Manchester City 6-0 Tottenham: Aguero puts woeful Spurs to the sword

The Argentine starred for Manuel Pellegrini's side, while strikes from Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo and a Sandro own goal compounded Spurs' misery at the Etihad Stadium

The result means City maintains its unbeaten home record this season, also launching the club into the top four.

The home side opened the scoring after only 13 seconds through Jesus Navas, with a Sandro own goal and Sergio Aguero’s close-range strike leaving City comfortably ahead at the break.

A second from Aguero was followed by Alvaro Negredo's fifth in the league this season, before another Navas goal in injury-time heaped further humiliation on Tottenham.

The win moves City into fourth place in the table - ahead of Southampton on goal difference - while Tottenham drops two places to ninth.

VIEW FROM THE ETIHAD  STADIUM IN MANCHESTER

ALVARO NEGRO SLOTTING HOME PAST LLORIS

Andre Villas-Boas' side was barely able to test Costel Pantilimon in the City goal as a lackluster performance added to the disappointment of the thumping defeat.

City made five changes to the side beaten by Sunderland before the international break, with Navas starting in the league for the first time since the Manchester derby in September.

Erik Lamela - one of six changes for Tottenham - was handed his first Premier League start for the visiting side, with Hugo Lloris also returning to the starting lineup.

But the France international did not enjoy a good start to the game as City posted the joint-quickest goal of the Premier League campaign.

A poor clearance from Lloris went straight to Aguero 20 yards from goal and, although his shot was saved, the loose ball was met by Navas, who lofted it over the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

Lamela then nearly leveled as Spurs slowly began to settle into the game - but they were unable to turn their possession into goals and were caught out again in the 34th minute.

Fernandinho capitalized on another clearance from Lloris to release Samir Nasri on the left, before he in turn lifted the ball to Aguero.

The Argentinian’s effort was pushed away by Lloris but the ball dropped to Negredo, whose acrobatic follow-up found the net via deflections off Younes Kaboul and Sandro.

City extended the lead four minutes before the break as Navas fired a low cross into the six-yard box and Aguero slotted home from six yards.

Five minutes into the second half Aguero doubled his tally with his 14th goal in 11 matches. Yaya Toure was the creator, powerfully brushing his way past Kyle Walker before rolling the ball square and leaving the Argentine the simple task of converting.

Negredo then made it five after an outrageous piece of skill saw him beat Michael Dawson on the edge of the penalty area.

The Spaniard flicked the ball through the defender's legs following a pass from Fernandinho and emphatically fired past Lloris.

Tottenham was unable to muster a reply and conceded a sixth in stoppage time when a raking long ball from substitute James Milner provided Navas with a one-on-one he coolly converted.

LEGEND KILLER?

 

 

 

The 81-year-old former defender was a survivor of the Munich air disaster in 1958 and went on to make 688 appearances from the club, winning four titles and the 1968 European Cup.

Manchester United legend Bill Foulkes died Monday at the age of 81, the club has confirmed.

                                                                 

 

 

 

Foulkes was a survivor of the Munich air disaster in 1958 and went on to become a stalwart at Old Trafford, making 688 appearances for the club. The former defender made his debut in 1952 and sits fourth on the club's all-time appearances list, with only Ryan Giggs, Bobby Charlton and Paul Scholes having represented United more.

United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward paid tribute to Foulkes, saying on the club's official website: "Bill was a giant character in the post-war history of Manchester United. He was a very gentle man, who I was privileged to meet on several occasions, including most memorably with his teammates at the Champions League final in Moscow, 50 years after his heroics in the Munich air crash.

"Bill's contribution over almost 700 games and nearly 20 years will never be forgotten. The thoughts of everyone at the club – directors, players, staff and fans – are with Bill's family."

Foulkes, who spent his entire playing career at Old Trafford, started in United's 1968 European Cup final win over Benfica at Wembley and was a member of the squad that won four First Division titles

BEST EVER ?

 

 

 

 

 

The Real Madrid superstar delivered one of the best solo performances in recent memory as the Seleccao qualified for the World Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they called it. It could have been Ronaldo versus the rest of the world and he would still have won. On this night, he was just that good.

