Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Crystal Palace's Marouane Chamakh loves new challenge at the bottom | Dominic Fifield
Chelsea's Jose Mourinho takes swipe at miscalculating Manuel Pellegrini
Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini insists Chelsea game 'no title decider'
Newcastle Jets snatch point at death against Western Sydney Wanderers
Said & Done: the week in football – Cellino, Diego and a broken heart
Generation data now have X-factor
Manchester City change skyline of the city as they leave the past behind | Daniel Taylor
Football League: Your thoughts
David Moyes blames bad luck after Manchester United's loss to Stoke City
Jonny Hayes' goals inspire Aberdeen to 4-0 St Johnstone semi-final win
Barcelona 2-3 Valencia
Leeds deny McDermott sacking
Hull City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League match report
Stoke City 2-1 Man Utd
Cardiff City 2-1 Norwich
Everton 2-1 Aston Villa | Premier League match report
Fulham 0-3 Southampton | Premier League match report
Premier League clockwatch – as it happened
Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers: character is key and we have bucketloads
Kallstrom suffers 'long-term injury'
Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City's enigma by those who know him | Jamie Jackson
USA beat Canada to extend unbeaten streak to 40 games
West Ham 2-0 Swansea
Stoke v Man Utd – match centre!
Newcastle 0-3 Sunderland

Crystal Palace's Marouane Chamakh loves new challenge at the bottom | Dominic Fifield

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 03:01 PM PST

Striker believes he has nothing to prove to his old club Arsenal and hopes they win the Premier League this season

Marouane Chamakh is sitting in a dimly lit first-floor cubbyhole at Crystal Palace's Copers Cope training ground, fresh out of a squad yoga session, when the conversation turns tentatively to all things Arsenal. Logic dictates the subject might darken his mood. After all, the Moroccan's three-year association with the north London club was largely one of choking disappointment, a tale of false dawns and frustration, of sinister blackmail plots and ridicule from those who had expected so much more.

In that grim context, Sunday's return to the Emirates Stadium to confront former team-mates turned title contenders might send a shiver down his spine. Yet, from first mention, his memories are glowing. Even affectionate. There is acceptance as to why his career stalled so miserably, an acknowledgement of the education he received, and a desire that Arsenal go on to claim the Premier League title. There are thanks, too, for the support offered during his darkest days. "They're a team I always followed, a team I've loved, but that page has turned. Now it's important to feel wanted, and to show what I can do. But I have nothing to prove to Arsenal. Nothing at all."

Chamakh is not mourned in that corner of the capital given that Arsenal saw only flashes of his capabilities after his free-transfer arrival from Bordeaux in the summer of 2010. It is easy to forget the striker started so well. The goal plundered at Aston Villa in late November that first year was his 10th in 21 appearances, similar scoring form to that had propelled Les Girondins to the 2009 league title under Laurent Blanc. He was the first player to score in six consecutive Champions League matches, either side of his switch to London. Even on hefty wages, he felt like a Bosman bargain.

From then on, the numbers stack up for the wrong reasons. Between Villa Park and his first goal for Palace, at Stoke in August, the 30-year-old scored once in the Premier League, Arsène Wenger's faith in his abilities having been eroded. His tally of 19 league starts for Arsenal in three years, 17 coming in his first four months at the club, tells its own story.

In the first five months of 2011, Robin van Persie scored 21 times in 23 games, and would add 37 club goals the following year. If the Dutchman was a phenomenon, Chamakh swiftly became the outsider. "It was difficult," he says. "But we had Robin, a player at the height of his powers, the best in the Premier League at the time. He had a season that was completely crazy in that first year I was there, a season no one could have predicted, and got better. The manager only played with one up and Robin was never injured, he scored goals every week, so how was I going to play?

"I knew I wasn't in the side because he was better than me. That was the reality. I accept that. He's just a better player. Of course it was frustrating, seeing the team win virtually every week but playing very little part in making it happen. I hadn't moved to Arsenal to sit on the bench, but I knew why it was happening. You ask yourself questions, and in the end it was easy to see I had to leave. That was the only answer."

Van Persie's brilliance only partly explains Chamakh's struggles. More disturbing was the blackmail plot, a legacy of a holiday in Las Vegas during the summer of his arrival at Arsenal, which emerged early in 2011 and prompted a police investigation. A newspaper had been sent incriminating photographs and video footage, which it did not publish, but the rumours were rife and unsettling. If Chamakh recognised he had put himself in an awkward situation, he still shrivelled in the glare, his focus blurred and his mood anchored, while Arsenal's legal team came to his aid. "They backed me, and I will always be grateful for that support. They helped me through it, but it was a hard time.

"It took me by surprise. In France, that wouldn't have happened. I arrive in England and, seven months later, I'm being threatened, people trying to blackmail me … It got on top of me, weighing me down. I filed a complaint and the police intervened but, while we kept it all as quiet as we could, I couldn't explain to people why I was so low. So down. No one knows what it's like. There were some things I didn't want to talk about, but the club were always behind me, supporting me, protecting me. In the end, I came out on the right side of the story. I'm just glad the whole episode is over and done with.

"I'm stronger for that experience. How could I not be? When you go through something like that, you grow up and have to come out stronger. It's helped open my eyes to what can happen, things that I hadn't expected. Some people are out to get you, people it's hard to have any respect for. As sad as it is, they're looking for shit on footballers all the time. That's life. But it got to me."

In the circumstancesIn the circumstances, and having grown infuriated at a bit-part role on loan spell at West Ham – he would make a point of seeking out Sam Allardyce after scoring a winner against them at Selhurst Park in December – he might have been tempted to walk away from England last summer to seek out a fresh start with one of the clubs in Greece, Turkey, France, Spain or the Middle East who had expressed interest. But that would have constituted an admission of failure. Instead, Palace offered an unfamiliar challenge, a one-year deal to compete at the wrong end of the division, but as a key player charged with inspiring a hastily assembled lineup to safety.

It was Ian Holloway who sold him the project, and Tony Pulis who has restored his form. Chamakh is not prolific, with five goals this term, but he links up play effectively as a second forward behind Cameron Jerome in a stingy team that is upwardly mobile. Some of his touches expose his natural ability, his spring and awareness in the air a throwback to his Bordeaux days. Life can be unnerving for an elite performer thrust into a relegation battle, but the Moroccan recognises an opportunity.

"At my previous clubs the objectives have been at the other end of the table, or scoring goals in the Champions League, so all this is very different but I wanted to stay in England. It was always the league I loved, one I'd wanted to experience, and it was one I only really had a brief taste of at Arsenal. It wasn't that I had something to prove, but there was plenty I still wanted to do. Palace offered me a chance.

"I knew what I was walking into, the kind of struggle this season would be, but it appealed to me. It was always going to take me time to recover the level of performance I had at Bordeaux or at the beginning with Arsenal, but I knew I'd adapt. It was important to feel I would be a big part of the side. There were no fears or doubts, and there have been absolutely no regrets. I believe in this team and in what we're trying to achieve. I'm as desperate now to succeed and help the team stay up as I was to win titles when I first arrived at Arsenal.

"We're a more solid squad now. We know our qualities and want to fight for each other. It's a good group. A motivated group. We can stay up: win two or three matches and you rise almost out of trouble. That's what we're striving for, to give us more oxygen, to bring us clear. We're capable of doing that."

Tuesday's win over Hull was a second in succession in the league and ensured Palace went into this weekend 14th, four points clear of the cut-off, which is remarkable given they had been bottom with only four points on Pulis's appointment in November. The upturn has been born of rugged industry and endeavour, qualities some doubted Chamakh possessed, yet he has come to personify their revival.

Arsenal will stretch their defensive capabilities, with Palace braced for an awkward afternoon against a team who aspire to return to the summit as they pursue a first league title in a decade. "I'm not surprised to see them where they are," says Chamakh. "They've always had a great team, but they were missing something small to kick on. This year they seem stronger mentally – they're able to win matches in a different way – and they virtually have two world-class players for every position across midfield, which is where they win games.

"Mesut Özil's arrival has lifted them, not just the team but the entire club. It's great for the morale of the players to be alongside Özil, a player they can give the ball to and he can produce anything. That magic they need.

"It's maybe up front where they don't have the numbers, and [Olivier] Giroud has to play every match. He's taken on a tremendous workload, but has done so well. I'm pleased for him. I hope they go on and win it. They're ready."

So, too, is Chamakh to prove there is life after Arsenal. He has more to show the Premier League.

Dominic Fifield

Chelsea's Jose Mourinho takes swipe at miscalculating Manuel Pellegrini

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

• Portuguese makes European dig at Manchester City manager
• In-form Premier League sides face crunch encounter

José Mourinho has reignited a simmering rivalry with Manuel Pellegrini by mocking the Manchester City manager's faux pas in the Champions League earlier in the season, when the Chilean failed to realise that his side could have topped their group with a single goal.

City, who play Chelsea in a crunch encounter at the top of the Premier League on Monday evening, were leading Bayern Munich 3-2 in Germany in December and would have qualified as group winners on goal difference had they added a fourth. However, Pellegrini has since apologised for being unaware of the mathematical permutations, bringing on Jack Rodwell in the closing stages of the match.

City lead Chelsea by three points and have a far superior goal difference but have been drawn against Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. Mourinho, who succeeded Pellegrini as manager of Real Madrid in 2010 and irked the South American with his zealous celebrations after Chelsea's 2-1 victory over City earlier in the campaign, claimed the Manchester club would not be regarded as a great side until they had triumphed in Europe.

"They won one title, they won a couple of cups. Only in Europe they didn't do well. Speaking objectively they did very bad in the Champions League in previous seasons, also in the Europa League they did bad," said Mourinho. "The first thing to be successful in Europe is to know the rules of the competition, that's the first thing."

Asked if there was any ongoing feud with Pellegrini, whose achievements at the Bernabéu Mourinho questioned after taking charge of the Spanish club, the Portuguese added: "I didn't fall out [with him]. Not me, maybe him, not me."

Chelsea go into game in good form, having not lost a league game in eight outings and looking cohesive in attack, despite a goalless draw with West Ham on Wednesday. City, however, have scored 29 times in their past seven and crushed Tottenham 5-1 in midweek.

Mourinho, who insists his Chelsea side will only be title contenders next season after a year of progression, admitted he has been impressed by City's attacking "efficiency" but claimed he was enjoying rebuilding. "I enjoy to build a team, build for the future. I enjoy not to be working just for today and next season to start again with another team, spending a lot again of money again, selling a lot of players, bringing in a lot of players," he said.

