Monthly Archives: February 2015

Man Utd, Premiership, Sunderland

Premiership: Man Utd 2-0 Sunderland

Wayne Rooney’s penalty helped Manchester United beat Sunderland after the visitors’ Wes Brown was sent off in bizarre circumstances at Old Trafford.

Rooney scored after a foul on Radamel Falcao, for which Brown was dismissed and not John O’Shea, despite protests from the visitors.

United added a second when Rooney headed in after Adnan Januzaj’s shot was parried into his path.

The victory reasserted the home side’s challenge for a top-four place.

United moved up to third place in the Premier League as they claimed an 11th home win out of 14 in the top-flight so far this season.

However, Brown’s red card emerged as the talking point as the Old Trafford side finally earned a breakthrough to go with their improved second half urgency.

Falcao controlled an Ander Herrera cross beautifully in the box and, as he turned in between former United defenders Brown and O’Shea, looked to have been pulled by the latter.

Referee Roger East red-carded Brown and, despite the official speaking to his assistants via his headset, his original decision stood. The fourth official for the game was Martin Atkinson, who was criticised for his refereeing when Chelsea drew with Burnley last week.

After the match, the referees’ body in English football released a statement claiming East had seen contact from both O’Shea and Brown on Falcao.

It added that East chose to dismiss Brown and not O’Shea because he thought the former had fouled Falcao while he was in the act of shooting.

Coincidentally, East’s decision occurred on the same day as video technology trials during competitive matches were put back at least 12 months at a meeting of the game’s lawmakers.

While there may be controversy over the sending off, there could be little argument over a result that leaves the Black Cats three points above the relegation zone.

United dominated possession and were initially frustrated by the massed ranks of the visitors, who had gone close to taking an early lead when Connor Wickham’s shot was saved by David de Gea.

The home crowd offered a sign of their frustration at their side’s failure to find a cutting edge in attack with a chorus of disapproval when a United corner ended up with a back-pass to De Gea.

The home side almost gave the Old Trafford faithful the goal they craved when a Young shot across goal ricocheted off O’Shea and crossbar before Herrera headed wide from the rebound.

A Marcos Rojo shot from a corner was cleared from the goalmouth by Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson and, even though United had 71% of possession in the first half, they could not find a way through.

The ineffective Angel Di Maria was replaced by the lively Januzaj at the break and he powered a shot wide as United began to exert a greater threat.

But the penalty incident gave United the chance to score and Rooney, playing in a forward role, made no mistake as he avoided going nine league games without scoring for the first time since joining from Everton in 2004.

The England striker added a second when he nodded in after Januzaj’s shot was parried by keeper Costel Pantilimon.

Read more at BBC Sport

France, Six Nations, Wales

Six Nations: France 13-20 Wales

Wales kept alive their Six Nations title hopes with a hard-earned 20-13 victory against France in Paris.

Leigh Halfpenny kicked two penalties as Wales edged a tight first half 6-3, but the game burst into life after an hour.

Dan Biggar crossed for a slick Welsh score only for France to hit back with Brice Dulin’s try in the corner.

Another Halfpenny penalty eased Welsh nerves as they sealed a fourth straight win over France for the first time since 1957.

Having lost to England on the opening weekend, Wales knew only a win would suffice for them to have a chance of claiming a fifth championship in 11 seasons.

And following their latest Parisian triumph – a fifth win in nine visits to Stade de France – they host Ireland on 14 March with their title dreams intact.

Wales assistant coach Rob Howley said beforehand they would be on “red alert” defensively, wary of a French side they expected to adopt a more expansive approach than in previous matches.

The omission of juggernaut centre Mathieu Bastareaud did not hinder their physicality, however, as Yoann Huget set the tone for a confrontational start with a thumping tackle on opposing wing Liam Williams.

Wales centre Jamie Roberts was prominent as a battering ram in midfield, and the away side’s forays into French territory were rewarded as two Halfpenny penalties either side of one from Camille Lopez put Wales 6-3 up.

Genuine scoring opportunities were at a premium, although France thought they had the opening try after half an hour, only for Huget’s touchdown to be disallowed for a forward pass.

Wales then threatened as George North galloped into the French 22 but, after that period of pressure yielded no points, the visitors could count themselves fortunate to lead at half-time as Lopez missed two penalties.

The fly-half redeemed himself with a penalty early in the second half but Halfpenny’s third soon restored Wales’ lead.

After an hour of attrition, Warren Gatland’s side extended their advantage with a stylish try.

