Category — Champions League
Jose Mourinho’s first trophy
Inter Milan secured the first trophy in their historic treble quest as they beat AS Roma 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico here on Wednesday.
Diego Milito scored the only goal of the game while Roma substitute Francesco Totti was dismissed late on in an often bad-tempered and fractious affair.
It was Inter’s third cup triumph in the last six seasons — in the fifth final between the two teams in that same period — and their sixth in all.
Now Jose Mourinho’s men have two more league games to hold onto their Serie A lead — they head Roma by two points — and a Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Madrid on May 22 as they aim to become the first ever Italian team to win the treble.
The game got off to a dreadful start for the nerazzurri as Wesley Sniejder went down under a heavy challenge by on loan Inter defender Nicolas Burdisso and after hobbling around for a minute he had to be replaced.
Mourinho decided to throw on forward Mario Balotelli, changing his formation in the process to a 4-3-3 from a 4-3-1-2.
Despite the change Inter were very much in the ascendancy in the first half as Esteban Cambiasso dispossessed Mirko Vucinic in midfield and spread the ball wide to Samuel Eto’o, who slipped it inside for the charging Maicon but Julio Sergio blocked his near post shot.
Moments later Maicon crossed and Thiago Motta rose highest in box but couldn’t keep his header down.
On 16 minutes Eto’o played in Milito but his clinical finish was disallowed for a marginal offside.
Eto’o turned provider again on 21 minutes, clipping the ball over the top for Balotelli whose control was exquisite before Burdisso slid in to block his left foot volley.
Roma finally came to life on 25 minutes with a rapid break as Marco Materazzi got caught out of position but Julio Cesar came out to get a vital touch on Rodrigo Taddei’s cross and deny Luca Toni an easy tap-in.
Roma came close again as Simone Perrotta played it wide to Taddei and then met his return cross with a bullet header that flew just off target.
Inter then lost Ivan Cordoba to injury, replaced by Walter Samuel but they took the lead on 39 minutes.
Thiago Motta played Milito in down the inside right channel and despite having three defenders converging on him, the Argentine scampered into the box and buried a shot into the top left corner.
Roma should have drawn level on 53 minutes as Julio Cesar spilled a Totti free-kick from 30 yards but centre-back Juan somehow contrived to head over an open goal from six yards.
Minutes later Balotelli forced Julio Sergio into a sprawling save down to his right.
With a quarter of an hour left Roma had a free-kick from 25 yards but John Arne Riise blazed it high and wide.
Julio Cesar then had to punch away a dipping Riise volley while Vucinic screwed a shot horribly wide after a lucky deflection played him in.
Then three minutes from time Totti lost his head and deliberately hoofed Balotelli, earning a straight red card which he didn’t contest.
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May 6, 2010 No Comments
Tottenham Hotspur qualifies for 2011 Champions League
Peter Crouch netted a late winner as Tottenham defeated Manchester City 1-0 on Wednesday night to claim England’s fourth Champions League place — a result which could be worth $75 million to the London club.
Harry Redknapp’s team have qualified for Europe’s premier football competition for the first time since 1961, as the win put Spurs four points clear of fifth-placed City with one round of the English Premier League remaining.
It also kept alive Tottenham’s hopes of overhauling London rivals Arsenal, who are two points ahead in third.
If Arsenal lose at home to Europa League finalists Fulham on Sunday, then Tottenham can avoid having to play Champions League preliminary round qualifiers by winning at relegated Burnley.
If Tottenham can reach the group stages of the lucrative tournament, it is expected the club could go on to earn a potential $75 million in television and prize money.
“It’s fantastic. It’s been a terrific season for us, we’ve played some great football along the way and we deserve it,” Redknapp, who before the match accused City of threatening to out-bid his team for midfielder Wilson Palacios if he tried to sign striker Craig Bellamy from West Ham last year, told reporters.
“It was a good night, we played some good stuff and I could see the goal coming. Crouchy was fantastic, led the line, unbelievable. It was a good performance.”
The defeat may have serious significance for City manager Roberto Mancini, who was given the remit of finishing at least fourth by the club’s big-spending billionaire Abu Dhabi owners when he replaced the sacked Mark Hughes in December.
As it is, City will have to make do with a place in the second-tier Europa League, which will make it harder to attract top players to the club and may even result in top scorer Carlos Tevez — who has recently criticized Mancini — leaving Manchester.
“Yes I’m confident. I don’t know but I think I stay here. Why not?” the Italian coach told reporters when asked about his future.
“I work here four or five months, and I think when you build a house you don’t start from the roof, but the basement. We work very well but we are near the roof.
“I am not a magician, I don’t have a magic wand. We wanted this place and we tried like Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa.
“I think we’ve had a good season because we’ll play in the Europa League next year and we’ve improved a lot. I’m disappointed with this result, but it’s football.”
Both teams had many chances to break the deadlock in a tense end-to-end match, but England striker Peter Crouch finally made amends for some glaring misses of his own when he headed home with eight minutes to play after goalkeeper Marton Fulop did well to keep out a cross by Younes Kaboul that deflected wickedly off City defender Wayne Bridge.
Crouch, who hit the post in the 18th minute, ended his recent barren run with his 13th goal this season to boost his chances of going to the World Cup in South Africa.
Teammate Ledley King, who will also be hoping to be in Fabio Capello’s squad after playing his third match in 11 days despite his notoriously fragile knee, had a header ruled out for allegedly leaning on the recalled Gareth Barry just three minutes later.
Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who was passed fit after suffering a groin injury in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Bolton, did well to save a fierce shot from City’s young England hopeful Adam Johnson — and then turned away a deflection off his own player Gareth Bale.
Fulop denied Jermain Defoe with a fine save in the 56th minute, then the diminutive England striker and Crouch both just missed a low cross from Benoit Assou-Ekotto with the City goal at their mercy.
Crouch then headed straight at Fulop when it seemed easier to score, but six minutes later he pounced to give Tottenham a fifth win in six visits to City’s Eastlands stadium.
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May 6, 2010 No Comments
Manchester United in Champions League Quarter final
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Wayne Rooney reached 30 goals for the season as Manchester United marched into the last eight of the Champions League with a clinical 4-0 demolition of AC Milan here on Wednesday.
On a night that saw David Beckham return to where it all started for him, it was the current darling of the Old Trafford faithful who steered United into the quarter-finals by following up his double in the 3-2 first leg victory in Milan with another brace.
A first-half header put Sir Alex Ferguson’s side firmly in control and the the England striker killed the tie in the opening seconds of the second period.
Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher round off a memorable night as United eliminated their opponents for the first time in five attempts since two of European football’s iconic institutions first met, 52 years ago.
The predictions of a fluid encounter were vindicated by an opening ten minutes in which Milan might have established the two-goal lead they required to overturn the deficit from the first leg.
United had the first opportunities, Rooney’s shot on the turn from the edge of the penalty area slipping just the wrong sight of the post, Gary Neville’s 25-yarder dipping into the roof of the net just too late and a Nani shot being turned round the post by Christian Abbiati.
But those were definitely in the half-chance category, unlike the openings enjoyed by Ronaldinho, who directed a free header from Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick wide, and Klaas Jan Huntelaar.
Having been put beyond the United back four by Ronaldinho’s floated pass, the Dutch striker fluffed his attempt to bring the ball under his control.
Milan’s profligacy was swiftly sanctioned with Rooney giving United a 13th-minute lead with his third headed goal of the tie.
Allowed to advance though the inside right channel in leisurely fashion, Neville had time to tee up a cross which Rooney directed beyond Abbiati’s right-hand having been granted an equally generous amount of space by his marker, Daniele Bonera.
That left Milan needing to score three times and, for the remainder of the first-half that appeared a very remote prospect, the visitors’ only moment of menace coming when Edwin van der Sar needed a second attempt to smother Pirlo’s swerving shot.
