Rafael injury blow for Manchester United
Premier League leaders Manchester United have been hit by the news that young Brazilian defender Rafael da Silva is expected to be out of action for up to a month because of a fractured ankle.
The 18 year old, who has played well at right back this season for United, sustained the injury in last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.
Rafael thus misses out on a chance to appear in Sunday’s Carling Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur.
Benfica 2-1 Leixoes
Game : Benfica vs Leixoes
Competition : Portuguese Liga
Final score : Benfica 2-1 Leixoes ( Elvis OG 16′, Nuno Gomes 67′/ Rodrigo Silva 74′)
In Friday’s only Portuguese Liga game, 10 man Benfica beat Leixoes to reduce FC Porto’s lead at the top of the league to one point.
An Elvis own goal gave Benfica the lead in the 16th minute. The Leixoes player put Jose Antonio Reyes’ cross past his own keeper to put Benfica 1-0 up. Striker Nuno Gomes, a second half substitute for Reyes, doubled Benfica’s lead when he sent the ball in at the far post from Cardozo’s cross.
Carlos Martins, himself a first half substitute for Ruben Amorim, was forced off the field after a challenge with Hugo Morais. It reduced Benfica to 10 men as they had used up all their substitutions, and Leixoes immediately took advantage as Silva pulled one back for them in the 74th minute.
Leixoes, who would have gone above Benfica had they won, applied tremendous pressure in the final minutes, but Benfica held on to win 2-1.
Leaders Porto take on Sporting Lisbon on Saturday.
FC Cologne 1-1 Arminia Bielefeld
Game : FC Cologne vs Arminia Bielefeld
Competition : German Bundesliga
Date : Friday, February 27, 2009
Final score : FC Cologne 1-1 Arminia Bielefeld ( Petit 15′/ Chris Katongo 43′)
FC Cologne failed to carry on from where they had left against Bayern Munich last week, and were instead forced to settle for a draw at the Rhein Energie Stadium.
Fabrice Ehret, who scored the opening goal against Bayern, created Cologne’s only goal of the game. He ran down the left, and crossed in for Portuguese midfielder Petit to head home after fourteen minutes.
Ehret nearly made the score 2-0 with a well taken free kick nine minutes later, but Bielefeld keeper Denis Eilhoff was alert, and stopped it from going in.
Cologne bossed play, and if an equaliser had to come for Bielefeld, it had to be against the run of play. And it was Zambian striker Katongo who stunned the home crowd, firing into the bottom left corner two minutes before half time.
Nemanja Vucicevic had two great chances in the second half to put Cologne ahead, but he was unable to take advantage, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Are Liverpool’s title hopes over?
Liverpool’s 1-1 draw against Manchester City means that they are now seven points behind Manchester United. As a Liverpool fan, it was a result you did not want, but had conditioned your mind to accept when you saw that Alonso and Gerrard were not in the lineup and that Nigel De Jong was playing like a man possessed.
Liverpool lacked that something extra- an edge to go forward. Both Mascherano and Lucas ( the less I speak about him the better) are defensive minded players and are not used to running into the box and sending defence splitting passes through. For all the effort that Kuyt and Torres put in, it was evident how important a cog Gerrard is in the Liverpool wheel.
City had not won away from Eastlands in the league, but seemed determined to do a favour to their bitter derby rivals Manchester United. And unfortunately for Liverpool, who had collected seventeen points from losing positions in the league this season, they could not repeat the comeback 3-2 victory over the Citizens at Eastlands last year.
Are United guaranteed of their 18th title? At this moment, the odds are heavily stacked in their favour. They have got the bench strength and are playing with more confidence than any other team in the league. United could yet slip up, but the chances of them doing that are as low as Benitez wanting to resign Keane from Tottenham. Forget that Liverpool traditionally tend to finish better than Liverpool- Ferguson is determined to pay Benitez back for the scathing remark aimed at him by the latter not too long ago.
Chelsea and Villa are now within sniffing distance of Liverpool, and Benitez would have taken note of that fact too. It has been a while since Liverpool took the automatic Champions League spot, and this year they certainly deserve it by virtue of their performance in the league.
But fatigue and lack of bench strength could still see Liverpool slip further, and Chelsea, where Guus Hiddink has already put the system restore button in action ( Thanks to Kevin Garside of the Telegraph), are well placed to take advantage.
The Champions League still remains Liverpool’s best chance of a trophy, but with the likes of Barcelona, Inter and Manchester United in it, don’t be surprised if the Reds end up trophyless this season.
French Ligue 1 Results- February 21
Here are the results from the games played in the French Ligue 1 on Saturday, February 21, 2009.
Bordeaux, Marseille and AS Monaco play tomorrow- Sunday, February 22, 2009.
Grenoble 0-0 PSG
PSG failed to keep pace with leaders Lyon as they dropped points at Grenoble.
Toulouse 0-0 Valenciennes
Like PSG, Toulouse also slipped up in their pursuit of Lyon. Alain Casanova’s men could only draw 0-0 at Parc Municipal des Sports as they lost an opportunity to go second in the table.
Le Havre Athletic Club 1-2 AJ Auxerre ( Jean-Michel Lesage 37′/ Thomas Kahlenberg 1′, Valter Birsa 79′)
Auxerre moved above Grenoble in the league table as goals from Thomas Kahlenberg and Valter Birsa gave them a 2-1 win over bottom of the table Le Havre.
