Football United

They’ve done it! HSV reached the group stages of the UEFA Cup, in a match with a storyline, which Agatha Christie would have been proud of. The final twist in the tail of a dramatic game came in the third minute of injury time, as the English referee Messias gave HSV a penalty which should never been given. Rafael van der Vaart slotted home the spot kick to give HSV a 1-0 victory over the Danish league leaders FC Copenhagen.

Moral support
HSV coach Thomas Doll was without Mehdi Mahdavikia, Bastian Reinhardt and Collin Benjamin because of injury, but was able to recall Khalid Boulahrouz and Raphael Wicky to the first team. The injured trio were in the sold our Parken stadium in Copenhagen to cheer their team mates on.



Danish wall unbreachable
The game began as expected, with the Danes playing two rows of four players in front of their penalty area, and HSV struggling to break down that Danish wall. Stefan Beinlich fired in an initial warning shot on 7 minutes, but HSV really struggled to make any kind of headway during the opening exchanges. A corner from the right by Beinlich found Sergej Barbarez in space inside the six yard box. Somehow the Bosnian blasted the ball just over the bar as it looked easier to score.

Wächter on his guard
The home side had only one chance during the first half and HSV’s keeper Wächter dealt with the threat well. The game remained goalless at half time. One couldn’t blame the home side for their defensive tactics; after all, a goalless draw would have sent them through to the group stages.



Injury time winner
The sell out crowd in the Parken stadium saw a similar start to the second half to that of the first. HSV had more possession, but was unable to crack the superb home defence. On 54 minutes, Benlich put Mpenza through with an excellent pass. The Belgian striker however blew his chance from a promising position. That chance signalled the start of a dramatic and exciting period of the match. Jarolim was booked for diving, and the referee saw a hand ball and gave HSV an extremely dubious penalty. The home side can rightly feel hard done by because as the ball struck the arm of a Danish defender, his arm was pressed right against his body. Barbarez took the crucial spot kick poorly, and Danish keeper Christiansen easily saved the effort diving to his right.

Boulah sent off!
On 84 minutes there was further drama, as Khalid Boulahrouz was sent off for a clumsy foul. The game became a more open affair the nearer the final whistle came. Copenhagen began to attack which finally gave HSV more room to operate. Thomas Doll was sent to the stands by the referee and the game became more heated as the referee issued several yellow cards.



Final drama
Just as the home side and their brilliant fans thought that they were into the group stages of the UEFA Cup, there was a final twist in the tail in a game which was not to be topped regarding drama. In the third minute of injury time, the referee gave an almost identical penalty as the first. Once again the arm of the Danish defender was pressed against his body and the penalty was given anyway. This time, Dutch ace van der Vaart took the spot kick and blasted tit past Christiansen to give HSV a remarkable and it must be said very lucky win.



FC Kopenhagen: Christiansen - Jacobsen, Svensson (82.Thomassen), Gravgaard, Bergdölmo - Linderoth, van Heerden (87.Röll), Silberbauer, Fredgaard - Möller, Santos

Hamburger SV: Wächter - Demel, Boulahrouz, van Buyten, Atouba - Wicky (61.Trochowski), Jarolim (72.Takahara), Beinlich, van der Vaart - Barbarez, Mpenza (83.Lauth)

Goal: 0:1 van der Vaart (90+2)



Source: Hsv.de

The Monumental de Nuñez stadium may have seen the home team eliminated form the South American Cup, but at least River Plate went out after a far better match than the first leg borefest at Morumbi a fortnight ago.

Antônio Lopes made his debut in charge of the Timão, but all eyes were on Carlitos Tevez in his return to the River stadium. Tevez had accumulated a reputation for burying River Plate in the derbies with Boca, and now came back wearing a Brazilian shirt. Cue high degree of ‘morbo’.

With the goalless draw, Corinthians had at least avoided suffering any potentially fatal away goals and had the advantage of knowing that their goals now valued double. River, however, hadn’t given up and Santana (15 min) put the Millionaires ahead from a left wing cross.

Corinthians, however, kept a cool collective head and continued to wear down the hosts via lightning breaks down the flanks, principally with young gun Eduardo ‘Ratinho’. His opposite number on the left, Gustavo Nery, wasn’t to be left out, hitting Lux’s woodwork.

Gallardo was effectively sidelined by heavy Alvinegro marking, so the more confident post-goal River attacks were left toothless. 29 minutes in Tevez almost got the equaliser, robbing the ball from a butter-fingered Lux but falling foul of the offside rule.

Roger and Gustavo Nery dominated the start of the second half with a series of progressive wall passes down River’s right bank, but their final shots were found wanting in either speed or positioning. The Millionaires almost netted the classification soon after.

With 15 minutes to go, Ernesto Farias dribbled Corinthians full-back Marinho, but fluffed his opportunity in front of Fábio Costa. The hammer blow came in injury time, Marinho (91 min) getting his head to a ricocheted corner to silence the Monumental Del Nuñez and put Corinthians into the quarter-finals on away goals.

RIVER PLATE: Germán Lux; Christian Alvarez, Leonardo Talamonti, Leandro Fernández, Lucas Mareque; Sambueza (Montenegro), Jonathan Santana, Andrés San Martín (Ahumada), Gallardo; Gustavo Oberman (Patiño), Ernesto Farias.

CORINTHIANS: Fábio Costa; Eduardo, Betão, Marinho, Gustavo Nery; Marcelo Mattos, Bruno Octavio, Hugo (Bobô), Fabrício (Carlos Alberto); Roger, Tevez.

GOALS: 1-0, Santana (15'); 1-1, Marinho (91')

Source: goal.com

Strikes from Søren Larsen and Hamit Altintop enabled FC Schalke 04 to come from behind twice and cancel out AC Milan goals from Clarence Seedorf and Andriy Shevchenko in a pulsating 2-2 draw in UEFA Champions League Group E.

Early excitement
The game got off to a blistering start with Seedorf opening the scoring and Larsen equalising in three furious minutes. Both sides were evenly matched after that but the drama unfolded again after the break when substitute Altintop annulled Shevchenko's header with an arcing effort from distance.

Schalke unchanged
Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick looked to the same eleven that defeated Hannover 96 2-0 on Saturday, leaving captain Ebbe Sand, who has recovered from a back injury, on the bench. Rangnick's opposite number Carlo Ancelotti made two changes to the team that scored two unanswered goals against Treviso FC on Sunday. Cafu returned at right-back for Jaap Stam with Kakha Kaladze replacing Serginho on the other flank.

Seedorf strike
The tie could not have begun in more disappointing fashion for Schalke and their experienced goalkeeper Frank Rost. With 25 seconds on the clock, Alberto Gildardino found Seedorf in space and the Dutch international immediately released a low, curling shot from 23 metres to beat Rost, who let the ball slip under the palm of his hand.

Larsen equaliser
It was the third-fastest goal in Champions League history, but Schalke seemed unfazed and quickly regrouped to bounce back. Kevin Kuranyi flicked into the path of Lincoln and the Brazilian saw his strike deflect off Alessandro Nesta and fall kindly for Larsen, who was left with an easy header to beat Dida and level matters.

Further chancesB
oth sides continued to look lively and the visitors came close to renewing their advantage on ten minutes. Kaká's free-kick found Paolo Maldini but his header went wide of the target and dropped just beyond the reach of Shevchenko's desperate lunge. Schalke countered immediately but Kuranyi's aim too was slightly askew.

