Manchester United take seven-goal thriller to top EPL table

By Ashley Williams

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) December 2, 2012: Manchester United expanded their lead to three points on top of the table in the Barclays English Premier League 2012-13 on Saturday after winning a seven-goal nail-biting thriller at struggling Reading who put everything on the line.

With all the goal-scoring action confining to first half, the Manchester United showed experience and ability to cope up with the pressure as it was only the fourth match in the history of English Premier League in which the lead changed hands thrice and first time since February 12, 2000.

Reading took the lead through Hal Robson-Kanu and enjoyed the advantage again with Sean Morrison’s header at 3-2 but the Red Devils kept coming at them all the time and not only killed the advantage on both occasions but also took the match winning lead which they defended all second half.

Anderson hit one goal, Wayne Rooney scored a brace while Robin van Persie also chipped in with a goal as Manchester United achieved a classic victory at the Madejski Stadium.

The match saw two contrasting halves as seven goals were scored in the first half but the second part failed to produce even a single one which largely suited Manchester United who have started feeling the confidence on top of the EPL table with three points lead after their rivals Manchester City were held for a 1-1 draw at home to Everton.

The English Premier League 2012-13 title race has become an interesting one because only the top two teams are looking well enough to fight for the honors as Manchester United have 36 points from 15 matches while Manchester City have 33 points. The next three teams are Chelsea FC, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Bromwich Albion all having 26 points each.

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Manchester United enter UEFA Champions League last-16 stage

Monitoring Desk

LONDON, England (TheSportsNEXT) November 8, 2012: Manchester United became the first British side through to this season's UEFA Champions League knockout stage after coming from behind to beat rivals Braga 3-1, the official FIFA website reported.

Needing just a point to assure their qualification to the last 16, United fell behind to a penalty from Alan just after half-time, but strikes from Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez ensured the Red Devils maintained their perfect record in this year's competition.

United lead the group on 12 points after four matches, while defeat for Braga leaves them bottom on three points, one behind both Galatasaray and Cluj following the Turkish champions 3-1 win in Romania.

"I think we were all disappointed (we didn't progress from the group stage last year)," said Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs. "It was not good enough and we knew we had to do something about it and we have. Long may it continue."

Alex Ferguson elected to make six changes to the side that defeated Arsenal at the weekend, with Chris Smalling making his first start of the campaign after recovering from a metatarsal injury suffered during pre-season, while Robin van Persie was only named among the substitutes.

Jonny Evans was one of five holdovers from Saturday's victory over the Gunners, but his misjudgement of Douglao's over-hit pass allowed Eder an early chance, the striker sneaking in behind the defence only to see his low effort flash across the face of goal.

More hesitant defending, this time from Smalling, then enabled Ruben Micael to run at United's backline and fire just wide from the edge of the box. With the English giants very much on the back foot, Braga were unfortunate not to take the lead midway through the first half as Eder's diving header cannoned back off the foot of the post.

Alan, who scored twice against United in a 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, then forced a smart low save from David de Gea. However, United's resistance was broken four minutes after half-time as Braga were awarded a penalty after Evans blocked off Custodio just inside the box.

Alan stepped up and duly converted for his fourth goal of the group phase. But the game was interrupted only a few minutes later as a generator broke down, leaving the stadium shrouded in darkness and the players ordered back to the changing rooms.

With power restored roughly ten minutes later, play resumed and only a sprawling save from De Gea kept out Nuno Andre Coelho's free-kick.

Braga, winners of their past four ties against English opposition on home soil without conceding a goal in that time, had been relatively untroubled for most of the evening but the introduction of Van Persie for Danny Welbeck proved to be a tactical masterstroke by Ferguson.

The Dutchman capitalised on a rash decision from Beto as he rushed off his line only to be left stranded as Van Persie clipped the ball over the Braga goalkeeper to draw United level with ten minutes remaining.

The visitors then went ahead after Rooney slotted home from the spot after the England striker was felled by Coelho. A late third from Hernandez completed United's turnaround, extending their unbeaten run in Portugal to five matches, leaving Braga to rue their late collapse.

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Spain, Germany, England shine in 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

By Steve Roberts

Lionel Messi finally silences his critics by scoring goals for Argentina

LONDON (TheSportsNEXT) October 13, 2012: World and European champion Spain romped to a 24th straight qualifying win on Friday, although no one in the country was able to see it.

 

Pedro Rodriguez scored a hat trick as the world's best team routed host Belarus 4-0 in one of a group of big wins for Europe's leading nations in 2014 World Cup qualifying.

Radamel Falcao

Yet, celebrations were muted in the debt-ridden country after no broadcaster paid to televise the national team's match for the first time in 29 years.

