Seven Sisters Love Football: December 2011

Man United overcome injuries to thump Fulham 5-0

London: Manchester United earned their biggest win in three months on Wednesday, routing Fulham 5-0 to keep the heat on leaders Manchester City in the Premier League title race, but saw two key players pick up injuries.
Dimitar Berbatov rounded off the victory with an audacious backheel in stoppage time after goals from Danny Welbeck, Nani, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney.
"We played some superb football in the first half," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "It's not an easy place to come. We have experienced that in the last three years. We have got one point from nine here so that shows you the difficulties."

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The victory came at a cost, with defender Phil Jones forced off injured in the 20th minute after being caught by Clint Dempsey's arm while dueling for the ball.
And his replacement, Ashley Young, came off injured while tackling Dickson Etuhu at the start of the second half with an unspecified injury that Ferguson said will rule him out for two to three weeks.
"The tackle on Ashley Young was a very aggressive tackle and I will have to see that again," Ferguson said. "Fulham were very aggressive in the second half and Ashley Young has paid the price for that. He has got a sore one so will be out for two to three weeks."
"On Phil Jones it was an elbow from Dempsey, but I don't think it was intentional. But he caught him with an elbow. We are sending him for an X-ray tomorrow and it doesn't look great. We are picking up injuries at the moment."
United, though, are only two points behind neighbours City, who beat Stoke 3-0 at Eastlands.
Having failed to win on their past three visits to Craven Cottage, the Red Devils never looked in danger of extending that run on Wednesday.
Manchester United made one change to the side that defeated QPR in West London on Sunday, with Anders Lindegaard coming in to replace David de Gea. Meanwhile, Rooney astonishingly became the youngest-ever player in the Premier League to make 300 appearances at the age of 26 years and 58 days, eclipsing Gareth Barry's record of 26 years and 247 days set in 2007.
Danny Welbeck capitalized on lax defending to break the deadlock within five minutes. Patrice Evra fed the ball to Nani on the half-way line, and the Portuguese winger was allowed to run unchallenged to the byline before sending in a pass to an unmarked Welbeck to slot home, a soft, soft goal for the home side to concede so early in proceedings.
The hosts almost got back level after 20 minutes as Bryan Ruiz played a neat one-two with Dempsey on the edge of the area before bearing down on goal, only to be thwarted by a fantastic last-ditch tackle from Phil Jones who sent the ball out for a corner. It was to be the young defender’s last action of the match as he was substituted straight afterwards.
It didn’t seem to phase United, and the visitors extended their advantage when Nani nodded home a cross from Ryan Giggs.
The 38-year-old midfielder's performance in the capital belied his years and he extended his streak of having scored in all 20 Premier League seasons when he saw a drive deflect off Philippe Senderos and loop in two minutes before the break.
The home side were booed off the pitch at half-time, but looked resurgent after the restart.
Anders Lindegaard was forced into his first real stop of the match as he got down well to prevent a header creeping over the line, and a minute later Moussa Dembele went close, his shot drifting an effort just wide. John Arne Riise then saw a free-kick fade just wide after Danny Murphy’s lay-off.
Still, Antonio Valencia shot at David Stockdale as United pressed for a fourth goal, before Chris Smalling blocked former teammate Dempsey's goalbound effort at the other end.
Play swung from one end to another as the match entered the final 20 minutes, before Rooney capped a fine performance with a superb 30-yard effort two minutes from time that left Stockdale with no chance..
Substitute Berbatov finished the rout with a nonchalant backheel from Valencia's cross in the 90th minute.

Churchill lose to Pune FC

MARGAO: Table-toppers Churchill Brothers' campaign suffered a jolt as they went down to Pune FC 0-2 in their 11th round I-League match at the Nehru Stadium on Wednesday.

Keita Manjdou (62nd) and Gurjinder Kumar (84th) scored for the visitors.

