..::Football III::..

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Wenger: Ozil is a hard worker

Arsene Wenger has leapt to the defence of Mesut Ozil after he was criticised by Paul Scholes, insisting he is a hard worker and that the former Manchester United midfielder would have loved playing with the German.

Arsenal’s record signing was described as “going through the motions” by Scholes, suggesting the World Cup winner lacked the motivation to win a league title.

But Wenger has backed Ozil, insisting his languid style disguises how hard he works, and believes the former England international would be full of praise had he played in the same side as the former Real Madrid playmaker.

"It is not fair," said Wenger when asked about the remarks at his pre-match press conference ahead of Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with United at Old Trafford.

"A player like Paul Scholes would have loved to play with Mesut Ozil."

The Frenchman continued: "He has the quality and he works a lot harder than his style of play shows.

"We are in a job where you have to prove a point, he knows that. He works much harder that his style shows."

Wenger takes his side to Old Trafford on Monday night looking for a first win away to United since 2006, but he is desperate to end that hoodoo in their bid to retain the FA Cup.
"I don't believe too much in history," added the Frenchman. "At the moment we are doing very well away from home so it's down to our effort.

"We are confident. We go to Manchester United to qualify and give absolutely everything with hard work and team effort.

"We are the holders of the FA Cup and we want to keep it. The cup is about giving it all on the day and we'll do that on Monday."

Wenger also confirmed that Wojciech Szczesny will start against the Red Devils provided he can shake off illness in time, while January signing Gabriel is sidelined for three weeks and Nacho Monreal faces a late fitness test.

 

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Hart: Kompany will get back to his best

Joe Hart has backed Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany to rediscover his best form after being dropped by Manuel Pellegrini.

The Belgian watched from the bench as the Premier League champions made hard work of a 2-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Leicester City on Wednesday, with Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala starting.

Pellegrini brushed off the omission of Kompany after the game, insisting he was "refreshing" the squad and Hart, himself dropped for a period last season, accepts that rotation is part and parcel of football.

"Vinny appreciates, same as we all do, that sometimes the manager will change the squad," he told reporters. "There is no-one destined to play every single game – I have learned that lesson.

"Vinny's one of the best I have ever played with, and this was his night off. I'm sure he will be back in the team again with that captain's armband, being one of the best defenders in world football."

David Silva and James Milner settled the win on Wednesday as City recorded just their fourth win in their last 10 games, with Chelsea building up a five-point lead, with a game in hand, at the top of the table.

"It's not been good enough – we'd all accept that – myself included," he said. "As a team we have to accept that it's not just the back four and the goalkeeper when we defend – we defend as a team.

"I don't set out to be brutally honest but I'd struggle to say things any other way. I'd always protect my team but it's pretty hard to not tell the truth when millions of people have just watched what happened."

 

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Herrera: Man United fans are suffering too much

Ander Herrera feels Manchester United are making their fans "suffer too much" with unconvincing performances.

Louis van Gaal's side had to rely on a mistake in the Newcastle United defence to clinch a win on Wednesday night, with Ashley Young slotting home in the 89th minute.

The 1-0 victory was only United's fifth in their last 10 games, having lost to the likes of Swansea City and Southampton recently, and Herrera feels the supporters deserve more commanding displays.

"When you win in the last minute, you are very happy," he told MUTV. "But I think we have to improve, we have to score earlier because our fans are suffering too much.

"I think we deserved to win. We deserved to score before and we were a little bit disappointed at half-time because we should have been winning.

"We created chances, we kept the ball and we didn't give a lot of chances away - I think only one in the first half, in the last minute. But now we are very happy.

Including Southampton's victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, every team in the top seven of the Premier League won during midweek and Herrera underlined the need for momentum late in the season.

He added: "When I was looking at the results of our rivals after the game, I thought it was a very, very important victory because Arsenal won, Liverpool won, Tottenham won, Southampton won.

"You know the battle for the top four is going to be very hard but I think we are going the right way, because we are winning the games through possession of the ball and creating more chances than our opponent."

