Archive for the ‘Ajax’ Category
Football: UEFA Cup Round Of 32 Draw
NYON, Switzerland : Italian favourites AC Milan and holders Zenit St Petersburg face German opposition in the guise of Werder Bremen and Vfb Stuttgart in the draw for the UEFA Cup round of 32 made here on Friday.
Dual former winners Tottenham face Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk with the other surviving Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Manchester City meeting CSKA Moscow and FC Copenhagen respectively.
Intriguingly if they come through this round Villa and Spurs are destined to meet in an all-English last 16 clash.
Man City qualified for the knockout stage as top of their group despite Thursday’s 3-1 loss in Spain to Racing Santander.
Aston Villa scraped through in third spot in their group after a 3-1 defeat to Hamburg while Tottenham secured their ticket with a battling 2-2 draw against Spartak Moscow.
In other ties Paris Saint Germain’s reward for beating FC Twente 4-1 on Thursday was a clash with German club Vfl Wolfsburg, with former European heavyweights Saint Etienne playing Olympiakos.
Former European champions Marseille, one of eight teams dropping into the competition from the Champions League, are up against Steve McLaren’s FC Twente.
Marseille coach Eric Gerets, assessing the task facing his team, commented: “FC Twente have a typical Dutch style of play, despite having an English manager.
“That means they are well disciplined in terms of organisation. They are a decent side even if they are not a big name on the international scene.
“If necessary a little phone call to Paul Le Guen (the PSG manager) mightn’t be a bad thing…”
Another French side, Bordeaux, must overcome the 2000 titleholders from Turkey, Galatasaray.
The first legs are scheduled for February 18-19 with the return legs on February 26.
Match 1
Paris St Germain (FRA) v Vfl Wolfsburg (GER)
Match 2
FC Copenhagen (DEN) v Manchester City (ENG)
Match 3
NEC Nijmegen (NED) v Hamburg SV (GER)
Match 4
Sampdoria (ITA) v Metalist Kharkiv (UKR)
Match 5
Braga (POR) v Standard Liege (BEL)
Match 6
Aston Villa (ENG) v CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Match 7
Lech Poznan (POL) v Udinese (ITA)
Match 8
Olympiakos (GRE) v St Etienne (FRA)
Match 9
Fiorentina (ITA) v Ajax (NED)
Match 10
Aalborg (DEN) v Deportivo La Coruna (ESP)
Match 11
Werder Bremen (GER) v AC Milan (ITA)
Match 12
Bordeaux (FRA) v FC Galatasaray (TUR)
Match 13
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) v Valencia (ESP)
Match 14
Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Match 15
Marseille (FRA) v FC Twente (NED)
Match 16
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Tottenham (ENG)
- AFP/vm
Channel News Asia
Football: Rooney Saves United Blushes
MANCHESTER, England: Wayne Rooney saved Manchester United from an embarrassing Champions League defeat at home to Aalborg on Wednesday, but the striker was lucky to avoid a red card for a first-half foul on Kasper Risgard during this 2-2 draw.
The England striker Rooney scored a crucial equaliser on 52 minutes to extend United’s unbeaten run in the Champions League to 19 games - a record shared with Ajax and Bayern Munich.
But Sir Alex Ferguson’s team were unconvincing and although defeat would have been a setback, the loss of Rooney to suspension could potentially have been much more damaging.
With United already assured of their place in the December 19 draw for the Champions League knock-out stages, Ferguson rang the changes against the Danish champions, making nine changes from the team that defeated Sunderland at Old Trafford last Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo, sidelined due to the hip injury sustained in that 1-0 victory, made a brief appearance on the pitch before the game, however, when he was presented with the Ballon d’Or by Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton - two of United’s three, along with the late George Best, previous European Footballers of the Year.
Even without Ronaldo, United would not have expected to be troubled by an Aalborg team treading water in mid-table in the Danish League, and the European champions appeared to be threatening a rout when they took the lead from their first attack after just three minutes.
