Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Osasuna 3-0 Atlético Madrid | La Liga martch report
Toulouse 2-4 Paris Saint-Germain | Ligue 1 match report
Manuel Pellegrini heralds return of Sergio Agüero to bolster front line
Tomas Rosicky scores in Arsenal win over Sunderland and agrees new deal
Hodgson defiant over Euro schedule
Van Gaal open to Spurs move after World Cup with Holland
FA wants big names at Wembley for England after Euro 2016 draw
Hannover 0-4 Bayern Munich | Bundesliga match report
Norwich exploit Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood's lack of a game plan
Olympiakos coach Míchel González dreams big for Manchester United visit
Wycombe pull off crucial win against Chesterfield before defining week
Cardiff's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scraps Abu Dhabi trip after Hull defeat
Swearing results in TV delay at Ross County match
Norwich City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League match report
Pardew glad to end miserable run
Norwich City v Tottenham Hotspur - as it happened | Sachin Nakrani
Premier League: Sunday's matches – in pictures
Newcastle United 1-0 Aston Villa | Premier League match report
Liverpool 4-3 Swansea City
Newcastle United v Aston Villa - as it happened
Liverpool v Swansea City - live! | Nick Miller
A-League: what we learned this weekend
Euro 2016 qualifying draw: England face Switzerland and Slovenia
Euro 2016 qualifying draw – as it happened | Nick Miller
W-League grand final: Melbourne Victory beat Brisbane Roar for first title

Osasuna 3-0 Atlético Madrid | La Liga martch report

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:50 PM PST

Atlético Madrid's La Liga title challenge faltered when they slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at Osasuna on Sunday that left Real Madrid three points clear at the top.

Barcelona and Real were held to draws at Osasuna's El Sadar stadium earlier in the season and Atlético fell behind in the sixth minute when Álvaro Cejudo arrived unmarked at the back post from a corner to volley into the net.

An error by the Atlético full-back Juanfran allowed Emiliano Armenteros space to score with a long-range drive in the 21st minute and Roberto Torres nodded in the third three minutes before the break. It was the first time Atlético had conceded three goals in the first half since Diego Simeone took over as coach at the end of 2011.

The Argentinian rested several regulars before bringing on the attacking midfielders Koke, Arda Turan and Raúl Garcia in the second half. Diego Costa, who has 21 goals in La Liga this season, toiled up front but a typically gritty defensive performance from Osasuna kept him at bay as the Pamplonese team climbed to 12th on 29 points.

Barcelona, Real and Atlético were level on 60 points before the latest round of matches but after Real cruised to a 3-0 win over Elche on Saturday with the help of a Gareth Bale wonder strike, Barça were beaten 3-1 at Real Sociedad as Gerardo Martino also saw a decision to rest key players backfire.

Real, who are now unbeaten in 26 matches in all competitions, visit Atlético next Sunday.

Toulouse 2-4 Paris Saint-Germain | Ligue 1 match report

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:45 PM PST

Zlatan Ibrahimovic took his tally to 37 goals in another remarkable season, scoring a hat-trick as the defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, won 4-2 at Toulouse to maintain their five-point lead over Monaco.

Ibrahimovic, who also helped set up the other goal for the Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi, has 22 league goals and is closing in on his career-best total of 30 from last season. At this rate he is on course to get 50 goals in all competitions.

Toulouse's coach, Alain Casanova, promised to attack and was true to his word, with the lively striker Wissam Ben Yedder scoring twice to set up a nervous finish before Ibrahimovic converted his second penalty of the match in the last minute.

PSG took the lead in the 33rd minute when Serbian defender Uros Spajic brought down Lavezzi, and Ibrahimovic drilled his spot-kick down the middle with Zacharie Boucher guessing wrong as he dived to his right.

PSG should have scored again in the 43rd minute when Ibrahimovic crossed from the left and the centre-back Thiago Silva failed to hit the target as he lunged in at the far post.

A minute later Toulouse punished PSG for that miss when Ben Yedder volleyed in a cross from the midfielder Étienne Didot.

But PSG regained the lead in the 56th minute when Ibrahimovic again crossed from the left, Blaise Matuidi let the ball run and Lavezzi finished with a first-time shot.

Ibrahimovic seemed to have put the result beyond doubt in the 70th, heading in the substitute Yohan Cabaye's free-kick after the impressive Lavezzi had been fouled, but sloppy play let Toulouse back into the game three minutes later.

After the PSG midfielder Thiago Motta went to challenge Martin Braithwaite the ball bounced into the penalty area and Ben Yedder beat the goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu with a calm finish.

Not to be outdone, Ibrahimovic went close with another header from Cabaye's free-kick which Boucher kept out and then scored another penalty after Issiaga Sylla handled his free-kick.

Ibrahimovic was lucky, however, as he tried to dink it over Boucher. The goalkeeper saved the shot, only for the rebound to fall kindly into the Sweden forward's path.

Manuel Pellegrini heralds return of Sergio Agüero to bolster front line

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:32 PM PST

• 'It is a huge lift. He is one of the top five players in the world'
• Forward returns to training days before Capital One Cup final

Sergio Agüero's return to full training on Tuesday before next weekend's Capital One Cup final against Sunderland will provide Manchester City with a "huge lift", Manuel Pellegrini admits.

Since the 26-goal man limped out of the 5-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur a month ago, City's form has stuttered. The defeat of Spurs took their goal tally to 115 but in three of their next five games Pellegrini's side failed to register. There have been two defeats – 1-0 against Chelsea and 2-0 at the hands of Barcelona – and a goalless draw at Norwich City. Saturday's victory over Stoke City was a scrappy affair, until Yaya Touré grabbed the 70th-minute winner.

Of having his star front man available again, Pellegrini said: "Agüero can give us all a huge lift, not just for the Capital One Cup final but for the rest of the season because, for me, he is one of the top five players in the world.

"He has been unlucky this season to have some injuries. He has had two long injuries but when he's fully fit, he is a player who can make the difference."

Since Agüero's layoff the support act has faltered. Against Stoke Edin Dzeko had one of those outings where he offered a bemusing impersonation of a top-class finisher. The miss of an open goal towards the end was hard to fathom. He has not scored since that victory at White Hart Lane on 29 January.

The last time Álvaro Negredo, who has been hampered by a shoulder problem, netted was on 21 January, in a 3-0 Capital Cup One semi-final win at West Ham United. Stevan Jovetic is the only forward to find the net since Agüero went down.

Yet, despite this, Pellegrini defended his forwards. "I'm sure Negredo and Dzeko will recover their normal performance level," he said. "Álvaro is coming back from a shoulder injury, which has bothered him a lot, Dzeko didn't play very well [against Stoke] but I trust in all of them to continue scoring, with the exception of Jovetic [because he's injured]."

The unfortunate Montenegrin, who had looked sharp, entered as a 56th-minute replacement for Negredo but lasted less than a quarter of an hour because of a hamstring problem that will be assessed by the club doctor.

In a decade of European management, Pellegrini has never won a major trophy, so the Capital One Cup final offers an opportunity. He said: "It's very important for the club. I worked in Spain for 10 years and the only club I could have been expected to win trophies with was Real Madrid. For me to arrive in both semi-finals and quarter-finals of Champions League, and finish second in La Liga with Villarreal, I'm absolutely sure was more important than winning a trophy with a big club.

