Archive for the ‘Articles’ category

« Older Entries

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 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:

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:

Juventus draw away from home

September 25th, 2009

Old lady of football; Juventus lost their top spot in the Serie A following a draw with Genoa at their away game. The match started well for Juventus as they drew first blood in the 5th minute with a goal from Iaquinta. The world cup winning Italian footballer’s powerful strike from outside the box towards the far post left the Genoa keeper, Marco Amelia out of sync.

All seemed to be going well for the old lady but this is where the problem is. In football you can’t relax during those 90 minutes. Sculli was allowed to lob a cross inside the box in spite of two Juventus players defending closely. Sculli’s cross was crafted beautifully by Mesto into the net which left Italian keeper Ganluigi Buffon still. The score at half time remained 1-1 much to the disbelief of Juventus fans.

Marchisio’s volley into the box was collected superbly by Iaquinta but he was unable to capitalize on this opportunity, and failed to score for Juventus in the 55th minute. Again in the 72nd minute Grosso’s free kick into the box was netted beautifully by Iaquinta’s header but the goal was disallowed as it was an offside attempt. By now Iaquinta must have felt miserable for not converting these chances into goals.

Two minutes later Juventus were made to feel sorry for not scoring, as half time substitute, Argentine Hernan Crespo heads the ball into the net from a Mesto cross. In the 85th minute, four minute old substitute, Trezeguet found the net but again the goal was ruled as offside, and Juventus still trailed the home side by a goal. Next minute Grosso’s free kick into the box was netted in again by the French striker Trezeguet and finally Juventus equalized in the 86th minute. The score remained 2-2 at the final whistle.

No comments »

Posted in Articles, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, General, Italian Serie A, Juventus

Tags:

Inter regain top spot in Serie A

September 25th, 2009

Inter players pleased their boss Jose Mourinho who was serving a touchline ban by defeating Napoli at home. Mourinho was red carded in Inter’s last match against Cagliari and was also fined €15,000 for protesting the referee’s decision.

As such, Mourinho was not with his team during the match against Napoli. The scoring started early in the 3rd minute with Eto’o scoring the first goal. Certainly, not the most stylish of goals with too many players huddled around the goal post; one can say this was a goal almost waiting to happen. It sure seems to be an era of quick goals, and the next goal for Inter came within 2 minutes. Well this one certainly raises quite a few eyebrows in terms of whether or not the pass made to Milito was an offside pass or not. However, the assistant referee didn’t see any flaw and didn’t draw the flag presumably because from his perspective, Milito had cleared the offside trap successfully, gone one on one with the goalkeeper and converted brilliantly.

Not much was left of the game from this point on as it already seemed as though Inter was taking this one home. There were a few attempts from both teams in the next 25 minutes, and finally Lucio headed a 3rd for Inter. In the next 2 minutes Lavezzi scored the lone goal of the night for Napoli. The second half was bore testimony to many more goal attempts, but the days’ play ended at 3-1, with Inter bagging a few more points early on in the season.

No comments »

Posted in Articles, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Inter Milan, Italian Serie A

Tags:

Big Four through

September 24th, 2009

The renowned big four of the Barclays Premier League are through to the last 16 of the League Cup. Liverpool and Arsenal were already through the previous night, while Manchester United and Chelsea joined them the following tonight.

United were playing newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford in front of 51,000 supporters. Sir Alex Ferguson started the match with a 4-3-3 formation. Macheda, Welback and Owen had been allotted strikers positions. Carrick, Nani and Gibson covered the midfield, and the defense was formed by Neville, Brown, Evans and Fabio and Kuszczak adorned the goalies position.

The win didn’t come easy for United as they were left with 10 men in the 30th minute when Fabio was shown a straight red card for a foul on Kightly. Kightly was running straight towards the United goal post when Fabio came from behind and slipped in front of Kightly. Fabio was then seen bringing Kightly down with his hands and was red carded by referee Peter Walton. Ferguson soon replaced his young striker Macheda with young defender Ritchie De Laet to make the defense strong.

United kept attacking and finally the breakthrough came in the 66th minute with a superb one-two between Welbeck and Owen which saw Welbeck scoring his first goal in his first match this season for the club. The match ended at 1-0 for the home team.

In London, Kalou scored the only goal of the match in the 52nd minute which was enough to see Chelsea through to the next round. Neighbors, Tottenham Hotspurs defeated Preston North End 5-1, and Everton won 4-0 against Hull City. Extra time was needed to decide the result between Fulham and the big spenders of Premier League, Manchester City. The match ended 1-2 to City with Toure scoring the winner in the 111th minute. Villa is through to the next round as they defeated Cardiff City 1-0.

No comments »

Posted in Arsenal, Articles, Aston Villa, Chelsea FC, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, General, Hull City, Liverpool, Man U, Manchester City, Premier League, Tottenham, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Tags:

Scottish Premier League

June 11th, 2008

Scottish Premier League: Who said Scots could only play Rugby ?

Scottish Premier League, presently known as Clydesdale Bank Premier League, is the most important football event in Scotland.

