ppointment was obvious.I think I need a little bit of perspective before I can really approach that, Britcher said.Emily Sweeney, who has been slowed at the start of her runs by a wrist injury, was sixth for the U.S., and fello

Two Premier League titles aside, Manchester City finally showed once and for all they are ready to be counted among Europes elite clubs.Coming off what could be a franchise-altering victory over Barcelona, City now try to avoid the dreaded letdown Saturday when they host new boys Middlesbrough.Things looked bleak at the Etihad on Tuesday after the Citizens fell behind 1-0 on Lionel Messis goal in the 21st minute. Here were Manchester City (7-2-1), playing with their backup goalkeeper, their confidence still fragile with one win in their last seven matches and on the verge of seeing the Catalan giants -- the class of Europe -- put together another one of their masterpieces that would again expose the gulf in class between the sides.Instead, Pep Guardiolas charges dug in against his former side and weathered the onslaught. And a goal by Ilkay Gundogan on 39 minutes leveled the match and changed the fortunes of Manchester City, likely for the short term and possibly forever.The hallmarks of high pressing and fluid passing Guardiola instilled at Barcelona now became Citys, and they took advantage of a weakened Spanish spine minus Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta to add second-half goals by Kevin De Bruyne and Gundogan again for a 3-1 victory that left them needing only three more points to secure passage back into the knockout round of the Champions League.If you talk about the first 30 minutes, we are not able to compare against the best teams, Guardiola said. This club was 25, 30 years out of Europe, while Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich were playing every year.We need time. We are three or four months into playing a different way. We try and now we won against the best team. For the future generations they are going to realise: wow these guys are able to beat the best team.Gundogan has played every bit the part of the ￡20 million transfer fee City paid Borussia Dortmund over the summer of late with braces in back-to-back contests. The German international had scored just once in his first eight matches after missing most of summer training due to a dislocated kneecap.While Sergio Aguero did not score, Guardiola singled out his striker for a relentless effort in leading the high line of pressure that unnerved Barcas backline, noting that he played awesome.It was also the type of effort City supporters had been waiting for Raheem Sterling to give since his arrival from Liverpool prior to last season -- running into the ground and being smart with possession, evidenced by his pass to set up Gundogans first goal. Yet for everything City did right, and there was plenty they did right, it could all go for naught without a victory to follow this weekend.The game against Middlesbrough will be another tough test, it will be completely different than against Barcelona, but in the end, we have to do the job and win the game, De Bruyne said.So into the cauldron of the Etihad enter Middlesbrough (2-4-4), still trying to find their bearings in the top flight and looking for any and every way to find points now that will help them in the relegation scrap they will likely endure come springtime.Boro snapped a six-match winless streak last Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth as Gaston Ramirez and Stewart Downing scored on either side of halftime, and they recorded a second consecutive clean sheet after shipping nine goals the previous five matches.We defended as a team -- mistakes have cost us in the past, Downing told the teams official website. Everyone put a shift in but thats what you need, everyone on your mettle when youre going for points in the Premier League.Manager Aitor Karanka will have a few more options to choose from in his starting XI for this match as Marten de Roon and leading scorer Christian Stuani are expected to be available. Additionally, midfielder and talisman Grant Leadbitter could also make the squad after playing for Boros Under-23 team Monday.I said always how important he is for the team, Karanka said. Even when he was injured, he was traveling with the team, and you can feel his character on the pitch and in the changing room.Now with him training and playing it is a massive and important thing for us.Even with the reinforcements, expect Middlesbrough to be compact against Manchester City similar to how they held Arsenal to a 0-0 draw despite conceding 70 percent possession to the Gunners.The teams last met in the top flight in the 2008-09 season, when the home team held serve in both matches. Middlesbrough have had the better of the rivalry in the Premier League era with 11 wins in 20 matches (11-5-4), highlighted by an 8-1 thrashing on May 11, 2008, in which Downing had two goals and an assist. Nike Tn Pas Cher En France . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Fausse Air Max 90 Pas Cher . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. http://www.airmaxpaschervente.fr/ . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. Acheter Air Max 95 Pas Cher . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Air Max Pas Cher Chine . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Tatjana Huefner finally figured out Mount Van Hoevenberg and got a record-setting win in the process.The German star tied the career record for World Cup womens luge wins on Saturday, holding off the Canadian duo of Kimberley McRae and Alex Gough to get her 37th victory on the circuit -- tying Sylke Otto of Germany for the all-time lead.Huefners two-run time was 1 minute, 28.638 seconds, good enough to put her into the World Cup season points lead. Canadians took the second and third spots, with McRae taking silver in 1:28.706 and Gough the bronze in 1:28.703.Huefner has now won a World Cup on 13 different tracks, after never before finishing first on Lake Placids ice. But she was the best Saturday, building up enough of a lead in her first run that even some minor trouble in her second trip down the track wasnt enough to keep her from the victory.Never in my wildest dreams did I think Id achieve this record victory in Lake Placid, of all places, Huefner said. Its unreal.She threw both fists in the air when she crossed the finish line, then hugged a stream of coaches and teammates who came over to offer their congratulations. Lake Placid has never been her favorite track, evidenced by the 2007-08 season when Huefner won every World Cup race except the one at Mount Van Hoevenberg.Later Saturday in the team relay, Canada won a surprising gold, with Russia second and the Americans third. The relay win, combined with two medals in the womens race, gave Canada one of its best days in World Cup history.This is something that our program has needed, said Canadian mens luge veteran Sam Edney.For as good as things were for Huefner and the Canadians, it was a puzzler for the U.S.Americans took gold, silver and bronze in the womens World Cup race in Lake Placid last year -- but got shut out in thhat event Saturday after some stumbles.ddddddddddddummer Britcher was second after one run of the womens race, but she managed only a fourth-place finish to lead the USA Luge entrants in 1:28.758. That was one spot ahead of reigning Olympic and world champion Natalie Geisenberger of Germany, who remained third on the all-time World Cup win list with 34.Britcher has now been fourth or better in six of her last 13 World Cup starts, but her disappointment was obvious.I think I need a little bit of perspective before I can really approach that, Britcher said.Emily Sweeney, who has been slowed at the start of her runs by a wrist injury, was sixth for the U.S., and fellow American Erin Hamlin, who won a world championship at Lake Placid in 2009 and a World Cup there last season, skidded a bit midway through her second run and finished seventh.Its definitely disappointing, said Hamlin, who had a huge cheering contingent from her hometown of Remsen, New York, trackside. I didnt have great training all week, so I cant really expect for a ton more today even though it is my home track. I had mistakes in both runs. Its so competitive now in our field so you have to be perfect.Also for the U.S., Raychel Germaine was 10th in the womens event.The Americans needed some help in the relay to get to the medal stand and got it from the Germans, when Olympic champion Felix Loch had trouble in his portion of the relay. That sent the heavily favored Germans tumbling to seventh, and got the U.S. team of Britcher, Tucker West, Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman to the podium as bronze relay winners.West won the mens race Friday for USA Luge, while Mortensen and Terdiman took silver in the doubles race. ' ' '