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
International sports, football
Old Trafford, Manchester (GenevaLunch) - Manchester United star Wayne Rooney was far from his best for most of the game against the noisy neighbours, Manchester City, 12 February. He ran around with little purpose and repeatedly lost the ball but that will all be forgiven with the endless replays of what might be the goal of the season, a magnificent overhead bicycle kick to win 2-1. The goal opened up a seven point lead at the top of the Premier League but this was reduced to four points when Arsenal won 2-0 against Wolves to confirm their second place. Man City are third while Spurs beat Sunderland 1-2 to move fourth. Chelsea might reclaim this spot when they travel to Fulham on Monday, 14 February.
In the Swiss Super League FC Basel moved top, ahead of Lucerne and Zurich. Basel beat St Gall 3-0 while Zurich lost at Young Boys 4-2 and Grasshoppers and Thun played out a 0-0 draw. In La Liga the winning streak of 18 games by Barcelona finally ended with a 1-1 draw at Gijon. Barcelona play Arsenal in London on Wednesday in the pick of the games for the European Champions League. Real Madrid beat Espanyol 0-1 despite having their goalkeeper sent off after only two minutes.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian, TSR.
International sports, football
Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - England striker Wayne Rooney was the target of press articles 5 September in the News of the World and the Sunday Mirror which have opened up speculation that he might miss the Euro 2012 qualifying match against Switzerland to be played in Basel Tuesday 7 September. The British tabloids revealed claims that he had been having a relationship with a £1,000 a night prostitute ( News of the World says £1,200) while his wife Coleen was pregnant. Rooney joins a long list of English and French footballers recently reported to have been involved in sex scandals.
Links to other sites: News of the World, Sunday Mirror, Sunday Telegraph
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.
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
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.
England (GenevaLunch) - Manchester City won a bad-tempered duel with Arsenal 4-2, showing they have the talent to challenge the traditional big four teams but also revealing a nasty streak that may cost the team. Emmanuel Abedayor, transfered from Arsenal for £25 million at the end of last season, was involved in two incidents which are likely to be investigated by the FA authorities: the first was when he appeared to kick Robin Van Persie in the face, the second when he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal fans after scoring at the other end.
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.
(GenevaLunch) – Arsenal top the table after the first round of the Premier League following a 1-6 thrashing of Everton, which included two goals by Cesc Fabregas. Chelsea also won but only with a large slice of luck as Didier Drogba scored with an attempted cross in the 6th minute of extra time which gave them a 2-1 victory over Hull City.
Wembley, London, England (GenevaLunch) – Chelsea gave their new manager Carlo Ancelloti his first trophy when they beat Manchester United 4-1 on penalties after the game ended at 2-2. The Community Shield features the winners of the Premier League and the FA Cup and is the traditional opening of the new football season.
Manchester scored first, when Nani drove the ball past Cech in the 10th minute.
(GenevaLunch) - Manchester came back from two goals behind to beat Spurs 5-2 and now lead the Premier League by three points from second placed Liverpool, and have a game in hand. Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo each scored twice but for many observers the key change was when Carlos Tevez came on and added new energy to the team.
