Comment: Glimmers of promise for Cook and Co. December 11, 2014 NOT only does England’s victory yesterday maintain their interest in the tour, it shows they can stand up in the face of series-defining pressure. That is significant looking through the prism of the World Cup. Defeat would have seen Sri Lanka secure an unassailable lead in the tour but England at least have a pulse [...]
Europa League: Pochettino laments inability to score as Spurs denied top spot December 11, 2014 BESIKTAS 1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 DEFLATED Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino rued his side’s lack of killer instinct after a narrow defeat to Besiktas at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium last night denied Spurs top spot in Group C. Striker Cenk Tosun proved the match-winner with his first European goal shortly before the hour-mark, while the fixture [...]
Everton and Celtic defeated but through as Europa last 32 settled December 11, 2014 EVERTON crashed to defeat in their final Europa League pool clash against FK Krasnodar at Goodison Park last night but will enter the draw for the last 32 as a seeded team after already guaranteeing top spot in Group H. Colombian Ricardo Laborde took advantage of a mistake by keeper Joel Robles, one of 10 [...]
Name stadium after Wenger, says Pardew December 11, 2014 NEWCASTLE boss Alan Pardew believes counterpart Arsene Wenger deserves to have Arsenal’s stadium named in his honour rather than be the target of abuse by a section of the club’s supporters. A banner calling for Wenger’s resignation was unfurled during games against West Brom and Galatasaray while a group of fans harangued the 65-year-old Frenchman [...]
Champions League: Pellegrini: City’s progress proves doubters wrong December 10, 2014 MANCHESTER City boss Manuel Pellegrini believes his side proved a point to their detractors after completing an unlikely Champions League resurrection with victory against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico last night. A blockbuster strike from Samir Nasri and a late Pablo Zabaleta goal secured their progress to the knockout phase as City become only the [...]
Pochettino set to shuffle pack and aim for top spot December 10, 2014 TOTTENHAM boss Mauricio Pochettino has acknowledged the significance of securing top spot as his side bid to land a knockout blow to closest rivals Besiktas in their final Europa League group-stage clash at the Ataurk Olympic Stadium tonight. Spurs qualified for the knockout phase after beating Partizan last month and will be seeded in the [...]
Woakes delivers England chance to rescue series December 10, 2014 ENGLAND are this morning set to resume their one-day rescue mission in Sri Lanka after all-rounder Chris Woakes returned the third best figures by an English bowler in one-day international history. Rain intervened in Pallekele yesterday at the end of the Sri Lanka innings after England had dismissed their hosts for 239 with the final [...]
Champions League: Gerrard heroics can’t avert Reds’ European crash December 9, 2014 LIVERPOOL 1 FC BASEL 1 DEFLATED skipper Steven Gerrard admitted that Liverpool deserved nothing more than European elimination after the Reds were dumped out of the Champions League last night following a tame draw with FC Basel at Anfield. Gerrard hauled Liverpool back into contention for a place in the last 16 with a sublime [...]
Pellegrini: City can reach last 16 without Aguero December 9, 2014 MANCHESTER City boss Manuel Pellegrini believes his squad has the depth in firepower to cope with the loss of Sergio Aguero after the Chilean last night confirmed his prolific marksman is set for between four and six weeks on the sidelines. City will have to contend without their 19-goal leading scorer, who suffered knee ligament [...]
Spin set to be key as England face must-win Sri Lanka clash December 9, 2014 BATSMAN Joe Root is adamant the England hierarchy will resist the temptation to continue with a policy of experimentation during their must-win fifth one-day international (ODI) against Sri Lanka today. The tourists trail 3-1 in the seven-match tour which means defeat in Pallekele will give Sri Lanka an unassailable lead and consign England to their [...]
