timesofmalta.com

City livid as Paolites have final word in tetchy clash

Kevin Azzopardi, National Stadium — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:15:00 +0200

Valletta 2Toure 45+ pen; Briffa 90;Hibernians 3Failla 38, 45; Edison 66; This tetchy, engrossing semi-final encapsulated Valletta’s rollercoaster season. It had everything, five goals, two penalties and three red cards but at the end of 90 scintillating minutes, the Valletta players and fans left the stadium feeling dejected and cursing their ill-luck. Driven on by the inspirational Ryan Fenech, Valletta had been the brighter side for much of the first half, storming into Hibernians whose self-belief and confidence looked to have been irreparably damaged by their upset to Birkirkara in the title decider the previous week. The FA Trophy represented the only hope of silverware for these two contenders but, for much of the opening 37 minutes, Valletta showed more hunger and desire to reach the final only for their efforts to be undone by a lapse in concentration at the back and the ensuing incidents in three minutes of sheer madness. Jason Lee Vandelannoite and goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo were banished to the stands by referee Clayton Pisani for different offences and the erstwhile low-key Hibs made the most of their luck by taking the lead, Clayton Failla stroking the ball home after...

The goodbyes keep on coming

James Calvert — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:14:00 +0200

I don’t think I can remember a season where so many football legends have decided to walk away from the game at the same time. Players and managers retire every season. Of course they do. But you wouldn’t normally expect more than one or two big names to depart each year. However, this season it feels like they are queuing up to get out of the sport. Sir Alex Ferguson is obviously top of the list. His decision to abdicate his Old Trafford throne after 27 years in charge of United sent shockwaves through the game. Slightly less shocking, but equally significant, were the announcements that three of England’s greatest players of their generation – Paul Scholes, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen – would be hanging up their boots. The contribution this trio has made to the English game over the past 15 years or so has been immense. Then, just as we were coming to terms with those four farewells, a fifth and equally dramatic name was added to the list: David Beckham. To be fair, this was not entirely unexpected. Beckham is 38 and, despite his brilliant fitness levels, time was inevitably going to catch up with him sooner or later. But the very fact that he is bowing out while playing...

Arsenal and Spurs battle for fourth in Premier League finale

Sonia Oxley — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:13:00 +0200

Tottenham Hotspur hope to turn the tables on bitter rivals Arsenal on the final day of the Premier League season today by snatching a top-four finish at their expense. With Manchester United crowned champions, Manchester City guaranteed second spot and all three relegation victims already decided, the focus this afternoon is on the Champions League places with Chelsea on 72 points, Arsenal on 70 and Spurs on 69. Third place earns automatic passage to the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition, while fourth place means a ticket to the third qualifying round. Fifth means heartbreak and the Europa League, an all too familiar outcome for Spurs. Last year Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side snatched third on the last day of the season with Spurs ending up fourth, their misery compounded by the fact they missed out on the Champions League as Chelsea took the final English spot as European champions. If that was hard to stomach, it was more so – literally – in 2006 when Spurs players were hit with food poisoning before their game with West Ham United where if they had won they would have secured fourth place. They lost and Arsenal overtook them to take the Champions League berth. This...

Atletico stun Real to win cup

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:12:00 +0200

Atletico Madrid stunned city rivals Real to win their 10th King’s Cup when Joao Miranda’s extra-time header secured a 2-1 comeback win in an action-packed and ill-tempered clash at the Bernabeu late Friday in which Real coach Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo were both sent off. Atletico’s jubilant fans spilled onto the streets of the Spanish capital to celebrate their first victory over their bitter city rivals in 14 years, while the Real faithful were left to reflect on a season without major silverware and the possible departure of Mourinho at the end of the campaign. Ronaldo, who was shown a straight red card after he kicked out at Atletico captain Gabi in the second half of extra-time, apparently catching him in the face, nodded Real ahead in the 14th minute. Diego Costa levelled 10 minutes before the break and after Mourinho was dismissed for furiously protesting a referee’s decision with around 15 minutes of regular time left, Miranda glanced a 99th-minute header past Diego Lopez to secure a first win against Real since 1999. The match, in which Real hit the post three times, descended into chaos near the end when a mass brawl between substitutes and technical staff...

