Archive for September, 2009

« Older Entries

Match Day 2 Champions League – Groups C and D

September 30th, 2009

Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid continued their winning run this season in all competitions. Summer signings Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema showed their worth when they all came together to give Real Madrid 3-0 win at Santiago Bernabau against Marseille. Ronaldo continued to shine as he scored two goals and won a penalty for his team which was eventually converted by Kaka, all within a matter of 9 minutes.

Ronaldo’s composure seemed to defy Marseille keeper Mandanda in the 58th minute who jumped, thinking Ronaldo would lo instead he chose to keep the ball low and found the net by passing the ball through the skied keeper. 3 minutes later Diawara tried to outpace Ronaldo and ended up bringing him down inside the penalty box. This gave Diawara his second yellow for the night leaving his team down to 10 men. Kaka stepped up and scored the spot kick in the 62nd minute.

The scored was jointly scored by Real’s new trio, Kaka, Benzema and Ronaldo. Kaka passed the ball to Benzema who played it towards unmarked Ronaldo who scored in the empty net.  The other fixture of the group saw AC Milan continuing their dismal run this season when they lost 0-1 at home against FC Zurich. The results left Real clear at the top with 6 points followed by Milan with 3 points in Group C.

Group D had English powerhouse Chelsea winning away against APOEL Nicosia. Anelka scored the only goal of the match early in the 18th minute. Porto defeated Atletico Madrid 2-0 in front of the home fans and also scored their first win in Champions League this season. This left Chelsea on the top with 6 points followed by Porto with 3 points.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Champions League, Chelsea FC, Football Post Match Review, Real Madrid

Tags:

Match Day 2 Champions League – Groups A and B

September 30th, 2009

The big match of the day in Group A saw Italian giants Juventus visiting their German counterparts Bayern Munich for a group encounter at Allianz Arena, Munich. The match ended in a 0-0 draw, frustrating the 69,000 fans inside the Arena.

The second match of the group was being played in France between Bordeaux and Maccabi Haifa. This match too was heading towards a 0-0 draw when Ciani headed a winner in the 83rd minute from Sertic’s corner. Maccabi midfielder, Baram Kayal was red carded in the 88th minute for a foul on Tremoulinas. The results left Bayern Munich top the group with 4 points followed by Bordeaux with same points.

Manchester United came from a goal behind against German champions Wolfsburg to register their second consecutive win in the competition. United who were playing at Old Trafford went behind in the 56th minute when Evra found himself short to defend a volley in the box which was eventually headed home by 23 year old Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko. This was Dzeko’s first goal in the competition.

Probably the goal made Wolfsburg lose concentration as they gave away free kick just outside the box within two minutes of going ahead. Ryan Giggs took charge and saw his deflected free kick ending as an equalizer and giving Giggs his 25th Champions League goal. Carrick’s curl from the edge of the box in the 78th minute gave United the 3 points for the night. The other match in group B saw CSKA Moscow defeating Besiktas 2-1 in Moscow. Manchester United top the group table with 6 points followed by Wolfsburg with 3 points.

No comments »

Posted in Champions League, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, General, Man U

Tags:

Match Day 10 – Coca Cola League Championship

September 29th, 2009

Midweek fixtures saw Newcastle United maintaining their position at the top of the table secure with 22 points in spite of not playing tonight. Their game is scheduled for tomorrow night. Second placed West Bromwich Albion had the chance to go to the top by defeating Barnsley, who are currently placed third from the bottom in the league table.

It was not WBA’s day, and they had to face an away defeat for the first time this season. The match ended 3-1 to the joy of home fans. Bristol City registered their 4th win this season with a 2-0 win over Blackpool. Cardiff City thrashed Derby County by 6-1 in front of home fans. Chopra who scored 4 goals for the night was by far the star of the match. Doncaster and Crystal Palace drew 0-0 against Swansea City, and Sheffield Wednesday, respectively at home.

