Bradford slay Villa to reach final January 22, 2013 ASTON VILLA 2 vs BRADFORD CITY 1 Bradford City win 4-3 on aggregate JUBILANT Bradford manager Phil Parkinson admitted he was in “dreamland” last night after completing another Capital One Cup giant-killing to reach the final – and land a trip to Las Vegas. James Hanson’s second-half header earned the Bantams an aggregate victory to [...]
Derby fillip in Wenger sights January 22, 2013 ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger admits his team have their “backs to the wall” as they look to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat at Chelsea tonight against West Ham. Victory would lift the Gunners to within four points of the Premier League’s top four, and Wenger said: “I’m confident we will but the team was very [...]
Spurs blame £4.3m loss on Euro failings January 22, 2013 FAILURE to qualify for last season’s Champions League sent Tottenham into the red for the year ending June 2012, the football club announced yesterday. Spurs recorded a loss of £4.3m, down from a £0.7m profit the previous year, as revenues fell 12 per cent from £163m to £144m. The north Londoners said the financial blow [...]
Toffees waste chance to leave London trio in sticky situation January 21, 2013 SOUTHAMPTON 0 vs EVERTON 0 LONDON trio Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea were let off the hook last night when Everton, their main rivals in the four-way battle for two Champions League places, failed to beat turmoil-hit Southampton. The Toffees, who remain fifth in the Premier League, missed the chance to close to within a point [...]
Dempsey late goal snatches draw and riles United boss January 20, 2013 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 vs MANCHESTER UNITED 1 TOTTENHAM manager Andre Villas-Boas insisted Manchester United were lucky to escape with as much as a point after his side struck in the third minute of injury time to snatch a valuable draw. Ex-Arsenal captain Robin van Persie tormented his former rivals with a header to open the [...]
Resilient Chelsea lift top four hopes and dent Arsenal’s January 20, 2013 CHELSEA 2 vs ARSENAL 1 CHELSEA manager Rafael Benitez has warned club captain John Terry that he cannot expect to walk straight back into the side, after a resilient defensive performance against Arsenal tightened the Blues’ grip on a top four place. An early strike from Juan Mata and a Frank Lampard penalty gave the [...]
Spellbinding Djokovic reminds us all exactly why we love sport January 20, 2013 IT’S sometimes important to put these things in context. This column, in its original form, was all about the current descent into mediocrity of Australian sport. How the ridiculous anointing of Bernard Tomic as the successor to Rod Laver died a horrible death on Saturday night when Federer showed him who was boss. Three straight [...]
Spurs can slow down United’s title charge January 17, 2013 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR MANCHESTER UNITED Sunday 4.00pm THERE’S no doubting who the Premier League’s form team is at the moment. Having taken 28 points from the last 30 available, Manchester United sit seven clear at the top of the table and the bookies have all but given up on the chasing pack. Sir Alex Ferguson’s outfit [...]
Guardiola’s snub causes Premier three a headache January 16, 2013 UNCERTAINTY over who will be in charge at England’s three biggest clubs next season deepened dramatically last night after German giants Bayern Munich won the race to hire sought-after former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United had all made enquiries about appointing the 41-year-old, while continental superpowers Paris Saint-Germain and AC [...]
Chelsea home woes continue as Saints hand Benitez timely blow January 16, 2013 CHELSEA 2 SOUTHAMPTON 2 CHELSEA boss Rafael Benitez demanded a transformation in his team’s faltering home form after squandering a two-goal lead and wasting the chance to close on the Premier League’s top two. First-half goals from Demba Ba and Eden Hazard seemed to put the Blues on course for a first win at Stamford [...]