Sacked Roberto Di Matteo

Chelsea has formerly announced the sack of Roberto Di Matteo as manager just hours after their Champions League 3-0 defeat to Juventus.

In a club’s announcement made on Wednesday morning on twitter stated that they had parted company with the Italian after a string of poor results. Shortly afterwards they released a statement, stating that results had not been good enough and an announcement on a new manager will be made shortly.

“Chelsea football club has parted company this morning with manager Roberto Di Matteo. The team’s recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the season. The statement read.

“The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions. Our aim is to remain as competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts.”

The statement continued: “The owner and the board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking over in March. Roberto helped guide us to an historic Champions League victory and a seventh FA Cup. We will never forget the huge contribution he has made to this club’s history and he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge.

“The club will be making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager.”

Roberto Di Matteo took charge of Chelsea in March after the club had sacked André Villas-Boas, initially on a temporary basis. Di Matteo rescued the club’s ailing Champions League campaign and steered them to victory over Bayern Munich in the final on the German team’s home ground, having already secured the FA Cup.

The new season started well domestically but they have fallen slightly off the pace in recent weeks. Di Matteo has become the first top-flight manager to leave his post this season, having been 33-1 with bookmakers to “win” the Premier League sack race barely 36 hours ago.

Chelsea have already sounded out Rafael Benítez to determine his willingness to take over on a short-term contract, with the former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola the first choice if he can be persuaded to return to work having stated he wanted a year-long sabbatical last May.

Guardiola was a reported target for Chelsea in the summer despite Di Matteo’s Champions League and FA Cup success. He had vowed to take a year’s break from the game, but he is likely to be the favourite to succeed Di Matteo on a permanent basis.

Mikel and Ref Clattenburg during the controversial monent

The Metropolitan Police has dropped an investigation into the alleged used of inappropriate language against John Obi Mikel of Chelsea by the official referee Mark Clattenburg.

Chelsea football club and John Obi Mikel had accused the 37-year-old referee of using a term they understood to have been interpreted to have a racial intent during a Premier League encounter recently between Chelsea and Manchester United.

The Metropolitan Police in a statement on Tuesday read: “Inquiries were made and no victims have come forward. The matter will remain as a recorded incident.

“Without a victim and/or any evidence that any offence has been committed, the matter cannot currently be investigated”.

It further stated: “If the situation changes and a victim and/or evidence to support an allegation of a crime comes to police attention, then further inquiries will, if appropriate, be made.”

Meanwhile, the Society of Black Lawyers has accused Chelsea and The English Football Association of covering up the case.

Speaking on a BBC radio interview, Chairman of the Society Peter Herbert said: “It sounds remarkably like a football cover-up.”

“It sounds remarkably like the football industry wanted to have this issue swept under the carpet.”

“We strongly suspect that the FA and/or Chelsea have failed to provide this information to the Metropolitan Police in order for them to conduct a proper investigation,” Herbert continued.

“The information we had is that there are ‘no victims’. Well, if there are no victims, what on earth has been referred to the FA in the first place?

“What on earth are the FA and Chelsea playing at then? Are they having some cosy exchange of statements between themselves and not giving it to the police?

“We’re going to ask the borough commander for an explanation. Was there any co-operation? Was any evidence given? If none was given by the FA or Chelsea we want to raise that issue with the Minister of Sport.”

The FA however is conducting its own independent investigation into the allegation against Clattenburg as submitted by Chelsea and are expected to make known the outcome on Friday.

John Terry’s injury not so serious as expected

Initial scan carried out following John Terry’s knee injury has revealed the former England Captain may be back in Premier League action within a fortnight as no significant damage was revealed.

Terry who just featured for Chelsea after returning to the Premier League from his four-match domestic suspension for racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand found himself in a knee jam with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez just after scoring the game’s opening goal and his career 50^th.