"I'm enjoying this very, very much. To be the underdog I don't enjoy, I think I'm going to enjoy more next season where I am going to give sequence to the work we are doing."

James Riach

Paul Wilson

Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini insists Chelsea game 'no title decider'

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

Chilean strikes a cautious note ahead of Chelsea's visit to the Etihad Stadium on Monday, but believes City 'are getting better'

There was a collector's item at Manchester City's training ground on the final day of the transfer window for anyone tracking the descent of modern football into complete absurdity. Manuel Pellegrini was asked, in all seriousness, whether conceding a goal at Tottenham might prompt him to bring in some new defenders.

City won 5-1 at White Hart Lane, you might recall, striking Tim Sherwood as not only a shoo-in for the title but the best team on the planet.

Pellegrini considered the question before answering with his usual mix of humour and bemusement. "Of course it was very disappointing to concede a goal, especially from a set piece," he replied. "But on the whole I was happy with the way we won the game. In the first half at Tottenham we played really well in all senses. We moved the ball very quickly, didn't give them any time and space, it was a complete performance in attacking and defending and we only scored one goal."

One had the feeling Pellegrini said that because, like José Mourinho, who brings his Chelsea side to the Etihad Stadium on Monday, he is aware that not all games need be won at a canter and supremacy expressed by just a single goal still earns the same three points.

City lost at Chelsea in October through Joe Hart's mistake in the final minute, but since Pellegrini asked them to stop giving away stupid goals they have improved to the extent where the rematch is now being billed as a title decider. "It won't be," Pellegrini said. "Apart from the fact that Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton are still in the running there will be 42 points to play for after the Chelsea game. Anything can still happen."

That is true, though one of the things that could happen, were City to beat Chelsea, is that they could use their next half dozen league games, all against teams from the bottom half of the table, to open up such a commanding lead that the title could be all but won by the time games against Manchester United and Arsenal arrive at the end of March. Even without Sergio Agüero that might be possible, since City managed well enough the last time their main attacking spearhead was out for a month, though Pellegrini prefers not to look too far ahead.

"I keep hearing we are going to score 200 goals and win all for trophies," he said. "It is my job to make certain the players don't believe all that and I am absolutely sure they don't. They know perfectly well that the only target is to beat Chelsea in the next game. We are not invincible, no team is invincible. We are in a very good moment, but the difference between a win and a loss is so slight, in every match it is possible you can lose."

The City manager knows that better than most, having been given a fright by Watford in the last round of the FA Cup, though in the league, at home, his side have managed to put 10 goals past United and Arsenal, even if the 2-1 win over Liverpool was a much closer contest. On that occasion City were assisted by an incorrect offside decision that cost Raheem Sterling a goal and, having turned up in an attacking frame of mind with strikers quick and nimble enough to cause the home defence problems, Liverpool were worth at least a point.

The Chelsea match could follow a similar pattern. It will be a surprise should it turn out to be a goal fest, though both sides will fancy their chances of scoring. While Pellegrini knows Eden Hazard and Oscar present a threat to any defence, he can produce statistics to show City have tightened up at the back.

"We made an important mistake at Chelsea and lost the game, but we have improved since then," he said. "In December we won nine games and drew one. Same in January. But in December we scored 26 and conceded 12, whereas in January we scored 32 and conceded just nine. All the statistics say we are getting better."

Paul Wilson

Newcastle Jets snatch point at death against Western Sydney Wanderers

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 02:19 PM PST

Newcastle snatched a dramatic 2-2 A-League draw with Western Sydney, with an Adam Taggart goal at the death stealing a point for the Jets.

Said & Done: the week in football – Cellino, Diego and a broken heart

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 01:26 PM PST

The week in football – Cellino's test; the best of the transfer window; defaming Diego; plus rabbit of the week

Big week for

Massimo Cellino's Leeds takeover: the Cagliari owner aiming to pass football's fit and proper test 12 months after an Italian arrest warrant called him a man of "marked criminal tendencies … capable of using every kind of deception to achieve his ends". Cellino, twice convicted on unrelated fraud charges, denies embezzlement, with the case yet to come to trial.

• Cellino's view on English football administration: 2010 - after his West Ham bid fell through: "I'm stunned. They asked about my criminal record, I should have asked about theirs. The English don't know how to run football. There's no transparency there."

Fifa's week

Taking Zurich's focus last week: Fifa's lawyers aiming to shut down a "grey zone" tax-avoidance structure used in the transfers of dozens of Brazilian players – four months before Fifa arrive in Brazil to make a $200m tax-free World Cup profit.

• Also last week: Sepp weighing up the Brazilian public's anti-Fifa protests. "It's a spontaneous movement without purpose or reason. People just want to use the World Cup to be heard. Football is like potatoes: it goes with everything."

Other news: best message

Karren Brady – co-signing a letter warning that Labour's top-rate 50p tax plan, tipped to raise £100m, is a reckless risk to Britain's economic recovery, a year after she sealed a £150m publicly funded refit for West Ham's new £429m ground.

Fair play latest

2: The number of years between Uefa reporting "the whole football family" is lined up behind the spirit of financial fair play, and Man City reporting reduced losses of £52m thanks to a £400m Etihad deal and selling £22m of 'intellectual property" to related parties. City's net transfer spend since 2008: £582m.

Meanwhile: best solidarity

Premier League clubs: spending a combined £12m on grassroots facilities this season ("Once again Premier League clubs are stepping up to the plate") and a combined £760m on transfers.

Transfer window: the key moves

• Best focus: 12 Jan, Yohan Cabaye, feeling hurt by speculation. "Speculation is hard for every player. For me to go to Paris or another club, there is nothing. I just want to be focused on the next game. When you know what you want, it is easier." 29 Jan: Goes to Paris.

• Best hands-off warning: 29 Jan, Lazio president Claudio Lotito on Inter's interest in Hernanes. "We hold him tight. We have not sold Hernanes and we are not going to sell Hernanes." 31 Jan: Sells Hernanes.

• Most committed: 19 Dec, Kostas Mitroglou, signing a new three-year deal at Olympiacos: "I'm so happy to renew once again at this, the club of my heart! I want to thank the club and the president, who, from the first moment he embraced me, showed me the way. This is a family, proud and glorious, and I, for my part, promise to give everything to make our fans happy." 31 Jan: Joins Fulham.

• Most bashful: Peru - Brazilian player Dalton Moreira Neto, asked why Universitario signed him. "I have good technique, a fine passing game, I am very vocal … and in 2012 I was elected the most beautiful player by women. I was happy with that."

Legal news

Italy: Diego Maradona's lawyers say producers of Naples mafia series Gomorra have defamed their client by nicknaming a "totally negative, criminal" character after him. Lawyer Angelo Pisani says Maradona, who denies evading £30m taxes in Naples, has had his role model status compromised. "If these artists want a nickname, they should use their own."

Respect campaign latest

2013: Referee Ali Sabbagh explains the challenge of life in Lebanon: "The players don't know the rules, most have no sporting culture, the majority have no respect." 2014: Sabbagh banned for life for match-fixing in return for sexual favours.

Losers backlash

South Africa international Lerato Chabangu says Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula's claim that the squad are "unbearable, useless individuals, a useless bunch of losers," is "very bad" because: "He's a loser too, he should call himself that." Mbalula's spokesman: "We will not rise to this."

Closest escape

Brazil: Atlético-PR v Operário-PR playing on despite a rabbit "trying to set up home" in one of the goals. Local media: "He stayed for some time, made a hole, but left when a striker fell next to him. He was smart, and swift."

Most moving interview

Brazil: Comercial defender Edimar, interviewed on the pitch after defeat to Palmeiras. "I am doubly sad. First for the defeat, but also because my fiancee is upset with me. I wanted to win to honour her. Sabrina, I love you, come back to me. We can get along. I promise you a future of only joy and happiness. Come back Sabrina."

Plus: saddest exit

Uruguay: Model Vitto Saravia on why she is leaving football behind after failed relationships with three players. "I will never date a footballer again, I just don't like their world, I never did. It's no life for me."

David Hills

Generation data now have X-factor

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 12:20 PM PST

Greg Dyke's FA commission need to get stuck in to the Elite development system if English football is to prosper

Once again English football spent more than any other European league on players in this transfer window – a Premier League record for the season of £760m – demonstrating that we are decidedly a nation of consumers, not producers. Greg Dyke and the FA Commission, and indeed anyone who wants to see a successful England team, will naturally wish that it was otherwise, that we could grow and develop more players for our elite clubs. Increased efforts to reverse the trend were introduced as the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) in 2011. So how is it doing?

My initial scepticism around the scheme was high. I had heard a lot of criticism regarding the set-up. There were buzzwords being thrown about such as "contact time", the notion that it takes 10,000 hours to create an elite performer. Nice headline but in itself practise only ever makes permanent, not necessarily perfect. I also met a lot of coaches who moaned about the amount of paperwork involved.

Then there was the criticism from football clubs who felt that EPPP unfairly favoured the Premier League. Some disbanded their academies, claiming they were no longer financially viable. Others complained that their academy players would now sell at discounted prices or that the abolition of the 90-minute rule (whereby clubs could only recruit young players within a 90-minute radius) meant that the richest outlets were now able to recruit nationally.

But what was the scheme doing to develop players? After all, this was the primary aim. Speaking to a selection of coaches from clubs across the football pyramid I was pleasantly surprised. As always, the problem with new systems is that they challenge old school values. I listened to Peter Schmeichel on Match of the Day talking about how Tottenham are doing so much better under Tim Sherwood because he has gone back to basics rather than picking a team off a computer. It's that age-old suspicion, that inherent hangover from yesteryear that forever says: "My eye is better than your laptop." Well, what happens if you combine both? The EPPP has introduced a high level of accountability through data collection and to my mind that information is invaluable.

We know that elite football is investing ever more in sophisticated data analysis systems to help clubs choose players and scrutinise performances in a more meaningful way (say, not merely how many shots has a keeper saved but using algorithms to understand the quality of each of those saves).

For academy football to be doing the same, to be monitoring young players' progress across every facet on a daily basis, is a good thing. It's building a statistical picture of a player's development over a number of years. It's analysing the bigger picture behind why a player has weaknesses – whether the player is inherently not good enough or whether the coaching is not actively working on those weaknesses. It's the idea that what you practise is what you perform. It's so logical you have to wonder why it hasn't been done before.

