Middlesbrough and Sheffield United had to fight 200 minutes in order to produce a goal, when they last night replayed their FA Cup meeting that ended with a draw a few weeks ago.

This time the match was hosted at the Riverside stadium, but things didn’t change for the regular 90 minutes.

The scoreboard showed again a goalless draw, as it did in the previous attempt. The FA Cup rules state that in case of a second draw, the winner will be decided after extra time and if needed after the penalty-shootout.

The first half of extra time went on and it ended with no change on the scoreboard. It was clear for everyone that this game will be decided from the penalty spots. But the 114th minute came, lucky for Boro and cruel for Sheffield.
The visitors keeper, Patrick Kenny, who pulled a nice performance until that moment, managed to score a stupid own goal that granted Middlesbrough’ş tickets for the last eight. Mido shot from the edge of the box, his shot got deflected into the post and rebounded towards Kenny. Even stranger, Sheffield’ş keeper was facing towards the ball when it came to him. Kenny tried to clear the ball, but his clumsy attempt sent the rebounding ball into his own net.
You can watch this stupid goal in the following football highlights and see how the over 28,000 attendance reacted to this rare seen own goal. Live online football from the quarterfinals of the 07-08 edition of the FA Cup can be seen with the help of the live streams and the p2p technology.

Manchester United suffered a setback to their title hopes as they were beaten by derby rivals Manchester City. A poignant minute’s silence and tribute looked set to start an emotional derby match.

In this weeks Premier League match of the week, an early Darius Vasell strike put the English Premier League side ahead of United, and they became stifled again by a staunch City side who extended their lead with a glanced Benjani Mwaruwari header. United struggled overall but got a consolation goal when Michael Carrick shot into the corner in injury time.

The hugely emotive occasion had begun in moving scenes at Old Trafford in respect to the 23 – of which eight were players from the Old Trafford club – who died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958. United’s players wore 1958-style sponsorless red shirts numbered one to 11, while City also wore special shirts. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and counterpart Sven-Goran Eriksson each laid a wreath either side of the centre circle before an impeccably observed minute’s silence.

The disruption to the silence feared beforehand did not materialise and, instead, the clubs paid their respects as the city came together to produce a touching tribute before the game got under way. United appeared in determined mood and quickly set about City and put the visitors on the backfoot.A piercing Nani ball found Carlos Tevez and he crossed to the far post for the unmarked Ryan Giggs, whose acute-angled strike was tipped over by keeper Joe Hart.

City slowly began to gather themselves but were given another scare when Micah Richards was outpaced by Tevez only for fellow centre-back Richard Dunne to retrieve the situation by blocking the United striker’s shot.  Richards survived a handball shout just outside the City area before the visitors broke United’s brief early grip.

Martin Petrov slid a defence-splitting pass into Stephen Ireland’s clever run and his poked shot was blocked by on-rushing keeper Edwin van der Sar.  The ball fell to Vassell and he powered in at the second attempt after his first strike was blocked by Van der Sar.

A Tevez turn and shot was parried away by Hart, Cristiano Ronaldo had a shot deflected wide by Dunne and Nemanja Vidic poked as United attempted to equalise. But City were disciplined and organised as they kept United, who seemed to get more affected by the occasion after going behind, at bay.

And they shocked the hosts again with a second on the stroke of half time. Left-winger Petrov was a constant threat to United with his pace and delivery and he crossed from the right for Benjani to glance in a header across goal.

Richards and Dunne were immense for City at the back as they refused to give an out-of-sorts United any kind of sight on goal with a powerful performance. Giggs did get a rare chance for the home side but his angled shot went wide as United’s threat decreased as the game wore on and any expected pressure did not materialise.

Carrick’s consolation strike from 18 yards came too late for United, who were without Wayne Rooney and lost their first game at home in the league this season.

City’s win saw them complete the first league double over their arch-rivals for the first time since the 1969/70 season.

Aston Villa 1-1 Blackburn Rovers

An exciting, enthralling match at Villa Park saw European hopefuls Blackburn and Aston Villa share the points in the only English Premier League game of the day.

Blackburn took a deserved lead on 66 minutes after David Dunn had his shot palmed away by the Villa keeper and Roque Santa Cruz was on hand to follow up and tap the ball home. Blackburn had being given a free kick after 24 minutes after Nigel Reo Coker had brought down Matt Derbyshire in the penalty area, but the young striker failed to put the spot kick past Scott Carson who managed to save the ball down to his low left hand side.

