..::Football III::..

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Dortmund rocked by Hummels injury blow

Borussia Dortmund have announced that defender Mats Hummels will be out of action for three weeks through injury.The Germany international was forced off at half-time in Saturday evening's 2-1 loss to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.


The centre-half was examined by Dr. Markus Braun the following morning, with scans revealing a sprained right foot."Mats Hummels is expected to be out for three weeks and will thus miss the Champions League match with Galatasaray in Istanbul on Tuesday and the Bundesliga game against Borussia Monchengladbach next Sunday," read a club statement.


"There then follows a two-week international break before BVB have an away game at Paderborn on November 22."Hummels only returned to action at the tail end of September, after missing the start of the season with muscular problems related to his exploits at this summer's World Cup in Brazil.


The loss of the 25-year-old to another injury is thus a massive blow for Dortmund, who are now languishing in 16th place in the Bundesliga on the back of their seventh defeat in 10 games so far this season.

 

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Get well soon Hummels!

3 weeks out kiyala kiyanne
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Walcott: Alexis needs to chill out

Theo Walcott says Alexis Sanchez is so keen to play football all the time that his Arsenal team-mates have told him to "chill out" in order to try and ensure he gets a rest.

Alexis has made a spectacular start to his Gunners career, netting 10 goals in his first 16 matches and scoring twice in each of his last two appearances against Sunderland and Burnley.

And Walcott, who made his own first-team return from injury against the Clarets as a substitute on Saturday, is full of praise for the Chilean's attitude and qualities on the pitch.

“In training he doesn’t even want to do recovery days,” Walcott told talkSPORT. “That’s how much he loves football.

“All the guys have told him he needs to chill out because, at Christmas when all the fixtures come along, it’s going to catch up with you.

“He doesn’t care, he just wants to play and win. He’s a good leader, and something that we haven’t had in the Arsenal team before. He’s a dream to play with.”

 

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Casillas: This could be the best Real Madrid team I've played in

Iker Casillas is beginning to think that the current Real Madrid team is the finest he has ever played in.


The 33-year-old goalkeeper first broke into the Blancos' senior squad as a teenager in 1999 and was a member of the star-studded sides that won Champions League titles in 2000 and 2002.


However, with Madrid currently on an 11-game winning streak in all competitions and scoring goals with incredible regularity, Casillas is wondering if he has ever played with a better group of players.


"The current Real Madrid team is one that began to be built up during last season when we managed to win the European Cup and the Copa del Rey," the Blancos skipper said after Saturday's victory at Granada. "And we want to go on like this.


"We have excellent players. Some have had to leave us, though they were important to us, but other players have come in and they have adapted well and are bringing in positive results."This could be the best Real Madrid side I've played in and hopefully by the end of the season we'll have won some big competitions."Despite currently being top of La Liga, Casillas is well aware that Madrid will have a real fight on their hands to claim their first Spanish title since 2012.


Indeed, Carlo Ancelotti's men are just one and two points clear of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, while Sevilla can usurp them at the summit of the standings if they win their game in hand at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday afternoon.


With Valencia also in a position to draw to within a point, Casillas is relishing what looks set to be one of the most open title races in many years."It's great from the competitive point of view," the Spain international enthused. "In other years it was just a straight fight between Real Madrid and Barcelona.


"But then Atletico joined in and now there are five or six teams up there!"

 

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Van Gaal: Manchester City still not on United's level

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has claimed that Manchester City are still not on the same level as the Old Trafford outfit.


The two sides have won the last three Premier League titles between them, with City triumphing in 2012 and 2014, either side of the Red Devils' historic 20th championship in what was Sir Alex Ferguson's final season at the helm.
Aleksandar Kolarov claimed earlier in the week that City have been "superior" to their cross-town rivals for past "five or six years" now - but Van Gaal has now hit back, arguing that City remain the smaller club.


“Abroad we have more fans and followers on social media," the United boss told reporters on Saturday."Also Bayern Munich is the biggest club of Germany. The same thing for Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain.


"It [would take] a long time for Manchester City to reach that level.”Van Gaal also rubbished the suggestion that a United victory at the Etihad Stadium would somehow be diminished by the fact that City with will be without key midfielder David Silva, who has been ruled out of action for at least four weeks with knee ligament damage.


“We are used to having injured players because we have [had] seven players injured all season," the former Netherlands boss countered."So what can I say? They have one player injured and they are out of the match?


“We have also had [Wayne] Rooney away for three matches. He is my captain; he is also a playmaker; he can score."I haven’t mentioned that, not in any interview. It is no excuse.”


