| James Richardson's newspaper review James Richardson rounds up the best comment from the European sports pagesJames RichardsonAndy Gallagher guardian.co.uk |
How Tony Curtis almost shared a scene with Denis Law Tony Curtis came close to sharing a screen with one of the most iconic Scots of his generation during the 1986 World Cup. telegraph.co.uk |
Roar deny Jets of upset Brisbane Roar recover from a first-half own-goal to secure a 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets at Suncorp Stadium. foxsports.com.au |
Middlesbrough 1-2 Leeds Pressure is mounting on the Middlesbrough manager, Gordon Strachan, after his team were defeated by Leeds at the Riverside.A crescendo of boos from the home supporters greeted the final whistle, while jubilant United fans celebrated their team rising to ninth in the table in manager Simon Grayson's 100th match in charge.Boro were widely tipped to launch a promotion push under Strachan's stewardship but find themselves languishing in 20th – two points above the drop zone – after another damaging loss. Davide Somma needed just 12 minutes to open the scoring for Leeds and, despite Kris Boyd's second-half leveller, Luciano Becchio lashed in a fine volley as the visitors earned a deserved win.Gary O'Neil shook off a hamstring problem to return for the home side, while Leeds were without the suspended Alex Bruce and keeper Kasper Schmeichel. The two teams paid tribute to Malcolm Allison prior to kick-off following the former Boro boss' death this week.Even though this was the hosts' biggest crowd of the season, empty seats were aplenty at the Riverside following the Teeside club's underwhelming start to the campaign.And they Middlesbrough began on the backfoot as Jonny Howson powered into the box and drove a shot over the bar, before Robert Snodgrass sent a daisy-cutter into the hands of Jason Steele.Nicky Bailey then miscued a volley horribly wide at the other end and the comedy continued when Leeds midfielder Amdy Faye inexplicably caught the ball in the box after thinking he had heard a whistle from referee Chris Foy. Leeds were rewarded for theirbright opening when Davide Somma swung a left leg at Sanchez Watt's deflected centre to send the ball past Steele. In response for Middlesbrough, Scott McDonald and O'Neil fired in shots that failed to trouble Jason Brown while Boyd should have done better when he evaded the attentions of Neill Collins but headed wide.Somma ought to have played in Becchio when Leeds had a two-on-one just before half-time, but the striker opted to shoot despite his colleague being unmarked on the edge of the box.Middlesbrough improved after the break and Boyd got in front of Richard Naylor to prod in an equaliser after 53 minutes from Matthew Bates's inviting cross.Leeds rallied and restored their advantage 10 minutes later in emphatic fashion when Becchio sent a stunning left-foot volley in off the post from Bradley Johnson's clever cut-back.The Argentinian was brimming with confidence and he cracked a shot off the crossbar with Grayson's team threatening to put the game out of sight. Boro put in a late rally in search of an equaliser but seldom tested Brown as Leeds left with all three points.MiddlesbroughLeeds UnitedChampionshipguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Celtic manager Neil Lennon envious of Rangers' fixture pile-up Neil Lennon has declared he would rather his players had the fixture list burden of their Rangers counterparts. telegraph.co.uk |