Rooney helps England to win

Wayne Rooney capped his Wembley milestone with a landmark goal as England came from behind to beat Slovenia 3 -1.

Today's Maches

Premier League

06:15                                         Liverpool       V        Chelsea


08:30                                    Southampton       V        Leicester City


08:30                                      Burnley FC        V        Hull City


08:30                                        West Ham        V        Aston Villa


08:30                                     Man United         V        Crystal Palace


11:00                                                 QPR         V        Man City



Liga BBVA
   
08:30                                            Almería         V         Barcelona


10:30                                         Getafe CF        V         Elche  


12:30                                       Real Madrid       V          Rayo

   
02:30                                         Celta Vigo        V          Granada

Louis van Gaal: I need three years to turn Manchester United around

Louis van Gaal admits it may take three years to turn Manchester United's fortunes around.

The United boss said he feels "lousy" about their poor start to the season – and admits he has under-achieved. 

The club is four points worse off than they were at the same stage last season under David Moyes, that despite a summer spending spree of £150 million on six new players.

Van Gaal's appointment was greeted with great fanfare at Old Trafford this summer, and a near-perfect pre-season tour raised hopes of a tilt at the title.

But after 10 matches United are 10th in the Barclays Premier League having gained just 13 points - their worst start since 1986.

"It's not good enough," the United boss said.

Unlike Moyes, Van Gaal had a favourable run of fixtures at the start of the campaign.'I feel, myself, very lousy for the fans firstly, but also for the board because they have a great belief in me and my players and my staff and when you have 13 points out of 10 matches you are not doing well."

But Van Gaal only took a point from the games against Sunderland, West Brom and Burnley.

Last week's derby defeat to City, as well as defeats Swansea, Leicester and MK Dons have also been hard to stomach for the Dutchman.

Patience

But Van Gaal, not for the first time this season, demanded patience from the supporters in his press conference the day before United host Crystal Palace.

He thinks his philosophy will make United a better team in the long run.

"Yes, that is what I am doing," said Van Gaal, who has previously enjoyed success with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Ajax.

"I am training in another way than most of the other managers are doing. I train them in their brains. Every player has to know why they are doing things on the pitch.""That is what I have always done at all the clubs. You can listen to the boards of these clubs and what they are saying about me.

And Van Gaal insists there will be no quick fix at United.

"We are in a process and that process shall take more than one year," he said. "It shall take three years.

"I cannot say when the results are coming. When I did it with Bayern Munich it was December 8. It can be February 1. But it doesn't matter. This is a process of three years. I have signed for three years.

"It takes a lot of time. But at the end, when they know it and they are doing the things with conscience, the results shall come.

"Our goal (this season) is to get back in the Champions League."

Today's Maches

FA Cup

01:25                                           Warrington Town       V        Exeter

Championship

01:30                                                            Bolton        V        Wigan

La Liga

01:15                                                    Motherwell         V       Dundee Utd

Ligue 1

01:00                                                          Rennes         V       Lorient

Bundesliga

01:00                                                Hertha Berlin         V        Hannover 

Champions League Results

Wednesday 5th November 2014

	UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - GROUP E
Show last 5 matches and coverage	Fixture	Kick-off	Status
	Bayern Mun2-0Roma	Full time	Report
	Man City1-2CSKA	Full time	Report

	UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - GROUP F
Show last 5 matches and coverage	Fixture	Kick-off	Status
	Ajax0-2Barcelona	Full time	Report
	Paris St G1-0Apoel Nic	Full time	Report

	UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - GROUP G
Show last 5 matches and coverage	Fixture	Kick-off	Status
	NK Maribor1-1Chelsea	Full time	Report
	Sporting4-2Schalke	Full time	Report

	UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - GROUP H
Show last 5 matches and coverage	Fixture	Kick-off	Status
	Ath Bilbao0-2FC Porto	Full time	Report
	Shakt Donsk5-0BATE Bor	Full time	Report

Manchester City on brink of elimination after nine men lose to CSKA Moscow

Manuel Pellegrini’s misfiring Manchester City require a minor miracle to qualify for the knockout stage after a wretched night for the Premier League champions. The captain, Vincent Kompany, tweeted defiantly afterwards but even he will know only a dramatic reversal of fortunes can save them now.

Questions will be asked of the referee, Anastasios Sidiropulos, after he sent off both Fernandinho and Yaya Touré, but City cannot hide behind them after a display that will result in serious scrutiny of their manager.

Having picked up just two points from their opening three matches, City suffered exactly the kind of calamitous start they were looking to avoid when Stevan Jovetic gave possession away facing his goal and CSKA won a free-kick from the ensuing attack as Gaël Clichy was judged to have handled the ball. Bebras Natcho scored the late equaliser when the sides met in Moscow a fortnight ago and this time he turned creator as his delivery was met by Seydou Doumbia, who lost a slumbering Touré to head past Joe Hart.

