| Rangers Soar But Smith Focuses on Tests Ahead GLASGOW (Reuters) - Rangers converted their stubbornness abroad into effectiveness at home as Steven Naismith's loan goal settled a 1-0 win over Bursaspor, their first Champions League success in three long years. feeds.nytimes.com |
Fernando Torres is fit and ready to fire on all cylinders, says Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson Fernando Torres has overcome his injury troubles and is finally ready to return to his best, Liverpool's Roy Hodgson has said. telegraph.co.uk |
Soccer invitations start pouring in for rescued Chile miners The freed Chilean miners are being flooded with invitations to visit leading European and Latin American soccer teams. Real Madrid president ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Fulham 1-2 Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur limbered up in positive fashion for their Champions League trip to Internazionale on Wednesday night while Fulham surrendered their unbeaten Premier League record under Mark Hughes. The devil, however, was in the detail here in west London and for Fulham it positively reeked of sulphur.When Tom Huddlestone pulled the trigger on a shot from 25 yards in the 64thminute, from Gareth Bale's corner, with a gripping game finely poised, his Tottenham team-mate William Gallas appeared to be in an offside position in front of goal. Up went the linesman Martin Yerby's flag and, when the ball fizzed past Mark Schwarzer into the far corner of the net, the referee Mike Dean disallowed the goal.But that was just the beginning. Dean, who had overruled Yerby in the first half over an offside call, decided to go over to him to check. It was unclear whether Tottenham's vociferous protests had motivated him to do so.Huddlestone's shot had deflected slightly off Chris Baird but not off Gallas, despite him lunging for the ball, and suddenly there was Dean pointing to the centre circle, overruling the decision and reinstating the goal.Whether Gallas had been interfering with play or, at the very least, distracting the goalkeeper had supporters chuntering well after full time. The pity was that the controversy diverted attention from Rafael van der Vaart's brilliance for Tottenham and a decent performance from Fulham. But such decisions unavoidably demand attention.Redknapp's team selection had left no room for doubt regarding where his priorities lay. Starting with Ledley King meant that the central defender would have no chance of playing in Milan – as it happened, he limped off anyway in the 44th minute, after looking to pull a groin muscle as he stretched to clear – while it was something of a surprise to see Gallas pressed in alongside him.Sandro was given his full Premier League debut in place of Jermaine Jenas but there was an argument to say that this was Redknapp's strongest available line-up. Fulham was more important than Inter, which is not a sentence that gets written too regularly.Hughes had entered the game with a quirky statistic behind him. Only once in his past 19 league games as a manager had he tasted defeat – and it was at the hands of Tottenham when he was in charge of Manchester City in December 2009. His solid start at Craven Cottage has been built on organisation, discipline and hard work yet his team has also shown itself to be capable of playing slick, possession football.After Tottenham had started the brighter, and Roman Pavlyuchenko had dragged a shot just past the far post, Fulham began to hint at the opening goal.Diomansy Kamara, starting his first game of the season after injury, glanced wide from a Simon Davies corner; Aaron Hughes also erred with a header when well-placed and Carlos Salcido flashed past the angle from 30 yards.Fulham seemed to have credit in the bank and they cashed it in when Clint Dempsey leapt to bring down a Davies ball. His cross-cum-shot flew through two pairs of Tottenham legs and it fell perfectly for Kamara to crash home.The lead, however, was gone in 60 seconds. Van der Vaart had already showcased his wonderful touch but his role in the equaliser was from a higher plane. The way that he pulled down Bale's ball carried shades of his fellow Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp and the execution of the subsequent impish chip drew gasps.Mark Schwarzer, the giant Fulham goalkeeper, could only watch as it sailed over his head and rebounded off the crossbar. Pavlyuchenko, in front of goal, managed to keep his jaw from the floor, while others were dropping all around him, to tuck away the gift-wrapped opportunity.It was an entertaining, end-to-end contest and both goalkeepers were worked.Schwarzer saved smartly from Van der Vaart and Alan Hutton; Heurelho Gomes acrobatically from Kamara and Chris Baird. In the end, though, a decision from the officials provided the talking point.Premier LeagueFulhamTottenham HotspurDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City: live Follow live, minute-by-minute commentary of the Premier League match between Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday Oct 16 2010, kick-off 16:00 BST. telegraph.co.uk |