Ipswich Town were looking for their first win this season against Sheffield United but the latter were successful in registering a dramatic draw from a match against Ipswich Town. Henderson opened the scoring for Sheffield United in the 9th minute but 3 goals from Ipswich Town saw the home team trailing 1-3 in the 70th minute. 7 minutes later Henderson scored another pulling one back for his team and a last minute equalizer from Morgan left everyone in disbelief.

Peterborough United and Preston North End were defeated 1-2 in front of the home fans by Plymouth Argyle, and Reading respectively. The away win gave bottom placed team Plymouth their first win this season.

Coventry City and Leicester City also manage to register away wins against Watford and Middlesbrough respectively. Coventry City came from a goal behind to register their second away win this season.

No comments »

Posted in Burnley, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Premiership

Tags:

Match Day 2 Champions League – Groups E, F, G, H

September 29th, 2009

Liverpool faced defeat for the first time in eleven Champions League group stage matches against Italian club Fiorentina. Liverpool were humiliated away from home by two first half goals from Fiorentina’s 19 year old striker, Stevan Jovetić. Liverpool also failed to score for the first time in 24 Champions League matches.

Champions Barcelona continues their unbeaten run this season in all competitions. They defeated Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 at Camp Nou, Messi and Rodriguez getting their names on the score sheet for the night.

Italian giants Inter Milan, drew for the second consecutive match in the competition, this time against Russian club Rubin Kazan. The match saw Stankovic equalizing in the 27th minute and his team mate Balotelli getting a second yellow, which left Inter with 10 men in the 60th minute.

Arsenal defeated Olypiakos 2-0 at the Emirates stadium. The first half of the match saw no goal but Persie showed his scoring skills in the 78th minute. 6 minutes later Arshavin added another, though the referee missed seeing that he was offside.

Sevilla scored 4 goals for the night against Scottish side Rangers. The match ended 4-1 as Novo pulled one back in the dying minutes of the match. AZ Alkmaar drew 1-1 at home against Standard Liege. Traore scored in the last minute to steal a point from the match for Standard Liege.

Lyon scored 4 goals for the night against Debreceen who were playing in front of home fans. Unirea Urziceni managed to draw 1-1 against Stuttgart.

No comments »

Posted in Arsenal, Articles, Barcelona, Champions League, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Rangers

Tags:

Match Day 7 in Serie B

September 28th, 2009

This week’s fixtures saw Fronsione maintaining its position at the top of the table with 14 points. Brescia lost its second place to Torino and slipped to fourth as they lost against Grosseto. Most of the teams are placed according to goal difference as they seem to have the same points.

Torino, Ascoli, Brescia and Padova are placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the table with 13 points each. Cesena, Ancona and Empoli securing 6th, 7th and 8th places with 12 points each. Lecce and Sassuolo are 9th and 10th with 11 points 10 points respectively. Grosseto and Reggina are next with 9 points each.

Vicenza, Cittadella, Gallipoli, Piacenza and Triestina secured the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th places with 8 points each. Modena is next on 18th place with 7 points. Albinoleffe and Crotone are 19th and 20th with 5 points each. Mantova and Salernitana sit at the bottom of the table with 3, and 2 points respectively.

Of the eleven matches played this week, 6 of them ended in draws and the remaining 5 ended in favor of the home team. Padova, Vicenza and Salernitana played against Gallipoli, Triestina and Ascoli. All three matches ended in a goalless draw. Sassuolo vs. Cesena and Albinoleffe vs. Crotone ended in 1-1 draw while Frosinone vs. Torino ended 2-2.

The teams that registered home wins this weekend were Empoli, Lecce, Grosseto, Ancona and Reggina vs Cittadella, Mantova, Brescia, Modena and Piacenza respectively. Empoli scored a late goal in injury time to secure 3 points against Cittadella. The winner that left home fans ecstatic was scored by 30 year old Italian midfielder Francesco Marianini.

No comments »

Posted in Football Post Match Review, Football Results, General, Italian Serie B

Tags:

Match Day 7 in Ligue 1

September 28th, 2009

Bordeaux and Lyon continued their unbeaten run this season with wins over Rennes and Toulouse respectively. Bordeaux lead the league table with 19 points while Lyon sits on second position with 17 points. Bordeaux was put ahead in the 23rd minute by a diving header from 27 year old Brazilian winger Wendel. At that point it seemed game on but the match ended 1-0 for the home team.

This was not the case in Lyon against Toulouse. First blood was drawn by a Toulouse player. 20 year old French midfielder, Sissoko who gave the Lyon fans a shock when he scored early on in the 8th minute. Lyon was unable to equalize and the score remained 0-1 at half time. Second half substitute, Yannis Tafer, another young striker from France equalized and brought the home team back in the game. Bafetimbi Gombis later scored the winner in the 70th minute for Lyon.

Valenciennes defeated Marseille 3-2. The match saw Valenciennes coming from behind twice in the match, and Schmitz finally scoring a late winner in the 84th minute which helped secure 3 points for his team. Monaco faced home defeat against Saint-Etienne. Bergessio scored a last minute winner making the score 1-2 to the away team.

Auxerre registered a home win against Grenoble with a 2-0 score that had Pedretti and Hengbart shining on the score sheet. Nice, and Paris S.G., both teams playing away with Lille, and Lorient respectively were able to salvage a point from the draw. Le Mans scored three goals in the match against Lens who in return, were not able to score even a single goal. Montpellier and Nancy registered home wins against Boulogne, and Sochaux respectively.

No comments »

Posted in Articles, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, French Ligue 2, General

Tags:

Match Day 5 in La Liga

September 27th, 2009

Real Madrid and Barcelona continued their unbeaten run this season by recording comfortable wins respectively. Real were playing at Santiago Bernabau against Tenerife. Ronaldo did perform in the match but failed to score for the first time in the League for Real with the goals coming from other new players Benzema, and Kaka. Benzema scored twice making the score 3-0 at full time.

Barca was visiting Malaga this week. As predicted, Henry made it in the starting XI while Ibrahimovich who was recovering from an ankle injury was named a substitute but interestingly Henry was substituted in the 28th minute giving way to the already injured Ibrahimovich. Though Ibrahimovich seemed fine, it was later found that Henry picked up an injury during his time on the pitch. Barcelona defeated Malaga 0-2, Ibrahimovich and Pique being the goal scorers.

Real replaced Barcelona and topped the league table on goal difference. Athletic Bilbao faced a shameful defeat at the hands of Sevilla in front of home fans. Sevilla won 0-4. Valencia drew at home against Athletico Madrid. Osasuna recorded their second win this season in front of home fans. They defeated Sporting de Gijon 1-0.

Mallorca, Zaragoza and Deportivo recorded home wins against Valladolid, Getafe, and Villareal. The defeat left Villareal without a single win this season. They have only managed to score 2 points this season so far with the 2 points coming from 2 draws against Osasuna, and Mallorca.  Xerez scored their first point this season when they drew against Espanyol.  Almeria too, drew at home playing against Racing.

No comments »

Posted in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Spanish La Liga

Tags:

Match Day 6 in Serie A

September 27th, 2009

Inter Milan faced defeat for the first time this season when they visited Sampdoria on Saturday. 25 year old Italian striker, Pazzini could not believe his luck when he scored an easy goal as he was left unmarked by Inter defenders. The match left Inter boss, Jose Mourinho red faced as he was solely blamed for the team’s loss.  Inter not only gave away 3 points but also slipped to the 3rd spot in the table while Sampdoria gained top spot.

Fiorentina again won this week. This time the win came against bottom placed Livorno who were playing at home. After defeating AC Milan last week, Udinese defeated Genoa 2-0. The defeat left Genoa without a win in 3 consecutive games.

Lazio were playing at home against Palermo. Even the support of home fans did not inspire Lazio enough to take 3 points but the team gained a point, when 22 year old Argentine born Zárate scored a late equalizer and saved his team from a facing a home defeat. The score at the final whistle remained 1-1.

