THE worst kept secret in football came out in the open last night as Chelsea confirmed they hope to appoint Andre Villas-Boas as their new manager.

EXTRAORDINARY scenes at the San Siro, as Tottenham maintained their fairytale first season in the Champions League by beating AC Milan, currently top of Serie A, on their own turf.

SOME of the seven Muslims arrested as part of an international probe into an alleged plot to murder Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks had planned to set up an extremist prayer group in Waterford to radicalise other Muslims, gardaí believe.

AH the magic of the FA Cup, eh? The disappointing sight of so many thousands of empty seats up and down the country, on what was once guaranteed to be one of football’s most exciting weekends of the season, suggests that the guardians of the oldest knockout competition on the planet aren’t particularly competent.

ARSENE WENGER is a rarity in that he is a football manager whose name is sometimes used in the lexicon of another sport, namely golf.

CHELSEA yesterday named Ron Gourlay as their new chief executive.

IN the great tradition of ‘Private Eye’ – translation: in an act of shameless ripping off – we begin today with an abject apology.

Arsenal 3 Celtic 1 (Agg: 5-1)

Andy Murray set up a French Open quarter-final clash with Fernando Gonzalez after producing a consistent display against Marin Cilic in straight sets today.

Andy Murray will face Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells after the British number one came through a tough encounter with Ivan Ljubicic 7-5 7-6 (8/6).

Andy Murray will seek to put right one of his few losing records when he returns to the court in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam this evening.

It was a good day for the French at the Australian Open today as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon all progressed to the fourth round.

Rafael Nadal has dropped just 11 games in his opening two matches at the Australian Open after following up his emphatic win in the first round with another good display against Roko Karanusic.

Niko Kranjcar is a major doubt for Portsmouth’s home clash with Manchester United on Monday after limping off with an ankle injury during Croatia’s 3-2 midweek win in Slovenia.

World number one Roger Federer barely broke sweat as he brushed aside Mario Ancic 6-1 7-5 6-4 to reach a sixth consecutive Wimbledon semi-final.

Andy Murray is out of the Open Sabadell Atlantico Barcelona at the second-round stage after failing to take advantage of a handful of break points in his 6-4 6-4 defeat to Mario Ancic.

Andy Murray advanced to the quarter-finals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells by edging to a 7-6 (9/7) 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 over world number 20 Ivo Karlovic.

ARSENE WENGER did not have to say a word. The pose said it all: rocked back on his haunches, his head buried deep in his hands, Arsenal’s manager suddenly looked a worried man.

Manchester City 1 Aston Villa 0

Tommy Haas relinquished his place in the world top 10 after crashing out of the US Clay Court Championships, while James Blake battled into the last four with a hard-fought victory over Argentinean Juan Monaco.

Roger Federer praised Guillermo Canas after the Argentinian defeated the world number one for the second time in as many weeks in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Two lengthy rain delays and a two-man protest failed to hinder the serene progress of Roger Federer into Friday’s semi-finals.

World number one Amelie Mauresmo showed no fear on Wimbledon’s “graveyard of champions” as she powered into the second round with a 6-0 6-0 demolition of qualifier Ivana Abramovic in just 39 minutes on Court Two.

ANDY RODDICK hopes to recapture his fitness in time for Wimbledon after being forced to retire from the first round of the French Open with a left ankle injury.

Rangers 2 Celtic 0

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is in the dark over reports linking Velimir Zajec to a director of football role at Fratton Park.

Lindsay Davenport will be aiming to go back to basics when she meets Maria Sharapova for a place in the women’s singles final at Wimbledon.

A UN war crimes tribunal today sentenced Milan Babic, the wartime leader of Croatia’s rebellious Serbs, to 13 years imprisonment, saying his role in ethnic cleansing showed “ruthlessness and savagery”.

GREG RUSEDSKI last night claimed he was being “singled out” by the ATP after testing positive for nandrolone.

Portsmouth 4 Bolton 0

Andy Cole struck a superb late equaliser as Liverpool failed to get their faltering title bid back on track at Anfield today.

Southampton 0 Middlesbrough 0

Greg Rusedski overcame Goran Ivanisevic 6-2 0-6 6-3 to advance to the semi-finals of the Heineken Open in Auckland.

Goran Ivanisevic continued his fantastic Wimbledon run with a four set victory over Marat Safin.

There was heartbreak today for Irish ace Kelly Liggan, who fell at the final hurdle in her bid to qualify for the Australian Open.