Sir Alex Ferguson’s early season problems deepened after Geovanni’s first half goal settled the Manchester derby in favour of Sven Goran Eriksson and left Ferguson’s United without a win in their opening three league games.
   The victory sent City to the head of the Premiership table with a maximum nine points from their opening three games as Eriksson’s dream start at Eastlands continued.
   Defeat at the hands of the former England coach will have been frustrating enough for Ferguson who enjoyed a fractious relationship with him during Eriksson’s time in charge of the national team.
   But more importantly, the United manager was left to contemplate a title defence that has brought just two points and one goal from three frustrating outings.
   And with Wayne Rooney out for two months after breaking a foot in last week’s opener, United’s latest misfiring display will understandably give cause for concern.
   United may have dominated possession but a combination of Geovanni’s deadly finishing and Micah Richards outstanding defensive work meant this was a day for the blue half of Manchester.
   With Rooney, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solksjaer missing injured and Cristiano Ronaldo starting a three-match, Ferguson had little option but to ask Carlos Tevez to operate as a lone striker.
   But with Nani, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes all quick to offer support to the Argentine, there initially seemed little doubt United would have more than enough firepower to overcome a stuttering City.
   Twice in the opening half Tevez and Scholes exchanged quick passes to unpick the City defence and create an opening for Nani but on both occasions the winger was denied by City keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
   The 20-year-old - a 17-million-pound capture from Sporting Lisbon this summer - was eventually withdrawn after 60 minutes after a display that confirmed it could be some time before he emulates the feats of compatriot Ronaldo.
   With Owen Hargreaves bolstering the United midfield with an impressive Premiership debut performance, Ferguson’s side completely dominated the opening period.
   Were it not for a succession of outstanding blocks, tackles and clearances by Richards, United would have been well on their way to a first win of the season long before City finally sprang into life.
   It took Eriksson’s men fully 30 minutes to manage an effort on goal - a wayward, long range effort from Michael Johnson.
   But it took just another 60 seconds to register a second attempt - this time from Geovanni - that fired the home side into an unlikely lead.
   In a rare moment of fluent attacking play, Didi Hamann linked with Elano who picked out his fellow Brazilian Geovanni in space 30 yards out.
   And having been given time to set his sights by a flat-footed United back-four, the former Barcelona man drilled an inch-perfect strike beyond Edwin van der Sar.
   The goal prompted a predictable response from United who, after a brief spell of control by City, laid siege to the home side’s goal for the whole of the second period without properly testing Schmeichel.
   Nemanja Vidic sent a bullet header crashing against the bar three minutes after the interval and Tevez somehow flashed the ball wide from Ryan Giggs’ low cross.
   And it was Tevez who wasted United’s last clear-cut chance when he headed wide from just three yards deep into added time.

Bangladesh face hosts India in a high-voltage match of the Nehru Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi at 7:30pm today. The match will pit Bangladesh coach Syed Naeemuddin against his former pupils with whom he won the SAFF title in 2005 in Karachi.
   Incidentally it was the last meet between the two sub-continental rivals and India prevailed in the SAFF final
   with 2-0 win. Naeemuddin faces an uphill task as India are bubbling with confidence after a 6-0 victory over Cambodia in their tournament opener. Bangladesh lost 0-2 against Syria, the top ranked team in the tournament.
   ‘A 6-0 victory in any form of football is always special, but let me tell you that we are capable of better things. I am sure, as we progress in the tournament, our teamwork will be more compact,’ Baichung Bhutia, the Indian skipper, told an Indian newspaper.
   However, the players are aware that they will have to encounter a bigger battle against Bangladesh today.
   ‘It will be more of a match against the personality of Naeemuddin,’ admitted Syed Rahim Nabi, the Indian forward. ‘After all, he was our former coach and had to leave the team under controversial circumstances,’ Nabi told an Indian newspaper.
   Overall Bangladesh’s record against India is not very impressive as they have won just three matches, drew seven and lost the remaining ten. India are currently ranked 161 and Bangladesh are 172 on the FIFA rankings.
   India coached by Englishman Bob Houghton saw the Bangladesh Syria match with a keen eye and will come out with some special strategies and Naeemuddin will also have to chalk out some special plans to contain Indian skipper Baichung Bhutia who in the last couple of years has come out as the nemesis of Bangladesh team.
   
   Head-to-head
   12/12/78 Asian Games Bangkok Ind-BD 3-0
   20/11/82 Asian Games New Delhi Ind-BD 2-0
   30/03/85 WC Qualifying Dhaka Ind-BD 2-1
   12/04/85 WC Qualifying Calcutta Ind-BD 2-1
   25/12/85 SAF-Games Dhaka Ind-BD 0-0
   15/06/88 Asia Cup Qualifying Abu Dhabi Ind-BD 0-0
   —/—/91 SAF-Games Colombo Ind-BD 1-2
   14/09/94 Independence Cup Doha Ind-BD 4-2
   31/03/95 SAARC Cup Colombo Ind-BD 1-1; 2-1 [aet]
   27/12/95 SAF-Games Madras Ind-BD 1-0
   07/09/97 SAFF-Cup Kathmandu Ind-BD 3-0
   22/04/99 SAFF-Cup Margao Ind-BD 0-0
   01/05/99 SAFF-Cup Margao Ind-BD 2-0
   02/10/99 SAF-Games Kathmandu Ind-BD 0-1
   29/11/99 Asia Cup Qualifying Abu Dhabi Ind-BD 2-2
   02/05/00 Golden Jubilee Cup Male Ind-BD 1-1
   02/05/00 Friendly England Ind-BD 1-0
   18/01/03 SAFF-Cup Dhaka Ind-BD 1-2
   12/12/05 SAFF Cup Karachi Ind-BD 1-1
   17/12/05 SAFF Cup Karachi Ind-BD 2-0

World championship leader Casey Stoner of Australia won the Czech Moto GP here on Sunday to consolidate his position at the top of the riders’ standings.
   The Ducati rider came home ahead of American duo John Hopkins and defending world champion Nicky Hayden, riding a Suzuki and Honda respectively, to claim his seventh win from 12 races this season.
   Stoner, who started in pole position, led from start to finish and his 14th career win crucially extended his lead over seven-time world champion and championship rival Valentino Rossi to 60 points.
   Only Hopkins, who will race next season with Kawasaki, was able to stay with Stoner’s early cracking pace, but even the American fell off in the second half of the race.

