Liverpool reach League Cup semis

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 11/30/2011 6:46 AM

Liverpool raided Chelsea for the second time in 10 days to reach the semifinals of the League Cup on Tuesday, while Manchester City also grabbed a victory against a Premier League title rival in London to qualify for the last four.

Craig Bellamy set up goals for Maxi Rodriguez in the 58th minute and Martin Kelly in the 63rd as seven-time competition winner Liverpool won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to pile the pressure on Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas, whose team has now lost five of its last nine matches in all competitions.

It was an emotional night for Bellamy, who returned to the Liverpool team two days after missing its 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League because he was too upset to play following the death of former Wales teammmate Gary Speed on Sunday.

The striker held back the tears prior to kickoff on Tuesday as fans and players from both sides conducted a moving one minute's applause at Stamford Bridge in honor of Wales'national team manager, before going on to play a key part in Liverpool's dismantling of the home side.

"Speedo was regarded as his mentor," Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said of Bellamy. "To come back and play like that speaks volumes."

City, which is five points clear at the top of the Premier Leaue, transferred its form to England's second-ranked club competition, beating Arsenal 1-0 thanks to an 83rd-minute goal by Sergio Aguero.

The Argentina striker, who came off the bench midway through the first half, met a pass from Adam Johnson with a thumping shot past Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski as Ciy eliminated Arsene Wenger's side in the quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons.

Second-tier Cardiff reached the last four for the first time since 1966 by beating Premier League struggler Blackburn 2-0.

Manchester United looks to become the third northwest power to make the semifinals when ithosts Crystal Palace in Wednesday's only match.

Chelsea was unfortunate to lose 2-1 to Liverpool in the league on Nov. 20 but was outclassed 10 days later, even though Liverpool was playing just 48 hours after a gruelling match against City.

"It's a pity for us," Villas-Boas said. "We had a good chanceto progress at home but Liverpool were far superior."

Andy Carroll wasted a glorious chance to put Liverpool ahead, blasting a 22nd-minute penalty straight at Chelsea goalkeeper Ross Turnbull after Alex was penalized for handling the ball in his own box.

Rodriguez made no mistake from close range just beore the hour, though, tapping home at the far post after running onto a inch-perfect cross by Bellamy, who had broken the offside trap on the right wing.

Bellamy was again the provider five minutes later when he swung in a great free kick from the left that was glanced in by England under-21 defender Kelly.

Chelsea's defeat - its third in a 10-day span in three different competitions - will be another tough pill to swallow for Villas-Boas, who had to deal with chants from Liverpool's vocal fans of "You're getting sacked in the morning" in the second half.

With the Blues 10 points off the lead in the Premier Lague and facing possible elimination from the Champions League, their best chance of silverware may have been the League Cup.

They were poor throughout, with their midfield totally dominated and striker Fernando Torres - a 50 million pounds ($81 million) signing from Liverpool in January - anonymous.

Arsenal's hopes of making the semifinals for the fifth time in seven seasons were dashed by a City team containing two former Gunners - playmaker Samir Nasri, who joined in the summer for 25 million pounds, and defender Kolo Toure.

Every time Nasri touched the ball, he was booed and the France international was also on the receiving end of a number of chants, including "You only quit for the money."

Arsenal officials were also forced to reject rumors that punches were thrown between Nasri and Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong in the tunnel after the match, saying that only words were exchanged. There appeared to be tensions between the two during the match.

City is looking to add another cup to its trophy haul after winning the FA Cup last season to end a 35-year wait for major silverware.

"It's better to win here in the Premier League," Mancini said. "But it's a good feeling because we're in the semifinals of this competition."

Scotland striker Kenny Miller gave Cardiff the lead in the 19th against Blackburn before Anthony Gerrard - the cousin of Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard - wrapped up the win five minutes after the break for the team currently third from top in the League Championship.

First RI evacuees from Egypt to reach Jakarta on Wednesday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/02/2011 10:30 AM | National

The Foreign Affairs Ministry says the first group of Indonesians evacuated from Egypt will arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The 415 evacuees, mostly women and children, will reach Soekarno Hatta International Airport at 11 a.m. on Wednesday on a Garuda Indonesia flight and be brought to dormitories at Pondok Gede Haj to meet immigration and customs officials, ministry spokesman Michael Tene said.

The evacuation team ran into problems when transporting the evacuees to Cairo International Airport after it was banned from using large buses, Michael said.

Michael said preparations were underway to evacuate the next group of Indonesians, declining to discuss specifics.

“It’s all still in process,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com online news portal.

City beats Leicester 4-2 to reach FA Cup 4th round

The Associated Press, Manchester | Wed, 01/19/2011 7:29 AM | Sports

Carlos Tevez's 16th goal of the season helped Manchester City earn a 4-2 win over second-tier Leicester in a FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday.

The Argentina striker set City on its way in the 15th minute with a stunning individual effort and although he later missed a second-half penalty, the hosts had too much for Leicester as they set up a match at Notts County in the fourth round.

Patrick Vieira and Adam Johnson scored in the space of 77 seconds to put Roberto Mancini's side 3-1 up at the break and Aleksandar Kolarov's late finish saw off the plucky visitors, coached by former City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Premier League struggler Wolverhampton thrashed Doncaster 5-0 to progress and will next play Stoke, which beat Cardiff 2-0 thanks to two extra-time goals by striker Jon Walters.

Arsenal travels to Leeds, which plays in the second-tier League Championship, on Wednesday in the other third-round replay.

Eriksson was making his return to Eastlands for the first time since he was fired by City at the end of the 2007-08 season, after just one year at the club.

Since then, things have changed a lot at a club which is second in the Premier League and trailing neighbor Manchester United only on goal difference. A group of wealthy Abu Dhabi investors has taken over the club and its four scorers against Leicester were all signed after the ex-England manager's departure.

The first match between the teams ended 2-2 at Leicester on Jan. 9, but the second-tier side battled just as gamely nine days on.

Tevez opened the scoring when he barged his way into the penalty box before unleashing a powerful shot that flew into the net.

Paul Gallagher equalized from the penalty spot after holding midfielder Vieira, one of four changes made by City from the 4-3 win against Wolves in the Premier League at the weekend, brought down Lloyd Dyer.

However, the hosts, four-time winners of the competition and one of the favorites this season, netted twice in the space of a little more than a minute to kill the game off.

Vieira made amends by tapping in from close range in the 37th after Spain winger David Silva's shot was cleared off the line, and Johnson ran onto a pass from Silva before slotting home a neat finish.

Tevez missed a chance to double his tally for the evening when his poor 57th-minute penalty, awarded after the Argentina international was fouled by Jack Hobbs, was easily saved by Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale.

With City almost playing at walking pace, Dyer set up a tense finish by scoring with eight minutes left but Leicester was unable to snatch an equalizer and Serbia left back Kolarov claimed City's fourth following a late counterattack.

Off-season signing Steven Fletcher met Stephen Hunt's cross in the fifth minute to put Wolves ahead at Molineux, before three goals in the space of 13 second-half minutes put paid to second-tier Doncaster's chances.

Belgian midfielder Geoffrey Mujangi Bia smashed in his first goal for the Midlanders to make it 2-0 in the 61st and further goals by Kevin Doyle and substitute Matt Jarvis made it 4-0. David Jones added gloss to the scoreline with the team's fifth in second-half stoppage time.

After a low-standard period of normal time at the Cardiff City Stadium, Walters got Stoke off to the perfect start in extra time by heading in Michael Tonge's cross after just one minute.

The same player ended Cardiff's hopes by finishing from an acute angle in the 115th to seal the midtable Premier League team's progress.