Chelsea’s John Terry breathalysed after car accident following Inter Milan clash
Chelsea captain John Terry was breathalysed and questioned by police after his car ran into a club steward.

Redskins bring on veteran QB Rex Grossman
Quarterback Rex Grossman has signed a free-agent contract with the Washington Redskins.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Coyle delighted as Gary Cahill returns to training
Bolton manager Owen Coyle is delighted that Gary Cahill has returned to training following a blood clot in his left arm.

Aston Villa better placed than this time last season to finish in top four
Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa squad appear far better placed than this time last season to finish in top four.

Marco Materazzi questions Mario Balotelli attitude
Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi has told Mario Balotelli “the door is open” if he wants to leave the club.

Jose Mourinho: Blues win wasn’t about revenge
A triumphant Jose Mourinho insisted the best team had won after Inter broke Chelsea’s heart at Stamford Bridge.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Samaras: Hoops won’t give up on title charge
Georgios Samaras insists Celtic will not give up on the Scottish Premier League title until it is mathematically impossible to topple Rangers.

Capello hopeful over Cole and Bridge return
Fabio Capello is a playing a patient, waiting game, but is still convinced he will have both his first choice left-backs, Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge, in his 23-man World Cup squad.

Moratti hails Mourinho return ahead of Blues tie
Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti is confident Jose Mourinho’s presence on the bench will inspire his team to victory at Chelsea on Tuesday.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Chelsea 0-1 Inter (1-3 agg)

The return of José Mourinho was a grim reunion for Chelsea. Their former manager engineered a bold display in which Internazionale created the bulk of the chances. A goal from them was overdue before the outstanding Wesley Sneijder released Samuel Eto’o twelve minutes from the end and the striker shot emphatically beyond Ross Turnbull.

The occasion became ignominious when the Chelsea forward Didier Drogba was sent off for taking a kick at Thiago Motta in the 87th minute. There had been a shortage of any other type of menace and this failure for the club in the last 16 of the Champions League, where it has been defeated in both legs, will raise questions about the extent of rebuilding that will have to be conducted.

Mourinho had come with the intention of making one last mark on Chelsea’s history. To be precise, what he had in mind was an ugly blot. His old club, after all, had not been eliminated at this comparatively early stage of the tournament since the spring of 2006. The means by which Mourinho intended to knock out Chelsea bore an element of surprise.

His position at Stamford Bridge had become untenable in the early autumn of 2007 because his pragmatic and almost world-weary style was no longer acceptable to the owner Roman Abramovich. Mourinho has not had a profound change of heart since then, but there was an unexpected emphasis on attack, with three forwards in the line-up here because he suspected vulnerability in his former team.

It made sense for Eto’o to attack on the right when Yuri Zhirkov, who has to serve at left-back because of Ashley Cole’s injury, is more of a midfielder by disposition. Mourinho also had the stylish Sneijder to support the strikers. Oddly the adventurousness brought about stalemate. Chelsea were not sufficiently co-ordinated before the interval and Inter did not look oppressed. The home side were more likely to make an impact through a piece of individualism, as when Drogba let fly and saw the attempt cannon off Maicon.

The Brazil full-back was part of the build-up that saw him link with Eto’o after 33 minutes, with Michael Ballack having to cover Diego Milito as the ball was pulled back into the centre. Such exhibitions of scrupulous defending are not a Chelsea speciality any longer.

The manager, Carlo Ancelotti, despite having many of Mourinho’s men still in the squad, had to show not just that his outlook is fundamentally more enterprising, but also that it could put paid to visitors of this sort. Faced with such an agenda, Chelsea have lost some of their fixation with security and the defence is hardly iron-clad any more.

Contrasts, all the same, are imperfect and it would be an injustice to depict Mourinho’s time as a period of well-executed tedium. After all, victories do tend to require risk and imagination at some point. At his peak with Chelsea, the former manager had Arjen Robben and Damien Duff to devastate the opposition and delight the spectators.

Such means had appeared to be lacking at Inter, but the summer dealings brought a little more style to the Serie A club. Mourinho added to that with a bold selection for this match. When the side was knocked out by English opposition at this juncture in each of the past two seasons, they did not score a goal against Liverpool or Manchester United. There is a determination to break with that sterility.

