ARSENAL: Per Mertsesacker and Tomas Rosicky sign new deals
Mertsesacker, 29 joined the Premier League side from Werder Bremen in August 2011 and has appeared in all but two league games this season.
Rosicky, 33, joined from Borussia Dortmund in 2006 and would have been out of contract in the summer.
"They are players of exceptional quality and experience," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told the club's website
TORRES : SKILLS
JUAN MATA : SKILLS
ROBIN VAN PERSIE : SKILLS
BECKHAM :SKILLS -
INTERNATIONAL CALL-UPS FOR CHELSEAFC
England host Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday evening, with Frank Lampard, Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole all in Roy Hodgson's squad for the game. It is the final time the Three Lions will take to the pitch before the England boss names his provisional squad in mid-May, with the final 23 set to be announced after the friendly with Peru on 30 May.
Ramires, Oscar, David Luiz and Willian - have been selected in Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad for a friendly with South Africa in Johannesburg on Wednesday. It is expected to be the Selação's final game away from home soil before the challenge of winning the World Cup they host begins.
Eden Hazard will come up against Didier Drogba again as Belgium host Ivory Coast in Brussels. The Red Devils will be hoping to bounce back following consecutive home losses to two other sides hoping to make an impression at the World Cup - Colombia and Japan - in November.
Germany, who as usual include Andre Schurrle in their squad, host Chile in Stuttgart. READ MORE
Man Utd manager David Moyes 'would have been sacked' in Italy
Manchester United manager David Moyes would have been "sacked three times" if he was managing in Serie A, says former Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli.
The Spanish striker ,Soldado at last ended his goal-drought by scoring for Tottenham Hotspurs,against Cardiff city at White hart lane.
Win against Cardiff helped Spurs to hold their fifth place.
It's a huge task (qualifying for the Champions League) but one we have to believe in,Spurs manager Tim Sherwood told Sky Sports.
ROONEY :SKILLS
LUIS SUAREZ BUY-OUT CLAUSE
Liverpool owner John Henry has admitted striker Luis Suarez had a £40m buy-out clause in his previous contract but that the club refused to sell anyway.
Arsenal bid a sum of 40 million pounds,last lear for Urguayan,liverpool striker LUIS SUAREZ.
Suarez has since signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal with the Anfield club and is currently the top-flight's leading scorer with 24 goals, helping Liverpool to second in the Premier League.
"It's been great for Luis, it's been great for us," added Henry.
In 2011Suarez made a mover from Ajax to Anfield for 22.8million pound.
OFFICIAL FIFA 2014 THEME SONG
Who do you think will charge on and hold their hands on FIFA CUP(BRAZIL) 2014 ??
MARADONA VS. BAYERN MUNICH
Arsenal can still fight back in Premier League race claims Jack Wilshere
Arsenal ace midfielder Jack Wilshere believes that the Gunners can still fight back in the title race after slumping to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Stoke City at the Britannia on Saturday. The 23-year old stated that Arsenal were unlucky to concede a penalty after the ball struck Laurent Koscielny’s hand in the second half and also said that the Gunners did enough to win the game.
Wilshere was quoted in the Daily Mirror as saying, “The good thing is that this month we play all the teams at the top. If we win those games, we can be up there. We’ve got to keep going to the end. Anything can happen in this league as you’ve seen this weekend and in previous weeks.”
Arsenal dropped 4 points behind league leaders Chelsea with the defeat to Stoke and have also dropped down to third place in the league standings with recently crowned Capital One Cup winners Manchester City also likely to leapfrog them soon.
The Gunners face a tough run-in this month when they have to face the likes of Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City in the league, and also contend with Bayern Munich and Everton in the Champions League and FA Cup respectively.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had put down this month as pivotal for the Gunners in their push for the title race as next 30 days could more or less decide their fate in every remaining competition this term.
The 1986 World Cup winner has voiced his opinion that no-one will ever better the legendary forward
Former Argentina international Hector Enrique believes Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi will never reach the level of Diego Maradona.
The 26-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game having won the Ballon d'Or four times and broken a host of goalscoring records in the process, but Enrique is adamant that he will never be as good as his illustrious compatriot.
"Messi does not have anything on Maradona. I love Messi and I would be happy if my son would play at one per cent of his abilities, but Maradona was unique," Enrique told Continental.
"There will never be anyone like Maradona again, not even if Messi wins three World Cups in succession or scores a bicycle kick from midfield.
"Maradona and Messi have different characters on the pitch. Diego radiated confidence and made all of us play better. Messi has personality as well, but not like Maradona."
Enrique was part of the Argentina squad winning the World Cup in 1986.
ARSENAL
VS.
BAYERN MUNICH
Belgian's strike sinks West Ham and secures vital three points at Goodison
Lukaku keeps Blues' bid for top four spot alive with late goal
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Romelu Lukaku coming on as a second half substitute for Leon Osman.