Portugal is going to the World Cup with the accusations that it is a one-man team, but when the character in question can deliver performances like the one Ronaldo turned in at the Friends Arena on Tuesday, then why is that such a bad thing?
Sweden took some time to get going, and when Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 50th minute with a splendid finish on the counterattack from a Joao Moutinho pass, it looked dead and buried. Sweden fought back thanks to two goals from the brilliant Ibrahimovic which leveled the scores on aggregate but left the nation still trailing on away goals.
Yet Ronaldo was not about to let his countrymen be put through the ringer. He grabbed a second strike on the break after collecting Hugo Almeida’s pass with his back to goal, slotting beyond Andreas Isaksson to leave Sweden needing two more goals. But that wasn’t enough. He still had to leave everybody in no doubt at all that it was his night, his tie, his year.
With Sweden now struggling to even get within five yards of him, Ronaldo broke through again, rounded Isaksson, and smashed the ball high into the net. It was 3-2 and game over. Ibrahimovic’s World Cup career was over too, but Ronaldo looks like he is only just getting going.
It was one of the best hat tricks you could wish to see, delivered on the biggest night in Portuguese football for a year and a half. When they needed a big-game player with a big-game attitude, the biggest of them all delivered.
We shouldn’t ever have really doubted him. With 66 goals in the calendar year, Ronaldo has again excelled. Whereas Lionel Messi has been left to struggle with various injury issues for the past eight months, the Portuguese superstar has been busy turning in top performance after top performance for both club and country. On Tuesday, he also equalled Pauleta's all-time Portugal scoring record of 47 goals.
It may not be Messi’s fault that the CONCACAF qualification system meant Argentina’s progression to the finals was never in doubt, but the fact that Ronaldo has delivered again and again in a string of do-or-die Portugal performances says a lot about the pair’s differing fortunes in 2013. While the Barcelona genius has had a quiet spell by his massive standards, Ronaldo has turned in arguably his greatest year ever. Tuesday simply topped it all off.
If the Ballon d'Or voting is reopened as has been reported, Ronaldo could well win the award on the strength of one night alone, so good was he against Sweden. As it is Franck Ribery who remains the favorite to carry it home, there is no doubting who the world’s most in-form player is as we approach the 200-day countdown to the World Cup finals.
Going into the playoff tie, many wondered whether we may be heading to Brazil without Ronaldo next June. Instead, he looks likely to be the man we’ll be talking about right through the tournament. The world’s best is more than ready for the World Cup.



Barcelona has confirmed that Lionel Messi will miss the next six to eight weeks of action with a tear in his left hamstring.

The Argentine, who has been plagued by injuries this year, limped out of his side's game against Betis in Seville on Sunday after 21 minutes. The club promptly announced that the 26-year-old was set to undergo further tests and it has been determined that Messi will miss six to eight weeks with the knock.

As a result of his injury, Messi is likely to miss the games against Granada, Ajax, Celtic, Villarreal and Getafe, as well as both legs of the Copa del Rey clash with Cartagena.

Messi has had a string of similar injuries in 2013. He was forced to sit out much of the tail end of last season with a hamstring problem, which reoccurred at the end of September.

Despite Messi's absence against Betis, Tata Martino's side triumphed 4-1, thanks to goals from Neymar and Pedro along with a Cesc Fabregas double.

Meanwhile, Fabregas has been forced to pull out of the Spain squad for the upcoming friendlies against Guinea and South Africa with a knee injury. The playmaker was withdrawn 10 minutes from full time against Betis and has been replaced in the Roja set up by club teammate Marc Bartra.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo is closing in on top spot in the European Golden Shoe rankings following his fine performances for Real Madrid in the past seven days.

The Portugal international netted a hat trick in his side's 7-3 win over Sevilla in midweek before adding two more goals to his tally in the 3-2 victory against Rayo Vallecano at the weekend and now trails leader Nerijus Valskis - who did not play this week - by just one point.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa continued his rise to the top with a productive week of his own. The Brazil-born attacker found the net once against both Granada and Athletic Bilbao and is level on points with Ronaldo.

