Valencia 0 - 1 Man Utd

Javier Hernandez stepped off the bench to get Manchester United's Champions League campaign up and running with a late victory away at Valencia.

Hernandez, who moments before struck the post, collected a pass from fellow substitute Federico Macheda and smashed a left-foot shot low into the corner.
Valencia had been the better side and Roberto Soldado headed over after Edwin van der Sar flapped at a cross.
Dimitar Berbatov forced Cesar Sanchez to save before Hernandez stole victory.
It was harsh on La Liga leaders Valencia, but they were made to pay for not creating enough chances with the possession they had and being profligate with the ones they did manage to fashion.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, having set his team up to keep it tight at the back and contain the Spanish side, will be absolutely delighted with the result ahead of two more eminently winnable Group C games against unfancied Turkish team Bursaspor.
After a 0-0 draw at home to Rangers two weeks ago United needed to kick-start their European campaign, and Ferguson flew out to Spain to watch Valencia last week, missing his team's 5-2 victory at Scunthorpe in the Carling Cup in the process.
Shorn of the services of injured midfielders Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Antonio Valencia and star striker Wayne Rooney, the Scot was forced to adopt a defensive strategy.
Despite having only made one brief substitute appearance apiece in the Premier League this season, Anderson and Michael Carrick came into midfield with Berbatov forced to plough a lone furrow up front.
And after a decent start from the hosts it was Berbatov who attempted to spark his team into life with a well-struck 30-yarder that flashed just past Cesar's left-hand post.

But neither side seemed in too much of a hurry to commit players forward as the game quickly became a battle for midfield supremacy, with lone strikers Berbatov and Soldado starved of possession for long periods.
Soldado did spurn the best chance of the first half when Alejandro Dominguez's cross from the left evaded Van der Sar's outstretched left hand, but he could not react in time and headed up and on to the roof of the net.
The home side's best moments, though few and far between, were taking place down their right flank with the pace of Miguel and Pablo Hernandez causing problems, on one occasion the latter cutting inside and drilling a fine shot just past Van der Sar's right-hand post.

Soldado expresses his frustration as another chance goes begging

Berbatov was feeding off scraps but he showed his class to control a long pass out from the United back, beat David Navarro for pace and force Cesar to save at his near post.
The longer the game went on the likelier it seemed Valencia would be the team, if any, to nick it, but the tiring Soldado shot wide and then headed off target, before Manuel Fernandes forced Van der Sar to push his 30-yarder behind.
Just when the Spaniards appeared to be on top, United sent on first Hernandez and then Macheda as they hit the hosts with a classic sucker-punch.
Moments after Hernandez had met Nani's floated cross at the back post with a shot against the upright, a devastating counter handed United the three points.

Nani fed Macheda down the right and when his pass to the edge of the box found Hernandez, the Mexican's first touch took the ball out of his feet and his second lashed the ball into the corner past Cesar Sanchez from 16 yards.
Valencia were too shell-shocked to respond in the five minutes they had left, leaving United with a firm grasp on the destiny of Group C.

Lewis: Steelers QB wishes he could play vs Ravens

PITTSBURGH – This is one week Ben Roethlisberger wouldn't mind taking a nasty hit from Ray Lewis.
Roethlisberger wishes he could play in Sunday's Ravens-Steelers rivalry game, according to a text message the suspended quarterback sent to Lewis, the Baltimore linebacker.
Lewis told Pittsburgh reporters on a conference call Wednesday that he exchanged messages this week with Roethlisberger, who regrets he can't play in a game that could decide the AFC North leader.
"He wishes he were out there — he wishes he were out there, man," Lewis said. "It's a respect thing we have playing against each other. It's a rivalry but, once again, it goes back to the level of respect we have."
Roethlisberger's four-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy doesn't end until next week.
While the Ravens (2-1) and Steelers (3-0) have one of the NFL's strongest rivalries, Lewis said he sent Roethlisberger text messages of encouragement while the league was weighing last spring whether to discipline the quarterback. Roethlisberger was suspended following accusations that he sexually assaulted a Georgia college student, although no charges were filed.
"We texted each other when he was going through what he was going through," Lewis said. "I was there for him. It's more of a brotherhood. The game will always take care of itself on the field, but off the field if we don't look out for each other, nobody else will."
Lewis, one of the league's most accomplished players, said he exchanges text messages with numerous other NFL players.
"We always hit (text) each other," Lewis said. "There are many people I hit, just simple stuff."
Lewis has had off-field issues. He was charged with murder in January 2000, but the charges were dropped after Lewis agreed to testify against two other men. He subsequently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. He also was fined $250,000 by NFL.
Relating to his own experiences, Lewis said he advised Roethlisberger to quickly put his problems behind him.
"If you're trying to please the world, you're going to confuse yourself," Lewis said. "If you're going to worry about what people say about you, you're going to confuse yourself. All you can do is move on, live on. ... Don't let nobody pull you back into it, don't let nobody make you keep talking about it. Once it's done, it's done."
Roethlisberger also has talked with and exchanged messages with teammates, including Hines Ward, while suspended. But he is not permitted to discuss team issues. He has been training with a quarterback coach, throwing to receivers and working out to remain in game shape.
He has not played since a Sept. 2 preseason game against Carolina, and cannot play again until Oct. 17 against Cleveland. The Steelers don't play next week, but Roethlisberger can resume practicing then.

