..::Football III::..

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Pardew wants Cabaye replacement

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew wants a replacement of equal quality for Yohan Cabaye, should he leave the club.The France midfielder has been the subject of a rejected bid from Arsenal and has not featured in either of his side's games this season.

Pardew wants a resolution to Cabaye's future sooner rather than later, with the transfer window closing on September 2."It is quite simple - we need to resolve the situation," he said.

"If it is a situation where he leaves the football club, we have got to be stronger. That's my aim when the window shuts.

"We need to get ourselves in a position where if he stays, great, and if he doesn't stay we need to get someone equally as good."Newcastle have made only one senior signing this close-season, with Loic Remy joining on loan from QPR.

However, Pardew insists additional moves will be made, provided they are right for the club."It's difficult at the moment, we have big clubs filling our players with disharmony," he continued."There should be business from us, business that is right for Newcastle where our fans get in a position where they really want to believe in the team."

Pardew's side are yet to win this season, having lost 4-0 at Manchester City before drawing 0-0 with West Ham on Saturday.

 

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Inter 2-0 Genoa: Nagatomo & Palacio net Nerazzurri opening-round win

Inter kicked off their Serie A campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Genoa at San Siro on Sunday evening.

Yuto Nagatomo and Rodrigo Palacio scored second-half goals to hand Inter all three points in a low-key encounter. Substitute Mauro Icardi also hit the bar in the final stages as Inter's dominance began to tell.

Coach Walter Mazzarri made one change from the Inter side that defeated Citadella in last week's Coppa Italia, with Zdravko Kuzmanovic replacing Icardi.
Fabio Liverani named two changes from last week's Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Spezia, with Juraj Kucka and Andrea Bertolacci coming in for Davide Biondini and Moussa Konate.

The hosts had the only half chance of an uneventful opening quarter, Andrea Ranocchia heading wide from a right-wing corner in the 13th minute.Jonathan went close for Inter midway through the half, turning inside the box before flashing a shot across goal and just wide of the left-hand post.Five minutes later, Francesco Lodi had Genoa's first strike on goal, but his effort from 30 yards was dragged well wide.

Inter dominated possession for the remainder of the half, but failed to create a goalscoring opportunity of any note.The hosts picked up where they left off in the second period as Daniele Portanova had to be alert to cut out Fredy Guarin's cross with Ricardo Alvarez poised to tap home.

Seven minutes into the half, Icardi came on in place of Kuzmanovic and was immediately involved, heading a Hugo Campagnaro cross straight at Mattia Perin in the Genoa goal.Inter continued to press and almost took the lead shortly before the hour mark as Guarin drove forward down the right-hand channel before firing across goal and narrowly wide.

Gaurin threatened again in the 70th minute, this time seeing his shot from distance comfortably collected by Perin.Inter finally broke the deadlock in the 75th minute, as Jonathan's cross was deflected over everyone to the back post, where Nagatomo was on hand to nod home from a matter of inches.

Inter almost doubled their lead twice in as many minutes shortly afterwards. First, Icardi hit the crossbar with a header before Perin had to scramble to his right to keep out another header, this time from Ranocchia.Jonathan then saw his effort from the corner of the box deflected wide as Inter looked for a second to kill the game off.The goal duly arrived in stoppage time, as Palacio ran on to Guarin's through ball before slotting beyond Perin as Inter sealed their victory in style.

 

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Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Swansea: Soldado spot-kick seals victory for second successive weekend

Roberto Soldado struck again from the spot as Tottenham Hotspur made it two wins out of two in the Premier League with a 1-0 defeat of Swansea.

The Spain international, who also scored twice in midweek against Dinamo Tbilisi, converted from 12 yards out early in the second half to wrap up the points, after Jonjo Shelvey had felled Andros Townsend in the area.

It was a first Premier League start for Tottenham for Townsend, while Etienne Capoue - signed from Toulouse earlier in the month - made his home debut, after being preferred in midfield to Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Michael Laudrup opted to leave Wilfried Bony - scorer in the 4-1 defeat to Manchester United last week - on the bench, with Michu named as the visitors' lone striker.

Both sides were reduced to efforts from outside the box in the early stages, Paulinho and Capoue testing the reflexes of Michel Vorm, while former Tottenham winger Wayne Routledge forced a good save from Hugo Lloris.

It took 20 minutes for the hosts to fashion the game's first real chance and they almost took the lead in fortuitous circumstances.

