Manchester City scrape through
The result is all that matters for Manchester City, who progressed to the First Round of the Uefa Cup by beating FC Midtjylland 4-2 on penalties, after having forced the tie into extra time thanks to an 89th-minute own goal by the Danes. "Mark Hughes must be relieved that Shaun Wright-Phillips committed himself to re-joining City before watching this fortuitous, messily-scraped win. With Hughes' horribly disjointed side rarely threatening over 120 minutes City had two saves from Joe Hart to thank for winning a penalty shoot-out concluded by Vedran Corluka's successful kick," reports the Guardian. (Guardian)
"We'll take the result, Joe Hart's an excellent keeper. It was difficult for us but we're delighted now... There are no easy games in Europe" A relieved Mark Hughes reaches into his big bag of cliches
Villa finish off their hard work
Aston Villa completed the routine part of their two-leg Uefa Cup qualifier last night, drawing 1-1 at home to FH Hafnarfjordur to ease to a 5-2 aggregate victory. "Villa will have to do better if they are pitted against one of the big boys of the competition. At present, a meeting with AC Milan does not bear contemplating. Still, they only have to think about a possible match-up with the Italian giants if they win their first-round tie and reach the group stage," reports the Times. "Martin O’Neill, their manager, reacted accordingly, keeping many of his leading players on the bench - although not Gareth Barry - and had to settle for a decent display in the first half, but a disjointed effort thereafter. 'Job done? That's exactly what it was,' O’Neill said. 'I was hoping that we would pick up the tempo and sustain it for longer, but we got through. We could have played better, but we’re in the hat and that’s great. Our ambition now is to get through to the group stage and why not?'" (Times)
Euro draw pits Man U against Celtic
The draw for the group stages of the Champions Lerague took place last night, throwing up an intriguing Battle of Britain clash between Man Utd and Celtic and also seeing Roma warned that any violence at their Group A game involving Chelsea will see the Champions League Final moved from the Stadio Olimpico. Sir Alex Ferguson's team will also meet Danish champions Aalborg and Villareal, whilke Chelsea and Roma should progress from a group that contains Bordeaux and Romanian kingpins 1907 Cluj. Liverpool have a tough draw against Athletico Madrid, Fernando Torres's previous club, PSV Eindhoven and Marseille, while Arsenal will travel the furthest of the Premier League quartet with visits to FC Porto, Turkey's Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kiev of the Ukraine. (Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph)
Fab on Big Four collision course
The first qualifiers for England's World Cup 2010 bid start next week, and duly England boss Fabio Capello finds himself on collision course with the managers of the Premier League's Big Four, "after first Rafa Benitez sent Steven Gerrard for surgery and then Sir Alex Ferguson warned the Italian against picking Owen Hargreaves for the forthcoming 2010 World Cup qualifiers," writes Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph. "England’s coach was “surprised” to learn that Gerrard was having a groin operation yesterday, having had no indication from Benitez nor Liverpool’s club doctor, Mark Waller, who also looks after England’s Under-21s.Having identified Gerrard and Wayne Rooney as England’s most important players, Capello was hoping to work on a system to bring the best out of the pair when the players convene for training at London Colney on Monday. Those plans have now been ruined." (Daily Telegraph)
Murray scraps past Llodra
Andy Murray may appreciate the toughness of yesterday's Second Round clash with Michel Llodra of France, who he beat 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 as he progresses at Flushing Meadows. "As Murray had accurately indicated before the match, Llodra is a talented, mercurial player with a swerving left-handed serve, crisp and frequent volleys and flashy ground strokes," reports the Guardian. "There were times when he toyed with Murray, doing to him what the 21-year-old Scot usually does to other people by making every point a riddle rather than a rally. Murray's game, and his temper, looked frayed around the edges at times against the world No38." (Guardian)
"He's definitely one of the top net players in the game. He'd give anyone a tough match. Very rarely does he lose easily to anyone" Andy Murray praises yesterday's vanquished opponent Michael Llodra
Harmison set for Stanford payday
The Kevin Pietersen era could prove to be incredibly lucrative for fast bowler Steve Harmison, whose international one-day renaissance has put him in the frame for the multi-million-pound Stanford extravaganza. "Called unexpectedly out of retirement from the one-day game into the England squad for the NatWest Series against South Africa, following injury to Ryan Sidebottom, Harmison has performed with enough zest and potency to feature in England's plans for the future – including the treasure hunt in Antigua," writes Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph. "'I'm available from now to play every one-day international for England, including Twenty20s,' Harmison confirmed at the Oval, after the team practised ahead of this morning's match against South Africa." (Daily Telegraph)
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