Other big names who are on the verge of breaking into the top 10 are Robert Lewandowski, Giuseppe Rossi and Edinson Cavani, who are all on 18 points at the moment - along with 10th-placed Konstantinos Mitroglou - but the aforementioned trio have played more games than the Olympiakos man.

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has to settle for a spot outside the top 20 for now after failing to find the net in his last four league games.


LLorente equalizing for the home side on Tuesday night in Italy

 

 

Fernando Llorente was the hero for Juventus as he earned a point for the Italian champions in a thrilling 2-2 draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday.

Arturo Vidal had put the hosts in front with a fierce penalty late in the first half, only for Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to turn the match around at the hour mark.

However, Llorente's header was enough to seal a share of the spoils in a thriller at Juventus Stadium and keep the Bianconeri's hopes of the next round alive.

The result means Madrid will qualify for the knockout stages barring a freak set of results, as third-placed Copenhagen is six points behind with a vastly inferior goal difference. Juventus is now bottom of the group, but only one point behind Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

Newcastle beat secured a surprising 2-0 win at home to Chelsea over the weekend. This lost have made life more difficult for the North London club after there were questions about their away from home form. They now have just 5 wins away from home in the Premiere League.

 

Gareth Bale celebrating after scoring his second for the night.

 

The Welshman scored twice, the Portuguese winger bagged a hat trick and Karim Benzema even struck a double to give the Blancos a thrilling victory

 

 

 

Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals between them as Real Madrid romped to a 7-3 win in a thrilling clash with Sevilla on Wednesday.

Ronaldo struck a first-half penalty before netting twice in the second period to become the club's fourth-highest Liga goalscorer with 157 goals, one more than the legendary Ferenc Puskas.

On a record-breaking night at Santiago Bernabeu, Bale also capped his first start at home with two first-half strikes.

Madrid saw its 3-0 lead reduced before the break as an Ivan Rakitic penalty and close-range strike from Carlos Bacca brought the visitors to within a goal.

The hosts, however, turned on the style in the second half as Karim Benzema and Ronaldo both found the net twice to seal a comfortable victory, despite Rakitic curling home a third for the visitors. Rakitic also missed from the spot in a frantic encounter.

Carlo Ancelotti made four changes from Saturday's Clasico defeat to Barcelona, while Sevilla - without an away win in 13 months - made a single change from its victory over Osasuna.

Madrid enjoyed the perfect start following a low-key performance at Camp Nou and took the lead through Bale in the 14th minute.

Isco ran the ball out of his own half and played a neat ball into Benzema, the Frenchman rolled the ball back into the Wales international, and he fired into the top corner.

Sevilla was struggling to find any end product despite neat build-up play when it did have the ball, and the task became even tougher when Bale netted his second of the night.

Madrid was awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal after a crude challenge by Rakitic on Ronaldo in the 26th minute. Bale took the set piece and saw his effort deflect off the wall to wrong-foot Beto as it flew into the opposite corner.

The hosts moved 3-0 ahead after some poor defending from Fernando Navarro allowed Isco to dispossess him on the edge of the area. The defender then brought the forward down inside the area and Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot.

Sevilla was given a way back into the game when Sergio Ramos bundled Diogo Figueiras to the floor in the 38th minute and it was awarded a penalty.

Rakitic grabbed the ball and made no mistake with a well-placed spot-kick for his first goal of the season.

The visitors reduced the deficit even further two minutes later as Vitolo and Jairo Samperio combined well to give Bacca the easy task of firing into the empty goal.

Unai Emery's side should have leveled early in the second half after creating a fantastic opening for Jairo, but he was unable to convert and the hosts broke on the counterattack with Ronaldo.

Ronaldo found Bale on the right who delivered a low cross to Benzema and the Frenchman fired home to end a seven-game run without a goal.

On the hour mark, Ronaldo netted his second of the game after meeting a cross from Bale to fire past Beto, but Rakitic kept his side in the game with an exquisite finish from the edge of the area after neat work from substitute Diego Perotti.

But the night belonged to Ronaldo as he completed his hat trick in the 71st minute before Benzema added his second in the 80th minute to secure the win, with Rakitic firing a penalty kick well over in between Madrid's sixth and seventh goals.