FOOTBALLDigest D Wednesday, September 16, 2009 METROSPORT 23 TOTTENHAM new boy Niko Kranjcar has urged caution among the clubs fans after their first defeat of the season. Saturdays 3-1 home loss to Manchester United came as a reality check after a fine start which had seen wins in the first four Premier League games. And Croatian Kranjcar, who made his Spurs debut as a substitute against United, wants a quick return to winning ways. Everyone is talking about the top four but well take each game as it comes and hopefully well achieve that at the end of the season, he said. One game doesnt tell everything but we have to keep working hard and believing in ourselves. Preston have confirmed that defender sean st Ledger has joined Middlesbrough on a three- month loan deal with a view to a permanent move in the January transfer window. the republic of Ireland defender has linked up with Gareth southgates squad ahead of last nights game against sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. the 24-year-old signed for the Lilywhites in the summer of 2006 and went on to play more than 130 games for them. st Ledger was named as Prestons Player of the Year in 2008 and could fetch 3million in the new Year. STOKE midfielder Glenn Whelan has committed his future to the club by signing a new four-year contract. The 25-year-old moved to the Britannia Stadium from Sheffield Wednesday for 500,000 in January 2008 and has established himself as a regular in the Potters midfield. The Republic of Ireland international said: Im delighted to have secured my future here with the club. Ive worked hard since I arrived and its great to have been rewarded with a new deal. Its taken a week or two to iron out but I never had to think about it really. I feel I can fulfil my ambitions at Stoke. GeorGe BUrLeY will stay as scotland manager despite failing to guide his side to a World Cup play-off spot. the scottish Football Association has confirmed Burley will keep his job following talks at Hampden. It was always our intention to have a review of the campaign, regardless of the outcome, said sFA chief executive Gordon smith. theres a lot of positive factors about aspects of the campaign despite the fact we didnt qualify. We want to invest our faith in the manager and players. George continues in his role with the full backing of the sFA. riverside move: st Ledger uefa champions league group a Juventus .........1 Bordeaux ........ 1 Iaquinta 63 Plasil 75 Maccabi Haifa 0 Bayern Munich 3 Van Buyten 64 Muller 85, 88 group B Besiktas ..........0 Man Utd ......... 1 Scholes 77 Att 32,000 Wolfsburg .......3 CsKA Moscow 1 Grafite 35, 41 pen, 87 Dzagoev 77 group c Marseille .........1 AC Milan ......... 2 Heinze 49 Inzaghi 28, 75 FC Zurich ........2 CsKA Mosc ... 5 Margairaz 64pen Ronaldo 27, 89 Aegerter 65 Raul 34, Higuain 45 Guti 90 group D A Madrid .........0 Ap nicosia ...... 0 Chelsea ...........1 Porto ............... 0 Anelka 48 Att 39,436 coca-cola champship Coventry .........3 sheff Utd ........ 2 Derby ..............2 Barnsley ......... 3 Ipswich ...........1 nottm For ....... 1 Leicester .........1 Peterboro ....... 1 Plymouth ........0 Watford .......... 1 QPr ................ P Crystal Pal .....P scunthorpe .....3 Preston ........... 1 sheff Wed .......1 Middboro ...... 3 swansea .........0 Bristol City...... 0 West Brom ......3 Doncaster ...... 1 P W D L F A Pts West Brom 7 5 2 0 15 7 17 Middlesbrough 7 5 1 1 14 4 16 Newcastle 6 5 1 0 9 1 16 Preston 7 3 3 1 12 7 12 Sheff Utd 7 3 3 1 11 7 12 Watford 7 3 3 1 10 8 12 Leicester 7 3 3 1 7 5 12 Bristol City 7 3 3 1 7 7 12 Coventry 7 3 2 2 8 8 11 Cardiff 6 3 1 2 11 5 10 Sheff Wed 7 2 3 2 12 9 9 Scunthorpe 7 3 0 4 10 14 9 Blackpool 6 1 4 1 8 6 7 QPR 6 1 4 1 5 5 7 Doncaster 7 1 4 2 5 7 7 Derby 7 2 1 4 10 12 7 Nottm Forest 7 1 4 2 8 10 7 Reading 6 1 3 2 4 7 6 Swansea 7 1 3 3 3 8 6 Crystal Palace 6 1 2 3 5 10 5 Peterborough 7 0 4 3 7 11 4 Barnsley 7 1 1 5 6 14 4 Ipswich 7 0 3 4 5 12 3 Plymouth 7 0 2 5 6 14 2 fai cup q-final replays Bray Wand.......2 Longford t ..... 1 Flood 12, Shields 28 Glynn 90 st Patricks .....0 Waterford Utd 2 Carey 25, Kiely 39 sligo rvrs .......2 Bohemians ..... 1 OGrady 67, Doyle 71 Cronin 43 shamrock rv ..1 sporting Fing . 2 Bradley 49pen Kirby 8, 113pen (after extra-time) soCCer (7.45pm unless stated) Champions League Group e Liverpool v Debrecen ......................... Lyon v Fiorentina ................................ Group G Sevilla v Unirea Urziceni..................... Stuttgart v Rangers ............................ Group H Olympiacos v AZ ................................ Standard Liege v Arsenal ................... Coca-Cola Championship Blackpool v Newcastle....................... Reading v Cardiff...................... (8pm) fixtures results sOCCer CHAMPIons LeAGUe fai Cup Dublin duo dumped out out of Cup st PAtrICKs Athletic fans last night chanted for the removal of manager Jeff Kenna as his side were dumped out of the FAI Cup by First Divison Waterford United on a 2-0 scoreline at richmond Park last night. saints were frankly shocking as Alan Careys audacious cross-shot beat Gary rogers to give Blues the lead on 25 minutes. Willie John Kiely then tapped home a second 14 minutes later. Double winners Bohemians grip on the Cup ended as sligo rovers came from behind to beat them 2-1 at the showgrounds. Glen Cronin put Bohs in front, but skipper Conor oGrady levelled for rovers with eoin Doyle getting the winner on 71 minutes. Bray Wanderers beat Longford town 2-1 at Carlisle Grounds with goals from John Flood and Chris shields. Arsene Wenger believes emmanuel Adebayor will regret leaving Arsenal. The gunners manager insists Adebayor owes a debt to the club who helped make his name, before selling him to Manchester City in the summer for 25million. The Togo striker had long been linked with a move away from Arsenal, with AC Milan said to be ready to sign him a year ago. But his antics in saturdays 4-2 win over the gunners, where he scored Citys third goal, then ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Arsenal fans, have made him a marked man. The FA yesterday charged Adebayor with misconduct for his celebrations and also charged the player with violent conduct after he struck robin van Persie in the face with a boot. And, ahead of tonights Champions League group H opener at standard Liege, Wenger said: My thought is emmanuel deserves to be charged for what he did. But I was surprised there was such animosity in his attitude towards Arsenal because in a few years he will realise Arsenal has been great for him. That is why I was deeply surprised and shocked. Youre Gunner regret it, Adebayor Blues make a splash to begin carlos euro reign Water display:salomon Kalou slides along the wet surface as Chelsea chisel out a win against Porto CHelsea 1 pOrtO 0 Clean sheet: Petr Cech NICOLAS ANELKA last night marked Carlo Ancelottis first European game as Chelsea boss by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win at a rain-lashed Stamford Bridge. Salomon Kalou, playing in the absence of the suspended Didier Drogba, played in Anelka and the Frenchman slotted home in the 48th minute after his initial shot was blocked by Porto keeper Helton. The opener was nearly followed by a swift second when Florent Malouda headed an Ashley Cole cross into the side-netting after good work by Frank Lampard. And as the Blues cranked up the pressure Branislav Ivanovic directed a fierce header over the crossbar from a corner after setting up Kalou, who was denied from ten yards when Helton did well to parry his effort behind. Chelsea had been dominant in the first half but were unable to unlock a stubborn Porto defence. Lampard forced Helton into saves with a long-range drive and a header from an Ivanovic cross while Anelka fired straight at the busy goalkeeper. But Porto proved dangerous on the break as they pushed bodies forward without really stretching keeper Petr Cech. It was a similar story after the break as the visitors chased an equaliser and last seasons semi-finalists made heavy weather of defending their lead. Cech had to made a smart save to keep out a late effort from substitute Silvestre Verela before Fernando was sent off for a late second booking. Chelsea: Cech, A Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Ivanovic, Malouda, Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Kalou (Belletti 77), Anelka. Booked: Essien, Malouda. Goal: Anelka 48. Porto: Helton, Pereira, Bruno Alves, Rolando, Fucile, Raul Meireles, Fernando, Guarin, Rodriguez (Varela 64), Hulk, Gonzalez (Garcia 54). Booked: Fernando sent off: Fernando. referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria). Attendance: 39,436. BY DAnnY GrIFFItHs index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html