Man United beats Stoke 2-1 in Premier Leauge

STOKE, England (AP)—Javier Hernandez made up for the absence of the still injured Wayne Rooney by scoring two goals to give Manchester United a 2-1 win at Stoke in the Premier League Sunday to end a turbulent week for the 18-time champions.

United spent most of the week scrambling to keep Rooney at the club, after the striker announced his intention not to sign a new contract. Rooney changed his mind and signed a five-year deal Friday, but is still nursing an ankle injury that kept him sidelined Sunday.

Hernandez took advantage by scoring in the 27th and 86th minutes, tapping in the winner from close range after Stoke had leveled in the 81st through a spectacular curling strike from substitute Tuncay Sanli.

Hernandez scored his first from a backward header after Nemanja Vidic headed a Nani cross from the right across the Stoke goal.

The 22-year-old Mexican striker signed for United in July and has now scored four goals in his last five appearances for the club.

“He has good instinct, he knows where the goal lies,” United manager Alex Ferguson said. “The goalkeeper is on the other side and all he needed to do was glance it and he has great spring for a little lad. It was a great header.”

Ferguson did not address Rooney’s decision to stay at the club.

Manchester United defender Gary Neville was fortunate not to be ejected after two fouls on Matthew Etherington in the first half, but was only shown a yellow card for the first. He was replaced at halftime by Wes Brown.

“If that was a Stoke City player at Old Trafford, what do you think would have happened?” an angry Stoke manager Tony Pulis said. “If the shoe was on the other foot it might have been different.”

Turkey forward Tuncay appeared to have earned Stoke a draw when he received the ball on the right wing, cut inside United defender Patrice Evra and curled the ball into the far top corner.

But Hernandez made sure United avoided giving up a lead for the second straight week by converting a scramble in the Stoke goalmouth.

“When you lose a goal with 10 minutes left you are concerned,” United manager Alex Ferguson said. “You are thinking to yourself, ‘not again.’ I thought in that period in the minutes leading up to the goal we were playing well and stretching them a bit with nice football. We are just thankful Chico (Hernandez) got on the end of the ball across the box.”

source : Yahoo! Sports

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Beckham To Leicester?

English club Leicester City hopes to tempt the Los Angeles Galaxy to release David Beckham for an unexpected loan deal with an offer worth around $2 million.

In a bizarre twist of events English newspaper reports last weekend alerted Leicester’s Thai owner Vichai Raksriaksorn owner to the possibility that Beckham may be available following the end of the Major League Soccer season.

Newspapers claimed that Beckham would be targeted by Leicester’s new head coach Sven Goran Eriksson, who made the 35-year-old captain during his time in charge of the England national team.

However, a well-placed source told Yahoo! Sports that Eriksson had not seriously entertained the idea and had not made any approaches to either Beckham’s representatives or the Galaxy.

But the stories served to pique the interest of Raksriaksorn and prompted him to make further inquiries. According to the source, he sees signing Beckham on loan ”as a way to boost morale and revenue and get people talking [about Leicester] for the right reasons.” Leicester is just two points clear of the bottom of the Championship – the second tier of the English league system.

Beckham joined the Galaxy in 2007 and has embarked upon two loan spells at Italian giants AC Milan in a bid to be considered for inclusion in England’s World Cup squad. That ambition was quashed when he ruptured an Achilles while playing for Milan earlier this year.

Raksriaksorn has been told by his advisors that there would have to be a serious incentive to convince Beckham and the Galaxy of the benefits of a loan switch. The Galaxy was already burned by the last time they released him – the injury sustained at Milan kept Beckham out for most of this MLS campaign.

However, a loan fee of close to $2 million – plus Leicester meeting Beckham’s salary for the duration of the loan period – would at least give Galaxy’s owners food for thought.

It remains to be seen whether Beckham would be interested in such an arrangement. Leicester’s profile does not really fit with a man who has spent his career playing for some of the world’s biggest clubs.

Being back in the English spotlight though, could only help Beckham’s desire to remain part of the England national team set-up at it attempts to qualify for the 2012 European Championships.

England head coach Fabio Capello has given mixed messages on Beckham’s international future but has spoken appreciatively of the positive impact the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star has on squad harmony.

Last month, Beckham was cool on the idea of another European excursion this winter, citing his health as the primary reason.

”I don’t think so,” when asked by FIFA.com whether a move was likely. ”I will never say never, but after my injury I really need to focus on getting my full fitness back. Physically I need to get myself back in order after a very long time out of the game. I can’t say for sure but I guess we will just have to wait and see.”

Beckham has performed solidly since returning from his layoff though, with his physical progress slightly ahead of schedule.

In reality, Leicester is unlikely to be able to pull off what would be a spectacular coup. It is expected to make a firm offer this week, leave it on the table, and hope circumstances fall in its favor.

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