Bowyer to rescueNewcastle kept their hopes of a Uefa Cup place alive with a battling 2-1 loss against Deportivo La Coruna at the Riazor Stadium last night.
Graeme Souness's side were beaten in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup semi-final by goals in each half from Ruben Castro and Jorge Andrade, but a stunning volley from Lee Bowyer limited the damage. Despite Deportivo's extra class and a number of chances, they were unable to put the tie beyond reach.
Davids in London
Edgar Davids is due in London today for a medical and to discuss personal terms with Tottenham. Spurs have reached agreement with Internazionale over a free transfer, but conceded that the deal is not yet complete.
"Edgar is one of the best-paid players in the world and these deals don't come easily," said the player's lawyer Rob Geerling.
Unlucky black cat
Sunderland midfielder Colin Healy has suffered further heartbreak as he looks to return from a second broken leg. The 24-year-old, who has not played for the English club since breaking his leg for the first time against Coventry in 2003, has had to undergo surgery on his knee.
Healy is now facing another three months on the sidelines - a bitter blow to the Irishman who was eyeing a comeback after breaking the same leg during training 10 months ago.
Price of indiscipline
Joey Barton has been fined more than £120,000 by Manchester City after the club found him guilty of gross misconduct for his part in an incident in the team hotel on the recent Asia Trophy trip to Thailand.
Barton reacted badly to provocation from a group of Everton supporters and also lashed out at team-mate Richard Dunne after the defender tried to act as peacemaker. The 22-year-old midfielder, who was sent home from the Far East on Friday evening, was yesterday fined eight weeks' wages.
Walsall or Tokyo?
Alex Ferguson is expected to resist the temptation to fly Roy Keane to Japan for the last match of Manchester United's Far East tour. Keane's absence from the Red Devils squad has been the major talking point of the entire trip, with Ferguson being forced to refute suggestions he left his captain at home for disciplinary reasons following a bust-up at the club's training camp in the Algarve three weeks ago.
On Monday, Ferguson declared the Irishman's hamstring problem had left him unfit to travel, although Keane had recovered sufficiently by Tuesday night to play half an hour of a reserve team friendly against local non-league outfit Rossendale United.
But rather than put Keane's fitness at risk by forcing him to make a 26-hour round-trip to Tokyo for Saturday's encounter with Urawa Red Diamonds, Ferguson will send the 33-year-old to the more homespun surroundings of Walsall's Bescot Stadium in an effort to gain some much-needed match practice.
Last piece of jigsaw
Chelsea are closing in on the £25 million signing of Lyon midfielder Michael Essien. Blues chief executive Peter Kenyon is understood to be in France to finalise the deal, which Jose Mourinho sees as the last piece of squad strengthening necessary before the start of the new season. However, the club has dismissed speculation linking them with AC Milan's Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko.
Adding six plus five
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter has vowed to fight on for a "six plus five" system to stop clubs fielding so many foreign players.
Blatter wants all clubs to be forced to play a minimum of six players eligible to represent the national team of the relevant country, with a maximum of five foreign players making up the numbers.
New injury denied
Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate could join the rest of his team-mates in their pre-season training camp in Austria next week after entering the final stage of recovery from a long-term thigh injury. The doctor supervising the 25-year-old said reports he had suffered a recurrence of an injury that has kept him on the sidelines for over a year were untrue and that the player was close to regaining full fitness.
Real danger of move
Luis Figo has told Real Madrid: "Play me or I'll leave." The Portuguese winger came on as a second-half substitute in Real's 3-1 pre-season win over Japan's Jubilo Iwata yesterday and said later he felt unsettled about his future.
"My situation is strange," Figo said. "Of course, I just want to play football - hopefully with Real Madrid. But if I don't have chances here, I have to move."
Gunners miss target
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger must begin searching elsewhere for his major signing of the summer as defeat looms large in the race to sign Julio Baptista. Last night Wenger declared his chances of signing the Sevilla player are only 50-50. Baptista's determination to secure an EU passport provided the main stumbling block with the 23-year-old able to begin his application next month when he will have completed two years residency in Spain.
Seeding row
Slavia Prague have renewed their appeal to Uefa over losing their Champions League seeding position to Liverpool. Last season's Champions League winners will be in tomorrow's draw for the third and final qualifying round, and although they still have to complete their second round clash with Kaunas, they are likely to go through after winning the first leg 3-1 in Lithuania.
Should the English side take their place in the final qualifying round, Slavia would be forced to surrender their seeding to Liverpool.
In brief . . .
Aston Villa have sold England striker Darius Vassell to Manchester City for £2 million. Cardiff have clinched the signing of West Brom midfielder Jason Koumas on a season-long loan. Southampton boss Harry Redknapp hopes to link up with Ricardo Fuller again after agreeing a nominal fee with Portsmouth for the striker. Millwall have parted company with Steve Claridge and appointed Colin Lee as their new manager. Greece winger Stelios Giannakopoulos says he is ready to pledge his his long-term future to Bolton. And, finally, newly-promoted Genoa have been demoted from Serie A to the third division after the Italian Football League found evidence of match-fixing.