The change was apparent in the 2-1 win over Chelsea in the first leg and it was Mourinho’s plan to put the opposition on edge with his trio of attackers here. Chelsea had trouble achieving fluency in the first half, particularly when there was so much difficulty in making an impact on the flanks.

Attacks were messy and it was representative of the struggle when heated appeals were made for a penalty when Walter Samuel had his arms around Drogba. Chelsea really required smoothness in open play, but as half-time approached there was agitation on the Inter bench. It was an occasion when tension would become increasingly marked.

It was essential for Ancelotti’s team to score, but the visitors would not permit themselves to be confined to their own penalty area. Indeed Chelsea had to be vigilant and Zhirkov impressed by clearing for a corner after the influential and inventive Sneijder had backheeled the ball towards Goran Pandev. The Dutchman ought then to have had the credit for setting up an opener, but Milito’s shot from Sneijder’s chip was utterly miscued.

A sense of relief was of scant benefit to Chelsea and Ancelotti sent on Joe Cole. All the same, the side lacked a general rhythm to its work. That was scarcely a defect that troubled Mourinho’s men.

They could have been angry purely because they had not made enough of their superiority. There was a frantic tone when Ancelotti felt compelled to take off his left-back and add another striker in Salomon Kalou. The struggle here was as intense and nerve-racking as everyone had anticipated.

Steven Gerrard avoids FA punishment after clash with Michael Brown
Liverpool captain will not face action from the Football Association following his clash with Portsmouth’s Michael Brown.

Portsmouth set for nine-point penalty

• Sanction to be enforced at Premier League meeting
• Administrator’s pleas will be ignored by board

Portsmouth will almost inevitably suffer a nine-point penalty at a Premier League board meeting on Wednesday despite personal pleas from the administrator not to enforce the sanction.

Andrew Andronikou, whose status as administrator of Portsmouth was confirmed at the high court on Tuesday as HM Revenue & Customs formally withdrew its challenge against his appointment, will be given an audience to explain his club’s case. Hearing it will be Sir Dave Richards, the league chairman, its chief executive, Richard Scudamore, and the general secretary, Mike Foster.

The league has repeatedly stressed that it is bound by its insolvency rules and that room for manoeuvre is limited, and is expected to hold that line. However, Andronikou will present the case according to the regulation C.58, which states that the league must take other factors into account. The rule states: “The board shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case and to the interests of the insolvent club’s officials, players, supporters, shareholders and sponsors.”

Andronikou will argue that creditors to the club will be materially affected by the future impact of the nine-point sanction and that this should be a consideration before it is automatically imposed. Andronikou’s role is to recover funds for those creditors through the sale of the club. Yet he feels that Portsmouth become a less attractive – and therefore less valuable – proposition if they are condemned to relegation.

If the penalty is enforced, Pompey will be left with 10 points with nine matches remaining – 17 points from safety – suggesting that the FA Cup semi-finalists’ survival hopes are theoretical. Nevertheless, Andronikou was continuing to underscore his confidence that a solution will be found for creditors – HMRC alone claims it is owed about £11.5m as part of the club’s £65m of net debt – and hopes to set up an auction. As directed by the court, he will set about forming a creditors’ committee, which is likely comprise HMRC, the Professional Footballers’ Association and one other major creditor, next week.

Asked when he expects the period of administration to end, Andronikou said: “I think that will be in six to eight weeks. We have a statutory requirement to put our proposals to the creditors within 10 weeks of our appointment.”

Andronikou has previously confirmed that Rob Lloyd, the property millionaire, has provided proof of funds demonstrating that he is a viable bidder. They held their first meeting on Monday. “I met him [on Monday] night and set out a few ground rules and we have agreed a way forward,” Andronikou said. “There are still some boxes for him to tick.”

Sevilla 1-2 CSKA Moscow (2-3 agg)

CSKA Moscow reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time with victory over Sevilla tonight.

Neither side had previously progressed from the last 16 heading into the second leg and, after a 1-1 draw in the first match in Moscow, Sevilla were regarded as favourites having secured an away goal.

However, Tomas Necid stole the lead for CSKA late in the first half to cancel out the hosts’ away goal, only for Diego Perotti to drag Sevilla level almost immediately.

Keisuke Honda’s powerful free-kick saw CSKA through as the Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop made a mess of what should have been a straightforward save in the 55th minute.

Sevilla began brightly and in the third minute Jesus Navas was played in down the right and whipped in a low cross which was not cleared, allowing Luis Fabiano to take a swing only for Igor Akinfeev to make the save smartly.

Deividas Semberas escaped a booking when he brought Perotti down on the left wing but Alexei Berezutsky did get the yellow card moments later when he fouled the same player.

CSKA came close to scoring against the run of play in the 26th minute and Honda was a central figure. Necid held the ball up and laid it off to Honda, who forced a save from Palop and, when the goalkeeper failed to keep hold of the ball, dragged his effort on the rebound narrowly wide.

At the other end Diego Capel wasted a chance when he took one touch of a loose ball before blazing over.

A further spell of Sevilla pressure followed before CSKA took the lead in the 39th minute. Honda held the ball up after a throw-in and poked it to Necid, who brought it under control before producing a classy right-footed finish beyond Palop.

Sevilla equalised immediately. A rare long ball was not cleared, allowing Navas, on the right of the area, to stab it across for the onrushing Perotti to take a touch and poke home.

Fabiano was booked for using his arm to control the ball early in the second half as Sevilla pressed on.

Navas cut a swath down the right and could only watch as his whipped-in cross eluded substitute Fredi Kanouté and Perotti with the goal at their mercy.

Again, however, CSKA took the lead against the run of play and Palop was at fault. Honda hit a left-footed free-kick from distance with power and the goalkeeper, though he had it covered, fisted it into his own net to give CSKA the lead – and a crucial second away goal.

Mark Gonzalez – back in Seville having had a spell with Real Betis – was added to the referee’s notebook for a lunge on Navas, then broke down the left and might have scored if Palop had not come out and claimed.

Fabiano nearly ground out a goal in the 78th minute but failed to capitalise on the chance as Sevilla – needing to score twice – seemed to accept the inevitable.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

David Beckham ‘looks like he is out of World Cup’ admits England coach Fabio Capello
David Beckham’s World Cup dream over after former captain tears Achilles tendon during AC Milan’s Serie A game with Chievo.

Robbie Keane will return to Spurs, Jordan insists
Tottenham Hotspur first team coach Joe Jordan insists there is no chance of Robbie Keane remaining at Celtic beyond the end of his loan period.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Manchester United 3 Fulham 0: match report
Wayne Rooney shows just why Real Madrid are ‘obsessed’ with signing him by scoring twice against Fulham as United go top.

Owen Coyle praises Kevin Davies lead role in Bolton Wanderers’ survival fight
Bolton manager Owen Coyle says Fabio Capello should contemplate calling up Kevin Davies for the World Cup.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Real ‘obsessed’ with signing Wayne Rooney, admits former president

• Former Real president thinks Rooney would cost £80m
• ‘I imagine in that case Manchester United would have to sell’

Real Madrid have an “obsession” about signing Wayne Rooney but would need to fork out £80m or more to do so, according to their former president Ramón Calderón.

Real, who have spent £240m assembling a team with names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Xabi Alonso, were knocked out of the European Cup in midweek by Lyon.

The current president, Florentino Pérez, has been linked with moves for José Mourinho to replace the manager Manuel Pellegrini, and the Manchester United striker Rooney.

Calderón said: “It seems that it’s an obsession for the president to go for Rooney. I imagine Manchester United wouldn’t like to lose a player like him.

“Sometimes it’s a point of money and if there is a proposal maybe there will be a deal. You have to take into account that the most important thing is what a player wants to do. Ronaldo was a good signing. He is one of the best. He is a professional, a real professional and he is doing a really good job.

“I don’t know if it is possible to spend again another 100 or 80 million more euros. I imagine in that case you [Manchester United] would have to sell.”

Asked on BBC Radio Five Live if Ronaldo regretted his move to Madrid, Calderón added: “I don’t think so.

