Category Archives: SPORTS

Red Devils within five points of Arsenal after 3-0 victory against Stoke City.

Manchester United ended their first-half scoring drought at Old Trafford as they found the net twice before the interval in a comfortable 3-0 victory over Stoke City.

Jesse Lingard scored their first goal at home before half-time since the end of September and Anthony Martial doubled the lead before Wayne Rooney got his 99th Barclays Premier League goal at Old Trafford early in the second half.

The victory took United to within five points of fourth-placed Arsenal, who lost further ground in the title race in a 0-0 draw with Southampton.

Visiting goalkeeper Fraser Forster was the Saints’ hero as he made a string of fine saves to ensure Arsene Wenger’s side failed to score at home in the league for the fourth time this season.

It also stretched the Gunners’ winless run in the BPL to four matches. Mesut Ozil had three clear chances to break the deadlock in the first half but was unable to find a way past the England international, who was on hand again after the break to deny Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez.

Southampton could have inflicted even more misery on the Gunners had Sadio Mane and Dusan Tadic done better with chances of their own.

The draw – combined with Tottenham Hotspur’s win over Norwich City – leaves Arsenal in fourth, five points adrift of leaders Leicester City, while Saints climb to seventh.

West Ham United ended a three-match winless run by seeing off 10-man Aston Villa 2-0 at the Boleyn Ground.

Michail Antonio got his third goal for the club shortly after half-time, as Villa were forced to play most of the match without Jordan Ayew, who was sent off for violent conduct inside 15 minutes.

Remi Garde’s team had one shot on target across the 90 minutes and could well have been on the wrong end of a heavier defeat but for a handful of saves from Mark Bunn.

West Ham had to make do with Cheikhou Kouyate’s 85th-minute effort at the end of a counter-attack to register a first victory in four matches in all competitions and maintain their push for European qualification.

Benik Afobe got his third goal in as many Barclays Premier League matches to earn AFC Bournemouth a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

AFC Bournemouth’s January signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers had a second-half header that aided his side’s fight against relegation and condemned Palace to a fifth straight Premier League defeat.

Palace had led in the first half when Scott Dann converted Wilfried Zaha’s cross but the Cherries equalised seven minutes later through Marc Pugh.

Emmanuel Adebayor’s hopes of a fourth debut goal in the BPL was not to be as he screwed a shot into the side-netting late on for Palace.

The defeat leaves Palace stuck on 31 points and in the middle of their worst run under Alan Pardew, while AFC Bournemouth’s hopes of staying in the division are being strengthened by their continued success away from home.

Salomon Rondon rescued a late point for West Bromwich Albion to earn a 1-1 draw with Swansea City at The Hawthorns.

The Venezuela forward scored his first Barclays Premier League goal since the end of October two minutes into stoppage-time after Swansea had cleared several efforts off the line during a frantic goalmouth scramble.

Rondon’s prodded goal cancelled out Gylfi Sigurdsson’s 64th-minute effort, leaving Swansea to rue what could have been as they chased a third win in a row and second since Francesco Guidolin took charge.

source:premierleague.com

Jamie Vardy produced a moment of magic as his second half brace gave Leicester City a 2-0 win over Liverpool to maintain their three-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

The division’s top scorer, who now has 18 goals for the season, opened the scoring with a stunning half-volley on the hour mark and hit his second 11 minutes later to leave the Foxes three points ahead of Manchester City, who they visit on Saturday.
Vardy now has 18 league goals this season as Leicester’s shock bid for the title continues, with a crunch clash against second-placed City at the Etihad Stadium next up on Saturday.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had already kept the visitors in the match by making two excellent saves in the first half but Jurgen Klopp’s team have now only won one of their last five league matches – conceding 12 goals in the process.

Leicester made no alterations to their team, while there were eight Liverpool alterations from the side that played West Ham United in the FA Cup on Saturday, with captain Jordan Henderson fit to start.

