Benitez refuses to write off Liverpool's title challenge

Rafael Benitez refused to write off Liverpool's chances of winning the Premier League this season despite watching his side fall six points behind leaders Chelsea after a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda condemned the Reds to their third defeat of the season and left them languishing in fifth place.

Three league losses is one more than Liverpool suffered over the whole of last season and Benitez's team looked anything but championship quality on Sunday as Chelsea overpowered them in the second half.

However, Benitez is staying upbeat about their title prospects.

"Our target now has to be the next game. Every game is important. We have to keep calm and working hard," he said.

"This year the top sides will lose games but you have to try to improve and we will try to win against Sunderland next.

Murphy makes profligate Basel pay

Fulham FC captain Danny Murphy scored the only goal as Roy Hodgson's side beat FC Basel 1893 to climb to the top of Group E. Murphy struck with a low drive in the 57th minute as Fulham shrugged off a sluggish first-half display and left Basel ruing the chances they missed when in control before the break.

Doubly sweet

Fulham now have four points at their group summit, one clear of both Basel and AS Roma. For Murphy, his decisive strike may have been even sweeter for the fact he was in the Liverpool FC team eliminated from the UEFA Champions League group stage by Basel in 2002 – this despite a goal from the midfielder.

Basel on top

A Fulham victory did not seem likely at half-time when they were lucky to still be level. Basel had not won in six previous visits to England but they arrived on a good run of form with five consecutive wins behind them – including a Matchday 1 success against Roma. They gave their noisy followers packed in a corner of the Johnny Haynes Stand hope of an early breakthrough in the 13th minute when Behrang Safari beat Stephen Kelly wide on the touchline and fed Alexander Frei but the striker dragged his shot wide.

Villa pens perfect finish for Valencia

Valencia CF needed the fight of their lives to subdue Genoa CFC at the Mestalla with the Italian side leading and then equalising before substitute David Villa's late penalty won the game.

Defensive approach

Sergio Floccari gave Genoa the lead and Houssine Kharja struck a 64th-minute penalty to level after second-half strikes from David Silva and Nikola Žigić had put Valencia ahead, but the Liga side earned three points thanks to that Villa moment when, after being sent through by fellow substitute Joaquín, he forced Andrea Esposito to give away the crucial spot-kick.

Everton fight back to beat BATE

Everton FC made it two victories out of two in UEFA Cup Group I after coming from behind to beat FC BATE Borisov in Minsk.

Fightback

David Moyes's men recovered from Dmitri Likhtarovich's first-half wonder goal to win with strikes from Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill. Defeat for the hosts in this first meeting between Belarussian and English clubs left BATE pointless and still without a group-stage victory in European competition.

Off the post

The result was a little harsh on a BATE team who began brightly with Vitali Rodionov's surge into the Everton box. At the other end, Russian international Diniyar Bilyaletdinov rattled Sergei Veremko's post. BATE's ploy had also been to try and release their left-winger, Pavel Nekhaychik, with balls from the back. The opening goal, though, was a bolt from the blue.

Domenech puts faith in Benzema for World Cup

France coach Raymond Domenech insisted Thursday he would stand by Karim Benzema after picking the Real Madrid striker for 2010 World Cup qualifiers at home against the Faroe Isles on October 10 and Austria four days later.

Benzema caused a storm after last month's draw with Romania, which compromised French chances of overhauling group leaders Serbia to reach the finals, when he suggested he had not given 100 percent after being restricted to a late appearance from the bench.

"I'll not condemn him for one phrase. I am not a journalist," said Domenech pointedly, adding he would "extend a hand" to the player even if his comments had been "unacceptable."

"He is young, he has talent and a future. He understands he made a mistake."

United thriving as rivals falter

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick believes the champions are hitting form just as their title rivals begin to falter.

Both Chelsea, beaten at Wigan last weekend, and Liverpool, who suffered a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Fiorentina in Italy midweek, appear to be going through an early season blip ahead of their Sunday meeting at Stamford Bridge.

But having bounced back from a shock 1-0 defeat by Burnley in August, United have put together a winning run that will be extended to nine matches if they can beat Steve Bruce's Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.

"There's a lot of belief, confidence and trust in each other in our squad," said Carrick, who scored a spectacular winner in the 2-1 win over German champions Wolfsburg in midweek.

Chelsea and Liverpool feel the heat

Chelsea's clash with Liverpool this weekend was always going to be a significant encounter in the Premier Leage title race but a difficult week has raised the stakes involved for both clubs.

It may only be six weeks into the new season, but both Rafael Benitez and Carlo Ancelotti know that a defeat at Stamford Bridge on Sunday will represent a significant blow to their prospects of wresting the title away from Manchester United.

Having lost twice already this season, Liverpool travel south with less margin for error than their hosts and with morale dampened by the poor display that led to a 2-0 defeat at Fiorentina in midweek.

Ancelotti, who only speaks Italian to his squad when he is angry, has had to call on his mother tongue twice in the last week.

