EVRA BANNED, ROONEY CLEARED

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will not face any disciplinary action over his apparent stamp on Aalborg's Kasper Risgard during a Champions League clash at Old Trafford last week. The pair tangled after a tackle and Rooney appeared to land on the AaB midfielder's chest in the aftermath but UEFA ruled any contact was accidental rather than malicious.

 

Meanwhile, Manchester United have decided not to appeal against Patrice Evra's four-match ban for a post-match fracas at Stamford Bridge last season. The French full-back was handed the punishment by the FA almost two weeks ago, stunning Sir Alex Ferguson.

 

However, after examination of the case, United have decided not to take the matter further. It had been believed that they had asked for transcripts of the FA's judgement. It appears unlikely Evra could win an appeal given he had already admitted he was at fault for the incident at Stamford Bridge involving Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell.

 

BOLA BOYZ  MAN UTD 

VIEIRA: WENGER NEED WARRIORS

Patrick Vieira believes Arsenal must address their lack of midfield bite if they are to challenge for honours. The former Gunners captain, now at Inter Milan, admits to being impressed by the club's free-flowing style when in possession, but feels they are often found wanting when put on the back foot.

 

With the days when he helped the club claim silverware on a regular basis long gone, the Frenchman concedes that the modern Arsenal are suffering the consequences of not possessing enough steel in vital areas. Vieira does not feel that Arsene Wenger needs to completely overhaul his squad in order to bring about the desired results, but admits that experienced heads are needed if the North London club are to fulfil their potential.

 

 

CHELSEA 1 - WEST HAM 1

Gianfranco Zola enjoyed a successful return to Stamford Bridge as his West Ham side held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. The ex-Chelsea striker, voted the club's best-ever player after a memorable seven-year spell with the Blues, inspired the Hammers to a resolute performance which prevented his former club climbing back to the top of the table.

 

Chelsea dominated possession throughout but the visitors were solid at the back and snatched a surprise lead through a 33rd-minute strike by Craig Bellamy. Didier Drogba replaced Michael Ballack at the break and top scorer Nicolas Anelka equalised within six minutes of the restart with his 100th Premier League goal.

 

BOLA BOYZ   CHELSEA

EL CLASSICO: BARCELONA 2 - REAL MADRID 0

Late goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a dramatic win over bitter rivals Real Madrid in a tense derby encounter at the Nou Camp. Madrid - in their first league match under new coach Juande Ramos - frustrated the league leaders for long periods and looked set to snatch a point after Iker Casillas saved Samuel Eto'o's penalty with 20 minutes remaining.

 

But the Cameroon frontman finally gave the Catalans the lead with seven minutes remaining and Lionel Messi smashed home a second in stoppage time to move Pep Guardiola's side 12 points ahead of their fierce rivals after 15 rounds of the championship.

 

LIVERPOOL 2 - HULL CITY 2

 

Premier League new boys, Hull City denied Liverpool from collecting a full 3 points with another accomplished away performance in a 2-2 draw at Anfield. The Tigers would have ended Liverpool's season-long unbeaten home record, if not because of Steven Gerrard.

 

Hull were two ahead through Paul McShane and a Jamie Carragher own goal before  Gerrard scored twice in eight minutes, taking his tally for the season to 11. Gerrard was among the players returning after being rested from the Champions League win over Eindhoven in midweek, along with Jose Reina, Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso.

 

BOLA BOYZ  LIVERPOOL 

TOTTENHAM 0 - MAN UTD 0

Heurelho Gomes was the hero at White Hart Lane as he saved a last minute freekick that earned Tottenham Hotspurs a goalless draw against champions, Manchester United. The Brazilian produced a fingertip save to turn away a Giggs freekick that was going to creep in as United desperately searched for a winner to ensure they left for Club World Cup duty in happy mood.

 

It left the Red Devils rueing their failure to take advantage of second-half superiority and opened the door for Chelsea to surge clear in the Barclays Premier League title race by beating West Ham tomorrow. Dimitar Berbatov will have been particularly disappointed at his failure to make an impact, which just gave the Spurs fans more reason to cheer.

 

BOLA BOYZ   MAN UTD 

MID'BORO 1 - ARSENAL 1

Former Gunner Jeremie Aliadiere spoilt another Arsenal's chance to take home 3 points from Riverside Stadium. The ex-Arsenal forward scored the equaliser with a fine glancing header in the 29th minute.

 

Emmanuel Adebayor had earlier opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a header from captain Cesc Fabregas corner. Though, Arsenal displayed a very promising starts with efforts from Abou Diaby were denied by Ross Turnbull. Wenger sent in Nicklas Bendtner in the 82nd minutes but was not enough for the Gunners to bag the precious 3 points.

BOLA BOYZ   ARSENAL 

FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST

 

Cristiano Ronaldo is the favourite again to win another major honour after being included on the shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. The Red Devil has been nominated alongside Lionel Messi, Xavi, Kaka and Fernando Torres.

 

Ronaldo scored 42 goals and scooped the Premier League title and European Cup with United last season whilst Torres and Xavi won Euro 2008 with Spain.  However, regular contenders Kaka and Messi didn't win any silverware in 2008.

 

The shortlist has been complied after coaches and team captains from around the world were asked to vote for their top choice and it is the first year five players, rather than three, have been named. The winner will be announced at a glitzy gala at the Zurich Opera House on January 12.

 

BOLA BOYZ   MAN UTD 

RAUL LEADS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ALL TIME TOP SCORER

Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez has created another record again by scoring his 66th UEFA Champions League career goal. His two goals in a 3.- 0 win over Zenit SP at Santiago Bernabeu helped the Spanish club to march on into the last 16.

 

The win was Real Madrid's first match under new manager, Juande Ramos. Holland's Arjen Robben scored the third goal of the match. For the record, Filippo Inzaghi is the next best in Champions League with 64 goals. And the AC Milan player is not in this season's competition.

 

VAN DER SAR SIGNED NEW DEAL

Edwin Van der Sar has signed a new deal with Manchester United which will keep him at the club until 2010. The Dutch keeper has agreed a one-year contract extension, an agreement which will see him clock up five years' service at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson certainly appears to have no intention of dropping the Dutchman, having expressed his delight at persuading the 38-year-old to commit his future to the club.

 

The veteran shot-stopper has been a revelation since arriving from Fulham in 2005, helping the Red Devils claim back-to-back Premier League titles, a League Cup success and the UEFA Champions League crown. He has also helped to bring stability to the troublesome keeping conundrum at United, with a number of his predecessors having failed to plug the sizeable void left by Peter Schmeichel's departure in 1999.

BOLA BOYZ  MAN UTD 

GERRARD HOPES TO TIGHTEN GRIPS

 

Steven Gerrard feels that the Christmas period could prove pivotal to the club's title hopes. Liverpool currently lead the Premier League by just one point but will be hoping that a fairly favourable fixture list, a trip to Emirates Stadium aside will allow them to cement their position at the top.

 

Anything less than nine points from games against Hull, Bolton and Newcastle will be unacceptable to the Anfield faithful, and Gerrard knows that entering the New Year as league leaders will send out a message of intent to their rivals.

 

BOLA BOYZ   LIVERPOOL 

SIR ALEX EYES WORLD CROWN

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists the club will be doing their utmost to win the Fifa Club World Cup. The English and European champions will fly to Japan next week as they bid to claim the world crown.

 

Ferguson guided his side to the title in 1999 - when it was known as the InterContinental Cup and involved just a one of match between the European and South American champions.

 

Now the tournament sees a group phase before the final as the champions of every continent compete for the title in Japan. Despite the schedule coming in the middle of United's Premier League campaign, Ferguson has no plans to use an under-strength squad in the Far East.

BOLA BOYZ    MAN UTD 

AC MILAN WANTS AGGER

Adriano Galliani has revealed that AC Milan are keeping tabs on Liverpool defender Daniel Agger. The Danish centre-back, who moved to Anfield in 2006, has been in fine form this season.

 

Rafa Benitez recently rubbished reports suggesting Agger wants to leave Liverpool, although the 23-year-old has yet to put pen-to-paper on a new deal. Milan have been monitoring the situation with interest and have now confirmed that Agger is one of their targets for the January transfer window.

BOLA BOYZ    LIVERPOOL 

FC PORTO 2 - ARSENAL 0

Arsenal slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Porto and finished second in the group before challenging in the last 16 of the Champions League. With confirmed qualification to the next stage, manager Arsene Wenger was confident enough to take a calculated gamble with his team selection against the Portuguese outfit, who had never lost here to an English side.

