| Rémy and Gourcuff help France see off Romania Laurent Blanc proved his worth as France coach tonight when his three substitutes combined to give Les Bleus a deserved victory over Romania in their Euro 2012 qualifier, their second in a row as they look to recover from a poor summer in South Africa and a bad start to qualification.Loïc Rémy, a second-half replacement for Mathieu Valbuena, netted seven minutes from time before Dimitrie Payet set up Yoann Gourcuff for a second in stoppage time to give France their second win and put them top of Group D. Both sides had earlier hit the woodwork but the game appeared to be heading for stalemate until Rémy struck.Samir Nasri was at the centre of much of France's good play in the first half and his dangerous cross was well held by Costel Pantilimon after his defence failed to deal with it. Nasri's flicked pass in the area after 19 minutes sent Florent Malouda wide and he could not get his volley the right side of the near post.The dangerous Nasri dinked a cross into the centre after 29 minutes but it was just a fraction high for his captain, Alou Diarra, who could not keep his header down.Valbuena linked well with Karim Benzema but the Marseille man sent his strike straight at Pantilimon.The closest either side came to scoring in the first half came five minutes before the break, when, after good work by Nasri and Malouda, Benzema curled a lovely effort towards goal from the left side of the area, a shot that grazed the post on the way out with Pantilimon well-beaten.After the break, Valbuena's neat backheel set up Malouda, whose strike went wide off Mirel Radoi. Malouda's cross from the resultant corner was headed goalwards by Philippe Mexès, but Pantilimon held on. Valbuena's shot was turned onto the bar by a diving Pantilimon, then Cristian Chivu hooked the ball clear under pressure from Benzema as the pressure built.Pantilimon continued to keep his side on level terms as he got a hand to the ball when Benzema thumped it across goal, then made a double save from Nasri.Blanc brought Rémy on for Valbuena as France searched for a goal, but it was Romania who came within inches of scoring when, after Gaël Clichy gave the ball away, Cristian Sapunaru's first-time effort hit the inside of the post then rebounded into Hugo Lloris's arms. Lloris then stretched to claw away Razvan Cocis's dangerous cross.The hosts calmed the nerves in the Stade de France as they took the lead after 83 minutes in clinical fashion. Diarra's long through ball found Rémy, who took a touch and finished precisely with his right foot from a narrow angle.Rémy missed a tough header at the far post and Yann M'Vila saw his effort saved, before the second arrived in stoppage time courtesy of an impressively swift counterattack. M'Vila found Payet down the right and he kept his cool to pick out his fellow substitute Gourcuff, who slotted home.Draws between Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1) and Luxembourg and Belarus (0-0) yesterday set up the situation that allowed France to move from fourth to top spot in the group. France had followed up their disastrous World Cup by losing their opening qualifying match last month at home to Belarus, who are now third, behind Albania on goal difference, with five points to France's six.Euro 2012FranceRomaniaguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Liverpool takeover: Everton match looms with certainty no closer Club's future still up in the air as Hodgson gets ready for the Merseyside derby telegraph.co.uk |
Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn Rovers Fernando Torres released the pressure valve above Roy Hodgson this afternoon as his first goal in seven appearances gave Liverpool a precious win over Blackburn Rovers. Before the watching Tom Werner, chairman of New England Sports Ventures, the Spain international and Sotirios Kyrgiakos ended a run of five league games without a victory for the Liverpool manager.The Liverpool manager overlooked those fringe players who had impressed in Naples on Thursday in favour of the same starting XI that was easily beaten at Everton in the previous league game. As in the Europa League tie there was a marked improvement in the Liverpool performance as they dominated a Blackburn side missing its first-choice central defence, Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen, to suspension and injury respectively, and without Steven Nzonzi once the central midfielder pulled up with a hamstring strain on the half-hour.Liverpool were in no position to offer sympathy and only an understandable lack of confidence in front of goal denied them a more comfortable victory. Paul Robinson once again demonstrated the folly of England's World Cup selection this summer with a resolute display that commenced with an early reaction save from Joe Cole at close range. Raul Meireles, an assured figure in central midfield, prodded a glorious chance wide from the rebound.Kyrgiakos ensured himself a permanent place in Hodgson's affections when he lost Phil Jones at a Steven Gerrard corner to head beyond the exposed Robinson, although Michel Salgado got the final touch.A calamitous own-goal brought Blackburn level three minutes later when Paul Konchesky cleared off the line from El-Hadji Diouf only for the clearance to cannon off Jamie Carragher's chest and in. With the pantomime villain of Anfield still savouring his part in the equaliser, however, Rovers switched off at another Gerrard corner, Kyrgiakos flicked on a cross from Cole and Torres was left with the freedom of the visitors' penalty area to side-foot into the corner.Premier LeagueLiverpoolBlackburn RoversAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
World Cup 2018: former Fifa official Michel Zen-Ruffinen offers himself as a '£210k' fixer World Cup 'votes for hire' crisis takes new twist with allegations emerging against the former Fifa general secretary. telegraph.co.uk |
FIFA And Kenya Government Order Probe Into Stampede Deaths NAIROBI (Reuters) - World governing body FIFA and the Kenyan Government have ordered investigations into a stampede at a match in Nairobi in which eight fans were killed, officials said on Monday. feeds.nytimes.com |