This was my worst season – Mourinho

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:11:00 +0200

A King’s Cup final defeat against Atletico Madrid capped the worst season of Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho’s career, the Portuguese said yesterday after the 2-1 loss left him without a major title this season. Widely expected to move on at the end of the campaign and linked with a return to Chelsea, a grim-faced Mourinho gave little away about his future but said Real, the world’s richest club by income, had suffered a “disastrous” season, with only a Spanish Super Cup added to the trophy cabinet. The extra-time defeat to city rivals Atletico, all the more painful as it came at Real’s Bernabeu stadium and included the dismissal of Mourinho from the bench in the second half, followed defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the Champions League. They also failed to defend their La Liga crown, with Barcelona wrapping up a fourth title in five years last weekend. “My career has been over many years not just one year,” Mourinho told a post-match news conference, adding that At-letico had not deserved to win the final. “This is the worst season of my career with a title which is not sufficient for me or for a club like Real,” the Portuguese said. “That means it’s a bad...

Milan look to seal third place with Siena win

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:10:00 +0200

Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri shrugged off rumours linking him with a move away from the San Siro stadium by insisting he is fully focused on beating Siena today. Victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi would guarantee the Rossoneri Champions League football, but fourth-placed Fiorentina are ready to capitalise on any slip-up when they visit relegated Pescara. Reports in Italy suggest Allegri could call time on his three-year tenure in Milan but the Tuscan would not lend credence to such hearsay. He said: “We want to end the season on a high note and we want to finish third to qualify for the Champions League. “The players have trained well all week and everyone concerned with the club deserves to be in the Champions League. The fans have really got behind us and there is plenty of enthusiasm within the club. “We have two points more than Fiorentina and it is just a pity that one of us will not qualify for the Champions League because they have had a good season. “I am fully focused on the match against Siena so speaking about my future does not serve anyone.” Midfielder Sulley Muntari serves a suspension following his bizarre red card against Roma last week, while Nigel De...

Vilanova to undergo further treatment

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:09:00 +0200

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova will return to New York next week for more treatment for throat cancer, the La Liga champions said yesterday. Vilanova, 44, will receive a “pioneering treatment” that was “proving particularly effective”, Barca said without giving further details. “It was originally planned for this summer but as Barca has now clinched the league title it has been advanced to next week,” the Catalan club added. Barca captain Carles Puyol will be presented with the league trophy after today’s match at home to Real Valladolid, the club’s fourth title in five years. Vilanova told a news conference yesterday he and his players were targeting Real Madrid’s record of 100 points set last season, which they can equal if they win their remaining three matches. They host Valladolid today, play at city rivals Espanyol next weekend before Malaga’s visit on the final matchday of the campaign. “We have 91 points, which is already a lot,” Vilanova said. “We have the chance to get 100 and we will play to win in the three matches left.”

Elche back in Spain’s top flight

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:08:00 +0200

Elche were promoted to the Spanish first division after a 24-year absence when third-placed Alcorcon could only manage a 1-1 draw at Barcelona B yesterday. Alicante-based Elche, who play in green and white, last featured in La Liga in the 1988-89 season and spent seven terms in the third tier of Spanish soccer in the 1990s.

Senior stars backing new manager Moyes – Giggs

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:07:00 +0200

Ryan Giggs says new Manchester United manager David Moyes can count of the support of the club’s senior players when he begins the daunting task of replacing Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford. The Scot will bow out at the end of the season after picking up 38 trophies during his 27-year stint at United, to be replaced by Moyes who will leave Everton after 11 years at Goodison Park. And Giggs believes replacing Ferguson could be just as intimidating as the challenge his current boss faced when he replaced Ron Atkinson in November 1986. “Maybe it is,” Giggs told re-porters yesterday. “But we have a really good bunch of lads in the dressing room and, whenever the manager needs help, the more experienced players will help. That has been the norm, ever since I have been in the club. “What David Moyes is coming into is a good atmosphere, a really good bunch of lads, very good players and a really strong squad, so it is a strong position to be in. But the downside is that you have to follow the most successful manager that has ever lived. “Managers usually go into clubs when things aren’t going great, but this team isn’t on a downward spiral, so I don’t know if that makes it harder or easier...

