Football news round-up 22-28 Feb

Sunday 28 February

Manchester City opened up the title race and gave their own top four hopes a boost with a dramatic 4-2 win at Chelsea. Two goals each from Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy overcame two from Frank Lampard for Chelsea, who had Juliano Belletti and Michael Ballack sent off.

Arsenal closed the gap to three points on Chelsea and two behind Manchester United with a 3-1 win at Stoke, but lost midfielder Aaron Ramsey with a serious ankle injury. Ryan Shawcross was sent off for the challenge that led to Ramsey’s departure, while goals from Niklas Bendtner, Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen sealed Arsenal’s win after Danny Pugh had put Stoke ahead with an early goal.

Portsmouth fans finally had something to smile about as their side won 2-1 at fellow strugglers Burnley. Frederic Piquionne and Hassan Yebda scored to give Portsmouth only their second away win of the season and first league win this year.

Bolton secured a valuable victory over relegation rivals Wolves with a 1-0 win at the Reebok Stadium. Zat Knight scored his first goal for Bolton, the club’s first in the Premier League for a month, to lift Owen Coyle’s side away from the drop zone, while Birmingham beat Wigan 1-0 after James McFadden scored from the penalty spot.

Newcastle went six points clear at the top of the Championship with a 2-1 win at Watford. Fabricio Colloccini and Andy Carroll scored the goals for Chris Hughton’s side. West Brom came from behind to beat Derby 3-1 and move second, while Leicester extended their run to eight games without defeat after beating local rivals Nottingham Forest 3-1.

Reading followed up their midweek FA Cup at West Brom with a thumping 5-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday that sent the Owls back into the relegation zone, while fellow strugglers Plymouth went down 4-3 to Sheffield United in a thriller at Bramall Lane.

In League One, Grant Holt’s 25th goal of the season meant Norwich went five points clear at the top with a 1-0 win at Oldham while Leeds were held to a 2-2 draw by Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield. Colchester missed a chance to make up ground by losing 3-2 at Bristol Rovers. Southampton kept up their impressive run by coming from behind to beat Walsall 5-1.

Rochdale extended their lead at the top of League Two with a 1-0 win at Macclesfield, with Chris O’Grady scoring the game’s only goal. Second-placed Bournemouth lost 1-0 at Shrewsbury.

Steve Cotterill got off to a winning start as Notts County manager with a 5-1 win over Hereford, with Darren Westcarr scoring a hat-trick.  At the other end of the League Two table, Torquay ended a run of ten games without a win by beating Accrington Stanley.

In Scotland, Dundee United moved above Hibs into third place after a 3-0 win over bottom club Falkirk, while the Edinburgh side were held 1-1 at home by St Johnstone.

Saturday 27 February

Portsmouth have officially entered administration. The Premier League club reportedly have debts of around £60-70m, and if they are deducted nine points they will be left with just seven points after 26 games.

Tottenham's preparations for Sunday's game with Everton have been hit after a number of their players and staff were hit by a virus which necessitated the closure of their training ground. "We've closed the training ground. It's off limits. We're just going to train there and that's it," explained Harry Redknapp.

Arsenal have announced pre-tax profits of £35.2m for the six months leading up to November 2009. the club's debt has also been reduced to £203.6m.

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar has signed a one-year contract extension, which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2010-11 season.

Bolton have been given an injury boost after it emerged that defender Gary Cahill will only be out for another month with a blood clot in his arm. It had been feared the England squad member would miss the remainder of the season.

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel could miss the rest of the season after breaking a metatarsal in Thursday's 3-1 Europa League victory over Unirea Urziceni. "He's had X-rays and they confirmed he has a broken metatarsal. We have to check over the next couple of days how long it will take to recover," said Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez.

Chester City have been expelled from the Football Conference with immediate effect. City have admitted to breaking five Conference rules, and the other member clubs voted to have them expelled from the competition. They will now be unable to fulfil their fixtures, starting with Saturday's game against Oxford.

Friday 26 February

Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of the friendly against Egypt next Wednesday with a back injury. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: “He won't be fit for the England game, but we don't think it is too serious.”

Fulham recorded a famous win in the Europa League to knock out UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 on aggregate. After winning the first leg 2-1, Brede Hangeland put Fulham in pole position with the opening goal and even though Jadson brought the home side level, Roy Hodgson's side held on. The only downside was Danny Murphy's late dismissal.

