάλντο δεν «βρήκε» το 15ο φετινό γκολ του στην Primera, αλλά ο Μπενζεμά σκόραρε το δικό του 14ο, ολοκληρώνοντας τον θρίαμβο της βασίλισσας στο «Μπερναμπέου».
Ο Λιονέλ Μέσι σημείωσε (8,14,58) το πρώτο χατ-τρικ του 2016 και 33ο στην καριέρα του, επιτρέποντας σητν Μπαρτσελόνα να πανηγυρίσει μία εύκολη νίκη (4-0) απέναντι στην Γρανάδα, ενώ το τελικό σκορ έγραψε ο Νεϊμάρ στο 83ο λεπτό.
Με αυτόν το τρόπο ο Αργεντινός σούπερ σταρ υποστήριξε με τον καλύτερο τρόπο τη «χρυσή μπάλα» που πρόκειται να παραλάβει την Δευτέρα στην Ζυρίχη στην τελετή της FIFA για τους κορυφαίους στον κόσμο.

Με τους Καταλανούς ξεκίνησαν και «άρεσαν» οι Τουράν και Βιδάλ, ενώ η «Μπάρτσα», η οποία προερχόταν από τρεις ισοπαλίες στα τελευταία τέσσερα ματς πρωταθλήματος, έφτασε τους 42 βαθμούς.

Σε άλλα ματς, η Σεβίλη υποχρέωσε σε ήττα την Αθλέτικ Μπιμπάο του Ερνέστο Βαλβέρδε, της οποίας επιβλήθηκε 2-0 στο «Ραμόν Σάντσεθ Πιθχουάν» και την ξεπέρασε στη βαθμολογία, αφού οι Βάσκοι έμειναν στους 28 βαθμούς ενώ η ομάδα της Ανδαλουσίας έφτασε στους 29 και ανέβηκε στην έκτη θέση.

Πολύτιμο τρίποντο που την απομάκρυνε από την επικίνδυνη ζώνη πήρε και η Χετάφε στο «Αλφόνσο Πέρεθ», νικώντας 1-0 την Μπέτις.

Τα έως τώρα αποτελέσματα και οι σκόρερ:

Σάββατο

Μπαρτσελόνα-Γρανάδα 4-0
(8΄, 14΄, 58΄ Μέσι, 83΄ Νεϊμάρ)

Σεβίλη-Αθλέτικ Μπιλμπάο 2-0
(24΄, 59΄ πεν. Γκαμεϊρό)

Χετάφε-Μπέτις 1-0
(57΄ Βάσκεθ)

Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης-Λα Κορούνια 4-0
(15′, 90+1′ Μπενζεμά, 22′, 49′, 63′ Μπέιλ)

Λεβάντε – Ράγιο Βαγεκάνο 23:05

Κυριακή
13:00 Βιγιαρεάλ – Σπόρτινγκ Χιχόν
17:00 Ρεάλ Σοθιεδάδ – Βαλένθια
19:15 Εϊμπάρ – Εσπανιόλ
19:15 Λας Πάλμας – Μάλαγα
21:30 Θέλτα – Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης

ΒΑΘΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ (σε 18 αγώνες)
Μπαρτσελόνα 42
Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης 41
Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης 40
Βιγιαρεάλ 36
Θέλτα 31
Σεβίλη 29 -19αγ.
Αθλέτικ Μπιλμπάο 28 -19αγ.
Λα Κορούνια 27
Εϊμπάρ 27
Βαλένθια 26 -19αγ.
Μάλαγα 23
Χετάφε 23 -19αγ.
Εσπανιόλ 21
Μπέτις 20 -19αγ.
Σοσιεδάδ 17
Λας Πάλμας 17
Γρανάδα 17 -19αγ.
Σπόρτινγκ Χιχόν 15 -17αγ.
Ράγιο Βαγεκάνο 15
Λεβάντε 11

Πηγή:in.gr

A late Harry Novillo winner has inserted Melbourne City into the A-League championship conversation and snapped Western Sydney’s lengthy unbeaten streak.

City emerged 3-2 winners from a pulsating match which swung in the breeze before settling in favour of John van ‘t Schip’s side.

First half strikes from Novillo and golden boot leader Bruno Fornaroli set City on their way.

Two gaffes either side of halftime allowed the Wanderers to regain parity.

Mitch Nichols rasped a volley through City keeper Thomas Sorensen’s fingers before Aaron Hughes scored an own goal from Romeo Castelen’s tricky cross.

But in a match played in full voice, it was Novillo’s shout that mattered most.

With just five minutes remaining, the winger rescued a lost ball and curled home past former City keeper Andrew Redmayne.

The match reinforced the gains made by John van ‘t Schip’s side this season.

In the same fixture in November, City were swatted aside in a 3-0 loss that left them outside the top six.

Since then, van ‘t Schip’s side have won five of seven matches to sit third and now must be thought of as genuine title contenders.

The Dutchman showed his tactical nous by continuing a new formation with three at the back and moved Novillo up front with Fornaroli.

By the half-hour mark, both had goals.

A handball from Nikolai Topor-Stanley on the edge of the box brought both Aaron Mooy and Novillo around the set piece.

The Frenchman took four steps and planted it beyond Redmayne, who endured catcalls all night after struggling with his distribution.

On 24 minutes, City made it two after Sorensen and Mooy fed Fornaroli in a lightning-quick transition.