The visitors had most of the first half possession, but Leicester came closest to scoring on two occasions. First, a swift counter-attack saw Shinji Okazaki find Vardy before getting on the end of the England striker’s cross to head powerfully at goal from close range, but Mignolet got down low to push the ball on to the bar.

Mignolet was then at it again, this time to deny Riyad Mahrez’s first-time effort from 25 yards after Vardy was tackled by Dejan Lovren.

Emre Can arrowed a shot just wide from 12 yards after a neat passing move and Kasper Schmeichel had to react quickly at his near post to keep out Alberto Moreno after the break.

It was a piece of individual brilliance that broke the deadlock when a hopeful long pass from Mahrez found Vardy’s run in a seemingly unthreatening position close towards the right channel outside the area.

Vardy, though, displayed perfect technique to send an outstanding looping half-volley over Mignolet from 25 yards.

Okazaki had a penalty claim denied by referee Andre Marriner after he appeared to be brought down by Mamadou Sakho in the box, but the hosts soon got over that when Vardy doubled the lead.

After Sakho failed to head clear, Okazaki’s shot deflected into the path of Vardy, who made no mistake with a convincing left-footed finish to seal another impressive victory for Claudio Ranieri’s title challengers.

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri: “Amazing. The first goal was unbelievable. We played very well and pressed a lot against a very good team.

“Jamie is very fast and can create a lot but it was unbelievable how Mahrez found him and how he had the time to see the keeper out of the goal and scored a fantastic goal.

“The team is in good condition. Now it is important to recover the energy because we have to run a lot against Manchester City. We are free of pressure. The players have a good feeling.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “I’m not too fine with our game today. We could have played much better.

“We had a few shots where we could pass and a few passes where we could shoot.

“We created half chances but not real chances. It was a world-class goal from Jamie Vardy. Today would have been a good day to show we are ready for this. I need a few more seconds to calm down. I have to watch it again.”

source:premierleague.com

Manchester United had been expecting to see their rivals Manchester City win the race to get Pep Guardiola as their new manager, but the confirmation intensifies the debate over which man should be tasked with taking him on. We take a look at the Old Trafford options now…

It wasn’t so long ago that City were seen as the noisy neighbours with their statement signings. They were the ones being slapped down by Sir Alex Ferguson as he stepped in to ensure that Dimitar Berbatov made his way to United instead. Winning those power plays wasn’t so easy for City.

In 2016, that landscape has changed. The acquisition of Pep Guardiola, smoothly done with the acquiescence of Manuel Pellegrini, means City are now making their high-profile upgrades from a position of strength and it’s United left scrambling to keep up.

source:skysports.com

Barcelona, Spain: Barcelona took control of the La Liga title race as goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez inspired a come from behind 2-1 win against nine-man Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

Koke handed the visitors a deserved early lead, but Barca turned the game thanks to two goals in eight minutes before the break through Messi and Suarez.

Victory takes Barca three points clear of Atletico at the top of the table – having also played a game less – and seven points clear of third-placed Real Madrid, who host Espanyol on Sunday.

“It is clear it is an important day for us to pick up three points against our closest rivals, but there is a long way to go,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique.

“Every game presents its difficulties and you don’t always overcome them in the most effective or spectacular way.”

Meanwhile, Atletico coach Diego Simeone refused to chastise Luis and Godin for leaving his side short-handed against the European champions.

“I have nothing to reproach them for,” said the Argentine.

“Even with nine men we maintained our way of playing. In a game you can win or lose, but I always prefer to lose in this way.”

The clash between La Liga’s top two pitted Europe’s most feared attack against its strongest defence, but it was Atletico who started on the front foot.

Saul Niguez’s dipping effort was brilliantly turned over by Claudio Bravo after just two minutes.

However, another Niguez burst provided the opening goal eight minutes later when his cross from the right just evaded Antoine Griezmann and was slotted home at the far post by Koke.

Atletico could even have had a more commanding lead as Augusto Fernandez flashed a shot inches wide with Barca struggling to get a foothold in the game.

