All Sport Club

Petrov celebrates his goal with Elano.
CITY SAFELY THROUGH

Manchester City comfortably progressed to the final qualifying round of the UEFA Cup after a 2-0 win at Oakwell wrapped up a 4-0 aggregate triumph over EB Streymur.

City made heavy weather of beating the brave Faroe Islanders, and it was not until early in the second-half that Petrov struck to ease any worries amongst the Manchester fans who had travelled to Yorkshire for this second-leg.

The part-timers produced a defiant defensive display with goalkeeper Rene Torgard - a mechanic by trade - their star performer.

But the result on the night was completed when Darius Vassell raced into the area before rounding Torgard and slotting the ball home.

Arshavin - Tottenham target.
ZENIT: ARSHAVIN TALKS CONTINUING

Zenit St Petersburg say Andrei Arshavin could be a Tottenham player within five days.

Russia forward Arshavin has been heavily linked with a move to White Hart Lane in recent days, with Zenit having invited them to make a bid upwards of 20million.

But while Spurs are apparently unwilling to meet that asking price, Zenit spokesman Konstantin Sarsaniya has said talks are continuing - and could be concluded within a matter of days.

He told sports.ru: “We have certain contacts with Tottenham, but when they will conclude, I still do not know.

“Maybe within five days, maybe sooner, maybe later.

“Tottenham have an interest in the player, and I understand that the player has an interest in the club too.”

Federer - set to lose top ranking now.
FEDERER BEATEN AGAIN

Roger Federer crashed out of the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters on Thursday at the hands of Ivo Karlovic.

The Swiss top seed found the big-serving Croatian too much to handle as he slumped to a 7-6 (8/6) 4-6 7-6 (7/5) in the third round.

Federer’s failure to reach the quarter-finals could prove even more costly as he will now lose his world number one ranking if Rafael Nadal wins the tournament.

The first set went with serve and the tie-break also proved a close affair, but the key moment came when 16th seed Karlovic stopped mid-point to challenge a line call, with Hawk-eye showing Federer had pushed his shot long.

That gave Karlovic set point on serve and the Croatian took full advantage to wrap up the opener.

Federer was determined to get back into the clash and earned two break points in game three of the second set, but Karlovic used his biggest weapon - his serve - to produce his 14th and 15th aces and save them both.

The Swiss then struggled through his next service game but held thanks to two angled forehands and an ace of his own.

But Federer finally secured the first break of the match in game five as Karlovic sent a forehand long, and it proved vital as the world number one went on to level the match.

Neither player could gain the upper hand in the third set and another tie-break was needed to settle the match.

Karlovic claimed the first two points - the second of which came on Federer’s serve - allowing him to carve out three match points.

And although the Croatian pushed the first two long, Federer then hit a long return of his own to hand the match to Karlovic.

Bougherra - signs for Rangers.
GERS SIGN BOUGHERRA

Rangers have announced the 2.5million signing of Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra from Charlton.

The 25-year-old completed a medical at Murray Park before signing a four-year deal with the Ibrox side on Thursday night.

The French-born player can play in the middle of a back four or as a defensive midfielder.

He was signed by Charlton three days before the end of the January transfer window in 2007.

Bougherra moved to The Valley from Sheffield Wednesday in a 2.5million deal.

Wednesday had paid Crewe 300,000 for his services in 2006.

Barton - charged.
FA CHARGE BARTON OVER DABO CLASH

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton has been charged with violent conduct by the Football Association over his assault on Ousmane Dabo 15 months ago.

The 25-year-old was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, on July 1 after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm on his former Manchester City team-mate during a training session in May last year.

The new charge from the FA comes as a result of that hearing at Manchester Crown Court after football’s governing body received all the relevant documentation from the case.

Barton has until August 13 to respond to the charge.

Milito - ‘priced out of the market’.
MILITO OFF SPURS’ RADAR

Diego Milito’s agent claims Tottenham are no longer interested in signing his client.

