Mega Football

Edin Dzeko - Bidding War on The Road

2009-06-05T05:28:00.000-07:00

With rumours swirling of Edin Džeko possibly heading to Manchester City, AC Milan or Chelsea, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international stated in a radio interview: “Talks on a new contract with Wolfsburg are currently underway. If I get what I have asked for I will most likely stay there for another year.”

That aside, with Manchester City sniffing around, the asking price of £9m could make a sizable jump to the point that it would be impossible for Wolfsburg to turn down. With Man City’s attempt to sign Carlos Tevez suffering some growing pains, it is very possible the Wolfsburg could see a bidding war erupt for the Sarajevo native.

2009-03-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

KNOCKOUT ROUND - SECOND LEG

4-0 LIVERPOOL vs REAL MADRID

Premier League underachievers in the last 18 years showed no mercy on 9 time European Champions. Real Madrid were never been in the game in the whole 180 minutes and outplayed by Liverpool in every department. Liverpool bolstered by Torres return. Real Madrid were torn to shreds by a breattaking attacking display from Liverpool in remarkable fashion. Torres scored early on, before Steven Gerrard fired home from the spot. Gerrard scored a spectacular third seconds after the break to deflate Madrid further and substitute Andrea Dossena added a fourth with three minutes to go. Gerrard had a greatest night among all by scoring brace on his 100th Europen appearance.

2-2 JUVENTUS vs CHELSEA FC

Chelsea reached the quarter finals of Champions League after coming back twice to overcome 10 men Juventus on 3-2 aggregate. Chelsea came to Turin with a goal advantage from Stamford Bridge when Vincenzo Iaquinta scored in the 19th minute. In the 44th minute referee Alberto Undiano had ruled that a free-kick by Didier Drogba had not crossed the goal line. The debate became academic in first-half stoppage time as Frank Lampard's shot came down off the underside of the bar for Michael Essien to bundle home. Juventus restored their lead on the night when Undiano awarded the Italian side a 74th-minute penalty for handball by Juliano Belletti. Chelsea battled back for a second time when Drogba prodded home a cross from Belletti in the 83rd minute to give the Blues a 3-2 aggregate win. Juventus received a major blow when Pavel Nedved injured twice in the first eight minute which forced him to stay out of the game. Juventus hopes were hampered further when Chiellini was sent off for a second bookable offence after fouling Drogba.

7-1 BAYERN MUNICH vs SPORTING LISBON

Bayern just continued their merciless assault on Sporting Lisbon just where they have left couple of weeks back. Bayern thrashed Lisbon by 12-1 on aggregate. Leading 5-0 from the first leg, a double from Lukas Podolski and Anderson Polga's own goal put them 3-0 up on the night within 40 minutes before Joao Moutinho pulled one back in stunning fashion. Bastian Schweinsteiger hitting an immediate reply, before Mark van Bommel, Miroslav Klose (pen) and Thomas Muller netted in the second half. Bayern made record aggregate winning margin for post-group stage matches which is previously held by Lyon's demolition on Werder Bremen by 10-2 in 2005.

1-2 PANATHINAIKOS vs VILLAREAL CF

Villareal came to Olympic Stadium for second leg of the first knock-out round tie with the disadvantage of having conceded on home soil in the 1-1 draw two weeks ago. Four minutes into the second half Argentine Ibagaza opened the scoring for Villareal. Vangelis Mantzios levelled the tie with his fourth goal in six matches in the 55th minute through powerful header. Joseba Llorente's strike sealed Villarreal's place in the Champions League quarter-finals in the 70th minute. Llorente was replaced ineffective Nihat Kahveci.

SAF : Next 7 Days Time to Land Big Five...

2009-03-07T02:09:00.000-08:00

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told his players that the next seven days could unlock the door to a record-breaking five trophies this season.

With the Carling Cup and the Club World Cup already in the bag, United face Fulham in the FA Cup today, Inter Milan in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday and Barclays Premier League title rivals Liverpool next Saturday.

The United manager had shied away from talking about a possible five trophies but last night he hinted that it will be a real possibility. Ferguson said: 'If you asked me at the start of the season where I would like to be in the middle of March, you couldn't go much beyond where we are now.

United have had opportunities to sweep the board domestically before, but their Treble of 1999 is the only time they have gone close to claiming all the trophies available to them in one season.

United rest key players today but will field a team strong enough to reach the semi-finals. Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be in the squad, despite the buffeting he took at Newcastle in midweek.

Is Jagielka Promise Burning

2009-02-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. Just two years after first gracing the Premier League, Phil Jagielka last night made a well-earned England debut. Not in a gentle run-out against a group of plumbers from the wrong side of the Caucasus, but facing possibly the world's two best strikers at the same time.

Jagielka will have had better evenings. Fernando Torres and David Villa's electric movement, deft touch and blistering pace ensured a baptism of fire for the Everton man in the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. He was withdrawn after just 45 minutes, around seven after his stray pass found Xabi Alonso, who slipped in Villa to twist Jagielka and John Terry and open the scoring.

Those who doubt Jagielka's credentials will be comfortable they were proved right. Those who would rather have seen Matthew Upson fill the breach left by Rio Ferdinand. Those who regard the 26-year-old as a one-time Championship standard clogger who should be left in a lay-by on the road to the World Cup.

At one of Fabio Capello's open training sessions last summer, where the media are invited to cast an eye over the two dozen or so who represent England's best and brightest as they go through a variety of simple exercises, Jagielka caused quite a stir. Not because of his performance, but because nobody among the assembled throng seemed quite sure who he was or why he was there.

The ignorance is easily explained. For five years, Jagielka was famous for one thing only - he was quite a decent stand-in goalkeeper when required. Neil Warnock, his manager at Sheffield United, often failed to name a specialist on the bench, knowing the man born a Blade could fill the breach. But when Bramall Lane became a Premier League venue, Jagielka blossomed.

His energy, drive and uncompromising attitude to defending caught the eye as Warnock's side narrowly failed to avoid relegation. David Moyes brought him to Everton for £4 million, and after a slightly shaky start, he is now surely one of the league's best defenders.

Nobody has been more important to Everton's resurgence than Jagielka. His partnership with Joleon Lescott has helped the club on a run of just one loss in 12, a sequence that has included eight clean sheets. His first England appearance was thoroughly deserved.

There is a step up, though, from top Premier League player to international standard centre back. Jagielka barely gave Torres a sniff of goal in three Merseyside derbies, but it is quite a different matter when there is a player of Villa's quality to think about as well. But if Jagielka's transition from stand-in keeper to Premier League rock is anything to go by, he can only get better. He deserves the chance to do that on the international stage too.

Steve Clarke Departure is Begining of The End for Scolari

2009-02-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

Luiz Felipe Scolari's shock departure means there are now two holes to fill on the Chelsea bench.
Whether it is Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, Roberto Mancini or Guus Hiddink who fills one of them, it is who the Brazilian's successor chooses to plug the other gap that may be more significant.

Of the myriad factors which combined to bring Scolari's tenure at Stamford Bridge to an end, the loss of Steve Clarke as assistant manager may have been the most important. Clarke was the last survivor of the heady days of Jose Mourinho, a trusted confidante of the players and the man credited with fine-tuning the minutiae of the system that made Chelsea great.
Players complained Scolari's training regime was not sufficiently intensive. Clarke's domain. Chelsea leaked goals from set-pieces, with Scolari flitting between zonal and man marking. Clarke's domain. Their full-backs negated by blanket defences at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea looked guileless and shapeless. Clarke's domain.

Allowing the Scot to team up with Gianfranco Zola at West Ham may have been a bigger mistake than Roman Abramovich not opening up his chequebook to rejuvenate the squad or Peter Kenyon's failure to land Robinho. West Ham, resurgent under the Italian, look compact, solid, sharp and well-drilled. All the things Scolari's Chelsea were not.

Most managers would bear witness to the importance of the right-hand man. Ask Sir Alex Ferguson, who missed out on the Premier League title in 2002 after losing lieutenant Steve McClaren and failing to replace him.

When Carlos Queiroz was brought in, the championship returned to Old Trafford. When the Portuguese left for Real Madrid, United slumped again. Ferguson returned Queiroz as soon as he could.

Or perhaps Rafa Benitez could provide testimony. His long-time associate, Pako Ayesteran, was the link between training ground and boot room, the man who knew the players inside out. When he left the club in 2007, Liverpool's form dipped, and it was small wonder that Benitez acted as quickly as he could to replace him as soon as his contract expired last summer.
Arsene Wenger has Pat Rice, Martin O'Neill has John Robertson. Aside from Clarke, Mourinho took all of his staff with him from Porto to Chelsea and from there to Inter.

The assistants are sounding boards, critics and friends. They handle the details managers cannot. They are the men players complain to, tasked with quieting unrest.

In Clarke, Chelsea had a man imbued with the spirit of the club, who explained to the world-class mercenaries brought to west London by Abramovich's billions what it meant to play in blue. It would never have been easy to replace him. Chelsea's error was getting into a position where they had to.

Chelsea kingmakers:
Eugene TenenbaumRoman Abramovich's trusted deputy, a director at the club and a former head of corporate finance at Sibneft, the oil company which made Abramovich his fortune. Tenenbaum was head of Millhouse Finance, Abramovich's advisors, and has now become the Russian's man on the ground in London. It is Tenenbaum who reports to Abramovich on the state of affairs at Chelsea and whose opinion was key in deciding to dispense with Scolari.

Bruce Buck Chelsea's chairman, American Bruce Buck, is the only other investor in the club apart from Abramovich. Buck, a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge since the early 1990s, owns one share to the Russian's 84 million. He met Abramovich through working on takeovers for Sibneft, and prefers to keep a low profile, allowing Peter Kenyon to be the public face of the club.

Clarke became assistant to new manager José Mourinho in the summer of 2004 and was a part of the coaching set-up which saw Chelsea win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups over three seasons. When Mourinho departed from Chelsea in September 2007, Clarke's services were retained by new manager Avram Grant, although Henk ten Cate was brought in as co-assistant. Following Avram Grant's departure in May 2008 there was increasing speculation where Clarke's future lay. There were rumours that Clarke would be installed as assistant manager to David Moyes at Everton FC. Further speculation arose when co-assistant, Henk ten Cate had his contract terminated on the 29 May, five days after Grant was sacked. On May 31st 2008, he was linked to the Leicester job vacated by Ian Holloway, who was sacked after guiding the club to relegation to League 1 for the first time in their history. He was also linked with the job after Gary Megson left to join Chelsea's Premiership rivals Bolton. However new Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari decided to retain Clarke citing his 'importance to the club's history'.

SACKED : Chelsea Sacked Scolari

2009-02-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

Chelsea have sensationally sacked manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, just hours after Tony Adams was booted out of Portsmouth.

A statement on the club's official website revealed the move had been made 'tomaintain a challenge for the trophies we are still competing for'. Scolari, who coached Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, was this afternoon dismissed with the Stamford Bridge club fourth in the Barclays Premier League - seven pointsbehind leaders Manchester United having played a game more.

In a short statement, written in Portuguese, Scolari said: 'I appreciate the opportunity to have worked at Chelsea and in English football. It was a very valuable experience. I regret that our time together has not lasted longer. 'I wish luck to Chelsea in the three competitions that they are disputing.
'I will continue to live in London,' he added. The 60-year-old has paid the price following a poor run of results that included recent defeats against title rivals United and Liverpool, and culminated with a dismal 0-0 draw against Hull City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, a result that was met with boos from the home supporters.
Scolari becomes the eighth Premier League manager to depart this season, following Adams (Portsmouth) earlier today, Paul Ince (Blackburn), Roy Keane (Sunderland), Juande Ramos (Tottenham) now managing Real Madrid, Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth) now managing Tottenham Hotspurs, Alan Curbishley (West Ham) and Kevin Keegan (Newcastle).

Jagielka and C. Cole Gets Chance from Capello

2009-02-08T03:53:00.000-08:00

England coach Fabio Capello rewarding in-form players in Everton's Phil Jagielka and West Ham's Carltone Cole with a chance to impress, while the on-loan AC Milan midfielder David Beckham could equal Bobby Moore's 108 cap record if selected against the Euro 2008 champions. Capello has opted not to include Wayne Rooney, who has been out with a hamstring injury since January, although he is expected to return to action for Manchester United at Upton Park tomorrow. A similar ailment has also ensured the absence of the Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard from the squad.

England squad to face Spain on 11 February
Goalkeepers: Robert Green (West Ham), Joe Hart (Man City), David James (Portsmouth).
Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Man City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glenn Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Luke Young (Villa).
Midfielders: David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Gareth Barry (Villa), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Ashley Young (Villa).
Forwards: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Villa), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Emil Heskey (Villa).

Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear in Hospital

2009-02-08T01:10:00.000-08:00

Joe Kinnear was treated in hospital after falling ill. The north-east club said Kinnear had been admitted 'as a precautionary measure'. He missed his side's 3-2 win in the afternoon at West Brom. Assistant boss Chris Hughton, who acted as caretaker manager before Kinnear was appointed, took charge of the team at The Hawthorns. Kinnear suffered a heart attack in March 1999 before a Premier League game at Sheffield Wednesday when he was managing Wimbledon.

Game Plan - Aston Villa v Arsenal

2008-12-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well on boxing day, all the crazy fans of Premier League will going to see one of the hot matches of the season between Arsenal v Aston Villa. Itz the battle between two of the finest football managers Wenger and O'Neil. Already Arsenal lost to Villa by 2-0 at Emirates and Villa will be looking towards to make it double on Wenger side. Arsenal will be without Fabregas and Adebayor which will cost them dearly. For Wenger and Arsenal fans the big real question is who will run the show in the absence of Fabregas and how Arsenal are going to stop the rocket speed pace from Ashley Young and Agbonlahor. Barry will be the man who will supply the huge number of balls to Young and Agbonlahor and Petrov will be doing the dirty works. Villa have a commanding defence in Cuellar, Davies and Laursen. So here i've a game plan for Arsenal...

I would definitely go with a 4-5-1 formation for this game. If we go out with just two centre midfielders, neither of them Fabregas, then we will be over run in the centre by Barry, Sidwell and Petrov who bossed us last game around. I actually think playing Diaby behind van Persie, with Denilson and Song sitting deeper, we would have a pretty combative midfield force, both physically and also in terms of skill and vision. I'm not leaving Bendtner on the bench because I prefer Eboue or anything like that, I just think it would be naive to go with a four man midfield without Fabregas to Villa Park, also Bendtner was totally 100% owned by the Villa centre halfs at the Emirates.On the wing, playing Eboue is necessary to provide Sagna with much needed cover against one of, imo the most dangerous players in the league in Young. We'll need Eboue tracking back against him the whole time, and Nasri will have to work hard too. Up front, van Persie is going to need alot of support from Diaby because Laursen and Davies have formed an excellent partnership, one that we will struggle against, so RvP is going to have to be at his sharpest to get anything out of them, imo. Nasri is going to have an important part to play because he up against Luke Young who he could cause alot of problems for, in theory, causing the CB's to pull apart, leaving space for Diaby.

Defensively, I don't think I need to point out how dangerous the likes of Young and Agbonlahor can be and Agbonlahor's performance at the Emirates is evidence of this. Djourou's pace should prove to suit us better than Silvestre's lack of when facing quick opposition such as Agbonlahor and Young. Also, his strong aerial pressence should prove an advantage in what will be a tough test against Carew. Another thing I notice is that Ashley Young does go down easily tbh, I'm not having a go at him, though I don't respect it, I'm mentioning it as a potential problem for us, especially as we are prone to making tackles that although aren't necessarily fouls, force the ref to make a call. Its something we need to watch.Overall, I can't say that I'm particularly confident about this game tbh. I know we're capable of winning but really it depends on which Arsenal team shows up mentally on the day. This is already a really tough game, but without Fabregas and Adebayor - obviously two of our most important players, we could struggle. But, I have faith in Wenger and there is alot to be positive about from the performances of Song, Diaby and Denilson after Fabregas and Ade went off and I know we can win... just really important that we play like a top four team because anything other than a win here leaves Villa three, or even six points ahead of us and also would leave us potentially 12 points off the top. Biggest game of the season?

My line-up would be:
Almunia

Sagna - Gallas - Djourou - Clichy

Eboue - Denilson - Song - Nasri

Diaby

van Persie

Where is The Home Grown Players ?

2008-12-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

While on Manchester United's foray in Japan for the World Club Championships, manager Sir Alex Ferguson has once again reiterated that he would like to see a limit on foreign players in the starting XI's in the Premier League, with the United boss all in favour of having to field 6 British players in the starting XI.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's match against Gamba Osaka Ferguson said: "I think it should be a concern when local and national players are not given opportunities, so therefore eventually there have to be limitations on foreign players. That way clubs' youth systems are protected. Progress is progress and the future has to protect the national game."

Even though we all know this contravenes EU law and is highly unlikely to be introduced. What would happen in the Premiership if it, was introduced today?

The first club that springs to mind would be Arsenal, having fielded an entire team of foreign imports on more than one occasion. However, they do have 11 players from the British Isles in the first team squad, though not one of these players is out of their teens yet. So while they have youngsters coming through they would struggle to have six British players start for them in the Premier League and be competitive. Leaving them to field their Carling Cup kids to meet the quota.

Chelsea, don't even have the option of fielding British youngsters, because they simply don't have any. While they do have 5 England Internationals at Stamford Bridge if you look further than that they only have 2 other English players in the first team squad. Yes they also have Michael Mancienne on loan at Wolves, but with Luiz Felipe Scolari willing to send a player out on loan that has pushed himself into the thoughts of England boss Fabio Capello, with his performances for the Under-21's. What message does that send to the British schoolboys at the club?

You then look at Liverpool and it would appear that Rafa Benitez's side would struggle immediately if this quota was introduced. Only 8 English players and Irishman Robbie Keane in the squad, with only Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher along with Keane likely to be in Rafa's starting line-up on any given match day. In fact no British talent has emerged from the Red half of Merseyside and been used by Liverpool consistently since Gerrard and Carragher along with Michael Owen burst on to the football scene many years ago now. They have 7 British players out on loan, but we all know these players are highly unlikely to feature for the Reds in the future.

So now to Blackburn, who you might have thought, would have a British heart and soul? Not at all, only 6 English players, 3 Irish and a Welshman and of these they could just about scrape together the required 6. For 3 of these 10 players are goalkeepers and Danny Simpson is on loan. So Blackburn would struggle to as they are now anyway if this quota were to be introduced.
So is it any surprise that Ferguson would like to see this quota introduced, with the knowledge that as it stands now it would severely impair his three closest rivals, while having little effect on his own side. If you go through the rest of the squads in the Premier League most clubs would be ok, with all the other clubs having enough British players on their books that either play for the first team or have a realistic chance of playing in it. Tottenham might have the best of it, with Spurs able to field 7 England Internationals, 3 England Under-21's, 2 Welsh Internationals and a Scottish International if all fit. Although one of the Under-21's is on loan, but could still field a very strong side as they have the players there to choose from. Aston Villa would find it very easy to, with their current crop at Villa Park.

So regardless of whether a quota is ever introduced shouldn't clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea, Blackburn and to a lesser extent Arsenal as the Gunners have a crop of English youngsters coming through, be looking to produce some real home grown talent and not be looking abroad every time, when trying to find new recruits for their clubs? Not just for their progression, but for the progression of the game in England.

Is It Clubs or Players

2008-12-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

The last day of the transfer window was really, really exciting it has to be said. September 1st 2008, Man City announce they suddenly have all the money in the world, Robinho ends up at Eastlands and Dietmar Berbatov has to choose between the two Manchester clubs while the whole world looked on, excited.

Berbatov of course chose United in the end. That day did bring up the age old question about player-power, as both Robinho and The Berb had adjitated for a long time to get their transfers done. Robinho had come out 24 hours before and announced his objective was Chelsea, and

Berbatov refused to play for Spurs untill they let him go north.

So as the next transfer window rolls around, it got me thinking, are we really living in an age for player power? Or, are the clubs starting to take it back?
Because, I don’t think its quite as cut and dry as the players being in control. Sure, The Berb and Robinho left their clubs with no choice but to sell them off - but Robinho didn’t end up where he expected. And Berbatov had to take matters into his own hands, and drive to Manchester himself.
The last day might have been really exciting, but remember the rest of the transfer window? They all really long sagas, where the players ended up going nowhere. Gareth Barry is still at Aston Villa even though he said in the press he wanted to join Liverpool, Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t complete the “dream” move to Madrid, Xavi Alonso handed in a transfer request and is still at Liverpool, Frank Lampard stayed in London despite the The Special One trying to woo him to Milan and Didier Drogba stayed put even though he made absolutely no secret of the fact he wanted to hell out of West London.

It was mostly the same story abroad. Samuel Eto’o didn’t go anywhere despite being told by Barca he could, David Villa neither came to the Prem or moved to Madrid, and despite rumours to the contray, Kaká stopped talking about wanting to play in the Prem.
So a very large percentage of those seemingly unhappy players didn’t move at all? So do the clubs actually have the power afterall? Barca could have been held to ransom by Eto’o. but they weren’t. Drogba didn’t do a Berbatov and fly to Milan to negotiate with Mourinho himself afterall, and Ronaldo didn’t have the bottle to burn his bridges alá Robinho.

The truth is for the players, is that largely they aren’t in control anymore, especially in the Prem. Because some of the owners are absurdly rich, they can’t be held to ransom anymore. If Drogba had tried to get out, Roman could have concievably just left him in the reserves complaining. He can afford to. He did with Shevchenko afterall.
But with the Credit Crisis looming, I think we need to turn the question around. The people who have the power now, are neither the club that owns the player, or the player adjitating for a move. The people with the power are the buying club.

Gareth Barry would have gone to Liverpool if they would have paid the £18m Villa valued him for. So Villa have a bit of power there, in that they put the pricetag up, but Liverpool were the ones in control, as they could have got him if they got behind the deal as they did with Robbie Keane. They basically picked Keane ahead of Barry. Looks like a mistake now.The same is true of Eto’o. The only people willing to pay for him were the retirement homes, and he still wanted to play at the top. So he had no choice but to stay. Drogba too - Milan didn’t want to pay Chelsea’s asking price, and neither did Inter.

Ronaldo, it seems wasn’t convinced enough that Real would actually stump up the money. He could have sat out alá Berbatov, he could have gone on strike, but if Real wouldn’t have paid the money that United wanted, he’d be left completely in the lurch.
Just look at Robinho. It’s lucky for him that City did suddenly have loads of money to throw around, because Chelsea seems disinterested in paying £30m for him. If City hadn’t suddenly become richer than God, then he would have been stranded. Not wanted by Madrid, not wanted by anyone else.

So while players can still weild a bit of power and talk about moving all they like, really they have to be sure that the interested club is that interested. Perhaps this is why we have yet to see the big clubs initiate the ‘Webster Clause’ (where players can buy out their contracts and move abroad). Theoretically it’d be easy for clubs to pay the contract for the players and let them move on, but the player would have to be 110% sure the club actually would do it, or they could end up without a club.

Ronaldo - Form is Temporary and Class is Permanent...

2008-12-10T09:57:00.001-08:00

Well, Ronny finally got a job today. But it’s not Milan or Man City or Sampdoria or even Siena. It’s Corinthians, a club with a big history but one fresh out of the doldrums of second-tier Brazilian footballer. Hardly the type of club you’d think would be in for the likes of Ronaldo. Injured and a bit past his prime, but as the old saying goes: form is temporary, class is permanent. So this brings up the obvious question: is Ronaldo done in big time European football? Or could this just be a launching pad as he attempts to regain even a shred of the greatness he once had?

Given his injury history - four major, major problems - you’d have to think this is the end of Ronaldo at the highest level. His knees must aspire to bone-on-bone at this point, and though his pace hasn’t been a factor for a couple years, you’ve got to wonder how mobile he is anymore. Plus look at that picture. Yeah, he’s injured, but his weight issues have only been growing for years. Can’t imagine he’s going to look too svelte when the Brazilian Serie A kicks off.

Almost a sad day as, at only 32, one of the true greats from this generation has seemingly played his last game at the highest of high levels…or has he?

Serie A Week 15 Wrapup

2008-12-08T10:27:00.000-08:00

0-1 CHIEVO VERONA v AS ROMA (Stadio Marc`Antonio Bentegodi)

In the 69th minute a goal from Jeremy Menez sealed fifth successive voctory for Roma after they had disaster start to the season. Menez left-footed gave credibility win despite of late sent-off of Matteo Brighi just five minutes from the time.

0-3 SS LAZIO v INTER MILAN (Stadio Olimpico)

Home side Lazio were crushed by league leaders Inter 3-0 at Stadio Olimpico to stay comfort at top of the league table. Lazio's Modibo Diakite gifted them a second in first-half stoppage time thru his own goal after Walter Samuel put Inter into the lead in the 2nd minute. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (55) added a third for Inter, who are gaining momentum with this, their sixth consecutive win in Serie A.

3-0 ATALANTA v UDINESE CALCIO (Stadio Azzurri D`Italia)

Christian Vieri and Cristiano Doni struck late on after Jaime Valdes had broken the deadlock with his second goal of the season. A loss for Udinese remain in tenth on the table with five defeats in trot and Atalanta grab the seventh place. Atalanta were without injured midfield duo Antonio D'Agostino and Luca Cigarini they just dropped four points in seven home games.

