Chelsea seek to avoid curse of Turf Moor

January 30, 2010

If Chelsea are to open up a lead at the summit of the Premier League this weekend, they must achieve a result that has proved beyond title rivals Manchester United and Arsenal.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti takes his side to Turf Moor to face Burnley, who have beaten Sir Alex Ferguson’s champions and held Arsene Wenger’s Gunners already this season.

Following on from an impressive 3-0 mid-week success against Birmingham, who had not lost for 15 matches ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge, optimism will be high within Chelsea ranks that they can collect another three points.

However, this fixture will provide a test of character for the side and experienced players at the club will realise it requires as much concentration and focus as any encounter against one of the country’s bigger clubs.

The Blues have suffered two away defeats this term, at the hands of Manchester City and Aston Villa, and this latest game on the road is an opportunity to open the gap at the top of the league.

United and Arsenal face each other on Sunday, meaning a win at Burnley would leave Chelsea four points clear of Ferguson’s side, and five ahead of Wenger’s men.

“If we open up that gap again it’ll be great,” said midfielder Frank Lampard, who was an integral part of Chelsea’s two Premier League title successes (2004-05 and 2005-06) under Jose Mourinho.

“Those little mental things are great during the season.

“It’s a great to be back on top. We knew we had games in hand but we didn’t like to see ourselves down in third place. Arsenal were on a good run but it’s a marathon not a sprint.”

Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are both available following their return from the African Nations Cup but the Ivory Coast duo have been given the weekend off to recover from their long trip back to London.

Chelsea’s ability to cope without Drogba’s goals was questioned before he flew off to Angola, but since then the London outfit have won all four fixtures they have played — scoring 17 goals along the way.

“We didn’t say we’d struggle this month, everyone else did,” Lampard added. “We have a lot of belief. I just think the loss of Didier was talked about too much. We’ve got the players who can come in. Maybe some needed to step up and everyone has done.

“We have gone up another gear this month. We had a bad run in December, dropped some points and we’ve worked hard to get that back.”

The last time these sides met was in August, and Chelsea ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of goals from Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole.

Since then Burnley have changed managers though, and Brian Laws has failed to pick up a win since taking over from Owen Coyle earlier in the month. In fact, Burnley have not even scored a goal since he arrived.

The former Sheffield Wednesday chief has lost all three matches so far, leaving the Clarets inside the bottom three. And they have injury problems to contend with too.

Versatile anchorman Graham Alexander and midfielder Chris McCann are almost certainly ruled out of the game, although Cameroon international Andre Bikey returns from international duty.

Defender Leon Cort and goalkeeper Nicky Weaver have been brought in this week in an attempt to add strength in depth to the squad.

Cort, a 1.5-million-pound (1.7-million-euro) signing from Stoke, is set for his debut against Chelsea, while former Manchester City keeper Weaver, who joined as a free agent, has made it clear he is ready to challenge Brian Jensen for the number one spot.

He said: “The chance to come back into the Premier League was something I couldn?t turn down and hopefully it?s longer than just for a few months.

“There are 16 games left and a lot of points to play for and all the players will pull in the right direction to keep the club in the Premiership.”

BURNLEY, England (AFP)

Tags: african nations cup, alex ferguson, aston villa, burnley, carlo ancelotti, didier drogba, four points, frank lampard, gunners, Ivory Coast, jose mourinho, london chelsea, long trip, manchester city, Salomon Kalou, stamford bridge, turf moor, Wenger

Race on in Italy to peg back Inter

October 31, 2009

It will be a case of damage limitation this weekend for Inter Milan’s Serie A title rivals.

The reiging four-in-a-row champions went four points clear of the pack on Thursday following a thrill-a-minute 5-3 win over Palermo.

And the worry now for Inter’s rivals and neutrals alike is that the gap could keep on growing if the leaders don’t slip up soon.

Inter travel away to newly-promoted Livorno on Sunday in a game they will be expected to win comfortably, even if they do ring the changes to keep some players fresh ahead of a long trip to Ukraine to tackle Dynamo Kiev in midweek.

Livorno may have won two straight games since Serse Cosmi took over from Gennaro Ruotolo just 10 days ago with the club rock bottom and winless, but beating Inter will be a whole different proposition for the team with the worst attack in the league.

Inter’s main rivals have a 24-hour start on the champions to try to put some pressure on them and provoke a slip.

AC Milan and Juventus host Parma and Napoli respectively on Saturday — Inter play on Sunday — but come into their matches in vastly differing states of morale.

Juve are on a high after climbing to second in the table following Wednesday’s 5-1 thrashing of Sampdoria, who had been above them at kick-off.