"The same applies to my time with Málaga. I have won trophies in South America. Of course, I'm expected to win trophies here, so I would be very happy to win a trophy with the style of football we have been playing, on Sunday.

"It is important to win one of the competitions and lift a trophy. If we win that, then we will try to win the FA Cup tie with Wigan. It's the last part of the season and the only trophy we are close to winning is the Capital One Cup. We have got two steps more to reach the FA Cup [final] and 12 games more in the Premier League. And, of course, we have got the second leg of the Champions League against Barcelona."

Despite being firm favourites, City lost last year's FA Cup final to Wigan, while Samir Nasri was in the Arsenal team defeated by Birmingham City in the 2011 League Cup final.

The Frenchman warned that losing to Sunderland could have a negative impact on the remainder of the campaign, as happened with Arsenal. "I don't have good memories in the cup because I lost the final with Arsenal," he said. "After that we won only one game in the league, so a win would be really important for us and for the confidence."

It was actually two league wins – from the remaining 11 matches – but that return, plus an FA Cup fifth-round win, were Arsenal's sole victories.

City, then, should be wary of complacency when walking out at Wembley to play Gus Poyet's team at the weekend.

Man of the match Yaya Touré (Man City)

Jamie Jackson

Tomas Rosicky scores in Arsenal win over Sunderland and agrees new deal

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:31 PM PST

• 'I am absolutely adamant he has to stay' – Arsène Wenger
• Rosicky's goal was 'one of the top goals we have scored'

Arsène Wenger had contract news and in the absence of him finally confirming that he will prolong his 17½-year association with Arsenal beyond the end of the season, it was probably the next best thing. Tomas Rosicky, the manager said, had reached agreement on a new deal. Like Wenger, Rosicky's current terms are set to expire in June.

"Tomas Rosicky will stay," Wenger said. "We have an agreement with him and it will come out soon. I am absolutely adamant he has to stay at the club."

Rosicky's worth to Arsenal is lost on nobody who watches him regularly, least of all Wenger, who has come to reach for him in the very biggest matches like some sort of charm.

It was a surprise that he omitted him for Wednesday's Champions League last-16 first-leg defeat at home to Bayern Munich, but the Czech Republic international returned here and he was central to the over-running of Sunderland.

His goal was a beauty, stamped with Arsenal's first-time passing that slices through opposing teams when it is in sync, as it also was on Olivier Giroud's opener. Rosicky started the move, which took in contributions from Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere before he swapped passes with Giroud and clipped the ball over the advancing Vito Mannone.

It carried shades of Wilshere's goal against Norwich City from October and it technically made the game safe although, in reality, Arsenal were comfortable from the moment that Giroud turned the ball home after incisive work by Lukas Podolski, Rosicky and Wilshere.

Rosicky was billed as "Little Mozart" when he signed in May 2006 from Borussia Dortmund but the 33-year-old has evolved into the all-round midfielder who brings balance, organisation and urgency to the team.

"When he arrived, he was less a tactical player and more the Mozart from Prague," Wenger said. "He was purely a creative, offensive player. But today, he is a real organiser as well. He gives a real structure to the team.

"He is one of the players who plays the game of give-and-move and he is a great accelerator of the game. He always makes things happen, not with individual dribbling but with individual acceleration of his passing and his runs. His goal was one of the top goals we have scored."

Wenger was more forthcoming on Rosicky's contractual situation than he was about his own. When asked whether he could give any update concerning his longer-term future, Wenger replied that there was "nothing at all" before seeking to cut short the briefing. He has fudged the issue since last summer.

Wenger has never left it so late before re-signing and although Ivan Gazidis, the chief executive, has maintained a confidence that the Frenchman will commit to the continuation of another cycle at the club, there are those who question his motives for waiting. What if Arsenal were to win the title? Is Wenger leaving open the possibility of going out on a high? Does the decision even depend on a trophy?

The doubters, though, have been drowned out by the repeated suggestions, and not only from Gazidis, that Wenger is ready to sign. The manager has dropped a couple of hints himself, even if they have come in his carefully qualified language, and as good a time as any might be around the occasion of his 1,000th Arsenal game – the potentially pivotal league fixture at Chelsea on 22 March.

Arsenal's other ongoing contractual drama concerns the 31-year-old Bacary Sagna, whose deal also runs out in June. Wenger is happy to break the general club policy for 30-somethings and give the defender two more years but resolution remains some way away.

Sunderland return to north London on Sunday for the Capital One Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley and Gus Poyet can only hope that his players are more attuned to the occasion. "Sometimes, a good kick in the backside at the right time is good to wake you up," the manager said. "This game changed plenty of things in my mind."

Man of the match Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)

David Hytner

Hodgson defiant over Euro schedule

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:31 PM PST

• Roy Hodgson says he will have less time with players
• Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan meet in Group D

Roy Hodgson has questioned Michel Platini's argument that Uefa's revamped "week of football" scheduling in qualification for Euro 2016 will thrust the international game back into the limelight, and instead insisted the new timetable actually benefits only the clubs.

Uefa, which has increased the number of teams at the finals in France from 16 to 24, has also introduced new six-day international windows running from Thursday to Tuesday, with teams asked to play three double-headers over the qualification campaign. That will involve games taking place every night in those periods and Platini, the Uefa president, has admitted the new programme was "a political decision" aimed at thrusting the international game back into the limelight given the strength of the Champions League and domestic competitions.

Yet Hodgson – whose England side have been drawn in Group E with Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino – believes the system will actually deprive national managers of even more time to work with their players. "It won't affect the clubs, but it will affect the national teams," he said. "When I was manager of Switzerland [from 1992-95] we had two weeks in every window. Then it went down to 10 days, then eight or nine, and now it could be six days if you're playing Thursday and Sunday. I don't understand how that can be championed as something to help the national teams: if you want to help the national teams, have more time for preparation.

"As far as the clubs are concerned, they'll be rubbing their hands together because they will get the players back quicker. For the national teams, though, you don't have to be a statistician or a rocket scientist to work out it's getting harder for us. We don't really get the time with the players we would like. We want to work with them and do our bit of tactical work as well, not just the club sides."

The greatest concern for Hodgson was a double-header starting with a Thursday evening fixture, potentially just four days after many of his key players might have been involved in televised Premier League games. "That would mean Monday is a write-off, Tuesday too for the older players because they need a two-day recovery, leaving one day, the day before the game, to prepare the team," he said. As it transpired, the qualifying fixtures have given England only one game on a Thursday night – against San Marino on 9 October this year – though the issue could remain for other national sides whose players feature in league fixtures on Sundays before international matches.

Group E has handed Hodgson a reunion with Switzerland, whom he led to the 1994 World Cup and steered to Euro 96 before leaving to join Internazionale, and a team currently ranked No6 in the world. Indeed, England's first game in the group will arguably be their toughest, in Switzerland on Monday 8 September. "We won't have any fear and we'll go into every game playing to win," said Vladimir Petkovic, who takes over from Ottmar Hitzfeld after the World Cup to oversee the Swiss campaign.

Estonia are under the stewardship of Magnus Pehrsson, who played briefly alongside Chris Waddle for Bradford City in the mid-1990s and has since worked as an expert analyst for Swedish television alongside Hodgson. The Slovenia head coach, Srecko Katanec, admitted relief at having avoided the heavyweights of "a Spain, Holland or Germany", although the new San Marino manager, Pierangelo Manzaroli, said: "England will be the winner of the group."

