Di Matteo sacked by Chelsea

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo
has been sacked following a run of
poor form.
The Italian won 24 of his 42 games in
charge of the club but, after their 3-0
defeat to Juventus left them in danger
of missing out on the knockout stages
of the Champions League, Chelsea
have decided to end his tenure.
Pep Guardiola has emerged as the
frontrunner to replace Di Matteo, with
Sky Bet offering 7/4 on the former
Barcelona manager taking over.
Rafa Benitez is 2/1 to take the
Stamford Bridge hotseat, while Harry
Redknapp (6/1) is also in the early
running.
"The team's recent performances and
results have not been good enough
and the owner and the Board felt that
a change was necessary now to keep
the club moving in the right direction
as we head into a vitally important part
of the season," read a statement on
the club website.
"The club faces a difficult task ahead in
qualifying for the knockout stages of
the UEFA Champions League as well as
maintaining a strong challenge for the
top of the Premier League while
competing in three other cup
competitions.
"Our aim is to remain as competitive as
possible and challenge strongly on all
fronts.
"The owner and the Board would like
to thank Roberto for all he has done
for the club since taking over in March.
"Roberto helped guide us to an historic
Champions League victory and a
seventh FA Cup. We will never forget
the huge contribution he has made to
this club's history and he will always be
welcome at Stamford Bridge.
"The club will be making an
announcement shortly regarding a
new first team manager."

Skysport

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Roberto Di Matteo takes blame for Chelsea defeat at Juventus

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo
took responsibility for the 3-0 defeat
at Juventus which leaves the Blues on
the brink of a Champions League
exit.
If Juve draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk
on 5 December, Chelsea will be the first
defending champions to be eliminated
in the group stages.
"If anyone has to take blame, it's me. I
selected a team I was convinced would
win or at least draw," said Di Matteo.
"We have hope. Mathematically it is still
possible for us."
Di Matteo signed a two-year contract
in June on the back of winning the
Champions League and the FA Cup as
caretaker, but is under pressure in the
midst of a patch of bad form that has
seen just two wins in their last eight
matches.
Chelsea's defence of their European
title is now out of their hands with
Juventus needing just a point from
their trip to Ukraine against already-
qualified Shakhtar to make the last 16.
In the Premier League the Stamford
Bridge side have slid from four points
clear in the wake of the 4-2 win over
Tottenham on 20 October to the same
number off the top after Saturday's
loss to West Brom.
Di Matteo, 42, accepts that the run of
bad form will inevitably lead to
questions over his future, but he insists
that he does not need any public
backing from the club's hierarchy.
"In a big club like this if you have a few
bad results of course you are under
pressure and everything will be
questioned," he said.
"We are in it together, we had a long
journey to where we are today."
When asked whether he needed a vote
of confidence from the club's owners
he added: "No, I don't need that, the
fact they put trust in me in the summer,
that's enough for me."
The Italian, who made 175 appearances
for the club as a player, has not been
able to coax Fernando Torres back to
top form with the Spanish striker failing
to replicate the form that convinced
owner Roman Abramovich to spend a
club record £50m on him in January
2011.
Di Matteo opted to demote Torres to
the bench against the Serie A leaders,
but, with Eden Hazard deployed
furthest forward, his side rarely
threatened.
"The player is disappointed when he
doesn't start of course," Di Matteo
added of Torres.
"We have to pick ourselves up again, we
have another massive game on Sunday
and if we win we could be back in title
race."

Champions League round-up: Bayern, Valencia, Barca through

Lionel Messi scored twice as
Barcelona booked their place in the
Champions League last 16 with a 3-0
win away to Spartak Moscow.
A 5-2 win over Nordsjaelland, featuring
a controversial Luiz Adriano strike,
ensured Shakhtar Donetsk joined
them.

Bayern Munich pegged back Valencia
as Thomas Mueller levelled in a 1-1
draw that takes both through from
Group F.
Rui Pedro scored a hat-trick as Cluj
ended Braga's interest and kept pace
with Galatasaray in Group H.

Group E
Shakhtar Donetsk's 5-2 win over
Nordsjaelland, combined with their
superior head-to-head record against
Chelsea, ensured that they cannot be
denied their place in the last 16.
Brazilian striker Adriano scored a hat-
trick in the victory but his first prompted
an angry reaction from the Danes.
Play was stopped with a Nordsjaelland
player down injured. Shakhtar
midfielder Willian then attempted to
return the ball to the opposition
goalkeeper from an uncontested drop-
ball, but Adriano collected the ball and
scored.
There was then confusion when
Nordsjaelland kicked off, with Shakhtar
initially standing off and allowing them
to dribble toward goal before making a
tackle and playing on.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said: "I
asked my players what happened.
Adriano said: 'It was instinct, I see the
ball and I dribbled and I scored a goal'.
"We wanted to let them score, there
was big confusion in the team. They
deserved to score, and after 2-1 we
started to play football. It's a pity that
this happened. I'm sorry."
Nordsjaelland coach Kasper Hjulmand
said: "I don't know if Shakhtar are
bandits, but some of their players,
bosses and coaches are without
morals.
"In my world it's unsportsmanlike
conduct and a red card for Luiz Adriano
would have been quite appropriate.
"[If my team did that] I would have
called the team to the side and told
them to give away a goal. I would have
done that, 100%."
Chelsea, who lost 3-0 to Juventus, will
become the first defending champions
to fall in the group stages if the Serie A
leaders manage a draw away in
Donetsk in their final game.

Group F
Bayern Munich and Valencia's meeting
produced the draw that meant both
sides progressed. The Spaniards' lead
lasted just five minutes before Mueller
cancellled out Sofiane Feghouli's
opener.
BATE Borisov's hopes of keeping some
qualification issues on the line in the
final round of matches were finished as
they surrendered 2-0 to Lille. They were
the French side's first points after four
successive defeats.

Group G
Messi scored his 79th and 80th goals of
2012 to move within five of Gerd
Muller's 1972 record haul of 85 in a
calendar year as Barcelona recovered
from their defeat to Celtic in the
previous round of matches.
Benfica visit the Nou Camp next and will
advance at Celtic's expense if they can
match whatever the Bhoys manage at
home to the already-eliminated Spartak
Moscow.
Ezequiel Garay scored the decisive goal
in Lisbon as Celtic lost 2-1 to Benfica,
falling short of the draw that would
have tied up their place in the next
stage.

Group H
Manchester United, already
unassailable as group winners, lost 1-0
to Galatasaray as a youthful team
succumbed to Burak Yilmaz's fifth goal
in the group stages.
The Turkish side go into the final round
of the matches level with Cluj on seven
points after a first-half hat-trick from
Cluj's Rui Pedro put qualification
beyond Braga.
Galatasaray travel to Braga on the final
day, with their passsage dependent on
matching whatever Cluj produce at Old
Trafford.

Galatasaray 1-0 Man Utd

second-half header from Burak
Yilmaz condemned Manchester United
to a 1-0 away defeat to Galatasaray in
the UEFA Champions League.
Yilmaz climbed highest to meet a 54th-
minute corner to inflict upon United
their first defeat in Group H.
With United having already qualified as
group winners, the win leaves
Galatasaray hanging on to second spot
before the final matchday in a
fortnight.
With top spot already secure, Sir Alex
Ferguson left many of his stars at
home, with Nick Powell handed his first
European start and a welcome return
for Phil Jones after a knee injury.
The hosts had the better of the early
exchanges, with Anders Lindegaard
keeping out Yilmaz's drive from
distance, before the Turkish forward
headed over when unmarked midway
through the first half.
United grew into the game and came
closest to opening the scoring when
Powell headed Tom Cleverley's corner
against the bar two minutes before
half-time.
Albert Riera tested Lindegaard again
four minutes after the interval with a
volley from distance which the United
keeper did well to hold.
Lindegaard made an even better save
shortly after to turn Felipe Melo's
header over the bar, but from the
resultant corner in the 54th minute,
Galatasaray took the lead.
Selcuk Inan's delivered an outswinger
from the right which Yilmaz attacked,
outmuscling Darren Fletcher on his
way to planting a header into the top
corner, over Rafael on the far post.
United continued to be a threat on the
counter attack, but Fernando Muslera
remained relatively untroubled in the
hosts' goal.
Ferguson threw on Ashley Young and
Federico Macheda for the last 15
minutes, but Galatasaray almost
doubled their lead moments later
when Hamit Altintop's 25-yard drive
was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by
the diving Lindegaard.
United spent much of the last ten
minutes on the front foot, with Josh
King replacing Danny Welbeck, but
Galatasaray held on and now travel to
Braga on the final matchday in
possession of the second qualifying
spot in Group H.

