ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Fifa has threatened Switzerland with expulsion from all Fifa events unless the Swiss Football Association punish FC Sion in the long confrontation over the Valaisan team playing unregistered players. The Sion chairman Christian Constantin responded in his own inimitable style by threatening to sue Sepp Blatter, the Valaisan head of Fifa. Unless the Swiss Federation react by 13 January 2012 the Swiss participation in the Champions League, as well as the national youth and senior matches, will be suspended, as will all the Swiss referees. FC Basel would be the first to suffer as they would be barred from playing in the Champions League match against Bayern Munich and would be replaced by Manchester United in the competition.
On the field Barcelona confirmed their place at the top by winning the Club World Championship by beating Brazilian team Santos 4-0 in Tokyo. In the Premier League Manchester city beat Arsenal 1-0 to regain their first place, ahead of Man United, 0-2 winners at QPR. Spurs are third after a 1-0 win over Sunderland. Chelsea fell back after a 1-1 draw at Wigan.
Links to other sites: TSR, Premier League, Guardian
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – FC Basel scored a famous victory when they beat the stars of Manchester United 2-1 in the final game of the group stage of the Champions League 7 December. Basel are now in the knock-out stage while Manchester United join their Man City neighbours in the Europa League.
Arsenal and Chelsea are the only Premier League teams to reach the final 16.
Man United started well, with Nani repeatedly find his way past the Basel defence. Basel scored on almost their only attack when Streller took advantage of a United mix up, where Nemanja Vadic felled his fellow defender Chris Smalling, to take the lead. United fought back with ten shots on target in the first half but never managed to really dominate the game.
Wayne Rooney managed to mess up the best chance, when clear in the goalmouth. Alex Frei scored in the 84th minute to leave Basel two goals clear. Phil Jones pulled one back in the final minute of regular time, but United could not perform another miracle. Benfica won the group with Basel second and Man United third.
In Group A Bayern Munich qualified despite losing their final game against Man City 2-0 but City were still knocked out as Naples won against Villa Real. Real Madrid won 0-3 at Ajax despite fielding a reserve team. Lyon managed to qualify with a 1-7 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb.
Link: UEFA
STOKE, ENGLAND – Manchester United lost their perfect start to the season but stayed top of the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Stoke, 24 September. They still lead their Man City neighbours on goal difference but the slip up will give a little hope to Basel FC which will be travelling to Old Trafford for their European Champions League match on Tuesday evening. They will be without star striker Wayne Rooney who is suffering a strained hamstring. Man City won 2-0 against Everton while Chelsea won 4-1 against Swansea to stay third. fernando Torres sored again but was sent off for a dangerous tackle. Arsenal avoided disaster with a 3-0 win over Bolton which kept Arsene Wenger’s men off the bottom.
Barcelona and Real Madrid both thrashed their opponents in La Liga. The Swiss local derby between Geneva Servette and Lausanne ended in a dull 0-0 draw. Sion and Neuchatel Xamax continue to make more news off the field than on it.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Old Trafford,Manchester(GenevaLunch) - Manchester United wrapped up the season with an entertaining 4-2 win over Blackpool to end at the top of the Premier League, with a nine point lead over Chelsea, 22 May. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich punished coach Carlo Ancelotti with the sack and the club are now searching for yet another person willing to trade enormous wealth for limited job security. Manchester City ended just behind Chelsea on goal difference with Arsenal taking the other Champions League spot. Man United take on the mighty Barcelona in the final at Wembley, 28 May.
West Ham, Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated in an afternoon when five teams were fighting to avoid the two remaining relegation spots. Wigan escaped the drop thanks to a 0-1 win at Stoke.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian, The Sun
International sports, football
Emirates Stadium, London (GenevaLunch) - Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday, 1 May, to breathe new life into the Premier League’s last few matches. On Saturday Chelsea came back from a goal behind against Tottenham to win 2-1 thanks to a goal which did not quite cross the line and another that was just off-side. Man United still heads the Pemier League by three points but if Chelsea win at Old Trafford next weekend the title race will be wide open.
At the bottom of the League West Ham are two points back from Wolves with Wigan another point away. The next three contenders for the relegation spots are Blackpool, Blackburn and Birmingham.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Wembley, London (GenevaLunch) - Manchester City won their FA Cup semi-final with Man United 1-0 at Wembley, 16 April. The shame of losing to their neighbours might be lessened by Arsenal slipping up again by drawing 1-1 at home to Liverpool and probably blowing their last chance to challenge for the Premier League. Both teams scored with penalties in extra-time, with the Liverpool equaliser coming in the 102nd minute. In the other sem-final Stoke City blew Bolton away with a 5-0 thrashing.
