LONDON (AP) ― Manchester City missed a chance to put pressure on Premier League leader Manchester United, tying 0-0 Tuesday night at last-place Queens Park Rangers.Manchester United (18-3-2) can open a seven-point lead over City (15-2-7) with a win over Southampton on Wednesday.“We are disappointed for this result,” City manager Roberto Mancini said. “We had our chances to win, and we dominated the game, but QPR defended very well, got players behind the ball. We lost two points, for sure.”QPR (

Jan. 30, 2013

LONDON (AFP) ― The Football Association on Tuesday charged Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson after he criticized the performance of an assistant referee in a game at Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.“The FA has today charged Sir Alex Ferguson in relation to post-match media comments made following Manchester United’s game at Tottenham Hotspur on Jan. 20” said an FA statement.“It is alleged the Manchester United manager breached FA Rule E3 in that he implied that the match official was

Jan. 30, 2013

 Chung Mong-gyu, a business executive and a former head of South Korea’s top professional football league, was elected Monday to lead the nation’s football governing body.Chung, a CEO of the construction firm Hyundai Development Co. who once headed the K League, beat out three rivals to become the new chairman of the Korea Football Association. Chung’s term will be for four years.In the second round of voting, Chung garnered 15 votes from 24 KFA delegates ― 16 heads of municipal and provincial f

Jan. 28, 2013

BARCELONA (AP) ― Lionel Messi scored four goals to become the youngest player to pass the 200-mark in the Spanish league and set a La Liga record with goals in 11 consecutive games, leading Barcelona to a 5-1 rout of Osasuna on Sunday night.With his 22nd hat trick for Barcelona and fifth game of four goals or more, Messi increased his La Liga total to 202 goals in 235 games. The 25-year-old became the eighth player to reach 200, joining Telmo Zarra (251), Hugo Sanchez (234), Raul Gonzalez (228),

Jan. 28, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Fifth-tier Luton became the first non-league club in 24 years to beat top-level opponent in the FA Cup, defeating Norwich 1-0 in the fourth round Saturday on Scott Rendell’s goal in the 80th minute.Luton, which played in the second tier as recently as 2006-07, is 85 places below Norwich in the English soccer pyramid. There had not been such an upset in the FA Cup since Sutton beat Coventry 2-1 in the third round in 1989. Not since 1949 has a non-league team managed to overcome a to

Jan. 27, 2013

Yun Suk-young, the South Korean footballer about to join the Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League, said he hopes to establish himself as a successful defender in England.Yun arrived at Heathrow Airport Thursday night from Bangkok, Thailand, where he’d been training with his South Korean club, the Chunnam Dragons, in the first-division K League Classic. The Dragons had said Yun would fly to London to undergo medical tests before signing his contract with QPR.The deal would make Yun t

Jan. 25, 2013

Chelsea star Eden Hazard was ejected from the English League Cup semifinal on Wednesday night for kicking a ball boy in the ribs while attempting to retrieve the ball after it rolled off the field.With Chelsea needing two goals at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium to force overtime in the two-game series, the ball bounced off an advertising board behind the goal line in the 79th minute.A 17-year-old ball boy in a Swansea sweatsuit slowly walked over to pick it up.Hazard ran up to reclaim the ball and th

Jan. 24, 2013

Defender Yun Suk-young is set to join the Queens Park Rangers in the English Premier League, the player’s South Korean club announced Thursday.The Chunnam Dragons of the first-division K League Classic said in a press release that Yun will leave the team’s training camp in Bangkok, Thailand, to undergo medical tests before signing with the London-based club. Should he pass those tests, Yun will become the 11th South Korean player to don a Premier League uniform. He will also join South Korean ve

Jan. 24, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― Bradford triumphed over the Premier League millionaires of Aston Villa to become the first fourth-tier club to reach an English final in 51 years.With a roster assembled for about 7,500 pounds ($12,000), Bradford lost the second leg of its semifinal 2-1 at Villa on Tuesday night but advanced on 4-3 aggregate in the total-goals series.Bradford will play Chelsea or Swansea in the final on Feb. 24 at Wembley; Swansea leads Chelsea 2-0 heading into Wednesday’s second leg.“It’s dreamlan

Jan. 23, 2013

LONDON (AP) ― An Everton fan has been found guilty of racially abusing two Premier League footballers.William Blything hurled the abuse at Queens Park Rangers captain Park Ji-sung of South Korea and Everton’s Nigerian forward Victor Anichebe as the teams drew 1-1 at Loftus Road on Oct. 21.He was reported to police by another Everton fan.The 42-year-old Blything, who was at the game with his wife, two children and grandson, was found guilty at West London Magistrates’ Court on Monday.One witness

Jan. 22, 2013

English Premier League midfielder Ki Sung-yueng and Germany-based youngster Son Heung-min headlined the South Korean roster finalized Monday for an upcoming friendly against Croatia.The Korea Football Association unveiled the 24-man roster with a strong overseas flavor, with 13 of those players currently either playing outside of South Korea or soon set to join a new foreign club.South Korea will face Croatia on Feb. 6 at Craven Cottage in London, home of the Premier League club Fulham FC.  It w

Jan. 21, 2013

BARCELONA (AP) ― Ten-man Barcelona lost its first match of the Spanish league season Saturday, squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat at Real Sociedad and allowing an injury-time winner.Barcelona set a league record by winning 18 games and one draw at the midpoint.Lionel Messi scored for a 14th straight start to open for Barcelona in the seventh minute, and Pedro Rodriguez appeared to give the visitors full control in the 25th.But Gonzalo “Chori” Castro scored in the 41st and tied it in the

Jan. 20, 2013