Liverpool told me they have been using a similar system for five years. What effect has it had? Last season Liverpool had the most under-20 players making first-team starts in the Premier League – by a country mile – Raheem Sterling accounting for 18 of those.

As a parent I was also heartened to hear that, for once, education is being taken seriously under the new system. When I was at Watford any kid who was academic was seen as a misnomer. Balls and books simply did not mix. But the clubs I spoke to were building schools, cultivating a separate learning environment and producing impressive academic results. Liverpool told me that some of their former academy players still return for career advice, that they are kept in the system so that whatever happens in their football career they still have the club to fall back on.

As with anything there is no doubt that the EPPP has its faults. The idea that any category one club can arrive at a training ground with 48 hours notice to watch an academy player is ludicrous. The abolition of the reserves league, replaced by the under-21s league is intolerable. Where there was once a stepping stone to the first team, the under-21 league just looks like a dead end. One glance at the current under-21 league table says all you need to know. While in the Premier League Sunderland, West Ham and Fulham are all languishing at the foot of the table, in the under-21s table they are in the top five.

Several clubs have complained that the EPPP favours the rich. No doubt about it, English football is mirroring the changes in the rest of society. It's supermarkets versus Bob the grocers. None of us like it but few of us change our shopping habits to challenge the system. And big clubs flexing their muscles is not a new predicament. When I was playing in the youth team at Watford there were stories of clubs buying houses for academy players so that their parents would sign up.

Ultimately, academies do still make sense financially. Running at very near the equivalent value of a single players' annual wages – category one academies cost £1.5m a year, just over the Premier League average annual wage of £1.16m per player, while category four academies cost £100k a year, just over the average £80k a year for a League One players – for a stable of young talent that can be fed into the team, or sold off to generate revenue, that looks a good business model to me.

Yes there are things we can do to improve the system. Like place a restriction on the number of players allowed in every academy at every age group. Like banning trawler fishing, it would prevent the richest clubs from hoovering up all of the talent.

Ultimately, though, football cannot stay where it was, with young and talented English footballers not getting the elite development they deserve and having to compete with too many cheap foreign imports. EPPP is in its infancy. And it's not perfect. So let's improve it. If Dyke's FA commission really want something to get their teeth stuck into, it's sitting here right under their noses.

David James has donated his fee for this column to charity

David James

Manchester City change skyline of the city as they leave the past behind | Daniel Taylor

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST

No longer the club who train on the council pitches of Moss Side, there is a sense at Manchester City that now is their time

The football landscape in Manchester is changing. Just head through the eastern part of town, along Alan Turing Way, and a new stadium is starting to thrust skywards directly opposite Manchester City's ground, in the same way that Mini Estadi nestles beside the Camp Nou. The Etihad Campus, City's new training complex, will be operating within six months, with a 7,000-seat stadium as its focal point. The difference with Barcelona is the 80 acres of spare land that City have for development around it, now a frenzy of hard hats and scaffolding operating to the designs of Rafael Viñoly, the Uruguayan architect whose portfolio includes Jongno Tower in Seoul, Carrasco international airport in Montevideo and various additions to the skylines of New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, among others.

For those of us who remember the old City, these are moments when it can feel like an entirely different club and it brings to mind a line in Pies and Prejudice, Stuart Maconie's book about his travels through the north. Manchester, he wrote, was still a "mucky kid at heart, but having been mithered by Mam and had their faces wiped with spittle on some civic hankie, they've scrubbed up dead smart." It encapsulates everything that has happened to City, on the journey from chip-fat to champagne.

Viñoly's latest project will feature a long sweeping footbridge, named the Commonwealth Way, to link the two grounds over a dual-carriageway. There will be 16 other pitches, accommodation for players, apartments for relatives, a medical centre, a boardroom, a media theatre and the kind of five-star luxury that it is fair to say was not always evident in the years the team trained on council pitches in Moss Side.

Then again, a lot has changed since the days Platt Lane doubled up as a meeting point for the local down-and-outs. Paul Lake tells the story in his autobiography about how a noisy troupe would congregate by the meshed perimeter fence to abuse the players on their laps of the pitch, including one guy whose party trick was to smile menacingly and rub his crotch up and down the netting.

"Wonder whether Bryan Robson has to cope with this at the Cliff?" was an often-heard lament among the players. Which feels like a piece of classic City, long before the days when they shelled out £639,000 a day on wages, ferried executives around in chauffeur-driven cars and once surprised Barcelona after a conference call from Abu Dhabi to Manchester was misunderstood, specifically the words "it's getting messy" and – true story – Garry Cook, bless him, put in a £30m bid for Lionel Messi.

"Typical City" – the phrase that they came to hate – tends to mean another five- or six-goal thrashing these days and the free-scoring exploits of Manuel Pellegrini's side tell only part of the story. City's Under-18s are unbeaten since 28 September and won 2-0 on Saturday against Manchester United. The Under-21s have not lost in three months. At senior level, City fans will have a better understanding now why the people of Málaga have named a street after Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini was let go.

At junior level, City's Under-13s and Under-14s are national champions. Nobody should get too far ahead of themselves but if Abu Dhabi's royal family continue to apply the same mix of hard ambition and incalculable wealth, it is not outlandish to wonder whether what we are seeing now is leading to a period of extended domination.

If it is a deception, apologies in advance for being reeled in. For now, though, it feels like common sense after City's anachronistic run of freewheeling wins. A 5-1 joyride at Tottenham, to go with a 6-0 against the same opposition in Manchester, the various ordeals for Arsenal (6-3), United (4-1), Norwich (7-0), West Ham (9-0 over two legs of the Capital One Cup semi-final), and not forgetting another eight occasions when City have scored at least four; these are results that belong to a black-and-white era.

Their latest financial results show that annual revenue, £87m only four years earlier, has risen to £271m, overtaking Chelsea and Arsenal and putting City sixth in the Deloitte money list. Yet there are other ways to calculate the club's growth. In the space of a year, City's ticket office have dealt with fans from 76 different countries. City's worldwide television audience is up by 133% since 2009 (in the UK it is by 103%) and 15.2m of the annual 33m visitors to their website are from abroad. No trophies are awarded for this sort of thing but it is still monumental progress that the club's YouTube channel attracted 60m hits over the year. Barcelona's, to put it into context, had 50.5m, Santos are next with 30.7m, then Real Madrid (24.5m) and Juventus (19.6m).

United fan like to taunt City with an adaptation of the old Inspiral Carpets song: "This is how it feels to be City/This is how it feels to be small/This is how it feels when your world means nothing at all." It no longer feels so cutting when pre-season fixtures in the United States are selling out within 20 minutes and analysis by the Mailman Group shows that City are suddenly more than twice as popular as any other European club on China's main two social media sites, Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo.

In other ways, City are still in a game of catch-up. At Old Trafford, there is a stadium tour every seven minutes and a plausible explanation why the television companies have selected every one of United's FA Cup ties for live coverage since late-January 2005. Repetitive? Yes. Unimaginative? Absolutely. But you can understand the logic when United pulled in higher viewing figures for their game against Crawley Town in 2011 than watched Arsenal play Barcelona three days earlier.

The modern-day City do not have the same kind of pull. Newspaper data also shows that they have plenty of ground to make up, comparing the number of website hits a City match would ordinarily attract compared to one featuring United, Liverpool or Arsenal. The drop to that next group down, comprising Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona, is considerable.

These are relatively small matters, however. The bottom line is that success on the pitch has to happen first and providing that it is sustained, the rest falls into place over time. Every league match at the Etihad is a sell-out these days and cup-tie attendances – so poor a few years ago the crowds used televised fixtures to chant their displeasure to the stay-aways – now average above 42,000, an increase of 7%. Plans have already been drawn up to increase the stadium's capacity from 48,000 to 60,000. It is ambitious but the work will not be undertaken unless extensive research confirms it will be worthwhile. For the current campaign, season tickets were sold out within 90 minutes.

A £1bn outlay from Sheikh Mansour will always polarise opinion and it is certainly an unorthodox place of sport when middle-ranking staff are asked to choose between a BMW or Range Rover for a company car (in a different time, it was something small and inexpensive with one strict condition: nothing red).

It is tempting as well to wonder how seriously Uefa have looked at the bloated sponsorship agreement with Etihad Airways, from the Abu Dhabi empire, that has helped City tick the financial fair play boxes. But it was always futile expecting a forensic investigation and before anyone complains too loudly it is also worth remembering the hypocrisies and self-serving interests of the clubs campaigning to Uefa for those regulations. They wanted a closed shop. What they got was a club living up to Lonely Planet's description of Manchester as having a "champagne-for-breakfast insouciance and almost giddy attitude."

That club, in fairness, have clearly had enough of being taken for a ride as potential sellers put on a premium for prospective signings, as Porto can now testify after bumping up the price for Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala. A few years ago, City would have signed the cheque. Nowadays, they bend to nobody. It is the big club's mentality and Manchester's changing skyline just adds to the sense of a club coming into their time. If they can hold off Chelsea, Arsenal and everyone else this season it is going to be difficult, in the extreme, to shift them from the top.

Ingenius, infuriating, Berbatov will be missed by many

Farewell then, Dimitar Berbatov. You were infuriating at times, you danced to a different tune and maybe sometimes it was us, not you, who put on the wrong track. But when you were good, those days when you made it feel like football was the most natural thing in the world, we would always forgive you for the occasional lapses.

A personal memory lingers from a 2-0 win for Manchester United against West Ham in October 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the goals but it was the blur of movement and high skill before the second of them that sticks in the mind, as Berbatov spun, pirouetted and glided away from James Collins to set it all up. sp

"I'm going to have to see that again to understand how he did it," Sir Alex Ferguson, as confused as the rest of us, said afterwards. "You'd pay double the money to watch that – fantastic imagination, control and balance."

It was not always like that and Berbatov has at least one foot in the pantheon of Ferguson buys who could not show value for money. All the same, 56 goals and 27 assists from 149 games is a decent counter-argument. At Tottenham Hotur, it was 46 goals in 101 matches and the last season and a half at Fulham, leading to his loan arrangement with Monaco, brought 20 more from 54 appearances.