Scrum-half Rhys Webb made the initial sniping break before passing to flanker Dan Lydiate, whose deft sleight of hand allowed Biggar to scamper over in the corner.

It took only seven minutes for France to strike back, their forwards pounding the Welsh line before the ball was spread wide for Dulin to squeeze over for a first French try against Wales since 2011.

Halfpenny soothed fraying Welsh nerves with another penalty, before the visitors had to withstand a late flurry of French pressure to secure a memorable victory.

Read more at BBC Sport

Premiership, Southampton, West Brom

Premiership: West Brom 1-0 Southampton

West Brom took another big step towards Premier League survival as Saido Berahino’s strike proved enough to beat Champions League-chasing Southampton.

Berahino scored after just 71 seconds at The Hawthorns when he rifled in from Maya Yoshida’s headed clearance.

However, the 17-goal striker lasted just 10 minutes of the second half before going off injured.

Graziano Pelle squandered Southampton’s best chance when he failed to tap in Ryan Bertrand’s excellent low cross.

West Brom headed into the match with the same team that drew 0-0 at Sunderland after top-scorer Berahino passed a late fitness test to take his place up front alongside the club’s record signing Brown Ideye, who had scored four goals in his last four games.

That strike partnership has added a cutting edge to a Baggies side that has now recorded six clean sheets during a run of only one defeat in 10 games since manager Tony Pulis took control on 1 January.

And when Chris Brunt’s free-kick was only half-cleared by Yoshida, it was Berahino who was on hand to fire the rebound into the top corner from the edge of the box with barely a minute on the clock.

Southampton responded with some tidy football but failed to test goalkeeper Ben Foster and, on 25 minutes, manager Ronald Koeman made a tactical change, bringing on Dutch winger Eljero Elia for Florin Gardos and switching to a back four formation.

Koeman began the match with three at the back in a changed 3-5-2 formation as he looked to shake up the team following last week’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool, which saw the Saints drop out of the top four.

Sadio Mane was dropped to the bench for that Liverpool defeat after turning up late, but was restored to the side at The Hawthorns and provided the Saints’ main threat in the first half – albeit firing over from long-range and then missing the target from inside the box.

The Saints finished the half increasingly frustrated as both Koeman and the travelling fans accused West Brom of time-wasting.

Read more at BBC Sport

Barcelona Catalunya (Spain), F1

F1: Barcelona Test 2, Day 3: Lewis Hamilton top for Mercedes

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the pace on the penultimate day of pre-season Formula 1 testing.

The world champion underlined the impression that Mercedes have a clear advantage by beating Williams’s Felipe Massa despite using slower tyres.

Hamilton was 0.24secs faster than Massa, who edged Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by 0.014secs, using a tyre which is some 0.5-0.8secs slower a lap.

McLaren-Honda again had their running curtailed by a reliability problem.

Hamilton, who will not drive the car again until the first race of the season, said: “It wasn’t a spectacular day. The track seemed to have lost some grip to the last two days so it wasn’t the best in terms of feeling but we got some running done and I feel good in the car.”

Reserve driver Kevin Magnussen, standing for Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard recovers from concussion sustained in a crash last Sunday, managed only 38 laps before an oil leak in the engine ended the team’s day shortly after lunch.

The Dane was eighth fastest, 2.203secs off the pace, after a run on the soft tyre.

But despite the setback, Magnussen sounded optimistic about the team’s chances afterwards.

“Great to be back in the car today,” he said on Twitter.  “The McLaren-Honda feels great! Plenty more to come from this one.”

Racing director Eric Boullier said: “We won’t be as ready for the Melbourne as we would like, but we will do our best.”

Boullier added that “reliability is still a concern” and he said he expected the team to take until the fifth race of the season in Spain in May “to be more competitive”.

Final pre-season test. Day three, Circuit de Catalunya
1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1:23.022
2 Felipe Massa (Brz) Williams-Mercedes 1:23.262
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:23.276
4 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Toro Rosso-Renault 1:24.191
5 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Mercedes 1:24.200
6 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:24.477
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India-Mercedes 1:24.939
8 Kevin Magnussen (Den) McLaren-Honda 1:25.225
9 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:25.742

Read more at BBC Sport

Burnley, Premiership, Swansea

Premiership: Burnley 0-1 Swansea

Swansea moved up to eighth in the Premier League table after a narrow victory over struggling Burnley.

They broke the deadlock in the second half, as Kieran Trippier scored an own goal in failing to clear; Burnley were unable to find a leveller.

Ashley Barnes wasted the best chance of the first half, striking at Swansea’s Lukasz Fabianski from close range.

