Coventry cause upset
Domestic round-up
Owen ruled out for England
Chelsea deny Van Basten rumours
German women reach final
Saints sign Mettamo
Foyle leaves Port Vale
PFA arrange legends match
Coventry City sprung the major surprise of the night as two Michael Mifsud goals were enough to knock Manchester United out of the Carling Cup at the third round stage. Defending champions Chelsea cruised past Hull City 0-4 at the KC Stadium, Everton struck three times without reply to beat Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough and a last-minute strike from Dean Ashton secured West Ham United’s passage against Plymouth Argyle at Upton Park. Also through to the Carling Cup fourth round are Leicester City who surprisingly beat Aston Villa at Villa Park. The only goal of the game came from Matty Fryatt. Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur also progress after home wins against Birmingham City and Middlesbrough respectively. Bolton Wanderers needed extra-time to beat Fulham 1-2 at Craven Cottage.
It was a good night for away teams in the third round of the CIS Cup. Rangers cruised to a 0-4 triumph at East Fife’s Bayview Park while Celtic beat Dundee 1-2 at Dens Park. Hibernian entertained Motherwell with the away side winning 2-4 and the night was completed with Aberdeen’s 0-2 victory at Partick Thistle’s Firhill.
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Michael Owen has been ruled out of England’s two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia in October with a torn groin muscle. The injury-prone striker will see a specialist on Thursday to determine whether he also needs hernia surgery.
Chelsea have denied an interest in making Holland coach Marco van Basten their new manager. A statement from the London club read:
“Chelsea totally refute that the job of manager or first-team coach has been offered to any individual other than Avram Grant. No one at Chelsea has been authorised to speak to any individual about the post, either by the board or the owner. Any suggestions that any team plans or arrangements have been changed due to representations from the players are totally false.”
Russia coach Guus Hiddink has also been repeatedly linked with the job.
Germany reached the Women’s World Cup final with a 3-0 victory over Norway. The defending champions have now gone 529 minutes without conceding a World Cup goal, dating back to the 2003 tournament, which has broken China’s previous best mark of 442 minutes.
Southampton have signed Cameroon central defender Lucien Mettomo on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
Port Vale manager Martin Foyle has left the club by mutual consent.
The Professional Footballer’s Association will be holding a legends match at the City of Manchester Stadium on December 2 as part of the union’s centenary celebrations. Terry Venables will manage an England legends team captained by Alan Shearer while Sven-Goran Eriksson will lead an international XI skippered by Gianfranco Zola.
Nathan Davies