Of course there was always much more to Berbatov than just a list of numbers on a sheet of paper. Just consider the clip of him taking down a long, crossfield pass at Craven Cottage with the nonchalance of a man who does not appear to realise, or care for, the speed of everything around him. From 40 yards the ball sticks to his boot like a stone landing on sand. And those were the kind of moments for which we will remember him, rather than the occasions when he drifted to the edges, holding the ends of his sleeves and watched games whizz by.

Berbatov, in the good times, had the knack of reminding his audience that a player who puts his foot on the ball sees the most. Arsenal, with their heavy reliance on Olivier Giroud, could have done much worse.

Daniel Taylor

Football League: Your thoughts

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 11:29 AM PST

Extraordinary events at Leeds United, Rotherham enhance their promotion credentials while Oxford begin life after Chris Wilder

Championship

• 24 hours in the life of Leeds United. On Friday evening the prospective new owners of the club (who do not then actually own the club) apparently sack the manager, Brian McDermott, which prompts Leeds's star striker and captain to protest in the media. Saturday 3.25pm, Leeds go 1-0 down against local rivals Huddersfield and the fans' belt out McDermott's name. Shortly after 4.45pm, Leeds' star striker, Ross McCormack, has hit a hat-trick for United as they storm to a 5-1 victory. Fifteen minutes later McDermott is apparently reinstated, or in the words of the club: "The club would like to make it clear that Brian McDermott remains our first-team manager." Extraordinary is a word bandied around too much in the football world, but here it really is an appropriate term to use. Other descriptions are also available.

• The fixture 30 odd miles up the road from Leeds also offered thrills a-plenty as Sheffield Wednesday made it ten games unbeaten with a 1-0 win over local rivals Barnsley. Emmanuel 'How am I gonna draw girls now' Frimpong was sent off just 30 minutes into his Barnsley debut after his move from Arsenal, and he was followed off the pitch by teammate Jacob Mellis and Wednesday's Jermaine Johnson. Chris Maguire scored the winner deep into injury time.

• At the top of the table Leicester's fine run of victories continued at Bournemouth, with veteran's veteran Kevin Phillips scoring the only goal of the game. Leicester are now ten points clear of second place QPR who played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at home with third place Burnley. Kevin Doyle and Modibo Maiga both scored on their debuts for QPR, while Burnley's scorers were - no surprise - Danny Ings and Sam Vokes. 3-3 was also the score at St Andrew's where Birmingham and Derby played out a minor ding-dong classic. Birmingham went 1-0 up only to find themselves trailing 1-3 with twenty minutes to go, goals from substitute Chris Burke and on-loan Man United forward Federico Macheda rescued a point. Derby were left to rue Craig Bryson's first-half penalty miss.

• Neutrals fear for Charlton Athletic, Chris Powell's side are in a poor run of form and lost Dale Stephens and Yann Kermorgant in the transfer window. To make matters worse, The Addicks travelled north to play a Wigan side in fine form under Uwe Rosler that had an equally fine transfer window; signing Tyias Browning, Nicky Maynard, Josh McEachran and Martyn Waghorn. Marvin Sordell put Charlton in to an early lead, only for late goals from Marc-Antoine Fortune and Jordi Gomez to give Wigan victory.

League One

• Rotherham are a side picking up serious momentum and though they may be too far back to catch any of the top three, their win over long-term league leaders Leyton Orient demonstrated their promotion credentials. New signing Wes Thomas put the Millers in front before Moses Odubajo equalised. Alex Revell's last-minute screamer gave Steve Evans' side all three points.

• Elsewhere in the play-off spots Preston North End continued their improvement under the astute guidance of Simon Grayson. Striker Craig Davies marked his debut with a fine shot from outside the box, while a second-half penalty from Joe Garner sealed the points.

• Wolves took advantage of Orient's defeat to move above them into second place by beating Bradford City 2-0. Two first-half bookings for Nathan Doyle saw the Bantams play more than an hour with ten men, allowing Kevin McDonald and Nouha Dicko scored the goals that gave Kenny Jackett's team its fourth win in succession. Leaders Brentford, by contrast, were left to rue Tom Eaves' injury-time equaliser for Shrewsbury, which deprived the Bees of the opportunity to move four points clear at the top.

• Sheffield United are just one off the bottom of League One after a disastrous 3-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Crewe Alexandra. On-loan Arsenal midfielder Chuks Aneke's first-half brace put The Railwaymen on course for a vital three points. Sheffield United have won only once away all season and their awful form away from Bramall Lane could see The Blades following Portsmouth in to League Two.

League Two

• Chris Wilder provided one of this season's tales of the unexpected when he quit promotion-chasing Oxford to take charge of bottom club Northampton Town this week. Wilder made a decent start to life at Sixfields when he saw his side recover from going an early goal down at Cheltenham to earn a 1-1 draw. The Cobblers remain six points adrift of safety, however. Torquay the team in 23rd place won 1-0 at Portsmouth while Wycombe in 22nd lost a proverbial relegation six-pointer by the same score at Bury.

• Oxford made a winning start to life without Wilder. Former West Ham striker David Connolly scoring on his debut to secure a 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon. Elsewhere at the top second-place Scunthorpe drew 0-0 at Hartlepool allowing Chesterfield to go three clear at the top with a 3-1 win over Bristol Rovers.

Scott Anthony

David Moyes blames bad luck after Manchester United's loss to Stoke City

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 11:18 AM PST

• Beleaguered manager claims team are playing well
• Injury worries for both centre-halves add to woes

David Moyes was left scratching his head and cursing his luck as Manchester United crashed to their fifth defeat of the calendar year and their eighth in the league this season by losing at Stoke for the first time in the Premier League era.

Even with Juan Mata United are now looking distinctly unlikely to claim a Champions League spot this season – should Liverpool win at West Bromwich this afternoon they will open up a nine-point gap to fourth place – yet Moyes insisted the better team lost 2-1 at the Britannia. "I thought the performance was good, we were just really unlucky," the beleaguered United manager said.

"We created numerous opportunities, we must have got to the byline eight or nine times, and then we lost to a massive deflection and a world-class strike from nowhere. It was our own fault we didn't take our chances, we contributed to our own downfall there, but I felt there was not an awful lot we didn't do well."

Stoke supporters will take issue with much of that, pointing out that the visitors were never that superior and the best chance for either side to add to the scoring actually fell to the home substitute Oussama Assaidi, though there will be some sympathy for Moyes over the bad luck he suffered with injuries.

After Jonny Evans limped off on 10 minutes with a hamstring strain, United were unfortunate enough to lose a second centre-half when Phil Jones was concussed before half-time.

They ended up with Michael Carrick playing in the back four and Wayne Rooney pulled back into midfield, which was not the original plan for the first time Rooney, Mata and Robin van Persie started a game together.

"Phil was out cold for a little while but he was checked over in hospital and seems to be OK," Moyes said.

Stoke began the game in the bottom three but ended it 11th in the table, which, as Mark Hughes observed, shows just how crazy the Premier League is at the moment. "At least we are looking upwards at last," the Stoke manager said.

"That was pretty much United's strongest side, and we had a tough battle with 10 men at Sunderland in the week, so it is a huge result for us. Hopefully it will be a key moment of our season if we are able to build on it."

Charlie Adam confirmed he intends to claim the dubious first goal as well as the glorious second, and described Stoke's win as a massive boost for a side being dragged into the relegation battle. "Manchester United have quality all over but we were excellent," Adam said. "We nullified them."

Paul Wilson

Jonny Hayes' goals inspire Aberdeen to 4-0 St Johnstone semi-final win

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 11:08 AM PST

• Boyd rescued point for Kilmarnock against Ross County
• El Alagui scored his first goal for Dundee United at Partick

ROUNDUP

Two goals from Jonny Hayes sent Aberdeen into the League Cup final in convincing fashion with a 4-0 victory over St Johnstone at Tynecastle. Hayes scored either side of strikes from Peter Pawlett and Adam Rooney to send the Dons into their first major cup final for 14 years.

Both sides had lost five semi-finals in the previous six seasons and it was the Dons who always looked like ending their run when Hayes opened the scoring in the third minute, although they had to withstand some concerted pressure before doubling their lead through Pawlett. Aberdeen, filled more than three-quarters of the 16,761 capacity crowd at Tynecastle, threatened even before the opener when Steve Banks scooped over Rooney's shot following a Barry Robson cross. The 41-year-old goalkeeper, who was continuing to deputise for the suspended and injured Alan Mannus, contributed to his side's early blow when he sliced a goal-kick 40 yards out on Aberdeen's right flank. Rooney latched on to it and raced down the line before delivering a square ball that Hayes guided just past the outstretched hand of the keeper. Aberdeen were struggling to relieve the pressure, but they broke to effect in the 32nd minute when Hayes won the ball from Croft and sprinted up the line. The Irishman initially only had Niall McGinn for support and his crossfield ball was cut out. But Pawlett ran on to the clearance and burst into the box before squeezing the ball inside Banks' near post. Aberdeen soon went further ahead in the 62nd minute following another counter-attack. Pawlett dispossessed Dave Mackay 10 yards inside his own half and threaded a ball between the St Johnstone central defence for Rooney to chase. The Irishman kept his composure and fired home from 18 yards to score his second goal in two games since his move from Oldham. Aberdeen were now firmly in command and Andrew Considine headed off the bar before Hayes completed the rout in the 79th minute when he ran at the Saints defence and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from 16 yards..

In the Scottish Premiership, a controversial equaliser from Kris Boyd a minute into injury time earned Kilmarnock a share of the points after a hard-fought match on a poor pitch. Two first-half goals from Yoann Arquin and Yann Songo'o appeared to have put Ross County on course for their fourth win in their past six games. But after Boyd scored his 14th goal of the season two minutes into the second half, County were left clinging on with 10 men for the final 13 minutes after Filip Kiss was sent off, and Boyd took advantage at the death as County players protested for a foul.

Partick Thistle are still searching for their first home victory of the SPFL season after goals from Dundee United's Farid El Alagui and the home side's Gary Fraser ensured a 1-1 draw at Firhill. El Alagui finished off a good United move just before the half-hour but Fraser restored parity in the second half after his corner was returned back to him.

In the First Division, Rangers beat Brechin 2-1 at Ibrox with first-half goals from Dean Shiels with 14 minutes played and a header from Jon Daly after 25 minutes. But the home side had to withstand the visitors pulling a goal back seven minutes after the interval and defender Bilel Mohsni being sent off after 61 minutes to maintain their 23-point advantage at the top.