Liverpool also booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League with a comfortable 3-1 win over Unirea Urziceni. Joao Bruno Fernandes had put the Romanian side in front but strikes from Javier Mascherano, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard sealed the victory for the Merseyside club.

Everton crashed out of the Europa League following a 3-0 defeat against Sporting Lisbon. Despite winning the first leg 2-1, David Moyes side went out of the competition after goals from Miguel Veloso, Pedro Mendes and Matias Fernandez saw the Portuguese side reach the next phase.

Chelsea keeper Petr Cech has been ruled out for up to a month with a calf injury. Cech sustained the injury during the Champions League defeat against Inter Milan on Wednesday night.

Manchester United midfielder Anderson has been ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing a cruciate ligament during the 3-0 win over West Ham on Tuesday night. The Brazilian is also set to miss the World Cup during the summer.
 
Arsene Wenger admits he does not expect to see Robin Van Persie back in action for Arsenal before the end of April. Holland coach Bert van Marwijk was hoping he would be back sooner, but the Arsenal boss said: “I haven't seen Robin because he is in Holland at the moment but that looks too early to me."

Thursday 25 February

Chelsea believe they are still very much in the tie after losing the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match against Inter Milan 2-1 at the San Siro. Inter went ahead after only three minutes through Diego Milito and although Salomon Kalou equalised the home side responded with a second goal from Esteban Cambiasso. However, Frank Lampard is adamant the Blues can still go through. He said: “There’s still a game in London to go. We’ve got an away goal and that’s positive.  Two-one is a pretty even result and now we have to beat them at home. It’s very much in the balance.”

Seville earned a 1-1 draw away to CSKA Moscow in the other Champions League tie of the night. Alvaro Negredo scored for the Spaniards but Mark Gonzalez replied.

In League Two, promotion hopefuls Chesterfield won 1-0 at Crewe with a goal from Drew Talbot while in the Conference Premier, Stevenage won 1-0 at Wrexham with a goal from Mark Roberts. Stevenage are now just three points behind leaders Oxford.

The Arsenal forward, Robin van Persie, currently out with an ankle injury, could return to action as early as April according to Holland manager Bert van Marwijk.

Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand will miss Sunday’s League Cup Final with a back injury, making him a doubt for the international friendly against Egypt next week.

Sheffield United’s Derek Geary has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.

Burnley’s Clarke Carlisle appeared of Channel 4’s 'Countdown' programme –and beat reigning champion Adam Guest by 89 points to 55.

Sir Stanley Matthews’ football boots worn in the famous1953 FA Cup Final, when Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3, have sold at auction for £38,400 – more than £30,000 above estimate.

Wednesday 24 February

England star Wayne Rooney scored twice for Manchester United as they beat West Ham 3-0 at Old Trafford to move to within one point of Premier League leaders Chelsea. Rooney netted two headers to take his incredible tally for the season to 27 before Michael Owen added the third.

In the Championship, play-off challengers Leicester beat Doncaster 1-0 thanks to Martyn Waghorn's winner. Ipswich drew 1-1 at fellow strugglers Scunthorpe after a late strike from David Healy cancelled out Cliff Byrne’s opener for the hosts.

Substitute Oli Johnson scored two late goals as League One leaders Norwich snatched a dramatic 2-1 win over Southend at Carrow Road.

Luciano Becchio also bagged a double as second-placed Leeds United won 2-0 at home to Oldham Athletic. Brighton won 2-1 at Charlton while Millwall and Huddersfield also secured victories over MK Dons and Tranmere respectively.

League Two table-toppers Rochdale slumped to a 3-1 home defeat to Bradford. Bournemouth took advantage with a 3-0 win over Barnet while Dagenham & Redbridge came from two behind to win 3-2 at Aldershot.

In the Conference, James Constable scored both goals for Oxford United in a 2-0 home win over AFC Wimbledon, extending his side’s lead at the top of the table to six points.

European Champions Barcelona could only draw 1-1 at Stuttgart in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 clash between the sides. Cacau gave the German side the lead but Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised for the Catalans in the second-half. Also in the Champions League last-16, Michael Ciani scored the only goal of the game as Bordeaux won 1-0 at Olympiakos in their first leg.

