UEFA Europa League: Spurs Beat Dnipro, Will Face SL Benfica

It was an exciting match on Thursday that featured some interesting back stories and development as the Tottenham Hotspur was able to get 3-1 comeback win over Dnipro. With the win, the Spurs qualify for round of 16 wherein they will face SL Benfica.

Here's the game recap from UEFA's official website.

UEFA Game Recap

Spurs were stunned by Roman Zozulya's header after half-time, but any hopes ex-Tottenham boss Juande Ramos harboured of a successful return to his former stomping ground were dashed by Christian Eriksen's set piece and a five-minute Emmanuel Adebayor double salvo that followed Zozulya's red card.

With his team losing 1-0 in Ukraine last week, Tim Sherwood took the proactive approach to reversing Spurs' fortunes in this last-32 tie, starting both Roberto Soldado and Adebayor. The latter made an early impact, nodding down a high ball for Eriksen, whose deflected volley dropped just over. Eriksen was Tottenham's main protagonist, but the Denmark schemer's hesitancy in promising areas extinguished several opportunities, and a curling free-kick was smothered by Dnipro goalkeeper Denys Boyko.

Despite the bodies the Premier League side had devoted to attack, an interval lead eluded them. The home fans' frustration was then compounded moments after the restart when Dnipro captain Ruslan Rotan's set piece was met by Zozulya's flashing header that left Hugo Lloris with little chance.

That stung the hosts into life. Mousa Dembélé's bouncing volley clipped the crossbar before Eriksen squeezed another exquisite free-kick inside the base of the left upright to equalise. At the other end, Yevhen Konoplyanka cracked a low shot off the left post, though the momentum shifted again soon after as goalscorer Zozulya was sent off for violent conduct on 63 minutes.

From then on, the match became the Adebayor show. The forward stabbed in Eriksen's swinging cross to level the aggregate score on 65 minutes, and then put Spurs in the driving seat when he brought down Zeki Fryers' long diagonal and finished with aplomb. Lloris was called upon to repel Yevhen Seleznyov's thumping drive and Konoplyanka's set piece as Dnipro strove to spoil the party late on – but Sherwood's charges survived the onslaught to advance.

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Barca Retakes Top Spot in La Liga with Win Over Sevilla

After the 4-1 win over Sevilla last weekend, Barcelona re-takes the first place in La Liga from Athletico Madrid who suffered a shocking loss against Almeria.

Sevilla started strong with Alberto Moreno scoring the first goal in the 15th minute of the match. Sevilla had a chance to take a 2-0 in the 20th minute but the header from Carlos Bacca hit the post, saving Barca from getting into a deep hole.

Barca was largely passive in the early going. Sevilla already had 5 attempts in the first 20 minutes of the match while Barca had zero tries. It was only until Sevilla scored that Barca became more aggressive.

However, Barca wasn't able to score until the 34th minute, in which a header by Alexis Sanchez from a long free kick by Lionel Messi tied the game. With two minutes remaining before halftime, Barca was able to score their second goal courtesy of Messi. From there on, it was pretty much a soft sailing for the visiting Barcelona team.

Messi scored another goal in the 56th minute to extend the lead 3-1 and a Cesc Fabregas goal in the 87th minute resulted to a final score of 4-1.

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Serie A: Inter Milan Sign Hernanez

On January 31, news from the official website of Inter Milan announced the completion of the signing of Brazilian midfielder Hernanez. Prior to the signing, the 28-year old midfielder has been playing for Lazio since 2010 and has become one of the prominent stars on the team and the league.

This is a great acquisition for the club who could seriously benefit from the Brazilian midfielder's playmaking. Hernanez handles the ball pretty well and is an accurate passer and shooter from long range. His abilities just matches well with the current system Inter Milan is running.

Hernanez has been relatively quiet this season and playing a bigger role in Inter Milan's system could get him back to looking like his old and effective self.

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Manchester United and Chelsea Agree to Malta Transfer

There's the headline. Here are the details.

Manchester United have  officially confirmed that the club has agreed to a deal with Chelsea for the transfer of Spanish Juan Mata.

The 25 year old Mata plays attacking midfielder and have signed with Chelsea  since 2011 and had 69 appearances in his first two seasons. After getting regular time in his first two seasons, he's only had 11 starts this season and reports earlier this month stated that he was eager to leave the club.

Manchester United currently ranks 7th in the Barclays Premier League and the club is hoping that the addition of Mata could add some life into their season.

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EPL: Liverpool Defender Daniel Agger Could Miss a Month

After suffering a calf strain during last Sunday's FA Cup game against Oldham, Liverpool defender Daniel Agger could miss a month as he recovers from the injury. Due to the injury, it is very likely that he will miss big games against the fifth place Everton and the league-leading Arsenal.