Earlier, both the teams fought on an even note in the barrren first half as the hosts made clear their intention to extend their lead on top of the table through an aggressive display.

Lanrindika Ralte came up with a fierce shot from the top of the box only to see his shot hitting the bar in the second minute. Five minutes later rival custodian Abhara Mondal had to come and thwart Henri Autchouet from scoring off a cross from Lalrindika.

Mondal came to his side's rescue again when he blocked the ball off a freekick taken by Roberto Silva.

The visitors slowly settled into the groove and launched a series of moves and had three clear chances to surge ahead but Karma Tsewang failed to find the mark from close and later defender Chika Wali failed to convert twice.

After the change of ends, Churchill Brothers were unlucky when Lalrindika's shot hit the bar off a long pass from Denzil Franco from the right.

Thereafter, the momentum shifted in favour of visitors who controlled the midfield and kept on having better ball possession and took the lead in the 62nd minute.

A quick build up on the right which saw Srikant Ramu send a measured cross into the rival box which defender Naveen Sudhakaran allowed to get past. Striker Keita Manjdou, who was following the move, met the ball with a glancing header to find the back of the net.

Lester Fernandes, who played a dominant role in the midfield, played a one-to-one pass with Keita Manjdou on top of the box and the former, on entering box, took a shot which Churchill's keeper Felix D'Souza managed to block.

Pune FC made the issue safe when they scored again in the 84th minutes to seal Churchill Brothers' fate of any comeback.

Following a build up in the middle, Keita Manjdou took a crack at the goal from inside the box but Churchill custodian Felix, who left his charge, managed to block the shot.

However, defender Gurjinder Kumar found the net with a stiff grounder off the rebound.

The win takes Pune FC to fifth place with 18 points from 11 matches.

Churchill Brothers remained on 23 points from as many matches. Dempo, who are two points behind them, have a good chance to regain the top spot if they beat Sporting Clube de Goa on Thursday.

Luis Suárez's £40,000 fine and eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra angers Liverpool

Liverpool have accused the Football Association of engineering a witch-hunt against striker Luis Suárez after the striker was suspended for eight games.