Barcelona drew their first of a series of four showdowns with Real Madrid1-1 and are well ahead in La Liga. Their next meeting will be in the final of the Copa del Rey followed by European Champions League semi-finals.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun, Guardian
International sports, football
Old Trafford, Manchester (GenevaLunch) - Arsenal were knocked out of their third Cup in two weeks as they lost 2-0 to Manchester United on Saturday 12 March in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. They also lost their Swiss international defender Johan Djourou to an injury (suspected dislocated shoulder) that might put him out for the rest of the season. Djourou played for Geneva club Etoile Carouge until he joined the Arsenal Academy as a 16 years old but his career has been plagued by injuries ever since. Arsenal are still second in the Premier League, behind Manchester United but the lack of depth in the squad looks like it might halt their progress. Man United will meet Man City in the semi-finals, while the other match will see Bolton Wanderers take on Stoke. Both games will be at Wembley, on 17th and 18th April. Man City edged past Reading 1-0 while Stoke beat West Ham to reach their first semi-final since 1972.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Anfield, Liverpool (GenevaLunch) - Liverpool may not win any titles this season but they might well have played a role in denying one to Manchester United. They deservedly beat their archrivals 3-1, with a hat-trick by Dirk Kuyt, 6 March. Man United fielded a side weakened in defense because of the absence of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, but they were comprehensively outplayed in all departments.
Arsenal could only draw 0-0 against Sunderland but are just three points behind United in the Premier League and still have a game in hand. Man City stay third after a 1-0 win over Wigan.
Tottenham travelled to Wolverhampton for the best game of the weekend: a thrilling 3-3 draw.
In the Spanish La Liga Barcelona and Real Madrid both won. Inter Milan beat Genoa 5-2 and AC Milan beat Juventus in Series A. In the Swiss Super League Basel are still on top after a 3-1 win over Zurich. Neuchatel lost 1-2 to Bellinzona while Thun-Luzern ended 3-3.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea were knocked out of the FA Cup by Everton, 20 February and face the possibility of ending the season not merely with no trophies but failing to qualify for next year’s Champions League. Everton equalised in the final minutes of extra time after a dull goal-less 90 minutes followed by a Frank Lampard strike put Chelsea ahead. In the penalty shoot-out Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole missed for Chelsea, allowing Phil Neville to make the winning strike. Manchester United put up a lacklustre performance that was just enough to get past lowly Crawley Town 1-0. Man City were more impressive as they powered past Notts County 5-0. Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Leighton Orient and now need to win the replay at the Emirates Stadium to face Manchester United in the quarter-finals at Old Trafford.Celtic thumped Rangers 3-0 in Scotland.
Real Madrid’s coach José Mourinho extended his own special record of 148 home league games without a loss, and Real Madrid’s home wins run to twelve games, with a 2-0 defeat of Levante.
Claudio Ranieri has resigned as coach of Roma after wasting a 0-3 lead to lose 4-3 at Genoa, and a 2-3 loss against Shaktar Donetsk in the Champions League. Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti might soon be available to take over.
International sports, football
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch)- Chelsea paid £50 million to Liverpool for their Spanish striker Fernando Torres but it was not enough to win their next match up. Torres was substituted in the game shortly before Liverpool scored the only goal of the match 6 February. Manchester United failed in their bid to create a new club record for the number of games without defeat when they went down 2-1 to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite the loss Man United stay four points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. Saturday’s games broke a number of Premiership records: for the maximum number of goals and for the biggest comeback when Newcastle recovered from 0-4 down against Arsenal to draw 4-4.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Villa Park, Birmingham, GenevaLunch - Darren Bent earned the first installment of his £24 million transfer fee from Sunderland when he scored the goal that allowed Aston Villa to beat Manchester City 1-0, Saturday 22 January. He also did a favour to Manchester United, although the Reds did not look like they needed much help as they smashed the other Birmingham team 5-0 with a hat-trick by Dimitar Berbatov.
Man United now top the Premier League by two points from Arsenal, and have a game in hand over their main rival teams. The Gunners strolled past Wigan 3-0, with Robin van Persie scoring all three goals. despite missing a penalty.