City currently third in the Premier League table, nine points behind leaders Chelsea, but four ahead of United.

 

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It's Manchester Derby Time!

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Manchester City Vs Manchester United

Manchester City Starting Line-ups

Joe Hart
Vincent Kompany
Pablo Zabaleta
Aleksandar Kolarov
Martín Demichelis
Fernando
James Milner
Jesús Navas
Yaya Touré
Sergio Agüero
Stevan Jovetic

&

Manchester United Starting Line-up

David De Gea
Luke Shaw
Marcos Rojo
Chris Smalling
Antonio Valencia
Ángel Di María
Adnan Januzaj
Daley Blind
Marouane Fellaini
Wayne Rooney
Robin van Persie
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Good Luck Manchester United!

Kohomahari Win Karamu

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Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United: Aguero wins derby after foolish Smalling red

Champions Manchester City continued their recent derby dominance with a 1-0 Premier League win over 10-man Manchester United on Sunday.

Aided by Chris Smalling's sending off during a goalless opening period at the Etihad Stadium, Manuel Pellegrini's men took control after the interval as Sergio Aguero grabbed the decisive goal, his 10th in the league this season.

The Argentina striker's effort condemned United to a fourth successive league loss to their rivals for the first time since 1970 and ensured Louis van Gaal was defeated in his maiden all-Manchester clash.

Anticipation was high as City attempted to end a three-game winless run in all competitions and their hopes were raised towards the end of a breathless first half, with Smalling given his marching orders after picking up two stupid yellow cards.

That, combined with centre-back partner Marcos Rojo being withdrawn through injury in the 56th minute, proved crucial as the hosts took the points.

City, already without star man David Silva, were dealt another blow when Aleksandar Kolarov limped off in the warm-up, with Gael Clichy coming into the XI.

United had full-back issues of their own after Rafael da Silva picked up a knock in training to leave Antonio Valencia in an unfamiliar role.

Valencia was immediately tested, too, beaten by Aguero - who subsequently forced a first save from David de Gea.

But United responded quickly, Adnan Januzaj volleying just wide after being teed up by Robin van Persie's cushioned header.

The visitors continued to look threatening, with the likes of Angel di Maria and Wayne Rooney - back from suspension - buzzing around in dangerous areas.

Yet the game then took on an end-to-end nature, with De Gea making world-class saves to deny Jesus Navas and Aguero in quick succession.

A decisive moment came in the 38th minute, however, when Smalling - who had already picked up a cheap yellow card for impeding Joe Hart as the City goalkeeper attempted to punt downfield - flew into an ill-judged challenge on James Milner.

The first-half drama did not stop there, with City twice seeing loud penalty appeals turned down following challenges from Marouane Fellaini and Rojo.

City were unsurprisingly positive at the start of the second period, epitomised by Pablo Zabaleta finding himself in the United box to volley over.

Van Gaal's woes were added to as injury forced Rojo off, leaving United to field a makeshift back four featuring Valencia, Michael Carrick and youngster Paddy McNair.

And soon after being denied another penalty, Aguero gave City a 63rd-minute lead by coolly side-footing home Clichy's pull-back after Yaya Toure had freed the left-back.

Fellaini twice went close from set-pieces and Toure missed two golden chances, curling wide and heading over.

But City, who remain third in the table, held on to claim the points and leave United just inside the top 10.

 

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Another Defeat

Smalling RED & Rojo Injured!Samalling nam kisima terumak nathiwa fouls draw karaganne

Goal down unata passe hoda fight 1kak dunna but no enough!

Dan Smalling tath matches 2kak miss wenawa & Rojo ge condition 1ka ganath danma sure karanna baha...anemanda Defence gananam

Get well soon Rojo!​

 

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Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham: Kane wins it with dramatic late free-kick

Christian Benteke's red card proved to be costly as Tottenham came from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 in the Premier League on Sunday.

Andreas Weimann had scored Villa's first goal in 547 minutes to put them in front in the first half and they looked set to end a run of five consecutive defeats by securing an elusive victory.

The game changed 25 minutes from time, though, when Benteke inexplicably raised his hand into Ryan Mason's face off the ball and was shown a straight red card.

An unmarked Nacer Chadli converted an Erik Lamela corner from close range six minutes from time to draw Mauricio Pochettino's side level at Villa Park.

And Harry Kane's deflected free-kick in the 90th minute rubbed salt into the Villa wounds as Tottenham secured only their second win in eight top-flight games.

