Manchester City 2 - 1 Swansea:Yaya Toure gives champions something to shout about as City sink Swans

The mood at the final whistle was one of crushing relief. Had
Bafetimbi Gomis kept his nerve in front of goal in the closing
moments or Jonjo Shelvey's horribly deflected free-kick gone
the other side of Joe Hart's post, the sense of deflation would
have been acute. "It was a really big win," said the City
captain, Vincent Kompany. "We have had two weeks to clear
our heads. I thought the performance was good other than in
the first 20 minutes. It should have been more comfortable, but
we will take that after the last month or so. We have given
ourselves a challenge, but football is made of challenges."
Nine minutes into this match the challenge looked very
daunting. Swansea had just beaten Arsenal and drawn at
Everton, and now they were a goal up at Manchester City.
Then the news trickled through from Stamford Bridge that
Jose Mourinho's side were enjoying another very
straightforward afternoon. It was not even December, and if
this state of affairs continued the points gap would be in
double figures.
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Newcastle 1-0 QPR Moussa Sissoko strikes late to give Magpies sixth straight victory and continue resurgence

Newcastle are fourth. There was a need for a double-take
yesterday, at ten to five, when the team embroiled in crisis for
much of the campaign sat in a Champions League
qualification place.
This sixth successive victory embellishes a run that no one,
not even the most wildly optimistic supporter or biggest Mike
Ashley sympathiser, could have seen coming.
Moussa Sissoko is the captain in waiting of this team
according to Alan Pardew. That may take a while, given
Fabricio Coloccini's unexpected return to form this season,
though in his absence through injury, it was Sissoko who
drove an injury-ravaged side to victory against one of the
worst opponents to turn up at St James' Park in recent seasons.
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Metz 2-3 PSG: Lavezzi's late winner sends champions top

Ezequiel Lavezzi netted a late winner as Paris Saint-Germain
moved top of Ligue 1 with dramatic 3-2 victory at Metz on
Friday night.
Boosted by the fit-again Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning to the
starting line-up for the first time since September, the reigning
French champions looked set to ease to victory at the Stade
Saint-Symphorien after claiming two early goals, with Javier
Pastore breaking the deadlock with a dinked finish before
Gaetan Bussmann put through his own net.
Modibo Maiga responded with two penalties in the space of four
second-half minutes, but the visitors ultimately prevailed
courtesy of an 83rd-minute winner from Ezequiel Lavezzi.
The victory moves PSG two points ahead of Olympique de
Marseille, but Marcelo Bielsa's side can retake top spot with
victory over Bordeaux on Sunday.
Ibrahimovic was one of six changes to the PSG side that
defeated Marseille before the international break, the Sweden
international replacing Edinson Cavani up front.
Metz made two alterations from their last league fixture, with
Bussmann and Bouna Sarr replacing Jose Palomino and Thibaut
Vion, and the hosts started well with two early efforts on goal.
However, they were easily saved by Salvatore Sirigu and PSG
punished their opponents' profligacy with the opening goal on
nine minutes, albeit aided by poor Metz defending.
Jeremy Choplin dallied in possession 25 yards from goal,
allowing Pastore to steal the ball. He duly held off Guido Milan's
challenge and calmly lifted the ball over Johann Carrasso.
The charity continued in the 16th minute as PSG were gifted a
second goal, the unfortunate Bussmann deflecting a Lavezzi
free-kick into his own net.
Former Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda went close to
halving Metz's deficit midway through the first half, but the 34-
year-old volleyed just wide after a Maiga knockdown.
Having weathered the PSG threat, Metz began to get a foothold
in the game, and eight minutes before the break Guirane N'Daw
wasted a good chance, heading wide from Romain Metanire's
cross.
There was still time for Adrien Rabiot to have a goal disallowed
before the break, but three minutes into the second half the
game was turned on its head.
Rabiot gave Metz a way back into the match by fouling substitut
Sergey Krivets in the penalty area, and Maiga made no mistake
from 12 yards with a calm finish to the right of Sirigu.
Four minutes later the scores were level as the hosts were
awarded another penalty after a Gregory van der Wiel handball.
Maiga again sent Sirigu the wrong way to complete Metz's
comeback.
The Mali striker could have had a hat-trick on 69 minutes as he
was given the freedom of PSG's box to meet a Metanire cross,
but Sirigu got down well to push away a downward header.
Lavezzi then grabbed the decisive goal, the Argentine pouncing
from a yard after Carrasso had partially stopped a strike from
Ibrahimovic.
N'Daw fired into the side netting at the other end, but PSG were
not to be denied victory and would have added a fourth had
Carrasso not made a superb double save to deny substitute
Cavani and Ibrahimovic.
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Ghana 3-1 Togo: Black Stars qualify for Afcon2015