At the other end West Ham are still bottom despite drawing 2-2 at Everton, while Wolves lost 0-3 at home to give Liverpool their first League win since the return of Kenny Dalglish.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea slipped up in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Aston Villa that featured three goals in the final 10 minutes. Chelsea came back from a goal down with two quick goals by Didier Drogba and captain John Terry only to concede a late equalizer that leaves them in fifth place in the Premier League, 2 January. The top two places are held by the Manchester clubs, with United ahead on goal difference and also having two games in hand. Man United won 1-2 at West Brom while City beat Blackpool 1-0. Arsenal put on a fine display to beat Birmingham 0-3 and stay third with Spurs next after a 1-0 victory over Fulham. Liverpool came from a goal down to beat Bolton 2-1 and offer a life-line to embatttled managerRoy Hodgson.
Celtic scored a 0-2 win at Rangers in the Scottish Premier League Old Firm clash. Barcelona stay five points clear of Real Madrid after beating Levante 2-1.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
St Andrew’s Stadium, Birmingham (GenevaLunch) - Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s, 28 December, when Birmingham City striker Lee Bowyer scored a late equaliser when a possible foul, a clear handball and marginal off-side decision all went the way of the home team. The result was still enough to push United back to the top of the Premier League, ahead of Man City on goal difference. Manchester City swept Aston Villa away 4-0 with a hat-trick by Mario Balotelli, including two penalties. Arsenal are third after outplaying Chelsea 3-1 to end a series of five successive losses to their London rivals. Spurs are fourth, ahead of Chelsea, after a 2-0 win over Newcastle.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun
International sports, European Champions League football
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The draw for the first knockout round of the European Champions League took place in Nyon from 12:00 Friday 17 December. Highlights include a re-match of last season’s final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich, while the crowd pleaser is likely to be Arsenal against Barcelona, another rematch from last season. AC Milan play Spurs while Chelsea travel to Copenhagen for their first match. Manchester United meet Marseille. The full fixture list is:
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
Milan v Tottenham
Valencia v Schalke
Internazionale v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Barcelona
Marseille v Manchester United
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
In the Europa League FC Basel meet Spartak Moscow while Young Boys meet St Petersburg.
International sports, football
Old Trafford, Manchester (GenevaLunch) - Manchester United moved back to the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Arsenal.The goal was scored by with a looping header from Park Ji-Sung. Wayne Rooney later sent a penalty way over the crossbar. Man United are now two points clear of Arsenal and local rivals Manchester City. They also have a game in hand after their match against Blackpool was postponed by the weather. In the weekend games Chelsea drew 1-1 at Spurs, with Didier Drogba scoring a goal and then missing a penalty. Newcastle beat Liverpool 3-1 while Manchester City won 1-3 at West Ham. Carlos Tevez has had his request for a tranfer from City rejected. Blackburn beat Bolton 2-1 and the losing manager, Sam Allardyce was sacked as punishment.
Links to other sites: Premier League,Guardian
International sports, football
Emirates Stadium, London (GenevaLunch) – Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League thanks to two superb goals by Samir Nasri their talented French international. The Gunners beat Fulham 2-1 to move ahead of Manchester United, whose game at Blackpool was postponed because of the weather. Chelsea missed the chance to move into first place when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Everton. West Ham were pushed into last place when they lost to Sunderland. The other two relegation places are occupied by Wolves and Wigan.
Barcelona beat the Spanish air controllers strike by travelling by train and bus to Pamplona, where they won 3-0. Real Madrid recovered from their 5-0 mauling in El Clasico to beat Valencia 2-0 with the aid of two late goals by Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the Swiss Super League Lucerne stay in first place after beating Bellinzona 3-0. FC Basel are second following their 3-1 win over Young Boys. FC Sion beat Grasshoppers 2-0.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Birmingham, England (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea lost their fourth game of the season, and the third out of the last four Premier League matches with a 1-0 loss at Birmingham City. Chelsea are suffering from injuries as well as self-imposed disarray since sacking their assistant manager Ray Wilkins a few weeks ago. The team still head the League, but only on goal difference from Manchester United, who are unbeaten but have conceded seven draws so far this season. The Reds beat a nine-man Wigan 2-0 but it was an unconvincing display.
Spurs came back from two goals down at Arsenal to score their first away win in 17 years at their north London rival’s. West Ham lost 3-0 at Liverpool and stay at the bottom of the League: the result takes some of the pressure off Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson but West Ham boss Avram Grant looks like he might soon be out of a job.