Aston Villa got their equaliser through a peach of a free kick from winger Ashley Young. His 20 yard free kick flew straight into the top corner of Brad Friedel’s goal and nicked Aston Villa a point.

English Premier League News

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Newcastle and Tottenham have had meetings with Boro defender Jonathan Woodgate.

It was announced earlier in the week that both clubs had being given permission to speak with the England international, but it is thought that he favours a move to Newcastle over Tottenham.
Gareth Southgate did however say that Woodgate is still unclear on his future and could still stay at The Riverside.
Woodgate is said to be thinking over his future carefully and should he leave Boro it is thought that he would like to go to St James’ Park, down the road from Middlesbrough. Woodgate spent a season at Newcastle in 2003-04 before his move to La Liga with Real Madrid.

Middlesbrough defender David Wheater has agreed a new deal with the club, which comes as a boost after hearing the news that Jonathan Woodgate might be leaving the club.

Wheater is a product of the Boro youth academy and the club have made sure that they tie him down with a new contract as soon as possible after some promising and commanding performances for the first team.
After he was considered a back up player at the start of the season he seems to have got his head down and worked hard and is now seen as a key player in the Boro squad.
Wheater was out of contract in the summer and Middlesbrough thought they could lose the player to another Premier League club, but Boro have made efforts to ensure he will be at the club for some time to come. Wheater will sign the new deal in the next week or so.

Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha is rumoured to be unhappy at the club.

Onuoha has played just 6 games this season under new manager Sven Goran Eriksson and is now unhappy at the lack of action he is getting.
The England U-21 player is a player that Eriksson values highly and insists is part of his long term plans, but Onuoha has admitted that he would be playing regularly elsewhere in some other Premier League teams.
Onuoha, a cultured centre back has being played at right back in his six games this season as Man City have Micah Richards and Richard Dunne playing so well at centre back, and with Vedran Corluka also vying for the centre back position Onuoha has become very unsettled at the situation he finds himself in.

English Premier League Match of the Day

Newcastle 0-0 Bolton

The return of Newcastle legend Kevin Keegan as Newcastle manager was a historic and memorable day for Newcastle United football club and their fans. A packed out St James’ Park was in optimistic mood despite being thrashed 6-0 by Man Utd last week in the English Premier League.

The game didn’t live up to the build up of the last few days. Both Bolton and Newcastle had little to offer up front and chances were not good enough for either side to score. The game ended 0-0 but Keegan would have being unhappy at the first half performance but won’t be too disappointed with the end result as he didn’t lose his first game in charge.

English Premier League – Other Results

Birmingham 0-1 Chelsea

Chelsea maintained their push to win the English Premier League title as they beat a battling Birmingham side 1-0.
Cameron Jerome had Birmingham’s best chance in the first half when Chelsea keeper Petr Cech cleared the ball poorly to Jerome who headed the ball against the foot of the post. They also had other chances in the first half but failed to put any of them in the net.
Claudio Pizzaro broke the deadlock and the home fans hearts as he scored his first goal since scoring against Birmingham in August to win the three points for the away side. He headed home a corner from Belletti at the near post 11 minutes from time.

Blackburn 1-1 Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough were unlucky not to come away from Ewood Park with all three points as they dominated the game and missed several glorious chances to win the game. Blackburn came from behind to draw the game 1-1 and nick a point.
Boro took the lead when Stewart Downing crossed a free kick and David Wheater nodded the ball past a helpless Brad Friedel.
However with 15 minutes left Blackburn striker Matt Derbyshire took Jason Roberts pass and slammed the ball past the Boro defence and into the net.

Fulham 0-3 Arsenal

Arsenal are level on points at the top of the English Premier League with Manchester United as they beat Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage.
Emmanuel Adebayor who could have being playing in the African Cup of Nations should Togo have qualified headed home Gael Clichy’s cross to open the scoring on 19 minutes. He then did the same again on 38 minutes this time heading home Alex Hleb’s cross to make it 2-0.
On 81 minutes Eduardo stormed into the box and pulled the ball back for Thomas Rosicky to smash home.