 

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Dortmund's only aim is avoiding relegation - Kehl

Despite sitting 10th in the Bundesliga, Sebastian Kehl insists that Borussia Dortmund's only aim remains avoiding a shock relegation.

Jurgen Klopp's men were rock-bottom of the German top flight a month ago, but an excellent streak of four consecutive wins has seen them rise up the rankings and they are currently nine points off 18th place.

Dortmund are now closer to a Champions League position than bottom, with Bayer Leverkusen sitting just eight points above them in fourth, but BVB skipper Kehl denied that their all-hands-on-deck mentality has ceased in favour of European dreaming ahead of Saturday's visit to Hamburg.

"We lost at home to Hamburg earlier this season and that helped give them a bit of a boost," the veteran midfielder, 35, told Ruhr Nachrichten."This time we hope we can be the ones getting three points. We urgently need to reach our goal.

"Nothing's changed on that front. CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and the coaches issued a 40-point target and to avoid relegation. That's all that matters right now."
Although there might be public proclamations of focusing on the relegation fight, in reality Dortmund will have one eye on some form of continental qualification with 11 league games to go.

After this weekend's clash with Hamburg, Dortmund have a clash with Koln a week later before a decisive second-leg in the Champions League last 16 at home to Juventus where they must overturn a 2-1 deficit.

 

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Nasri: I want to play in MLS

Samir Nasri has revealed he would like to follow in the footsteps of Manchester City team-mate Frank Lampard by joining an MLS club one day.

The 27-year-old is in his seventh year in English football and has won two Premier League titles and a League Cup since joining City from Arsenal in the summer of 2011.

And while Nasri has not ruled out the possibility of returning to boyhood club Marseille, he admits he is more excited by the prospect of a move across the Atlantic.

“Marseille would be the only place that I’d like to play in France, but I think it’s not realistic," the Frenchman told Sport Magazine.

"My dream is to play in the MLS maybe, because I love the lifestyle in America."

When pressed on which club he would like to join, Nasri replied: "Doesn’t matter – New York, LA – I want the big city. I would prefer the sun, but I’ll take whatever!"

New York City FC have close ties with Nasri's current club under the shared ownership of Abu Dhabi-run City Football Group, while LA Galaxy have an established tradition of signing former Premier League stars including David Beckham, Robbie Keane and most recently Steven Gerrard.

 

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Ribery: Alaba's free kicks are madness

Franck Ribery has described Bayern Munich team-mate David Alaba's free kicks as "madness" after his latest super strike from distance.

The Austrian left-back has scored in three successive DFB-Pokal matches for the Bavarians - the latest of which was a stunning free kick to open the scoring against Eintracht Braunschweig in Wednesday's 2-0 victory.

It's the second time that Alaba has smashed home a set piece from distance, having helped them defeat Stuttgart last month from a dead ball situation, and Ribery was glowing in his praise."It was a super free kick. His efforts are just madness," the French forward told Bild. "You cannot take them any better than he does."

Mario Gotze echoed Ribery's sentiments and, though he is partial to a set piece strike himself, he conceded that Alaba is going to be at the front of the pecking order more frequently at this rate.

"They're not bad at all, are they?" the ex-Borussia Dortmund attacker responded when asked about Alaba's free kicks.

"It depends on the situation as to who takes the free kicks at Bayern. The fact that Alaba scored his last two though means he will be giving it a go a few more times in upcoming games."

Alaba himself has put his finely-honed technique down to a blend of his own natural game and a study of other top set piece shooters, while revelling in his latest strike from outside the area."In the past I've watched many free kicks from others," he said. "Though I also have my own technique.

"I felt very good about taking that free kick. I think I hit the ball pretty well! It's good that it worked out."Bayern are back in action on Saturday with a visit to Hannover as they look to consolidate or extend their eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

 

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Hazard can win the Ballon d'Or - Azpilicueta

Eden Hazard can reach the level of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and win the Fifa Ballon d'Or, according to Chelsea team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta.

The 24-year-old has notched 14 goals and eight assists in 33 appearances this season and scored the only goal at Upton Park on Wednesday as Jose Mourinho's men preserved their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought victory over West Ham.