“He did what he wanted to do, he came to a big club. The idea was to win everything but you can’t buy everything with money. Even though you think you’ve got a lot of very good players together, that’s not the same as having a good team.”

Keane will return to Spurs in summer, says Jordan

• Celtic’s hat-trick hero made it eight for the club since January
• ‘He was a major player in getting us out of trouble last season’

Tottenham’s first-team coach Joe Jordan says there is no chance of Robbie Keane remaining at Celtic beyond the end of his loan period.

Keane, 29, joined Celtic until the end of the season in January and has so far scored eight goals, including a hat-trick in yesterday’s Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock.

However, Jordan is adamant the Republic of Ireland international still has a big role to play at Spurs.

He told the Sunday Herald: “Without a doubt [Keane will return], he’s the captain. Harry [Redknapp] brought him back here and he was a major player in getting us out of trouble last season, not just on the pitch, but in the dressing room as well.There’s not many of them going about. It wasn’t just the player, it was the person we wanted.”

Fernando Torres says Liverpool need ‘four or five top-class players’

• Spanish striker rules out move back to La Liga
• Club remain ‘a long way’ from dominating Premier League

Fernando Torres has expressed the view that Liverpool need “four or five” top-class players.

New faces are needed because the side remain “a long way” from dominating the Premier League, Torres told the Spanish newspaper AS. “If we do not reinforce the squad,” he said, “next year all we will be able to do is fight for fourth again.

“Being in the Champions League is not so important for me,” admitted Torres of his manager Rafael Benítez’s goal of a top-four finish. “What is really important is that the club makes an effort and brings in important players to improve the quality of the squad.

“I want to be fighting for the Premier League, the Champions League or the Europa League, but to do this we need signings to come. We need four or five top-class players to compete, players better than the ones we have.”

However, Torres dismissed whispers of a move back to Spain this summer, with Real Madrid or Barcelona.

“I don’t plan on going back to La Liga for a while. I have made my move away from home and I owe Liverpool a lot. I like it here, and people have treated me like one of their own. I am very happy here and hopefully my future is here. I think the club deserves to win again, but at this point they know they are a long way away.

“The fans are worried that players are going to leave and that’s a problem. But I think the club will go the right way. Since Christian Purslow took over [as chief executive], we have signed a big new sponsorship deal and money has come in. So I think things will move forward.”

Torres is contracted to Liverpool until 2013, having accepted more money last May. Asked if he had thought of leaving early, he said: “It’s too early to talk about that.”

Man Utd 3-0 Fulham

This match almost entirely concealed its significance. Victory, thanks largely to a pair of goals from Wayne Rooney, takes Manchester United to the head of the table, but there was little sense of occasion. The emphatic result was achieved merely by two late strikes against weary visitors.

There is seldom a good time for a mid-table side to visit Old Trafford, but the scheduling was particularly taxing for Fulham. On Thursday evening they had played a Europa League match at Juventus and Roy Hodgson felt obliged to make four changes to the line-up for the meeting with United. That step may have been made out of necessity more than any conviction that there is such genuine depth in his squad.

Nonetheless, it is the mark of Hodgson’s managerial finesse that his side’s 3-1 loss in Turin came as something of a surprise. United knew well the effectiveness Fulham have, particularly at Craven Cottage. Sir Alex Ferguson, forced to send out a makeshift centre-half pairing composed of midfielders Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher, had been beaten 3-0 there in December.

It would be a falsehood to suggest United were frothing with desire for vengeance. A match that kicked off at 1.30 looked, in the first-half, like the sort of game that might have been played a couple of hours earlier by hungover men in parks football. Clear-headed though he was, for example, Gary Neville had some feckless moments. In the 14th minute he lost the ball to Simon Davies, with the latter shooting slightly high. Near the interval, Neville then played a pass so poor that it put Antonio Valencia in enough trouble for him to commit a foul and collect a booking.

United still did the bulk of the attacking, but were at risk when Danny Murphy found Bobby Zamora and the striker’s volleyed chip went slightly too high. Throughout all the uncertainty, it still looked a certainty that Rooney would make his talent count. The second-half had barely begun when he played a pass to the left-winger Nani, collected the return and shot low into the corner of the net.