Large-scale betting has begun on the first Twenty20 cricket World Cup that begins on September 11 in South Africa.
   The World Cup is estimated to witness betting to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore with Australia being the favourites. The rates for the tournament were opened on Saturday afternoon by six bookies from Jaipur, Kolkata, Guwahati and Indore. The bookies, known to be experts in cricket betting, opened the rates in Jaipur.
   A Mumbai bookie, who also started accepting bets immediately after the rates opened, said an Australian win was quoted at Rs 2.15 for every rupee on bet. That means, if a punter bets one rupee on Australia winning – and if that happens – he will get back his one rupee, and an additional Rs 2.15.
   South Africa were placed as second favourites with odds of Rs 4.80. New Zealand and England follow with Rs 9 and Rs 9.30 respectively, followed by Sri Lanka with odds of Rs 10.25 for a win.
   India were placed sixth, with a rate of Rs 10.5 followed by Pakistan (Rs 13), West Indies (Rs 16) and Bangladesh (Rs 70). Zimbabwe, Kenya and Scotland were placed in the last three positions with rates of Rs 180, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 (per rupee bet) respectively.
   Bookies in Mumbai said India and other Asian countries were placed low on the list as they lack experience in this kind of cricket. Bookies added Australia were favourites as they had won the (regular) World Cup recently.
   India are the bookies’ favourites for their opening match against Scotland. The odds are superlatively in favour of India with 11 paise as against Rs 10 of Scotland.
   Bookies believe India will defeat Pakistan in their second match. The odds are in favour of India with 80 paise per rupee bet as against Rs 1.10 of Pakistan.

Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee says he is back to bowling at top speed ahead of next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
   Lee, 30, had major surgery on torn ligaments in his left ankle four months ago after missing Australia’s World Cup triumph in the Caribbean.
   His recovery has been restrained but Lee was encouraged by bowling at full stretch in a net session at the Sydney Cricket Ground last week.
   ‘I’m fit and refreshed and felt I could have gone flat-out a month ago, but I’ve had to be patient,’ Lee told The Sunday Telegraph.
   ‘Now I’m back running flat-out and felt like I was bowling at full pace again.
   ‘As each session has gone on I’ve got quicker and quicker. I’m back to bowling where I finished up before the injury.
   ‘But I don’t want to be like I was six months ago, I want to keep improving and become a better player.’
   Lee said he was keen to lead Australia’s attack at the Twenty20 tournament in the wake of Glenn McGrath’s retirement from international cricket.
   Australia’s bowling coach Troy Cooley said Lee would be up to the task, declaring he would be the bowler that batsmen feared in the big-hitting tournament.
   ‘He’s been training the house down and he looks good,’ Cooley told the newspaper.
   ‘He slotted straight back into that classical action, he had a beautiful seam position and was swinging the ball away nicely.’

The ESPN STAR Sports, which has acquired broadcast rights in partnership for the first edition of the World Twenty20 to be held in September in South Africa, will for the first time ever bring an ICC event live on television in China.
   Covering television and new media platforms including internet and mobile, these distribution partnerships will make the games available to millions of viewers across the world, Manu Sawhney, executive vice-president, programming and marketing, ESPN STAR Sports, said here.
   The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 will be the first event to be hosted by the Channel as a part of the eight-year agreement with ICC.
   ESPN STAR Sports and its affiliate like STAR Cricket will bring the matches to 105 countries including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
   In addition, the sports channel has secured broadcast partnerships with world’s leading broadcasters across globe including deals with DirecTV & ATN in North America, Caribbean Media Corporation in the Caribbean, South African Broadcasting Corporation & Super Sports in Africa, Taj TV (TEN Sports) in Middle East, Sky Television Network in New Zealand, Geo in United Kingdom and Pakistan, Premier Media Group in Australia and SuperSport in Greece, Cyprus and Mauritius.
   Moreover, discussions with more broadcasters across markets were going on for more partnership, said Sawhney.
   Late last year, ESPN STAR Sports affiliate, EML, was awarded the global telecast rights from the International Cricket Council for all of their events from 2007 to 2015.

The Myanmar Football Association (MFA) has invited Bangladesh to play in the Grand Royal Cup, which is scheduled to take place in the capital Yangon from November 1-7.
   ‘We will discuss the matter in our executive committee meeting. We have to plan our steps carefully as the SAFF Championship will kick off in December. Besides, we are also planning to host a tournament,’ said Monzur Hossain Malu, the acting general secretary of Bangladesh Football Federation.
   The MFA has also invited Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam for the U-23 meet. Under Diego Andres Cruciani Bangladesh finished runners-up in 2005.

After a two-day break the Panchagarh DC Gold Cup football tournament resumes today with Chapainawabganj locking horns with Gaibandha in a group match at the local stadium.
   Meanwhile, the three semi-finalists of the tournament have already been decided after Panchagarh Chamber of Commerce XI, Rajshahi Players Welfare Association and Naogaon sealed their last-four spots from their respective groups.

Shoaib Akhtar will appear before the PCB’s two-man appellate tribunal looking into charges of indiscipline against the fast bowler today.
   Mueen Afzal, a member of the board’s ad-hoc committee, and former Test wicketkeeper Imtiaz Ahmed met on Saturday and listened to Shafqat Naghmi, the board’s chief operating officer, and Zakir Khan, director cricket operations.
   The board imposed a Rs 300,000 (approximately $5000) fine on Shoaib for leaving a training camp in Karachi early without asking permission and for subsequently not appearing before a disciplinary committee earlier this month.
   ‘After discussing the procedure to be adopted for carrying out the proceedings and collecting necessary information from the PCB officials in this regard, we have decided to summon Shoaib Akhtar to appear before the tribunal on Monday at 3.30pm,’ said Afzal.

