International sports, football
Wembley, London (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea completed their double of Premier League and FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth. The victory seemed inevitable given the huge gap in resources between the two teams but Portsmouth, with the aid of the woodwork, made the London millionaires work more than anticipated. Pompey could have taken the lead when Kevin-Prince Boateng hit a feeble shot straight at the Chelsea goalie. Didier Drogba scored shortly afterwards and Chelsea controlled the rest of the match despite Frank Lampard missing a penalty.
The game was pushed out of the news by a sting operation lead by the normally conservative Daily Mail which taped a supposedly private conversation between Lord Triesman and his ex-assistant (and mistress) Melissa Jacobs. The FA Chairman accused Russia and Spain of trying to bribe World Cup referees. Triesman has resigned and the English 2018 bid committee sent off grovelling apologies.
Barcelona won La Liga with a 4-0 thumping of Vallaloid. Inter Milan won Serie A and are in search of their own double in the final of the European Champions League against Bayern Munich. In Switzerland FC Basel won their 13th League title by winning 0-2 against Young Boys.
Links to other sites: Daily Mail, Guardian
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
(GenevaLunch) - Manchester United beat Bolton 2-1 to move back to the top of the Premier League. Chelsea lost 2-1 at Aston Villa. Liverpool also lost going down 1-0 at Sunderland to a freak goal which rebounded off a beachball and went into the net. Tottenham are in third place after beating Portsmouth 1-2, a result which leaves Pompey at the bottom of the Premier League. Arsenal moved into fourth place with a 3-1 victory over Birmingham.
Fifa announces eight teams’ playoffs
The eight countries facing a playoff to determine whether they go to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 found out Monday 19 October their opponents:
Republic of Ireland-France
Portugal-Bosnia-Herzegovina
Greece-Ukraine
Russia-Slovenia
Links to other sites: Fifa, Premier League
Chelsea, London, England (GenevaLunch) – Chelsea had a double bonus this weekend as they beat rivals Liverpool 2-0 and saw the current champions Manchester United draw 2-2 with Sunderland. In fact Sunderland almost won the game, conceding a deflected own goal in injury time.
Premier League, England (GenevaLunch) - Chelsea are now the only team in the Premier League with a 100% record. They beat their London rivals Tottenham 3-0 in a game where the only real controversy was when the referee refused to award Spurs a penalty that might have brought them back to 1-1. The Manchester Derby was a much more exciting affair as Man City travelled to Old Trafford to see how the newly assembled team would fare against the current champions.
Premier League, England (GenevaLunch) – Chelsea moved to the top of the table with a convincing 3-0 victory over Burnley. Tottenham are also on 12 points from four games after beating Birmingham 2-1 with a late goal from Aaron Lennon, following a Peter Crouch header, which gave Spurs a 2-1 win. They lost Luka Modric to injury, apparently a fractured bone in his leg which will put him out of action for a few months.
Premier league, England (GenevaLunch) -Tottenham, Chelsea Arsenal and Man City are the only teams to have won all their games so far this season. Spurs and Chelsea have won three to top the table. Man United came back from an earlier loss to crush Wigan 0-5, Arsenal beat Portsmouth 4-1. Five teams have yet to score a point.
Details: premierleague.com
