Friday, December 9, 2011

Sports World

---

Vidic blow completes nightmare week for Man United Posted: 09 Dec 2011 04:30 AM PST It was the news that Sir Alex Ferguson expected, but it nevertheless stung when it was confirmed that defender Nemanja Vidic will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament. The giant Serbian suffered the injury just before half-time in the club's 2-1 Champions League defeat to Basel, a loss that sent them spiralling out of the Champions League and into the Europa League. The damaging prognosis of Vidic's injury merely rubs salt into an already gaping United wounds. With the club still five points behind Manchester City in the title race, it is little wonder that things are a little glum in the red half of Manchester at present, with festive cheer conspicuous by its absence during Fergie's press conference. "Nemanja is out for the season," Ferguson said. "It is bad news. He will be a loss. "I thought [the injury] was a bad one when I saw it." "[Vidic] sees the specialist on Monday to map out the progress of when he has the operation. It won't be immediate because we have to let the swelling come down." He now joins Dimtar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Fabio, Rafael and Javier Hernandez on the sidelines, while winger Ashley Young looked to have aggravated his toe injury against Basel where he was substituted in the second half. The Red Devils have fallen well behind in the Premier League betting with their rampant noisy neighbours seemingly on an unstoppable course for the title next May. That will be hard to take for a man like Ferguson, who is eyeing a final flourish before bringing the curtain down on his illustrious managerial career. However, people were writing similar obituaries when United last upset the football betting and tumbled out of the Champions League back in 2005. They had also gone three years without the league title at that stage too, but they roared back to win three Premier League trophies, two league cups, the Champions League and two further Champions League finals. Given what's gone on before, I wouldn't bet against Fergie having the last laugh this time round either.

Gauvain Peterborough win enhances Cheltenham claims Posted: 09 Dec 2011 02:51 AM PST Nick Williams proved his decision to turn Gauvain out again only five days after taking a crashing fall to be exactly right as the talented performer put in a career best effort to lower the colours of hot favourite Somersby in the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on Thursday, in the process doing plenty to advertise his prospects for honours at the Cheltenham Festival in March, writes Elliot Slater. Gauvain, who had never before won beyond the minimum trip, had been in contention in the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown the previous Saturday when taking a heavy tumble at the eighth fence and his presence in the line-up for the Huntingdon contest came as a surprise to many observers. Williams however was thoroughly satisfied that the nine-year-old was none the worse for his mishap and he proved fully vindicated as the German-bred jumped well throughout before taking up the running at the third from home. Those looking at the latest Cheltenham odds will have been impressed. Asked to quicken before the home turn by Noel Fehily, Gauvain soon put daylight between himself and the rest of the field, and though Somersby stayed-on to take second he never appeared likely to rein in the winner who had done enough to score by an impressive four-and-a-half-lengths. Undoubtedly Gauvain's task had been made easier by the surprise fifth fence departure of The Nightingale, but there was little doubt that the son of Sternkoenig saw the extended two-and-a-half mile trip out very well in the soft ground and he consequently appears to have the option of tackling the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in the spring (for which he is now generally on offer at 14/1), or going for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, for which he was cut from 33/1 to as short as 14/1 with some firms following his Peterborough Chase success.

You are subscribed to email updates from Sports World To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610