Roger Federer will bid for a 50th career title against James Blake on Sunday, taking a 6-0 career record over the American into their clash in the final of the Cincinnati Masters. The top-seeded Federer ousted tenacious Lleyton Hewitt in their semi-final 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, then ninth-seeded Blake eliminated Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-4.
   Federer was thwarted last weekend in the Montreal final from claiming his half-century but renewed the quest with a week to go before the US Open in a 2hr 35min win, his 11th in succession against Hewitt.
   Hewitt, ranked 20th, has not beaten Federer since a Melbourne Davis Cup date in September, 2003. Prior to Federer’s current purple patch, the Aussie had won seven of their first nine ATP contests dating to 1999.
   The Swiss defeated Hewitt in last week’s Montreal quarter-finals and now stand 13-7 in the career series. The victory was a closely fought thing, with Hewitt saving a match point in the second set and two in the third before Federer ran away with the final-set tiebreaker.
   ‘That was a classic, it’s always tough stuff between us,’ said the winner, who lifted the Cincinnati title in 2005. ‘Playing Lleyton makes me nervous. He makes you miss so much, I’m happy to to escape with this win.’
   Federer slammed 18 aces as he broke the Australian on only three of 11 occasions.
   ‘I needed those aces. It was good to get some freebies once in awhile. He is so aggressive, and this is a quick court.’
   Blake last played Federer in the final of the season-ending Masters Cup last November in Shanghai.
   ‘He’s been the best in world the last few years,’ Blake said of the longtime number one.
   ‘He has an excellent record in finals.
   ‘But if I’m in the final it shows that I’m playing great,’ added the player who pulled out last week in Montreal with an abdominal strain. ‘I think I have a chance. But if he forces me on my back foot, I’m in trouble.’
   Blake ended with a stinging cross-court forehand winner to defeat Davydenko, now out at the semi-final stage for the fifth time this season.
   ‘That was a bit of luck, but you laugh and take your chances. On the other nine times it will miss.’
   Federer said the ‘50 sounds very special,’ as he pondered his chances. ‘It’s kind of cool. I was a couple of points away from it last week,’ said Federer. ‘I’m not thinking about it too much, but it would be nice to get there this week.’
   Despite his defeat, Hewitt was encouraged by his performance.
   ‘This is another step in the right direction,’ said the Australian. ‘Whether or not next time I beat him or not we’ve got wait and see. I took a lot of positives even out of a two set loss last week to him. I felt my ball-striking was good. The last two weeks have been good. It’s been real good preparation for me for the US Open. I couldn’t have asked for two better weeks, and it’s taken the best guy in the world to knock me off.’

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies captain, is confident of his own fitness as well as his team’s form ahead of the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship next month.
   ‘The players have been working very hard with the Twenty20 World Cup in mind,’ he said, ‘and they are really focused on going over there and doing well.
   ‘In Twenty20 cricket, everything goes and every team is dangerous. In this short form of the game, one slip-up could cost you big time, so everyone stands a chance at the Twenty20 World Cup [sic]’
   ‘We have two games in the preliminary section of the tournament and we would really like to have two wins under our belts very early in the tournament. We play hosts South Africa in the first match and this is a very big clash. A win against them could set us up nicely for the rest of the tournament,’ he said.
   ‘The team played well in the limited overs tournament in England and we are looking to build on this. We have some experience in there, mixed with young players and this is ideal for us to work with.’ Sarwan himself has now fully recovered from the shoulder injury which curtailed his tour of England this summer.
   But although he remains optimistic about West Indies’ chances in South Africa, he is less convinced about the shorter format of the game.
   ‘I have been doing some gym work, lifting weights and some other strengthening exercises and this is helping me a lot. I am now recovered fully and will be hoping to have a good break from injuries for quite a while,’ he said.
   ‘The Twenty20 form of the game is not really my liking. I am one for the longer version of the sport, but having said that, I am fully aware of the amount of entertainment this form of the game brings to the fans.’

The Indian Cricket League has found further support, from the head of the New Zealand’s players’ body who is concerned that New Zealand will suffer most unless the ICC accommodates the ICL.
   The ICC is due to meet early September to determine whether the ICL will be endorsed by the game’s governing body. The players’ associations will meet at the same time in Johannesburg.
   Heath Mills, manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, told the Herald on Sunday their message would be for the ICC to get behind the league, rather than to ostracise it.
   ‘The ideal scenario from my point of view would be for the ICC to support it as long as it didn’t impinge upon international cricket,’ he said.
   ‘I can’t see many negatives of third-party funding coming into cricket and another professional league would give players an opportunity to earn more income, just like those who go to county cricket.
   ‘What would concern me greatly was if the league was not sanctioned and it became a ‘rebel’ league,’
   Mills said the comparatively low incomes of New Zealand’s players made them a prime target for the ICL, arguing that cricket’s big fish - the subcontinent, Australia, England and South Africa - have the resources to pay their players the sort of money that would ensure they don’t jump ship.
   ‘Our guys would be hugely at risk. They’re paying their players close to a million a year so it’s a no-brainer.
   ‘But a guy who is near the top of the retainer list and plays most games a year is looking at $250,000 maximum. That makes us vulnerable.’
   Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming have all been linked with the ICL.
   Mills’s comments provide further momentum to the ICL bandwagon. In recent weeks, the league has received some support from at least two senior Indian politicians; Digvijay Singh, a general secretary of the ruling Congress party, asked the BCCI to help promote the ICL instead of confronting it.
   Lalu Prasad Yadav, the federal railway minister, has also indicated his support, saying he would allow organisers to host matches in stadiums under his ministry’s control.
   On Friday, half the Hyderabad first-class team announced it had signed on. Imran Farhat, out of favour with Pakistan’s selectors in the shorter version of the game, has been released from his central contract with the PCB and has all but sealed a deal with the ICL.
   There also remain continuing reports of big-name but disgruntled Pakistan players signing on as well. As of now though, Brian Lara remains the only star name to have actually committed officially to the league.

John Wright is looking forward to the stint with New Zealand Cricket in a yet-to-be-disclosed role. Amid speculation that he would be appointed a national selector, Wright said he was prepared to work on a variety of projects ranging from grooming emerging players and seasoned internationals to the overhauling of talent-spotting programmes.
   ‘It’s probably best that Justin [Vaughan, NZC’s chief executive officer] nailed down the specifics, but I think he wants me to work on things as disparate as the A team and emerging players, and a study into the relationships between the major associations and New Zealand Cricket,’ Wright told Sunday Star Times.
   Wright’s signing with NZC has already been welcomed by John Bracewell, the head coach, who hopes Wright will be available to work with the openers before and during the tour of South Africa in November.
   Wright said he was prepared to work with New Zealand’s senior and contracted players, if and when they needed assistance.
   ‘I’m definitely keen to help the current internationals if they want me,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to interfere or step on anyone’s toes, but I’d certainly be available if someone wanted me to work with a specific player or players.
   ‘But, to be honest, I’m not that keen to tour. After 10 or 11 years abroad I wouldn’t be leaping enthusiastically back into a suitcase, put it that way.
   ‘I guess I’ll see what happens. I might feel differently in a year or so.’
   This reluctance to tour was one of the reasons Wright opted out of a top job with Cricket Australia’s High Performance Centre.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard says he will be ‘amazed’ if Shane Warne opted to become a German citizen in order to play cricket in England.
   The Australian bowling legend said Friday he was investigating whether he qualified for a German passport so he could play county cricket in England as a non-overseas player.
   Howard looked incredulous when asked for his reaction to the report that Warne might renounce his Australian citizenship.
   ‘I would be amazed if Shane ended up doing that—amazed. So would a lot of Australians,’ he told reporters.
   ‘What people do with their citizenship in the end is their own business, but I think along with most Australians I’d be amazed.’
   The 37-year-old leg-spinning great first played for Hampshire seven years ago and has been with the English county since 2004 in his current spell.
   He is contracted to the county club until the end of next season, having retired from Test cricket in January with a record of 708 wickets in 145 matches.