Wakaso Mubarak starred as Ghana beat Togo 3-1 on Wednesday
to book their place in the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Having fallen to a 1-0 defeat at Uganda on Saturday, Ghana
headed into their final AFCON qualifying Group E clash needing
at least a point to progress to the biennial tournament – slated
to start in Equatorial Guinea in January.
And the managerless Black Stars did enough to pick up all three
points at the Tamale Sports Stadium, with Wakaso playing a
crucial role in their victory.
The Celtic winger first provided the assist for Abdul Majeed
Waris to head home his first international goal in 13 months,
before doubling the lead with a superb long-range effort to help
the hosts lead 2-0 at the break.
Togo, who could have qualified with a win, threatened a
comeback when Jonathan Ayite headed home in the 47th
minute, but Ghana's stand-in captain Emmanuel Agyemang-
Badu made sure of the win with just over 20 minutes remaining.
The home team started strongly and John Boye and Agyemang-
Badu both saw headers go narrowly wide, before the pressure
finally told in the 23rd minute when Waris nodded home
Wakaso's superb cross from the right.
Wakaso then produced a moment of brilliance three minutes
later with a left-footed thunderbolt from 35 yards that nestled in
the top right corner.
Having seldom threatened in the first half, Togo needed a quick
response and Ayite duly delivered when he planted a firm
header home from eight yards two minutes after the break.
The match continued in end-to-end fashion, but Agyemang-
Badu's deflected shot in the 69th minute took the game away
from Togo and ensured Ghana of top spot.

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Nigeria 2 South Africa 2: Defending champions fail to qualify for AFCON

Defending champions Nigeria failed to qualify for the Africa Cup
of Nations following a 2-2 home draw with South Africa on
Wednesday.
Stephen Keshi's men headed into the game needing to at least
match the result of Group A rivals Congo to make sure of their
place in the finals in Equatorial Guinea.
But they were undone by a clinical South Africa side and saw
their spot in the tournament taken away by Congo, who beat
Sudan 1-0 to reach the finals for the first time since 2000.
A double from Bournemouth striker Tokelo Rantie gave South
Africa control of the contest, however, Sone Aluko pulled one
back in the 68th minute to offer hope to the home fans at the
Akwa Ibom Stadium.
The game tilted further in Nigeria's favour when Reneilwe
Letsholonyane was sent off for a second bookable offence and
Aluko scored again in stoppage time to give the hosts hope.
Despite their numerical advantage, Nigeria could not find the
extra goal they required to progress as South Africa held on to
complete an unbeaten qualification campaign.
Nigeria started the better of the two sides and forward Ahmed
Musa twice went close to giving the hosts the lead, hitting the
crossbar before South Africa goalkeeper Darren Keet bravely
denied the CSKA Moscow man one-on-one.
And Musa's profligacy in front of goal was punished by Rantie in
the 43rd minute as he worked his way past defender Kenneth
Omeruo and fired beyond Vincent Enyeama.
Rantie continued to serve as South Africa's most dangerous
attacking threat and just two minutes after the half-time interval
he doubled his tally, leaving Nigeria with a mountain to climb.
Once again Omeruo was at fault as he lost possession to the 24-
year-old, who proceeded to skip past a couple of defenders and
power home.
Aluko responded, though, slotting in on the rebound after
Ikechukwu Uche's curling effort had struck the post before
Letsholonyane was shown a second yellow for a cynical foul on
Juwon Oshaniwa four minutes later.
Keshi's side flung bodies forward in search of a dramatic
turnaround and Aluko levelled matters with a low drive into the
bottom left corner to deny South Africa a first competitive win
over Nigeria.