Nial Briggs

Barcelona 2-3 Valencia

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 10:07 AM PST

• League leaders suffer their first home defeat of the season
• Real & Atlético Madrid could move above them on Sunday

Ten-man Barcelona suffered their first home defeat of the season as they crashed 3-2 against Valencia on Saturday, leaving the door open for Madrid rivals Atlético and Real to move above them later in the weekend.

They remain top of La Liga on 54 points, but Atlético Madrid, who only trail on goal difference, can go ahead of them with a draw against Real Sociedad, as can Real Madrid, a point behind, with victory over Athletic Bilbao.

It appeared to be service as normal as Alexis Sánchez put Barcelona ahead early on, but strikes either side of half time by Daniel Parejo and Pablo Piatti put Valencia in the driving seat.

Lionel Messi tied the score with a penalty on 54 minutes, but the hosts were caught again on the counter through Francisco Alcácer.

Barcelona continued to struggle at the back, and Jordi Alba was dismissed for a second yellow card with 12 minutes left.

The Catalan side now have just one win from their last four La Liga matches.

Before kick-off there was a minute's silence for former Spain coach Luis Aragonés, who died earlier on Saturday.

Aragonés trained Barcelona during the 1987-88 season and led them to victory in the Copa del Rey.

Leeds deny McDermott sacking

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:59 AM PST

• Club insist McDermott remains as Leeds United manager
• Controlling stake in club sold to Massimo Cellino

Leeds United were embroiled in further chaos and farce with the club insisting that Brian McDermott remained as manager despite being relieved of his duties on Friday. The news followed a remarkable 5-1 victory over Huddersfield Town and confirmation that a controlling 75% stake in the club had been sold to a company owned by the Italian Massimo Cellino.

Leeds have this weekend been a club in disarray, with approximately 100 fans descending on Elland Road on Friday evening to voice their objection to McDermott's departure and attempting to speak to Cellino, who was at the stadium.

McDermott was advised to stay away from the game against Huddersfield despite being informed by a club director and the chairman that his sacking, apparently at the behest of Cellino, was not authorised as the ownership of the club remained with the Bahrain-based investment bank Gulf Finance House.

The former Reading manager's name was sung throughout the convincing win over west Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield, presided over in the dugout by McDermott's assistant Nigel Gibbs, before Leeds released an official statement on their website .

It read: "The club would like to make it clear that Brian McDermott remains our first-team manager. He has not been dismissed from his post as has been suggested and we look forward to him continuing in his role with us in taking Leeds United forwards."

McDermott, who reportedly refused a request from Cellino earlier in the week to have the former Middlesbrough defender Gianluca Festa sit in the dugout as an observer for the 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town, had been planning to attend Saturday's match but was advised not to by the chairman, Salah Nooruddin.

Richard Bevan, chief executive of the League Manager's Association, confirmed that the organisation was waiting for "clarification" of the situation at Leeds but that it was in touch with McDermott.

Bevan told the Observer: "Brian received a phone call last night [on Friday] from a solicitor apparently representing the club informing him that they were terminating his contract.

"This morning he then received a phone call and email from a director at Leeds and a phone call from the chairman to say that the company on behalf of the solicitor who had contacted Brian are not owners of Leeds United and that in the circumstances it was best that Brian did not take the match.

"They instructed him that it was best not to attend the match. But they confirmed to him that the company that the solicitor was representing was not owners of Leeds United. We don't know if the decision was authorised or not. It's a very sad situation for one of the oldest football clubs in the country. We're waiting for clarification for what is going on."

It appears as if Leeds is the subject of an internal power struggle between Cellino's company, Eleonora Sport Ltd, and GFH Capital. The position of David Haigh, the club's managing director, remains uncertain although Leeds did issue a statement before the Huddersfield game – in which United came back to win from a goal down with captain Ross McCormack scoring a hat-trick – confirming that Eleonora had completed a deal for a 75% stake in the club, subject to Football League approval.

It read: "Following recent media reports and speculation, GFH Capital would like to confirm that it has agreed to sell a 75% stake in the club to Eleonora Sport Ltd, a company owned by the Cellino family who have many years experience in football and who plan to invest substantially in the club including the re-acquisition of Elland Road. Eleonora will be working on completing the required Football League approval.

"The Cellino Family is a well-known Italian sports family, who have owned Serie A side Cagliari since 1992. They come to English football with an ambition to support Leeds United financially to take it to the Premier League and a belief that the club can sustain top-flight status."

Cellino, who is an agricultural entrepreneur and has previously been accused of fraud, has owned Cagliari for 20 years and had 36 managers in that time.

Leeds appeared to have signed one Italian player on loan while the ownership struggles have ensued, with midfielder Andrea Tabanelli listed on the club's website as part of the first-team squad.

James Riach

Hull City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League match report

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:21 AM PST

Hull's new-look strikeforce oiled the wheels of their faltering season to put a forgettable January behind them. Shane Long's home-debut goal was cancelled out by a resurgent second-half display from Tottenham but after their start to 2014 any point is a good point right now.

Winless and goalless in their previous four league outings, no wonder Steve Bruce was thankful for something tangible from a tangle with a Tottenham team retaining top-four ambitions despite suffering a first setback under Tim Sherwood – albeit to Manchester City – last Sunday. "In the end we are delighted we have got something to get us moving again because we've been stuck for a month," Bruce said.

It took a dozen minutes of their respective home debuts for Nikica Jelavic and Long – £14m-worth of recently acquired forward talent – to return the first dividends on Bruce's recent investment. Although Irishman Long misjudged goalkeeper Steve Harper's raking clearance because of the gusty conditions, he anticipated an opportunity further up the pitch and was duly rewarded when Jelavic's cute flick sped him beyond the defence. With only Hugo Lloris to beat, he calmly slotted in with his left foot.

Jelavic remains without a goal in a dozen Premier League appearances this season but went close to annulling that statistic with five good efforts. First, he stretched to toe Tom Huddlestone's 10th-minute cross beyond Lloris's grope but on to the top of the net. Later, after Long was floored by Michael Dawson's robust challenge, he rendered Lloris helpless once more as a 25-yard free-kick curled an inch wide.

In the second period, an instinctive flick hit the base of the upright, he poked substitute Robert Koren's pass beyond the onrushing Lloris only for Michael Dawson to clear and then witnessed the France international goalkeeper push away his angled drive.

"He will be fine for us because he's a goalscorer," said Bruce. "You can see that in him. He just needs to get up and running. But I'm pleased because we've shown that something else up front that we were looking for."

Tottenham have their own misfiring striker in Roberto Soldado and his woes in front of goal continued. The Spaniard, who cost £26m from Valencia in the summer, has found the net once since converting the controversial penalty that defeated Hull in October's corresponding fixture.

Here, he fluffed a couple of volleys and bore the brunt of home supporters' ire in trying to win a first-half penalty under challenge from Maynor Figueroa. "I am not putting any pressure on him, and he's not putting any pressure on himself. He's just got to stick at it and then it will turn around. I am sure it's not the first barren spell he's had," said Sherwood.

Soldado created Tottenham's most presentable opportunity before the break when he teed up his strike partner Emmanuel Adebayor – it took a touch over from Harper to keep out a stinging effort.

Tottenham remained dormant in the January transfer window because of the impending returns to fitness of several of their first-team squad. "If we added more players to what we'd already got it would have been impossible to train with them," said Sherwood.

One of them, the Brazil midfielder Paulinho, capped a higher-tempo showing after the break with an opportunistic equaliser. Danny Rose's long-range drive from a quickly worked deadball situation skewed into Paulinho, whose quick feet transferred the ball from the edge of the Hull area into the net in a flash.

"We managed to get back into it through a great goal but one thing was for sure and that was if we weren't going to win we certainly weren't going to lose," said Sherwood. "That was really pleasing from my point of view and at the end of the season this could turn out to be a really important point for both sides."

Richard Gibson

Stoke City 2-1 Man Utd

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:17 AM PST

David Moyes has suffered some indignities in his short time at Old Trafford but a Charlie Adam double whammy to give Stoke City a first Premier League victory over Manchester United must have been even harder to take than the penalty shoot-out shocker against Sunderland.

The defending champions collapsed to their eighth league defeat of the season against a team that had taken one point from their previous six games, while with one bound Mark Hughes and his side moved from the bottom three before kick-off to an unlikely 11th place at teatime.

"We were really unlucky," Moyes said, a trifle ungenerously, for hard-working Stoke were not undeserving of their win. "We lost to a free-kick from 30 yards that took a massive deflection and a world-class strike in the second half that came from nowhere."

Hughes agreed Adam's second goal was outstanding and argued his side had waited long enough for the break that led to his first. "If we had a little bit of luck today it's about time," the Stoke manager said. "We deserve that because we haven't had too much going for us in recent weeks."

Stoke quite reasonably saw both goals as difficult opportunities skilfully accepted and Moyes was on firmer ground in claiming nothing is going United's way at the moment. This was the first time Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie had started a game together, yet after an inconclusive and scoreless first half-hour the wretched luck that has been following Moyes around all season struck again.

First United went behind when Michael Carrick stuck out a knee to send Adam's harmless-looking free-kick past a stranded David de Gea, then Phil Jones needed a stretcher following a clash of heads with Jon Walters and the visitors had to reorganise their entire midfield.

The problem was that Jonny Evans had already departed with a hamstring injury only 10 minutes into the game, forcing Chris Smalling to move across to centre-half and Rafael to come on and take over at right-back.

When United lost a second centre-half shortly after the goal they had no more defensive substitutes, so Carrick dropped back to join Smalling and Moyes sent on Danny Welbeck to partner Van Persie up front, with Rooney switching to a deeper position in midfield. It was not what United's followers had been hoping to see, although, in fairness, Stoke had been dealing fairly well with the illustrious trio before the enforced rethink.

Apart from the goal, the first half was as uninspiring as might be expected on a cold and windy day at the Britannia Stadium, with only a half-chance for Rooney at one end and Peter Crouch at the other to relieve the tedium.

The second half was immediately better, with Van Persie equalising within a couple of minutes of the restart. Glenn Whelan made a mess of a clearance to surrender possession to Mata who, from just outside the area, threaded a pass through for Van Persie, in his usual confident fashion, to beat Asmir Begovic.

The heavens opened at that point, making conditions even more difficult, yet, against all expectations, a game began to break out. United remained level for five minutes, until Marko Arnautovic scuffed a goal attempt from a Walters knockdown, leaving Adam to bury the rebound most impressively, a rising shot from the edge of the area giving De Gea no chance.