Darren Fletcher came closest to extending United’s lead before the break, his drive curling just wide in first-half stoppage time.
The break saw Bonera replaced by Clarence Seedorf as Milan played their final cards, but within a minute of the restart, Rooney had killed the tie.
Having escaped the attentions of Ignazio Abate, Nani curled a delightful pass behind the remodelled Milan back four and Rooney was able to tuck the ball past Abbiati.
Huntelaar spurned another opportunity when he headed Abate’s cross over from four yards out but that was a rare moment of menace from a team that was beginning to show its age.
With the hour mark approaching, Park latched on to a Paul Scholes pass and, at full stretch, directed a low finish across Abbiati and inside the far post.
Beckham’s entry for the last 25 minutes was greeted with the predicted ovation and, while there was little he could do about the outcome, he did offer a reminder of why he was such a favourite with the Old Trafford crowd with a sweetly struck volley that van der Sar had to touch over the bar.
United’s fourth goal came three minutes from the end, Fletcher ghosting in at the back post to head home Rafael’s cross from the right.
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March 11, 2010 1 Comment
Arsenal trash Porto 5 – 0 in Champions League
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Arsenal swept into the Champions League quarter-finals as Nicklas Bendtner silenced his critics with a hat-trick in a majestic 5-0 win against Porto on Tuesday.
Arsene Wenger’s side had trailed 2-1 from the first leg of this second round tie, but Bendtner overturned that deficit within 25 minutes of the return at the Emirates Stadium to set up a 6-2 aggregate victory.
French midfielder Samir Nasri put Arsenal in total control with a sublime solo effort in the second half and Emmanuel Eboue added a fourth before Bendtner completed his treble from the penalty spot.
It was a sweet moment of vindication for Bendtner after the Denmark striker came in for some stinging criticism for his poor finishing in Saturday’s victory over Burnley.
While Bendtner’s lack of goals had led some fans to call for him to be dropped, Wenger kept faith in the 22-year-old and got his reward as the Dane helped Arsenal keep alive their bid for a Premier League and Champions League double.
Although Porto arrived with a slender advantage, the Portuguese champions had lost their last six matches in London and, even without injured captain Cesc Fabregas, it was Arsenal who dominated from the start.
When Bacary Sagna looped a cross into the Porto penalty area, Andrey Arshavin was left unmarked at the far post and the tiny Russian’s header drew a good save from Helton.
It was a warning that Porto failed to heed as another header from Arshavin started the move that led to Arsenal’s 10th minute opener.
Arshavin was by far the smallest player on the pitch but he was still able to win a header that found Nasri and he slipped a sublime return pass back towards the Russian.
As Arshavin bore down on goal, Nuno Coelho made a despairing tackle which only succeeded in knocking the ball to Bendtner, who slid across to push his shot into the empty net.
A pair of farcical mistakes from Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski had proved decisive in the first leg at the Dragao Stadium, but it was Porto who shot themselves in the foot in the 25th minute.
Fucile had the chance to clear deep in his own half but tried to play his way out of trouble and instead gifted possession to Arshavin with a careless pass.
Arshavin escaped his markers with a clever flick and whipped over a low cross that Bendtner gleefully prodded past Helton for his seventh goal of the season.
Bendtner has never lacked confidence so his belief must have been sky-high by now and he almost completed his hat-trick with a curling strike which Helton pushed away for a corner.
By the time Abou Diaby’s header was saved by Helton, Arsenal were playing with such verve and imagination that the tie looked all but over already.
Nasri’s elegant play in midfield was more than compensating for the absence of Fabregas and the Frenchman forced a sprawling stop from Helton as Arsenal went for the kill.
Arsenal hadn’t overturned a first leg deficit when they played the return at home for over 30 years and they had a scare early in the second half when Nasri had to clear off the line from Cristian Rodriguez’s header.
But that only served to spark the Gunners back into life and Nasri extinguished Porto’s hopes with a breath-taking goal in the 63rd minute.