Portsmouth 3-1 Derby

Portsmouth came from being 1-0 down to beat bottom club Derby 3-1 at home. Portsmouth who hadn’t scored at home since thrashing Reading 7-4 back in September went behind to an early goal from Derby defender Lewin Nyatanga who slotted the ball home from close range after Craig Fagan hit the bar.
Benjani then scored his first goal of the day on 38 minutes when he smashed home a pass from Pedro Mendes. 4 minutes later Benjani scored again to put Pompey 2-1 up after a cross from Hreidarsson saw him unmarked and he rose high to head home.
Benjani then scored his hat trick on 80 minutes after a quick Portsmouth break away saw Mendes and Benjani to combine before Benjani placed the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

Reading 0-2 Manchester United

English Premier League champions Manchester United beat Reading away from home as new England manager Fabio Capello watched on from the stands at some of the England players from both sides.
77 minutes into the game was when the first goal was scored. Carlos Tevez chipped a neat ball into the box and Wayne Rooney touched the ball deafly past the Reading keeper.
In the last minute of the game Man Utd scored a second. Cristiano Ronaldo broke from the half way line and slipped the ball past Marcus Hahnemann.

Tottenham 2-0 Sunderland

Robbie Keane notched up 100 goals for Tottenham as he helped Tottenham beat Sunderland 2-0.
Aaron Lennon got the game going as he scored in the first two minutes of the game as he raced onto a long ball and beating Craig Gordon to the ball before tapping the ball home.
Keane then made the game safe after Sunderland could have equalised, his low shot from the edge of the area was hard enough to slide under Gordon’s body and into the net.

English Premier League Match of the Day

Manchester United 6-0 Newcastle

Newcastle got off to the worst possible start with life after Sam Allardyce as they crushed to a 6-0 defeat to English Premier League champions Man Utd at Old Trafford, and the Newcastle fans started to chant ‘Sack the board!’.

Newcastle held out until half time and it looked like they wouldn’t do too badly without former manager Allardyce. However Newcastle crumbled in the second half.

Cristiano hit a smart free kick under the Newcastle wall to make it 1-0 before a Carlos Tevez goal made it 2-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo then added a third and second for himself before defender Rio Ferdinand took Wayne Rooney’s pass In his stride before smashing the ball past the Newcastle keeper.

Cristiano Ronaldo then got his hat trick two minutes from the end and then Carlos Tevez rounded off the rout as he smashed the ball in off the crossbar.

Newcastle then had former Man Utd player Alan Smith sent off in the dying stages for dissent and he threw his Newcastle shirt on the ground as he walked off.

English Premier League – Other Results

Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham

Arsenal and Birmingham shared a point each in the clash at The Emirates Stadium. Arsenal ran Birmingham ragged throughout the game but had to settle for a point against a battling Birmingham side.
Arsenal took the lead when Stephen Kelly brought down Eduardo in the penalty box on 20 minutes. Emmanuel Adebayor stepped up and converted the penalty to score his 13^th goal of the season.
Three minutes into the second half saw Birmingham draw level. Alex McLeish’s half time team talk worked wanders as Birmingham won a corner and Sebastian Larsson found Garry O’Connor who put the ball past Manuel Almunia in the Arsenal goal. The win took Arsenal back to the top of the English Premier League.

Aston Villa 3-1 Reading

Aston Villa have been deadly with their set pieces all season and it was another one that gave them the lead against a struggling Reading side. An Ashley Young cross found John Carew who only needed a slight touch to send the ball past Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann.
Another set piece, this time a corner from another Ashley Young cross was met by Martin Laursen and he headed home ten minutes into the second half.
Ashley Young was involved in Villa’s third goal as he and Gabriel Agbonlahor teamed up to allow John Carew his second goal of the game. James Harper pulled a consolation goal back for Reading in the dying stages of the game.

Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham

New Chelsea signing Nicholas Anelka had to settle for a place on the bench as his new side beat Tottenham comprehensively to keep up their bid to win the English Premier League.
Chelsea full back Juliano Belletti scored the first goal, as he picked up the ball in Tottenham’s half, taking the ball forward a few feet before smashing an unbeatable shot past Tottenham keeper Radek Cerny that flew into the top corner.
Cerny was in action in the second half to deny Nicholas Anelka his first goal for the club as he pushed Anelka’s shot away. However, Shaun Wright Phillips scored another goal to make it 2-0 to Chelsea and put the game beyond Tottenham’s reach as he hit a neat shot from the edge of the box.

Derby County 0-1 Wigan

Wigan snatched a vital away point in the bottom of the table clash in the English Premier League as they beat Derby 1-0.
Wigan scored the only goal of the game in the last eight minutes as Antoine Sibierski came off the bench to hit home the winner. Claude Davis had been sent off for Derby, who played 5 new players in this match and paid the price when Sibierski struck a shot from the edge of the area with eight minutes left on the clock.