Messi double downs Spartak

Lionel Messi moved to within five goals
of Gerd Muller's scoring record as
Barcelona qualified for the knockout
stages of the UEFA Champions League
with a 3-0 victory over Spartak Moscow.
The Argentinian scored twice to go to
80 goals so far in 2012, just five behind
Muller's record number of goals
scored in a calendar year from 1972.
Dani Alves gave Barcelona the lead
before Messi's double strike with all
the goals coming before half-time.
It was tough on Spartak who showed
first but Kim Kallstrom fired over
before Pedro almost put the Catalan
side in front, but his instant shot was
superbly parried by goalkeeper Andrei
Dykan who showed his quick reactions
in the centre of the goal.
Barcelona went ahead in the 16th
minute through Alves when he struck a
half-volley cleanly past the goalkeeper
after the ball was laid off by Messi at
the edge of the area.
The visitors then wasted a great
chance to equalise when Emmanuel
Emenike's cross from the right found
Marek Suchy who had got ahead of his
marker but he did not even get a shot
on target from less than 12 yards,
instead ballooning the ball over.
They were left to rue that when shortly
after Barca took a two-goal lead.
Andres Iniesta's shot from a narrow
angle brought a parry from the
goalkeeper but Messi pounced on the
rebound and although he half
snatched at the shot the ball bounced
into the bottom right-hand corner.
Spartak were still creating chances,
Emenike firing over although he was at
full stretch.
Messi scored his second of the night
and Barca's third six minutes before
the break when he timed his run
perfectly and latched on to Pedro's
superbly weighted pass, got ahead of
the defence and rounded the keeper
before slotting the ball home.
Emenike shot over at the start of the
second half but Barca were weaving
the ball around. Yevgeni Makeev
completely miscontrolled the ball when
well-positioned and the game was
clearly beyond the hosts who had
failed to take any of their chances.
Dykan thwarted Messi and Pedro as the
game played itself out without further
score as Barca breezed through

Juventus 3-0 Chelsea

Chelsea are on the brink of an early
UEFA Champions League exit after
losing 3-0 at Juventus on Tuesday
evening.
Fabio Quagliarella diverted Andrea
Pirlo's weak shot past the wrong-
footed Petr Cech to give the home side
the lead just before the interval.
Arturo Vidal added to the lead just
after the hour mark when his side-
footed effort from Kwadwo Asamoah's
cut-back was deflected past Cech off
the heel of Ramires.
And substitute Sebastian Giovinco put
the gloss on the display as he slotted
the ball past the advancing Chelsea
goalkeeper in injury time.
Chelsea must now beat Nordsjaelland
in their final Group E game - and hope
Shakhtar Donetsk beat Juve in Ukraine -
to have any chance of retaining their
European crown.
And Roberto Di Matteo may regret
fielding a new-look line-up with
Fernando Torres axed in favour of
Eden Hazard up front and Cesar
Azpilicueta playing on the right of
midfield.
Juventus had dominated the game
before the break with wing-backs
Stephan Lichtsteiner and Asamoah
pushing forward at every opportunity.
Lichtsteiner should have opened the
scoring inside five minutes but Cech
managed to push his close-range
effort onto the post. At the other end,
Hazard nearly found the breakthrough
only for Gianluigi Buffon to deflect his
shot just wide.
But the home side were producing the
classier football and it was no surprise
when they took the lead through
Quagliarella. In fact, they nearly
doubled their advantage soon after.
Minutes after the opener, Ashley Cole
had to clear off the line to avoid the
Blues going two behind.
But Di Matteo's side remained an
intermittent goal threat and broke
within seconds only for Juan Mata to
see Buffon block his volleyed effort at
point-blank range.
The Chelsea boss did introduce Torres
with 20 minutes remaining but the
visitors were two down by that point
following Vidal's effort, and Giovinco's
late finish puts the Blues on the verge
of a Champions League exit.

African Champions League: Al Ahly beat holders Esperance

Egypt's Al Ahly surprised holders
Esperance of Tunisia with a 2-1
second-leg win to lift the African
Champions League 3-2 on aggregate.
Gedo fired in Al Ahly's opener from 12
yards shortly before half-time and Walid
Soliman doubled their lead just after
the hour mark.
Esperance's Yannick N'djeng pulled a
goal back to set up a tense finish.
Al Ahly had Mohamed Aboutrika's late
penalty saved but held on to become
African champions for a seventh time.
Hossam Ghaly lifted the trophy to seal a
remarkable win amid a domestic
season in Egypt that has been
postponed indefinitely because of the
February stadium riots that left 74
people dead.
Al Ahly, who extended their own record
for the most African Champions League
wins, will represent the continent at the
Fifa Club World Cup in Japan next
month.
Esperance fielded a weakened side due
to suspensions and injuries, although
Youssef Msakni returned to the team,
just two weeks after undergoing an
operation for appendicitis.
The Tunisian side were the more
defensive in a first half that produced
some flowing football but few
goalscoring opportunities.
Ahly were rewarded for their purpose
when Gedo struck on 43 minutes after
good work down the left from Hamdy
Al-Sayed, who shook off a defender and
cut the ball back from the goal-line.
Esperance came into the second half
with more urgency, and N'djeng had a
shot saved on 53 minutes.
Soliman made it 2-0 in the 61st minute,
hooking the ball over the head of
Esperance defender Mohamed Ben
Mansour to leave himself one-on-one
with the keeper on the edge of the box
before shooting into the bottom-right
corner.
N'djeng then hit the post, before finally
getting his goal with six minutes to go,
side-footing in from six yards - but
Esperance still needed two more goals
if they were to retain their title.
Ahly legend Aboutrika had his penalty
pushed past the post by Esperance
keeper Moez Ben Cherifia, who had
fouled Ahly's Mauritania striker
Dominique Da Silva.

Sunderland 3-1 Fulham

Sunderland picked up their second win
of the season with a 3-1 win over 10-
man Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Martin O'Neill's side made their
numerical advantage count in the
second half after Fulham defender
Brede Hangeland was sent off in the
first half.
Steven Fletcher set Sunderland on their
way with the opener five minutes into
the second half with his sixth league
goal of the campaign.
Although substitute Mladen Petric drew
Fulham level just past the hour mark
further goals from Carlos Cuellar and a
superb effort from Stephane
Sessegnon made the game safe for
Sunderland to ease the pressure on
O'Neill.
After a quiet opening period the game
burst into life just past the half-hour
mark when Hangeland was sent off for
a dangerous tackle on Lee Cattermole.
The Fulham captain appeared to leave
the ground as he went in two-footed
on Cattermole and referee Lee Probert
deemed it a straight red card offence.
The second half began in lively fashion
with Sunderland breaking the deadlock
on 50 minutes just seconds after
Fulham struck the woodwork.
John Arne Riise saw his shot deflect off
Phil Bardsley and onto the crossbar
and the play switched straight to the
other end as Adam Johnson picked out
Fletcher with a brilliant through ball
and the striker superbly controlled the
ball before poking it past Mark
Schwarzer.
Fulham, who lost Alex Kacaniklic to
injury in the first half, suffered another
injury blow on the hour mark when
Bryan Ruiz was forced off with a
hamstring problem to be replaced by
Petric and the substitute had a chance
to score straight away when he got in
behind the Sunderland defence, but
he lifted his shot over the top.
A minute later Johnson was denied a
second goal for Sunderland when he
saw his curling shot from the edge of
the box turned round the post by
Schwarzer at full stretch.
Fulham drew level on 62 minutes
through Petric as he converted Duff's
cross from close-range as the
Sunderland defence appealed in vain
for an offside flag against Duff.
Parity proved short-lived as with
Fulham down to nine men as Petric
received treatment off the field after
injuring himself scoring the equaliser
Cuellar restored Sunderland's lead
three minutes when he rose above
Steve Sidwell to head home Johnson's
corner.
Sunderland gave themselves a two-
goal cushion 20 minutes from time
with a sublime goal from Stephan
Sessegnon as the striker netted his first
goal of the season.
Referee Probert played a good
advantage after Danny Rose was
injured in the build-up and Sessegnon
found space outside the box before
unleashing a stunning shot into the
top corner past a stranded Schwarzer
to send the visiting fans into raptures.
Fulham refused to lie down and
Sunderland were indebted to Simon
Mignolet in the closing stages as he
made two fine saves to keep out
Sidwell and Petric as the home side
threatened a comeback.

Martins fires fifth La Liga goal

Obafemi Martins returned from a
disappointing Super Eagles outing to
net his fifth goal for Levante in the
Spanish La Liga on Sunday.
‘Obagoal’ opened scoring at hosts
Deportivo La Coruna after 40 minutes
to restate his case for a place on
Nigeria’s squad for next year’s Africa
Cup of Nations.
The Nigeria international striker was
replaced in the 81st minute.
Levante won 2-0 to move to fourth
place on the table with 20 points from
12 matches.
Martins, who moved to the La Liga
side during the winter transfer
window from Rubin Kazan in Russia,
has now scored five goals thus far.

El Shaarawy brace saves Milan

A brace, including a goal eight
minutes from time, from Stephen El
Shaarawy saw AC Milan salvage a
share of the spoils in a Serie A league
match against Napoli.
Napoil took a two goal lead in front of
their home fans at the Stadio San
Paolo, both goals coming in the
opening half through Gokhan Inler
and Lorenzo Insigne, before El
Shaarawy pulled the match out of the
fire with a goal at the end of each half.
Both Napoli’s goals came about
because of errors made by Milan, the
first occurring as early as the fourth
minute of the match.
A blunder by Christian Abbiati
between the sticks for Milan saw him
allow a rather timid long range shot
from Inler go through his legs and
across the goalline, 1-0.
Milan, though, tried to hit back quickly
and came bitterly close five minutes
later when Riccardo Montolivo saw
one of his powerful attempts from the
edge of the box go narrowly wide.
On the half hour mark things got even
worse for Milan as they fell two goals
behind after a deflected shot from
Insigne saw its way past the keeper to
double Napoli’s lead, 2-0.
And they were lucky to only be two
down two minutes later when a
mistake by Kevin Constant allowed
Insigne through on gaol, but while he
beat the keeper in a one-on-one
situation, he saw his shot cleared off
the goalline.
Milna continued to apply the pressure
in the hope of pulling a goal back and
they did just that a minute before the
break when a fantastic 20-yard strike
from El Shaarawy found the top left-
hand corner of the net, 2-1.
The second half saw Milan launch
attack after attack in search of the
equaliser, but despite all their efforts
they seemed unable to find the break
through until eight minutes from the
end.
A sublime through ball from second
half substitute Robinho saw El
Shaarawy through on goal and he
made no mistake with a clinical finish
to salvage a point for his team, 2-2.
With Napoli unable to find the win
they remained in third spot on the
Serie A league table while the point
for Milan sees them up to tenth on
the log, but only three points off sixth
place.