The European champions had been outplayed by Malaga and Athletic Bilbao in the first-half of their previous two games before reacting after the break, but they clicked into gear in the final 15 minutes of the first-half to turn the game on its head.

Suarez fired a warning shot that Jan Oblak got down well to save at his near post.

However, the Slovenian’s 483-minute run without conceding was ended when Jordi Alba showed great composure to pull a low cross into Messi’s path to smash home.

Atletico were then caught uncharacteristically flat-footed as Dani Alves’s long ball over the top picked out Suarez, who showed great strength to hold off compatriot Jose Maria Gimenez, before slotting between Oblak’s legs.

The game looked over as a contest a minute before the break when Luis was sent-off for high, studs-up, challenge on Messi inside the Barcelona half.

Yet, despite their numerical disadvantage, Atletico still started the second period the better.

Yannick Carrasco’s lung-bursting run was snuffed out at the last hurdle by Gerard Pique.

The Belgian then produced a fine cross for Griezmann, but his acrobatic effort from point-blank range was brilliantly saved by Bravo.

Atletico’s resistance was undone by their own stupidity again 25 minutes from time, though, as Godin lunged in on Suarez and was rightly shown a second yellow card.

Barca then rubbed salt into the visitors’ wounds by introducing former Atleticomidfielder Arda Turan for Ivan Rakitic and the Turkish international was inches away from his first goal since swapping the Spanish capital for the Camp Nou when his shot flew just wide of the far post.

And a horrible day for Diego Simeone’s men was rounded off when Fernandez had to be stretchered from the field with what looked like a serious knee injury 15 minutes from time.

source:firstpost.com

A relieved Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat said there was only one team that played for a win after the Big V took the points in Tuesday night’s tense Big Blue against Sydney FC at Etihad stadium.

The visitors’ impressive defensive shape blunted the Big V’s attacking intent till the final 10 minutes when the home side got their reward to win it 1-0.

Substitute Jesse Makarounas’ low ball into the box was guided into the Sky Blues’ net by the otherwise excellent Matt Jurman to send the 30,000 plus home crowd into ecstasy.

“Let’s be honest, it was one team trying to win and one team trying not to lose. Let’s be honest,” Muscat told Fox Sports after the game.

“We were patient. I thought we beat their first press a number of times,” Muscat added.

“But it’s hard to play when you’ve got eight bodies behind the ball defending on the edge of the box.

“It’s hard to break that down. And we had enough chances and you’re not going to get 12 chances in these games because the way Sydney set up.”

For a second week in a row, the Sky Blues opted to go for the result rather than entertain to frustrate their opponents.

Muscat added that the way Sydney set up wasn’t a bad way to play.

“It’s a way of playing,” he clarified.

“But there’s a reason why there’s so many people here tonight because we want to be on the front foot, playing attacking football and I’d rather die on my feet then live on my knees.”

Victory is now up to fourth on the ladder with 27 points. They next head to Perth to face Glory this Saturday.

source:a-league.com.au

Ronald Vargas was the hero as AEK beat PAOK with his goal in the weekend’s most important Super League game on Sunday, keeping second-placed AEK four points ahead of third Panathinaikos, that scored a win at Livadia.

With leader Olympiakos winning once again without impressing and with nine goals in seven games this weekend, the Super League will need to try much harder to grab the attention of fans other than the diehard ones.

Vargas scored late in the first half to give AEK a 1-0 win over PAOK at the Olympic Stadium of Athens in a game which the Thessaloniki club ended with 10 men as Dimitar Berbatov, a halftime substitute, received a straight red.

Berbatov, who elbowed an opponent, was one of the four major stars to arrive in Greece last summer. All of them have been past their prime and neither Berbatov, nor Olympiakos’s Esteban Cambiasso nor AEK’s Diego Buonanotte are regular starters in their teams. Yet the fourth one, Michael Essien, o whhad a poor start to the season due to repeated injuries, has now become a mainstay in the Panathinaikos lineup and on Sunday he scored his first goal in Greece.