There is an irony that Scotland and Republic of Ireland, who had originally proposed in 2007 that the European Championship be swollen to 24 teams, were paired against each other in arguably the hardest qualification section.

Group D is completed by Germany, Poland and Georgia, together with Uefa's 54th member, Gibraltar. "It's the toughest group but it's an exciting one," said Martin O'Neill, who is embarking upon his first competitive campaign as the Republic's manager. "The games against Scotland will be great occasions, I hope. It's tough, and there are other groups we might have preferred to be in, but we'll get on with it."

The Scotland manager, Gordon Strachan, who succeeded O'Neill at Celtic in 2005, insisted there was "a chance of straight qualification".

"Every tie has something in it," he said. "You've got Gibraltar, new to the competition; Germany, one of the best teams in the world; then there is the Republic of Ireland and the two sets of supporters will turn those games into a cup tie. It's a terrific, terrific draw."

Wales were paired in Group B with Belgium, an emerging force driven by a brilliant generation of young players, from the second pot of seeds. "We're a bit gutted that they came out but, generally, it's positive and a good draw for us," said the Welsh manager, Chris Coleman. "It will be a tight section and hard for us, but I think we've got a good chance. We've got to nail the first two games [against Andorra and Bosnia-Herzegovina], but the new format gives us a better chance."

Northern Ireland, seeking a first appearance at a major finals since 1986, were drawn with Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland and the Faroe Islands. "We have teams in there who I believe we can compete with and take points from," said the manager, Michael O'Neill.

The five-team Group I will be made up by the hosts, France, who will play friendly fixtures against the other nations, though the results will have no bearing on qualification.

Dominic Fifield

Van Gaal open to Spurs move after World Cup with Holland

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

• Manager targets 'new Premier League challenge'
• 'Maybe Tottenham are coming,' says Van Gaal

Louis van Gaal has hinted he would be open to an approach from Tottenham Hotspur once his stewardship of Holland concludes after the summer's World Cup finals, with the London club's 1-0 defeat at Norwich on Sunday having left them six points from the Champions League qualification places.

The Dutchman, whose contract with his country expires after the tournament in Brazil, had spoken directly with the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, after the dismissal of André Villas-Boas in December but had made clear his intention to lead the national team to the finals in South America. Levy subsequently firmed up Tim Sherwood's position, the caretaker having made it clear he would not work on an interim basis before signing his own 18-month contract at White Hart Lane.

Yet Spurs' interest in Van Gaal has not waned even in light of Sherwood's impressive impact in his first senior management role. The 62-year-old's desire to coach in the Premier League before he retires makes him an attractive and – as a former manager at Barcelona, Ajax and Bayern Munich – heavyweight candidate at the end of the current season.

Asked about his future post-Brazil, when Guus Hiddink will again take up the reins with Holland, Van Gaal said: "I will definitely not be in charge for the Euro 2016 qualification campaign. I don't know where I will go next. Normally I go with my pension, and go to live in Portugal [where he owns a property], but maybe there will come a new challenge. I have said before that a challenge should be a club in the Premier League. That's a challenge. Maybe Tottenham are coming but, first, we have to go to Brazil."

Spurs had also sounded out Frank de Boer, currently in charge of Ajax, prior to elevating Sherwood formally from his position as youth co-ordinator at Tottenham, a role to which he has indicated he would not be prepared to return.

Sherwood was understandably downbeat after an unexpected defeat left them still fifth in the Premier League, but now six points behind Liverpool, and with a vastly inferior goal difference. "It's a big gap, a real blow to us," he acknowledged. "It's the first major setback I've had and we need to bounce back and show what we are made of."

Asked if his players were still feeling the effects of the midweek trip to the Ukraine to play Dnipro in the Europa League, the former Spurs midfielder demurred. "We were stronger in the second period, so we can't use Thursday as an excuse," he said.

"In the second half we looked by far the better side. But we've started slowly in quite a lot of games and it was sluggish, sluggish. It was a nothing game in the first half, we took a real blow early in the second, and I think we started playing from there and created a few chances. Unfortunately we couldn't take them.

"We have to bounce back, we have two games now, we have the second leg [against Dnipro] on Thursday and then Cardiff at home next week. We need characters in the dressing room to do that."

Sherwood saw the misfiring Roberto Soldado miss Spurs' best chance when he blazed over the bar from close range shortly after coming on as a second-half substitute. "We're waiting for him to take one [of his opportunities] and then hopefully the confidence will start flooding back," said Sherwood of the Spanish striker, for whom Spurs paid £26m and who has scored just once from open play in the Premier League.

"It's all about scoring on the big stage and we know he can do that. We've seen him do it over the years, and hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later when he starts putting it in the net."

Soldado also missed an excellent chance against Dnipro, prompting the former Spurs chairman Alan Sugar to describe him as a "donkey" in a tweet.

The result means the Norwich manager, Chris Hughton, survived to fight another day after being widely tipped for the sack if the Canaries were beaten. That was down to the chief executive, David McNally, openly admitting in an interview before the game that Norwich were actively examining the market for a potential successor.

Hughton, who came into the game having overseen just one win in 11 league matches, claimed McNally's words had not been in his thoughts. "There's enough goes into the week preparing the players, and this was a performance up there with our best this season," he said. "It feels like a big win.

"My biggest concern is we've had a real good level of performance in the last few games without getting the results we deserve, so I'm pleased for this group of lads, they've been as frustrated as anyone."

Dominic Fifield

FA wants big names at Wembley for England after Euro 2016 draw

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:30 PM PST

• FA owes £277m for new stadium and needs to entice crowds
• 'We would look to get high-ranking opponents, good opposition'

The Football Association will seek to arrange prestigious friendlies for Wembley amid fears that the standard of opposition handed to England in Sunday's Euro 2016 qualification draw may struggle to entice crowds to the arena.

Roy Hodgson was at Nice's Palais des Congrès Acropolisto witness his team being placed alongside Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino in Group E. While the Swiss, at No6 in the world, are actually ranked above the English at present, the standard of the section – and with third spot enough to secure at least a play-off place – would suggest England should progress to the tournament in France, though the fixtures on offer are hardly likely to set pulses racing.

The necessity to draw hefty crowds to Wembley, a £757m stadium on which the FA still owes £277m, according to the latest figures, is clear with 10-year debentures at the stadium up for renewal in 2017. The governing body, which is contracted to play England's home games at the national stadium, will explore ticket pricing in line with the competitive fixtures to be scheduled in the qualification campaign and seek to entice glamorous opposition – in line with those arranged to celebrate the body's 150th anniversary – for the four friendly windows per season with a view to securing sell-outs.

"We've got to balance this with how we make the friendlies attractive as well to the fans who come to every game," said Adrian Bevington, the managing director of Club England. "We've got to sit down with Roy and the commercial department. I'm confident we will still get good crowds at Wembley.

"We would look to get high-ranking opponents, good opposition. That doesn't mean we would never play someone outside the elite, or an away game, because there will be times the manager wants us to play an away game, but generally we want to populate the friendlies with attractive opposition, to make sure we get teams who are much higher seeded, as we have done recently with Germany and Brazil."

England did manage to attract a remarkable 84,654 fans for their 5-0 World Cup qualifying victory over San Marino in October 2012 but there is an acceptance that, in testing economic times, innovative ticketing will have to be explored. "We've got to price it to make it attractive for families and are very aware of the importance of pricing accordingly to fill the stadium," Bevington added.

"That's always been our priority since the stadium opened and it will remain the core objective of what we do. We want to get as many fans into Wembley and price it as competitively as possible, and we consider every game in that way to try and get the crowds we have done previously. We, as an organisation, have to make sure that whatever friendly matches we have are against good opposition in terms of a ranking position."

Hodgson did not betray any concerns that the general standard of opposition in Group E might stunt his younger players' development, but argued a successful qualification campaign would serve to attract crowds to the national stadium. "I'll have to leave the job of Wembley to someone else," he said. "I'd like to think with our performances and the way we play that we will do it, but I do understand the point. It might have to be a joint effort."

The Scotland manager, Gordon Strachan, conceded that "some groups you might call mundane" as Uefa seek to revamp the finals into a 24-team tournament, though his own side have arguably been handed the toughest section. They will confront Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland, Germany, Poland, Georgia and Gibraltar, recently elected as Uefa's 54th member, in Group D.

Wales must contend with the much-fancied Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel, Cyprus and Andorra, while Northern Ireland are in Group F alongside Greece, Romania, Hungary, Finland and the Faroe Islands.

Dominic Fifield

Hannover 0-4 Bayern Munich | Bundesliga match report

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:15 PM PST

Bayern Munich took another step towards an ever more inevitable Bundesliga title as they routed Hannover 4-0 to open up a 19-point cushion at the top.

Thomas Müller, who scored the second goal against Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, scored twice while Thiago Alcântara and Mario Mandzukic were also on target in a comfortable victory for Pep Guardiola's side.

Hannover started well and created plenty of chances to score but Bayern showed a superb level of efficiency to take maximum points for the 20th time in 22 matches, exceeding 60 goals for the season in the process.

Bastian Schweinsteiger made his first start after recovering from ankle surgery and the Germany midfielder had a hand in both his side's first-half goals, as Bayern strolled to their 14th win in succession.

Sunday's only other Bundesliga match was between two teams just above the drop zone and saw Werder Bremen draw 0-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Bremen will be more pleased with the result after they had to play the final 56 minutes with 10 men following Felix Kroos's dismissal for two quick bookings.

Norwich exploit Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood's lack of a game plan

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:08 PM PST

Spurs were desperately short of a playmaker of Christian Eriksen's class in a match short on creativity

In a technical and tactical sense this was a poor contest between two unconvincing, tentative sides.

Chris Hughton and Tim Sherwood used similar systems featuring a lone striker, two wide players moving inside and three solid, physical midfielders. The teams appeared to cancel each other out, with a frustrating lack of genuine creativity on show.

Tottenham Hotspur started with Aaron Lennon on the left and Mousa Dembélé right, which encouraged both to move inside and offer support to Emmanuel Adebayor, despite the lack of goalscoring ability being the major shortcoming of both. Nevertheless, a combination between the duo almost proved effective in the sixth minute, when Lennon cut inside and sent a clever through-ball towards Dembélé, who could not bring the ball under control as he sprinted in behind.

The injury suffered by the holding midfielder Étienne Capoue changed things. Nacer Chadli replaced him and played on the left, with Lennon switched to the right and Dembélé brought back into his central role. Lennon was less involved, while Chadli is a wide forward who needs others to provide incisive passes – something that simply was not forthcoming from Spurs' midfield.

Lennon's and Chadli's attacking qualities were also nullified by the advances of Norwich's full-backs, who pushed the Spurs pair back into defensive positions. Hughton's team built moves down the right, with the full-back Russell Martin and the winger Robert Snodgrass combining frequently, before switching the play left, where Martin Olsson attempted to sprint forward untracked.

Norwich rarely looked dangerous when crossing the ball, however, because Ricky van Wolfswinkel offers extremely little goal threat. Here he failed to attempt a shot or create a chance for a team-mate, although he did dispossess Nabil Bentaleb in the build-up to Snodgrass's winner. The game's only goal neatly summed up Hughton's approach – to win possession and immediately attack down the flanks, and it also justified his continued use of Snodgrass and Nathan Redmond on the "wrong" wings, giving them freedom to cut inside and shoot.

It was highly surprising Sherwood waited until the 65th minute to make a change, although it almost worked instantly. He turned to 4-4-2, with Roberto Soldado joining Adebayor up front, and the two soon combined excellently, only for Soldado to slice wide from a dangerous position.

However, it was astonishing that Sherwood did not use Christian Eriksen. Tottenham desperately required a playmaker with his intelligence, guile and eye for a penetrative pass, and it is difficult to envisage a more fitting situation for his skills considering Spurs were dominating possession clearly, but failing to create chances.

It simply was not clear how Spurs were attempting to break down the Norwich backline and the more Dembélé, Paulinho and Lennon are switched between different roles, the more difficult it will be for Spurs to find familiarity in attack.

Norwich were unspectacular but they had an obvious game plan. The same cannot be said of Spurs under Sherwood and, though his overall impact at the club has been positive, a performance and result like this had somehow been on the cards.

Michael Cox

Olympiakos coach Míchel González dreams big for Manchester United visit

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:04 PM PST

Manchester United can expect a raucous atmosphere and positive opponents in Athens, the Olympiakos coach says

Thursday evening and Karaiskakis is virtually empty. It's quiet here now and it will be quiet too after Olympiakos's Champions League opponents Manchester United took the decision not to hold their pre-match training session in the stadium. "But on Tuesday," Míchel González says from high in the main stand, gesturing towards the arena and picturing the scene, "it will unbelievable".

"We had 34,000 here in the cup the other night and they're so noisy and this place acts as such a soundboard that it feels like 90,000. When you're down there, it really moves you," Olympiakos's Spanish coach continues, pointing at the bench. "You don't know what this city is like waiting for United. It was even a disappointment for them that United won't train here the day before.

Since 1997 Olympiakos have failed to win the league only twice, in 2004 and 2010. There have been seven doubles too. In the Champions League era, they have reached the knockout phase three times, facing Juventus, Bordeaux and Benfica, but have never gone through. That's where the challenge lies. Routine and cost saw domestic attendances drop but Europe is different and if supporters are excited, so is he: Míchel played for Real Madrid for 14 years and was fourth in the 1987 Ballon d'Or but has never faced United. English football's European ban hurt him too.

"At the start of the season I said that winning the league and the cup was a challenge, competing in Europe was an ilusión, a hope, something to be enthused by. Benfica, Anderlecht, PSG, now United, here and at Old Trafford. I've never been. I told the players: 'This is special'. This isn't a profession, it's a vocation. Think back to your neighbourhood: how many kids grow up playing at being lawyers? None. Who plays at being a footballer? Almost everyone."

This is a message that runs through his coaching. Vocation, vocation, vocation. It's working: results and play have been good, and Míchel's popularity is growing. "When I was a player I said I didn't want to be a coach but I was lying to myself. I already was a coach," he admits. "And I transmit to the players that football's a vocation based on their ilusión. I don't want obligations; I want them to do it for real, with their hearts, with commitment, because they want to. I'm close to the players, I want to engage them. I never demand anything – I ask."