Portsmouth will go into administration on Friday unless a buyer can be found for the club. Phil Hall, spokesman for Portsmouth owner Balram Chainrai, said: "There is now only a short window of opportunity for buyers to come in with a credible offer.”

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is set to return from a virus for Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 clash against Inter Milan, who are managed by former Blues’ boss Jose Mourinho.

Notts County have named Steve Cotterill as their new manager on the same day as announcing that the club will avoid going into administration this season. "Steve Cotterill is a man that we know plenty about and who was always top of our list of preferred managers when we first took over Notts County,” said Notts County chairman Ray Trew.

Jimmy Bullard, out with a knee problem since November, scored for Hull City Reserves on his return from injury.

Tottenham and England winger Aaron Lennon has undergone a second scan to determine the extent of a setback in his recovery from a groin injury that has kept him out of action since December. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said: "Aaron was close to getting fit, but has had a bit of a setback. It is difficult and has been dragging on a long time. We will just have to wait and see.”

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini expects star striker Carlos Tevez to return to England later this week ready to play against Chelsea on Saturday. The Argentinian striker returned to his homeland last week for family reasons, but Mancini said: "I spoke with him on Monday and I think that he will come back on Thursday or Friday morning."

Tuesday 23 February

League Two promotion hopefuls Rotherham and Shrewsbury remain in the Play-off positions after their 1-1 Monday night draw.

England and Tottenham midfielder Aaron Lennon is hoping his latest groin injury setback will not be too serious following a scan on Monday. Lennon could be out for a minimum of a further three weeks.

Carlos Tevez's agent has predicted the striker will be back from Argentina to play for Manchester City at Chelsea this weekend. Tevez has been at home on compassionate leave after his wife gave birth prematurely.

Wigan will re-lay their pitch in the next few weeks after the surface cut up badly and drew criticism during the weekend defeat by Tottenham

Wigan midfielder Ben Watson has joined West Brom on loan until the end of the season. West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo confirmed: “We have been looking to strengthen the central midfielder area.”

Dave Bayliss, the joint-manager of non-League Barrow, has been fined by the club for his role in a brawl after the recent defeat by Kettering.

Derby County midfielder Kris Commons sustained a hamstring injury in the weekend defeat by Swansea and could be out of action for anything up to six weeks.

Liverpool defender Robbie Threlfall has joined Bradford City in a one-month loan deal.

Former club owner Sulaiman Al Fahim has resigned from the Portsmouth board.

Monday 22 February

Roman Pavlyuchenko came off the substitute’s bench to score twice in the final 10 minutes at the DW Stadium as Spurs beat Wigan 3-0 to move back into fourth place. England striker Jermain Defoe scored the opening goal on the stroke of half-time.

Manchester City dropped out of the top four after being held to a goalless draw by Liverpool at Eastlands. Liverpool were boosted by the return of Fernando Torres after his injury lay-off, while Roberto Mancini hopes to get Carlos Tevez back soon from compassionate leave in Argentina.

Aston Villa closed the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool with a 5-2 beating of Burnley, the third time the Clarets have conceded five this season. Steven Fletcher put Burnley ahead but Ashley Young equalised before two goals from Stewart Downing, one from Emile Heskey and another from Garbiel Agbonlahor put Villa in command.

Blackburn Rovers moved further away from the relegation dogfight with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Bolton. Nikola Kalinic, Jason Roberts and Gael Givet scored the goals to put Blackburn 11 points clear of the relegation zone.

Bobby Zamora scored a late winning goal as Fulham came from behind to beat Birmingham. Chris Baird’s own goal had given the Blues a lead before Damien Duff equalised and Zamora curled in a free-kick in stoppage time.

West Brom missed a chance to move back to second place in the Championship when they lost 2-1 at Bristol City. Graham Dorrans put Albion ahead in the first half before Chris Iwulemo equalised and Lee Johnson scored the winner minutes later.

Lincoln have confirmed that defender Adam Watts broke his leg in the 2-2 draw with Grimsby Town. The former Fulham trainee was taken to hospital straight after his departure on a stretcher in the 70th minute.

In Scotland, Hearts moved back into sixth place wth a 2-0 win over lowly Hamilton Academicals. David Obua and David Templeton scored the goals in the second half to secure victory for Jim Jefferies’ side.

In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen missed a chance to overtake Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga when they were held to a 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen. Bottom club Hertha Berlin managed a surprise 3-0 win at fellow strugglers Freiburg.