Swansea captain Ashley Williams headed against his own near post from Kyle Walker's right-wing cross and Paulinho reacted quickest to the rebound, but his driven shot was brilliantly kept out by Netherlands international Vorm.

The visitors were undeterred by that scare and continued to press forward, Shelvey keeping Lloris on his toes with a low effort that the Frenchman tipped wide.

Laudrup's men appeared to struggle in defence, however, and they were grateful to Vorm once more as he pulled off another acrobatic save to deny Moussa Dembele after more good work down the right by Walker.

Walker forced another save from Vorm before Paulinho fired over from close range, but the real talking point came in the final minute of the first half, with referee Neil Swarbrick awarding a free kick after Shelvey had clearly fouled Townsend inside the box.

Villas-Boas' side may have felt aggrieved by that decision, but they did not allow it to affect their attacking mentality, Townsend curling inches over from distance shortly after the interval.

Tottenham were finally rewarded 12 minutes into the second half, Shelvey again adjudged to have clipped Townsend inside the area, but this time Swarbrick did point to the spot.

Soldado made no mistake, replicating his winner at Crystal Palace last Sunday by scoring from 12 yards with a calm finish into the bottom corner.

Swansea still posed a danger in spite of that setback, and came close to levelling when Pablo Hernandez curled wide from the edge of the box.

Chico Flores stung the palms of Lloris with a vicious volley but, although Laudrup threw Bony into the action in search of a leveller - Tottenham held on with little difficulty, with Paulinho denied by Vorm at the death.

 

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Cardiff City 3-2 Manchester City: Campbell consigns Pellegrini's men to shock defeat

Frazier Campbell headed a second-half double as Cardiff City marked their first home game in the Premier League with a stunning 3-2 victory over Manchester City.

The Welsh side had had to come from behind to secure the three points, with Edin Dzeko having fired the visitors into the lead in the 52nd minute with an outstanding strike from distance.

City were not ahead for long, though, as Iceland international Aron Gunnarsson netted a close-range finish on the hour, after Campbell had seen his effort saved by goalkeeper Joe Hart.

The ever-threatening Campbell nodded in a corner at the far post with 11 minutes to play to fire Cardiff in front and repeated the trick in the closing stages to cap a fine individual display.

City substitute Alvaro Negredo set up a nervy finish with a late header of his own, but Cardiff hung on to claim their first Premier League win, and issue a very early blow to their opponents' title hopes.

Both sides made one change, with City boss Manuel Pellegrini replacing injured captain Vincent Kompany with Javi Garcia in the heart of defence, while Cardiff recalled left-back Andrew Taylor from suspension in place of 18-year-old Declan John.

As expected, the home fans created a superb atmosphere as they celebrated their club's first home top-flight match in 51 years.

And they saw their side burst out of the blocks as Campbell had ambitious appeals for a penalty turned down in the first minute while an early free kick from the impressive Peter Whittingham sailed just wide.

Hart then made a smart save to deny Steven Caulker from another Whittingham free-kick, although the offside flag was up in any case.

Cardiff, led by the tenacious Gary Medel, continued to get in the faces of their more-fancied opponents and rarely allowed them to settle on the ball.

There were fleeting signs of City's class – David Silva and Sergio Aguero combined excellently on the edge of the penalty area before the former saw his cross hacked clear for a corner, while Dzeko nodded wide following a neat Silva ball.

But Cardiff kept the pressure on, restricting their opponents to further half chances from Dzeko and Silva, before Campbell went close twice on the stroke of half-time.

Both came from balls over the top designed to exploit Pellegrini's side for pace, with Campbell poking wide from the initial opportunity, before Hart charged off his line to save following a poor header from Garcia that allowed the former Manchester United and Sunderland striker in.

Cardiff's failure to convert their chances was compounded seven minutes into the second half when Dzeko scored a terrific goal.

Dzeko won the ball after Aguero flicked a Yaya Toure ball into his path, and the Bosnia international beat Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall at his near post with a superb 25-yard effort that appeared to receive a slight deflection.

It was an advantage that lasted just eight minutes, though, as Gunnarsson sent the home fans wild with his equaliser on the hour mark.

South Korean Kim Bo-Kyung was the creator, skipping past an array of challenges and into the penalty area before cutting back for Campbell. And although the striker's shot was saved by Hart, Gunnarsson followed in and was on hand to net the rebound inside the six-yard box.

City responded with a consistent spell of possession, but Toure, substitute Samir Nasri and Silva failed to put their efforts on target.

Pellegrini's men were stunned with 11 minutes to play as Campbell escaped the attention of Pablo Zabaleta following an excellent Whittingham corner and headed in from two yards.