"People forget about enjoyment. An 'obliged' player can feel pressured; it's fundamental he has a clear mind. Managing the human resources on a personal and emotional level is more important than picking a starting XI. We have an idea, which is to protect and respect the ball as the best way to defend and attack, and we want to be aggressive. People associate aggressiveness with defending. Bravery, too. No, no. Aggressive means going for goal, sharing a belief, a hope, that we can compete. That's why we think that, even if it makes us mad, we have a chance against United."

Mad? These are difficult times for United; might Olympiakos even be favourites? Míchel laughs. "No, never. We're talking about an immense club. But nobody can tell us we can't try.

"It's normal for things to be difficult after Alex Ferguson. I remember him at Aberdeen in the Cup Winners' Cup against Madrid in 1983. That was the first time I cursed him! He made winning normal: 'Oh, they've won the league again.' Yeah, you win it. The European Cup. You win it. The Cup Winners' Cup. You win it. Before Ferguson, United was a historic club but modernity arrived with him. Twenty-five years and people still see him as an innovator, the precursor of everything.

"It shows tremendous stability that [David] Moyes has signed a six-year contract. At other clubs that doesn't happen. There's a style, an idea. You have to protect that. If you look at big clubs, including United, their best moments come when there's continuity and also a nucleus of homegrown players: Giggs, the Neville brothers, Scholes, Beckham, Butt. I say to the president here: Greek players have to be important."

"I've been watching United's games," Míchel says. "Not that the recent ones will help much because they're without [Juan] Mata. It's a pity: I'd have liked Mata to enjoy Karaiskakis. I'd have liked to have ruined his day a bit." It is said fondly: Míchel was coach of Real Madrid's youth team, Castilla. Mata, Roberto Soldado, Álvaro Negredo and Javi García were among his players. There's pride in his voice. "Absolutely," he says. "It's a nice feeling that gets nicer with time."

Míchel says that Negredo, whom he also coached at Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla, has benefited from having real competition for a place at last and that if Soldado is looked after, protected and encouraged, he will "never let you down". As for Mata, he admits: "Perhaps the Chelsea [José] Mourinho wants is nothing like the Chelsea [André] Villas-Boas wanted.

"Mata always had great quality and discipline. He also has a real mental toughness. Making it at Chelsea, Valencia or United depends not just on talent but also the decisions of the coaches, their needs. He arrived at United when they needed to make an impact." He was lucky, then? "Lucky doesn't exist. United didn't come for me: I'm 50. They went for him. Mata is where he deserves to be and to say 'where he deserves to be' when that 'where he deserves to be' is United is a big thing to say."

The next question is whether Mata can fit in with Wayne Rooney, Adnan Januzaj and Robin van Persie. "Well," says Míchel, grinning, "if they've got one spare … We're very hospitable people, so if they want to let one go … Good players always have a place. It's a blessing for United. I like Rooney a lot, Januzaj too, and Van Persie especially. I'd never put him in one position: he's best when he has freedom. He understands the game and his limitations. The proof is that he's come back before being fully recovered and that hasn't stopped him being a leader, scoring important goals."

"It's also important to have a goalkeeper who gives you the stability David de Gea provides. He's been strong enough to take the criticism and I think he's irreplaceable and will be for a long time. If you look at the physical profile of goalkeepers in England, it's very different to Spain. They're more dynamic, better with their feet. In England, there's more contact, it's more direct. De Gea has adapted and to adapt takes talent."

What weaknesses does Míchel see? "More than seeing weaknesses I imagine them, I get my hopes up with the possibility that they exist," he smiles. "We don't have a laser-sighted weapon to blow away their defence, but we do have our ideas. We wanted to enjoy Europe and we're doing that but who says we have to stop now? To be able to compete with United is wonderful.

"And I mean 'compete'. Our respect and admiration will be expressed in trying to beat them. They'll understand that. In fact, they'll appreciate that. We're not going to roll out the red carpet, we're going to go for them."

Sid Lowe

Wycombe pull off crucial win against Chesterfield before defining week

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:03 PM PST

The Chairboys' victory against the League Two leaders put club in good heart as meeting with prospective new owners looms

This is a big week for Wycombe Wanderers. It may be a defining one for Gareth Ainsworth, the manager. on Tuesday they play at Exeter. On Wednesday prospective new owners will be divulged at the club's AGM. And the Chairboys are not sitting comfortably, 22nd in League Two.

Fortunately for Ainsworth they are five points clear of Torquay in 23rd thanks to Saturday's 1-0 defeat of the leaders, Chesterfield, at Adams Park. On five-match form Chesterfield were top, Wycombe bottom. Managers will say there are no easy games. There are no foregone conclusions.

Early this month a sinkhole appeared in High Wycombe, devouring a car when perhaps aiming for the club. They have had a dire run from October when, after 12 games, they were above another dotted line, in the last play-off place. Eighteen games had yielded 11 points before Saturday. Home fans had not seen a win since 12 October and had no goal to cheer for the first 8¼ hours this year.

Now, with five strikers on the bench where they may be hardly less effective, it was a penalty after 35 minutes for handball. In this quadrennial consciousness of curling, Max Kretzschmar had the hammer. For the rest of the 90 minutes there was no stone in the house at either end, just a lot of midfield scrapping and up-and-unders more in keeping with Wasps, their tenants.

Performance and result were a timely and serious statement on Ainsworth's behalf, which he reinforced half an hour later. "I haven't calmed down yet. I'm so pleased," he said. "Mentally it's a big stride. That was one for everyone. It's been a testing week, a lot of stuff off the pitch. Many managers have been changed. I'm extremely proud to be Wycombe's."

Proud, he said, not lucky and the signs are he may continue. Ainsworth has been at the club since November 2009, initially on loan from QPR where he had two stints as caretaker player-manager. He enjoyed promotion in 2011, when he was in the PFA League Two Team of the Year, became player manager in September 2012, three months after Wycombe Supporters Trust took over the club, and stopped playing (except for Finchampstead on Sundays) after last season, just before he was 40. His engaging, Let It Be demeanour of the rock star – he plays in a band – cannot hide a passion that appeals to fans and Trust.

The players, too, are with him. "We press how I played," he said. "If you've got legs in the team, use them." Josh Scowen and Stuart Lewis excelled in a midfield that worked with the beaverish vigour of curling's scrubbers and Sam Wood and Nick Arnold at full-back, either side of Gary Doherty, crushed crosses at source, driving Paul Cook, Chesterfield's manager, to dissent, dismissal and later a forlorn "We had no chances, no quality to our game". In a spiky contest the Chairboys were no choirboys but stood up to be counted.

A board member at last week's Trust meeting was able to say they are "happy with the heads of terms", the buyers are "UK-based, football people", Adams Park is non-negotiable and the Trust will retain a board presence to protect name, colours and, for the moment, a popular manager. Wycombe may yet be able to celebrate their 21st season in the League, initiated by Martin O'Neill, by staying in it.

Jeremy Alexander

Cardiff's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scraps Abu Dhabi trip after Hull defeat

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 02:02 PM PST

• Cardiff manager cancels warm-weather training trip
• Norwegian says 'loads of improvement' needed

Cardiff City's manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has cancelled his players' warm-weather training trip to Abu Dhabi following the team's biggest home defeat since losing 4-0 to Cambridge United in April 2000.

The Norwegian had been planning to take the relegation-threatened Bluebirds to the UAE on Sunday to sharpen up ahead of their trip to Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday but has changed his mind in favour of some intensive preparation in wintry Wales.

