Hernandez double rescues United

Updated October 24, 2012 10:11:24

Manchester United staged a dramatic fightback from two goals down as Javier Hernandez's double inspired a 3-2 win over Braga in the Champions League on Wednesday morning (AEDT).

Sir Alex Ferguson's side were in danger of an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Portuguese minnows after two early goals from Braga captain Alan shocked Old Trafford.

But Hernandez sparked United's revival with his first goal before half-time and the Mexico striker bagged the winner with 15 minutes remaining after Jonny Evans equalised just after the hour.

Hernandez's heroics ensured United maintained their 100 per cent record after three Group H matches and one more victory should be enough to guarantee their place in the last 16.

Yet, while Ferguson will be pleased by his team's gutsy comeback, the United manager was shifting uneasily in his seat as Braga became the latest team to expose the hosts' defensive frailties.

"It's been the story of our season at home, starting badly and losing goals," Ferguson said.

"We have had to rescue games and it is the front players doing that. We played some terrific football tonight but it is a concern losing the goals."

Meanwhile, Shakhtar Donetsk led the way for Champions League underdogs by beating holders Chelsea 2-1 while FC Nordsjaelland were close to winning for the first time in the competition before drawing 1-1 with Juventus.

And Barcelona came from behind and needed a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time to beat Celtic 2-1.

Alex Teixerra put impressive Shahktar ahead after only three minutes in Donetsk before Fernandinho doubled the Ukrainian side's lead early in the second half.

Oscar grabbed a consolation for Chelsea in the 88th minute as the Londoners lost in the competition for the first time since they lifted the European Cup last May.

The victory lifted Shakhtar to the top of Group E on seven points, three above Chelsea who have four.

Barcelona needed a stoppage time Jordi Alba goal to win 2-1 after Celtic had taken the lead at the Nou Camp through Javier Mascherano's own goal after 18 minutes before Andres Iniesta's brilliantly-worked equaliser just before half-time.

Barca lead Group G with nine points from three wins, ahead of Celtic on four while Spartak Moscow have moved on to three points after their first win of the campaign, 2-1 at home to Benfica thanks to Jardel's own goal.

Juventus, which has now drawn its last nine European matches, has three points with Danish side Nordsjaelland picking up its first point in the competition.

Nordsjaelland, ahead through a 50th minute Mikkel Beckmann goal, were just nine minutes away from a memorable victory before Mirko Vucinic equalised for Juve in the 81st minute.

In a lively match in Istanbul, Cluj had Matias Aguirregaray sent off after 28 minutes and Felipe Melo missed a penalty for Galatsaray seven minutes later.

Dany Nounkeu put through his own net to give Cluj the lead after 19 minutes before Burak Yilmaz equalised for the home side 13 minutes from time.

Valencia ended BATE Borisov's perfect start in Group F with Roberto Soldado's hat-trick securing a 3-0 win in Belarus.

With Bayern winning 1-0 at Lille with a Thomas Mueller penalty, Valencia, BATE and Bayern all have six points with Lille on none.

AFP/Reuters

Tags: champions-league, soccer, sport, england, united-kingdom, ukraine, spain, italy

First posted October 24, 2012 09:01:57

View the original article here

Bent rescues point for Aston Villa

Updated October 01, 2012 06:14:32

Darren Bent came off the bench to rescue a point for Aston Villa in their 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion on Monday (AEST).

Bent, Villa's club record signing, was among the substitutes as Paul Lambert started with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke up front.

The England striker, with national manager and ex-Baggies coach Roy Hodgson watching from the stands at Villa Park, had only been on the pitch 11 minutes when he cancelled out Shane Long's opening goal.

"Obviously it would have been nice to play from the start, but I managed to score the goal to get a point," Bent told Sky Sports.

"It's obviously been a difficult couple of weeks, losing the captaincy first off, then finding out I wasn't playing today. But we battled all the way through and we got the point.

"The start of the season's been up and down. Obviously we had a good result against Swansea, but then we got beaten 4-1 by Southampton before getting a great result against Manchester City (in the League Cup).

"Today we showed signs that we are heading in the right direction and we've all got faith in the manager."

The under-pressure Lambert added: "Darren's a big part of (this squad) -- everybody knows he's a goalscorer.

"I decided on the lads up front but I don't value anybody higher than anybody else. To do well we need everybody."

Sunday's result left Villa two points clear of the bottom three.

Long missed a chance to give West Brom -- who have lost just once in their first six league games this term -- an early lead when he headed wide from close range.

But Villa eased their way into the match and it needed a finger-tip save from Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster to divert Brett Holman's long-range shot over the crossbar.

Foster then made another good save when he turned away a Holman shot that deflected off Billy Jones.

However, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when Long turned in James Morrison's low cross for his fourth goal of the season.

Bent came on mid-way through the second half, in place of Benteke, and 10 minutes from time the striker turned in a loose ball after Ciaran Clark's volley from a Barry Bannan corner was blocked.

Albion almost won the match late on when substitute Roman Lukaku twice went close to regaining the lead for the Baggies.

The striker, on loan from Premier League leaders Chelsea, first saw a shot deflect off Clark onto a post and then saw another effort come off the legs of Villa keeper Brad Guzan.

AFP

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

First posted October 01, 2012 06:14:32

View the original article here

Late Lampard penalty rescues England

Updated September 12, 2012 09:24:07

Frank Lampard rescued a point for England when he scored an 87th minute penalty to force a 1-1 draw with Ukraine in their Group H World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Wednesday (AEST).

England finished with 10 men when captain Steven Gerrard was sent off a minute after the equaliser for a second yellow card as it struggled following Friday's opening 5-0 win in Moldova.

Ukraine looked like inflicting a rare home World Cup defeat on England after Evhen Konoplianka's stunning 39th minute goal, until Lampard struck after Evhen Khacheridi handled in the area.

England substitute Danny Welbeck hit the post just before the equaliser and Jermain Defoe had a goal ruled out for an infringement in the first half but Ukraine also had chances and in the end was disappointed to leave with just one point.

The home side had the best chances in the first half although Ukraine started brighter and played better football, keeping possession and pressing the hosts back into defence.

England was unlucky not to score in the 11th minute when Defoe found the net with a fierce shot from 20 metres only for Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir to disallow the effort, ruling the striker illegally challenged Andriy Yarmolenko in the build-up.

England began to get on top as the half wore on and Defoe set up Tom Cleverley with a golden opportunity after 34 minutes but the midfielder shot straight at keeper Andriy Pyatov's feet.

Cleverley later missed two other scoring chances, scuffing one and hitting the outside of the post with the other.

Ukraine's 39th minute goal, which Konoplianka curled home delightfully from 20 metres, was not a total shock for the home fans because Ukraine looked dangerous in attack from the start.

Oleh Gusyev hit the post with a deflection off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after four minutes while Ruslan Rotan's effort was cleared by Gerrard after it beat goalkeeper Joe Hart 10 minutes later before Denys Garmash put a difficult chance over the bar.

Elsewhere in European World Cup qualifying, reigning world champion Spain laboured to a 1-0 win away to Georgia courtesy of a late goal from Valencia striker Roberto Soldado.

Handed a rare start ahead of fellow strikers Fernando Torres and David Villa, Soldado fluffed a chance in the first half but made no mistake from close range when set up by substitute Cesc Fabregas in the 86th minute.

It was cruel on the home side, who had held out stubbornly against their illustrious visitors despite seeing little of the ball and losing goalkeeper Giorgi Loria to injury with some 20 minutes from time.

"It was very tough to find space and create chances but at the end we managed to get the breakthrough," said Soldado after taking his tally to four goals in his sixth appearance for Spain.

Italy laboured to a similarly scrappy 2-0 win over Malta in their Group B qualifier in Modena, with an early strike from Mattia Destro and a late Federico Peluso header enough to earn them the three points.

Roma striker Destro latched on to a smart Claudio Marchisio through ball after five minutes but Cesare Prandelli's side struggled to build on their fast start in a lacklustre first half that drew jeers from the crowd.

Napoli's highly-rated Lorenzo Insigne replaced the disappointing Alessandro Diamanti at the start of the second half and Italy showed more attacking intent but had to wait until the last minute for Peluso to head the second goal from an Andrea Pirlo corner.

Germany survived a torrid first half against neighbours Austria before Marco Reus and Mesut Ozil scored either side of half-time to give them a 2-1 win in Vienna.

The Germans clung on for three points and only won after Marko Arnautovic missed a great chance for the hosts in the 87th minute.

Reus burst down the left, cut inside Gyorgy Garics and buried a low shot past Robert Almer three minutes before the break after the feisty hosts, fielding nine German Bundesliga-based players, had looked capable of producing an upset.

Ozil, scorer of two goals in the 3-0 win over Faroe Islands on Friday, converted a penalty after Veli Kavlak recklessly clattered into Thomas Mueller.

Austria, playing its opening match in Group C, refused to lie down and Zlatko Junuzovic pulled one back in the 57th minute, turning in the ball in after Arnautovic forced his way to the byline and sent a low cross into the goalmouth.

In a heavyweight clash in Group A, Belgium recovered from conceding an early goal but failed to capitalise on its second-half dominance in a 1-1 draw with Croatia in Brussels.