Either Ronaldo or Messi have won the Ballon d'Or in each of the last seven years but Azpilicueta is adamant that Hazard can reach a similar level - though he admits the Belgian winger is more focused on team success.

"We are talking about two monsters of football today," the Spain international told Marca when asked about Ronaldo and Messi. "Eden is a great player, younger than them, and therefore has more capacity for improvement.

"I think in the future he could win the Ballon d'Or, he has the quality to it, but I see more focus on titles than achieving individual trophies. But yes, he has great quality and I think in the future we will see with the trophy in his hands."

 

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FA Cup Quarter Finals Fixtures 2015.03.07

FA Cup Quarter Finals Fixtures 2015.03.07

Bradford City Vs Reading

Aston Villa Vs WBA​

 

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Barclays Premier League 2015.03.07 Fixture

Barclays Premier League 2015.03.07 Fixture

QPR Vs Tottenham

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La Liga 2015.03.07 Fixtures

La Liga 2015.03.07 Fixtures

Deportivo Vs Sevilla

Athletic Bilbao Vs Real Madrid

Elche Vs Almeria

Granada Vs Malaga​

 

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Serie A 2015.03.07 Fixtures

Serie A 2015.03.07 Fixtures

Sampdoria Vs Cagliari

AC Milan Vs Hellas Verona​

 

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AC Milan 2-2 Verona: Last-gasp Lopez leaves Inzaghi facing the sack

Nicolas Lopez scored an injury-time equaliser to earn Verona a 2-2 draw at AC Milan - and leave Pippo Inzaghi facing the sack.

The Uruguayan forward repeated his feat from earlier this season, when he came off the bench to rescue a point against Inter at San Siro with a late goal to seal a 2-2 draw at San Siro back in November.

That equaliser came in the 89th minute and this one was even later as he struck in the final minute of five added on to the end of the second period to deny the hosts.

Verona had earlier taken the lead through Luca Toni's penalty, but Milan hit back either side of half-time to move in front.

Philippe Mexes - returning to the side after a four-week ban for grabbing Lazio's Stefano Mauri by the throat - won a penalty that was converted by Jeremy Menez.

Mexes then had a crucial hand in the goal that put Milan 2-1 up and it looked to have sealed a much-needed triumph for the under-pressure Inzaghi, who had rejected rumours this week that assistant Mauro Tassotti was set to take his place as Milan coach.

However, it was not to be for Milan and Inzaghi, as Lopez ran onto Toni's flick and slotted the ball home to spark scenes of wild celebration among the visiting staff and players, who had earlier seen coach Andrea Mandorlini sent off for protesting against a decision.

After a quiet opening to the game, Verona's Jacopo Sala had the first sight of goal when he flashed a shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post in the 12th minute.

Six minutes later, Verona were in front through Toni's cheeky spot-kick.

Sulley Muntari clumsily felled Artur Ionita inside the box and the veteran striker calmly sent a chipped effort straight down the middle of the goal.

Verona continued to look the more threatening side and went close to a second when Ionita was denied by the legs of Diego Lopez on the half-hour mark.

Somewhat against the run of play, Milan drew level through a penalty of their own four minutes prior to the interval.

Mexes went down under a challenge from Bosko Jankovic and Menez thumped home the resulting kick.

Milan made a positive start to the second period and were ahead within two minutes as Mexes' effort from an acute angle struck Eros Pisano and then Panagiotis Tachtsidis on the line before creeping into the net.

Verona came agonisingly close to an equaliser 17 minutes from time when Tachtsidis' rasping volley struck the underside of the crossbar before bouncing down and away to safety.

Just when it seemed Milan would hold on for only their third league win in 11, Lopez struck to heap further pressure on Inzaghi.

 

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Aston Villa 2-0 West Brom: Fans invade pitch as Sherwood's men head to Wembley

Aston Villa booked their place in the FA Cup semi-finals thanks to a 2-0 victory against 10-man West Brom at Villa Park, but not before a section of fans invaded the pitch ahead of the full-time whistle.

Fabian Delph opened the scoring six minutes into the second half, and after Claudio Yacob was sent off at the 80-minute mark Scott Sinclair broke down the left to put the result beyond any doubt.

Villa were also reduced to 10 men in stoppage time when substitute Jack Grealish picked up a second yellow card for diving, and the end of the match was delayed as supporters prematurely flooded onto the pitch.

They were forced back to the fringes for the final moments but ran back onto the field of play in their hundreds when the match was finally brought to a close.

The victory was Villa's second against the same opposition in the space of four days. It was Christian Benteke who netted an injury-time penalty to hand Villa a much-needed 2-1 Premier League triumph on Tuesday, but the Belgium international striker was absent when the teams reconvened at Villa Park in the cup.

Tim Sherwood's team lacked attacking impetus in Benteke's absence and West Brom had the better of the first half.

Saido Berahino scored West Brom's goal in midweek and he forced Shay Given - recalled for cup action in the Villa goal - to beat away a sixth-minute drive.

Craig Gardner was the provider on that occasion and the West Brom midfielder delivered a superb right-wing cross shortly afterwards, but striker Brown Ideye could not find the back of the net despite his recent good form.

Given kept out a 32nd-minute header from Ideye, Craig Dawson supplying the right-flank ammunition on this occasion, before the Republic of Ireland veteran arched backwards to tip Chris Brunt's deflected long-range effort over the crossbar.

The hosts failed to offer a genuine first-half test to West Brom's Boaz Myhill until the cup goalkeeper gathered Sinclair's low centre at the end of a darting dribble in stoppage time.

But Villa emerged for the second period displaying far greater intensity and were soon rewarded in the 51st minute.

Charles N'Zogbia cut in from the right, drawing West Brom defenders towards him, before picking out Delph to drill a low left-footed shot beyond Myhill.

Tony Pulis' team should have been back on level terms six minutes later, but Joleon Lescott mistimed his jump to head wide at the back post after a corner from the left looped up off Villa's Tom Cleverley.

Given had to be out sharply to thwart Berahino with an hour played, while Myhill reacted similarly when Gabriel Agbonlahor and N'Zogbia combined to send Sinclair racing into the box.

The on-loan Manchester City winger then spurned the chance to give Sherwood's men breathing space as he dragged wide after Agbonlahor's 70th-minute flick on.

Dawson did well to block from Ashley Westwood and Gardner almost put through his own as the better chances continued to fall against an increasingly frustrated West Brom.

But when Yacob was harshly awarded a second caution for an 80th-minute challenge on Agbonlahor the game turned, and West Brom were under-manned as Sinclair coolly strode forward on the break, cut back onto his right foot and curled home to settle matters.

It was Grealish who laid on that goal and it was certainly an action-packed cameo from the youngster.

Having picked up a yellow card for foulding Callum McManaman after 87 minutes, he then went down under an injury-time challenge from Lescott, only to see red when he got back to his feet after referee Anthony Taylor decided he had dived.

That would not be the final talking point, however, as scores of home supporters streamed onto the pitch before Taylor had called time.

They soon fled the scene of the crime but could land their club in hot water given that they, and many more, ran back to celebrate with the players, and in some cases confront the opposition, upon the final whistle.

 

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Athletic Club 1-0 Real Madrid: Aduriz blows title race wide open

Aritz Aduriz blew the race for La Liga wide open after his goal gave Athletic Bilbao a stunning 1-0 win over Real Madrid.

Fresh from beating Espanyol on Wednesday to reach the Copa del Rey final, Ernesto Valverde's men picked up an unexpected three points in Saturday's clash at San Mames thanks to Aduriz's first-half header.

For Real, who thumped Bilbao 5-0 in October's reverse fixture, it marks another disappointing showing after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal last weekend.

Head coach Carlo Ancelotti demanded a response to that performance in his pre-match news conference, but Madrid failed to heed his call and a lacklustre first-half display saw them go in behind.

The European champions improved after the interval and only some excellent Bilbao defending prevented Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring simple tap-ins, while Gareth Bale nearly grabbed a fortuitous leveller late on.
Ultimately, though, the visitors failed to find an equalising goal and they will slip to second if Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

Bilbao's first win over Real since January 2010 means they move up to eighth.
The home side seized the early initiative as Aduriz flashed a shot wide of the left-hand post in just the second minute, but Bilbao found themselves chasing the ball for much of the opening quarter.

For all the visitors' possession, clear-cut chances proved few and far between, although Xabier Etxeita made a potentially crucial interception to stop Benzema's centre picking out the unmarked Ronaldo, while Pepe headed over from the resulting corner.

And Madrid's failure to break down Bilbao's stubborn defence was punished in the 26th minute. Mikel Rico hung an excellent cross between the visiting centre-backs and Aduriz timed his run perfectly to meet the delivery with a thumping header that nestled in the right-hand corner.Ancelotti's men had failed to register a shot on target by half-time, but the break seemed to do the European champions some good.

Only an excellent interception from Mikel Balenziaga prevented Benzema from tapping in Ronaldo's cross, while the Portuguese seemed set to add the finishing touch to a Bale ball across the six-yard box before goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz palmed away from danger.Iraizoz was called into action again in the 74th minute, racing off his line to prevent Ronaldo from sliding home.

At the other end Bilbao almost stole a second when Dani Carvajal's attempted defensive header set up Aduriz, whose header hit the outside of the left-hand post.
As the clock wound down Madrid came desperately close to making it 1-1 when an apparent cross from Bale, delivered from just in front of the halfway line, sailed over Iraizoz and rebounded off the right-hand post.The equaliser proved elusive, however, as Madrid slipped to a fifth Liga defeat of the season.

 

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Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 Lens: Ibrahimovic on target as Parisiens move top

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored one and set up another as Paris Saint-Germain took top spot in Ligue 1 with a 4-1 win over Lens.

The striker had missed the previous two games due to suspension but made his return for a much-changed PSG side, which saw captain Thiago Silva left out of the squad at the Parc des Princes.

Coach Laurent Blanc had described the meeting with relegation-threatened Lens as a "tune up" for Ibrahimovic ahead of their Champions League last 16 second-leg clash with Chelsea on Wednesday.

And that proved to be the case as PSG made relatively short work of Antoine Kombouare's men, with the Sweden star squandering a number of first-half opportunities before David Luiz broke the deadlock with a long-range free-kick.
Ibrahimovic coolly converted from 12 yards on the hour mark, with late goals from Blaise Matuidi and Javier Pastore applying gloss to the scoreline after Yoann Touzghar had pulled one back.

PSG's win means they have now put the pressure firmly on Lyon, who visit Montpellier on Sunday.The hosts made a quick start to proceedings and went close in the opening minute as Luiz headed over from a corner.

Jean-Christophe Bahebeck was then saved by the offside flag as he somehow hit wide from Ezequiel Lavezzi's low cross before Ibrahimovic hit the woodwork in the 14th minute.The Sweden international lashed an effort against the crossbar after being brilliantly fed by Marco Verratti.

Lens did threaten as Pablo Chavarria drew a good save from Salvatore Sirigu shortly after Rudy Riou had kept out a Luiz header.Blanc's men continued to waste opportunities, with Ibrahimovic surprisingly shooting straight at Riou as he attempted to lob the keeper one-on-one.

But PSG's persistence finally paid off two minutes before the interval when Luiz's 30-yard free-kick swerved into the bottom-right corner, with the unsighted Riou unable to do anything after mistakenly moving to his right.

Lavezzi should have put PSG in complete command seven minutes after the restart when he was slipped through by Verratti, however, he was denied by a brilliant challenge from Ludovic Baal after the Argentina forward had rounded Riou.

Yet Lavezzi's profligacy was rendered immaterial by Baptiste Guillaume's foul on Gregory van der Wiel on the right-hand side of the area, which allowed Ibrahimovic to step up and slot the resulting penalty into the bottom-left corner.

Lens refused to lie down, though, and pulled a goal back just eight minutes later as Touzghar beat Luiz to a low Baal delivery to prod beyond Sirigu and fray the nerves of the home fans.Substitute Edinson Cavani was denied by a strong Riou save, shortly before fellow replacement Pastore crossed for Matuidi to turn home at the far post.

And the hosts provided one final flourish in the 82nd minute, Pastore powering home a lofted Ibrahimovic pass on the volley before Van der Wiel struck the bar as PSG ensured they will travel to Stamford Bridge in rude health.

 

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QPR 1-2 Tottenham: Kane double sees Spurs home

Two goals from Harry Kane saw Tottenham to a 2-1 Premier League win away at QPR on Saturday.

The England hopeful met Andros Townsend's cross to head home the opener in the 34th minute at Loftus Road before pouncing on some poor defending in the second half to double Spurs' advantage, taking him to 26 goals in all competitions this season.

Former Tottenham midfielder Sandro got one back for the relegation-threatened hosts shortly afterwards with a fine finish past Hugo Lloris but Spurs held on to move ahead of Southampton into sixth place.

QPR, meanwhile, remain three points from safety with only 10 games left of the season.

Rio Ferdinand and Mauricio Isla returned to the QPR starting XI, while Ben Davies replaced Danny Rose at left-back for Tottenham.

QPR striker Bobby Zamora looped a header against the crossbar inside the first minute as his former club made an initially sluggish start but it did not take long for Tottenham to find their rhythm and Rs goalkeeper Rob Green made a magnificent point-blank save to deny Kane from Kyle Walker's right-wing cross.

Walker was almost culpable for the hosts taking a 20th-minute lead when Austin turned his ill-advised backwards header goalwards but Lloris responded with a superb reaction stop.

Zamora and Austin combined for Matt Phillips to thump wide from inside the area as QPR grew in confidence as an attacking force. Austin came closer still in the 29th minute as he touched the ball beyond the Tottenham defence and clattered a left-footed shot against the crossbar.

QPR rued those missed chances as Kane headed in from Andros Townsend's floated free kick, capitalising on disorganised home defending and Green coming out to leave himself stranded.

Isla had penalty claims rejected when he went down under a challenge from Lloris, who saved once more from Austin in first-half stoppage time after Green kept out Walker's deflected drive.

Tottenham began the second half brightly, with Christian Eriksen curling a strike against the post and Kane blasting the rebound off target. Townsend passed up a 49th-minute opening when Steven Caulker carelessly gave away possession, while Eriksen failed to pick out Nacer Chadli when Tottenham took QPR apart on the break.

Direct play up towards Zamora continued to prove fruitful for the Rs and the targetman drew a sharp near-post save from Lloris in the 57th minute.

Zamora's strike partner, Austin, was an unlikely hero at the other end two minutes later when he cleared Eriksen's shot off the line.

Midway through the second half, Tottenham's pressure eventually told as Kane sprung a sorry excuse for a QPR offside trap and coolly rounded Green to slot home.

Sandro drilled home from just inside the box to set up a grandstand finish, during which Austin led furious protests for a penalty when Nabil Bentaleb blocked his close-range shot with an arm.

Referee Craig Pawson was again unmoved, allowing Mauricio Pochettino's team to make it back-to-back Premier League wins following their League Cup final loss to Chelsea.

 

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Hannover 1-3 Bayern Munich: Muller extends lead to 11 points

Thomas Muller scored twice as Bayern Munich came from behind to see off Hannover 3-1 on Saturday and continue their march towards another Bundesliga title.

Hannover began the game strongly and deservedly took the lead through Hiroshi Kiyotake after 25 minutes, but Bayern's quality ultimately shone through after a tactical tweak from Pep Guardiola saw Robert Lewandowski come on for the struggling Dante just after the half-hour mark.

Xabi Alonso had already drawn the champions level with a superb free-kick by then, and Muller's 61st-minute penalty and an excellent header soon after sealed what turned out to be a routine three points.

Second-placed Wolfsburg's 1-0 loss at Augsburg - their first defeat since November - means Guardiola's side tightened their grip on a third straight Bundesliga title.

The visitors unsurprisingly enjoyed a larger share of possession during the early exchanges, though their only notable attempt on goal saw Ron-Robert Zieler comfortably tip David Alaba's free-kick over.

Bayern's monopolisation of the ball forced Hannover to seek opportunities on the break and a glorious chance almost presented itself when Artur Sobiech seized on an error by Dante in the 18th minute, but Holger Badstuber tracked back to bail the Brazilian out.Guardiola's men escaped unscathed again two minutes later, as Marcelo inexplicably failed to find the target with his close-range header from a corner.

But Hannover eventually made the most of an opening, as Kiyotake held off Dante and found the bottom-left corner after latching on to Jimmy Briand's cleverly disguised pass.That lead lasted just three minutes, however, as Alonso stepped up and nonchalantly stroked a 25-yard free-kick beyond the helpless Zieler.

Guardiola replaced the faltering Dante with Lewandowski in the 32nd minute and Bayern's change of shape saw Hannover struggle to carve out more counter-attacking opportunities.The away side's dominance continued into the second half and Lewandowski might have edged Bayern in front but he could not head Rafinha's cross on target.

The visitors did finally take the lead just after the hour, though the goal came in controversial circumstances.Franck Ribery, on as a substitute for Mario Gotze, headed the ball across goal and Lewandowski stooped to make contact, only to receive a glancing blow to the face from the boot of Marcelo.

Referee Tobias Welz pointed to the spot, and Muller powered home from 12 yards.And the forward duly doubled his tally for the day and secured Bayern a comfortable win in the 72nd minute, as he rose brilliantly to thump Ribery's cross past Zieler with his head.

 

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Hamburg 0-0 Borussia Dortmund: BVB frustrated by relegation strugglers

Borussia Dortmund's revival was halted by lowly-Hamburg as the two sides played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw at the Imtech Arena.

A tightly-contested game saw the visitors dominate possession, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus predictably at the heart of Dortmund's best attacking efforts.

However, despite an early injury to Johan Djourou, a well-drilled Hamburg defence held firm, while Mohamed Gouaida and Zoltan Stieber were both denied by visiting goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.

The result deals a blow to mid-table Dortmund's hopes of securing European football for next season.Relegation-threatened Hamburg, meanwhile, remain without a win in their last four games having drawn a 13th blank of the season.

Dortmund had won on only one of their previous nine visits to the Imtech Arena, and they once again found Hamburg in spirited mood.

Reus, passed fit after an injury scare in midweek, nearly contributed to an opener after three minutes, whipping in a wicked free-kick for Aubameyang, only for Djourou to make a crucial intervention.Nicolai Muller fired wide for the hosts three minutes later, but chances were otherwise at a premium early on.

Hamburg were dealt a blow on 18 minutes when captain Djourou was forced off with a head injury, but their disappointment could have been swiftly cut short had Gouaida not lashed an effort over.

Gouaida did manage to test Weidenfeller with his next effort, forcing a smart parried save with a stinging drive.

Dortmund responded instantly, with a well-worked counter-attack allowing Henrikh Mkhitaryan to get behind the defence and pull back for Shinji Kagawa in the six-yard box, but he failed to produce a decisive touch.Aubameyang warmed the palms of Jaroslav Drobny prior to the interval with a drilled effort, but Hamburg's Czech goalkeeper remained largely untested.

Dortmund introduced Kevin Kampl at the start of the second half and the Slovenian nearly made an impact on 55 minutes, firing just wide from the edge of the area, before Reus spurned another opening two minutes later.

Aubameyang planted a header just wide after 63 minutes and the visitors' profligacy in front of goal was almost punished when Stieber's curled 30-yard free-kick brought a fine save from Weidenfeller.Klopp threw on Ciro Immobile and Jakub Blaszczykowski in a bid to find a winner, but Hamburg's defence could not be breached despite mounting Dortmund pressure.

 

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Bradford City 0-0 Reading: Royals earn replay after FA Cup stalemate

Bradford City and Reading will need a replay to decide who reaches the FA Cup semi-finals after a dire 0-0 draw on Saturday.

Playing on a pitch at Valley Parade barely fit for football, the League One club held off their Championship opponents in a match featuring little incident.

Both teams had chances to win it, with Pavel Pogrebnyak going closest for Reading when he hit the post in the first half, but more will be needed to earn the right to a trip to Wembley.

Bradford, who had scored 19 goals in six FA Cup matches this season before Saturday, looked the more likely to force a result as they dominated the second half - Andrew Davies heading just over from a free kick with 15 minutes to go - but were unable to find a winner.

Pogrebnyak resorted to using a hand in a bid to guide the ball into the net from a late free kick but not even that could settle the tie as the Russian's sneaky effort rattled the post and the match ended goalless.

Phil Parkinson, who captained Reading during an 11-year stint at the club as a player, included four players who featured for Bradford on their last trip to Wembley – a 5-0 defeat to Swansea City in the 2013 League Cup final – and it was one of those men, James Hanson, who got the first effort on target.

James Meredith whipped in a cross from the left flank but striker Hanson's header was tame and gratefully collected by Adam Federici in the Reading goal.

Bradford goalkeeper Ben Williams had to be alert when Danny Williams's 25th-minute strike from a tight angle deflected towards his near post and Pogrebnyak turned well in the box to rifle an effort against the left-hand upright three minutes later.

Reading were beginning to turn up the heat on a Valley Parade pitch that was well-worn to say the least but Liddle hit the post with a cross-cum-shot at the other end to remind Steve Clarke's men of the threat posed by the home side.

Filipe Morais saw a close-range effort blocked by Jordan Obita at the beginning of the second half and the chance led to a sustained period of pressure for the hosts.

Stephen Kelly slid in to make a last-ditch challenge on an advancing Jon Stead after 65 minutes before Hanson dragged agonisingly wide from a cross by the former Blackburn and Sunderland man.

Davies' header from a Morais set-piece caused more panic for the Reading defence before Pogrebnyak's palmed effort from an Oliver Norwood free kick went unpunished.

Nevertheless, the Championship side - for whom captain Alex Pearce required lengthy treatment for a bloodied nose in stoppage time - clung on to take the tie back to the Madejski, where they will be favourites to make the last four.

 

[Wolverine GTR]

Pulis slams 'disgraceful' Villa Park pitch invasion after cup loss

West Brom head coach Tony Pulis was left horrified by the pitch invasion that followed his side's 2-0 FA Cup sixth round loss to fierce rivals Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday, labelling the scenes a "disgrace".

Second-half goals from Fabian Delph and Scott Sinclair secured a semi-final trip to Wembley for the hosts on the back of a 2-1 win over West Brom in the Premier League during midweek.

But the closing stages of the contest were marred by a group of Villa fans entering the field of play and a mass pitch invasion followed.

Pulis was shocked by the scale of the scenes, and has called on Villa to review their stewarding policy in light of the debacle.

"It's disgraceful. We don't want to see those scenes," he told BBC Sport . "They've beaten us and for that to happen, that's just mindless idiots.

"If you're Villa, you need to look at the stewards as they came over to our fans and there was nobody there."

He added: "It's a quarter-final of the FA Cup, a full house, you know it's going to be tasty. You should have stewards but the hierarchy at Villa should recognise the need for stewards both ends of the pitch.

"It puts the players at danger and we don't want to see that. We were seeing it in the 1970s and 80s and we don't want to get back to that.

Pulis was similarly furious to see Claudio Yacob given an 80th-minute red card when he collected a second booking for a challenge on Leandro Bacuna.

Villa substitute Jack Grealish was also sent off late on for collecting a pair of yellow cards in the space of 15 minutes, and Pulis was left confused as to why the pair were dismissed.

"I don't know why Jack Grealish was sent off, but I cannot understand why Claudio Yacob was sent off," Pulis said.

"That's a block tackle, something you're taught at five years of age. The referee lets it run on for a few seconds and the disappointing thing is it's two yellows and we can't appeal it. That's going to cost us again when he misses the game against Stoke.

"The referee says Yacob's jumped in to that challenge, but there's enough people moaning about refs without me going on too much."