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Origi wants early Liverpool return

Liverpool striker Divock Origi admits that he would
prefer to join his new club in January rather than in the
summer.
The Reds purchased the highly rated forward from Lille in
the summer transfer window, but then loaned him back
to Grand Stade Lille Metropole.
And while Origi was not supposed to return to Anfield
before next summer, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers wants the
Belgian to arrive in January in an attempt to solve the attacking
crisis.
The player himself is eagerly anticipating the move to England
and admits he would rather move in January, provided the two
clubs can reach an agreement.
"Maybe January, who knows?" Origi was quoted as saying in
Daily Mirror. "It's not me who makes the decisions, but if the
club choose to let me go in January, I would go. I would like to
join Liverpool then.
"Although I agreed to stay with Lille until the end of this season,
if there was that chance of joining Liverpool sooner, I would
take it – I would love to move sooner rather than later."
The 19-year-old forward has made a total of 11 Ligue 1
appearances for les Dogues this term and scored three goals.
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Turkey 3 - 1 Kazakhstan: Burak scored twice to earn hosts first point

Burak Yilmaz netted twice as Turkey registered their first victory
of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign with a 3-1 triumph over
Kazakhstan.
After seeing an early effort ruled out for offside in Istanbul, the
Galatasaray frontman opened the scoring from the spot after 26
minutes, before forcing a mistake from visiting goalkeeper
Alexandr Mokin.
Serdar Aziz stretched the advantage to three with a headed
effort seven minutes from the final whistle, but there was still
time for Samat Smakov to pull one back for the Kazakhs through
a late penalty.
The result lifts Turkey to fourth in Group A, while Kazakhstan
remain without a win.
Volkan Babacan came on as a half-time substitute in Turkey's 4-0
friendly defeat to Brazil on Wednesday, making one particularly
impressive save from a David Luiz header shortly after his
introduction, and was preferred between the sticks to the more
experienced Volkan Demirel for the visit of Kazakhstan.
Babacan – winning just his third cap – had little to do in the
opening stages, though, as the home side made the early
running.
Burak had the ball in the back of the net in the seventh minute,
but had already been flagged for offside and was somewhat
harshly booked for applying the finish.
Half-hearted appeals for a penalty went unrewarded when Arda
Turan was brought down by Renat Abdulin in the Kazakh box
after 20 minutes, and replays suggested the hosts may have
been hard done by.
Burak should have done better when he fired wide unmarked
soon after, but made up for that error by converting from the
penalty spot after being felled by Abdulin.
And the 29-year-old doubled the advantage with a drilled effort
from the edge of the box three minutes later, with goalkeeper
Mokin letting the ball slip through his fingers.
Aziz's glancing header from a corner in the 83rd minute made
sure of the points, but Smakov pulled one level four minutes
later after Ulan Konysbaev was bundled over by Mehmet Topal
in the box.
Arda was booked for diving as he looked to force the referee
into awarding a third penalty of the match, before Aleksey
Shchetkin tested Babacan with a low header at the other end to
no avail.
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Belgium 0 - 0 Wales:Coleman hails battling Wales after Belgium draw.

Wales manager Chris Coleman heaped praise on his players after
an "incredible performance" in their goalless draw in Belgium on
Sunday.
The Euro 2016 qualifying Group B leaders arrived in Brussels a
point clear of Israel and fought hard to maintain a three-point
advantage over favourites to top the pool Belgium.
And Coleman revealed his pride at the display shortly after the
final whistle.
"It was exciting," he told Sky Sports. "My heart was in my mouth
once or twice but I thought it was an incredible performance
from our lads.
"They say they are the best Belgium team in history so to come
here and take a point speaks volumes for our players.
"The lads showed so much character and courage at times."
Gareth Bale was responsible for three of Wales' best chances,
but perhaps his biggest contribution was blocking a Christian
Benteke header on the line in the dying seconds.
And the Real Madrid star echoed his manager's comments.
"It's a fantastic result, coming to the team that is fourth in the
world and getting any result is a fantastic performance from us,"
he beamed.
"I think everybody did everything and worked for each other.
We put expectation on ourselves more than anyone because we
know we are capable of."
Wal
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Italy 1-1 Croatia:match Report.

