Archive for Febbraio 25th, 2011
Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is increasingly confident Gareth Bale could return from injury to play against AC Milan in the second leg of their Champions League clash.
Bale has been sidelined for over a month with a back problem, but has finally returned to training this week as his rehabilitation progresses. Redknapp is now optimistic he could be available for selection for the last-16 tie at White Hart Lane.
“Hopefully there will be a bit of sunlight, Gareth Bale is back and a few of the others,” Redknapp told Sky Sports on Thursday. “Hopefully [Bale will be available for the game against Milan], he’s back in training today so we’ll look at him tomorrow.
“He’s started to run, which is good, so he could be available. Which is good because he’s an important player for us.”
Spurs hold a 1-0 advantage from the first leg in Italy, thanks to Peter Crouch’s late strike. But the game was somewhat overshadowed by Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso’s altercation with Spurs coach Joe Jordan – an incident that has seen the Italian banned from European competition for four matches, in addition to his pre-existing suspension from the second leg.
A week on, Redknapp is still bemused by the veteran’s antics.
“He was a good lad, I don’t know what he happened really – he just cracked up and went off his head,” he said. “There wouldn’t be too many people who would pick on Joe Jordan, it’s certainly not the cleverest thing he’s ever done. But I’m looking forward to the game, it should be a great game.”
With the first leg advantage – not to mention an away goal – to cling onto, Redknapp is hopeful his charges can keep upsetting the odds and progress in the competition, although he believes the two giants from Spain remain the sides to beat.
“We had Young Boys of Bern first up [in the qualification round], and we were 3-0 down after 20 minutes and I thought ‘that’s it for us’. But we came through that and have hung in there,” he said. “Milan will still be difficult. They’ve got forwards that can hurt you, they can still be dangerous. You’ve just got to keep going.
“It’s all to play for, but you’ve got to say the two favourites would be Barcelona and Real Madrid.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
Dzeko at the double as City sail through
Edin Dzeko scored twice in the opening 12 minutes as Manchester City completed a routine 3-0 win over Aris at Eastlands to book a Europa League last-16 clash with Dynamo Kiev.
After unleashing his own battery of strikers on a limited Greek outfit, Blues boss Roberto Mancini now faces a great of the past in Andriy Shevchenko.
It will not be easy judging by the way Dynamo so comfortably crushed Besiktas but with his side beginning another winning run, Mancini will be hopeful of further progress, even if an FA Cup draw with Aston Villa next Wednesday would force the Blues to play twice in three days ahead of the first leg in the Ukraine on March 10.
Certainly, Dzeko can approach the tie in confident mood after claiming his first brace since a £27million arrival from Wolfsburg last month.
The giant Bosnian should have been heading home with the match ball after failing to take a glorious opportunity provided by David Silva.
A third did eventually come though, for Yaya Toure, whose 25-yard effort took a fairly sizeable deflection.
Given he scored in the final minute against Notts County on Sunday, Dzeko might argue he completed a 13-minute hat-trick given the explosive start he made here.
And to think, leading up to the weekend FA Cup win, the Bosnian’s form had been scrutinised after registering a single goal since his big-money arrival from Wolfsburg last month.
Such judgements were incredibly harsh given the difficulty most players experience when they move during the January transfer window, and so Dzeko has proved.
His opener did involve a large slice of good fortune.
Aleksandar Kolarov, who had already drifted two curling free-kicks narrowly over, did not appear to be trying anything inventive as he hoofed a long ball forward from inside his own half.
After defending so defiantly last week, Aris collapsed.
Nikolaos Lazaridis got himself in a tangle as he tried to control, succeeding only in turning the ball into Dzeko’s path as he fell.
The finish was excellent, the ball nestling in the far corner, which Dzeko found with a precise low shot that gave Michail Sifakis no chance.
Dzeko’s second was equally eye-catching from the striker’s point of view.
Collecting Carlos Tevez’s short pass, Dzeko cut inside Michel, then went for the same corner, only this time with his left foot, with exactly the same result.
He really should have had an authentic hat-trick too.
Sent clear by Silva’s brilliant through ball in the final minutes of the half, Dzeko galloped on.
But in trying to round Sifakis, Dzeko got too close to the keeper, who stuck out a hand to block the ball.
The City man’s momentum was stopped and before he could regain it, the Aris defence had closed ranks.
It was a first half that justified Roberto Mancini’s bold decision to play his big-name strikers, even if Mario Balotelli was a peripheral figure.
With Silva on the field as well, the Blues were committed to attack, although predictably, it was in defence where the price was paid.
As he trudged off, Vincent Kompany was clearly troubled by his hip.
The impressive Belgian has been such a key figure in the Blues’ backline this term and it would be a major setback for Mancini if Kompany was forced to miss a few games after taking a seemingly innocuous blow.
Tellingly, Mancini opted to bring on Pablo Zabaleta and move Jerome Boateng into central defence rather than introducing Kolo Toure as a direct replacement.
Zabaleta was his usual industrious self. And it was the Argentinian who combined with Tevez to set up Balotelli midway through the second half.
The youngster went for goal with a well-struck first-time effort that came crashing back off the base of a post.
It was Toure who bagged the third after Kolarov’s corner had been cleared into his path.
The Ivorian’s shot was powerful enough but it probably would not have gone in without the deflection that took it away from Sifakis.
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
Edu the hero as Gers sneak through
Maurice Edu scored a dramatic last-gasp goal to send Rangers into the last 16 of the Europa League, where they will meet PSV Eindhoven, as Sporting Lisbon crashed out of the competition following a 2-2 draw at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.
El-Hadji Diouf claimed his first goal for Rangers before strikes from former Rangers midfielder Pedro Mendes and Yannick Djalo appeared to have secured victory for the home side.
But Edu pounced in injury time with the decisive goal in the tie as Rangers triumphed on away goals after the first leg had ended 1-1.
Diouf was handed the job of getting the goals for Rangers as the lone striker, taking on the role from Kyle Lafferty, who was dropped from the first leg after spurning several chances.
Kyle Bartley and John Fleck, who was making his first start in three months, were drafted into the side following the 1-1 draw at Ibrox, with Vladimir Weiss also out of the side and named among the substitutes.
Steven Whittaker – who netted in the first leg – demonstrated his versatility once again when he was deployed in an unfamiliar central midfield position, with Rangers short of options in that area of the park.
Sporting’s dismal league campaign meant they were under pressure to deliver on the European stage and they were out of the traps quickly, testing Allan McGregor in the opening minutes.
Whittaker gifted possession to Djalo who unleashed from six yards but his angled drive was confidently blocked by the Rangers goalkeeper.
Rangers surged into the lead with 20 minutes gone when Steven Davis raced on to a Richard Foster ball down the right flank before picking out Diouf for the header at the back post.
With their away goal from the first leg now cancelled out, Sporting set about trying to haul themselves back into the tie.
Mendes had a go from distance with a shot that fell wide, before setting up Alberto Zapater who hooked over for the home side.
Sporting continued to push forward and could have had a penalty when Joao Pereira went to ground under pressure from Bartley but Italian referee Paolo Tagliavento ignored the pleas.
But they were back on level terms after 42 minutes when David Weir failed to clear an Evaldo ball into the box, which bounced off Bartley and fell for Helder Postiga who set up Mendes to rifle past McGregor.
There was an altercation between Diouf and Marco Torsiglieri as the players left the pitch at half-time, with the Rangers forward clearly furious with the actions of his opponent, who appeared to catch Diouf with an elbow.
Once the second half was under way, it was Sporting who had the best of the chances and McGregor was called into action to produce an impressive save to prevent Matias Fernandez’s swerving free-kick from finding the back of the net.
The home side should have been celebrating when Mendes turned provider for Pereira but he somehow managed to nod over from close range, before then seeing a point-blank shot blocked by McGregor.
Rangers made a double switch with 20 minutes to go when David Weir and Fleck were withdrawn, and Lafferty and Weiss were thrown into the action with the tie still hanging in the balance.
When those changes failed to yield a winner, David Healy was introduced in place of Diouf but it was Sporting who netted again just seconds later with 83 minutes on the clock.
Pereira delivered the cross to the back post where Djalo beat Foster to the ball to send a firm header past McGregor.
Just when Sporting thought they had sealed their passage to the last 16, Rangers grabbed an equaliser in injury-time when Healy’s cross was met by Edu who remained in an onside position to stab home the goal that won the tie.
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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