Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Celtic cry foul over Juventus' rough & tumble

Celtic huffed and puffed on Tuesday evening but Neil Lennon's men were eventually punished for failing to take their chances as Juventus escaped with a 3-0 victory in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

After the defeat, Lennon blasted the performance of referee, Alberto Undiano Mallenco, after replays highlighted Juventus players grappling with Celtic's Gary Hooper in the visitors' penalty box before several corners.

"It's not rugby we're playing, it's soccer," said Lennon.

"They were being fouled, manhandled. Every time one of my players tried to move he was held. He should have given a penalty on at least two occasions.

"I'd like to know what the interpretation of the rules are in Italy or Spain, because it's blatantly different to what they are in Britain from what I've seen tonight.

"They were fouling on every opportunity and he was staring right at it. 

Last 16 hopefuls eye Champions League glory

The Champions League round-of-16 stage commences on Tuesday as Europe's elite attempt to forge a path to the final at Wembley.

The standout tie this week sees Cristiano Ronaldo come up against his former club for the first time as Real Madrid host Manchester United on Wednesday evening.

Elsewhere, Serie A champions Juventus are in action against Celtic, Valencia play Paris Saint-Germain, while two sides who impressed in the group stage, Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund, square off at the Donbass Arena on Wednesday. 

Super Eagles soar after Afcon victory

Nigeria were crowned Africa Cup of Nations champions on Sunday.

Sunday Mba scored a stunning goal to clinch a 1-0 victory for the Super Eagles over Burkina Faso.

Chelsea star Victor Moses was named player of the tournament and Jon Obi Mikel was declared man of the match as Nigeria claimed their first Africa Cup of Nations since 1994. 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Manchester City run out of puff in title charge

What looked like being a two-horse race is apparently down to just one after a limp Manchester City were beaten 3-1 by Southampton on Saturday evening.

Roberto Mancini's men were outclassed at St Mary's Stadium and, if they beat Everton on Sunday, rivals Manchester United could go 12 points clear in the race for the Premier League trophy.

A miraculous repeat of last year's title success looks further and further away for City as their weakened team runs out of puff... 

Sir Alex tongue-tied by FA after fine

Sir Alex Ferguson had his wrists slapped by the FA on Friday, receiving a £12,000 fine for comments made about match officials.

The Manchester United manager implied referee's assistant Simon Beck had been motivated by bias in his failure to award the Premier League leaders a penalty in the 1-1 draw against Tottenham.

The Old Trafford boss might be advised to hold his tongue before making such comments in the future, though why change the habit of a lifetime at 71?