The Greens defeated Levadiakos 2-0 away on Sunday through goals by Marcus Berg and Essien in the second half and have overtaken PAOK that is now fourth.

Runaway leader Olympiakos returned to winning ways after its draw at Platanias, but had quite a hard time beating visiting Xanthi 1-0 on Saturday through a late Alan Pulido goal.

In the battle for fifth Panionios shared a goalless draw with Asteras Tripolis as the two teams are level on points, five behind PAOK.

Kalloni Lesvou scored only its second win this season, beating fellow struggler Panthrakikos 2-0 at home, PAS Giannina put Atromitos into further trouble with a 2-0 win at Peristeri, and Panetolikos downed managerless Veria 1-0 away.

On Monday Iraklis greets Platanias.

source:ekathimerini.com

Central Coast Mariners 1 – 2 Western Sydney Wanderers

At 37 years old, after 18 months out of the sport, Luis Garcia should have been too old to be doing things like this.

Embarrassment, if not injury, was being risked against a reputation that needs no embellishment. But within ten minutes of his career re-commencing, he’d turned this game on its head, and the only embarrassment was reserved for those who doubted him – or tried to lay a tackle.

Garcia entered the fray right on the hour mark, replacing Francesco Stella, giving him 30 minutes to weave the magic that wowed fans at clubs such as Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool. He clearly hasn’t lost it.

“From the first second I got onto the pitch, I enjoyed it. The crowd was fantastic today and hopefully for the rest of the season we can give the supporters a lot of joy,” he said. “The Wanderers had a fantastic first half but in the second half [we improved]. If we play like this for the rest of the season, I’m sure the results will be there.

“The guys gave everything on the pitch and we will learn from our mistakes – one in the first half and another in the second half. They are young and they will have to learn fast.”

Mariners coach Tony Walmsley was thrilled with the impact of his new marquee.

“He showed his quality and the weight on the pass that set up the goal was top draw,” he said. “He’s not going be a 90 minute player but if he can have that kind of impact he had for the rest of the season, he’ll be an asset.”

Garcia’s first pass forward set up an attacking move that nearly ended in a goal. From a corner soon after, he hooked a shot just over the goal. If nothing else, he appeared to give the Mariners real belief that could unpick the Wanderers despite being dominated until that moment.

That belief began to rise like a crescendo. Garcia received the ball deep but had the presence of mind to fire a piercing forward ball that sent Mitch Austin away down the left.

Josh Bingham couldn’t convert the cut-back but the ball spilled to Fabio Ferriera, who sent most of the 13,105 on hand into a frenzy.

Yet Nick Montgomery’s rash challenge on Wanderers’ forward Gol Gol Mebrahtu snubbed out any chance of victory. Ben Williams couldn’t reach for his red card quickly enough. It would prove a costly mistake.

With injury time approaching, the Mariners were caught dallying in defence and Wanderers substitute Kearyn Baccus was able to get his foot to a cross that goalkeeper Paul Izzo could only parry.

On hand to tap into the empty net was another substitute, Brendan Santalab, who delighted in running to celebrate with travelling members of the Red and Black Bloc.

The Wanderers would return home to Sydney not just with the three points but with top spot secured after Brisbane’s 4-1 defeat against Adelaide the night before.

They had the perfect start to the night, scoring after just 11 minutes.

Mark Bridge sensed the moment and seized possession as the Mariners’ defence was caught flat-footed. He just had to beat Izzo, which he did, slotting the ball through the keepers’ legs.

Eight minutes later, Dario Vidosic nearly made it 2-0 when he rose to meet an incoming cross, only to see his curling header crash into the upright.

Roux was having a torrid time down the right as Vidosic and the hard-running Jamieson provided ample penetration down the Wanderers’ left.

Over on their right, Romeo Castelen was typically excellent, providing pace and width and exploiting whatever space was offered to him.

Watching on from the sidelines, Garcia must have been feeling a long way from Barcelona. His side found it seemingly impossible to keep the ball, instead waiting for rare opportunities to break forward.

