FA CUP:Manchester City 0-2 Middlesbrough: Bamford and Kike gave man city a 0-2 surprise gift at etihad stadium.

The Chelsea loanee took full advantage of a mix-up between Fernando and Willy
Caballero before a late counterattack knocked out the lacklustre Premier League
champions
Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford starred in a famous 2-0 win as Middlesbrough
stunned Manchester City in the FA Cup fourth round.
The Championship's second-placed side absorbed sustained first-half pressure,
with normally second-choice goalkeeper Tomas Mejias making a string of
impressive saves at the Etihad Stadium.
And Middlesbrough's resilience was rewarded as City produced some shambolic
defending for Bamford to strike in the 53rd minute.
Aitor Karanka's team almost doubled their lead when the excellent Lee Tomlin
struck the post before substitute Kike sent a packed away end into raptures by
sealing victory in injury time.
City, who arrived back in Manchester on Friday evening
following a training break in Abu Dhabi, appeared jaded as
their performance unravelled.
Frank Lampard came off the bench to strike the post after
89 minutes but back-to-back, scoreless home defeats
means manager Manuel Pellegrini and his players head
into next weekends pivotal clash at Bamford's parent club
with a season to salvage.
The visitors made a confident and stylish start, though
they were almost undone in the fifth minute when Stevan
Jovetic was inches away from converting Aleksandar
Kolarov's cross.

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Cordoba 1-2 Real Madrid: bale rescue real Madrid with late penalty goal.

The Portugal star lashed out late on but the Wales winger won a penalty and
scored it himself to snatch all three points
Gareth Bale was the hero for Real Madrid as his penalty snatched a 2-1 win over
Cordoba on Saturday after Cristiano Ronaldo had been sent off.
Ronaldo was given a straight red card for kicking out at a Cordoba defender with
the score deadlocked at 1-1 eight minutes from time at the Estadio Nuevo Arcangel
on Saturday.
However, Bale spared his team-mate's blushes when he converted from the
penalty spot in the 89th minute after his own free kick had been handled - with
Cordoba's Federico Cartabia receiving a second booking for that offence.
Real therefore move four points clear of Barcelona ahead of the Catalans' trip to
Elche later on Saturday, but Carlo Ancelotti will be concerned by his side's
performance and the fact Ronaldo - who cut a frustrated figure throughout the
clash - could now face a three-game ban for violent conduct.

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CHELSEA SET TO SIGN FIORENTINA STAR JUAN CUADRADO

According to reports in the Telegraph from yesterday evening, Chelsea are in talks to sign Fiorentina star Juan Cuadrado in the upcoming days of the January transfer window. Cuadrado was linked heavily with Manchester United in the summer but the Colombian, who had a dazzling World Cup in Brazil, preferred to stay in Italy.  The 26 year old then signed a contract extension with the Viola and his release clause now stands at €35m (£26m). Matt Law in his report in the Telegraph writes that Cuadrado was a priority signing for Chelsea in the summer.
However any move for Cuadrado will mean both Schurrle and Salah leave the Stamford Bridge side this month. Daily Mail though report that Chelsea’s offer of £20.6m was rejected meaning Fiorentina are unwilling to lower their asking price for the wideman.  Despite not being in good form this season, Cuadrado can play on either flank and can also operate as a wing-back. Thus he will bring much needed versatility that Jose Mourinho wants in his side for a quadruple title charge this season.  Gianluca Di Marzio staff David Amoyal has a recent update on the situation claiming that Cuadrado’s agent is heading to London to hold talks over the transfer move.  Cuadrado’s agent heads to London to meet with Chelsea
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SWANSEA COMPLETE KYLE NAUGHTON DEAL

Tottenham Hotspur defender Kyle Naughton has completed his move to Swansea City for an undisclosed fee on Thursday.  “We have reached agreement with Swansea City for the transfer of Kyle Naughton,” Tottenham released a statement on their official website.  “Signed from Sheffield United in the summer of 2009, Kyle made a total of 74 appearances for the Club in all competitions as well as spending time on loan with Middlesbrough, Leicester City and Norwich City. We wish Kyle all the best for the future.”  Meanwhile, the England U21 international has expressed his happiness after he completed his switch to the Liberty Stadium. Naughton is hopeful that he could feature regularly for hi new club.  “I’m pleased it’s all done because there has been talk since the summer over a potential move. My main aim is to start playing regular football again. I know it’s going to be a tough challenge because there are some very good players here, but that’s my goal,” Naughton told Swansea’s official website.