Brees says left knee is fine

METAIRIE, La. – Saints quarterback Drew Brees wore a brace on his left knee during practice on Wednesday and said he was still a little sore from a hit he took in the fourth quarter of Sunday's overtime loss to Atlanta.
"It's gotten a lot better since Monday," Brees said. "My hope is and ... I'm very confident that by game day it will be fine."
Brees was not listed on the Saints' injury report. Coach Sean Payton said there was no injury to report, just soreness that was not serious enough to limit the star quarterback in practice in any way.
"There's no specific injury other than he has soreness," Payton said. "He took all the (practice snaps). There's not an injury to report. I was pleased with how he functioned. He functioned fine. It's something that as the week goes on, I think he'll have no problem with and he did a real good job in all the team stuff today."
Brees said he was not sure whether he'd wear the brace during Sunday's home game against winless Carolina.
"I'm kind of playing with it for stability and comfort," Brees said. "More than likely, yes. We'll see."
Brees' knee started bothering him after he took a hit from Falcons defensive end John Abraham, who tackled Brees as the quarterback delivered a fourth down pass to Jeremy Shockey to extend a game-tying drive.
Brees continued to play in overtime and showed no sign of distress as he drove the Saints to the Atlanta 11-yard line for what looked to be a game-winning field goal try until Garrett Hartley hooked it wide left.
The Falcons wound up winning 27-24.
Saints safety Roman Harper (right hamstring) and running back Pierre Thomas (left ankle) also were hurt during that game and neither practiced on Wednesday. Thomas injured his ankle in the fourth quarter against the Falcons, but also returned to the game in overtime and had a 23-yard gain on a screen pass.
"Fortunately the soreness for him is not as significant as you might expect with some ankles," Payton said. "It's not a high ankle sprain. It's not any of that, but there is swelling enough to where we held him out today."
Harper was in and out of Sunday's game, often getting his leg stretched on the sideline.
Payton did not expand on Harper's injury and neither Harper nor Thomas were in the locker room when it was open to reporters on Wednesday.

Juventus out to test Man City's elite credentials

PARIS (AFP) – Manchester City's latest opportunity to prove they belong among the elite of European football arrives in the shape of a mouth-watering Europa League clash with Juventus on Thursday.
The big-spending English side, who splashed out in excess of 100 million pounds (117 million euros) on new players over the summer, held onto fourth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 defeat of Chelsea on Saturday.
It was the defending champions' first loss of the new campaign and it has raised expectations that City can mount a sustained title challenge this season.
"We have now beaten Liverpool and Chelsea at home so it shows that we are developing as a unit," said Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure, a 24 million pounds acquisition from Barcelona.
"Now we have to show more consistency. We have a lot of injuries but we have a strong enough squad to keep pace with the top sides."
The dream of City's multi-billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour is to turn the under-achieving north-west club into one of Europe's glamour sides -- much as Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has done with Chelsea.
Visiting teams do not come much more glamorous than Juventus, who have two European Cups and a record 27 Italian titles to their name.
A dismal campaign last season, which saw them finish seventh in Serie A, means they have had to forego a place in the Champions League, but City coach Roberto Mancini is in no doubt as to their pedigree.
"Juventus are traditionally one of the very top sides in Europe and are maybe the biggest name in this year's Europa League," said the former Inter Milan coach.
Juve have struggled for form in the early weeks of the season but a hat-trick from summer signing Milos Krasic secured a 4-2 win at home to Cagliari on Sunday, sending them up to ninth in the table.
Coach Luigi Delneri is still finding his feet following his switch from Sampdoria, and the Old Lady's defensive frailties were exposed in the surprise 3-3 draw at home to Polish outsiders Lech Poznan in their first group game.
City kicked off with a 2-0 win at Red Bull Salzburg, giving them early control of Group A, but Juve right-back Marco Motta says it will take more than money to turn Mancini's men into world beaters.
"City are proof of how big-name signings and big spending, almost 100 million euros if I'm not mistaken, is not enough to obtain great results," Motta told Sky Italia.
"But it's clear that they're a rival who have all of our respect and we will have to be on guard."
Liverpool, another team with a rich European pedigree, travel to Dutch outfit FC Utrecht in Group K.
Dirk Kuyt scored on his return from a shoulder injury in the Reds' 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland on Saturday and the Netherlands international is in line to appear against the club with whom he began his professional career in 1998.
"It's on my mind to play (Fernando) Torres, (Raul) Meireles and Kuyt on Thursday. I think they're knitting together well," said Liverpool coach Roy Hodgson.
Elsewhere, defending champions Atletico Madrid host Bayer Leverkusen in Group B, while 2009 champions Zenit Saint Petersburg tackle AEK Athens in Group G.
Gregorio Manzano will oversee his first game in charge of Sevilla when the Spanish side travel to in-form Borussia Dortmund in Group J, after he was drafted in to replace the sacked Antonio Alvarez on Monday.

