Ronaldo breaks Roma resistance as Real win 2-0
Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 12th Champions League goal of the season with a superb strike into the top corner as Real Madrid took a firm grip on their last-16 tie against AS Roma with a 2-0 first leg win on Wednesday.
The record 10 times European champions took the game to Roma, but were frustrated in the first half as the hosts kept men behind the ball, while looking to catch Real out on the break.
Ronaldo, however, ended their resistance just before the hour mark.
He audaciously controlled a fine pass from Marcelo on the left edge of the box, before unleashing a powerful, curling shot that deflected off Alessandro Florenzi and looped over keeper Wojciech Szczesny into the net.
Substitute Jese added the Spanish team's second four minutes from fulltime with a solo run into the box and shot across the face of goal that flew inside the far post.
Wolves at the door of last 16 after Draxler double
Reuters
Julian Draxler scored twice as VfL Wolfsburg took a big step towards reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-2 victory over Gent in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Draxler, who joined from Schalke 04 at the start of the season, struck in the 44th minute after a classy dribble took him past midfielder Thomas Foket before he exchanged passes with Vierinha and tucked the ball beyond keeper Matz Sels.
Gent began the second half much improved, pushing for an equaliser, but Draxler netted again in the 54th minute as he capitalised on one of many errant passes by the home defence.
Max Kruse made it 3-0 with a close-range volley and came close to adding a fourth goal when his shot rebounded off the post.
Sven Kums sparked a late rally by Gent after capping a fine run in the 80th minute by delivering a right-foot drive that beat Koen Casteels at the far post.
Substitute Kalifa Coulibaly then gave Gent hope for next month's second leg when he converted a left-wing cross with a stooping near-post header in the 89th minute.
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Messi makes history as Barca open big lead
Reuters
Lionel Messi became the first player to notch 300 La Liga goals as his double blast powered Barcelona to a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon that sent them six points clear at the top of the table on Wednesday.
"To have Messi is a privilege," coach Luis Enrique told reporters. "We are where we wanted to be."
Luis Suarez missed a second-half penalty but made amends soon after by scoring the third goal to take his tally in all competitions to 40 this season.
The match at El Molinon was originally due to be played in December but had to be switched because of Barca's involvement in the Club World Cup in Japan.
Barca now have 60 points from 24 matches, six more than second-placed Atletico Madrid and seven ahead of Real Madrid.
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Mobiles banned from FIFA voting booths to ensure secrecy
Brian Homewood, Reuters
Mobile phones and cameras will be banned from polling booths at next week's FIFA presidential election to ensure each vote remains secret, one of the candidates said on Wednesday.
Frenchman Jerome Champagne said he raised the issue with the electoral committee because he was concerned some voters had come under pressure to photograph their ballot papers to prove they had taken part.
FIFA's 209 member national associations (FAs) each hold one vote. Five candidates are standing to replace outgoing president Sepp Blatter, banned for eight years amid a widening graft scandal that has shaken world soccer's ruling body.
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Man United's Rooney faces spell out with knee injury
Reuters
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has suffered a knee injury and faces a spell on the sidelines, manager Louis van Gaal said on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old was left out of the 18-man squad that travelled to face FC Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday and Van Gaal explained why after arriving in Denmark.
"We have 13 players injured and Wayne is one of them," the Dutchman told MUTV.
"He has a knee problem so we have to wait and see. He scores a lot of goals so he is very important for us. We know that but we have to cope with that."
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FIFA sanctions Beckenbauer over World Cup bidding probe
Agence France-Presse
FIFA's ethics committee on Wednesday sanctioned German football legend Franz Beckenbauer with a warning and a light fine for failing to cooperate with a probe into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
The investigation into the controversial decisions to award the two tournaments to Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) culminated in the now famous 2014 report authored by former US prosecutor Michael Garcia, which FIFA has so far not released, citing procedural reasons.
Beckenbauer "failed to cooperate" with the investigation, "despite repeated requests for his assistance," an ethics committee statement said.
The information sought from Beckenbauer included "requests to provide information during an in-person interview and in response to written questions presented in both English and German," the statement added.
FIFA judges issued a warning to Beckenbauer and fined him 7,000 Swiss francs ($7,000, 6,350 euros).
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
