gerrard faces scan on hamstring

... 606: debate if ever you underestimated gerrard's importance, wednesday made it clear - liverpool were third-rate without him bracewells-wedge england coach fabio capello has made it clear he will check on injured players ahead of internationals ... and benitez appeared to take a swipe at capello ahead of the possibility of that happening again

melbourne out to attack

... melbourne is playing its selection cards close to his chest ahead of saturday's major semi-final against adelaide at hindmarsh stadium, but one thing for sure is that ernie merrick's men won't be going there just to get a point ... merrick has included four players into an extended squad and admits he is keeping his options open ahead of the crucial clash with the reds

cold comfort for martin o’neill as aston villa show necessary strength in depth

... villa’s priority, understandably, is the barclays premier league, in which they lie in fourth place — a champions league qualifying berth — five points ahead of arsenal, their main rivals for a slot in europe’s leading club competition next season ... they had forged ahead in the fifteenth minute when ashley young sent over a cross from the left flank and craig gardner produced a smothering save from neil sullivan with a fierce close-range shot

kris commons shows no courtesy to forest critics with deflected winner

... related links earnshaw returns to deny old club derby clough walks happily in father's shadow davies embraces the past forest went two goals ahead inside a quarter of an hour

sevilla beat bilbao in copa del rey

... the winning goal came from argentinian midfielder lautaro acosta in added time, to give sevilla a good position ahead of the second leg, which is to be played in march

s. america under-20: uruguay win, argentina in trouble

... jonathan urretaviscaya put the uruguayans ahead after 71 minutes at general anzoategui stadium of puerto la cruz, and peñarol’s abel hernandez made it 2-0 six minutes later

pull of milan tempts beckham away from galaxy orbit

glasgow (afp) - david beckham has pleaded with la galaxy chiefs to release him from his contract with the us major league soccer side and let him turn his loan move to italian giants ac milan into a permanent deal. initially derided as a publicity stunt for a player whose off-field celebrity has overshadowed his football ability in recent years, beckham’s move to the san siro has sparked a renaissance in the england midfielder’s career.

ligue 1 rivals hit out at lyon

... the seven-times champions, who travel to nice on sunday, are one point ahead of bordeaux at the top of the table with third-placed paris st germain a further three points adrift

everton 1 liverpool 0- reds are goosed by the golden gosling

there is more than the vast expanse of stanley park that divides these two clubs but dan gosling showed there is no gap in desire as he scored a dramatic 118th-minute winner for evertonagainst the old enemy.put these two teams on the same pitch at the moment and there is little that divides them - apart from wealth.so little to illustrate why one side is challenging for the premier league title and one, once again, is punching some way above its own weight.

stoke snap up birmingham defender stephen kelly on loan

... the deal has been allowed to go ahead because the republic of ireland international was unable to travel to stoke on monday, which was transfer deadline day