Campbell then netted another late header, and although Negredo set up a tense finale, Cardiff did enough to win.

 

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Inter 2-0 Genoa: Nagatomo & Palacio net Nerazzurri opening-round win

Inter kicked off their Serie A campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Genoa at San Siro on Sunday evening.

Yuto Nagatomo and Rodrigo Palacio scored second-half goals to hand Inter all three points in a low-key encounter. Substitute Mauro Icardi also hit the bar in the final stages as Inter's dominance began to tell.

Coach Walter Mazzarri made one change from the Inter side that defeated Citadella in last week's Coppa Italia, with Zdravko Kuzmanovic replacing Icardi.
Fabio Liverani named two changes from last week's Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Spezia, with Juraj Kucka and Andrea Bertolacci coming in for Davide Biondini and Moussa Konate.

The hosts had the only half chance of an uneventful opening quarter, Andrea Ranocchia heading wide from a right-wing corner in the 13th minute.Jonathan went close for Inter midway through the half, turning inside the box before flashing a shot across goal and just wide of the left-hand post.Five minutes later, Francesco Lodi had Genoa's first strike on goal, but his effort from 30 yards was dragged well wide.

Inter dominated possession for the remainder of the half, but failed to create a goalscoring opportunity of any note.The hosts picked up where they left off in the second period as Daniele Portanova had to be alert to cut out Fredy Guarin's cross with Ricardo Alvarez poised to tap home.

Seven minutes into the half, Icardi came on in place of Kuzmanovic and was immediately involved, heading a Hugo Campagnaro cross straight at Mattia Perin in the Genoa goal.Inter continued to press and almost took the lead shortly before the hour mark as Guarin drove forward down the right-hand channel before firing across goal and narrowly wide.

Gaurin threatened again in the 70th minute, this time seeing his shot from distance comfortably collected by Perin.Inter finally broke the deadlock in the 75th minute, as Jonathan's cross was deflected over everyone to the back post, where Nagatomo was on hand to nod home from a matter of inches.

Inter almost doubled their lead twice in as many minutes shortly afterwards. First, Icardi hit the crossbar with a header before Perin had to scramble to his right to keep out another header, this time from Ranocchia.Jonathan then saw his effort from the corner of the box deflected wide as Inter looked for a second to kill the game off.The goal duly arrived in stoppage time, as Palacio ran on to Guarin's through ball before slotting beyond Perin as Inter sealed their victory in style.

Good Start to INTER

 

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Nantes 1-2 PSG: Lavezzi leaves it late to give Blanc first win

A 73rd minute strike from Ezequiel Lavezzi handed Laurent Blanc his first win as Paris Saint-Germain boss as les Parisiens ran out 2-1 winners at Nantes.

The Argentine settled a frantic encounter after an own goal from former Chelsea defender Alex had cancelled out Edinson Cavani's first-half opener on Sunday.
Laurent Blanc again named Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic together up front, with the only change from the 1-1 draw with Ajaccio coming in defence, as Gregory van der Wiel replaced Christophe Jallet at right-back.Newly promoted Nantes recalled midfielder Jordan Veretout to the side as he returned from suspension following his dismissal in the win over Bastia two weeks ago.

PSG made a strong start to proceedings and came close to silencing the vociferous crowd at the Stade de la Beaujoire, Ibrahimovic denied by Remy Riou from close range after he had latched on to a lofted through ball from Thiago Motta.

Cavani fired a warning shot just after the 20-minute mark as he lashed a volley wide from range, and just a few minutes later the Uruguayan opened the scoring.
Ibrahimovic - so often the talisman for PSG - turned creator, the Swede splitting the Nantes defence with an excellent through-ball for Cavani to slot home with a composed finish after 24 minutes.The gulf in class between the two sides was evident, with Nantes struggling to impose themselves on the contest as PSG dictated play in the midfield.

The visitors did sit back somewhat in the closing stages of the first half, though, and that allowed Nantes to fashion their first real opening of the game.Vincent Bessat looked to be through on goal but a superb covering tackle from Maxwell denied him the chance to shoot.

Nantes almost tied things up from the resulting corner, Gabriel Cichero forcing Salvatore Sirigu into a superb save with a spectacular scissor-kick.The hosts carried that momentum into the second half, however, and a mere seven minutes after the interval they were level.

