sports – Ahead of the game
31
English Premier League
P W D L F A Pts
Man Utd
6 5 1 0 22 5 16
Man City
6 5 1 0 19 5 16
Chelsea
6 4 1 1 12 7 13
Newcastle
6 3 3 0 7 3 12
Liverpool
6 3 1 2 8 8 10
Tottenham
5 3 0 2 9 9 9
Stoke
6 2 3 1 4 6 9
Aston Villa
5 1 4 0 6 4 7
Everton
5 2 1 2 6 6 7
QPR
5 2 1 2 4 6 7
Wolves
6 2 1 3 5 8 7
Arsenal
6 2 1 3 9 14 7
Sunderland
5 1 2 2 6 4 5
Norwich
5 1 2 2 5 7 5
Wigan
6 1 2 3 5 9 5
Swansea
6 1 2 3 4 9 5
Fulham
6 0 4 2 4 7 4
Blackburn
6 1 1 4 8 13 4
West Brom
6 1 1 4 3 8 4
Bolton
6 1 0 5 8 16 3
La Liga
Real Betis
4 4 0 0 9 5 12
Barcelona
5 3 2 0 22 4 11
Sevilla
5 3 2 0 6 3 11
Real Madrid
5 3 1 1 16 5 10
Valencia
5 3 1 1 8 6 10
Malaga
4 3 0 1 7 2 9
Levante
4 2 2 0 4 2 8
Atletico Madrid 5 2 1 2 8 6 7
Real Sociedad 4 2 1 1 5 4 7
Espanyol
4 2 0 2 4 4 6
Rayo Vallecano 5 1 2 2 5 9 5
Villarreal
5 1 2 2 5 9 5
Osasuna
4 1 2 1 2 9 5
Real Zaragoza 4 1 1 2 5 11 4
Real Mallorca 4 1 0 3 1 4 3
Grenada
4 1 0 3 1 6 3
Athletic Bilbao 5 0 2 3 5 8 2
Racing Santander 4 0 2 2 3 8 2
Getafe
4 0 1 3 3 7 1
Sporting Gijon 4 0 0 4 2 9 0
The Championship (Top10)
Southampton 8 6 1 1 20 10 19
Middlesbrough 8 5 3 0 13 5 18
Derby
8 6 0 2 13 6 18
West Ham
8 5 2 1 16 7 17
Brighton
8 5 2 1 14 8 17
Hull
8 4 1 3 6 7 13
Cardiff
7 3 3 1 10 7 12
Blackpool
8 3 3 2 9 7 12
Leeds
8 3 2 3 16 15 11
Leicester
7 3 2 2 9 9 11
Doncaster
8 1 1 6 3 12 4
Serie A (Top 10)
Genoa
3 2 1 0 7 3 7
Juventus
3 2 1 0 6 2 7
Udinese
3 2 1 0 5 1 7
Napoli
4 2 1 1 6 3 7
Fiorentina
4 2 1 1 5 2 7
Palermo
3 2 0 1 7 6 6
Cagliari
3 2 0 1 6 5 6
AC Milan
4 1 2 1 5 6 5
Novara
3 1 1 1 6 5 4
Lazio
3 1 1 1 5 5 4
English Premier League
Arsenal 3 (Van Persie 46, 71, Song 89) Bolton 0, Chelsea
4 (Torres 29, Ramires 36, 76, Drogba 90) Swansea 1
(Williams 86), Liverpool 2 (Johnson 11-og, Suarez 38)
Wolves 1 (Fletcher 49), Man City 2 (Balotelli 68, Milner
89) Everton 0, Newcastle 3 (Ba 27, 30, 54) Blackburn 1
(Hoilett 37), Stoke 1 (Crouch 52) Man Utd 1 (Nani 27),
West Brom 0 Fulham 0, Wigan 1 (Diame 50) Tottenham
2 (Van der Vaart 3, Bale 23).
The Championship
Birmingham 1 Barnsley 1, Bristol City 1 Hull 1, Burnley 1
Southampton 1, Coventry 1 Reading 1, Derby 3 Millwall
0, Doncaster 1 Crystal Palace 0, Middlesbrough 0 Ipswich
0, Portsmouth 1 Blackpool 0, Watford 0 Nottingham
Forest 1, West Ham 1 Peterborough 0.