At the other end, Bafetimbi Gomis had an effort smothered by Tom Heaton before flashing a strike wide of goal.

The Clarets picked up an encouraging point at leaders Chelsea last weekend and were unchanged for this match, but could not break down a solid Swansea backline.

Sean Dyche’s men have now gone 11 matches without a clean sheet and remain in the relegation zone. They have the joint-worst defensive record in the league this season, conceding 45 goals.

The result could prove a significant loss in their battle to escape the drop, as they face sides in the current top seven in their next five games, having won just one of their last 11.

Meanwhile, Garry Monk’s men backed up last weekend’s win over Manchester United by collecting another three points to reach 40 for the season.

Read more at BBC Sport

Italy, Scotland, Six Nations

Six Nations: Scotland 19-22 Italy

Scotland slipped to a third successive Six Nations defeat as they fell to a battling Italian side at Murrayfield.

Mark Bennett ran in his first international try for the Scots before Joshua Furno and Giovambattista Venditti replied for Italy.

Greig Laidlaw’s 14 points with the boot kept them in front until the final minute.

But Vern Cotter’s side were undone by a last-gasp penalty try, which was converted by Tommaso Allan.

The result leaves Scotland bottom of the Six Nations table as the only team without a victory to their name while Italy secure their first championship win since 2013.

Scotland’s performances in defeats by France and Wales had offered some signs of encouragement, but there will be no crumbs of comfort in losing to Italy, who celebrate a first win in Edinburgh since 2007.

With matches against title contenders England and Ireland to come, the Scots are staring at the very real prospect of a Six Nations whitewash.

They started the match in positive fashion. Captain Laidlaw kicked Scotland in front with barely a minute on the clock after an Italian infringement, and it was immediately obvious the Scots were aiming to play a more expansive game than in those opening two matches.

The Scots’ ambition was helped by some sloppy Italian play, fly-half Kelly Haimona’s wayward pass an open invitation for Mark Bennett to intercept and coast under the posts unchallenged.

The visitors were not about to crumble though. A driving maul from a line-out on the Scotland 22 carried the Italians over the try line, with lock Furno the man grounding.

Two Laidlaw penalties either side of Haimona’s three-pointer extended Scotland’s lead to 16-8, but they conceded just before half-time through a slice of bad fortune.

Haimona’s penalty attempt came back off the post and the ball bounced favourably to wing Venditti, who managed to force the ball down through a ruck of bodies to make it 16-15 at the break.

Allan, on for Haimona, spurned a good chance to put Italy in front for the first time on 54 minutes, sending a fairly straightforward penalty attempt wide of the posts.

For the second match running the home side had a try ruled out, though in this instance there was no controversy; Sean Lamont’s off-load to Stuart Hogg a blatant forward pass.

Laidlaw nudged Cotter’s men four points ahead with a routine penalty 13 minutes from time, but the Italians would not lie down.

They forced a succession of line-outs and scrums deep in Scottish territory, and with the home defence desperately trying to halt a rolling maul, referee George Clancy deemed they were doing so illegally and awarded a match-winning penalty try, which was converted by Allan to seal a desperately disappointing day for the Scots.

Read more at BBC Sport

Australia, Cricket World Cup, New Zealand

Cricket World Cup: New Zealand beat Australia by one wicket

New Zealand survived a late collapse to beat Australia by one wicket in a thrilling World Cup Pool A game.

World Cup Pool A, Auckland
Australia 151 (32.2 overs): Haddin 43, Boult 5-27
New Zealand 152-9 (23.1 overs): McCullum 50, Williamson 45*, Starc 6-28
New Zealand won by one wicket

Chasing a meagre 152 to win, the Kiwis slipped from 131-4 to 146-9 as Mitchell Starc claimed 6-28.

However, Kane Williamson (45no) hit Pat Cummins for six to seal victory with 26.5 overs to spare in a wonderfully tense climax at Eden Park in Auckland.

Earlier, Australia lost eight wickets for 26 runs as they were bowled out for 151, with Trent Boult claiming 5-27.

“I was always going to try and hit a boundary at the end as I didn’t want to leave it too long,” Williamson told Test Match Special.

New Zealand, who have won all four of their group matches, need only one victory from their remaining two games – against Afghanistan and Bangladesh – to secure their place in the quarter-finals.

Tournament favourites Australia, meanwhile, have three points from their first three games, heading into Wednesday’s clash with Afghanistan in Perth.

Australia captain Michael Clarke, playing his first competitive international since December following hamstring surgery, said: “Our batting was horrendous, to put it mildly, but Mitchell Starc was a genius.”

