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Subject :MANCHESTER, England -- Robin van Persie ushered Manchester United into the Champions League quarterf
MANCHESTER, England -- Robin van Persie ushered Manchester United into the Champions League quarterfinals -- and potentially saved his managers job -- with a hat trick in a 3-0 victory over Olympiakos that completed one of the competitions greatest comebacks on Wednesday. Adidas Ondrej Palat Jersey . On one of the memorable European nights at Old Trafford, Van Persie scored three times in a 27-minute span either side of halftime to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. A slew of brilliant saves by David de Gea were also key to a famous win for the English champions -- and a vital one for their manager, David Moyes. Moyes position had come under intense scrutiny after Uniteds humiliating 3-0 loss to fierce rival Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, the latest in a string of dreadful results in his first season in charge. An early exit in Europe could have stretched the patience of fans and Uniteds hierarchy beyond breaking point -- but Moyes is left hoping this can be a watershed moment in his United career. "I dont want to come out here and say this is the moment," Moyes said, "but at the same time, I really hope it is." A nerve-shredding night ended with Olympiakos captain Giannis Maniatis on his knees and in floods of tears, and Moyes saluting home fans and wearing the broadest grin. The under-fire United manager was saved by the goal-scoring qualities of Van Persie, who converted a penalty in the 25th minute, side-footed home his second goal in first-half injury time and curled in a free kick in the 52nd. And he also had words of praise for Ryan Giggs, who at the age of 40 delivered a tireless performance in midfield. Giggs lasted the full match, despite having played only 81 minutes since Jan. 7, and played a crucial role in Van Persies first two goals. "His all-round play was very good," Moyes said. "He defies his age." Van Persie was carried off on a stretcher in the final minutes after hurting his leg in a challenge but Moyes said he didnt think it was a serious injury. Olympiakos slumped to its 12th straight away defeat in England and missed out on securing a place in the last eight for the first time since 1999. The Greek champions had their chances -- some of De Geas saves were breathtaking -- but defensively they were chaotic and they became only the sixth team to squander a two-goal lead from the first leg of a Champions League match. "We were unlucky," Olympiakos midfielder David Fuster said, "and were pretty upset about it." In Wednesdays other last-16 match, Borussia Dortmund advanced 5-4 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 2-1 at home to Zenit St. Petersburg. The draw for the quarterfinals is held on Friday. "We probably now will go into it as underdogs," Moyes said. "If we play to our capabilities, which we have not done too often, then I think we will be a match for any team." Moyes insisted on the eve of the biggest game of his reign that his position was not under threat, saying Uniteds vision was "long term," the board was still supportive and stressing that he was in a six-year contract. Fans appeared to be starting to waver, although the banner reading "The Chosen One" -- a nickname given to Moyes after he was hand-picked for the job by predecessor Alex Ferguson -- remained hung up high in the Stretford End as Olympiakos kicked off. Initially, United was gripped by panic -- misplacing passes, diving into tackles and showing no shape defensively -- but the nerves were settled by Van Persies penalty. The Netherlands striker tumbled after being barged in the back by Jose Holebas after bringing down a cross-field pass from Giggs, and he got up to convert his penalty unerringly. Giggs was the architect of the second goal, too, floating another pass to Wayne Rooney, who crossed for Van Persie to caress his finish under goalkeeper Robertos dive. The aggregate score was now 2-2 and Moyes greeted the goal with repeated fist-pumps and marched back to the dressing rooms, breaking into a jog at one point. He was celebrating again within six minutes of the second half when Van Persie curled home a free kick from just outside the area, with Roberto earning the wrath of his defenders for not trusting his wall and vacating the area near where the ball crossed the line. With Olympiakos attacking relentlessly in the final 25 minutes, the final whistle was met with relief as much as joy by home fans. Languishing in seventh place in the Premier League, the Champions League remains a potential source of silverware for United this season. Adidas Jason Garrison Jersey . Milan was held to 1-1 at home by Torino. Cagliari scored six minutes from halftime when Mauricio Pinilla blasted home from the penalty spot after Facundo Roncaglia tripped Marco Sau. The home side could have doubled its tally in stoppage time as first Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic almost scored an own goal then Albin Ekdals shot clipped the top of the upright. Adidas Andrei Vasilevskiy Jersey . FLIP SAUNDERS (Timberwolves): Im not the least bit surprised that he appointed himself as head coach after his search concluded. http://www.lightningsportsshop.com/adidas+vladislav+namestnikov+lightning+jersey . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years.The UFC holds a rare Friday night event with UFC Fight Night 33 from Brisbane, Australia. Featured is a main event pitting two fighters looking for redemption in the heavyweight division. As always myself (@LynchOnSports) and Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) have our preview and picks. Let us know which side youre on! Use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Also feel free to leave you opinions in the comment section below. Antonio “Bigfoot”Silva vs. Mark Hunt James Lynch TSN.ca (@LynchOnSports) American Top Team product Silva heads into enemy territory when he battles 39-year old Hunt in a very important matchup for the heavyweight division. Both fighters are coming off losses to the two best fighters in the division, with Silva losing to champion Cain Velasquez and Hunt losing to former champion Junior Dos Santos. Like many of their peers, both fighters have exceptional stand up, with a combined 26-knockouts between them. While they each share the same amount of knockout wins at 13 apiece, its Hunt who clearly possess more power. The South Wales native also is a former K-1 kickboxing champion and has an impressive 30-13 record during his tenure. If “Bigfoot” tries to test his boxing skills against Hunt, it could be a recipe for disaster. However should he get this fight to the mat, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt will have a significant advantage as six of Hunts eight losses have come by way of submission. In addition for Hunt, in both the Dos Santos loss and in the Stefan Struve win, his conditioning appeared very lackluster and its obvious that age has caught up to him. The 34-year old Brazilian should win this fight as he should implement a rare game-plan and go for the submission. Once hes found his range and taken down his elder foe, hell sink in the submission for the win. Silva via second round submission Jordan Cieciwa TSN 1290 (@FitCityJordan) Mark Hunt versus Antonio Silva is a solid fight, but Im not sure if its a main event. Weather it is or not isnt up for debate, its happening. Heres what I see going down. Ive been a big fan of Mark Hunt for a long time. The problem, hes very one dimensional. Hunt spent years in the K-1 Kickboxing organization. To excel there, you cant mess around with wrestling and jujitsu. Your focus has to be on perfect your kickboxing skills. Hunt did that and amassed an impressive 30-13 record in the K-1 league. Its no secret his weakness is his submission defense game. That is the only way Silva can beat him. Now flip to the other side of the cage and Silva gets KOd often. I see this going to experience, and striking. Hunt should be able to stay on his feet and end this with a bang. Hunt via first round knockout Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. James Te Huna Lynch Sticking with the theme of fighters coming off losses, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rua battles Australia native Te-Huna in the nights co-feature. Many (including myself) were shocked when in his last fight; “Shogun” was submitted by Chael Sonnen in the first round which handed the Brazilian his fourth loss in his last six-fights. Fans of the 32-year old PRIDE veteran are left with frustration as his lack of conditioning and preparation have been the catalyst for most of his recent losses. Te Huna meanwhile was on a roll after his UFC debut, amassing an impressive 5-1 record and looked well on his way to earning a title shot. Those dreams were shattered as he suffered a first round submission loss to Glover Teixeira back at UFC 160 this past May. The real question heading into this fight is, will the 2006 PRIDE Middleweight Grand-Prix champ feel the sense of urgency and not take his 32-year old counterpart lightly? Shogun has the clear advantage on the ground but will he implement that game plan? Five of Te Hunas six losses have come by way of tap out and Shogun is a BJJ black belt. Standing and trading with the Aussie could be risky, especially when you consider that in his 22-fight career, hes never been knocked out. This time around, we should see a more motivated and hungry “Shogun” as hell likely catch the hometown hero early in the first round. Rua via first round submission JC James Te Huna has been getting quite the following. Hes had mixed reviews in his last few fights, but overall the talk about him is good. He put a solid beating on Joey Beltran, and has looked like a solid power puncher in every outing. His opponent is the legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Rua has looked very human in his last few outings. His loses coming in fights where he looks unprepared and out of shape. Which leaves me wondering, whats going to show up at this event? Anything other than a fit, sharp, prepared MMA athlete is going to get his head knocked off. The better, more all-round fighter is Rua. The hungry fighter is Te Huna. My money is on the TKO for the hungry fighter. Te Huna via third round TKO Ryan Bader vs. Anthony Perosh Lynch Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner Bader enters hostile territory when he battles 41-year old Perosh. Like Te Huna, Bader is also coming off a first round stoppage loss to Glover Teixeira in his last fight and hopes a win will keep his status as a contender in the division. “The Hippo” meanwhile is coming off a huge upset victory over Vinny Magalhaes in the first round, back at UFC 163 and hopes to do the same this Friday night. Lighting shouldnt strike twice as Bader is superior in all areeas of this fight. Adidas Brian