NST Online: Sports

Football / EPL: Villas-Boas wants 'public' support, not jeers

Posted: 21 Aug 2011 05:48 PM PDT

LONDON: Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has told the club's supporters they must be more tolerant with the players to have a chance of taking the Premier League trophy back off Manchester United.

The former Porto manager, who is hoping a deal for Valencia forward Juan Mata is near completion, tasted competitive victory for his new club for the first time on Saturday when Chelsea came back from behind to beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Albion had led 1-0 at half time thanks to an early goal from Shane Long, the Republic of Ireland forward, and many Chelsea supporters booed the home team off at the break.

Chelsea revived to win the game through goals from Nicolas Anelka and substitute Florent Malouda, moving to third in the table as one of four teams with four points from two games.

Villas-Boas called upon the people he calls 'the public' to be more supportive in future however.

"For us to go through an intense Premier League season we need support, a good environment and good commitment from the public," he said. "We need a good empathy from the public to this team to be champions again.

"This team want to be champions again and the public demands it. We are listening to their demands and we want to perform but we need the full support."

Chelsea had been poor in the first half, especially for a team with so much Champions League experience, and the goal they conceded in the fourth minute was certainly avoidable.

Ramires, the midfielder, played a sloppy pass to centre-back Alex, who was robbed by Long, who sprinted away to score.

Anelka's equaliser was helped past goalkeeper Ben Foster via a deflection off the leg of defender Jonas Olsson in the 53rd minute but Chelsea were already looking more cohesive by that point.

Albion continued to create occasional chances themselves but were undone seven minutes from time by a fine move from Jose Bosingwa, who cleverly beat two opponents in one go and crossed to the back post where Malouda, who had come on before half time for Salomon Kalou, applied a cool finish.

"Today (Saturday) was a very emotional game and the emotional part of the game was the main difference between the first half and the second," Villas-Boas explained. "In the first half we suffered a little bit from anxiety.

"The players couldn't express themselves to their full talent and I don't think that was anything to do with the changes that we made. Our half-time talk was to free them from the anxiety.

"The public was anxious, the players were anxious but there was still 45 minutes to play and anything could happen. And when you do find the back of the net then the emotional impact on the opponent is tremendous. We felt very confident to go in search of the second goal."

The result was a second successive defeat for Albion, who had played well against Manchester United on the opening day only to be beaten by an own goal. Long also scored in that game, which also finished 2-1.

"It feels like a little bit of deja vu as we didn't do badly against Manchester United, when we played some good football but conceded a late goal," said Albion manager Roy Hodgson. -- AFP

Football / EPL: City slickers

Posted: 21 Aug 2011 05:43 PM PDT

Mancini's men hold off fightback for top spot

BIG-SPENDING Manchester City showed their Premier League title credentials with a 3-2 win over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium yesterday.

Goals from David Silva, Gareth Barry and Edin Dzeko — three lavish signings from previous seasons — maintained City's 100 percent record as they moved to the top of the table.

There was also a substitute appearance from Carlos Tevez, the unsettled Argentine striker who hopes to leave City before the transfer window shuts on August 31.

Mancini gave a first start to Sergio Aguero after the Argentina forward's two-goal cameo appearance against Swansea on Monday.

But it was Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen who played the key role as City took the lead in the 26th minute.

Spanish midfielder Silva fired in a speculative shot from the edge of the area and Jaaskelainen made a complete hash of his attempted save, allowing the ball to spill through his hands into the net.

There was no fortune about City's second goal in the 37th minute as England midfielder Barry smashed a ferocious effort past Jaaskelainen from 20 yards.

Bolton mounted an immediate response and Ivan Klasnic got one back two minutes later when the Croatian met Martin Petrov's drilled low cross with a first-time shot that gave Joe Hart no chance.

City restored their two-goal advantage two minutes into the second half when Bosnian forward Dzeko deftly flicked the ball over Zat Knight and ran clear to drive his shot beyond Jaaskelainen.

But Bolton rarely surrender at home and Kevin Davies put the pressure back on City as he scored with a towering header from Petrov's free-kick in the 63rd minute.

Wolves maintained their 100 percent start to the Premier League season as goals from Kevin Doyle and Matt Jarvis secured a 2-0 win over Fulham.

Mick McCarthy's side had beaten Blackburn in their opener last weekend and they built on that solid victory with an equally impressive display in their first appearance of the campaign in front of their own fans at Molineux.

Fulham were swept aside by two goals in three minutes just before half-time as Republic of Ireland striker Doyle struck first before England winger Jarvis put the hosts in complete control.

At Carrow Road, Stoke striker Kenwyne Jones hit a stoppage-time equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw against 10-man Norwich City. — AFP

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Ahad, 21 Ogos 2011

NST Online: Sports

NST Online: Sports

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