Late Night Sport

SOCCER

Darren Fletcher returned from his career-threatening bowel condition as Manchester United scrambled to an unconvincing 1-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray at Old Trafford.

It was the Scot’s first appearance since November 22, although he had been battling against the problem for eight months before that.

Fletcher’s arrival for Paul Scholes 11 minutes from time brought a deserved standing ovation, and was one of the few high points of a difficult evening for the hosts, who collected the victory but little else of note.

Michael Carrick’s first Champions League goal in three years after just seven minutes proved enough, with United missing yet another penalty, their third of the season, through Nani.

Galatasaray were desperately unlucky, failing to get a clear penalty before United struck, hitting the woodwork twice before being denied by David de Gea’s excellent double save and then having another spot-kick claim waved away in stoppage time.

Chelsea blew a two-goal lead as their defence of the Champions League got off to a breathless 2-2 start against Juventus.

Oscar looked set to enjoy a dream European debut with a stunning first-half double but the Italian champions ruthlessly exposed the holders’ defensive deficiencies to snatch a draw at Stamford Bridge.

Arturo Vidal pulled a goal back before the break and, after Eden Hazard was denied what appeared a penalty, Fabio Quagliarella came off the bench to equalise and was a lick of paint from completing a sensational turnaround.

That would have been cruel on Chelsea but – as in their UEFA Super Cup thrashing by Atletico Madrid – they left themselves exposed enough to make such an outcome possible.

Celtic’s clash against against Benfica in their Champions League Group G opener at Parkhead ended in a 0-0 draw.

It was a spirited and determined performance from the Scottish champions but they failed to really trouble the visitors’ goal.

Indeed, in terms of chances created, the Portuguese side could perhaps claim to have edged it, with Hoops keeper Fraser Forster forced into a good blocking save from Rodrigo in the first half and another at his near post from Ezequiel Garay after the break.

Next up for Celtic in Europe is an away trip to Spartak Moscow next month where boss Neil Lennon will look for the same commitment from his players added to a cutting edge that was missing tonight.

Barcelona avoided a shock at home to Spartak Moscow in their opening Champions League clash as Lionel Messi scored twice in the final 19 minutes to earn them a 3-2 victory.

Cristian Tello put Barca ahead in the 14th minute but an own goal from Dani Alves and a second-half strike from Borges Romulo saw Spartak turn the game on its head and leave the Nou Camp shellshocked.

Messi, as he so often is, was Barca’s hero though as he scored in the 71st and 80th minutes to leave Tito Vilanova’s men top of Group G.

In Group F, Bayern Munich and BATE Borisov both started their campaigns with victories.

Bayern beat Valencia 2-1 with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos on the scoresheet for the Germans with the Spanish side pulling a goal back late on through Nelson Haedo Valdez.

Bayern also missed a last-minute penalty through Mario Mandzukic after Valencia defender Adil Rami had been sent off.

Belarusian champions BATE saw off Lille 3-1 thanks to a blistering first-half display.

Alexander Volodko swept the visitors in front with just six minutes on the clock with a superb lofted finish over Mickael Landreau, and further goals from Vitaly Rodionov and Edgar Olekhnovich effectively ended the contest before half-time.

Aurelien Chedjou reduced the deficit just before the hour mark but the French side could not get any closer.

In Group H, the early leaders are CFR Cluj, who beat Braga 2-0 away following a classy first-half brace from Brazilian striker Rafael Bastos.

And in Group E, Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice to give Shakhtar Donetsk a 2-0 win over FC Nordsjaelland.

A 12-team Premier Division has been recommended by the FAI board of management for the 2013 season after a meeting held today.

A separate proposal of one single division had been put forward by some of the league clubs, but it didn’t have enough support, with the status quo remaining.

Twelve teams started this season’s Premier Division of the Airtricity League, but the withdrawal of Monaghan United brought those numbers down to 11.

The FAI will also seek expressions of interest for First Division licenses from clubs or new entities for next season.

Alan Pardew left strikers Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba behind as Newcastle headed for Madeira and their Europa League clash with Maritimo.

Cisse was withdrawn from the squad because of illness and his place was taken by 17-year-old Adam Campbell, while there was no sign either of Ba 24 hours after his agent hit out as Pardew’s decision to only name him among the substitutes for Monday’s game at Everton.

There were no places either for midfielders Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Gutierrez, while goalkeeper Tim Krul (elbow), defenders Danny Simpson and Fabricio Coloccini (both hamstring) and Ryan Taylor (knee), as well as midfielder Cheick Tiote (calf) missed out through injury as youngsters James Tavernier, Shane Ferguson, Mehdi Abeid, Haris Vuckic and Sammy Ameobi were drafted in.