A swift one-two between Ryan Giggs and Rooney led to Giggs releasing Tevez inside the Aalborg penalty area and the Argentina striker ruthlessly took his chance by guiding a first-time left foot shot past goalkeeper Karim Zaza.
Rooney and Tevez proved a lethal double act at times last season, but their partnership has been broken up by the arrival of Bulgarian hitman Dimitar Berbatov.
The pair showed signs of their old understanding, however, as they tore apart the Aalborg defence in the early stages and Tevez should have scored a second when he shot wide from fifteen yards after being picked out by Rooney.
Tevez then sent a glancing header from Rooney’s cross wide of the far post on 23 minutes as United maintained the pressure, but Aalborg were able to withstand the pressure and they stunned United by equalising on 31 minutes.
Anders Due’s in-swinging free-kick from the right flank was met with a backwards header from Michael Jakobsen and his contact was enough to take the ball past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
Four minutes before half-time, Rooney then had his lucky escape when French referee Laurent Duhamel failed to spot his foul when he placed his studs in Risgard’s chest.
Aalborg were angry at the referee’s failure to spot the incident, but they made United pay in perfect fashion by grabbing a shock lead when Jeppe Curth headed in Due’s cross two minutes into injury time.
United responded well in the second-half, though, and Rooney hauled them level when he rifled in from 20 yards after being released by Brazilian midfielder Anderson.
But although the home side poured forward in search of a winner, Aalborg held out and the visitors claimed a deserved draw.
Results:
Manchester United (ENG) 2 Aalborg (DEN) 2
Celtic (SCO) 2 Villarreal (ESP) 0
Steaua Bucharest (ROM) 0 Fiorentina (ITA) 1
Lyon (FRA) 2 Bayern Munich (GER) 3
FC Porto (POR) 2 Arsenal (ENG) 0
Dynamo Kiev (UKR) 1 Fenerbahce (TUR) 0
Juventus (ITA) 0 BATE Borisov (BLR) 0
Real Madrid (ESP) 3 Zenit Saint-Petersburg (RUS) 0
- AFP/de
Channel News Asia
Football: Liverpool Into Last 16 As Group Winners
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands - Liverpool marched into the knockout stage of the Champions League as winners of group D with a 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven here on Tuesday.
Needing a win to secure a place in the UEFA Cup, PSV took the lead through Danko Lazovic but they never seriously threatened to pull off an upset against opponents who emerged from their torpor in time to claim a convincing win.
Ryan Babel equalised on the stroke of half-time and second-half goals from Spanish winger Albert Riera and back-up striker David Ngog delivered what was ultimately a comfortable victory for Rafael Benitez’s side.
That outcome had appeared unlikely when Javier Mascherano’s failure to clear a corner at the near post gave Lazovic the chance to put PSV ahead with a close-range shot that went between the legs of Liverpool goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri, who was making a rare start in place of the rested Jose Reina.
The equaliser came within seconds of half-time and courtesy of a fine free-kick from Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva. Babel’s glancing header may not have been perfectly timed but the bounce of the ball ensured former Manchester City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson could only get a hand to it and help it into the net.
With Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso joining Reina on the bench, Liverpool had looked distinctly under-powered in the opening stages and there was an early scare when Cavalieri opted to punch a Timmy Simons shot from 20 yards that he might have gathered comfortably.
That however was to prove the most significant action until PSV took the lead.
Liverpool looked brighter after the restart and Ajax old boy Babel came close to silencing the crowd’s jeers with a shot that found the side netting just before the hour mark.
Ten minutes later, Liverpool got their noses in front thanks to a superb 30-yard strike from Spanish winger Riera that left Isaksson with no chance as it glided into the top corner of the net.
Riera made way shortly afterwards for homegrown prospect Jay Spearing and two minutes later a fine breakaway strike put the contest beyond any doubt.
Robbie Keane was the architect, releasing Ngog with a fine pass from just inside his own half and the youngster raced away before producing a cool finish to claim his first Champions League goal.
- AFP /ls
Channel News Asia