Super-sub strikes again. And this time, Romelu Lukaku will remember his match-winning intervention.
For the second time this season, the Belgian emerged from the bench to sink West Ham United. For Upton Park in September, read Goodison in March, only without the concussion.
After back-to-back defeats on the road, the Blues found comfort at home. Hardly a vintage performance by any means, but an important three points. With a big FA Cup tie at Arsenal on the horizon, this victory keeps the Toffees’ Premier League campaign alive.
Lukaku, again, proved the difference between success and failure. The 20-year-old had missed his side’s previous four games with an ankle injury, but his introduction on the hour mark here turned a tight game in Everton’s favour. When the decisive blow came, nine minutes from time, it was he who struck it.
“We have missed him,” said Roberto Martinez afterwards. “It was a clinical touch.”
A clinical touch, and one which an error-strewn contest scarcely deserved. The highlights package for this one will not have taken long to put together.
For an hour, it seemed as though Everton would again pay the price for a lack of cutting edge in the final third. Steven Naismith, deployed again as the lone striker, was one of their better performers, but offered little by way of a threat. Goodison, quiet throughout, was beginning to creep towards restlessness.
Indeed, at that point it was West Ham who were looking the more dangerous, with Andy Carroll showing the value of a true, genuine No 9.
Lukaku, though, changed things. He unsettled James Collins and James Tomkins with his physicality, and pushed the visitors’ defence back with his pace and running power. And when Leighton Baines’ cross fell to his left foot in the dying minutes, he finished with aplomb. The strike takes him to double figures for the season.
How Everton need him. It is no coincidence that their recent dip in form came with Lukaku sidelined. The on-loan Chelsea man may still be raw, he may still be flawed, but there are few like him around. If Everton are to finish the season successfully, in both league and cup, then Lukaku will be key.
He had started on the bench here, having suffered with a chest infection during the week. More surprising, perhaps, was Martinez’s decision to rest Kevin Mirallas for the first time this season, with Gerard Deulofeu preferred on the right of midfield. John Stones deputised for injured skipper Phil Jagielka, and did so in accomplished fashion.
The pattern was set early, Everton dominating the ball without creating too much of note. Naismith was unable to get a telling touch after Leon Osman had flicked on a Baines cross, while Gareth Barry drilled a speculative 25-yarder wide, but their threat was limited.
Indeed, they were indebted to a terrific recovery challenge by Deulofeu, which prevented Stewart Downing’s pass reaching Kevin Nolan on the counter, and to the leniency of referee Jon Moss, who turned a blind eye when Barry pulled back Nolan as he looked to nip in on goal soon after. On another day, Barry might have been in trouble.
Naismith drew a save from Adrian, the West Ham ‘keeper, with a snap shot to the near post on 21 minutes, whilst the Hammers replaced Carlton Cole with Carroll before the half-hour mark. Cole, who wasn’t injured, looked nonplussed as he left the field, though Carroll would prove a far more effective target man thereafter.
Deulofeu, eager to impress, curled a decent effort inches wide six minutes before the break, though James McCarthy was irked that the Spaniard had failed to release a simple pass in the build-up. It was a common theme with Deulofeu’s performance, though on this occasion he was justified in going for goal himself.
Everton had enjoyed more than 80% possession throughout the first half, with Barry alone completing only five fewer passes than the entire West Ham team. The home side’s dominance, though, was largely sterile.
After the break Adrian produced a fine fingertip save to turn Steven Pienaar’s effort onto a post, after some typically incisive play between the South African and Baines down the left. Pienaar then had a penalty appeal waved away – correctly – as he tumbled under Downing’s challenge.
Carroll forced a rare save from Tim Howard with a piledriver on 54 minutes, and Nolan saw a shot deflected wide moments later.
Martinez responded by replacing Osman with Lukaku, but there was little initial impact. Sylvain Distin couldn’t manage a decent connection with a terrific Baines free kick, while Carroll sent another powerful strike into the Park End after Nolan’s knock down.
Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring the winning goal for Everton against West Ham
At that point, the game was in danger of petering out into the most forgettable of stalemates, but there was a sting in the tail in the final 10 minutes.
After West Ham had for once failed to clear their lines, Baines was able to work his way into the box and send a low ball across for Lukaku, who steered a calm finish through two sliding defenders and past Adrian from 14 yards.
It sent a wave of relief around Goodison, and indeed Everton could have finished with a further floursh. Lukaku volleyed over, while Ross Barkley, another substitute, struck a long-ranger wide in stoppage time.
In truth, that would have put an unfair gloss on the scoreline. Everton have played better, far better, this season, but victory here was vital. It reverses the downward momentum, and sends them to Arsenal next weekend with confidence restored.
And with Lukaku back and firing, they will surely fancy their chances. It could yet be a glorious season at Goodison.
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