Terry’s MRI scan at 9am on Monday morning revealed that there was ”no significant damage” to his cruciate ligaments, the centre-half having apparently benefited from not planting his feet before Suárez’s impact.

This news has sent a cheering statement from Chelsea’s official site and goal keeper Cech who described him as “unlucky but thankful to have escaped severe damages”.

“Today’s MRI scans on John Terry’s right knee thankfully show no significant damage to the cruciate ligaments.” Chelsea’s statement read.

It further said: “Chelsea Football Club’s medical team will conduct further tests over the next two or three days once the swelling has subsided to determine how long John will be out, but it will be a matter of weeks not months.”

Goalkeeper Petr Cech said: “He was unlucky to get injured but lucky his leg was on the floor and not up in the air, given that somebody of 60-70kgs landed on it.

“Let’s just hope the injury doesn’t leave him out for long because it was great to have him back.

“The knee is always painful when you injure it, and you know how strong a character John is so when you see him in pain you know there is something wrong. Normally with JT you can see his face and know he will be all right but you could see here straight away it was impossible for him to continue. We spoke to him in the dressing room at half-time and wished him the best of luck.”

Manchester City V Ajax – Champions League

The English Champions Manchester City’s Champions League campaign was left hanging by a thread after having to fight back from two down for a 2-2 draw with Ajax at the Etihad Stadium.

The home side were stunned during 17 first-half minutes as Ajax captain Siem de Jong twice benefited from static defending from corner kicks to leave Roberto Mancini’s men staring another early exit from the competition in the face.

But Yaya Toure’s fine volley five minutes later gave them hope before Sergio Aguero, who also had two other efforts chalked off by the offside flag, restored parity with little over quarter of an hour remaining.

The exciting encounter finished in hostile circumstances as substitute Mario Balotelli’s appeal for a penalty for what appeared to be a blatant shirt pull in the box from Ricardo van Rhijn was ignored by referee Peter Rasmussen, leading to the striker and his manager both sharing heated words with the Danish official following the final whistle.

The draw, combined with Borussia Dortmund’s 2-2 scoreline at Real Madrid, leaves the Blues needing to beat both of their fellow domestic league champions on matchdays five and six – and hope for other results to fall in their favour – if they are to participate in the round of 16.

City, making three changes from the side that were held by West Ham in the Premier League, could only attract a fraction of their usual attendance for this potentially-crucial European contest, but wasted little time assuming control of the encounter.

Howver, with just 10 minutes on the clock, all of that initial possession counted for nothing as careless defending from a corner kick left the hosts trailing: no less than five defenders watched on in a group as a ball they assumed was bouncing over the byline was salvaged by De Jong’s sliding poke towards goal, squeezing inside Joe Hart for 1-0.

It was even easier for the attacking midfielder seven minutes later, as Christian Eriksen’s delivery from the opposite flag was casually headed in at the near post for De Jong’s second and dire straits for City.

The hosts needed to begin their fight-back as soon as possible with the visitors’ confidence growing, and that they did on 22 minutes as Samir Nasri’s inverted cross was eventually brought down at the far post by Toure, whose volleyed finish left Kenneth Vermeer with no chance.

A last-ditch header from Van Rhijn prevented Carlos Tevez from heading in a centre from compatriot Aguero in the 27th, but Frank de Boer’s young side were able to contain the English club for the remainder of the half.

Gael Clichy’s cross eight minutes after the break picked out Aguero with perfection, but as the forward tucked the ball into the corner of Vermeer’s net, the offside flag went up.

De Jong had more than one great chance to secure an impressive Champions League hat-trick, the first coming on 57 minutes when former Liverpool man Ryan Babel teed him up to force a great parry from Hart with a rasping 20-yard drive.

And on the hour, Aguero – who had lost his footing more than once on the Etihad turf throughout the contest – beat an onrushing Vermeer inside the area only to slip at the byline before he could lay on a square pass for Balotelli, who stood yards away from the open goal.

But the Argentine would finally get on the scoresheet minutes after De Jong again tested Hart with a free-kick, City going route one with Balotelli deftly heading the ball into the path of his strike partner who fired the leveller into the corner.

Vermeer denied Balotelli’s headed effort from a free-kick with a fantastic diving save and the offside flag denied Aguero once again before Eriksen was set up by prodigal substitute Viktor Fischer to try his luck from distance, only for Hart to tip over.

And with time all but expired, the goalkeeper launched a defensive free-kick forward where Balotelli brought down Edin Dzeko’s headed flick, only to have his shirt pulled by Van Rhijn.

Though it appeared as if Rasmussen would blow up for a dramatic late penalty, after much thought he instead signalled for the end of the contest to the home team’s dismay and displeasure.

Yahoo Sport

Roberto Mancini hailed an “incredible” performance from Joe Hart after the England goalkeeper produced a string of exceptional saves to keep Manchester City’s Champions League hopes alive on a night when the Italian conceded his side were fortunate to pick up a point against an excellent Borussia Dortmund team.

Mario Balotelli’s late penalty, awarded harshly after Neven Subotic was penalised for handling Sergio Agüero’s close-range shot, earned City a 1-1 draw that Mancini believes could be vital come the end of the group.

Yet it was Hart, rather than the Italy striker, who was hailed as City’s saviour, after the 25-year-old made eight superb saves in a pulsating game that had chances from the first minute to the last. Hart denied Mario Götze on three occasions in the first half alone and, at times, it felt as though he was single-handedly keeping Dortmund at bay. He was so impressive that there was even acclaim from Old Trafford. “Have to say Joe Hart has been incredible. For me best keeper in the world,” tweeted Wayne Rooney.

Mancini had expressed his frustration with Hart less than a fortnight ago, after the goalkeeper criticised his team-mates for allowing a 2-1 lead to slip over Real Madrid. On this occasion, however, there was only praise from Mancini, who recognised that he was indebted to Hart for preventing Dortmund from being out of sight by the time Balotelli scored in the 90th minute to cancel out Marco Reus’s opener. “Joe Hart is incredible because he saved everything and we should say thank you to him,” Mancini said. “He did a fantastic performance. I don’t know if it’s the best performance in football history but he did very well.”

Hart admitted that he could not recall being so busy in goal before. “It could have been 10-all tonight. I thought their keeper was fantastic,” he said, acknowledging the contribution that Roman Weidenfeller made in the first half, when the Dortmund keeper made a hat-trick of saves to thwart Agüero. “Off the top of my head, I can’t remember making as many saves before. I thought Dortmund were different class tonight. It took a good defensive effort by us to keep it to just one. I hope this result is important and that it is not a waste of effort.”

It remains to be seen whether that will be the case, although City will clearly have to play much better if they are to have a chance of reaching the knockout phase and avoid a repeat of last year’s elimination at the group stage. Third in Group D with one point from two games, they have not kept a clean sheet since the penultimate game of last season and there was little doubt that Dortmund were going to extend that record on an evening when City never got the balance right between attack and defence.

“The Champions League is totally different from every championship,” Mancini said. “When you play, you play against the best players, so when you have a chance you have to score. If you don’t score, and after you concede, like we conceded this evening, it’s difficult that we can win.

“First half we had three or four incredible chances and I don’t know why we didn’t score but this can happen. The problem was our performance. This is the problem. In the Champions League we can’t play with all players that attack. We need to defend with all players. If you don’t defend, if you don’t run like Borussia Dortmund did this evening, it’s difficult.”

City lost Javi García to a thigh strain in the first half and it seems certain that the midfielder will miss Saturday’s league game at home to Sunderland. Yaya Touré also appeared to be struggling and was well off the pace in the second half in particular, although Mancini claimed there was nothing wrong with the Ivorian’s fitness. “Yaya didn’t play well. He is not injured. But it was not only Yaya; all the team played a poor game. We didn’t play well. We didn’t deserve to take this point, but in the end it could be important. Borussia Dortmund played better than us and at this moment they are a better side.” – The Guardian Sport

Podolski celebrating a goal against Olympiakos

Arsenal were made to work hard for their second Group B win of the Champions League as second-half goals from Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey helped earn them a 3-1 success against Olympiakos at the Emirates Stadium.

Gervinho handed the home side the lead despite an unconvincing team performance when he turned to thump a low shot into the net from 25 yards out on 42 minutes only for a battling visiting team to draw level a minute into added time in the first half when Kostas Mitroglou rose to glance home Leandro Greco’s header.

It was certainly a deserved equaliser for Olympiakos, who have now lost all 11 matches to English sides away from home in Europe in as many trips to England.

Arsenal – with manager Arsene Wenger forced to watch from the stands in the second match of his three-match suspension – were an improved lot in the second period.

They moved 2-1 clear when Podolski turned home Gervinho’s cutback on 56 minutes with visiting goalkeeper Balazs Megyeri somehow seeing the ball slip through his legs.

Aaron Ramsey completed the scoring to hand the Premier League side a scoreline that probably flattered them when he dashed onto fellow substitute Olivier Giroud’s cushioned header to lift the ball over the exposed Megyeri with seconds remaining.

Arsenal move top of Group B on six points with Schalke and Montepellier drawing 2-2 in the night’s other match in the section. It is a result that does not harm Arsenal as they try to ease their way into the last 16 of the tournament with games to spare.

A home win over Schalke in a fortnight’s time will all but secure Arsenal a place in the knock-out phase.

The one downside of the night was the empty spaces that could be found pockets of the ground for such a fixture in Europe’s premier club competition.

The first period saw Arsenal binge on possession with Olympiakos looking livelier in the final third. Santi Cazorla forced Megyeri to tip over a free-kick on 11 minutes, but the visitors blew a golden chance to find the opening goal when Paulo Machado somehow lifted the ball over from Giannis Maniatis’s cross 10 minutes before half-time.

With the scoreline level at 1-1, Arsenal appeared more lively after half-time with Cazorla swiping a shot wide from Gervinho’s pass before Podolski struck.

Arsenal continued on the offensive as Olivier Giroud and Ramsay replaced Podolski and Gervinho with 10 minutes left. It was Ramsey who had the final word on a soaking evening. Yahoo Sports

Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping for improvements at the back as Manchester United take on a Cluj side that’s already notched two away goals in Champions League Group H.

The Romanians produced a surprise on Matchday One by beating Braga 2-0 in Portugal and given they’re back on their home turf, they could present a problem or two for a Reds defence which uncharacteristically conceded two first-half goals on Saturday.

“I hope the first half on Saturday was [an issue of] awareness,” said Sir Alex, referring to Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans playing together for only the second time this season.

“When Jonny and Rio played consistently every week last season [from December when Nemanja Vidic was injured], we got better.”

Fitness wise, the main area of concern for Sir Alex isn’t defence for a change, it’s midfield. The manager’s three most experienced men in that department – Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes – did not travel to Romania for various reasons.

“Carrick didn’t report today, he’s in bed with a virus,” Sir Alex confirmed. “Ryan also felt rough this morning and we sent him home. We left Paul Scholes behind.

“Those three players are missing – two with a virus and Paul Scholes because, although he looked great this morning and played great on Saturday, at 37 years of age I can’t expect him to play three games like that [Tottenham, Cluj, Newcastle].”

Sir Alex revealed that United elected to train at Carrington this morning, instead of Cluj’s stadium this evening, for tactical reasons. He feels the opposition will be tough enough without enabling their staff to study the Reds’ prepatory work.