Man charged over robbing Gerrard's home

British police charged a man Thursday over the 2007 burglary of the home of Liverpool and England footballer Steven Gerrard, an officer said.

Gerrard's wife Alex Curran was left shaken after coming face-to-face with four masked burglars at the couple's luxury home, police said at the time.

Curran was unhurt in the incident which took place as her husband was away playing in Liverpool's Champions League victory at Marseille.

The robbers, all wearing hoods and balaclavas, made off with jewellery.

Adebayor escapes further ban over goal celebration

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has escaped a ban over his controversial goal celebration against former club Arsenal last month.

Adebayor did receive a two-match suspended ban and a 25,000-pound fine from the Football Association.

But he is free to resume playing for City having already served a three-match ban for stamping on Arsenal striker Robin van Persie during the same match.

That will come as welcome news for City boss Mark Hughes, who takes his squad to Aston Villa on Monday.

Ronaldo doubtful for Sevilla after ankle injury

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is doubtful for this weekend's league match against Sevilla after suffering a sprained ankle, the club said on Thursday.

The Portuguese star, bought from Manchester United last summer for a world record 94 million euros, was injured in Real's 3-0 defeat of Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Ronaldo scored twice in the match to bring his total to nine goals in seven games for the Spanish club.

"Ronaldo may have to miss the clash with Sevilla on Sunday due to a sprain to the internal lateral ligament of the right ankle," Real said on its website.

Ancelotti confident Lampard will end goal drought

Carlo Ancelotti has insisted it is only a matter of time before Frank Lampard's goal drought comes to an end -- and the Italian would love to see it happen against Liverpool on Sunday.

Lampard went through the entire month of September and a total of eight games without a goal, a rarity for the England midfielder, and Chelsea suddenly appear to be struggling a little after losing to Wigan last weekend and then labouring to a 1-0 win over APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Ancelotti however professes to be unconcerned. "I'm not worried because Lampard will score and he is working hard for the team, for me this is important," he said.

Chelsea will be without suspended goalkeeper Petr Cech against Liverpool, who ended Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge in the corresponding fixture last season.

Celtic held in Euro grudge match as Everton, Fulham win

Celtic's Europa League ambitions suffered another blow on Thursday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Rapid Vienna in a match which brought back uncomfortable, ugly memories.

Celtic, who had lost their opening Group C match at Hapoel Tel Aviv, slipped behind after just three minutes at Parkhead when a mistake by Stephen McManus gifted Nikica Jelavic a goal.

Australia's Scott McDonald levelled in the 20th minute but Celtic could not find the winner as the Scottish giants slumped to the foot of the table following Hamburg's 4-2 win over Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Twenty-five years ago, Celtic and Rapid clashed in the Cup Winners' Cup. Rapid won 3-1 at home before Celtic took a 3-0 lead in the second leg.

But Rapid player Rudi Weinhofer collapsed to the ground, claiming to have been hit by a missile thrown from the terraces before UEFA ordered a third game to be played.

Carrick and Giggs haul United to victory

Michael Carrick struck a 77th-minute winning goal for Manchester United as they maintained their 100 per cent record in their Champions League group with a 2-1 victory over German champions Wolfsburg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

But it was a far from convincing victory for the group leaders and required a deflected Ryan Giggs free-kick to cancel out an opening goal from Wolfsburg?s Edin Dzeko.

Finally, substitute Dimitar Berbatov linked with Giggs in a skilful move inside the area and the veteran winger played the ball into the path of Carrick for a well-placed shot into the top corner from 15 yards.

The game had started with United in uncharacteristically poor defensive form, given their proud record of not having lost a home game in the Champions League since February 2005, a 21-match unbeaten streak.

Zurich heap pressure on under-fire Leonardo with Milan win

FC Zurich pulled off a famous and unlikely victory as Finland's Hannu Tihinen scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the Champions League at the San Siro on Wednesday.

And this latest set-back will surely have piled even more pressure on under-fire Milan coach Leonardo.

In four home matches this season Milan have scored only one goal, also winning only once, while they have fared little better on their travels.

But the significance of this home defeat to European football minnows can hardly be understated, particularly as Milan's next two Group C games will be against free-scoring Real Madrid.

And Leonardo admitted his team have lost a certain aura.

"Of course right now things are not simple, a win would lift our confidence and we need to start getting the results to do that," he said.

Goal machine Ronaldo seals another Real victory

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo made it nine goals in seven games by bagging a brace as Real Madrid's 'Galacticos' defeated 10-man Marseille 3-0 on Tuesday in their first Champions League match in front of their Santiago Bernabeu crowd.

It means Real have now won all seven of their matches this season, two in the Champions League and five in the league, and sit top of Group C with a maximum six points.

Real blitzed Marseille with three goals in six minutes; Ronaldo, who now has four Champions League goals in two games, scored two and won the penalty that led to the other.

"Cristiano is a player that can make a difference at any moment and is always capable of scoring a goal," said stand-in captain Guti.