Emirates has announced that it will support the development of junior tennis in Canada with the establishment of the Emirates Airline Award. The announcement was made on August 16 at the Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament in Toronto. The award will consist of $25,000 to support the junior women’s Fed Cup Team in 2007 and the junior men’s Davis Cup Team in 2008.
   ‘Funding the development of Canada’s budding tennis stars has always been a challenge,’ said Greg Wood, vice-president corporate partnerships, Tennis Canada. ‘Our junior Fed Cup and Davis Cup teams have always been under-funded. This support from Emirates will go a long way toward helping our stars of the future secure much-needed international competition experience.’
   The past, present and future of women’s tennis in Canada were represented at the presentation of the Emirates Award. Former Canadian tennis great and renowned coach Carling Bassett-Seguso was on hand with the present coaches of the junior Fed Cup team as well as young players vying for a future spot on the team.

Tennis legend Chris Evert’s former husband says Australian golfing great Greg Norman stole his wife. Andy Mill, a US Olympic skiing champion, said he was broken-hearted by Norman’s betrayal, saying he once regarded the golfing legend as his best friend.
   ‘Greg Norman at one time was my best friend, and a year and a half ago I would have taken a bullet for this guy,’ Mill was quoted saying in Australia’s Sunday Telegraph.
   ‘I didn’t realise he was the one who was going to pull the trigger.’
   Evert filed for divorce from Mill last November, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. She had been romantically linked with Norman in media reports since October. Mill, 53, said he had been emotionally wrecked by the split, which became official last December.
   ‘I wouldn’t wish divorce on anyone,’ he said. ‘But it happens and you can’t make somebody love you.’
   Under the settlement, Evert, 52, was named primary caretaker of the couple’s three sons, Alexander, 15, Nicholas, 13 and Colton, 11, with Mill granted ‘reasonable’ visitation rights. Mill also obtained the couple’s holiday home in the Colorado ski resort town of Aspen, where he now lives. He said he would have given anything to keep his marriage and family together.
   ‘My main concern is just trying to get everything on level ground as far as my family is concerned,’ he said.

Italian striker Luca Toni and French midfielder Franck Ribery both netted as Bayern Munich humbled Werder Bremen at home with a 4-0 win at the Weser Stadium on Saturday.
   Having finished third in last season’s Bundesliga, Bremen had no reply to Bayern’s newly-recruited stars as Ribery began the rout by converting a 31st-minute penalty and Toni found the back of the net after the break.
   Super sub Hamit Altintop then struck with 10 minutes remaining before fellow replacement Andreas Ottl sealed the win which means Bayern have now scored seven goals without reply from their first two games.
   As expected, striker Miroslav Klose, Bayern’s summer signing from Bremen, was given a warm welcome back at his old club.
   Before kick-off, Klose was presented with a bouquet and collage of his best moments by Bremen manager Klaus Allofs and chief executive Juergen Born.
   But with just three minutes on the clock, the top-scorer at last year’s World Cup was hacked down by Brazilian defender Naldo, but was back on the field after some treatment as Bayern enjoyed the last laugh.
   The guests took the lead when Ribery calmly slotted home his penalty after Toni was brought down on the edge of the penalty area.
   The 24-year-old waited for Bremen goalkeeper Tim Weise to dive to his right before slotting his shot exactly where Weise had been.
   Klose stayed in the dressing room after half-time, to be replaced by Altintop, and the Turkish international broke through the defence to supply a neat pass to Toni and the World Cup winner expertly slotted home on 51 minutes.
   Altintop then added to Bremen’s misery on 79 minutes before fellow substitute Ottl hit a superb shot which gave Wiese no chance to complete the rout.
   Defending Bundesliga champions VfB Stuttgart suffered a surprise 3-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin.
   The visitors’ German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger smashed a thunderbolt shot past Hertha’s goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on 15 minutes.
   But Berlin came back as first midfielder Sofian Chahed slotted a penalty and then defender Malik Fathi headed home before Nigerian striker Solomon Okoronkwo hit an 81st-minute goal to seal the win.
   Last season’s runners-up Schalke 04 enjoyed a 4-1 win at home to bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund. First defender Marcelo Bordon scored with a header on 11 minutes before defender Christian Pander slotted home a 31st-minute free-kick.
   A header from German international striker Gerald Asamoah on 59 minutes made it 3-0 before Dortmund pulled a goal back only for striker Kevin Kuranyi scoring in the 78th minute to complete the guests’ misery.
   After their 3-0 defeat at Bayern last weekend, Hansa Rostock’s bad start to the season continued as they were beaten 2-1 at Nuremberg. VfL Wolfsburg enjoyed a 3-1 win at Duisburg, while Arminia Bielefeld were held 2-2 at Eintracht Frankfurt.
   On Friday night, Hanover had to come from behind to beat Karlsruhe and on Sunday Bayer Leverkusen travel to Hamburg and VfL Bochum are at Energie Cottbus.

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn insisted on Sunday his side’s record 4-0 win over Werder Bremen sent out a clear message to the Bundesliga – the German giants are the team to beat.
   Bayern’s French midfielder Franck Ribery was the star of Saturday’s show as he masterminded his side’s attack and opened the scoring when he slotted home a 31st-minute penalty.
   Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni extended the lead with an expert strike before second-half substitutes Hamit Altintop and Andreas Ottl scored to add to Bremen’s misery as their makeshift side was put to the sword.
   ‘I said beforehand that if we won in Bremen it would send out an unmistakable signal. It’s an important result,’ Bayern’s skipper Kahn boasted as his side top the Bundesliga having scored seven goals without reply this season.
   ‘It was a very good display from us, we played very well in defence and in attack.
   ‘It’s a real pleasure watching Ribery at times, but it’s just as important that we kept it tight at the back.
   ‘I’ve always said that if we play well in defence, we’ll not only play good football, we’ll win trophies.’
   Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld says there is a long way to go this season, although Bayern look determined to be crowned German champions for the 21st time.
   ‘We didn’t really settle in the first half hour, and Bremen matched us all the way,’ said Hitzfeld.
   ‘We needed a solo effort from Luca Toni to earn us the penalty that gave us the lead.
   ‘The important thing for me was our good defensive organisation.
   ‘But there’s a long way to go yet this season, a lot can still happen.
   ‘You can be very unlucky with injuries. There are still plenty of question marks.’
   Bayern will be looking to make it three wins from three games when they face Hanover at the Allianz Arena next Saturday.

