SPORTS 100820

Football’s up first and in Europa League qualifiers – Mario Balotelli became an instant hero for Manchester City as he came off the bench to score the winner against Timisoara of Romania.

Elsewhere, Liverpool edged Turkish-side Trabzonspor through a first-half Ryan Babel strike; Aston Villa scored a crucial away goal in their 1-all tie against Rapid Vienna; and Bayer Leverkusen cruised to a 3-nil win over The Ukraine’s Tavria Simferopol on Michael Ballack's return.

The second-leg ties will take place on the 26th of August.
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Off the pitch – Roberto Mancini has hit back at Sir Alex Ferguson's criticism of Manchester City's "kamikaze spending" this summer.

The signing of James Milner from Aston Villa on Wednesday took City's total summer spending to a staggering £130million pounds, which pales in comparison to the £24million spent by United so far.

City will face Liverpool on Monday night at home – and looking ahead at this weekend’s key ties – on Saturday – Champions Chelsea will play against Wigan away; Arsenal face newly promoted Blackpool at the Emirates;

and in Sunday’s ties – Newcastle United face Atson Villa at St James Park; while Fulham will host Manchester United.

And you can join us LIVE from the New Paper Sports Bar @ St James Power Station for this Sunday’s fixtures – we go ON-AIR from 8pm in the all new Footy Fever!
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And in a Youth Olympic Games update – Singapore reached the Football finals topping Group D when they overcame Montenegro 3-2.

Playing at the Jalan Besar Stadium to well-over 6,000 fans the Cubs will now face Haiti in the semis this Sunday.
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Finally a look at the Medal Tally after 5-days of competition – China still leads the pack at the top with 12 Gold, 6 Silver and 2 Bronze; Russia are second with 9 Gold, 8 Silver and 4 Bronze;

Italy are third with 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze.

And Singapore moved up the rankings with it’s third bronze yesterday through 16-year old Archer Adbul Dayyan in the mixed team event.
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