Rooney was booked for a needless foul on Arnautovic before Walters departed injured after a caution for diving in on Smalling. Erik Pieters made a block to deny Welbeck from close range at one end, Arnautovic shot narrowly wide after being presented with the ball by Smalling at the other, then the Stoke substitute Oussama Assaidi volleyed over De Gea's bar, with a great chance to wrap up the result.

Moyes sent on Javier Hernández for Van Persie to make the last 10 minutes more interesting. With a whopping seven minutes of added time the Mexican was on the field for almost twice that long but still United could not score.

Begovic did well to tip a ferocious free-kick from Rooney on to his right hand upright, with Tom Cleverley skying a chance from the rebound into the travelling supporters behind the goal.

Somehow Stoke not only survived a stoppage-time siege, they even ended up with the last shot of the game through Crouch, before Adam cheekily took the mickey in the closing seconds by buying time with a 70-yard touch-finder that would not have looked out of place in the Six Nations.

Not even Fergie time, it would appear, can help Moyes at the moment.

Paul Wilson

Cardiff City 2-1 Norwich

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:13 AM PST

It was by common consent a must-win game for Cardiff and win it they did, climbing off the bottom of the table with a decisive goal from one new signing and a man-of-the-match performance from another.

After four successive defeats in the Premier League, and taking six points from a possible 36, the Welsh team were trailing again until they were galvanised by Wilfried Zaha's introduction from the bench. Sent on after 38 minutes, the loan signing from Manchester United gave Cardiff an immediate lift, setting up the equaliser for Craig Bellamy and turning the tide for Kenwyne Jones to celebrate his own debut with a close range winner.

On a day for those of a statistical bent, Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer had his first win as a Premier League manager, Bellamy became the first player to score for seven different Premier clubs and Zaha, Jones and Fábio all made their first appearances for Cardiff.

Solskjaer admitted the pressure was on, and that it had increased with wins by West Ham and Sunderland earlier in the day. The three points would have been a relief, even without the strong finish by Norwich that would have brought them a point, at least, but for David Marshall's heroics in the Cardiff goal. The Scotland goalkeeper made outstanding late saves from Nathan Redmond and Leroy Fer to leave both managers praising his contribution. Solskjaer said: "Luckily we've got one of the best goalkeepers in the league. He kept us in the game and the lads owe him at least one drink tonight." Chris Hughton agreed, saying: "Just as he did at Carrow Road, their 'keeper made some super saves."

Inevitably, however, the focus will be on Zaha, who lifted both his teammates and the crowd when he got on. Norwich were leading through Robert Snodgrass, their best player, and looking comfortable at the time but the young winger shifted Cardiff up a gear with his incisive pace and skill on the ball. The initiative changed hands and Zaha's pass enabled Bellamy to score for the first time since December 2012, shooting under John Ruddy's body. Then from Craig Noone's cross, Jones saw his initial header blocked but forced the ball over the line at the second attempt.

Joe Lovejoy

Everton 2-1 Aston Villa | Premier League match report

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:08 AM PST

There are defining moments in every football club's season and it felt Everton's had arrived the moment Kevin Mirallas lined up a 25-yard free-kick in the 85th minute against Aston Villa. It was 1-1, Roberto Martínez's team had reacted well to their Merseyside derby mauling but the victory that was imperative to restore Champions League momentum appeared elusive. Then Mirallas found the top corner.

Victory, Everton's first at home over Villa for eight seasons, was slender, hard-fought and just reward for a spirited second-half recovery by a Martínez team under pressure to prove Tuesday's 4-0 defeat at Liverpool was a mere aberration. The first half had suggested a hangover from Anfield. "We were too cagey, more concerned with the tactical aspect of our performance and it was the wrong example of how football should be played," the Everton manager said. The second half vindicated their quality and character.

"It was a great fightback, from our point of view the most satisfying victory of the season," added Martínez, after the substitute Steven Naismith levelled Leandro Bacuna's opener before Mirallas sealed the comeback. "When you hit the post and concede a goal at the other end, it becomes a real test of character. I couldn't be more proud of the second-half performance."

Paul Lambert felt the outcome unjust, citing a lack of clear-cut chances for Everton and Villa's defensive comfort for 74 minutes as reasons his side deserved a point. The Villa manager's performance analysis was correct. He fielded a three-man central defence with Bacuna and Ryan Bertrand dropping back whenever Everton took possession and, with the home side having to field Mirallas as the lone striker in the absence of Romelu Lukaku and Lacina Traoré, Martínez's team did struggle for clear-cut opportunities. But a makeshift Everton attack carried the game to Villa throughout the second half and the visitors' response was negligible.

"I thought for 70-odd minutes we were really comfortable and we never looked under threat in the first half," said Lambert. "Their first goal was a poor one from our point of view but the second was a world class free-kick. There is nothing you can do about them but I don't think we deserved to lose."

Villa were content to let Everton stroke the ball across midfield and strike on the counter, which they did to telling effect with their one and only chance. Fabian Delph instigated the breakthrough with a challenge on Ross Barkley that drew complaints from Everton players and fans alike. But Delph took the ball, allowing Bacuna to feed Christian Benteke, advance into the area and slot the return from the Belgium striker between the legs of Tim Howard.

Barkley was replaced by Steven Pienaar at the interval – "It was tactical," said Martínez – and there was far greater urgency to Everton's second-half display. The opening 45 minutes had produced only an Aiden McGeady curler that cannoned off the post with Brad Guzan beaten. Leighton Baines and Pienaar brought an immediate threat down the left and Leon Osman's influence grew when switched into the centre, but chances remained at a premium.

Osman created one for himself when he dispossessed Ashley Westwood and forced a finger-tip save from Guzan, while Benteke almost deflected a Baines' free-kick into his own goal. The second half was all Everton possession with Villa unable to counter and a merited equaliser arrived with 16 minutes left.

Naismith struck moments after replacing right-back John Stones and in the best way Everton could hope to break a five-man rearguard given the players in their attack. Naismith started the move with a lay-off to Gareth Barry who found Pienaar on the edge of the box. The Scotland international continued his run and, from a first-time flick through the heart of the defence by Pienaar, beat Guzan with a cool sidefoot finish.

A point would have done little for Everton's chances of closing in on the top four and, with Villa captain Ron Vlaar departing with a hamstring injury, they secured all three in stunning fashion. Mirallas won a free-kick and his tireless, often frustrating afternoon ended in glorious fashion when he swept the resulting set piece beyond Guzan's despairing dive. Hangover cured.

Andy Hunter

Fulham 0-3 Southampton | Premier League match report

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:07 AM PST

At the end, there were two delighted managers at Craven Cottage – but Fulham's René Meulensteen was still distressed. Mauricio Pochettino in the visitors' dugout and Roy Hodgson in the stands revelled in the excellence of Southampton, which was crowned with goals by the England trio of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez.

That augurs well for the Saints' European ambitions and perhaps also for England's World Cup hopes, but certainly not for Fulham's Premier League survival prospects.

"This is the hardest challenge I've ever faced in football," admitted Meulensteen, who has been trying to transform Fulham since taking charge in early December and is all too aware that the change may not come quick enough. Games are running out and Fulham, fixtures in the top flight since 2001, are not yet moving in the right direction.

"I was hoping so much going into this game," said Meulensteen, shaking his head at the way Southampton snatched the points. Yet the afternoon began full of promise for the hosts.

After splurging on reinforcements in January, three of their new players – Kostas Mitroglou, Jonny Heitinga and Larnell Cole – were paraded before kick-off, while another two, Lewis Holtby and William Kvist, went straight into the starting lineup. Kvist, a loanee from Stuttgart, made a particularly encouraging early impact, proving a potent presence in midfield. With Steve Sidwell and Scott Parker on patrol alongside him, Fulham had a solid centre that frustrated Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin, both of whom were booked in the first half as they strained to keep parity in the middle.

The barrier erected by the home side initially kept Southampton's most inventive player, Lallana, away from the action and Fulham's solidity gradually seemed to beget a confidence that inspired the team going forward.

Fulham's first threats came from corners. Dan Burn nodded over in the ninth minute before Brede Hangeland went even closer, his header being brilliantly pawed away by Artur Boruc. Then Fulham began to create chances from open play.

The move they conjured in the 35th minute showed the rising feelgood factor. Holtby flitted in from the left and zipped a pass in to Parker, who found Darren Bent with an artful flick. Boruc had to match that brilliance to turn away the striker's volley. "We got some really good opportunities, but we didn't take them," groaned Meulensteen. "Boruc was outstanding. It's so important you give yourself a platform with something to hold on to but we couldn't do that." Mitroglu could be ready to start next week and the pressure will be on the £12.5m striker to convert such chances. Here, however, they were soon made to regret their misses.

Unable to pick a way through Fulham, Southampton's only chances in the first half had come from crosses from the wings, a weak header from Schneiderlin and a mistimed one from Rodriguez being as close as they had come to scoring. But Pochettino adjusted his midfield at half-time, introducing Jack Cork for Wanyama, and Southampton started to get the upper hand in the middle.

Lallana gave a warning of his growing menace when he fired off a snapshot from 20 yards out, forcing a save from Maarten Stekelenburg. Then, in the 64th minute, Cork won possession on halfway to launch the move that gave the visitors the lead. After a rapid salvo of passes from Cork, Schneiderlin and Lambert, Lallana skedaddled into the box to crack a low shot into the net from 10 yards out.

Suddenly Fulham's fragility was exposed. They wilted meekly. Within six minutes, Southampton inflicted further damage. Nathaniel Clyne raced down the right wing and exchanged passes with Steven Davis before sending a perfect cross to Lambert, who swept the ball into the net from 10 yards out.

Five minutes later, Southampton made it 3-0. Lambert launched a swift counter-attack with an exquisite 50-yard pass to Rodriguez, who applied a suitably fine finish, curling the ball into the top corner from 15 yards out.

"You could see the impact the first goal had," said Meulensteen. "It was like a boxer that keeps getting knocked down. It was disastrous to concede two more goals in the next 10 minutes."

Fulham have now conceded 53 goals in the league this season, a toll that could prove ruinous if they ever manage to haul themselves level on points with the team in 17th place.

"We can't look at what other teams do. It is about us," said Meulensteen. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves and just lie down. Hopefully the new faces will bring something to the team and liven the place up."

