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/ 3 January 2008

Bollywood beckons for England duo

England fast bowling duo Sajid Mahmood and Simon Jones are among several Test cricketers set for on-screen roles in a new Bollywood movie about cricket. Victory is a film that charts the story of a boy fulfilling his dream of playing for India. Shooting will start this month in Australia.

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/ 31 December 2007

Liverpool frustrated by dogged City

Liverpool missed the chance to close within eight points of Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday as they could only draw 0-0 at Manchester City. Rafa Benitez’s side still have a game in hand, and City remain unbeaten at home this season, but with Manchester United losing on Saturday and Arsenal only drawing on Boxing Day, this still felt like an opportunity missed.

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/ 4 December 2007

Ronaldo double lifts United into second

Cristiano Ronaldo made up for missing out on the European Footballer of the Year award by scoring both goals as Manchester United moved to within three points of leaders Arsenal with a 2-0 win against Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday. Ronaldo proved too good for Fulham, who saw their woeful Premiership away record stretch to 24 games without victory.

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/ 22 September 2007

Chelsea usher in post-Mourinho era

A new era without Jose Mourinho gets under way at Old Trafford for Chelsea on Sunday, as they play their first English Premiership match under new manager Avram Grant against Manchester United. Mourinho’s time at the Stamford Bridge helm came to an end in the build-up to their visit to the current champions.

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/ 31 August 2007

Broad’s all-round effort sinks India

Stuart Broad returned career best figures with both bat and ball as England beat India by three wickets in the fourth one-day international at Old Trafford on Thursday. When Broad, who’d earlier taken 4-51 as India were dismissed for 212, came to the crease England were in dire straits at 114-7. But they still needed fewer than a run-a-ball to win.

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/ 10 August 2007

Ferguson expects a better United this season

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson expects the English Premier League champions to be stronger for their title success when they launch the defence of their crown on Sunday. United ended Chelsea’s grip on the championship by winning the league for the first time in four years last season and Ferguson believes that experience will make them even better.

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/ 6 July 2007

Eriksson appointed Man City manager

Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has been named as Manchester City manager, the Premier League club said on Friday. Eriksson’s appointment was made after former Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra gained enough shares to complete his takeover bid and he will be presented at a news conference later on Friday.

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/ 11 June 2007

Panesar stars as England beat Windies

England beat the West Indies by 60 runs to win the third Test at Old Trafford on Monday and go an unbeatable 2-0 up in the four-match series. West Indies, set what would have been a record fourth-innings victory total of 455 to win, were bowled out for 394. Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar took 6-137 for a match haul of 10-187 in total.

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/ 8 June 2007

Bell tolls for resurgent Windies

Ian Bell held firm for England against a revived West Indies on the first day of the third Test on Thursday. At stumps, England were 296-7, having started the final session on 167-5 at Old Trafford after West Indies, 1-0 down in the four-Test series, had enjoyed a rare spell of dominance.

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/ 6 June 2007

Flintoff’s Cup shenanigans back under spotlight

England coach Peter Moores is facing the first major test of his man-management skills just days before the third Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford. Despite him scoring a century during England’s record-breaking innings and 283 run win last time out, the host camp is reeling following captain Michael Vaughan’s public criticism of popular all-rounder Andrew Flintoff.

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/ 31 May 2007

United confirm Hargreaves signing

England midfielder Owen Hargreaves will join Manchester United from Bayern Munich on July 1, the English Premiership champions said on Thursday. The Old Trafford club confirmed a deal has been reached with the German giants for the 25-year-old, who United have been chasing since last year’s World Cup in Germany.

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/ 16 May 2007

Neville to miss FA Cup final

Manchester United captain Gary Neville was on Tuesday ruled out of the FA Cup final against Chelsea due to a right ankle injury. The England right back hurt his ankle against Bolton on March 17. Although Neville was expected to return to training Monday, he continued to feel pain and will now have exploratory surgery.

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/ 27 April 2007

Ferguson slams Chelsea’s Mourinho

Sir Alex Ferguson on Friday launched a stinging attack on Jose Mourinho in the wake of the Chelsea manager’s claims that Manchester United are being favoured by referees during the Premiership title run-in. United manager Ferguson has accused Mourinho of pursuing a calculated strategy to increase pressure on match officials.

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/ 25 April 2007

Rooney trumps Kaka to give United the edge

Wayne Rooney brilliantly trumped AC Milan’s Brazilian star Kaka to fire Manchester United to an exhilarating 3-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Tuesday. Just as it seemed that Kaka’s first-half double would be enough to earn Milan a draw, Rooney raced on to a through ball from Ryan Giggs and hammered a low drive into the net.

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/ 24 April 2007

United to face Milan with makeshift defence

AC Milan have beaten Manchester United on the three occasions they have met in the European Cup. The Red Devils’ injury crisis means it won’t be easy to reverse that trend on Tuesday. United manager Alex Ferguson is without eight players — including three first-choice defenders — for the first leg of the Champions League semifinals at Old Trafford.

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/ 15 April 2007

Liverpool distracted by dreams of Europe

Liverpool’s thoughts appeared to be on their eagerly-anticipated Champions’ League semifinal with Chelsea as they ground out a tedious goalless draw with Manchester City at Eastlands on Saturday. In front of the biggest crowd at this stadium this season, 45 883, City stretched their run of play without a goal to nine hours and 20 minutes at home.

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/ 11 April 2007

Manchester United thrash AS Roma 7-1

Manchester United produced one of the finest performances in 50 years of European competition to destroy AS Roma 7-1 on Tuesday and reach the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2002. It was the biggest victory in a quarterfinal match in either the European Cup or Champions League since Real Madrid beat Sevilla 8-0 in 1957/1958.

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/ 6 March 2007

United out to deny Lille revenge

Lille will be hoping it is a case of third time lucky in Manchester on Wednesday when they attempt to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit in their acrimonious Champions League tie with Manchester United. The French club have failed in two attempts to persuade Uefa to annul the first match on the grounds that the quickly taken free-kick by Ryan Giggs should not have been allowed to stand.

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/ 8 February 2007

Spain inflict further pain on England

A sublime goal from Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta settled an encounter that was anything but in Spain’s favour as another insipid England performance added to the pressure on their manager, Steve McClaren. Spain were far from at their fluent best for England’s last home international before they take up residency at the new Wembley.

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/ 10 December 2006

Ferguson salutes true grit of Red Devils

Alex Ferguson has saluted the spirit and determination of his Manchester United squad after watching them end a gruelling week with victory in the derby clash with Manchester City. Goals from Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo delivered a 3-1 win and increased the pressure on champions Chelsea, who were due to kick off against Arsenal on Sunday nine points behind the league leaders.

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/ 7 December 2006

Ferguson: Benfica goal was key to victory

Alex Ferguson thanked Benfica goalscorer Nelson for bringing his Manchester United side to life in their 3-1 Champions League victory on Wednesday. Ferguson’s men trailed to Nelson’s superb 27th-minute strike before hitting back with Nemanja Vidic’s equaliser just before halftime and second-half goals from Ryan Giggs and French striker Louis Saha to reach the knockout phase.

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/ 24 October 2006

Rooney: Sending off to blame for dip in form

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney has brushed off suggestions his recent dip in form is down to post-World Cup trauma, and believes a red card he received in Amsterdam is more to blame. Rooney’s relative lack of spark, and goals, this term has led many observers to comment that he may have been rushed back too quickly from injury to play in the World Cup.

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/ 6 October 2006

McClaren denies reports of player revolt

England manager Steve McClaren has slammed suggestions of a player revolt ahead of his country’s European Championship qualifier with Macedonia at Old Trafford on Saturday. According to a report in the Daily Mirror, influential members of McClaren’s squad are unhappy about the introduction of a new 3-5-2 formation and want to use the more familiar 4-4-2 system.

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/ 26 September 2006

Blair urges Labour Party to put aside squabbles

British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged followers on Tuesday to put aside squabbles over who succeeds him and focus on winning the next election in an emotional farewell speech to his party. Blair defended the centrist policies he has followed in nine years in power but said the party had to face up to challenges such as climate change, organised crime and terrorism.

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/ 25 September 2006

Would-be British PM Brown pays tribute to Blair

British Finance Minister Gordon Brown showered Tony Blair with praise on Monday, seeking to dispel doubts of a rift between the two as he staked his claim to succeed the prime minister. In a make-or-break speech to the Labour Party annual conference, Brown said it had been a ”privilege” to work alongside Blair, whom he called ”the most successful ever Labour leader and Labour prime minister”.

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/ 15 September 2006

Ferguson ready for Arsenal

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday his Premier League leaders would not underestimate Arsenal when they face their old foes at Old Trafford on Sunday. United have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League season with four wins from four, while a misfiring Arsenal lie 17th after taking just two points from their three games.