Archive for the ‘Roque Santa Cruz’ Category
Football: Man City Confirm Bridge Signing
LONDON : Manchester City confirmed the signing of England left-back Wayne Bridge from Chelsea on Saturday.
Bridge completed his medical and agreed personal terms on a move which is believed to have cost City around 10 million pounds (10.4 million euros).
The 28-year-old signed a four-and-a-half-year contract and was introduced to City fans immediately before Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie with Nottingham Forest.
He is expected to make his debut against Portsmouth at Fratton Park next Saturday.
“I played alongside Wayne at Southampton and saw him come through the ranks,” City boss Mark Hughes told City’s website.
“He was an outstanding young player and he’s progressed year on year in his career.
“He is a successful player. He is an England international and has just played for one of the top four sides in the country.
“He is of the right quality and is the type of player we need to attract.
“We need good players that understand this league and we will look to carry on in that way and add more if we can.”
Bridge is likely to be the first of several big money arrivals at Eastlands during the January transfer window, with Hughes linked with bids for Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz, as well as West Ham duo Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker.
- AFP /ls
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Football: Liverpool Top Premier League As Last-Gasp Vidic Keeps United In Touch
LONDON : Liverpool remained on top of the English Premier League after winning 3-1 away to struggling Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
Victory saw Liverpool stay a point ahead of Chelsea after the Londoners beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0.
Chelsea’s win saw them surpass Tottenham Hotspur’s English record of 10 successive top-flight away victories set in 1960 while Arsenal remained in the top four with a 1-0 win at home to Wigan.
Reigning champions Manchester United remained six points behind Liverpool in third place although it needed Nemanja Vidic’s stoppage-time goal to secure a 1-0 win over managerless Sunderland in Saturday’s late kick-off at Old Trafford.
Elsewhere, Newcastle, on course for victory after Michael Owen scored twice, were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Stoke while Hull came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1.
Earlier, Fulham and Manchester City shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was pleased by his side’s return to winning ways after their goalless draw on Monday against lowly West Ham.
“Clearly it was an important three points for us,” the Spaniard said. “We are in a very good position and we want to stay there.”
Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins, a former Blues captain, praised his team’s attitude as well as their skill.
“It was a fantastic performance,” said the ex-England midfielder.
“I thought the spirit and commitment the guys showed was absolutely first-class, coupled with some extremely good passing of the ball as well.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was glad to see his side eke out a narrow victory.
“I must praise the team because we had great focus and great discipline for 90 minutes. I am happy we can win 1-0.”
Spain international Xabi Alonso broke the deadlock at Ewood Park in the 69th minute when he sidefooted in Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s cross.
Then, 10 minutes later, Yossi Benayoun went past Stephen Warnock before shooting beyond Paul Robinson in the Rovers goal.
Roque Santa Cruz pulled a goal back for Rovers four minutes from time when he headed in after Andre Ooijer had flicked on Keith Andrews’s cross but then Gerrard wrapped up victory with a last-minute goal to wrap up the three points.
The defeat increased the pressure on Blackburn boss Paul Ince, the former Liverpool midfielder, with Rovers still rooted in the relegation zone after a fifth successive defeat.
Former Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka gave Chelsea a ninth-minute lead when his header from Jose Bosingwa’s cross hit the post before crossing the line at the Reebok Stadium.
The Blues then doubled their lead in spectacular fashion through Portugal midfielder Deco’s acrobatic ‘bicycle-kick’ in the 21st minute.
Sunderland, in their first match since former United midfielder Roy Keane quit as manager in midweek, appeared to content to settle for a draw.
But Serbian central defender Vidic ended the stalemate when, after Michael Carrick’s strike hit the post, he followed up to shoot into the unguarded net.
Emmanuel Adebayor put Arsenal ahead at the Emirates against Wigan when he latched onto Cesc Fabregas’s deflected pass in the 16th minute and shot low into the corner.
All the goals at Hull’s KC Stadium came in a frantic final 11 minutes.
Boro went ahead through Turkey international Tuncay Sanli only for Hull to equalise three minutes later when Bernard Mendy’s shot went under the arm of Ross Turnbull, came back off the woodwork and went in off the keeper for an own-goal.