That victory convinced Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon that his Juve team are back to their best.

“Scintillating? No, I’d call it a nuclear explosion,” he said about the performance against Samp.

“That’s the quality we have and we knew it. We wanted to win and to do so convincingly.

“We’ve always performed against the big teams, but unfortunately it’s the other matches that make the difference.

“We need to try to stop dropping points in those to give ourselves a chance of reaching our goals.”

Napoli are one of the teams who probably fall into the category of other matches for Juve and they will be buoyed by their stunning late comeback against Milan on Wednesday when they snatched a 2-2 draw despite reaching 90min at 2-0 down.

It meant they remained unbeaten under coach Walter Mazzarri and they showed enough against Milan to suggest they will be more than a handful for Juve, as long as they can tighten up at the back, where they did look vulnerable.

Milan had been on course for a fourth straight win but the two dropped points now leaves them nine points behind Inter and knowing that they can afford few such banana skins if they are to have any hope of winning the title this year.

If truth be told, Napoli deserved their draw and Milan’s luck finally ran out after three games in a row where they fought back from 1-0 down to snatch narrow victories.

They host a newly-promoted team but one holding a Champions League qualification berth and with a lot to defend on Saturday night.

At the bottom Marco Baroni takes over Siena for the first time following the sacking of Marco Giampaolo as the Tuscans host Lazio, whose own coach Davide Ballardini is surely perilously close to the boot after they slumped to 15th with Wednesday’s 1-0 home loss to Cagliari.

Meanwhile, Samp will be hoping to bounce back from their Turin humiliation at home to Bari while Palermo and Fiorentina will both look to boost their Champions League qualification hopes as they host Genoa and Catania respectively.

Fixtures:

Saturday

AC Milan v Parma, Juventus v Napoli

Sunday

Cagliari v Atalanta, Chievo v Udinese, Fiorentina v Catania, Livorno v Inter Milan, Palermo v Genoa, AS Roma v Bologna, Sampdoria v Bari, Siena v Lazio

ROME (AFP)

Tags: Bari, catania, cosmi, dynamo kiev, fiorentina, four points, Gennaro Ruotolo, genoa, gianluigi buffon, inter milan, inter travel, Italy, italy goalkeeper gianluigi buffon, juve, juventus, Kiev, livorno, long trip, Marco Baroni, Marco Giampaolo, Milan, neutrals, nuclear explosion, Palermo, parma, rock bottom, ruotolo, samp, sampdoria, straight games, thrill a minute, turin, ukraine, Walter Mazzarri

You can still watch Ukraine v England on TV … you just have to come to Croatia

October 6, 2009

A quick look around the blogosphere suggests that for many England fans the idea of watching the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in front of a computer screen at the mercy of an ISP, or at a crammed cinema, sounds about as appealing as making the long trip to Dnipropetrovsk.

But do not despair, England fans, because there is an option for those of you determined to watch it on telly.

Croatia’s HRT 2 state television, also viewable in Serbia on cable, is showing the game live, so here is your chance to combine a bit of light football watching with an autumn dip in the Adriatic somewhere along Croatia’s mesmerising coast, or an evening spent sampling Belgrade’s unique and vibrant nightlife, epitomised by boat-bars and clubs along the Danube.

And fear not that the Croatian faithful might have a go at you after their team’s recent 5-1 drubbing at Wembley. They will be praying for an England win that would leave their boys in the driving seat for a runners-up spot in Group Six.

PHOTO: A subscription page is shown on a laptop computer at a cafe in central London October 5, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Source

Tags: adriatic, Belgrade, blogosphere, central london, croatia, danube, despair, driving seat, drubbing, England, england fans, laptop computer, long trip, melville, mesmerising, runners, state television, subscription page, ukraine, vibrant nightlife, Wembley, world cup qualifier

Four-star Sunderland crush Norwich

August 25, 2009

Premier League side Sunderland crushed League One rivals Norwich 4-1 in the League Cup second round at Carrow Road on Monday.

In a repeat meeting of the 1985 final which Norwich won 1-0 with Sunderland manager Steve Bruce in the team Sunderland raced into the third round in the space of ten first half minutes with goals from Teemu Tainio and a double from Andy Reid.

Wes Hoolahan pulled one back for the hosts after the break only for Owain Tudor-Jones’ 67th minute own goal to wrap up a good evening’s work for the visitors.

Republic of Ireland midfielder Reid, who had netted only two goals since his move from Charlton, was one of nine changes by Bruce against the team he lifted this competition with almost two and a half decades ago.

Sunderland were, though, still far too good for City, whose main concern under new boss Paul Lambert will be getting back into the Championship at the first attempt.

Although the home side had started brightly, Norwich were undone all too easily on the break.

Tainio set the ball rolling after 26 minutes, and then Reid netted a well-taken double to put the tie beyond Lambert’s men before half-time.

Hoolahan reduced the deficit just after the hour, only for Tudur Jones to quickly deflect a corner into his own net.

Norwich finished with only nine men when defender Michael Spillane was sent off for a professional foul on Frazier Campbell, and keeper Ben Alnwick suffered up a cut to his face.

Sunderland now prepare for their Premier League clash at Stoke, while next up for Norwich is a long trip to Hartlepool – which just about sums up the current difference between the two clubs.

In other second round ties Tottenham start their bid to reach the League Cup final for a third successive season against Championship club Doncaster.

Big-spending Manchester City travel to Championship side Crystal Palace, while West Ham host bitter London rivals Millwall.

Huddersfield manager Lee Clark will look forward to a return to the north east against his former club Newcastle. Stoke are away at Leyton Orient and Hull entertain Southend.

Portsmouth are at home to League Two Hereford, who knocked out League One Charlton in the first round.

Blackburn face a tough trip to newly promoted League One outfit Gillingham, while Premier League newboys Wolverhampton host Swindon.

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: andy reid, ben alnwick, Bruce, Carrow Road, charlton, city travel, crystal palace, frazier, good evening, Hartlepool, Hereford, Lambert, long trip, manchester city, michael spillane, midfielder, new boss, Norwich, Owain Tudor-Jones, paul lambert, Portsmouth, premier league, professional foul, republic of ireland, Sunderland, tainio, tudor jones, tudur, Tudur Jones, Wes Hoolahan, west ham

Gignac double sinks Trabzonspor

August 21, 2009

Toulouse over came a stiff opposition in the form of Trabzonspor as a André-Pierre Gignac double helped them with a 3-1 away win at the Huseyin Avni Aker Stadium in Trabzon, in their Europa League qualifier.

Alain Casanova’s men travelled to Turkey fresh from a 3-1 league win over Saint-Etienne and managed to take their form with them despite the long trip and the intense atmosphere of the Huseyin Avni Aker Stadium.

André-Pierre Gignac once again lived to his call-up to the France national team and league-topping 24 goals last season as he notched a strike in either half to keep Toulouse’s nose in front.

Despite former Metz and Lens defender Rigobert Song’s notching a quick reply to Gignac’s first goal, Toulouse remained in control of the match and after Gignac posted his second, Guinea international Fodé Mansaré gave Toulouse a third in the 91st minute.

With three away goals, Toulouse are now in the box seat in this tie and can be confident of securing an aggregate victory when they host Trabzonspor in the return leg next Thursday.

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: abhimanyu, aggregate victory, Aker Stadium, Alain Casanova, box seat, casanova, double sinks, France, france national team, Guinea, intense atmosphere, Lens, long trip, match, metz, Pierre, quick reply, return leg, saint etienne, Toulouse, trabzon, trabzonspor, Turkey

Gerrard determined to seize World Cup last chance

June 2, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Steven Gerrard believes next year’s World Cup finals will represent his last chance to get his hands on the biggest prize in football.

England are well-placed to reach South Africa after winning their first five qualifiers to open up a five-point lead over nearest rivals, Croatia.

Further wins, in Kazakhstan on Saturday and against Andorra at Wembley on June 10, would put Fabio Capello’s men on the brink of clinching top spot in their group and Gerrard is determined not to miss out on a tournament that will be played just after his 30th birthday.

“For me, it will be the last chance of doing well at a World Cup,” the Liverpool captain admitted during a break from England’s preparations for the long trip to Kazakhstan.

“Maybe by the time of the next one (2014) I might not be in my prime. That is a big motivation for me.

“We’ve now got these two important qualifiers coming up and if we want to play in the finals, we’ve got to get two good results.

“When we met up with the manager he said basically he wants the two wins to put us in the driving seat in the group. If we win these two games, we may possibly only need three more points.

“Of course, we know it will be warm in Kazakhstan and any international away from home is very difficult but there will be no excuses on our part.

“We should win these two games comfortably and put ourselves on the brink of going through.”

Capello has denied Gerrard the central role he plays for Liverpool but the midfielder insists he is happy to fit in on the left of midfield with a license to get forward and swap positions with Wayne Rooney, usually deployed behind a central striker.

“The manager has put me there but with strict orders to interchange with Wayne,” Gerrard said. “He wants me to pick up dangerous positions in a central area and not just on the left. I think he understands I’m not a left-winger.

“He sees the relationship with Wayne improving. We get on very well on and off the pitch and I think that partnership can certainly improve going forward.”