Crowd trouble forced a brief suspension in play as Italy drew
1-1 with Croatia on Sunday in their Euro 2016 qualifier at San
Siro.
The players were taken from the field by referee Bjorn Kuipers
towards the end of the second half, with a number of flares
having been thrown onto the field.
Play subsequently resumed following a short delay, during
which trouble appeared to break out in the area of the ground
housing visiting fans, but neither side was able to find a winner.
Both teams came into Sunday's match, which had been
threatened by heavy rain in Milan, boasting maximum points in
Group H.
Italy took the lead through Antonio Candreva after 11 minutes
when the Lazio man drove home from distance to beat Danijel
Subasic as Croatia conceded for the first time in qualifying.
However, a rare Gianluigi Buffon error enabled Ivan Perisic to
equalise within four minutes and Croatia created the better
chances thereafter despite losing Luka Modric to injury later in
the first half.
A game that saw both Daniele De Rossi and Ivica Olic win their
100th international caps had already been briefly halted
following Perisic's goal as flares were thrown, and the various
off-field incidents are likely to attract attention from UEFA.
Croatia were eager to test Buffon early on, with Ivan Rakitic
letting fly from distance before Perisic and Modric both went
close amid a flurry of early chances.
However, with one of Italy's first sights on goal, Candreva beat
Subasic with a powerful strike from outside the area to put the
hosts in front against the run of play.
Italy's lead proved short-lived as Perisic cut onto his right foot
and fired low at Buffon, who failed to keep the effort out as it
squirmed under his body.
A number of flares stopped play from resuming straight away,
with fire officials required to put them out, but when it did
Croatia were dealt a blow with the withdrawal of Modric shortly
before the half-hour mark.
Italy were also forced into a switch as the injured Manuel
Pasqual was replaced by debutant Roberto Soriano.
Such regular stoppages saw the game broken up, although
Andrea Ranocchia was forced into a goalline clearance from an
Olic header after Buffon capped a difficult half by flapping at a
cross.
Home coach Antonio Conte turned to substitutes Stephan El
Shaarawy and Graziano Pelle either side of Rakitic testing Buffon
again shortly after the hour.
The Milan striker went close to finding the winner on his club's
home ground when he fizzed a strike over Subasic's crossbar,
before play was halted due to further crowd incidents, which
intensified 20 minutes from time.
With smoke engulfing San Siro and ugly scenes in the stands, the
players were brought off before eventually finishing the match.
Perisic then went closest to a winner – dragging a shot narrowly
wide of Buffon's left-hand post following a Croatia break – with
the draw ensuring the sides will sit level on 10 points going into 2015.
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Italy 1-1 Croatia:Crowd trouble forced a brief suspension in play as Italy drew1-1 with Croatia

Crowd trouble marred Italy's 1-1 Euro 2016 qualifying draw
with Croatia on Sunday, with play interrupted on more than one
occasion.
Referee Bjorn Kuipers escorted the players from the field at San
Siro during the longest delay towards the end of the second half,
as flares rained down onto the playing surface.
Trouble appeared to break out in the area of the ground housing
visiting supporters while the game was suspended, but play was
able to resume.
Both teams came into Sunday's match, which had been
threatened by heavy rain in Milan, boasting maximum points in
Group H.
Antonio Candreva gave Italy an 11th-minute lead when he drove
home from distance to beat Danijel Subasic as Croatia conceded
for the first time in qualifying.
However, a rare error from the experienced Gianluigi Buffon
enabled Ivan Perisic to equalise with a low strike just four
minutes later.
Croatia created the better chances thereafter, despite losing
Luka Modric to injury later in the first half.
Elsewhere in the group, Havard Nordtveit was the match-winner
for Norway as they moved within a point of Italy and Croatia
with a 1-0 away victory against Azerbaijan.
Malta scored their first goal of the campaign to come from
behind and earn a memorable 1-1 draw in Bulgaria, leaving only
San Marino and Gibraltar yet to find the net in qualifying.
Netherlands eased the pressure on head coach Guus Hiddink by
strolling to a 6-0 victory over Latvia in Group A.
The Dutch had won just one of their opening three fixtures,
prompting Hiddink to suggest he would leave the role if his side
did not beat Latvia, but goals from Robin van Persie, Arjen
Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar saw them three up at the break.
Jeffrey Bruma made it 4-0 12 minutes from time, before further
goals from Robben and Huntelaar completed the rout.
The Czech Republic continue to hog the limelight in Group A,
having maintained their 100 per cent start by coming from
behind to beat Iceland.
Iceland, who also came into the fixture having won their
opening three qualifiers, went ahead through Ragnar
Sigurdsson, but Pavel Kaderabek levelled in first-half stoppage
time.
The match was settled when goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson
scored an own goal shortly after the hour mark.
Turkey climbed to fourth in the group with their first win of the
campaign – a 3-1 triumph at home to Kazakhstan.
Israel climbed above Wales to sit top of Group B courtesy of an
impressive 3-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, with Chris
Coleman's men earning a hard-fought goalless draw in Belgium.
Cyprus thumped Andorra 5-0 in the group's remaining match.
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