Hoffenheim live another day

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:06:00 +0200

Fortuna Dusseldorf were relegated from the Bundesliga yesterday as Hoffenheim and Augsburg staged final-day escape acts. Dusseldorf went down 3-0 at Hanover to finish the season second bottom of the table, with their two relegation rivals both ending their campaigns with victories. Mame Diouf put Hanover ahead and Didier Ya Konan put the result beyond doubt with a second-half double. The visitors could not muster any sort of response as their fifth straight defeat, and eighth in 10 league games, condemned them to an immediate return to the second tier. Hoffenheim, who started the day two points behind Dusseldorf, scored two late goals to win 2-1 at Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and make the relegation play-offs. Things looked bleak for the visitors when Robert Lewandowski put them behind after six minutes, but Sejad Salihovic equalised with a penalty in the 77th minute. Three minutes later Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller saw red for bringing down Sven Schipplock when he was through on goal and, with no more substitutions left, winger Kevin Gross-kreutz went in goal for the resulting penalty. Salihovic took it again, and scored again, to complete the comeback.

Hibernian in seventh heaven

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:05:00 +0200

David Wotherspoon’s goal clinched seventh place in the Scottish Premier League for Hibernian who beat lowly FC Dundee 1-0 and ensured they go into the Scottish Cup final on the back of three consecutive victories. The substitute guided home a powerful header in the 79th minute to complete a decent day’s work for Hibs, who avoided any obvious injuries eight days before their Hampden encounter with Celtic. Leigh Griffiths, who last week won the Clydesdale Bank and Scottish Football Writers’ player of the year awards, started as Pat Fenlon brought back seven players who were rested for the midweek win at Kilmarnock. Before the goal, the biggest cheer of the afternoon came in the 73rd minute when the 22-year-old left the field having played his final game at Easter Road before he returns to Wolves following almost two years on loan. Scotland international Griffiths came close on several occasions to adding to his season tally of 28 goals, which persuaded Wolves to take up their option of extending his contract by a year. It was a strong Hibernian side for the final match before their second cup final in successive years. And with James McPake and Tim Clancy fighting to prove their...

Becks gets PSG armband

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:04:00 +0200

Former England captain David Beckham, who will retire at the end of the season, skippered French champions Paris St Germain in their final home game against Stade Brest, yesterday. PSG clinched their first Ligue 1 title since 1994 last week. Beckham, 38, joined PSG in late January.

Football news

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:03:00 +0200

Reports in Italy suggest said that young Parma striker Ishak Belfodil will be leaving the Serie A this summer on his way to the English Premier League. Liverpool have already made their first move to land the signature of the 20-year-old Algeria international as it was revealed earlier this month that Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers had sent his scouts to Italy to watch Belfodil in action. However, the Reds are likely to face competition for Belfodil from Merseyside rivals Everton and Tottenham who are also showing keen interest in the Parma youngster. Belfodil, a regular for Parma this season, has dual citizenship and holds a French passport. AVB wants Spurs technical director Andre Villas-Boas hopes Tottenham will finally grant his wish to employ a technical director at the club before the start of next season. During his time as a manager and coach in Italy and Portugal, Villas-Boas became used to the idea of working under a technical director, who deals with several off-pitch issues, leaving the head coach to concentrate on managing the squad. Franco Baldini has been linked with the role. “Hopefully, there will be the arrival of somebody else in the structure for the recruitment...

Sporting briefs

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:02:00 +0200

Bad weather: Nice have confirmed their Ligue 1 match at home to Lyon set for last night has been postponed until today because of bad weather. The fix-ture was put back to this afternoon (3pm). The result has implications at the top of the table with both sides in the hunt for a Champions League place. Verona: Verona will play in Serie A next season for the first time in 11 years after a 0-0 draw with Empoli yesterday gave them promotion. The draw on the last day of the Serie B season meant Verona finished second on 82 points, two ahead of Livorno, who lost 1-0 at champions Sassuolo in a fractious match in which three players were sent off after a brawl and Simone Missiroli scored in stoppage-time for the nine-man home team. In Russia: CSKA Moscow sealed the Russian title with a game to spare following a scrappy 0-0 home draw with Kuban Krasnodar yesterday. The lone point was enough to give the army side their first league crown since 2006 and 11th in the club’s history as they now lead last season’s champions Zenit SP by six points. Badstuber: Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber tore cruciate ligaments in his right knee while recovering from exactly the same injury in the...