“We made a decision last season actually. Most of the time when you go abroad and train on their pitch you can’t do anything because everyone is watching. By training at our ground we could do what we wanted in terms of picking the team and anything tactical. It’s much better doing that at our own ground.”

The tactical work followed the homework with Sir Alex admitting United have watched Cluj’s “last two or three games.”

“As part of our preparations we have to assess the opposition and we saw their performance in the last game against Braga,” said Sir Alex. “[Before that] they knocked out Basel, beating them twice. We know from our own experience last season that Basel knocked us out. That gives us every respect for Cluj because it tells you they’re a good team.

“Cluj defend quickly and get plenty of bodies behind the ball. The main strength is counter-attack, as they showed against Braga.

“Counter-attacking has become a very important part of European football. Now it’s done by four or five players, not one or two like 20 years ago, and the positive nature of the counter attack has made the Champions League much better.”

Former England national football team Captain John Terry has been found guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand and has been handed a four match ban by the FA.

Terry was handed the match ban and fined £220,000 after being found guilty of the charge by an independent regulatory panel yesterday after a four-day sitting.

John Terry was adjudged to have used “abusive or insulting words behaviour” towards Ferdinand which included “a reference to colour and race contrary to FA Rule E3[2]” during Chelsea’s 1-0 Premier League defeat at Loftus Road on October 23, 2011.

The legal team acting for the 31-year-old, who has always denied the charge, has confirmed that the defender is considering an appeal against the decision, reached after a four-day hearing.

A statement read: “Terry is disappointed that the FA Regulatory Commission has reached a different conclusion to the clear not guilty verdict of a court of law.

“He has asked for the detailed written reasons of the decision and will consider them carefully before deciding whether to lodge an appeal.”

Terry however looks set to captain Chelsea in their upcoming clash against Arsenal unless he decides not to appeal the judgement. He has 14 days from receiving the written reasons to decide whether to lodge an appeal and the league ban and fine will not come into effect until after he has decided what to do.

Meanwhile, former Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas has described John Terry’s retirement from international football as a big loss.

“Terry is a player of unbelievable talent and he has done so much for his country and for Chelsea too. In the end, the decision he has made is personal, but from the perspective of the England squad and qualification for the World Cup, it leaves Hodgson in a difficult position looking towards qualification.

“I am not questioning the quality of the players he has at his disposal, but he has lost a player of great, great talent.” Villas Boas said.

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• Football: Terry found guilty in racism case

Chelsea and former England Captain john Terry has announced his retirement from international football ahead of an FA hearing into a racial abuse case between him and Anton Ferdinand of QPR.

John Terry cleared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League game.

But the Chelsea star, 31, still faces a Football Association disciplinary hearing over the matter on Monday.

John Terry partly blamed the FA’s decision to pursue charges against him as part of the reasons for his retirement as his position on the national squad had become “untenable”.

Terry was cleared of abusing Ferdinand following the culmination of his trial on 13 July but was subsequently charged by the FA two weeks later for using alleged “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour” towards the QPR defender during October’s game at Loftus Road.

The court heard accusations Terry had insulted Ferdinand, describing him as “black” and using extreme sexual swear words.

The prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt Terry had used the words in an insulting manner, which it could not.

However, the FA, whose charge includes an alleged “reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Ferdinand”, only has to prove its case “on the balance of probabilities”.

The defender telephoned England manager Roy Hodgson to inform him of his decision before he released his statement on Sunday evening.

The FA said they would not be commenting on Terry’s retirement.

In his statement, the former Captain said: “I want to wish Roy and the team every success for the future.

“I now look forward to playing for Chelsea and challenging for domestic and European honours, and I want to thank the fans and the club for their continued support.

“I would like to thank the England managers who have selected me for my 78 caps. I have had great pleasure in sharing that honour with all the players that I’ve played with.

“I would like to thank them, the fans and my family for their support and encouragement during my international career.”