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TOTTENHAM SIGN A NEW 5 YEAR DEAL FOR RYAN MASON

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed Ryan Mason has signed a new five-and-a-half year deal on Thursday.  The 23-year-old came up through the ranks of the north London club’s youth system before breaking into the first team in 2008. However, he has failed to feature regularly at White Hart Lane and spent the last few seasons away on-loan.  This season Mason has featured played regularly and has now extend his stay at Tottenham till 2020.  “Ryan Mason spoke of his pride and delight after signing a new five-and-a-half year contract which runs until 2020,” Tottenham released statement on the official website.  “The Enfield-born Spurs fan is living his football dream after breaking through into the first team squad and becoming a regular for the club he supports this season.”  After signing a new deal, Mason told this his club’s official website, “I’m buzzing about it. I’m delighted and I can’t wait to crack on now.”  “I appreciate the length of the contract shows a lot of faith in me and hopefully I can keep progressing and stay at the club longer than the contract.”  “I’ve worked hard, a lot of work over the years has gone into what has happened this season and this time I’ve a manager who has faith in me and stuck me in. It’s been a long road but I’m delighted to be in the side and hopefully I’ll stay in there as long as I possibly can.”  “I can’t stress enough the faith the gaffer has put in me and hopefully I can carry on repaying him and continue to put in good performances for this club,” he added.
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AS ROMA SET TO SIGN MOHAMMED SALAH

According to reports in Football Italia, Roma have reached an agreement to sign Chelsea outcast Mohammed Salah. The deal is believed to be on loan with an option to buy or €17m. The recent developments have come despite Blues manager Jose Mourinho claiming it would take a phenomenal offer to convince Chelsea to sell players in the January transfer window.  The report have cited the ever reliable Gianluca Di Marzio saying that Salah’s transfer to Roma is now just a matter of course but it could take the Italian capital club to decide if they want to go through with the deal.  Rome based media outlet Il Messaggero has also claimed that Roma will pay €500,000 for an 18 month loan spell. However, Roma have the option of sending Salah back to Chelsea within a time-frame of 6 to 12 months should he fail to impress.  Salah's wages are reportedly pretty low as well: 2.2m/year. Given Roma's struggles up front, overall, I think, a solid deal.  — Julian De Martinis (@JulianDM11) January 23, 2015  However, Roma will have to pay €17m plus a bonus payment depending on Champions League qualification if they want to but the Egyptian on a permanent deal. Salah will earn a salary of €2.2m net until June of 2019.
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Leicester 0-1 Stoke City

Leicester City remain rooted at the foot of the Premier League as their recent revival ended with a 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke City on Saturday.  Bojan Krkic scored the only goal of the game in the 63rd minute, following a period of pressure from Mark Hughes' men, who in truth spent the large part of the game on the back foot.  Leicester had the better of the first-half, but Stoke emerged after the break with added belief and adventure about their play in the second half and got their reward in the form of a fourth away league win of the season.  Nigel Pearson named Leicester's record signing Andrej Kramaric among his substitutes, following the completion of the Croatian's move from HNK Rijeka.  The striker was waiting to come on when the crucial goal was scored, and he could not prevent Leicester slipping to a first defeat in five, which leaves them three points from safety.  Shorn of captain Ryan Shawcross to injury, Stoke were cautious out the blocks as Leicester dominated possession, though chances were ever-present on the break for the visitors.  Only a last-ditch Danny Simpson challenge stopped Victor Moses tapping home the opener, however Leicester's dominance of the ball began to tell as the half drew on.  Jeffrey Schlupp showed no ill-effects of the injury concerns which forced him from Ghana's Africa Cup of Nations squad, creating good opportunities for Anthony Knockaert and Jamie Vardy - but neither could beat Asmir Begovic in the Stoke goal, who also saw a curling David Nugent effort drift just over.  For all their good work at the end of the first half, Leicester could have been behind within 60 seconds of the restart.  A clever ball from Moses, in behind Paul Konchesky, put Marko Arnautovic in on goal, but the Austrian lashed at his shot and only his the side-netting from close range, while Steven N'Zonzi hit the target with a stinging volley 10 minutes later but Ben Hamer was equal to it.