Alex deflected Veretout's free-kick into his own net after Papy Djilobodji had met the delivery at the far post.Nantes' equaliser opened up the game at both ends, but it was Michel Der Zakarian's men who went closest to taking the lead as Sirigu produced a remarkable save to tip Alejandro Bedoya's header over the bar.

PSG responded well, Lavezzi testing Riou from a tight angle after good work down the left-hand side, before Ibrahimovic fired over from point-blank range as Van der Wiel exploited a gap in the Nantes' backline.The visitors' onslaught eventually proved too much for Nantes, and it was Lavezzi who restored PSG's lead.

The Argentine made no mistake with an easy opportunity, slamming home after substitute Lucas Moura's was effort cleared off the line following a passage of play that had seen Cavani fail to control a square pass from Blaise Matuidi, who had been put through by Ibrahimovic.

Nantes pressed to try to find a leveller, but in truth it was PSG who should have added to their lead as Ibrahimovic fired wide late on.

 

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Malaga 0-1 Barcelona: Adriano gives lacklustre Blaugrana narrow win

A first-half strike from Adriano ensured a lacklustre Barcelona secured a narrow 1-0 win over Malaga on Sunday evening.

The defender's goal towards the end of the first period meant Barca extended their 100% league start after thrashing Levante 7-0 last weekend.

A fine save by Willy Caballero tipped Gerard Pique's effort on to the crossbar as Barca pushed for a second that failed to materialise, although by the end they were thankful for a late Victor Valdes save that ensured they claimed all three points.
Gerardo Martino was without the injured Lionel Messi for the encounter, while Neymar had to be content with a place on the bench. Poland striker Bartlomiej Pawlowski made his starting debut for Malaga, who were missing Eliseu and Flavio Ferreira.

A Cesc Fabregas through ball after 18 minutes almost paved the way for an early opener at La Rosaleda but Pedro's poor first touch took the ball out of his stride.
The Liga champions enjoyed particular joy down Malaga's left-hand side, as Xavi and Andres Iniesta looked to combine to control the midfield exchanges and unleash Alexis Sanchez into the wide areas.

The hosts spent long periods without possession, but when they had the ball, they were quick to try and work it into the final third.A long-range direct free kick just before the half-hour mark forced Valdes into action for the first time in the match but he safely dealt with Vitorino Antunes' ambitious effort.

The deadlock was deservedly broken after 43 minutes, though, as Adriano curled a long-range, left-foot effort past the helpless Caballero after good build-up play from Sanchez.Barca looked more than comfortable after the break, dictating the play in similar fashion to the first half. Malaga struggled to create any openings of real substance, as the visitors repeatedly threatened to double their lead.Pique forced a spectacular save from Caballero with a free-kick on 57 minutes, with the keeper tipping the ball onto the crossbar.

Martino then introduced Neymar into proceedings as the visitors pressed for that elusive second goal, and the Brazilian almost got on the end of an inviting Dani Alves cross.Fabrice Olinga then went close to a leveller just past the hour mark against the run of play. After excellent counter-attacking down the left wing by Roque Santa Cruz, the striker's stabbed effort rebounded off the post.

A free-kick from substitute Neymar again forced a save from Caballero , with the goalkeeper having to beat the ball away after it took a deflection off the wall.
But Barca were thankful for Valdes's late heriocs as he kept out Sebastian Fernandez's header from an inswinging cross from Jesus Gamez.

 

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Barcelona lacked cutting edge, says Martino

Gerardo Martino admitted Barcelona lacked a cutting edge after they laboured to a 1-0 victory over Malaga on Sunday evening.

The Liga champions found chances hard to come by at La Rosaleda, securing the three points thanks to Adriano's long distance effort in the first half.

And Martino felt his side's level of performance suffered as the game went on and felt they should've created more given their superior possession throughout.

“Today Barcelona started well but we were worse as the game went on,” conceded the 50-year-old.

“We lacked some effectiveness and chances for all of the possession we had.

“Until the 25th minute of the second half, we had complete control – only at the end did we not have the ball and they had two very good chances.

Neymar again had to settle for a place on the bench, despite scoring his first goal against Atletico Madrid in midweek, but Martino was quick to praise the Brazilian for his impact after coming on.

“There is a difference between Neymar’s first game and his latest one,” the 50-year-old pointed out.

“The important thing is that he always brings something when he’s playing.”

The Barcelona coach was also quizzed about Lionel Messi’s fitness and revealed he will continue to monitor the Argentine's condition ahead of the second leg of their Spanish Super Cup clash on Tuesday.

“Messi worked at the club today. We’ll see how he feels," he said.