Everton 1-0 Manchester City

Two clubs who are on great runs in the English Premier League met at Goodison Park in the form of Man City and Everton. It was Everton who won the battle as they beat high flying Man City 1-0.
Everton took the lead on 30 minutes as Everton defender Joleon Lescott made a mockery of the Man City defence to hit the ball home from a Mikel Arteta cross.

Middlesbrough 1-1 Liverpool

Liverpool continued to loose points in their bid to keep up in the race with the top of the English Premier League teams as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at The Riverside.
Stewart Downing crossed the ball, Gary O’Neil headed the ball back into the danger area, and it finally fell to midfielder George Boateng who prodded the ball home to give Boro the lead.
Top scorer Fernando Torres rescued a point for Liverpool as he hit his 17^th goal of the season. His 25 yard shot rattled into the back of the net.

West Ham United 2-1 Fulham

Fulham were hoping to beat London rivals West Ham to help ease their problems down at the bottom of the English Premier League.

They took a shock lead after just 8 minutes. A Simon Davies free kick went past everyone, including West Ham keeper Robert Green and into the back of the net.
West Ham equalized after just 30 minutes as Freddie Ljungberg hit a smart cross into the box and Dean Ashton got the wrong side of his marker to smash the ball home with his head. Anti Niemi then denied West Ham strikers Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole from adding to West Ham’s lead.
However, the big Finn couldn’t stop Anton Ferdinand from winning the game for The Hammers, as his header crept into the net after a great cross from Mark Noble.

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United

Arsenal stay two points ahead of second placed Manchester United in the English Premier League as they beat West Ham 2-0 on New Year’s Day at The Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal took the lead inside two minutes of the start as Croatian striker Eduardo controlled a pass from Cesc Fabregas on his chest and hit a stunning volley past West Ham keeper Rob Green. On 20 minutes Emmanuel Adebayor made it 2-0 to the home side. Gael Clichy hit a long ball up field and Adebayor headed the ball just past the onrushing Green and then tapped the ball in from a tight angle.

Fulham 1-2 Chelsea

Fulham will feel hard done by after losing 2-1 to Chelsea. Chelsea remain in reach of the top spot in the English Premier League and ruin Roy Hodgson’s first game in charge as Fulham manager.
Joe Cole brought down Fulham defender Moritz Volz in the penalty box and Danny Murphy stepped up to convert the penalty. Alex’s cross was met by Salomon Kalou who gleefully nodded the ball past Anti Niemi in the Fulham goal. Clint Dempsey then brought down Michael Ballack in the penalty box and the referee awarded Chelsea a penalty. Ballack stepped up and put the ball away to give The Blues the three points and leaves Fulham second from bottom in the English Premier League.

Manchester United 1-0 Birmingham City

Manchester United are two points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal after they beat Birmingham 1-0 at Old Trafford. Carlos Tevez made sure that he got his side the three points after a great exchange of passes with Cristiano Ronaldo allowed Tevez to just slip the ball past Maik Taylor on 25 minutes. The goal marked goal number 10 for Carlos Tevez this season, and the Argentina striker is defiantly in fine form.

Middlesbrough 0-2 Everton

Everton jumped above Manchester City into fifth spot in the English Premier League after beating Middlesbrough in a comprehensive 2-0 win at The Riverside.
Goals in the second half from Andy Johnson and James McFadden were enough for Everton to get the three points. Johnson got the first goal on 67 minutes as he received a pass from Steven Pienaar and then slide the ball past Mark Schwarzer. On 72 minutes Everton doubled their lead when James McFadden and Andy Johnson combined and McFadden finished the move with a neat goal.

Reading 0-2 Portsmouth

Portsmouth continued their impressive away form in the English Premier League as they beat Reading 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium.
Ibrahima Sonko was sent off for Reading after three minutes and gave Reading the worst possible start to the game and 2008. Sonko gave away a penalty and was sent off, but Niko Kranjcar couldn’t convert the spot kick. Sol Campbell opened the scoring for Portsmouth as he poked the ball home after the Reading keeper failed to hold onto Sulley Muntari’s free kick. On 66 minutes Reading were effectively out of the game as John Utaka doubled Portsmouth lead. Utaka was faster than Nicky Shorey and then took the ball around Marcus Hahnemann to put the ball into an empty net.