 

Bruno Alves opened the scoring with a header past Almunia. The visitors were soon further behind in the 54th minute. Fernando steals the ball from midfield and feed Lisandro for a smashing shot to the top right corner.

BOLA BOYZ   ARSENAL  

MAN UTD 2 - AAB 2

Manchester United secured top spot in Group E after equalling a record of 19th  unbeaten Champions League game, even though victory over Aalborg eluded them at Old Trafford as the game finished 2-2.

 

Carlos Tevez scored his fifth goal in a week after just three minutes put the Red Devils on the driving seat. But an unexpected first-half response from the visitors left United trailing at the interval. Although Wayne Rooney levelled, the hosts could not find a winner.

 

BOLA BOYZ   MAN UTD 

BABEL REQUESTED FOR LOAN MOVE

Ryan Babel revealed that he did ask Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez about a loan move to Ajax. However, despite having that turned down, the Reds boss gave him no assurances about a regular starting place. The young Dutchman scored in Liverpool's 3-1 Champions League victory over PSV Eindhoven amid his agent's claims he had tried to get a loan move back to Ajax.

 

But Liverpool have made it very clear Babel is going nowhere and must knuckle down to his role in the squad, having been unable to convince Benitez he should be a regular in the starting line-up. Ajax had been keen on the idea, but have been told there is no chance of such a move while Liverpool are fighting for the Premier League title.

BOLA BOYZ    LIVERPOOL 

REAL MADRID REMOVE SCHUSTER FOR RAMOS

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Juande Ramos has been handed a six-month contract at Real Madrid after the Spanish giants parted company with Bernd Schuster on Tuesday. Schuster's departure, described by the club as being by mutual consent, comes after a poor run of form which has seen the defending Spanish champions slip to fifth place in the Primera Liga, nine points behind arch-rivals Barcelona.

 

Ramos now becomes Real Madrid's 11th boss in the last 10 years. While the club have made it through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, Real were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by minnows Real Union. A dejected Schuster seemed to have thrown in the towel following Sunday's 4-3 defeat at home to Sevilla (Madrid's 3rd defeat in their last four league fixtures) when he admitted his side were incapable of winning 'El Clasico' at Barcelona on Saturday.

 

Although Real Madrid have struggled this season Schuster enjoyed a wonderful first year at the Bernabeu, retaining the Primera Liga crown his predecessor Fabio Capello claimed in 2007.

CHELSEA 2 - CFR CLUJ 1

Chelsea qualified to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over CFR Cluj. Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou opened the scoring from close range for his fourth of the season. But, Yssouf Kone headed beyond Peter Cech into the top corner from Panin's cross for the equaliser.

 

In the 65th minute, Scolari sent Didier Drogba to replace Kalou, and he scored the winner to mark his comeback. However, Drogba's efforts were not enough for Chelsea to finish top of Group A after Roma defeated Bordeaux. Chelsea have only themselves to blame for finishing second. They squandered two chances to top the group, but Scolari insists he feels `zero pressure' as coach of Chelsea.

BOLA BOYZ   CHELSEA 

PSV EINDHOVEN 1 - LIVERPOOL 3

Liverpool had to come from behind against PSV Eindhoven to clinch top place in Group D. Boss Rafael Benitez rested Steven Gerrard and sent out a much-changed side against the Dutch champions and found themselves behind when Danko Lazovic struck after 36 minutes.

 

Dutchman Ryan Babel found an equaliser just before the break and from then on there was only ever going to be one winner. Albert Riera belted home a 30-yarder for the second before French youngster David Ngog added a third to ensure the night ended comfortably for the Reds.

 

Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly all getting their first taste of Champions league football. Liverpool left out Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Jose Reina with Robbie Keane recalled to play up front alongside Ngog. Babel was included on the wing while Lucas started in midfield.

BOLA BOYZ    LIVERPOOL 

RONALDO HAPPY AT OLD TRAFFORD

Newly-crowned Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo insists he is
loving life at Manchester United and hopes to collect many more awards
at Old Trafford.

The Manchester United winger was named as Kaka's successor in the
early hours of Tuesday morning and was presented with the trophy in a
televised ceremony.

Ronaldo, who was the subject of much speculation this summer over a
possible move to Real Madrid, was delighted to finally get his hands
on the Ballon d'Or and has vowed to fire his club to more success this
season.