British trio enjoy clean sweep in Champions League

Updated October 03, 2012 08:50:35

All three British clubs enjoyed what could be invaluable away wins in their second round of UEFA Champions League group matches on Wednesday morning (AEST).

Celtic led the way with a 3-2 win at Spartak Moscow, its first win in 21 away games in the Champions League and first in Europe's premier club competition since beating Shamrock Rovers in 1986 when it was the European Cup.

Titleholders Chelsea too ended a winless away streak - albeit only stretching back to October 2010 when it also beat Spartak Moscow - with a 4-0 win over Danish debutants FC Nordsjaelland although the scoreline flattered the winners.

Manchester United also claimed the three points away from home with a 2-1 victory at Cluj - both goals coming from Robin van Persie - but it was by the skin of their teeth in the heartland of Transylvania.

There were mixed fortunes for two of the teams Chelsea beat on their way to an unlikely victory in the Champions League last term.

Bayern Munich - which lost to Chelsea in the final on penalties - suffered a stunning 3-1 away defeat at BATE Borisov, the Belarus side proving to be the surprise package of this season's tournament with two wins from two to top Group F.

Barcelona, beaten in the semi-finals by Chelsea, had no such problems as Lionel Messi created both its goals, one for Alexis Sanchez and the other for Cesc Fabregas, in the 2-0 win over Benfica in Lisbon.

Victory extended the 2011 champions' winning streak in all competitions this season to eight and kept them two points clear of Celtic in the group ahead of their forthcoming double header.

The only blip on the landscape for Barca was another injury to iconic central defender Carles Puyol, who had made a remarkably quick recovery from a knee injury but dislocated an elbow shortly after coming on as a substitute.

Celtic was on its way to another away defeat - it had lost its last 11 away - until the momentum swung the Scottish side's way shortly after the hour mark when trailing 2-1 after the hosts had defender Juan Insaurralde sent off.

An own goal by Dmitri Kombarov and a last minute header from Greek international striker Giorgos Samaras sealed the points and left manager Neil Lennon a happy man.

"My players played exciting football tonight," Lennon said.

"It's fantastic that we managed to battle back and win in the second half as we were playing against very strong opponents.

"It's too early to make any conclusions as we have two matches with Barcelona ahead but we have already taken a big step forward."

Chelsea was hanging on somewhat at times during its clash in Denmark but three goals in the last 11 minutes including Juan Mata's second of the game left manager Roberto Di Matteo satisfied.

"We needed a second goal because they were resilient and thanks to a great save by Petr Cech we stayed ahead," said Di Matteo, whose team top the group.

"However, eventually we got the second and from then on we coasted but the scoreline is perhaps not reflective of the game itself."

Bayern were never in the hunt in Belarus but while the result may have surprised many it did not surprise Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.

"I knew before the match that we were up against a very good team," Heynckes said.

"They are very well organised especially in defence which they have proved so again.

"We hit the post and the bar too, so we had some bad luck, but you have to take the lead in these games."

AFP

Tags: sport, soccer, champions-league, russian-federation

First posted October 03, 2012 08:49:23

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Arrest over racist tweets to British footballer

Updated August 27, 2012 06:55:32

A man has been arrested in connection with racist Twitter messages sent to West Ham United footballer Carlton Cole, Essex Police confirmed on Sunday.

The 22-year-old man from Southend in Essex, wrote two posts on Saturday following West Ham's 3-0 Premier League defeat at Swansea City.

The tweets questioned Cole's performance and used a racist term to describe him.

The 28-year-old forward retweeted the comments from his @CarltonCole1 account.

Essex Police said on their own Twitter account: "Police have arrested a 22 year old from Southend following tweets to @carltoncole1. Investigation ongoing."

An Essex police spokeswoman said: "The man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence following tweets sent to Carlton Cole."

Reuters

Tags: sport, soccer, english-premier, united-kingdom

First posted August 27, 2012 06:34:19

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British trio on Europa life support after defeats

Updated December 01, 2011 09:44:20

Scottish giants Celtic and English sides Spurs and Birmingham City were left needing to win their final Europa League group matches if they are to have a chance of reaching the knockout stages after losing their penultimate group matches on Wednesday.

Spurs were surprisingly beaten 2-1 at home by PAOK Salonika - who qualified for the knock-out rounds thanks to the win - after conceding two early goals and were unable to take advantage of playing all of the second-half against 10 men.

Celtic lost 1-0 at home to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid - who ensured they progressed - while Championship outfit Birmingham City went down by the same margin away at last season's surprise finalists Portuguese side Braga.

Celtic, though, will need to pull off a win away at Italian side Udinese - who are three points ahead of them after drawing 0-0 with bottom side Rennes.

Birmingham must beat already eliminated Maribor and hope there is a winner from the Braga and Club Brugge match as both are three points ahead of the English League Cup holders.

Spurs will feel hard done by as they had what they thought a perfectly good goal from Jermaine Defoe ruled out after initially being given but they were their own worst enemies as they failed to put away any of their chances in the second-half.

Croatian star Luka Modric's first-half penalty had got them back into the match after Kostas Stafylidis was sent off somewhat harshly for handling on the line.

The Greek side had stormed into a 2-0 lead through a Dimitris Salpingidis header and a Stefanos Athanasiadis tap-in after 13 minutes.

For Spurs to qualify, they need to beat pointless Irish side Shamrock Rovers and hope Russian outfit Rubin Kazan drops points against PAOK.

Celtic should have been 1-0 down after six minutes as Argentinian Eduardo Salvio was picked out unmarked in the box but his header lacked the accuracy reflected in his return of just one goal this season.

Celtic had its chances with veteran Greek striker Giorgios Samaras having the best one but his sidefooted volley from close range went straight at the 'keeper.

While Salvio missed another gilt-edged chance Atletico did eventually break the deadlock in the 30th minute through the impressive Turkish international Arda Turan.

The former Galatasaray star rifled home a 25 yard effort after an Atletico corner had been headed clear but Celtic skipper Beram Kayal will take some of the blame as he ill advisedly ducked to let the shot fly over him and see it go in off 'keeper Fraser Forster's hands.

Things got worse for the former European Cup winners as left back Joe Ledley was stretchered off and was replaced by Charlie Mulgrew, who played despite his father dying last week.

Celtic pushed forward in the second-half as it had to do and thought it had grabbed an equaliser in the 66th minute through Gary Hooper but it was ruled out for handball by Anthony Stokes.

Birmingham should have been in front away to Sporting Braga at half-time but Serbian striker Nikola Zigic saw his penalty - awarded for a trip by Ewerton on Wade Elliott - saved by veteran 'keeper Quim.

The English side paid for missing the penalty and wasting several other chances as the hosts took the lead early in the second-half as former Newcastle flop Hugo Viana let fly from 25 yards and his shot gave Birmingham 'keeper Boaz Myhill no chance as it took a huge deflection.

The Portuguese side had the upper hand from that moment on but like its opponents in the first-half could not put its chances away, the best of them coming shortly before the final whistle as Myhill blocked Lima's shot and then Paulo Cesar made a mess of his effort from the rebound.

AFP

Tags: uefa-cup, soccer, sport, england, scotland, united-kingdom, spain, portugal, greece

First posted December 01, 2011 09:41:12

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