The home side, narrow bookmakers' favourites to win the group despite their lowly 40th world ranking, fell a goal behind in the sixth minute, equalising on the stroke of half-time before neat footwork created chances but not goals.

Croatia's Ivan Perisic drove in an easy opener when Vincent Kompany failed to fully clear Darijo Srna's cross.

However Belgium's Guillaume Gillet, the sole home starter still playing for a Belgian club, thundered in an equaliser from a half-cleared corner in the final play of the first half.

In other major European results, Serbia thrashed Wales 6-1 in Novi Sad, the Netherlands humbled Hungary 4-1 on the road in Budapest, France downed Belarus 3-1 in Paris, Scotland drew 1-1 with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Glasgow and Portugal thumped Azerbaijan 3-0 in Braga.

Reuters/ABC

Tags: sport, soccer, soccer-world-cup, england, united-kingdom

First posted September 12, 2012 08:51:25

View the original article here

Van Persie double rescues Arsenal

Updated October 17, 2011 07:20:39

Captain Robin van Persie struck twice to inspire Arsenal to a much-needed 2-1 victory over Sunderland and Newcastle United scored late to maintain its unbeaten Premier League record in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Van Persie insisted in the club's matchday program that he has no intention of following Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri out of the club and then underlined his commitment with a man-of-the-match display capped by a brilliant winner with just eight minutes left.

Arsene Wenger's side kicked-off just two points above the relegation zone after their worst start to a season for 58 years.

But Arsenal will always be a threat while it has van Persie and the Gunners captain showed his class with a cool finish after only 29 seconds.

Sunderland gave the ball away from the kick-off and when Gervinho crossed low into the penalty area, van Persie dummied Wes Brown before firing past Simon Mignolet to score the club's fastest ever Premier League goal and the quickest in the top-flight this season.

Former Arsenal winger Sebastian Larsson equalised in sublime fashion as the Swede curled a brilliant shot beyond Wojciech Szczesny from 25 yards in the 31st minute

Szczesny then had to make a fine stop from Lee Cattermole's close-range header to deny Sunderland a second goal.

But van Persie saved his best until last as he stepped up to bend a superb free-kick over the Sunderland wall and into the top corner in the 82nd minute.

That was enough to give Arsenal only its third win in eight league games and lift Wenger's men into 10th place, while struggling Sunderland is above the relegation zone on goal difference.

"We had a good start for 25 minutes but as soon as Sunderland equalised the confidence started to wobble a bit," Wenger said.

"The second half was all us but we needed something special from Robin van Persie to make the difference."

Newcastle stays unbeaten

At St James' Park, Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart put Tottenham ahead in the 40th minute when he slotted home a penalty after Steven Taylor tripped Emmanuel Adebayor.

Senegal striker Demba Ba equalised with his fifth goal in three games when he stabbed a Jonas Gutierrez cross goalwards in the 48th minute and goalkeeper Brad Friedel could not prevent it crossing the line.

Jermain Defoe restored Tottenham's lead with a brilliant turn and shot that flashed past goalkeeper Tim Krul from the edge of the area in the 68th minute.

But Alan Pardew's fourth placed team have developed a resilient streak this term and substitute Ameobi equalised with a thunderous left-footed drive across Friedel in the 86th minute.

"We created enough pressure to warrant a draw, maybe win it," Pardew said.

"We're not going to settle for a draw at home and Tottenham wanted to win as well. It made for a great game."

Earlier on Sunday, West Bromwich Albion climbed out of the relegation zone after defeating bitter rivals Wolves 2-0 in the Black Country derby at the Hawthorns.

Roy Hodgson's side started the day third bottom of the table with just one win in their seven league games, but goals from Chris Brunt and Peter Odemwingie ended that dismal run and earned the bragging rights over their hated neighbours.

AFP

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

First posted October 17, 2011 06:58:13

View the original article here

Sydney rescues Heart draw

Updated October 29, 2011 23:03:38

Sydney FC midfielder Nicky Carle has become his side's hero for the second successive week with a stunning late equaliser to pinch a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park on Saturday night.

The Heart looked set to pinch all three points when substitute Maycon scored from virtually nothing with just five minutes remaining - an innocuous cross finding him in the box before he squeezed home a finish.

But the Sky Blues kept fighting, and eventually - from a disputed corner - threw everything into the last attack of the match.

Their efforts at keeping the ball alive finally found Carle to poke home from five metres out to shatter the Heart, who were seconds away from their first win of the season.

Carle also scored a late winner for Sydney FC against Adelaide United last weekend.

Sydney FC looked the more polished side in the opening 45 minutes.