Chievo drew 1-1 at home against Atalanta. Parma and Cagliari, both clubs that had registered wins last week were playing each other today. Cagliari was paying a visit to Parma. The match gave Cagliari their second win, and Parma their second loss this season.

Napoli recorded a home win against Siena. 22 year old Slovakian midfielder, Hamsik scored the winner in the 63rd minute after Maccarone scored an equalizer in the 56th minute. Juventus, Catania and AC Milan drew at home against Bologna, Roma, and Bari respectively.

No comments »

Posted in AC Milan, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A

Tags:

Today in Bundes Liga

September 26th, 2009

Match day 7 saw Hamburg continuing to top the league table with a win over Bayern Munich. Petric scored the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute. The defeat left the 4 time European Champions, Bayern Munich in 6th placed in the league table.

Bayern Munich possibly has the strongest line up in Bundes Liga with the likes of international players like Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Miroslav Klose, and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Winning today was important for them as they have already lost twice and drawn twice this season.

Nürnberg were playing VfL Bochum at home. The match ended in another one goal affair. Diego Fernando Klimowicz scored in the 7th minute to give VfL Bochum 3 points.

Eintracht were defeated at home 0-3 by VfB Stuttgart. Schieber scored twice, once in the 17th and then in the 32nd minute while Hitzlsperger added a third in the 54th minute making sure the team goes home with a win tonight.

Werder Bremen defeated Mainz 3-0 and stayed on the 4th spot in the league table. Hunt opened the scoring for Bremen in the 38th minute. One goal was not enough to secure the 3 points with 52 minutes of play still left. Pizarro made sure that his team wins tonight with a goal each in the 71st and 82nd minute.

VfL Wolfsburg defeated Hannover 96 4-2. Hannover 96 was always found chasing the game. They never came in front. Schalke 04 stayed third on the table with a 0-1 win against Borussia.

Bayer Leverkusen was visiting FC Köln. The match ended 0-1 to the visitors and the win gave Leverkusen 17 points from the 7 matches played so far this season. Hamburg and Leverkusen are tied with 17 points but Hamburg occupies the top spot in the league table on goal difference. Hertha BSC remained at the bottom of the table with 3 points from their 6 games played.

No comments »

Posted in Football Post Match Review, Football Results, German Bundesliga

Tags:

Today in Premier League

September 26th, 2009

Cheslea faced defeat for the first time this season at the JJB stadium playing against Wigan Athletic. Wigan opened score in the 16th minute with a header from Bramble. Chelsea equalized two minutes into the second half with a goal from Drogba but Wigan’s attempt to score in the 52nd minute saw Petr Cech bringing Rodallega down in the box. Cech was shown a straight red card which left reserve keeper Hilario with the job of saving the penalty. Rodallega stepped up and took the penalty which he netted comfortably, making the score 2-1.

Chelsea tried attacking, but with a man down there was always a fear of counter attack. Chelsea did not capitalize on the opportunities that came their way and were punished again in 90+2 minutes when Paul Scharner scored, giving Wigan their first win ever against one of the top 4 English clubs.

Manchester United defeated Stoke City 0-2. First half saw United making sloppy passes but soon Ferguson replaced Nani with Giggs which proved to be a master stroke as Giggs helped United to score both the goals. With assists from Giggs in both united goals, Berbatov and O’Shea scored a goal each in the 62nd and 77th minute.

Liverpool defeated Hull at Anfield with a thumping 6-1 lead. Torres took 3, Babel 2 and a goal from Gerrard saw Anfield live with action. 4 goals from Keane saw Spurs defeating Burnley 5-0 at home. Portsmouth continued their losing run as they faced their seventh consecutive defeat this season, this time at the hands of Everton.

Blackburn won against Aston Villa 2-1 in front of home fans. Birmingham and Fulham were not able to capitalize on their home advantage and lost 1-2 to Bolton, and 0-1 to Arsenal respectively.

No comments »

Posted in Arsenal, Articles, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Burnley, Chelsea FC, Everton, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Hull City, Liverpool, Man U, Portsmouth, Premier League, Stoke City, Tottenham

Tags: