D Tuesday, January 12, 2010 SPORT 23 SOCCER (all 7.45pm) FA Cup Third Round Bristol City v Cardiff.......................... FA Cup Third Round replays Birmingham v Nottm Forest ............. Coventry v Portsmouth .................... Derby v Millwall ................................ QPR v Sheff Utd............................... Clydesdale Bank Premier League St Mirren v Aberdeen........................ Africa Cup of Nations Group C Egypt v Nigeria ........................ (4pm) Mozambique v Benin.......... (6.30pm) barclays premier league Man City .....4 Blackburn ...1 Tevez 9, 49, 90 Pedersen 71 Richards 39 Att 40,292 P W D L F A Pts Chelsea 20 14 3 3 45 16 45 Man Utd 21 14 2 5 46 19 44 Arsenal 20 13 3 4 53 23 42 Man City 20 10 8 2 42 28 38 Tottenham 20 11 4 5 42 22 37 Aston Villa 20 10 5 5 29 18 35 Liverpool 20 10 3 7 37 25 33 Birmingham 21 9 6 6 21 19 33 Fulham 20 7 6 7 26 22 27 Stoke 20 6 6 8 18 25 24 Sunderland 20 6 5 9 28 31 23 Everton 20 5 8 7 28 34 23 Blackburn 21 5 6 10 21 39 21 Burnley 20 5 5 10 22 40 20 Wolverhampton 20 5 4 11 17 36 19 Wigan 19 5 4 10 21 44 19 West Ham 20 4 6 10 28 37 18 Bolton 18 4 6 8 26 36 18 Hull 20 4 6 10 20 42 18 Portsmouth 20 4 2 14 18 32 14 africa cup of nations group a Malawi .........3 Algeria ........0 group b Ivory Coast... 0 Burkina Faso 0 RESULTS FIXTURES SOCCER PREMIER LEAGUE CELTiC have completed the signing of Dutch defender Jos Hooiveld on a three-and-a- half-year contract. The 26-year-old, who is the Hoops first January signing, joined from AiK Solna for a fee reportedly in the region of 2million. Hooiveld said: im delighted to sign for a club of Celtics stature. Celtic has a magnificent history and is a club with great tradition and great supporters. He added: i feel this is the right place for me and i am very much looking forward to meeting up with my new team-mates and hopefully playing my part in bringing success to the club and our fans. ALEx McLEISh insists Birmingham will not pay inflated prices for new players this month. The Blues boss has between 20-40million to spend in the transfer window and admits he has been priced out of certain deals. Michel has signed from Spanish side Sporting Gijon but McLeish says it is now a case of getting players for the right fee. Its a problem, he said. I know if we keep improving well have to bring in players. Wages will increase, players here will want higher wages and new contracts. Its a natural evolution. JOHN TERRY insists a united dressing-room has been key to Chelseas continued success with a string of managers. The Blues appear to have stability now under Carlo Ancelotti but have also been led by Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Avram Grant and Jose Mourinho since 2004. Skipper Terry said: Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba deserve credit as well as me. it is really important i have their backing because we have had so many managers over the last few years. it was important myself, Didier and Lamps kept everyone together. PORTSMOuTh executive director Mark Jacob has called for fans to give owner Ali Al-Faraj a chance. Supporters angry at the clubs problems have vented their fury at the Saudi businessman, who saved the club from administration earlier this season. Jacob said: At the Arsenal game last month, there were chants which left Ahmed Al- Faraj, brother of Ali, who was watching on the internet, most upset. Mr Al-Faraj feels supporters do not see or havent been told perhaps what has happened since October. I sincerely hope that does not happen again. footballdigest Concerned: McLeish LEAGUE OF IRELAND Big plans: Connor Connor takes on his biggest challenge New Galway United boss Sean Connor says he is confident the club will secure its Premier Division licence for the new season and build effectively for the future. I am very excited, said Connor. The thing that attracted me is the challenge, its a massive challenge. It is probably the biggest challenge Ive taken as a coach or a manager. Connor said he turned down offers from Africa and America to take up the reins at Galway, who are likely to operate under the lowest budget in the Premier Division this coming season. Im well aware of the situation as regards resources, but the whole League of Ireland is facing a challenge. From the outside I think this is a massive club, a big city, and there is no reason we cannot be challenging for honours and european football. I have been assured that we are going to have a Premier Division licence. I wouldnt have signed a three-year contract if I didnt believe the club was going to be in the Premier Division, and if we werent going to have a good future. Im quite sure that the ambition of this football club will more than match my ambitions. Its not going to be easy, resources are tight, it is going to be a difficult year. But the job is to make sure we stay in the Division, and to put structures and foundations in place so we can take the club forward. Eastlands promise after Tevez makes it a treble man city 4 blackburn 1 By Jack Fox New boss Roberto Mancini made it four wins from four as Manchester City saw off Blackburn at eastlands last night. A Carlos Tevez hat-trick and a stunning effort from Micah Richards sealed the win which, despite a late consolation from Morten Gamst Pedersen, saw City move into fourth place in the Premier League. Home fans had welcomed new signing Patrick Vieira to the club before the start the former Arsenal captain ruled out with a calf injury but showed little sign of missing the Frenchman as they raced into the lead after just seven minutes. Benjani was first to the ball after Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson had failed to hold on to Martin Petrovs corner and when his mishit shot fell to Tevez, the Argentina strik- er steered the ball home off his thigh. Richards doubled the lead just before the break, stabbing the ball in after Benjani had hit the post follow- ing an amazing 80-yard run from the england defender. Tevez added a third, four minutes after the interval from the edge of the penalty area before Pedersen pulled one back for the visitors. Tevez then had the final say as he completed his treble in injury time. AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Caf failed to help us, say Togo Togo prime minister gilbert Houngbo has hit out at the way his countrys team have been treated by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) in the wake of Fridays terrorist attack. Houngbo claimed the decision for Togo to withdraw from the Africa Cup of Nations was not made in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy in which three members of their travelling party were shot dead but after support from the tournament organisers proved non-forthcoming. Management did not give us enough assurance. We would leave our team being exposed to similar risks. Therefore we decided to pull our team out against our will, he said. We would have hoped one could have serene discussion with the host country, with the confederation, to assess what has happened, assess what one has to do. We received no co- operation in terms of any kind of assessment. our analysis is they want it [the shooting] to be seen as a non-event and the show must go on as planned; there must not be an official change and Togo is causing problems to the festival. Surging run: Micah Richards salutes his stunning goal, while Patrick Vieira, above, is introduced to the City fans Picture: Action Images Man City: Given, Zabaleta, Richards, Kompany, Garrido, Petrov (Boyata 87), De Jong, Barry, Bellamy (Robinho 69), Tevez, Mwaruwari (Santa Cruz 81). Booked: Zabaleta. Goals: Tevez 7, 49, 90, Richards 39. Blackburn: Robinson, Jacobsen, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Emerton, Andrews (Hoilett 46), Nzonzi, Pedersen, Dunn (Olsson 66), Di Santo (Kalinic 46). Booked: Pedersen. Goal: Pedersen 71. Att: 40,292. Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside). MATCH FACTS index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html