Occasionally, the Mariners did get into attack, but every time they did it seemed either Alberto or the superb Jonthan Aspropotamitis was there to clean up the mess.

The 19-year old has been denied opportunities this season as coach Tony Popovic stays true to Nikolai Topor-Stanley but his suspension opened the door for Aspropotamitis. It’s almost impossible to see how he could be dropped.

The Wanderers could and should have been further ahead by the half-time interval but Popovic couldn’t have been unhappy about how many chances his side was creating.

They left it late, but, as they so often do, Popovic’s men found a way to emerge on top.
source:smh.com.au

Η «βασίλισσα» λάμπει πάντα στο θρόνο της. Η Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης παρέμεινε ο πλουσιότερος ποδοσφαιρικός σύλλογος στον πλανήτη, για 11 συνεχή χρονιά, και ακολουθούν, όπως και την περασμένη χρονιά, η Μπαρτσελόνα και η Μάντσεστερ Γιουνάιτεντ, σύμφωνα με το στοιχεία, που έδωσε στη δημοσιότητα η συμβουλευτική οικονομική εταιρία «Deloitte».

Η συγκεκριμένη βρετανική εταιρία μελετά κάθε χρόνο τα συνολικά έσοδα από τα τηλεοπτικά δικαιώματα, τις πωλήσεις εισιτηρίων και τις χορηγίες και ανακοινώνει τα οικονομικά στοιχεία των ομάδων. Για μια ακόμη χρονιά, λοιπόν, η πρώτη 20άδα απαρτίζεται αποκλειστικά από ευρωπαϊκούς συλλόγους.

Αναλυτικά οι 20 πλουσιότεροι σύλλογοι του κόσμου, είναι οι εξής:

1. Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης 577 εκατομμύρια ευρώ

2. Μπαρτσελόνα 560.8

3. Μάντσεστερ Γιουνάιτεντ 519.5

4. Παρί Σεν Ζερμέν 480.8

5. Μπάγερν Μονάχου 474

6. Μάντσεστερ Σίτι 463.5

7. Αρσεναλ 435.5

8. Τσέλσι 420

9. Λίβερπουλ 391.8

10. Γιουβέντους 323.9

11. Ντόρτμουντ 280.6

12. Τότεναμ 257.5

13. Σάλκε 219.7

14. Μίλαν 199.1

15. Ατλέτικο Μαδρίτης 187.1

16. Ρόμα 180.4

17. Νιούκαστλ 169.3

18. Εβερτον 165.1

19. Ιντερ 164.8

20. Γουέστ Χαμ 160.9

Πηγή:in.gr

Panathinaikos accused Greece’s deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis of strengthening “a corrupt system” on Tuesday after the government ordered the partial closure of the club’s stadium as a further punishment for crowd violence.

Kontonis’ ministry announced that Panathinaikos’ famous Gate 13 area of their Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium – occupied by around 5,000 of the club’s most fervent supporters – as well as nearby Gate 14, would be closed for the remainder of the regular season. The club was also fined 90,000 euros.

The decision was part of a state report on the crowd trouble which caused the Athens derby against Olympiakos Piraeus to be called off last November.

The Super League match was called off before kickoff due to crowd trouble inside and outside the stadium which resulted in three police officers being taken to hospital.

Panathinaikos had already been deducted three points, forfeited the match with a 0-3 scoreline, received a four-match supporter ban and been fined 190,000 euros by league authorities.

“The new punishment imposed by the deputy sports minister is unprecedented worldwide and is in fact predatory,” the club said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, Panathinaikos believed in last year’s statements from Mr Kontonis about restoring the credibility of the long-suffering football scene, but as it turns out, he is anything but interested in that, instead reinforcing the operations of the corrupt system.”

Panathinaikos added in the statement that the club would launch an appeal to “each and every competent body of the justice system in order to overturn this highly illegal decision”.