As well as Spurs, 19th-placed Cardiff face the daunting challenges of Liverpool and Everton, as well as a basement scrap with Fulham, in their next four games.

The former Manchester United forward believes "loads of improvement" is needed to get any points from that quartet, "especially inside the two boxes, because you need to score goals to win games in football and not concede soft, easy goals".Despite the bitter disappointment of losing so heavily to another bottom-half club - a defeat that leaves them three points and at least nine goals from safety - Solskjaer is confident they can get the five wins in 11 he believes should be enough to survive in the Premier League.

"I still think so," added the former Molde manager. "We need five wins. We need to find that fifth win that we were hoping was going to be today. That means we have to get a win from maybe an away game we didn't expect to. How often have we seen that in the Premier League, that there's a surprise result?

"All you can say is these lads, knowing the character of them; they will roll their sleeves up and work as hard as they can to get the points we need. They're never, ever going to lay down and give up. They have been knocked down, but luckily they've not landed face down. They've landed on their back and that way they can look up.

"That's the only way that we're going to get out of this - work hard, work together, stick together and do the right things at the right time. At times, players wanted to do a little bit too much and that's good. You want that enthusiasm to want to make a difference and want to make an impression, but do your job. The enthusiasm was there, the effort was there, but the decision-making wasn't the best."

Cardiff had plenty of chances against the Tigers, but for the third Premier League game in a row, they drew a blank.

The visitors were happy to soak up the pressure and repeatedly hit them on the break. Two goals from the recent signing Nikica Jelavic and goals from Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore – on loan from Spurs – gave Hull City their biggest away win in the top flight.

Their manager, Steve Bruce, who like Solskjaer was a hero at Old Trafford during his playing career, wished his counterpart all the best. "I'm delighted that somebody like Ole, for a start, has gone into management and, if we're not careful – I keep saying this, week in week out – we're going to discourage people like Ole Gunnar.

"He's had a wonderful playing career and wants to stay in the game. He's an enthusiast of the game. You've got to give him time and let him manage. That goes for everybody. When you see the ridiculous turnover of managers that we have repeatedly in this country, it's ridiculous and, if we're not careful, we're going to turn people away."

Swearing results in TV delay at Ross County match

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 12:12 PM PST

Broadcast of Ross County v St Mirren game delayed by more than five hours as fans' swearing edited from recording

Football fans watching a match on television wouldn't necessarily be surprised to hear the odd blue phrase – but the swearing picked up by BBC microphones all over the pitch at a match in Scotland on Saturday was so relentless that transmission was put back until well after the watershed.

The premiership match at the Ross County ground in Dingwall was due for broadcast as live immediately after the match at 5.30pm on BBC Alba, the Gaelic language channel.

When it was discovered just how much swearing could clearly be heard, transmission was delayed by more than five hours to clean up the recording.

Although it tends to be players' or managers' colourful language that makes the headlines – last year the Blackpool manager Paul Ince got a five match stadium ban for a rant at officials – in Dingwall the offenders were the 3,000 fans in the stands.

A BBC Scotland sports reporter, Jim Spence, tweeted: "Bad language delays transmission of BBC Alba Ross Co v St Mirren game tonight. that's ###@@@€€€€#### ridiculous."

A BBC spokeswoman said the channel had no choice but to delay the broadcast, "in compliance with the rules set by Ofcom, where no programme that carries offensive language can be broadcast pre-watershed".

When the match eventually went out, viewers saw the Ross County and St Mirren managers, Derek Adams and Danny Lennon, being dragged apart after a confrontation on the touchline: both were ordered back to the stands by referee Willie Collum. Ross County won 2-1.

Maev Kennedy

Norwich City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League match report

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 11:06 AM PST

The extent to which Tottenham failed to recover from Thursday's Europa League match in Ukraine is arguable but, whatever the reason for a distinctly sub-par performance, the fact is this was a defeat Spurs almost certainly could not afford if they are to retain a serious chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

While still fifth, they are now six points behind Liverpool and with such an inferior goal difference it is effectively seven. With 11 games left the gap remains bridgeable but the growing span makes it unlikely they will manage it.

Tim Sherwood, to his credit, refused to use the travelling as an excuse for his players' collective failure to begin applying themselves until they had fallen behind early in the second half, Robert Snodgrass curling in a low shot after a move that had begun when the Spurs midfielder Nabil Bentaleb was caught in possession.

"We were stronger in the second period, so we can't use Thursday as an excuse," said Sherwood.

As far as the Norwich City manager, Chris Hughton, is concerned, however, the result has almost certainly kept him in his job.

In the run-up to the game the club's chief executive, David McNally, openly admitted they were actively examining the market for a potential successor. The Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, whom McNally got to know well in his previous job as commercial director with the Glasgow club, was among those believed to be under consideration.

Hughton acknowledged he had read the interview, given to the Eastern Daily Press, but said it had not been in his thoughts.

"There's enough goes into the week preparing the players, and this was a performance up there with our best this season. It feels like a big win. My biggest concern is we've had a real good level of performance in the last few games without getting the results we deserve, so I'm pleased for this group of lads."

Given many Norwich supporters would suggest much of Hughton's time in charge has been characterised by caution, in terms of both team selection and tactics, it was not entirely surprising his chosen line-up featured only one striker, though the fact it was Ricky van Wolfswinkel instead of Gary Hooper did raise eyebrows.

The Dutchman, for whom City paid £8.5m during the summer, has scored once in his 17 appearances (including 10 starts) for the Canaries this season, something of a contrast to the recent record of his opposite number, Emmanuel Adebayor, who has scored nine in 13 appearances since being brought back into the team by Sherwood last November.

Having been spared the taxing midweek trip, Adebayor, the goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and winger Aaron Lennon were all recalled by Sherwood as he sent his team out in search of what would have been an eighth win from 13 Premier League games he has overseen.

The first half, as Sherwood suggested, was a sorry mess. Norwich's pressing made the game scrappy, which suited their purpose, while Spurs looked out of sorts and at times, distinctly uneasy. Come the break neither side had managed an effort on target.

The second period was a different matter. It had barely begun when Bentaleb was caught in possession and Bradley Johnson slipped the ball through for Snodgrass to curl a low shot neatly beyond Lloris and inside the goalkeeper's right-hand post.

Still Spurs struggled to find any sort of rhythm, though they picked up their efforts in the search, and City's goalkeeper, John Ruddy, had to leave his line quickly to get to the ball before the hitherto anonymous Adebayor.

Sherwood sent on Roberto Soldado for Paulinho and the Spaniard immediately missed Spurs' best chance of the game, firing over after being nicely set up by Adebayor. At the other end Snodgrass, whose form has improved noticeably in recent games, curled a free-kick wide but Nacer Chadli should have equalised when slipped through by Mousa Dembélé. Instead he shot straight at Ruddy, who blocked.

Johnson, increasingly confident, all but made the game safe when he thumped a free-kick against the underside of the bar. That Norwich now sit 14th in the Premier League, four points clear of the bottom three, underlines the difference that one good result can make as the season's denouement draws close.

Man of the match Robert Snodgrass (Norwich)

Richard Rae

Pardew glad to end miserable run

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 10:15 AM PST

• Manager admits club's poor form was telling
• Win over Aston Villa takes Newcastle to eighth

Alan Pardew proved a master of understatement after silencing the critics who suggested he was heading for the sack at Newcastle United.