It was Kane's ninth goal in 13 appearances across all competitions this season and will lead to more calls for the England Under-21 striker to be given his first Premier League start under Pochettino.

Charles N'Zogbia and Nathan Baker returned to Villa's starting line-up at the expense of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ciaran Clark.

There were also two changes to the Tottenham side beaten by Newcastle United last weekend, as Roberto Soldado and Kyle Naughton replaced Lamela and Eric Dier, who was ruled out due to illness.

Benteke ought to have put Villa in front after 10 minutes, but the Belgium striker stooped to head an inviting cross from Matt Lowton wide.

Both sides looked dangerous going forward and Soldado somehow failed to hit the target with a header from close range after Christian Eriksen's shot had deflected into his path.

The lively N'Zogbia then cut the ball back for an unmarked Benteke, who took a touch before unleashing a venomous left-foot strike that rattled the post.

Having ridden their luck, Tottenham were unable to prevent Weimann from opening the scoring 16 minutes in.

N'Zogbia was the architect, as he surged into the penalty area from the right touchline unchallenged and picked out the onrushing Austrian forward, who slid over the slick turf to finish with his right foot from six yards out.

Younes Kaboul spurned a great chance to equalise six minutes later, failing to get a proper contact on the ball after it had dropped nicely for the defender inside the six-yard box.

Villa looked vulnerable at the back and they were indebted to goalkeeper Brad Guzan for making a fine diving save to deny Emmanuel Adebayor after the Togo striker had raced clear.

Tottenham were struggling to contain Benteke, who again came close to opening his account for the season when he rose above Kaboul but headed just wide three minutes before half-time.

Pochettino replaced Eriksen with Lamela at the break and Tottenham came close again six minutes into the second half, when Adebayor was unable to bundle the ball home after Guzan had spilled a Chadli cross.

Kane also came on for Adebayor 12 minutes after the interval and made an immediate impact by forcing a save out of Guzan from a tight angle, then heading straight at the United States keeper from the resulting corner.

Jan Vertonghen was shown a yellow card for a challenge on Ashley Westwood when Villa fans wanted a stronger sanction.

Referee Neil Swarbrick did brandish a red 65 minutes in, though, as Benteke was punished for raising his hand into Mason's face as tempers frayed.

Chadli escaped with a yellow card for a poor tackle on Westwood and the Belgium winger then stunned Villa when he prodded in at the back post after he was left unmarked from a Lamela corner.

And Kane sealed a dramatic late fightback when his free-kick deflected off Baker and gave the wrong-footed Guzan no chance.

 

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Wenger: Walcott return will lift Arsenal

Arsene Wenger hailed Theo Walcott's timely return and is eager to welcome back several other Arsenal stars.

England international Walcott made a competitive appearance for the first time since sustaining a cruciate knee ligament injury in January, when he came on as an 80th-minute substitute in Saturday's 3-0 Premier League win over Burnley.

The 25-year-old winger was given a superb ovation by the Emirates Stadium faithful and showed signs of his quality during his brief cameo.

Manager Wenger is happy to have more competition in attacking positions and is eagerly awaiting further selection headaches with the likes of Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere all to come back from injury.

"Of course [it is a lift to have Walcott back]," Wenger said. "For him it must be great as well to see that everybody wants him to come on.

"Lukas Podolski also could have scored two and he came on. When you think that we have not got a number of offensive players like Ozil, Wilshere and Giroud [to come back], there's a lot of competition in the forward positions."

On Walcott's performance, he added: "It's good I could give him 12 or 13 minutes today when the game was nearly won.

"It's good that his decision making and movement are good - he just needs to get used to competition."

 

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Mourinho: Costa will hit return to top form soon

Jose Mourinho is confident Diego Costa will soon be back to top form after making his return from injury in Chelsea's 2-1 win over QPR .

Costa was missing from Chelsea's previous four competitive matches after returning injured from Spain duty following the last international break, reigniting the club-versus-country debate.

The 26-year-old striker was back in the starting XI for the victory over Harry Redknapp's men at Stamford Bridge, but, after a decent first-half showing, he appeared to tire and was substituted in the 78th minute.

Manager Mourinho stated his belief that Costa can quickly reach the form that has seen him score nine Premier League goals in just eight appearances this term.

"A muscular injury doesn't just affect your body but also your brain, because after that you are afraid of reactions," he said. "Normally, the next match for him will be much better."

Mourinho also reserved special praise for midfielder Oscar, who opened the scoring with a wonderful finish with the outside of his boot and was involved in several of Chelsea's best attacks.

"Oscar was our best player," he added. "When the team recovered the ball he was always sharp and fast, I think he was fantastic.

"He played last Sunday, on Tuesday and [Saturday]. Some other guys didn't play in midweek so I would expect them to be fresher and sharper than him.

"He's playing very well, pre-season was difficult for him after the World Cup but he's giving balance to the team, lots of creativity and the goal is only possible in a very talented boy."

 

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Dortmund need to get real - Piszczek

Lukasz Piszczek has urged Borussia Dortmund to face up to the reality of their Bundesliga woes.

Jurgen Klopp's men let the lead slip in Saturday's Der Klassiker with Bayern Munich as former Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski and a penalty from Arjen Robben cancelled out Marco Reus' first-half opener in a 2-1 win for Pep Guardiola's side.

Dortmund's setback at the Allianz Arena was their seventh league defeat of the season and fifth in succession in the Bundesliga, leaving them in the relegation play-off spot in Germany's top flight, and full-back Piszczek is aware the club must start picking up points fast to rescue their campaign."We need to realise that we need points now," he said. "We're down at the bottom and we need to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"That won't be easy. We need to work to make it happen and to try to pick up points."Meanwhile, Dortmund centre-back Neven Subotic believes his side paid the price for failing to take their opportunities to build upon Reus's opening goal.

"We knew Bayern would start the second half aggressively as obviously they weren't keen on losing at home," he said."We were prepared for that. We tried to keep things tight at the back and to create a few chances at the other end.

"We did that to a certain extent - we had one or two opportunities to score again. The defeat hurts, especially after we went 1-0 up."

 

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'I'm too old' - Lippi retires from coaching

Marcello Lippi has retired from coaching after guiding Guangzhou Evergrande to a historic fourth Chinese Super League title on Sunday.

Evergrande's 1-1 draw at Shandong Luneng in the final game of the CSL season was enough to hold off Beijing Guoan, who could have won the title with a win over Henan Jianye and an Evergrande loss.

Following the triumph Lippi, who led Italy to World Cup glory in 2006, announced that he would step aside as coach and take up the role of technical director with the club."I don't want to coach anymore as I'm too old for it now," the 66-year-old said."I will continue to follow the staff in the role of technical director."

Lippi enjoyed arguably his greatest successes as a coach over two spells in charge Juventus. He won the Serie A title on five occasions with the Turin giants, as well as winning the Champions League in 1996.After taking over at Evergrande in 2012, he won the CSL title in three straight seasons and lifted the AFC Champions League in 2013.

Evergrande have yet to name a successor, but Fabio Cannavaro, who captained Italy's World Cup-winning team under Lippi, has been tipped to take over.

 

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Van Gaal refutes Fellaini spit claim

Louis van Gaal has defended Marouane Fellaini following claims that he spat at Sergio Aguero during the Manchester derby.

Manchester United were defeated 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a brilliant finish from the Argentine after a first half that saw two penalty claims denied and Chris Smalling red-carded.

Yet Van Gaal was forced to defend his midfielder after footage emerged after the game of Fellaini appearing to spit in the direction of Aguero following a rejected penalty appeal.

When asked by reporters if the Belgian had spat at Aguero, Van Gaal said: "I’ve heard it’s a question on social media but also I’ve heard on TV he is shouting. And when you shout there is saliva."

A similar incident occured at the KC Stadium in March this year and led to George Boyd earning a three-game suspension for allegedly spitting at Joe Hart.

 

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Fellaini last season 1kata wada godak improve wela thiyanawabut aparade score karana puluwan hoda chance 1kak miss una​

 

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Bale set to face Liverpool

Gareth Bale has handed Real Madrid a fitness boost ahead of their Champions League clash with Liverpool after returning to training following a hip injury.The Wales international was an unused substitute in Real's 5-0 victory at Levante on October 18 and has missed the club's last three matches entirely against Liverpool, Barcelona and Granada.

However, the 25-year-old appears to be nearing a comeback after taking part in Real's final training session before their return match with the Reds in Europe on Tuesday.

"Bale joined the group for the week's last training session, during which Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo worked alone and performed running drills out on the pitch," read a statement on Real's website."Bale completed a series of demanding dribbling, passing and shooting circuits."Madrid did not confirm if the 25-year-old would be available to face Brendan Rodgers' men at the Santiago Bernabeu as they bid for a repeat of the 3-0 win at Anfield last week.

Bale will have to fight off competition from Isco and James Rodriguez for a place in Carlo Ancelotti's starting XI, with both players shining in his absence.