The Scottish Premier League title race is still too close to call after leaders Rangers drew 0-0 at home to second-placed Celtic.Celtic missed a chance to overhaul their fierce rivals when Greek striker Georgios Samaras had a penalty saved with eight minutes remaining at Ibrox Stadium.

Sunday’s draw leaves defending champions Rangers top by one point with four matches left.

Celtic, meanwhile, have five games still to come, leaving Neil Lennon’s team slim favourites to collect their first league championship since 2008.

The match was played against a backdrop of mounting sectarian tension after a parcel bomb was sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

But despite the usual deafening atmosphere inside Ibrox, the match appeared to pass without incident in the stands.

The same cannot be said on the pitch, where a full-blooded encounter never appeared likely to end in a goalless draw.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor had to keep out shots from Daniel Majstorovic, Charlie Mulgrew and Emilio Izaguirre.

And the Scotland international confirmed his status as the hero of the day for the home team when he pushed clear the 82nd-minute spot-kick of Samaras after substitute Anthony Stokes was fouled inside the box.

Rangers might also have broken the deadlock with chances to Kyle Lafferty, Maurice Edu and Steven Naismith.

Stokes was booked for diving late on by referee Craig Thompson after an unconvincing attempt to claim a second penalty for the visitors.

But with neither side able to claim the decisive goal, a stalemate leaves everything to play for over the closing weeks of the campaign.

Mirror Football is reporting that Fulham are very close to wrapping up a permanent deal for on-loan forward Eidur Gudjohnsen. The 32 year old joined Fulham on loan from fellow Premier League side Stoke City in January. But he would be free to join Fulham on a free transfer in the summer because his Stoke contract will run out.

Gudjohnsen has yet to score a Premier League goal for Fulham – but his promotion to the starting line-up has coincided with a good run of form for the team; Fulham have won seven points from their last three games.

Mark Hughes said on the transfer “we’re trying to make that happen. I’ve been really pleased with what Eidur’s brought to us and I know that he’s enjoying his time here. Eidur would like to stay, I’m sure, and we would reciprocate that as well. We’re hopeful it’ll get done quite soon.”

Gudjohnsen has enjoyed much of his playing career at the highest level that has included spells with various English sides. The most significant of those spells were at Bolton and then Chelsea – but Gudjohnsen also spent four years at Barcelona – where he became the first Icelandic player to win the Champions League in 2009. Gudjohnsen has always been a very important player for Iceland and has scored 24 goals in 63 games at international level.

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Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted on Friday that he is uncertain about his future at Stamford Bridge but wants to stay.The Italian, who masterminded a Premier League and FA Cup double in his first season, has endured a turbulent second campaign in England and after not picking up a trophy, rumours are rife that he is on the way out.

“I have trained for 15 years in this world, sometimes I win, sometimes I don’t, but every time I have enjoyed the season,” Ancelotti said.

“Every time at the end of the season I was happy because I worked, maybe sometimes I worked well, maybe sometimes I made a mistake but this is my job and this is my work and I want to stay.”

On his future, he added: “I said it already we have to wait until the end of the season. I don’t know what will happen after this game, we will arrange a meeting.”

“I have said a lot of times the club have to judge my job objectively and if they decide to change for me it is not a problem, I will be upset with the decision of the club but I will find another solution.”

“I am not surprised about this, but when I started my experience here in England. If someone told me we’d win the FA Cup and Premier League in two years I’d be very happy.”

Chelsea’s campaign started brightly but they endured a tough patch mid-season, beginning with embarrassing defeats at the hands of Sunderland and lowly Birmingham.

They never really recovered and Ancelotti admitted that the season had been a struggle but insists that he has enjoyed it despite the difficulties.

“To be honest, I don’t think that we did our best, we started really well but we could not maintain good continuity,” he said.

“We finished well, we reached the Champions League easily but the bad moment was too long. We could do better, this is football we had lots of problem during the season.”

Ancelotti was adamant that if he does survive next week’s crunch meeting, Chelsea will not need to make many changes over the summer.

“To maintain the top position, we don’t need to spend a lot of money,” he said.

“The club spent a lot of money in January buying Torres and David Luiz, and Ramires in the summer. We don’t need a lot of changes to stay at the top.”

Chelsea face Everton on Sunday, in what is a meaningless game for the Blues.

They will be without Jose Bosingwa, Yossi Benayoun and Ramires, and they come up against a side they have had their fair share of problems against in recent years.

On Everton, Ancelotti added: “A lot of time we have a problem with them.”

“They are strong and they are always focused. It’s difficult to create situations to score but will try on Sunday.”

“Sunday we want to play at our best but it’s not easy to maintain concentration without many aims, but we want to finish strongly against Everton.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists his club will fight tooth and nail to keep captain Cesc Fabregas at the club.Fabregas was expected to join his boyhood team Barcelona during the last close-season and the Spanish giants are expected to come knocking once again at the end of this term.