The 29-year-old, who has scored 61 goals in three seasons at Real Zaragoza, is desperate to secure a summer move following the Blanquiazules’ relegation last season.

Spurs had been linked with the Argentine as a possible replacement for Manchester United target Dimitar Berbatov, but the Bulgarian could still stay at White Hart Lane.

Milito’s agent, Fernando Hidalgo, had claimed Spurs had made a tentative approach for the 29-year-old but had been put off by Zaragoza’s 14million asking price.

“There’s no concrete offer for Diego and I don’t think there’s going to be one in the next few days,” Hidalgo told Diario Equipo.

“Tottenham was an option, but they are not anymore.”

Hidalgo confirmed Milito’s Spanish employers were hindering his client’s prospects of securing a move by pricing him out of the market.

“They are asking for an impossible price for a player of his age,” he added.

“We are still hopeful an important offer will be made, anyway it’s improbable to see him moving during the transfer window.”

Hamilton and McLaren are a happy team now.
HAMILTON HAPPY WITH McLAREN FAMILY

Lewis Hamilton feels McLaren have shaken off the “excess baggage” that blighted his championship bid last season, ensuring he is in better shape to win this year’s title.

Exactly a year ago Hamilton headed into the Hungarian Grand Prix with an 18-point cushion to Kimi Raikkonen, a lead he stretched to 20 with a narrow victory at the Hungaroring.

But behind the scenes in Budapest, the wheels started to fall off McLaren’s dual title bid, ultimately resulting in Hamilton missing out on the crown by a point to Raikkonen.

The simmering feud with then team-mate Fernando Alonso developed into an all-out war during qualifying, which led to clear-the-air talks prior to the next race in Turkey.

But more pertinently, Alonso was embroiled in a bust-up with team boss Ron Dennis on the morning of the race as he demanded number one status, otherwise he would blow the lid on the spy scandal.

Dennis refused, so re-opening a can of worms as McLaren had been previously cleared of any wrongdoing by world governing body, the FIA.

It culminated in the team being fined a sporting record 50million and stripped of all constructors’ points for the season.

A year on, and with Alonso out of the picture as he and McLaren parted company at the end of last year and with the spy saga now consigned to the history books, McLaren are a far more harmonious team.

It is for that reason Hamilton, who again leads the way ahead of this weekend’s race in Hungary, is fully focused on the title.

“We’re having a much smoother year,” said Hamilton, who holds a four-point lead over Felipe Massa and seven to Raikkonen.

“It’s a lot more relaxed, there’s a nicer environment. Things are how they should be.

“We’re here to race, we’re focusing on that, and that’s the most important thing. There are no distractions.

“It’s a much better position to be in, and that’s where every team aims to be.

“Without those distractions, we all feel as a team it’s of benefit going forward if we are to go on and win the title.

“We don’t have any excess baggage on our shoulders, no stress like that.

“We just have the excitement of working hard to improve the car and of scoring points. That’s where everyone wants to be.

“I’ve also a solid relationship with my team-mate (Heikki Kovalainen), and that helps.”

After dominant back-to-back victories at Silverstone and Hockenheim in the British and German Grands Prix, Hamilton claims his McLaren is “the best it has been this season.”

In terms of confidence and his mental health, the 23-year-old could also not be in better shape.

“When you have a bad weekend - not coming second or third because that’s a good weekend - but I’m talking about a bad weekend, you go into the next race and you think ‘okay, let’s start again’,” added Hamilton.

“You try to do everything the same, but you make sure you don’t make a mistake or whatever was the problem in the previous race. You just hope the weekend goes well.

“But when you come off a win you don’t have any thoughts like ‘I hope nothing happens at this race’.

“You just plan to do exactly the same thing you did in the previous race, and you feel relaxed.

“You don’t have any confusion in the back of your mind, or any thoughts of what could go wrong, you are just thinking of the positives.”