Bayern snatch last-gasp win at Hoffenheim

Bayern Munich kickstarted their Bundesliga campaign with a last-gasp victory at Hoffenheim as Daniel van Buyten scored an injury-time winner.

Defending champions Bayern trailed deep into the second half to a Veded Ibisevic goal inside the first minute but equalized just after the hour mark through World Cup hero Thomas Mueller.
Bayern lost Franck Ribery to a worrying ankle injury soon afterwards before Belgian international defender van Buyten cropped up in the first minute of added time to score the clincher.
Ribery's long-range shot had set up Mueller's equalizer and Bayern will be hoping he will be fit to face Basel in next Tuesday's Champions League group clash.
Manager Louis van Gaal said the injury was a worrying development.
"It doesn't look good, it looks like it is a bad ankle injury and we will have to wait and see what the tests show," he told AFP.
Bayern made the worst possible start with midfielder Sebastian Rudy finding Ibisevic to score after just 36 seconds, the fastest goal in Hoffenheim's short history.
The eventual victory lifts van Gaal's men into seventh place with eight points from five games, while Hoffenheim stay in second.
Early leaders Mainz continued their storming start to the season Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Cologne to make it five wins from five matches.
The hosts took the lead through Lewis Holtby after 72 minutes and the midfielder scored his second in added time.
But Champions League hopefuls Werder Bremen crashed to a second straight Bundesliga defeat when they were thrashed 4-1at Hannover.
After defeat by Mainz at home on Saturday, it is hardly ideal preparation for their match against defending champions Inter Milan in Italy next Wednesday.
Bremen fell behind to an own-goal by Germany defender Clemens Fritz after just 10 minutes but Torsten Frings equalized from the spot before halftime.

But second half goals from Didier Ya Konan, Christian Schulz and Mohammed Abdellaoue secured an easy Hannover victory.

Football Goals

The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs.
At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition.
Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League.
The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders.
Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 games each totalling 380 games in the season.
It is sponsored by Barclays Bank and therefore officially known as the Barclays Premier League.
A total of 43 clubs have competed in the Premier League, but only four have won the title: Chelsea versus 2-0 Liverpool
Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, and Chelsea. The current champions are Manchester United,
who won their eleventh Premier League title in the 2008–09 season, Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn Rovers 4 october 2009 full match live stream highlights goals
the most of any Premier League team. Chelsea currently hold the record for most points in a season,
while Arsenal are the only team in the history of the league to go unbeaten in a single season.

Serie A, called for sponsorship reasons soccer as Serie A TIM, is a professional league competition As Roma 2-1 Napoli Atalanta 1-1 Ac Milan
for football clubs located at the top echelon of the Italian football league system Real MAdrid vs Sevilla 1-1 2-2 2-1
operating for eighty years from 1929. It is organized by Lega Calcio until 2010,Primera Division Serie A Bundesliga gols
but a new league like the English Premier League is scheduled to be created for the 2010-11 season.
It is regarded as one of the elite leagues of the footballing world. Historically, Serie A has produced the highest number of European Cup finalists.
In total Italian clubs have reached the final of the competition on a record of twenty-five different occasions, winning the title eleven times.[1] As of 2008,
Serie A is ranked third among European leagues by UEFA, based on the performance of Italian clubs in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup,[2] and second in the IFFHS rating.[3]

Uefa Cup 1 october 2009

Sporting Lisbon 1-0 Hertha BSC


Sporting Clube de Portugal finally ended their European hoodoo against German clubs with a deflected first-half Adrien Silva goal the difference between them and Hertha BSC Berlin, taking them four points clear in UEFA Europa League Group D.

Galatasaray AS 1-1 SK Sturm Graz
The visitors held off a concerted second-half fightback as they earned their first Group F point, Milan Baroš's equaliser denying them all three.

Valencia CF 3-2 Genoa CFC
Sergio Floccari gave Genoa the lead and Houssine Kharja struck a 64th-minute penalty to level, but David Villa had the final word.

Hamburger SV 4–2 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC
Marcus Berg provided the catalyst for a home win with two goals in the opening 12 minutes even if visitors Hapoel refused to lie down.

PFC Levski Sofia 0-4 S.S. Lazio
Lazio kick-started their UEFA Europa League Group G campaign by inflicting Levski's heaviest home defeat in continental competition.

FC Sheriff 0-1 Fenerbahçe SK
Alex's 53rd-minute winner got Fenerbahçe off the mark in Group H but their Moldovan hosts pushed them all the way in Tiraspol.