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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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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Atlanta Hawks Make Eastern Conference a Better Place

This was supposed to be a year of rebuild for the Atlanta Hawks. The team has finally let go of their long-standing franchise player in Josh Smith. Then there's the hiring of new coach Mike Budenholzer, a former long-time assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. During the time, this moves hinted a drastic change to the team, not only for the roster but with the system and culture.

In the NBA, drastic changes is often synonymous with a disastrous season. That is why prior to the start of the season, many Hawks fans were preparing for a tough year, consoling themselves with the potential to get a prime talent in what is expected to be a very talented draft pool next summer. The expectations were low.

However, two months into the season, the Hawks have been a pleasant surprise not only for its loyal followers but also for the general basketball fans. Despite the lack of a big-named player on the roster, the team has been playing great, competing well and winning against the better teams in the league. They are doing this with good ball movement on offense and solid work on the defensive end. The new way the team is playing is simply refreshing to watch, especially for Hawks fans. And to general basketball fans, the Hawks make the eastern conference a little bit more bearable.

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As Cavaliers Falter, Irving Deserves Some Blame

Although he did miss a good chunk of games last season, Kyrie Irving was impressive when he played. His impressive play didn't always translate to wins, but I always alluded it to the inexperience of the team and the lack of key pieces. I thought about how scary the Cavaliers can be if he is surrounded with the right talent.

During the off-season, the Cavs loaded on players that in theory could work with Irving very well. The team signed Andrew Bynum to have reliable scorer down low. They added Earl Clark for to be a versatile forward who can hit shots and has good energy on defense. They also signed Jarrett Jack to back Irving in point guard duties. The rest of the roster looked solid and many believed that they could be one of the better teams in the eastern conference.

However, we are already almost two months into the season and the Cavaliers are currently out of the playoff picture at the number 9 spot of the east and have looked so bad in a handful of games. Just like many struggling teams, drama has brewed within the team. Many tried to find the reason for this debacle and as it stands right now, majority of the reason has been on Irving.

Irving hasn't quite lived up to the expectations many had for him. Looking at his stats, it doesn't look like he has improved much at all. In fact, he has struggled with his 3-point shooting. He is also being exposed as a liability on defense, often finding himself out of position and not being able to follow the defensive scheme that the coaching staff wants the team to be playing such as getting through screens. This puts the defense in peril as they don't really have guys who can cover for his mistake.

So far, the Cavs have faltered amidst expectations and Irving's performance is a primary reason for it. If the team is doing well, Irving would get plenty of credit as he is the best and currently the most important player on the team. Thus, it is also only fair that he deserves much of the blame if the team is underperforming as they are now.

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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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The Knicks are Back, And They Suck

After a successful regular season run last year, the Knicks disappointed in the playoffs as they got trounced in the second round of the playoffs by the Pacers, a team that was widely ignored by most NBA fans. During the said playoffs, one problem that really showed was the team's stagnating offense at crucial parts of the game.

Mind-boggling

The Knicks are most effective on half-court offense when they move the ball. Due to ball movement, they have an easier time finding openings to the basket which allows for easier lay-ups.

That is why it is mind-boggling during crucial times, they prefer to call an isolation play for Carmelo Anthony that usually ends up with a perimeter shot. It's great if Anthony is hitting shots at high percentage. Unfortunately, for all the praise he's gotten for his offensive game, he isn't really the most efficient scorer in the game when it comes to one-on-one situations.

Opening the Season Looking the Same

During their first game of the season wherein they faced the Milwaukee Bucks, there were some periods in the game wherein the offense just stalled as they seemed to have relied on jumpers that weren't just going in. As a result, what could have been a blowout resulted to a tight game at the end.

Almost the same thing happened when they played against the Chicago Bulls wherein they trailed for the most part of the game but was able to take the lead around the last 3 minutes by hustling on defense and attacked the basket more that resulted to layups, dunks and fouls.

However, as the game was about the end as the Knicks leading by 2, they decided that it is better to give the ball to Anthony and watch him work. He turned the ball over one time and missed on another possession.

I just wonder when they will realize that giving the ball to Anthony and rely on him isn't really the best thing they can do.

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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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