Taking possession wide on the right edge of the Porto penalty area, he jinked past three Porto defenders with a mesmerising dribble and unleashed a fierce strike that gave Helton no chance.
Arsenal weren’t finished there and, in the 66th minute, Arshavin sent substitute Eboue galloping clear and the defender rounded Helton before slotting home.
There was still time for one more goal as Fucile gave away a penalty with a foul on Eboue in stoppage time and Bendtner stroked in his hat-trick from the spot.
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March 10, 2010 No Comments
Chelsea through to quarter-finals of UEFA Champions League
Goals from African pair Didier Drogba and Michael Essien earned Chelsea a 2-2 draw at Juventus in the UEFA Champions League to send last year’s finalists through to the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.
In a pulsating match Juve finished with 10 men following the second-half dismissal of Giorgio Chiellini but goals from Vincenzo Iaquinta and evergreen Alessandro Del Piero had briefly given them cause to hope. Instead the first of three anglo-Italian ties in the second round went the way of the powerful English Premier League.
But Chelsea had to come back from a goal down on the night, something that had coach Guus Hiddink purring about their reaction. “Playing here at Juventus’s home is not the easiest task. We had a job to do, we started rather sloppily, we lost too many duels. They could give some easy passes into their front players and the defence was not marking well,” he said.
“But the reaction of the team was ok, we knew that at 1-0 or even 2-0 we must not panic because we were able to score any moment. We reacted at 1-0, had good score on edge of half-time and in the second half we controlled the game a little more and didn’t play stupid long balls.”
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg and needing to score, Juve coach Claudio Ranieri picked an attacking line-up with Del Piero playing behind forwards David Trezeguet and Iaquinta. It initially paid dividends and at the end of the game Ranieri rued what might have been.
“We lost this tie at Stamford Bridge because we didn’t score and in this competition it’s important to get an away goal, but we didn’t manage it,” he said. “I think if we had gone through it wouldn’t have been a scandal. They’re a great team of course and if you think of what Chelsea did last year, reaching the final and the great economic investment which has made this team really strong.”
Even so, they did not create much until the 19th minute when the hosts took the lead out of nothing. Iaquinta played a one-two with Trezeguet, who flicked the ball brilliantly over his head, allowing his strike partner to outpace John Terry and finish past Petr Cech with aplomb.
Juve suddenly had a spring in their step and Del Piero tried his luck from distance, forcing Cech to tip the ball over. The hosts were looking comfortable and having the better of things without looking like adding to their lead. But the game turned on its head in a crazy spell at the end of the first period.
On 45 minutes Drogba lined up to take a free-kick which he bent around the wall and just inside the post. Gianluigi Buffon got across his line to clutch the ball at the post. Even though it looked to have crossed the line, no goal was given. Chelsea’s frustration then fired them up enough to equalise in first half stoppage time anyway. Frank Lampard set his sights from distance and his shot took a deflection and looped up with Buffon arching back to tip it onto the bar. Essien charged in to bundle the ball home and leave no doubt this time that the Blues were on level terms.
Grandstand finish
It was his first goal in 11 months in his first start since September. That changed the tone of the game and it took Juventus a full quarter-hour of the second period to start looking dangerous. When they did Del Piero was the architect of a move on 65 minutes that almost resulted in a goal as he crossed for Trezeguet to head on frame, only for Cech to produce a flying save.
Ranieri introduced young playmaker Sebastian Giovinco and he too almost created something but Del Piero couldn’t quite get a flick on his team-mate’s dangerous free-kick. But 20 minutes from time any chance of a Juve revival seemingly died as Chiellini picked up a second booking for clattering into Drogba.
However, moments later Del Piero fired a free-kick into the Chelsea wall that struck Michael Ballack’s raised arms and the referee pointed to the spot, with Del Piero himself coolly slotting the ball home. It was game on but seven minutes from time Chelsea sealed their passage into the last eight as substitute Juliano Belletti crossed for Drogba to poke home from close range for his fourth goal in five games. – FIFA News
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March 11, 2009 No Comments