The goal did not galvanise United, but they exercised more control and Rio Ferdinand, for instance, volleyed over from a corner. By then, too, the visitors had been destabilised by the loss of Brede Hangeland to injury, with Chris Baird stepping back from midfield to deputise.

When Fulham threatened it was because a deflection put the ball behind Nemanja Vidic, but Zamora dithered and the United centre-half recovered to block his attempt. As if realising that they might still be at risk, Ferguson’s team then scored again. Dimitar Berbatov controlled a pass from Michael Carrick, broke clear on the right and picked out Rooney, who shot past Schwarzer in the 84th minute. On the verge of full-time, Rooney fired a pass to the right and the substitute Park Ji-sung’s cross was headed in by Berbatov.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

No World Cup guarantees for Beckham
England international David Beckham fears he may not get to realise his dream of playing in his fourth World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Pompey administrator irked by Lloyd bid talk
Portsmouth’s administrator, Andrew Andronikou, has launched an attack on the man supposedly bidding to become the the cash-stricken Premier League club’s fifth owner of the season.

Video: Highlights of Pacquiao-Clottey
Manny Pacquiao takes it to Joshua Clottey to earn the win. Check out the highlights from Texas.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Ligue 1: Bordeaux, Montpellier and Lyon held
Bordeaux’s recent slump continued as they failed to find a way past Monaco on Saturday.

Drogba stars Chelsea’s addictive drama

John Terry may be captain but he is getting help from a striker who leads from the front

Breaking news: Didier Drogba is the new Chelsea captain. Not officially, you understand, because John Terry has managed to hang on to one of his armbands, but midway through the second half of this demolition of West Ham the team’s top scorer and chief thespian ordered Terry to reorganise his defence and England’s fallen leader obliged.

Drogba was all over West Ham in a 4-1 win and is Chelsea’s best hope of removing the smirk from José Mourinho’s chops when Internazionale trot out at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday sporting their 2-1 first-leg lead. Most of us had not realised the Big D exerted so much tactical influence in Carlo Ancelotti’s team until he raised two fingers to Terry from the halfway line to denote Branislav Ivanovic’s shirt number.

Ivanovic had been racing forward from the right-back berth like a dog in the park who had been locked up way too long. After jabbing up two digits, Drogba then wagged his index finger at Terry, who straightaway passed the order down the line to “Bran” to keep tight to the rest of the back four. Ivanovic stopped marauding and Florent Malouda, who dazzled on Chelsea’s left-flank, and Drogba, with his second goal of the match, finished West Ham off.

Fabio Capello is known to have said that Terry remains the notional England captain on the pitch but had to be stripped of the armband out of an old Italian sense of rectitude. So England’s followers can expect to see him imposing his authority almost as much as he did before Rio Ferdinand was promoted to the role. But it was revealing to see him power share with Drogba in the arena where he is meant to be the domineering cockney lord.

Part of Drogba’s genius has been to shape events around his own theatrical personality. When a manager is fired from the ejector seat people always wonder whether Drogba was a catalyst in the victim’s journey toward the heavens. He is the turbulent soul of a sometimes mechanical side. Whatever the political reality of his standing in Roman Abramovich’s affections his influence in games is boundless. When Drogba is inspired, so are Chelsea. His emotional state is a barometer for the ambitions of this team.

A 55th-minute headed goal after Terry had impersonated Frank Lampard by surging into the penalty box and a simple finish from a spill by Robert Green, the West Ham goalkeeper, took Drogba’s haul to 21 Premier League goals for the season and 27 in all competitions. These Rooney-esque stats outshine those of Nicolas Anelka, whose last goal was against Burnley nine matches ago and who is becalmed on 12. The Drogba-Anelka numbers game looked like being a tight contest until Anelka was left behind by Drogba’s barn-burning brilliance.

Mourinho’s relationship with him was complex. The returning hero exhausted his repertoire of psychological tricks to exploit his senior striker’s vast potential. Sometimes he would venerate, other times he would vilify, in front of the other players. And there were times when Mourinho would claim to feel betrayed by some flirtation Drogba was having with an Italian club. Most assumed player would follow coach to Milan but it never happened. Their duel, on Tuesday, will be high-class ego theatre.

