Postponed: Real Madrid’s La Liga match at Rayo Vallecano was postponed last night after the floodlights failed amid reports of electrical cables being cut. Rayo’s president Raul Martin Presa indicated he had reason to believe cables had been cut. “Vandals have cut cables, we have tried to solve the problem as quickly as possible but told the stewards not to open the doors of the stadium. We will leave it to the police to find out who is responsible,” said Presa. Spanish TV reported the match would be rescheduled for 8 p.m. this evening.
Park: Park Chu-Young made history on Saturday when he became the first South Korean player to score in La Liga, helping Celta Vigo to a 2-1 win over Getafe. Park, who is on a one-year loan from Arsenal, came off the bench to volley home in the 68th-minute winner as his side moved up to ninth place in the table.
Morocco: Rachid Taoussi will replace Eric Gerets as coach of Morocco, the country’s football federation said yesterday without giving any details of the contract term. Taoussi has just three weeks to prepare a team to host Mozambique in Marrakech in a decisive African Nations Cup qualifier, where Morocco face missing out on the 2012 finals unless they can overcome a two-goal deficit.
Luiz: Chelsea defender David Luiz signed a new five-year contract with the European champions. Luiz still had more than three years to run on his current deal after joining the Blues from Benfica for £25m transfer in January 2011. But Barcelona had reportedly expressed interest in the Brazil centre-back, who helped Chelsea win the Champions League and FA Cup last season, and Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo moved quickly to tie the 25-year-old to the club until 2017.
Ireland: Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert is waiting to find out the extent of an arm injury suffered by Stephen Ireland at Southampton on Saturday. The 26-year-old midfielder impressed for Villa at St Mary’s but was forced off at half-time as the hosts went on to win 4-1. Ireland will have an X-ray on a reported broken arm that added insult to injury on a poor day for Villa.