Nani believes Man United can finish the season unbeaten

MANCHESTER: Manchester United winger Nani has talked up his side’s chances of remaining unbeaten this season as they look to enter the record books away to Wolves today.

If the Premier League leaders avoid defeat at Molineux, they will record a club league record 30 games without defeat.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went some way towards that feat with a 3-1 win over Aston Villa last time out to match the side’s incredible run in their treble-winning season of 1998/1999.

But Nani has more than a club landmark in mind, saying United can match the achievement of the ‘invincible’ Arsenal side that won the Premier League without losing a game in the 2003/04 campaign.

“We hope to finish the season unbeaten,” Portugal winger Nani said. “We are a very confident team at the moment. We don’t want to lose and will work hard to keep this way.

“I don’t know how long we can go on for. We hope to finish the season unbeaten but we want to finish the season in first.

“That is the most important thing because we are just thinking about winning the league. We know it will be very hard. We’ll work hard to win those games, though.”

Meanwhile Nani is backing Wayne Rooney to go on a goalscoring spree after the striker hit his first goal double for nearly 11 months against Villa in midweek.

Rooney’s alarming goal drought hasn’t damaged United’s title bid but, having rediscovered his form, team-mate Nani is predicting the England striker will become a key figure again in the closing stages of the season.

“I think Wayne will go on a run now,” he explained. “He might not have scored many goals but he is very important for the team because he has been working so hard in every game.

“He showed his best performance of this season against Villa. From now on he will be very important.

“He scored two important goals and he will score more for us. I think Wayne will be more confident now.”

Rooney was the outstanding player in England last season after scoring a career-best 34 goals in a single campaign.

But Nani believes the way United are sharing out the goals this term has eased the pressure on Rooney.

“A lot of players can do the job of scoring. The team is very together. We are all thinking about how we win the games.

“We feel happy Wayne is going again and now we have Dimitar, Rooney and Hernandez, we have others who can score as well like Michael Owen. It doesn’t matter who is playing. They will score.” 

  

Mancini: All is not lost

BIRMINGHAM: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is refusing to give up on his team’s Premier League title hopes despite seeing them lose further ground to leaders Manchester United.

The Italian watched his team twice give up the lead in a 2-2 draw away to Birmingham at St Andrew’s here on Wednesday in a match where the hosts ensured a share of the spoils following Craig Gardner’s successful 77th-minute penalty, awarded for a foul on substitute Kevin Phillips by Patrick Vieira.

City now trail local rivals United by eight points having played a game more, a deficit which looks virtually insurmountable given Sir Alex Ferguson’s team have still to be beaten in the league this season.

However, Mancini insists his side must retain their self-belief despite picking up just five points from a possible 12.

“In two or three weeks everything can change but first we must believe in ourselves,” he said.

“A few months ago we were nine points behind Chelsea,” Mancini added. “That’s football, it can change in just three weeks.”

Mancini conceded the gap is currently too great, although City will have the chance to claw some ground back in the Manchester derby a week on Saturday.

“It is too much at this moment. For us now it’s very important that we start playing our football again.

“We will try (to overhaul the gap) but if we play like this it will be hard. We must wake up quickly.”

Mancini accused Phillips of diving to win the penalty and insisted his side should have had one minutes beforehand when Birmingham’s Stephen Carr appeared to handle a James Milner cross.

“I’m very disappointed because we wanted to win There was no penalty. He dived. It was a penalty for us just minutes before.

“We didn’t play well,” Mancini admitted. 

  

Former Man City great Young dies

LONDON: Neil Young, a striker in Manchester City’s trophy winning teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has died aged 66 from cancer, the English Premier League club announced on Thursday.

Young, who scored the winning goal in the 1969 FA Cup final, was also a member of the City side that won the English Championship in the 1967/68 season and was also on target when the club won the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1970.

The forward joined the Blues, the club he supported as a boy, in 1959 as an apprentice and made his senior debut as a 17 year old.

Young was City’s top scorer, with 19 goals in 40 appearances, as a talented team featuring the likes of Colin Bell and Mike Summerbee under the management of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison were crowned champions of England in 1968.

He scored twice as City won 4-3 away to Newcastle on the final day of the campaign to secure the title. 

  

Grant wants more Hammer blows from players

BLACKPOOL: West Ham manager Avram Grant urged his side to redouble their efforts after they climbed off the foot of the English Premier League table with a 3-1 win away to Blackpool on Wednesday.

Grant, formerly in charge of Portsmouth and Chelsea, had had to spend much of this season coping with speculation he is about to lose his job.

But the Israeli is nothing if not resilient and few neutrals would begrudge him overseeing such a fine all-round display from West Ham.

“It was a very important win. Every game now is very important for us,” Grant said.

“We wanted to make one step today (Wednesday), we have finished the second third of the league and are starting the last third.

“We wanted to continue to play our football and pick results up.

“I am very pleased with how we attacked in the first half – we created a lot of chances.

“In the second half we defended very well, which we didn’t do in the last games we were winning against Everton and Birmingham.”

Turning to much-travelled Republic of Ireland forward Keane, the Hammers manager added: “We were looking for a player like him.

“Robbie is very good, a very intelligent player. We are playing football so it is good for him and good for us.” 

