Stuart Pearce refused to play the blame game after Manchester City crashed out of the Carling Cup following a red card that should never have been.

Celtic 2 Falkirk 1 (aet)

Yeats has been all the rage with the bookmakers ahead of Saturday’s Irish Field St Leger at the Curragh.

Bolton’s wayward striker El-Hadji Diouf will be reaching for the chequebook once again following his dismissal in the 2-1 defeat at Fulham.

Alan Curbishley has called for Charlton to get back to the basics of defending as a team in an attempt to turn around their alarming slump in form.

The fall-out between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger looks set to rumble on into the New Year after descending into virtual farce over a Christmas card.

Egypt striker Mido is unrepentant despite being banned for six months by his own football federation for a touchline row with Pharaohs’ coach Hassan Shehata.

Liverpool striker Fernando Morientes appears to have distanced himself from a possible move to Espanyol by insisting he is settled in England and prefers the Premiership to La Liga.

Crystal Palace 1 Sunderland 0

Great Britain's southern hemisphere Tri-Nations campaign started with an 18-14 defeat at Christchurch's Jade Stadium today.

Israeli aircraft early today bombarded open areas and roads in northern Gaza that the military said Palestinian militants used to launch rocket attacks on nearby southern Israel.

Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy is disappointed he will not be facing Yannick Jauzion on Saturday but insists whoever France select in midfield will pose a major threat.

A senior criminal lawyer who represented the McBrearty family was the whistleblower who helped uncover shocking corruption and negligence among gardaí in Donegal, it was confirmed today.

A former MP today gave the Democratic Unionists a clear run in a bid to wrest away a safe Ulster Unionist seat in the general election.

A remarkable collection of world leaders and royalty rubbed shoulders today at John Paul’s funeral, with only an alphabetical seating plan to divide heads of state whose relations could be frosty or even non-existent.

Liverpool’s man of the match Jamie Carragher stressed that the team could not afford to bask in the glory of beating Chelsea 1-0 to reach the final of the Champions League as they had to go on and win the trophy.

The O’Riada collection, which contains instruments, original scores, correspondence, possessions and 2000 books belonging to one of the country’s most important traditional musicians, is today being presented to the Taoiseach on behalf of Ireland.

Aston Villa 0 Manchester United 1

Andriy Shevchenko believes Liverpool were destined to claim the Champions League but still praised their “winning mentality”.

Blackburn 0 Arsenal 1