Flashpoint: Suarez and Evra clashed at Anfield in October Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Chris Bascombe
Suárez was hit with the hefty ban and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in the Premier League fixture between the clubs on Oct 15.
The Independent Regulatory Commission acting on behalf of the FA ruled Suárez was guilty of misconduct and issued the severe penalties, pending an appeal.
However, there was an instant and enraged response from Anfield to the commission’s announcement.
A Liverpool club statement deemed the findings of the panel “extraordinary” and alleged “the FA were determined to bring charges against Luis Suarez, even before interviewing him at the beginning of November”.
The severity of the punishment has effectively led to open warfare between Liverpool, the FA and Manchester United, with the Merseyside club also suggesting Evra should be charged with racially abusing Suarez during their incendiary confrontation.
Evra claimed Suarez racially abused him “at least 10 times” in an interview conducted immediately after the game with French television station Canal Plus. Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager, defended his player from the outset and personally attended the hearing in Manchester last week.
He argued that the word “negro” – which Suarez admitted using once – does not necessarily have racist connotations in the player’s homeland in Uruguay. Liverpool also claimed Evra had used racial language to insult their striker.
But an FA statement confirmed the commission found Suarez had contravened rule E3 (2) of their regulations and issued the severe penalties. The statement read: “An Independent Regulatory Commission has today found a charge of misconduct against Luis Suarez proven, and have issued a suspension for a period of eight matches as well as fining him £40,000, pending appeal.”
Liverpool are considering whether to appeal against the decision, which would keep Suarez out of football for over a month and have a serious impact on the club’s top four and trophy ambitions.
They have 14 days in which to lodge an appeal, which means the South American will be available for tonight’s Premier League game at Wigan, but there is a dilemma for the club as they consider their next course of action.
An appeal will force Suarez to miss both legs of the Carling Cup semi-final with Manchester City, the second leg of which is played on Jan 25.
Liverpool will believe protecting the tarnished reputation of their star striker is of more importance than the games he might miss by challenging the FA’s decision.
It is clear that Suarez retains the full support of everyone at Anfield, including the club’s owners, who are perplexed by the harshness of the punishment.
While Manchester United were making no comment on the findings, Liverpool issued a damning statement attacking the judgment and querying the validity of the commission’s conclusions.
They also suggested Evra should have faced race abuse charges of his own, suggesting there were further incidents in the fixture which the FA have refused to investigate.
“Liverpool Football Club is very surprised and disappointed with the decision of the Football Association Commission,” read the club statement.
“We find it extraordinary that Luis can be found guilty on the word of Patrice Evra alone when no one else on the field of play – including Evra’s own Manchester United team-mates and all the match officials – heard the alleged conversation between the two players in a crowded Kop goalmouth while a corner kick was about to be taken.”
Liverpool also accused the French defender of lacking credibility in his evidence, a public criticism which is sure to rile United and may prompt more recrimination.
“It is also our opinion that the accusation by this particular player was not credible – certainly no more credible than his prior unfounded accusations,” said the Liverpool statement.
“We do not recognise the way in which Luis Suarez has been characterised. We would also like to know when the FA intend to charge Patrice Evra with making abusive remarks to an opponent after he admitted himself in his evidence to insulting Luis Suarez in Spanish in the most objectionable of terms.”
Dalglish released a statement on Twitter stating: “Very disappointed with today’s verdict. This is the time when Luis Suarez needs our support. Let’s not let him walk alone.”
Suarez, too, expressed his disappointment, saying: “Today is a very difficult and painful day for me and my family.”
A three-man panel, consisting of Paul Goulding QC; Brian Jones, chairman of the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA; and former Sunderland manager Denis Smith, knew they were dealing with one of the most inflammatory cases in English football history given the rivalry between the clubs involved.
It took five days of deliberating to decide Suarez’s fate, but a saga which began last October is likely to run on with Liverpool refusing to willingly accept the conclusions.

Churchill Brothers beat Shillong Lajong 6-0

Goa, Dec 19 : Churchill Brothers surged to the top of the I-League ladder for the first time after securing a comfortable 6-0 victory over Shillong Lajong FC in a tenth round I-League encounter at the Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Saturday.

The comfortable victory helped Churchill take their tally to 23 points, two more than Dempo Sports Club, who have a match in hand against Air India on Sunday.

Gabonese striker Henri Autchouet scored a second half hat-trick, his first in the competition. Brazilian midfielder Roberto Mendes da Silva had earlier opened the scoring with a penalty in the 29th minute before Lalrindika Ralte made it 2-0 almost immediately.

After the change of ends, ND Opara added his name to the scoresheet before Henri joined the party with a hat-trick of goals.
Churchill were a far superior side and it was evident early in the game, when the hosts controlled the proceedings amicably and Lajong gave away the ball far too easily.

After Beto and Henri had missed in quick succession, Churchill surged just before the half hour mark, when Beto won a penalty after being tripped inside the danger zone by Wailadmi Passah. Beto made no mistake from the spot.

If Churchill’s opening goal was fortunate, there were no doubts about the second. Lalrindika grabbed a ball just outside the box and majestically curled a shot into the top corner of the nets.

The opening session saw Churchill add two quick goals. At first, Opara played a nice one-two with Henri before finding the back of the net and then Henri got on to the right end of Lalrindika’s through ball to make it 4-0.

What seemed bad going for Lajong got worse in the 62nd minute when Churchill won another penalty and goalkeeper Soram Anganba was flashed the red card for a tackle on Lalrindika. Substitute goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte stood confidently between the posts and saved Opara’s subsequent penalty.

A few minutes later, though, Lalthuammawia could do nothing as Henri was allowed a free run inside the box to hammer Churchill’s fifth goal.

