Manchester United records 3.3 per cent loss in revenue

Manchester United has announced a pre-tax loss of £4.7m on falling revenues in the year to June, just a month after the club floated on the New York Stock Exchange.
The loss falls short of a £12m profit from the previous year. However, a one-off tax credit of 28 million pounds boosted post-tax profits to 23.4 million pounds.
Revenue fell by 3.3per cent over the period to £320m, although the club predicts income of between £350m and £360m next year, if the team reaches the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Matchday revenue fell 10.9 per cent to £98.7m as a result of playing four fewer home games than in the previous season, and broadcasting income dropped 11.3 per cent to £104m after the club was knocked-out at the group stages of the Champions League.
TV broadcast rights for the Premier League are expected to bring in £1bn a year from next year to 2015/2016 for BSkyB and BT Vision, of which Manchester United will receive a share.
The club also signed a new shirt sponsorship deal this year with General Motors which will generate income of $559m over the next seven years, including $37m to be received this season before the appearance of the new shirts for “pre-sponsorship support”.
Manchester United completed its stock market flotation in New York in August to bring in £68m that was used to reduce the club’s debt. As of June this year the business owed £436.9m. Shares floated at $14 but have fallen as low as $12.18.

Serena and Venus Williams to visit Nigeria

As part of a planned African tour, international tennis champions, newly crowned US Open champion Serena Williams and sister, Venus Serena, are scheduled to visit Lagos on October 30.
While in Lagos, the dynamic tennis sister will inspire, motivate and mentor young Nigerians through a tennis clinic and an exhibition match which will also be their first in Africa.
Programme coordinator Tunji Adeyinka said Venus and Serena’s story of passion, determination, hard work and self-belief serve to boost the morale of athletes and business people alike.
The event is scheduled to take place at the Lagos Tennis Club in Onikan from October 30th to November 2nd.
As well as her Flushing Meadows triumph, Serena won her fifth Wimbledon title and first Olympic singles gold in London

Man. City has what it takes to win the UCL Title -Roberto Mancini

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini confirmed the readiness of his club to take claim the most coveted trophy within club football the UEFA Champions League very very soon.
Mancini said other clubs will have to manage the position of trailing behind Manchester City when the time comes for they have what it takes conquer other club sides saying he is convinced he now has the power at his disposal to cross the line first and become a Champions League winner.
Spending almost £300m on building a side to conquer the rest is no child’s play for the Italian coach and to assure progress with such an amount,it has landed him the FA Cup and Premier League title, but now it is the biggest club prize of all that is in Mancini’s sights – and he is set to go full throttle in a bid to land it for the first time in his managerial career.
The Blues will face the ultimate test of their credentials tonight when they face nine-time winners Real at the Bernabeu – even if Jose Mourinho’s men have been spluttering of late.
The Spanish giants have never lost an opening group game and can secure their 100th win in the competition by sinking the English champions.
But Mancini is convinced the Blues can put their foot down and prove they finally have what it takes to leave Real and the rest lagging behind.
Mancini said Manchester City has a good team and they have played together for a few years, ut he is very sure that they will win the trophy in the future for he does not know when it will happen but the club will win the Champions League.
The Blues have been drawn in the ‘group of death’ alongside Real, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund, the respective champions of Spain, Holland and Germany.
City found themselves in a tough group last season that included eventual runners-up Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal.
Mancini’s men secured 10 points but it wasn’t enough to get them through, although he reckons the experience will stand them in good stead.
Mancini will be without the injured Micah Richards, but welcomes back record signing Sergio Aguero.
He added: “I think this group is stronger than last year, but it will be very difficult for all the teams.
Mancini, who landed three Serie A titles on the bounce with Inter Milan, insists he is not on a personal mission to become the king of Europe, even though the trophy has so far escaped him.