“There’s two days remaining before the game, but we are very pleased with his progress.”

Barcelona take on Atleti having drawn the first leg 1-1 in Madrid, in which Messi was withdrawn at half-time after bruising the muscle in his left thigh.

 

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Benitez unsurprised by Napoli start

Napoli boss Rafa Benitez has revealed he was unsurprised at the dominant nature of his side's 3-0 win over Bologna on Sunday.

The Partenopei sit top of Serie A after the first round of league fixtures, with two goals from Marek Hamsik and a Jose Callejon strike sealing victory, while the hosts also had two goals disallowed.

Benitez has overseen a major overhaul in Naples over the summer, bringing in eight new faces in cash deals, as he looks to challenge Juventus for the league title and insists the manner of the win came as no surprise.

He said after the game: "I'm not surprised at the result today. I saw the team throughout the week and they played very well.

"We don't think about Juventus at this stage, we only think about ourselves. We changed a few players from last season's team but they did just fine and now we can look ahead."

Hamsik was the hero of the day with his double and in a warning to the rest of the divison suggested Napoli will get even better as the season progresses, while emphasising the increased number of attacking options available.

"Today was a game we wanted to win to start the season on the right foot. We don't read anything into it, it means nothing," he added.

"It will be difficult for Gonazlo Higuain to score the same number of goals as Edinson Cavani but we have to help him and try and score 10 goals apiece.

"Me, Callejon, (Dries) Mertens, (Goran) Pandev can all score goals. We are more competitive than last season and that is good for Napoli."

 

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New-look Napoli lay down marker in opening day win

Napoli signalled their intent for the coming season with an impressive 3-0 win over Bologna as the Italian top flight got underway this weekend.Marek Hamsik scored twice for the hosts, either side of half-time, after Jose Callejon had put Rafael Benitez's side ahead.

Inter had briefly gone top after defeating Genoa 2-0 at San Siro earlier in the day, with two goals in the final 15 minutes from Yuto Nagatomo and Rodrigo Palacio sealing the points for Walter Mazzarri's side.Torino matched that result at home to newly-promoted Sassuolo, thanks to goals either side of the break from Matteo Brighi and Alessio Cerci.

Roma also ran out 2-0 winners as two goals in as many minutes midway through the second half from Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Florenzi handed them victory away at Livorno.

Elsewhere, the Giallorossi's city rivals Lazio ran out 2-1 winners at home to Udinese.Hernanes opened the scoring for the hosts after 13 minutes and Antonio Candreva doubled that advantage from the spot three minutes later. Substitute Luis Muriel's goal on the hour was not enough for Udinese to claim anything from the game.

Cagliari had to come from behind at home to Atalanta to get off the mark with a 2-1 victory. Guglielmo Stendardo struck first for the visitors after 27 minutes but that lead was cancelled out within a minute by Radja Nainggolan.

Matias Cabrera hit the winner after 63 minutes to hand all three points to Cagliari.
Parma and Cheivo played out a goalless draw in a low key start to the campaign for both sides.

 

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Blanc: PSG suffered for Nantes win

Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc feels his side were made to suffer during their 2-1 Ligue 1 victory over Nantes on Sunday.
A goal from Ezequiel Lavezzi less than 20 minutes from time was enough to ensure victory for the French champions after an Alex own goal cancelled out Edinson Cavani's opener.

Blanc has hailed his opponents' performance on the night but was delighted with his team's resolve at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

"Everyone expected this victory," Blanc told reporters after the game.

"It was difficult because Nantes played a beautiful game. Certain situations should have been better managed, we did not do that, we have suffered up to the last second."

Former France manager Blanc admitted that it had not been a great performance from PSG, but stressed that a lack of match preparation is affecting his team's displays.

"I knew before the game that the rapport may not be perfect," he added.

"We are behind many teams in terms of preparation.

"We could revise this 4-4-2 but we have to find a plan with a good balance. We have an interesting attacking potential, but matches are also won at the back and we conceded goals every time.

"There is a balance to be struck. We had too bad a start to the second half."

 

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Lahm: I'm different under Pep

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm believes he is a different player under Pep Guardiola after the 2-0 win over Nurnberg on Saturday.

The German champions were made to work hard by their Bavarian neighbours and needed two goals from Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben in the last 21 minutes to maintain their 100 per cent record."We can be absolutely satisfied with our start. It was a determined team performance," said the Germany international, who supplied the cross for Ribery's header.

"My game hasn't become more attacking, because I laid on lots of goals last season but my game has become different."

Guardiola was quick to praise the efforts of Ribery and Robben after the game and the latter of that pair believes his role within the side is very much the same as it was last season.

“My role hasn’t changed a lot to be honest,” the midfielder said.

“He [Pep Guardiola] knows my quality, he knows I play on the right.

“Perhaps our game is a little different, but I think in general much of my role is still the same.”Bayern are now one of four sides in the Bundesliga with unbeaten records as Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen and Mainz also maintained their good starts.

 

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Villas-Boas lauds Townsend after Swansea win

Andre Villas-Boas feels Andros Townsend has added a new dimension to Tottenham after he played a key role in the 1-0 win over Swansea City.Townsend's contribution proved vital on Sunday, with the midfielder winning a penalty in the second half after he was fouled by Jonjo Shelvey.

Roberto Soldado duly converted from the spot to give Tottenham all three points, his second in successive Premier League games following his winning strike against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Tottenham manager Villas-Boas reserved special praise for 22-year-old Townsend, who was handed a place in the starting XI after scoring and providing two assists in Thursday's 5-0 Europa League win over Dinamo Tbilisi."I think when he receives the ball with space he has one objective, which is to take on the man and beat the man," Villas-Boas told reporters.

"He's really adding to our game because he brings that light and spark into our game. He's a very explosive player, we gave him the opportunity bearing in mind what he did against Dinamo Tbilisi and I think he took it very, very well."

Tottenham have recruited heavily in the transfer window, bringing in Nacer Chadli, Paulinho and Etienne Capoue as well as Soldado. All four players featured in the win over Michael Laudrup's side, and the Portuguese is delighted with the impact they have had so far.

"For a team that hasn't had a lot of time to train, the knowledge of the game that they have, the technical qualities that they have enabled them to play like this with such less time together," Villas-Boas added.

"I think all of these additions are really showing quality, plus they have brought to the team and the players a new mentality, we look sharper and have a greater will to win."

 

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Pellegrini bemoans defensive errors after Cardiff defeat

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini was unhappy with his side's defending after they slumped to a 3-2 loss at Cardiff City on Sunday.

Pellegrini's men – who started the season in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle United on Monday – were brought back down to earth in Wales by a fired-up Cardiff side.

Edin Dzeko put City in front in the 52nd minute, but Aron Gunnarsson levelled eight minutes later for Cardiff before Fraizer Campbell headed in two corners to seal a 3-2 victory, despite Alvaro Negredo's late consolation.When quizzed if his defence could have done better, Pellegrini told Sky Sports: "Of course. Nobody believes they can score two goals against us in a set-piece."You must be concentrating on those sort of plays. We scored two goals but the game was decided by two corners."

Pellegrini did acknowledge Cardiff made life tough for his side, but felt the visitors were too subdued in the first half before their defensive mishaps after the break.
"I think we played against a very difficult team," he said. "Cardiff had 10 players near their own box and it was very difficult for us to score."I think we didn't play well. We played a little slowly in the first half. When we scored our first goal, I think we could do better after that."Pellegrini also rejected suggestions he would rush into the transfer window to bolster his defensive options.

Manchester City are currently without captain Vincent Kompany, who is set to miss the next four weeks with a groin injury but Pellegrini refused to Javi Garcia, who replaced the Belgian, for the surprise loss.

"No, no, no. I don't think that [Garcia] was the problem," he added."Cardiff is a very difficult team, playing [on the] counter attack. It was just two corners that decided the game."

 

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Bale still not worth €100m, says Martino

Barcelona boss Tata Martino has reiterated his belief that Real Madrid "lack respect" for society due to their willingness to pay a reported €100 milliion for Gareth Bale.

The Tottenham star looks set to complete a potentially world-breaking transfer to the Spanish capital, leading the Argentine to question the figures mooted.

Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti was quick to bite back, but Martino has refused to withdraw his comments.

"I said what I said about Bale and his price," he told reporters following Barca's 1-0 win over Malaga.

"It's not for any personal confrontation with Ancelotti. It doesn't seem appropriate. I'll stick with what I said in the week. I'm not retracting it.

"It's not for me to speak about Madrid signings. But, in football terms, Bale is a very good player, that's obvious."

Meanwhile, Blaugrana midfielder Xavi has also spoken about Bale's move to Madrid, claiming his price tag is the product of the current transfer market.

"It's the market which dictates the price, that's all there is to it."

 

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Barclays Premier League Fixture 2013.08.26

Barclays Premier League Fixture 2013.08.26

Manchester United Vs Chelsea

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