The Sky Blues pushed the ball around beautifully with wonderful interplay between Carle, Karol Kisel and Terry Antonis through midfield.

Despite that, the Heart probably had the better first half chances.

The best came from a rare defensive error in the 20th minute, with Sydney central defender Pascal Bosschaart robbed by Heart's Alex Terra.

But the Brazilian scooped the ball over the bar attempting a too-cute chip for his finish.

Then the Heart settled into a rhythm from midway through the second half, pushing the ball around well, frustrating Sydney, and eventually striking paydirt through Maycon.

Both Heart coach John van 't Schip and goalkeeper Clint Bolton were adamant the corner which led to Sydney FC's late equaliser should not have been awarded, believing it did not strike a Heart defender on its way over the bar.

But they also lamented the Heart's inability to deal defensively with the last-gasp equaliser - the second time they have conceded a costly late goal this season.

Newcastle Jets pinched a late winner against the Heart in week one.

"From the bench it was clearly not a corner ... you could also see it on the reaction on our players it was not a corner and I just saw it back (on television replays) and it was clearly not a corner," van 't Schip said.

"You have concentrate and be sharp to the end - that's the second time. Against Newcastle it was in injury time too."

Bolton said: "It wasn't a corner. I was right there, and I'm sure the replays will show that. But all that aside we've got to defend the corner better."

Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka praised his side's ability to turn around a match going against them for the second consecutive week.

"This is about the character of the players, about the character of the team," he said.

"We are able to play a better team performance than we did tonight, definitely. But I'm happy to see the players with strong character to fight and deliver."

Melbourne Heart: 1 (Maycon 85')

Sydney FC: 1 (N Carle 90+4')

AAP

Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, sydney-2000, nsw, australia

First posted October 29, 2011 21:48:01

View the original article here

Dunne own goal rescues QPR

Updated September 26, 2011 07:29:21

QPR snatched a dramatic 1-1 draw against Aston Villa as Richard Dunne scored an own goal in stoppage time at Loftus Road on Sunday.

Neil Warnock's side looked set to suffer a controversial defeat when Villa took the lead through Barry Bannan's spot-kick after referee Michael Oliver harshly penalised Armand Traore for a tug on Gabriel Agbonlahor.

QPR felt it should have had a penalty of its own when Shaun Derry's goal-bound header hit Alan Hutton on the arm, but Oliver and his assistants failed to spot the offence.

Oliver then sent off Traore in the closing moments for a second booking, but QPR rescued a point when Dunne turned Heidar Helguson's cross into his own net.

Villa's failure to hold onto its lead means Alex McLeish's side has now drawn five of its six Premier League games this season, while QPR remains level with its opponents on eight points.

Warnock was furious with Oliver's performance.

"I've had a look at our penalty appeals again and I think the statisticians have put the first Alan Hutton one down as a save. How can he not give it?" he said.

"He can't say he's in a bad position. My boys deserve better than that.

"As for the penalty he gave? It's embarrassing. Armand has blown on him.

"Referees should be seen and not heard and the official made it all about him, which is a shame because he took away from what was a good performance from us."

McLeish added: "I had to tell my players a few home truths at half-time because in the first half we were poor, very poor.

"I let them know that in no uncertain terms and sure enough we came out a lot better in the second half."

Although Villa was able to count British prime minister David Cameron among its supporters at Loftus Road, even the presence of such a famous fan could not inspire McLeish's team in the early stages.

QPR made a fast start and went close to taking the lead in the fifth minute as Adel Taarabt cleverly worked space for a well-struck effort from long-range that beat Shay Given but cannoned back off a post.

There was a real purpose about QPR's attacking play and both Shaun Wright-Phillips and Taarabt had close-range shots blocked in a 14th-minute melee.

McLeish's men almost snatched the lead against the run of play when Bannan's curling free-kick forced a superb one-handed save from Paddy Kenny just before half-time.

However, Villa did take the lead in the 58th minute when Oliver ruled that former Arsenal defender Traore had deliberately pushed Agbonlahor as they challenged for a cross.

Bannan stepped up to fire home the penalty and the Scottish midfielder nearly grabbed his second goal when Kenny made a good stop to keep out his near-post effort.

A low shot from Wright-Phillips forced Given into an excellent save before Derry's header from a corner hit Hutton on the arm.

When Tommy Smith's appeal for a penalty, again for a Hutton handball, was rejected by Oliver, who then sent off Traore for a lunge on Marc Albrighton, it seemed like QPR's luck was out.

But they equalised in the third minute of stoppage time when Helguson's cross was cleared by Stephen Warnock into Dunne, who couldn't stop the ball rebounding off him into the net.

AFP

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

First posted September 26, 2011 07:29:21

View the original article here