Football Corner

Middlesborough and Bolton have both moved to the top of their respective UEFA Cup groups with 3-0 and 1-0 wins respectivley. Striker Mark Viduka scored twice as Middlesbrough moved three points clear at the top of Uefa Cup Group D after sweeping aside Ukraine side Dnipro. Yakubu gave Boro a first-half lead, exchanging passes with Gaizka Mendieta, before side-footing the ball home.

Early in the second half Viduka extended Boro's lead, arrowing the ball into the net with a powerful shot. Six minutes later Viduka claimed his second after Artem Kusliy was unable to hold James Morrison's fierce shot. The only disappointment for Boro was that so few fans showed up at The Riverside following Saturday's 4-1 win over Manchester United, the huge swathes of unfilled seats giving the game something of a funereal atmosphere. Only 12,953 were at The Riverside to witness a very vintage performance from Boro. Final score: Middlesborough 3-0 Dnipro.


Kevin Nolan scored the only goal as Bolton saw off Zenit St Petersburg to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stage of the Uefa Cup. Nolan reacted first after Stelios Giannakopoulous' close-range shot had been smothered by Kamil Contofalsky. Chances for both sides were limited on a rain-sodden pitch which did little to encourage free-flowing football. Jussi Jaaskelainen had to save from Igor Denisov and Andrei Arshavin late on as Zenit pushed for an equaliser. Zenit deserve credit for a positive approach in awful conditions although both sides struggled to make the game into an entertaining spectacle. Final score: Bolton 1-0 Zenit St Petersburg.

Great results for both Bolton and Boro. Boro performed very very well tonight and it seemed as though they were carrying on from Saturday. It was good to see Viduka pitch in with a couple of goals after a barring spell of late. Kevin Nolan was captaining Bolton tonight and he did very very well and I think his performances this season have merited a international call up.