City moves to top of EPL

LONDON (AP) ― Manchester City grabbed the lead in the Premier League with a controversial 2-0 victory at Newcastle on Sunday, and Liverpool stayed in contention with a 5-3 win at Stoke.Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo scored in City’s 10th consecutive win over the Magpies. City also extended its unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 games.But the result did not reflect the intensity of a game dominated by referee Mike Jones’ decision to wave off Cheikh Tiote’s apparent equalizer, ruling Yoan Gouff

Jan. 13, 2014

Korea heads to Brazil for training camp

South Korean men’s national football team departed for Brazil on Monday to set up its first pre-World Cup training camp in the South American country.Head coach Hong Myung-bo will lead a squad of 23 players from South Korean, Chinese and Japanese leagues to the World Cup host country. The team will arrive in Foz do Iguacu in Brazil and train there for a week before moving to Los Angeles, according to the Korea Football Association.In the United States, South Korea will take on three World Cup pa

Jan. 13, 2014

Chelsea, United enjoy 2-0 wins

LONDON (AP) ― Chelsea moved provisionally top of the English Premier League by beating Hull 2-0 on Saturday, while Manchester United ended a sorry run of three straight defeats to lift the gloom surrounding the reigning champions.Meanwhile, there were huge wins for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals at the foot of the table, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by only six points.Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half

Jan. 12, 2014

‘Ki Sung-yeung not to be recalled’

Manager Michael Laudrup of Swansea City, an English Premier League club, has decided not to recall Ki Sung-yeung from his loan to Sunderland back to Swansea, according to foreign media outlets. “I think I couldn’t bring him back as it wouldn’t help either of us. He is playing there all the time so imagine I take him back and he plays sometimes or sits on the bench and they reach the final -- you can imagine mentally how that would affect the player,” Laudrup was quoted as saying. Laudrup’s first

Jan. 12, 2014

Madrid beats Osasuna in Copa del Rey

MADRID (AP) ― Real Madrid overcame some uncharacteristic poor finishing from Cristiano Ronaldo to beat Osasuna 2-0 in the opening leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 match on Thursday. Ronaldo failed to connect on an ample number of opportunities at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. But Karim Benzema and Jese Rodriguez scored in each half for Madrid to come out of the first leg with the firm advantage. Benzema got up to head home Luka Modric’s free kick in the 19th minute before combining with Ronaldo to

Jan. 10, 2014

Hiddink advises current Korean coach on focus

South Korean men’s national football coach Hong Myung-bo said Thursday that former national coach Guus Hiddink advised him to help improve players’ concentration, as the country gets ready for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.Hong visited Hiddink, who coached South Korea to the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup, at a Seoul hospital. The Dutchman is recovering from a recent knee surgery here.After his meeting with his former coach, Hong told reporters that Hiddink said he’d watched videos of South Kor

Jan. 9, 2014

Sunderland surprises Man U

SUNDERLAND, England (AP) ― Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive loss for the first time in nearly 13 years when Sunderland added to manager David Moyes’ troubles by winning the first leg of their League Cup semifinal 2-1 on Tuesday.The setback against the Premier League’s last-place team completed a hat trick of 2-1 losses at the start of 2014 for Moyes, in his first season as Alex Ferguson’s successor.United, which won the Premier League by 11 points last season before Ferguson reti

Jan. 8, 2014

National football coach hopes to meet Park Ji-sung about possible comeback

South Korean football head coach Hong Myung-bo said Wednesday he’d like to meet former national team captain Park Ji-sung about returning for one last hurrah at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.In a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency, Hong said he believes the two should have a heart-to-heart about Park’s availability for South Korea at the World Cup in Brazil this summer.Park, who captained South Korea to the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, retired from international play in

Jan. 8, 2014

Ronaldo nets double as Real cruise

BARCELONA (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo scored his league-leading 19th and 20th goals of the season on Monday to seal Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Celta Vigo, keeping his team in touch with the top of the Spanish standings.Ronaldo moved one goal ahead of Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa as the competition’s top scorer by finding the net in the 82nd minute and again in stoppage time from a cross by substitute Gareth Bale on his return from a three-week injury layoff.Celta’s attack, led by midfielder Rafina

Jan. 7, 2014

Man United, West Ham humbled in FA Cup

MANCHESTER, England (AP) ― Manchester United and West Ham paid a big price for fielding heavily weakened teams in the FA Cup when they were knocked out in the third round on Sunday, while Chelsea and Liverpool advanced relatively comfortably.Swansea capitalized on the 80th-minute sending-off of substitute Fabio Da Silva by scoring in the last minute through Wilfried Bony in a 2-1 win at United, the latest setback for David Moyes in his turbulent first season with the English champions.United has

Jan. 6, 2014

Arsenal sinks Spurs in cup, Blades fell Villa

LONDON (AFP) ― Premier League leader Arsenal overcame fierce rival Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, while Aston Villa was dumped out by third-tier Sheffield United.Tottenham had won at Manchester United in their previous outing and new manager Tim Sherwood made only one change to his starting 11, but his side fell behind in the 31st minute at the Emirates Stadium.German teenager Serge Gnabry was the architect, picking the ball up wide on the Arsenal right and driving

Jan. 5, 2014

FC Seoul agrees to sell captain Ha Dae-sung to Beijing club

South Korean football club FC Seoul said Friday it has agreed to ship captain Ha Dae-sung to China.FC Seoul said it has reached terms with Beijing Guoan to deal its veteran midfielder to the Chinese Super League side.FC Seoul said Ha, 28, asked the team to grant him an opportunity to play in a new environment. FC Seoul added that it didn’t want to lose one of the team’s pillars in midfield but respected Ha’s wish to challenge himself in a different league.Ha will depart for the Chinese capital o

Jan. 3, 2014

Arsenal stays top

LONDON (AP) ― Arsenal stayed top of the Premier League after scoring two late goals in a 2-0 win over Cardiff while fellow title rivals Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool also started the year with victories on Wednesday.However, the league trophy looks more out of reach than ever for Manchester United after the reigning champions lost 2-1 at home to Tottenham and fell 11 points behind Arsenal.Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott scored Arsenal’s goals at Emirates Stadium to beat a resilient Ca

Jan. 2, 2014