  

Diouf treated like a serial killer, says Smith

GLASGOW: Rangers manager Walter Smith said new signing El Hadji Diouf is ready for the white-hot atmosphere of the Old Firm derby after stating “serial killers get better press” than the Senegal international.

The former African player of the year, signed on loan from Blackburn Rovers on Monday, was named on the bench for Wednesday’s match against Hearts at Ibrox along with fellow new recruits David Healy and Kyle Bartley.

However he got his first taste of Scottish football earlier than expected when he came off the bench to replace the injured Lee McCulloch in the 20th minute of Rangers’ 1-0 win that moved them to five points behind rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

Diouf has a colourful reputation after being involved in a number of controversial incidents during his career, notably being fined when he spat at a Celtic fan in 2003 while playing for Liverpool.

But the striker, who has also played for Bolton and Lens, came through his Rangers debut incident free despite coming in for some rough treatment from a Hearts team that saw Marius Zaliukas, Ian Black and Ryan Stevenson all booked for challenges on the Senegalese player.

Afterwards, Smith said he had no qualms about fielding Diouf in the always volatile surroundings of a Glasgow derby when Rangers face Celtic in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup tomorrow.

“He needs time because he has not played for a few weeks now,” Smith said of his loan signing.

“I thought he did that very well. Overall, I was pleased with the way he played considering serial killers get better publicity than he has over the last few days.

“It was never going to be easy for him after all that, so I’m obviously pleased he managed to handle it.

“We were only going to look to play him in in the second half of the game.

“He’s got a bit longer than we thought, so he’ll be ready for Sunday’s game.” 

  

Fabregas is the target of a witch hunt, blasts Wenger

LONDON: Angry Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claimed yesterday that his skipper Cesc Fabregas has become the target of a witch hunt.

The 23-year-old midfielder was at the centre of controversy in midweek when he was involved in an angry confrontation with match officials after Everton striker Louis Saha scored despite being in an offside position.

After the match at the Emirates, in which Arsenal hit back to win 2-1, Everton manager David Moyes claimed Fabregas made unrepeatable comments to the officials.

Asked if he thought there was a witch hunt against the Spanish international, Wenger replied: “Yes.

“We are long enough in the job to know that somebody picks on you for a while, and you are in the heat of the moment.

“But for me what is the most important is the player behaves well.

“When Cesc is on the pitch, he tries to play football – I cannot say everybody who plays against him tries to do that.

“For example, some people reproach him for not exchanging shirts with a player after the game – but I hope he will not exchange shirts with players who try to kick him for 90 minutes and them come to say ‘please can I get your shirt?’

“I think that is a normal and natural reaction. Overall this guy is an example on the football pitch and shows you how to play football.”

He added: “People are more demanding, and Cesc has to live with that.

“It is not easy, but he is a very intelligent man and he will learn very quickly to cope with that.

Second-placed Arsenal can close the gap on leaders Manchester United by winning at Newcastle today.

Victory for Arsenal at St James’ Park will cut United’s advantage to two points, although Sir Alex Ferguson’s side will have the opportunity to restore that to five again by winning the day’s late kick-off game, at bottom club Wolverhampton.

Robin van Persie was hoping United’s unbeaten run, which has seen then win 15 and draw nine of their 24 league games this season, would soon end.

“I’m confident Manchester United will drop points – 100 per cent,” he declared. “They have got big games coming up, the (Manchester) derby, Chelsea and other big games.”

“But the main thing is to look at our own schedule, we have a tough opponent on Saturday in Newcastle away.”

Whatever happens, Arsenal will have at least arrived in the north-east in impressive form, having won their last six matches in all competitions, with a 2-1 home victory over Everton on Tuesday their most recent success. 

  

Redknapp still has not given up hope on landing Beckham

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is contemplating a new bid for David Beckham even as the former England captain prepared to end his temporary stay without having played for the London club.

Redknapp hasn’t ruled out making a move for Beckham when the midfielder’s current deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy expires in November, even though the dead-ball expert will then be 36.

Beckham has been training with Spurs ahead of the new Major League Soccer season in the United States and is due to return to Los Angeles.

Redknapp tried but failed to seal a loan move for the midfielder and had to be content in seeing Beckham train with his squad.

“I think David will go back on the ninth (of February),” Redknapp said on Thursday.

“I would like to have had him playing as he has looked great in training.

“He is so slim and so fit, he is a fanatical trainer. He works in the morning and the afternoon in the gym. He just loves playing football.

“He could be at home now sitting around the pool. I am sure he has a decent enough semi in Los Angeles but he is over here wanting to play football. Most footballers would want to be in Los Angeles.

“But that is what has made him what he is. He wants to keep playing and he is a mega rich man. He just loves the game.”

Tottenham remained in contention for a top-four spot and a place in next season’s Champions League after a 1-0 win away to Blackburn on Wednesday.

Peter Crouch headed in the only goal of the game from a Rafael van der Vaart cross and Redknapp said it was the kind of ball Beckham could supply as a matter of course.

Asked if he might make a fresh bid for the former Manchester United favourite, Redknapp replied: “I could do, yeah. I love him, I love the way he plays. That ball that van der Vaart hit for Crouchy, David hit about seven of them the other morning in training.

“It was like he had radar and Crouchy kept heading them in the goal. I kept saying ‘That’s what I have been asking you to do, lads’.