| Inter Milan 4 Werder Bremen 0: match report In-form Samuel Eto'o bagged a hat-trick to help injury-hit holders Inter Milan rip apart a dreadful Werder Bremen 4-0. telegraph.co.uk |
Uefa reviews Huddlestone elbow video • Redknapp: 'It's not like Tom, he's not an aggressive player' • Twente's Janko: 'He smashed his arm into my face on purpose'Harry Redknapp is hoping Tom Huddlestone will avoid a Champions League ban after Uefa said it was looking into the incident when the Tottenham midfielder appeared to elbow the FC Twente forward Marc Janko in the face.A Uefa spokesman said: "We have not opened a case against Tom Huddlestone but we are looking into the matter, gathering more information by looking into the video and talking to officials who were on site." There will be a decision early next week as to whether there will be a charge.Janko claims Huddlestone deliberately "smashed his arm into my face" and left him with a nosebleed while the pair tussled during Wednesday evening's Group A game at White Hart Lane.Huddlestone was not punished over the incident on the night – indeed he was being fouled by Janko at the time and the free-kick went the other way – but Uefa may decide to take retrospective action after viewing video evidence.Redknapp revealed he had watched footage of the first-half challenge and acknowledged Huddlestone had made contact with his elbow but cast doubt on whether there was any intent. "I have looked at it. I'd be a liar if I sat here and said I hadn't it, wouldn't I? I know some managers do that," he said. "It's not like Tom, he's not at all an aggressive player, he's a fantastic footballer and a great guy."It looked like he caught him with an elbow. Whether he meant to do it, I'm not so sure. Hopefully, nothing will come of it and we can all move on."Were Huddlestone to be charged and banned over the matter, he could miss Spurs' double-header with the holders Internazionale.Janko said: "If you look at the TV pictures, you will see he clearly hit me on purpose. He smashed his arm into my face. Then when I showed the ref my bleeding nose, he smiled at me."Spurs later had Rafael van der Vaart dismissed for two bookable offences and Janko claimed his side would have won the game had they been playing nine men. He added: "With Huddlestone off and then Van der Vaart, we would have stolen the three points. It's sad they needed the ref's help."Tottenham HotspurFC TwenteChampions Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Arsenal 2-1 Birmingham City | Premier League match report Arsenal's early season stutter has been checked. A deflating run of three matches without a win was exorcised, albeit never comfortably, at Birmingham City's expense to restore much needed momentum to this team's challenge, though it still came tinged in controversy. Jack Wilshere's stoppage-time dismissal for a challenge on Nikola Zigic drew the focus just as the hosts were preparing to celebrate a welcome success.Perhaps there was an inevitability that, after so much debate over ugly and deliberate fouls, this contest would be marred at the last. Wilshere was late in his slide, making contact with Zigic's shin, with Martin Atkinson not hesitating to dismiss the young midfielder. Wilshere departed down the tunnel dismayed, though the sending off was valid. That prolonged the anxiety, though there was relief to be had at the final whistle.This was a tight victory against awkward opponents, Marouane Chamakh's goal early in the second period squeezing out the win with the home side, not for the first time, too often guilty of over-elaborating in their frequent and slickly constructed forays forward. Indeed, this had been fractious at times. The home side and support were exasperated that their early forays forward had yielded no reward – particularly with Sébastien Squillaci denied by a dubious offside decision – and then that their team's own resistance had been breached. Zigic, a giant of a centre-forward, hardly needed to leap to tower above the poorly positioned Gaël Clichy and Johan Djourou to thump a wonderful header back and across Lukasz Fabianski from Keith Fahey's centre and City, who had not won at Arsenal since 1957, had led from their first attack.The Serbian celebrated a first Premier League goal with gusto and, critically, should have registered a second moments later from Roger Johnson's nod across the box, with Clichy again cleverly exposed at left-back, only for Arsenal's route back into the contest to prove immediate. Chamakh exchanged passes with Wilshere and tumbled in the area, the grounded Scott Dann aghast at the award of a penalty with contact by no means clear, for Samir Nasri to convert.That raised the heckles, Alex McLeish exchanging furious words with the home support behind his dug-out having been incensed by Nasri's inadvisable flick out at Liam Ridgewell, and Johnson appearing to lead with his arm in aerial challenge with Chamakh in front of the home bench. The Moroccan saved his riposte for early in the second period, collecting Wilshere's pass and spinning away from Stephen Carr and around Dann and Ben Foster to poke in the hosts' second at the near post.For all the visitors' huff and puff thereafter, the sense persisted that the hosts were likelier to plunder on the break than City to prise parity, only for Wilshere to provide the contest's late sting in the tail. Arsenal survived, though the debate on ill-advised tackles will go on.Premier LeagueArsenalBirmingham CityDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Liverpool takeover: New owner John W Henry to meet Roy Hodgson and players New Liverpool owner John W Henry will visit the club's Melwood training ground on Saturday to meet Roy Hodgson and players. telegraph.co.uk |
Hesmer Becomes 2nd Goalie to Score in MLS History Columbus' William Hesmer became only the second goalkeeper to score a goal in MLS history when he tied the game in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to help the Crew to a 2-2 tie with Toronto FC on Saturday. feeds.nytimes.com |