Striker Emmanuel Adebayor is out of Tottenham’s Europa League clash with Lazio on Thursday due to a hamstring injury 

Manager Andre Villas-Boas has vowed to make a few changes to his team, which could mean a debut for France captain Hugo Lloris in goal.

Scott Parker (Achilles), Heurelho Gomes (ankle), Jake Livermore (groin), Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto (both knee) are out.

Liverpool have left a host of senior stars behind for their Europa League Group A tie with Young Boys in Bern.

Captain Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Jose Reina, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Joe Allen and Martin Kelly have all remained on Merseyside with manager Brendan Rodgers having one eye on Sunday’s visit of Manchester United.

Youngsters Samed Yesil, Suso, Andre Wisdom, Conor Coady, Adam Morgan, Jack Robinson and Dani Pacheco have all been included in the squad.

CRICKET

Shane Watson’s all-round performance powered Australia to an straightforward seven-wicket victory over Ireland in their opening Group B match of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Opening the bowling, Watson claimed three wickets for 26 and returned to hammer a 30-ball 51 as Australia chased down the 124-run victory target with 29 balls to spare.

Watson removed Irish captain William Porterfield with the first ball of the match and later broke a dangerously-looking fifth wicket partnership between the O’Brien brothers, Niall (20) and Kevin.

Ireland, having elected to bat first, never really recovered since losing their skipper to the first ball but managed to post 123 runs for seven wickets largely because of the 52-run fifth wicket stand between the O’Brien brothers.

Kevin O’Brien was the top scorer for Ireland with 35 runs off 29 balls with five boundaries before being dismissed off a Watson delivery.

GAA

Iarla Tannian and Kevin Hynes will both be fit for the All-Ireland SHC final replay.

Midfielder Tannian and full back Hynes both sustained knocks during the drawn clash with the Cats at Croke Park on September 9th but both men have resumed light training with the Galway panel, which reports a clean bill of health ahead of the September 30th rematch.

GOLF

Rory McIlroy admitted today that the reaction to comments he made about choosing who to compete for in the 2016 Olympics is making him think again.

Golf’s world number one had said he was leaning towards representing Team GB rather than Ireland because “the fact is I have always felt more British than Irish”.

It brought criticism from some people, mainly because he received funding from the Golfing Union of Ireland before turning professional in 2007.

As an amateur he did not have to make a choice because, as in rugby, Northern Irish golfers play for Ireland.

The 23-year-old will not have to make a decision until just before the Rio Games, but he said in Atlanta today: “After everything that happened last week it definitely makes me reconsider my position and reconsider a lot of things.

“I think it just really hit home with me how important it is for a lot of people and how important my success has been to them.

“Obviously, I’ve had a lot of support from all sides – from people that call themselves Irish, from Northern Irish, to the whole of the UK, to people over here in the States.

“It just hit home with me at how my success is welcomed by everyone. It would be terrible for me to nearly segregate myself from one of those group that supports me so much.

“It’s four years away – I still have a bit of time to decide. But, I’m very, very appreciative and very grateful of the support that I get from everyone.

RUGBY

A meeting between the European Rugby Cup (ERC) and the RFU and Premiership Rugby in Dublin ended without any resolution to the dispute over the future of the European club rugby, although an ERC statement said talks had been “productive”.     A further meeting is set to take place in Rome on October 8.

ERC is in dispute with Premier Rugby over the £152 million deal struck last week with BT Vision which, along with four-year rights to the Aviva Premiership, sold European rights to the fledgling broadcaster for three years from 2014-15. This clashes directly with the existing ERC deal with Sky Sports to exclusively broadcast European club games through to 2018.

In June, England and France gave two years’ notice of their wish to exit the present format of the Heineken Cup. However, the French clubs have made clear they do not want to limit themselves to an Anglo-French tournament if others refuse to follow.

BOXING

Brian Magee is eyeing a proud hat-trick of Danish knock-outs when he takes on Mikkel Kessler later this year.

It was announced earlier this week that the Belfast southpaw had secured a fight with the ‘Viking Warrior’ in Denmark for the vacant WBA super-middleweight title.

Having previously stopped Rudy Markussen and Mads Larsen, 37-year-old Magee is looking forward to returning to the Scandinavian country to hand out more of the same in his latest fight, which is expected to take place sometime in late November or early December.

RACING

Eric McNamara-trained outsider Faltering Fullback ran out a shock winner of the Guinness Kerry National, with Questions Answered giving the trainer a one-two in the prestigious contest.

The complexion of the race changed when the front-running Whodoyouthink came to grief down the back straight and Faltering Fullback could be spotted making eye-catching headway in the hands of Danny Mullins.

With just 9st 12lb on his back, the 33-1 chance kicked clear off the home turn and safely negotiated the last couple of obstacles to beat his stable companion by five and a half lengths.

The well-supported Start Me Up finished third, with Jamsie Hall fourth.