Football news

Everton manager David Moyes will be sweating on the fitness of Tim Cahill after witnessing the effects of his absence from his line-up. The Aussie midfielder was forced off at half-time of Saturday's 3-1 victory over Stoke with a calf strain.

Everton were leading 2-0 at the time but with Cahill sidelined, Stoke scored through Ryan Shawcross and might have equalised before Marouane Fellaini put the outcome beyond doubt in the 90th minute.

Moyes said: "Tim had a slight pain in his calf so he came off and he was a miss to us because he is a threat in both boxes and defending set-pieces for us is a big part of his game.

"And maybe a bit of complacency crept in... that can happen."

Inter want to offload Quaresma

Inter misfit Ricardo Quaresma could be offered to Chelsea in exchange for Ricardo Carvalho, reports in Italy said.

Winger Quaresma joined Inter on Jose Mourinho's instructions just before the end of the summer transfer market, but he was a flop and has been loaned to Chelsea in January.

Inter are now planning to recover some of the £20m spent by using Quaresma to lure a new defender to San Siro. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Quaresma would be used as bait to release Carvalho from Stamford Bridge.

Quaresma could also be offered to Mourinho's former club Porto in order to bring in Bruno Alves.

Nine wins in a row says Benitez

Even though Liverpool crushed Manchester United 4-1 on Saturday they must win their last nine matches to stand any chance of catching the Premier League leaders, manager Rafa Benitez said.

"To win games is part of the battle but you have to win the war," Benitez told reporters after second-placed Liverpool's resounding victory at Old Trafford pushed them within four points of United, who have a game in hand.

"It depends on United because they have to lose some games and we have to win everything.

"We're more optimistic than we were before though... but we're still realistic."

McCarthy relieved after Wolves win

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy admitted he was a relieved man after his side eased their promotion nerves with a narrow 2-1 win over rock-bottom Charlton.

With the score reading 1-1 and only 10 minutes to go, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake bundled home his 24th of the campaign to the relief of the Molineux faithful who had watched the striker's penalty saved by Robert Elliot just nine minutes earlier.

"Of course, it's a relief to win and it's a big help that Reading are still in their bad run," McCarthy said.

"I'm certainly not getting carried away. There are still seven games to go and you'll have to wait until May to see if I have a smile on my face."

Arshavin not deterred by stitches

Arsene Wenger rested a clutch of senior players for Saturday's match against Blackburn but there was never any suggestion that Arsenal would forfeit the points, particularly not with Andrei Arshavin (picture) in such fine form.

The Russian thought he had scored his first goal for the Gunners early on but it was attributed to Blackburn defender Martin Ooijer, as Arshavin's effort was going wide.

There was no doubt about his 65th-minute effort, however, as he drilled high over Paul Robinson, before celebrating with the club doctor Gary O'Driscoll.

"He did that because Gary had put four stitches in his foot at half-time," Wenger revealed.

"He had a nasty cut but he wanted to play. I am very pleased for him."

Voronin flying high at Hertha

Having scored his 11th goal of the season and his eighth in six games, Hertha Berlin striker Andrei Voronin says his side are growing into their role of league leaders and becoming hard to beat.

Following his hat-trick against Energie Cottbus the week before, Voronin struck again as Hertha beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on Saturday in front of 58,753 to keep a four-point lead at the top of the league.

"It was a great feeling to celebrate with the fans after the goal," said Voronin, who is on loan until June from Premier League side Liverpool.

"Still many opponents want to stop us, but unless they are in top form they don't succeed."

Giovinco says he's no Nedved

Sebastian Giovinco was deployed on the left side of the Juventus midfield when Pavel Nedved is unavailable.

The diminutive support striker, nicknamed by the fans 'Atomic Ant', was again inspirational on Saturday as he scored one goal in a 4-1 comeback win over Bologna. However, he prefers to play his natural role.

"I try to do my best on the field. I cannot say any more than that, as the only thing I can do is play well and help the team," Giovinco said.

"The coach knows the position where I give my best. It's just that there are some situations where I have to keep coming back to help out the defence and I find I'm not as sharp when attacking.

"I don't have Nedved's stamina, so that is a bit of a problem for me."