Tag Futebol

Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean believes one more victory will be enough to secure survival following a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.Martin Olsson’s goal in the 20th minute at Ewood Park on Saturday was enough to secure Blackburn their first win since January.

They are now 15th in the English Premier League table with 38 points, three points clear of the relegation zone with three matches of the season left to play.

Blackburn are away to bottom side West Ham United next, before a home match against league leaders Manchester United.

They travel to second bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the season.

“We’ve got to play West Ham and we’ve got to play Wolves in the last game so everybody can’t get three points,” Kean said.

“So I imagine if you’ve got 40 points and a good goal difference, which we have, that’s going to see you safe.”

“I thought we performed with a lot of attitude and spirit and togetherness,” he added.

“Today there wasn’t a want for the points, there was a need which is a very different emotion. You could feel it in the dressing room.”

“The lads had a focus and I thought they gave an outstanding and professional performance. They gave me every single thing I asked for before the game and more.”

Bolton boss Own Coyle felt his makeshift team did not deserve to go home empty handed after a committed performance.

“I’m frustrated,” Coyle said.

“I felt the application the lads put in was terrific given again we were decimated by injury and really had a makeshift team.”

“We started the game well and probably could and should have scored and then we’ve shot ourselves in the foot with the goal we’ve lost.”

Bolton bounced back from a 5-0 FA Cup semi-final thrashing against Stoke to beat Arsenal 2-1 last week, but the match against Blackburn proved beyond Coyle’s team.

“I think a lot of them acquitted themselves very well in terms of the effort, both physically and mentally, they had to give given how big the last couple of weeks have been for them and coming off a tough midweek game as well,” he said.

Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher has reason for cheer after signing a new two-year contract with the club.

The deal coincided with the club's sale as New England Sports Ventures finalised their protracted purchase from detested owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and the 32-year-old former England international is glad both issues have been resolved.

"We've been talking about it for the last couple of weeks but obviously there's been more important business for the club to deal with and rightly so," he said.

"Mine was put to the back of the queue and that was no problem but it's finally sorted now. When Liverpool offer you a contract you sort it out pretty quickly. I'm looking forward to hopefully finishing my career at the club.

"Since the day I made my debut, my dream would have been to finish my career at the club and hopefully now that will be the case."

Meanwhile, manager Roy Hodgson has welcomed the move, claiming the veteran is still one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

He said:"I'm really pleased Jamie has been offered and agreed a new contract. He's part of the heart and soul of this club and is a man who literally would do anything to achieve success for the club and he has proved it over the last ten years or so in the Premier League.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

"His contribution on the field has been of the very highest quality. Jamie has been one of the few players in the seven league matches this season who could hold his hand up and say 'I can't do any better, you could never put a lack of result down to my performance'.

"That is something to be proud of."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Bolton moved themselves out of the relegation zone after beating a slack Liverpool side to record only their second win at the Reebok Stadium this season.

OWen Coyle’s side had lost eight of their 10 home games and hadn’t been victorious in front of their own supports since beating Stoke 5-0 back in November. However goals from Mark Davies, Nigel Reo Coker and Gretar Steinsson sealed an unlikely success against Kenny Dalglish’s side as their hopes of Champions League football suffered a massive hit with Craig Bellamy scoring their consolation. At the other end of the table the Trotters provided themselves with a huge boost in their bid for survival moving out of the bottom three in a game that could prove to be a huge turning point in their season. As for Liverpool they’ll be once again ruing their inability to score goals as a blunt attack featuring Bellamy and misfiring Andy Carroll failed to break down a Bolton defence that has conceded 47 goals in 21 games.

It’s in stark contrast to the visiting back four that has the second best defensive record in the Premier League but it took only four minutes for Bolton to breach it as Davies fired low into the bottom corner after striding unchallenged from just inside the opposition half. That seemed to stun the Liverpool rearguard into a sense of bewilderment as,moments later the usually reliable Jose Enrique lost possession to Chris Eagles on the right only for his cross to evade every white shirt in the penalty. Dalglish’s side struggled to get themselves into the game but finally sparked into life as they appealed to referee Kevin Friend for a penalty after the ball appeared to hit Zat Knights hand. The official merely brushed away any pleas and the Reds found themselves two down as Eagles picked his way through a gap in the 27th minute before dinking the ball over for Re0-Coker to finish from six-yards. The away side upped their efforts after that and halved the deficit eight minutes before half time as Bellamy raced onto Carroll’s flick before clipping the ball over Adam Bogdan.

The Reds seemed to increase their momentum after break in search of an equaliser but their hopes of a comeback were dashed early in the second half as Steinsson volleyed past Pepe Reina after David Wheater had rose highest to nod Martin Petrov’s corner across goal. Liverpool laboured after that with Daniel Agger hitting the bar with a stinging 25-yard drive and Bellamy testing Bogdan with a tame low shot. However Dalglish’s men failed to sufficiently threaten the Bolton defence as Coyle’s men gave themselves a timely lift with games against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City on the horizon.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[ad_pod id=’writer-2′ align=’right’]

Porto returned home to celebrate their Liga Sagres title with a 3-2 win over Sporting Lisbon on Sunday, while Benfica defeated Beira-Mar.Porto, who clinched the Portuguese league title at bitter rivals Benfica two weeks earlier, finally made their triumphant return to the Estadio do Dragao to a rapturous reception from their fans.