Boyle Jersey. We should see a similar bout to Peroshs loss to Ryan Jimmo as Bader will earn a quick victory over the South Wales native via knockout. Bader via first round knockout JC Ryan Bader burst on the scene after the season 8 Ultimate Fighter win. After that, he has had a lot of ups and downs. Tito Ortiz ran through him like a man on fire, as did Machida and Teixeira. So he has those loses in his recent memory, but lets talk about this one fact: He has faced the best in the division. Sure those fights combined represent less than 10 minutes of cage time. The point is, he prepared to that level, and is still close to there. That level is a long way above 41-year-old Anthony Perosh who got unconscious really quick against Ryan Jimmo. That being said, Perosh looked fantastic against Nick Penner (A good friend of mine, so its hard to write that) and spent 14 seconds in the cage in his last fight against Vinny Magalhaes. Here are the cold hard facts on fighting. The first minute of a fight is the scariest. Nerves, finding range, and small mistakes turn to quick knockouts. Anyone counting Perosh out based on a Jimmo KO is crazy. Perosh has something to bring to this fight, and I think we will see an over confident Ryan Bader get steam rolled Tito Ortiz style by a veteran who got caught a few fights ago. Perosh via third round submission Pat Barry vs. Soa Palelei Lynch Barry looks to rebound from his disappointing loss to Shawn Jordan back at UFC 161 as he takes on Aussie native Palelei. While Barry is superior in the striking department, he faces a fighter who has both a significant height and reach advantage. In addition, “The Hulk” is on a nine-fight win streak, while Barry has lost four of his last six fights. Barry is the favorite, but I think well see an upset as Palelei will thrive off the energy of his native crowd and catch the 34-year old on the chin, sometime in the second round. Palelei via second round knockout JC This is a clear case of hometown crowd and a good fighter whos been knocked out too many times. The flash knockout Pat Barry suffered at the hands of Shawn Jordan still wont be fully clear. It increases the risk of another "easy" knockout. That injury in addition to being the smaller fighter again puts Barry in a dangerous place. This is going to be another knock out he wont soon forget. Palelei via second round Knockout Dylan Andrews vs. Clint Hester Lynch New Zealand native Andrews looks for his seventh straight victory when he battles American Hester in a middleweight encounter. This is a typical striker versus grappler matchup, with Hester being predominantly known for his knockout power and Andrews being well versed on the mat. In most cases, the submission ace usually takes home the victory and this should be the case for this fight on Friday night. In addition, the 27-year old Hester injured himself a few months ago, so there is no telling if hes fully healed from that injury. This should be Andrews fight to lose and if he can avoid his American counterparts stand up, he should win this fight. Expect Andrews to land in a fight ending submission in the second round and keep his winning streak alive. Andrews via second round submission Im excited for this fight. Anytime there is a striker fighting an accomplished grappler Im instantly transported back to the original UFC days. Like those first few UFCs, I always bet on a jiu-jitsu practitioner to win. Its just the way life seems to go. This should be no different. I expect Dylan Andrews to use his grappling to push Hester into a mistake. That mistake will be capitalized on, and I strongly feel this will end with a TKO. Dylan Andrews via third round TKO Julie Kedzie vs. Bethe Correia Lynch Judo ace Kedzie makes her UFC debut against fellow promotional newcomer Correia. Despite losing her last three-fights, the 32-year old has a significant experience advantage with 28-fights under her belt compared to “Pitbulls" six fights. Even in her loss to current title challenger Miesha Tate back in 2012, Kedzie was winning the fight up until she was submitted. Usually when a veteran fighter faces an up and comer they generally lose (Case in point last weekend with Raquel Pennington defeating Roxanne Modafarri) However in this situation, I expect Kedzie to come out with a sense of urgency in her UFC debut and take home a unanimous decision. Kedzie via unanimous decision. JC This fight looks like it will be really tough for Bethe Correia. Her opponent, Julie Kedzie has been in the cage with the top challenger in the division (including Miesha Tate) and held her own. That means Correia has a tough night of high paced work ahead of her. Kedzie has 28 fights to her credit, which is tough to do in the womens division. That amount of time in the cage is a significant advantage. The only thing going in Correias favor is her underdog status. Shes not expected to win, that means the pressure isnt on her. She also may have some tricks up her sleeve that we dont know about. That being said, its a huge experience difference. Kedzie via unanimous decision Undercard Picks: Lynch: Mizugaki, Ring, Scoggins, Santos, Garcia JC: Mizugaki, Ring, Scoggins, Jotko, Garcia Also be sure to tune into the “Weigh-In” on TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg every Saturday as myself, Jordan and “Big Marv” Timog go toe to toe discussing the hottest topics in MMA. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' ' |
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