La Liga
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Gabilondo 43) Villarreal 1 (Nilmar 53),
Sevilla 1 (Kanoute 18) Valencia 0, Real Madrid 6 (Ron-
aldo 38, 50-pen, 84-pen, Higuain 45+1, Varane 66,
Benzema 73) Rayo Vallecano 2 (Cuesta 1, 55), Barcelona
5 (Villa 9, Miranda 15-og, Messi 26, 78, 90+1) Atletico
Madrid 0
Serie A
Bologna 1 (Diamanti 66-pen) Inter Milan 3 (Pazzini 39,
Milito 81-pen, Lucio 87) , ACMilan 1 (Seedorf 5) Cesena
0, Napoli 0 Fiorentina 0.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich 3 Bayer Leverkusen 0, Schalke 04 4 SC
Freiburg 2, FC Augsburg 0 Hanover 0, M’gladbach 1
Nuremberg 0, Mainz 05 1 Dortmund 2, VfL Wolfsburg 1
Kaiserslautern 0
Scottish Premier League
Celtic 2 Inverness CT 0, Dunfermline 0 Rangers 4, Hiber-
nian 3 Dundee Utd 3, Motherwell 1 Aberdeen 0, St Mirren
3 Kilmarnock 0.
French league
Nice 1 Dijon 1, Lyon 3 Bordeaux 1, Toulouse 1 Nancy 0,
Lille Lorient 1, Valenciennes 1 Marseille 1, Evian 2 Caen
4, Montpellier 0 Paris SG 3.
Results&standings
Time to
stepup
>VBwants strikers to stake their claim in Torres’ absence
C
helseamanager Andre Villas-
Boas
has challenged his strikers to
stake their claim for a regular place in
his team while Fernando Torres serves his
three-match ban.
Spain international Torres scored his
second goal in as manymatches, but was also
sent off as Chelsea beat Swansea 4-1 at
Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The red card triggers a suspension that
covers the Blues’ matches against Bolton,
Everton andQPR and Villas-Boas wants
Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Daniel
Sturridge to seize their opportunity.
“We have four wonderful strikers and all
of themare playing well. All of themcompete
for a place in this 4-3-3 system,” Villas-Boas
said.
“I’mnot sure howmany games Fernando
is away for but it will open up opportunities
for the other three to challenge for the
position.”
After amiserable run of form, Torres has
been under pressure to justify the £50million
(RM250m) British record transfer fee that
Chelsea paid Liverpool in January. Until now
he has been devoid of confidence and, more
importantly, goals.
He scored against Manchester United but
was also guilty of missing an open goal. If that
gratedwith the striker, thenworse was to
come against Swansea as his 29th-minute
goal was subsequently overshadowed by his
red card 10minutes later.
Torres was being well-marshalled by
Swansea captainGarryMonk until he found
some space to put Chelsea in front with a neat
shot on the turn past Michel Vorm. It was a
cool finish fromaman under pressure and he
celebrated like a huge weight had been lifted
fromhis shoulders.
There was more relief around Stamford
Bridge as Ramires added a second goal in the
37thminute. Torres was involved as he passed
to Ashley Cole, who cut in from the left wing
before teeing up Ramires, who slotted home.
It proved to be Torres’s last meaningful
contribution as he was sent off by referee
Mike Dean for a two-footed lunge onMark
Gower in the 39thminute. Dean did not
hesitate to show a
straight red card for the
challenge that took
place on the half-way line.
Villas-Boas refused to condemn the striker
but nonetheless admittedDean made the
right decision.
“On the sending off, I have nothing to say.
It looks to be a good decision from the
referee,” Villas-Boas said. “The challenge was
just in the nature of the game, it was one of
those things and the referee has decided like
that.
“It is a pity because the game was
becoming a spectacle for us and for the fans,
but in the end it is what the referee decided
andwe had to adjust to it. Fernando has not
said sorry, there was nothing to apologise for.
It was the referee’s decision.”