Nice 0-1 Rennes (Olivier Thomert 67′)
In a battle between two teams aiming to qualify for Europe, Stade Rennais beat Nice 1-0 thanks to a second half goal from Olivier Thomert.
Nantes 1-1 Caen ( Christian Bekamenga 44′/ Anthony Deroin 3′)
Nantes dominated their home game against Caen at La Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau but were unable to take three full points. Both the goals came in the first half.
Lorient 1-2 Sochaux ( Kevin Gameiro 23′/ Vaclav Sverkos 66′, Mevlut Erding 90′)
Turkish star Mevlut Erdinc’s eight goal of the season helped Sochaux complete an amazing turnaround against Lorient at Stade du Moustoir. However Sochaux still remain in the relegation zone, four points behind 18th place St.Etienne.
Lyon 2-0 Nancy ( Cris 18′, Karim Benzema 90′)
A makeshift Lyon side beat Nancy 2-0 at Stade Gerland. With coach Claude Puel having one eye on the upcoming CL game against Barcelona, Lyon chose to field a side that did not have Junino, Benzema, Ederson and co. Brazilian defender Cris gave the lead after heading home from a corner in the 18th minute. Youssef Hadji failed to convert his spot kick for Nancy in the 50th minute, and substitute Benzema confirmed three points for Lyon late in the game with his 12th league goal of the season.
Gary Neville signs contract extension
Veteran Manchester United defender Gary Neville has signed an extension to his contract which will see him stay at Old Trafford till 2010. Neville has stayed for the Red Devils for nearly two decades, and his contract extension follows that of Welsh winger Ryan Giggs, who also agreed to put pen to paper a new deal earlier this month.
Neville has seen his spot in the side come under threat in recent times, with young Brazilian Rafael doing very well at the right back position. The United skipper’s appearances have been restricted due to injuries too, but Ferguson wanted Neville to stay.
Neville himself expressed delight at signing a new contract, saying that Manchester United was the only club he wanted to play for.
NEC Nijmegen 0-3 Hamburger SV
Game : NEC Nijmegen (NED) vs Hamburger SV ( Ger)
UEFA Cup Round of 32, First Leg
Final score:- NEC 0-3 Hamburg ( Piotr Trochowski 41′, Alex Silva 45′, Ivica Olic 75′)
NEC Nijmegen’s UEFA Cup dreams were effectively left hanging by a thread after Martin Jol’s Hamburg handed them a 3-0 thrashing at De Goffert last night. First half goals from Piotr Trochowski and Alex Silva, and a late third from Ivica Olic sees Hamburg take a 3-0 lead into the second leg.
NEC were on the backfoot for most of the game, and Hamburg deserved every bit of their victory. Martin Jol’s side were the only German club to claim victory last night. Stuttgart and Wolfsburg lost to Zenit St.Petersburg and Paris St.Germain respectively, while Werder Bremen drew with AC Milan at home.
Hamburg had the early opportunities, with David Jarolim heading over the bar and Joris Mathijsen going close with his header.
Hamburg took the lead in the 41st minute, with Trochowski scoring from a free kick just outside the box after Milano Koenders had handled the ball.
To make matters worse for NEC, Hamburg doubled their lead just before half time. Another free kick caused confusion in the NEC box and the ball fell to Mladen Petric, who crossed from the right byline for Alex Silva to tap in from close range.
Olic added the third in the 75th minute, latching on to a Mladen Petric pass from the right. As the NEC defenders appealed for offside in vain, Olic cooly slotted past the advancing Gabor Babos to score Hamburg’s third and put the result of the tie beyond doubt.
Olympique Lyon 3-1 Le Havre
Game: Olympique Lyon vs Le Havre ( Week 24 French Ligue One)
Final score: Lyon 3-1 Havre ( Ederson, Keita, Juninho/Loic Nestor)
French champions Olympique Lyon ended a winless run of four games at Stade Gerland as they beat Le Havre 3-1 on Sunday evening. Kader Keita, Ederson and skipper Juninho scored as Claude Puel’s side cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win. However their lead at the top of Ligue 1 stays at four points as PSG beat Monaco 1-0.
The week was not kind to Laurent Blanc’s Bordeaux though. They were held at home by Grenoble, and slipped to fifth in the table because PSG, Marseille and Toulouse all won their respective league games.
Ederson opened the scoring in the 34th minute and Ivorian international Keita doubled the lead on the stroke of half time.
Lyon had defender John Mensah sent off for a second bookable offence in the 71st minute, but that did stop them from adding one more. Skipper Juninho scored from 30 metres out in the 74th minute as Lyon went 3-0 ahead. Loic Nestor pulled one back for Le Havre in the 82nd minute, but it was to be of little relief to Frederic Hantz’s side, who were brought down back to earth after their stunning win over Rennes last week.
Chelsea appoint Hiddink as manager
Chelsea have confirmed the appointment of former PSV boss Guus Hiddink as their temporary new manager. Hiddink, 62, who currently manages the Russian national side, will also manage the London club till the end of the season as per an agreement with the Russian Football Federation.
Hiddink said that is was a favour for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, whom he considers to be a dear friend.
Hiddink comes with a CV as impressive, if not better than his predecessor Luis Felipe Scolari.
What should Chelsea’s short term targets be?
Probably automatic qualification for the Champions League, if they cannot win the league, and a European title if they can. On current form, one doubts whether they can win Europe, so they’ll probably have to settle for a good position in the Premier League.
Hiddink is not new to the challenge of managing both club and country at the same time, having done it with PSV and the Australian national team before.