Liverpool fail to hit the spot in European exit February 26, 2015 LIVERPOOL crashed out of the Europa League after losing their first-ever European penalty shoot-out against Besiktas at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium last night. Besiktas substitute Tolgay Arslan, who joined the Super Lig outfit from Hamburg in January, curled home a 20-yard effort in the 72nd minute to level the aggregate score and send the round of [...]
Sport Comment: I prefer the Boycott who shoots from lip February 26, 2015 THE ICC Cricket World Cup is a fantastic event but it’s a living nightmare for England and their latest short-form skipper Eoin Morgan. They have been utterly humiliated by both Australia and New Zealand and only came to life when confronted by the minnows from across the wall, Scotland. A 119-run victory was probably no [...]
Oscar out to end Wembley hex in Spurs cup final February 26, 2015 CHELSEA midfielder Oscar is desperate to end his dismal run at Wembley when the Blues meet Tottenham to contest the Capital One Cup final on Sunday. The Brazil playmaker has lost on all three occasions that he has played at the home of English football: for his country in the London 2012 Olympics gold medal [...]
McLaren admit Alonso a doubt for Formula One season opener February 26, 2015 MCLAREN chiefs are optimistic that former world champion Fernando Alonso will be fit for the season’s first race in Australia next month, but admit he remains a doubt following his crash in testing. Concussed Alonso spent three days in hospital this week after ploughing into a wall at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on [...]
Scots wounded by Afghan shock February 26, 2015 SCOTLAND skipper Preston Mommsen admits his side need time to recover from their devastating one-wicket defeat to Afghanistan yesterday. The Afghans fought back from 97-7 to chase down 210 in the final over as Scotland remain without a win at a World Cup. Mommsen said: “There was a lot riding on this. It will take [...]
27 February on this day… February 26, 2015 2005: Jose Mourinho won his first trophy with Chelsea, the League Cup, after a 3-2 victory over Liverpool at Wembley 10 years ago today – two days before he and Chelsea are back at Wembley on Sunday. The Blues manager is pictured celebrating with his backroom staff, including current Reading boss Steve Clarke, who is [...]
Ireland set to equal winning record with victory over England February 26, 2015 HARRY MADLEY PREVIEWS THE CRUNCH SIX NATIONS CLASH AND BEN CLEMINSON LOOKS AT SUNDAY’S FOOTBALL SSINCE being installed as England head coach in 2012, Stuart Lancaster hasn’t managed to guide his team to a Six Nations Championship, let alone a Grand Slam. However, overcoming Ireland on Sunday in Dublin would be a significant step to [...]
Take Chelsea and Liverpool to shine on Super Sunday February 26, 2015 THINGS haven’t gone Chelsea’s way in recent weeks and the cloak of invincibility that surrounded the club in December has started to slip away. They’ve dropped points in four of their last 10 league games and Bradford knocked them out of the FA Cup. Nemanja Matic, an impressive force in the Blues midfield, is suspended [...]
Maximum excitement on the capital one cup final February 26, 2015 WITH two big London rivals lining up to play for the Capital One Cup on Sunday expect passions to be running high. In two of the last three matches between Chelsea and Tottenham there has been a penalty scored and Sporting Index offer a couple of penalty markets. Penalty performance is a simple one – [...]
Take Williams to land back to back Greatwood Gold Cups with Bennys February 26, 2015 BILL ESDAILE PREVIEWS THE BEST OF THE WEEKEND’S RACING AS CHELTENHAM gets ever nearer the quality of racing unsurprisingly deteriorates and this is one of the most low-key weekends of the whole season. There are still opportunities to boost the betting bank, though, and the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury tomorrow (3.25pm), with the declarations [...]