That is the way Hamilton is currently thinking and feeling, however he knows he cannot take anything for granted, and that Ferrari are likely to hit back as they did last year.

“They’ve still a fantastic car and two very good drivers, and they’re a great team,” remarked Hamilton.

“I’ve no doubts they will be fighting very hard with us at the front this weekend.

“Every time you come to a race you are obviously looking out for them, as well as BMW, Red Bull and Renault of course.

“You just have to focus on your job, bearing in mind they will all be quick and hunting you down.”

Yeats spreadagles the Goodwood Cup field.
MIGHTY YEATS SLAMS GOODWOOD RIVALS

Yeats took his career earnings past the 1million mark by landing the Royal Bank of Scotland Goodwood Cup for a second time.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained triple Ascot Gold Cup winner took over from the pace-setting Tungsten Strike two furlongs out and powered clear of the opposition.

The 8-15 shot was giving Johnny Murtagh a double on the day and was his fifth winner of the meeting. Tungsten Strike (33-1) hung on for second with Sagara (33-1) third.

Darryll Holland set out to make the two-mile contest a real stamina test on Tungsten Strike.

Amanda Perrett’s stayer, wearing cheekpieces for the first time, bowled along at the head of affairs but Murtagh soon took second place on Yeats and even allowed the leader to go five lengths clear six furlongs out.

However, he mowed down Tungsten Strike in the straight going on a quarter of a mile from the finish.

Tungsten Strike stuck to his task really well but was seven lengths down at the line. Sagara was another length and a quarter back in third.

Murtagh said: “He’s a great horse and a true warrior. “The crowds turned out to see him and he didn’t let them down.

“He’s often done more at home on the gallops.

“He was a little fresh at Ascot and today was much better. He’s got a very high cruising speed - when he gets into top gear he can maintain it constantly.

“He’s truly a great stayer.”

Perrett said: “Well done to the owner for having a go, we thought we would run him in the mile-and-six-furlong handicap but it has paid off.

“We tried to pinch a bit of a lead, but Johnny (Murtagh) has ridden our horse before and wasn’t going to let him get away.

“We are very proud of the horse and we will probably come back here for the March Stakes before going to Ascot and then to the Jockey Club Cup.”

Saeed bin Suroor said of the third: “He ran well but would have been even better if the ground had been a bit softer.

“We are a bit disappointed with Regal Flush (fifth) and we might drop back in distance with him.”

Disbelievers, Rafael Nadal won Toronto, and he won it emphatically losing just one single set. The guy has now won 29 straight matches spanning three different surfaces. He’s won his last clay tournament, his last grass tournament and now his last hard court tournament. Not bad for a guy who’s supposed to be a defensive one-surface wonder. And if you still don’t believe, he’s out for No. 1 this week.

So if you are not buying what Rafa’s been selling, you can cling to the hope that his knees give out or that he’ll burn out, that “flat” hitters like James Blake, Tomas Berdych, etc., will get him, that Wimbledon was really a clay court, that he’s hardly beaten anyone during this run, that he’ll go away just like he always does in the second half of the year or that he’s never done squat and he’ll never do squat at the US Open, ignoring the fact the guy just turned 22!

Point is, Rafael Nadal has really stepped it up this year and he could very well ride this wave right through the end of 2008. As I mentioned earlier, he had his best Australian season, his best clay season, his best grass season and he’s well on his way to his best hard court season. Sure, he might get injured (he will), or get in a funk (everyone does) or simply get passed by some junior we know nothing about who’s sitting at home watching Cincinnati on TV this week (an almost certainty), but right now he’s the best and he’s likely to get even better.

And while Nadal ascends we find his chief rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic floundering. Federer of course suffered one of his worst hard court losses when he mentally unraveled at the end of his opening round match with Gilles Simon in Toronto.

Djokovic at least won a few matches before Andy Murray finally got in the win column for the first time against the Serb. Are these losses in tune to Nadal’s rise? I think so.