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Burnley 2-3 Crystal Palace

Dwight Gayle and Jason Puncheon were on the scoresheet again as Crystal Palace fought back from two down to defeat Burnley 3-2 in the Premier League.  The pair both scored when Palace came from behind to defeat Tottenham 2-1 last weekend, and Gayle's brace either side of Puncheon's strike saw Alan Pardew's side mount a stirring comeback once again.  Ben Mee's header - only the defender's second senior goal - put Burnley ahead inside the opening quarter of an hour, and then Danny Ings struck his seventh goal of the campaign after being set up by Scott Arfield.  The nature of that second goal left Pardew aggrieved as he felt Arfield had fouled Joel Ward in the build-up, but referee Phil Dowd saw nothing wrong as Burnley took a commanding lead.  Palace improved from that point on, however, and pulled one back just before the half-hour through Gayle's powerful shot.  Early in the second half, Puncheon, who netted the winner against Spurs, struck from distance to equalise before setting up Gayle three minutes from time for the striker to net a dramatic winner and cap a remarkable turnaround.  It was the second time in four days that Burnley had let a two-goal lead slip, after losing 4-2 to Spurs in the FA Cup third-round replay in midweek - and the defeat leaves Sean Dyche's side a point above the bottom three, while Palace climb to 12th.  Dyche named the same starting 11 for the eighth league match in succession while for Palace there was a debut for on-loan Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo.


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Manchester City 0-2 Arsenal:Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud were on target as Arsenal won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge suffers major blow as Arsenal claim all three points at the Etihad Stadium.  Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud were on target as Arsenal won 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to strike a blow to Manchester City’s Premier League title hopes.  Much had been made of Arsenal’s inability to beat the big clubs in the top flight ahead of Sunday’s encounter, but Arsene Wenger’s side proved they are no soft touch with an impressive display to consign City to a first defeat in 15 games.  Cazorla opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the first half after returning City captain Vincent Kompany was adjudged to have blocked off Nacho Monreal.  City, who also welcomed leading scorer Sergio Aguero back into the starting line-up, were devoid of ideas going forward in the first half but were far more threatening after the break.  The defending champions were unable to pull off a fightback, though, and there was no way back when Cazo
rla turned provider with a free-kick that was headed home by Giroud.  Defeat for City was their second at home in the league this season and a first loss since back in November ensured Manuel Pellegrini’s side remain five points behind leaders Chelsea, with the two teams set to face each other next in the Premier League.   Arsenal have now won five of their last six games and leafrog arch-rivals Tottenham into fifth place.  Aguero made his first start for six weeks and Kompany was also back in the City starting line-up along with James Milner.  There were two changes to the Arsenal starting line-up following victory over Stoke City last weekend, with Aaron Ramsey and Hector Bellerin in for Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Debuchy.  City made a positive start and Aguero was unable to pick out a team-mate from the byline after referee Mike Dean played an excellent advantage when Laurent Koscielny clattered into Fernandinho with a clumsy challenge that resulted in a yellow card for the Frenchman.  It was Arsenal who were in front after 24 minutes, though, when Kompany tangled with Monreal after the full-back played a neat one-two with Giroud and, although Joe Hart guessed the right way, he was unable to keep out Cazorla’s precise penalty.  City looked short of ideas going forward as a frustrated David Silva was unable to make his presence felt and Aguero was starved of service.  Pellegrini reacted to City’s lacklustre first-half display by replacing Milner with Stevan Jovetic at half-time and Aguero came close to an equaliser just after the break when his deflected strike was only just off target.  The hosts were posing far more of a threat to the Arsenal defence and Jesus Navas’ drive was beaten away by David Ospina before Fernandinho’s strike was deflected over.  The game was being played at a frantic pace and Koscielny then got a crucial touch on Navas’ cross to divert the ball for a corner as Aguero was poised to turn it into the empty net.  City were left with a mountain to climb when an unmarked Giroud punished some poor defending by nodding in Cazorla’s free-kick after 67 minutes to stun the home fans.   Mathieu Flamini ought to have provided another goal for Giroud late on, but Kompany got in the way of his attempted pass as Arsenal saw out the game with ease.

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