Secured courtesy of Loïc Rémy's 92nd-minute winning goal, Sunday's 1-0 home win against Aston Villa elevated the Tynesiders to eighth place in the Premier League, taking them to the 40-point mark. "I was a little happier after Loïc's goal went in than I was before," said Pardew, whose side had suffered five successive home defeats, four in the league, and failed to score for more than a month.

"It was a strange game and I was beginning to wonder, but we are on 40 points now and I think we've had a decent season. The recent bad run has put pressure on my staff and my team. I don't feel comfortable with that, my staff being under pressure.

"You can be very resilient as a manager but I was desperate to get a result for my team and our fans, who have had to be very patient. We've not been very good at home since beating Stoke on Boxing Day but the win will settle us down The players can be a little bit calmer now and show more composure."

After Rémy's decider there was a defiant "I'm still here" wave in the direction of the doubters who had predicted that Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, was poised to dismiss him. "I thought the media have been a little bit miserable," said Pardew. "A couple of stories were definitely aimed to put me under pressure. There is pressure enough in this job without having a couple of stories which were untrue. So I was telling them to cheer up and move on."

Newcastle's manager joked he was preparing to talk about a wonderful defensive display before that last-gasp winner from his QPR loanee. "Technically I gave us six out of ten but I thought Loïc was the one player with the composure to score that goal," he said. "He was the best player on the pitch. The game seemed a little bit slower when he was on the ball, not as frantic. Like [Johan] Cruyff, high-class players like him can slow a game down. He's going to be hot property this summer."

Aston Villa are not yet out of relegation danger but their manager felt they were worthy of a draw. "We deserved at least a point, especially after the first half when we were excellent," Paul Lambert said. "Neither team deserved to win but we made an error with 30 seconds to go. But I'm not worried; we're playing well, it's just that we're not getting the breaks. We won't panic."

Louise Taylor

Norwich City v Tottenham Hotspur - as it happened | Sachin Nakrani

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 09:58 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Robert Snodgrass's second-half strike was enough to secure a surprise and much needed win for Norwich against a lacklustre Tottenham at Carrow Road.

Sachin Nakrani

Premier League: Sunday's matches – in pictures

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 08:34 AM PST

The best images from a seven-goal thriller at Anfield between Liverpool and Swansea and a less exciting one-goal game at St James Park featuring Newcastle and Aston Villa

Jonny Weeks

Newcastle United 1-0 Aston Villa | Premier League match report

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:56 AM PST

As the final whistle beckoned Alan Pardew became so engulfed by nerves that he covered his face with his hands when Aston Villa mounted a late counterattack. After a run of five home defeats Newcastle United's manager openly acknowledged he was "under pressure" but then, deep in stoppage time, Loïc Rémy controlled a deflected Luuk de Jong cross-shot with his right foot.

Having deposited a deceived Ron Vlaar on his backside by shaping to take aim before seamlessly switching possession to his left, Rémy then unleashed a shot which flew past Brad Guzan. In a split second, Pardew's horizon switched from slate grey to azure blue. A man transformed, he swivelled on his heels and, beaming broadly, waved at the directors' and press boxes.

If the not so subliminal message was "I told you so", Newcastle's first goal in more than a month – or seven and a half hours of football – and only their second win in 10 games was deserved at the end of a much improved second-half performance.

Even so, it is surely no coincidence that Pardew's team hit new heights which would lift them to eighth place and the 40-point mark after an injury to Ashley Westwood forced the Villa midfielder off on the hour mark. Until then Westwood had been the afternoon's dominant figure, with Pardew nudged into a tactical reshuffle, revamping his initial 4-4-2 formation to combat Paul Lambert's three central midfielders.

Earlier Newcastle's manager had made quite a statement by dropping Davide Santon. He did not even offer the Italian a place on the bench but might have regretted that decision as he watched his replacement, Paul Dummett, struggle to gain a foothold.

Presumably noting the rookie's uncertainty, Lambert instructed Christian Benteke to move from the centre to the right of Villa's attacking trinity and the centre-forward's muscular presence seemed to thoroughly unnerve Dummett.

Like Santon, the latterly disappointing Hatem Ben Arfa was not among the substitutes but at least Newcastle welcomed back Fabricio Coloccini, Cheik Tioté and Rémy after injury and suspension respectively.

Although Nathan Baker spared Guzan's blushes by clearing the ball for a corner after the visiting goalkeeper permitted an early Papiss Cissé shot to trickle through his fingers, Villa's pace-infused counterattacks were soon discomfitting a rearguard which, but for Mike Williamson's sheer bloody mindedness and Coloccini's assured distribution skills, might well have become seriously unhinged.

With Dummett a virtual passenger, Tim Krul found himself saving smartly from Gabriel Agbonlahor and watching shots from Karim El Ahmadi and Agbonlahor whizz uncomfortably close as Villa sought to reinforce an impressive away record.

Lambert's pre-match message had been a public exhortation to his players to turn the St James' Park crowd against their team and that did not go down at all well with Pardew, who made his displeasure plain by cold shouldering his technical area counterpart with some ultra-frosty body language. Much as Newcastle's manager must have willed Rémy and company to punish Lambert for those comments, a goal refused to materialise.

Rémy directed a free-kick wide after Vlaar was booked for tripping him just outside the penalty area. Then, on the stroke of half-time, the France striker conjured a glorious chance for Cissé, but the Senegalese seems to have forgotten how to score in recent months and scooped his shot wastefully over the bar from 10 yards.

Early in what would turn into Newcastle's second-half renaissance Dummett almost atoned for earlier errors by dispatching an angled, curving shot which skimmed the bar. A forlorn, if arguably legitimate, appeal for a handball penalty against Leandro Bacuna followed but an electric force field appeared to be protecting Guzan's goal.

By now the tension in the home dug-out was so acute that Pardew literally could not bear to watch. Fear turned to 88th-minute incredulity when De Jong, on as a substitute, picked out Rémy unmarked 12 yards out only for Newcastle's best finisher to see his shot rebound off the post.

The sense of fortune frowning on Tyneside was overwhelming but then the ball deflected off Baker, Rémy's fancy footwork did the rest and Pardew suddenly wore the expression of a man finally feeling the sun on his back after a particularly long, hard winter.

Man of the match Loïc Rémy (Newcastle)

Louise Taylor

Liverpool 4-3 Swansea City

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:53 AM PST

• Premier League: Sunday's matches – in pictures

Expectation got to Liverpool yet they got the job done. The nerves frayed against Swansea City, defensive composure was given the day off and the over-riding reaction to the final whistle was relief, but this was another box ticked by Brendan Rodgers's team on the list of Premier League title credentials. A repeat, however, would not be advised.

Two goals apiece from Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson kept Liverpool in the title frame after Garry Monk's assured Swansea side threatened to puncture the optimism around Anfield. The need to respond to wins for Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal 24 hours earlier clearly affected the team in fourth, and Rodgers's appeals for a reality check on title talk sounded justified as the visitors recovered from two goals down and spread panic throughout the Liverpool backline. But, not for the first time, the home side's firepower and spirit proved overwhelming.

"We didn't defend anywhere near well enough but once again the offensive side of our game was very good," the Liverpool manager said. "Up until now we have got away with it [poor defending]. It is not about coaching, the way we concede goals. The way we concede isn't structural, it is down to mistakes and decision-making.

