Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton:

Southampton returned to the top four of the Premier League with a
comfortable 3-1 win at struggling Crystal Palace.
Sadio Mane marked his return to the Southampton starting-XI with a superb
performance at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day, as he opened the scoring with
an excellent early goal before turning provider for Ryan Bertrand to double the
visitors' lead early in the second-half.
Defender Toby Alderweireld, on loan from Atletico Madrid, then opened his
Premier League account with a towering header shortly after to seal all three
points for Ronald Koeman's men, despite a late Scott Dann consolation for the
hosts.
Southampton showed some of the swagger and quality that they produced
early in the season, which saw them rise as high as second in the table before
a slump of a draw and four losses from five games.
However, they got back on track with a 3-0 win over Everton in their previous
match and can now look forward to Sunday's visit of table-topping Chelsea
with a degree of confidence.
Meanwhile, Palace have won just one of their last 12 Premier League fixtures
and have fallen into the relegation zone courtesy of Hull City's win at
Sunderland.
Out-of-form Palace looked set for another difficult afternoon right from the off
as Koeman's team began on the front foot.

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West Brom 1-3 Manchester City

Manchester City made the most of a sluggish showing from West Brom as the
Premier League champions eased to a 3-1 win at The Hawthorns.
Despite being without captain Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and Edin
Dzeko through injury, Manuel Pellegrini's side took advantage of a dismal
opening period from the hosts to keep pace with leaders Chelsea.
The visitors were handed an early gift courtesy of Ben Foster, as the West
Brom goalkeeper dropped a looping Jesus Navas cross eight minutes in.
Midfielder Fernando took full advantage to cleverly register his first goal for
the club, with ex-City defender Joleon Lescott also aiding his former
employers' cause soon afterwards.
David Silva went down under Lescott's challenge inside the area and, when
Yaya Toure subsequently doubled City's advantage from the penalty spot, they
were well on course for a ninth consecutive win in all competitions.
Despite rarely getting out of first gear, the champions were three to the good
11 minutes before the interval when Silva calmly steered a strike past Foster.
An improved defensive effort from West Brom kept the score respectable after
the break, and they finally got on the scoresheet themselves when Brown
Ideye turned the ball home after a scramble late on, but it proved too little, too
late for Alan Irvine's men.

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Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle

Wayne Rooney put in a vintage performance as Manchester United beat
Newcastle 3-1 at Old Trafford to make it seven wins from eight Premier
League games.
Having been held to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last Saturday, Louis van Gaal's
side will have been eager to get back to winning ways in the Boxing Day clash.
And United had little difficulty in doing so, cruising to a comfortable victory
despite the continued absence of winger Angel Di Maria, whose return to the
first team was delayed after picking up an injury in training.
England captain Rooney was the architect of a routine triumph that solidified
United's position in third, with a double taking the 29-year-old's league tally
against Newcastle to 12.
He opened the scoring in the 23rd minute via a close-range finish at the end
of a wonderful United move, before adding a second in very similar fashion
nine minutes before half-time.
The points were made safe eight minutes into the second half as the skipper
set up Robin van Persie to head home a third, although Newcastle did net an
87th-minute consolation thanks to Papiss Cisse's penalty.
The game sprung into life in the 12th minute following a quiet start as both
teams spurned chances.
First Ayoze Perez failed to connect with a volley from Adam Armstrong's
cross after the 17-year-old - brought into the Newcastle side as one of two
changes by Alan Pardew - did well to keep the ball in play.
Radamel Falcao was unable to get any purchase on a delivery from the left
with the goal seemingly at his mercy, and the hosts were fortunate not to
concede a penalty when Juan Mata looked to have tripped Yoan Gouffran as
the Frenchman chased a long ball over the defence.
David de Gea pulled off a fine diving save to his right to keep out Daryl
Janmaat's fierce drive from long range, and Newcastle were made to pay for
not taking advantage of their early pressure by a clinical move from Van
Gaal's men.
Mata was heavily involved again as he lifted a clever ball over the top to
Falcao, who stretched to sweep a low cross into the path of Rooney to slot
past a helpless Jak Alnwick.
Newcastle continued to show the ambition to get forward, although United's
superior quality was evident throughout.
And it was defensive carelessness that led to Rooney's second, the former
Everton man latching on to Mata's clever pass and confidently finding the
bottom left corner after Gouffran had given the ball away.
Rooney turned creator eight minutes into the second half when his expertly
lofted pass was nodded into the bottom corner by Van Persie to effectively
end the game as a contest.
With a busy period of fixtures to negotiate, United understandably took their
foot off the gas in the closing exchanges. Still, Rooney went close to
completing his hat-trick by curling a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.
The third goal did not arrive for Rooney as Newcastle instead restored some
pride through Cisse's confident spot-kick into the top-right corner following
Phil Jones' foul on Jack Colback.
Yet that strike came too late for a comeback and proved to be little more than
a footnote in a result that should give United plenty of hope going into a tricky
trip to Tottenham on Sunday.