1-0 CAGLIARI v US PALERMO (Stadio San Elia)

Cagliari bagged a barely deserved win over Palermo 1-0 at Stadio San Elia. In the 34th minute Michele Fini stuck a controversial goal to see the victory. Palermo players screaming for offside but the referee waved their complaints away. Palermo took the game into the oppositionin the second half but they failed to find the equaliser. Now both teams sitting on 11th and 12th on the table with same points and goal difference and both were 8 points clear from relegation zone.

1-2 US LECCE v JUVENTUS FC (Stadio Via del Mare)

Juventus snatched a late win over Lecce to beat them 2-1 at Via del Mare through Amauri goal just one minute from time. A win for Juve are sitting second on the table along with Milan on better goal difference. Juventus took the lead 12 minutes into the second period when Giovinco's perfect free-kick from the edge of the box found its way into the Lecce net via the fingertips of Benussi. In the 83rd minute, Daniele Cacia latched onto Guillermo Giacomazzi's cross and volleyed a neat left-footed effort past Alex Manninger. Amauri had the last laugh heading home Paolo de Ceglie's cross a minute from time to secure the points at the Stadio Via del Mare and keep Lecce just one point above the drop zone.

1-0 AC MILAN v CATANIA CALCIO (San Siro)

Kaka's 65th minute gave Milan a very narrow win over Catania 1-0 at San Siro to stay third on the table with 30 points, a 6 points shy from league leaders Inter. Milan came to face Catania with terrible defeats at the hands of Palermo and knocked out of Coppa Italia. Milan, having to do without the injured Ronaldinho and Pirlo.

2-0 SSC NAPOLI v AC SIENA (Stadio San Paolo)

A goals from Christian Maggio and substitute German Denis saw off Siena and took Napoli back to the winning ways. With this win Napoli sitting on the fourth spot with 27 points, three points away from Juventus and Milan and nine points from Inter.

2-2 REGGINA CALCIO v BOLOGNA FC (Stadio Oreste Granillo)

Clash of the Serie A basement table at Stadio Oreste Granillo as both relegation teams ended the match 2-2 draw. Both the teams failed to take the advantage to climb back from the basement level. Bologna were the most happiest team of the two as thet came back twice in this match thru Francesco Valliani-53 and Marco di Vaio-61 goals. Bernardo Corradi and Edgar Barreto scored for Reggina in the either half in 40th min and 56 th min.

1-4 TORINO FC v AC FIORENTINA (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

Fiorentina registered an emphatic win over struggling Torino 4-1. Hosts took early lead in 2nd minute from Adrian Mutu before Alberto Gilardino doubled the visitors' advantage before break. Zdravko Kuzmanovic made it three after the break but Alessandro Rosina pulled a consolation goal from penalty and Gilardino completed his brace late on to restore Fiorentina's three-goal cushion. With this win Fiorentina are in fifth place with 26 points.

0-1 UC SAMPDORIA v GENOA (Comunale Luigi Ferraris)

A 50th minute header from Serie A top goal scored Diego Milito gave Genoa a win. Sampdoria had two goals disallowed in an action-packed second half after the first 45 minutes had disappointed. The statistics for the first half told the story of the opening 45 minutes - three yellow cards for Genoa, two for Sampdoria and almost a foul every minute punctuated a combative derby in which both sides looked nervous.

La Liga Week 14 Wrapup

2008-12-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

2-5 SPORTING GIJON v ATLETICO MADRID (Estadio Municipal El Molinon)

Atletico booked their only second away win of the season by overwhelming Sporting 5-2 at Muncipal El Molinon. With this Atletico Madrid are just two points behind their city rivals Real Madrid and Sporting Gijon left at 12th in the table. Atletico super stars Sergio Augero and Diefo Forlan both completed their brace along with Maxi Rodriguez. Before this match Atletico were heavily questioned with last three successive draws on the road and in the last two matches against lowly Osasuna and Numancia. Gijon's Mate Bilic put the home side in fron in 3rd minute and David Barral in the 61st minute.

3-3 VILLAREAL CF v GETAFE FC (El Madrigal)

Just seven minutes from the time Getage were clebrating the likely win with the lead of 3-1, but Villareal tormented them to stuck a two late goals to level the score 3-3 at El Madrigal. Otherwise Villareal would have been faced second successive home defeat. Early goals from Esteban Granero, Jaime Gavilan and Javier Casquero saw Getafe race into a three-goal lead after just 30 minutes in the first half. But Robert Pires began the Villarreal fightback 10 minutes after the interval, Sebastien Eguren pulled another goal back eight minutes from time before Giuseppe Rossi bagged the equaliser shortly afterwards to compete an extraordinary comeback. Villareal is second on the table with 6 points shy from leader Barcelona and two points ahead of Valencia and Sevilla with 29 points.

4-0 FC BARCELONA v VALENCIA CF (Nou Camp)

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry scored hat-trick at Nou Camp in an exhilarating contest to dismantle Valencia 4-0. With this win Barcelona are sitting on to of the table with 35 points, 6 clear of second placed Villareal. Henry netted first in the 20th min and added second after 8 minutes. Dani Alves put Barcelona three up just after the break and Henry completed his hat-trick late on to wrap up a highly impressive Barcelona win.

3-3 OSASUNA v REAL VALLADOLID (Estadio Reyno de Navarra)

Osasuna received a major setback draw against Valladolid when they were 3-0 until the hour mark as Valladolid came back to settle the game 3-3 at Reyno de Navarra. Goals from Dady who scored brace and Javad Nekounam ensured Osasuna second victory of the season but Valladolid spelled dooms on them by scoring three goals in the last 30 min of the game. Henok Goitom scored the goal on the hour mark and then Miguel Flano gifted Valladoild through own goal and then Bartholomew Ogbeche did the rest and leveld the game. Osasuna have the nightmare fixtures ahead after taking on fellow basement team Recreativo and Getafe. And in January 2009 will be the hell fixtures for basement team when they are going to face Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villareal.

2-1 NUMANCIA v ALMERIA (Estadio Nuevo Los Pajaritos)

Ten men Numancia pipped Almeria 2-1 at Los Pajaritos to stay 1 point away from drop zone and a point below to Almeria. Almeria failed to take the ten men advantage of Numnacia when sent off for a second yellow card after a foul on Palazon Juanma Ortiz. Almeria coach Gonzalo Arconada came with vote of confidence after five defeats in seven la liga games. Esteban Solari gave Almeria a lead in the 12th minute thru controversial penalty. Numancia hit back thru Javier del Pino goal from Juan Querro cross. Then Asier Goiria gave victory to Numancia when he collected Bokero's header. Overall this match produced 10 yellow cards and one sent-off.

2-0 DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA v MALAGA CF (Estadio Riazor)

In the space of four minutes Lafita and Omar Bravo saw off Malaga 2-0 at Riazor as Deportivo collected their third successive win in la liga to grab the 7th place. Malaga frustrated Depor in hard fought match. Malaga drop into the bottom half, but remain comfortably clear of the relegation zone in 11th place.

2-3 REAL MALLORCA v RECREATIVO HUELVA (San Moix)

Recreativo's Javi Fuego gave the finishing touch to beat Real Mallorce 3-2 at San Moix as they came back twice. With this win Recreativo remained in the drop zone still. In the 16th minute Mallroca took the lead thru David Navarro but nine minutes later Marc Ruben leveled for Recreativo. Mallorca's Jose Manuel Jurado restored the lead 10 minutes before the interval. Adrian Colunga equalised for visitors second time just three minutes from the first half break. Javi Fuego struck eight minutes after the break to seal a much-needed victory for the struggling Recreativo.

1-1 RACING SANTANDER v ATHLETIC BILBAO (Estadio El Sardinero)

Racing were draw the game 1-1 against Athletic Bilbao at El Sardinero. Athletico who were in search for their first away victory but denied by Racing. Athletic went right way when Francisco Yeste put them ahead with a deflected free-kick early in the second half but the tide turned against them when Pablo Orbaiz was dismissed for his second yellow card in the closing stages. Racing hit back to steal a share of the spoils when Gorka Iraizoz spilled a cross from Gonzalo Colsa into his own net with seven minutes left on the clock.

1-1 REAL BETIS v RCD ESPANYOL (Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera)

57th minute goal from Achille Emana put Betis into the lead and to a sixt win in eight matches but Espanyol's substitute Coro beat the offside trap to silence the crowd at the Estadio Manuel Luiz de Lopera with an unlikely equaliser on 71 minutes. With this draw Espanyol ended their four successive defeats.

3-4 REAL MADRIS v SEVILLA FC (Santiago Bernabeu)

This match produced high electrifying entertainment and action packed in front of 70,000 fans, they got to see eight yellow cards and one sent-off and seven goals. Sevilla beat Real Madrid 4-3, a huge blow to the home side. Inside 40 minutes Sevilla killed the game with 3-1 lead but Madrid came back in the second half but its not enough to escape the defeat. But the 77th minute sending-off of the hugely-impressive Arjen Robben was a massive setback for Madrid, and seven minutes after that Renato Dirnei headed home Sevilla's winner. Madrid welcomed back Fabio Cannavaro, Robben and Gonzalo Higuain after injury. Sevilla took the lead through Adriano after Iker Casillas had failed to cut out a right-wing cross in 3rd minute. 16 minutes later Madrid's Raul long-serving striker got on the end of Guti's curling free-kick to glance a header low past Palop. In the next 20 minutes Ndri Romaric and Frederic Kanoute did the damage to Madrid. In the 65th minute, Fernando Gago headed home Guti's free-kick. Five minutes from the time Kanoute did the hard work down the right and his cross into the middle found Renato completely unmarked and he had the simple task of heading past Casillas.

Ince Would Be Wise To Patient..

2008-12-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

Roy Keane may be grabbing all the headlines at the moment but he isn't the only former Manchester United player-turned-manager who has found the going tough lately. While the former Sunderland boss has now resigned after his club's poor start to the season, Paul Ince's Blackburn are a place below the Black Cats in the Premiership table having lost five of their last six league games.Rovers take on top-of-the-table Liverpool on Saturday and are 5/2 to go down in the football betting. They last won against Newcastle in September, coincidentally the last game in which Roque Santa Cruz scored, and are now in something of a crisis. Blackburn haven't had any realistic title ambitions for a number of years but are an established Premiership club and it would be a disaster for them to be relegated.

Ince deserves more time though. He's learnt his trade in the lower leagues and impressed at the clubs he's coached so far. He managed to save Macclesfield from relegation and won the Football League Trophy and League Two title with MK Dons. The Blackburn board deserve praise for giving him a chance at the highest level but it is a huge transition moving from League Two to the Premiership. Ince's experience of playing at that level is not a guarantee of success, as many other former great players have found, including of course his former midfield partner Keane.
Ince is refusing to panic however, insisting his side have been playing well enough to win but haven't been taking their chances and have made some bad defensive mistakes. They could have done without the League Cup game at Old Trafford, with the Premiership being such a priority. A win could have lifted the whole club and provided an impetus to start climbing the league, but conceding five goals, despite scoring three, just compounds the negativity around Ewood Park. Ince isn't being helped by injury and illness in his squad, but is determined to prove he can cut it at this level, and should be given the time to do so.

Is FA Growing Pair On Chants Investigation...

2008-12-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

I think a lot of FAs and other governing organizations believe that if you just investigate things long enough, and if you keep telling everybody that there’s an investigation in progress, people will eventually lose interest in the result.

This seems to be the case with the English FA’s investigation of chants directed towards Middlesbrough’s Egyptian striker Mido. Chants were directed against the Egyptian striker as he came on as subsitute at the Riverside in Saturday’s goalless draw. The FA wrote to the Tyne and Tees clubs last August after a similar outburst from the stands and issued Newcastle with a final warning. But no banning orders have been handed out and the FA has simply promised a new investigation into the repeat incident.
Final warning? Uh-huh. Sure.

The FA’s statement?
‘Last season we wrote to Newcastle and made it quite clear we did not want a repetition of this incident. We have written to them again and await their response.’
Because hell, yeah. That’ll stop it.

In the FA’s defense, they continue with:
‘In the meantime, I would repeat that we condemn any racist abuse or chanting and are determined to stamp it out. We will also help focus on identifying the individuals and support the club and police in taking the strongest possible action against them.’

This sounds good, on the surface. Except that if I’m reading this right, rather than doing anything themselves, the FA is supporting the club in its obviously diligent attempts to root out abuse among their own ticket-buying, money-paying supporters.

Yup, I’m pretty sure that’ll work.
Other countries and organizations have shown that this kind of abuse doesn’t just stop on its own. It requires that strong actions be taken, and that the strong actions actually hurt. Do we really think that Atletico Madrid fans are going to be tolerating racist chants again any time soon after their two-match Champions League stadium ban? And are any of the rest of us going to forget how eerie it was to watch these games being played in that empty stadium? That’s the kind of thing that makes even the most racist fans think twice before they act.

I believe it’s time for the English FA to grow a pair.

Ribery Unhappy on Ballon d' Or

2008-12-04T01:18:00.000-08:00

The Ballon d’Or is nothing if not a lightning rod for controversy and year-long verbal sparring matches with inflatable gloves. Yes, some deserving players win it. Others not so deserving also win it. In short, it’s like nearly every other award handed out by any other organization in the world.

But perhaps worth the debate is to get inside the minds of the journalists who vote on the award through the actual point totals. A bunch of journalists who have pissed off Franck Ribery.The “shortlist” of 30 was whittled down to 26 because four players didn’t receive a single vote (nor a lovely parting gift, which is equally as cruel).
The points list:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester Utd), 446 points

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), 281 pts

3. Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool), 179 pts

4. Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid), 133 pts

5. Xavi Hernandez (Spain, Barcelona), 97 pts

6. Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Zenit St Petersburg), 64 pts

7. David Villa (Spain, Valencia), 55 pts

8. Kaka (Brazil, Milan), 31 pts

9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Internazionale), 30 pts

10 Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool), 28 pts

11. Marcos Senna (Spain, Villarreal),16 pts.

12. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo, Arsenal), 12 pts.

13. Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United), 11 pts.

14. Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Atletico Madrid), 10 pts.

15. Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea), 8 pts.

16. Franck Ribery (France, Bayern Munich), 7 pts.

17. Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon, Barcelona), 6 pts.

18. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus), 5 pts.

19. Michael Ballack (Germany, Chelsea), Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal), 4 pts.

21. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea), Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), 3 pts.

24. Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands, Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands, Real Madrid), 2 pts.
No votes: Karim Benzema (France, Lyon), Pepe (Portugal, Real Madrid), Luca Toni (Italy, Bayern Munich), Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands, Real Madrid), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia, CSKA Moscow).

And this list doesn’t please Franck so much. And here what i said after the results :

“Frankly, I am disappointed by my ranking. I should have deserved better. Last year, I finished seventh having played six months for Marseille and six months at Bayern, without having won any titles. Here, I am 16th in the list at the end of a massive season with Bayern. We were champions of Germany, won the national cup and reached the semi-finals of the Uefa Cup. I also picked up a number of individual awards, for example the best player in the Bundesliga. I achieved something amazing but you have to accept the verdict.”

Almost refreshing to see an athlete spout off at not being given his due credit for his individual performances. Almost. But the rank of Ribery at 16 is criminal, and really does nothing to help give this award any sort of credible legitimacy. He was an immense success at Bayern as far and away the best player for a team which cruised to the title and only lost 2 league games all year. Some even thought he was the deserving winner of the Ballon d’Or.

Even more, though, is that this reflects poorly on France, the country which produced France Football (duh), the award organizer. Only one with a vote and he comes in 16th place. Doesn’t appear there was any hometown rigging, does it? Which, I suppose, is one of the few good things we can say about the Ballon d’Or.

On my one side is really Ribery turned a non-story into sour grapes, in my opinion. the top 5 are SPOT on ha most probably - and some may cant really cares about the rest - do we think the sportswriters really started paying attention at no 15 or no 20 - and is there really a huge difference between 12 and 17, etc…

Premier League Week 15 Wrapup

2008-12-02T02:39:00.000-08:00

0-0 ASTON VILLA v FULHAM FC (Villa Park)

Fulham Villa both ended their second successive goalless draw at Villa Park. Gareth Barry could have had a hat-trick easily, but he squandered the chances but his lack of finishing touch deserted him. If Villa won then they would have been leapfrogged Man Utd. Yet again Villa failed to beat a side who is out of the elite bunch. Fulham havent win in away games in their 7 away games of this season.

0-0 MIDDLESBROUGH FC v NEWCASTLE UNITED (The Riverside)

Newcastle missed the chance to register their first away win of this season when Obafemi Martins hit the bar 10 minutes before the break. hich leaves to goalless draw at Riverside between M'brough and Newcastle. In a first half of few clear-cut chances - neither Ross Turnbull nor Given had a single save of any note to make.

1-1 STOKE CITY v HULL CITY (Britannia Stadium)

New boys of the Premier League Stoke and Hull settled for 1-1 draw at Britannia Stadium. This is Hull's thrid successive draw after loosing three consecutive matches and left them six games without win after they made dream flying start. Marlon King curled Hull in front on the stroke of half-time but Jamaican international team-mate Ricardo Fuller equalised from the penalty spot after the break.

1-4 SUNDERLAND FC v BOLTON WANDERERS (Stadium of Light)

Bolton bolted Sunderland withing the first 40 minutes of the game when they won 4-1 over Sunderland at Stadium of Light. Bolton are now inside the top ten with this win and Sunderland left at the relegation zone. Sunderland are ahead when Djibril Cisse finished off a fine 11th-minute move involving Kieran Richardson and Steed Malbranque to give his side a deserved lead. In the matter of next ten minutes Bolton begin to raid on Sunderland when Matthew Taylor and Gary Cahill put Bolton into 2-1 lead. In the 39th and 55th minute a brace from Johan Elmander took advantage of two horrendous defensive blunders to send Bolton soaring to their second win in the north-east in seven days in some style.

2-1 WIGAN ATHELTIC v WEST BROMWICH ALBION (JJB Stadium)

A first ever back-to-back win for Wigan under Steve Bruce when they beat Premier League basement side West Bromwich by 2-1 at JJB Stadium. Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland put WBA under cruising to find the net. Two minutes after the break Bramble made mistake when he tried to chest the ball down but he released to WBA's Miller who wasted no time to put the ball into the net. Henri Camara leveled for Wigan after scoring the goal in successive matches. Two minutes from the time, when Emmerson when Boyce thundered a header beyond Carson following a corner from Koumas.

0-1 MANCHESTER CITY v MANCHESTER UNITED (City of Manchester Stadium)

Wayne Rooney's goal in the 42nd minute which fetch him 100th career goal for Manchester United is enough to win the City derby by 1-0. Whole Man City looked dull and cluless in the first half and struggled for posession. Rooney scored the goal when Michael Carrick whose stinging angled drive was too hot for Hart to hold. Stationed alone, inside the six-yard area, Rooney could not miss, reaching three figures. Man City made rite away two changes at the second half when Elano and Zabaleta came in. They they begin to dominate the posession. In the 68th minute, Ronaldo's temper has been threatening to boil over for some time now but his decision to push his hands towards Rooney's corner.

3-2 PORTSMOUTH FC v BLACKBURN ROVERS (Fratton Park)

This match produced five second half goals in thrilling entertainment at Fratton Park. Portsmouth booked their first home win under Tony Adams. For the second time they blewed up the 2-0 leads but this time its luck escape and both at Fratton Park. Home side were in comfortable lead thru brilliant goals from Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe but Matt Derbyshire and class Turkish veteran Tugay leveled for Blackburn. Just 12 minutes from the time Sean Davies took a cool finish.

0-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS v EVERTON FC (White Hart Lane)

Steven Pienaar goal gave gift to his coach David Moyes for his 300th match as manager for Everton to beat Tootenham by 1-0 at White Hart lane. Pienaar who started a bit late in the second half after wearing wrong shirt but six minutes later he found the net with his cannoned shot off from Vedran Corluka. This is Tottenham first home defeat under Harry Redknapp and third successive win at White Hart Lane for Everton.

1-2 CHELSEA FC v ARSENAL FC (Stamford Bridge)

A second half brace from Van Persie in the space of two minutes Arsenal send Chelsea crushing 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea took the first half lead in the 30th minute through own goal from Arsenal center back Djourou. The first goal from Van Persie is clearly off-side but the goal was at sheer class finishing. Chelsea dropped to the second spot with 33 pts on the table and this is second home defeat and overall in this league. So far Chelsea have dropped 12 home points. Arsenal's season, dogged by dressing-room unrest and five league defeats, looked in danger of imploding completely.

0-0 LIVERPOOL FC v WEST HAM UNITED (Anfield)

Liverpool clearly missed the bus to go 3 pts further from Chelsea when they dominated the entire 90 mins of the game when they settled for goalless draw at Anfield. This is first point for West Ham at Anfield in 9 years and no win in the last 45 years. With this draw West Ham stretched their third unbeaten game in a trot. Welshman and former Liverpool man Craig Bellamy, came close to breaking the deadlock with a 30-yard shot which crashed against a post. Liverpool had two early penalty appeals turned down by referee Peter Walton when both Benayoun and then Dirk Kuyt drove the ball at Herita Ilunga from close range.

La Liga Week 13 Wrapup

2008-12-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

3-1 GETAFE CF v REAL MADRID (Coliseum Alfonso Perez)

Spanish giants suffered yet another blow in the La Liga as they lost to Getafe by 3-1 and slumped into third defeat in this season so far. With this defeat Madrid left six points away from La Liga leaders Barcelona. Getafe booked their second home win of this season as they moved into 9th position. Before this game Madrid were without Fabio Cannavaro, Higuain, Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, and adding to the worst Real Madrid made first substitute in the first half when Wesley Sneijder and Miguel Torres got injured. Getafe's Juan Albin scored at the beginning of each half and set up Ikechukwu Uche for the third near the end, after Real had briefly threatened a comeback with a Javier Saviola strike.

0-3 SEVILLA FC v BARCELONA CF (Ramoz Sanchez Pizjuan)
Barcelona dream flying continues and it will be. By beating Sevilla 3-0 they were 4 pts away from Villareal and 6 pts away from their rival Madrid. In the 20th minute Messi lost possession on the edge of the Sevilla area, but the rebound fell kindly to Eto'o, who clinically smashed the ball past the helpless Andres Palop and into the top right-hand corner. In the 78th minute Barce went up 2-0 Messi unleashed an unstoppable left footed shot. Sevilla got into struck with major blow when Luis Fabiano sent-off for elbowing Sergio Basquets. In the death Messi messmerised Sevilla by making 3-0 and his brace as he ran into Hleb pass and he rounded Palop and blast the empty net.

1-2 RECREATIVO HUELVA v VILLAREAL CF (Nuevo Colombino)
Villareal retained their second spot by beating Huelva by 2-1. First-half goals from Santi Cazorla and Ariel Ibagaza saw Villarreal move into a comfortable lead at the break and they never looked to loose the lead despite a late reply from Adrian Colunga thru penalty just seven minutes from the time.

4-2 MALAGA CF v OSASUNA (Estadio La Rosaleda)
A heart breaking match played at Estadio La Rosaleda where Malaga beat Osasuna by 4-2 which ended in highest thrilling. In the last 11 minutes both team produced 4 goals. In the first half, both the teams ended without scoring. At the start of the second half a quickfire goals from Antonio Apono and Nabil Baha to put Malaga 2-0. The lead was intact till the last ten minutes of the game. But Osasuna erupted with two goals in two minutes to level the score thru goals from Javad Nekounam and Miguel Flano. Just five minutes into the game, Malaga substitute Albert Luque and Pereira Eliseu sealed the win in injury time for Malaga. Osasuna ended the match with tears. In the end this match produced six goals and all in the second half.

2-0 ATHLETIC BILBAO v NUMANCIA (San Mames Stadium)
A first half brace from Fernando Llorente is enough to seal the 2-0 win over Numancia at San Mames. With this win Bilbao were lifted themselves out of relegation zone and booked their only thrid win of the season. It was the same Llorente who made debut for Sapin against Chile in this month. At the death Bilbao reduced to ten men when Xabier Etxeita dismissed in stoppage time after collecting two yellow cards.

0-1 RCD ESPANYOL v SPORTING GIJON (Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic)
Carmelo Gonzalez's excellent first-half strike gave a hilarious win over Espanyol 1-0 at Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic. This win put Sporting Gijon into the top ten in the La Liga table and fourth defeat in row for Espanyol who are just a point away from relegation zone.

0-1 ALMERIA v DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA (Estadio Mediterraneo)
La Coruna beat Almeria by 1-0 at Estadio Mediterraneo when Joan Verdu became from a Villain to real hero when he missed the penlaty in the 68th minute and then scored 6 minutes later. Almeria were in control of the game till 51st minute when Negredo was sent off for violent conduct following a bad tackle on Alberto Lopo, leaving them down to 10 men for the second game in succession. Then 16 minutes later Almeria conceded penalty when Carlos Badias fouled Ivan Riki, but Verdu crashed his spot-kick off the crossbar. Almeria's relief at the let-off was to be shortlived as Verdu atoned for his miss seven minutes later by smashing Andres Guardado's cross into the top right corner from six yards.

3-0 REAL VALLADOLID v REAL MALLORCA (Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla)
Hapless Mallorca lost the match to Valladolid by 3-0 at Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla. A win to Valladolid gave them their third successive win and inside top ten in the la liga. Now Mallorca are two points from the relegation zone and Valladolid stretched their four unbeaten home game. Jose Antonio Garcia Calvo, Angel Manuel Vivar Dorado and Henok Goitom were all on target for Valladolid.

