Chelsea sweating on Cech injury

Chelsea face a nervous Christmas as goalkeeper Petr Cech waits to learn the extent of a hip injury sustained during Sunday's 1-0 win over Blackburn.

Cech limped out of the action in the second-half following a collision with Blackburn forward Roque Santa Cruz and his injury could prove costly for Chelsea, who are also without rib injury victim Carlo Cudicini for the home clash with Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Chelsea manager Avram Grant said: "The situation with Cech is one that we will know once he has had a scan on the injury. We need to wait and see. With this kind of injury, it is better to wait.

"But I cannot lie and say that it is easy to be without players. It is very difficult to play for such a long time with so many injuries. I don't like it, but there is nothing that I can do about it.

"It was very difficult for Hilario to come into the game in place of Petr, but he did well. Cudicini's injury will take a few more days, so I don't have another goalkeeper for the Aston Villa game."

With Manchester United and Arsenal winning their games earlier in the weekend, Chelsea had no room for error as they attempted to close the gap on the leaders.

Cole's goal ensured that they lie six points behind leaders Arsenal, but Grant is confident that the gap can be overcome.

He said: "I am very happy with the victory because this is not an easy place to play, especially after drawing with Blackburn at home. We showed a lot of fighting spirit, made two or three chances and Hilario made a very good save, so I am happy.

"It was important to get three points with the other teams winning, though. Six points is not a big gap for us because the other teams will not win all of their games this season."

For Blackburn, the defeat was their fourth in succession, but manager Mark Hughes insisted that he could have no complaints about the performance of his players.

Hughes said: "That's four straight defeats now and it's frustrating because I am beginning to sound like a broken record, but we again showed plenty of quality.

"We were dynamic and created lots of angles to create chances and having David Bentley off the front man caused them problems. We hit the bar a couple of times in the first-half and, on another day, they would go in.

"We were caught by a sucker punch, though. We were wary of Chelsea getting the ball to feet in dangerous positions because they can set a trap for you in the way they they manage transition of play. That's what happened and we got done by it.

"In the second-half, it was difficult to coax Chelsea out because they are very adept at defending a lead. They are very good at getting players behind the ball and running the clock down, so it is very difficult to get level against teams like that."

Nancy scores in the dying minutes

Nancy scored in the dying minutes to keep the French league title race alive heading into the three-week winter break with a thrilling 1-1 draw against leaders Lyon on Saturday.

The draw keeps the status quo at the top of the table with Pablo Correa's surprise package this season just four points off Alain Perrin's six-time champions at the half-way stage.

Former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Milan Baros looked to have wrapped up the tie for Lyon with just ten minutes to full time, and against the flow of play, when the Nancy defence were caught too high on a counter attack.

A through ball was met by Baros darting in from the right who then found himself alone in front of keeper Gennaro Bracigliano.

After taking the ball further into the box the Czech Republic international calmly slotted home past the advancing Bracigliano to silence the Marcel-Picot stadium.

However, the chilly evening was soon heated up when Nancy levelled the tie seven minutes later after a poorly cleared corner landed squarely on the boot Chris Malonga.

Malonga's powerful volley was deflected by Lyon defender Francois Clerc, wrong-footing deputy goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre for the equalizer and a share of the spoils.

"I am happy to have won a point, but especially disappointed with the result," said Nancy coach Correa.

"If there is to be one happy team out there, it's Lyon. We dominated."

He added: "It's encouraging for the future, we were able to rattle the club that reigns in France."

Neither team had been firing on all cylinders heading into the encounter and albeit an entertaining draw the result handed Nancy their fourth consecutive stalemate while Lyon have been left hunting their first win in three matches.

"I knew we would have trouble getting into this game and a point was the minimum objective," said Lyon boss Perrin.

Perrin added that "Nancy did not deserve to lose" the match and that his side "were not in control" during the game that was played in freezing temperatures.