Hull, fifth in the table, then went ahead through Marlon King’s 85th minute penalty, with Boro’s David Wheater sent-off for the foul on Geovanni that led to the spot-kick.
At St James’ Park, Owen gave Newcastle the lead when he turned in an eighth-minute cross from Jonas Gutierrez. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid forward then made it 2-0 in the 24th minute after good work by Obafemi Martins.
Stoke though pulled a goal back on the hour mark when Mamady Sidibe scored from close range after getting on the end of Ricardo Fuller’s cross.
And they were level in the last minute when Abdoulaye Faye scored against his former club, although the draw still left promoted Stoke searching for their first away win in the league this season.
Aston Villa will have a chance to go fifth when they face Everton on Sunday while Portsmouth will look to recover from the disappointment of their UEFA Cup exit away to bottom-of-the-table West Brom.
Tottenham travel to London rivals West Ham on Monday, a match that sees Spurs’ former Hammers boss Harry Redknapp returning to Upton Park.
- AFP /ls
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Football: Tevez Fires Manchester Utd Into League Cup Semi-Finals
MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United stormed into the League Cup semi-finals in style as Carlos Tevez’s four-goal haul earned a 5-3 victory over Blackburn on Wednesday.
Sir Alex Ferguson made 10 changes to the United team who won at Manchester City on Sunday but they were still too strong for Rovers at Old Trafford.
Tevez was credited with the first goal nine minutes before the break, although Blackburn’s South Africa midfielder Aaron Mokoena was close to turning the ball into his own net.
Nani added a second goal five minutes before the interval from Tevez’s assist before South African forward Benni McCarthy pulled one back within two minutes of coming on as a half-time substitute.
Tevez grabbed his second from the spot in the 51st minute before completing his first hat-trick in English football by rounding off a move of real quality three minutes later.
Matt Derbyshire and McCarthy struck in the final minutes to set up a dramatic finale but Tevez eased United through with his fourth goal in stoppage time.
It may have been a second string side, but United were well worth their victory and Ferguson was also able to give Paul Scholes a run out as the midfielder continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury.
England goalkeeper Ben Foster had a couple of decent early touches as he pushed away Stephen Warnock’s header with just three minutes gone after Roque Santa Cruz and Derbyshire had flicked on Paul Robinson’s free-kick.
But soon United were in control, with Nani providing a constant threat on the left of United’s three-man attack.
The Portuguese blasted over and had another effort blocked on the edge of the box before Darron Gibson had a header cleared off the line by Martin Olsson after he had beaten Robinson from Ryan Giggs’ corner.
Foster did well to hold a Keith Treacy shot that skidded off the turf and was quick off his line to force Warnock to lift the ball well over the bar after the former Liverpool man latched on to Derbyshire’s lofted through-ball.
But United were soon in front after poor Blackburn defending. Giggs lofted a free-kick from the right flank to the far post and Tevez beat Mokoena to the ball to bundle it home.
And Nani doubled the lead five minutes before the interval by skipping past Ooijer, exchanging passes with Tevez and then sweeping a shot past Robinson.
Rovers looked like they might make a game of it after the interval when manager Paul Ince, a former United player, opted to go with two in attack and after Santa Cruz and Jonny Evans failed to make contact with a long ball forward, McCarthy made Gary Neville look weak and slow and powered a shot in to the corner of Foster’s net.
But the chances of a fightback were killed off within two minutes when Giggs played Tevez into space and the striker went down under Andre Ooijer’s challenge in the box before sending Robinson the wrong way with his penalty.
In the 54th minute, Tevez completed his hat-trick.
Anderson picked the ball up in midfield, fed Giggs, who returned the pass with a back-heel, then swapped passes with Tevez before squaring the ball for the Argentinian to slot the ball home.
Scholes came on for the final 25 minutes as he made his first appearance since suffering knee ligament damage in September and after Giggs sliced wide from five yards, the former England man dragged wide from distance.
Derbyshire pulled another back for Blackburn with seven minutes left and McCarthy clipped in from Derbyshire’s cross in added time before Tevez added a fifth for United. - AFP/de
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