3-2 VALENCIA CF v REAL BETIS (Estadio Mestalla)
Valencia showed gutsy performace to overcome Betis to beat them by 3-2 at Estadio Mestalla. Real Betis made life difficult for Valencia, but they held their nerve to dig out them to stay a point behind second placed Villareal on the table and a point above Real Madrid. Valencia were 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes thru David Villa and Mata goals but Juanma pulled a goal back for Betis 11 minutes after the break and Achille Emana equalised from the penalty in the 64th minute when Carlos Marchena suspended for his foul and made it 2-2. In the 73rd minute Ruben Baraja turned the twis around.

4-1 ATLETICO MADRID v RACING SANTANDER (Vicente Calderon)
Mohammed Tchite gave battling Racing the lead from the penalty spot in the 7th minute but Simao drew the teams level in the 20th minute. Atletico took the entire advantage of Cesar Nevas sent-off in the 31st minute with a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Paulo Assuncao. Then Sergio Augero and brace from Diego Forlan put Racing out of the race in this game.

Serie A Week 14 Wrapup

2008-12-01T09:56:00.000-08:00

1-1 CATANIA CALCIO v US LECCE (Stadio Angelo Massimino)

Catania's Michele Paolucci 61st minute low drive goal Lecce's Jose Castillo screamer in the 69th minute gave a 1-1 draw to their respective side at Stadio Angelo Massimino. Gennaro Sardo and Cristian Terlizzi are back to action for Catania side who dropped just two points in home in this season.

4-0 JUVENTUS FC v REGGINA CALCIO (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

Two two goals on either half gave Juventus a comfortable win over Reggina by 4-0 at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino under difficult wintry conditions. With this win Juventus side moved to second on the table. In the 28th minute Mauro Camoranesi put hosts infront from the setup of Del Piero and Nedved. A minute to go in the first half, Amauri showed his goalscoring instinct to poke the ball home as he lay on the floor. On the hour mark Juve center back Giorgio Chiellini scored third goal for hosts from his head and provided by Marco Marchionni. Del Piero was then gifted the chance to score his 250th career goal when Sebastian Giovinco fell dramatically under a non-existent challenge from Bruno Cirillo inside the penalty area. He struck the penalty into the roof of the net to add the icing on the cake for Juventus in the 74th minute.

2-0 ATALANTA v SS LAZIO (Stadio Azzurri D`Italia)

Lazio brilliant start to the season begin to struggle out ever since they lost to Roma and today they looked again a different side altogether as they gifted both the goals to home side Atalanta to loose the game by 2-2 at Stadio Azzurri D`Italia. Defense is the name of the game from both the side until when the deadlock was broken by Jaime Valdes just nine minutes into the second half and 14 minutes later Sergio Floccari find the net from Lazio's glaring error. Lazio were without injured Goran Pandev.

1-0 CAGLIARI CALCIO v UC SAMPDORIA ( Sant'Elia)

Three minutes after the break Neves Jeda gave valuable lead and a victory over Sampdoria by 1-0 to leapfrog them on the table. Home side recent improvement is continued as they bagged ten points from their last five games. Now Cagliari are sitting 6 points clear of the relegation zone and Sampdoria five points away from relegation zone.

1-1 GENOA CFC v BOLOGNA FC (Stadio Luigi Ferraris)

Bologna ended home side Genoa 100% home record in this season when both were settled out at 1-1 at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Before this Genoa had 6 out of 6 wins in home. Giuseppe Sculli put the home side in front in the 55th minute but Bologna were good value for their equaliser, scored in the 63rd minute by their top goalscorer Marco Di Vaio, who was a Genoa player last season. Heavy rain poured down to the ground as both teams took entire 45 minutes to get used the condition.

2-1 INTER MILAN v SSC NAPOLI (San Siro)

In the first 36 minutes the score had been settled out from both the teams as Inter beat Napoli 2-1 at San Siro. Inter win put them six top of the table with 6 points clear from chasers Juventus and AC Milan. Sulley Muntari set-up the first goal for Ivan Cardoba and scored himself in the 24 th minute. Ezequiel Lavezzi reduced deficit for Napoli before half time. Napoli are nine points behind league leaders.

1-0 AS ROMA v AC FIORENTINA (Stadio Olimpico)

Roma registered their third successive win in this season as they beat Fiorentina by 1-0 at Stade Olimpico. Its Francesco Totti's 59th minute goal when he converted from Rodrigo Taddei cross as he scored fourth of the season and helped Roma to climb to the 14th spot on Serie A table. Fiorentina, on the other hand, went into the match on the back of a poor run of form that had seen them drop to sixth.

1-0 AC SIENA v TORINO FC (Artemio Franchi Montepaschi Arena)

Its 19th minute Massimo Maccarone's goal which put Siena's unbeaten home record to stay intact when they narrowly beat Torino by 1-0 at Artemio Franchi Arena. Torino pressured hosts in the second half after Siena dominating the first half. With this defeat Torino left a point behind relegation zone.

0-1 UDINESE CALCIO v CHIEVO VERONA (Stadio Friuli)

Chievo booked their first away win of the season when Udinese defender Felipe gifted own goal just two minutes from the time as Chievo beat ten men Udinese 1-0 at Stadio Friuli. Basement boys Chievo moved to within three points of safety and Udinese have gone from challenging for top spot to ninth in less than a month. Before this match both side came with number defeats at their disposal, Chievo came with 6 defeats in a row and Udinese with four defeats in a row. In the 57th minute Udinese reduced to ten men when Di Natale was shown a red card for putting his hands in Fabio Moro's face. The own goal came in the form of as Chievo looked to be running out of time and Udinese like they might escape with a hard-earned point, the hapless Felipe settled the contest. Brazilian tried to clear the ball as keeper Mandelli came rushing off his line, but only succeeded in knocking it past his stranded keeper and into the net.

3-1 US PALERMO v AC MILAN (Stadio Renzo Barbera)

Milan lost to Palermo by 3-1 at Stadio Renzo Barbera as they lost ground further on Inter at the top of the table. All the way from a minute of start to till end of the game it Palermo who dominated in and out. 5 minutes into the second half Palermo took the lead from Fabrizio Micoli. Edison Cavani added a second in the 59th minute before Fabio Simplicio sealed the win 10 minutes from the end. Ronaldino got the consolation from the penalty just seven minutes from the time. In the first half Ronaldinho missed the penalty when he hit the crossbar.

Peru Gets FIFA Slaps

2008-11-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

FIFA wants to keep its members pure.

Or at least that’s the lesson they seem to hope people will pick up from the suspension of Peru from “all international sporting contact for its clubs, national teams, referees and officials” due to governmental meddling in the Peruvian football association (FPF.)

A good plan. In theory. Football and government are generally a poor mix. But, to play devil’s advocate, what if the football associations aren’t pure? And what if they’re failing to clean themselves up? What happens then?This looks as if it may be the case in Peru, whose team is currently at the bottom (10th place) of South American CONMEBOL standings for World Cup qualifying. They’ve fallen a long way from their glory days in the seventies, when they were close to a perennial qualifier for World Cups and managed to take home a Copa América trophy.

Things aren’t so great these days. From Sports Illustrated (an excellent read for those interested in the big picture):

The Peruvian state, through its sports institute (IPD), demanded that the FPF bring its statutes in line with local law. When this didn’t happen, it declared FPF president Manuel Burga and some of his team ineligible for a period of five years. Burga ignored the ban. He stood for re-election. It was a controversial process. The election took place a year later than scheduled (was this really an attempt to profit from the good performances of the Peru side in last year’s World Under-17 Cup?). But Burga won. In the eyes of FIFA, he is the legitimate representative of Peruvian soccer.

The IPD sees it differently. It doesn’t recognize Burga nor his team. Restrictions have been imposed on the FPF’s use of bank accounts. And Peru lost the right to stage the South American Under-20 Championships next January. The stadiums belong to the IPD, which wouldn’t cede them for use by the FPF, and so the tournament was recently switched to Venezuela. …

The FPF seemed to be searching for scapegoats when it suspended some senior players for alleged hijinks after celebrating a draw with Brazil. No longer considered for selection are Claudio Pizarro (who still angrily proclaims his innocence) and fellow strikers Jefferson Farfán and Andrés Mendoza, plus senior center back Santiago Acasiete. Peru doesn’t have the strength in depth to be able to leave out such talent, and it certainly appeared the FPF was more interested in playing the blame game than in providing a structure that might help the team. While the other South American sides were involved in warm-up friendlies in August and November, the FPF didn’t organize any games for its own team.

Public opinion is against Burga and the FPF, but there is no way for the public to oust him. And because he is the elected representative, FIFA stands fully behind him. Hence the ban.

FIFA regrets that the Peruvian government sports authorities have not taken up any of the numerous invitations to dialogue that FIFA, CONMEBOL and the FPF have extended in good faith over more than two years in order to reach constructive solutions for Peruvian football.

FIFA wishes to make clear that the FPF will only be allowed to return to the fold of the world and South American football communities on the basis of negotiations with the President and the Board of the FPF who were elected in October 2007.

It seems we have an impasse. The government will not accept the FPF as it is, saying that they’re not complying with the law. And Burga has refused to step down, saying that this will not solve the federation’s problems. And now fans and players are caught in the middle with no obvious way forward.

Tim Vickery at SI (link above) sees one way out: If the clubs make it clear that they have no confidence in Burga, which could force him to resign. Maybe.

It will be interesting to see who blinks first.

Premier League Week 14 Wrapup

2008-11-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

One can easily say its the boring weekend English Premier League as what i saw. So called The Big 4 Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal all are failed to score the goal and Arsenal is the only team to loose the game and conceded three goals. Only 14 goals were scored in the 10 matches played in this weekend. Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd all failed to take advantage on each others draw to change the course of the table but it remained intact as Arsenal dropped out of the top 4 and Aston Villa back into the top 4.

0-0 CHELSEA FC v NEWCASTLE UNITED (Stamford Bridge)

Chelsea missed the clear opportunity to seprate from Liverpool in the Premier League table. At Stamford Bridge Newcastle succeeded to upheld Chelsea in front of 41660 crowds. Chelsea failed to break the Newcastle deadlock despite of the complete dominance of the game. This is Chelsea two successive home game draw, despite of this Blues remains top of the table on goal difference. In the 54th minute Chelsea had a goal which is ruled out for offside. A Lampard free-kick was then held by Given on the line with the crowd claiming it was a goal.

0-0 LIVERPOOL FC v FULHAM FC (Anfield)

Here Liverpool couldnt capitalise when Chelsea held for a draw and a Arsenal heavy defeat as this game ends in a goalless draw at Anfield. Liverpool failed to beat Fulham without their evergreen hero Steven Gerrard. But Fulham's dogged performance claimed only their second away point of the season and also secured their third goalless draw in eight visits to Anfield. Liverpool were lacked out with ideas and inspiration and Fulham worked hard to contain Liverpool. Defenders Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland had a firm grip on Robbie Keane and Torres for most of the game, and Liverpool could not find a way through. Liverpool Boss Benitez rested Xabi Alonso on the bench and brought in Alvaro Arbeloa, Lucas and Torres from the side that started the win at Bolton last weekend.

3-0 MANCHESTER CITY v ARSENAL FC (City of Manchester Stadium)

Arsenal were without Gallas and went Goalless after he was stripped down from the captaincy and dropped from the squad after he commented badly on his team. Ireland, Robinho and penalty from Sturridge gave Man City a well deserved victory with well balanced display. Now Arsenal tasted their fifth defeat in this Premier League season and their title hopes will fade out quickly. Arsenal were without the likes of Gallas, Toure, Walcott, Fabregas, Sagna and Adebayor.

1-3 MIDDLESBROUGH FC v BOLTON WANDERERS (Riverside)

From the first minute M'brough never deserved a thing from this game as they started the game appallingly and lost the game by 3-1. In the first ten minutes M'brough lost the game when Kevin Davies and Matthew Taylor striked for Bolton. 13 minutes from time Elmander scored the stunner for Bolton to seal the win. Finalyy Elmander showed a reason why he was signed for £10million when he stuck the stunning goal who chested down Samuel's pass and crashed in a left-foot drive of his own to effectively.

2-2 PORTSMOUTH FC v HULL CITY (Fratton Park)

Hull came back twice to draw 2-2 against Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Now Portsmouth have just one win in six games under Tony Adams. Hull City are without win in their last five games. Portsmouth reeling under frustration when their chances went begging to pack-out Hull. Portsmouth had flying start to the game and they got rewarded in the 28th minute when Peter Crouch headed home. Nine minute after re-start Michael Turner equalised for hosts and in the 63rd minute Pompey right back Glen Johnson restored the lead for home-side. But Noe Pamarot - under pressure from 39-year-old Dean Windass - headed an 89th minute own goal to earn Hull a point.

1-0 STOKE CITY v WEST BROMWICH ALBION (Britannia Stadium)

Till 84th minute the game at Britannia Stadium headed towards goalless draw, but Stoke's Mamady Sidibe had other ideas and his only goal for hosts separated both the teams when WBA lost by 1-0. West Bromwich left without win in their last seven games and they lost couple of time thrice games in a row. In the absence of suspended top-scorer Ricardo Fuller, Sidibe showed early signs of giving the away defence a stern aerial test. Stoke striker Dave Kitson who just lasted only ten minutes and he was carried out on the stretcher. In the final minuteds of the game both sides struggled to maintain the discipline of game and when Ryan Shawcross injured the games stopped for longer time.

0-0 ASTON VILLA v MANCHESTER UNITED (Villa Park)

Manchester United ruined the chance to close-up the game on Premier League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool. As it was Wayne Rooney who is the guilty to ruin the chances. Other-side Villa ended their 14 games losing sequence against Man Utd when they draw the game goalless at Villa Park. Villa shared the spoils for the whole 90 minutes to disappoint 42585 crowds when they have the massive confidence after beating Arsenal. In the first half it was Man Utd who missed the premium chances. In the second half domination for home side as they kept Man Utd out of the game mainly James Milner.

1-0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS v BLACKBURN ROVERS (White Hart Lane)

Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko took just nine minutes to give much needed three points and lifted Spurs out of the relegation zone as they beat Blackburn by 1-0 at White Hart Lane. Blackburn plunged into deep trouble when Lennon who set up Pavlyuchenko's strike and he was showing the sort of form that took him to the World Cup for England in 2006. Adding to the worst when Martin Olsson had sent off after receiving two yellow cards in 12 minutes. With this defeat Blackburn left them without win in their last 8 games and into relegation zone.

0-1 SUNDERLAND FC v WEST HAM UNITED (Stadium of Light)

In the 20th minute a goal from Valon Behrami for West Ham gave first victory in their last 8 games and second away win of the season when they beat Sunderland by 1-0 at Stadium of Light. West Ham had dominated the game for longer periods as they failed to capitalise the chances they had created.

1-0 WIGAN ATHLETIC v EVERTON FC (JJB Stadium)

Substitute Henri Camara scored the only goal of the match in the 51st minute to beat Everton and a reason to cheer as this is his firstPremier League goal. At the interval time Henri Camara, a Senegal striker replaced dull looking Oliver Kapo where he rifle home a clinical low shot from skillfull setup from Antonio Valencia. This is Wigans only second home win of this season. The nomadic forward, 31, spent last season on loan at West Ham but failed to score a single goal in a nightmare campaign. Camara returned to the JJB Stadium in the summer and, having scored three times in the Carling Cup earlier this season.

Bundesliga No.1 in Shirt Sponsorship

2008-11-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

The Premier League doesn’t usually come second to anyone where money is involved, due to its worldwide commercial appeal. But that changed today when figures released by “global sports marketing consultancy” SPORT+MARKT has Bundesliga teams outdoing their English counterparts in shirt sponsorship earnings.

Here are the numbers: total money paid to Bundesliga 1. clubs this season to have players torsos plastered with logos: 102.9 million euros. Total paid to Premier League clubs: 85.5 million euros.
There are multiple reasons for this. One is the pound’s newfound position of being weak against the euro. Another is the fact that three, count ‘em, Premier League clubs don’t have sponsors. West Ham’s sponsor XL went under and no one seems keen to have their name on West Brom’s shirt. Meanwhile Aston Villa took the moral high ground by giving commercial sponsors the cold shoulder and carrying the name of children’s hospice Acorns for no cost. Which makes it very hard not to like Randy Lerner.

Hopefully this turnaround in commercial fortunes represents the beginnings of something we all want: a levelling of the commercial playing field for Europe’s big leagues. Obviously the Belgian Jupiler League is never going to compete with the Prem. But is it unrealistic to hope that one day the major European leagues (and not just Prem, La Liga, Serie A) can compete on equal terms for big name players?

La Liga Week 12 Wrapup

2008-11-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

1-0 REAL MADRID v RECREATIVO HUELVA (Santiago Bernabaeu)

Real Madrid beat Recreativo by a goal to nil which too far from comfortable viewing at Bernabeu. Before this match Madrid have lost four games out of eight in all competitions. Madrid coach Schuster just came from vote of confidence from Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic. In the 38th minute, Wesley Sneijder heading a Royston Drenthe cross. As the match heading towards end of the first half came with the news that Spain had won their double matches in the Davis Cup final.

0-3 VILLAREAL CF v REAL VALLADOLID (El Madrigal Stadium

Finally Villareal unbeaten run comes to an end when they were thrashed by Valladolid 3-0 at El Madrigal. Valladolid who were dismantled by Barcelona when they lost 6-0. Valladolid hammered and finished the game in the first half and Villareal were left out nothing and unable to recover the goals. In the 24th minute Jonathan Sesma gave the Valladolid the lead midway through the first half and doubled the visitors' advantage two minutes before the break and completed his brace. In the first half injury time Luis Prieto added third and gave unlikely shock defeat to the home side.

0-0 SEVILLA FC v VALENCIA CF (Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan)

Home side were frustrated by greater Valencia side where the game was ended in goalless draw at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with entertainment. Both the sides eneded fifth and fourth in the table. Both the teams were missed lot of chances.

3-1 OSASUNA v ALMERIA (Estadio Reyno de Navarra)

Almeria almost pressed the outburts button on Osasuna as they came back with self-destruct to dismantle them by 3-1 at Estadio Reyno de Navarra. In the 6th minute, Alvaro Negredo put visitors ahead from the penalty spot. In the 9th minute Almeria were down to ten men when Guilherme sent-off for the reckless challenge. Five minutes later Walter Pandiani equalised for the hosts. Almeria then gifted the Osasuna edge when Hernan Pellerano nodded into his own net with 19 minutes remaining. Krisztian Vadocz added a third for Osasuna in the final minute. Before this match Osasuna were without a win in this La Liga season.

2-2 REAL MALLORCA v MALAGA CF (San Moix Stadium)

Real Mallorca came back twice to draw 2-2 against Malaga at San Moix as they wondered that they couldnt beat Malaga. Earlier this month Malaga were beaten by Mallorca. Ivan Ramis put Malaga in front when he put the ball into his own net in the 12th minute. However, Cheli equalised for Mallorca but in the 24th minute Nabil Baha put Malaga once again in the lead. But Mallorca didnt sit quite and they were still undone till the 67th minute when Pierre Webo equalised Mallorca for the second time in this game.

3-0 RACING SANTANDER v RCD ESPANLYOL (Estadio El Sardinero)

Racing Santander took just an hour to put this game beyond Espanyol reach when they beat them up by 3-0 at El Sardinero. Racing scored the first goal in the 10th minute when Ivan Marcano scored the goal. Oscar Serrano added the second for hosts. And Jonathan Pereira wrapped up the things for the home side.Both sides came into this game just three points clear of the relegation zone.

1-2 SPORTING GIJON v REAL BETIS ( Estadio Municipal El Molinon)

Home side Sporting Gijon were in the control till the 50 minutes of the game when they were leading by a goal to nil when Diego Castro Gimenez tap in the goal. But in the second half Betis fought back to steal all the three points from the neck of home side. Just before the hour mark thanks to two quickfire goals from summer signings Luciano Monzon and Achille Emana for Real Betis.

1-1 FC BARCELONA v GETAFE (Nou Camp)

Barcelona were unplayable at Nou Camp when they scored 17 goals and conceded just a goal despite of this Getafe draw the game by 1-1. Barcelona had a disappointing game to settle down for a point. In the 19th minute Manu del Moral surprises home side when he beat Victor Valdes with well placed shot after Pique lost the posession. In the 71st minute when Seydou Keita headed the ball from Daniel Alves inviting when ran down the right flank. Bojan Krkic, Sylvinho, Keita and Aleksander Hleb were all handed rare starts for Barcelona.

3-1 DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA v ATHLETIC BILBAO (Riazor Stadium)

Deportivo La Coruna escaped from the scary jaws of Athletic Bilbao when Andoni Iraaola missed the penalty for the visitors in the 25th minute as they lost to La Coruna by 3-1 at Riazor. First-half goals from Ze Castro and penalty from Joan Verdu put the home side firmly in control. Javi Martinez header midway through the second half gave the visitors hope until Andres Guardado's injury-time goal eventually settled matters.

Uefa Champions League - Matchday 5

2008-11-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Oh just we finished up my weekends the lot of European football from the land of English, Spanish and Italy. So in this mid-week Uefa Champions League is back and indeed, some excitement is afoot as we reach the climax. With just this and then one more fixture after this, teams really have to step up if they want to get out of their groups. Some teams can do it this week if they get wins, draws or rely on other results. I shall be giving you, group by group, the full situation below.

There are some great games to be looking forward to, as always. Barca take on Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool play Marseille, Atletico take on PSV, Man United have got a big one against Villarreal, Lyon play Fiorentina, Arsenal take on Kiev with their all new captain.

Group A
So Group A is where we’ll start, although the first half of the draw plays Wednesday. Roma will want revenge as they play their return match with Cluj, and Chelsea can qualify with a win against Bordeaux.

Chelsea 7

Roma 6

Bordeaux 6

Cluj 4

So, Chelsea will be in the KO stage if they beat Bordeaux. Cluj however will not be able to make the knockouts if they lose against Roma.

Group B
Italian leaders Inter Milan take on Panathinaikos, while surprise package Anorthosis take on surprise bottom of the group Bremen.

Inter 8

Anorthosis 5

Panathinaikos 4

Bremen 3
So (Deep Breath), Inter will qualify for the KO draw with just a apoint against Pana. If they win, and so do Anorthosis, Anorthosis, will amazingly be in the KO draw as well. If Bremen lose they won’t be able to get through, if they draw they’ll be relying on the other game.

Group C

Group C is all said and done, save for who is going to get the UEFA cup spots. Already. Sporting play Barca and in the big one at the other end of the table, Shakthar take on Basel.
Barca 10

Sporting 9

Shakhtar 3

Basel 1
So with Barca and Sporting already in the next round, if Shakhtar win, they will be in the UEFA cup. If Basel win, they are in with a chance, but it will depend on the last results. When they play the reserves of the big boys.

Group D

The last of the Wednesday groups is interestingly set up still. Liverpool take on Marseille and PSV are up against

Atletico Madrid 8

Liverpool 8

Marseille 3

PSV 3
So Liverpool are through if they win, or they draw and Athletico win or draw. The same is true of the reverse situation, if Atletico win, or they draw and Liverpool win or draw. Both PSV and Maeseille can kiss goodbye any hopes of getting through if they loose.

Group E
Tuesday’s games then. Man United take on Villarreal and Celtic have got Aalborg. Hopefully the ref will send off the right player this time round.

Man United 8

Villarreal 8

Celtic 2

Aalborg 2
So If Man United and Villarreal play out a draw, they are both through. Whichever wins, is through. If Celtic win, and Man United win, Celtic just have to beat Villarreal next time out. Aalborg meanwhile, have to hope Villarreal win, and they win against Celtic AND Man United. Tall order.

Group F for DeaTH.
Lyon take on Fiorentina in the group of Death, while Bayern take on Steaua.

Lyon 8

Bayern 8

Fiorentina 3

Steaua 1
So if Lyon get at least a draw against Fiorentina, they’ll be through. Bayern just have to beat Steaua, or hope Lyon win, and they are through. Steaua won’t make the UEFA cup if they loose and Fiorentina win.

Group G
Arsenal play against Kiev, while Fener entertain Porto.

Arsenal 8

Porto 6

Dynamo Kiev 5

Fenerbache 2
Arsenal just need a 0-0 or a win against Dynamo to see them through. POrto will be through if they win and Arsenal get at least a draw.

Group H
Juventus are already through, so congratulations to them, Rest of the group is still tight as they play Zenit and Real take on BATE.

Juve 10

Real Madrid 6

Zenit 4

BATE 2
If Real win and Juve win or draw, then they will be joining the Turin giants in the next round. Zenit will need to win against the already through Italians though, so anything can really happen.

Goalscorers
Four players sit on 4 goals at the moment, Berbatov, Del Piero, Messi and Gerrard.

Serie A Week 12 Wrapup

2008-11-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

4-2 AC FIORENTINA v UDINESE CALCIO (Artemio Franchi)

5 goals were scored in the second half out of the 6 goals sdored in this match and the match ended in action packed at Artemio Franchi when Fiorentina beat Udinese by 4-2. Antonio Floro opened the account for Udinese in the first half and Adrian Mutu leveled for Fio from the penalty spot just seven minutes into the second half. Brace from Ricardo Montolivo in the 63rd and 78th minute and in the very next minute Alberto Gilardinoade it 4-1. Antonio Di Natale pulled a late goal back from the penalty spot after Gianluca Comotto was dismissed. In the first half it clearly goes to Udinese and they scared hosts thru counter-attacks.