That was a point of view shared by Lyon goalkeeper Vercoutre, who is standing in for the injured number one shotstopper Gregory Coupet.

"We had trouble out there, but we take a point away with us, something few clubs will do (this season).

"Despite the weather conditions, it is good to come away from Nancy with a point."

Saturday's late kick-offs include fourth-placed Le Mans against Marseille.

Sunday's north French derby between Lens and Lille has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Nancy scores in the dying minutes

Nancy scored in the dying minutes to keep the French league title race alive heading into the three-week winter break with a thrilling 1-1 draw against leaders Lyon on Saturday.

The draw keeps the status quo at the top of the table with Pablo Correa's surprise package this season just four points off Alain Perrin's six-time champions at the half-way stage.

Former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Milan Baros looked to have wrapped up the tie for Lyon with just ten minutes to full time, and against the flow of play, when the Nancy defence were caught too high on a counter attack.

A through ball was met by Baros darting in from the right who then found himself alone in front of keeper Gennaro Bracigliano.

After taking the ball further into the box the Czech Republic international calmly slotted home past the advancing Bracigliano to silence the Marcel-Picot stadium.

However, the chilly evening was soon heated up when Nancy levelled the tie seven minutes later after a poorly cleared corner landed squarely on the boot Chris Malonga.

Malonga's powerful volley was deflected by Lyon defender Francois Clerc, wrong-footing deputy goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre for the equalizer and a share of the spoils.

"I am happy to have won a point, but especially disappointed with the result," said Nancy coach Correa.

"If there is to be one happy team out there, it's Lyon. We dominated."

He added: "It's encouraging for the future, we were able to rattle the club that reigns in France."

Neither team had been firing on all cylinders heading into the encounter and albeit an entertaining draw the result handed Nancy their fourth consecutive stalemate while Lyon have been left hunting their first win in three matches.

"I knew we would have trouble getting into this game and a point was the minimum objective," said Lyon boss Perrin.

Perrin added that "Nancy did not deserve to lose" the match and that his side "were not in control" during the game that was played in freezing temperatures.

That was a point of view shared by Lyon goalkeeper Vercoutre, who is standing in for the injured number one shotstopper Gregory Coupet.

"We had trouble out there, but we take a point away with us, something few clubs will do (this season).

"Despite the weather conditions, it is good to come away from Nancy with a point."

Saturday's late kick-offs include fourth-placed Le Mans against Marseille.

Sunday's north French derby between Lens and Lille has been postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Inter is unstoppable

In a battle between the world's best and Italy's best it was the domestic champions Inter who beat AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro in Sunday's first Milan derby of the season.

It was a match that had been eagerly anticipated since a week ago when Milan added the Club World Cup title to the Champions League crown they claimed back in May when beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final.

Ironically, though, while the world champions began with seven Italian internationals, Inter - living up to their full name Internazionale - fielded a starting 11 including nine South Americans and not a single Italian.

Whatever the make-up of their side, Inter have been unbeatable this season and go into the three-week festive break with a seven-point lead over the chasing pack - Milan, who have three games in hand, are 25 points off the pace down in 12th.

What's even more remarkable is that Inter have been injury plagued this season, particularly in midfield, and were counting the cost of this match as Walter Samuel left the game in the first half with an injured knee.

"It's very important to reach the winter break with a seven-point lead on the second-placed team, particularly with all the problems we've had," Inter coach Roberto Mancini told Sky Sport television.

Despite their success Inter humbly formed a guard of honour to welcome their record-breaking opponents onto the field - last week Milan won their 18th international title, one more than Boca Juniors in second place.

"That wasn't forced on us, it came naturally and I think it was deserved," added Mancini of the guard of honour.

But then Inter knocked their cross city rivals off their perch.

Nominal hosts Inter had the first chance of the match after barely five minutes when Brazilian right-back Maicon crossed to the back post where Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic volleyed over the bar.