In Spain both Real Madrid and Barcelona registered big wins as they get ready for “El Clásico,” the big match between the arch rivals. Real beat Bilbao 5-1 while Barca scored a record 8-0 away win at Almeria. Real still head La Liga ahead of the Catalans.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian, Telegraph
International sports, football
Anfield Road, Liverpool (GenevaLunch) - Liverpool moved into the top half of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over leaders Chelsea just a few weeks after they were in the relegation places. Roy Hodgson’s men, with Fernando Torres back in striking form, cut Chelsea’s lead in the championship to just two points. Manchester United were rather lucky to beat Wolves 2-1, with both goals coming from their Korean ball of energy Park Ji-sung, in the final minutes of each half. They lost Owen Hargreaves after just five minutes of his long awaited return from injury as he limped off with a hamstring injury. Wayne Rooney is off for a week’s rehabilitation at the Nike training centre in Portland, Oregon, partly to get him away from the attention of the British press. Arsenal slipped back to 15 points behind the leaders with a 0-1 defeat to Newcastle. Manchester City are fourth after a 0-2 win at West Bromwich Albion.
Glasgow Celtic scored a record 9-0 while thrashing Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League. The game featured two hat-tricks, three penalties and two red cards. Real Madrid and Barcelona both won to keep the top two spots in La Liga.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun
Fifa investigating undercover journalists vote scam scandal
International sports, football
Update 18 October 06:05 Blackpool, England (GenevaLunch) - Blackpool failed to manage another giant-killing as they lost 2-3 at home to a Manchester City under the driving leadership of Carlos Tevez. The referee also seemed to favour the visiting multi-millionaires. Liverpool discovered that it takes more than a new owner to bring back the winning ways: they now share the bottom of the Premier League after being beaten by local rivals Everton. Chelsea still top the League, but by only a two-point lead after a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa. Manchester United threw away a two goal lead against West Brom, including a goalkeeping blunder by Van der Sar, to end 2-2.
Wayne Rooney was on the substitutes bench for most of the match and there is speculation that his falling out with manager Alex Ferguson might mean a parting of the ways.
International sports, football
City of Manchester Stadium, (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea lost their first game of the season when they went down to Manchester City in the battle of the billionaires. Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game. Manchester United failed to make the most of their chance to move within a single point of the champions when they could only manage a 2-2 draw at Bolton. A disappointing Wayne Rooney was substituted after an hour. Aresenal lost, going down 2-3 at home to West Brom. Liverpool managed a draw that just keeps them out of the bottom four.
Real Madrid were held to a 0-0 draw at Levante and slipped to third place behind Valencia and Barcelona.
Geneva Servette lost their second division game to local rivals Lausanne 1-2. Lucerne head Basel in the Swiss Super League after beating Saint-Gall 1-2.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian,
International sports, football
Stadium of Light, Sunderland (GenevaLunch)- Sunderland provided the big surprise of the third weekend of the Premier League with a last minute winner against Manchester City. Chelsea continued their winning ways with a 2-0 over Stoke City. The London team tops the Premier League with a two point advantage over Arsenal and Manchester United as well as a huge advantage in goal difference, having scored 14 without conceding a single one. Man United beat West Ham 3-0 with Wayne Rooney scoring his first goal for 13 games thanks to a penalty. Arsenal won 1-2 at Wigan but their local rivals Spurs lost at home against Wigan, 0-1.
Links to other sites: Premier League, BBC, Guardian
International sport, football
Craven Cottage, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle all celebrated 6-0 wins in the Premier League but the real thrills occured when Manchester United travelled to Fulham, 22 August. Chelsea scored another six goal win in their second game of the season, crushing Wigan away to confirm their place at the top of the table as the only team to win their first two games. Arsenal winger Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick as Arsenal won 6-0, while newly promoted Newcastle took full advantage of the inexperience of the Aston Villa squad to register their first win of the season, with Andy Carroll also notching three goals in a 6-0 thrashing.
Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage by Fulham in a thrilling game that left commentators breathless. There was a stunning goal by veteran Paul Scholes, a clumsy own goal, a missed penalty and a last minute equaliser.