1-0 INTER MILAN v JUVENTUS FC (San Siro)

In the 72nd minute its Inters Sulley Muntari who scored the lonely goal to seal Inter victory over Juventus at San Siro. With this win both the teams were separated by 4 points, Inter secured the table top spot. Jose Mourinho prevailed in the much-anticipated battle of two former Chelsea coaches against Claudio Ranieri and saw his side cement their place on top of the table. Adriano recalled to the Inter side after he missed five match on the back of disciplinary matter.

1-1 BOLOGNA FC v US PALERMO (Renato Dall'Ara)

Its Davide Succi last minute equaliser for Palermo who dashed the hopes of hosts as they drew the game 1-1 at Renato Dall'Ara. Marco Di Vaio`s finish in the 20th minute looked like giving the hosts a valuable three points - which would have left only goal difference separating them from safety - but instead they had to settle for a third straight 1-1 draw. Palermo denied Bologna third success in this season as Palermo took a point in three games.

0-2 CHIEVO VERONA v AC SIENA (Stadio Marc`Antonio Bentegodi)

Just seven minutes from the time Daniele Gallopa and Massimo Maccarone both converted penalty as Siena defeats Chievo by 2-0 at Stadio Marc`Antonio Bentegodi. With this defeat Chievo dropped to the foot of the table. As looking into the Chievo schedule they will be stick to the foot of the table as they're going to face Udinese, AS Roma and Inter. Siena were the bad travellers who took a point from the possible 18 points. In the 83rd minute, Marco Malago was penalised for tugging Daniele Portanova`s shirt in the area and Gallopa did the rest. A minute left in the game, Stefano Sorrentino brought down substitute Mario Frick and Maccarone this time stepped up to score from the spot.

1-1 SS LAZIO v GENOA (Olympic Stadium)

Fortune turns brave and it happened with Lazio when Diego Milito missed the penalty and Osumane Dabo late goal gave fortune draw for hosts as the game ended in 1-1 draw. First fortune for Lazio, Anthony Vanden Borre sent a through-ball to Milito who hit a right-footed shot which beat the goalkeeper the goal was not given because of offside. Second fortune, Milito missed a penalty, a right-footed shot which he sent over the bar. The spot-kick had been awarded for a foul by Stephan Lichsteiner on Giuseppe Sculli. Milito put Genoa in front when he struck from Raffaele Palladino cross. Seconds later Lazio were level when Dabo hit a shot from outside the area which Rubinho saved but failed to hold on to and the ball trickled into the goal.

0-3 US LECCE v AS ROMA (Stadio Via del Mare)

Roma best Lecce quite comfortably by 3-0 at Stadio Via del Mare. 11 minutes into the game Francesco Totti clever ball set-up to Mark Vucinic stuck a low eft footed ahot against his old team. In the 38th minute Matteo Brighi's shot from the edge of the area was deflected to the feet of unmarked defender Juan, who tapped the ball into the net. It was 3-0 in the 49th minute when Brighi won the ball in midfield, broke well and set up Totti for a lob over Benussi.

2-2 SSC NAPOLI v CAGLIARI CALCIO (San Paolo)

Napoli encountered a strong unexpected stout resistance from Cagliari as the game ended 2-2 at San Paolo Stadium. Marek Hamsik put Napoli ahead after nine minutes but Diego Lopez levelled matters 10 minutes into the second half. Ezequiel Lavezzi looked to have won it for the hosts when he struck six minutes from time but Daniele Conti equalised again at the death. This game produced seven yellow cards in the last 33 minutes of the game. The home side move back up to fourth but they are now six points behind leaders Internazionale.

3-1 REGGINA CALCIO v ATALANTA (Stadio Oreste Granillo)

Regina lifted themselves from the foot of the table when they beat Atalanta by 3-1 and in the last week they thumped Udinese. The defeat continues a poor away run for Atalanta, who have picked up only four points from seven away games this season. In the 10th minute, Francesco Cozza's powerful free-kick cleared the Atalanta wall and left visiting goalkeeper Ferdinando Coppola helpless as it sailed into the net. In the 21st minute as Bernardo Corradi rose to head home a corner with Coppola punished for his hesitancy as he was left in no man's land. In the 79th minute, in swift counter-attack Franco Brienza's pass picked out by Bernardo Corradi who fired a right-footed shot beyond Coppola. Deep into injury time Cristiano Doni headed in from a corner for Atalanta, but it was too little, too late.

3-0 UC SAMPDORIA v CATANIA CALCIO (Comunale Luigi Ferraris)

A brace from Antonia Cassano took Sampdoria further clear of the danger zone by beating Catania 3-0. Belluci and Cassano created chaos and tormented Catania defence thru out the game as both would have been scored hattrick each. Claudio Bellucci opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Cassano added the second just after an hour and gave a more realistic look to the scoreline with a third in stoppage time and completed his brace. Belluci goal is the first of this season. Marius Stankevicius had a great game and he is the main supplier to Belluci and Cassano.

2-2 TORINO CALCIO v AC MILAN (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

AC Milan were drifted three points from Inter at the top of the table when held to a 2-2 draw by Torino. Torino went ahead Roberto Stellone's 25th-minute strike, but Milan roared back and equalised through Alexandre Pato before Ronaldinho put the visitors ahead 10 minutes before half-time. But it was Kaladze hand ball which gave penalty to Torino as Alessandro Rossina converted it.

Gallas Captaincy Stripped-off...

2008-11-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

William Gallas' much publicised public outburst following Arsenal's humiliating home defeat to an outstanding Aston Villa side last week has come as a surprise to the Arsenal fans and of course Arsene Wenger. The North London side cannot afford to have someone as captain who frequently chooses to go public with his side's internal problems and glad to see Wenger has taken appropriate action.

What made Gallas think he had the right to talk of player fights and animosities in front of the media when there is a sincere and a committed lot of top coaching staff in place to give direction to an inexperienced side? The likes of Tony Adams, Patrick Viera were strong leaders even though they had disciplinary problems of their own. They were successful and so was Arsenal because they handled the media well and their off the field strong attitude reflected on the ground. Gallas clearly let the power get to his head and how misguided he was.

William Gallas is not the same man that he was with London rivals Chelsea. Since his arrival at the Emirates in 2006, the Gallic defender, it seems, is a frustrated man having failed to win a single trophy of any sorts since his move. Last season's agonizing 2-2 draw with Birmingham City that virtually sealed the Gunners' fate in the Premiership revealed William Gallas' frustrations towards the end of the match when he went off the playing field at St Andrew's virtually in tears even before the home side's injury time penalty was taken. Gallas showed no signs of a captain by watching the penalty from the touchline when he should have been in there waiting for any potential rebound. Arsene Wenger should have taken action against his captain at that very moment yet some force which the French manager knows himself prevented him from taking.

After his scathing attack on Arsenal's young guns, it seems Gallas has taken the issue too far and Arsene Wenger now has an added responsibility to look after, to prevent deep friction within the side which could snowball into something serious in the next few weeks wrecking Arsenal's already faint title aspirations. The mood has changed unbelievably in the past week. A fortnight ago the Emirates came to life with a battling victory over champions Manchester United but all the good work has come undone by events both on and off the field over the past week. Wenger has made the right decision to strip Gallas of the captaincy, which was in the best interests of all, and we can only hope that Wenger looks to appoint someone who possesses all the necessary attributes and one who is befitting of the Arsenal armband.

Premier League Week 13 Wrapup

2008-11-17T17:56:00.000-08:00

0-2 BOLTON WANDERERS v LIVERPOOL FC (Reebok Stadium)

Liverpool maintained their challenge at the top of the Premier League table by beating Bolton 2-0 at Reebok. They took on Bolton on the back of defeat against Tottenham at the Carling Cup. Kuyt opened the scoring from Fabio Aurelio's cross before Gary Cahill's header was controversially ruled out by referee Rob Styles. Despite some more nervous moments, the Reds eventually sealed victory when Gerrard headed in substitute Fernando Torres' cross. Liverpool have never enjoyed the physical approach from Bolton but this time they stuck up with their game plan. Bolton recalled captain Kevin Nolan following suspension, with Ricardo Gardner dropping to the bench. Liverpool decided against including 20-year-old Stephen Darby for his league debut at right-back and switched Jamie Carragher from the centre of defence. Sami Hyypia retained his place alongside Daniel Agger.

2-1 FULHAM FC v TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS (Craven Cottage)

Fulham gave Tootenham Hotspurs a first defeat under Harry Redknapp with 2-1 at Craven Cottage. It was Tottenham's first loss in seven matches since Redknapp breezed into White Hart Lane after the sacking of Juande Ramos last month. First-half blunder from Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes when Simon Davies shot popped from his hands and a clinical 69th-minute finish from Andrew Johnson earned Fulham their second consecutive league victory despite a late consolation effort from Fraizer Campbell.

5-0 MANCHESTER UNITED v STOKE CITY (Old Trafford)

A brace and 100th goal for Cristiano Ronaldo gave too much of joyness and cheers to celebrate the win over Stoke when they dismantled them by 5-0 at Old Trafford. Ronaldo took just three minutes to touch the milestone with trademark set piece rounded off United's biggest win of the season in similar fashion at the end. In between Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and England U19 Danny Welbeck found the net.

2-2 NEWCASTLE UNITED v WIGAN ATHLETIC (St James Park)

At St James Park, this match produced three goals in the final 10 minutes from either side. Trailing to Ryan Taylor's third-minute strike despite Emmerson Boyce's 54th-minute dismissal, the Magpies belatedly launched a fightback - which saw the two strikers Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins who scored in the space of seven minutes. And a minute to go Newcastle old boy Titus Bramble headed home an 89th-minute equaliser. Wigan arrived with both first-choice strikers - Emile Heskey and Amr Zaki - sidelined by hamstring injuries, and with Mario Melchiot having joined them on the casualty list.

0-2 ARSENAL FC v ASTON VILLA (Emirates Stadium)

Another major setback for Arsenal and yet again at Emirates this time from the hands off Aston Villa when they lost by 2-0. For the first time Arsene Wenger lost to Aston Villa since he become manager of Arsenal a decade ago. Manuel Almunia saved the penalty from Ashley Young in the 20th minute. In the 70th minute Gael Clichy gifted Aston Villa by scoring own goal and Agbonlahor celebrated. Just ten minutes from time Agbonlahor send Arsenal crushing.

1-2 BLACKBURN ROVERS v SUNDERLAND FC (Ewood Park)

Two goals in the second half from Sunderland upfront and eased the pressure on manager Roy Keane when they beat Blackburn by 2-1 at Ewood Park. Sunderland took the sweet revenge on Blackbur who had delivered knockout punch in FA Carling Cup. Blackburn dominated the first half but failed to build on making the breakthrough through Christopher Samba - and have now won only one of seven league games at home. Four minutes into the second half Kenwyne Jones equalised with a clever overhead kick. Sunderland went ahead in 72nd minute when Malbranque released Cisse with a cushioned header. Cisse went straight to the dug-out to embrace Keane, after stunning the home side.

0-0 WEST HAM UNITED v PORTSMOUTH FC (Uptown Park)

Hammers fans took early walkout from Uptown Park as the game ended in a goalless draw and just a consolation for Hammers coach Gianfraco Zola. For the first time West Ham kept clean sheets in their last 25 matches. In the first half West Ham showed a sloppy game as Portsmouth took the control of the game. Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra took early walk out from the field. Portsmouth had to start without the injured Sol Campbell and Niko Kranjcar, who pulled out with a foot problem just before the start.

0-3 WEST BROMWICH ALBION v CHELSEA FC (The Hawthorns)

Chelsea dismantled West Bromwich by 3-0 at The hawthorns and took easy three points in the first half period itself. In the final 11 minutes of the first half they scored all the three goals, first in the 34th minute Jose Bosingwa unleashed a powerful left-footed drive from 30 yards out which Carson got a hand to but could not prevent from crossing the line. In the 38th minute Anelka doubled Chelsea's lead, seizing Malouda's headed pass and racing into the area to beat an exposed Carson. In first-half injury-time Anelka struck again, beating Carson from a narrow angle with Kalou this time the provider. With this win Chelsea leveled 48 years old record of 10 successive away win which was held by Tottenham Hotspurs. Anelka's premier league goal tally is 12 now. Chelsea have scored 19 away goals and conceded just a goal in their last seven away games.

1-1 EVERTON FC v MIDDLESBROUGH FC (Goodison Park)

Davis Moyes side Everton are now with five games unbeaten when they draw 1-1 with Middlesbrough at Goodison Park. Middlesbrough had not won in the league at Goodison Park since 2000, and made one change from the side that beat Aston Villa last weekend. Julio Arca came in for Jeremie Aliadiere. Boro, who won well at Aston Villa last weekend, did not deserve to lose this Premier League clash, having led for so long through an early Gary O'Neil strike. In the end it was their old boy Yakubu who grabbed the equaliser after 68 minutes, and there was some fortune in his goal as the ball deflected off his back.

2-2 HULL CITY v MANCHESTER CITY (KC Stadium)

Its Geovanni again who saved Hull City but this time against Manchester City with 2-2 draw at KC Stadium. In the 14th minute Micah Richards rolled the ball to his defensive partner Ben Haim and, with only Cousin in attendance and minimal pressure on, the Israeli inexplicably played the striker in six yards from goal. Cousin slotted home with ease, while keeper Joe Hart was left injured on the turf. In the 37th minute Robinho's through ball missed every blue shirt and was collected with ease by Zayatte who played the ball back across his own goal and into the path of Ireland, who tapped into an open net. The midfielder had his second before the half was out, taking Garrido's square ball on his instep before curling his shot expertly beyond Myhill. took just two minutes of the second period for Geovanni to get the home supporters on their feet, firing over with a thrilling bicycle kick after latching on to King's drifted cross.

La Liga Week 11 Wrapup

2008-11-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

1-0 REAL VALLADOLID v REAL MADRID (Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla)

Last weekend Valladolid was dismantled from the hands of Barcelona by losing them to 6-0. But in Estadio Nuevo José Zorrilla was different story for Valladolid. Its simple, it was Fabio Canobbio crashed a venomous shot past Iker Casillas to put Valladolid into the lead following a quick counter-attack in the 48th minute to beat Real Madrid by 1-0. Madrid went down to 10 men in the dying seconds as Gabriel Heinze was sent off for a second bookable offence. With this defeat Real Madrid week went from bad to worse as they were thrown out of the Copa del Rey in the midweek. Adding to the worst Ruud van Nistelrooy will miss rest of the season with a serious knee ligament injury.

2-3 VALENCIA v SPORTING GIJON (Mestalla Stadium)

Sporting Gijon gave a surprise defeat to Valencia at Mestalla by 3-2. Valencia failed to grab the chance to win this home match. Goals from Luis Moran, David Barral and Diego Castro guided Manolo Preciado's men to their biggest scalp of the season so far, although they had to survive a late scare when Juan Mata set up a frantic finish with a strike in the dying moments, adding to David Villa's earlier penalty for Valencia.

0-2 GETAFE v SEVILLA FC (Coliseum Alfonso Perez)

Luis Fabiano and Tom De Mul scored the goals for Sevilla to beat Getafe by 2-0. They took Sevilla to their third win in a win and now Sevilla are level with Real Madrid and Valencia on points. Before Fabiano scores, Getafe's Esteban Granero missed the penalty and the defeat was harsh to hosts.

3-4 RCD ESPANYOL v NUMANCIA (Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic)

Jose Bokero and Carlos Llorens grabbed a scintilating late win for Numancia to beat RCD Espanyol by 4-3 in thrilling encounter at Estadio Olimpico de Montjuic. First Txomin Nagore put the promoted side in front somewhat against the run of play after a quarter of an hour, but Espanyol equalised through Moises Hurtado 10 minutes before the break. Numnacia striker Asier Goiria then restored the visitors' advantage seven minutes after the interval, but Dani Jarque headed home from a corner to level the scores once again. Raul Tamudo grabbed a third from the penalty spot after 71 minutes to put Espanyol ahead for the first time but Numancia failed to give in and equalised through Jose Javier Barkero in the closing stages. Carlos Llorens grabbed the winner in the fourth minute of injury-time to complete a remarkable turnaround for Numancia.

4-1 ATLETICO MADRID v DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA (Vicente Calderon)

Filipe Kasmirski scored the consolation for visitors just three minutes from time when they were beaten by Atletico Madrid by 4-1. A brace from Diego Forlan, John Heitinga and Maxi Rodriguez gave the much needed cheers to the home side. For home side it was something like feel good factor after demolishing Deportivo.

2-1 ALMERIA v REAL MALLORCA (Estadio Mediterraneo)

A brace from Alvaro Negredo in the either half as enjoyed a 2-1 win over Mallorca at Estadio Mediterraneo. Now Negredo with seven goals from 11 matches in this season. Negredo is the Real Madrid youth product who is in great form. Substitute Alhassane Keita scored a 90th minute consolation for the visitors. With this win Almeria moved above Mallorca in the table and this is fourth win of this season.

2-2 MALAGA CF v VILLAREAL CF (Estadio La Rosaleda)

Its Helder Rosario a Malaga back headed an injury time equaliser to grab a 2-2 draw at Estadio La Rosaleda. Malaga came back both the times to equalise against Villareal. Prolific strike pairing Giuseppe Rossi and Joseba Llorente were both on target for the visitors, to take their combined season's tally to 11 goals, but Malaga hit back on both occasions with Sergio Duda and then Helder Rosario on target. With this draw Malaga ended the three successive defeats run. Villarreal had suffered the indignity of going out of the Copa del Rey at the hands of Segunda B outfit Polideportivo Ejido in midweek.

3-1 REAL BETIS v RACING SANTANDER (Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera)

A brace from Sergio Garcia and Achille Emana gave a thumping victory for Betis to outcast Santander. For the first time Real Betis moved into the top half of the La Liga table. This is the Betis fourth win in five La Liga mtaches. Pedro Munitis' deflected late strike proved nothing but a consolation for Racing, who never looked like taking anything from the game. Betis were winless after five rounds and sat at the bottom of the table following three consecutive defeats.Racing were also winless after five games and their coach, Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz, also appeared in danger of losing his job. The two sides therefore came into this match in a similar situation and they were also hard to distinguish on the pitch. Both were kitted out in green and white shirts, with Betis in white shorts and Racing wearing black ones.

2-0 ATHLETIC BILBAO v OSASUNA (San Mames)

Bilbao claimed three valuable home points when they beat Osasuna by 2-0 at San Mames. An early goal from Joseba Garmendia set the Basque side on their way in a dominant first-half display, although the outcome of the game remained in the balance until Fernando Llorente finally sealed the victory in the closing stages.

0-2 ECREATIVO HUELVA v FC BARCELONA (Estadio Nuevo Colombino)

Two second half goals from Lionel Messi and Seydou Keita gave a cool win over Recreativo by beating them 2-0. With this win Barcelona opened up the gap of three points to the second placed Villareal. In an evenly matched first half Barcelona struggled to break the Recreativo. But in the second half, Messi popped up to score from an improvised free-kick six minutes after the break and substitute Keita added a late second to seal a ninth straight league win for Pep Guardiola's side. Samuel Eto'o, Xavi, Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and Victor Valdes were all restored to the starting line-up after sitting out the midweek Copa del Rey victory over Benidorm but the Catalans struggled to find their rhythm early on.

Serie A Week 12 Wrapup

2008-11-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

4-1 JUVENTUS FC v GENOA (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

Juventus pipped out Genoa by 4-1 on Friday at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino to climb thrid spot in the Serie A table. In the 6th minute full back Grygera opened the score when he cut in from the right wing and fired his shot into the far post and 20 mninutes later Amauri scored second for Juve when Grygera provided the ball. Vincenzo Iaquinta added a third in the 85th minute before Diego Milito reduced the deficit with a penalty two minutes from time. But Sokratis Papastathopoulos gifted Juventus the fourth goal in stoppage time and higher confidence to travel to San Siro to face table leaders Inter Milan. This match played bit early on Friday bcoz this stadium had been booked out for international rugby match between Italy and Argentina.

0-2 US PALERMO v INTER MILAN (Renzo Barbera Stadium)

Second half brace from Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Inter back into the top of the table by beating Palermo by 2-0 at Renzo Barbera. Zlatan took just 25 seconds to net the goal at the start of the interval and he struck the ball even better in the 62nd minute to earn all three points with a powerful set-piece. Somehow Palermo upheld the Inter thru out the first half with no real dangerous games from either side. Now Palermo are with four defeat in their last seven games and this is Inters seventh unbeaten game in Serie A.

3-1 ATALANTA v NAPOLI (Atleti Azzurri d'Italia)

All the four goals in this match were scored in the second half and in the space of 38 minutes when Atalanta beat Napoli by 3-1 at Atleti Azzurri d'Italia. Hosts went ahead in the 62nd minute when Ferreira Pinto strike. In the 66th minute Napoli lost Marcelo Zalayeta picked up his second yellow and sent-off from the match. But Napoli men conjure a way back into the game in the 73rd minute penalty from Marek Hamsik. But late goals from Thomas Manfredini and Sergio Floccari ended 10-man Napoli's brave resistance and handed Atalanta three vital points in Bergamo. Napoli fought hard in the first half but Atalant's second half pressure turned into their favour.

1-0 CAGLIARI v AC FIORENTINA (Sant Elia Stadia)

Only goal from Robert Aquafresca thru penalty is enough for hosts to defeat Fiorentina. And Fiorentia were left in mad when they wasted a number of chances. After the first hald lead Cagliari displayed the finest art of defence by stopping visitors. Cagliari coach Massimiliano Allegri handed an unexpected start to Andrea Lazzari ahead of Andrea Cossu with the idea of keeping Fiorentina midfielder Felipe Melo in check.

3-2 CATANIA CALCIO v TORINO (Angelo Massimino Stadia)

Giuseppe Mascara fired a superb hat-trick to give Catania victory in an entertaining clash with Torino at the Stadio Angelo Massimino. Ricardo Colombo gave the surprise lead to Torino in the 6th minute but that lead couldnt sustained for a couple of minutes also when Masacara canceled their lead. The 29-year-old then put the home side in front after 39 minutes only for Torino to draw level shortly after the break through Nicola Amoruso's penalty. It was the local hero in the 80th minute when he completed his hattrick and before this game is heading towards draw.

1-0 AC MILAN v CHIEVO VERONA (San Siro)

In the 15th minute Kaka took controversial penalty to beat Chievo by 1-0 at San Siro. But this is the well-deserved win for red-and-black stripe side. This defeat led Chievo to their fifth defeat on the trot leaves them propping up. Injury-ravaged Milan, meanwhile, continue to keep up the pressure on leaders Inter Milan and are still just a point behind their neighbours. Milan's evergreen and living legends Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo have been joined on the sidelines by Massimo Ambrosini and Paolo Maldini while Marco Borriello, Luca Antonini and Gianluca Zambrotta were ruled out late on.

3-2 UC SAMPDORIA v US LECCE (Luigi Ferraris)

This is the action packed match where Sampdoria pulled themseleves from the lower reaches of Serie A to beat Lecce by 3-2 at Luigi Ferraris. In the first 14 minutes goal from Gennaro Delvecchio and Antonio Cassano set Sampdoria on their way to win, Simone Tiribocchi pulled one back in the 55th minute to put the pressure on Samp, who reacted with a strike from Marius Stankevicius five minutes later. Tiribocchi grabbed a second eight minutes from the end, but Samp held on for a win which lifts them above their opponents and clear of the bottom three. The win moves them up to 14th, five points above the relegation zone. They are one place and one point better off than Lecce.

1-1 AC SIENA v BOLOGNA FC (Artemio Franchi)

Emmanuele Calaio missed the penaly in the 77th minute who denied the much needed win for Siena. But still left unbeaten at home this season when they leveled 1-1 against lowly Bologna at artemio Franchi. Hosts took the lead when Abdelkader Ghezzal headed them into the lead following Daniele Galloppa's 22nd-minute set-piece. Marco Di Vaio got a rare goal for an away when he slid home a penalty in first-half injury time. Now Bologna's new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has led his side to the back to back draws. Both sides made just one change each with Siena boss Marco Giampaolo drafting in Cosmin Moti for suspended central defender Luca Rossettini, while Sergio Volpi replaced Davide Carrus for the visitors. Before this match Ghezzal position had been in the form of question mark who had scored a goal in his 10 matches of this season.

0-1 UDINESE CALCIO v REGGINA CALCIO (Stadio Friuli)

Franco Brienza struck a stunner for Reggina to beat Udinese by 1-0 at Stadio Friuli. Now Reggina recorded their first away win of the season and second of the season and lifted themselves from lower reaches of Serie A table. And Udinese tasted their first home defeat of this season. Before this match Udinese dumped Reggina out of the Coppa Italia on penalties. Francesco Cozza floated a lovely cross over to Brienza who showed brilliant technique to crash home a volley from just inside the area, although questions have to be asked about the Udinese defence who had left him unmarked.

1-0 AS ROMA v SS LAZIO (Stadio Olimpico)

In Rome derby its 50th minute goal from Julio Baptista who gave a much needed win for Roma to beat their home rivals by 1-0 at shared stadium Stadio Olimpico. Baptista rewared Roma with powerful header from Francesco Totti cross. This is their first win in Serie A since September 28. Lazio suffered a blow in the 67th minute after Christian Ledesma was handed his marching orders following a double booking. Roma also ended the game down to 10 men after Simone Perrotta was sent off three minutes from time.