Song strike helps Barca down Zaragoza

Alex Song scored his first La Liga goal
to help Barcelona secure a 3-1 win
over Real Zaragoza at the Camp Nou
on Saturday night.
Lionel Messi also netted a brace for
the Catalans, while Francisco
Montanes scored the only goal for the
away side.
Messi put the home side ahead in the
16th minute as when collected a pass
from Jordi Alba and raced past Alvaro
Gonzalez before placing his shot past
Roberto Jimenez.
The visitors started to get into the
game and they were rewarded just
eight minutes later as Martin Montoya
cleared Franco Zuculini’s corner
towards Montanes, who then drilled
his shot past Victor Valdes.
However, the home side restored
their lead in the 28th minute when
Messi burst into the box and dribbled
past two defenders before cutting the
ball back for Song to finish from the
centre of the penalty area.
Tito Vilanova’s men continued to
dominate possession and four
minutes later Messi found Andres
Iniesta on the right, but the Spaniard
was unlucky to see his shot going just
wide of the near post.
Manolo Jimenez’ side almost leveled
matters for the second time four
minutes before the break but Zuculini
drilled his shot wide from just outside
the box as Barca took their slender
lead into the break.
Messi grabbed his second goal of the
match fifteen minutes into the second
half when he sidefooted into the far
post from the edge of the box after
receiving a cross from Montoya, who
had made a good run on the right.
The two goal cushion allowed the
hosts to control the pace of the game
but Zaragoza almost pulled one goal
back in the 75th minute when
substitute Helder Postiga collected the
ball outside the box, but his shot was
deflected wide by Carles Puyol.
Then five minutes later Barcelona
were unlucky not to add to their tally
when Messi found Iniesta on the left,
but his curled shot came off the
woodwork as the hosts comfortably
saw out the rest of the match to
collect maximum points for the 11th
time this season.

Benzema double sinks Bilbao

Karim Benzema scored a brace as
Real Madrid maintained their winning
streak with a 5-1 victory over Athletic
Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu on
Saturday night.
Sergio Ramos, Mesut Ozil and Sami
Khedira also found the back of the net
for the home side, while Ibai Gomez
scored the consolation goal for the
visitors.
The Whites went into the game 11
points behind log leaders Barcelona
and they showed their intentions in
the opening minutes with Cristiano
Ronaldo heading just wide in the 4th
minute, before Jose Callejon fired
straight at Gorka Iraizoz three minutes
later.
However, they soon found the
opening in the 12th minute with Luka
Modric playing a long ball over the
Bilbao defence to find Benzema, who
then lobbed the ball over the
goalkeeper.
Sergio Ramos almost added a second
11 minutes later when an Ozil corner
found him unmarked in the centre of
the penalty area, but his header was
tipped over the crossbar by Iraizoz.
However, the Spaniard managed to
punish the visitors in the 30th minute
when he headed home from close
range, connecting with an Ozil freekick
after he was once again left
unguarded on the edge of the six-
yard box.
Two minutes later Callejon found
Benzema just inside the box on the
right, who then swiveled before
curling his powerful left-footed shot
into the far post to grab his second
goal of the match.
The Frenchman almost completed his
hat-trick in the 38th minute when he
drilled his low shot towards the target
from outside of the area, but Iraizoz
went down in time to make the save.
The Zaragoza goalkeeper was called
into action again three minutes later,
this time diving to his right to block a
volleyed attempt from Callejon, who
had made a superb run to meet a
Ronaldo cross at the far post.
The visitors then pulled one goal back
three minutes before the break from
a quick move which saw Markel
Susaeta breaking free on the right
before playing the ball across for Ibai
to beat Iker Casillas with a low shot.
Madrid looked to restore their lead
soon after the break but Benzema
directed his grasscutter wide of goal in
the 47th minute, before Ronaldo saw
his shot saved by Iraizoz a minute
later.
Then in the 55th minute Marcelo
Bielsa’s side thought they should have
been awarded a penalty when Fabio
Coentrao handled a ball from
Susaeta, but the referee turned away
the appeals.
It was the home side who then added
to their tally a minute later when
Ronaldo released Benzema on the
right, and the Frenchman was
unselfish as he squared the ball for
Ozil to sidefoot into the roof of the net
from close range.
Benzema had yet another chance to
score his third goal of the match in
the 58th minute and he managed to
get the ball past the goalkeeper, but
Jon Autrenetxe was able to clear off
the line.
Five minutes later Luka Modric came
close to adding his name on the
scoresheet when he was released on
the left, but his volleyed strike was
pushed wide by Iraizoz, before Ibai
saw his shot brushing the outside of
the post at the other end four
minutes later.
Madrid did eventually kill the game in
the 72nd minute with Alvaro Arbeloa
playing substitute Sami Khedira
through on the right, and the German
international managed to squeeze his
low shot under the goalkeeper to
secure a comfortable victory.

Ike Uche brace sinks Racing Santander

Ike Uche scored another brace to
inspire Villarreal to a 3-0 win at hosts
Racing Santander in a Spanish second
division clash.
Villarreal, who are seeking an instant
return to the La Liga, are now fourth
on the table with 26 points.
Nigeria international striker Uche
scored his team's second and third
goals in the 39th and 53rd minutes to
take the game beyond the hosts.
He has now netted five goals in the
league.

Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 Stade Rennais: League leaders upset by nine-man Bretons

Paris Saint Germain, labouring in the
absence of the suspended Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, slid to a demoralising 2-1
home loss to Rennes on Saturday -
despite the visitors being reduced to
nine men.
PSG began the day top of the table
but level on points with Marseille, who
are in action Sunday at Bordeaux and
have played two games less than their
bitter rivals.
But this dismal showing suggests the
capital club, runners-up last season to
Montpellier, have some way to go if
they are to make a serious fist of
going one better this time round and
winning their first league crown since
1994.
This loss came on the back of another
two weeks ago at the Parc des Princes
against former giants Saint Etienne -
but even in the absence of Sweden
star Ibrahimovic it was far more
galling for coach Carlo Ancelotti,
whose side have now dropped eight
points from their past three games.
A splendid half volley from Romain
Alesandrini put Rennes into a 13th-
minute lead with his fourth goal of the
season - his first in the top flight.
Brazilian forward Nene, returning a
month on from fracturing his
cheekbone, levelled midway through
the first half and that should have
seen PSG seize the initiative -
particularly since Benoit Costil was
dismissed on 25 minutes for a foul on
Jeremy Menez.
Rennes should have been reeling
after Cameroon midfielder Jean II
Makoun also went for an early bath
seven minutes after the restart for a
second booking.
Instead, Rennes were by that stage
leading again, Julien Feret having
whipped in a freekick ten minutes
before the break past keeper
Salvatore Sirigu.
Despite their numerical advantage PSG
were unable to conjure an equaliser,
making a mockery of their added
financial muscle relative to their Ligue
1 rivals, the Qatari-bankrolled club
having spent 140 millions euros on a
summer transfer splurge.
Javier Pastore did hit the post and
Guillaume Hoarau the bar but the
visitors rode their luck and held on.
For Rennes it was their third straight
win as the Bretons went joint third
with Lyon just a point behind PSG.
"There is a God - and he was with
Rennes tonight," exulted Rennes
defender Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik
afterwards.
Coach Frederic Antonetti praised his
players for being in his words "heroic
and fantastic in extreme conditions. I
hope we can crack on from this and
use it as the launchpad for
something."
Actress Salma Hayek, the wife of
Rennes' owner Francois-Henri Pinault,
told Canal television: "I am very proud,
very happy - it was heroic as PSG are a
fine team and Rennes played so well."

Juventus 0-0 Lazio: Bianconeri unable to beat masterful Marchetti

Despite scoring six goals in a league
match seven days ago, Juventus could
not find the back of the net against
Lazio in a Serie A match on Friday
night.
The league leaders played to a
goalless draw in front of their irritated
home crowd at the Juventus stadium,
their second draw of their Serie A
season which keeps them at the top
of the table on 42 points.
It was also Lazio’s second draw of the
league season which sees them in
fifth place with 23 points after 13
games.
The fans inside the Juventus stadium
were not entirely happy with their side
after they displayed horrible prowess
in front of goal, and this seven days
after they beat Pescara 6-1.
However, it wasn’t for lack of trying as
Juve created numerous chances in
front of goal, the first coming in the
16th minute.
Kwadwo Asamoah drove forward,
beating a couple of defenders on his
way into the box where he unleashed
a shot that was superbly saved by
Federico Marchetti, palming the ball
behind for a corner-kick.
In the 31st minute, some more
woeful shooting from Juventus was
on display when Sebastian Giovinco
dragged a shot wide from close
range.
A minute later and Giovinco produced
an even greater mishap in front of
goal. Initially the striker did brilliantly
to bring down a long ball from the
back and then beating two defender
before finding himself one-on-one
with the keeper, but he fired wide yet
again.
The second 45 was more of the same
and in the 61st minute Marchetti
produced another great save, this
time denying a thunderbolt from
Arturo Vidal by tipping the ball over
the crossbar.
The last real chance to find the back of
the net arrived in the 75th minute for
Juventus when Leonardo Bonucci
powered a header goalwards, but
again saw Marchetti in his way as the
game ended 0-0.

