TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Everton 3-1 Carlisle United For all the romantic tosh talked about the magic of the FA Cup, contests between Premier League sides and teams from the lower leagues are usually marked by moments of superior vision, skill and style. This was no different, with the proviso that most of the vision, skill and style belonged to the club sitting 15th in League One.Had the volley from Carlisle's captain, Danny Livesey, been fractionally lower, the 6,000 or so fans who struggled south through the snow-swept Cumbrian fells would almost certainly have witnessed the biggest upset of the third round. As it was, Livesey's shot crashed against the crossbar midway through the second half and rebounded back to safety.With eight minutes separating Carlisle from a replay at Brunton Park, Tim Cahill burst through a crowd of defenders to give last year's beaten finalists a nervous passage through to the fourth round with his 50th goal for Everton. In stoppage time, the Carlisle keeper, Adam Collin, brought down Kieran Agard and Leighton Baines finished off the resultant penalty to give the scoreline an underserved sheen.However, Carlisle were to Merseyside eyes sometimes embarrassingly superior. The only moment when Everton looked as if they would enjoy a comfortable afternoon came when Adam Clayton horribly misjudged a back pass to allow James Vaughan a clear run on goal.Since the Everton manager, David Moyes, had chosen to suspend Jo for his unauthorised Christmas in Brazil, Vaughan, making his first start in 17 months, was his only striking option. However, Vaughan rounded the Carlisle keeper coolly enough.Everton were to enjoy the lead for five minutes until Clayton made amends with a muscular run and shot that deflected off Kevan Hurst, was half-saved by Tim Howard and trickled over the line. From that moment until Cahill's intervention, which the Carlisle bench thought should have been disallowed for a foul, the Cumbrians were on top but it was Everton who are through.FA CupEvertonCarlisleTim Richguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Beckham still has the class to inspire Impressive return to Milan shows that David Beckham could have a World Cup role to play for EnglandDavid Beckham likes to show the world his highly marketable smile but he has never looked more genuinely happy on a football pitch than in his time with Milan, which resumed on Wednesday night with a 5-2 victory over Genoa. And for Fabio Capello, who had chosen to spend the evening at San Siro rather than the snowbound Eastlands or Emirates, he produced an encouraging performance.In his years with Manchester United Beckham was making his name and building his brand. With England he had responsibilities. With Real Madrid he was having to prove his right to be called a galáctico. With the LA Galaxy he is getting paid an awful lot of money but is doing his work out of sight of most of the footballing world. With Milan he can relax.This is an aristocratic club where he is wanted for his qualities as a footballer. Adriano Galliani, who wields the power on behalf of Silvio Berlusconi, treats the Englishman with warm respect but not undue deference, as did Carlo Ancelotti. Leonardo, Ancelotti's successor, has given him a similar welcome. The former Brazil player has recovered from a sticky start and can now look on Beckham's arrival as a welcome reinforcement rather than a one-man rescue mission.At the club's training centre a team of physiotherapists, kinesiologists and dieticians are the world leaders in the art of keeping footballers fit and functioning well beyond their normal expiry dates. Beckham has made use of their expertise and advice, and on Wednesday he showed there is no physical reason why he should not play a part in the World Cup finals, which begin five weeks after his 35th birthday.In a BBC radio interview last weekend he teased his interviewer with the suggestion that he might still be playing at 40. No one mentioned Stanley Matthews and the half-century but as long as he is capable of making himself useful then he will not lack for employment opportunities.Out of necessity, in fact, he has cleverly reinvented himself as a utility player, albeit in a five-star, de luxe version of the role. Before the match against Genoa it was first suggested that, given Milan's injury problems, Leonardo would ask him to play at right-back. No problem, he said. Then the situation changed and he was scheduled for a slot on the right of the three-man midfield. On the morning of the match La Gazzetta dello Sport predicted that he would be positioned in the hole behind the three strikers. When the team took the field, however, it could be seen that he was lining up on the right of the attacking tridente, replacing the injured Alexandre Pato alongside Marco Borriello and Ronaldinho.After three minutes he raced down the right alongside his marker, Domenico Criscito, and performed the old familiar trick of getting in a cross without having to beat the defender first. This was one of his best, a fast, low, curling effort that invited Borriello to meet it with an improvised flourish which brought a wonderful save from Marco Amelia. A dozen minutes later he produced his own brilliant first-time flick, showing an impressive degree of physical commitment to put Borriello through again.On the half-hour