The Gabonese striker completed his hat-trick ten minutes from the end after he gave finishing touches to a through ball from Steven Dias.

Main focus is on tapping local talent, says Baan

Bangalore, Dec 14 : The man who has been handed the unenviable task of changing the face of Indian football, Robert Baan, paid a visit to the upcoming FIFA Academy at the Bangalore Football stadium here on Tuesday.

Baan, who was appointed the technical director of the All India Football Federation, said encouraging young footballers will be vital to improving the quality of Indian football, adding that he was targeting 30-35 youngsters for each of the four FIFA Academies. The other three academies are coming up in Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.

“The first aim is to tap local talent from each of these academy centres. But kids from footballing areas like Mizoram will also be given a chance to be a part of the system,” the Dutchman, who was accompanied by AIFF National Academies Manager Scott O’Donell and Academies and Development Manager Pushpargha Chattopadhyay, said.

Baan also emphasised the importance of improving the standards of the under-19 teams of I-League clubs. “Each I-League team is supposed to have a full-fledged under-19 squad, but for a lot of the teams, it just remains so on paper.”

Man City suffer first league defeat at Chelsea

London: Chelsea blew open the Premier League title race by ending Manchester City's unbeaten start to the season, defeating the leaders 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday thanks to a late penalty by substitute Frank Lampard.
City were down to 10 men after Gael Clichy's sending-off in the 58th minute when fellow defender Joleon Lescott blocked Daniel Sturridge's shot with his hand, giving Lampard the opportunity to smash home the winner from the spot in the 82nd.
It was City's first league loss since May last season - a run of 17 games - and trimmed their lead to two points from Manchester United, with resurgent Chelsea now back in the title hunt a further five points back in third after their third straight victory.

AP Photo

"It's a gratifying win," Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said. "Seven points behind, with so many teams challenging for the title, is nothing."
City had taken the lead after just two minutes through Italy striker Mario Balotelli's eighth goal of the season and were unfortunate not to add a second goal amid a dominant opening half hour, when Spain playmaker David Silva was denied a penalty after appearing to be fouled by Jose Bosingwa.
Portugal midfielder Raul Meireles equalized in the 34th as Chelsea fought back, tightening up their midfield to stifle the effervescent Silva and Yaya Toure, and then took charge after Clichy's red card for two bookings in a 12-minute span.
"We didn't score enough in the first half and then the game changed after the sending-off. It became difficult," City manager Roberto Mancini said.
With Tottenham level on points with Chelsea and fifth-placed Arsenal only two further back, the top five are separated by nine points after 15 games. It sets up an exciting second half of the season.
City, with their expensively assembled team of stars, will still be regarded by many as the title favorites but will rue losing control of a match they started so well.
"Chelsea were really lucky in this game," Mancini said. "We are disappointed with this defeat but we have time to recover."
Having already dispatched Manchester United 6-1 and Tottenham 5-1 on their travels this season, City's commanding start suggested another title contender was going to be on the end of a hammering by Mancini's free-scoring team.
Barely 105 seconds had been played when Balotelli- just about onside despite Chelsea's protestations - ran onto Sergio Aguero's through-ball, rounded goalkeeper Petr Cech with ease and slotted into an empty net. Chelsea's high defensive line, which has been the subject of much focus this season, was again found out as City made it 49 goals in 15 games.
Chelsea responded through Meireles, again selected ahead of Lampard, as he made the kind of late run into the box his teammate has produced so often down the years to meet Sturridge's cross with a side-footed volley.
Clichy's recklessness then turned the match Chelsea's way.
The France leftback had already been booked for hauling down the dangerous Sturridge at the start of the second half when he clipped Ramires as the Brazil midfielder charged through, giving referee Mark Clattenburg no option but to brandish a second yellow card.
Aguero, who wasted a golden chance to make it 2-0 in the 11th minute, and Silva were withdrawn as City looked to protect their point, but some good defensive work by captain Vincent Kompany especially was undone by Lescott's blatant handball as he tried to block Sturridge's curling shot.
Lampard, who had replaced Meireles in the 72nd minute, stepped up to ram home the penalty down the middle and City had no time to react.
"I had a feeling in the second half that it was going to be our night," Lampard said. "You've got to be big enough to stand up and take them (penalties) and I was very relieved when it hit the back of the net."