Lincoln effort
The 23-year-old striker was the hosts' most potent outlet and almost scored after showing excellent control 12 minutes from half-time, but he fired wide and Lincoln could do no better with a free-kick four minutes later. It had been a lively first half and neither coach saw any reason to make changes at the interval - though the opening minutes of the second period tailed off significantly.

Shevchenko header
Schalke often overdid the trickery when attacking, while Milan seemed reluctant to threaten the home defence until their second goal arrived on 59 minutes. Maldini exploited space on the left wing and delivered a right-footed cross for Shevchenko, who beat Rost with a powerful header.

Altintop impact
With his team trailing again, Rangnick decided to make his first change, introducing Altintop for Fabian Ernst in midfield. And the Turkish international made a rapid impact, taking just two minutes before releasing a blistering shot that left Dida rooted to the spot.

Dida save
After twice coming from behind, Schalke almost stole all three points in the closing stages. Another Larsen header brought the best out of Dida, who turned the Danish international's effort around the post at full stretch, although in truth neither side deserved to lose on a memorable evening.

Source: uefa.com

Europe witnessed a true spectacle tonight as we brushed aside last season’s semi finalists PSV Eindhoven with a clear 3-0 victory - Alex de Souza starred, scoring two and assisting the other, but the whole team was worthy of credit as we got our first three points in Group E.

Marcio Nobre stepped in the team to feature in a re-shaped side due to Tuncay Þanlý’s injury, playing up front alone with Nicolas Anelka circling around him. Both played superbly and were moving around in constant motion to find and make space for the team. Alex de Souza certainly capitalised on that.

Selçuk Þahin, Marco Aurelio and Stephen Appiah are becoming something of a cult in midfield, all helping eachother when pressing for the ball whilst assisting the full backs’ defences of the wings. The trio battled immensely, each winning balls with their own style and quickly releasing it productively to create danger.

PSV’s threats were well studied. Jefferson Farfan was quickly shut down when in possession, while DaMarcus Beasley was blocked to near ineffectivity by the excellent Önder Turacý and Fabio Luciano. As our attacks built up, so did the corner kicks.

Another wicked corner by Alex was handled by Jan Venegoor of Hesselink in the area in a fashion Gomes would be proud of in goal. Referee Manuel Gonzales waited a second to see if Luciano was going to score, but he then pointed to spot, producing a yellow card for the PSV striker. Alex stepped up and stuck the ball into the top right hand corner for his second goal of the tournament so far. With minutes to go to the break the packed Saracoðlu was as jubilant as ever.

Selçuk should have made it 2-0 a minute later, as he broke into the area and had space to think and launch, but his shot was unacceptably wide. However, his ball winning was sound on the night, and it forced Venegoor of Hesselink into man handling him down after he pinched possession from him. He picked up his second booking and the Dutchman marched off to end his nightmare in Kadýköy.

Guus Hiddink now had to account for a one-man shortage at half time - as did Christoph Daum, who was probably seeing a more possible prospect of a second goal early on. Both sides remained unchanged after the break, but PSV’s urge for an equaliser and the gap created by Venegoor of Hesselink’s absence was beginning to show.

Anelka’s supreme confidence in every move combined with his blistering pace was tearing the visitors apart. This was surely to create clear-cut opportunities for more goals in the second half.



It was Alex’s exceptional first time long pass through to Anelka that started the second goal’s move. The Frenchman ran past his marker before entering the area and waiting for the entrances of his team-mates into the danger zone. He looked up and clipped a perfect ball for the oncoming Alex, who headed first time past Gomes; 2-0, 68 minutes gone.

PSV were working extremely hard to make up for their numerical deficit, but our midfield was closing all doors on Philip Cocu, Timmy Simmons and Ibrahim Afellay in the Dutch midfield. Eric Addo endured a torrid time with Ümit Özat frequently bursting forward to provide ammunition.

The fans were virtually playing the game, feeling every pass and sensing the flair before it even happened. As the songs became more celebrative, so did Fenerbahçe’s football of the game itself. Our Brazilian flair began to show - though not just by the star man Alex. Serkan Balcý played a fantastic game both defensively and offensively on the right. He dribbled his way between three PSV players after the second goal, before being brought down as he was preparing to cross.



The mood around the stadium was reflected on the final goal, a true summary of the form we’re currently in. Anelka, Alex and Selçuk combined in a move that had heads turning, with the Brazilian back heeling to Appiah through Selçuk’s dummy for the Ghanaian to score his first goal since signing, and the last of a wonderful evening.

Schalke 04 drew 2-2 at home to AC Milan in the other game of the group, coming back from behind twice to earn their only point so far. PSV follow us in third with the same points after Matchday 2.

Fenerbahçe: Volkan, Luciano, Önder, Serkan, Ümit, Appiah, Aurelio, Selçuk, Nobre, Alex, Anelka.

PSV Eindhoven: Gomes, Alex, Ooijer, Simons, Venegoor of Hesselink, Lucius, Addo, Farfan, Cocu, Affelan, Beasley.

Goal: Alex (40´ pen, 68´); Appiah 90+2´
Source: fenerbahce.org

Ruud van Nistelrooij struck a late winner as Manchester United FC overcame a tough challenge from Portuguese champions SL Benfica to go top of Group D with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.

Call answered
There were five minutes remaining when the Dutchman turned the ball in at the far post after Ryan Giggs's corner had ricocheted his way via Rio Ferdinand's head and Nuno Gomes's midriff. In doing so, the striker answered manager Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-match call for United's experienced attackers to make the difference on a night where they took the field with a decimated-looking defence.

Benfica unlucky
The absence of key players and a lack of confidence mean the 'Theatre of Dreams' may not be the place of opposition nightmares it used to be, but Van Nistelrooij's goal shows some things do not change. Prior to that, Benfica had looked destined for a draw after Simão's strike cancelled out Giggs's first-half free-kick on a night that served to underline the current uncertainties facing Sir Alex's side.

Warning shot
Benfica coach Ronald Koeman had suggested beforehand that United were "not at their best" and certainly injuries meant a makeshift look to their back line in which two 20-year-olds, Phil Bardsley and Kieran Richardson, filled the full-back positions. Koeman's men did not take long to threaten Edwin van der Sar's goal. First, Manuel Fernandes picked out Fabrizio Miccoli on the edge of the box and the Italian, stepping outside Ferdinand, rolled a warning shot wide.

Van der Sar busy
Miccoli did not have to wait long for his next opportunity, testing Van der Sar's fingertips with a strike across goal after John O'Shea had clumsily allowed Nuno Gomes's pass to slip through his legs. From the ensuing corner, the Dutch custodian was called into action again to keep out Ricardo Rocha's diving header. When these clubs met in the 1968 final at Wembley, they managed 42 shots between them and while a repeat here was never likely, Benfica were certainly enjoying more sights on goal than most visitors to Old Trafford.

Rooney suspended
Simão, after exchanging passes with Nuno Gomes, screwed an effort wide in the 21st minute, while United were struggling to make things happen without the suspended Wayne Rooney. Still, on 14 minutes the woodwork came to Benfica's rescue when Van Nistelrooij turned on Bardsley's low centre and flashed a right-footed drive which beat José Moreira but not the bar.

Deflected goal
Benfica, save for one or two timely Luisão interceptions, looked comfortable until the 39th minute and Giggs's opener. If United had reason to curse their misfortune with injuries, they certainly enjoyed a slice of luck here as the Welshman's free-kick deflected off the wall and flew past the wrong-footed Moreira.