As yet another season without a trophy comes to its conclusion with Sunday’s trip to Fulham, Wenger argued that Fabregas should be committed to the Arsenal cause.

Wenger said: “I will fight very hard to keep him here and expect to keep him. You have always to fight when you have a player of that quality.

“The biggest pride for a captain is to be committed to his club and deliver trophies to his team. I believe the quality of a sportsman’s life is to be committed to his club and not just move on when it does not go as well as expected.”

Wenger also thinks it is a big risk for midfielder Jack Wilshere to play for the England Under-21 side in the European Championships next month.

The PFA Young Player of the Year has made 48 appearances for Arsenal this season and Wenger would like him to get some rest.

The 19-year-old has already played for the full national side on four occasions and the Under-21’s are supposed to be to help emerging players gain experience.

“We have to accept and respect the choice even if we think it is the wrong decision. He has played nearly 50 games this year for Arsenal. To go to a tournament is a massive risk,” Wenger said.

“I am happy if the Under-21’s do well because I want England to do very well. Jack knows that he is nearly at the end of his energy level but he is keen to do well.”

The Frenchman has also insisted that he is confident the club will challenge for the Premier League and Champions League trophies next season after extending their run without a trophy to six years,

“You can say you will give absolutely the maximum to do it but you cannot guarantee that, only if you are crazy.

“I promise Arsenal fans that we will give our best to win trophies. Who can guarantee that they will deliver trophies? We will give our best to do it, that is our main target.”

Laurent Koscielny will miss the trip to Craven Cottage with a thigh muscle strain, as will Gael Clichy and Johan Djourou, while in midfield Samir Nasri is ruled out with a hamstring problem and a thigh strain means Fabregas will play no part.

Werder Bremen midfielder Marko Marin’s agent has revealed Tottenham and Liverpool have both had bids rejected for the German international.Speculation has been rife the 22-year-old would leave the Weserstadion over the off-season after a disappointing campaign saw Bremen finish 13th in the Bundesliga.

But the dimuitive winger said he is happy to stay with Bremen, despite his agent, Fali Ramadani, claiming English Premier League clubs Liverpool and Tottenham were both interested in his services.

“Marko rejected both teams,” Ramadani told Bild. “Werder hinted also that they would not sell Marko at this time.”

And the Bosnian-born midfielder said he was more than happy to remain with Bremen, unless the club made the decision to sell him.

“I want to stay at Werder. I feel good at Bremen,” Marin said. “I have never had the urge to leave. I want to be successful here, and that is my only aim.”

“If the club receives an offer and decides to sell me, that is another situation. Until then I am happy here.”

Colombia manager Hernan Dario Gomez believes he will ‘go crazy’ if he worries too much about Argentina ahead of their Copa America meeting.Along with Chile, Colombia are one of just two nations to taste victory after the first round of matches, with short-priced favourites Brazil and Argentina held to frustrating draws by Venezuela and Bolivia respectively.

Hosts Argentina possess an array of attacking talent but could not score more than once as they came from a goal down against Bolivia, while Colombia edged Costa Rica 1-0 after the Central American nation had a player sent off in the first half.

At a press conference in Santa Fe on Tuesday, Gomez needed little reminding at what his defence would face at the Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez.

“Out of respect, I base myself on an improvement in my team because if I start thinking about Argentina I’ll go crazy. How do I mark Messi, (Carlos) Tevez, (Sergio) Aguero, (Angel) Di Maria?” he said.

“I don’t know how to mark Messi. It’s very difficult. What we do have are support lines, back-up, work we can put into action.”

Argentina manager Sergio Batista bore the disappointment of an expectant nation following the Group A draw with Bolivia on Friday.

Against the 2001 Copa America champions – who boast their own attacking talents in Radamel Falcao, Hugo Rodallega and Fredy Guarin – Batista wants his side to show more composure in their second match.

“The national team always has pressure, the more so now with the obligation of winning after the draw,” he said.

“Messi had a good first half but when we gets disorganised maybe he gets lost.”

“Even if we’d won, there were things that needed correcting and working on. That concerned me. We didn’t play the way we had in friendlies.”

Yokohama F Marinos are the new leaders on the J.League table following a 1-1 draw at Omiya Ardija on Sunday.The three-time league champions needed just a point from their trip to Omiya Park to ascend to the top after long-time leaders Kashima Reysol lost on Saturday.

Their progress seemed all but assured after a bright start was capped by 18-year-old attacker Yuji Ono’s goal in the 37th minute.

Ono, a fledging Japan Under-23 international, had not scored since a brace against Avispa Fukuoka in May.

Omiya improved as the game wore on and eventually evened the ledger in the 74th minute through Rafael, the Brazilian import finding the net for the fourth time this season.

But Yokohama held firm until the final whistle to replace Kashiwa at the top of the table on goal difference. Both clubs have 34 points from 17 games.