Norwich 1-0 Man Utd

Anthony Pilkington's brilliant header
helped Norwich stun Manchester
United to win 1-0 at Carrow Road.
Pilkington, a former United trainee,
stole a yard on Chris Smalling before
looping a header over Anders
Lindegaard on the hour mark.
Sir Alex Ferguson brought on Paul
Scholes and Danny Welbeck in an
attempt to once again turn around a
deficit but there was no way back for
United and they have now surrendered
top spot in the Premier League to rivals
Manchester City.
The Red Devils had settled quickly into
their passing game early on and Robin
van Persie forced a save from John
Ruddy in the Norwich goal within
minutes.
The England international goalkeeper
also got down well to prevent Ashley
Young finding the breakthrough later
in the half as Michael Carrick and Ryan
Giggs looked for an opening.
But Norwich were an intermittent
threat at the other end with Wes
Hoolahan finding space between the
lines and Smalling was forced into a
smart interception to deny Grant Holt.
The pattern continued after the interval
as the game remained open but with
neither side able to find a clear
opening.
However, it was no surprise that the
impressive Hoolahan was the architect
when the goal finally came.
The Republic of Ireland international
spread the play wide for Javier Garrido
to cross and Pilkington was there to
head over the helpless Lindegaard.
The lead was no more than the
Canaries deserved from a spirited
display and, while United continued to
probe away in search of an equaliser,
they found Ruddy in wonderful form.
He managed one final superb save
from substitute Anderson deep into
injury time and Chris Hughton's side
held on for the three points.

Man City 5-0 Aston Villa

Manchester City maintained their
unbeaten start to the season in some
style on Saturday as they crushed
Aston Villa 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
David Silva opened the scoring for the
Premier League champions, before two
goals apiece from Argentine strike duo
Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez put a
rather lop-sided slant on the final
scoreline.
A comprehensive victory was enough
to take City back to the top of the table,
for a few hours at least, while out-of-
sorts Villa tumbled into the drop zone
as a result of Reading's victory over
Everton.
Roberto Mancini's men dominated
possession throughout, but struggled
to break a stubborn Villa defence down
during a scrappy first half and left
themselves open to counter.
Vincent Kompany almost put through
his own net at one stage, but Joe Hart
came to his rescue, but City's pressure
finally paid off two minutes before half-
time when Villa failed to deal with a
Samir Nasri corner and, after seeing
the ball ricochet around the box, Silva
was in the right place to bundle home.
Paul Lambert likely told his troops at
the interval that there was still all to
play for, but within nine minutes of the
re-start City had doubled their lead in
contentious circumstances.
Aguero calmly stroked home from the
spot, but the awarding of a penalty for
an apparent handball by Andreas
Weimann left Villa incensed - with it
their opinion that the forward did not
make contact with the ball as it fizzed
past him.
Villa's mood went from bad to worse
as the afternoon wore on, with
seemingly everything going against
them right now.
City, though, were now in complete
control of the tie and netted twice in
the space of as many minutes to wrap
up the points.
Tevez rolled home the Blues' second
penalty of the game following a
handball by Barry Bannan and Aguero
made it four on 67 minutes as he led a
swift counter and fired past Brad
Guzan at his near post via the aid of a
deflection.
The final act of a game bossed by City
saw Tevez convert a low cross from
Nasri, with the goal left gaping in front
of him.
It has been suggested at times this
season that City have been performing
below their best, but such accusations
could not be levelled at them on
Saturday and they will be hoping to
have ignited their title defence in front
of their own supporters.

West Brom 2-1 Chelsea

West Brom maintained their impressive
start to the season as they beat
Chelsea 2-1 at The Hawthorns.
Peter Odemwingie nodded in the
winning goal early in the second half
after Shane Long and Eden Hazard had
also scored with close-range headers
before the break.
Roberto Di Matteo, on his return to
West Brom, saw his side push hard for
a second equaliser but they were
unable to find a way past Boaz Myhill
who was deputising for the injured
Ben Foster in the Baggies goal.
Chelsea were much changed as they
had one eye on Tuesday's crunch
clash with Juventus in the UEFA
Champions League and left the likes of
Ashley Cole, Ramires, Oscar and Juan
Mata on the bench.
And it showed in their sluggish start
when Shane Long escaped the clutches
of David Luiz to head past Petr Cech at
the far post from a probing James
Morrison cross.
Chelsea enjoyed plenty of possession
in the early stages but Long was a
constant threat on the break and got
the better of Gary Cahill on two
occasions without finding the net.
At the other end, Ryan Bertrand saw
an effort cleared off the line by Liam
Ridgewell and Daniel Sturridge also
had a shot comfortably saved by Myhill.
And the Blues did find an equaliser
before the break thanks to a tactical
shift as Di Matteo switched Hazard to
the left flank.
The Belgium international headed in
Cesar Azpilicueta's cross from close
range via a deflection off Billy Jones'
shoulder.
But Steve Clarke's side started quickly
again after the interval and
Odemwingie converted Long's near-
post cross from the right to restore the
home side's lead.
When Oscar and Mata finally did
emerge from the bench, the visitors
took control of the game and pushed
hard for an equaliser.
But Myhill saved smartly from Sturridge
on two occasions and Albion held on
for a win that takes them to the dizzy
heights of fourth in the Premier
League.

QPR 1-3 Southampton

Southampton piled the pressure on
QPR boss Mark Hughes by winning the
battle of the Premier League's bottom
two 3-1 at Loftus Road.
With managers in both dug-outs under
severe pressure, first-half goals from
Rickie Lambert and Jason Puncheon
gave the Saints a deserved 2-0 lead at
the break, before Junior Hoilett headed
QPR back into the game early in the
second period.
Southampton, though, kept pushing
forward and secured the points seven
minutes from time, when Adam
Lallana's low cross was poked into his
own net by Anton Ferdinand.
With the victory, Nigel Adkins' side have
established a four-point gap between
themselves and their beaten hosts.
Both he and Hughes stuck with the
same starting line-ups that played last
weekend, with Southampton the
quickest to settle. Captain Lallana came
close in the seventh minute, firing just
over after a neat one-two with Gaston
Ramirez, but their defensive frailties
remained.
Adel Taarabt - so often a threat for QPR
- drove in-between Nathaniel Clyne and
Jose Fonte, before forcing a reaction
save out of Paulo Gazzaniga, who then
shovelled a Hoilett shot around the
post less than a minute later.
Saints returned to the attack and got
the game's crucial opener in the 23rd
minute, when a corner was not cleared
properly by the home defence.
Ramirez pulled back for Fonte, whose
shot was prodded goalwards by
Puncheon. That effort was cleared off
the line but Lambert showed his
strength to bundle home.
Southampton pushed for another,
which came on the stroke of half-time,
when Puncheon collected the ball from
Clyne, turned Alejandro Faurlin, and
fired home a left-footed strike.
QPR were booed off at half-time after
their inept display and Hughes
replaced Faurlin with Jamie Mackie at
the start of the second period, which
was only four minutes old when
Taarabt's floated cross was nodded
home by the unmarked Hoilett.
Saints quickly retained their
momentum, though, and Puncheon
forced Julio Cesar into a smart save
before firing wide twice within a
minute.
The game was flowing from end to end
and Cesar had to be at his best to deny
a Maya Yoshida scissor-kick 10 minutes
from time.
Nelsen headed straight at Gazzaniga
moments later and then Saints secured
victory, with Puncheon playing a short
corner to Schneiderlin for the
Frenchman's cross to squeeze in off
Ferdinand at Cesar's near post.
QPR fans bellowed 'You're only here
for the money' at their players and
duly booed the side off at the end of
the game, while Adkins and the Saints
fans celebrated their first points earned
away from home.

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham

Emmanuel Adebayor went from
Tottenham Hotspur's hero to zero
against former club Arsenal as he
scored and was then sent off in a
dramatic 5-2 North London derby
defeat.
The Togolese striker, who angered
Arsenal fans when leaving for
Manchester City in 2009 before this
summer making a permanent transfer
to Spurs after an initial loan, set up a
typically hectic meeting at Emirates
Stadium with the opener.
Adebayor's goal added to his lack of
popularity among Gunners fans
following his controversial celebration
three years ago for City when scoring
in his first reunion with his ex-
employers and then his penalty goal in
last season's ultimate repeat 5-2 defeat
for Spurs.
But his emotions got the better of him
shortly after the quarter-hour mark on
Saturday and his red card for a lunge
on Santi Cazorla allowed Arsenal to
come back and win through Per
Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Olivier
Giroud, Cazorla and Theo Walcott
despite Gareth Bale's consolation.
Tottenham started well and, less than a
minute after a William Gallas effort was
ruled out for offside, they took a 10th
minute lead when Adebayor tapped in
the rebound after Wojciech Szczesny,
back after a two-month injury lay-off,
could only palm a Jermain Defoe shot.
But Adebayor's joy was short-lived, as,
in the 18th minute, he was shown a
straight red card by referee Howard
Webb for a wild, studs-up sliding
challenge on Cazorla, which sparked a
melee between both sets of players.
Adebayor had let his team-mates down
and, with a man disadvantage, they
were only able to hold onto their lead
for six minutes before Mertesacker's
excellent header from Walcott's
pinpoint cross opened the German's
account for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
The home side, dominating
possession, cranked up the pressure
and took the lead in the 42nd minute
when a Podolski shot from inside the
penalty area ricocheted off Gallas to
strand Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo
Lloris, who was preferred ahead of
Brad Friedel.
Things went from bad to worse for
Tottenham in injury time before half-
time when Giroud, who had earlier
been denied from two headers by
Lloris, slid in to meet Cazorla's low
cross and make it 3-1.
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas, in
charge of his first North London derby
and now under greater pressure in his
job after this latest defeat, sent on Clint
Dempsey and Michael Dawson at half-
time in place of full-backs Kyle Walker
and Kyle Naughton.
Arsenal, though, remained in the
ascendency and, on the hour mark,
Podolski's excellent, passed cross from
the left provided Cazorla a one-touch,
right-foot finish at the back post to give
his side a comfortable cushion.
Bale's fine 20-yard finish, which
arrowed into the bottom corner from
his weaker right foot, in the 71st
minute gave Spurs some hope but any
thoughts of a comeback were already
over long before Walcott made sure of
the points in injury time.

Reading 2-1 Everton

Adam Le Fondre scored twice as
Reading came from 1-0 down to beat
Everton 2-1 at the Madejski Stadium for
their first Premier League win of the
season.
The Toffees started the game much like
the hosts, opening the scoring in the
10th minute when Steven Naismith
poked the ball past Adam Federici
following a comedy of defensive errors
which saw the Royals fail to clear on
several occasions.
Prior to that goal Everton's Nikica
Jelavic was kicking himself for not
having more composure in the box
when the ball fell kindly to him,
however the unmarked striker lashed
an audacious scissor kick well over the
bar.
David Moyes' men may also feel hard
done by following the final whistle
after two penalty claims were waved
away in the first half.
The first came when Naismith turned
into the area leading to a Kaspars
Gorkss late challenge, however Martin
Atkinson saw nothing wrong with the
Latvian's mis-timed lunge.
Moments later, what appeared a
fantastic block to deny Jelavic turned
out to be a Sean Morrison handball as
the Royals continued to ride their luck
going into half-time.
However, Brian McDermott's interval
team talk must have done the trick as
Reading stepped up a gear and Nicky
Shorey fed the hungry Le Fondre for a
header of the highest class into Tim
Howard's top corner in the 51st
minute.
It was an inspired move by McDermott
to re-introduce Le Fondre for Noel
Hunt, who had to be content with a
place on the bench, as the strike
proved to be problematic for Everton's
back four which was missing skipper
Phil Neville.
Hal Robson-Kanu, who started in place
of Garath McCleary, was more than a
handful for Leighton Baines and it
proved to be a feisty battle down
Reading's right-hand side throughout.
Jason Roberts and Le Fondre kept
combining well with Everton having to
call upon Seamus Coleman to come
across and nick the ball from the
goalscorer's feet in a last-ditch tackle.
Le Fondre's persistence up front finally
paid off on 79 minutes when he
attempted to chest the ball down in
the box and was rashly challenged by
Coleman in the back, giving Atkinson
little option but to award the penalty.
The striker dusted himself off to take
the spot-kick and drilled it down the
middle of the goal with Howard diving
to his left.
Marouane Fellaini could have levelled
the game for the visitors just minutes
after Reading's second but luck was on
the hosts' side once more as the
Belgian's header cannoned back off
the bar and into Federici's arms,
helping Reading to claim a priceless
three points and a first win of the
season.

Liverpool 3-0 Wigan

Luis Suarez continued his rich vein of
form with two goals to help Liverpool
to a 3-0 win over Wigan at Anfield.
The Uruguayan took his tally for the
season to 13 goals with two second-
half strikes with the impressive Jose
Enrique netting the third with his first
goal for the club.
The victory was well deserved for the
home side after a dour first half with
Wigan struggling to pose only
problems to the returning Pepe Reina
in the Liverpool goal.
The win is only Liverpool's second
home success of the season in the
Premier League to lift them up to 11th
spot in the table.
In a quiet start to the game Liverpool
had to wait until 23 minutes to create
their first noteworthy effort as Suso let
fly from the edge of the box and Al
Habsi could only palm out his powerful
shot.
The little Spaniard missed the best
opening of the half on 32 minutes as
Glen Johnson got to the byline and
pulled a cross back for Suso who
headed his effort over the crossbar
from six yards out.
Both sides made changes to their
midfield just past the half hour mark
with David Jones replacing the injured
Ben Watson following a collision with
Raheem Sterling, while Brendan
Rodgers appeared to make a tactical
change by taking off Suso for Jordan
Henderson.
Just before the break Al Habsi was
forced into a smart save as Enrique
tried to get onto Suarez's drilled cross
across the six-yard box.
Whatever Rodgers said at half-time
seemed to work as Liverpool broke the
deadlock two minutes into the second
half through Suarez.
Sterling capitalised on a poor pass
from Jean Beausejour to round
Maynor Figueroa and the England
international picked out Suarez who
fired his shot high into the net past Al
Habsi.
Suarez made it 2-0 on 58 minutes
when Enrique slipped him in on goal
with a superb pass and the deadly
striker poked his shot past Al Habsi.
Liverpool made it 3-0 on 65 minutes
with Enrique grabbing a deserved goal
for his afternoon's work, but there was
some controversy in the build-up.
Wigan felt they should have had a
throw-in when Ivan Ramis's pass
appeared to be deflected into touch by
Suarez, but the home side were
awarded the throw and from it Sterling
got in on goal and saw his powerful
shot palmed out into the path of the
grateful Enrique to snaffle up the
rebound.
Liverpool missed further chances to
add to their lead in the remaining
minutes as they enjoyed their best day
of the season at Anfield against a
below-par Wigan.

Newcastle 1-2 Swansea

Swansea City produced an impressive
performance to triumph 2-1 at St
James' Park and move above Newcastle
United in the Premier League table.
Michu broke the deadlock for the
Swans in the 58th minute with a
header from Pablo Hernandez's cross
as Tim Krul was punished for a poor
clearance.
Jonathan de Guzman turned home a
second from close range three
minutes from time after Krul could only
parry Danny Graham's shot.
Newcastle pulled a goal back thanks to
Demba Ba's header just before the
final whistle but there was not enough
time to find an equaliser.
It had been a frustrating afternoon for
the Magpies even before kick-off, with
Papiss Cisse not allowed to play after
Senegal invoked FIFA's five-day rule
after he missed an international
appearance in midweek.
It was nevertheless an exciting and
open game from the very start as
Newcastle desperately tried to put on a
show for their supporters and
Swansea threatened on the counter-
attack, with both goalkeepers called
into action in the first half.
Krul produced a fine stop to keep out
Michu's shot from distance after a
quarter of an hour, while he then did
well to stand up tall and narrow the
angle on Itay Shechter after a hopeful
long ball had caught out Mike
Williamson.
At the other end, Hatem Ben Arfa was
by far the greatest threat and, after
striking one effort into the side-netting
from a tight angle, he made Gerhard
Tremmel dive to his right to pull off an
acrobatic save.
Newcastle stepped up the pressure at
the start of the second half as Shola
Ameobi came on to replace Shane
Ferguson and Sammy Ameobi got into
the game more down the left, but Ba
squandered a couple of good
opportunities and the hosts were
made to pay when Michu opened the
scoring.
Ba then headed a 64th-minute Cheick
Tiote cross towards goal, but without
the power to trouble Tremmel, and the
keeper then got a good block on Shola
Ameobi's cross after a dazzling run
from deep by Ben Arfa.
The Magpies were demonstrating little
composure in front of goal, and were
grateful to see Michu
uncharacteristically do the same to
miscue Hernandez's 76th-minute cross
wide.
But the sting in the tail arrived three
minutes from time when Krul could
only parry substitute Graham's shot
and De Guzman smashed home the
rebound from a tight angle, making
Ba's late header after substitute Sylvain
Marveaux had struck the bar practically
irrelevant.

Arsenal sweat on key players

Arsenal will assess the fitness of several
first-team players ahead of Saturday's
north London derby against
Tottenham.
They include striker Olivier Giroud
(hamstring/calf) and winger Theo
Walcott (buttock muscle).
Midfielder Mikel Arteta (hip) is another
causing concern, along with full-back
Bacary Sagna (leg), but goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny is close to a
comeback from his ankle problem and
could be included in the team for the
first time since September.
Midfielder Jack Wilshere will be
available again after suspension.
Winger Gervinho (ankle), defender
Kieran Gibbs (thigh), midfielder Abou
Diaby (thigh) and Czech midfielder
Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) all continue
rehabilitation.
Tottenham playmaker Mousa Dembele
is out of the trip to the Emirates with a
hip injury.
Aaron Lennon has recovered from a
hamstring injury, and Jermain Defoe
and Kyle Walker, who also had
hamstring complaints, should be fit to
play.
Long-term absentees Scott Parker
(Achilles), Benoit Assou-Ekotto and
Younes Kaboul (both knee) remain
sidelined.