But that all said, I don’t think Nadal walks away from Cincinnati this week with a title and with it the No. 1 ranking.

As I mentioned last week, because of the brutal scheduling this summer thanks to the Olympics, guys will have to take breathers at some point, and for Nadal I think this is that week. He might win a few rounds but I don’t think he’s playing come Sunday. Maybe golf, but not tennis.

And unlike Toronto, where I thought we’d likely get some strange results and we did with Nicolas Kiefer among many others, this week in Cincinnati I think we’ll briefly find form again giving us two seeded finalists, most likely both Top 10ers.

Onto the draw to figure out just who they might be.

Roger Federer has not reached a single hard court final this year. He’s at zero. Just a reminder. That said he’s really got a great draw this week. If Robby Ginepri can cut down on the errors he can give Roger trouble, but I don’t see it going that way. Roger simply cannot lose back-to-back hard court matches at this stage. Following Gimepri, the dangerous Ivo Karlovic and then probably Roddick, who I think we’ll rebound slightly this week from his disappointing play in Toronto. A faster court, warmer temperatures and being on American soil should help Roddick avenge his Australian loss to Phil Kolhscreiber tonight and I think he’ll bully Robredo or Soderling just enough to set up that Federer clash Friday, but the Swiss gets him there.

The second quarter I think I’ll go with Andy Murray. I’m not sure on this knee MRI situation, but assuming he’s fully healthy I think he gets through. Muray’s playing with some renewed confidence after that Wimbledon win over Richard Gasquet and then notching his first victory over Novak. And hard courts are his best surface. Gasquet, though, could definitely get him in the third round, but Frenchman will have to beat Michael Llodra and then Dmitry Tursunov in tough test that might leave the winner too drained for the Murray encounter. I also like Radek Stepanek to bring the worm back and emerge to face Murray in the quarterfinal.

The third quarter is clearly the toughest with Djokovic, James Blake, Kiefer, Simon, Ernests Gulbis and Berdych. It’s loaded, but Novak’s got to get his game on track and I think he does it here. Remember for most top guys Cincinnati is their last U.S. event before the US Open. So it’s critical to end on a high note. I also like a rested Simon to get revenge on Kiefer and maybe go out to play Novak in the quarterfinals.

And the last half, it’s hard to pick against Nadal right now but I think someone gets him here. But the guys to do it are slim and none. Tommy Haas? Florent Serra or Ben Becker? My man Gael Monfils? That would be a treat but… Monfils and Haas have the game to do it but mentally they are not there. I almost get the feeling that even if Rafa tried to give them the match they’d still manage to screw it up. So maybe Rafa does make it to the semifinals, but no further. Stopped by Novak the day after a grueling three setter with a David Ferrer.

That leaves my semifinals as Federer v. Murray, Novak v. Rafa. And I think Federer beats Novak for his first hard court title on the season and he gets to hold onto that No. 1 ranking a little longer. Or will it be his last week at No. 1?

Bywater - close to joining Spurs.
BYWATER SET FOR SPURS

Tottenham are close to signing goalkeeper Stephen Bywater from Derby, according to Paul Jewell.

The Rams boss admits he would have liked to keep the 27-year-old at Pride Park but with Lewis Price and Roy Carroll also on the books, Jewell was forced to let one go.

Spurs, who have completed the signing of David Bentley from Blackburn for 15million, signed highly-rated number one Heurelho Gomes from PSV this summer, but with Paul Robinson offloaded to Blackburn and Radek Cerny having left after a loan spell, they have been on the lookout for another goalkeeper.

Jewell told the Evening Telegraph: “Tottenham came in with a bid for Stephen and the player is very keen to go, which is fully understandable.

“I would like to have kept him but it is a move which appeals to him and we wish him well.”

Bywater was first-choice for the Rams on promotion to the Premier League, but lost his place after suffering a shoulder injury.

He then spent four months on loan at Ipswich in the Championship but they decided against making the move permanent and Bywater returned to Pride Park at the end of the season.