Chelsea sign Portugal’s Deco July 1, 2008 Chelsea last night completed the £8m signing of Portugal midfielder Deco from Barcelona, as Frank Lampard edged closer to leaving Stamford Bridge for Inter Milan. Deco, 30, has reportedly agreed a two-year contract, and follows his former Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to Chelsea. Scolari built his Portugal team around Deco and the playmaker insists [...]
Gunners ease through November 3, 2005 Arsenal eased their way into the last 16 with a 3-0 win over Sparta Prague. Goals from captain Thierry Henry and two from sub Robin van Persie saw the Gunners through with two games to go. Arsenal dominated from the start and Dennis Bergkamp almost broke the deadlock in the 14th minute, but hit the [...]
England batsmen fail again November 2, 2005 England will do well to avoid defeat in their opening tour match in Pakistan this morning. They will resume on the final day of three on 39 for six — a lead of just 84 runs. Although the tourists’ bowlers performed well on a misbehaving wicket, England suffered a second successive batting collapse. Andrew Strauss, [...]
Chelsea feel pain in Spain November 2, 2005 Chelsea suffered a first defeat in open play for six months, and damaged their Champions League chances in the process, as Real Betis ambushed Jose Mourinho’s side in Spain. It was a far cry from last month’s reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea went top of Group G with a 4-0 win. The Spanish [...]
Time for England to wake up in Pakistan November 2, 2005 England needed a wake-up call and the alarm bells were pretty loud in their first tour match in Pakistan. But despite a generally awful batting display, Marcus Trescothick’s fine century apart, there’s nothing to get too worried about. Two top-order failures in two days may not have been exactly what Michael Vaughan or coach Duncan [...]
Monty and McGinley on song for Europe November 1, 2005 It proved to be a very special weekend for both Colin Montgomerie and Paul McGinley. Success at the Volvo Masters — for very different reasons — will mean an awful lot to both players. For Monty, a first European Order of Merit title for six years is quite some achievement. He did exactly the job [...]
England struggle November 1, 2005 England crash landed back from Planet Ashes with an unconvincing batting display on the opening day of their first tour match in Pakistan. Only an unbeaten century from Marcus Trescothick allowed the tourists to reach the relatively respectable score of 256-9 at the close against a Patrons’ XI in Rawalpindi. An impressive contribution lower down [...]
Owen brace sees off WBA October 31, 2005 Two goals for Michael Owen helped Newcastle move into the top half of the table with victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns. Alan Shearer came on as a substitute to add the third in what was Graeme Souness’s side’s fourth win in their last six Premiership matches. Despite the defeat, West Brom remain [...]
All Blacks have a chance to erase black mark October 31, 2005 Never mind what may or may not have happened in the opening seconds of the first Test between the Lions and New Zealand in June — it is great to have the All Blacks over here. I am looking forward to watching their attempt to win a Grand Slam against the four home nations. The [...]
Monty rules Europe again October 31, 2005 A share of third place at the Volvo Masters was enough for Colin Montgomerie to clinch a record eighth European Order of Merit title. Paul McGinley of Ireland won at Valderrama after a fourth round 67 that left him on 10 under par. Sergio Garcia was second, two shots behind. However, Montgomerie — who was [...]