Paul Doyle

Premier League clockwatch – as it happened

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 09:07 AM PST

Premier League - Manchester United lost again, Sunderland embarrassed Newcastle while Southampton outclassed Fulham

Nick Miller

Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers: character is key and we have bucketloads

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 08:38 AM PST

• Manager 'very optimistic' of good finish to season
• Joe Allen set to return for game at West Bromwich Albion

Brendan Rodgers has emphasised the character and sense of team ethic he feels there is within his squad as Liverpool look to move on from a disappointing January transfer window.

The Anfield club's attempts to strengthen during the window did not yield a single signing, with one of their targets, Mohamed Salah, opting to join Chelsea and a deal for another, Yevhen Konoplyanka, failing to materialise before Friday's deadline.

But Rodgers, whose side are fourth in the Premier League and thrashed derby rivals Everton 4-0 on Tuesday, is "very optimistic" about the group of players already at his disposal, in terms of their prospects of having "a really good finish" to the season. He sees their character – something he thinks they have in "bucketloads" – as being key to that.

Asked about leaders in his team, Rodgers said: "If you look at the game the other night, Steven Gerrard was organising, dictating the game, ordering people about. Martin Skrtel is really taking on board the leadership qualities and was outstanding, Kolo Touré is a natural leader and before the game, young Jon Flanagan was really vocal in the changing room. Luis Suárez is a natural leader and Jordan Henderson is coming out of his shell.

"It is a natural evolution of the team and the group and you see that character and personality starting to come into the team, which takes time. It is players understanding the kind of characteristics we are looking for and it is good to see.

"I think we have been challenged since I have been here, especially early on, about if we have enough character, if we can come back from losing positions, if we can fight and I think we are seeing all those qualities now – and that will only improve as we grow together."

Daniel Sturridge, having scored twice and then missed a penalty in the game against Everton, shot off-target later in the match rather than passing to the better-placed Suárez and showed a degree of petulance with Rodgers when being substituted soon after. Sturridge subsequently apologised and Rodgers has stressed that the 24-year-old, along with everyone else in the Liverpool squad, is very much focused on the collective.

He said: "Everyone – whether it is Daniel, Luis, Jon Flanagan, Aly Cissokho, whoever, all have to buy into the team and I think we have seen that over my time here. I have tried to manage a team and everyone fits into that culture."

Liverpool are next in action on Sunday when they travel to West Brom. The same fixture last term was Rodgers' first league game as Reds manager – and a disappointing one for the Northern Irishman as Albion ran out 3-0 winners.

Reflecting on Liverpool's progress since then, he said: "We've grown. If I look back at my time here over the last 18 months, I look back at the first game we played against West Brom and where we were at then was we had some talented players but we were very much a group of individuals. Over the course of 18 months, we've implemented a method to our play and we have become a team.

"We're understanding the game much better in terms of how we want to work and how we want to play. The important trait in any successful team is character and we have got that in bucketloads. It's something that makes me very happy but we've still got a way to go."

The midfielder Joe Allen, who has missed the last two games because of a hamstring problem, is set to return at The Hawthorns. Liverpool still have Daniel Agger, Mamadou Sakho, José Enrique, Glen Johnson and Lucas Leiva all unavailable because of injury.

Kallstrom suffers 'long-term injury'

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 08:32 AM PST

• Seriousness of Kallstrom's injury is yet to be determined
• Midfielder joined on loan on last day of transfer window

Arsenal are assessing a back injury to their new signing Kim Kallstrom, it is understood. The 31-year-old midfielder moved to the Emirates Stadium on a loan deal until the end of the season on Friday and his arrival was the only incoming business concluded by the Gunners during the transfer window.

Reports in Sweden on Saturday morning suggested that the former Lyon man had suffered a long-term injury during his first training session, claiming he could miss a large part of his temporary stay at Arsenal.

However, it appears the seriousness of Kallstrom's injury is yet to be determined by the club, who will be hoping to have him available as soon as possible with fellow midfielders Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey also injured and Mathieu Flamini serving a four-game ban.

Arsène Wenger's side enter an important month in their search for silverware and, after a home game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, face a daunting schedule including Premier League and FA Cup tussles with Liverpool, a league visit from Manchester United and the opening leg of their Champions League tie against the holders, Bayern Munich.

Manuel Pellegrini: Manchester City's enigma by those who know him | Jamie Jackson

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 08:08 AM PST

The genteel City manager, who has turned his side into heavy goalscorers, is largely unknown despite his long career

For an insight into Manchester City's enigmatic manager, Manuel Pellegrini, rewind four years and Madrid's Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Back in May 2010, the Chilean was in charge of Real Madrid, though his tenure was about to end abruptly. Pellegrini had just taken Real to a record 96 points in La Liga to finish second behind Pep Guardiola's great Barcelona side when Florentino Pérez, the Real president, called.

Pellegrini was in the office of Manuel Borja, the director of the Reina Sofia, the Spanish capital's national museum of 20th-century art, when he spoke to Pérez. On finishing the call Pellegrini turned to Borja and said: "I think they're going to fire me." Arturo Salah, Pellegrini's closest friend for more than 40 years, says it comes as no great shock to discover that the Real Madrid manager was to learn of his fate while studying Picasso's Guernica and works by Damien Hirst, Man Ray and Francis Bacon.

"He loves art and museums all over the world," says Salah. "He is a great reader and possesses great culture which was taught by his parents and a consequence of his uncountable trips."

Within days of Pérez's telephone conversation Pellegrini had left Madrid. By November he had taken over at Málaga, before going on to replace Roberto Mancini last summer at City. Yet his inscrutable style means that despite the glare fixed on the world's richest club, beyond Pellegrini's penchant for attacking football that has piled up 115 goals this season and given City a chance of claiming an unprecedented quadruple, he remains largely unknown.

How this genteel 60-year-old could end a personal trophy drought since entering European management a decade ago by winning the Premier League title, the Champions League, the Capital One Cup and FA Cup is a story that began in his homeland. Pellegrini was a defender who played for Santiago's Universidad de Chile in a 13-year career that ended in 1986 with 28 international caps and no major honours.

Salah, who, when Chile manager in 1990, appointed Pellegrini as the Under-20 coach, says: "We had parallel lives as players and also as university friends with an education in engineering. Manuel has a strong personality, he has clear goals, so his actions and decisions are oriented towards those goals without falling into [complications]. He respects people and therefore demands respect. Values are above any other consideration. He is reliable and his word is worth more than any paper."

Pellegrini's clear focus is evident in a philosophy that puts attack first with an emphasis on winning possession back when lost. His man-management is also an asset in an age of prima donna players. After the tempestuous Mancini era that alienated many of City's stellar talents Pellegrini's softly, softly ethos is a prime factor in the upturn in fortunes.

Roque Santa Cruz, the former City striker who played under Pellegrini at Málaga last season, says: "One of the best things he has is his football knowledge and the way he manages relationships with the players and staff. He is a genuine guy, very polite to people."

Pellegrini steered Málaga to last year's Champions League quarter-finals. He also guided Villarreal to a semi-final and quarter-final of Europe's elite club competition when in charge of the club for five years before his departure in 2009 for Real.

Santa Cruz says: "Pellegrini came and the club started to play a different way from what it was used to. He obviously plays a very attractive football, he loves the possession of the football. It comes with a lot of practice. That way of playing gives you the chance to really compete in the Champions League."

City are Pellegrini's 11th club in a career that has taken in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina and Spain. His first job included an ignominious relegation in his debut campaign managing Universidad de Chile. The 25th anniversary of that demotion, Universidad's first and only and on goal difference, was on 15 January. Pellegrini maintains he still owes a "big debt" to the Santiago club – among whose nicknames are El Romántico Viajero, the Romantic Traveller – blaming himself for leaving in mid-season for a fortnight to attend a managers' seminar in England.

Universidad de Chile, Palestino – in three separate spells – O'Higgins, Universidad Católica (all Chilean), LDU Quito (Ecuador), San Lorenzo, River Plate (Argentina), Villarreal, Real, Málaga and City form the roll call of Pellegrini's clubs. Yet Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti's move into coaching – or the sport at all – was hardly inevitable due to resistance from his family and the polio he fought hard to recover from when aged 11.

Pellegrini's late parents – mother, Silvia, and father, Emilio – wanted him to study. The grandson of Julio Pellegrini, an Italian from Tuscany who emigrated to Chile in the first decade of last century, he is one of eight children and the only one who has made a career in the game. While one sibling, Pablo, is an architect, and another, Silvia, a journalist, only Pedro, a lawyer who manages Pellegrini's contracts, has any involvement with football.

Pellegrini's desire to guard his privacy was illustrated when the Observer contacted Pedro. Speaking in perfect English Pedro politely declined to comment, saying: "It would go against the promise I have made to my brother."

With Emilio having created a successful family business, Constructora y Arquitectura, which flourished between the 1950s and 1970s, Pellegrini was urged to gain an academic grounding rather than pursue football. He chose both, taking classes from 8.30-10am at Pontificia Universidad Catolica, then training with Universidad de Chile – the institutions' clubs have a rivalry akin to that of City and Manchester United – from 10.30-1pm, before returning to class.

Pellegrini had wanted to be a doctor after going to Saint George's and Sagrados Corazones de Manquehue (Sacred Hearts of Manquehue), two private schools in east Santiago attended by wealthy families. But having been an honour pupil, the teenage Pellegrini failed the PAA, the Chilean university entrance test to take medicine.

Instead he decided on engineering. "It took me eight years to get my degree, not six like it was supposed," he said. "In that time there was no consideration for students who played sports. I studied in 'Católica' and played in 'La U' [Universidad de Chile] and you know what that means. It was not easy for me to get together and study because I was playing on the weekends. My greatest rival was structural calculus. The classes were given when I was training and I did what I could."

Pellegrini made his debut in September 1973 for Universidad, the same month the socialist government of President Salvador Allende was overthrown by the coup d'état of General Pinochet's armed forces. Pinochet's military junta ended 41 years of democracy in the country but Pellegrini has admitted to being "a dissident to the government of Salvador Allende and participated in several protests. The country was very complicated and so was I."

Pellegrini the player was moderately talented. Salah, with whom Pellegrini owns a sports complex, El Refugio, says: "I played against Manuel in the final years of my career. But we were team-mates for more than seven years in Universidad de Chile, him as a defender, me as a forward. Manuel was very efficient, always part of the starting line-up, had a great aerial game, was intelligent and a tactical player. His technique was adequate, but not his greatest asset. His assets were intelligence, physical condition and leadership that he learned from his position in the pitch."