Chelsea impress less than they excite. Against West Ham, though, Malouda filed possibly his most impressive performance in a Chelsea shirt. On this evidence, the Republic of Ireland may yet see Thierry Henry karmically punished for the play-off double handball by Malouda taking his place on the left of the France attack, but no doubt Henry’s fame will prevail. If Malouda plays like this for the rest of Chelsea’s season, though, a dozen or so right-backs are going to end up with migraines.

A quiet soul, Malouda excelled without using officialdom and injustice as a monolith to fight against, as Drogba did during an amusing spasm on the edge of the West Ham penalty box. Incensed by a decision by Mark Clattenburg, the referee, Drogba appeared to have been given a sizeable electric shock as he writhed and kicked his way back to the vertical.

How much duller would Stamford Bridge be without his histrionics? It was worth the ticket price just to see him shake his finger at Clattenburg. If Rada employ specialist coaches, they should hire Drogba to teach indignation. Any actor playing a lone hero taking on Washington or a corrupt corporation would gain from studying Drogba’s blazing eyes and his wronged demeanour.

Like Rooney at Manchester United, he is the human line between victory and defeat. There was a deepening sense here that Chelsea’s season will be settled by Drogba’s contribution against Mourinho’s Inter on Tuesday and in the Premier League super-clash against United at Old Trafford on Easter weekend. He is some item, some entertainer.

THE FANS’ PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

TRIZIA FIORELLINO, Chelsea Supporters Group It was a good result, but a poor performance – it was just as well West Ham were so bad because we were not on top of our game. There were a few good individual performances: Malouda was excellent, Alex played really well and Turnbull put in a competent display. But Drogba didn’t do much and got two goals – that tells the story. It’s difficult to be too happy because I get the impression they don’t want the league enough – they’re so set on the Champions League they don’t put enough in to league games. You can get way with that with West Ham, but we must get our heads right before we go to Manchester United.

The fan’s player ratings Turnbull 8; Ivanovic 8 (Zhirkov 79 7), Alex 8, Terry 8, Ferreira 7; Mikel 6; Ballack 6, Lampard 6, Malouda 9 (Kalou 86 7); Anelka 8 (J Cole 65 7); Drogba 7

TIM CONLAN, Observer reader It was quite a good game, but we set out our stall by playing practically a reserve team. Sticking Mido and Ilan up front was a fairly negative tactic, but, ironically, we did compete very well and Ilan should have scored before they did. But Malouda ran Spector ragged – he gives opponents too much room. I think 4-1 slightly flattered them, but their goalkeeper didn’t really have a shot to save. Parker’s goal was worth the admission money on its own. We all shouted: “Don’t shoot!” because he normally hits the floodlights from that distance. Dyer had a start today and played 60 minutes, and he looked quite fresh.

The fan’s player ratings Green 7; Spector 4, Gabbidon 6, Upson 6, Daprelà 7; Kovac 5, Parker 9, Behrami 6, Dyer 6 (Stanislas 67 n/a); Ilan 4 (Diamanti 83 n/a), Mido 5 (C Cole 67 n/a)

TO TAKE PART IN THE FANS’ VERDICT, SPORT@OBSERVER.CO.UK

Liverpool monitoring McLeish contract talks
Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish is again being linked with the Liverpool manager’s job after initially being revealed as a potential candidate to replace Rafa Benitez by Soccernet on March 5.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">

Sheff Utd 1-1 QPR
Neil Warnock’s QPR earn their manager a point on his return to his former club.

Birmingham City 2 Everton 2: match report
Craig Gardner scored his first Birmingham goal as Alex McLeish’s side recovered from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point against Everton.

Premier League action: in pictures
Chelsea beat West Ham; Arsenal steal late victory at Hull.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insists he is not under pressure despite recent losses
Two defeats in four days has sparked speculation over Rafael Benitez’s future at Liverpool, but the Spaniard insists he is not feeling the pressure.

classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"
codebase="https://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0"
id="bet365_affiliate_creative_banner_image"
width="300"
height="150">