India thrash Afghanistan to retain SAFF Championship title

The seven minutes of drama preceding the kick had seen Afghanistan's goalkeeper Captain Hameedullah Yousufzari given marching orders and Djelauldin Sharityar shown the yellow card.

NEW DELHI: India dominated the last 20 minutes of the SAFF Cup football final against a 10-man Afghanistan at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Sunday, thrashing them 4-0 for their sixth title.

The vastly-improved Afghanistan were very much in the game till the 68th minute but a contentious penalty and a controversial red-card to goalkeeper Hameedullah Yousufzari by Singapore referee Sukhbir Singh ended the gritty Afghan's fairy-tale journey in the tournament.

Sunil Chettri converted the penalty in the 71st and helped India to add two more through Clifford Miranda (79th), Jeje Lalpekhlua (80th) to crush Afghanistan. Substitute Sushil Singh (90+) struck in the injury time to end the game in style for the defending champions. Chettri emerged the top scorer with seven goals.

India bagged the winner's purse of $50,000 while Afghanistan were richer by $25,000. All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel also announced an additional Rs.1 lakh for the Indian players.

The nippy Afghans were clearly the better team and had the match in control till the 68th minute. But the penalty and the red-card to Yousufzari, for pushing the referee, proved the turning point.

For India the penalty was lucky as Jeje was fouled on the edge of the box by defender Faisal Safa. The decision infuriated the Afghan goalkeeper, who pushed the referee. Play was held up for three minutes as Yousufzari and coach Mohammed Yusuf Kargar furiously protested but their efforts were futile.

Chettri had to retake the penalty after his first attempt was cancelled for intrusion by Nirmal Chettri in the penalty box. The goal pepped up India and they went all out against Afghanistan.

In the next nine minutes, India added two more through Miranda and Jeje while Sushil Singh struck in the injury time as India retained the title.

India were even lucky to double the lead through Miranda as Afghanistan were playing with nine men since left-back Safa was receiving treatment on the sidelines. The Dempo midfielder was well set-up on the right with a good pass from Chettri and unleashed his right-footer that crashed into the net. In the next minute, Jeje was on target after being set-up by a precise pass from Chettri.

India, however, were under tremendous pressure in the first half as Afghanistan breached their defence right from the start. Afghanistan came close to open the scoring in the first minute after their Norway-based striker Belal Arezou ran into the box dispossessing Anthony Pereira but a good tackle by Gouramangi Singh saved India the blushes.

The Indians struggled to keep pace with the lively Afghanistan team with Arezou ripping apart the India defence. Afghanistan lacked finishing, or else they would have been the deserving champions.
India: Karanjit Singh; Syed Rahim Nabi, Mahesh Gawli, Nirmal Chettri, Gouramangi Singh; Clifford Miranda (Lalrindika Ralte, Climax Lawrence, Rocus Lamare 90+), Anthony Pereira (Steven Dias, 72); Sunil Chhetri (Sushil Singh, 84) and Jeje Lalepkhlua

Afghanistan: Hameedullah Yousufzari; Faisal Safa, Haroon Fakhrudin, Mohammad Esrafil, Yousef Mashriqi; Ata Yamir Ali, Djelaludin Sharityar, Ghulam Hazrat Abdul, Moqadar Faizullah; Belal Arezou and Sanjar Ahmadi (Masood Hashmi, 75)

Referee: Sukhbir Singh (Singapore)