Pellegrini, who is married to Carmen Gloria Pucci and has three sons, Manuel Jose, Juan Ignacio and Nicolas, realised his playing days were over when he came up against a young Ivan Zamorano, saying: "It was against Cobreandino [the Andes club now called Trasandino]. Our keeper deflected a shot and I jumped to head the ball away. A 17-year-old kid jumped at least half a metre and headed to the net. That day I decided I couldn't keep playing."

On retiring in 1986 he was again encouraged to enter the family business. But after helping the rebuilding effort following the damage caused by the earthquake in Algarrobo on the Chilean coast the year before that killed 177 and left around a million homeless, Pellegrini was convinced by his mentor, Fernando Riera, the former national coach who took Chile to the semi-finals of the 1962 World Cup on home soil, to enter management. He would go on to win cups in Chile – with Universidad Catolica - and titles in Ecuador (Quito) and Argentina (San Lorenzo and River Plate), though in Europe Pellegrini has claimed only the 2004 Intertoto Cup with Villarreal.

With a bullish and revitalised City challenging forcefully on four fronts that omission is set to change. On Monday José Mourinho, who replaced him at Real and is reinstalled at Chelsea, must somehow find a way of halting his side at the Etihad, where City have won 17 of 18 games this season and racked up 68 goals in 23 league games.

The Portuguese may decide against any attempt to get under the skin of the unreadable Pellegrini. "He never shouted," Santa Cruz says of his former manager. "He is very emotional but he keeps in a lot of disappointments at results because he is always very proud of his players and how they are putting in a lot of effort to perform and win. People who knew him expected his City team to be this good."

Jamie Jackson

USA beat Canada to extend unbeaten streak to 40 games

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 07:09 AM PST

Sydney Leroux goal gives USWNT 1-0 win over Canada

Tom Dart

West Ham 2-0 Swansea

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 06:58 AM PST

It felt like it was going to be a moment that summed up West Ham's tragicomic season. They were coasting at 2-0 up in the second half, were on their way to their first victory at Upton Park since 30 November and one of football's great bromances had been reunited, Andy Carroll creating two goals for Kevin Nolan. Things were looking up for once.

Few clubs have as great a capacity for self-destruction as West Ham, though, and when Carroll ruined all his earlier good work after being sent off after a clash with Swansea's Chico Flores, who will not be collecting any awards for his acting skills, three crucial points were in danger of being thrown away. A narrative was being established. Not this time, though. Instead, in the face of relentless pressure from Swansea City, West Ham dug in and clung on for a vital win in their battle against relegation. These are the occasions when their supporters might appreciate having Sam Allardyce as their manager.

In a way, West Ham's season began here. Their morale boosted by Wednesday's gutsy 0-0 draw at Chelsea, Carroll started for the third successive match, their new Italian signings, Marco Borriello and Antonio Nocerino, were on the bench and they were joined there by Winston Reid, in the squad for the first time since the start of November after an ankle injury. Optimism had returned.

Defending for your lives to earn a point against Chelsea is one thing, though, beating Swansea at home quite another, and for a while it looked as if Allardyce had forgotten to remove the handbrake. They were accused by José Mourinho of playing 19th-century football at Stamford Bridge because of their unapologetic defensiveness and for much of the first 25 minutes, West Ham carried all the threat of a penny farthing. There were two sets of players on the pitch, a referee and a ball, but nothing happened. James Tomkins volleyed over, Gerhard Tremmel sliced a clearance out for a throw and that was about it.

But West Ham's opener after 27 minutes had a reassuringly familiar feel to it, a sense that everything was going to be fine after all, because Carroll and Nolan were back together again. George McCartney ran down the left and lifted a cross towards Carroll, who headed down for Nolan to control with his chest and then hammer a left-foot volley into the bottom-left corner from 15 yards. It was the kind of chance that Nolan, whose focus has been restored after recently serving a four-match suspension for a moronic red card at Fulham on New Year's Day, has been missing all season.

Swansea, who ended an eight-week wait for a win by beating Fulham on Wednesday, lacked spark. Their pace on the break caused occasional problems, however, and West Ham had an escape when Wilfried Bony went through on goal and was tackled from behind by James Tomkins. Howard Webb ruled that Tomkins's tackle was clean and while the direction of the ball suggested he was correct, replays were inconclusive.

Jonjo Shelvey then dragged a shot wide a minute later but Swansea could not live with Carroll, who was playing like a man possessed. Increasingly sharp, he displayed his growing confidence by twice shooting from distance and on the stroke of half-time, he harried Ashley Williams into conceding a needless corner on the right. Stewart Downing swung it to the far post, Carroll headed it back and Nolan headed it in from three yards out. It sounds simple and it was.

Then, 15 minutes into the second half, disaster. After Webb failed to award West Ham a free-kick when Chico clambered all over Carroll, the Swansea defender then fell to the ground as if he had been elbowed in the face, when in reality a stray arm had brushed the top of the head. Webb bought it and showed Carroll a red card. While it seemed petulant and unnecessary, Chico's play-acting did not help Carroll's cause.

That was the cue for West Ham to step into the time machine and drop deep, but for all Swansea's possession, they rarely threatened. The 10 men's indignation saw them over the line.

Jacob Steinberg

Stoke v Man Utd – match centre!

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 06:57 AM PST

Premier League: Follow the key match action from the Britannia Stadium with our update service

Newcastle 0-3 Sunderland

Posted: 01 Feb 2014 06:52 AM PST

Hidden away in a corner of his house in London, Sunderland's manager possesses a yellowing newspaper clipping bearing the headline: "I hate that Poyet".

The complainant was Sir Bobby Robson, who had already dubbed Gus Poyet "the scourge of Newcastle" in recognition of the Uruguayan's habit of scoring decisive goals against the Tynesiders. Although his playing days with Chelsea and Tottenham are long over, the uncanny knack of undoing Newcastle has clearly survived Poyet's transition from pitch to technical area undiminished.

This was his second win against Alan Pardew's team since he succeeded Paolo Di Canio at the Stadium of Light and left his opposite number with the unenviable record of having lost the past three north-east derbies. With Jack Colback and the debut-making Liam Bridcutt excelling in central midfield and Adam Johnson and Fabio Borini impressing again in wide roles, Poyet's side played much the better, more considered football. So much so, it was hard to credit Sunderland are struggling to stay in the Premier League, while Europe remains Newcastle's aim.

Or at least Pardew's team were hoping for a Europa League place before Yohan Cabaye's £20m departure to Paris St-Germain last week. On this evidence, life without their best individual and playmaking catalyst promises to be horribly tough for Newcastle, who were booed off as travelling fans delighted in directing chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning" at Pardew.

"I'm disappointed," said the home manager. "We lacked composure. We lost our heads and didn't make the right decisions or show the professionalism you need. We were rushed in possession. I can understand the fans' frustration. It's been a tough week and this is a blow that's hard to take up here. It will scar the season for us."

It seemed appropriate that three resurgent players in the process of redeeming once faltering careers were heavily involved in Sunderland's opener. That goal began with Johnson's delicate flick to Phil Bardsley prefacing the visiting right-back being brought down by Vurnon Anita in the area.

Borini stepped forward, sharing a joke with the referee before lashing the resultant penalty into the top corner, only to receive a ticking off from his manager for perching on a perimeter advertising hoarding with arms aloft.

If Poyet was worried about Borini's celebration inciting locals, Pardew had greater anxieties. They deepened when another cute flick, from Jozy Altidore this time, sent Colback accelerating into the box. His deflected shot was parried by Tim Krul but Johnson swept the rebound in from close range.

Dark clouds were gathering over Gallowgate but it was easy to imagine that, 12 miles down the road on Wearside a brilliant sun had suddenly lit up the February sky.

Pardew began with Cheik Tioté apparently man-marking the influential Ki Sung-yueng but Newcastle had evidently not bargained for Colback having such a good game. Behind him, Bridcutt made his bow in a quasi sweeping role between defence and midfield. The quietly assured former Brighton anchor looked anything but out of his depth, making one marvellous interception to deny Hatem Ben Arfa. No wonder Poyet keeps talking about how much he "trusts" Bridcutt.

Judging by his slightly stunned expression, Pardew's faith in certain players had been badly shaken. It was no surprise when he introduced the Holland striker Luuk de Jong – newly borrowed from Borussia Mönchengladbach – at half-time.

With De Jong not properly match fit, Vito Mannone remained under-employed but Sunderland's goalkeeper did save a capriciously curving shot from Tioté quite brilliantly. Sunderland, though, could easily have gone three up when, having dribbled beyond two markers, Johnson's curler hit a post with Krul beaten.

It would have been all over had Newcastle's keeper not saved at Altidore's feet but shortly afterwards Sunderland sealed a much deserved victory. Fittingly, the goal was initiated and finished by Colback. After dispossessing Ben Arfa he played a one-two with Borini then stroked a shot past Krul.

Cue wholesale boos, two angry pitch invaders and the sight of Newcastle shirts and season tickets being hurled at Pardew's dugout. In the course of 90 minutes the light tan gained by the home manager during the team's recent warm-weather break in Abu Dhabi seemed to vanish, leaving him shaken.

Poyet looked somewhat happier. "One of the best days I've had in football," he said. "It was an outstanding performance. If we don't stay up now it will be a shame."

Louise Taylor

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Sunday, 2 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:10

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Big week for

Fifa's week

Other news: best message

Fair play latest

Meanwhile: best solidarity

Transfer window: the key moves

Legal news

Respect campaign latest

Losers backlash

Closest escape

Most moving interview

Plus: saddest exit

Ingenius, infuriating, Berbatov will be missed by many

Championship

League One

League Two

ROUNDUP

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Sunday, 2 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:10

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Big week for

Fifa's week

Other news: best message

Fair play latest

Meanwhile: best solidarity

Transfer window: the key moves

Legal news

Respect campaign latest

Losers backlash

Closest escape

Most moving interview

Plus: saddest exit

Ingenius, infuriating, Berbatov will be missed by many

Championship

League One

League Two

ROUNDUP

Written by TBMU Admin

0 comments :

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Follow TBMU FBook/Twitter

Popular on TBMU

About TBMU

Subscribe TBMU