Lovely cross
The second half opened with Cristiano Ronaldo sending a lovely cross into the danger zone which Van Nistelrooij just failed to reach, and the striker then saw a Giggs delivery bounce to safety off his heel after Moreira had missed the ball completely. If that offered United encouragement, they were left stunned when Simão fired Benfica level shortly before the hour with an exquisite free-kick after the Portuguese international had been felled by Alan Smith.

Late chances
Both sides saw a chance to win the match before Van Nistelrooij did just that. Luisão's careless header across the box landed at the feet of Ronaldo whose resulting shot struck the angle of the post and crossbar via Moreira's fingertips. At the other end, Van der Sar made a low scrambling save from Simão, although it was the keeper's countryman who had the final say.

Goals: 39´Giggs (1-0); 59´(1-1); 85´ Van Nistelrooij (2-1)

Source: Uefa.com

Red Star again was very good in attack, but defence again was poor. As coach Walter Zenga said after the game, only three points are good thing from this game.

In the first half, Purovic scored only goal after nice play from midfield. Purovic and Zigic had more chances to score but they weren't lucky to find way to the Obilic's goal. Zigic scored once but goal was disallowed becaues offside.

In the second half, Obilic scored first when Randjelovic made bad reaction on Ocokoljic's shot. But, Nikola Zigic with two goals gave to Red Star new lead. It looked like our team will easilly finish this game, but Tadic gave another chance to Obilic to come back in the game. Just few sconds later, Milanko Raskovic scored fourth goal for Red Star and Obilic's faith in this game was sealed. Interesting fact is that this is Raskovic's fourth goal in four games in which always was on the subs bench at the start.

CRVENA ZVEZDA: Randjelovic; Lukovic, Basta, Joksimovic, Dudic; Kovacevic, Mladenovic (Mudrinic, 46'), Trajkovic, Perovic (Dramani, 37'); Purovic (Raskovic, 73'), Zigic.

OBILIC: Djokic; Vanic, Ognjanovic, Marovic, Babic; Zajic, Mijatovic (Zivkovic, 70'), Ocokoljic, Popovic (Petrovic, 65'); Tadic, Stankovic (Stefanovic, 61').

GOALS: 1-0, Purovic (8'); 2-0, Zigic (59'); 2-1, Ocokoljic (51'); 3-1, Zigic, (67'); 3-2, Tadic (73'); 4-2, Raskovic (74')

MERIDIAN SUPERLEAGUE

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. OFK 7 18
2. Partizan 7 18
3. Crvena Zvezda 7 16
4. Zeta 7 13
5. Zemun 7 13

Source: fc-redstar.net

CSKA: Akinfeev; A. Berezutskiy, Shemberas, Berezutskiy V., Odia; Ignashevic, Rakhimic, Dudu (Salugin, 44'); Daniel Carvalho (Aldonin, 36'), Krasic (Samodin, 58'); Wagner Love

SPARTAK: Kowalewski; Iencsi, Kovac, Vidic, Clemente Rodrigues; Mozart (Kalinichenko, 67'); Vladimir Bistrov, Serghei Covalcui, Egor Titov (Nikita Bazhenov, 65'); Roman Pavlyuchenko, Mihailo Pjanovic (Fernando Cavenaghi, 72')

GOALS: 1-0, Daniel Carvalho (6')

PREMIER LEAGUE

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Lokomotiv 24 48
2. CSKA 24 46
3. Zenit 24 44
4. Spartak 24 42
5. Rubin 24 41

WISLA: Majdan; Kłos, Baszczyński, Głowacki, Dudka; Penksa, Cantoro, Sobolewski; Zieńczuk (Piotr Brożek, 83'), Kryszałowicz (Kuźba, 63'), Pawel Brożek (Gołoś. 76')

LECH: Kotorowski; Mowlik, Santos, Telichowski, Wójcik; Samba (Iwan, 55'), Scherfchen (Nawrocik, 59'), Świerczewski, Gajtkowski; Reiss, Zakrzewski (Topolski, 66')

GOALS: 1-0, Paweł Brożek (14'); 2-0, Paweł Brożek (32'); 3-0, Paweł Brożek (62'); 4-0, Zieńczuk (64'); 4-1, Gajtkowski (75'); 5-1, Penksa (87')

EKSTRAKLASSA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Wisla 7 17
2. Lech 8 14
3. Amica 8 14
4. Górnik 8 13
5. Groclin 8 13

Andriy Shevchenko scored his 150th goal for Milan as the Rossoneri ran out 2-0 winners at Treviso. The Ukrainian star opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 42 minutes after Alberto Gilardino had been fouled. Shevchenko’s strike-partner then added a second, with a diving header on 78 minutes to secure the points and get the side back to winning ways away from home.

With one eye on Wednesday’s Champions League tie at Schalke 04 in mind, Carlo Ancelotti made a number of changes to the starting line-up, with Jaap Stam at right-back and Serginho at left-back. Alessandro Nest continued in the centre of defence alongside Paolo Maldini. Andrea Pirlo had Rino Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf alongside him in midfield, leaving Kakà in the advanced role behind Shevchenko and Gilardino. In very warm conditions in Padova, Milan dominated early possession and Pirlo sent in a stinging shot from 25 metres which goalkeeper Adriano Zancope did well to parry away while at the other end Reginaldo almost got on the end of a low cross. The home side started to grow in confidence and Stam had to get across to block a Dino Fava shot. Milan came back through Seedorf who fired a drive across the area and only the covering of Marcello Cottafava denied Kakà a certain goal. It was a moment of class between Shevchenko and Kakà that led to the opener on 44 minutes as the pair exchanged one-touch passes on the edge of the area and the Brazilian played in Gilardino who was upended in the area by Zancope. Shevchenko stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way and celebrate drawing level with Jose Altafini in the Rossoneri goalscoring charts.

The second half saw Milan sit back in the early stages and once again Reginaldo came close as the striker sprinted on to a ball over the top of the defence but Dida raced from his line and although the ball was heading goalwards, Stam got back to clear. Ancelotti replaced the Dutch defender with Marcos Cafu soon after to give the side more attacking options down the right flank but it was Gattuso who went close with a snap-shot from the edge of the area. Kakà then played in Gilardino again, but the Italy international dragged his effort wide of the post. However, Gilardino made up for his error on 72 minutes as he dived full-stretch to head home a Gattuso header across the face of the goal. Rui Costa then came on for Shevchenko and almost immediately released Gilardino but once again the shot finished wide. Then in the final moments, Kakà combined with Rui Costa and Gilardino but after rounding the keeper could only fire into the side-netting.

TREVISO: Zancopè; Galeoto, Viali, Lorenzi, Cottafava; Giuliatto, E Filippini (Muntasser, 85'), Gallo; A Filippini (Parravicini, 75'); Reginaldo (Pinga, 67'), Fava

MILAN: Dida; Stam (Cafu, 53'), Nesta, Maldini, Serginho; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Kaladze, 71'); Kakà; Shevchenko (Rui Costa, 75'), Gilardino

GOALS: 0-1, Shevchenko (44', pen); 0-1, Gilardino (72')

SERIE A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Juventus 5 15
2. Inter 5 12
3. Livorno 5 11
4. Milan 5 10
5. Fiorentina 5 10

Source: acmilan.it

Craig Beattie boosted his chances of a regular starting place by bagging a match-winning brace as Celtic came from behind against Inverness Caley Thistle to keep the heat on leaders Hearts.