Ba double earns Newcastle draw at Everton

Newcastle United striker Demba Ba struck in the last minute to salvage a 2-2 draw with Everton in a pulsating Premier League match at Goodison Park on Monday.
Everton looked to have sealed all three points when Victor Anichebe turned neatly to crack a low shot past Tim Howard with two minutes left but Ba’s clever finish earned a point for his team.
Everton dominated the first half and led thanks to a fine goal by England left back Leighton Baines before Newcastle equalised just after the interval through halftime substitute Ba.
Everton climbed to seventh in the standings on seven points from four games with Newcastle two points back in 11th.
“I never set up my team to get a draw and in the second half we showed what we are all about,” Newcastle manager Alan Pardew told Sky Sports.
“I was proud of the second half because we were terrific, but the first half we lacked belief and I was shocked at how we played.
“Fortunately we’ve got good players and not many teams would come back and respond in the way we did so all credit to the players for that. At halftime I put some belief in the team, sometimes that’s all you need.”
Everton went ahead in the 15th minute when Baines combined brilliantly with Steven Pienaar before drilling a firm left-foot cross shot past goalkeeper Steve Harper.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew responded by sending on Ba and the move paid immediate dividends when the striker ran on to a beautifully weighted pass from Yohan Cabaye and struck a firm angled left-shoot shot past Tim Howard.
Pienaar was again the creative spark as Everton almost took the lead again but Marouane Fellaini was adjudged narrowly offside after clipping in the South African midfielder’s clever pass.
Everton were also denied a goal after 78 minutes when Anichebe’s close-range header was tipped on to the underside of the crossbar by Harper and appeared to bounce down over the line before being cleared.
Anichebe then controlled Pienaar’s pass and lashed a fierce shot into the corner of the net before Ba prodded Shola Ameobi’s chested flick-on past Howard in a dramatic end to the game.
“We played well, we thought we had other goals in the game but for some reason or not they weren’t given,” Everton manager David Moyes said.
“I thought we deserved the win, sometimes you need decisions to go your way but they didn’t go for us tonight. I felt we should have taken all three points.”
Chelsea lead the Premier League standings after four matches with 10 points following their 0-0 draw at Queen’s Park Rangers on Saturday.
Manchester United climbed to second with a 4-0 rout of Wigan Athletic and Arsenal are third after thrashing Southampton 6-1.
Champions Manchester City are fourth following a 1-1 draw at Stoke City.

Chelsea title thirst remains unquenched: Di Matteo

Chelsea begin their quest to become the first team to win back-to-back Champions League titles on Wednesday when they entertain a Juventus side still getting used to matchdays without their coach.

Chelsea" s soccer players Fernando Torres (L), Juan Mata (C) and coach Roberto Di Matteo (R) attend a news conference at Monaco"s Grimaldi Forum in Monte-Carlo

The Londoners ended a long wait to become kings of Europe for the first time by beating Bayern Munich on penalties on a memorable night in the German club’s Allianz Arena in May but manager Roberto Di Matteo said their thirst for trophies remained unquenched.
“The owner (Roman Abramovich) has never lost his ambition,” Di Matteo said ahead of the Group E opener at Stamford Bridge. “He always wants to win with this club and continue to drive for excellence.
“As long as he is at the helm his ambition to win will never diminish.”
Chelsea have made a good start to their domestic season and are riding high at the top of the Premier League with three wins and one draw from their opening four games.
However, they have failed to win their last two matches, suffering an embarrassing 4-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the European Super Cup in Monaco and being held to a 0-0 draw at neighbours Queens Park Rangers in a feisty Premier League encounter on Saturday.
‘Handshake-gate’ took centre stage at Loftus Road, with QPR defender Anton Ferdinand refusing to acknowledge Chelsea pair John Terry and Ashley Cole before kickoff, but it was also apparent that the European champions were some way short of their best.
The performance of Fernando Torres was also a cause for concern for Chelsea fans as he spent most of the match arguing with the officials over perceived refereeing injustices.
The Spain striker was replaced by Daniel Sturridge with 10 minutes to go and prompted several raised eyebrows when he ran straight down the tunnel.
Di Matteo said he understood why Torres was so disappointed.
“Players are generally not happy to come off,” said the Chelsea manager. “He showed a bit of frustration but it’s not a problem for us.
“He had a chance to score in the first half and a half-decent chance in the second half as well. He played his part in the game.
“We can’t put too much pressure on one player. We are a team and everybody has responsibility and we are looking for other players to score goals as well,” added Di Matteo.
CONTE BAN
Juventus coach Antonio Conte will be absent from the bench because of a 10-month ban for his role in not reporting match-fixing while boss of Siena last year.
Conte, who has strenuously denied the allegations, is appealing against the suspension.
Assistant coach Massimo Carrera is covering for Conte on the bench and a row has broken out in Italy over what the ban actually means and whether Conte can train the squad in private.
Juve started several big names, including Mirko Vucinic and Kwadwo Asamoah, on the bench for the 3-1 win at Genoa on Sunday in order to save them for the Champions League.
However, The Serie A champions needed both players to come on as substitutes in a game where they were second best for long spells.
Vucinic and Asamoah netted late goals to help the Serie A leaders make it three wins from the opening three league games of the season.
Probable teams:
Chelsea: 1-Petr Cech; 2-Branislav Ivanovic, 4-David Luiz, 26-John Terry, 3-Ashley Cole; 8-Frank Lampard, 12-John Obi Mikel, 7-Ramires; 17-Eden Hazard, 10-Juan Mata, 9-Fernando Torres.
Juventus: 1-Gianluigi Buffon; 26-Stephan Lichtsteiner, 15-Andrea Barzagli, 19-Leonardo Bonucci, 3-Giorgio Chiellini, 22-Kwadwo Asamoah; 23-Arturo Vidal, 21-Andrea Pirlo, 8-Claudio Marchisio; 12-Sebastian Giovinco, 9-Mirko Vucinic.