Arsene Wenger accepts the speculation of a possible takeover at Arsenal means he is taking something of a ‘gamble’ in his new contract negotiations, but has no intention of looking for any get-out clause.
   The long-term ownership of the Barclays Premier League club continues to be the subject of much debate.
   Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he is interested in buying a controlling interest, while American billionaire Stan Kroenke is reported to be keen on upping his current 12.2 per cent holding in the Gunners’ parent company.
   Following the controversial departure of then vice-chairman David Dein towards the end of last season, the remainder of the directors who own 45 per cent of the club signed an agreement not to offload any more stock for at least 12 months.
   Wenger, meanwhile, is currently in advanced negotiations over a likely contract extension, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season.
   The Arsenal board has already declared their intention to retain the services of the man who has revolutionised the club since arriving in September 1996 for the long term.
   Wenger hopes a positive outcome can be announced ‘very soon’.
   However, the Arsenal manager accepted hypothetically he could be faced with a change in the balance of power from those he had struck the deal with.
   Wenger, though, intends to take matters as they come, rather than worry about what may or may not happen behind the scenes.
   ‘It is true that is a gamble I take,’ he said, ‘but when I take a gamble at some stage, it is with people who are in charge.
   ‘They tell me certain things, and I believe or believe not, then I say ‘listen, I want to sign only one year’.
   ‘It is down to me if I want a longer contract or not and there is a takeover, because I know from the moment I sign that it can happen.’
   Wenger, however, maintained he would not be seeking any get-out options to be weaved into his potential new deal.
   The Arsenal boss insisted, ‘I hate clauses.
   ‘I always refuse clauses, because if I sign, for example, a contract for three years, and in that I can move out after one year, for me that is not fair.
   ‘If a player asks me that, I also refuse to sign this kind of clauses.
   ‘You are either committed, or you are not committed.
   ‘You cannot say ‘I want to a have long-term insurance, and also that I can move out when I can’ – that is not right.’
   Wenger, though, has no intentions of becoming embroiled in anything other than footballing affairs.
   ‘I have decided I do not want to be involved in that, because it creates unneeded disturbances for the team,’ he said. ‘For me the most important is that the financial situation at the club is healthy, and that the future of the club is safe.
   ‘After I have a responsibility towards the fans and the players, who I tell ‘we want to do that, this is where we want to go’. That is as important as all the rest.’
   The search continues for a director of football to assist Wenger, currently supported by director Ken Friar.
   However, the Arsenal manager revealed that person ‘may not be involved in the transfer deals’ as his old ally Dein was.
   Wenger takes his men to Blackburn tomorrow looking to continue their promising start to the new campaign, following wins over Fulham and, in the Champions League qualifier, Sparta Prague.
   It is a much-changed scenario from what he was feeling 12 months ago.
   ‘I was very frustrated because I felt we did not have the right commitment,’ Wenger recalled.
   ‘It (the team) reflects the personality of the manager.
   ‘The manager has to try to be faithful to the qualities and traditions of the club.
   ‘I would never ask the team to kick the ball in the stands.
   ‘But I want the team to be faithful to the qualities this club has always had – to fight like mad until the last second of the game.
   ‘That is why when we do what we have done against Fulham and in Prague, I feel somewhere I do my job well.
   ‘When you feel that the team is not committed, I betray my fans.’
   Wenger added, ‘I am optimistic. I believe in my team.
   ‘But what is most important is that I can sit down at the end of the season and say with the team “we have done as much as we could”.
   ‘If there is a better team than Arsenal, okay, hands up and congratulations – but the worst is that you think we could have done better.’

Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce has warned it could be weeks before England striker Michael Owen is back to his best. Owen made his first English Premier League appearance of the season as Newcastle maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign in a disappointing 0-0 stalemate with Aston Villa at St James’s Park on Saturday.
   The £16-million ($31.9-million) club record signing, who missed the start of the season with a thigh problem, made little impression after his introduction as a substitute midway through the second-half in front of watching England head coach Steve McClaren.
   Injury-plagued Owen, who has been confined to just 15 Newcastle appearances since his high-profile arrival from Real Madrid almost two years ago, is set to step up his bid for match fitness by figuring in England’s friendly against Germany at Wembley on Wednesday.
   The weight of expectation will rest squarely on Owen’s shoulders to provide the goals to boost England’s flagging qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Championships.
   Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is sidelined by a fractured left foot for the Wembley double header against Israel and Russia at the start of September.
   However, Allardyce insists it could be well into the middle of next month before 27-year-old Owen is back to his sharpest.
   ‘Michael was there today, but he’s not really back yet,’ he said after Saturday’s match.
   ‘At a guess, it could be one or two games, it could be four or five or it could be six before we see the sharp end of Michael Owen.
   ‘If Steve McClaren gives him some part of the Germany match then that will be a great help and we hope there’s no injuries from that.’
   Allardyce professed himself happy with a point as Steve Harper preserved Newcastle’s unbeaten start to the season, the stand-in goalkeeper producing fine saves to thwart Martin Laursen and Nigel Reo-Coker.
   Newcastle were denied a win, and a first home league goal since February – 560 minutes of play – by Villa goalkeeper Scott Carson, who marked his debut on loan from Liverpool with a fine full-length save to deny David Rozehnal’s early angled drive.
   ‘We found it hard from an attacking point of view to break a very solid defence down. All we needed was a break and for someone to pull something out of the bag for us,’ Allardyce said.
   ‘I’m happy with four points from two games…it’s a good start to the season. Aston Villa matched us, but clean sheets make me happy and it’s a fantastic result.’