The Uruguayan had plenty to do but bought enough space between Scott Pepper and Andreu to curl past Redmayne for his 12th goal of the season.

Against the tide, Western Sydney had a reply five minutes later.

Mark Bridge’s opportunistic lob gave Nichols a one-on-one chance, which the in-form playmaker struck with full venom.

The ball dipped enough to slip past Sorensen and into the net, a rare mistake from the veteran Dane since his Australian move.

Tony Popovic hauled off marquee striker Federico Piovaccari after less than an hour, and within a minute his replacement left his mark.

Castelen fizzed a cross from the right that Hughes couldn’t leave alone and toed unfortunately into his own net.

The Wanderers were in the ascendancy, with Sorensen keeping City on terms with a fabulous double save from Castelen and Bridge.

Both sides swapped golden chances before Novillo emerged to win it and ending Western Sydney’s 10-game run without loss.

Van ‘t Schip said while the Wanderers had them under pressure for long periods, he felt a good energy around AAMI Park.

“We’re showing progress,” he said. “We’re getting stronger as a team.”

Popovic rued a Bridge goal that was disallowed with the score at 2-2.

“We’ve had no explanation, I don’t think we need one,” he said.

“He blew the whistle to play, we played and we scored. That’s it.”

source:9news.com.au

Apparently anything can happen in the FA Cup. With due respect to Sheffield United, who played extremely well and deserved a replay, nothing happened here until Memphis Depay won a penalty in stoppage time to allow Wayne Rooney to spare the home side’s blushes. To say the result was an injustice would be to risk the understatement of 2016. Rooney put away the penalty confidently enough after Dean Hammond had fouled Depay, but before the ball was placed on the spot the Premier League side seemed to be having difficulty working out where the goal was.

Even by Manchester United’s recent standards this was almost comically dull. The 10th successive Old Trafford first half without a goal was followed by another 45 minutes of the same. Being held scoreless by Chelsea or West Ham is one thing but when a League One side can manage it questions need to be asked. The late face-saver cannot hide the fact that Manchester United’s first shot on target took 70 minutes to arrive.

Once again Manchester United played far too much sideways football, favouring possession when penetration was called for and consequently barely managing any attempts on goal worthy of the name. When Depay came on as a second-half substitute and was impudent enough to go for a goal almost immediately he was cheered as if he had just supplied the winner at Wembley. Against a lower-division side Depay should probably have been on from the start just for his pace and directness, yet Louis van Gaal preferred a cautious approach and slow build-ups that failed to gain any momentum, and he somehow kept a pedestrian Bastian Schweinsteiger on for the whole 90 minutes.

Sheffield United’s brief was clear and well-executed: to stay compact behind the ball and make their opponents work hard for an opening. Manchester United seem to have been working to create an opening for weeks now and Van Gaal admitted beforehand that he hoped the stylish goals against Swansea last week might signal the end of what he called a “terrible” spell at the end of last year.

No such luck. Anthony Martial was back to being peripheral on the left, Rooney struggled to find space in the middle and Juan Mata was involved without being effective. Old Trafford regulars have become accustomed to first-half performances without any goals but this one was almost devoid of chances or excitement. To Sheffield United’s credit it did not look as if one side was two whole divisions lower than the other, though equally the ease with which the visitors kept their hosts at bay reflected poorly on the quality of Manchester United.

The only goalmouth incidents of any note before the interval amounted to a couple of through-balls for Rooney to chase – he latched on to one but took it too wide, George Long came out to smother the other – and a decent opportunity for Schweinsteiger from Daley Blind’s diagonal ball. The German fell over, claiming a foul in the area, a decision which was not forthcoming, though he should really have stayed on his feet and done better with a pass that picked him out perfectly in a good position in front of goal.

David de Gea had relatively little to do at the other end. He reacted well to save from Conor Sammon, only finding out afterwards that the referee intended to penalise the striker for handball in the build-up. The home side’s attacking efforts in the first half were best summed up by what happened in stoppage time. Mata successfully conned the Sheffield United defence into expecting a cross from a free-kick from a wide position, then rolled the ball backwards for Blind to shoot from the edge of the area. It was a neat training-ground move only spoiled by a shot that almost reached the visiting supporters in the top tier of the East Stand.

There was ironic applause from the away end when Mata managed a cross from the right early in the second half. It was comfortable for Long to deal with but it was as if Manchester United had forgotten how to get men wide or make forward runs. Van Gaal tweaked his tactics for the second half to the extent of deploying Marouane Fellaini higher up the field. There should have been ironic cheers at that, really. Sheffield United coped, so Van Gaal’s next wheeze was to send on Jesse Lingard and Depay for the last half hour.

Depay actually managed a shot a few minutes after coming on, quite a slick effort that flew only a foot or so outside Long’s right-hand upright. This time there was ironic applause from the Manchester United supporters. The mini-standing ovation in the main stand was going on behind Van Gaal’s back but he will get the idea eventually that a point is being made.

In the end “Fergie time” came to the rescue. Easily Manchester United’s most threatening attacker, Depay managed to make the difference during a whopping six minutes of stoppage time, carrying the ball into the box and drawing a wild challenge from Hammond. Tough on Sheffield United, but only the League One club’s accountant could have been looking forward to another 90 minutes of this. The cheers for the winning goal were not ironic, or wild, just sheepish.

source:theguardian.com