The tournament started in 1998 with 10 teams participating in it. The number of participating teams increased from 10 to 12 in the year 2000. This tournament is the most popular among all football events taking part in Scotland. Until now, the championship has gone to either Celtic FC or Rangers FC. These two teams are collectively known as Old firm teams. The rivalry between these two teams has not only made Scotland Premier league popular, but has also put Scotland in the world football map.

The structure of this tournament is such that it even makes other non-participating teams work hard. The best team in SFL (Scottish first Division League) replaces relegated teams in the league. This not only prompts the first division teams to perform well, but also makes the second division sides fight for place in SFL, hence improving the standard of Scottish football.

Scottish premier league is at present ranked tenth in UEFAs co-efficient ranking. The top two teams of SPL get qualified to UEFA champions league directly and two qualify for UEFA cup (third placed team and the winner of the Scottish cup).

Although football has never been widely popular in past, but after the arrival of Scottish premier League, it has been the widely watched not only in Scotland but also in other parts of the world. If you ever thought that Scottish people are only good at rugby, then you have something coming at you with their excellent skills and competitive nature.

No comments »

Posted in Articles, Scottish Premier League

Tags:

Women Football in England: The future is bright

June 10th, 2008

Women Football in England: The future is bright for them

Football has always been the most-watched game in England over the years. Although women football has never had the hype that is enjoyed by men football, but the football association of UK are trying their best to make it famous.

Although women football in England dates back to the late 19th century, it had to go through vicissitudes before being officially taken over in 1969 by the football association. The first women football tournament was held in the year of 1971, which was won by Southampton. From then onwards, women football has never looked back in UK.

England has always been a country, which provides equal opportunities to men and women. Their football association has done the same by investing a lot for their training facilities, providing excellent coach and whatever they could do to bring women football up.

Efforts came in from every corner of this widely talented country in the initial stages. They started getting better players. Other players even started performing better. They had an excellent exposure, as they had regular matches lined up against each other.

The first breakthrough, which put England on women football map, was that of hosting the Women UEFA, 2005. Although England did not perform well, it at least made a statement to the world of their entry.

English women football team played fought hard and qualified for the 2007 football world cup. Again, they faltered there but that does not mean the end of the road for them. They have been trying in the past and will continue their surge to reach the topmost position.

Women football in England is developing at a very fast pace. You never know, may be England would rule women football in the coming years.

No comments »

Posted in Articles

Tags:

Barclays Card Premier League: Where Champions go toe-to-toe for attaining glory

June 7th, 2008

Barclays Card Premier League: Where Champions go toe-to-toe for attaining glory

Football is a sport that has huge popularity across United Kingdom. There is a great deal of excitement and passion associated with the game in the people of this nation. With a large number of football clubs playing in the country, it is not surprising to see a great deal of competition for attaining the top position. Clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are hot favorites amongst the people of this nation and even the whole world.

Football, as a sport, has attained popularity with the people, as it is amongst those sports, which takes place throughout the year with various premier league championships taking place around the world from time to time. In all these championships, the one involving English clubs, mainly Barclaycard Premier League, have definitely proved their mettle.

There are a great number of football leagues in England. All these different leagues are linked to form a pyramid structure to ensure that each and every football club in the leagues has a chance of becoming number one.

Barclaycard Premier League is the football league that is hugely popular with the people living across the nation and throughout the globe. In this league, there are twenty teams competing among themselves for becoming the supreme force. The championship not only provides football fans with some great matches to watch, but also allows them to watch the exemplary skills of their favorite football players, who come from every corner of the globe including UK to participate in this competition for attaining glory.

The Barclays Card Premier League is an event that is eagerly awaited by football fans across the globe. With the best teams of the sport going head-to-head and top players of the current times playing against one another by participating in the championship, this league is a major crowd puller.

No comments »

Posted in Articles

Tags:

Unmatchable Passion for the game

June 5th, 2008

Unmatchable Passion for the game

Soccer is amongst the popular games in UK and people living across the nation are crazy for the game. The country hosts number of tournaments, in which several teams participate for making a statement.

Barclaycards Premier League is the most popular of all the tournaments that takes around the nation. It is the tournament, which sees the top-tier teams fighting for glory against one another for claiming the prestigious title. This league is amongst the most competitive ones across the globe and this is why it receives excellent audiences, both national and global, for all their matches. Wherever you go, you are bound to see a fan of Manchester united, Chelsea and Arsenal, as they are the top teams of this division. Apart from Barclaycards, there are other leagues played in the country too, where some of lower division clubs play for getting their chance in the big league.

UK is amongst the few countries, which gives high importance to women football. They provide excellent opportunities and infrastructure for providing maximum development facilities to Women football. Although women leagues are semi-professional, yet it has no shortage of the passion for the game.

Presently, their federation, along with UEFA (the primary football governing body of the world), is giving a helping hand to most backward countries for developing the game in their region. With several top players being a part of this movement, they are sure to succeed in their plans of spreading football in every corner across the globe. Even if they might not succeed in getting the best players from those regions, they will surely build a passion for the game that will be similar to the fans and players of UK Football.

No comments »

Posted in Articles

Tags: