Football news round-up 8-14 Feb

Sunday 14 February 2010

Portsmouth emerged as winners of the south-coast derby on FA Cup Fifth Round day, beating Southampton 4-1 at St Mary’s. Quicy Owusu-Abeyie, Aruna Dindane, Nadir Belhadj and Jamie O’Hara scored the goals to seal a result that was harsh on their hosts, who had equalised through Ricky Lambert.

Elsewhere in the world’s most famous domestic cup competition, Birmingham won 2-1 at Derby, Chelsea hammered 2008 finalists Cardiff 4-1, and Stoke held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw. Reading and West Brom will also replay after they drew 2-2 at the Madejski Stadium.

There were no games in the Premier League due to The FA Cup, but in the Championship Newcastle went top after Andy Carroll scored three minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw at Swansea, Dave Cotterill opening the scoring for the hosts.

Nottingham Forest would have gone within a point of second-placed West Brom if they had claimed three points on Saturday, but they went down 1-0 at Doncaster. Sheffield United are now a point outside the play-offs after beating Bristol City 2-0, although Leicester kept up the pace by winning 5-1 against Scunthorpe.

In League One Norwich extended their lead to the top of the table to four points after they scored twice in the last ten minutes to win 2-1 at Brighton, while Leeds needed an injury-time own-goal from Charlie Daniels to salvage a 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient.

Brighton are now in the relegation zone after Gillingham shared a goalless draw at Yeovil, while Tranmere drew 1-1 with fellow strugglers Southend.

In League Two, second-placed Bournemouth lost 1-0 at Dagenham, who ended a run of four successive defeats, while Rotherham are up to fourth having beaten Lincoln City 2-1.

Oxford United remain top of the Conference Premier after Sam Deering and Matt Green scored the goals that beat Histon 2-0. Stevenage kept up the pace, though, by winning 1-0 at Rushden and Diamonds thanks to a superb late goal by Rob Wolleaston.

Chris Iwelumo has joined Bristol City on a one-month emergency loan. The 31-year-old has two caps for Scotland.

Guus Hiddink will leave his post as Dutch manager in the summer. "After a very pleasant conversation with the new federal president it was decided that after my contract expires on 30 June we will part ways," the former Chelsea manager told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Saturday 13 February 2010

Ashley Cole has had surgery on the ankle he broke playing for Chelsea at Everton on Wednesday. The England left-back will be out of action for at least two months but is hoping to be back by the end of the season.

Gary Cahill could also be back before the end of the season, and in time to stake a claim for a World Cup place with England. The Bolton defender required surgery this week after a blood clot was discovered in his arm, and initial reports suggested he would be out for the rest of the season. But manager Owen Coyle said the former Aston Villa defender could be back earlier than expected.

Harry Redknapp has said Aaron Lennon should be ready to return in the next week.The Spurs and England winger has been out of action since suffering a groin injury against West Ham at the end of December.

Portsmouth have been told they will be back in the High Court on 1 March to face a winding up order from HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax. The club need to find aroud £11.5m in tax payments.

Andrey Arshavin will miss Arsenal’s Champions League clash with FC Porto next Wednesday.The Russian striker sustained a hamstring injury in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Liverpool on Wednesday and is expected to be out for at least a week.

Crewe moved further away from the foot of the League Two table after a 2-1 win at Burton Albion. Clayton Donaldson scored a late winner for Crewe after Burton’s Shaun Harrad had equalised Shaun Miller’s opening goal in the first-half.

Northampton’s eleven-match unbeaten run came to an abrupt halt when Aldershot won 3-0 at Sixfields after the home side were reduced to ten men within 11 minutes. Kevin Thornton was given a straight red card, allowing the Shots a comfortable win with two goals from Marvin Morgan and one from Kirk Hudson.

Hearts winger Andrew Driver has been told he cannot play for Scotland just a week after manager Craig Levein pencilled him into his plans. Driver had played for both Scotland schoolboys and England Under-21s, but it was discovered this week that he fell a few weeks short of the five-year schooling in Scotland required by new residency rules.

Friday 12 February

Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole is in danger of missing the World Cup after suffering a fractured an ankle in action against Everton on Wednesday night. Cole has been ruled out for a minimum of three months.

Premier League title rivals Manchester United will be without Ryan Giggs for about a month after the Wales star fractured an arm against Aston Villa. Giggs will miss the League Cup Final as well as United’s Champions League matches against AC Milan.

Former England head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has resigned as Director of Football at Notts County after owner-chairman Peter Trembling sold his 90 per cent stake in the club to former Lincoln City chairman Ray Trew.

Conference club Chester City have been charged with breaking competition rules after failing to play their last two matches. Their fixtures have been suspended for a week pending a personal hearing.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has denied reports he will join Barcelona in the summer. The Spain midfielder said: “Barcelona have denied it, I have denied it. I just want to focus on Arsenal.” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger commented: “Nothing plus nothing is nothing.”

Wenger also has fitness concerns over Andrey Arshavin (hamstring) and Alex Song (knee) ahead of next week's Champions League first leg tie away to FC Porto. Arshavin has stated Arsenal must win every remaining game if they are to challenge for the Premier League title.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has been charged with tax evasion along with former Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric.  The case was adjourned until 14 April after neither entered a plea and both were released on unconditional bail.

Defender Rhys Williams has committed himself to Middlesbrough for at least another three years after signing a new contract that runs until 2013.
 
Leicester City will be without forward Matt Fryatt for about two months after he had to have surgery on a broken jaw. Manager Nigel Pearson said: “He'll be a big loss but we'll cope. His welfare comes first.”

League One MK Dons have signed central defender James Tunnicliffe on a one-month emergency loan from Brighton.

Portsmouth winger Matt Ritchie has signed for Swindon Town on loan until the middle of May.

Thursday 11 February

Chelsea saw their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to just one point after they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Everton. Florent Malouda had fired Chelsea into the lead but Louis Saha netted two goals to make it a memorable victory for the Merseyside club.

Manchester United had to settle for a point following their 1-1 draw against Aston Villa. Carlos Cuellar fired Villa into the lead but United quickly drew level following an own goal from James Collins. United had to play the majority of the game with ten men after Nani was shown a straight red card.

Arsenal got back on the winning trail and kept alive their title hopes with a 1-0 win over Liverpool. Abou Diaby got the crucial matchwinner after 72 minutes.

West Ham moved out of the bottom three with a vital 2-0 home win over Birmingham. Alessandro Diamanti scored the opening goal on the stroke of half-time before England striker Carlton Cole sealed all three points with the second.

Wolves recorded a Premier League double over Champions League hopefuls Tottenham with a 1-0 win at Molineux. David Jones scored his first league goal of the season to ease the club’s relegation worries.

Blackburn eased their relegation fears as they beat Hull 1-0 at Ewood Park. Martin Olsson's shot was diverted into the net off Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill. Hull’s misery was compounded when George Boateng was shown a red card.

Celtic closed the gap on leaders Rangers to eight points as they came away with a 2-0 home win over Hearts. Rangers fought back from a goal down to salvage a 1-1 draw with Motherwell.

Portsmouth have been granted extra time to fight a winding-up petition from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The south coast club have been given seven days to produce a statement of affairs and claim to have received two “serious” offers to buy the club.

Cardiff and Southend have both had their winding-up orders adjourned for 28 days by the High Court in London.

Wednesday 10 February

Manchester City have moved up to fifth in the Premier League after beating Bolton 2-0 with a penalty from Carlos Tevez and a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor. Fulham scored a welcome 3-0 victory over Burnley thanks to goals from Danny Murphy, David Elm and Bobby Zamora. And Stoke came from behind to draw 1-1 at Wigan, Tuncay cancelling out Paul Scharner’s spectacular opener.

Aruna Dindane scored a 96th minute equaliser for troubled Portsmouth against Sunderland to lift spirits at Fratton Park. The much-needed point came despite debutant defender Ricardo Rocha being sent off for a foul on Darren Bent, who put Sunderland ahead from the penalty spot.

Southampton will play Carlisle in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final at Wembley after both teams came through their area finals’s last night. Carlisle edged out Leeds 6-5 in a penalty shoot-out after losing 3-2 on the night to make the score 4-4 on aggregate. Goalkeeper Adam Collin was the shoot-out hero. Southampton had an easier night at St Mary’s, beating MK Dons 3-1.

In the Championship, Newcastle suffered a shock 3-0 defeat at Derby – allowing West Brom to overtake them at the top of the table after the Baggies won 2-0 against Scunthorpe. Roman Bednar and Gianni Zuiverloon were the goalscoring heroes for West Brom while Derby’s strikes came from Rob Hulse, Kris Commons and Shaun Barker – and their victory ended a 15-match unbeaten run for Newcastle. In a day of surprises, promotion seekers Nottingham Forest also lost, going down 1-0 at Coventry to a Freddy Eastwood goal.

In League One, Swindon consolidated their place in the play-off spaces by beating Oldham 4-2 with Billy Paynter scoring twice while Huddersfield were held 0-0 at Brighton. In a relegation six-pointer, Tranmere won 1-0 at Gillingham thanks to a crucial goal from Ian Moore.

Bournemouth returned to form in League Two by beating Notts County 2-1 at home with two goals from Danny Hollands. They are now only three points behind leaders Rochdale.

Rising star Myles Weston has signed a new contract at League One side Brentford. The winger has scored nine goals this season since signing from Notts County.

Tuesday 9 February

Anthony Wordsworth scored twice as Colchester beat Southend 2-0 on Monday night to lift Aidy Boothroyd's men to fourth in League One.

In The FA Youth Cup, three-time winners Liverpool were dumped out by Watford, with the young Hornets winning 1-0 to secure a Quarter Final showdown with Chelsea.

England midfielder David Beckham insists he will keep his emotions in check if he scored against former club Manchester United next week. Beckham and AC Milan clash with United in the Champions League and he said: "Sometimes emotion can get the better of you when you score but I do not think I would celebrate. I respect the supporters and the club."

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack reckons Arsenal are not out of the title race yet. Arsene Wenger's men are now nine points behind the leaders following their 2-0 defeat on Sunday but Ballack said: "If you look now, it seems like a race between Manchester United and us - but four weeks ago, you could see how it was different and it can go quick when teams lose points."

Liverpool star Steven Gerrard has called on his team-mates to ensure there are no more slip-ups in the race for a Champions League place. Liverpool are back up to fourth and Gerrard said: "We want to extend our run and go on to better things as we can't afford any slip-ups because there is pressure coming from Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa."

Rachel Yankey says she is pleased to be back in Hope Powell's England squad to defend the Cyprus Cup later this month. The Arsenal star is set to win her 90th cap. "It's good to be back," said Yankey, "But there will be lots of players fighting for places and I'll be taking nothing for granted."

Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson, 19, damaged ankle ligaments in the 1-1 draw with Wigan on Saturday and looks set to miss up to six weeks.

Meanwhile, England World Cup hopeful Gary Cahill could miss the rest of the season. The Bolton defender has a blood clot in his arm.

Preston manager Darren Ferguson has signed Manchester United and England U19 starlet Matt James, 18, on loan until the end of the season.

West Brom have also been active in the loan market - they have signed West Ham forward Frank Nouble until the end of the season.

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie hopes he can get the winding order issued by HM Revenue and Customs delayed until further notice. The hearing over unpaid debts is set for Wednesday and Storrie said: "Our objective, now the new owner is in place, is to seek from the courts a stay of the winding-up order. We need time for a new buyer to come in and then we will be in a position to pay the Revenue."

Tony Pulis is still targeting survival for his Stoke side this season, despite a positive campaign so far. The Potters are 11th and unbeaten this year but Pulis said: "We have got to get to 40 points, I think everybody will be wanting to get that."

Monday 8 February

Didier Drogba scored twice to send Chelsea back to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 derby victory over London rivals Arsenal. It takes his tally to 22 goals this season in 26 starts for the Blues and leaves Chelsea two points ahead of second-placed Manchester United.

Carlo Ancelotti and Arsene Wenger have both refused to rule Arsenal out of the title race even though they are now nine points behind leaders Chelsea in the Premier League table. Ancelotti said: I think for Arsenal it’s difficult to return to the top of the table but they still have a possibility because they are a good team. It depends on the performances now of Manchester United and Chelsea. I’m not sure it will be a race with only two horses.” And Wenger added: “I feel we are not in the best of positions but we will not give up.”

Kevin Phillips came off the bench to inspire Birmingham City to a 2-1 victory over derby rivals Wolves. Kevin Doyle put Wolves ahead but Phillips scored twice late on to snatch three points and leave Birmingham eighth in the Premier League. Birmingham boss Alex McLeish was full of praise for former England star Phillips, saying: “When he comes on as bright as he did today then there's no better man in that box for you. Kevin has just got that natural ability, he's a born finisher.”

Robbie Keane scored his first goal for Celtic as they won 4-2 at Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup. Diomansy Kamara, Morten Rasmussen and a Calum Woods own goal helped the Glasgow giants come back from 2-1 down to win the game.

Inter Milan have gone eight points clear at the top of Serie A in Italy after beating Cagliari 3-0 while David Beckham's AC Milan drew 0-0 at Bologna. AS Roma moved ahead of the Rossoneri into second place in the table with a win away at Fiorentina, thanks to a late strike from Mirko Vucinic.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed England’s new captain, Rio Ferdinand. He said: “It's great for Manchester United to have one of our players captaining England. Over the years we've had Gary Neville, Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson for 60-odd games or something so we're very proud of that.”