The Sports Matrix: Tuesday 10 January 2012

I hope this will be the first of many, says happy Henry

Thierry Henry scored his 227th goal for Arsenal last night and said he hopes "it won't be the last one"."I don't know what to say to be honest," he said after scoring the goal in the 1-0 FA Cup win over Leeds United. "I love the club. I want to help out and hopefully I can do more. I hope [the goal] won't be my last one." Henry came off the bench after 68 minutes, and 10 minutes later received a pass from Alex Song and shot into the far corner, prompting jubilation. "I never thought I'd play for Arsenal again, let alone score the winner," he said. "The feeling I had when I scored was amazing. "I am enjoying the club as a fan. I wasn't before. Scoring a goal when you support a team: now I know what the guys at Chelsea, Liverpool and United feel when they score. I will always remember tonight," He added. "I don't know why, but when it comes to Arsenal, something happens with me. Sometimes in a bad way, but most of the way in history in a good way. "The team played well. It's not an easy tie. They came to defend, the fans were getting frustrated, but I enjoyed it." Henry replaced Marouane Chamakh with 22 minutes remaining. His arrival prompted a roar almost as loud as the one that greeted his match-winning goal at the Emirates. MORE

Dallaglio calls for big improvement

Lawrence Dallaglio has called on England to improve rapidly if they are to challenge at the next World Cup. The former World Cup winner also stressed that anything other than a win against Scotland in the Six Nations next month would be a disaster. MORE

Bresnan to miss Pakistan series

Tim Bresnan will miss the whole of England's Test series with Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. The Yorkshire seamer will return home to recover from an elbow injury he suffered in Dubai and will be replaced in the squad by Graham Onions. MORE

Virus threatens Palace Cup dreams

On the eve of their biggest game of the season, Crystal Palace's League Cup hopes were rocked by mass illness. Eagles manager Dougie Freedman knows that, going into their semi-final against Cardiff City, a virus could deprive him of several key players. MORE

City appeal while Rooney hits back

Manchester City yesterday appealed against the red card shown to Vincent Kompany during Sunday's fiery 3-2 defeat by Manchester United. Meanwhile Wayne Rooney used Twitter to deny he prompted referee Chris Foy to issue the card. MORE

Sharapova ready to end title drought

Maria Sharpova, one of the veterans on the women's tour despite being just 24 years old, tells i she is "mentally and physically" ready to end her Grand Slam title-winning drought at the Australian Open, scene of her last triumph back in 2008. MORE

Last chance for Team GB to qualify

Britain's male gymnasts need a top four finish in today's final qualifying event at the O2 Arena if they are to compete in the Olympic games. Team GB finished 10th in the World Gymnastics in Tokyo last October, failing to qualify early. MORE

Hughes on the brink of QPR job

Mark Hughes and his agent, Kia Joorabchian, spent several hours yesterday at QPR's ground, Loftus Road, as both parties attempted to thrash out a deal for the Welshman to replace Neil Warnock who was sacked following Saturday's 1-1 draw with MK Dons. MORE

Fifa award No 3 for marvellous Messi

Lionel Messi yesterday secured another hat-trick but, for once, this one was not on the pitch. Messi won Fifa's Ballon d'Or for the Player of the Year for the third year in succession, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and team-mate Xavi to claim the prize. MORE

Opinion: James Lawton

Despite being on the losing Manchester side on Sunday, it is clear that Sergio Aguero wanted to serve his team with every scrap of the best of himself. His goal almost conjured an extraordinary FA Cup result. MORE