World number one Lorena Ochoa was flawless for the second day in a row here Saturday, firing a seven-under 64 to take a four-shot lead in the 2.25 million-dollar Canadian Women’s Open.
   After firing a 6-under 65 on Friday, Ochoa outdid herself at the Royal Mayfair Country Club, sinking five birdies on the front nine and two more after the turn to sign for a 199 after 54 holes.
   The Mexican star, who entered the day one shot behind Juli Inkster and Shi Hyun Ahn, is fresh off winning her first major title - the British Open on August 5.
   She is looking to add to her tour-leading four wins and 14 top-10 finishes in 17 events this year and said the rainy conditions, expected to continue Sunday, were no hindrance.
   Inkster shot a two-over 73 to fall into a tie for fifth at 207, while Ahn also struggled, finishing the day at three-over for 208.
   Americans Paula Creamer and Laura Diaz were within reach of Ochoa at 10-under 203.
   Both also signed for bogey-free rounds, with Creamer shooting a 66 and Diaz carding a 68.
   Creamer continued her hot play after birdying her final four holes on Friday.
   In her third year on the LPGA Tour, she birdied four and six before the turn and added three more on the back nine, including two on par-threes.
   While Creamer’s excellent effort left her even further behind Ochoa, the young American said she couldn’t worry about that heading into the final round.
   Taiwan’s Ya-Ni Tseng was six shots off the pace after signing for a 67. Tseng sank three of her five birdies on the back nine after recording her lone bogey of the day at the ninth.
   Kimberly Hall was tied with Inkster after bogeying her final two holes en route to a 72.
   Cristie Kerr, who won this event in astounding fashion last year when she overcame an eight-shot, final-round deficit to beat Angela Stanford by one stroke, shot an even-par 71 to finish the day in a nine-way tie for 19th place.

Real Madrid’s new coach Bernd Schuster believes his side can still win the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday despite a 1-0 away defeat to Sevilla in the first leg.
   ‘I think we will be capable of coming back from the first leg’s bad result,’ he told a news conference.
   ‘It (the Super Cup) is very special to me. I’ve never won a title as coach, so I really want to win it,’ he added.
   The reigning Spanish champions head into the game having lost five matches in the pre-season which has led fans and Spain’s sports press to question Schuster’s tactics.
   Daily sports newspaper AS suggested the German coach could leave Real captain and striker Raul on the bench while the role of midfielder Guti, whose future at the club is in doubt, has been the subject of much media speculation.
   Schuster refused to lift the veil on the line-up he will use, saying only that it would be ‘conditioned the rival we will face’.
   ‘We have to score at least two goals, not concede them. That’s what I was thinking when I was coming up with the line-up for tomorrow,’ he said.
   ‘We are going to play many games this season and we have to prepare every player to be ready to play at any given time. There won’t really be a line-up. Let’s just say some players will play more than others,’ he added.
   Asked if Guti would play for the team against Sevilla, he said, ‘We’ll see tomorrow. People shouldn’t obsess about Guti. We need all of our players. I’m relaxed because I have men capable of playing whenever I need them.’
   Sevilla has included Brazilian Daniel Alves, who is strongly linked to a move to Chelsea, in its squad but coach Juande Ramos has said he was not sure if he would use the right back.
   Alves did not take part in Sevilla’s 2-0 Champions League win over AEK Athens on Wednesday, reportedly in order to not hurt his chances of making the move to the English club.
   Ramos will also be without his injured defenders Javi Navarro and Julien Escude as well as midfielders Adriano and Antonio Puerta.
   ‘It will be a difficult match but we are ready for everything and we are going to Madrid to win,’ said Sevilla’s Serbian defender Vujica Dragutinovic.

Dutchman Dick Advocaat, widely expected to become Australia’s next head coach, is a tough disciplinarian and likes to challenge his players, senior Socceroo defender Craig Moore said on Sunday.
   Moore, who played under Advocaat at Rangers in the Scottish Premier League, said names and reputations count for nothing to the Dutchman.
   ‘He’s not scared to make the hard decisions. The most important thing is no player will be bigger than the team,’ Moore told the Sunday Telegraph.
   Media reports here said Advocaat has agreed to the Australian coaching post but that the deal is being kept under wraps until the end of the Russian championship season in November.
   Reports said that Advocaat wants to do the right thing by his club, Zenit St Petersburg, as they chase the Russian title and doesn’t want to publicly agree to a new job until his current one is complete.
   Moore, who has returned from 14 seasons playing in Europe for a stint with Queensland Roar in Australia’s A-League, gave a personal account of Advocaat’s man-management style.
   After replacing Moore in the first game of a Scottish season, Advocaat then hauled him into the office the next day and threatened to replace him with a new signing.
   The Socceroos defender responded with a solid display the following week.
   ‘I’ve certainly been on the receiving end of it,’ Moore said.
   ‘I made a mistake, so he pulled me off after 23 minutes. He pulled me in on the Monday and said, “If that’s the standard you’re going to give me, then I’ll have to look for someone else”.
   ‘I replied, “you can sign anyone but he won’t play ahead of me”. I played the next week. Dick likes to test people and see how they deal with it – it was a test and one that I relished. I played my best football under Advocaat.’

Six-time French champions Lyon have been given the green light to go in search of another two non-European players.
   Brazilian midfield star Juninho has been awarded a French passport, and league chiefs have bowed to a request for the club to be able to replace injured Brazilian defender Cris with another non-European.
   Club president Jean-Michel Aulas announced on the club’s website that Juninho, who joined the club in 2001, had been awarded double nationality on Friday.
   That allows Lyon to sign another non-European, and Aulas could now be looking to add another after the French Professional League bowed to his request to be able to replace Cris.
   Aulas said: ‘We can now sign two non-European players, if we feel the need.’
   Clubs in UEFA’s jurisdiction are allowed only four non-European players.
   Lyon currently have four, all of whom are Brazilian – Juninho, Cris, Fred and Fabio Santos.
   Cris, who is bidding to be awarded a Portuguese passport, has been ruled out for six months after sustaining a serious knee injury on August 11.
   Lyon have dominated the French championship for the past six seasons but are currently in mid-table with one win and two defeats from their three matches so far, including a 2-1 defeat to Lorient on Saturday.

Reading boss Steve Coppell is fuming that his defender Andre Bikey is having to travel halfway round the world for Cameroon’s friendly away to Japan.
   The Royals manager blasted Wednesday’s Kirin Challenge Cup friendly at Kyushu Sekiyu Dome in Oita, western Japan, grumbling about Bikey having to attend and not being certain to play.
   Coppell said it was the price that had to be paid for signing foreign internationals.
   Bikey, 22, has grown in stature in the Reading side under Coppell’s tutelage.
   ‘He has a lot to learn still, but is a very enthusiastic student,’ the former England and Manchester United winger said.
   ‘The shame of it all is that now he flies to Tokyo. It is a valid international week, but I would question the international motivation,’ he added.
   ‘It is a price to pay when you sign players who are not from these shores, I do realise that, but it is of no help to us when he is travelling halfway around the world to maybe not even play in a game.
   ‘It is very demanding.’
   Bikey was due to fly out to Japan on Sunday.
   His international team-mate Samuel Eto’o said Friday he hoped to be exempt from playing in the friendly so as to prepare better for the upcoming Spanish league season.

In his first Major League Soccer start, David Beckham was instrumental in three Galaxy goals but couldn’t prevent Los Angeles from falling 5-4 to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
   New York’s Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel and the Galaxy’s Carlos Pavon all scored twice at a packed Giants Stadium.
   After some initial defensive errors by Los Angeles, New York opened the scoring in the fourth minute on a free kick from Angel, who fired through the defensive wall, but two minutes later Pavon scored for Los Angeles, nodding home a Beckham corner kick.
   Beckham and Pavon came together again in the eighth minute, this time the Honduran striker scoring by heading in a trademark Beckham free kick from the right side.
   New York’s Clint Mathis equalised two minutes into first-half injury time, slamming the ball home from well outside the penalty area after a goalmouth scramble.
   Altidore scored his first goal on a 49th minute counterattack to make it 3-2, then scored again in the 70th minute, firing a fierce shot past goalkeeper Joe Cannon after dribbling across the top of the box.
   Landon Donovan replied for the Galaxy a minute later, racing the length of the field to make it 4-3, and Edson Buddle scored in the 82nd minute to tie the game at 4-4, when the ball fell to him after team-mate Kyle Veris’ header hit the crossbar from another Beckham corner kick .
   Angel tallied the winner in the 88th, scoring from close range after a fierce long-range shot from Mathis was blocked by Cannon. A crowd of more than 66,000 was on hand for the game at the New York area venue, a record for an MLS game not part of a double-header.
   Beckham admitted he hadn’t expected to play the full 90 minutes.
   ‘I was surprised to actually play 90 minutes,’ Beckham said. ‘The manager and the coaching staff kept asking me if I wanted to come off. But I’m quite a stubborn person on and off the field. When we were winning I didn’t want to come off and when we were losing I didn’t want to come off. I think my stubborness took over and I didn’t want to come off the pitch.’
   Beckham initially had been reluctant to play on the artificial turf at Giants Stadium.
   ‘My ankle took a pounding, obviously. I’m not used to this surface but it wasn’t bad,’ Beckham said. ‘There were a couple of instances where I rolled over on my ankle but at the end of the day we have to play on this surface.’
   Beckham said his ailing ankle did swell, but he didn’t think it would affect him as he travels to England for a friendly Wednesday against Germany.
   ‘My ankle is more swollen than it was before the game, but I’m sure it will be fine for Wednesday.’

The Big Apple felt the David Beckham effect on Saturday, as 66,237 fans packed Giants Stadium to see Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy take on the New York Red Bulls.
   It was a Major League Soccer regular season record for the New York franchise at the 80,242-seater venue, where the previous biggest crowd was 56,404 set on May 23, 1998.
   The crowd were treated to a 5-4 Red Bulls victory.
   ‘They witnessed an exciting game, and they witnessed a sport that to me is the most exciting sport in the world,’ Beckham said.
   This season the Red Bulls have averaged less than 15,000 per game. Asked how he felt about being responsible for an extra 50,000, Beckham said: ‘It makes you feel great, it makes you feel honored.
   ‘I do feel honored to be able to do that. Tonight I have to say thank you to all the people that paid the money and come and see the teams play.’
   The Home Depot Center - the Los Angeles home of the Galaxy - was a 27,000-seat sellout when the midfielder appeared in
   an exhibition game against Chelsea.
   Beckham’s drawing power was already established, even though he arrived in the United States hobbling on an injured ankle.
   Although Beckham was on the bench and not scheduled
   to play, a SuperLiga game
   against CD Guadalajara of Mexico was played at the Los Angeles Coliseum to accommodate an overflow crowd of 37,000 plus.
   A sold-out Pizza Hut Park - capacity 21,576 for FC Dallas’s MLS games - did not see Beckham.
   Neither did Toronto FC fans (extra seating brought to boost the attendance to 20,522) nor New England Revolution fans (the 69,000 seat Gillette Stadium was opened up to take in 32,000 ticket holders, 12,000 more seats than the usual MLS configuration).
   More than 45,000 turned out for a match played in torrential rain at Washington’s RFK Stadium, when Beckham’s time was limited to a few minutes at the end.
   Becks himself is thrilled with the development.
   ‘This is what this league needs and what this sport needs in America - the attention. And we’ve had the attention so far in every game that we’ve played in.’
   The home team prevailed in the nine-goal festival on an 88th minute goal by Juan Pablo Angel.
   Beckham played a key role in the first pair of goals for the visiting Galaxy, who led 2-1 after eight minutes.
   Clint Mathis equalized for the Red Bulls right before half time and a brace by Jozy Altidore put the home team up 4-2 with 20 minutes remaining.
   Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle rallied the Galaxy, before Angel’s winner.
   ‘I haven’t been involved in
   a game like that since I was
   eight or nine years old,’ Beckham said. ‘There were so many goals.’
   ‘It’s great for the fans, great for the people that turned out tonight.
   ‘You see the stadium, you see the amount of fans who have turned out, it’s pretty incredible. It’s great for the league and great for both teams to play in an atmosphere like that.’
   Average attendance at MLS games in 2006 was a little over 15,000. The highest year was in the 1996 inaugural season, when the average was a little under 17,500.
   ‘I hope it continues. I think it can continue if players keep coming over and players keep performing like they did tonight,’ said Beckham.

Tottenham got their season back on track as unfancied Wigan went to the top of the English Premier League table on Saturday.
   Big-spending Spurs boss Martin Jol was under pressure to deliver results after his side lost both their opening games and sunk to the foot of the table.
   But they took their frustration out on visitors Derby, who were thrashed 4-0, while hosts Wigan beat Sunderland 3-0 to leave the Latics topping the table.
   Elsewhere, previous league leaders Everton lost 1-0 at Reading and Middlesbrough won 2-1 at Fulham. West Ham won 1-0 at Birmingham and Newcastle shared a bore draw with visitors Aston Villa.
   Last season’s Championship play-off winners Derby were made to suffer as Spurs ran riot.
   French midfielder Steed Malbranque scored twice before England midfielder Jermaine Jenas charged through to make it 3-0 within 14 minutes.
   Twice-capped England striker Darren Bent, Jol’s big pre-season signing, scored his first Spurs goal with 10 minutes to go to ease the pressure on the Dutch boss.
   Roy Keane’s Sunderland showed their fighting qualities to earn a win and a draw with last-minute goals in their previous matches but they were put to the sword by Wigan in a 3-0 defeat at the JJB Stadium. Former Liverpool and England forward Emile Heskey scored in the 19th minute, though television replays showed he was offside.
   Then Sunderland’s Danny Collins fouled Antoine Sibierski in the penalty box and Denny Landzaat scored from the spot in the 62nd minute.
   Sibierski scored his third in three games seven minutes later when he scored the Latics’ second penalty.
   Two of the most resilient teams in the top flight clashed at the Madejski Stadium but Reading edged past Everton.
   The Royals’ Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Hunt took advantage of some slack defending to score the only goal a minute before half-time.