Spain's wasn't the most convincing win of the third round of regional qualifiers, with Germany handing Ireland its worst loss since 1971, 6-1 at Dublin.

Wayne Rooney celebrated being handed the temporary England captaincy by scoring twice in a routine 5-0 win over San Marino, taking his goal total in international matches to 31, fifth on the country's all-time list.

But Italy was again unconvincing in beating Armenia 3-1, and the Netherlands managed only a comfortable 3-0 win over Andorra, which is 201st in the rankings.

However, Euro 2012 semifinalist Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, couldn't make the most of its dominance against Russia and lost 1-0 in a match between the top two teams in Group F.

Cristiano Ronaldo keeps goal-scoring form

The Portuguese are three points behind Russia, which is unbeaten under new coach Fabio Capello and has three straight wins in qualifying.

Also, Belgium enhanced its burgeoning reputation as a growing force in Europe with a 3-0 win in Serbia, which lost a home World Cup qualifier for the first time in more than 10 years.

Sweden and the Czech Republic needed second-half rallies to avoid draws against weak competition, beating Faeroe Islands 2-1 and Malta 3-1, respectively.

The victory for the Swedes left them second in Group C, three points behind Germany ahead of their meeting in Berlin on Tuesday.

The third straight qualifying victory for Germany was launched by Marco Reus' goals in the 32nd and 40th minutes before Mesut Oezil's penalty kick and goals by Miroslav Klose and Toni Kroos (two) turned it into a rout.

Spain warmed up for its Group I match against France, which surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to Japan in a friendly on Friday, by stretching its winning run in qualifying that dates back to September 2007.

Pedro set up Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba for the opener before scoring the remaining three goals himself in Minsk, putting Spain ahead of France on goal difference. Both countries have six points and only one team qualifies automatically from each group.

Spain, seeking an unprecedented fourth straight major international tournament trophy, is enjoying a golden era in its soccer history, but that still didn't persuade broadcasters to pay for coverage.

Wayne Rooney

The blackout came after the producer, Sport Five, failed to reach a deal with any Spanish television channel. This was the first time a Spain match was not broadcast at home since 1983, when the team visited Malta.

Rooney was playing for England for the first time since Euro 2012 and was given the captain's role with Steven Gerrard suspended and Frank Lampard sidelined with injury. Rooney marked the occasion by joining Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck in scoring twice at Wembley Stadium.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also scored for the hosts, who moved to the top of Group H.

It wasn't such a good night for Oxlade-Chamberlain's Arsenal teammate, Theo Walcott, who will spend the night in a hospital after colliding with goalkeeper Aldo Junior Simoncini early in the game.

Russia's winner against Portugal came with its only shot on goal in the first half, Alexander Kerzhakov scoring in the sixth minute.

Ronaldo, who has scored six times in his last three Spanish league games for Real Madrid, barely had a sniff in Moscow.

''Maybe we weren't as calm as we usually are,'' said Portugal coach Paulo Bento, whose team is the only leading European nation not to be atop its group at this stage.

Eddie Johnson scored two goals for the United States, including the winner in second-half injury time, in a 2-1 victory over Antigua and Barbuda. The road win put the Americans in position to advance to CONCACAF's final qualifying round if they draw with Guatemala on Tuesday night in Kansas City, Kan.

Guatemala beat Jamaica 2-1 on Friday night.

In Group B, Mexico was held scoreless for more than 75 minutes by Guyana, but wound up winning 5-0 to stay perfect. Costa Rica held onto second place in the group by winning 1-0 at El Salvador.

Canada beat undermanned Cuba 3-0 in Group C. The Cubans had only 11 players for the game, and finished with 10 after striker Roberto Linares was ejected for a challenge that crumpled captain Kevin McKenna. Four players left the team in Toronto.

In the other Group C game, Honduras and Panama tied 0-0.

In South American qualifying, host Argentina took the overall lead with 17 points as Lionel Messi scored two second-half goals and Sergio Aguero added another. Messi scored in the 66th and added another with a free kick in the 80th while Aguero scored in the 75th.

Alejandro Chumacero scored in the second half to lift host Bolivia into a 1-1 draw with Peru, while Colombia beat Paraguay 2-0.

Radamel Falcao scored two second-half goals as Colombia improved to 16 points in eight matches - among the leaders in qualifying - and left Paraguay with only four points from five matches, the worst record among the nine teams.

Felipe Caicedo scored twice as Ecuador defeated Chile 3-1 in Quito. Ecuador improved to 16 points, Chile has 12.

Read Original Article here: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/spain-germany-england-scoring-form-230658511--sow.html

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