A stunned silence hit the Etihad Stadium though to City’s credit they instantly hit back as Jovetic and Touré each found a kind of redemption. The Montenegrin surged at the heart of the visitors’ defence and was fouled so City now had their own free-kick. It was positioned more central than CSKA’s had been and Touré stepped up to curl a beauty past Igor Akinfeev to make it 1-1.

The Ivorian previously scored in the competition away at Viktoria Plzen last season. His continuing under-performance in the Champions League has become an unwanted trope of the club’s fortunes in the competition and while Touré may have punched the air in celebration he was soon back to disappointing, giving the ball away near the centre spot with a stray pass.

The gauge of Pellegrini’s anxiousness could be found in him taking up near-permanent residence in the technical area throughout the opening half and in the unusual body language. Before Touré’s equaliser the Chilean had rocked on his heels in anguish when Jesús Navas was clear but could only blast over.

City’s defence has become a serious weakness of late and was targeted by CSKA in Moscow to good effect. Pellegrini has been doing extra work trying to shore the rearguard up but, again, CSKA were able to punch holes in it at will.

On one occasion Doumbia raced into yards of space to leave a puffing Kompany playing catch-up. The captain failed and Doumbia really should have given his side the lead again rather than miss to Hart’s right, though before the half was over he would find the net again.

As was the case in Sunday’s derby, City lacked poise, rhythm and panache. In Clichy they also had a left-back enduring a nightmare. His ceding of the ball to Natcho in the build-up for CSKA’s second was hardly the first time the Frenchman had done so and from this juncture it was once more too simple for the Russian champions. Natcho slipped the ball to Doumbia on his left and he slid home confidently past Hart.

City had boos aimed at them from an understandably disgruntled support as they wandered off at the break. By any measure this was just not good enough and Pellegrini, who had named the same XI as against Manchester United, made his move at the start of the second period. On came Samir Nasri for Navas and Fernandinho for Jovetic, with the latter a decision designed to release Touré.

First of all, though, possession of the ball was required. The way Ahmed Musa moved along the right early on to leave the hapless Clichy and Martín Demichelis flailing suggested this might be tricky.

The unpalatable truth facing them was that the champions of England continued to resemble a rabble who were living on the hope of reviving their fortunes and little else.

The least expected of elite footballers is to keep on trying and as the hour passed City were plugging away. A first clear chance for Pellegrini’s team arrived at last when Milner skimmed the ball across the turf from the left towards Sergio Agüero but the latter could not connect.

Pellergrini was in last-chance saloon territory and his final throw of the die was to pull off Fernando for Edin Dzeko for the closing 25 minutes.

Yet the sense this was becoming a debacle deepened when Fernandinho received his marching orders on 70 minutes to leave City with only 10 men before Touré’s sending off for shoving Roman Eremenko to the ground. CSKA’s Pontus Wernbloom had earlier been booked but when he fouled Agüero, Sidiropoulos decided to show Sergei Ignasevich a yellow instead. It summed up City’s night.

Real Madrid talisman CRISTIANO RONALDO picks up ANOTHER award with Golden Shoe

Cristiano Ronaldo has finally picked up his Golden Shoe award for his scintillating form last season.

The Real Madrid star fired in 31 La Liga goals for Los Blancos last season, narrowly missing out on the title to city rivals Atletico. This is Ronaldo’s third Golden Shoe award, presented to the leading goal scorer in league matches from Europe’s top divisions, having previously won in 2008 and 2011.

Cristiano Ronaldo says he thrives on working towards individual awards at Real Madrid after picking up his latest prize on Wednesday.

The reigning Ballon d'Or holder has already notched 22 goals and seven assists in all competitions so far this season, helping to fire Madrid to the top of La Liga and the next round of the Champions League.

On Wednesday, Ronaldo was handed the Golden Boot prize after finishing as joint-top scorer in Europe along with Luis Suarez last season, and the 29-year-old has vowed to deliver the goods for the European champions for some time to come yet.

"I did not expect so many people to be here," he said after being presented with the prize he has won twice before in his career.

"I would like to thank my team-mates for their help because without it, it wouldn't have been possible to win this Golden Boot. Secondly, I would to thank my family, the fans and the club for giving me the opportunity to play at the best club in the world.

"I like individual awards and I work hard towards them. For me, this is like my first Golden Boot. It is a special day. I want to share it with the people that have supported me since the first day I came to Real Madrid.

"I promise to keep doing my best with goals, assists and matches. I have many years left at Real Madrid and I will continue trying to give my best. This is very special for me. I am very happy."