The injury adds more problems for Liverpool on the defensive end. Prior to Agger's injury, the team is already without one center-back and two full-backs in Sebastian Coates, Jose Enrique  and Jon Flanagan.

La Liga: Messi Impressive in His Return

Image from fcbarcelona.com

As the header says, Lionel Messi was impressive in his return after not having played since November as he nursed his injury. On Wednesday night, Messi was able to make two goals within four minutes as Barcelona defeated Getafe 4-0.

The first goal came at the 89th minute in somewhat a lucky fashion as the ball deflected off a defender and into the feet of Messi, in which he proceeded to  kick into the goal. The second goal was more impressive as fans got to see the Messi of old as he dribbled past a defender to get close to the box and kicked the ball in with ease.

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Europa League 2013 Group Stage Results

If you're a soccer fan and loves making online sports bet, here is something that might interest you. The results of the group stage matches for Europa League 2013 are out. I'm not going to bore you with introduction so here you go.

Group A

• Kuban Krasnodar defeated St. Gallen 4-0
• Valencia defeated Swansea City 1-0

Group B

• Ludogorets defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-0
• Chornomorets Odesa defeated Dinamo Zagreb 2-1

Group C

• Esbjerg defeated Standard Liège 2-1
• Salzburg defeated Elfsborg 1-0

Group D

• Rubin Kazan drew Maribor 1-1
• Zulte Waregem defeated Wigan Athletic 2-1

Group E

• Dnipro defeated Pandurii 4-1
• Paços Ferreira drew Fiorentina 0-0

Group F

• Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Bordeaux 1-0
• APOEL drew Maccabi Tel Aviv 0-0

Group G

• Genk defeated Dynamo Kyiv Aviv 3-1
• Rapid Wien defeated Thun 2-1

Group H

• Freiburg defeated Liberec 2-1
• Sevilla drew Estoril 1-1

Group I

• Rijeka drew Guimarães 0-0
• Lyon defeated Real Betis 1-0

Group J

• Lazio defeated Legia 2-0
• Trabzonspor defeated Apollon 4-2

Group K

• Anzhi drew Sheriff 1-1
• Tottenham Hotspur defeated Tromsø 2-0

Group L

• PAOK defeated Shakhter 2-0
• AZ defeated Maccabi Haifa 2-0

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Houston Rockets Defensive Problem Continues

Last reason, the Rockets had one of the most exciting offense in the league. With their youth, they were always attacking aggressively on transition that allowed for easy layups and uncontested three-pointers as there weren't many teams who were able to run with them. This type of offense gave them a chance even against the better teams in the league. The only weakness for the team back then was the lack of defense.

The acquisition of Dwight Howard over the summer made everyone believe that the defensive woes for the Rockets have been solved. However, more than two weeks into the new season, the same defensive problem from last year is still haunting the Rockets. And here's the reason why.

Just like last year, the team's backcourt struggles in slowing down or stopping penetrations and they are also unable to properly cover pick-and-roll plays. This flaw of the team compromising its entire defense and even the best defensive center won't be able to help the team.

The insertion of a pesky defensive player in Patrick Beverly into the starting unit was supposedly going to solve this problem. But as you can see, it seems like it hasn't really taken effect at all. After the injury early in the season, Beverly hasn't played the fierce defense that he showed last season. Also, opposing teams are more conscious of James Harden's pathetic defense and are taking advantage of it.

Although a better defensive scheme would help, the Rockets could really use some better individual defense.

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Why Chelsea Loaning Away Lukaku Isn't So Bad

Chelsea has caught plenty of flak for lending away  Romelu Lukaku to Everton for the entire season. And it isn't likely to stop as Belgian striker scores for his borrowed team. However, I'm having a hard time understanding all these criticisms mixed with anger for the team. It's not like Lukaku is never coming back. In fact, the decision to loan Lukaku to Everton can even be very beneficial for the team in the near future.

Helping his development

Despite showing brilliance, the 20-year old still needs to further develop his game. And the best way to help him develop is to give him playing time and a significant role without the burden of a heavy responsibility. These are things can't offer him right now that Everton can. Some of the things he needs to improve his touch and he also needs to develop his decision-making. In a way, it benefits all parties. Everton becomes more entertaining or competitive. Chelsea is growing a talent. Lukaku is improving himself.

Weightless Comparisons

I can definitely understand people who are saying that Lukaku deserves to be on the team over other Chelsea strikers. Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba aren't exactly looking so great right now. However, they aren't that so bad either.

Those who are comparing Lukaku to Didier Drogba and thinking that the Belgian can lead the Chelsea offense also needs to realize that his game is still far from that of the latter. As mentioned, his game is still a bit raw. Putting him in a position with a heavy responsibility might even hamper his growth.

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