| Brian Moore: Liverpool supporters cannot cry foul now - the damage was already done Between 1975 and 1990, Liverpool dominated English football in a way that it is almost impossible to comprehend today. telegraph.co.uk |
Former Tottenham Defender Roberts to Coach Pakistan KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan's football chiefs have turned to former Tottenham Hotspur defender Graham Roberts in a bid to make a mark at next month's Asian Games in China. feeds.nytimes.com |
How Wayne Rooney moved the goal-posts The gap between us and them is now a yawning chasm, says Jim White. telegraph.co.uk |
Liverpool draws amid crowd trouble in Europa League Liverpool stayed top of Group K in the Europa League by holding Napoli to a goalless draw in a match marred by clashes between both sets of supporters inside and outside San Paolo Stadium on Thursday. cbc.ca |
Birmingham City 2-0 Blackpool | Premier League match report Naivety can be refreshing but there comes a point at which in a footballing context it becomes embarrassingly exploitable. Birmingham City, a team who had not scored at home in their three previous matches, were given more space in midfield by Blackpool than they knew what to do with, and only their lack of pace up front saved the visitors from a hiding.And yet, as Blackpool's 3,000 travelling supporters will doubtless point out, the Tangerines spurned several good chances, which goes some way towards explaining why going into this match no team in the Premier League had secured more points away from home than Blackpool's nine, and at the same time no team had conceded more goals on their travels.There was more incident in the first five minutes than Birmingham fans have been used to seeing in some entire games this season. Blackpool's Gary Taylor-Fletcher had the first chance after barely a minute, but his header – after Stephen Carr was caught out at the far post by Neal Eardley's cross – lacked power.Eardley was again a central figure moments later. Alexander Hleb's pass sent Keith Fahey clear, and Eardley's trip – accidental or not – appeared to deny a clear goalscoring opportunity. The referee, Anthony Taylor, disagreed, reaching only for the yellow card, and Sebastian Larsson's free-kick was touched over by Blackpool goalkeeper Matt Gilks.Fortune may have evened itself out soon afterwards, when Liam Ridgewell, scuffling for the ball with Taylor-Fletcher, appeared to handle the ball in his own area. If so, the offence was missed by referee and assistant.Birmingham should have taken the lead in the 11th minute, when Hleb, revelling in the space afforded him by the Blackpool midfield trio, put Garry O'Connor through on goal. The Scot is not the fastest of movers at the best of times, however, and that and his need for an extra touch gave Craig Cathcart enough time to get back and make a clearing tackle.Still the chances kept coming, and Taylor-Fletcher's out-stretched foot was within a couple of inches of turning Stephen Crainey's low cross past City goalkeeper Ben Foster.Shortly after the half hour the long-threatened opener arrived. Under pressure from Ridgewell, David Vaughan headed Larsson's corner from the right back across goal, the giant Nikola Zigic nodded the ball against the bar and, with Gilks stranded, Ridgewell stooped to head the rebound into the empty goal from no more than a couple of yards.The second goal, while resulting from another Larsson corner, was even more bizarre. This time it was Roger Johnson who got to the ball first, but his header was going well wide when Ridgewell, having made his run and been bypassed by Larsson's delivery, stuck out a leg and deflected the ball back from near the byline into the six yard box.Even then Charlie Adam should have cleared it, but the midfielder unaccountably decided to take a touch and miscontrolled the ball into the path of Zigic, who bundled it in.Birmingham CityBlackpoolRichard Raeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |