TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa For an hour it looked like this would be all cake but no icing, an intriguing tussle with no knockout blow. One man changed all that, however. Cesc Fábregas emerged from the substitute's bench just before the hour mark and made fire with his own brand of footballing dynamite. Two fine goals in 26 minutes later, he departed, clutching the hamstring that had been troubling him lately. As cameos go, it took some beating.So there would be no grand slam for Villa, previous conquerors of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool this term. It was certainly a rude awakening for the most consistent and confident of the top-four aspirants, but they have the qualities to bounce back. As for Arsenal, this handsome and hard-fought victory propels them into a tantalising position. Should they win their game in hand, here against Bolton on 6 January, the extra three points would take them to within a point of the top of the table, assuming they and Chelsea each win their intervening fixture.The first half had been an even sparring match, even if Arsenal had more of the half-chances, with Eduardo squandering the best of them. The temperature rose after half-time as both teams seemed a little more willing to go for the jugular. Just before the half-hour mark Arsenal cranked it up – as Fábregas came on, incidentally. His first meaningful act was to pump an audacious free-kick from 35 yards. It sailed narrowly over.That inspired four attempts in a breathless spell which left Wenger's men cursing Villa's resilience. Twice Carlos Cuéllar tidied up on the line, and twice Brad Friedel pulled off an outstanding save, to deny William Gallas from point blank and then claw out Andrey Arshavin's effort.It was Fábregas, inevitably, who unpicked the lock with typical dexterity. The Arsenal linchpin was tripped by Richard Dunne, dusted himself down, and arced a sublime free-kick into the top corner. For once Friedel could not get close. Fábregas's adrenaline clearly went through the roof.Villa could not live with him, and the points were sealed when the Spaniard provided another classy finish to a devastating move in the 81st minute. It was instigated by Armand Traoré, whose crossfield pass invited Theo Walcott to thunder down the right channel. Fábregas gobbled up his pass and swept the ball past Freidel.But for all the damage done to Villa, the curse for Arsenal was the damage simultaneously done to himself. Fábregas pulled up immediately.Gabriel Agbonlahor could have given Arsenal a nervy finish but Manuel Almunia saved bravely with five minutes to go. As it turned out, Abou Diaby curled in a third, with a delightful solo effort in stoppage time.Arsenal: 4-3-3 Almunia; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traoré; DenÃlson (Fábregas, 57; Ramsey, 83), Song•, Diaby; Nasri, Arshavin, Eduardo (Walcott, 63)Subs: Vela, Silvestre, Fabianski, EbouéAston Villa: 4-4-2 Friedel, L Young (Delph, 75•), Cuéllar•, Dunne, Warnock; A Young•, Milner, Petrov, Downing; Agbonlahor, Heskey (Carew, 62)Subs: Sidwell, Reo-Coker, Guzan, Beye, CollinsPremier LeagueArsenalAston VillaAmy Lawrenceguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cristiano Ronaldo predicts golden year for Real Madrid • Winger targets Champions League• Ronaldo also bullish over World Cup chancesCristiano Ronaldo has predicted Real Madrid will be 2010's best team - but warned the club not to be too obsessed with winning the Champions League at their home ground.Madrid are determined to snatch back a portion of the limelight after arch-rivals Barcelona won six trophies in 2009.And, with the Champions League final to be held at the Bernabéu, attention is inevitably on continental success."Real Madrid will be the best team of 2010. We need to have the drive and motivation to win everything that comes our way," Ronaldo told Marca. "Madrid needs to focus on winning the Champions League and La Liga, but it depends on other factors like luck, the draw... But I think we are going to win."Another big challenge on the horizon for Ronaldo is the World Cup, where Portugal have been drawn in Group G alongside Brazil, Ivory Coast and North Korea. He said: "Brazil is an incredible team, but I would like to play Spain because it would mean that we have beaten Brazil and Ivory Coast. Spain is one of the favourites to win the World Cup."Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridPortugalguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
City grant Adebayor compassionate leave Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, turned his thoughts to Emmanuel Adebayor and the "unbearable" events in the Africa Cup of Nations after his side had beaten Blackburn Rovers 4-1 last night to move into fourth position in the Premier League.Adebayor has been granted compassionate leave following the gun attack on the Togo team bus in Angola on Friday that killed the driver, as well as the assistant manager and the team's press officer.The striker has returned to Togo for three days of official mourning. There are no plans as yet for him to return to Manchester and the tournament is going ahead without them. Mancini, meanwhile, is working under the assumption that the player will not be in the right frame of mind to be considered for Saturday's game at Everton.City's victory over a Blackburn side that has now gone 10 league games without a win was preceded by a minute's silence and Mancini then explained that Adebayor had been told to take as long off as he felt necessary to cope with the emotional trauma of what the player has described as the worst experience of his life. "I'm very sorry for him because the situation is unbearable," Mancini said. "I will wait for him and when he comes back we will speak with him. After that we'll decide when he's ready and OK to play."City's fifth victory in a row, and the fourth since the change of manager, was inspired by a Carlos Tevez hat-trick to Âre-affirm his position as the Premier League's in-form striker. Micah Richards scored City's other goal. Morten Gamst Pedersen replied for Blackburn. The visitors' display angered their manager, Sam Allardyce, whose side face Aston Villa in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final on Thursday. "I could not believe what we were doing in the first half," he said.Emmanuel AdebayorTogoAfrica Cup of NationsManchester CityDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
U.S. to play friendly against El Salvador The United States will play El Salvador on Feb. 24 at Tampa, Fla., in the Americans' second World Cup warmup match of year. cbc.ca |
Lerner backs Villa to tune of £138.6m • Lerner has funded ownership with own money• Aston Villa made £7.3m loss last yearAston Villa's US-based owner, Randy Lerner, has put almost £140m into the club since his 2006 takeover, according to official documents. The club's statement of capital, filed at Companies House this month, shows that £138.6m has been invested from Lerner's UK holding company, Reform Acquisitions.The financial accounts for the year to 31 May 2009 are not due to be filed until the end of next month, so it cannot yet be seen how exactly the money was paid to the club. However, the most recent published figures, for the previous year, to 31 May 2008, reveal that the investment up to then, £49.5m, was in the form of loan notes, from Lerner's holding company in the United States.During that year the manager Martin O'Neill's signings and a more than doubling of players' wages led to Villa recording a £7.3m loss. The interest paid on the loan notes owed to Lerner's US company was at a fairly standard 2% above interbank rates, amounting to £4m, which came out of Villa's own income, including fans' ticket money.Lerner's quiet revolution at Villa Park, where his £62.6m takeover was financed with his own and his family trust's money and the £138.6m has since strengthened the team, makes a stark contrast to the regime at Manchester United. There the Glazer family loaded their own borrowings to take the club over on to United itself, and the club were recently revealed to have debts of £716m, not one penny of it paid in as investment for the club.Lerner's funding of Villa, principally to provide O'Neill with money to spend on transfers and wages, has beenmade in nine separate injections since July 2007, according to Companies House documents. The amounts paid to the club range from £8m, in November 2007, to £30m, in August 2008. The money is routed from Reform Acquisitions, which, in the most recent accounts, was shown to have borrowed the investment up to that date from Lerner's US company, also called Reform Acquisitions.this month when he was replaced after the Browns' poor season.The investment and stewardship from Lerner have brought a transformation in Villa's fortunes and qualification for the Carling Cup final, their first Wembley final in a decade. However from 2012-13, the new "financial fair play initiative" from Uefa will require all clubs involved in European competition not to be making consistent losses, regardless of whether they are supported financially by an owner.Aston VillaPremier LeagueBusinessDavid Connguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |