Monday, January 11, 2010

AC Milan sink dismal Juventus in Turin

Milan moved to within eight points of Serie A leaders and city rivals Internazionale with a 3-0 away win at Juventus.

Three corners provided the Rossoneri's three goals. Alessandro Nesta prodded home Andrea Pirlo's cross at the far post in the first half, while Ronaldinho clinched the three points with 20 minutes to go with a glancing header, again from a Pirlo corner.

The Brazilian made it three in the closing stages, chesting down David Beckham's cross and finishing superbly past Juve 'keeper Alex Manninger.

The result keeps Milan in second, and underlines their status as the likeliest challengers to Jose Mourinho's Inter. Juve remain third, 12 points behind Inter, and four behind Milan.

Juventus had the better of a disjointed first half hour, in which misplaced passes dominated. Brazilian playmaker Diego was the only man who looked capable of providing the spark that would bring the match to life, and that almost proved the case as he cut in from the left, wrongfooting Gennaro Gattuso, before curling a right-foot effort just past the far post.

Uncharacteristically poor delivery from David Beckham meant nothing came from a series of Milan corners, though Andrea Pirlo's first corner of a game brought about the game's opening goal on the half-hour mark.

The Milan playmaker's cross should have been routinely booted clear at the near post by Felipe Melo at the near post, but he somehow missed the ball, allowing Nesta to pounce at the far post.

With the Rossoneri keeping the ball beautifully at the start of the second half, Juve coach Ciro Ferrara threw on Alessandro del Piero on 60 minutes in place of the anonymous Hasan Salihamdizic, while Christian Poulsen was almost immediately stretchered off and replaced by de Ceglie.

A free-kick blazed wastefully over the bar was the sum total of Del Piero's impact, and though Milan looked rather toothless in open play, they doubled their lead through another Pirlo set-piece with 20 minutes to go. Ronaldinho met Pirlo's corner at the near post with a glancing header, though it took another small but vital deflection off De Ceglie on its way in.

source: Eurosport (www.yahoo.com)



Friday, January 8, 2010

Four Premier League games called off

Four Premier League weekend fixtures have fallen victim to the adverse weather conditions enveloping England, with Liverpool's clash with Tottenham Hotspur the latest to be called off.

ulham's game against Portsmouth, Stoke's trip to Burnley and Sunderland's fixture against Bolton at the Stadium of Light have also been postponed. However, contrary to reports, Hull are "confident" their game with Chelsea will go ahead.

The big freeze has wreaked havoc with the fixture list in England this weekend with lower leagues also badly hit - not a single match will be played League Two or the Conference.

The Premier League fixture list had remained intact until Friday morning when it was announced that the game between Fulham and Portsmouth at Craven Cottage had been postponed.

A club statement read: "Saturday's Barclays Premier League fixture against Portsmouth at the Cottage has been postponed due to the adverse weather conditions which are not expected to improve over the next 24 hours.

"The safety of supporters is of paramount importance to the club and following an inspection of the areas surrounding Craven Cottage on Friday morning it was deemed unsafe for fans to travel.''

Burnley then announced that their game against Stoke City at Turf Moor will not be going ahead due to safety reasons before Bolton's trip to Sunderland was also called off.

Liverpool requested that their game with Spurs was postponed "for safety reasons" and by Friday afternoon the clash had been cancelled.

Birmingham have said that their pitch is completely playable ahead of their match against Manchester United on Saturday evening but, as with all games, there is a doubt about the pavements around the ground. Hull City have stated that if their game with Chelsea was due to take place on Friday it would have gone ahead, so expect the match to take place on Saturday lunchtime.

Meanwhile, Manchester United have rearranged their home game with Hull City for Saturday, January 23. The game should have been played at the end of the month but was postponed due to the rescheduling of the Carling Cup semi-finals.

source: ESPN

Friday, January 1, 2010

Aguero rules out move to Chelsea in January

Argentina striker Sergio Aguero has insisted there is no chance of him moving to Chelsea this month.

The Atletico Madrid hitman has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Premier League, and with the Blues allowed to sign players in the January window it is expected they will make a move.

But the 21-year-old has signalled his intention to remain in Spain with Atletico.

He told Atletico's official website: "I am aware that there are always rumours about my future, but actually I am isolated from everything. I have always made clear my commitment to Atletico and everybody knows it. Do not pay much attention to what comes out. All I am doing is playing and worrying about the team, so these things do not affect me.''

"I have changed many things,'' he said, reflecting on his time in Spain. "I am happy to be spending my fourth year at Atletico Madrid. I realise that I have learned many things both on and off the field during my time here.

"Now I know the Spanish league very well and that has made me grow as a footballer. Over these years, I have played alongside great players which has taught me a lot as a player and as a person.

source: ESPN