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Agent:I believe Ronaldo will finish his career at Real Madrid

The Portuguese's agent, Jorge Mendes, claims the
forward will not leave the Santiago Bernabeu, while
he also lauded the prospects of Barcelona star
Neymar.
Cristiano Ronaldo's agent has claimed that the two-
time Ballon d'Or-winning forward will finish his
playing career at Real Madrid .
The Portuguese was consistently linked with a
return to Manchester United last year before putting
pen to paper on a new deal which runs until June
2018, when he would have spent nine years at the
Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo, who will be 33 years old in the summer of
2018, claimed last month that he would like to stay
with the current European champions for longer
than his existing deal if they will have him.
And his agent, Jorge Mendes, is convinced that the
Portugal international, 29, will be a Real Madrid
player until the day he hangs up his boots.
"I got to know him when he was 15 years old, from
then until now we've spoken together on most
days," he told Globo Esporte. "When I'm in Madrid
we always meet up. Our relationship is more like a
friendship.
"I believe that Cristiano will finish his career at Real
Madrid. He's happy at the club and is still keen to
achieve more success in Madrid."
He also suggested the club should consider retiring
his No. 7 shirt upon Ronaldo's departure.
"Will the club retire his shirt number when he
finishes at Madrid? With every respect to the likes of
Raul and Di Stefano, no player can compare to
Cristiano Ronaldo," Mendes said. "He's the best
player in history, and I'd suggest the best
sportsperson of all-time - we'll never see the likes
of Cristiano again. It will be completely impossible."
When asked if overtaking Barcelona forward Lionel
Messi's tally of four Ballons d'Or, Mendes
responded: "If he stays fit, I'm sure he'll remain the
best for some time."
Neymar mused over Christmas that he might never
reach the level of Messi and Ronaldo, but Mendes
thinks he's destined to be among football's greatest
soon - even if he lamented it would not be while
playing in the same team as his star Portuguese
client.
"He's not quite Cristiano, but he is fantastically
talented," the agent continued. "I'm confident that
he'll be amongst the best in the world in a few
years. He has been unlucky that he has not ended
up playing alongside Cristiano."

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Funny football video

A must watch video

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Podolski set for inter move in January

Inter, now managed
by former Manchester City Roberto
Mancini, want to get the deal done
quickly to enable Podolski to
acclimatise himself with his new
surroundings and teammates and be
ready to play.
The 2010 Champions League winners
have seen a dramatic downfall in
fortunes in the last 3-4 seasons and
currently lie 11th in the table. Despite
not being able to participate in
Europe 's most elite club competition
in the Italian capital, Podolski may see
this as an opportunity to play regular
first-team football and get himself
back in the reckoning with the German
national squad.

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Southampton 3-0 Everton

Southampton ended their poor run of Premier League form by overcoming a
lacklustre Everton side 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday.
A Romelu Lukaku own-goal combined with second-half goals from Graziano Pelle
and Maya Yoshida ensured that Ronald Koeman's men secured their first victory in
five league outings.
Much had been made of Southampton's injury woes before kick-off, with a run of
five consecutive defeats in all competitions culminating in the League Cup exit at
League One side Sheffield United in midweek, but the hosts were clinical against
Everton.
Everton were beaten 2-0 in the corresponding fixture last
season thanks to two own-goals and that trend continued
when Lukaku put through his own net in the 38th minute.
Pelle missed a gilt-edged chance to double the advantage
soon after, but the out-of-sorts forward made amends 20
minutes into the second half when he prodded in his
second goal in his last nine league appearances.
Roberto Martinez's men showed no real conviction as they
attempted to pull one back and Yoshida's 82nd-minute
header condemned Everton to their sixth Premier League
loss of the campaign.

