The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Ibrahimovic and Alex send PSG six points clear Posted: 31 Jan 2014 03:02 PM PST Brazilian Lucas Moura set up both goals. The league's top scorer Ibrahimovic netted his 18th of the season after 58 minutes before Brazil defender Alex produced a deft half-volley two minutes from time. PSG have 54 points from 23 games, six ahead of second-placed Monaco who visit mid-table Lorient today. France midfielder Cabaye, the club's midweek signing from Newcastle United, came on as a substitute and hit the post with a header. The evening started with the fans cheering Cabaye but PSG were booed at the break after failing to create any clear-cut chances. The hosts eventually went ahead when Sweden forward Ibrahimovic tapped the ball into the net from close range following Moura's precise low cross from the right. Cabaye, 28, replaced Javier Pastore late on and almost netted from an Ezequiel Lavezzi centre. "I have no worries for Yohan. He's a smart lad, he knows how we want to play and will easily adapt," coach Laurent Blanc told a news conference. PSG wrapped up victory when Alex popped up in the area to turn Moura's corner into the net. "With his pace and technique you give Lucas the ball and he sets up some incredible things," Blanc said. The only worry for PSG, who meet Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last 16 next month, came when striker Edinson Cavani left the field in the second half with a thigh problem. - Reuters, February 1, 2014. |
| Jose Mourinho says Chelsea ‘not title candidates’ Posted: 31 Jan 2014 02:33 PM PST Chelsea will head to the Etihad Stadium three points adrift of City, who replaced Arsenal at the summit after crushing Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at White Hart Lane on Wednesday. A victory against Manuel Pellegrini's side will see Chelsea draw level on points with them, but Mourinho believes his team are not yet ready to be installed as genuine title contenders. "We are not favourites to win any competition," he said, before vowing that Chelsea will pose a greater threat next term. "The speech will change completely next pre-season, and not just the speech. Normally the speech is adapted to the feelings, knowledge and experience. "Next pre-season, day one, I will say we are candidates to win the Premier League. This season, I won't say that. It's not what we feel or what we're working for. "If we win or if we lose (at City), I don't think we're candidates. If we win, obviously, we're the same points as City. If we lose, the distance is six. "It doesn't matter. It is not what concerns me. What concerns me is my team playing well and trying to get the best possible results, feel the improvements. "And next pre-season, you will hear me say something completely different. I don't give up. I'll try to win the next match, against whoever. We will try to win." Mourinho's efforts to build for the future have been strengthened by the signing of Kurt Zouma, the France Under-21 defender, from Saint-Etienne for a reported fee of around £12 million (RM65.9 million). The 19-year-old centre-back has signed a five-and-a-half-year contract, but will remain on loan at his current club for the remainder of this season. "He's another young player in the profile of some Chelsea signings in the last few years. We like the profile. We think he's very much adapted to the Premier League," Mourinho said. "If you don't do it now, probably we couldn't do it in the summer because other clubs were also very strong on him. So we did it. Now he stays at Saint-Etienne. "Pre-season he'll join us. We'll see if it's to stay or go on loan, but he's a young player in a position where we also need the future." Zouma follows Nemanja Matic, Mohamed Salah and Bertrand Traore into the club this month, prompting Mourinho to hail the long-term foundations being laid down at Stamford Bridge. "The greater objective is the improvement of the team and preparing the team for the future," he said. "To do something now as an emergency plan is not the best thing. The players we're signing now are the right ones for our future: Matic, Salah, Zouma, a young kid for the future. "We don't sign a striker now as an emergency plan to score half a dozen goals to give us half a dozen extra points, whatever they mean for us. So we're waiting for the summer to do the right thing in that area." - AFP, February 1, 2014. |
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