FOOTBALLDigest D Friday, October 23, 2009 METROSPORT 23 Europa lEaguE group C Celtic..................... 0 Hamburg ................1 Berg 63 Hapoel Tel Aviv..... 5 Rapid Vienna .........1 Shechter 30 Hoffmann 32 Menteshashvili 54, 59 Vermouth 70 Lala 90 P W D L F A Pts Hapoel 3 2 0 1 9 6 6 Hamburg 3 2 0 1 5 5 6 Rapid 3 1 1 1 5 6 4 Celtic 3 0 1 2 2 4 1 group E Fulham ................. 1 Roma......................1 Hangeland 24 Andreolli 90 CSKA Sofia........... 0 Basle.......................2 Frei 20, 63 P W D L F A Pts Basle 3 2 0 1 4 2 6 Fulham 3 1 2 0 3 2 5 Roma 3 1 1 1 3 3 4 CSKA 3 0 1 2 1 5 1 group I Benfica ................. 5 Everton...................0 Saviola 14, 83 Att 44,534 Cardozo 47, 48 Luisao 52 BATE Borisov ....... 2 AEK Athens............1 Pavlov 52 Blanco 31 pen Alumona 86 Att 20,000 P W D L F A Pts Benfica 3 2 0 1 7 1 6 Everton 3 2 0 1 6 6 6 BATE 3 1 0 2 3 5 3 AEK Athens 3 1 0 2 2 6 3 golF CASTELLO MASTERS (Club de Campo del Mediterraneo, Spain) First round scores: 63 Sergio Garcia (Spa). 64 Michael Jonzon (Swe). 65 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Emanuele Canonica (Ita). 67 David Horsey (Eng), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Pablo Martin (Spa), Miles Tunnicliff (Eng). 68 David Drysdale (Sco), Santiago Luna (Spa), Darren Clarke (Irl). 69 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa), David Dixon (Eng), Manuel Quiros (Spa). MARCO ANDREOLLI broke Fulham hearts with an injury-time equaliser at Craven Cottage last night. Brede Hangelands first-half header for the Cottagers had looked to win the game for Roy Hodgsons side but Andreolli atoned for his error in allowing the Norway skipper to outjump him by volleying past Mark Schwarzer. Romas Jeremy Menez had missed an earlier penalty after Stephen Kelly was sent off for Fulham. FULHAM..... 1 ROMA ........ 1 Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Konchesky (Pantsil 46), Hughes, Riise (Duff 75), Greening, Baird, Gera, Zamora (Nevland 61), Kamara. Roma: Doni, Burdisso, Mexes, Andreolli, Riise, Taddei (Vucinic 63), Brighi (Pizarro 47), De Rossi, Guberti, Okaka Chuka (Perrotta 47), Menez. Ref: Paul Allaerts (Belgium). ResULts SPORTing Metro have broken even! After a shocking five straight league defeats in a row, it took an epic Cup victory over Premiership side glasnaoin FC last month to give Metros 11-a- side soccer team the kick-start they needed. Last weeks 3-1 success against Phoenix Athletic in Tallaght came courtesy of three goals in the final ten minutes and made it five wins on the trot. Sporting Metro next face Leinster Senior League Manorstown in the hopes of another giant-killing. Ice cool Berg strike is enough to sink Celtic CeltiC suffered their third european home defeat under tony Mowbray to leave them staring at an early exit from the europa league. Marcus Berg finished clinically in the 63rd minute after Ze Roberto had split open the Celtic defence as Hamburg joined Arsenal and Dinamo Moscow in further undermining Celtics previous- ly formidable home record. Celtic, who have now won just two of eight home games in all competitions under Mowbray, were sloppy in possession throughout, although they created several first-half chances. the latest defeat leaves the Hoops well adrift at the bottom of their group with just one point from three games. Scott Brown missed the best chance of the first half as the Hoops midfielder sliced wide from close range. the Bundesliga side had several half chances but Celtic finished the half stronger and Shaun Maloney and Scott McDonald both failed to convert decent opportunities. eljero elia hit the top of the bar just after the break as Hamburg began to open up the hosts and Berg duly opened the scoring from 25 yards soon after. Substitute Paddy McCourt tested Hamburg keeper Frank Rost with a low drive as Celtic chased an equaliser but Hamburg held out. And Mowbray warned his Celtic players they face being sold in January if they fail to improve on their recent displays. the quality needs to improve and ive got to work hard to try to do that, he said. You only have opportunities in transfer windows to do that. As ive said to all the players, theyll all get an opportunity over the next few months and the last few months to make sure that they remain at the club. the objective is to bring better quality footballers into the team. the supporters for a start deserve a better team on the pitch. ceLtic.......................................................... 0 HAMbURg.................................................. 