Elsewhere, Nagoya Grampus continued to improve with a 2-0 win at Montedio Yamagata.

Usual suspects Keiji Tamada (43) and Josh Kennedy (57) scored in either half to lift Nagoya to their third straight win, one that sees the reigning champions replace Kawasaki Frontale in third.

Tamada has scored nine goals this campaign, joining Gamba Osaka striker Adriano and Ventforet Kofu’s Mike Havenaar at the top of the scorers’ table.

Australia international Kennedy has added eight for Nagoya.

In other results, Kashima Antlers rose to 10th on the table with a 3-0 thumping of Vegalta Sendai.

Chikashi Masuda (13) and Takuya Nozawa (18) stunned the visitors with back-to-back goals inside the first 20 minutes. Yuzo Tashiro (69) sealed the game in the second half.

Urawa Red Diamonds’ uneven start to the domestic campaign continued with a 1-1 draw at Jubilo Iwata.

Urawa looked to have secured the three points as they entered injury time up 1-0 on Yosuke Kashiwagi’s 29th-minute strike.

But the visitors conceded a penalty in the final moments to Japan international Ryoichi Maeda, who gleefully converted to snatch a share of the points for Iwata.

Tottenham are lining up a sensational deal to bring Bobby Zamora back to White Hart Lane with the Metro reporting that Peter Crouch could be used in a swap.

Harry Redknapp is in the hunt for a new striker is a known admirer of the Fulham hitman.

It is thought Martin Jol would be reluctant to sell his top marksman without having a replacement lined up and Redknapp thinks throwing Crouch into the mix could make the deal a possibility.

Both players are 30-years-old and members of the England squad although Crouch has significantly more caps and experience than Zamora.

However Spurs boss Redknapp see’s the Fulham hitman as a more potent goal scoring threat than Crouch who, despite scoring crucial Champions League goals, managed only four strikes in the league last year.

If the move were to go through it would cap a remarkable turnaround for Zamora who has revitalised his career at Craven Cottage.

He originally signed for Spurs at the start of the 2003/04 season but failed to score in his 16 games before being sold to West Ham and then to Fulham.

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His performances for the Cottagers catapulted him into the England squad last year and now Redknapp is prepared to bring him back to Tottenham.

Colorado Rapids inflicted 10-man Philadelphia Union’s first loss of the season, winning 2-1 at PPL Park in Friday’s Major League Soccer.First-half goals from Pablo Mastroeni and Sanna Nyassi proved enough for the visitors to take all three points, leaving Sporting Kansas City and LA Galaxy as the only teams yet to be beaten at home this season.

It was veteran midfielder Mastroeni who opened the scoring 35 minutes in, collecting Brian Mullan’s throw-in and beating Carlos Valdes, before finding the top-left corner for his first goal of the season.

And Nyassi doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, receiving a through ball from Omar Cummings to round off a sharp counterattacking move with Colorado’s second.

Keon Daniel and Danny Mwanga enjoyed the Union’s only real chances of the first half, but the introduction of Roger Torres and Michael Farfan saw an improvement from the hosts after the break.

Valdes came close twice, first from a header and then following a quick exchange with Sebastien Le Toux.

But Philadelphia’s task became considerably harder when they lost Sheanon Williams, who was shown two yellow cards in quick succession for dissent toward the referee.

Williams’ departure left the home side a man light with 27 minutes still to play.

They did eventually get one back, with substitute Torres netting in stoppage time to halve the Rapids’ lead.

And Valdes almost equalised with just seconds remaining, but saw his header cleared off the line by Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who frustrated the hosts throughout the match.

The hard-earned win sees the Rapids climb to fourth in the Western Conference, eight points behind leaders Galaxy.

The Union remain top of the Eastern Conference, level on points with Columbus Crew.

A last gasp Mikel Arteta penalty secured Everton’s first win of the season at Ewood Park and heaped more misery on Blackburn, who missed two penalties of their own and have now lost all three games this season.

David Hoilett and Mauro Formica squandered a penalty each in the second half leaving Steve Kean cursing his sides luck and shoddy finishing before Arteta showed them how it should be done from 12-yards to claim victory.

The Spaniard struck from the spot in the 92nd minute after Christopher Samba was harshly judged to have climbed all over Marouane Fellaini in the penalty area with referee Lee Mason showing no hesitation to award a penalty.

Kean will be seething with Hoilett and Formica after they both failed to score from the spot in the second half . The 21-year-old Canadian shot tamely at Tim Howard in the visitors goal after young Ross Barkley had fouled striker Formica in the Everton penalty area.

Mason then pointed to the spot again in the 82nd minute after Formica was fouled by Phil Jagielka only for the Argentine striker to smash is penalty off the post before Samba upended Fellaini at the death allowing Arteta to step up and win the game.

He duly obliged cooly converting the penalty to hand the Toffees their first three points of the new campaign. As for Blackburn things lurch from bad to worse for Kean who finds his side rock bottom of the Premier League.

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