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QPR 3-2 West Brom: Austin scores hat- trick in comeback win

Charlie Austin struck his first Premier League hat
trick as QPR came from behind to beat West
Brom 3-2 at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Austin - the top English scorer in the division -
headed home the winning goal in the 87th minut
to complete a stunning comeback for Harry
Redknapp's side - who move out of the bottom
three.
Joleon Lescott and Silvestre Varela each struck
their first goals for Albion as the visitors raced
into a dominant lead inside the opening 20
minutes.
Austin pulled one back before the break with an
emphatic penalty, and he levelled the scores with
a neat finish early in the second half.
And with time running out, Austin made no
mistake from Joey Barton's corner to take his
tally for the season to 11 - bettered only by Dieg
Costa and Sergio Aguero.
Victory moves QPR out of the relegation zone at
the expense of Burnley - who lost 2-1 at
Tottenham - and level on 17 points with 14th-
placed Albion.

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West Ham 2-0 Leicester City

Goals in either half from Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing helped West Ham see
off struggling Leicester City 2-0 at Upton Park on Saturday.
Nigel Pearson's rock-bottom side had their winless run extended to 12 matches as
the hosts continued their fine season with a fourth win from their last five Premier
League outings.
Carroll maintained his strong return to action from a long-term heel injury by
scoring his third goal in as many games after 24 minutes.
A short backpass from former West Ham defender Paul Konchesky presented a
gift-wrapped chance to the onrushing striker, who made no mistake with a cool
dinked finish.
While the hosts' opener came about from a costly error,
their second was a moment of quality from Downing,
whose curled strike from long range sealed the points.
Leicester huffed and puffed in an attempt to find a way
back into the game but Sam Allardyce's side saw the win
out in relatively comfortable fashion and will feature in the
top-flight's top four at Christmas for the first time since
1985.

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Tottenham 2-1 Burnley: Lamela stunner seals win

Erik Lamela's superb first Premier League goal earned Tottenham a 2-1 win over
Burnley in an entertaining encounter at White Hart Lane.
The Argentine, who arrived for a club-record fee from Roma prior to the 2013-14
campaign, had previously gone 25 league appearances without finding the net for
Spurs, but he broke his duck in fine style on Saturday.
Lamela produced a sublime curling finish from 25 yards to net the winner in the
35th minute, after a strike of similar quality from Ashley Barnes had cancelled out
Harry Kane's header.
Kane met Nacer Chadli's pinpoint delivery midway through
the first half - his 14th goal of the season in all
competitions and third in as many matches.
Barnes netted the winner in Burnley's 1-0 victory over
Southampton last weekend and, although there was a slice
of fortune about that strike, there was nothing lucky about
his third Premier League goal as he hit a magnificent effort
into the top corner from just outside the area.
That goal was outshone by Lamela's effort, however, as
Spurs completed a successful seven days, having defeated
Swansea City last weekend and progressed to the semi-
finals of the League Cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle
United on Wednesday.

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Barcelona 5-0 Cordoba: Suarez ends Liga goal drought as Catalans close on Real Madrid

The €94 million striker finally netted in the Primera Division, while Lionel Messi
struck twice, with Pedro and Gerard Pique bagging one goal apiece
Luis Suarez ended his Liga goal drought as Barcelona closed to within a point of
leaders Real Madrid with a resounding 5-0 win over Cordoba.
Pedro broke the deadlock with just three minutes on the clock and the winger then
turned provided for Suarez, who opened his Primera Division account at the eighth
attempt with an instinctive finish shortly after half-time.
Gerard Pique made it 3-0 by heading home a Xavi free kick and before Lionel Messi
put the seal on an ultimately facile victory with two late right-footed strikes.
Luis Enrique opted to leave Neymar on the bench despite the Brazilian overcoming
an ankle injury, with Pedro's Copa del Rey hat-trick against Huesca earning the
Spain international a start in La Liga.
And the coach's decision was vindicated with just over a minute played, as
Rakitic's lofted pass picked out Pedro 's darting run and the forward coolly steered
past Juan Carlos.
Barcelona continued to dictate the game and went agonisingly close to doubling
their lead in the 12th minute, but Suarez's acrobatic volley from a Jordi Alba cross
found the side-netting.
Cordoba eventually tested Claudio Bravo with 26 minutes gone, as Borja Garcia
tried his luck from the left flank and almost saw his attempt creep inside the
Chilean goalkeeper's right-hand post.

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Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester United: Falcao on target but Red Devils held by 10 men

Manchester United 's winning run came to an end on Saturday as they were held to
a 1-1 Premier League draw by 10-man Aston Villa .
Louis van Gaal's side travelled to Birmingham on the back of six straight wins and
boasting an excellent record at Villa, who had lost to Midlands rivals West Brom
last time out.
However, United were frustrated by a dogged showing from Paul Lambert's men,
who held on for a point despite playing the final 25 minutes a man down after
Gabriel Agbonlahor was handed a straight red card.
Christian Benteke gave Villa the lead in the 18th minute as he curled home only his
second goal of the campaign.
United initially laboured in their quest to level matters, but
pulled level in the 53rd minute when Radamel Falcao
headed in from close range.
Lee Mason's controversial decision to send off Agbonlahor
for a foul on ex-Villa man Ashley Young 12 minutes later
looked to have tilted the contest in United's favour, but
the visitors - who introduced the fit-again Angel di Maria
off the bench - could not find a winner.

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Werder Bremen 2-1 Borussia Dortmund

The 19-year-old opened the scoring at
Weserstadion and then set up Fin Bartels for the
crucial second as the hosts held on to three
precious points - despite Mats Hummels' header
Davie Silke was the star of the show as Werder
Bremen lifted themselves off the foot of the
Bundesliga with a 2-1 win over relegation rivals
Borussia Dortmund.

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Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace

David Silva scored twice as Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 3-0 to move level
on points with Premier League leaders Chelsea.
The Spain midfielder struck twice in the second half on his 200th appearance for
the club at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, as the champions stretched their
winning run to eight games in all competitions.
City had been toothless in the first half, with James Milner employed in an
unfamiliar advance role in the absence of all of the club's recognised strikers due
to injury.
They raised their game after the break, though, and Silva delivered the end product
they had previously been lacking with two goals in the space of 12 minutes, before
Yaya Toure added a third goal to cap another impressive display.
Victory for Manuel Pellegrini's men - their sixth in
succession in the top flight - ensures they join Chelsea on
39 points, with the latter facing a trip to Stoke City on
Monday.

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Manchester United target Enzo Perez expected to seal transfer next week

In the past one year or so, may be
more than that, Manchester United
have been repeatedly linked with a
move for Argentine forward Enzo
Perez.
Portuguese media, Argentine media
and Spanish media both have time
and again covered United's interest in
the player. Spanish newspapers have
an interest here, because, Perez is
also a reported target of Valencia .
We bring you here some of the recent
stories we covered on Enzo Perez that
will give you an idea how the transfer
saga has shaped up.
November 3: Italian website TMW
claimed Valencia are preparing a
massive €30m bid for the Argentine.
November 7: ESPN claimed
Manchester United had rekindled their
interest in the player and scouts
followed him in action for Benfica
against Monaco and that they were
highly impressed with what they saw.
November 11: Argentine newspaper
Ovacion reported that Manchester
United were preparing a €30m bid for
the Benfica superstar.
November 19: Spanish newspaper
Marca published a story where they
claimed Angel di Maria was making a
strong effort to lure him to Old
Trafford . He had even spoken with him
and said good words about the club.
In a nutshell, what we get is both
Manchester United and Valencia are
vying for his signature. However, it
seems like United have cooled their
interest in him (if there was any
interest at all) recently making way for
Valencia to clinch the deal.
Journalists who have great contacts
within the club, like James Ducker of
The Times or Mark Ogden of The Daily
Telegraph, have hardly mentioned (in
fact didn't mention at all) his name
while speaking of United's potential
targets in coming transfer window or
in summer, which suggest probably he
doesn't feature in Louis van Gaal's
plans.
Perez has a reported release clause
of €30m, but due to a lack of
competition (as it seems), Valencia
are hoping to secure a deal
within €25m.
The Los Che financed by Peter Lim
have the finance in place to secure the
move as early within next week.
Valencia based newspaper claiming
today that a deal has been agreed in
principle and that the Spanish club are
confident of completing the transfer in
the first week of January.

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