1 Celtic: Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, NGuemo, Brown (McCourt 76), Robson, McGeady, Maloney (McGinn 76), McDonald (Samaras 61). Hamburg: Rost, Demel, Rozehnal, Mathijsen, Aogo, Jarolim, Ze Roberto, Elia, Jansen (Trochowski 77), Berg, Pitroipa (Tesche 88). Ref: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy). MATCH FACTS Losing battle: Celtic midfielder Barry Robson tangles with Hamburgs Marcell Jansen during last nights Europa League tie at Parkhead Fulham dashed at the death sOcceR EuROPA LEAguE DAviD MoYeS saw his depleted everton side spectacularly dismantled in the space of five second-half minutes at the estadio da luz last night. Javier Saviola opened the scoring for the Portuguese side and oscar Cardozo scored twice with luisao adding another to put Benfica on course for an emphatic victory. Saviola added a fifth and despite the absence of 11 players toffees boss Moyes was left fuming at the way everton caved in. benFicA.... 5 eveRtOn. 0 Benfica: J Cesar, R Amorim, Luisao, Luiz, C Peixoto, Ramires, J Garcia, Di Maria, Saviola (Weldon 85), Aimar (Martins 69), Cardozo (Coentrao 77). Everton: Howard, Gosling, Hibbert, Distin, Coleman, Fellaini, Cahill, Rodwell, Bilyaletdinov (Saha 60), Jo, Yakubu (Baxter 71). Ref: Nikolai Ivanov (Russia). Toffees come unstuck By nEiL MACKAy MuCH-travelled former Italy striker Christian Vieri has announced his retirement. The 36-year-old former Italy striker yesterday spoke at a court case where he has accused former club Inter Milan of spying on him while he was a player there at the start of the decade. Vieri, who has also played for AC Milan, Monaco and Juventus, said: I dont want to play anymore and Im not even tempted to play abroad. Capped 49 times by his country, Vieri finished his career at Atalanta but had an unsuccessful trial at Blackburn during the summer. gORDOn STRACHAn is set to be named the new Middlesbrough boss today. The 52-year-old former Celtic and Coventy boss is expected to be confirmed as gareth Southgates replacement and could watch the team from the stands during tomorrows Championship trip to Preston, although coach Colin Cooper will be in charge for that game. Strachan has been out of the game since leaving Celtic this summer after a four-year stint which saw him win three successive Scottish league titles. MAnCHESTER CiTy striker Robinho faces another fortnight out of action after suffering a setback in his recovery from a stress fracture of his ankle. City boss Mark Hughes had hoped to start the Brazilian in Tuesdays Carling Cup home tie against Scunthorpe. But after already spending two months on the sidelines, it is now likely the 25-year- old will not be available until Burnley visit on Saturday week. Hes had a little bit of a setback, and the likelihood is it will be another ten to 14 days, confirmed Hughes. STOKE defender Robert Huth has been given a three-match ban by the FA for violent conduct towards West Hams Matthew upson. The Germany centre-back was charged after swinging an arm at upson during last Saturdays clash at the Britannia Stadium. He admitted the charge and was suspended for Stokes next three games. The Potters had earlier taken their own disciplinary action against Huth with boss Tony Pulis saying: We have spoken to Robert and he knows what we feel. His reaction was poor and it could have cost us the game. new challenge: Strachan FAi cUp Blues battle fatigue and Sligo stars WAteRFoRD UNiteD boss Stephen Henderson is asking for an enormous effort from his jaded players as they sit 90 minutes away from the FAi Ford Cup final. the Blues First Division promotion drive has spluttered in recent weeks as their cup exploits have caught up with them. Waterford have won the Munster Senior Cup, got to the final of the eA Sports Cup and tonight travel to in-form Premier side Sligo Rovers in the semis of the FAi Cup. Weve had 42 matches already, said Henderson. Weve about ten players who have played in all of them. Fatigue is only one of Hendersons problems as he readies his defence to face Sligos dangerous front two of Raff Cretaro and Matt Blinkhorn. they are in great form, Henderson said. they always play with pace and knock the ball around really well. Meanwhile, in the league, Shamrock Rovers will be looking to bounce back at Dundalk tonight while Bohemians, who leapfrogged back to the top on tuesday night, travel to relegation-threatened Galway United. Picture:PA index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html