Freie Unterhaltung » In other action involving seeds, former

LONDON - The English Premier League added to the mystery over Frank Lampards status on Thursday by confirming he is under contract at Manchester City and does not have a formal deal with partner club New York City FC.The league statement came after The Associated Press on Monday highlighted the confusion over Lampards status amid continuing silence by the teams.The New York team, which debuts in Major League Soccer in March, announced last July that Lampard signed a two-year contract, and used it to promote the sale of jerseys and season tickets.Shortly afterward, Man City said Lampard was returning to the Premier League on loan to stay match fit for his New York debut. But the announcement has been removed from the team website, and City never used the term loan again.Lampards seven goals have been valuable to the teams title defence, and when City announced on Dec. 31 that he was staying for the rest of the season, the team said his contract had been extended.MLS told the AP that although Lampard had not signed a contract with NYCFC, the midfielder had one with City Football Group, the umbrella company for the portfolio of clubs owned by Abu Dhabis Sheikh Mansour.Now the Premier League has investigated the matter and confirmed that no integrity rules have been breached because Lampards only contract is with Man City and he is not on loan.Frank Lampard is registered with Manchester City FC until the end of the 2014-15 season, the league said in a statement. The Premier League has sought and received assurances from Manchester City that there is no agreement in place between the club or City Football Group with New York City FC relating to the player.The 36-year-old former Chelsea player originally said he was moving to MLS because he didnt want to play anywhere else in England because I had been so affiliated with one club.There has been criticism in the United States over Lampards failure to start the MLS season with the expansion franchise.NYCFC supporters group, The Third Rail, said it was outraged by Lampards prolonged stay in England.Many fans, including our members, decided to support the team, committed to season tickets, and bought merchandise under the impression that Frank Lampard would be playing for New York City Football Club, not Manchester City, the group said.___Jan. 5 AP story on Lampards contractual confusion: http://bit.ly/1tO0vd2Rob Harris can be followed at www.twitter.com/RobHarris Joao Cancelo Juventus Jersey . 22 because of a bruised foot and have added forward Sean Collins to the roster on emergency recall from Springfield of the AHL. Giorgio Chiellini Jersey .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. http://www.juventusfcpro.com/Kids-Joao-Cancelo-Jersey/ . The win puts the final playoff berth in Group A in question. If the Czechs beat Slovakia on Tuesday, they will go through. If they lose, Germany will get the last quarter-final berth. Gianluigi Buffon Juventus Jersey .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen, NFL Editor Ben Fisher, and Isaac Owusu discuss three hot fantasy football topics. Mario Mandzukic Juventus Jersey . Ozuna hit Reeds 2-2 pitch off the batters eye far above the 407-foot sign in straightaway centre. It was the fifth blown save in 25 tries for Reed (1-5) and the ninth home run the closer has allowed in 38 appearances. Nuno, acquired in the deal that sent Brandon McCarthy to the New York Yankees, gave up three hits, struck out a career-high seven and walked one in seven innings.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Three members of the Big Four won second-round matches Wednesday at the 2015 Australian Open. Second-seeded former world No. 1 Roger Federer had to come from behind to beat Italian Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, while third-seeded former top- ranked star Rafael Nadal needed all five sets and survived cramps to hold off American Tim Smyczek 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-5 at Melbourne Park. The 2014 Wimbledon runner-up and 17-time Grand Slam king Federer owns four Aussie Open titles and was the 2009 runner-up here to Nadal. Federers next opponent will be Italian Andreas Seppi. Playing just his 10th tour-level match since July of last year, Nadal ground out a comeback victory against the world No. 112 Smyczek. I dont know what was going on, Nadal said in a courtside interview. There was imitation, I started to have cramps in different places. I was not in the perfect shape. The 14-time Grand Slam champ and reigning French Open titlist Nadal maintained his record of never losing to a qualifier at a Grand Slam championship, but his win kept fans at Rod Laver Arena on the edges of their seats. The former Oz champ and two-time runner-up triumphed in 4 hours, 12 minutes to set up a third-round meeting with Israeli Dudi Sela. Nadal lost to Stan Wawrinka in last years finale in Melbourne. Meanwhile, sixth-seeded three-time Aussie Open runner-up Andy Murray eased past Aussie Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 on Day 3 at the fortnight. The two-time Grand Slam champions third-round opponent will be Portuguese Joao Sousa. Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych handleed Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, 6-2, while 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov got past Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3, 6-3 and 14th-seeded South African Kevin Anderson beat Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).dddddddddddd In other action involving seeds, former Aussie runner-up Marcos Baghdatis upset No. 20 David Goffin 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; Aussie Bernard Tomic took out No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5); rising Aussie Nick Kyrgios drove out No. 23 Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; No. 24 Richard Gasquet grounded Aussie James Duckworth 6-2, 6-3, 7-5; last weeks Sydney champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia dismissed No. 26 Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; the aforementioned Sela surprised No. 28 Lukas Rosol 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 7-5, 6-3; Seppi erased No. 29 Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; and Sousa bested No. 32 Martin Klizan 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 1-0, retired. Also advancing were Aussie Sam Groth and Tunisias Malek Jaziri. The second round is scheduled to conclude Thursday, including matches for top- seeded four-time Aussie champion Novak Djokovic and the fourth-seeded reigning titlist Wawrinka. The seven-time major winner Djokovic will take on Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, while Wawrinka will look to extend his Melbourne winning streak to nine matches with a meeting against Romanian Marius Copil. Also on the Day 4 schedule will be fifth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, eighth-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic, ninth-seeded David Ferrer, and former No. 1 and former Aussie runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. ' ' '