Football

25 January 2011 Real Madrid confirmed on their website on Tuesday they had signed Manchester City's Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan till the end of the season. The 26-year-old has been brought in to add urgently needed firepower after Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain underwent surgery to fix a slipped disc earlier this month and is expected to be out…

26 January 2011 Round 17 of the Absa Premiership is a little disjointed with two teams in the South African top flight having to take part in CAF competitions over the weekend of the 28th-30th of January. This combined with the fact that one league match was postponed in the last round due to bad weather and a water logged…

25 January 2011 The year 2010 was a tumultuous one for South Africa as the country hosted the FIFA World Cup and on the field the national side showed signs of improvement. But that is now all in the past and the country will look to 2011 to keep the steady progress of the past 12 months going. It promises…

25 January 2011 Going past the four-goal mark is proving to be a bridge too far for strikers in the Nigeria Premier League. Rather than any of the strikers notching his fifth goal of the season at the weekend, two others were happy to make the four-goal club Ekigho Ehouson (Warri Wolves) and Abdulrahman Bashir (Bukola Babes). This means that…

24 January 2011 Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka and Ramires were all on target as Chelsea ended their miserable run of away form with a 4-0 victory at Bolton here on Monday to keep alive their dim hopes of the Premier League title. Carlo Ancelotti's side had fallen away from contention for the title with a record of one…

25 January 2011 South Africa and Morocco went head to head seven years ago for the right to stage the first World Cup in Africa and the former emerged 14-10 winners after a FIFA executive vote. After winning worldwide praise for their hosting of the 2010 World Cup won by Spain, South Africa have adjusted their sights toward the African…

24 January 2011 Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov led a European parade of hat-trick hitmen that included Arsenal's Robin van Persie, Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich and Sevilla's Luis Fabiano. Bulgarian star Berbatov bagged his third hat-trick of the season in the 5-0 Old Trafford demolition of Birmingham to take his tally to 18 goals and keep United clear at the…

24 January 2011 Warri Wolves moved into third place in the Nigeria Premier League with a 3-1 home win over struggling Plateau United. Kaduna United added champions Enyimba to their list of top-profile casualties with an odd goal victory at home, Bukola recorded a remarkable away victory at Crown FC and Lobi Stars pipped Ocean Boys 1-0. Striker Ekigho Ehuosun…

24 January 2011 South Africas Absa Premiership has a new leader after the weekends action, with Orlando Pirates now the pacesetters at the head of the table. That the Buccaneers are now top of the log is a remarkable thing, given that they found themselves 2-0 down against Bidvest Wits on Saturday evening at the same time that long-time leaders…

22 January 2011 Dimitar Berbatov claimed his 18th goal and third hat-trick of the season as Manchester United retained first place in the Premier League with a 5-0 battering of Birmingham at Old Trafford. Berbatov started the rout inside two minutes after Nani won a corner inside the first 60 seconds and Ryan Giggs curled in a superb cross from…

22 January 2011 Champions Barcelona went seven points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish first division on Saturday as goals from Pedro Rodriguez, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta sealed a 3-0 home win over Racing Santander. Barcelona had lost 3-1 to Real Betis in their midweek Kings Cup match - although they reached the semi-finals 6-3…

23 January 2011 Heartland picked up their biggest win of the season after they slammed Zamfara United 3-0 at their new home ground of Calabar. Enugu Rangers recorded their first point away from home at the expense of Niger Tornadoes in Kaduna as there were also narrow home wins for Kwara United and league leaders Dolphin. Heartland, Nigerias standard bearers…

22 January 2011 After notching a record-breaking 52 points at the halfway stage of the season, champions Barcelona are in the box seat to win a third consecutive Spanish league title, holding a four-point lead over rivals Real Madrid. Barcelona have won 13 league games in a row with their last league loss back in mid-September and aim to continue…

9 January 2011 Dolphin beat Heartland 1-0 Saturday to open a four-point lead at the top of the Nigeria Premier League after closest rivals Warri Wolves were downed by Bukola Babes. Dolphin have now recorded 21 points from 10 matches, while Warri Wolves are second on 17 points. However, third-placed Sunshine Stars with 16 points could cut back this lead…

16 January 2011 A last-gasp strike by substitute striker Victor Namo saved Kano Pillars from a home defeat at the hands of Sharks in continuation of the Nigeria Premier League Saturday. Sharks looked like they had the game in the bag courtesy of an early goal by veteran striker Victor Ezeji, before Pillars leading scorer in the 2009 CAF Champions…