Liverpool face Manchester City in Monday’s game after learning that the proposed bid for the club by a Hong Kong based businessman has fallen through.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea shot back to the top of the Premier League with a thumping 7-0 win over Stoke. They are one point ahead of Manchester United with only two games left to play. Salomon Kalou scored a hat-trick while Frank Lampard added two more for the Blues. Man United briefly returned to the top of the table on Saturday, 25 April, when they beat Spurs 3-1, but Chelsea are again favourites once again. Their next game is a tough trip to Liverpool, Sunday 2 May while Man United go to Sunderland. Their final games will be home against Wigan and Stoke. Arsenal against Man City ended 0-0. The big match to determine the fourth place, which gives a place in the European Champions League, will be Man City against Spurs, 5 May.
Portsmouth, Burnley and Hull are relegated.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
Camp Nou, Barcelona (GenevaLunch) - Lionel Messi ended all debate about who is the greatest current footballer with a stunning four-goal tally against Arsenal in the second leg of their European Champions League match. Arsenal had fought back in the first leg to salvage a 2-2 draw and for a brief moment were ahead with a goal from Nicklas Bendtner. Messi then struck three goals before half time and finally added another in the 88th minute to see Barcelona through 4-1 on the night and 6-3 overall. The World Cup will reveal whether another Argentine Messiah, Diego Maradona, can inspire Messi to perform as well for his country.
In the other match on Tuesday evening 6 April, Inter Milan won 0-1 away to CSKA Moscow to add to their 1-0 victory at San Siro. They have the task of meeting Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Wednesday’s games see Manchester United, possibly with Wayne Rooney, facing Bayern Munich after losing the first leg 2-1. Bordeaux face the prospect of coming back after losing the first leg at Lyon 3-1.
Emirates Stadium, London (GenevaLunch) - Arsenal faced the finest club team in the world in their Champions League match and were soon outclassed. Barcelona completely dominated the first half, with more than a dozen shots on goal compared to a solitary shot by the home team. Somehow the game was scoreless at half time but Barcelona’s Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made up for a host of wasted chances with a neat goal in the first minute after the interval.
Stamford Bridge, London(GenevaLunch) - Chelsea thrashed the normally solid Aston Villa 7-1 with four goals by Frank Lampard to briefly head the Premier League. Manchester United were away at Bolton in the late game on Saturday and won 0-4, with Dimitar Berbatov scoring two goals. Both the winning teams succeeded without playing their leading strikers of the season: Didier Drogba was rested for Chelsea while Wayne Rooney is suffering from a foot injury and is being saved for Tuesday’s Champions League match with Bayern Munich. The key Premiership clash will be on 3rd April when Chelsea are away to Manchester United.
Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - Manchester United, the current holders of the Premier League Championship, moved back to the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over rivals Liverpool. A massed crowd, many wearing green and gold protest scarves, saw the home team fall behind after a beautifully headed goal by Liverpool striker Fernando Torres but after that Man United dominated play. They were rewarded with a slightly generous penalty which Wayne Rooney succeeded in converting a penalty when goalkeeper parried the ball back to him.
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – English Premier League football club Arsenal and Spanish Barcelona will face each other in the quarter-finals of the European Champions League. The draw was held at UEFA, the European Football head office in Nyon. French striker Thierry Henry, who is Arsenal’s highest-ever goalscorer, played for Arsenal when the two last met but he now plays for Barcelona.
The other games will feature Bayern Munich against Manchester United, an all French affair as Lyon play Bordeaux, while Inter Milan face a trip to play CSKA Moscow. The two favourites, Barcelona and Man United, cannot meet before the final in Madrid 22 May.
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) – Chelsea fell apart in the second half of a bizarre match against Manchester City which featured two penalties, one for each side, and two players being sent off, both from Chelsea. The first big moment was a non-event, when Wayne Bridge refused to shake hands with John Terry. The next 40 minutes were tedious, with Chelsea having most of the play but making few chances. Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead after a neat pass from Joe Cole.
Carlos Tevez then managed to make idiots of the Chelsea defence, latching on to a clearance from Wayne Bridge he shot past John Terry and then mis-hit a shot past Henrique Hilario, the aptly named Chelsea goalkeeper.
Wolverhampton, England (GenevaLunch) - Didier Drogba scored two more goals for Chelsea as they extended their lead to four points at the top of the Premier League. The striker from Ivory Coast has now scored 25 goals for Chelsea this season. In the early kick-off game Everton beat Manchester United 3-1 to spoil Wayne Rooney’s return to his old club. Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-0 to keep up their challenge for the top spot. Portsmouth sank even deeper into the mire with a 1-2 loss to Stoke. They have been refused permission to sell players as they struggle to avoid bankruptcy.
Links to other sites: Premier League, The Sun
