Posts Tagged ‘soccer’
November 30th, 2011 | 
Author: - Crystal Palace News
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Published: 30 Nov 2011 – 22:46:57
Glenn Murray headed the winner in extra time as npower Championship side Crystal Palace stunned Manchester United 2-1 in the Carling Cup quarter-finals.
Murray nodded in a free-kick from Darren Ambrose, the scorer of the opening goal, as Palace overturned the odds against a much-changed United team at Old Trafford.
Ambrose had ended shot-shy Palace’s long goal drought with a stunning goal after 65 minutes but United forced extra time with a Federico Macheda penalty.
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Published: 30 Nov 2011 – 23:08:44
Chelsea boss admits he can’t produce miracles Andre Villas-Boas is no Albus Dumbledore.
Following his team’s limp exit of the Carling Cup at home 2-0 at the hands of Liverpool, the Portugal boss of the Blues admitted he’s “no wizard”. Dumbledore, the wise old wizard of Harry Potter film fame would struggle to turn this Chelsea team into anything like the side of old.
Two second half goals were enough to consign Chelsea to their third home defeat out of four. If there is a crisis at Chelsea, then Villas-Boas refuses to see it. “The next set of games in December are important,” he argued. “We are 10 points behind the leaders now and we need to make the most of the December fixtures where we play a number of top teams.
“If we are able to do that, then we are back on track. “I’m no wizard, and I don’t know what will happen latter in the season.” Villas-Boas did admit that his team are not playing well. “We need to get the fans behind us. Stamford Bridge is becoming too anxious.” As a distraction tactic, it smacks a tad of desperation – blaming the fans will not endear them to him. “We haven’t been good enough, this was an inferior performance,” he added. “Away from home we are more solid.”
Villas-Boas then dissected his players’ performance. “We set out to play the kids in this tournament. We wanted to win, but we won’t change our philosophy. “Ryan [Bertrand] showed a good level, Oriel [Romeu] also. Josh was unlucky he got injured, but he is a proven talent.
Lukaku’s game was the worst of the three he has played. Ross [Turnbull] showed a good level and we can count on him in other tournaments” Villas-Boas refused to adversely criticise referee Philip Dowd’s performance. “Philip’s decisions did not affect the outcome. It was his decision-making. It happened at Old Trafford [denied a penalty] and now here. He saw the decision as a dive by Luiz because he booked him.
Looking to ahead to the Valencia encounter, he said: “The Champions’ League is life and death, this standard of performance won’t be enough. Talking about his misfiring striker Fernando Torres, Villas-Boas said: “We believe in him. But it’s up to the technical staff to give him confidence, if we don’t do that we will have failed. “Fernando faces tough competition. We will go to Newcastle on Saturday and play 4:3:3.
“He will have to compete with Didier Drogba who is showing good form.” Asked about the loss of Drogba for up to six weeks in the new year, due to African Cup of Nations tournament, Villas-Boas said: “We will have Lakaku, Sturridge, Torres and Kalou. “We have enough options in the strikers to play 4:3:3.” Villas-Boas forgot that Kalou will also be away.
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Published: 30 Nov 2011 – 23:25:12
Happy days for Liverpool Kenny Dalgish likes Stamford Bridge.
The Liverpool manager has never lost to the Blues while in charge of the Reds. “Quite a few of the players like coming here too,” laughter the Scotsman. “We are delighted with the way we played, ” he added after watching his side dismantle Chelsea to move into the semi-final of the Carling Cup.
”We made changes and they were the lads who played before in the competition. A few played just two days ago also. We had a good day and deserved to go through.” Talking about Welsh striker Craig Bellamy, Dalglish said: “We know Craig is a fantastic footballer. Speedo [Gary Speed, who committed suicide] was a mentor to Craig. But any of the players who played in recent days speak volumes for the affection they had for Gary.”
Dalglish continued. “The way we are progressing is more important than being in the semi -final of the Carling Cup. “The people who run the tournament have cheapened it [with their scheduling] but we want to win it. “The answer to the problems of the tournament is to have someone running it with brains,” he concluded. Dalglish would not be drawn on the referring decisions which resulted in his side’s 2-0 win.
“I did not see the first penalty [when Alex handled] that we got. “Refs, like us, make mistakes. they get some things right, something’s wrong.” He would also not be drawn on the gathering day clouds over Andre Villas-Boas. “We have enough problems running our club to be worried by other managers,” he said.
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Published: 30 Nov 2011 – 22:46:57
The Carling Cup final will feature an npower Championship team after Wednesday night’s semi-final draw pitched Crystal Palace and Cardiff against each other.
Palace beat an inexperienced Manchester United team 2-1 after extra-time at Old Trafford to reach the last four while Cardiff had beaten Blackburn 24 hours earlier.
The Londoners will play the first leg at home before going to Wales for the return and the victors will face the winners of Manchester City v Liverpool.
The ties will be played in the weeks commencing January 9 and January 23.
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Published: 30 Nov 2011 – 22:46:57
Draw for English League Cup semi-finals played over two legs made on Wednesday:
League Cup
Semi-finals
Manchester City v Liverpool
Crystal Palace v Cardiff
Matches to be played weeks beginning January 9 and 23
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