Author Archives: Ian Plenderleith

[CLUB WORLD CUP] Manchester United beat Japan’s Gamba Osaka 5-3 to reach Sunday’s Club World Cup final against LDU Quito of Ecuador.

[UEFA CUP] In Thursday’s final night of UEFA Cup group action, Tottenham, Sampdoria, Stuttgart and Paris St. Germain were among the teams to qualify for next spring’s knockout phase.

[UEFA CUP] Deportivo Coruna, Lech Poznan and FC Copenhagen advanced to the knockout phase of the UEFA Cup after Wednesday’s final round of action in Groups E to H. Brad Guzan played through for already qualified Aston Villa in its 3-1 loss at Hamburg.

[CLUB WORLD CUP] Two first-half goals were enough for South American champion LDU Quito to move past Mexico’s Pachuca (featuring U.S. international Francisco Torres) into Sunday’s Club World Cup final.

[ARGENTINA] San Lorenzo beat Tigre, 2-1, in the first game of the three-way playoff series for the Argentine opening championship.

[ENGLAND] Both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo have escaped disciplinary action from UEFA and the English FA, respectively, after video examination of two recent incidents involving the players.

[GERMANY] Hoffenheim took the unofficial “fall champion” title, but the top teams could only tie on the Bundesliga’s final round of play before its six-week winter break.

[ENGLAND] All the top four teams tied, allowing Brad Friedel and Aston Villa to slip ahead of Arsenal into fourth place after its 4-2 win over Bolton.

[ITALY] Juventus beat Milan, 4-2, in the weekend’s big game as Serie A went wild, averaging over four goals per game. Inter beat last-place Chievo to retain its six-point lead.

[SPAIN] Barcelona overcame Real Madrid with two late goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi in the superclasico. Despite appearing as a second-half sub, Jozy Altidore couldn’t prevent 10-man Villareal from losing at Sevilla.

[ARGENTINA] Boca Juniors, Tigre and San Lorenzo finished level on points at the end of the Opening Championship, meaning a three-way playoff for the title.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Porto, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United won their groups in Wednesday’s final night of action prior to the Champions League’s spring knockout phase.

[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Chelsea, Roma and Panathinaikos secured the three remaining spots in the Champions League knockout phase with wins in Tuesday’s final round of play in Groups A to D. Didier Drogba came off the bench to score Chelsea’s winner against Cluj.

[BRAZIL] Three-time World Player of the Year Ronaldo, 32, will make a comeback next year in his native Brazil with Corinthians.

[ARGENTINA] Boca Juniors, Tigre and San Lorenzo are in a three-way tie for first in the Argentine league with just one game left in the Opening Championship.

[ENGLAND] Tottenham traveled to West Ham United and deservedly won, 2-0, in Monday’s all-London Premier League clash.

[ITALY] Inter continued to convince with a 3-0 win at Lazio, retaining its six-point lead at the top of Serie A over Milan and Juventus.

[SPAIN] Real Madrid lost another seven-goal game and Barcelona hammered Valencia 4-0 as La Liga went goal crazy. Jozy Altidore played through for Villarreal as it fought back from 3-0 down to grab a point.
 
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[GERMANY] Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim with a late, late goal from Luca Toni to win the table-top clash. Michael Bradley was dropped to the bench for Borussia Moenchengladbach, coming on too late to save it from another defeat.

[ENGLAND] U.S. goalkeepers Brad Friedel of Aston Villa and Tim Howard of Everton faced off in a lively five-goal game that Villa edged, 3-2, at the very death. Elsewhere, the Big Four all won to keep things unchanged at the top.

[UEFA CUP] Hamburg, Wolfsburg and Valencia made the UEFA Cup knockout stages after Thursday’s night’s group action. Brad Guzan played for Aston Villa as it lost 2-1 at home to Slovak side Zilina, but his team progressed anyway.

[UEFA CUP] In Wednesday’s UEFA Cup group action, American defender Oguchi Onyewu scored for Standard Liege in its 3-0 win over Sampdoria to help his team qualify for the knockout stages.

[ENGLAND] Manchester United reached the League Cup semifinals after beating Blackburn 5-3, including four goals from Carlos Tevez. Watford and Jay DeMerit fell, 2-1, at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

[ENGLAND] Burnley knocked Arsenal’s teenage team out of the English League Cup at the quarterfinal stage. Derby County also reached the semifinal.

[ENGLAND] Liverpool went one point clear of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League Monday, despite being held to a 0-0 draw by West Ham United.