Football

Chirag rally from behind to beat AI

Pune: Chirag United came from a goal behind, to put it across Air India 3-1 in the 20th round I-League clash at the Balewadi Sports Complex on Sunday. The unexpected loss to the Kerala outfit pegged back the Mumbai team's hopes to breach the 30-point mark and kept them on 27 points. Chirag increased their lead over 13th placed Pailan Arrows to six points, though the latter have played one...

'Lost respect' for Suarez, says Ferdinand

Manchester: Rio Ferdinand has revealed that he has "lost respect" for Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan refused to shake hands with Patrice Evra prior to Manchester United's 2-1 win over Liverpool at Old Trafford. Saturday's encounter between the two sides saw Suarez start for the first time since returning from an eight-match suspension after being found guilty of racially abusing Evra last October. Ferdinand told MUTV: "After seeing what I...

Dalglish defends Suarez after handshake snub

Manchester: Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish claimed he was unaware that Luis Suarez had refused to shake Manchester United defender Patrice Evra's hand before their defeat at Old Trafford, and insisted the Uruguayan was not to blame for a tense match on Saturday. Suarez, who was given an eight-match ban earlier in the season for racially abusing the Frenchman, rejected the leftbacks attempts to shake his hand just before kick-off. The...

Guardiola defiant even as title hopes recede

Barcelona: Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola refused to concede the title after Saturday night's 3-2 defeat at Osasuna, but admitted that his side's hopes of catching Real Madrid at the top of La Liga have become "more complicated." The Catalans could have drawn within four points of the leaders with a victory at the Reyno de Navarra but, as their coach admitted, the defending champions now look set to fall 10...

Mascherano sent off after Barcelona defeat

Barcelona: Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano was sent off in the tunnel following a heated confrontation with the referee after his side's 3-2 loss to Osasuna on Saturday. The former Liverpool man was yellow-carded on 88 minutes by Jose Romero for protesting a decision, but shortly after the game, he was shown a second yellow for a subsequent act of dissent towards the match official. Romero also added in his post-match...

Tevez return at City still possible: Mancini

Manchester: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has spoken of a potential reconciliation with Carlos Tevez, despite previously saying that the Argentine would never feature under him again. The rift between the Italian boss and the striker opened up when the 28-year-old allegedly refused to go on as a substitute in a Champions League clash against Bayern Munich. Following that match - which ended in a 2-0 defeat for City -...

FA chief praises England favourite Redknapp

London: The head of the English Football Association has hailed Harry Redknapp's "amazing" work at Tottenham while saying the vacant national team job is best suited to an older coach. Following Fabio Capello's sudden resignation on Wednesday, the 64-year-old Redknapp is the main contender to lead England at the European Championships in four months. Amid an outpouring of support from England players for Redknapp, though, the FA has avoided anointing...

Capello rejects Inter link, plans to relax

Milan: Fabio Capello plans to relax rather than return to coaching in Italy after blaming a "misunderstanding" for his exit from the England job. The Italian quit on Wednesday after being overruled by his employees at the English Football Association, who decided to strip John Terry of the captaincy due to his pending trial for alleged racial abuse of a player. "I haven't run away. I left because there was...

Milan move up to Serie A top after Udinese win

Rome: AC Milan new signing Maxi Lopez scored his first goal for the Serie A champions to help them come from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 and take over top spot in the Italian league on Saturday. Lopez, who moved to Milan on loan from Catania last month, scored the equalizer in the 77th minute after Antonio Di Natale gave Udinese a 19th-minute lead. Lopez then set up Stephan El...

Barcelona suffer another away loss at Osasuna

Madrid: Sub-zero temperatures and poor defending cost Barcelona as the defending Spanish champions' league hopes took a big hit by losing 3-2 at Osasuna on Saturday. Barcelona, already trailing leaders Real Madrid by seven points, trailed 2-0 after 22 minutes as Osasuna striker Dejan Lekic took advantage of poor defending to score both. Barcelona hadn't recovered from a two-goal half-time deficit in 50 years, but Alexis Sanchez provided hope with...

Classy Tottenham thrash Newcastle 5-0

London Energized by the return of manager Harry Redknapp to the dug-out, Tottenham routed visitors Newcastle 5-0 at White Hart Lane in the Premier League on Saturday. After a whirlwind week during which Redknapp was cleared of tax fraud and became the overwhelming favorite to replace Fabio Capello as England manager, the Spurs manager looked on as his team put in a stellar performance that allowed it to keep pace...

PLS auction postponed, future in doubt

Kolkata: The auction for the Indian players for the IFA-backed Premier League Soccer, scheduled to be held on Sunday, was postponed on Saturday. "The players' auction will not be held tomorrow. IFA wants to sort out the issues with the AIFF and then we will go on a full-fledged basis. Utpal Ganguli (IFA secretary) is going to New Delhi to sort this out (with AIFF)," Bhaswar Goswami of the Celebrity...

Mohun Bagan scrape past Mumbai FC

Kolkata: Mohun Bagan rallied from a goal deficit with two late strikes by Odafa Okolie to clinch a dramatic 2-1 victory over Mumbai FC and climb to the second spot of the I-League table at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here on Saturday. Gbemene Friday gave Mumbai FC a 24th minute lead and the visitors looked to pull off a stunning upset. But their inexperience cost them dearly as two mistakes...

Lajong stun East Bengal with 2-1 comeback win

Shillong: Shillong Lajong came from behind to earn full points as they registered an upset win over East Bengal 2-1 in the 20th round of I-League football at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sport Complex on Saturday. East Bengal foreign recruit Tolgay Ozbey opened the scoring in the fourth minute before John Menyongar restored parity for the Shillong Lajong in 12th minute and Eugeneson Lyngdoh doubled the lead in 16th minute. The...