Inter Milan = 27 pts from 12 games

AC Milan = 26 points from 12 games

Juventus = 24 points from 12 games

Frank Lampard - EPL Player of The Month

2008-11-15T23:39:00.000-08:00

The Chelsea midfielder has been in scintillating form of late and has seen his achievements acknowledged accordingly.It is the third time that the England international has been named the top flight's elite performer during his stellar career, with the last occasion coming exactly three years ago.Lampard claimed October's prize after helping Chelsea to three wins in four Premier League fixtures, while he also bagged two goals during the course of the month - including a sublime chip during a 3-0 victory at Hull.He now stands just one behind a group of six players - including Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney - who have taken the monthly accolade on four occasions.

Confidence "I'm very pleased," Lampard told Sky Sports News. "A lot of players in the league have had a good month. But it's been a good month for me personally; I've been playing in a team that's playing very well, which always make it easier. To win the Barclays player of the month, I'm very proud." Obviously in football team awards come first and foremost but if you can get an individual award for how you are performing during the season, whether it be month-by-month or at the end of the season, it's a great personal thing and it gives you confidence."

Goldenboot Meanwhile, Lampard's Stamford Bridge team-mate Nicolas Anelka has also seen his recent performances rewarded, as he claimed a golden boot for being the first player to reach 10 top flight goals this season. The Frenchman is delighted with the manner in which his season is progressing, while he also took the time to pile further praise on Lampard. "I am very pleased because it is difficult to reach 10 goals in any season," Anelka told Chelsea's official website."I am glad and hopefully I will keep on scoring goals. Obviously my team-mates help me a lot to score goals.He added: "Frank can do everything, he can score, give good assists and he wants to win every game so I think he is one of the best midfielders in the world."

Eden Hazard - A New Kid On The Block from Belgium

2008-11-15T00:09:00.000-08:00

It’s a name that might conjure up images of shiny red apples, devilish serpents and everyone’s favourite fig-leaf-wearing sinners: Adam and Eve. But don’t be misled. Rather than some kind of an obscure biblical warning, Eden Hazard is, in fact, the wonderfully colourful name of one of European football’s most promising talents.

The 17-year-old Belgian’s adept balls skills, elusive dribbling, and almost preternatural on-field awareness have long distinguished him as a potential star of the future to scouts across the continent. Hazard, though, is reluctant to wait too long for his apparently golden future to come to fruition. Already, the attacking midfielder or trequartista (an Italian term for the traditional no.10) has made a considerable impression on the first team of his French club, Lille.

Hazard first came to the attention of many observers with his captivating displays in the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship; held in his homeland. The attractive Belgian side he orchestrated fell only at the semi-final stage of the competition – exiting, on penalties, at the hands of a Bojan Krkić-inspired Spain. Throughout, the considerable qualities of the lad from La Louvière shone through like a beacon.

The flicks and tricks within his repertoire impressed, of course. But it was his innate ability to conjure a clinical through-ball from nothing that set the scouts of many a major European club frantically scribbling superlatives in their well-worn notepads. Inevitably, the vultures will circle, but – for now – Hazard remains committed to breaking through in Ligue 1.

He’s yet another one off the Lille production line – which has produced such luminaries as Lyon’s Jean Makoun, the Cheyrou brothers, and, er, Pascal Cygan (ok, so they can’t get it right all of the time). The present side, under the guidance of Rudy Garcia following the summer departure of Claude Puel to imperious Lyon, plays neat, attractive football, but patently lacks a cutting edge. As of now, the creative burden lies heavily on the shoulders of Ludovic Obraniak. In the mid-to-long term, Hazard might assume that responsibility on a full-time basis.

In his brief cameos to date, Lille’s Belgian prodigy has habitually illuminated proceedings. Hazard’s first senior goal came at the thrilling climax of their last-gasp 3-2 win over Auxerre, in September. Just a quarter-of-an-hour after his introduction, in place of Slovak striker Róbert Vittek, he’d grabbed a dramatic 88th-minute equaliser – Túlio de Melo then grabbed the winner in injury time.

There have since been further impressively confident displays from the bench.
Just last week; with time running out, trailing by a goal to nil against the grim defensive blockade that is the Paris St Germain first team, ball-playing Lille were going nowhere fast. Coach Garcia looked to his young star for inspiration. Following his late arrival from the sidelines, Hazard – on a number of occasions – sliced through PSG’s resolute defence with an ease which had plainly eluded his more senior colleagues. This time out, there was to be no miracle resurrection – but the young man once more left with his reputation enhanced.

He has now firmly succeeded Kévin Mirallas (now at Saint-Etienne) as Lille’s young Belgian hope. The talented pair are not alone, though. There is a gifted new generation emerging in Belgium – a nation which has drifted, lately, into becoming a footballing backwater, despite its illustrious past.

They are led by the skipper of Jupiler League champions Standard Liège; cultured 20-year-old midfielder Steven Defour. Much-admired winger Axel Witsel (aged 19) and Marouane Fellaini (record buy at Everton, aged 20), along with Defour, made up Standard’s championship-winning midfield last year.

Elsewhere; Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, aged 21); Moussa Dembélé (AZ Alkmaar, 21); and Genoa’s Anthony Vanden Borre (also 21) are thriving. Man City’s colossal centre-half/midfield anchorman Vincent Kompany might seem to have been around forever, but is still just 22.
The ‘other’ Red Devils might have to wait a few years for this burgeoning crop to reach full maturity, but when it does, Hazard could conceivably find himself at the forefront of a Belgian side to rival those of the early-to-mid 80s.

At just 5ft 7ins and slight of build, doubts will be raised about his ability to adapt to the cut and thrust of, say, the Premier League or Serie A. Yet, he has time on his side to develop physically and, despite popular perception, size isn’t everything. It is for his mercurial talent with a ball at his feet that Eden Hazard will be feted in years to come. With the right application and a little fortune, the little maestro might be capable of emulating the achievements of Scifo, Wilmots and van Himst. Let’s just hope temptation won’t lead Eden astray…

Roy Keane - Is He Left off The Hook

2008-11-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Few managers are more outspoken that Roy Keane. The former Manchester United captain leaves no stone unturned when in front of the British press as we saw when the Irishman was asked about Michael Chopra being allowed to go back to Cardiff City.I think the media actually fear Roy Keane a little, like they dare give him bad press at the trepidation of being given a tough lashing the next day.

However the media have been known to tell it like it is. So why are they refusing to put the pressure on Keane after his sides poor start to the season.

Sunderland lie in 19th in the Premiership and after Keane splashed the cash in the summer it is amazing to see his start and the focus on his sides poor start.

Let's start with the team itself. Sunderland have had just one win from their last eight games in all competitions, with the solitary win coming in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle United, who are coincidently the team below them in the Premiership.

After spending nearly 30 million pounds on a variety of players during the summer Keane's results have been poor to say the least. Anton Ferdinand, George McCartney and Steed Malbranque are just a few who have been drafted in on the major budget provided by Niall Quinn. Quinn is bound to be unhappy after the uproar that Keane made after the end of last season, when he said that some of his squad wasn't good enough and that he needed major finances to re-build the side. The former Sunderland man gave in to the manager's demands, expecting a top half finish and dare I say it a foray into Europe. This success would have been warranted considering the cash injection.

However the result has been the opposite and Quinn has been left thinking whether he has wasted his time at the hands of the controlling manager as they look set for a relegation battle.
Keane hasn't been checked up on this once by the press, and even worse they are more concentrated on managers whose teams are more successful like Mark Hughes at Manchester City than they are at the underachieving Sunderland.

Are the media scared of Keane? Well quiet possibly.

Now before I'm inundated with comments that I'm calling for Keane's head I'm definitely not, I'm saying that if Hughes warrants some pressure with 13 points from 12 games then so does Keane with a point-less.

So the next time the media line-up with Keane in their sights maybe uttering their recent record of one win in their last eight might put Keane under more pressure than his overpriced team.

Liverpool Lack Title Race Strength In Depth

2008-11-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Liverpool appear to have the best chance of ending their league title drought since Roy Evans's team fell away in the finishing straight in 1997, but their Carling Cup exit on Wednesday has revived concerns over their strength in depth. While their first XI looks formidable, the back-up players have struggled to match those standards, again falling short in the 4-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Fernando Torres and Daniel Agger were the only first-choice players in the Liverpool starting line-up on a night when Rafael Benítez's team suffered their second defeat away to Tottenham in 12 days. But whereas the visiting side were unfortunate to lose 2-1 in the Barclays Premier League, they were poor on their return to North London this week.

Agger, who was part of a defence that conceded three times shortly before the break to leave Liverpool 3-0 down at half-time, claimed afterwards that no trophies, Premier League or otherwise, would be going to Anfield if they continued to play in the same manner. “If you see the goals, it was the same problem every time and they speak for themselves,” the Denmark central defender said. “We conceded four bad goals and you cannot expect to do that and still get anything out of a game. Right now it's difficult to take any positives at all. That just wasn't good enough. We have to do better than this otherwise we won't achieve anything this season.”

Liverpool will hope that they can get through the season without many injuries to their leading players, but such a scenario might be less devastating for Arsenal. While their failure to win the Premier League over the past four years has been blamed partly on Arsène Wenger's reluctance to address weaknesses in his first XI by acquiring established top-class players, the manager can boast an abundance of riches in reserve.

The Premier League's “big four” rested most of their first-choice players in this week's Carling Cup fourth-round ties, but Arsenal recorded much the best result. Chelsea joined Liverpool in departing the competition, succumbing in a penalty shoot-out at home to Burnley, while Manchester United needed a late penalty by Carlos Tévez at Old Trafford to see off Queens Park Rangers, but Wenger's team steamrollered Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal's achievement was all the more impressive because their line-up featured a majority of what amounted to third-team players, whereas United and Liverpool had two each and Chelsea had none. Wenger also declined to pick any of his first-choice team, in contrast to Benítez, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Sir Alex Ferguson (although it could be argued that the United manager no longer considers Gary Neville to be his main right back, in which case the Scot also overlooked his entire first team).

Steve Bruce, the Wigan manager, described Arsenal's youngsters as “frightening” and admitted that “we got our backsides kicked by a very good team”. The six players who started at the Emirates Stadium but who would probably not make the club's second XI are Gavin Hoyte, Jack Wilshere, Mark Randall, Fran Mérida, Jay Simpson and Carlos Vela, teenagers all. Among them they provided the goals - two by Simpson and one by Vela - and two of the three assists.

Five of this half-dozen also started the 6-0 win over Sheffield United in the previous round. The only possible drawback for Arsenal fans is whether any of these players are ready to make a significant contribution to the present Premier League campaign. The answer to that question, and the depth of their rivals' reserve strength, may help to decide the destination of the title.

New EPL Drug Test - Rio You Can Escape

2008-11-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

Remember when Rio Fedinand “forgot” to go to his drug test? That won’t be happening again. And not just because Rio seems to be a new man these days. As of next season there’s going to be a new Premier League anti-doping system in place. Here’s how it will work:

Thirty Premier League players will be selected and placed on a register. These thirty players will be subject to random tests, meaning it could be any day of the week, any day of the year. But to combat the “Rio Ferdinand factor” and make sure players are available for testing, they’ll have to reveal their location for one hour of every day.

Sounds problematic, but since most footballer’s days consist of going training then going shopping for expensive cars and then going home to play video games, it could actually be a workable system. And Rio-proof too.

The bad news is that illegal gambling and match-fixing is now a bigger threat to football than drugs. Or at least that’s what FIFA were told by betting experts yesterday. It was claimed that of the $350 billion generated by the gambling industry last year (in profits, not payouts, by the way) up to $100 billion could have been earned through match-fixing, and that at least 25 games in Europe have been affected in the last two years. And the experts wasn’t scared to point the finger: “We have to make the public aware though that in Asia there is something going on that attacks the integrity of the sport.”

Sepp Blatter was careful to downplay everything of course.
“It was written and said there was match-fixing without one item of evidence,” Blatter said.“In FIFA we are prepared to fight for clean, proper and fair sport but we cannot stand people abusing football or using it as a platform to spread new scandals when finally there are none.”

Of course Sepp. So looks like the old man won’t be doing too much about it beyond lip service. Can’t upset the sponsors now, can we?

Premier League Week 12 Wrapup

2008-11-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

2-1 ARSENAL FC v MANCHESTER UNITED (Emirates Stadium)

A brace from young French Samir Nasri gave Arsenal a bounceback from turmoil to beat Man Utd by 2-1 at Emirates. Arsenal came into the match with a horrific draw against bitter-rivals Tottenham and defeat to Stoke and Wenger team was low morale. Adding to low morale Adebayor was injured and Van Persie suspended. Nasri gave the much needed brace as he took the advantage of slack marking. Rafael da Silva, on as a substitute, volleyed home a late strike to give Sir Alex Ferguson's men hope - but there was no repeat of the memorable Spurs comeback. It was Arsenal's first test this season against their traditional top-four rivals - and Wenger's men passed the examination.

0-0 WIGAN ATHLETIC v STOKE CITY (JJB Stadium)

All the credit should go to former Aston Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen who saved the Stoke and gave a deserved point at JJB to draw a game against Wigan by 0-0. Stoke offered a little in the attacking sector. Despite a fine win on their travels at Portsmouth last week, Bruce's men had taken just four points from five games at the JJB Stadium this season and fallen to fourth bottom of the table. Both the teams named unchanged team.

0-1 HULL CITY v BOLTON WANDERERS (KC Stadium)

In the 50th minute Matthew Taylor scored the half-volley to separate the teams and he inflicted Hull to their third successive defeat. By beating Hull by 1-0 at KC Stadium gave Gary Megson a back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-April. However, such a feat would not have come about but for Jaaskelainen, who produced a virtual one-man show for the remainder of the half to frustrate all connected with the Tigers.

1-2 SUNDERLAND FC v PORTSMOUTH FC (Stadium of Light)

Algerian midfielder Nadir Belhadj had earlier blasted a 51st-minute shot past keeper Marton Fulop to cancel out Djibril Cisse's opener just four minutes into the game. In stoppage time Defoe converted the penalty to steal the three points and gave Tony Adams his first win as Pompey manager. Sunderland have now record only one win in seven Barclays Premier League games, while for the visitors, the victory was their first in all competitions in six.

1-3 WEST HAM UNITED v EVERTON FC (Uptown Park)

Former Man Utd striker Louis Saha just took 5 minutes to collapse dream of West Ham to beat them by 3-1 at Uptowm Park. When Everton sub Jack Collison scored on his home debut in the 63rd minute looked that West Ham are cruising to all the three points. But eventually in the 83rd minute equaliser from Lescott header from Saha cross and followed by brace from Louis Saha in the space of two minutes to stunning comeback to crush West Ham. Now West Ham are without win in their last 6 games and snatched just a point so far in those 6 games. Everton gained 10 points from their last 4 games with three wins and a draw.

3-0 LIVERPOOL FC v WEST BROMWICH ALBION (Anfield)

Finally finally Robbie Keane netted brace and opened his account for Liverpool in Premier League. So a brace from Keane and final minute goal from Arbeloa gave 150th win for their coack Rafael Benitez. In the 34th minute Keane drove home from Gerrard pass and his second goal came in the 43rd minute when he rounded Scott Carson for a minute before the break and Alvaro Arbeloa added Anfield glorry gloss. West Bromwich lost all their then encounters against Liverpool and still they have to score a goal. Torres came from the bench after missing six games in the 73rd minute. West Brom were without James Morrison from the side that drew with Blackburn last time out, Do-heon Kim coming into the team.

0-2 BLACKBURN ROVERS v CHELSEA FC

On a cold and rain drenched afternoon at Ewood Park, a brace from Nicolas Anelka gave three points to Chelsea and win to celebrate a 60th birthday to Scolari. Now Blackburn are six games without win. Blackburn must have hoped the pouring rain would be in their favour but Chelsea took to the conditions like ducks to water.

1-2 ASTON VILLA v MIDDLESBROUGH FC (Villa Park)

Turkey striker Tuncay Sanli's brace in either half gave M'brough a sweet voctory at Villa Park by beating them 2-1. Now Villa have back to back defeat and second win in the last three games for M'brough to climb back inside the top 10 in the table. Sidwell had cancelled out Tuncay's 34th-minute opener on his full league debut for the home side with an equaliser three minutes later. But Tuncay's late winner spared team-mate Afonso Alves' blushes after he was guilty of one of the misses of the season. Martin O'Neill made five changes from the side which beat Slavia Prague in midweek but striker John Carew failed a late fitness test on a hip problem.
James Milner, given a free role behind Gabriel Agbonlahor, had his best game for the club since his £12million switch from Newcastle in August.

1-2 MANCHESTER CITY v TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS (City of Manchester Stadium)

A brace from Darren Bent and manager Harry Redknapp put Tottenham out of the relegation zone when they beat Man City by 2-1 at City of Manchester City. This game produced three goals and three red cards. Spurs snatched 10 points from four games since Harry came in. Now Man City faced third defeat in a row and they won one game in their last 7 games. City were left cursing their luck, having taken the lead through Robinho. They lost the advantage, after having Gelson Fernandes sent off 10 minutes later for two yellow cards. Then captain Richard Dunne was also dismissed by referee Mike Dean, as was Tottenham's Benoit Assou-Ekotto. City made the breakthrough in the 16th minute, thanks to Robinho's eighth goal of the campaign. Bent providing an assured finish in the 29th minute. He gave Hart no chance, after defender Dunne had failed to cut out a long ball from Modric. Spurs went ahead in the 65th minute when Tom Huddlestone picked out Jermaine Jenas in the area. He laid the ball off into the path of Bent, who rattled a shot in off the post.

2-1 FULHAM FC v NEWCASTLE UNITED (Craven Cottage)

A goals from Andy Johnson and Danny Murphy put Fulham back into the top 10 in the EPL table for the second time in this season by beating Newcastle by 2-1 at Craven Cottage. Johnson had given Fulham a deserved interval lead when he capitalised on a defensive blunder by Claudio Cacapa to claim his third goal since his arrival in the summer. But Newcastle emerged fired up after the break and their 57th-minute equaliser by Shola Ameobi, which had a hint of offside about it, was fitting reward for their revival. Murphy converted a 66th-minute penalty after Fabricio Coloccini had clipped Andy Johnson while the England marksman was sprinting into the area.

La Liga 10th Week Wrapup

2008-11-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

4-3 REAL MADRID v MALAGA (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)

Gonzalo Higuain just went crazy against Malaha to score all of the Madrid four goals. Real Madrid came back three time in a row to cancel the Malaga lead. Real Madrid beat Malaga bu 4-3 at Santiago Bernabeu with ten men when Sergio Ramos sent off just a minute before the interval when Ramos being shown a straight red card after standing on the chest of Eliseu following a challenge on the Malaga goalscorer near the halfway line. This match went with full of action packed with three penalties, eight yellow cards, one red card and seven goals in all. In the 6th min Eliseu who put Malaga ahead and in the very next minute Higuain leveled for Madrid. On the 18th min Nabil Baha hit the goal when Duda sent in low left cross. Eight minutes before the interval Higuan hit back again through penalty. In the 70th min Apono took the penatly for Malaga to put them ahead for the third time. Thereabout Higuain scored another coupe of goals to make it history.

6-0 FC BARCELONA v REAL VALLADOLID (Nou Camp)

Its Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o who did the damage to Valladolid to struck four first goals to thrash Valladolid by 6-0. With this win Barcelona recorded their eighth successive win in La Liga. Eto'o opened the scoring after 12 minutes, adding a second on the half-hour mark and completing his hat-trick in the lead-up to half-time. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Thierry Henry also netted late on to complete a fantastic win for Barcelona. Barcelona started the match without Iniesta and in the early part of the game Messi goal was ruled out for offside. Eto'o is the player who have been expected to no longer be a Barca team and he showed what he is and fetched 13 goals so far in La Liga.

0-0 OSASUNA v ATLETICO MADRID (Estadio Reyno de Navarra)

Javier Portillo failed to convert the penalty and failed to snatch Osasuna's first win of the La Liga and match ended in goalless draw at Estadio Reyno de Navarra. Portillo's effort was not good enough to beat visiting goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, who flung himself to his left to palm the penalty away. In low key encounter that was the best chance either side could have and at the end both clubs went disappointed but more to Osasuna and Portillo. Atletico played this match on the back of five games unbeaten run.

2-1 VILLAREAL CF v ALMERIA (Estadio El Madrigal)

Villareal still continuing its unbeaten start to their La Liga campaign by beating Almeria by 2-1 at Estadio El Madrigal. In the first 15 minutes Giuseppe Rossi and Joseba Llorente made proud record was never in danger. Just after the hour mark Almeria hit the consolation from Pablo Piatti and that put Villareal to rise on their nerves a little. Villareal showed some fatigue and played with tired legs. Important thing is that htey got early leads.

1-0 RACING SANTANDER v SPORTING GIJON (Estadio El Sardinero)

Racing Santander ended Gijon impressive winning streak recently when they won all of their last four matches. Mohamed Tchite deflected 58th minute goal to seal all the three points. Sporting Gijon began the La Liga with five straight defeats and then with four successive win to grab the 14th place in table.

3-3 REAL MALLORCA v ATHLETIC BILBAO (Estadio San Moix)

Mallorce conceded a two late goals to Bilbao when they were sitting pretty well with the lead and road to the victory. At the end match was ended 3-3 at San Moix. Bilbao were looking set to suffer their sixth straight defeat when a second half brace from Juan Arango put Mallorce a 3-1 lead. But Ion Velez and Fernando Llorente avoided Bilbao to see their sixt straight loss. Athletic Bilbao is one of the three sides in the La Liga never to have relegated from the top flight football alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid.

1-0 DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA v RCD ESPANYOL (Riazor Stadium)

Andres Guardado's 38th minute goal put Deportivo to the sixt place in La Liga table to a narrow win over Espanyol by 1-0 at Riazor Stadium. Deportivo and Espanyol came into this match with 12 points apiece. Both the teams were showing inconsistent.

2-4 NUMANCIA v REAL BETIS (Los Pajaritos)

Real Betis snatched their third win in four games when they beat Numnacia by 4-2 at Los Pajaritos. The hosts had taken the lead after 27 minutes through Javier Del Pino, but a penalty from Achille Emana and further goals from Juanito and Mehmet Aurelio put the Sevilla-based side in control at the break. Jose Barkero pulled a goal back for Numancia at the start of the second half, but Mehmet Aurelio's second of the night five minutes from time secured the points for Betis, moving them up to 15th in the table while Numancia slide into the drop zone.

1-0 SEVILLA FC v RECREATIVO HUELVA (Ramos Sanchez Pizjuan)

Injury return Frederic Kanoute hand a a greetfull victory to Sevilla by beating Recreativo 1-0 at Ramos Sanchez. Kanoute came back after missing for sever weeks and through his missing Sevilla lost four matches. With Luis Fabiano suspended after his sending-off at Valladolid, Kanoute's return was key for Jimenez's side and the Mali man bagged the only goal of the game after 63 minutes. But the former Tottenham striker was also guilty of missing several good chances on his return to action and saw a penalty saved by Recre keeper Asier Riesgo late on.

0-3 GETAFE CF v VALENCIA CF (Coliseum Alfonso Pérez)

In an ill-tempered clast at Coliseum Alfonso Perez Valencia found the winning ways with a 3-0 win over ten men Getafe. 29th minute strike from Manuel Fernandes set the visitors on their way. Second-half goals from Joaquin and Vicente put the seal on a professional display from the Valencia. This game produced nine yellow cards.

Serie A Week 11 Wrapup

2008-11-10T09:08:00.000-08:00

1-0 TORINO v US PALERMO (Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino)

Jurgen Samuels late winning goal against 10 men Palermo put them out of the relegation zone. Seven minutes from time Palermo's Antonio Nocerino sent-off till then Torino had a frustrating match and in the last seven minutes the game favoured towrds Torino. Meanwhile Palermo is at ninth spot after their third defeat in six games. In the last minute Ogbonna's cross from the right was headed clear only as far as Samuel, who struck an unstoppable volley from 22 yards out past Fontana. Torino looked the sharpest in front of goal throughout and who were still coming to terms with their 1-0 defeat to Sampdoria last week.

1-1 BOLOGNA FC v AS ROMA (Renato Dall'Ara)

Cicinho is the culprit who gifted a own goal and a point to Bologna when Francesco Totti put Roma in the lead in the 68th minute. When Francesco Totti celebrated his 400th Serie A appearance with a 69th-minute goal, which seemed to be enough to grant Roma their second win in a week and about to inflict a ninth defeat on the hosts. After this result ensures Roma is just a point above the Bologna who are inside the bottom three. Sinisa Mihajlovic has the first game incharge as new manager for struggling Bologna. In Inter Mihajlovic was the assistant to then Inter coach Roberto Mancini.

2-1 CATANIA CALCIO v AC CAGLIARI (Stadio Angelo Massimino)

Jedaias Jeda took advantage of poor defending to head Cagliari in front in the sixth minute but Giuseppe Mascara equalised in the 37th minute. Rocco Sabato's late free-kick saw Catania come from behind to nick all three points. This defeat put Cagliari just three points above relegation zone.