World number one Justine Henin moved a step closer to her 35th career title by taking down Chinese qualifier Yan Zi 6-3, 6-0 in the semi-finals of this 1.34 million dollar hardcourt event on Saturday.
   Henin, who is seeking her sixth title of the season, will face second seed Jelena Jankovic, a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 winner over France’s Tatiana Golovin.
   Yan advanced to the semi-finals the US Open tune-up when ailing Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli retired while trailing in their quarter-final clash.
   Henin is playing in her first tournament since losing in the semi-finals at Wimbledon against Bartoli The 2003 champion of this event, Henin is unbeaten in eight sets here en route to improving her season record to 42-4.
   Including four meetings this year, Henin owns a 6-0 lead in her career series against Jankovic, with five of those victories coming in semi-final matches. This will mark their first meeting in a final.
   Still, the Serbian has won a career-best four titles this season, including the hardcourt tournament in Auckland back in January, to climb steadily up the rankings.
   Playing in her third semi-final of the year, Golovin did not make things easy for Jankovic in their evening match.

Martin Jol challenged his Tottenham team to take the Premier League by storm after they eased the pressure on their manager with a thumping victory over Derby.
   The Dutchman’s position was looking under serious threat before the game at White Hart Lane on Saturday, but a resounding 4-0 win over the Rams
   will have him breathing a little easier.
   Bookmakers had briefly stopped taking bets that Jol would be dismissed such were the large sums being placed on his sacking after Spurs started the season with two successive defeats.
   But Jol is confident the morale-boosting win will prove to be a turning point.
   ‘When we fire as a team and a club we can be a force again,’ he said. ‘From now on we will get better and better.
   ‘The reaction you saw at the start shows that we have strength, not just physically but mentally.’
   The Spurs boss admitted he had been feeling the strain but predicted an easier ride ahead, saying, ‘It’s a relief for everyone, it’s horrendous in this industry if you play two games and don’t get a result.
   ‘No matter what, you need results and next week it will be someone else under pressure, that’s a good fault of the English press.’
   Jol couldn’t have wished for a better start as Steed Malbranque put his team ahead after just 75 seconds.
   Things got even better in the sixth minute when Malbranque grabbed his second goal to make it 2-0.
   The game was over as a contest as early as the 16th minute when Jermaine Jenas scored a third for the home team.
   Darren Bent provided the icing on the cake for his manager in the 80th minute by making it 4-0 and scoring his first goal since his big-money move from Charlton.
   The Dutch coach envisaged better times ahead for Jenas following criticism from the crowd during Spurs’ midweek defeat against Everton.
   He said, ‘When you are under pressure you have to stand up and show you’re strong and Jenas showed that. He is not Paul Gascoigne but he is good on the ball and has great stamina.’
   Speaking about Bent, Jol said, ‘It’s so important for him to get his first goal for us. When you score you get a better feeling and then you get good form.’
   The Spurs boss was further encouraged by news that the injured Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Dawson and Gareth Bale would all be in contention soon.
   Also England defender Ledley King could be back sooner than expected after initially being ruled out until the end of September.

Premier League bosses have hit back at England manager Steve McClaren, who complained that he will have only an hour to prepare his players for Wednesday’s friendly with Germany because of poor scheduling.
   McClaren on Saturday blasted a decision to stage four Premiership clashes, involving most of England’s squad, for Sunday when Manchester United were facing Manchester City, Arsenal were playing Blackburn and Liverpool hosted Chelsea.
   However, the Premier League insists the Football Association was involved in the decision-making process over fixtures.
   ‘It’s disappointing to hear this because we worked very hard with the FA to accommodate the national team,’ Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said in the Mail on Sunday.
   ‘The FA was part of the fixtures working party along with the Premier League and the Football League.
   ‘We can’t micro-manage
   fixtures. If we had removed
   the Man City v United and Liverpool v Chelsea matches and put them somewhere else we might have created problems elsewhere.
   ‘If anything, we feel for the clubs. They just get started then they are interrupted by a friendly international so early in their seasons.
   ‘We would point out that there’s an agreement in place ahead of competitive games.’
   Although McClaren named a 28-man squad for Wednesday’s clash, 12 of them will not be available for Monday’s planned training session.
   ‘We talk about helping England and England becoming successful but you have got to have a bit of help,’ said McClaren.
   ‘I don’t think going into a friendly against Germany with so many of our team being involved in big games against each other is going to help us one little bit.
   ‘In preparation terms, it probably means we will get an hour on Tuesday to get ourselves ready for the game on Wednesday.
   ‘It is something I am not happy about and I have expressed that unhappiness to the Premier League fixtures people.’
   While the games at Manchester City and Liverpool did not necessarily have to be screened on Sunday, McClaren recognises TV broadcasters want top games shown at prime times.
   His argument concerns why such games were slotted into the fixture list at a time of the season when they were bound to cause him a problem, as it will be McClaren rather than the Premier League who get the blame from fans if England fail this week.
   ‘I don’t know how to resolve the issue or know what the answer is,’ said the national coach.
   ‘You cannot escape the fact TV has made our league the best in the world. I just know it doesn’t help England. All we can do is voice our opinions and keep hammering at the door.’

England’s Football Association is set to explore using goal-line technology after the latest refereeing blunder led to a clear goal being disallowed.
   On Saturday officials failed to award David Healy a late equaliser during Fulham’s defeat by Middlesbrough.
   Healy appeared to have rescued a point when Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer failed to hold the striker’s injury-time shot with replays showing the ball had clearly crossed the line.
   However, referee Andy D’Urso and linesman Ian Gosling refused to award the effort which left Cottagers boss Lawrie Sanchez furious as the home side went down to a 2-1 defeat.
   There was a similar incident in the game involving Southampton and Norwich with Saints boss George Burley convinced that Andrew Surman’s shot, which was fumbled by David Marshall, had crossed the line when the City keeper finally got his hands on the ball.
   The Saints were leading 1-0 at the time but eventually went down to a 2-1 defeat and led Burley to call for technology in such instances.
   Now the FA officials claim they are keen to explore the full implications of introducing technology.
   A spokesman said, ‘We understand the debate around goal-line technology and it’s always going to be an important talking point after these incidents.