The Soccer Thread

**Goodfellas** · 08-24-2009, 05:31 AM

MANCHESTER, England (AP) -- Manchester City reached an agreement with Everton on Sunday that paves the way for the transfer of England defender Joleon Lescott to the club for an undisclosed fee.

Both clubs announced the agreement on their Web sites late Sunday and the deal is subject to the completion of a medical.

Everton had previously rejected moves for Lescott, who submitted a transfer request 12 days ago. The move provoked an angry reaction from Everton manager David Moyes, who said the player was not for sale.

"But since then Moyes has revealed there was a noticeable change in the player's attitude and as a result decided that it is in the best interests of the club if he allowed Lescott to leave," Everton said in a statement.
"Chairman Bill Kenwright has worked tirelessly to get the best deal for Everton, achieving a substantial increase on Manchester City's initial offer."

Moyes may have felt compelled to quickly put an end to the matter after Everton lost its first two Premier League matches, including a 1-0 defeat to newly promoted Burnley on Sunday. Lescott was dropped for that match.

He played in the 6-1 loss to Arsenal last week, with many saying the speculation surrounding his departure affected the performance of the entire team.

Lescott, who turned 27 last week, made 113 appearances for Everton and scored 14 goals. He joined Everton from Wolverhampton in 2006, and has made seven appearances for England.

Manchester City has reportedly spent more than 200 million pounds in transfer fees on several players, including Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Carlos Tevez (independently-owned economic rights), Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) and Kolo Toure (Arsenal).
City had originally wanted to buy Chelsea captain John Terry, but turned to Toure and then Lescott when the London club rejected advances for the England center back.

**Goodfellas** · 08-24-2009, 05:32 AM

BERLIN (AP) -- Hamburger SV beat defending champion Wolfsburg 4-2 on Sunday to move into a three-way tie at the top of the Bundesliga.
Hamburg ended Wolfsburg's run of 16 straight home wins and joined Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke on seven points to lead the league after three rounds of matches.

Wolfsburg, which had not lost at home for 20 games, battled back from a 2-0 deficit with two goals inside four minutes early in the second half but Hamburg struck again twice.

Hamburg's goalkeeper Frank Rost said his team should have secured the victory in the first half, "but when you concede two goals and then come back again, that's great."

In other games Sunday, Werder Bremen beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 and Bochum earned its first victory of the season by beating Hertha Berlin 1-0.

In Wolfsburg, Paolo Guerrero scored in the third minute, his shot first bouncing off the post and then off Wolfsburg's goalkeeper Diego Benaglio and into the net.

Hamburg doubled the lead only four minutes later through Eljero Elia after a counterattack. Benaglio used his foot to save Mladen Petric's shot but Elia was first to the rebound and found the net.

Zvjezdan Misimovic pulled one back in the 52nd and substitute Obafemi Martins completed the comeback in the 56th, heading in a cross from Misimovic.

Ze Roberto then hit Wolfsburg's crossbar and the visiting team piled on the pressure but Benaglio denied Hamburg with several outstanding saves.
Petric scored in the 75th after Ze Roberto had fed Dennis Aogo, who crossed into the box and Petric connected with a left-foot volley. Romeo Castelen completed the victory in the 90th.

"We played against a very strong Hamburg," Benaglio said, while teammate Misimovic said the team had "slept through the first half."

Wolfsburg's first loss of the season dropped the defending champion to fourth place.

In Bremen, Christofer Heimeroth fumbled a free kick from Mesut Oezil and Claudio Pizarro poached his first goal for Werder since getting a permanent contract earlier this week. Pizarro played for Bremen last season on loan from Chelsea.

Pizarro notched his second in the 38th, moments after Borussia had a goal disallowed for offside. Clemens Fritz crossed and Pizarro scored with his heel.

"They were typical Pizarro goals, we are glad he is here again," Bremen's defender Per Mertesacker said.

Pizarro scored 28 goals in 46 matches for Werder last season.

Heimeroth saved Oezil's penalty early in the second half but Naldo completed Bremen's first victory of the season by knocking in the ball at the far post after a free kick from Oezil.

Bochum's Anthar Yahia scored in the 47th minute, shooting past Hertha's wall from 17 meters (yards) out after Joel Epalle had earned a free kick. Epalle rolled a short pass to Yahia, who drilled his shot home.

Bochum nearly doubled the lead before Hertha began to threaten but the home side quickly regained the upper hand and Berlin's goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny was lucky to catch a shot from Epalle that bounced back off the crossbar.

Raffael came off the bench and nearly scored an equalizer following a through pass from Gojko Kacar in the 82nd but Bochum's goalkeeper Philipp Heerwagen made a good save. Heerwagen then denied Cicero as Berlin stepped up the pressure but missed its two best scoring chances.
Berlin, which finished fourth last season, now has one win and two losses.

On Saturday, Bayern Munich lost at promoted Mainz 2-1 to remain without a victory in the Bundesliga under new coach Louis van Gaal.

Andreas Ivanschitz and Aristide Bance scored for Mainz, which had never before beaten Bayern in six previous matches in the Bundesliga.

Bayer Leverkusen thrashed promoted Freiburg 5-0 on the road, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart drew 1-1, Hannover won 2-0 at FC Nuremberg and 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt held on for a 0-0 draw at FC Cologne.

**Goodfellas** · 08-24-2009, 05:33 AM

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Daniel Marquez came off the bench to score a goal in the final minute to give America a 3-2 win over Cruz Azul in Mexico City's derby match.

Pavel Pardo crossed a free kick to Marquez, on as a substitute for Angel Reyna, and the striker deflected the ball past Cruz Azul's goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona for the winner in the fifth round of the Mexican Apertura on Saturday.

Paraguayan international striker Salvador Cabanas converted a penalty kick in the third minute and added a second goal in the 44th as the Eagles won three matches in a row for the first time since the Clausura 2007.
"Cruz Azul played well, they were a tough opponent, but we played well and were able to keep our streak alive, now we need to keep working hard," Pardo said.

Argentine striker Emanuel Villa in the 41st, and Rogelio Chavez in the 81st, scored for Cruz Azul, who lost their second straight match.

America now has 10 points after five rounds, three behind tournament leader Morelia, who beat Atlas 2-0 on Saturday as striker Miguel Sabah scored twice.

Toluca, who on Sunday beat Santos 3-0, has the second best record with 12 points.

On Friday night, Argentine striker Bruno Marioni's hat-trick gave the Guadalajara Estudiantes a 3-0 win over the Pumas, who set a new record for the worst start to a season by a defending champion.

Marioni, who with 18 goals led the Pumas to the Clausura 2004 championship, scored in the 16th, 32nd and 57th to send his former team to a fifth straight loss.

"We can say a lot of things...but I'm not going to look for excuses, the fault is all mine," said Pumas manager Ricardo Ferreti.

**Goodfellas** · 08-24-2009, 05:34 AM

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Kevin Boyd scored a 90th-minute penalty to give 10-man Rangers a 2-1 victory at Hearts in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday.

Steven Naismith was tripped in the area by Ismael Bouzid and Boyd, who had only been on the field for two minutes as a substitute, scored from the spot.

Making his first start in nine months after a serious knee injury, Rangers' Kevin Thomson was sent off in the 14th minute at Tynecastle for a foul on Ian Black.

David Witteveen gave Hearts a 31st-minute lead when goalkeeper Allan McGregor fumbled his shot after having swapped passes with Christian Nade.

Lee McCulloch equalized in the 63rd with a glancing header from Steven Smith's free kick.

Rangers is level on points with Celtic, which beat St. Johnstone 5-2 on Saturday, and Hibernian, a 3-1 winner at Falkirk.

**Scottish Muscle** · 08-25-2009, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by Goodfellas

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) -- Kevin Boyd scored a 90th-minute penalty to give 10-man Rangers a 2-1 victory at Hearts in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday.

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KRIS Boyd, pffff, I could run the soccer thread better.