Eurosport

After the Premier League champions spent so much time withstanding one onslaught after another from their Spanish counterparts, substitute Edin Dzeko put the visitors in front midway through the second half.

Just as City began to believe they could inflict a first ever defeat in an opening match of a European Cup campaign for Real Madrid, however, the nine-times winners equalised via Marcelo’s 75th-minute strike.

Aleksandar Kolarov then put the visitors ahead once more five minutes before time, but once again Roberto Mancini’s side had their hearts broken when Karim Benzema levelled almost immediately.

Any question of both sides settling for a point at that late stage was dispelled as Real pushed for a winner, which came in the 90th minute via Cristiano Ronaldo‘s right-footed strike.

Having crashed out of the group stage last term in their first season in the competition, City will be all too aware how those dropped points could come back to cost them in a Group D which also includes Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.

Real, for their part, while be delighted with a victory of any sort having only picked up four points from the first 12 available to them in La Liga this season.

Both teamsheets contained a fair few surprises, so much so that many thought there had been a mix-up by UEFA. But the matchday squads released were correct first time, with Michael Essien being given his Real Madrid debut ahead of both Mesut Ozil and Luka Modric and 19-year-old defender Raphael Varane being selected ahead of Sergio Ramos.

City fielded a 19-year-old at the back themselves, giving summer signing Matija Nastasic his debut ahead of Joleon Lescott. Sergio Aguero was only deemed fit enough for the bench after his month-long absence through injury but Gareth Barry returned from his own lay-off as Mario Balotelli and James Milner were left out of the squad altogether.

This was not the Manchester City which cut swathes through so many teams en route to the Premier League title last season, but was instead that which set out to do little else other than stifle the top opposition in order to finish in the top four two years ago.

That is not necessarily a shameful approach when visiting the home of the Bernabeu, but a match between the champions of Spain and England having a half-time shot count of 16 to one in one side’s favour is quite alarming.

Joe Hart was by far City’s best player, and he needed to be as Real were dominant throughout. It looked as though there was going to be a running duel between the England number one and Ronaldo after the Portuguese forward had a stinging early effort parried by the City keeper.

However, Hart had to be at his best against Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentina striker was guilty of not guiding a close-range header past Hart after he latched onto a Ronaldo shot, and then he could not find a way around the keeper after being sent clean through by Angel Di Maria.

It was Di Maria who was perhaps the most impressive player in the Real team, with the Argentinian becoming increasingly influential as the first half wore on, especially after Kolarov replaced the injured Samir Nasri after 35 minutes.

After the break the pattern of the first half resumed immediately, with Marcelo coming closest via two well struck left-footed efforts that flashed just wide.

However, it was City who broke the deadlock when Dzeko – only seven minutes after replacing David Silva – was in space to receive Yaya Toure’s pass after a typically rampaging counter-attacking run from the Ivorian and finish coolly past Iker Casillas.

Buoyed by that goal, City began to find more space in the Real half and looked as though they were going to increase their lead, but it was Real who scored next. Having been off target with his favoured left foot, Marcelo got Real back on terms with his right-footed effort which took a deflection off Javi Garcia.

With just five minutes remaining Kolarov put city ahead again when his left-footed free-kick delivery from the right deceived Casillas and snuck inside the far post without taking a touch from anyone.

It looked like that goal from the player who opened City’s Champions League account last season would be enough to settle the affair in Madrid, but almost immediately Real hit back once more when Benzema turned on the edge of the box and drilled a clinical low strike into the bottom corner.

A sharing of the points looked the fair result based on the final half-hour’s action, but Real grabbed a victory which their statistics across the night deserved when Ronaldo cut in from the left and his low shot moved significantly enough to get the better of Hart and send the Bernabeu into raptures.

City only have little time to dwell on this result, as they host Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. Just 10 days after that clash they welcome German champions Dortmund to the Etihad Stadium for a game which will already feel like a must-win for them.

Champions League – Ronaldo Stuns Manchester City with later winning goal