The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Galatasaray boost hopes with win over United Posted: 20 Nov 2012 03:09 PM PST  Manchester United's Phil Jones (left) fights for the ball with Galatasaray's Burak Yilmaz during their Champions League Group H soccer match at Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul November 20, 2012. ― Reuters pic The victory boosted Galatasaray's hopes of reaching the knockout stage, putting them in second place in the group, behind United who had already qualified after four wins in their first four matches. Burak put the Turkish champions ahead in the 53rd minute, heading into the top left corner above the head of Rafael after Felipe Melo had gone close seconds earlier and won a corner. Hamit Altintop just failed to double Galatasaray's lead in the 78th minute with a powerful shot which flew off the crossbar. United, knowing qualification was already assured, rested a number of senior players including Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David De Gea and Robin van Persie. In their final match on December 5, Galatasaray, who are ahead of CFR Cluj on goal difference, will play Braga. The Portuguese side, who lost 3-1 to Cluj, are already out of the competition on three points. After a cagey start, Galatasaray became more of a threat as the first half progressed, pinning the visitors back into their own half but creating few goalscoring opportunities. Striker Burak headed over the bar from a Selcuk Inan free kick in the 21st minute. United chances Galatasaray went close again some 10 minutes later when a strike from Hamit forced a save from Anders Lindegaard and United scrambled the ball away. United worked hard to keep possession and neutralise any threat from Galatasaray and had chances of their own in the first half. Eighteen-year-old Nick Powell, on his Champions League debut, saw his header fly off the crossbar in the 43rd minute. Galatasaray started the second half in determined fashion and an Albert Riera volley from outside the penalty area was save by Lindegaard in the 49th minute. United stepped up a gear and sought to find a way back into the game but Galatasaray survived a late bout of pressure to secure the points. "Beating Manchester United is important," said Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim. "We played brilliantly and unselfishly. My players played football in a way we have been expecting for a long time. "We are very hopeful for second place," he added. "There is no guarantee in football but we will play well at Braga who no longer have any chance." United manager Alex Ferguson said: "Parts of the game were good but in the area which we were worried about ― set pieces ― we suffered. "Other than that I was satisfied and it was a decent performance," Ferguson told the club website. "We had some good attacking play in the first half and at that point the only trouble they gave us was from outside the box. It was a very competitive, good game." United's Darren Fletcher said the Istanbul pitch had made things difficult. "The biggest problem was that the pitch wasn't good at all," the midfielder told Sky television. "It was difficult to play one-twos." ― Reuters |
| Ukraine eye England’s Redknapp for manager post Posted: 20 Nov 2012 07:48 AM PST
Englishman Redknapp, 65 (picture), sacked by Spurs in June, emerged as favourite when Ukrainian Football Federation (FFU) chiefs met today, a statement said on the federation's website http://www.ffu.org.ua/ukr/ffu/about/ffu_news/10755/ "The praesidium took the decision to begin talks with Redknapp's representatives relating to him working in the post of chief coach of the national Ukraine team," the statement said. FFU official Mikhail Fomenko, in comments quoted by the website, said Redknapp fitted the bill. "He has a lot of experience, coaching talent and knows how to motivate footballers," Fomenko said. "In whatever team he led Redknapp very quickly improved the quality of the play and achieved significant progress. Today he is an expert in the game and one of the best England coaches," Fomenko said. Redknapp enjoyed an eventful four-year spell as Spurs manager, taking them from the bottom of the Premier League to victories over European giants in the Champions League. He was heavily linked to the England job before the Football Association appointed Roy Hodgson in May. Ukraine's soccer chiefs first turned to retired striker Shevchenko to fill the post left vacant by Oleg Blokhin who departed to coach top Ukrainian club Dynamo Kiev. But Shevchenko, 36, who played for AC Milan and Chelsea as well as Dynamo Kiev in a glittering career, turned the job down yesterday saying it was "premature step" for him. Ukraine sit in fifth place in their 2014 World Cup qualifying group, with two points from three games. – Reuters |
KIEV, Nov 20 – Ukraine want former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp to take charge of their national team after being turned down by Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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