Inter were pushing the pace of the game but Milan looked dangerous on the counter-attack and striker Filippo Inzaghi earned a free-kick on the edge of the box on 18 minutes after Colombian centre-back Ivan Cordoba dragged him down.

Andrea Pirlo stepped up to sweep home a delicious curler into the top corner.

That sparked some life into Inter and they almost equalised two minutes later but Chilean midfielder Luis Jimenez grazed the bar with a shot from a tight angle after Argentine forward Julio Cruz's right-wing cross had not been dealt with by a panicking defence.

Inter did find a way back into the game 10 minutes before the break in sumptuous fashion as Ibrahimovic and Esteban Cambiasso worked the ball to Cruz, who held off Clarence Seedorf's challenge before firing low past Brazilian goalkeeper Dida.

And that was despite Inter briefly playing with 10 men due to the injury to Argentine centre-back Samuel.

Milan were possibly feeling the effects of last week's trip to Japan and made a string of early second half changes, with Italy striker Alberto Gilardino and Brazilian midfield pair Emerson and Serginho introduced into the fray.

Inter certainly looked the stronger side after the break and a seemingly innocuous shot from Argentine midfielder Cambiasso sent Dida the wrong way on 64 minutes to give the hosts the lead.

Late on Milan did start to exert some pressure but Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar got down well to turn away World Player of the Year Kaka's fierce drive.

Emerson and Massimo Ambrosini then both missed gilt edged chances to equalise as Inter became jittery in the final moments.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was not letting himself get too down, though.

"We're lacking a point in the standings because a draw would have been a fairer result," he said. "But we'll still have a good Christmas as we're world champions."

Roma stayed second after a Francesco Totti double gave them a 2-0 win over Sampdoria on Saturday.

Juventus are third, eight points off Inter, after goals from Hassa Salihamidzic and French forward David Trezeguet earned them a 2-0 success over Siena.

Fiorentina returned to winning ways in spectacular fashion as they thumped rock-bottom Cagliari 5-1 having not won in their previous five games.

Inter is unstoppable

In a battle between the world's best and Italy's best it was the domestic champions Inter who beat AC Milan 2-1 at the San Siro in Sunday's first Milan derby of the season.

It was a match that had been eagerly anticipated since a week ago when Milan added the Club World Cup title to the Champions League crown they claimed back in May when beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final.

Ironically, though, while the world champions began with seven Italian internationals, Inter - living up to their full name Internazionale - fielded a starting 11 including nine South Americans and not a single Italian.

Whatever the make-up of their side, Inter have been unbeatable this season and go into the three-week festive break with a seven-point lead over the chasing pack - Milan, who have three games in hand, are 25 points off the pace down in 12th.

What's even more remarkable is that Inter have been injury plagued this season, particularly in midfield, and were counting the cost of this match as Walter Samuel left the game in the first half with an injured knee.

"It's very important to reach the winter break with a seven-point lead on the second-placed team, particularly with all the problems we've had," Inter coach Roberto Mancini told Sky Sport television.

Despite their success Inter humbly formed a guard of honour to welcome their record-breaking opponents onto the field - last week Milan won their 18th international title, one more than Boca Juniors in second place.

"That wasn't forced on us, it came naturally and I think it was deserved," added Mancini of the guard of honour.

But then Inter knocked their cross city rivals off their perch.

Nominal hosts Inter had the first chance of the match after barely five minutes when Brazilian right-back Maicon crossed to the back post where Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic volleyed over the bar.

Inter were pushing the pace of the game but Milan looked dangerous on the counter-attack and striker Filippo Inzaghi earned a free-kick on the edge of the box on 18 minutes after Colombian centre-back Ivan Cordoba dragged him down.

Andrea Pirlo stepped up to sweep home a delicious curler into the top corner.

That sparked some life into Inter and they almost equalised two minutes later but Chilean midfielder Luis Jimenez grazed the bar with a shot from a tight angle after Argentine forward Julio Cruz's right-wing cross had not been dealt with by a panicking defence.

Inter did find a way back into the game 10 minutes before the break in sumptuous fashion as Ibrahimovic and Esteban Cambiasso worked the ball to Cruz, who held off Clarence Seedorf's challenge before firing low past Brazilian goalkeeper Dida.

And that was despite Inter briefly playing with 10 men due to the injury to Argentine centre-back Samuel.

Milan were possibly feeling the effects of last week's trip to Japan and made a string of early second half changes, with Italy striker Alberto Gilardino and Brazilian midfield pair Emerson and Serginho introduced into the fray.

Inter certainly looked the stronger side after the break and a seemingly innocuous shot from Argentine midfielder Cambiasso sent Dida the wrong way on 64 minutes to give the hosts the lead.

Late on Milan did start to exert some pressure but Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar got down well to turn away World Player of the Year Kaka's fierce drive.

Emerson and Massimo Ambrosini then both missed gilt edged chances to equalise as Inter became jittery in the final moments.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was not letting himself get too down, though.

"We're lacking a point in the standings because a draw would have been a fairer result," he said. "But we'll still have a good Christmas as we're world champions."

Roma stayed second after a Francesco Totti double gave them a 2-0 win over Sampdoria on Saturday.

Juventus are third, eight points off Inter, after goals from Hassa Salihamidzic and French forward David Trezeguet earned them a 2-0 success over Siena.

Fiorentina returned to winning ways in spectacular fashion as they thumped rock-bottom Cagliari 5-1 having not won in their previous five games.

Real 1-0 Barça

Julio Baptista gave Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster the Christmas present he wanted by getting the only goal in a hard-fought 1-0 win over their bitter rivals Barcelona on Sunday.

The rugged Brazilian striker - nicknamed The Beast - found the net after 36 minutes to bring to an end to Barcelona's 100 per cent home record in their Nou Camp stadium this season, both in La Liga and the Champions League.

"I thought we could have got a second goal. We had two or three good attacks in the second half but, overall, it's a fair result," said Schuster.

Real's triumph puts them firmly in lead of the Spanish championship race and they are now the overwhelming favourites to retain their title.

The 30-time Spanish league winners have 41 points from the 17 games and have extended their lead to seven points over second-placed Barcelona.

"It's good to get the points but nothing's decided yet. Let's wait until the end of the season until we starting talking about trophies," said the ever-prudent Schuster.

His opposite number Frank Rijkaard was visibly disappointed at the outcome but tried to look on the bright side after the game.

"We were in the game right until the whistle. In fact, until the very last moment I thought we could get a point but they were very well organised at the back.

"However, I have the feeling that we played well, especially in the midfield and also at the back. We didn't give them many chances but we also lost too many balls at important moments," reflected the Dutch coach.

Neither side had many opportunities in a scrappy first 35 minutes in which the biggest scoring threats came from the free kicks of Real winger Wesley Sneijder.

Real's Portuguese international defender Pepe made Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes work hard to deny him after he connected with one of the Dutchman's dead ball efforts after 11 minutes.

Valdes then flapped badly at a Sneijder free kick on 32 minutes but Ruud van Nistelrooy couldn't get his head cleanly to the ball.

At the other end, Real's Iker Casillas once again proved his credentials as one of the best goal keepers in Europe when he produced two wonderful reaction saves in rapid succession to thwart Ronaldinho and Xavi Hernandez.

Baptista then got the goal which changed the face of a game which generally lived up to its billing as El Clasico in terms of emotion and effort but not technical excellence on this occasion.

Van Nistelrooy saw Baptista darting down the left wing and chipped the ball across, leaving the speedy Brazilian to out pace his markers Carles Puyol and Rafael Marquez before half-volleying the ball over the head of Valdes.

"That goal came at a difficult moment. After they scored, it was easier for Real to sit back and defend," lamented Rijkaard.

The first 15 minutes of the second half saw both teams charge up and down the field but neither side appeared to have much idea about how to break down two well-organised defences.

Casillas produced two fine saves from Bojan Krkic and Yaya Toure in the final seven minutes of the game but it was the closest the Catalan club came to getting an equaliser.

Barca's increasing desperation also left holes at the back and Pepe had a second chance to get his first La Liga goal in injury time.

Rijkaard gambled with starting Ronaldinho but the two-time former World Player of the Year had little impact and was regularly stopped in his tracks by some good tackling by Real left back Sergio Ramos.

The defeat means that Rijkaard will also have to spend the two-week holiday period having to listen to a debate about his future.

The likes of Marco van Basten and Jose Mourinho have been regularly mentioned as potential replacements for Rijkaard if Barca fail to win a trophy for the second year in succession.

Second half goals from Raul Tamudo and Luis Garcia gave Espanyol a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid earlier on Sunday and the Barcelona-based side move up to third place in La Liga, just one point behind their illustrious neighbours.

Atletico scored first through a Simao Sabrosa free kick but ended the night with nine men.

Capello and Beckham

David Beckham insists he has no problem with Fabio Capello and can't wait to work with the new England coach.

Capello dropped Beckham when the England midfielder was playing at Real Madrid last season because he had agreed to join LA Galaxy.

The Italian was forced to bring Beckham back into the Real starting line-up as the team struggled without him. Real went on to win the Spanish league and Beckham is adamant he doesn't hold a grudge against Capello.

"There were ups and downs with me and the manager at the time but he brought me back into the team and he had the belief in me to put me back in the team," Beckham, speaking in a BBC Radio Two interview, said.

"It gave me an amazing end and I was sad when he got the sack as I believe he had turned the club and the players around and given the fans what they deserved, a trophy.

"I think he is a great appointment for England. Everyone wants someone leading you that has respect and success. He has definitely got that in his career."

Capello has admitted he admires Beckham's ability and character, but stopped short of confirming he will hand the former Manchester United star his 100th cap in February's friendly against Switzerland.

Whether he is part of Capello's plans or not Beckham believes England can only benefit from his appointment.

"Fabio is one of the managers players look up to and want to manage them. I hope I'll be part of his plans," Beckham said. "I think he is going to be great for the players and the England team."

Capello has been given the task of leading England to glory

New England manager Fabio Capello spoke Saturday of his joy at being presented with the greatest challenge of his career.

Capello is one of the most successful coaches in the modern era, having guided three Italian teams to the Serie A title - although the two titles he won with Juventus were later rescinded due to match-fixing - as well as leading Real Madrid to two La Liga crowns in the two seasons he spent in Spain, a decade apart.

Now he has been given the task of leading England to glory following the disastrous Steve McClaren tenure in which the country failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

"I've always been attracted by great challenges and I hope to end my career on a high," the 61-year-old told Rai television.

"The challenge that awaits me is more difficult than the others I've had but also one in which I have more preparation time.

"It's already time to start working. I want to do well and succeed. To succeed on the English bench would be the cherry on the cake for my career.

"It would be wonderful to go out on a high after many years working in football. I never thought I would one day coach England."

Capello was believed to be in the running for the job seven years ago before the English FA opted for Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"I came close once before but it didn't happen. This time it's become a reality," he said.

"I'm going to come up against a different way of working in a country where football is like a religion. Everyone in England is asking why the national team is not winning."

Former Chelsea and Portugal boss Jose Mourinho was the early favourtie for the job but when he ruled himself out of the running, all eyes turned to Capello.

His last job ended in June when he was fired by Real Madrid despite guiding them to their first title in four seasons.

Since then he had been working as a football commentator for Rai.

He has previously coached AC Milan, where he won four titles and the Champions League in six seasons, Roma and Juventus.