TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Premier League: Sunderland 1-1 Everton Rather like a couple of nervous drivers fearing the worst after venturing out on to the Christmas ice, Sunderland and Everton were tense and tentative in equal measure. With Steve Bruce's side having now won once in 10 Premier League games and David Moyes's men once in 12, confidence is so low by the Wear and the Mersey that both teams were probably simply relieved to end the afternoon having avoided a calamitous accident in front of a frustrated 47,000 sell-out crowd.Moyes is, with some justification, widely regarded as often being a rather defensive manager, with caution his default setting but even so Everton have not kept a clean sheet since September.No surprise then that Moyes's side swiftly fell behind to Darren Bent's 11th strike of the season here. Bruce is said to harbour doubts about the commitment of Kenwyne Jones but the instinctive understanding the Trinidadian striker and his partner displayed in the creation of the goal suggested that if Aston Villa, Tottenham or AN Other come calling next month Sunderland's manager should think long and hard before breaking up their attacking relationship.After pulling out wide to the right to collect a ball from Bent, who had connected with a long, defence confounding, punt forward, Jones advanced before presenting his co-forward with a cross ideally weighted for the ensuing goalkeeper defying header.Although, shortly aftewards John Heitinga was required to scoop another Bent effort off the line, Everton had arguably been the better side with a Leon Osman shot hitting a post and Louis Saha bending another just wide.Much of what was best about the Merseysiders flowed from Marouane Fellaini. Deployed, controversially, in central midfield the sometime striker alternated delivering the afternoon's best passes with assisting his defence to the point where, in certain situations, he performed a man marking job on Jones.So far so creditable, but the suspicion lingered Fellaini might have been better used up front alongside Saha - particularly as Tim Cahill, deployed in a withdrawn attacking role did not look properly fit and John Mensah, probably Bruce's best player, largely succeeded in marking Saha out of the game.It was no coincidence that Moyes's side looked appreciably more threatening when Yakubu Ayegbeni stepped off the bench and joined Saha up front. Tremendous nuisance value if nothing else, Yakubu quickly served as a decoy, drawing defenders and allowing Steven Pienaar sufficient space to carve out a fierce, swerving, shot which zipped just wide.With the considerable hesitancy on view from both sides such openings were disappointingly rare. Such tentativeness had even spread to Andy Reid. Sunderland's best player during the first part of the season may have seen a free-kick headed clear by Lucas Neill and very nearly created a headed goal for Paulo Da Silva with another but, generally, Reid proved well below his best.The problem for Bruce - badly missing the hamstrung Lee Cattermole here - is that when Reid does not play well Sunderland invariably perform below par as a team.They may have escaped conceding a penalty after Lorik Cana blatantly handed a Leighton Baines cross in the area but the Wearsiders' deficiences here were ultimately highlighted when Fellaini belatedly advanced into the area to half volley Tony Hibbert's cross beyond Marton Fulop.How Bruce must have rued the injury which, a little earlier, had forced Mensah to limp off.Premier LeagueSunderlandEvertonLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Fernando Torres: I want to keep breaking Liverpool records Liverpool striker says breaking record for fastest 50 league goals in Anfield history is "one of most important things I've done in my career". telegraph.co.uk |
Angola arrests two over Togo team attack Angolan authorities have arrested two people on suspicion of taking part in the attack on a bus carrying the Togo national football team. telegraph.co.uk |
Manchester United 4-0 Hull It takes something extraordinary to steal the focus from a crowd pleaser who scores four times to put his team top of the Premier League, but the Glazers managed it at Old Trafford today, where Manchester United's American owners were the fans' prime concern. Wayne Rooney rattled in a four-timer to take his tally for the season to 19 goals in 21 league matches, but the Stretford End spent the afternoon abusing the Âabsentee landlords who have plunged the club into debt to the tune of £716m.While the Accringtons and Prestons were enjoying their Andy Warhol moments elsewhere, United took advantage of their enforced absence from the FA Cup to regain pole position in the league table, but there were empty seats at the Theatre of Dreams for once, and a seditious atmosphere for all but the last 11 minutes, when Rooney was tucking away goals number two, three and four.By way of protest, fans wore the green and gold shirt of the Newton Heath club, which gave birth to Manchester United, and chorused "We love United, we hate the Glazers" throughout. Sensing what was in the air, Sir Alex Ferguson used his programme notes to appeal for unity, to no avail. The old boy is none too happy himself, it seems, and wrote: "I'm not slow to express disapproval myself – even in the boardroom."Both teams arrived in need of an encouraging result, but only one was ever going to get it. United have endured a protracted attack of the hiccoughs lately, losing four of their previous nine games, two of them at home, but the malaise would have had to become a full-blown seizure for them to lose to opponents as poor as Hull. Ferguson sought a return to the defensive security they have been lacking by recalling Rio Ferdinand, who had been hors de combat for fully three months, but this was hardly a test for the England man, and only time will tell if he can regain the optimum form that eluded him at the start of the season.United's manager was able to rest Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Michael Carrick in the knowledge that any XI he put out was likely to be good enough against Phil Brown's relegation strugglers, and the outcome was never really in doubt from the eighth minute, when Rooney opened the scoring after Boaz Myhill had made a pig's ear of Paul Scholes's 25-yarder. Myhill was man of the match against Tottenham last week, but was less impressive here, fumbling a Nani free-kick against his crossbar to facilitate Rooney's second, which was delayed until the 82nd minute.The England striker's third was a header, from Nani's cross and the fourth, fired in from 12 yards, was cleverly set up by Berbatov, on as substitute.In arithmetical terms, at least, Hull were still in it until eight minutes from the end of normal time, and Kamel ÂGhilas was desperately close to burgling an equaliser on his introduction from the bench. Then the roof fell in for Brown and his team, with Rooney slipping into overdrive to become the first United player since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Everton a little over a decade ago to score four in a game.Ferguson paid lip service to the way Hull had been "difficult to break down", but the reality was that the margin would have been even wider had Michael Owen, given a rare start, approached the effectiveness he needs to recover if he is to challenge for that World Cup place. As some of us seem to have been saying all season, the Owen of old would have filled his boots here.The easy part done, local attention turns to the resumption of hostilities between the Mancunian neighbours in Wednesday's decisive second leg of their combustible Carling Cup semi-final. Rooney is up for it; City beware.Premier LeagueManchester UnitedHull CityJoe Lovejoyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Ronaldo banned 2 games for breaking rival's nose Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo has been banned for two Spanish league games for breaking an opponent's nose. cbc.ca |