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/ 23 December 2007
It was always going to be a Premier League game in which a solitary goal — much like a bolt of lightning on a cloudless sky — would decide the issue at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday night. And, in a dour clash lacking in inspiration, the bolt of lightning was provided by a 24th minute Rudi Isaacs header.
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/ 23 December 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund appeared as ebullient as a schoolboy who had raided the cookie jar after his team’s hard-earned 1-0 Premier league victory over Free State Stars at a sultry Goble Stadium in Bethlehem on Saturday afternoon.
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/ 20 December 2007
Italian striker Luca Toni inspired Bayern Munich to a 6-0 rout of Greek side Aris to book their berth in the Uefa Cup knockout round on Wednesday as English side Bolton advanced without kicking a ball. Two goals in either half from Toni maintained Bayern’s decade-long unbeaten UEFA home record and defenders Christian Lell and Philipp Lahm completed the rout.
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/ 17 December 2007
Arsene Wenger has the destiny of the Premier League in his control but the Arsenal manager expects a four-way battle before he gets his hands on the title. Wenger’s side remain one point clear of Manchester United at the top of the table after William Gallas clinched a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.
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/ 15 December 2007
After what Santos coach Jean-Marc Itthier described as ”a blood and thunder” derby, the ”people’s team” toppled Premier League leaders Ajax Cape Town 2-1 at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday night after overcoming a torrid second half.
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/ 14 December 2007
Italian Fabio Capello was named as the new England head coach until 2012 by the Football Association on Friday. The FA confirmed his appointment on a four-and-a-half year contract in a statement on its website. The 61-year-old succeeds Steve McClaren who was sacked last month after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
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/ 9 December 2007
Like King Midas who turned everything he touched into gold, James Chamanga turned everything he touched into goals during Moroka Swallows’ emphatic 6-2 Premier League victory over a hapless Platinum Stars at the Germiston Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
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/ 9 December 2007
It hardly required a soothsayer to forecast the goalless draw in the Premier League game between ”goalless-draw champions” Santos and Kaizer Chiefs at a windswept Athlone Stadium on Sunday evening. ”We played against the wind in the first half,” complained Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral afterwards, ”and could not master it”.
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/ 9 December 2007
Ryan Giggs’s 100th league goal saw Manchester United on the way to a 4-1 win against bottom-of-the-table Derby County to keep up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday. Victory at Old Trafford, where Carlos Tevez scored either side of halftime, left second-placed United a point behind the Gunners
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/ 6 December 2007
The latest wonder striker from Emmanuel Adebayor was not enough for an under-strength Arsenal to claim all three points as Newcastle hit back to secure a 1-1 draw with the unbeaten Premier League leaders. Steven Taylor’s second-half equaliser earned some valuable breathing space for the under-pressure Sam Allardyce.
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/ 2 December 2007
Emmanuel Adebayor sent Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League as Arsene Wenger’s side won 2-1 against Aston Villa on Saturday. Adebayor headed the winner to extend Arsenal’s lead over second placed Chelsea after Mathieu Flamini had cancelled out Craig Gardner’s opener at Villa Park.
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/ 29 November 2007
In-form Aston Villa ran riot in Blackburn on Wednesday night with a resounding 4-0 victory at Ewood Park that moved them up to sixth in the Premier League. Rovers had dominated the first half hour only to be denied by a mixture of poor finishing and fine saves from Scott Carson before John Carew put the visitors ahead after 29 minutes.
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/ 28 November 2007
Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, AS Roma and Sevilla all advanced to the second round of the Champions League on Tuesday. Inter, Sevilla and Roma advanced with wins, while a point against Lyon was enough for Barcelona. The four teams join Arsenal and Manchester United in the next round.
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/ 26 November 2007
Tottenham had an injury-time penalty kick saved in a 1-1 draw Sunday at West Ham in the Premier League. West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green dived to his left to save the shot from Jermain Defoe, who had earned the penalty after being brought down by Lucas Neill.
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/ 15 November 2007
Telkom Knockout finalists Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns failed to imprint a psychological advantage for their cup clash next month in a goalless draw at King’s Park Stadium on Wednesday night. After Ajax Cape Town clobbered Moroka Swallows 4-1 in Cape Town, Chiefs now trail the log leaders by a massive 10 points.
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/ 14 November 2007
An internet-based collective of soccer fans from more than 70 countries agreed in principle on Tuesday to buy a controlling interest in an English soccer club. The deal will give them a vote on everything from team line-up selections to which players should be transferred.
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/ 13 November 2007
Slowly but surely, South African midfielder Steven Pienaar is recapturing the form that made him one of the most sought-after players in Europe in his early 20s. Pienaar is now a regular starter for Everton, and impressed in patches during his team’s creditable 1-1 draw at 2005 and 2006 Premier League champions Chelsea on Sunday.
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/ 10 November 2007
Avram Grant insists he never doubted he would silence the critics who claimed he had no chance at Chelsea. When Grant took charge in the aftermath of Jose Mourinho’s dramatic departure in September, it seemed the Israeli coach would find it hard to last a month if one listened to the cynicism that greeted his appointment.
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/ 8 November 2007
Moroka Swallows walked off the pitch after the Premier League game against Kaizer Chiefs at King’s Park in Durban on Wednesday night with nine men and looking as groggy as a boxer who had come within a whisker of being knocked out in the last round.
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/ 7 November 2007
Arsenal can advance to the knockout stage of the Champions League by beating Slavia Prague on Wednesday. Arsenal, which beat Slavia 7-0 on October 23 to equal the biggest margin of victory in the Champions League, hasn’t conceded a goal in the competition this season and can extend its overall unbeaten streak to 19.
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/ 7 November 2007
An injury report from Moroka Swallows’ medical staff 24 hours before the crunch Premier League game against Kaizer Chiefs at King’s Park on Wednesday night conjured up a picture of the wounded limping back in pain from the Crimean War. Five Swallows players who ostensibly would be first-choice selections for the Sowetan ”Derby-by-the-Sea” are unavailable.
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/ 4 November 2007
Harry Redknapp fears the African Nations Cup could wreck Portsmouth’s European ambitions after his side’s impressive 4-1 victory over Newcastle strengthened their top four credentials. Redknapp acknowledged that Portsmouth’s challenge will be affected more than most of their Premier League rivals by the tournament early next year.
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/ 4 November 2007
Arsenal preserved their place on top of the Premier League after William Gallas’s late equaliser earned a dramatic 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Saturday. Gallas’s late intervention ensured Arsene Wenger’s side stayed ahead of United on goal difference and extended their unbeaten run this season to 18 matches in all competitions.
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/ 3 November 2007
With hardly anyone in the PSL able to place the ball in the back of the net, Amazulu goalkeeper Tshepo Motsoeneng decided to give all and sundry a lesson in the Premier League game against SuperSport United at a noisy, but relatively deserted Super Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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/ 1 November 2007
Frank Lampard’s hat-trick helped League Cup holders Chelsea snatch a dramatic 4-3 win over Leicester on Wednesday. Avram Grant’s side were slipping towards an embarrassing fourth-round defeat against the managerless Championship side — who lost Gary Megson after just six weeks to Premiership strugglers Bolton — until Andriy Shevchenko equalised with three minutes to play.
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/ 29 October 2007
New Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had only a few words to say to his players after he saw Blackburn come from behind to win 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Sunday. He told them: ”The hard work starts tomorrow.” That work involves instilling a belief in a side that is not short on talent but has forgotten how to win.
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/ 29 October 2007
Arsenal regained first place in the Premier League on Sunday thanks to a Cesc Fabregas equaliser in an entertaining 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. The Gunners trailed to Steven Gerrard’s seventh-minute free kick but the inspirational Fabregas stole in with 10 minutes remaining to give the visitors a deserved share of the points.
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/ 28 October 2007
Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez fired Manchester United back to the top of the Premier League on Saturday, as Chelsea served warning that their own title challenge is still alive after the departure of Jose Mourinho. United’s 4-1 demolition of Middlesbrough at Old Trafford continued a rich vein of form for the champions, who have won eight consecutive matches in the league.
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/ 21 October 2007
Arsene Wenger saluted Arsenal’s spirit after his Premier League table-toppers maintained their dream start to the season with a 2-0 win over Bolton. Second-half goals from Kolo Toure and Tomas Rosicky were enough to consolidate the London club’s two-point lead and provided a timely lift before encounters with Liverpool and Manchester United.
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/ 19 October 2007
When Avram Grant sent his Chelsea players away for international duty last week, he must have thought he was beginning to get the troubled club back on track. The storm of controversy generated by Jose Mourinho’s dramatic exit and Grant’s ascension as his replacement had finally dissipated after wins over Valencia and Bolton.
Manchester United finally found their goal-scoring touch on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Wigan that lifted them top of the Premier League for the first time this season. Cristiano Ronaldo got two goals and Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez also scored to give United 20 points — one more than Arsenal, who hosts Sunderland on Sunday.
Arsène Wenger may be going for a fourth Premier League title, but he continues to rethink and revise his methods. ”Success is paralysing,” says the Frenchman. ”If you don’t change anything, three years later you are suddenly not successful and you don’t know why. You want to repeat quality but also to improve quality, so you have to change.