Swanseamanager Brendan Rodgers also
felt Dean got it right to showTorres his first
red card in English football.
“Torres was the right decision, but more
for intent than actual contact, whichwas
minimal,” he said. - AFP
‘Suarez, Carroll keys for Reds’
Kenny Dalglish believes the partnership between Luis Suarez (left)
and Andy Carroll is developing at the right time ahead of a critical run
of games that could define Liverpool’s season.
Liverpool face forthcoming matches against neighbours Everton and
Manchester United, while they have aspirations in the League Cup with
their fourth round tie due to take place at Stoke also next month.
The sight of Steven Gerrard’s return from injury against Wolverhamp-
tonWanderers on Saturday, with the captain having been forced to miss
the start of the season through injury, was another major boost for
Liverpool manager Dalglish following successive league defeats.
But it was the form of Suarez, and his flourishing relationship with
strike partner Carroll, that will give Dalglish and the rest of Anfield the
greatest source of comfort.
And while talk of comparisons between the pair and Kevin Keegan
and John Toshack, who terrorised defenders during their six-year as-
sociation in the 1970s may be premature, the early signs are there that
the Suarez-Carroll axis can be as formidable as their predecessors.
“I don’t think they have played too many times together before,”
Dalglish said. “It’s interesting to see them and they were half decent.
Luis has been outstanding since coming to the club. We are fortunate
to have him and we look forward to many more years working with
him.
He took his goal superbly but it wasn’t just that which impressed
everyone. His workrate is second to none and appears to be getting
better and better.”
“The same could be said for Andy. He did everything except score a
goal against Wolves. We couldn’t get more out of the big fella. I’m
happy for him and delighted. We have played better and lost in recent
weeks but we were good value for the win.
“Of course seeing Steven back is great news. It’s encouraging. He
got a great reception from the fans and that’s what you expect given
what a player he is.”
Wolves manager MickMcCarthy has seen his side slip to a third league
defeat in a row to burst their early-season optimism.
“I’m happy where we are. We have had one poor performance, and
that saw us lose against QPR,” he said.
“Nobody was getting carried away when we were winning and we
are in the same position now that we fallen to a couple of defeats. As
long as we cut out our mistakes defensively, we will be alright.” - AFP
City still improving, saysKompany
Vincent Kompany believes
Manchester City are still
maturing after they continued
their impressive start to the
season with a 2-0 win against
Everton.
RobertoMancini’s teamwere
frustrated when they lost a two-
goal lead to draw at Fulham last
weekend after being held 1-1 in
their Champions League opener
against Napoli.
But despite facing a stubborn
and well-organised Everton side,
they found a way through at
Eastlands, withMario Balotelli
and James Milner coming off the
bench to score the goals.
They have nowwon five of
their six Premier League
matches this season and
Kompany thinks that Mancini’s
expensively-assembled team is
starting to gel.
“We showed a lot of positive
things and we’re really happy
with the performance,” he said.
“Maybe on any other day we
might have got frustrated but
they did exactly what Napoli did
and it wasn’t’ a surprise.
“With the quality we have
sometimes it’s just a matter of
patience and the goal will come.
“Maybe we didn’t impress but
we did what we needed to do and
it’s another step forward.”
Mancini was pleased with the
performance of Balotelli and
thinks he can be a key player for
City this season.
“Mario didn’t play for three or
four games but he worked well
and didn’t say anything and
waited for this moment. I
enjoyed it for him, he scored an
important goal.
“Now it’s important that he
continues to improve. Mario is a
good guy. Some of his behaviour
is so-so but he’s a good guy. He
likes Manchester City and
English football and he was
really happy.
Everton manager David
Moyes admits that City will
mount a strong challenge the
Premier League title this season.
He feels that David Silva is
City’s key man and employed
Jack Rodwell to shadow the
Spaniard throughout Saturday’s
game.
“We did a job on David Silva
and did it well, He’s a big part of
what they do, the biggest part,
and we did a good job on him,”
Moyes added.
“They’ve got a really talented
team, an excellent team. They
will be contenders, no doubt.” -
AFP
theSun onmonday | september 26, 2011