September 25, 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.
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September 25, 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.
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September 24, 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.
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 | No Comments »
September 24, 2009
Cristiano Ronaldo continue his dream run at Real Madrid. In doing so, he became the first player in the history of Real Madrid to score goals in the first 4 games of the season for the club. Last night Real were visiting Villareal who were hoping to stop Real’s unbeaten run in this seasons campaign, but football is not predictable. Villareal, and probably all of Spain got to know of Ronaldo’s intentions this season when in the second minute of the match, he dribbled the ball from his half, and scored a goal for Real Madrid single handedly.
Throughout the match Real looked strong, and Ronaldo looked stronger. He was simply unplayable tonight. Gonzalo was shown a 2nd yellow card of the match in the 34th minute for a foul on Kaka. This left Villareal with 10 men on the pitch for the remainder of the game. The score remained 0-1 at half time.
The second half was no different as Real kept attacking, and Villareal kept defending with 10 men. In the 71st minute, Marcelo Silva’s cross in to the box was handed by Villareal defender Lopez. This landed Lopez a yellow card, and Real Madrid was awarded a penalty kick. As Kaka had not scored a single goal in the La Liga this season, Ronaldo who is the first choice penalty taker, allowed Kaka to take the spot kick. Kaka who has a reputation of a silent killer, finished the job in the same manner and Real went up, 0-2 in the 73rd minute. The match ended 0-2 for the visitors.
Other matches of the night saw Atletico Madrid drawing 2 – 2 against Almeria, Espanyol winning 2 – 1 against Malaga, Valladolid losing 1 – 2 against Osasuna. Xerez continued their poor run this season as they lost 0 – 3 against Deportivo La Coruna in front of a home crowd, Tenerife defeated Athletic Bilbao 1-0, and Getafe won 3– 1 against Valencia.
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September 23, 2009
The third round of the League cup saw the big England teams, Arsenal, and Liverpool, going through to the next round. Arsenal defeated West Brom 2-0 at the Emirates stadium. Ex gunner, Jerome Thomas of West Brom was shown a red card by referee L Mason in the 37th minute for slapping Jack Wilshere of Arsenal. This left West Brom with 10 men to play the remaining 53 minutes.
The score at half time remained 0-0 but the outnumbered West Brom squad were not able to hold the gunners for long. A goal each from Sanchez Watt, and Carlos Vela made sure that Arsenal goes through the next round. Arsene Wenger had promised a young Arsenal team would start for the League cup encounter, and accordingly the average age of the team for the night was 20 years.
Elsewhere, Leeds United was hosting Liverpool. The match ended with a 0-1 win for Liverpool. 20 year old French striker David Ngog scored the only goal of the game in the 66th minute. Newly demoted Newcastle United lost against Peterborough United 2-0. The Newcastle fans faced a big question of whether their side will again play in the Premier League next season. Sunderland defeated newly promoted side Birmingham City 2-0 in an encounter which saw two Premier League clubs clashing for a place in the next round. Elsewhere, Bolton Wanderers defeated West Ham 3-1.
Other matches of the night saw Barnsley defeating Burnley 3-2, Carlisle United losing 1-3 against Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest losing 0-1 against Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City defeating Blackpool 4-3, and Scunthorpe United winning 2-0 against Port Vale.
Posted in Arsenal, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton, Burnley, Football Post Match Review, Football Results, Newcastle United, Portsmouth, Premier League, Stoke City, Sunderland | No Comments »
September 23, 2009
Midweek matches in La Liga saw Barcelona regaining top spot from Real Madrid. Barcelona visited El Sardinero, home ground of Racing Santander for a league encounter. The match ended 1-4 to the visitors with two goals from Messi and a goal each from Ibrahimovich, and Pique.
Barcelona was awarded a free kick in the 20th minute, which Xavi took, and passed the ball towards Messi whose cross in the penalty box was headed home by Ibrahimovich in the 20th minute, thus drawing first blood. A minute later Ibrahimovich almost scored another goal but his shot hit the far post.
By now the Catalans were striking towards the Racing goal area like huge waves hitting the beach. Messi showed his wonders two minutes later in the 24th minute with a little help from Xavi. Messi was successful in making the score 0-2.
A defensive error in the 27th minute by the home team saw Barcelona scoring another goal. Five defenders tried tackling Ibrahimovich in the box who was successful in passing the ball to Pique who was left unmarked. Pique held his nerves in front of the Racing keeper and placed the ball in the net in a neat finish.
At the stroke of half time, the score remained 0-3. 18 minutes into the second half saw another brilliant goal from Messi. He just played around with the defenders in the penalty box, passing through them and striking the ball elegantly into the net, making the score 0-4.
Óscar Serrano scored in the 73rd minute giving Racing a consolation goal. The match ended 1-4 with the final whistle. Another match in La Liga saw Sevilla winning 2-0 at home against Mallorca. Squillaci and Perotti scoring a goal each in the 16th minute and 25th minute respectively.
