Category Archives: SPORTS

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

Perth: Australia Green are into the Hopman Cup final after saving a match point to beat France in a thrilling mixed doubles encounter.

Needing to win the tie to reach Saturday’s final against Ukraine, Australia Green secured a 2-1 result with a 6-4 2-6 11-9 (match tiebreak) win in the mixed doubles.

Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova will now take on Ukrainian duo Alexandr Dolgopolov and Elina Svitolina in the decider.

Australia’s only Hopman Cup title came back in 1999, when Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic took out the crown, beating Swedish pair Jonas Bjorkman and Asa Carlsson in the final.

The last time Australia reached the final was in 2003, when Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik were defeated 3-0 by Serena Williams and James Blake.

Kyrgios said it would be special if he and Gavrilova could reach the final and end Australia’s 17-year title drought at the mixed-teams event.

“It’s an event that’s been held for a long, long time – before I was even born,” Kyrgios said.

“It’s pretty special. Especially me and Dasha – we grew up together in juniors. Hopefully we can bring it home.”

Australia Green were down a match point in the mixed doubles match tiebreak.

But a deft volley at the net from Gavrilova saved Australia’s skin, before Kyrgios sealed the win with some net magic of his own.

“I was feeling the heat there,” Kyrgios said of the match point moment.

Earlier in the night, Kyrgios continued his hot singles form with a 6-4 6-4 demolition of Kenny De Schepper in 56 minutes.

But Australia Green’s finals hopes were dented after Gavrilova lost 6-4 7-6 (9-7) to Caroline Garcia.

Gavrilova put up a good fight for most of her singles match, but two double faults during the second-set tiebreak proved costly.

However, after a few nervous moments, Kyrgios and Gavrilova came good in the mixed doubles match tiebreak, holding their nerve when it mattered most.

The result meant Australia Green, and not Andy Murray’s Great Britain, reached the final.

Kyrgios is unbeaten in his three singles matches at the Hopman Cup, with the most impressive display a straight-sets demolition of world No. 2 Andy Murray on Wednesday night.

After completing his Hopman Cup duties, Kyrgios will compete in the Fast4 Tennis event in Sydney on Monday, before heading to Melbourne for the Kooyong Classic.

“I have played three quality matches and put in a lot of training,” Kyrgios said.

“But there is still a long way to go and I’ve still got to do a lot more things to prepare for the Australian Open.”
source:smh.com.au

Σε ένα κατακόκκινο γήπεδο στο Σίδνεϋ, οι θρύλοι της Λίβερπουλ επικράτησαν 4-0 ομάδας παλαιμάχων του αυστραλιανού ποδοσφαίρου. Εντυπωσιακός ο κόσμος που θέλησε να παρακολουθήσει από κοντά τους αστέρες του παρελθόντος του συλλόγου του Μέρσεϊσαϊντ.

Με δύο γκολ του Λουίς Γκαρσία και από ένα των Όλντριτζ και Ρας, οι «κόκκινοι» θρύλοι πρόσφεραν ευχαρίστηση στους Αυστραλούς οπαδούς τους στο Σίδνεϋ, με τον Στίβεν Τζέραρντ να ξαναφοράει για πρώτη φορά με την αποχώρησή του, τη φανέλα της αγαπημένης του ομάδας και μάλιστα να είναι και ο αρχηγός της…

Αυτό στο οποίο στάθηκαν άπαντες μετά το παιχνίδι ήταν η στήριξη που είχαν από τον κόσμο, με τον Ζεράρ Ουγιέ (εκτέλεσε χρέη προπονητή των θρύλων της Λίβερπουλ) να δηλώνει συγκινημένος και να τονίζει χαρακτηριστικά: «Ήταν τρομερό… Λες και παίζαμε στο Άνφιλντ… Κατακκόκινο το γήπεδο και οι οπαδοί τραγουδούσαν το “You’ll never walk alone”… Βούρκωσα πραγματικά».

Πηγή:england365.gr

LIVERPOOL’s greatest ever goal-scorer Ian Rush put his name on the scoresheet and Spanish wizard Luis Garcia bagged a double as their Legends side crushed the Australian Legends 4-0 at ANZ Stadium.

In front of a sea of red a collection of Liverpool’s greatest ever players treated the 40,815 strong crowd to a wonderful exhibition of football.

The loudest cheer of the night came when Rush, who scored 346 goals in 660 first team appearances for Liverpool, bundled home a sharp cross unchallenged in the 74th minute.

“When I saw the pass coming my first instinct was to shoot,” John Arne Riise, the man who set up both Rush and 57-year-old John Aldridge for Liverpool’s third and fourth goals, told foxsports.com.au

“But I had a look up and saw Rushy and John making the runs and thought, ‘I have to give it to them’

“Luckily they scored because if the had missed I would have been fuming!”

Liverpool Legends manager Gerard Houllier admitted Seeing Rush and Aldridge score gave him an immense sense of pride.

“I told Rushy and Aldo that it was the right time for them to come on with fresh legs and their old heads,” he said.

“It was special and it shows you can get old but their talent was to score goals for Liverpool and it’s still there.”

But Rush and Aldridge could have found themselves needing to do a lot more work than putting the icing on the cake after a very even first half

Goalkeepers Zeljko Kalac and Sander Westerveld keeping their respective sides in the contest with a string of spectacular one-on-one saves, with Kalac brilliantly denying Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard shortly before the half time whistle.

But by that time the Australians were already a goal down thanks to Luis Garcia, undoubtedly the player of the first half.

The Spaniard opened the scoring in the 27th minute after latching onto a delightful Patrick Berger through ball and beating Kalac at the near post.

The Australian Legends were unlucky not to hit back almost instantly, with Sander Westerveld twice denying Steve Corica in one-on-one situations.

The second half was far more one sided as the ‘home’ outfit asserted its superiority.

Garcia effectively put the game to bed shortly before the hour mark, heading home a well weighted cross from Gerrard to make it 2-0, before Rush and Aldridge sealed the deal late in the match.

While there was no goal from Gerrard, the man the crowd had come to see, it failed to dampen the atmosphere reminiscent of those achieved in Liverpool’s previous visits to Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.

After the match Houllier stressed how impressed he was with the the manner in which his team approached the match.

“We wanted to make a point to be focussed and do things seriously. We always take pride and satisfaction when we do the job right for the team,” Houllier said.

“I would say that I enjoyed seeing them play because it was a great performance.

 “They won, that’s one thing, but they won in style. As a manager that’s what you always want your team to do.

Riise admitted he felt like his side was the home team on the day and showed his appreciation for Liverpool’s supporter Base in Australia.

 “It’s normal,” Riise said of the lopsided support towards Liverpool.

“We come here and there are 40,000 Liverpool fans. This is why Liverpool is so amazing.

“Wherever we go in the world so many people come to watch us play and for us that’s why we want to come.

“It was a 24 hour trip, it’s a long way, for the first 20 minutes I was jet-lagged and my legs felt so heavy, but I loved every minute of it.”

SQUADS

AUSTRALIA

Zeljko Kalac, Scott Chipperfield, Tony Vidmar, Craig Moore, Brett Emerton, Ned Zelic, Jason Culina, Robbie Slater, Steve Corica, Mile Sterjovski, David Zdrilic. Subs: Stan Lazaridis, Alex Tobin, Josip Skoko, Jason Culina, Craig Foster, Ante Milicic, Coach: Graham Arnold

LIVERPOOL

Robbie Fowler, Vladimir Smicer, Patrik Berger, Steven Gerrard, Didi Hamann, Luis Garcia, Jason McAteer, Phil Babb, Stephane Henchoz, Jamie Carragher, Bruce Grobbelaar. Subs: Ian Rush, John Aldridge, Gary McAllister. Coach: Gerard Houllier

source:foxsports.com.au

Bad weather across Greece reduced Sunday’s Super League games to just two, but would not prevent Olympiakos from scoring its 16th win in as many games over an uncharacteristically sloppy Panionios.

The frozen pitch of Xanthi prevented the local team and PAOK from contesting their game, while the waterlogged pitch of Livadia forced the postponement of the Levadiakos vs Atromitos encounter. The Super League announced on Sunday evening that neither game would take place on Monday, as the conditions were not expected to improve, so the organizers will choose another date in the next few weeks.

In the games that did take place on Sunday, Olympiakos saw off host Panionios 3-1 at Nea Smyrni, goals coming from Brown Ideye, Felipe Pardo and Chori Dominguez and with Panionios temporarily equalizing courtesy of Nikos Risvanis, while AEK defeated Platanias 3-0 at Hania via an Helder Barbosa brace and a Rafik Djebbour strike.

On Saturday Asteras Tripolis scored four beautiful goals over Panthrakikos (4-0), former Everton striker Apostolos Vellios notched up a hat-trick in Iraklis’s 3-0 win over bottom club Kalloni Lesvou, and PAS Giannina saw off ten-man Veria 2-0.

On Monday Panathinaikos hosts Panetolikos behind closed doors.

source:ekathimerini.com

NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 03: Melbourne Victory players celebrate a goal during the round 13 A-League match between the Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory at Hunter Stadium on January 3, 2016 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)

Melbourne Victory have snapped their five-game winless streak – and ended their Hunter Stadium hoodoo – after edging out Newcastle Jets 1-0 on Sunday.

A turgid affair was settled by Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s first goal of the season after an excellent counter-attack, set-up by a great run and pass by Kosta Barbarouses.

It was Victory’s first win in Newcastle in more than six years and puts them just a point behind both Melbourne City and Sydney FC who are third and fourth respectively.

But the Jets winless run has now extended to nine matches as they remain eighth.

GOALS

0-1 Ben Khalfallah (71’) – A swift counter attack from the visitors ended with Barbarouses playing a superb pass through to the Tunisian who finished clinically with his left foot from just inside the box.

In a game of few chances, the first goal was always going to be crucial but the manner in which the Jets conceded it will infuriate coach Scott Miller.

From their own attacking corner, the Jets were hit by a lightning counter-attack, unable to deal with the pace, vision and skill of Barbarouses and Ben Khalfallah.

With the Jets in such a rut when it comes to scoring goals, it was always going to be a bridge to far for them to get something out of the match.

OPTA DATA KEY STATS

*The Jets have failed to score in five games now and set a new club record for time without a goal, now standing at 469 minutes.

*The win was Victory’s first in the Hunter since October, 2009 and just their third in 16 games away against the Jets.

*The shutout was Victory’s first clean sheet in their last nine games.

*It’s no surprise there was no fluency to the match, with a total of 33 Fouls over the 90 minutes.

source:a-league.com.au

Wayne Rooney’s brilliant instinctive winner beat Swansea as Manchester United ended a run of eight games without a win.

The England striker flicked home Anthony Martial’s cross with 13 minutes to go to settle a close contest.

After a dour first half, Martial had headed United in front, before Gylfi Sigurdsson’s glancing effort set nerves on edge at Old Trafford.

Manchester United move up to fifth, two points behind Tottenham.

Swansea’s raids forward were rare, but they twice came close to a second equaliser in injury time.

First Ashley Williams brought a good save out of David de Gea before goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski headed wide from a corner with almost the last touch of the game.

How the action unfolded at Old Trafford

Listen to 5 live commentary of Wayne Rooney’s winner

Win can be start of fantastic 2016 – Van Gaal.

Rooney’s touch of class changes mood
Swansea had won all three of their league meetings with Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United – including the Dutchman’s very first match in charge.

History seemed dangerously close to being repeated for the home fans when Sigurdsson – the matchwinner in Van Gaal’s United debut – steered home Modou Barrow’s cross with 20 minutes to go.

Rooney’s afternoon up to that point had been full of industry but short on inspiration. However, United’s captain improvised brilliantly to flick Martial’s cross round his standing leg and into the far corner past a rooted Fabianski for the winner.

As well as delivering three points for his team, the strike gave Rooney sole possession of second place on the all-time goalscoring lists of the Premier League – on 188, 72 behind Alan Shearer – and Manchester United – on 238, 11 behind Sir Bobby Charlton.

Width + crosses = goals
The home fans’ relief was palpable on the final whistle as Manchester United secured their first win since beating Watford away on 21 November.

However, the half-time whistle had mostly been greeted with a bemused silence after a toothless first-half performance.

The one consistent source of danger for the hosts was right-winger Ashley Young. His pace and trickery gave Neil Taylor a testing afternoon and his consistently accurate delivery into the box was rewarded when Martial met a cross with a powerful header just after half-time.

The winner also came from the flanks as Martial drifted wide to turn provider for Rooney.

Fabianski almost provides stunning climax
Since losing his first match in charge across the city at Etihad Stadium last month, caretaker boss Alan Curtis had overseen three successive clean sheets to keep Swansea clear of the relegation zone.

And having kept United at bay for large spells in a tight and tidy performance, their discipline was almost rewarded in extraordinary style when Fabianski climbed highest after coming up for the final corner of the match and sent a header just wide.

Man of the match – Ashley Young

Manager reaction
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal: “I am very happy for the players because they had to play under big pressure and now we have won. We are still near the top of the league and the gap is less. So that’s football.

“That’s a season. A season takes eight months or something like that and not one month.

“I think we played a very risky system against Swansea because they had a shape with four midfielders in a diamond.

“I hope this is a fantastic starting point for us in the New Year and we can continue against Sheffield United.”

Swansea caretaker boss Alan Curtis: “Funnily enough, Lukasz Fabianski had asked a couple of minutes earlier to go up for a similar situation. I told him to stay back. I wish I’d asked him to go up earlier.

“We had to get back into the game. We were comfortable with the midfield diamond when it was 0-0, but once we went behind, we had to change things, so we put two wingers on to get back into it.

“We grew into the game after that, and we were unlucky not to get something.”

source:bbc.com

Andy Carroll scored against his former club as West Ham leapfrogged Liverpool in the table thanks to a first league double over the Reds for 52 years.

Michail Antonio beat Nathaniel Clyne to Enner Valencia’s early cross to net the Premier League’s first goal of 2016.

Liverpool midfielder Emre Can was denied by the bar but Jurgen Klopp’s side were off the pace throughout.

Carroll, who cost Liverpool a club record £35m in 2011, sealed the points after meeting Mark Noble’s cross.

West Ham’s second straight win lifted them to sixth in the table, Liverpool dropping to eighth.

Relive the action from Upton Park as it happened, plus all the best pictures and social media

Listen to the goals from the game on BBC Radio 5 live

Liverpool’s shortcomings repeated
Liverpool travelled to London knowing victory would leave them just two points off a Champions League place after back-to-back festive wins over Leicester and Sunderland.

Yet this was a stark reminder to Klopp that he has his work cut out in 2016 after a lacklustre display that had echoes of the 3-0 defeat by Watford last month.

Can did clip the Hammers bar with a curling effort from the edge of the penalty area in added time at the end of the first half. The closest they came prior to that was Jordan Ibe’s low shot in the fourth minute which whistled just wide.

Lucas then had a header cleared off the line by Mark Noble at 2-0 and substitute Joe Allen wasted a great chance late on. However, West Ham showed more attacking threat and more energy, and were just as impressive as they were when they defeated Brendan Rodgers’ Reds 3-0 in August.

Day for Carroll to remember, Benteke to forget
Carroll has endured some dark days at West Ham since joining for £15m in June 2013 thanks to injuries, but this was an afternoon to remember for the former Reds player, who remains Liverpool’s record signing.

He produced a trademark header to meet a wonderfully weighted cross, Clyne again beaten in the air as he was for Antonio’s goal. Carroll celebrated as though his goal had decided the title.

In contrast, Christian Benteke – Liverpool’s second costliest player – endured a miserable day as his first touch deserted him time and again. He was played through in the 25th minute but allowed James Tomkins to whip the ball off his toes before ballooning a 58th-minute chance over the bar.

How far can West Ham go this season?
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic was not even born the last time West Ham did the double over Liverpool. As poor as the Reds were, West Ham were impressive.

James Collins was excellent at the back as West Ham recorded a fifth clean sheet in seven games, Noble produced a performance full of grit and determination in midfield and Antonio, who started the season at Nottingham Forest, was lively on the wing and fully deserved his second goal in two games.

Liverpool join Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Southampton on the list of scalps West Ham have claimed in the Premier League this season.

Will they be starting life at the Olympic Stadium next season in European competition? You would not rule it out at this stage.

Lanzini set for a spell out?
The Hammers were able to welcome back key man Dimitri Payet from injury as a second-half substitute – but did lose Manuel Lanzini in the 39th minute.

Lanzini had hit the post with a swerving drive before going down with a muscle injury which could keep him out for some time.

Bilic said after the game that it was a tendon problem, while co-chairman David Gold tweeted that he could be out for four to six weeks.

Lanzini will have a scan on Monday.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: “We created many not only on the break but from open play and we could have scored more. To keep a clean sheet at home to Liverpool is brilliant for the fans and it’s a brilliant start to the New Year.

“We played a really good game – especially in the second half. Of course Liverpool had their moments because they are a good passing team but we defended really well as a team.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “The game was decided by two crosses and two headers. At the end of the first half we had our moments but it was not enough.

“We always had the ball. We could have made more chances but we didn’t so we have to accept that again we didn’t play like we should.”

source:bbc.com