Chelsea slam ref after Rooney winner
United sneak past Blues, Barca thrash Shakhtar 5-1.
LONDON:
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti lashed out at Spanish referee Alberto Undiano after his side were denied a certain penalty against Manchester United on Wednesday.
Chelsea’s players were left fuming after Undiano waved away appeals for a spot-kick when United defender Patrice Evra clattered into the Blues Brazilian midfielder Ramires deep into injury time. Television replays showed Evra had taken out Ramires without touching the ball but instead of a penalty that might have levelled the Champions League quarter-final first leg at 1-1, Chelsea were beaten 1-0.
“It was clear, everyone knows that it was clear,” said Ancelotti. “The problem is that sometimes it is not easy to give the penalty in the last minute of a game. You need to have personality, courage and so on. And not always the referees in general have these kind of skills.”
We deserved penalty
break: Fergie
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson laughed off Chelsea’s penalty claims after his side grabbed a precious first-leg.
“I haven’t seen it but if it was a penalty, it’s the first decision we’ve got here in seven years,” said Ferguson. “I don’t feel guilty about that at all. It was a 50-50 challenge and I don’t know what the contact situation was. I’d need to see it again.”
Ferguson was left furious last month after United were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in the Premier League, his post-match tirade aimed at referee Martin Atkinson ultimately earned Ferguson a five-match touchline ban.
Coca-Cola axes Rooney
Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola confirmed it had dropped Wayne Rooney from its advertising campaigns following a string of unsavoury incidents.
The forward scored United’s goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Chelsea, but will now be £600,000 a year worse off after being dumped as the face of Coke Zero.
The England striker was initially dropped by the company in September after it was alleged he used a prostitute, and it was confirmed that his contract would not be renewed following Saturday’s foul-mouthed rant to a television camera.
Attacking master-class sees Barca blast Shakhtar
Barcelona took a major step towards the Champions League semi-finals with a commanding 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk as clinical finishing proved the difference between the sides.
Andres Iniesta gave Barca a lead right from the start but Shakhtar spurned a number of good chances to draw level before Dani Alves and Gerard Pique extended the lead. Yaroslav Rakitskiy pulled a goal back for the Ukrainians but Seydou Keita immediately responded for the home side and then Xavi Hernandez gave the Catalan side a resounding win.
For Shakhtar, Dmytro Chygrynskiy missed the chance through injury of a return to the Nou Camp and show the home fans what he can really do after an ill-fated season where he failed to justify his big money move.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2011.
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti lashed out at Spanish referee Alberto Undiano after his side were denied a certain penalty against Manchester United on Wednesday.
Chelsea’s players were left fuming after Undiano waved away appeals for a spot-kick when United defender Patrice Evra clattered into the Blues Brazilian midfielder Ramires deep into injury time. Television replays showed Evra had taken out Ramires without touching the ball but instead of a penalty that might have levelled the Champions League quarter-final first leg at 1-1, Chelsea were beaten 1-0.
“It was clear, everyone knows that it was clear,” said Ancelotti. “The problem is that sometimes it is not easy to give the penalty in the last minute of a game. You need to have personality, courage and so on. And not always the referees in general have these kind of skills.”
We deserved penalty
break: Fergie
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson laughed off Chelsea’s penalty claims after his side grabbed a precious first-leg.
“I haven’t seen it but if it was a penalty, it’s the first decision we’ve got here in seven years,” said Ferguson. “I don’t feel guilty about that at all. It was a 50-50 challenge and I don’t know what the contact situation was. I’d need to see it again.”
Ferguson was left furious last month after United were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in the Premier League, his post-match tirade aimed at referee Martin Atkinson ultimately earned Ferguson a five-match touchline ban.
Coca-Cola axes Rooney
Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola confirmed it had dropped Wayne Rooney from its advertising campaigns following a string of unsavoury incidents.
The forward scored United’s goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Chelsea, but will now be £600,000 a year worse off after being dumped as the face of Coke Zero.
The England striker was initially dropped by the company in September after it was alleged he used a prostitute, and it was confirmed that his contract would not be renewed following Saturday’s foul-mouthed rant to a television camera.
Attacking master-class sees Barca blast Shakhtar
Barcelona took a major step towards the Champions League semi-finals with a commanding 5-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk as clinical finishing proved the difference between the sides.
Andres Iniesta gave Barca a lead right from the start but Shakhtar spurned a number of good chances to draw level before Dani Alves and Gerard Pique extended the lead. Yaroslav Rakitskiy pulled a goal back for the Ukrainians but Seydou Keita immediately responded for the home side and then Xavi Hernandez gave the Catalan side a resounding win.
For Shakhtar, Dmytro Chygrynskiy missed the chance through injury of a return to the Nou Camp and show the home fans what he can really do after an ill-fated season where he failed to justify his big money move.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2011.