This was only the sixth one-wicket win in World Cup history, although such a slender margin of victory appeared unlikely in the extreme as Brendon McCullum flayed a 21-ball fifty to lead the Kiwi pursuit.

Even after he fell in the eighth over to spark a collapse of three wickets in five balls – Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott were bowled by Starc either side of the interval – few doubted the outcome.

Williamson and Corey Anderson took New Zealand to within 21 runs of victory before Glenn Maxwell induced an ugly swipe from the left-hander that found only mid-on.

Starc, combining fast, full deliveries with well-directed bouncers, had an evasive Luke Ronchi caught behind off his glove, then Cummins accounted for a needlessly reckless Daniel Vettori.

New Zealand nerves were evident as Starc cleaned up Adam Milne and Tim Southee with successive deliveries, but Boult kept out the last two balls of the over and Williamson drove the first ball of the next over long-on to cap a remarkable game.

“My heart was racing at a million miles an hour when I went out there to bat. I’ve never been so nervous in my career,” Boult told Test Match Special.

Even Starc’s career-best return could not mask an inept Australia batting display that featured a precipitous collapse from 80-1 to 106-9.

While fellow left-arm Boult was the chief beneficiary en route to his best ODI figures, Vettori’s impact was crucial.

Introduced only six overs into an innings which began with a barrage of boundaries, the veteran left-arm spinner accounted for Shane Watson and Steve Smith either side of Tim Southee’s removal of David Warner for 34.

Vettori finished with 2-41, while Boult claimed five wickets for one run in 17 balls in front of a boisterous home crowd en route to his best ODI figures.

Even Brad Haddin’s pugnacious 43 in a last-wicket stand of 45 with Cummins – an Australia World Cup record – could not prevent Australia posting their lowest World Cup total batting first.

Read more at BBC Sport

BSC Young Boys, Europa League, Everton

Europa League: Everton 3-1 BSC Young Boys

Romelu Lukaku scored two goals to reach a total of five in the tie as Everton cruised past Young Boys to progress to the Europa League last 16.

The Belgian striker followed up his hat-trick in the 4-1 win in Switzerland with two more after Sekou Sanogo had given the visitors the lead.

Kevin Mirallas then made it 3-1 before the break as Everton ensured a safe passage into Friday’s last-16 draw.

They are now the only British side remaining in the Europa League.

The Merseysiders are flying the flag after Liverpool, Tottenham and Celtic all exited the competition on Thursday.

A similar fate was never likely to befall Roberto Martinez’s side after their exploits in Bern last week but a slow start to this encounter gave Young Boys a glimmer of hope and left the Goodison Park crowd frustrated.

Read more at BBC Sport

Europa League, Fiorentina, Spurs

Europa League: Fiorentina 2-0 Spurs

Tottenham exited the Europa League after an error-strewn 2-0 defeat by Fiorentina gave the Italian side a 3-1 aggregate win.

Mario Gomez raced clear after a second-half mistake by Federico Fazio and slid the ball under Hugo Lloris.

Chelsea loanee Mohamed Salah sealed the win after a blunder by Jan Vertonghen.

Spurs needed to score in Florence, but were unable to make a breakthrough, with striker Roberto Soldado wasting a golden first-half opportunity.

The Spanish striker was played clean through by Erik Lamela’s swept pass after Spurs broke quickly from a corner, but he scuffed his attempt to square the ball to Nacer Chadli and keeper Neto gathered.

The result is a blow for Spurs before their biggest game of the season so far – the League Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday.

Read more at BBC Sport

Besiktas, Europa League, Liverpool

Europa League: Besiktas 1-0 Liverpool (5-4 on penalties)

Liverpool lost their first European penalty shootout as Besiktas knocked them out of the Europa League.

Centre-back Dejan Lovren missed the crucial spot-kick after Tolgay Arslan’s 20-yard curler forced extra-time in the round of 32 second leg.

Daniel Sturridge’s shot was beaten out by Cenk Gonen as Liverpool failed to make their first-half superiority tell.

Besiktas were the better side after that, and almost sealed the tie in 90 minutes as Demba Ba hit the crossbar.

Slaven Bilic’s side deserved to go through after recovering from a dreadful opening 45 minutes to dominate the game, meaning that Liverpool are left with the FA Cup as their last realistic hope of a trophy this season.

Liverpool were missing a number of injured key players – including captain Steven Gerrard, vice-captain Jordan Henderson, centre-back Mamadou Sakho and playmaker Philippe Coutinho.

Read more at BBC Sport