"But I'd rather focus on the other side. We have been spoilt here at Anfield. We have won by one goal when usually people are going away happy after a win by three or four, but this was always going to be a more difficult game than it would have been three weeks ago. That's because of what Garry has done with Swansea. They are an excellent side, so I take great pride in our character, the quality of our goals and our determination to get the job done."

Monk's men were utterly dejected on the final whistle after a performance that merited reward but brought only despair. Liverpool's reaction was also telling as their players, management and supporters breathed a collective sigh. Anfield, as Rodgers noted, has grown accustomed to Liverpool blitzing opponents before half-time or relying on brilliance in attack to cover shortcomings in their defence. There was an element of both as Swansea's adventure and their own quality up front produced an open, hugely entertaining contest.

An early Liverpool onslaught is also a regular feature at Anfield and although opponents know the test is coming, few survive. Swansea were behind inside three minutes thanks to a fine pass from Raheem Sterling after Angel Rangel over-ran the ball deep inside the Liverpool half. There appeared little on but Sterling further enhanced his prospects of an England recall by sweeping a glorious ball behind Ashley Williams and Sturridge rounded the goalkeeper Michel Vorm to convert. In doing so, Sturridge became only the second player in Premier League history to score in eight successive games, Ruud van Nistelrooy being the other.

Unlike Arsenal and Everton, Swansea responded impressively and were the more composed, enterprising team for the next 18 minutes. Then Liverpool scored again. The goals may have dried up for Luis Suárez recently but his contribution to the team's attack has remained constant. An instinctive cross-field pass released Sturridge down the right and the striker cut inside to find Henderson, who stroked a measured finish into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Liverpool looked home and hosed but their suspect defence and Swansea's refusal to wilt destroyed that script. The visitors were deservedly level with two goals in three minutes. Jonjo Shelvey, impressive on his Anfield return before a tight hamstring prompted his withdrawal, started the comeback with his own, improved take on the Henderson goal. Taking Nathan Dyer's square pass first time, the former Liverpool midfielder swept the ball in off the bar and bizarrely apologised to the Liverpool fans who sportingly applauded the goal.

Moments later Shelvey was clipped by Martin Skrtel and, from Jonathan de Guzman's free-kick, Wilfried Bony headed in his first Premier League goal on English soil via a deflection off Liverpool's Slovakian defender. Bony and Dyer had decent chances for a third before the interval but Liverpool edged ahead again as Suárez and Sturridge performed another rescue act. Jon Flanagan and Sterling combined to release Suárez, who floated an inch-perfect cross from the left for Sturridge to head beyond Vorm for a his 18th goal in 19 Premier League appearances.

"I wasn't happy with the first half," said Monk, who added that he wants Michu to stay with Swansea despite reported interest from Anzhi Makhachkala. "We were a bit too slow and gave them too much space. But once we sorted that out we were back to ourselves in the second half. The crowd were getting edgy and at 3–3 I thought we could do something but we left ourselves too open for their fourth goal."

Anxiety increased in the Liverpool display and Swansea levelled moments after the restart when Skrtel, who has escaped with more obvious grappling inside his area this season, was penalised for pulling Bony to the floor as they awaited a Dyer cross. The Ivory Coast forward picked himself up to beat Simon Mignolet from the spot. Despite Skrtel's carelessness it was his defensive partner, Daniel Agger, who was replaced by Kolo Touré, with Rodgers worried about the Dane's physical struggle against Bony.

Chances continued to arrive at both ends and Suárez was denied a penalty claim after Liverpool had refused to return the ball to Swansea following injury to a visiting player. "I don't know why we didn't give the ball back," said Rodgers. "It wasn't a penalty because we should have given it back." Tension finally eased when Henderson grabbed his second goal. Steven Gerrard found Suárez and though Williams blocked the Uruguayan's shot, the ball fell for the Liverpool midfielder to beat Vorm at the second attempt. Job done, just.

Man of the match Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)

Andy Hunter

Newcastle United v Aston Villa - as it happened

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:32 AM PST

A scrappy game came to life in the last ten minutes before Loic Remy snatched a much needed three points for Newcastle with a composed finish deep into injury time

Niall McVeigh

Liverpool v Swansea City - live! | Nick Miller

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 07:26 AM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Liverpool hold on despite some often calamitous defending to beat Swansea 4-3, thanks to braces by Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge...

A-League: what we learned this weekend

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 04:26 AM PST

Joe Gorman: Wellington's chunky genius; excited pundits; a dream debut; and are we rewarding mediocrity?

Joe Gorman

Euro 2016 qualifying draw: England face Switzerland and Slovenia

Posted: 23 Feb 2014 04:23 AM PST

• Roy Hodgson's team handed favourable draw
• Scotland and Republic of Ireland drawn with Germany
• Wales face Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina

England have been handed a straightforward qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 while Scotland and the Republic of Ireland will face each other for a place at the finals in France.

Roy Hodgson's side were drawn in Group E along with Switzerland – the team he led to the 1994 World Cup finals – Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino.

England have never played Lithuania, but San Marino have been regular opponents – in 1993 they famously scored after only 8.3 seconds against England after an attempted back-pass by Stuart Pearce.

England went on to win 7-1 – and have scored at least five goals in the four games they have played. Estonia should also pose little problem, with England playing them twice in 2007 and winning 3-0 home and away. Switzerland will be the biggest challenge, having secured a 2-2 draw at Wembley in qualifying for Euro 2012.

Scotland and the Republic have tough campaigns ahead after being drawn together in Group D along with Germany, Poland and Georgia, as well as Uefa's newest member Gibraltar, who were drawn to Group C with Spain but were switched to D for political reasons.

Wales have a shot at a play-off place or better in Group B, where they will face Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, Israel, Cyprus and Andorra.

It is a similar story for Northern Ireland, who were drawn in Group F with Greece, Hungary, Romania, Finland and the Faroe Islands in a competitive-looking group.

The top two in each group will qualify for the 24-team final tournament along with the hosts France. The best third-placed team will also qualify, with the eight other third-placed sides playing off for the remaining four spots.

This will be the first European Championship with 24 teams and there has been criticism and suggestions that the expanded number of teams will dilute the quality of the tournament.

Hodgson however disagrees, saying the standard of football has improved across Europe.

He told uefa.com: "Going back to the 70s, when you had the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, there was nothing like 54 teams we have today. There was a much smaller pool.

"Now, the tournament's much bigger and qualifying becomes more difficult because the teams who used to be happy just to play the so-called bigger nations and play at San Siro or at the Bernabéu – they come to beat you."

Groups for Euro 2016 qualifying

Group A: Holland, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Latvia, Turkey, Czech Republic

Group B: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Andorra, Wales, Israel, Belgium

Group C: Spain, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Belarus, Slovakia, Ukraine

Group D: Germany, Gibraltar, Georgia, Scotland, Poland, Republic of Ireland

Group E: England, San Marino, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Switzerland

Group F: Greece, Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Finland, Romania, Hungary

Group G: Russia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Austria, Sweden

Group H: Italy, Malta, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Norway, Croatia

Group I: Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Serbia, Denmark

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Monday, 24 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Groups for Euro 2016 qualifying

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Monday, 24 February 2014

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:14

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

Groups for Euro 2016 qualifying

Written by TBMU Admin

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