Luis Suarez happy to stay at Liverpool for 'many years'

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has said
he is very happy at the club and
wants to stay at Anfield for many
years.
The 25-year-old has been linked with a
January move to Manchester City.
But he told Liverpool's website: "It's
about enjoying myself and trying to be
here for as many years as I can.
"I'm at a club where I'm very happy, my
family is happy, I've got fantastic team-
mates and a manager from whom I'm
learning so much. I'm at a club where
I've always wanted to be."
The Uruguay international signed a new
deal at the Anfield club in the summer.
He has been in good form so far this
season, scoring 11 goals in 16
appearances and is the joint top scorer
in the Premier League with eight goals.
"As a player, it's vital to have the
backing of your manager and so I think
that the confidence Brendan [Rodgers]
is showing in myself and the team as a
whole is very important and it's down
to us to repay that trust out there on
the pitch," added Suarez.
"The other important thing is that the
squad is very united. In spite of not
getting the results we would have liked,
we have a great spirit of togetherness
and let's hope we can continue to pick
up points."
Manager Rodgers has said there will be
no "bidding war" for the striker who
made a £22.7m move from Ajax to
Liverpool in January of 2011.
"If we lost Luis then we have no
strikers, so I can't afford to lose
anyone," he said of a striker who scored
17 goals in 39 appearances in his first
full season at the club,
"He is certainly not anyone we want to
sell or move. We want to add to the
squad."
Suarez's time in England has not been
without controversy.
He was found guilty of racially abusing
Manchester United defender Patrice
Evra, banned for eight games and then
widely criticised for his decision to
refuse Evra's handshake when the two
came face-to-face at Old Trafford.
However, the pair did shake hands
when Liverpool played Manchester
United for the first time this season at
Anfield.

Papiss Cisse could miss Newcastle's match with Swansea

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew says
Papiss Cisse may miss Saturday's
game with Swansea because of a row
with Senegal.
The striker was scheduled to meet up
with his country ahead of Wednesday's
friendly in Niger but withdrew because
of a back problem.
Senegal are now understood to be
threatening to invoke Fifa's five-day rule
after claiming they were not sent details
of Cisse's medical condition.
"We have a bit of an issue going on with
the federation," said Pardew.
Cisse, 27, has scored three times this
season for Newcastle, who have won
just once in six attempts in the league.
His absence against Swansea, who sit
one place and one point below the
Magpies in the table, would be a
setback for Newcastle.
Pardew insists the club informed
Senegal of Cisse's back problem,
sustained in last Sunday's 1-0 defeat by
West Ham, and sent off details of the
player's medical condition, but have
since been told they were not received.
"We feel we have covered all the bases
to give them the information," he
added.
"But they seem not to have received it,
so we are in discussions with Senegal
and the FA about his availability for
Saturday."

Lewis Hamilton has no regrets about his move to Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has dismissed his
McLaren team boss's claim that he
has had some regrets about deciding
to move to Mercedes next season.
Hamilton said he was "a little bit
surprised to hear" the comments from
Martin Whitmarsh last week.
"Clearly it is absolutely not the case," he
said. "I am still here giving 100% in the
last two races but I am 100% happy
with the decision I made."
He said it was a "tough decision" but he
did not have "an ounce of regret".
Mercedes won the Chinese Grand Prix
in April, the third race of the season,
and in the first half of this year
appeared to have made a step forward
from their disappointing form in 2010
and 2011.
But they have slipped from
competitiveness as the season has
gone on.
Hamilton, who has been with McLaren
since he was 13, said: "What I do have
is a huge amount of love for the
(McLaren) team. Leaving is always a
tough decision and these last couple of
races will be tough.
"I'm happy I've got a new challenge
ahead of me. I've got to build new
relationships with people. Everyone
does that in life so I don't know why I
can't do it."
McLaren have had the quickest car for
large parts of this season but
Hamilton's title challenge has faded
because of a series of operational and
reliability failures by his team.
He lost all mathematical hope of being
champion when he retired from the
lead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two
weeks ago - the second time in five
races a mechanical failure had cost him
victory.
He is now a bystander as Red Bull's
Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando
Alonso battle for the title in the final two
races of the season.
Asked how hard it was to watch his two
biggest rivals contest the championship
without him involved, Hamilton said: "I
think it goes without saying that these
two are two of the best here.
"What they have achieved is absolutely
incredible. The drivers are trying our
hardest to aspire to do the same, but
they are both incredibly professional
and it's amazing to see how focused
they are considering how much they
have done.
"For me, it is what it is. I am happy to
be here - we can still fight with them
even though we are not fighting for the
championship."
Hamilton said he hoped Alonso, who is
10 points behind Vettel heading into
this weekend's US Grand Prix in Austin,
Texas, could keep the championship
alive until the final race of the season in
Brazil next weekend.
"To keep the championship title alive
right until the last race is probably the
most exciting," Hamilton said. "When I
watched in the past, if the
championship was done before, there
was not much point watching last few
races.
"Hopefully it will go to the last race and
people will enjoy it."
He said he expected the Austin track to
prove a good challenge for the drivers
and to produce a good race.
"It is quite an interesting track," he said.
"It's difficult to learn initially and looks
fantastic to drive. It was enjoyable once
you got used to it (in the simulator). It
took more time than the others to learn
so will be interesting."

Watch “Sweden Vs England 4-2 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic Unbelievable Bicycle Goal”

Watch "Sweden Vs England 4-2 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic Unbelievable Bicycle Goal" on YouTube

Eagles 3-1 Venezuela

Nigeria recorded a morale-boosting
3-1 victory over Venezuela in a friendly
on Thursday morning at the Marlins
Park in Miami.
The Super Eagles owed their second
victory over the South Americans to
an improved second half performance
after Venezuela created the better
chances in the first half.
The top performer for the Eagles in
this AFCON warm-up was goalkeeper
and skipper Austin Ejide, who pulled
off several top-class saves especially in
the first half when Nigeria were mostly
on the back foot.
Nigeria took the lead in the 49th
minute, when Dynamo Kiev striker
Brown Ideye side footed a low cross
from the right by debutant Solomon
Kwambe after some good work by
Nosa Igiebor.
Igiebor doubled the Eagles lead three
minutes later when he thundered
home a 40-yard effort beyond
Venezuela goalkeeper Daniel
Hernandez.
The South Americans thought they
had pulled a goal back in the 55th
minute through Salomon Rondon
after he was set up by influential
skipper Juan Arango, but it was
eventually disallowed for a deliberate
hand ball by the Rubin Kazan striker.
However, La Vinotinto reduced the
deficit in the 70th minute courtesy of
substitute Frank Feltscher after he was
released by Arango.
Venezuela went forward for an
equaliser and so allowed Nigeria to
catch them on the counter when
substitute Shola Ameobi, making his
long-awaited Eagles debut, held up
the play inside the opponents’ goal
area before he found hard working
Ogenyi Onazi to make hay for
Nigeria’s third goal in stoppage time.
It was a fitting finish for the energetic
Lazio youngster in only his second
game for Nigeria.
In the first 15 minutes of this clash,
Venezuela pressed for the opening
goal to the delight of the
predominantly Latin American fans at
the stadium.
They even had a goal by skipper
Arango disallowed for offside as Ejide
smartly came out to gather the ball
inside his area after just six minutes
and then in the 36th minute he again
bravely saved off the feet of striker
Rondon.
Nigeria also threatened, but mostly
they tried to survive the Venezuela
onslaught as their defence was
bombarded time and again.

Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer to win ATP World title

Novak Djokovic claimed the ATP World
Tour Finals title after securing a 7-6
(8-6) 7-5 victory over Roger Federer at
the O2 Arena.
Federer dominated the start of each
set but the world No 1 showed all of
his battling qualities to come back on
both occasions and complete the
victory in two hours and 14 minutes.
Wimbledon champion Federer was
masterful in patches but could not
sustain his brilliance throughout the
match and it was Djokovic who
stepped up in the crucial moments.
The top seed, who took the spoils at
the season-ending event for a second
time, went through the tournament
unbeaten to take home a bumper prize
cheque of $1.7 million.
A rout looked like it could be on the
cards in the opening stages as Federer
made an ominous start, winning the
first nine points of the match to move a
break up.
But Djokovic quickly grew into the
contest and was soon going toe-to-toe
with his opponent from the baseline,
managing to hold serve in the fourth
game before breaking his opponent
back in the next.
And it was Djokovic who moved a
break ahead following a marathon
ninth game before being pegged back
while serving for the set, putting things
on course for a tie-break.
In the breaker Federer saved a set
point with an outrageous forehand
winner but Djokovic converted his next
opportunity to edge ahead after 72
minutes of captivating tennis.
The opening game of the second set
lasted 10 minutes and was won against
serve by Federer, who kept his nose in
front through some testing moments
only to be broken back while serving
for the set.
And Djokovic struck again in Federer's
next service game, smashing a
backhand winner down the line on
championship point to get across the
line.

Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

Chelsea failed to close the gap on
Premier League leaders Manchester
United as Luis Suarez's equaliser
gave Liverpool a point at Stamford
Bridge.
Captain John Terry headed the Blues an
early lead but was then taken off on a
stretcher after appearing to sustain a
serious knee injury in an accidental first-
half collision with Suarez.
Oscar and Juan Mata were guilty of
missing clear chances to emphasise
Chelsea's obvious superiority and, with
18 minutes remaining, Roberto Di
Matteo's side paid the price when
Suarez headed in his 11th goal of the
season after Jamie Carragher flicked on
Suso's corner.
Suarez was on target for the fourth
successive away league game - further
illustrating his vital importance to a
Liverpool team that enjoys plenty of
possession but, apart from the
Uruguayan, carries too little threat.
For Chelsea, this was a disappointment
that leaves them three points adrift of
United and fearing that influential
captain Terry could now be facing a
lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Liverpool reverted to a five-man
defensive system to counter Chelsea's
attacking threat but were almost
undone as early as the fifth minute
when Oscar burst clear into the area
only to send his effort off target with
only keeper Brad Jones to beat.
It set the tone for early Chelsea
domination and Terry - back in Premier
League action after a four-match
suspension - took advantage of sloppy
Liverpool defending to give them the
lead after 20 minutes, escaping easily
from Daniel Agger to flash a near-post
header beyond Jones.
Fernando Torres had started in sprightly
mood against his former club and
forced a block out of Jones after an
exchange with Eden Hazard, who then
sent the rebound wide.
Having experienced the joy of scoring,
Terry was taken off in agony before
half-time after his coming together with
Suarez.
Chelsea were still in the ascendancy as
the break approached and Mata should
have doubled their lead in stoppage
time but shot high and wide with Jones
once again the only obstacle.
Torres's endeavour demonstrated how
desperate he was to hit the target and
he almost got his wish with a header
that was parried away by Jones.
Liverpool, thanks to Chelsea's
profligacy, had been able to stay in
range and were back in business in the
73rd minute thanks to Suarez, who
headed in from virtually on the line.
Suddenly the visitors had some
impetus. Suarez attempted to surprise
Petr Cech with an audacious long-range
effort then narrowly lost out to the
keeper in a race for Jose Enrique's
through ball.
Chelsea were also pressing and
Branislav Ivanovic was not far away with
a header as the game opened up in the
closing phase.
The last chance fell to Enrique but he
could not force his shot past Cech from
an angle in the final seconds.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers:
"We are disappointed with the goal. It
was quite a standard corner ball into
the box and we lost our man. But once
again we showed the character in the
team.
"In the first half we were too slow to get
the ball forward. In the second half the
players were fantastic. Their confidence
and belief returned.
"All credit goes to the players. The
equaliser was the least we deserved.
We were probably unfortunate not to
win it at the end."

Newcastle 0-1 West Ham

Kevin Nolan's first-half goal against
his former club proved enough to see
off a lacklustre Newcastle and propel
West Ham into the top six.
Nolan ghosted in at the far post to turn
in Joey O'Brien's mis-hit shot.
Newcastle were denied an equaliser
when the officials ruled that goalkeeper
Jussi Jaaskelainen had prevented
Demba Ba's header from crossing the
line.
Former Magpie Andy Carroll could have
given West Ham breathing space but
Tim Krul pulled off a fine one-handed
save.
The home side's performance was so
lacking in precision or passion that a
2-0 scoreline would hardly have
flattered the upwardly mobile
Hammers.
And the result will bring immense
satisfaction to West Ham boss Sam
Allardyce, who last week described his
sacking by the Magpies after 24 games
in 2008 as one of the lowest points in
his career.
In their first season back in the Premier
League, the Hammers were
comfortable victors - despite losing
three players to injury - and, in the
tireless Nolan, had comfortably the best
player on the pitch.
Indeed, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew's
pre-match suggestion that he would
welcome Nolan and Carroll back to St
James' Park looked entirely justified in a
blunt attacking display in which striker
Papiss Cisse and his half-time
replacement Shola Ameobi were
particularly ineffective.
An opening 30 minutes low on quality
and goalmouth action was
characterised by misplaced passes and
mistimed challenges.
Both sides were forced into an early
change. First, Newcastle captain Jonas
Gutierrez came off worst in a 50-50
tackle with Yossi Benayoun, then West
Ham winger Matt Jarvis made way for
Mali forward Modibo Maiga.
Carroll, whose every touch for Liverpool
was booed when the sides met in April,
received a noticeably less hostile
reception from the fans who used to
revere him.
In the context of a dire game, West
Ham's opener was as unexpected as it
was welcome for the neutral. A cross
aimed at Carroll was headed as far as
O'Brien on the right and the full-back's
shot was turned in by Nolan.
The Hammers midfielder, who declined
to perform his trademark chicken dance
celebration against his old club, could
have doubled the lead moments later
but he sliced his left-footed shot wide
from the edge of the box.
Newcastle's rally, which began before
the break with half-chances for Hatem
Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye, almost
brought the equaliser within a minute
of the restart.
Ba's powerful header bounced
awkwardly in front of Jaaskelainen, who
clawed the ball back from the goal-line.
Newcastle's players were convinced the
ball had crossed the line but
inconclusive replays appeared to justify
the officials' decision not to award a
goal.
The Magpies continued to press
forward but their play lacked subtlety in
the final third.
Most of the home side's best chances
came from corners, with half-time
substitute Shola Ameobi wasting a free
header from Cabaye's perfect delivery.
Newcastle's commitment to attack was
always likely to leave gaps at the back
and when Carroll capitalised on a
defensive mix-up to exchange passes
with Nolan, the former Geordie
favourite found himself clean through
on goal.
Carroll's slight hesitation, however, gave
Krul time to set himself and pull off an
excellent stop with his outstretched left
hand.
The hosts' desperation for an equaliser
saw Krul sent up for a late corner, but
the Hammers held on for their first win
at St James' Park since October 1998.
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew: "We are
kicking ourselves. It was the West Ham
performance we knew we were going to
get but what we lacked was the verve
and imagination to unlock them.
"We had eight or nine shots but none
with any purpose or quality. Newcastle
at home must score one, two, three or
maybe 4 and we got none today.
"It's nothing to do with our European
game - we made lots of changes and
the team was fresh - but we didn't do
ourselves justice in the first 30 minutes.
We didn't come alive until they scored
and that is not good enough.
"We've got a home game [against
Swansea] next week and we're under
pressure to produce a performance
and win."

Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham

Edin Dzeko's late winner gave
Manchester City a dramatic victory
over Tottenham that keeps them in
touch with leaders Manchester
United and just two points off the top
of the Premier League.
Spurs led through Steven Caulker's first-
half header before Sergio Aguero drew
City level.
Dzeko, so often City's hero this season,
came off the bench to snatch the three
points with two minutes to go.
The Bosnia striker detests the term
"super-sub", claiming it does not show
him enough respect, but he again
showed his worth as a late replacement
after coming on for Carlos Tevez.
Dzeko exchanged passes with David
Silva before slamming an unstoppable
shot past Brad Friedel - his sixth league
goal of the season and his fifth as a
substitute.
In total, his goals have helped City earn
nine vital points in their pursuit of their
neighbours United and Chelsea.
For long spells against Spurs, City's
unbeaten start to the season looked
under threat, not because of poor
defending, but because of an inability to
take the numerous chances that came
their way.
Dzeko apart, the champions are finding
it much harder to find the net than they
did when hitting 93 goals on the way to
winning last season's title. Because of
that, even sporadic failings at the back
are potentially far more costly.
That was the case here, as Spurs
soaked up some early pressure then
scored with their first serious effort on
goal. And, just as in midweek against
Ajax, it was a set-piece that was City's
undoing.
Caulker met Tom Huddlestone's
whipped free-kick and Joe Hart was
unable to keep his header out. The
England keeper will argue his defence
should have dealt with the delivery
better but will also be angry with
himself for allowing the ball to bounce
over his line.
City's initial response was
underwhelming. In fact, Spurs almost
quickly doubled their lead as Emmanuel
Adebayor, a nuisance throughout
against his former club, teed up Sandro
to skid a shot wide.
And, when the home side did come
forward, referee Michael Oliver rejected
two shouts for a penalty. The first was
for a handball by William Gallas that
would have been harsh; the second for
a foul by Huddlestone on Pablo
Zabaleta that looked far more clear cut.
Other than that, City struggled to make
headway, with Spurs digging in. That
justified Andre Villas-Boas's decision to
play with only Emmanuel Adebayor up
front, the Togo striker getting the nod
over Jermain Defoe, despite the
England man hitting a hat-trick on
Thursday.
The pattern continued after the break,
with City camped in the Tottenham half
but unable to find a way through the
visitors. Aguero stumbled as he ran
clear from Toure's lobbed pass, but
that was the closest they came to a
meaningful chance.
Then came Mancini's first change after
56 minutes, with Maicon on for Matija
Nastasic, and a change of system that
allowed the Brazilian and Aleksandar
Kolarov to raid forward as wing-backs.
That stretched the previously solid-
looking Spurs defence, and an equaliser
soon followed.
City were fortunate that the ball found
its way to Aguero on the right of the
box, but there was nothing lucky about
his finish, with the Argentine turning
inside Caulker before slotting past
Friedel.
Anxiety among the home fans was
suddenly replaced by belief and
expectation, none more so than when
Dzeko made his entrance with 17
minutes to go.
Chance after chance followed for
Mancini's men, with a Dzeko effort
being deflected into the side netting,
Silva rolling a shot wide, Friedel denying
Dzeko and Aguero also testing the
Tottenham keeper.
Spurs did threaten on the break when
Gareth Bale found space to smash in a
shot that Hart had to beat away, but
otherwise it was one-way traffic.
And Dzeko delivered the goods again
with two minutes to go when he fed
Silva then ran into the box to meet the
return pass, swivelling to fizz an
unstoppable shot past Friedel.