The atmosphere was briefly tempered when Sporting took the lead through Andre Santos, whose long-range attempt in the 18th minute took a deflection off team-mate Matias Fernandez and skipped past Porto goalkeeper Helton.

But scores were level eight minutes later as Falcao, Porto’s prolific Colombian striker, brought the home fans to their feet with a header from 12 yards out.

The Colombian nabbed a second five minutes after the restart with another header, this time a diving effort to connect with Joao Moutinho’s chipped cross from the right.

Substitute striker Walter, brought on for Falcao, also got in on the act with an 87th-minute goal, one that was equalled by Fernandez one minute later to dampen fan celebrations until the final whistle.

Elsewhere, Benfica returned to winning ways after consecutive league losses with a 2-1 victory over Beira-Mar.

Second-half goals from Brazilian defender Sidnei and Argentine attacker Franco Jara put Jorge Jesus’ team back on the winner’s list, albeit with second spot on the table already wrapped up.

Substitute Ghanaian attacker Ishmael Yartey scored what proved to be a consolation goal in the third minute of stoppage time for 10th-placed Beira-Mar.

Portimonense kept their slim hopes of remaining in the top flight alive with a 1-0 win at Uniao de Leiria.

A 63rd-minute goal from Pedro Silva was enough to bring his team within six points of safety with three league games to go.

Madi Panandetiguiri was sent off for the losing side after picking up two bookings in four minutes, while Silva too received his marching orders 11 minutes before full-time.

Finally, Rio Ave made it three-straight wins with a 1-0 victory over the struggling Naval 1 Maio.

Defender Milhazes scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute as they moved to within a point of a Europa League spot.

Fulham’s England striker Bobby Zamora is facing at least four months out of action after suffering a serious leg injury in the 2-1 win over Wolves at Craven Cottage.

Zamora damaged his right leg in a challenge with Karl Henry just before the half-hour mark and had to be stretchered from the field after receiving oxygen.

Cottagers boss Mark Hughes later confirmed:“If the injury is as we think it is, it’s likely to be four months.

“If the surgeon goes in tomorrow and finds other damage rather than just the break, which is four centimetres above his ankle, it will be even longer than that. The four months looks like a minimum.

“It’s a shame but I don’t really lay the blame on the player (Henry). It’s one of those.

“There’s always a danger if you get tackled from the side or from behind that players’ legs can get trapped.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“I don’t think there was any intent to hurt Bobby. You don’t expect the circumstances of the injury to be the result of a challenge like that, but it can happen.”

Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has spoken of his disappointment after his side were beaten 1-0 at the Stadium of Light by Sunderland on Sunday.

A last-gasp strike from Black Cats’ substitute Dong-Won Ji in the third minute of injury time continued the Wearside club’s revival under Martin O’Neill, and prevented the Etihad Stadium outfit from opening up a lead at the top of the Premier League.

Mancini was upset with the nature of the defeat, and feels that if City want to challenge for honours this season they must not be beaten in such dramatic fashion.

“I can’t believe it. I am really disappointed,” the Italian told Sky Sports.

“Second half we had a lot of chances to score, but we didn’t score.

“We can’t concede to a counter attack like this. A top team can’t concede like that. Sometimes when you can’t win because it is difficult to get the ball in the goal, you can’t lose.

“You need to defend. When you attack with seven players, that is enough. You can’t then concede how we conceded.

“I am disappointed because it is impossible to lose a game like this.

“In the first half we played so-so, we didn’t play very well, second half we were better. We deserved to win this game but this is a strange situation,” he stated.

Mancini knows that his side need to bounce back against Liverpool on Tuesday, and with Manchester United and Chelsea also being beaten over the weekend, the coach is disappointed that City couldn’t take advantage.

“We need to get the concentration for the next game. We play again in 48 hours.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“I think we threw out of the window a big chance to go clear at the top, but the championship is long and we have another 19 games. We need to get another 45 points,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

[ad_pod id=’writer-1′ align=’right’]

Hamilton Academical kept their slim hopes of avoiding relegation from the Scottish Premier League alive with a 2-1 victory over Hibernian.Seemingly destined for the drop, the Accies struck twice in the first half on Sunday before holding on to register their first league win since October last year.

The victory puts them within nine points of 11th-placed St Mirren.

Hibernian, already certain to compete in the relegation play-off, pulled a goal back in the second half but could not find another in front of their home crowd.

Young Dutch forward Nigel Hasselbaink set up the opener for the Accies with some nice work down the left, squaring for James Chambers to finish in the ninth minute.

The visitors almost found a second soon after when Lee Kilday struck the crossbar with a header, but Billy Reid’s men did double their advantage in the 34th minute.

Ali Crawford’s free-kick was headed away by Hibernian forward Akpo Sodje, but it struck team-mate Liam Miller before finding the net.

The hosts reduced the deficit through Sodje in the 66th minute, when the much-travelled striker placed his shot nicely after a long ball from Callum Booth.

The Accies held off some late pressure to keep their hopes of avoiding relegation alive. Hibernian remain eighth.

Roy Hodgson’s first Premier League match in charge for Liverpool was certainly an eventful one. He saw new signing Joe Cole get sent off having been shown a straight red by referee Martin Atkinson. Then just as it looked as though the Reds were heading to an impressive victory against Arsenal, a real rarity occurred – the ever reliable Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina made a mistake! The Anfield crowd couldn’t believe it as the Spanish ‘keeper bundled the ball into his own net and thousands at the ground and back home watching on TV were thinking ‘did that really just happen?’ But our eyes weren’t deceiving us, Reina did score an own goal and Hodgson was prevented from getting his Liverpool career off to a winning start. But what was Reina thinking as he reflected on his costly mistake?

Leave your suggestions below…

This week you can win a copy of Superfan!

Superfan’ Morris Keston has organised over 25 testimonial matches and other fund-raising dinners and events for footballing legends over the years, including ones for Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks and the late Bobby Moore.

He says: “Before top players could demand £100,000 a week, the stars of yesteryear would usually hit the panic button when their playing days looked numbered. A testimonial was an opportunity to finally get a decent payday and I was only too happy to help my friends in football earn a few quid out of them. Indeed, it was a privilege.”

To see the FootballFanCast.com Caption Competition Terms and Conditions click here.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

And check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.

Last week’s winner: jason m – click here to see all entries

Caption Competition: A Reina Rarity! Roy Hodgson’s first game in charge for Liverpool was certainly an eventful one. He saw new signing Joe Cole get sent off having been shown a straight red by referee Martin Atkinson. Then just as it looked as though the Reds were heading to an impressive victory against Arsenal, a real rarity occurred – the ever reliable Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina made a mistake! The Anfield crowd couldn’t believe it as the Spanish ‘keeper bundled the ball into his own net and thousands at the ground and back home watching on TV were thinking ‘did that really just happen?’ But our eyes weren’t deceiving us, Reina did score an own goal and Hodgson was prevented from getting his Liverpool career off to a winning start. But what was Reina thinking as he reflected on his costly mistake?

The FA suggested that Luis Suarez’s evidence was unreliable and inconsistent and that is the reason for his eight game ban. Liverpool has said they will review the evidence of the report, before deciding whether they intend to appeal the sanction.

Elsewhere in the news Rooney was axed over Boxing Day night out; Germans rage at Capello’s jibe, while the Tax office is investigating player perks.

Suárez evidence was unreliable and inconsistent, declares FA report – Guardian

Rooney ‘axed’ over Boxing Day night out – Daily Telegraph

Redknapp: ‘You can’t win every game but we can still take title’ – Independent

Title now ‘a fantasy’, says Villas-Boas – Guardian

Germans rage at Capello’s ‘stealing’ jibe – Independent

Arsenal look to Germany and £10m bid for Cologne star Podolski – Daily Mail

Liverpool plot shock £24m swoop for England striker – Mirror

Tax office ‘investigating player perks’ – Guardian

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

West Ham refuse to budge on Tomkins deal as Newcastle are told to up bid – Daily Mail

Man United face losing top starlet for just £300k – Mirror

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Marseille manager Didier Deschamps has scoffed at suggestions he is planning to leave the French club at the end of the season.Deschamps steered Marseille to their first Ligue 1 title in 18 years last season – his first in charge – and the club are within touching distance of repeating as champions as the 2010-11 campaign draws to a close.

Marseille are second on the table, four points behind leaders Lille with nine games left in the season, and have nothing but their domestic campaign to focus on after being eliminated from the Champions League by Chelsea.

It would seem all is well at the Stade Velodrome under Deschamps, but unrest in Serie A has prompted whispers the 42-year-old could be making a return to Italy.

His former club Juventus are believed to be ready to part ways with Luigi Delneri and could make Deschamps an attractive offer, while Roma are looking for a permanent replacement for caretaker boss Vincenzo Montella following Claudio Ranieri’s resignation.

But the former France international has laughed off the rumours of his impending exit, saying he is already making plans for Marseille’s 2011-12 campaign.

“I’ve already started planning for next year, because that’s my job,” Deschamps said.

“All this speculation about who will move where makes me laugh. Today, I’m 100 percent at Marseille, and will be tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”

“There’s really no reason for these rumours. I’ll draw my own conclusions at the end of the season depending on our position.”

English Premier League teams Chelsea and Liverpool are also believed to be in the mix for Deschamps’ services, with Carlo Ancelotti rumoured to be returning to Italy and Kenny Dalglish no certainty to remain at Anfield either.