Panathinaikos is currently fourth in the Greek championship, 20 points adrift of leader and fierce rival Olympiakos after 18 matches.

source:ekathimerini.com

Substitute Joe Allen scored a dramatic last-minute equaliser as Liverpool claimed a 3-3 draw with Barclays Premier League leaders Arsenal.

The midfielder latched on to fellow sub Christian Benteke’s header to volley home at the death as an end-to-end clash finished all square. Roberto Firmino had given the home side an early lead with a shot on the rebound, but Aaron Ramsey swiftly levelled.

Firmino put Liverpool back in front with an impressive strike, only for Olivier Giroud to net either side of half-time to move on to 12 Barclays Premier League goals this season and seal what looked like would be a dramatic victory, before Allen’s last-gasp impact.

The draw means Arsenal have won one of their last five Barclays Premier League away games and now only top the table on goal difference from Leicester City, who won at Tottenham Hotspur, although Manchester City’s draw with Everton keeps Manuel Pellegrini’s men three points off the pace.

Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, has overseen victories in two of Liverpool’s last seven in the Barclays Premier League, dropping them down to ninth position, but will be buoyed to have escaped with a point.

In a match that sparkled from the word go, the first meaningful attack produced the opening goal in the 10th minute. Emre Can’s powerful effort from the edge of the area was only parried away as far as Firmino by Petr Cech, who was rooted to the spot as the forward sharply spun and shot left-footed into the back of the net.

But Arsenal responded within four minutes. Liverpool were unable to deal with a long clearance from Cech and Joel Campbell found space to slip an accurate pass through to Ramsey, with the midfielder’s low effort beating Simon Mignolet at his near post.

A thrilling game continued when Klopp’s men went back in front just five minutes later. After they had pressed the Arsenal backline high up the pitch to regain possession, James Milner fed Firmino 20 yards out and the Brazil forward took one touch before unleashing a brilliant strike into the top corner.

Arsenal, though, produced another response within six minutes. Ramsey had almost equalised when he raced on to Giroud’s flick-on and dinked a delicate finish over Mignolet, only to see Mamadou Sakho recover to head clear from the goalline. From the resulting corner, Giroud got the faintest of touches to Ramsey’s inswinging delivery and his effort somehow found its way through Mignolet’s legs.

Giroud missed an opportunity to put Arsenal ahead a few moments later when Campbell and Theo Walcott combined on the right, with the England forward’s cross cutting out Mignolet. The goal was gaping, but the France striker could only divert his effort back into the keeper’s hands.

Firmino almost had a hat-trick on the stroke of half-time when his left-footed shot on the turn had Cech beaten, but clipped the top of the crossbar after good work from Jordon Ibe down the right.

Alberto Moreno flashed an attempt over from a presentable opportunity early in the second half, while Walcott produced an excellent solo run at the other end before firing just wide.

But Arsenal moved ahead for the first time on 55 minutes when Hector Bellerin and Campbell combined to find Giroud in the area and he slickly turned Kolo Toure to plant a finish into the far corner.

Klopp brought on Benteke in an attempt to find a spark, as well as throwing debutant defender Steven Caulker up top, and the Belgian’s muscularity helped find parity as a knockdown fell at the feet of Allen, who swept home in front of a jubilant Kop to snatch a point.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “For 60, 70% of the game we played really well. The players created opportunities but they got two easy goals.
“At the end we made a real good game and needed luck to make the draw and I think we deserved it. It’s like a battery, at the beginning you play well and it goes down as the game goes on.

“It’s an explosion of goals but at the final whistle you cannot ignore there were problems. You have to speak about Roberto Firmino and both his goals were brilliant and he played for the whole time really good.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “I’m very disappointed but overall I cannot fault the effort and commitment of the team.

“We had a difficult start. At 3-2, we should have made it 4-2 and didn’t make the right decision in final third and Liverpool fought until the last second.

“I felt we had an apprehensive start. We had some bad memories from a few years ago and you could still see that in some players. We went 1-0 down and then we started to play. We come out of the game with a lot of positive but still some regrets.”

source:www.premierleague.com