Football Dispatch

Thursday Football
08 November 2007
by Jerrad Peters

KEVIN Davies' late strike has earned Bolton Wanderers a famous draw at Bayern Munich. Despite sitting second from bottom in the Premier League, Trotters held Bayern on their own ground -- frustrating a talented squad which included the likes of Lucas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Bastien Schweinsteiger, and Franck Ribery. Just eight minutes after kick-off, Jamaican-born midfielder Ricardo Gardner silenced the crowd at Allianz Arena. And although Podolski scored on either side of the interval, the hosts were unable to close the deal; and Davies made them pay when he equalized in the 82nd-minute. Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld threw red-hot Luca Toni into the mix just shy of the hour-mark; but Bolton were defiant and hung on to claim their point.

In other UEFA Cup action, Juande Ramos continued his unbeaten run at Tottenham Hotspur as his players ran out 2-0 winners over Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel. The former Sevilla manager, who had named Darren Bent and Jermaine Defoe to his starting-XI at Middlesbrough on Saturday, dropped the young English strikers in favor of the tried and tested duo of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. The two did not disappoint. Keane opened the scoring in the 26th-minute after connecting brilliantly with a Steed Malbranque pass. After initially playing the ball to the Frenchman on the left, Keane volleyed the returning cross past a dumbfounded Vincent Enylama in the Tel Aviv goal. Malbranque was also instrumental in Spurs' second tally. After Berbatov's first effort was blocked, he passed the ball back to the Bulgarian who headed past Enylama and put Spurs 2-0 ahead. The win marked the two-week anniversary of Martin Jol's disgraceful swan-song against Getafe in the competition. Ramos has two wins and two draws since succeeding the Dutchman.

Chelsea will be without Peter Cech for about a month. The Czech Republic international suffered a torn calf muscle in Chelsea's 0-0 draw against Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday. "I don't know exactly how it happened," stated the 25-year-old today after undergoing a scan. "I felt a pain from the 10th-minute." Nonetheless, the former Rennes 'keeper finished the half before being replaced by Carlo Cudicini.

Nemanja Vidic has signed a two-year extension to his contract at Manchester United. The 26-year-old Serb defender has become an automatic selection to manager Sir Alex Ferguson's team since arriving from Spartak Moscow for 7M-pounds two years ago. And as an example of his popularity among his teammates, he briefly wore the captain's armband and United completed their 4-0 route of Dynamo Kiev in the Champions' League, yesterday. "Nemanja has made a terrific impact at the club," commented Ferguson. He continued to state that Vidic had "forged a partership with Rio Ferdinand that was a major factor in us winning the title last year." Now tied to the club until 2012, Vidic remarked, "Playing in this team is a great privilege. This is such a great club and I am delighted to extend my stay here."

Chelsea are keeping tabs on a young Brazilian forward who is being compared to Ronaldinho. Lulinha, currently with Corinthians, is 17-years-old and known as "The Squid" because of his tricky, slippery moves with the ball. His contract will expire in 2009 and Corinthians will explore all options before eventually cashing in on the player. Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Inter Milan have also scouted the youngster. Lulinha's move to Europe will likely be worth approximately 8M-pounds to Corinthians.

Blues owner Roman Abramovich is also tracking a pair of Lokomotiv Moscow players. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, 22, is a left-sided midfielder and played for Russia in both matches against England this autumn. Branislav Ivanovic, meanwhile, could be the long-term solution to Chelsea's right-back crisis. He is a Serb international.

Napoli fans have been banned from attending their club's match at Palermo on Saturday. The Italian authorities cited a "propensity for illegal acts" as the reasoning behind the measure. Already this season, the notoriously aggressive and violent Napoli supporters caused their club to face Genoa at home behind closed doors.