he drifted into central midfield and flighted a ball up to Borriello of which his team-mate Andrea Pirlo, the master quarterback, would have been proud. Borriello headed it down for Massimo Ambrosini, who drew a foul from Amelia. From the spot Ronaldinho made amends for an earlier miss.Beckham roved around the pitch as the match went on, maintaining the momentum with sensible short passes and only occasionally attempting more ambitious deliveries. By the time he was withdrawn, after 75 minutes, Milan were 5-1 up and he had unquestionably played his part."He's already one of us again," Ambrosini, the captain, said afterwards. "Like all great champions, he takes new situations in his stride. He's arrived to find a new coach and a new formation but he's adapted straight away."Leonardo's assessment was equally encouraging. "During the week, unforeseen circumstances meant that he practised in all the roles," the coach said."But he ended up playing on the right side of the attack and he read the game perfectly."England's manager has already made it clear that as long as Beckham is fit he will be on the plane in June. On Wednesday Capello watched an impressively athletic and mature player who is unlikely to start matches in South Africa and might not be the player whom you would ask to make the tackle that would save your life but who, along with his experience and his technical gifts, now commands a versatility that could prove extremely valuable.David BeckhamMilanFabio CapelloEnglandRichard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Valencia, Mallorca score convincing wins Valencia and Mallorca both produced convincing wins on Sunday to stay in contention for Champions League soccer next season, while Racing Santander's teenage forward Sergio Canales scored another dazzling goal to give his team a 1-1 draw against Valladolid. cbc.ca |
Southampton 2 Ipswich Town 1: match report Ipswich manager Roy Keane now has to contend with the piercing disappointment of an FA Cup upset. telegraph.co.uk |
Senderos ready for a new start at Everton • Swiss defender hopes to 'grow as a player and a man'• 'I am not bitter at leaving. Arsenal gave me a fair chance'Philippe Senderos has conceded he can have no complaints about being frozen out of Arsenal by Arsène Wenger and that his six-month loan to Everton marks a critical period for a career in need of revival at club and international level.The 24-year-old was unveiled as Everton's second loan signing of the transfer window today and becomes a free agent when his Arsenal contract expires this summer, having made only two Carling Cup appearances for Wenger's team this term. Senderos admitted he is under pressure to impress David Moyes quickly in his attempts to secure a permanent transfer to Goodison Park, with no agreement for a long-term deal in place at present, and to secure a role in Switzerland's World Cup squad after the manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, said he would not consider players confined to the sidelines.Senderos's current options are a far cry from the clamour for his signature as a highly rated teenager but the centre-half, who was also sent on loan to Milan for a season by Wenger, admits he failed to seize the opportunities that came his way at Arsenal."They gave me a fair chance," Senderos said. "But at big clubs you have a lot of players and two or three games a week and, if they come in and do well, they will take your place. That's what happened to me. I don't think I've been unfairly treated apart from the last few months but even then the players in the team were doing well and staying in."I am not bitter at leaving. Arsenal are a big club who gave me a lot and I owe a lot to them. They took me from Switzerland when I was 18 and I got to play in a Champions League final and to win the FA Cup. I am proud to say I was an Arsenal player but I couldn't go on not playing every week. I needed to move. I didn't just move to Everton for opportunities, I've moved to Everton because it's a massive club and I can see myself growing as a player and as a man here."Moyes confirmed Everton have concluded a deal to sign the Slovakia goalkeeper Jan Mucha on a free transfer from Legia Warsaw when his contract expires with the Polish club at the end of this season. Having signed Landon Donovan and Senderos on loan this month and made inquiries about a free transfer for the Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford at the end of the season, the Everton manager believes this window indicates that the days of exorbitant transfer fees are numbered – with the exception of isolated clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea."Not every club has the same problems but, if you see some of the debts the really big clubs have now, then what is it like for those who don't have the same revenue?" asked Moyes. "It has been like this for a while now and maybe transfer fees are going to be a thing of the past. Maybe there are not going to be many of the big ones in seasons to come. And that will apply to a lot of clubs."Senderos is likely to be on the bench tomorrow when Everton host Sunderland, with Mikel Arteta doubtful after suffering a groin strain in a behind-closed-doors game arranged to improve his recovery from a cruciate injury on Monday.EvertonDavid MoyesArsenalPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |