Soccer Sports News & Betting

Aalborg beats Celtics 2-1 in Champions League.
Gary Caldwell’s late own-goal gave Aalborg a 2-1 win in the Champions League on Tuesday, but neither team was left with a chance to reach the knockout stage.

Andreas Johansson sent a cross into the area in the 87th and Glen Looven’s attempted clearance hit Caldwell, who deflected it into his own net for Aalborg’s winner. However, neither team can advance from Group E after Manchester United drew 0-0 at Villarreal to ensure spots in the knockout round.

Barry Robson had put the Scottish team ahead in the 53 minute by heading in a cross from Mark Wilson. Caca equalized for the host with a powerful low shot in the 73rd minute past goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

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Lyon beats Fiorentina 2-1 in Champions League.

Lyon advanced to the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina.
Jean Makoun put the French team ahead in the 15th minute on a close-in shot after Fiorentina had opened the game in attack. Karim Benzema made it 2-0 in the 27th, before Alberto Gilardino pulled one back for the host shortly before halftime.

The loss leaves Fiorentina unable to accumulate enough points to advance with one game left. Lyon is at the top of Group F, level with Bayern Munich, which defeated Steaua Bucharest 3-0 and also advanced.

After the first goal, Fiorentina continued to control possession while Lyon focused on counter attacks, with Benzema doubling the lead after Fiorentina’s Riccardo Montolivo lost the ball at midfield.

“The disappointment is more in having lost the earlier games rather than just this one,” Montolivo said. “Today we made a few errors and they punished us, that’s how football is. We gave our soul, but didn’t manage.”

Gilardino headed in a long cross to make it 2-1 and had several chances for an equalizer in the second half.

Juninho hit the crossbar twice on free kicks from 40 yards and Ederson did the same on a volley from the edge of the area.

Fiorentina also hit the post twice, first with Adrian Mutu on a header in the 44th and then when Zdravko Kuzmanovic’s second-half shot deflected off a Lyon defender and almost found the net.

FC Porto beats Fenerbahce 2-1. Lisandro Lopez scored two first-half goals Tuesday to give FC Porto a 2-1 win over Fenerbahce and a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Lopez gave Porto the lead in the 19th minute when he volleyed in from inside the area at Sukru Saracoglu stadium. He scored again in the 28th, receiving a long pass from Jorge Fucile and pouncing on the rebound after Fenerbahce goalkeeper Volkan Demirel blocked his initial attempt.

Spain striker Dani Guiza had a good chance for Fenerbahce when he was set up clean inside the box, but lifted the ball well over the crossbar in the 47th minute. In the 63rd, Fenerbahce substitute Kazim Kazim’s angled shot from outside the area deflected over Bruno Alves and sailed over Porto goalkeeper Helton.

Porto and Arsenal each qualified for the next round from Group G with wins. Arsenal beat Dynamo Kiev and has 11 points, while Porto has nine, four more than Dynamo.

Despite the loss, the fans chanted the name of Fenerbahce winger Gokhan Gonul, applauding him for his performance at the end of the match.

Bayern beats Steaua 3-0. Miroslav Klose scored two goals and set up Luca Toni for another Tuesday to give Bayern Munich a 3-0 win over Steaua Bucharest and a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League.

The two strikers scored within four minutes of each other in the second half to give Bayern 11 points in Group F and assure the Bundesliga champions of finishing in the top two with one game remaining.

Lyon won at Fiorentina 2-1 and will play Bayern at home for first place in the group in the final round. Both teams are now sure of advancing.

Klose scored from close range in the 57th and Toni headed in his first Champions League goal in the 61st. Klose added the third in the 71st.

“After we missed many early chances I was worried that we would give away a stupid goal,” Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann said. “But we knew that eventually we would score.

“We are very pleased, it looked very good,” he said.

The first goal came after good work by Ze Roberto on the left flank but Toni failed to connect with the Brazilian’s cross. The ball rolled over to the other side, Massimo Oddo sent it back into the penalty area, Franck Ribery flicked it over with this head and Klose stepped in to put into the net.

It was Klose who flicked the ball over for Toni four minutes later and the Italian dived to head into the net.

Bayern’s third came after a lightning move on the flank. Ze Roberto won possession deep in Bayern’s half, gave a long pass to Ribery, who shook off a defender and raced into Steaua’s half to leave the visitors outnumbered. Toni created the space for Klose and the Germany striker easily prodded the ball home.

Ribery, playing in his new, neon-pink shoes, ended with two assists and also had a big game alongside Klose.

“He is world class,” Klinsmann said of Ribery. “He gives an element of surprise to our game.”

Toni had four early chances and one of them was foiled by a reflex save by Steaua goalkeeper Robinson Zapata. All of Toni’s opportunities were set up by Klose, who was toying with Steaua’s defense, using his pace to run around opponents.

Steaua hardly came out of its half in the first 10 minutes but Bayern could not translate its pressure into goals.

The Romanian side got back into the game and Mirel Radoi’s volley in the 24th narrowly missed Bayern’s goal.

The game was more even at the start of the second half but Steaua collapsed after giving up the first goal, although Antonio Semedo had a good effort late in the match.

Substitute Tim Borowski had a close-range effort parried by Zapata on the other side.

Zenit and Juventus play to 0-0 draw. Zenit St. Petersburg was held to a 0-0 draw by Juventus on Tuesday, dealing a serious blow to the Russian club’s hopes of advancing to the Champions League knockout stage.

Juventus, which had already secured a place in the final 16, leads Group H with 11 points after five games.

Zenit has five points, one behind Real Madrid, which played at last-place BATE Borisov later Tuesday and could secure advancement with a win.

Juventus threatened first and Vincento Iaquinta shaved the crossbar with a header from Mauro Camonaresi’s cross from the right just two minutes into the game.

Seven minutes later, Olof Mellberg hit the left post after another cross from the right.

Iaquinta hit the post in the 22nd.

“In the first half, we capitalized on Zenit’s defense mistakes and I had perfect opportunities,” Iaquinta said. “It was the post who saved them, not the goalkeeper.”

Iaquinta said it was difficult to play a high-quality game on the tough wet pitch after heavy snowfall in St. Petersburg.

Zenit dominated possession for much of the game, but the UEFA Cup champion failed to break through the disciplined Juventus defense to create clear chances.

“We needed to win this match, but the draw is a logical result,” Zenit coach Dick Advocaat said. “We again squandered many scoring opportunities and I’m really disappointed.”

Zenit had two shots on goal from free kicks and Ivica Krizanac’s goal late in the first half was disallowed for offside.

Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev stopped Alessandro Del Piero’s shot in the 47th, and also saved the Italy forward’s free kick five minutes later.

Alexander Manninger made his first good save of the game in the 50th when Danny forced him to leap to push an unexpected shot for a corner.

Iaquinta came close in the 55th but fired right into Malafeev’s hands.

Zenit’s best chance in the match came on a sharp counterattack in the 66th. Andrei Arshavin broke down the left flank and Danny was close to meet his cross just six meters away from the goal but Del Piero stretched his leg out to prevent the Portuguese striker from getting a good shot.

“We had no intention to lose and I had to play in defense as well,” Del Piero said.

Del Piero, who secured Juventus’ 1-0 win against Zenit in the group opener in September, had another free kick on target before he was substituted for Sebastian Giovinco in the 78th.

Danny then missed the target in the 82nd and had his shot blocked one minute into injury time.

“My partners created quite a number of chances for me,” Danny said. “If I had scored just one goal, all would have been in our hands but now we have to hope BATE will help us.”

Madrid beats BATE to qualify for knockout stage. Raul Gonzalez scored an early goal Tuesday to help Real Madrid beat BATE Borisov 1-0 and earn a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Spain forward scored in the seventh minute by sending a shot over the goalkeeper and off the underside of the crossbar from 12 meters (yards) after a cross from winger Royston Drenthe.

The win gives Madrid nine points after five games and puts it through to the knockout stage along with Juventus, which leads Group H with 11 points after a 0-0 draw against Zenit St. Petersburg on Tuesday. Zenit is third with five points, while BATE is last with two.

“We wanted to settle the issue of qualification here, tonight,” Madrid manager Bernd Schuster said.

Madrid missed the chance to double the lead in the 17th when Argentina forward Javier Saviola sent a shot straight at goalkeeper Sergei Vermenko from the edge of the penalty area.

Drenthe threatened again 10 minutes before half time, but was denied by a last-ditch sliding tackle from Vitali Kazatsev.

Despite the cold weather, Madrid looked solid and the hosts rarely threatened in the first half, with most of their build-up play intercepted by before they reached their opponents’ penalty box.

“We defended very well, and starting quite far from our penalty area,” Schuster said.

After 15 minutes of the second half, BATE had the chance to equalize after a slip by Madrid defender Gabriel Heinze allowed striker Gennady Bliznyuk time on the edge of the penalty area, but his powerful shot veered wide of the left post.

Moments later, Saviola sent a shot high and wide on a Madrid counter attack.

Vitaly Rodoinov went past Madrid defender Pepe in the 66th, but Sergio Ramos slid across the edge of his penalty area to block the shot.

BATE had its best chance a few minutes later, when Mikhail Sivakov sent a backheel to Bliznyuk, who’s shot went wide of Iker Casillas’ left post.

The Belarusians put on another forward in the 70th to create more attacking options but left more space for Madrid’s forwards to operate.

Raul curled a 20-meter shot toward the goal that Vermenko tipped onto the crossbar and out for a corner.

English Football Results. Results Tuesday in English football (home teams listed first):

League Championship

Birmingham 2, Ipswich 1

Blackpool 0, Sheffield Wednesday 2

Bristol City 1, Watford 1

Cardiff 2, Reading 2

Coventry 1, Swansea 1

Derby 2, Preston 2

Doncaster 0, Nottingham Forest 0

Norwich 1, Crystal Palace 2

Queens Park Rangers 2, Charlton 1

Sheffield United 1, Wolverhampton 3

Southampton 0, Plymouth 0

League One

Cheltenham 0, Southend 0

Colchester 1, Yeovil 0

Hartlepool 1, Bristol Rovers 1

Huddersfield 0, Leyton Orient 1

Leicester 2, Crewe 1

Millwall 1, Carlisle 0

Milton Keynes Dons 3, Hereford 0

Northampton 2, Leeds 1

Oldham 3, Walsall 2

Stockport 2, Brighton 0

Swindon 2, Peterborough 2

Tranmere 2, Scunthorpe 0

League Two

Aldershot 2, Lincoln 0

Bournemouth 0, Morecambe 0

Bradford 3, Chesterfield 3

Darlington 1, Chester 2

Exeter 1, Rotherham 1

Gillingham 1, Rochdale 1

Luton 0, Brentford 1

Macclesfield 1, Grimsby 0

Notts County 0, Wycombe 2

Port Vale 0, Barnet 0

Shrewsbury 2, Dagenham & Redbridge 1.

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Tuesday’s Champions League Results.
(Home teams listed first)

First Round

Group E

Aalborg (Denmark) 2, Celtic (Scotland) 1

Villarreal (Spain) 0, Manchester United (England) 0

Group F

Bayern Munich (Germany) 3, Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 0

Fiorentina (Italy) 1, Lyon (France) 2

Group G

Arsenal (England) 1, Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 0

Fenerbahce (Turkey) 1, FC Porto (Portugal) 2

Group H

BATE Borisov (Belarus) 0, Real Madrid (Spain) 1

Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) 0, Juventus (Italy) 0.

FIFA suspends Peru from international soccer.
FIFA suspended Peru from international soccer Tuesday because the government is feuding with the national federation.

Soccer’s governing body gave the sides a month to settle their differences before its executive committee discusses the issue at a meeting Dec 19-20 in Tokyo. Peru is barred from the 2010 World Cup and could be expelled from FIFA.

FIFA rules prohibit political interference in soccer, but Peru’s government has refused to recognize the election of Manuel Burga as president of the country’s soccer federation.

The federation can return to good standing “on the basis of negotiations” with the president and the federation board, FIFA said. The board was elected in October 2007.

Burga refused to resign Tuesday.

“I’m not going to submit to blackmail or any of those kinds of pressures,” he said. “I’ve done everything legally and I don’t have any reason to run.”

Peru’s education and sports ministry told the Peruvian congress in October that Burga is to blame for violating Peruvian law and the government has every right to hold him responsible.

Peru is last in the 10-nation South American qualifying group and is not to play again until a March 28 home game against Chile.

The dispute already has cost Peru hosting rights for the South American under-20 championship next year. Venezuela will stage the tournament instead.

Peruvian clubs are prohibited from playing teams from other countries following the FIFA ruling. Referees and officials from Peru are also barred from taking part in international games and soccer meetings while the suspension is in place.

Zenit at full strength for Juventus in CL.
Zenit St. Petersburg knows it needs a win against Italian powerhouse Juventus on Tuesday to keep its hopes alive of advancing to the Champions League knockout stage.

Juventus travels to Russia having already secured a place in the last 16, leading Group H with 10 points after four games. That leaves Zenit and Real Madrid battling for the second spot, with the Spanish champion second on six points, two ahead of its Russian rival with two rounds remaining.

With Real expected to earn another win against last-place Belarusian side BATE Borisov on Tuesday, Zenit must win to remain in the chase. Real hosts Zenit in the last round.

Both Juventus and Zenit will rely on their playmakers to dictate the offense, with Italy forward Alessandro del Piero squaring off against Russia midfielder Andrei Arshavin.

Del Piero scored with a powerful free kick to give Juventus a 1-0 win in Turin in September.

“We will have to be very careful around our penalty box not to foul,” Zenit captain Anatoly Tymoshchuk said.

Zenit’s Dutch coach Dick Advocaat promised an exciting display.

“Zenit will play its own game, with an accent on attacking football,” he said.

Juventus will also have to cope with a hostile Petrovsky Stadium crowd, and the weather. The Italians’ flight was delayed for two hours because of a snow storm over St. Petersburg, and similar, subzero conditions are forecast for Tuesday night.

A further boost for the hosts came this weekend, when Argentine midfielder Alejandro Dominguez returned from injury, meaning Advocaat has a full-strength squad.

The same cannot be said for Juventus, whose Portuguese midfielder Tiago Mendes is unlikely to play and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is out injured.

Both teams have shown good form ahead of the game, although Juventus lost a Serie A clash against leader Inter Milan over the weekend, ending a five-game win streak. Zenit, meanwhile, won its last league match of the Russian season 3-1 against Spartak Moscow.

Villarreal and Man United clash in Europe.
Villarreal and Manchester United meet on Tuesday with top spot in their Champions League group on the line.

Both clubs are tied atop Group E with eight points - six clear of Celtic and Aalborg - with a draw being enough to see both progress to the last 16.

Defending champion Manchester United hasn’t lost in eight away matches but has only one prior victory in 17 trips to Spain. The Red Devils are unbeaten in 17 straight European games.

Man United manager Alex Ferguson is ready to start Cristiano Ronaldo despite the Portugal winger limping out of a frustrating 0-0 draw with Aston Villa that left the defending Premier League champions eight points behind pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool.

Ferguson said Ronaldo had a taken “a couple whacks on Saturday and a few cuts, but nothing serious.”

“I’d rather leave him out but he wants to play,” Ferguson said. “When a player shows that kind of enthusiasm you don’t curtail it, you encourage it.”

Ronaldo provides a boost to Ferguson’s offense, which will be without striker Dimitar Berbatov due to a hamstring injury.

The Red Devils are already without the injured Wes Brown, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves and recent matches have taken their toll with defender Gary Neville and striker Danny Welbeck also out. Darren Fletcher is racing to return from a knee injury while Tomasz Kuszczak will replace Edwin van der Sar in goal.

“It’s a matter of judging the right time and occasions of when you are going to introduce different players,” Ferguson said. “The rest is when you have injuries. Circumstances dictate.”

Villarreal has never lost a home game in European Cup play, but is coming off an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Valladolid for its first defeat at El Madrigal stadium in nearly a year.

Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini expects a better outing after the club saw its 17-match unbeaten run - stretching to last season - snapped as Villarreal dropped to third, four points behind leader Barcelona.

But consecutive league disappointments - Villarreal allowed a last-minute equalizer the week before at Malaga - had Pellegrini sounding like he would be happy with another draw.

“Clearly, our first objective is to qualify and then to finish first. If we are, even better, but we qualify with a draw and that would keep us happy,” the Chilean coach said after the end of his team’s unbeaten start to the season.

Giuseppe Rossi looks set to start against his former club with fellow strikers Nihat Kahveci and Joseba Llorente out to injury and Jozy Altidore unavailable. Midfielder Diego Godin is also missing because of a hamstring problem.

The Red Devils fear that Rossi could come back to haunt them after the 21-year-old striker left Old Trafford in 2007 after three years and just five appearances.

Ferguson praised Rossi and Pellegrini, whose success at Villarreal he compared to the late Nottingham Forest coach Brian Clough and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger.

“To do that from small resources which Villarreal have, which are nowhere near the resources of Real Madrid, Barcelona and even Valencia, they are a fantastic team,” Ferguson said. “Pellegrini sculpts Villarreal as his team.”

It will be Rossi’s first meeting against his former club after missing the first-leg match to injury. The young striker has sounded a warning about his former teammates.

“English football is much faster, more direct and more physical, while in Spain it’s much more technical with more possession,” he said. “It’s going to be a game with a lot of options and dangerous chances at both ends, and I hope we can take advantage of our own.”

United is eager to secure a place in the knockout phase after having missed a chance earlier this month when held 1-1 by Celtic.

United have been the competition’s steadiest team with only one goal conceded through four matches and can count on center back Rio Ferdinand, who returned from injury to play against Villa.

Ferguson said United was better placed to defend the Champions League title than after its previous success in 1999.

“We were very naive the next season (in 2000),” he said. “I think teams who watched us the previous season sussed us out tactically. (They) played attacking football … and that caught us out by surprise.

“We should have changed but we didn’t and we suffered. I think this year we have a better team a better squad and I think we can make those changes tactically.”

Camara goal gives Wigan 1-0 victory over Everton. Substitute Henri Camara lifted Wigan out of the relegation zone by scoring in a 1-0 victory over Everton on Monday.

The Senegalese striker’s 51st-minute goal six minutes after coming on ended Everton’s five-game unbeaten run and took Wigan from 18th to 15th in the congested Premier League standings. Everton stayed seventh and has only three points more than the Latics.

After Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland had made a one-handed save from Louis Saha, the home side created the better chances and Wilson Palacios headed a cross from Antonio Valencia over the bar in the 34th minute.

Everton’s American goalkeeper, Tim Howard, made two top quality saves just before halftime. Lee Cattermole dribbled through the Toffees’ defense but Howard blocked his curling shot, and the American then made a reflex stop from Paul Scharner’s header three meters out.

But Howard was beaten when Valencia eluded Joleon Lescott and swung over a cross from the right and Camara, looking suspiciously offside, escaped his markers to tap the ball home.

Tim Cahill had a close-range shot blocked off the line by a defender, and the Australia midfielder fired over the bar in injury time.

In a League Championship match, Barnsley edged Burnley 3-2.