petrov determined to avoid re-run of final nightmares

... "richard and james have got a tough task ahead of them -- but rooney will find it tough to do much against those two as well

sam allardyce revives rafael benítez spat with dvd claim

... and their manager has continued his criticism of benítez ahead of rovers' return to liverpool tomorrow

the carling cup has grown up and is putting big brother in the shade

... surely bolton would rather have got their fa cup fifth-round tie against tottenham out of the way at the reebok instead of having to suffer a walloping at white hart lane on wednesday ahead of today's critical relegation encounter with wolves

mourinho buoyed by inter's euro form

... this is a different situation now, we're ahead and chelsea are behind

mancini not feeling under pressure

... defender shawcross headed the potters ahead five minutes into injury time and tuncay booked stoke's place in the last eight four minutes later

usa's late winner edges el salvador

... rudy corrales' 59th-minute strike had put el salvador ahead, after a scoreless first half in chilly, rainy conditions at raymond james stadium

portsmouth told to forget barclays premier league bail out

... the premier league officials also told chainrai they could not advance the club any money ahead of the due payment date

inter milan defeat chelsea 2-1 in first leg of champions league last-16

... it's a slender advantage but a crucial one for inter ahead of the second leg at stamford bridge on march 16th ... inter were off to a flying start and went ahead after just three minutes following some shoddy defending by chelsea

mourinho confident after win

at a stage of the competition when no game is easy - as the results of the eight games confirm with no side leading by more than one goal - a 2-1 home win in the first leg is about as good a result as mourinho could have hoped for."we can go there with a legitimate ambition to go through," he said."the most important thing is the result and we are ahead."it's not obviously the result which ends the tie, it's not 3-0 or 4-0, but no team is leading by two goals at this stage of the champions league.

ancelotti - blues can qualify

... chelsea enjoyed a substantial share of possession against their serie a opponents and ancelotti, who has concerns over the fitness of petr cech, saw enough to take encouragement ahead of the return meeting at stamford bridge on 16th march