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September 22, 2009
Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy who was hero of the match against city rivals Manchester United has been put in a tight spot by the FA and Manchester Police. Bellamy has been charged with improper conduct as he was found slapping a fan after his team was defeated by Manchester United.
The match proved to be a battle as both teams were desperate to win. Much was at stake for Manchester United as they were out there to prove that they were still the better side in Manchester. Prior to the match, Ferguson had revealed that it was not possible that he will lose the title of being the better side in Manchester in his time as coach.
Manchester City was there to prove that they were the new champions and were here at Old Trafford to overthrow the champions from their throne. City had the backing of their Dubai owner who has spent a huge amount of money to make City a formidable side.
Craig Bellamy had helped City twice to come from behind and equalize in the Derby. The second goal from Bellamy came in the 90th minute which made the score 3-3 and City seemed be more than happy with the draw. But the 90th minute equalizer was not meant to be the last goal of the match, as in the 6th minute of injury time, Ryan Giggs proved his worth again and sent a pass to substitute Michael Owen who was waiting for the ball in the penalty box and scored the winner which triggered celebrations at Old Trafford.
The goal ended the game at 4-3 and everyone started celebrating. When Bellamy was heading towards the tunnel he saw a United fan running on the pitch heading towards him. Bellamy was already angry as he had already thought he had pulled a point back for City in the 90th minute. Angry Bellamy who was full of emotions at that moment lost his cool and slapped the fan.
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September 22, 2009
Without wasting any time or any loss of form after a summer transfer from Manchester United, Ronaldo continues to show his brilliance in scoring goals even at Real Madrid. He scored a first minute goal against Xerez and later added another in the 75th minute, but before he could score more he was substituted in the 80th minute by Coach Manuel Pellegrini.
This is where Ronaldo did the second best thing he does apart from scoring goals, throwing tantrums. He was unhappy with the coach’s decision as he desperately wanted to score more goals. There are speculations that he is aiming for the Pichichi title awarded to the top goal scorer of La Liga. To add fuel to the injury Ruud van Nistelrooy who replaced Ronaldo scored a goal in the 88th minute.
This gives Ronaldo another reason to be angry as the two; Ronaldo and Nistelrooy kind of have a history. When they were together at Manchester United, there were problems between the two players. This forced United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to fire Nistelrooy. At that time keeping Ronaldo happy at United was more important as he was the ever improving young lad, and had the qualities of a great footballer.
Again fate has played its part and the old team mates have become team mates again at Real Madrid. This would prove to be a problem for the Real coach, as they would probably have to keep Ronaldo at the club. Sooner or later Ronaldo would show his prowess and Nistelrooy could be replaced. As of now Nistelrooy is sidelined for 6 weeks due to an injury he picked up during the game against Xerez.
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September 10, 2009
The game of the day takes place at White Hart Lane on Saturday, as Harry Redknapp’s high flying Spurs side take on Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team in what promises to be an epic battle. Spurs have already put Liverpool to the sword this season at White Hart Lane and will be hoping to deal out the same fate to United.
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Tottenham have made their best ever start to a Premier League season, recording four wins from their first four games. The above mentioned home victory against Liverpool took place on the opening day, and was followed up by victories at Hull (5-1), West Ham (2-1) and then at home again 2-1 against Birmingham City. It remains to be seen whether the enforced international break came at a bad time for the Spurs team, or whether they can continue where they left off a couple of weeks ago.
Sir Alex’s side have made a stuttering start to their season, at least form wise anyway, although they have notched up three victories from four games. Their rather fortuitous first day home victory against Birmingham City by 1-0 was followed up by the surprise result of the season so far when they travelled to Turf Moor and lost 1-0 to Burnley.
Normal service was resumed in the following match away to Wigan when they ran in five goals against the hapless home side, and last time out they entertained Arsenal at Old Trafford, eventually winning 2-1 despite falling behind in the score and not playing particularly well.
Saturday’s match promises to be a great spectacle full of passion and endeavour, with both teams fighting hammer and tong for the three points.
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September 10, 2009
Two teams that have made an average start to the current Premier League campaign go head to head at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon, as Sunderland and Hull City fight it out for the three available points.
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With six points to their name, Sunderland have made the more positive start to the season and have notched up two wins from their first four games; losing the other two. They won the first game of the season 1-0 away to Bolton, and followed that up with a 3-1 reversal to Chelsea in their first home game. They had another home encounter in their next game, beating Blackburn 2-1, and followed this up with a 1-0 defeat away to Stoke City. New Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will be more than satisfied with his team’s endeavours so far this season and will be looking to Saturday’s game to add another three points to the teams tally.
Hull City were unfortunate enough to face the Premier League’s two current leaders in their first two games of the season, losing both – 2-1 (rather unluckily) away to Chelsea in the opening game, and then being comprehensively routed 5-1 at home by Tottenham. Since these two defeats though, they have played another two games, securing four points from a victory at home to Bolton and draw away to Wolves last time out.
Both managers realise the value of the three points on offer even at this early stage in the season, so will be demanding noting less than 110% from their respective players.
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