Vitesse maintain play-off push
VENLO, Netherlands ● Vitesse Arnhem consolidated their bid for a place in the end-of-season Europa League qualifying play-offs with a comfortable 3-1 win at relegation-threatened VVV-Venlo. Alexander Buttner and Wilfried Bony gave the visitors a comfortable half-time advantage and although Yannick Wildschut reduced the deficit early in the second half, Nicky Hofs completed victory in [...]
Malaga squander chance to go third
MADRID, Spain ● Malaga missed the chance to go third in La Liga when they conceded two late goals to lose 2-1 at Villarreal on Thursday. It seemed that a win was on the cards for the Andalusian side when Santi Cazorla put them ahead on 65 minutes. But it all went wrong on 80 [...]
Doni to miss Wembley after failed appeal
LONDON, England ● Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper Brad Jones looks set to start Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against city rivals Everton after the club’s appeal against second choice Doni’s suspension was rejected. Jones, whose young son Luca died of leukaemia late last year, was thrust into the spotlight at Blackburn Rovers in midweek when [...]
Liverpool axes director of football
LIVERPOOL, England ● Liverpool chairman Tom Werner insists that manager Kenny Dalglish’s job is safe, backing the Anfield legend to bring the good old days back to the misfiring Premier League club. Werner spoke out just hours after director of football Damien Comolli was released, a development which came after a poor run which had [...]
Anelka player-coach at Shenhua
SHANGHAI, China ● French striker Nicolas Anelka will become a “player-coach” at Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua, the club said Thursday while insisting French head coach Jean Tigana remained on board. A Shenhua official confirmed reports they had sacked three assistant coaches after winning only two of their five matches so far [...]
Europa League trophy arrives in Bucharest
BUCHAREST, Romania ● UEFA President Michel Platini has presented the UEFA Europa League trophy to the city of Bucharest as the countdown begins to the final in the Romanian capital next month. The countdown to the 2012 UEFA Europa League final officially began today with the trophy handover ceremony at the National Arena [...]
Ajax can smell Dutch title
HEERENVEEN, Netherlands ● Siem de Jong struck a hat-trick as champions Ajax moved three points clear at the top of the Eredivisie table with a thumping 5-0 win at 10-man Heerenveen. Ajax cashed in fully after Heerenveen goalkeeper Brian Vandenbussche saw red after just three minutes for hauling down De Jong. Theo Janssen converted the [...]
Real trash neighbour’s party
MADRID, Spain ● Leaders Real Madrid restored their four-point advantage over chasing Barcelona when Cristiano Ronaldo netted his seventh hat-trick of the La Liga campaign in a 4-1 drubbing of city neighbours Atletico on Wednesday. Real had seen their lead over their arch rivals whittled down to one point after Sunday’s [...]
Quevilly stun Rennes to reach French Cup final
CAEN, France ● Anthony Laup struck in the last second as third division Quevilly caused a major upset when they knocked out Ligue 1 team Stade Rennes 2-1 to reach the French Cup final on Wednesday. Laup slotted the ball past Benoit Costil at the end of a sharp counter-attack three minutes into stoppage time [...]