0-2 CHIEVO VERONA v JUVENTUS FC (Stadio Marc`Antonio Bentegodi)

Alessandro Del Piero on his 34th birthday scored 250th goal for Juventus through a much needed lead in the 40th minute to secure a fourth successive win. In grand style Del Piero broke the deadlock just five minute remaining to the first half from set piece. In the second half Iaquinta took the rebounded shot after Sorrentino saved the penalty in the 54th minute.

2-1 AC FIORENTINA v ATALANTA (Artemio Franchi Stadium)

In the first 23 minutes and in the space of three minutes Felipe Melo and Alberto Gilardino scored the goal to give Fiorentina fourth home of the season. In the 77th minute Sergio Floccari reduced the deficit from the penalty. Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo surprised Atalanta goalkeeper Ferdinando Coppola with a low shot from outside the area that found its way through the pack into the bottom left-hand corner. Three minutes later Alberto Gilardino doubled the lead, tapping home from close range following some good work in the area by Jovetic. Atalanta pulled back a goal as Floccari calmly slotted past Frey from the penalty spot after Gianluca Comotto handled in the area.

4-0 GENOA v REGGINA CALCIO (Comunale Luigi Ferraris)

Argentinian Diego Milito scored the hat-trick to thrash ten men Reggina and moved closer to the Serie A table top. In the 54th minute Gasbarroni is powerfully sparking down when he was fouled by Barreto in the penalty area Milito coverted the penalty to score his seventh goal of the season. Milito then had a shot palmed behind by Andrea Campagnolo, but he took his chance from the resulting corner to give the home side the security they were looking for. Milito provided the third for Sculli, unselfishly laying the ball back to his strike-partner, who dispatched the ball into the back of the net from 15 yards. Milito completed his hat-trick to make him Serie A's top goalscorer in the final minute when Juric's mis-hit shot found him alone in front of Campagnolo, and he made no mistake from close range.

1-0 INTER MILAN v UDINESE CALCIO (San Siro)

In the stoppage time Inter snatched big three points through Julio Cruz goal. By far from Inter coach said that he was not satisfied with this win and he is not happy. Yes truly disappointing encounter at San Siro. Udinese match marked the fourth time on the trot that Adriano had been dropped from the squad, with coach Jose Mourinho insisting it was simply a tactical decision. Now Cruz is the saviour for the second time in a row. This victory gave Inter to back to the top of the Serie A.

3-0 SS LAZIO v AC SIENA (Stadio Olimpico)

A brace from Tommaso Rocchi and a goal from Mauro Zarate is enough for Lazio to grab all the three points to seal their thrid successive win. The in-form Mauro Zarate opened the scoring 12 minutes after the break, before second-half substitute Tommasi Rocchi added two goals in the final minutes to cement the win. It was Siena who created wealth of chances in the first half. Siena has a poor away form where they are with just a point from six away games and scored mere three away goals.

2-0 SSC NAPOLI v UC SAMPDORIA (San Paolo Stadium)

Napoli scored brace either side of the half to snatch three points from the neck off Sampdoria. This result gave Sampdoria fourth loss in ten matches and 16th spot on Serie A table. In the 23rd minute Daniele Mannini scored the goal for Napoli and sub Marcelo Zalayeta bagged the second just 15 minutes from time. It was Lavezzi who fed the ball to Mannini to open up the early deadlock.

1-1 US LECCE v AC MILAN (Stadio Via del Mare)

Ten minutes from time Milan's Ronaldinho put them ahead to stay at the top of the table but a stoppage time goal from Esposito ruined Milan's dream for a week. Heavy rain lashed at Stadio Via del Mre and Milan found very hard as the going gets. In the first half Borriello missed handsome chances. Milan goal was setup by substitu Pato who came in for Flamini within the 60 seconds he gave cross to Ronaldinho who placed the ball past couple of Lecce players.

East Timor - No One Wants To Be The Worst Team

2008-11-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

No one wants to be known as the world’s worst team. And to be fair East Timor were actually only the world’s joint worst team, sharing that dubious title with the seven other international teams ranked =200th by FIFA in October 2008.

But you can still imagine the relief when East Timor finally ended six years of nothing but crushing losses and recorded their first ever non-defeat with a 2-2 draw against Cambodia on October 19th.

East Timor (Timor-Leste) actually led 1-0 at half-time, but a draw against a nation ranked 17 places higher (joint 182nd) is still damn fine work.

“It was the first game we didn’t lose — we’re all very proud,” said long-serving, long-suffering coach Pedro Almeida, a motorcycle mechanic in the country’s sleepy capital Dili.“We are not happy with our world ranking and we are hoping our players will continue to improve."

At one end of international football you have the corporate cash orgy that is the World Cup. At the other end you have East Timor, whose hardships would be funny if they weren’t true.

If you had any sympathy for under-fire but overpaid international coaches like Sven-Goran Eriksson, prepare to lose it: “We have no resources to keep this team together and we barely have grass to play on,” says Almeida. The squad changes constantly because the players have families and cannot afford time off work. When they are 21 or 22, they have to quit.”

Some coaches talk about needing certain things in order to improve. Things like more time with their players or more co-operation from clubs. And they’re probably right. But at least they have grass pitches to play on. Almeida could do with one of those.

“We cannot see our first win coming in the next few years but we will never quit,” he said.“But soon we will get our first good pitch and we hope to have another. That will help our players to develop and represent their country at a much better level.”

We’ll find out in Novemeber if the draw against Cambodia moves East Timor out of that pack of 200th ranked teams with zero FIFA ranking points (for the record, the other seven are San Marino, Anguilla, Guam, Montseratt, the Cook Islands, American Samoa and Papa New Guinea). But in reality, your FIFA world ranking means nothing. Your first draw after six years of defeat means a lot lot more.

Premier League Week 11 Wrapup

2008-11-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

1-0 EVERTON FC v FULHAM FC

Former Man Utd striker Louis Saha score the late winner goal as substitute against Fulham his former club just three minutes from time. Now Everton looks like eventually got their season going with seven points from their last three games. Saha netted with powerful header at Goodison Park, his first goal in the Premier League since February and first for Everton. Till the 87th minute the neither side deserving to win and match had been poor side. Marouane Fellaini had hit a post for Everton in the first half, while Jimmy Bullard and Bobby Zamora struck woodwork for Fulham in the second period. But that was about the only excitement until Saha's winner. Fulham, who beat Wigan in midweek, named an unchanged side with former Everton striker Andrew Johnson making his first return to the club following his summer move to west London.

4-3 MANCHESTER UNITED v HULL CITY

Previously Hull pipped Newcastle, Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham and almost they would have levelled up or might be choked Man Utd at Old Trafford. But eventually they lost the game by 4-3 and to once Hull were trailing by 4-1 in the first 57 minutes. Hull has winning fresh admirers as they keep on performing best, despite of loosing to Man Utd and failed to level up but they won friends in Old Trafford. In the third minute Ronaldo gave a lead although the slack marking that allowed Ronaldo to exchange passes with Dimitar Berbatov before seeing his shot cannon in off Boaz Myhill's left-hand post Midway through the half, the normally dependable Vidic had a tug at King's shirt, presenting Andy Dawson with the opportunity to curl a dangerous free-kick into the heart of United's penalty area. Cousin rise to the hieghts and glanced his header to cancell the lead and made it 1-1. Six minutes later Vidic and Rooney combined to set up a faster counter attack and Carrick did no mistake to make it 2-1. Just a minute to go for the first half Ronaldo scored his second and its 3-1 for Man Utd. Just before the hour mark Vidic put hosts 4-1. Tweleve minutes later Mendy scored and its 4-2 and eight minutes from time Geovanni scored from his penalty to make 4-3.

1-1 MIDDLEASBROUGH FC v WEST HAM UNITED

West Ham had dominated most part of the game and had taken a lead from Mullins in the 21st minute with energetic game. In the late second half Southgate brings in Mido to replace lacklustre Alves and Mido helped to level the score line for sluggish Middlesbrough through set piece. Boro manager Gareth Southgate named an unchanged team for the third consecutive match while West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola made four changes from the side which lost 2-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Now West Ham scored just 2 goals in the last 5 games (total 450 minutes of play) and without win in the last 5 encounters.

1-2 PORTSMOUTH FC v WIGAN ATHLE

Wigans new hero Zaki and Heskey gave much needed win for Wigan when they beat Portsmouth by 2-1 at Fratton Park. Pompey new manager Tony Adams have to wait for one more game to sieze his first win as manager. Papa Bouba Diop gave away his second penalty in four days when he brought down Wigan's Titus Bramble for Amr Zaki, the prolific on-loan Egyptian ace, to fire the penalty past David James just seconds before half-time. Pompey substitute Niko Kranjcar appeared to have saved a point for the new boss with an 82nd-minute strike but Heskey pounced even later to snatch the points.

2-1 STOKE CITY v ARSENAL FC

Rory Delap yet again continues his massive long range throw in who is highly specialised and setup two goals as they beat Arsenal by 2-1 at Britannia Stadium. In the 11th minute Delap delivered throw to Fuller for the first goal and then later to Olofinjana in the 73rd min to make it 2-0 and a deflected Gael Clichy effort reduced the deficit. Arsenal went for bad to worse when Walcott and Adebayor injured and Van Persie added icing on the cake when he received the red card when he petulantly charged at Sorensen, knocking him into the net and earning a red card for his trouble.

5-0 CHELSEA FC v SUNDERLAND FC

Nicolas Anelka hat-trick, Lampard 100th Premier League goal and Alex notched up the 1000th Chelsea Premier League goal gave Chelsea a sweet home victory over Sunderland by 5-0 and with this win Chelsea retained the top position in the Premier League table. The Wearsiders, dismal in defeat against Stoke in midweek, were as woeful as Chelsea's passing and movement was wonderful. Sunderland manager RoyKeane has sent off to the stands when verbally remonstrated Officials when he took the frustration on refree Atkinson. Keane had made five changes to the starting line-up, dropping Djibril Cisse and El-Hadji Diouf to the bench and handing striker Kenwyne Jones his first start of the season after recovering from the knee injury which had kept him out for four months. A defeat to Sunderland put them where they won one win in the last 6 games.

2-2 WEST BROMWICH v BLACKBURN ROVERS

Keith Andrews scored his first goal for 10-man Blackburn Rovers to salvage a 2-2 against Tony Mowbray's side at The Hawthorns. Striker Benni McCarthy put Blackburn ahead from the penalty spot before being sent off for two bookable offences. Goals from Roman Bednar and Ishmael Miller looked to have sealed victory for Albion before Andrews' late strike.

2-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS v LIVERPOOL FC

Its Pavlyuchenko who gave the second victory to Spurs in the last three games under new manager Harry Redknapp and gave first defeat to Liverpool in this season. Dirk Kuyt gave early lead in the third minute when Gomes was exposed and Kuyt struck blistering finish. Jamie Carragher's own goal appeared to have salvaged a point for Spurs but Harry Redknapp's side had grander ideas. Injury time on the cards then Pavlyuchenko tucked the winning goal from Bent pass. Liverpool allowed a flurry of chances to slip by, with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso missing the pick of them, until Carragher rose high in the 69th minute to nod into his own net.

2-0 BOLTON WANDERERS v MANCHESTER CITY

Ricardo Gardner and Richard Dunne own goal gave a sigh of relief for underfire Bolton manager Gary Megson as they beat Manchester City by 2-0 at Reebok Stadium. In the 76th minute Gardner applied the finishing touch to a wicked low cross from Gretar Steinsson. Gardner then turned provider by crossing low for City skipper Richard Dunne to put through his own goal with two minutes remaining. Bolton were without club-record signing Johan Elmander due to a groin injury and Kevin Davies was asked to plough a lone furrow up front.

2-0 NEWCASTLE UNITED v ASTON VILLA

Second half brace from Obafemi Martins puts Newcastle out of relegation zone. They beat Aston Villa by 2-0 at St James Park for their second successive win. Having not had back-to-back league successes since April, six points from the visits of midlands duo West Brom and Villa inside a week represents a major boost for a side which had not kept a clean sheet since August 23.

EPL Table
Top 5 > Chelsea = 26, Liverpool = 26, Man Utd = 21, Arsenal = 20, Aston Villa = 20
Bottom 3 > Bolton = 11, West Bromwich = 11, Tottenham = 9

Leading goal scorers
8 = Nicholas Anelka > Chelsea
8 = Amr Zaki > Wigan
6 = Agbonlahor > Aston Villa
6 = Robinho > Man City
6 = Ronaldo > Man Utd

Serie Week 10 Wrapup

2008-11-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

2-3 REGGINA v INTER MILAN

A last minute goal from Cardoba set Inter to stay at top of the table after basement side Reggina had shocked Inter with comeback at Stadio Oreste Granillo. Inter firmy established two goal lead in the first half from Maicon and Vieira but eventually Reggina's Francesco Cozza and Franco Brienza hit back to highten the prospect of an upset. However Cardoba gave Inter a victory in stoppage time. Now Reggina remain rooted to the bottom of the table after recording their seventh defeat in 10 games this season. Ricardo Quaresma did return for Inter and Vieira was handed a start in the centre of midfield by Mourinho. Mourinho's Reggina counterpart, Nevio Orlandi, also made changes with Bruno Cirillo returning to the defence after a ban with Francesco Cozza and Franco Brienza recalled.

2-0 JUVENTUS v AS ROMA

When Juventus defeats Roma this took Juve to fifth spot in the Serie A table and it leave Roma struggling just above the bottom three. Del Piero scored the stunning set piece in the 38th minute and providing the second goal for Marco Marchionni three minutes into the second half. That was enough to make it four wins in a row for Claudio Ranieri's side, leaving Roma reeling on the back of five successive defeats and their coach Luciano Spalletti fearing for his job. Roma arrived in Turin without their captain Francesco Totti, whose knee is still causing him problems, but Julio Baptista was back from injury.

0-0 ATALANTA v US LECCE

Atalanta held on for a point against Lecce on Sunday despite playing with 10 men for the final 23 minutes. The visitors dominated for long periods against their Bergamo-based hosts but were unable to conjure up a winner. Their hopes were raised when Atalanta had Jaime Valdes sent-off midway through the second half but a late Lecce onslaught failed to result in a much-needed goal. Neither side had managed a win in midweek so the pressure was on to take maximum points here.

5-0 CAGLIARI v FC BOLOGNA

A brace from Aquafresca and Neves Capucho Jeda as Cagliari continued their resurgence in form with a home thrashing of Bologna. Cagliari recorded their first point of the season three weeks ago by holding AC Milan to a goalless draw and then notched back-to-back wins at Torino and against Chievo. First Cagliari were goal down to Marco Di Vaio's 18th-minute opener. Acquafresca equalised on the stroke of half-time and Daniele Conti put Cagliari ahead three minutes into the second half, before Acquafresca extended the lead with his second four minutes later. Jeda then added a fourth in the 69th minute and completed the rout with a diving header late on.

1-0 SS LAZIO v CATANIA CALCIO

Five minutes from time substitute Pasquale Foggia core the goal for Lazio to end Catania's stubborn resistence. Foggia converted a pass from Mauro Zarate with five minutes remaining as Lazio's incessant pressure finally told. It had looked like turning into a frustrating afternoon for the Rome-based side as keeper Albano Bizzarri, aided by some last-ditch defending and wayward finishing, kept them at bay. While Lazio have the league leaders firmly in their sights, Catania have now not won in three games and their fine start to the campaign is in danger of petering out. The visitors had only conceded seven goals in nine games going into the encounter and it was easy to see why as their backline withstood wave after wave of attack.

3-0 PALERMO v CHIEVO VERONA

First half three goals gave Palermo to track back when they took only a point from the last three games. Fabrizio Miccoli opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute and Simon Kjaer added a second in the 37th minute before Edison Cavani's goal on the stroke of half-time. Palermo had Mark Bresciano dismissed in the 48th minute for a second bookable offence but it did little to help Chievo.

1-0 UC SAMPDORIA v TORINO

Five minutes from time Claudio Bellucci scored to sccure all the three points for Samp. This is their second win in seven days, and they left Torino behind them at the wrong end of the Serie A table. Torino had a goal disallowed in the 60th minute and had a good claim for a penalty turned down as they lost their sixth game of the season to remain just above the relegation zone, but they can take heart from the fact they outplayed their opponents for long spells of the game.

1-0 SIENA v AC FIORENTINA

14 minutes from time Siena sealed a narrow win over Fiorentina from Houssine Kharja goal. This win propelled Siena away from the relegation zone. Striker Giampaolo Pazzini, who came in for the suspended Alberto Gilardino, claimed Fiorentina were out for revenge prior to kick off after a 1-0 defeat in the derby last season. But Fiorentina were to rue the absence of Gilardino as they failed to capitalise on the few chances they had and eventually lost to the same margin as last season. The defeat, Fiorentina's third of the season, meant they lost ground on the Serie A leaders and slip to eighth, while Siena opened up a five-point gap from the relegation zone in 12th place.

2-2 UDINESE CALCIO v GENOA

Udinese, joint Serie A leaders with Napoli going into this weekend's fixtures, made the perfect start when Gaetano D'Agostino fired them in front from the penalty spot in the fourth minute.
Handanovic was in superb form to keep Genoa at bay but was finally beaten shortly after the hour mark by Diego Milito's spot-kick and the visitors took the lead three minutes later thanks to substitute Giuseppe Sculli. However, a Fabio Quagliarella volley in the 78th minute ensured Udinese maintained their excellent home record. Either side could have won it at the end but both had to settle for a deserved point, although Genoa will be the more disappointed as they had the lion's share of chances and are still seeking their first away win.

1-0 AC MILAN v NAPOLI

Milan is the Serie A leader when they beat Napoli by 1-0 when Napoli's German Denis gave a own goal and send Milan to the top of Serie A for the first time since May 2004. Carlo Ancelotti's side dominated the second half but looked as though they had squandered the chance to climb to the summit when Kaka missed an 84th-minute penalty. But there was still time for Denis to head into his own net to spark jubilant scenes at the San Siro. The explosive ending was in stark contrast to a low-key start. It was a cruel way to lose after a solid defensive display from Paulo Cannavaro and Fabiano Santacroce went without reward and Napoli left the San Siro empty-handed.

Serie Table Top 5
> Milan = 22, Udinese = 21, Inter = 21, Napoli = 20 and Lazio = 19
Bottom Three > Bologna = 6, Chieva = 6 and Reggina = 5

Top goal scorers
7 = Alberto Gilardino - Fiorentina
6 = Mauro Zarate - Lazio
6 = Fabrizio Miccoli - Palermo
6 = Diego Milito - Genoa

La Liga Week 9 Wrapup

2008-11-03T08:44:00.000-08:00

1-4 MALAGA vs FC BARCELONA

Barcelona moved to top of the La Liga table by beating Malaga by 4-1 as Xavi bagged a brace and they extended their winning streak to 11. Xavi opened up the account from a free kick, but Duda levelled for the hosts with impressive strike. After 19 minutes Messi put Barcelona into lead and shortly after the interval Xavi netted thrid goal for Barcelona. Just 9 minutes from time Barcelona wrapped up the comfortable victory through Malaga's Robson own goal when it got deflected shot from Daniel Alves set piece. Before this game Malaga had been on form, winning four league games in a row before this one to move up to sixth in the table. The game played in the heavy rain, but the waterlogged pitch made conditions very difficult for both sides.

2-0 ATLETICO MADRID vs REAL MALLORCA

Sergio Augero's two first half goals gave Atletico a well deserved victory before they play Liverpool in Uefa Champions League in this midweek at Anfield. Augero returned to play after absent from the last two matches due to fitness concerns. Augero coolly lobbed the ball over Mallorca goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya after latching onto a headed pass from strike partner Diego Forlan. The two Atletico forwards were also involved in their side's second goal in the 28th minute, although luck also played a big part with Forlan's hopelessly mis-cued effort finding Aguero at the far post, giving the young Argentinian an easy tap-in.

1-4 ATHLETIC BILBAO vs VILLAREAL CF

In midweek Copa del Reay Villareal were thrashed by Club Polideportivo Ejido by 5-0 a shocking one. But when they beat Bilbao by 4-1 they made up for that shocking thrash. In the 24th minute Rossi opened up the account but Etxeberria cancelled the lead just four minutes later as the hosts enjoyed the first half. However, it was a different story in the second half as Bilbao capitulated and two goals in six minutes from Robert Pires and Santi Cazorla saw Villarreal out of sight with less than an hour gone. Substitute Josmer Altidore added another right at the death, seconds after coming off the bench. Bilbao were keen to record a victory as they came to the end of a testing run of fixtures which saw them pitted against four of the top five sides - Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal. They had lost all three of them before this game and were second from bottom in the Primera Liga.

2-4 VALENCIA CF vs RACING SANTANDER

Racing got impressive win against Valencia in Mestalla by thumping them 4-2. A hat-trick from Mohamed Tchite gave them a much needed victory on rain soaked pitch. Burundi born upfront put Racing three times ahead only to see his first two efforts cancelled out by goals from David Villa and Joaquin, but the third proved decisive with a late own goal from David Albelda completing a miserable night for Unai Emery's men.

3-1 SPORTING GIJON vs NUMANCIA

When Sporting Gijon beats Numancia by 3-1 made it five wins in as many games with a deserved victory at home. Numancia took the lead with Asier Goiria's strike in the 20th minute, but Sporting equalised just after the half-hour mark through Luis Moran and Croatian striker Mate Bilic bagged a second-half brace to give Manuel Preciado's side a fourth straight league win and a fifth in all competitions. Even Numancia were beaten by Sporting Gijon in midweeks Copa del Rey by a goal to nil in Soria.

1-0 RCD ESPNAYOL vs CA OSASUNA

Raul Tamudo strike handed Espanyol a 1-0 win on Sunday evening and Osasuna remained rooted to the bottom of the table. The Espanyol captain struck the only goal of a tense match on the hour mark to lift the home side back into the top half of the table and condemn the visitors to a fourth straight defeat. Osasuna goal keeper Roberto Fernandez made a debut but at the eighth minute he got to face an even bigger test as Espanyol were awarded a penalty after Brazilian defender Roversio - returning from suspension - hauled down Nene in the area. Tamudo stepped up and sent Roberto the wrong way, but placed his shot wide of the target.

3-2 REAL VALLADOLID vs SEVILLA FC

Lowly Valladolid made Sevilla to suffer brutally when the visitors threw away a two goal lead to loose this game. Valladolid substitute Fabian Canobbio was his side's hero with a second-half brace, but it was the 34th-minute dismissal of Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano that was key to the encounter. Sevilla were leading 2-0 through goals from Renato and Jesus Navas when Brazil international Luis Fabiano received his second yellow card for diving inside the area. That gave Valladolid an unexpected lifeline and they duly took it, pulling a goal back just before half-time through Jonathan Sesma before Canobbio took centre stage with goals in the 51st and 64th minutes. Sevilla started the week unbeaten in any match in six months but, after suffering shock defeats to Malaga in La Liga and then third division Ponferradina in the Copa del Rey, they began Sunday's match hoping to avoid a hat-trick of losses.

1-1 RECREATIVO HUELVA vs GETAFE

Juan Albin struck a late equaliser to earn Getafe a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Recreativo Huelva. Third-bottom Recre had looked on course to earn new coach Lucas Alcaraz his first win since replacing Manolo Zambrano after taking the lead through Javi Guerrero during a blitz on the Getafe goal just after the break.

1-1 ALMERIA vs REAL MADRIDReal Madrid missed a great chance to move level on points with fierce rivals Barcelona at the top of the Primera Liga after they were held to a 1-1 draw by a stubborn Almeria outfit. Raul's first-half header looked as if it would be enough for Bernd Schuster's side, but Pablo Piatti shocked the champions with a late equaliser to claim a deserved point for the Andalusians. Real captain Raul was supported by a trident of attacking midfielders playing just behind him. Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Gonzalo Higuain all looked to get involved early on, but the visitors took a while to settle against a spirited Almeria side.

0-3 REAL BETIS vs DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA

Deportivo just took 27 minutes in the second half to end the Betis mini-revival by beating them 3-0. Two goals from Angel Lafita put the seal on a fine second-half display for Miguel Angel Lotina's men after Riki had given them the lead in controversial circumstances on the hour-mark. Betis finished the game with 10 men after Sergio Garcia was sent off for his second bookable offence to cap a miserable night for the Andalusian club, who had started the game with high hopes of recording a third successive victory. Back-to-back wins over Mallorca and Osasuna had extinguished talk of a season of struggle for the Verdiblancos but they lacked the imagination to penetrate a well-organised Depor defence and can have few complaints about the final result.

The Table Week 9
Top 5 > Barcelona = 22, Villareal = 21, Real Madris = 20, Valencia = 20 and Sevilla = 17
Bottom 4 > Numancia = 7, Recreativo = 7, Athletic Bilbao = 5 and Osasuna = 4

Top Goal scorers
10 = David Villa > Valencia
9 = Samuel Eto'o > Barcelona
6 = Lionel Messi > Barcelona
6 = Mate Bilic > Sporting Gijon

Levy - Harry Can Take Us to Top 4

2008-11-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Daniel Levy, Tottenham's chairman, has seen more than his fair share of managers during his seven year tenure at the helm of the North London club - but in Harry Redknapp, he believes he has finally found the manager capable of taking the club into the top four.

"We have confidence that he is certainly got every chance to get us there. We went for what we considered to be the best manager, but other people may have a different opinion. I very much hope [he can get into the Champions League], but he has never managed a top-four club so you are never going to know until hopefully we get there."

