Coventry City 1 Manchester United 2

Is there too much football on television ? No, I don't think so. We have to be wary that in the future there may be, but not at the moment. Television and football have been great partners over the last few years.

ROUND-UP

Coventry City 2 Keane 43, 67 Derby County 0 Half-time: 1-0 Attendance: 17,685

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Keane 48 Portsmouth 1 Allen 36 Half- time: 0-1 Attendance: 21,024

THE LIVERPOOL midfielder Dietmar Hamann will be out of action for three months after undergoing an ankle operation in Germany.

Sir: The new football season is underway so may I beg that the media (including yourselves) concentrate on what happens on the field of play rather than the dross to which we have been subjected during the close season. No more Manchester United and the FA Cup; no more Anelka (he's gone, anyway); no more Robbie Keane transfer saga and, above all, no more boring Crystal Palace and their financial problems.

ROBBIE KEANE made it a frustrating return to the First Division for City who, despite a siege lasting most of the second-half, could not find a way to wipe out his decisive goal.

ROBBIE FOWLER and Karlheinz Riedle scored the goals as Liverpool won their friendly match against Wolves 2-0 last night in front of a crowd of 24,630 at Molineux.

WOLVES ARE changing their spots, if a mixed metaphor may be permitted. No longer are the First Division's perennial underachievers looking like blowing away the eternal Molineux optimism just as they enter the season's final stage by losing against lowly opposition.

ENGLISH FOOTBALL fans may soon be adding Welsh language dictionaries to their bookshelves. S4C, the Welsh television channel, broadcasts more Spanish and German league coverage than any other TV station in Britain and from this week their new digital programmes are available for the first time to the whole of the rest of the UK.

Republic of Ireland 2 Paraguay 0

MANCHESTER UNITED'S manager, Alex Ferguson, has pulled out of the race for the Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe, leaving the way open for the midfielder to move to West Ham.

A former Tottenham man can improve career prospects by plotting Arsenal's demise