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
Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - Dimitar Berbatov went some way to silencing his critics when he scored five goals to lead Manchester United to an emphatic 7-1 victory over Blackburn. United now head the Premier League by two points from Chelsea. Wayne Rooney was also in top form but did not manage to score for himself despite setting up chances for his teammates. Arsenal won 2-4 at Aston Villa and are now third in the Premier League, with equal points but a lower goal difference than Chelsea. Chelsea dominated the early part of the season but slipped up again with a 1-1 draw at Newcastle. Spurs came back from a goal down against Liverpool to snatch a 2-1 win. Liverpool will face Manchester United in the only all Premier League match in the FA Cup third round.
Links to other sites: BBC, Premier League
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
International sports, football
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Tottenham Hotspurs play Young Boys tonight, 17 August, in a play-off match to enter the lucrative European Champions League. Spurs finished strongly last season to take fourth place in the Premier League and started this season with a 0-0 draw at home against Manchester City. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp seems to be more worried about playing on an artificial Astroturf pitch than about the Bern opposition. Tottenham last played in the European Cup, as it was called then, back in 1962 when they lost to Benfica in the semi-finals. Young Boys are also seeking to revive old glories: they reached the European Cup semi- finals in 1959.
The first weekend of the Premier League saw Chelsea, who won last season, thrash newly promoted West Brom 6-0 with a hat-trick by Didier Drogba. Manchester United’s veterans Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs were in fine form as they beat Newcastle United 3-0. Arsenal drew 1-1 against Liverpool when they were gifted an own goal by the Liverpool goalkeeper in the last few minutes of the game.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
International sports, football
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea won the Premier League in style with an 8-0 thrashing of Wigan, 9 May. It was a day of superlatives: Chelsea’s biggest ever win, smashing the record for most goals scored in a season with 103 (Man United scored 97 in 1999-2000.) Didier Drogba recovered from a temper tantrum when Frank Lampard did not let him take a penalty to score a late hat-trick and win the Golden Boot for the most goals of the season (29), ahead of Wayne Rooney.
Anfield Road, Liverpool (GenevaLunch) - Steven Gerrard virtually handed the Premier League title to Chelsea when his feeble backpass to the goalkeeper was intercepted by Didier Drogba, allowing the Ivory Coast striker the simplest of goals. Frank Lampard later added another against a tired Liverpool team. The game ended 0-2, 2 May, and Chelsea only need to win their next game, at home against Wigan to lift the trophy. Manchester United at least kept the pressure on Chelsea to win their final game by beating Sunderland 0-1, thanks to a goal by Nani. Dimitar Berbatov missed three more chances for Man United, which did little for his chances of staying with the club next season. Arsenal play Wigan on Monday and are already certain to finish in the top four places that give access to the European Champions League. The fourth spot will go to Spurs or Man City who both won on Saturday and play each other Wednesday 5 May at the City of Manchester stadium.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
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
White Hart Lane, London (GenevaLunch) - The battle for the top spot in the Premier League was thrown wide open as Chelsea put on a dismal display to lose 2-1 at Spurs. Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale scored for Tottenham in the first half while Frank Lampard hit back with a goal in the 90th minute for Chelsea. The Blues, previously looking like they already had the title in their grasp, could easily have lost by more and also had captain John Terry sent off.
Manchester United were on top for much of their derby game with in-form Manchester City but it was not till the last minute of added time that veteran Paul Scholes headed in the only goal of the game. Chelsea now lead by just one point with three games left to play. Arsenal are in third place while Spurs moved past Man City to take the vital fourth place which earns entry into the European Champions League. The key game for this will be 5 May when Spurs go to Man City. Chelsea have a game to play against Liverpool while Man United will face Spurs. Another big game is 24 April when Arsenal host Man City.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
Madrid, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Barcelona trimphed against arch rivals Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium. They won 0-2 with goals from Lionel Messi and Pedro, both set up by beautiful passes from Xavi. Barcelona showed they are currently the best team in the world, but the Spanish press concentrated on the way Lionel Messi had completely outclassed Cristiano Ronaldo, the Euro 94 million signing from Manchester United.
Back in the Premier League Man United slipped again on Sunday 11 April when they could only manage a 0-0 draw at Blackburn.
Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - For the first time in seven years there will be no Premier League team in the semi-finals of the Champions League. There have been three English teams in the last three years, and Man United were looking to reach their third successive final. Bayern Munich spoiled their party.
Wayne Rooney was selected despite being injured last week but he was not the decisive factor as Manchester United scored twice in the first seven minutes, and then added another in the 41st minute. They then managed to concede two goals, have a player sent off, winning 3-2 but losing on the away goals rule after a 4-4 aggregate score. The key blow was the sending off of Rafael for stupidly tugging on Ribery’s shirt when he had already been given a yellow card for retaliation in the first half. Arjen Robben scored the vital second goal fo Bayern Munich with a superb volley from the edge of the penalty box.
In the other match on Wednesday evening 7 April, Bordeaux beat Lyon 1-0 but Olympique Lyonnais still went through 3-2 on aggregate.
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.
Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea won the biggest football game of the season Saturday 3 April and moved to the top of the Premier League. The Blues dominated for most of the game while Manchester United seemed tired and rather aimless in the absence of injured Wayne Rooney. Chelsea took the lead in the first half with a neat goal from Joe Cole following continued pressure.
Munich, Germany (GenevaLunch)- Wayne Rooney scored after just one minute of play to put Manchester United ahead in their quarter-final Champions League match against Bayern Munich. After that things went wrong for the Premier League champions. In the second half, Franck Ribery hit a free kick that was deflected off Rooney past Van der Saar. Bayern Munich dominated from then as the Manchester mid-field was outplayed.
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.
Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - Wayne Rooney and striking partner Dimitar Berbatov put on a display of class Sunday 14 March to beat Fulham 3-0. Man United returned to the top of the Premier League, two points clear of Chelsea but the Blues have a game in hand. Didier Drogba scored twice as Chelsea won 4-1 against West Ham. Arsenal are in third place after a 1-2 victory at Hull. The fight for the vital fourth place features Spurs and Man City with Liverpool drifting down to sixth place.
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) – The English internationals Frank Lampard and John Terry shook off any fatigue from their mid-week match against Egypt to beat Stoke 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Aston Villa came back from 2-0 down to win 2-4 thanks to a hat-trick by their Norwegian striker John Carew. They will meet Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Wembley, London (GenevaLunch) - Wayne Rooney came off the substitutes bench to score the winner in the League Cup final against Aston Villa. Villa went ahead in the 4th minute with a penalty after Nemanja Vidic fouled Gabriel Agbanlahor. Vidic was lucky not to be sent off.
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
Stamford Bridge, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea took back the leadership of the Premier League as Didier Drogba scored twice to beat their local rivals 2-0. It was the second consecutive loss for the Gunners, following on the 3-0 loss to Manchester United last weekend. Man United briefly topped the table after crushing Portsmouth 5-0 with the help of two or three own goals by the unfortunate visitors, currently on the brink of bankruptcy. Liverpool won their deby match against Everton 1-0 to reclaim 4th place while Spurs played out a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa and Man City lost at Hull.
Barcelona maintained a five point lead in La Liga after beating Getafe 2-1 while arch rivals Real Madrid won 3-0 against RCD Espanyol.
Links to other sites: Premier League, La Liga
Chelsea, London, England (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea put on a superb show to crush Sunderland 7-2 despite having their star striker away at the African Nations Cup. Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard each got two while Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack scored the others. Meanwhile Didier Drogba scored for Ivory Coast as they beat Ghana 3-1.
Manchester United beat Burnley 3-0 to stay second in the Premier League. Cesc Fabregas was in fine form as Arsenal won 0-2 at Bolton. Spurs stay fourth despite a dull 0-0 draw at home to Hull. Everton beat Manchester City 2-0 and Liverpool again conceded a late goal as they were held 1-1 at Stoke, increasing the pressure on manager Rafael Benitez.
Links to other sites: Premier League
Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - It was like turning the clock back nearly four decades as Leeds traveled to Old Trafford and won 0-1 in the third round of the FA Cup. It was their first win since 1981 at the home of the current champions. Manchester manager Sir Alex Ferguson was critical of his players for their lack of commitment. Chelsea strolled past Watford 5-0 and are now the firm favourites for the Cup. Arsenal came from behind to be at West Ham 1-2.