CELTIC: Boruc; Telfer, Balde, McManus (Virgo, 49'), Camara; Nakamura (Agathe, 87'), Sutton, Petrov, Maloney; Beattie, Hartson

INVERNESS: Brown; Tokely, Dods, Munro, Morgan; Proctor, Duncan, Wilson (McAllister, 88'), Fox (Hart, 75'); Wyness, Brewster (Dargo, 61')

GOALS: 0-1, Wyness (52'); 1-1, Beattie (58'); 2-1, Beattie (68')

PREMIER LEAGUE

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Hearts 8 24
2. Celtic 8 19
3. Hibernian 8 16
4. Kilmarnock 8 14
5. Rangers 8 13

Source: celticfc.net

JUVENTUDE: Fabiano; Chicão (Daniel), Antônio Carlos, Índio; Lucas, Wellington Monteiro, Fininho, Tucho (Caíco), Leandro Moreno; Marcelinho (Josiel), Enílton

BOTAFOGO: Max; Ruy, Rafael Marques, Scheidt, Bill; Leandro Carvalho, Diguinho, Zé Roberto (Emerson), Ramon (Almir); Reinaldo, Guilherme (Alex Alves)

SERIE A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Internacional 28 51
2. Corinthians 28 50
3. Fluminense 28 50
4. Goiás 28 47
5. Santos 28 47
...
8. Botafogo 28 41

ESTUDIANTES: Martín Herrera; Marcos Angeleri, Fernando Ortiz, Agustín Alayes, Juan Cáceres; Rodrigo Braña, Adrián Bastía, Marcelo Carrusca (Rodrigo Melendez , 64'), José Sosa (Carlos Araujo, 81'); Mariano Pavone, José Luis Calderón (José Chatruc, 87').

RIVER: Germán Lux; Cristian Alvarez, Leonardo Talamonti, Leandro Fernández; Lucas Mareque; Jonathan Santana (Diego Galván, 83'), Andrés San Martín, Jairo Patiño; Gastón Fernández (Víctor Zapata, 58'); Ernesto Farías; Gustavo Obermann (Daniel Montenegro, 58').

APERTURA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Boca Jrs 8 17
2. Veléz Sarsfield 8 16
3. Banfield 8 16
4. Independiente 8 15
5. San Lorenzo 8 15
...
12. River Plate 8 10

There was plenty at stake as Bayern Munich visited the AOL Arena in round 7 of the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon. Bayern was top of the table, four points clear of second placed HSV.The Bavarian giants were on a 15 game unbeaten run, their Hamburg counterparts were 14 games unbeaten. Add to that, that HSV hasn't beaten Bayern at home for nine years, so motivation was the least of coach Thomas Doll's problems.

Mediocre start
The hotly-anticipated clash began in a subdued mode, with Bayern opting to wait and see what the home side would do. They stood firm at the back making life difficult for the home side to make an impression during the early stages of the match. HSV had plenty of possession, but failed to find a gap in the Bayern defence. As Bayern had the ball, the dropped the tempo of the game and didn't try to go forward at speed.



Rafa on the ball!
It was a little surprising then, that the home side took the lead on 10 minutes, thanks to the 4th goal of the season by the Dutch master Rafael van der Vaart. A long diagonal ball was deflected by Karimi into the path of the-advancing van der Vaart, who left Oliver Kahn in the Bayern goal no chance with a fine low shot to Kahn's right from 14 metres out.

Superb HSV defence
The reigning double winners failed to find any kind of rhythm and the home defence which was being run by van Buyten and Boulahrouz, supported by the superb Atouba and Demel, had mega-dangerous dutch striker Roy Makaay under control all game. HSV displayed determination in their tackling and matched the Bavarian visitors in every department.Bayern began to get more possession, but rarely threatened the HSV goal during the first half. HSV deservedly went into the break a goal to the good.



Magath rings the changes
The former HSV hero Felix Magath who is nowadays Bayern's coach, brought on more fire power at the start of the second half with Schweinsteiger and Guerrero. The Munich side improved slightly, moving the ball around midfield well. As was the case in the first half, Thomas Doll's side showed no fear and little respect as they doggedly defended their slender lead, while waiting for chances to counter attack. During one such move, the former Bayern midfielder Piotr Trochowski, (who had a superb game against his former club), almost beat Kahn at his near post with a fierce shot from the edge of the Bayern area. but sadly for the youngster his effort was well saved by the veteran Germany keper.

Troche magic!
Magath brought on Mehmet Scholl in an efort to get some service to Makaay up front. Scholl replaced Lizarazu. Two minutes later, the visiting coach was left asking himself why he had bothered, because the home side doubled their lead on 62 minutes, as Sergej Barbarez played a superb low pass into the feet of Trochowski, who left Lucio for dead, before blasting in an unstoppable shot which saw Kahn powerless, and sent the home fans into raptures of joy.



No answer to brilliant HSV
Mighty Bayern Munich was made to look somewhat ordinary, as they became void of ideas in midfield, and not even their fit-again midfield super star Michael Ballack was able to make much of an impression on his return to the Bayern side.HSV looked a class act as they proved that the addition of Atouba and Demel ( who returned after injury), has given the side much needed stability at the back.

Well done HSV!
Bayern rarely threatened during the latter stages of the match and HSV was well worth the 2-0 win.The capacity crowd inside the AOL Arena has rarely gone home happier. HSV has now closed the gap on Bayern to just a solitary point. It would seem that the worries of football Germany that Bayern would once again race away with the Bundesliga title, wer unfounded, at least today...



Hamburger SV: Wächter - Demel (71.Reinhardt), Boulahrouz, van Buyten, Atouba - Beinlich, Jarolim, Trochowski, van der Vaart (82.Ziegler) - Barbarez, Lauth (68.Mpenza)

Bayern München: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio, Ismael, Lizarazu (61.Scholl) - Salihamidzic (46.Schweinsteiger), Demichelis, Ze Roberto, Ballack, Karimi (46.Guerrero) - Makaay

Goal: 1:0 van der Vaart (10.), 2:0 Trochowski (62.)

BUNDESLIGA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Bayern Munchen 7 18
2. Hamburg 7 17
3. Bremen 7 16
4. Hertha 7 14
5. Schalke 7 13

Source: hsv.de

Benfica made it three wins in a row with a comprehensive victory at Penafiel on Friday. Ronald Koeman named the same starting lineup that defeated UD Leiria 4-0 last week and the team immediately found their groove, Nuno Gomes and Simão Sabrosa both scoring within the first eleven minutes as Benfica raced into a two-goal lead. The away team eased off in the second half, and Marco Ferreira reduced the deficit with ten minutes left, but any hopes of an unlikely Penafiel comeback were soon scuppered when Nuno Gomes made it 3-1 with a tremendous long-range strike.

"We started the match very well," Koeman said. "In the second half we defended but I think the players should have sought the third goal. We conceded but responded with a great goal from Nuno Gomes. I think our minds are already on the match with United."

Brazilian striker Geovanni is a doubt for Tuesday after he was taken off with a leg injury. His loss would be a blow to Benfica but that would be softened if Greek forward Georgios Karagounis returns to fitness after missing the last two matches.

SUPERLIGA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Porto 5 13
2. Sporting 5 12
3. Nacional 5 11
4. Braga 5 11
5. Belenenses 5 9
...
8. Benfica 5 7

Source: uefa.com, slbenfica.pt

ATHLETIC: Aranzubia; Expósito (Iraola, 62'), Prieto, Lacruz, Casas; Orbaiz, Gurpegui; Tiko (Guerrero, 82'), Etxeberria, Yeste; Llorente.

RACING: Aouate; Pinillos, Moratón, Samuel, Ayoze; Casquero, Matabuena; Raúl, Jonatan (Antoñito, 60'), Stephane Dalmat (Oscar Serrano, 45'); Aganzo (Vitolo, 73')

PRIMERA LIGA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Celta 5 12
2. Getafe 5 11
3. Real Madrid 5 9
4. Valencia 5 9
5. Deportivo 5 9
...
13. Athletic 5 5

Penarol climbed up to third on the table after accounting for Paysandu FC 3-1 away from home at the Estadio General Artigas in the city of Paysandu.

Former Boca Juniors and River Plate star Gabriel Cedres put Penarol ahead in the 21st minute after slotting home from the penalty spot. Just three minutes later Alberto Acosta, who scored twice against Fenix mid-week doubled Penarol’s lead with a superb strike. In the 73rd minute Penarol was awarded a penalty and Gabriel Cedres converted his second spot-kick of the afternoon to give an improving Penarol side a three goal lead. Penarol’s Colombian defender Felix Garcia shot into his own goal with just five minutes remaining in the second half to give Paysandu a consolation goal.

PAYSANDU: Ignacio Bordad; Mauro Basualdo, Enrique Aramburo, Carlos Güelmo, Javier Burutarán; Gustavo Tejería (Paolo Patritti, 45'), Richard Frontán (Christian Callejas , 78'), Uriel Pesce, Jhonny Melgarejo (Gustavo Díaz, 78'); Cristian González, Ramiro Bruschi.

PEÑAROL: Juan Obelar; Ronald Ramírez, Félix García, Ricardo Möller, Sebastián Varela; Pablo Gaglianone, Nicolás Rotundo, Alberto Acosta, Pablo Russo (Gonzalo Pizzichillo, 80'); Gabriel Cedrés (Fernando Fadeuille, 74'), Diego Rodríguez (Roberto Brown, 74').

GOALS: 0-1, Cedrés (22, pen); 0-1, Acosta (24'); 0-3, Cedrés (73', pen); 1-3, Bruschi (85')

APERTURA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Dep. Colonia 6 14
2. Rentistas 6 12
3. Peñarol 6 11
4. Wanderers 6 11
5. Nacional 6 10

Source: goal.com

Alex de Souza unlocked a stalemate with Kayserispor through a sublime free kick, which sparked two more goals - one from substitute Marcio Nobre and another from Nicolas Anelka for a 3-0 result.

Full concentration was given to this league encounter at home despite the prospect of PSV Eindhoven’s visit on Wednesday. Carrying on from the convincing performances against AC Milan and Beşiktaş, Christoph Daum kept the same tactic and line-up with Nicolas Anelka playing as a lone forward with Alex de Souza behind him and the midfield trio of Selçuk Şahin, Stephen Appiah and Marco Aurelio.

Kayseri began with a neutral approach, not closing up and defending but not taking wild risks at the Saracoğlu either.

Anelka was in the action immediately, claiming for a penalty in the eighth minute for what seemed to be an apparent foul just inside the area. Selçuk Dereli waved play on. Volkan Demirel was called into action in our goal in the 12th minute when he saved a top corner destined shot from Alexandr Iordanov.

Alex de Souza was getting a lot of the ball and linked up well with Tuncay Şanlı in the 15th minute, nearly burying his shot in the back of the net if it wasn’t for the Kayseri defence deflecting the shot. Appiah’s first time release of the rebound went high and wide. Alex’s diving header in the 23rd minute went wide.

The first half performance would bring a goal if repeated in the second half, but Kayseri switched to a defensive strategy which made things harder for our side. A number of long shots came bouncing off the opposition’s defence as we tried every way to unlock the resistance.

Nobre was on the field instead of Tuncay in the second half, creating more presence up front together with Anelka.

Anelka tried his luck with a long shot in the 62nd minute but Ivankov, playing a good game in goal, prevented the lead from doubling.

Alex was constantly being clattered when in possession, but he took out all his frustration with a curler into the top left hand corner with a free kick in the 74th minute.

Nobre got on the scoresheet thanks to Anelka’s square ball just before Ivankov intercepted in the 84th minute. Anelka then turned goalscorer, picking up a through ball from Alex and slipping the ball between the keeper’s legs in the final minute of the game.

Fenerbahçe: Volkan Demirel, Fabio Luciano, Ümit Özat, Önder Turacı, Serkan Balcı, Marco Aurelio, Stephen Appiah, Selçuk Şahin, Alex de Souza, Tuncay Şanlı, Nicolas Anelka

Kayserispor: Ivankov, Bülent, M.Hanifi, Ragıp, Gökhan, Yardanov, Sadigov, Johnson, Rodic, Kamber, Fatih

Goals: Alex 74, Nobre 84, Anelka 90+1

Turkish Superleague

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Galatasaray 6 16
2. Fenerbahce 6 14
3. Erciyesspor 6 12
4. Kayserispor 6 12
5. Sivasspor 6 11

Source: fenerbahce.org

In the warming-up game on the road to Istanbul, an injury-plagued PSV side eased to a 2-0 win over RBC Roosendaal, rooted to the bottom of the table, in the Eindhoven Philips Stadium on Saturday night. Timmy Simons and Jefferson Farfán scored goals on either side of the break.

Goal: 7 Simons, 47 Farfán

Eredevisie

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Feynoord 6 18
2. AZ 6 15
3. Waalwijk 6 15
4. PSV 6 13
5. Ajax 6 10

Source: psv.nl

Slavia drew 2-2 in the away match of the seventh round of Gambrinus League in Pribram, losing the two-goal lead earned by goals from Martin Latka and Stanislav Vlcek. Mexican midfielder Cesareo Victorino made his debut in Slavia jersey.

Slavia earned the lead right after five minutes of the play when Martin Latka converted his free header after the cross from Jarolim into the opener. Then Matus Kozacik had his day denying the solo attack of Straceny and providing several other good saves, especially after the shots of midfielders Kolousek and Otepka. Pribram defender Formanek went close to equaliser when hitting the left post of the goal. Slavia added the second after the pass of Matej Krajcik to Stanislav Vlcek who scored his first goal of the season, but then the minutes belonging to Pribram came, Jan Riegel scored twice within five minutes to earn a valuable point for his side. Especially the second goal was a classic, Riegel swept the right corner of the goal from 18 meters after a good play from Noel Mendy. Mexican midfielder Cesareo Victorino made his debut in the red-white jersey.

Source: slavia.cz

Fiorentina suffered an early goal after just seven minutes and was unable to react for the whole game. Inter had a great performance (even though the winning goal started from an Adriano offside) and put the Viola in difficulty throughout the whole match, except for the end of the first half. In those 15 minutes, the Viola went close to score with Bojinov and Toni, where Julio Cesar made a great save. In the second half Frey had to outdo himself with at least four decisive saves, but Fiorentina was unable to attack with any accuracy. First defeat of the season for Fiorentina as next Sunday the Viola host third-placed Livorno.

SERIE A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Juventus 5 15
2. Inter 5 12
3. Livorno 5 11
4. Milan 5 10
5. Fiorentina 5 10

Source: acffiorentina.it

Est. Amadora 0-0 Sp. Braga (Portuguese Superleague)

Estádio José Gomes






Estrela da Amadora




Match

The Wolves grabbed their thrid Bundesliga win of the season on Saturday afternoon, by way of a slender 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in front of 17,121 in the VOLKSWAGEN ARENA.The goal of the day was scored by Argentinean striker Diego Klimowicz after 35 minutes.Thw win moves the Wolves up to fifth place in the Bundesliga table. It was the fourth Bundesliga goal of the season for Klimo, who latched onto a huge kick by his keeper Simon Jentzsch.

Skipper returns
The wolves coach Holger Fach made only one change to his side which superbly won 4-2 away at Hanover last time out.His fit-again skipper Pablo Thiam replaced Hans Sarpei in the starting line up against Frankfurt in round 7. His Frankfurt counterpart Friedhelm Funkel wasn't so fortunate. Funkael has been plagued by injury worries all season. After losing first choice keeper Pröll to an elbow injury, his stand-in Nikolov, picked up an adductor problem in midweek, and was unable to play in Wolfsburg. His place in the team went to third choice keeper Zimmermann. After their unlucky 0-1 defeat away to Bayern in round 6, Funkel made further changes. In defence Funkel chose Ochs instead of Spycher, in midfield he preferred Lexa, Weissenberger and Huggel to the suspeneded Jones, Meier and van Lent,who was replaced up front by Köhle.

Chess-like start
Wolfsburg began the game concentrated and patiently tried to crack the massed defences of the visiting side. The match resembled a game of chess as opposed to football during the opening period, as neither side could make any headway in front of goal. The first real chance of the game fell to fit-again Pablo Thiam, who went close with a header on 17 minutes. That close shave shocked Frankfurt, and they began to threaten the home side with counter attacks. During one of those moves, Lexa, superbly put through by Amanatidis, had done all the hard work by rounding Simon Jentzsch, only to see his effort cleared off the line by Neziri on 20 minutes. The visitors tried to keep the Wolves under pressure, but apart from a long distance pot by Weissenberger on 22 minutes, both keepers had a quiet time of things.

Klimo does the trick!
That was about to change, because on 35 minutes, a huge clearance by the Wolves keeper Jentzsch fell to Mike Hanke, who failed to control the ball. That seemed to irritate his marker Marko Rehmer, which gave Diego Klimowicz the chance to steal into the Frankfurt box from the right, from where he unleashed a nicely weighted shot into the bottm left hand corner to give the Wolves the lead. The only other Wolfsburg chance before half time fell to Mike Hanke, who headed the ball straight at Zimmermann 4 minutes from half time. The Wolves took a slender one goal lead into the break with them.

Patience is a virtue
The second half began pretty much as the first had done, with Eintracht waiting for the chance to counter attack, and the home side struggling to break down their well marshalled defence.The Wolves found no answer to the negative play of the visiting side and failed to reproduce the form which saw them totally dominate and then beat Niedersachsen rivals Hanover 4-2 away in round 6. The home side was void of ideas in midfield and frankfurt didn't have the fire power to cause the Wolfsburg defence many problems.

Mission accomplished!
Frankfurt's coach Funkel made one final throw of the dice as he brought on his veteran striker Arie van Lent. The move however was not to pay off, because the Dutchman failed to make an impact on the match during the few minutes he was on the pitch.The game finsished 1-0 to the Wolves. The side coached by Holger fach has taken 7 from a possible 9 points from the so-called English weeks, and have reached the target they had st themselves beforehand

WOLFSBURG: Jentzsch; Alex, Quiroga, Hofland, Neziri; Karhan, Thiam, Tskitishvili; d'Alessandro; Hanke, Klimowicz

EINTRACHT: J. Zimmermann; Rehmer, Chris, Vasoski; Preuß, P. Ochs, Huggel; Lexa, Weissenberger, Köhler; Amanatidis

GOALS: 1-0, Klimowicz (35')

BUNDESLIGA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Bayern 7 18
2. Hamburg 7 17
3. Bremen 7 16
4. Hertha 7 14
5. Schalke 7 13
...
6. Wolfsburg 7 12

Source: vfl-woflsburg.der

ATLÉTICO PR: Diego; Jancarlos, Danilo, Marcão, Paulo André; André Conceição, Cristian (Douglas), Ferreira, Evandro (Thiago Almeida); Dênis Marques (Jadílson), Finazzi.

BOTAFOGO: Max: Ruy, Rafael Marques, Scheidt, Bill; Jonílson, Leandro Carvalho, Juca (Zé Roberto), Ramon (Ricardinho); Reinaldo, Guilherme (Alex Alves)

GOALS: 1-0, Ferreira (30', pen); 2-0, Finazzi (39')

SERIE A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Internacional 27 50
2. Goiás 27 47
3. Corinthians 27 47
4. Fluminense 27 47
5. Santos 27 47
...
9. Botafogo 27 40

Robinho opened his account as Real Madrid CF gained a hard-earned 3-1 win against Athletic Club Bilbao on Thursday night. Jonathan Woodgate did not have much to savour on his long-awaited debut, however, as the England defender turned the ball into his own net and was later sent off.

Jittery start
Madrid, who went into the match on the back of three consecutive defeats - including a 3-0 loss against Olympique Lyonnais in their opening UEFA Champions League game - looked understandably nervous and had to wait until the second half to stage a remarkable comeback. Robinho's low rasping drive had grazed the bottom of the post on six minutes but the home side were 1-0 down by the 24th minute when Woodgate, attempting to head the ball clear, directed Joseba Etxeberria's fierce shot into his own net.

Raúl rallies Madrid
The capital team regained their composure after the break and levelled on 52 minutes when Robinho reacted quickest to David Beckham's free-kick from the left and planted a header just inside the near post. Raúl González added a second 12 minutes later, connecting with Ronaldo's centre to fire in from close range. The skipper glanced a header past Dani Aranzubia to make it 3-1 soon after but not before Woodgate had received a second booking, cutting short a debut that he would rather forget.

REAL MADRID: Iker Casillas; Míchel Salgado, Pavón, Woodgate, Roberto Carlos; Pablo García, Gravesen (Guti, 46'); Beckham, Raúl (De la Red, 88'), Robinho; Ronaldo (Raúl Bravo, 70')

ATHLETIC: Aranzubía; Expósito, Prieto (Murillo, 85'), Lacruz, Casas; Ibón, Orbáiz, Gurpegui (Iraola, 72'), Tiko, Yeste (Fernando Llorente, 70'); Etxeberría.

GOALS: 0-1, Woodgate (25', og); 1-1, Robinho (52'); 2-1, Raúl (65'); 3-1, Raúl (68')

PRIMERA DIVISIÓN

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Celta 4 9
2. Getafe 4 8
3. Deportivo 4 8
4. Zaragoza 4 6
5. Real Madrid 4 6
...
15. Athletic 4 4

Source: uefa.com

Twenty-two years ago, a skilful midfielder called Felix Magath secured Hamburger SV their greatest success with a goal in the European Champion Clubs' Cup final against Juventus FC. On Saturday, he will be looking to spike his old side's impressive run in his current role as FC Bayern München coach.

Historic giants
As the 52-year-old Magath knows only too well, the match between Hamburg and Bayern is a meeting of two major players in German football. Back in the 1980s, Hamburg were a pre-eminent force in the Bundesliga, but in recent times it has been Bayern who have led the way.

Surprise contenders
Indeed, few expected Hamburg, second in the table, to be Bayern's strongest challengers this season. But while Bayern's record of 15 successive Bundesliga wins is awesome, Thomas Doll's team have an impressive statistic of their own - they are unbeaten in 16 games.

Sell-out game
Hardly surprising, then, that this weekend's tie has generated intense excitement. Hamburg general manager Dietmar Beiersdorfer told uefa.com: "Our stadium will be sold out and I hope we can win. We are very proud to play host to Bayern as the second-best side in the country."

Inspirational midfielder
Rafael van der Vaart's summer arrival at the AOL Arena from AFC Ajax has proved to be the making of Hamburg. Seen by many as a worthy successor to Magath or Kevin Keegan in midfield, the Dutchman's class has imbued the team with confidence.

Ones to watch
"The rest of the league are watching us," said Hamburg chairman Bernd Hoffmann. "We are the ones who can bring the excitement back to German football. We beat [VfB] Stuttgart on the road, so why shouldn't we be strong enough to win against Bayern as well?"

Long-term aims
Although Bayern are four points above Hamburg, that is not enough of a gap for Bosnia-Herzegovnian international Hasan Salihamidžić, who moved to Munich from the northern port. "This match is very important for us to stay top in the long term," he said.

'The only champions'
"We want to prove on Saturday that we are No1," said Magath, who should have Michael Ballack back from injury. "It would be wonderful for me if Hamburg were to be a top team again. But this season we will show that the only champions can be Bayern."

Source: Uefa.com

Uruguayan giants Penarol moved up to fifth after defeating Fenix 3-2 in an action packed match corresponding to the fifth round of the Apertura Championship.

Penarol started brightly, and in the first few minutes came close to opening the scoring when Alberto Acosta had a good shot from outside the box pushed out for a corner by Fenix’s goalkeeper Ignacio De Leon.

Penarol created many opportunities to break the deadlock, but De Leon reacted well, especially when he saved a Pablo Russo effort when the striker was through on goal. Just three minutes before the halftime break Penarol was rewarded for their persistence. Argentine striker Pablo Russo had a fine shot saved by De Leon, but Alberto Acosta shot in the rebound to give Penarol a well deserved lead.

In the second half Fenix came out looking for the equaliser and it arrived in the 57th minute thanks to former Nacional player Gonzalo Amarilla. In similar fashion to Penarol’s first goal, this time Flores saved a Nicolas Vigneri shot, but Amarilla reacted first to poke in the rebound. Just three minutes later Penarol was back in the lead, as Eduardo Mieres outjumped a defender to head in after Diego Rodriguez swung in a corner from the left.

In the 69th minute Alberto Acosta put Penarol 3-1 up with a tremendous strike, for his second of the afternoon. Penarol broke on the counterattack with some great interchanges, and when close to the Fenix area Russo back healed the ball to Rodriguez, who sent a pass to Acosta, that delicately slotted the ball home. In the final minute of the match Fenix pulled a goal back through halftime substitute Henry Gimenez. Gimenez drilled the ball past a flatfooted Flores in the Penarol goal, after a good attacking move.

Penarol hero Alberto Acosta, who hasn’t been a regular for Penarol since moving from Cerrito last season comments: “I was waiting to have this opportunity, so that I could make the most of it, and to show the coach (Fernando Morena) what I am capable of. Everyone has to respect his decisions and when we are given the chance to play we must perform”.

PEÑAROL: Claudio Flores; Ronald Ramírez, Eduardo Mieres, Ricardo Möller, Alvaro Alonso; Fabián Césaro, Pablo Gaglianone, Alberto Acosta (Nicolás Rotundo, 80'), Pablo Russo (Fernando Fadeuille, 70'); Gabriel Cedrés (Roberto Brown, 74'), Diego Rodríguez.

FÉNIX: Ignacio De León; Leonardo Jara, Claudio Elías, Miguel Britos, Christian Núñez; Claudio Rivero (Henry Giménez, 46'), Luis Jonne (Waldemar Maldonado, 83'), Gonzalo Amarilla, William Ferreira; Marcelo Segales, Facundo Fraga (Nicolás Vigneri, 46').

GOALS: 1-0, Acosta (42'); 1-1, Amarilla (57'); 2-1 Mieres (60'); 3-1, Acosta (69'); 3-2, Giménez (90')

APERTURA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Rentistas 5 12
2. Dep. Colonia 5 11
3. Miramar 5 8
4. Wanderers 5 8
5. Peñarol 5 8

Source: goal.com

It took extra time and a decisive header from John Hartson to book Celtic’s place in the next round of the League Cup with a 2-1 win over Falkirk tonight at Celtic Park.

CELTIC: Boruc; Telfer, Balde, McManus, Camara; Nakamura, Sutton (Lawson, 98'), Petrov, Maloney (McGeady, 105'); Zurawski, Beattie.

FALKIRK: Glennon; Lawrie, Ireland, Rodrigues, Milne; Thomson, Lima, Latapy (McPherson, 88'), O’Donnell (McStay, 75'); Duffy (McBreen, 68'), Gow.

GOALS: 0-1, Gow (52'); 1-1, Zurawski (61'); 2-1, Hartson (94')

A dramatic and extremely weird 88th minute goal by David Jarolim, gave HSV all three points away to VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday evening (21.9.05). Coach Thomas Doll's side won the match 2-1, and stay in second place in the Bundesliga table, a point ahead of third placed local rivals Werder Bremen who surprisingly lost 1-2 at lowly Gladbach the night before. Raphael van der Vaart gave HSV the lead on 32 minutes, curling in a wonderful left footed shot into the top right hand corner of the Stuttgart net.

Chopping and changing
HSV coach Thomas Doll was able to pick his Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz fort he round 6 Bundesliga clash away to Stuttgart. The classy defender recovered in time from his knee problem and took his place in the back four alongside man-mountain defender Daniel van Buyten. On the right hand side of the back four, René Klingbeil played in place of Guy Demel, who picked up a thigh strain during the final training session on Tuesday and didn’t travel to Stuttgart. Up front, Sergej Barbarez and Benny Lauth formed the HSV front line, and it was nice to see Emile Mpenza take his place on the bench, after recovering from surgery on a shin proble. The home coach Giovanni Trapattoni recalled his Brazilian striker Cacau to his first team, after a long injury lay off.

Grönkjaer fires initial warning shot
HSV began the game well, playing attractive combination football, and won their first corner after only two minutes. A minute later however, the 500 or so travelling HSV fans held their breath, as Stuttgart’s former Chelsea player Jesper Grönkjaer fired in a powerful right foot shot which came back off the HSV crossbar, with the HSV keeper Stefan Wächter well beaten.



Van der Vaart -pure magic!
That close shave seemed to work as a wake up call fort he visitors from Hamburg. They tightened things up at the back and created good chances up front. On 21 minutes, a precision corner by Stefan Beinlich found the head of Sergej Barbarez, whose effort was cleared off the line by Stuttgart’s Himkel. HSV didn’t stop there. Thimothee Atouba provided a perfectly weighted cross to Barbarez, who watched in disbelief as the home keeper Hildebrand saved his effort well. On 32 minutes however, Germany’s number three keeper was powerless, as he could only watch in admiration, as a wonderful flowing move ended up with the ball at the feet of Rafael van der Vaart. The classy Dutchman looked up, before curling an unstoppable shot into the top right hand corner. What a move, what a goal!

Stuttgart improve
After the break, HSV had trouble finding their feet, because they didn’t close down their opponent and almost paid the price for their slack marking as Grönkjaer went close on 50 minutes. Three minutes later though, the home side went one better and equalised as Gomez rounded off fine approach work by the Danish danger man Grönkjaer. After the equalising goal, the sides cancelled each other out in midfield, so the game had a period almost void of goalmouth action, apart from the moment as Trochowski, who came on for Mehdi Mahdavikia, tested Hildebrand with a fine shot from just outside the area..



Jaro at the death!
HSV never managed to threaten the Stuttgart goal until two minutes from time. But it was certainly worth waiting for! David Jarolim played a wonderful one two with Sergej Barbarez. The shot by the Czech Republic –born midfeielder was deflected by the advancing keeper Hildebrand, and balooned into the Stuttgart net to give HSV their 4th Bundesliga win of the season, and extend their unbeaten run of games to 16 this season.

Bring on Bayern!
On Saturday, unbeaten Bayern Munich visit the AOL Arena. In the past, HSV has tended to lie down and make things easy for the reigning Bundesliga champions and FA Cup holders. This time though, Bayern won’t have any easy pickings in Hamburg, because the since the last time Bayern came to town, the club has strengthened the side in the right places, so all we can say is: “Bring on Bayern!”

VfB Stuttgart: Hildebrand - Hinkel, Meira (84.Stranzl), Delpierre, Magnin - Meißner (46.Gentner), Soldo, Hitzlsperger (36.Gomez), Grönkjaer - Tomasson, Cacau

Hamburger SV: Wächter - Klingbeil (76.Reinhardt), Boulahrouz, van Buyten, Atouba - Beinlich, Jarolim, Mahdavikia (38.Trochowski), van der Vaart - Barbarez, Lauth (81.Mpenza)

Goal: 0:1 van der Vaart (32.), 1:1 Gomez (53.), 1:2 Jarolim (88.)



BUNDESLIGA

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Bayern Munchen 6 18
2. Hamburg 6 14
3. Bremen 6 13
4. Hertha 6 11
5. Leverkusen 6 10

Source: hsv.de

Comeback and win. After an opaque first half, which Fiorentina ended behind thanks to a penalty scored by Pinardi, given after a questionable decision by the linesman, in the second half the Viola offered a performance of great authority. Fiore, just like against Udinese, drew level, Bojinov took advantage of a present by Cassetti and Toni sealed the result. Fiorentina second in the standings and on Sunday night the match against Inter at San Siro.

Fiorentina: Frey, Ujfalusi, Di Loreto, Gamberini, Pancaro, Pasqual, Donadel, Brocchi, Fiore (12’sh Pazienza), Bojinov (22’sh Jorgensen), Toni. Coach Prandelli (Cejas, Dainelli, Pazzini, Guigou, Montolivo)

Lecce: Sicignano, Cassetti, Diamoutene,Stovini, Polenghi (15’sh Rullo), Camorani, Ledesma, Delvecchio, Pinardi (35’sh Eremenko), Vucinic, Konan (23’sh Marianini). Coach Gregucci (Benussi, Pecorari,, Angelo, Valdes)

Goals: 47’fh Pinardi (R), 3’sh Fiore, 8’sh Bojinov, 16’sh Toni

SERIE A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Juventus 4 12
2. Fiorentina 4 9
3. Palermo 4 10
4. Inter 4 9
5. Sampdoria 4 9

Source: acffiorentina.it

Milan bounced back from the slip-up at Genoa to get back to winning ways at the San Siro against Lazio. Two first-half goals, within two minutes of each other, from Andriy Shevchenko and Kaka, took the Rossoneri to seven points in the table. Paolo Maldini was rested so Alessandro Nesta and Jaap Stam played in the centre of defence, with Marcos Cafu and Kakha Kaladze in the full-back roles. Massimo Ambrosini captained the side from the right of midfield alongside Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf, with Kaka in a more advanced position. Christian Vieri partnered Shevchenko in attack.

Milan had an aggressive start and took the lead on 12 minutes when Shevchenko teased the Lazio defence on the left of the area before turning inside and unleashing an unstoppable shot which left goalkeeper Matteo Sereni stranded at the near post. The crowd had little time to draw their breathe before Kaka doubled the tally two minutes later, with the simplest of tap-ins after Sereni had fumbled Pirlo’s deflected cross from the right. The visitors best chance fell to Luciano Zauri who burst past Nesta but Nelson Dida got down well to block. The Brazilian goalkeeper then touched a curling Massimo Oddo free-kick over the bar but Milan ended the half on the attack as Seedorf sent in a stinging shot.

Carlo Ancelotti made no chances at half time and Shevchenko almost scored a second when Seedorf threaded a delightful pass through the defence but the Ukrainians powerful drive was parried away by Sereni. Dida performed another fine save from Oddo’s low half-volley while Vieri went close with an overhead kick. Lazio had to play the final fifteen minutes with ten men after using up all their substitutes when Roberto Baronio was forced to limp off. Milan kept up the pressure and Ambrosini sliced a shot over from a promising position.

MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Nesta (Costacurta, 85'), Stam, Kaladze; Ambrosini, Pirlo, Seedorf (Gattuso, 75'); Kakà; Shevchenko, Vieri (Serginho, 81')

LAZIO: Sereni; Oddo, Siviglia, Stendardo, Zauri; Behrami (Manfredini, 46'), Dabo, Liverani (Baronio, 64'), Giallombardo (Pandev, 46'); Di Canio, Rocchi

GOALS: 1-0, Shevchenko (12'); 2-0, Kaká (14')

SERIE A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Juventus 4 12
2. Fiorentina 4 10
3. Palermo 4 10
4. Inter 4 9
5. Sampdoria 4 9
...
8. Milan 4 7

Red Star easily beat Jedinstvo in Meridian Superleague match originally scheduled for August 14th. Without three injured players and captain Kovacevic rested on the bench, our team showed good play and earned three points.

In the first half, Zigic opened scoresheet after Mudrinic's cross from freekick. Our striker headed in the net from five meters. Second goal scored Jankovic from almost same position. Jedinstvo goalkeeper Jovsic stopped Jankovic's first shot, but second was unstopable.

Inspired Milan Purovic scored third goal when he was efficient after Jedinstvo defenders poor reaction at Mudrinic's cross. Last goal scored Milanko Raskovic who shows good performances in last few matches. After brilliant counterattack, Lukovic crossed from left and Raskovic was on the right place to kick ball for final score.

After this victory, Red Star went third on the table, just two points behind leaders

JEDINSTVO: Jovsic; Sadzakov, Stojankovi, Velickovic, Babaca; Sljivancanin (Brdjanin, 63'), Petrovic, Drndar, Trifunovic; Madzgalj (Cindrak, 72'), Vukovic (Franca, 87')

CRVENA ZVEZDA: Randjelovic; Basta, Lukovic, Dudic, Joksimovic; Mladenovic, Mudrinic, Trajkovic (Milovanovic, 70'), Jankovic; Zigic (Raskovic, 73'), Purovic.

GOALS: 0-1, Zigic (14'); 0-2, Jankovic (45'); 0-3, Purovic (50'); 0-4, Raskovic (77')

MERIDIAN SUPERLEAGUE

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Partizan 6 15
2. OFK 6 15
3. Crvena Zvezda 6 13
4. Zeta 6 13
5. Zemun 6 10

Source: fc-redstar.net

The Rossoneri walked away with the honours on Oscar night for the 38,000 professional footballers worldwide who form FIFPro - the global umbrella organisation of players’ unions. Five were named in the team of the year and one of those, Paolo Maldini, said from the San Siro: This award is for what we did last year not fifteen years ago! It is the second time in a matter of months that Milan have received recognition for their endeavours, coming on the back of the UEFA Champions League Awards 2004-05. There were ten Rossoneri nominated in all, with Nelson Dida in goal, Maldini at left-back, Marco at right-back, Alessandro Nesta in central defence and Andriy Shevchenko in attack, all making the side. Chelsea had three players in the team: Terry, Makelele and Lampard, Barcelona two stars, Ronaldinho and Eto’o while Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane made up the eleven. In total, forty national players’ associations are accounted for, with only Milan representing Italy. The reason for this being the number of times Milan have been in the Champions League final in recent years and the number of players standing on the podium for the Golden Ball. It is something to be proud of and, above all, a great honour for the defence.

Source: acmilan.it