Messi breaks Pele's record for goals in a calendar year

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has
broken former Brazil international
Pele's scoring record of 75 goals
during one calendar year.

The Argentine is now looking to
surpass Gerd Muller's tally of 85
goals over a 12-month period, after
scoring twice against Mallorca on
Sunday

Mourinho confirms Ronaldo striking role

Both Karim Benzema and Gonzalo
Higuain have been suffering from
hamstring problems, and the
Portuguese coach will shift his
countryman from the wing.
"At Levante, Cristiano will play as the
No.9. We will play with Di Mario,
Cristiano and Callejon in attack," he
told reporters.

Pescara 1-6 Juventus: Quagliarella nets treble as brilliant Bianconeri destroy Delfini

A Fabio Quagliarella hat-trick and a
Kwadwo Asamoah strike contributed
to Juventus running riot in Pescara
when they beat the Dolphins 6-1 in a
stellar performance.
Juventus were looking to bounce back
from their first domestic defeat
handed to them by Inter last Saturday
and they couldn’t have asked for a
better response when they took the
lead eight minutes in.
Sebastian Giovinco was handed a ball
on the edge of the box, he sliced it
through to Arturo Vidal who struck a
low past Mattia Perin to add to the
Chilean’s increasing goal tally.
Pescara had a few threatening efforts
on Gianluigi Buffon’s goal but that
didn’t prevent them from going 2-0
down. Mauricio Isla pulled out some
great work on the flank where he
crossed the ball towards the D before
Fabio Quagliarella struck a low
snapshot home 22 minutes in.
The hosts responded straight away
when Emmanuel Cascione headed
home a cross just three minutes later,
and just a minute after they had hit
the upright.
Kwadwo Asamoah has been at the
heart of Juventus this season and he
continued to be when he struck home
a finely-hit acrobatic bicycle kick, from
two-yards out, to further extend
Juventus’ lead just half an hour into
the game.
It was raining goals at the Stadio
Adriatico when Giovinco added
another for Juventus, seven minutes
later, after he fired home a half-volley
to leave Perin helpless, before things
turned even worse when Quagliarella
added a brace with a low effort from
the right of the goal to the bottom left
corner.
Giovanni Stroppa opted for change at
the start of the second half where he
brought on Gianluca Caprari in place
of Marco Capuano in order to add a
more attacking line-up. However, it
didn’t matter for Juventus as they ran
riot by adding a sixth effort.
Quagliarella was enjoying his time on
the field when he completed his hat-
trick of goals with an acrobatic kick off
an Andrea Pirlo corner not even 10
minutes into the second half.
With the lead practically unreachable
for Pescara, Angelo Alessio threw in
Simone Padoin and Luca Marrone for
Maurcio Isla and Giorgio Chiellini in
order to give the duo some rest.
Despite their lead, Juventus continued
to poke around the goal mouth, with
Giovinco missing on two occasions –
one which included hitting the side
nettings before Perin easily gathered a
smothered low shot.

Dortmund beat Augsburg to keep pace

Borussia Dortmund got back to
winning ways in the Bundesliga with a
routine 3-1 triumph over Augsburg at
the SGL Arena on Saturday.
Marco Reus opened the scoring with
a free-kick right out of the top drawer,
before a Robert Lewandowski double
in the second half put Dortmund in
cruise control.
Sascha Molders pulled one back for
the home side with nine minutes to
go, but there was no time left for a
further response, as Dortmund
snatched all three points, but still
remain 11 points behind league
leaders Bayern Munich.
Augsburg fashioned the first real
opening of the game after only five
minutes, when Tobias Werner forced
Roman Weidenfeller to parry, and
Lukasz Piszczek had to be alert to
remove the danger from the
rebound.
But four minutes later, Dortmund
were ahead. Reus did not let the
angle faze him as he took authority
over a set-piece on the left side of the
box, and curled a stupendous effort
into the top corner that beat Simon
Jentzsch all ends up.
Augsburg almost hit back straight
from the restart, but Weidenfeller was
alert once again to deny Matthias
Ostrzolek, who had done well to get
on the end of a dangerous cross.
Dortmund seemed unable to
capitalise on their advantage, as they
found it hard to assert themselves in
the face of a determined effort from
the home side.
Augsburg, for all their encouraging
play, lacked a cutting edge up front, as
shown succinctly in the 35th minute
when the impressive Werner teed up
Torsten Oehrl for a half-volley that
ripped wide of the post.
However, with half-time looming, a
pair of  golden chances from either
side nearly turned the game on its
head.
First, Daniel Baier was left shaking his
head after failing to convert from an
unmarked position eight yards out,
with Weidenfeller making the save,
before Mario Gotze, with the last kick
of the half, drilled onto the woodwork
after a clever move involving Reus and
Kevin Grosskreutz.
Gotze would be far more decisive six
minutes after the interval, as he
cushioned a long punt forward into
the path of Lewandowski, who did
enough to slot under the body of
Jentzsch, and send the visitors into a
two goal lead.
But Dortmund were lucky to see that
advantage remain intact after the
hour mark, as a furious attack by
Augsburg saw Weidenfeller parry
Andreas Ottl’s shot from close range,
before Knowledge Musona ripped the
rebound onto the base of the post.
With 20 minutes to go however, BVB
put the result beyond any doubt. After
a giveaway from Augsburg in their
own half, Lewandowski played a give
and go with Reus, profited from a
missed clearance from Sebastian
Langkamp, and buried past Jentzsch
for the second time.
In the 81st minute, Molders finally
gave the home fans something to
cheer after turning home a delivery
from Matthias Ostrzolek, but it was
too little too late for Augsburg, who
slumped to another defeat to remain
rooted to the foot of the table.
Jurgen Klopp's men ended their last
league outing in a disappointing 0-0
stalemate at home to Stuttgart, but
there were no signs of such a result
repeating itself as the visitors strolled
to a comfortable victory to see their
fleeting title defence endure for
another week.

Schalke maintain pressure on Bayern

Schalke overturned a first-half deficit
with two goals in 10 minutes to beat
Werder Bremen 2-1 on Saturday
afternoon at the Veltins Arena and
keep the pressure on Bundesliga
leaders Bayern Munich.
Aaron Hunt gave Bremen the lead
after 16 minutes but Roman
Neustadter equalised in the 59th
minute and Julian Draxler scored the
decisive goal 10 minutes later.
Just days after coming back from a
two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 at home
against Arsenal in the Champions
League, Schalke again pulled
something out of the bag to close the
gap on Bayern to seven points.
Schalke's first chance came just 38
seconds into the match as Werder
keeper Sebastian Mielitz made a
superb save to keep out Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar's back-heel attempt.
Werder took the lead with their first
opening in the 16th minute. Huntelaar
lost the ball in his own half and Eljero
Elia passed to Zlatko Junuzovic, who
in turn played in Hunt with the
forward firing just inside the right post
for his third goal in the last two
matches.
The hosts came close to doubling
their advantage on the half-hour mark
as Sokratis' header crashed off the
crossbar. Bremen hit the bar again
just two minutes later as Kevin De
Bruyne's curling free-kick glanced off
the framework.
The hosts equalised in the 59th
minute from a set-piece, with
Christian Fuchs' free-kick from the left
finding Neustadter, whose header
went over Sebastian Mielitz and in at
the left post.
Schalke took the lead 10 minutes later,
though, on a counter attack as
Jermaine Jones passed to an on-
rushing Draxler, who blasted his left-
footed shot in at the far post.
Mielitz kept his team in the match with
a superb stop from Draxler in the
84th minute and was lucky that Lewis
Holtby was offside when he found the
back of the net moments later.
Holtby then saved the day for Schalke
four minutes into injury time, heading
Theodor Gebre Selassie's effort off
the line.

Ahmed Musa, Ideye on the double

Nigeria stars Ahmed Musa and Brown
Ideye scored a brace each to help
their clubs record away wins in Russia
and Ukraine, respectively.
Musa opened scoring for CSKA
Moscow in the 35th minute and then
he put his side 2-1 up in the 51st
minute to complete his double in a
3-1 away win at Kuban Krasnodar.
With this win, CSKA consolidated their
leadership of the Russian Premier
League.
They have 36 points from 15 matches,
four points clear of closest rivals Anzhi
Machatschkala.
Speaking with MTNFootball.com after
the match, former VVV Venlo forward
said he was elated to have scored the
goals to keep his team top of the
standings.
"I am very happy to have scored two
goals. We really needed to win
because we want to stay top. I will
continue to give best to score as many
goals as I can," Musa told
MTNFootball.com
Musa has now scored a total of seven
league goals.
In Ukraine, Brown Ideye returned to
the Dynamo Kiev starting line-up
Saturday with a bang.
Ideye was his team's hero when his
brace helped them secure an
emphatic 5-0 away win over hosts
Metalurh Zaporizlya.
Dynamo moved to second spot on
the table with 31 points from 15
matches, but are 11 points adrift of
runaway leaders Shakhtar Donetsk.
Ideye scored his first goal in the 64th
minute to give his team a 3-0 lead
after receiving a pass from 63rd
minute substitute Lukman Haruna.
The former Sochaux front man
completed his brace 10 minutes later.
Compatriot Haruna set up another
substitute Yarmoberk in the 87th
minute for the fifth goal.
In Turkey, it was Kalu Uche's 90th
minute penalty that Kasimpasa
needed to secure a 1-1 draw at home
to table toppers Antalyaspor.
Kasimpasa are fourth on the table on
17 points from 11 matches.

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