Redknapp will no doubt be delighted to hear the support of his new chairman, although the admission that there will not be much money available in the January transfer window might put a slight dampener on the 61-year-old's spirits;

"Harry's aware he's come into a situation where we have a group of international players that we believe are very talented and so does he and that's now coming to fruition. As far as January is concerned, I think you will see limited changes"

Tottenham fans will obviously be hoping that Levy is right when he says that Redknapp is the ideal man for the job, and it certainly looks like the former Portsmouth manager has had a great impact so far. The victory against Bolton, and heroic fight back for a 4-4 draw against bitter rivals Arsenal, seems to installed a lot of confidence at White Hart Lane.

"Clearly in the last two games all of a sudden we are scoring goals. It's hard to believe it's the same players."

Nevertheless, Juande Ramos arrived at the club with a similar fanfare - and even went on to put the Carling Cup into the club's trophy cabinet. But this counted for nothing when his squad started this season so poorly.

Redknapp has had success at almost every club he has been at, but he has never managed a big club. The challenge comes with different pressures, different challenges to Redknapp's usual ‘wheeler-dealer' work at lesser clubs. Few would bet against Harry being a success with Spurs - but it is far from a foregone conclusion either. And Daniel Levy has proven he will not tolerate failure lightly.

Levy fired Ramos, in a manner almost as ruthless as Martin Jol's sacking only a year previously. The Englishman has a track record of unwillingness to put up with underperformance - and surely Redknapp will not be given special treatment.

Nevertheless, with full control over football affairs and a carefully groomed image in the media as a ‘white knight' coming in to save the club, Redknapp already has a better chance of success than his predecessors.

Whether even that will be enough, though, is hard to tell. Daniel Levy believes it will be - at least for now.

SWP Fingered Out Southgate

2008-11-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever played football with or against someone you know to be perfectly nice, only to see them turn into a raging animal on the field? Football does the strangest things to people.

Take miniature Man City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and ‘Boro boss Gareth Southgate for example. Two of the more mild-mannered men in football. But when SWP went down under what Southgate thought was a fair tackle on Wednesday night, the pair got into some verbals and it ended with SWP giving Southgate the finger.

If you’re not from the UK, you’ll be wondering why it’s two fingers and not one. But trust me, SWP’s not giving Southgate the peace sign. Two fingers in the UK is the same as the middle finger in the US. But the English FA don’t care what two fingers means in Pennsylvania. They care about what it means in the Premier League and will be investigating the matter.

EURO 2012 - Poland Trying to Break Down with Ukraine

2008-11-01T02:43:00.000-07:00

There’s a bit of a row brewing between Euro 2012 lovebirds/co-hosts Poland and Ukraine.
Poland were originally in trouble with FIFA over government interference in football, but that was solved by the recent election of Grzegorz Lato as the new Polish FA (PZPN) President. And then Lato opened his mouth and said this to TVN News: “If Ukraine doesn’t make it on time then we can organise the tournament together with Germany.”

Ouch. You ever had your significant other announce their intention to cheat on you? That’s probably how Ukraine feel right about now. But what if your other half also pointed out all your flaws and announced to the world that they don’t even need you, because you’re broke?
Apparently Lato suggested Poland could host the tournament solo if necessary. Even worse, Polish state news agency PAP apparently that Ukraine had stopped about 80 percent of its preparations for hosting the tournament due to an ongoing financial crisis. Understandably, Ukraine is feeling a little hard done by.

Ukraine’s sports minister Yuri Pavlenko wants to know why Poland are already dividing : “I have officially demanded an explanation from my colleague, the Polish minister of sports, for the statements that were made … Such comments should not be made. Poland and Ukraine are one team preparing for Euro 2012. Two states — one tournament.”

Or maybe not. Lato should be careful what he asks for, because he might just get it. By putting the idea of Germany hosting out there, Lato could have opened the Euro 2012 Pandora’s Box that leaves Poland and Ukraine out in the cold, and Germany hosting Euro 2012 solo.

Premier League Week 10 Wrap-up

2008-10-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

1-1 NEWCASTLE UNITED vs WEST BROMWICH ALBION
First win for Newcastle in the 8 games and the first win under Kinnear in his 5 games stint. Joey Barton penalty turns him to hero from villain and he repaying the faith. Barton played his first match after a release from jail. In his first game as sub against Sunderland he was pelted with missiles. Just three minutes to go it was Marting goal which put Newcastle out of the relegation zone. In the second half WBA upfront Miller gets consolation goal and tasted the third defeat in a row.

1-0 STOKE CITY vs SUNDERLAND
Ricardo Fuller’s second half header gave Stoke a third win and he lifts the Stoke out of the relegation zone. As anticipated Rory Delap, Thomas Sorensen and Danny Higginbotham played against their former club Sunderland. Fuller rose above Dean Whitehead on the six-yard line to power his header past Marton Fulop in the 73rd minute from the throw in from Rory Delap. Prior to kick-off, eight of Stoke's 10 Premier League goals this season had been scored in the second half, while the same number of Sunderland's 13 goals in all competitions had come after the 80-minute mark.
0-1 BOLTON WANDERERS vs EVERTON FC
Fellaini becomes hero once again when he scored a late header goal in the 90th minute, even he scored equalizer against Man Utd. Before this win Everton were without win in the last 5 games. A 1-0 defeat to Bolton which heaps more misery on under fire Bolton manager Gary Megson. Pienaar and Fellaini both looked suspiciously offside but the goal was given and furious Trotters fans booed off their team, who have now failed to win at home since the opening day of the season. The Trotters created next to nothing and Megson's decision to splash out a club record £8.2million on Johan Elmander again looked seriously ill judged. Now Bolton will have to fight it hard to escape from the relegation zone. Tim Cahill played the match for Everton after coming back from three match suspension.
3-2 ASTON VILLA vs BLACKBURN ROVERS
By beating Blackburn by 3-2 Aston Villa climbed to 4the spot on EPL table. Barry is in great touch and as he hit the target for the third successive match. When Villa struggled to fire up in the first half, Warnock stunned Villa in the 29th minute by taking first half lead. On the stroke of the first half, Villa right back Luke Young equalized the matter through his first goal for Villa. In the 65th minute Barry put Villa into lead by 2-1. With three minutes to go Agbonlahor goal gave a 3 points to Villa and in the end Emerton snatched a injury time consolation goal. Villa successfully endured the busy week and on time they struggled to reproduce their high effective and fluent game. They have the ultimate fire power in attack and they can carve defences open evenwhen Villa are below the best. Blackburn were forced to make a late change to their starting line-up when striker Roque Santa Cruz suffered a calf injury during the pre-match warm-up. He was replaced by Benni McCarthy, who had scored a late equaliser against Middlesbrough at the weekend while Aaron Mokoena was added to the Rovers substitutes. Villa, unbeaten at home this season, persevered with a 4-5-1 formation with Agbonlahor as the lone central striker during a low key opening 45 minutes.
2-0 FULHAM vs WIGAN ATHLETIC
Finally finally Andy Johnson gave Fulham a much needed win with double goal. Yes Johnson open-up his account with Fulham. And this defeat gave Wigan a free fall in Premier League table with four defeats in a row. When AJ struck hist 100th League goal and first in Fulham shirt as some controversy surrounded as he looked a yard offside. The second goal taken well when Bullard provided. The victory over Wigan is the first win in 7 games. While Antonio Valencia returned from suspension, but the changes failed to halt the slump.
1-0 LIVERPOOL FC vs PORTSMOUTH FC
Portsmouth tasted their first defeat after Harry Redknapp departure and first for Tony Adams. Steven Gerrard penalty in the second half gave the fifth successive win for Liverpool and to stay on top of the table for second successive week. Gerrard penalty make sure that they didn’t waste the famous win over Chelsea. Liverpool made four changes from the side that claimed top spot in the Premier League by beating Chelsea on Sunday. Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano, Robbie Keane and Albert Riera were all rested to the bench, with Sami Hyypia, Jermaine Pennant, Ryan Babel and Lucas coming into the side. New Pompey boss Tony Adams also made changes from the side that drew with Fulham last time out. Jermain Defoe and Richard Hughes were on the bench, with Sean Davis and John Utaka in midfield and former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch on his own up front. In the 75 minutes Liverpool got their breakthrough. Hyypia's header from Fabio Aurelio's corner was goalbound before Bouba Diop threw two arms into the flight of the ball. Refree Steve Tanner booked the Pompey midfielder and pointed to the spot, before Gerrard drove home the penalty.
4-4 ARSENAL vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS
What a match it was. Obviously the match of the season so far and hope it’ll be. It all about a tale of come back from both the sides and ended the match with 4-4 with overall 8 goals thrilling encounter at Emirates. Suddenly Spurs finding the feet to score goals from nowhere and his magic his working. Trailing to David Bentley's stunning opener it’s a moment of magic , Arsenal exposed Spurs' weakness at defending set-pieces to lead through Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas. Adebayor added his obligatory goal - he now has eight from seven starts against Spurs - before Darren Bent pulled one back. Robin van Persie, who had a hand in Arsenal's previous goals, netted his 50th goal for Arsenal but Spurs have a new resilience under Redknapp where as Arsenal were not aware of it and Jermaine Jenas' late strike gave them hope before Lennon struck at the death. Redknapp hit back on Fabregas comments when he said “ our Arsenal ladies team would give Spurs a run for their money”. Just two minutes to go and Spurs were trailing by 2-4, and it looked like the game is over Jenas found the top corner with a minute of time remaining, setting up a frantic finale in which Lennon snatched a point with a tap-in after Modric hit the post.
2-0 MIDDLESBROUGH FC vs MANCHESTER CITY
A two second half goals from Alves and O’Neil gave a much needed victory for Middlesbrough. Refree Mason pointed spot kick when Sturridge tangles with Wheater on the edge of the box. Man City players complained that incident happened outside the box. By that Man City were slowly starting to take on the game from Robinho moves, but the Alves penalty which he fired high and wide. And in the injury time O’Neil gleefully rifled thje ball into the roof of the net when Tuncay Sanli squared in front of goal after a swift counter attack.
2-0 MANCHESTER UNITED vs WEST HAM UNITED
A two first half goals from newly crowned FIFAPro World Player of the Year as West Ham were beaten by 2-0. This defeat is fourth in a row to Zola. Ronaldo took his tally for the campaign to five, first profiting from Nani's precise cross before tapping home from two yards, an effort that owed everything to the genius of Dimitar Berbatov. SAF is much needed of 3 points to look and keep check the current pacesetters Liverpool. In this game SAF rested Rooney to give a chance to Tevez.
0-3 HULL CITY vs CHELSEA FC
High flying Hull finally comes to an end for a time being when they lost to Chelsea by 3-0 at KC Stadium. The defeat gave a first in the seven games. Before this games Hull were tied up in the table with Chelsea with goal difference. Home boss Phil Brown had named the same side for the fifth game in succession but their soaring confidence ultimately counted for little has Chelsea handed them a reality check. Chelsea team were boosted by the return of Joe Cole. Just couple of minutes into the game Lampard gave a early lead with a delicate left footed chip and it’s the perfect displayed technique. From this goal Hull conceded a goal for the first time in four games. In the 50th minute Anelka made it 2-0 when he found a bitter weakness in the Hull center backs Turner and Zayatte and Myhill came forward with two minds and Anelka did no mistake. In the 75th min Malouda made it 3-0 and dashed the hopes of Hull and Chelsea retained the second spot in table.

Serie Week 9 Wrap-up

2008-10-31T10:53:00.000-07:00

1-2 CHIEVO VERONA vs SS LAZIO
Mantovani’s late second half own goal gave a three away points to Lazio. Earlier, Pellissier had diven a hope of posting only their second win of the season with the opener after 11 minutes, but Goran Pandev levelled things up. The win lifts the Rome-based side up to sixth in the Serie A table, just four points behind joint-leaders Udinese and Napoli. Lazio came into the match with two successive defeats. In the 11th minute Simone Bentivoglio put in a cross from the left and Pellissier left keeper Juan Pablo Carrizo with no chance with his left-footed finish. Lazio were level just three minutes later though as FYR Macedonia forward Pandev was played through by Mauro Zarate and finished past Stefano Sorrentino.

1-2 FC BOLOGNA vs JUVENTUS FC
Nedved double strike pulled Juventus back into the top 10 by beating Bologna 2-1. Juventus were just too strong to Bologna who lives wrong place in the table. Veteran Czech midfielder Nedved opened the scoring after 12 minutes and added a deflected second after 57 minutes. Former Juventus striker Marco Di Vaio pulled one back with 16 minutes to go but the home side could not find an equaliser.

0-2 CATANIA CALCIO vs UDINESE CALCIO
Udinese dream run continues as a goal in each half gave them victory over Catania and to stay at the top of the table for one more week. Alexis Sanchez set the visitors on their way in the 13th minute before Fabio Quagliarella sealed the points seven minutes from time.

0-0 AC FIORENTINA vs INTER MILAN
In Florence Inter were held to a goal-less draw from Fiorentina. As the match ends it was a fair result and even Fiorentina pilled up the late pressure to grab a late winner. Inter coach Jose Mourinho kept faith with Victor Obinna and Dejan Stankovic in his starting line-up with Ricardo Quaresma and Olivier Dacourt warming the bench. Cesare Prandelli, had to do without injured star striker Adrian Mutu. Pablo Osvaldo was handed a start in Mutu's absence while Manuel Pasqual came in for Juan Vargas at left-back. The result sees the Nerazzurri slip down to fourth, two points behind league-leaders Udinese and Napoli while Fiorentina move up to fifth.

2-1 GENOA vs CAGLIARI
A narrow win over Cagliari kepts Genoa 100% home record intact. Sokratis Papastathopoulos put the home side ahead in the 25th minute and Thiago Motta made it two in the 55th. But Gian Piero Gasperini's side were made to sweat when Paolo Bianco pulled a goal back in the 66th minute before a red card for Cagliari's Michele Fini in the 76th minute all but ended their hopes of snatching an equaliser. The win - Genoa's fifth in five games at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris - lifts the Rossoblu up to seventh place, just four points behind leaders Udinese.

1-1 LECCE vs US PALERMO
Edison Cavani's last-gasp goal rescued a point against 10-man Lecce on Wednesday and Palermo coach Ballardini will be breathing a little easier. Before this match Palermo were with two defeats in a row and must have been thinking for the worst when Lecce took the lead in the first half from Cacia. However, the turning point of the match occurred in the 75th minute when Guillermo Giacomazzi was sent off for two yellow cards and Palermo made the man advantage count as they levelled matters three minutes from time.

2-1 AC MILAN vs SIENA
Inzaghi and Kaka goal gave Milan their fourth successive win in Serie A. Filippo Inzaghi put the home side in front in the 31st minute before Simone Vergassola levelled matters shortly after the interval. But Kaka ensured the Rossoneri claimed all the points firing from the spot in the 65th minute. And this win gave then the third spot in the table and a point ahead of Inter. Siena, who were left three points clear of the drop zone, were unlucky not to come away with something from the match as they put in a battling performance. Ancelotti made changes to the team that narrowly beat Atalanta in Bergamo on Sunday, with Alexandre Pato and Inzaghi replacing Ronaldinho and Marco Borriello up front.

3-0 NAPOLI vs REGGINA
Rock bottom side Reggina were hammered down by Napoli and from one man German Denis who scored emphatic hattrick. This win gave Napoli to remain joint top of the table. Denis grabbed his first of the game after just seven minutes and doubled his tally less than 10 minutes later, before completing his hat-trick shortly after the hour mark. Napoli are level on 20 points with Udinese - two points clear of Internazionale - while Reggina remain bottom of the pile. Reggina were keen to avoid a fifth straight away defeat but suffered the worst

2-1 TORINO vs ATALANTA
In the second half and three minute thriller gave a three goals. Torino eased the pressure on coach Gianni De Biasi with a battling win at home to Atalanta on Wednesday night. Two goals in three second-half minutes from Nicola Amoruso and Roberto Stellone gave the hosts the edge and, although Sergio Floccari's reply ensured a nervy finish, Toro held on for only their second win of the campaign.

AS ROMA vs UC SAMPDORIA match was abandoned.

Serie A Week 8 Wrapup

2008-10-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

1-1 SIENA vs CATANIA CALCIO

11 minutes from time a penalty from Mascara rescued high flying Catania as Siena proving a tough enough side to crack on their home ground Stadio Artemio Franchi. Going into the game Marco Giampaolo's side had collected seven of their eight points at home, and they looked set to add another three to that haul when Emanuele Calaio headed his side in front with quarter of an hour remaining. But with 79 minutes on the clock Michele Paolucci was brought down in the Siena area, and Giuseppe Mascara stepped up to score the first goal for an opposition side at the Stadio Artemio Franchi this season. This is the serious blow for Siena as they dominated the game very much.

1-0 JUVENTUS vs TORINO

Amuari becomes a hero for Juve yet again as Juve track back into the Serie A Top 10 and grabbed their first win in six games. A goal from Amauri in the 48th minute decided the 224th Turin derby in the Bianconeri's favour at the Stadio Olimpico. After beating Real Madrid four days ago, the result made coach Claudio Ranieri's position a little safer, but the same cannot be said for Granata boss Gianni De Biasi, whose side suffered their fifth defeat of the season.

0-1 ATALANTA vs AC MILAN

Just 10 minutes to go Kaka control and neat finish gave Milan a welcome win. Already this week Milan had caught the eye with a 3-1 UEFA Cup win at Heerenveen and made headlines for off-field reasons as they announced they were close to signing David Beckham on a short-term deal for the start of next year. This is the fifth win in this Serie A season. There was a scare for Milan after 19 minutes as the game was delayed with Ronaldinho receiving lengthy medical treatment, but the forward was eventually okay to continue.

2-0 CAGLIARI vs CHIEVO VERONA

Cagliari are out of the relegation zone with their second win of the season by beating Verona by 2-0. Robert Acquafresca gave the hosts the lead in the 30th minute and Michele Fini extended the lead in the second half - doubling their goals scored total. Chievo's failure to hit the targets cost them dearly by holding posession most of the times.

0-0 INTER MILAN vs GENOA

A 10 men Genoa succeeded to held Jose Mourinho Inter to goal-less draw at the San Siro. First half was completley dominated by Genoa and failed on two occassion to score the goal, but a red card to midfielder Ivan Juric allowed the home side to take control. Inter just couldnt break a brick wall of determined Genoa defenders. Mourinho was clearly not happy with what he had seen from his side and he made two changes during the break to form a four-man attack with Victor Obinna and Mario Balotelli coming on. He added Julio Cruz in an all-out assault, and things swung in Inter's favour when Genoa were reduced to 10 men as Juric was shown a second yellow card. While the visitors had more than matched their rivals with 11 men, playing half an hour with only 10 changed the complexion of the match. Inter failed to score for the first time in San Siro and lost their place to Udinese on goal difference.

2-0 REGGINA CALCIO vs US LECCE

Reggina secured their first win of the Serie A season by beating Lecce by 2-0 from the recalled upfront Bernardo Corradi who scored twice from the penalty. Corradi was recalled up when he failed to score a goal in his last 3 games and eventually he was dropped out from the team that Cagliari lost to Fiorentina by 3-0. The former Italy upfront and 32 year old added a real value when he converted the penalty by keeping his head cool and kept his eye and toe sharper. Corradi then made sure of the result when he again converted from the spot in injury-time - his third successful penalty in his tally of four goals this campaign. And while the win was not enough to lift the Amaranto off the foot of the table, it was good enough to bring them level with a group of four teams on six points and ease some of the pressure on under-fire boss Nevio Orlandi.

2-0 UC SAMPDORIA vs FC BOLOGNA

Sampdoria registered their first win in this Serie A season as they lifted themselves out of the relegation zone with win over struggling Bologna. Gennaro Delvecchio scored after 63 minutes and Claudio Bellucci doubled their advantage with 16 minutes remaining to revive Sampdoria's desperate domestic form. The hosts had endured a miserable start to the season with just five points from their opening eight Serie A fixtures, but success in Europe - a midweek 2-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade in the UEFA Cup - proved the perfect stimulus as Walter Mazzarri's men recorded their second win in four days. Emiliano Bonazzoli, who scored his fourth European goal of the season on Thursday, was omitted from the starting XI with Bellucci, who is still regaining full fitness after a six-month injury lay-off, partnering Antonio Cassano in attack.

3-0 UDINESE CALCIO vs AS ROMA

Udinese gave a hard core defeat to Roma to climb to top of the Serie A as Roma tasted the third successive defeats in Serie A. Captain Antonio Di Natale shook off a knee injury he picked up in the UEFA Cup win over Tottenham in midweek to score a brace while Antonio Floro Flores added a first-half goal. Roma also got their captain on the scoresheet as Francisco Totti netted a late penalty, but the goal was unable to inspire a comeback. The defeat means Roma boss Luciano Spalletti will be on severe pressure whose side are now just a point away from the relegation places in 15th position with only two wins to their name this season. Roma's Max Tonetto brought down Floro Flores in the area, the referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Di Natale made it 1-0 with 10 minutes played. The Udinese captain then turned provider 12 minutes later as the home side struck again. Floro Flores got on the end of Di Natale's long ball and firing a shot past a hesitant Alexander Doni in the Roma goal. A swift counter-attacking move ended with Di Natale in acres of space, and he was able to pick his spot and fire the ball past Doni again from inside the box. But Roma's chance did finally come when Matteo Brighi was brought down in the box by Handanovic with 15 minutes to play. Totti stepped up to convert the spot-kick.

1-3 US PALERMO vs AC FIORENTINA

With this win Fiorentina were moved into fourth position to share with Milan, but on goal difference Fiorentina were plunged into fifth spot. Alberto Gilardino used his arm to score the opening goal in the 19th minute before Adrian Mutu added a second three minutes before half-time. Palermo had a legitimate goal ruled out approaching the break, but appeared to be back in the game when Fabio Simplicio scored five minutes into the second half. But Mutu ended their hopes in the 62nd minute with his second of the game. Gilardino put the Fiorentian ahead with a goal which will provide much discussion over the next few days and could see the Italy striker disciplined retrospectively. He used his arm, intentionally, to divert the ball past Marco Amelia, but celebrated as though the goal was legitimate, and that is precisely how referee Emidio Morganti saw it. Mutu's first goal of the night came from a quick counter-attack with Gilardino squaring the ball to his strike-partner, who kept his composure to beat Amelia from 16 yards in the 42nd minute. Simplicio brought Palermo back in the game in the 50th minute when he rifled the ball into the roof of the net from point-blank range after Miccoli and Cavani combined well. Palermo's hopes were dashed little over 10 minutes before Mutu grabbed his second of the night. Santana's cross from the right wing fell behind four retreating Palermo defenders to Mutu, who volleyed the ball in with his left foot for only his third goal of the season.

0-1 SS LAZIO vs NAPOLI

Napoli joined the three way tie at the top of the Serie A table with win over Lazio. A Sebastiano Siviglia own-goal gave Lazio a second straight defeat and a sweet welcome victory to Napoli. Napoli took the lead on the hour-mark following a spot of bad luck for Lazio defender Siviglia.
The stopper deflected a powerful Lavezzi cross from the left side of the penalty area into his own net with his thigh.

La Liga Week 8 Wrapup

2008-10-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

0-2 OSASUNA vs REAL BETIS

A disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Real Betis put Osasuna without win in 8 La Liga games and this Betis second win in a row. Six minutes after the break Turkey midfielder Mehmet Aurelio opened the scoring and then Argentinian upfront Mariano Pavone added a late second goal just 4 minutes from time. Osasuna had recorded four draws and two losses in their first six games, a run which spelt the end for previous coach Jose Angel Ziganda. And his successor, former Spain coach Jose Antonio Camacho, was unable to inspire a revival in his first match in charge last weekend, when Osasuna went down 2-1 to promoted side Sporting Gijon. Camacho said on Friday that he hoped to ease the pressure with a win against Betis, but his side failed to get hold of the ball early on.

5-0 FC BARCELONA vs ALMERIA

Barcelona hammered and finished the game in the first 37 minutes of the first half by beating Almeria by 5-0 and secured their 6th straight win in grand style. Samuel Eto'o bagged a first half hat-trick and further goals from Thierry Henry and Dani Alves saw Pep Guardiola's side race into a five-goal lead at the interval. And Almeria were forced to play the entire second half with 10 men after Alvaro Negredo was dismissed for a frustrated lunge on Rafael Marquez. It was the Catalans' second 5-0 win in a week after Wednesday's demolition of FC Basle in the Champions League. And Barcelona came into this came on the back of eight successive victories in total. Bacelona has scored 29 goals in 10 matches to become Europes most prolific and daring attacking side. Eto'o opened the score in the first 5 minutes, 8 minutes later Messi created chance to Henry. In the 21st minute Iniesta and Xavi beautifully screwed Almeria keeper and slide the ball to Eto'o and he did the rest. Three minutes later again Messi slide the ball to Eto'o from the byline and Eto'o completed his hattrick. Almeria was completeley demolished after 4 goals and before a first half close down Negredo scythed down Marquez close to the corner flag and received the red card.

1-0 GETAFE vs VALLADOLID

When Getafe saw off Real Valladolid by 1-0 at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez finally ended their hunt for a home win. Getafe would have fancied their chances of beating a Valladolid side that had lost their previous three away games, but nothing could be taken for granted with Victor Munoz's side the only outfit in the top 14 yet to win in front of their own fans. But it proved to be a successful day for the club from the outskirts of Madrid, thanks to Cata Diaz's first-half header. Munoz opted for an attacking line-up and his side were quickly on the front foot, with Juan Angel Albin shining brightest. In the 31st minute the powerful centre-back Daniel Diaz was left in acres of space inside the Valladolid box to head Esteban Granero's free-kick down past Asenjo, with the visitors left appealing in vain for offside.

0-1 FC SEVILLA vs MALAGA

Sevilla lost the first game since April 08 when Malaga beat them by 1-0 from Adrian goal in the 16th minute. The former Deportivo La Coruna forward scored what proved to be the winner in the 16th minute and Malaga held out to end Sevilla's six-game winning streak. The result takes recently-promoted Malaga up to sixth in the table with their fourth win of the season. Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez was boosted by the return of strikers Luis Fabiano and Ernesto Chevanton from injury, although Chevanton started on the bench with Jesus Navas in attack. But Sevilla's treatment room still included the likes of Fredi Kanoute, Diego Capel, Javi Navarro, Arouna Kone, Aquivaldo Mosquera and Ivica Dragutinovic. Malaga were also severely depleted with Salva Ballesta, Fabiano Rossato and Cheli out through injury and on-loan duo Lolo and Duda unable to play against parent club Sevilla.

3-0 REAL MALLORCE vs RCD ESPANYOL

Three second half goals in the space of 27 minutes gave Mallorca a brace to end recent poor form thanks to Aritz Aduriz who returned from the injury and fire the islanders to an important win. Aduriz missed last weekend's heavy defeat at Real Betis with a muscle strain, but returned in style to set Mallorca on their way to a first win since late September. In the first half it was fairly even at San Moix as the Basque forward gave Mallorca the lead four minutes after the interval and added a second on the hour mark to put the game out of Espanyol's reach. And Fernando Varela wrapped up an ultimately comfortable victory with a third goal for the home side with 14 minutes remaining. Espanyol, meanwhile, had looked impressive in recent draws with champions Real Madrid and high-flying Villarreal.

0-3 DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA vs SPORTING GIJON

Gijon tasted the first victory over Deportivo in Riazor after 15 attempts. Depor had not been beaten at home this season, with their three wins and two draws including an opening-day triumph over Real Madrid, but two goals in four minutes from David Barral and Gonzalez Carmelo, as well as the dismissal of Diego Colotto, put the visitors in command. And a second-half strike from Diego Castro confirmed the win, their third in succession. Sporting Gijon had endured a torrid start to the season with five successive defeats but their upsurge in form ensures they have climbed towards mid-table safety. Defeat for Depor completed a forgettable week after they lost their UEFA Cup opener away to CSKA Moscow 3-0 on Thursday. Francisco Maldonado, Colin and Andreu were among those missing for the visitors but striker Luis Moran was available to coach Manuel Preciado.

2-1 NUMANCIA vs RACING SANTANDER

In Los Pajaritos the game ended in dramatic late two goals from both the sides as Numancia beat Santander. The promoted side looked to be hanging on for a narrow victory following Jose Javier Barkero's 26th-minute strike, but Racing hit back deep into injury time through Mohamed Tchite's penalty to seemingly rescue a point. But the game was far from done as Domingo Cisma grabbed a dramatic late winner in the 96th minute. Both sides came into this match on the back of poor runs which had left them at the wrong end of the Primera Liga. Numancia secured an improbable win at home to Barcelona on the first day of the season, but lost five of their next six matches and were bottom of the table before this game, with just four points. Racing were not much better off, with just one win and three draws from their first seven matches. The win sees Numancia move out of the relegation zone and jump to 16th place, leap-frogging Racing in the process.

4-4 VILLAREAL vs ATLETICO MADRID

In El Madrigal the game ended in thrilling fashion as both teams shared 8 goals encounter and a point each from this game with comebacks from both the teams. In the first half interval Atletico raced into 2-0 with goals from Simao and Forlan and in the 38th minute atletico lost Banega to a second yellow card. As the second half starts Villareal roars back by taking a extra man advantage to full extent as Marcos Senna, Joseba Llorente, Gonzalo and Rossi were fired them with goals in the space of 20 minutes. In the late second half Simao and Garcia rescued Atletico just seven minutes remaining. This is the game where Villareal dominated posession and offcourse chances.

2-1 REAL MADRIS vs ATHLETIC BILBAO

Higuain become a hero and he made the rescue act for Real Madris in Bernabaeu as Madrid beat Bilbao by 3-2 to recors their 6th win in this La Liga. In the first half Madrid looks cruising at 2-0 from the goals from Sneijder and Higuain, but Bilbao stunned the Bernabeau by cancelling the Madrid's two goal lead through the two goals from Etxeberria and Iroala. In the second half Madrid were rewarded when Higuain notched his second, before Athletic were then reduced to 10 men when Fernando Amorebieta was sent-off to dent hopes of another comeback.

1-1 RECREATIVO HUELVA vs VALENCIA CF

Valencia held Recreativo by 1-1 to maintain their unbeaten start to the season after falling behind early in the second half. Valencia's David Villa cancelled the early second half goal from Javier Camunas and this result put Valencia a point ahead of Barcelona in the La Liga table and Villa's goal is 9th of the season. Both sides made one change from last weekend, Recre drafting in Camunas for the injured Sisi, while Fernando Morientes dropped back to the bench for Unai Emery's men with Miguel Angel Angulo recalled to start his third successive away game.

Premier League Week 9 Wrapup

2008-10-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Week 9 we saw a full of loaded action and drama in the world of EPL. First we saw Sunderland ends 28 years without home win against Newcastle. Liverpool end's Chelsea's 86 unbeaten home games streak. Hull's dream run in EPL continues. Last second equaliser from Benni mcCarthy gave the lifeline to Blackburn Rovers. Robinho hattrick gave a thumping and much needed victory. Spurs sacked Ramos before Sunday's clash against Bolton and replaced Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp and Spurs register the first win in EPL of this season.

1-1 EVERTON vs MANCHESTER UNITED

Fellaini's 63rd minute goal cancelled the Fletcher's early goal and Everton overcame against Man Utd to claim an unexpected draw in Goodison Park. Evertom palyed the second half with spirited influence after the first 45 minutes dominance from Man Utd. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was able to make five changes to the United side that outclassed Celtic in the Champions League in midweek. Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra were back from injury, while Ryan Giggs returned as captain. Wes Brown and Ji-Sung Park were also recalled. Everton had former United striker Louis Saha up front with Ayegbeni Yakubu, while Joseph Yobo and Phil Neville returned from injury. The hosts were either brave or foolhardy to play two wide-men in Steven Pienaar and Mikel Arteta, leaving Leon Osman and Fellaini sometimes cruelly exposed in central midfield, where Giggs pulled all the strings.

0-3 WEST BROMWICH vs HULL CITY

Hull produced yet another stunning performance to claim there 3rd position in the EPL table for one more week. At The hawthorns Hull looked second best team to WBA for longer time with loads of full-blooded encounters but in the end Hull who made the difference by scoring 3 goals in second half from three different players Zayatte, King and Geovanni in the sapce of 20 minutes. This performace put Hull on level with Chelsea and this is there 4th successive win and unbeaten in the last 6 games. This is WBA second biggest defeat after looing 4-0 to Man Utd.

2-1 SUNDERLAND vs NEWCASTLE UNITED

Sunderland finally finally ended their 28 year wait for home win over Newcastle. Kieran Richardson was the hero when, a week after twice being denied with free-kicks at Fulham, he smashed home a stunning winner from a similar position with 15 minutes remaining. Djibril Cisse had earlier given the home side a 20th-minute lead, although that was cancelled out by Shola Ameobi within 10 minutes before this Ameobi, who had not scored in two years before Monday's draw with Manchester City. 47936 crowds witnessed the rejoice of this beautiful victory. Newcastle's badboy Joey Barton was welcomed with spat and lot of missiles. The controversial midfielder was targeted by home fans as he warmed up on the sidelines during the second half of a pulsating Wear-Tyne derby. Barton eventually arrived on the pitch as an 84th-minute replacement for Nicky Butt but, by that point, the drama had already unfolded.

1-1 BALCKBURN ROVERS vsMIDDLESBROUGH

Blackburn substitute Benni McCarthy's headed equaliser in the third minute of injury-time salvaged a Barclays Premier League 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough. Afonso Alves scored the opener in the 74th minute after out-pacing veteran centre-back Andre Ooijer and turning to fire past goalkeeper Paul Robinson. However, McCarthy rose highest at a late corner to head in at the near post, although the main talking point of the match was Tuncay Sanli's wrongly disallowed overhead kick in the first half. A draw was the least the hosts deserved after dominating throughout and hitting the post through Roque Santa Cruz in the first half. Southgate said " i've no complaints on Sanli's disallowed goal". As i saw this match that Sanli is clearly onside when the ball was played.

0-1 CHELSEA vs LIVERPOOL

Chelsea's 86 unbeaten home game finally comes to an end from Liverpool's Xabi Alonso first half goal. Now with this win Liverpool are the EPL table leaders with 23 points from 9 games, a 3 point ahead of Chelsea and Hull City. Alonso struck in the ninth minute when his 20-yard shot deflected off Jose Bosingwa and left Petr Cech wrong-footed. This gave first defeat to Scolari.

0-4 WIGAN vs ASTON VILLA

O'Neill men outplayed Wigan in JJB by 4-0. Yes Englsnd's uncapped Agbonlahor scored the goal and created two goals for his mates can this put him into the Capello's England team with full international cap. Yes i do think surely it beckons. Wigan couldnt resist on Agbonlahor's skill and pace as he won a controversial penalty in the first half which captain gareth Barry converted. In the 57th minute, the Birmingham-born striker, 22, bundled home a close-range shot and then embarked on a delightful run and inch-perfect cross for substitute John Carew to head home five minutes later. Substitute Steve Sidwell curled home a superb fourth goal in the last minute as Wigan were crumbled down to earth from Villa's astonoshing attacking game in the seconfd half after dominating the first half. Bruce named three of his former Birmingham players in the starting line-up in Emile Heskey, Olivier Kapo and Daniel De Ridder, with Heskey back to captain the side after a hamstring injury. Villa were unchanged from the side which beat Ajax 2-1 on Thursday in the UEFA Cup, while Carew warming the bench after he missed the win against the Dutch giants due to illness.

3-0 MANCHESTER CITY vs STOKE CITY

Brazilian and British record signing player Robinho scored his first hattrick for Man City with a touch of Brazilian magic. Chelseas will be knocking up their nose and Hughes knows why he wanted Robinho as he finished 3 clinical swipes of the boot. Stoke is not the powerful side in EPL but Man City win over Stoke is much needed. It could have been more, with substitute Daniel Sturridge guilty of one horrendous miss, the youngster having to be content with a couple of assists. Robinho, Elano and Ireland caused lot of problems in the box. Robinho's hattrick came in the 14th min, 47th min and 72nd min goals.

0-2 WEST HAM UNITED vs ARSENAL FC

Chelsea and Man Utd's drop of points is full y capitalised by Arsenal with hard fought win against West Ham. The game was opened up when the own goal came from Faubert when he deflected a shot from Arsenal sub Adebayor shot in the 75th minute. And in the stopage time the African Adebayor wrapped up the things with a goal. just before a close of game West Ham striker Carlton Cole had been sent out with direct red card from Refree Phil Dowd for a sliding tackle from behing on Song which is bit debatable. Now West Ham with three successive defeats.

2-0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS vs BOLTON WANDERERS.

Harry Redknapp did in mere less than a day what Ramos couldnt do it in the last 8 games in which Spurs were deserted without a win in this season after beating Bolton 2-0. In the 17th minute Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the goal from his header from Bentley beautiful cross and this his is frist ever EPL goals. Just 14 minuted from time Bent make it 2 htrough penalty when he was brough down by Jaaskelainen. But everyones eyes is on Harry Redknapp after his appointment to succeed Ramos. Bolton, who had Gavin McCann sent off, gave Spurs nervous moments but there is enough for Redknapp to work with when he gets to work this week, with key contributions coming from players who struggled under Ramos. Luka Modric has struggled to make an impact since his £16.5million signing in the summer, but he was given a free role behind the striker and resembled a new player. Like Modric, Pavlyuchenko has struggled since an impressive Euro 2008, and the Russian desperately needed the 18th-minute opener to bring his belief back.

1-1 PORTSMOUTH vs FULHAM

87th minute Fulham's Dempsey cancelled the Pompey's Crouch lead and avoided a 3 fruitful points for Pompey to wave the goodbye to Harry Redknapp. Crouch scored the goal when he cooly converted Defoe pass after a beautiful setup from Diarra in the 61st minute what looked certain to be the win for Portsmouth. Crouch was signed by Harry for £11million from Liverpool. Kaboul eventually destroyed everything when he let Dempsey to drill in from fellow sub Nevland's pass. Although Portsmouth were without Glen Johnson, Sol Campbell and Sean Davis Pompey were the driving force in an absorbing, fast-moving game and had a distinct edge on chances.

EPL WEEK 9 PREVIEW

2008-10-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

EVERTON vs MANCHESTER UNITED (ESPN LIVE @ 1625IST)

Everton’s poor form continued last weekend, losing 3-1 to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, but according to manager David Moyes, there were positive signs and he believes the results will come, but with just 8 points from 8 matches, Everton are languishing in 16th position on the table. Home form for Everton is LLLD

Manchester United did as expected last weekend, defeating WBA 4-0 at Old Trafford to move into 5th position on the Barclays Premier League Table and according to manager Sir Alex Ferguson, the players kept a fantastic rhythm and tempo against WBA, and they worked hard for each other. After a sluggish start to the season, Man U have gone up a gear and with Rooney and Ronaldo shredding holes through the opposition, they are back on target, whereas Everton are struggling in the bottom half of the table. Based on recent form, it’s difficult to go past Man Utd. Away form for Man Utd is WLDW.

Everton lost 3 successive home to Manchester United and Everton failed to beat Manchester United in the last 6 meetings. So my prediction is away win for Manchester United.

SUNDERLAND vs NEWCASTLE UNITED (Star Sports LIVE @ 1710)

Sunderland left Craven Cottage with a nil-all draw last weekend - they should have left with the three points, after striking the woodwork in four different incidents, but according to manager Roy Keane: "that’s why top strikers are paid so much money to put the ball in the net."

Sunderland home form LLWD. Sunderland are without win in the last 3 matches.

A ten-man Newcastle held on for a gutsy 2-2 draw with Manchester City at St James Park - Referee Rob Styles showed a red card to Habib Beye after he tackled Robiniho on the edge of the box, in what seemed a harsh decision. Leaning towards the Black Cats.

Newcastle away form DLLD. Now Newcastle are without win in the last 6 matches played.

Sunderland failed to beat Newcastle in Stadium of Light in the last 5 meetings and in both away and home games Sunderland failed to beat them in the last 9 meetings. So my prediction is another away win for Newcastle. My prediction is away win for Newcastle.

MANCHESTER CITY vs STOKE CITY

Manchester City had every opportunity to defeat a 10-man Newcastle at St James Park last week, but they were unable convert when it counted - they might be cashed up, but Man City have a long way to go if they are to challenge the "big-four". Man City's home form WLWL.

Stoke City defeated Tottenham 2-1 at Britannia Stadium last weekend - goals to Danny Higginbotham and Rory Delap clinched the much needed win for Stoke, who now have 7 points form 8 matches. Manchester City to win. Stokes away form LLDL.

Now Man City are without win in the last 3 games. My prediction is home win for Man City.

PORTSMOUTH vs FULHAM (Star Sports LIVE @ 1925)

So close - yet so far! Portsmouth striker Jermain Defeo missed a "give-me" against Villa as the match fizzled out into a nil-all draw. Veteran defender Sol Campbell turned back the clock with a vintage display and midfielder Sean Davis was sent off for two bookable offences with 10 minutes remaining. Portsmouth home form LWWW.

Fulham got out of jail last weekend when they held the Black Cats to a nil-all draw at Craven Cottage - the draw snapped a run of four straight defeated, mind you, both teams had their chances to break the deadlock, with the woodwork constantly getting in the way. Portsmouth to win. Fulham away form LLL.

Fulham are without win in the last 4 games and Portsmouth are not beaten in home in the last 3 home games. Portsmouth failed to beat Fulham in the last 2 games in Fratton Park. My prediction is home win for Portsmouth.

WEST BROMWICH vs HULL CITY

West Bromwich discovered that there is a huge gap between themselves and the top flight teams after their 4-0 loss to Manchester United last weekend - according to Baggies boss Tony Mowbay: "we are coming up against teams who can spend millions on strikers - which is where it matters". WBA home form LWLW.

The "Hull City" juggernaut rolled on last weekend with a 1-0 win over West Ham - a Michael Turner header on the 51st minute clinched the win, and with 17 points from 8 matches, Hull continue to rub shoulders with a English Premier League heavyweights in the title race - now, common sense tells us they’ll probably fall away at the business end of the season, but their efforts to date are nothing less than remarkable. I’m looking forward to this contest - based on exposed form, you’d be entitled to back Hull City. Hull away form DWWW.

Hull were unbeaten in the last 5 games they played. My prediction is away win for Hull City.

WIGAN ATHLETIC vs ASTON VILLA (ESPN Delay @ 2155)

Wigan put up a fight against Liverpool last weekend, eventually losing 3-2 at JJB Stadium - Wigan took the lead twice, only to see Liverpool come from behind - a solid effort, especially when you consider they were down to 10 men when Valencia was sent off with 16 minutes remaining on the clock. Wigans home form LDWL

Aston Villa were lucky to escape with a nil-all draw against Portsmouth last weekend - simply put, Portsmouth restricted their access to goal and according to manager Martin O’Neill, they could not force the ball over the the line." In an interesting pre-match move, O’Neill made his first team change in seven weeks, with Luke Young and Nicky Shorey making way for James Milner and Carlos Cuellar. This is shaping up as an even contest - leaning towards Wigan with the home ground advantage. Villa's away form LWWL.

Wigan have mix fortunes in home against Villa by winning one, drawing one and lost one. In the last 6 encounters Wigan lost one game and winning 3 games. My prediction is draw.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS vs BOLTON WANDERERS (ESPN LIVE @ 1925)

With just 2 points from 8 matches after the sixth defeat of the season (2-1 to Stoke), Tottenham transformation from a top flight team to Premier League "has-been’s" is all but complete! Simply put, if they don’t start winning, they’ll find themselves in the Coco Cola Championship next season - shades of Leeds United! Bolton held Blackburn to a nil-all draw in last weekend’s local derby. Spurs home win LLDL.

Bolton had their share of the ball and they had their opportunities, but the lack a quality striker who can finish off. This is a must-win game for Tottenham - another home loss would further dent their confidence as they struggle to lift themselves off the bottom of the the table - as for Bolton, they also need a win to make a move in right direction. Leaning towards the draw. Bolton's away form LLLW. Overall Bolton lost only 2 games to Spurs in the last 9 encounters. My prediction is away win for Bolton.

BLACKBURN ROVERS vs MIDDLESBROUGH (Star Sports Live @2155)

Blackburn shared the spoils in their local derby against Bolton with a nil-all draw last weekend - Blackburn wasted a number of chances, with Carlos Villanueva hitting the wood work and Jason Roberts sending a close range header wide of the post. Rovers home form DLWL.

Middlesbrough were comprehensively defeated 5-0 by Chelsea last weekend - in an embarrassing performance, Boro were appeared flat-footed in defence and they made a number of fundamental mistakes. Can Middlesbrough rebound from last weekend’s 5-0 thrashing? - I doubt it. Blackburn to win. M'brough away form LLLW.

M'brough failed to beat Rovers in the last matches in Ewood Park and in the last 6 encounters Blackburn havent lost to Middlesbrough. My prediction is home win for Blackburn.

Uefa Cup Roundup

2008-10-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Uefa Cup Group Satge kick started. All Serie A teams Milan, Udinese and Sampdoria had a great night with comfortable wins and other side. Apart from Rosenborg match against Club Brugge we saw goals in all matches.

GROUP A

3-1 SCHALKE 04 vs PARIS ST GERMAIN
Schalke opened their UEFA Cup group campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory at home to Paris St Germain. The hosts made a flying start to the Group A match and took the lead in the 12th minute courtesy of an own goal by PSG defender Larrys Mabiala. Kevin Kuranyi made it 2-0 after 39 minutes and then set up the third goal for Halil Altintop 21 minutes from time. Clement Chantome hit a late consolation goal for the visitors, who were without the likes of Claude Makelele and Ludovic Giuly.

1-0 TWENTE ENSCHEDE VS RACING SANTANDER
Romano Denneboom scored the only goal as FC Twente clinched a 1-0 home victory in the UEFA Cup against Racing Santander. The Dutch striker latched onto Kenneth Perez's cross in the seventh minute to give the Eredivisie side all three points in their first Group A clash at the Grolsch Veste stadium. Steve McClaren's men dominated the game and were well worth their win.

GROUP B

1-0 GALATASARAY vs OLYMPIACOS
Galatasaray got their UEFA Cup group stage campaign off to a winning start with a narrow 1-0 victory over Olympiacos in a closely-contested clash in Istanbul. Harry Kewell's glancing header was enough to give Michael Skibbe's Turkish champions all three points against Ernesto Valverde's Greek title-holders at a packed Ali Sami Yen Stadium.Both teams went into the Group B fixture desperate to make amends for recent European disappointment - having lost in the Champions League qualifiers - and it was the hosts who took the early initiative, pressing and probing with former Leeds man Kewell prominent.

1-1 HERTHA BERLIN vs SL BENFICA
Hertha Berlin fought back to register a hard-earned point in a 1-1 draw against Benfica in their UEFA Cup Group B opener on Thursday. The Portuguese champions went ahead after 51 minutes through Angel di Maria but Hertha equalised 16 minutes from time through Marko Pantelic, back in the team after being dropped for disciplinary reasons at the weekend. Benfica coach Quique Sanchez Flores was without playmaker Pablo Aimar while Hassan Yedba was injured during the warm-up.

GROUP C

2-0 SEVILLA FC vs VfB STUTTGART
Two goals in a minute were enough for Sevilla to begin their UEFA Cup campaign with a 2-0 win as they saw off Stuttgart in the opening game of Group C. Goals from Romaric and Renato Dirnei in the 15th and 16th minutes of the first half were enough to set the 2006 and 2007 UEFA Cup champions on their way. Despite being without the likes of Luis Fabiano, Diego Capel, Ernesto Chevanton, Frederic Kanoute and Ivica Dragutinovic Sevilla were still brimming with attacking intent, and they took the game to their hosts from the first whistle.

1-2 PARTIZAN BELGRADE vs UC SAMPDORIA
Sampdoria defied their miserable domestic form and recorded an important 2-1 victory against Partizan Belgrade in their UEFA Cup Group C match in Serbia. Partizan's Lamine Diarra had cancelled out Emiliano Bonazzoli's opener for Samp, but Daniele Dessena's second-half strike gave the visitors a vital win. The domestic fortunes of the two sides could not have been more contrasting. Winless Sampdoria had earned just four points from seven league games and dropped into the relegation zone in Serie A after a 3-0 defeat to AC Milan on Sunday. Partizan, on the other hand, sit seven points clear at the top of the Serbian league table after just eight games.

GROUP D

2-0 UDINESE CALCIO vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS
Heurelho Gomes' blunder helped hand Udinese a 2-0 victory in their UEFA Cup clash at Stadio Friuli as Tottenham's miserable start to the season continued. Spurs head coach Juande Ramos had left David Bentley out of his squad and watched as Jamie O'Hara was dismissed for two bookings in a minute, ending any hopes of a fightback against the Italians. The White Hart Lane side are bottom of the Barclays Premier League and not faring any better in Europe after Gomes' mistake was punished by Antonio Di Natale and Simone Pepe added a late second. It was harsh on goalkeeper Gomes, who produced save after save against Wisla Krakow to get Spurs into Group D of a competition that had provided a distraction from the worst league start in their history. With Udinese stroking the ball around, Gomes made a total mess of a backpass and ended up bringing down Fabio Quagliarella in the 24th minute.

3-2 DINAMO ZAGREB vs NEC NIJMEGEN
Dinamo Zagreb deservedly edged out NEC Nijmegen 3-2 in a UEFA Cup Group D game which sputtered into life late on with three goals in the final 15 minutes. Mario Mandzukic gave Dinamo the lead after just three minutes, but a Carlos own goal evened things up midway through the first half. Theo Janssen struck to put NEC ahead with 12 minutes remaining, before goals from substitute Bosko Balaban and Ivica Vrdoljak sealed the points for the Croatians. Mandzukic gave Dinamo Zagreb the best possible start with an angled strike which beat NEC keeper Gabor Babos at his near post.

GROUP E

1-3 SC HEERENVEEN vs AC MILAN
AC Milan got their UEFA Cup Group E adventure off to the best possible start with a comfortable 3-1 win over Dutch side Heerenveen. An own goal from Heerenveen midfielder Calvin Jong-a-Pin after 19 minutes set them on their way, before goals from Gennaro Gattuso and Filippo Inzaghi completed the tally. Danijel Pranjic added a late consolation goal for the hosts from the penalty spot four minutes from time. Heerenveen started the game brightly, sending a number of crosses into the Milan area. But still they failed to test goalkeeper Dida.

3-0 SPORTING BRAGA vs PORTSMOUTH
Portsmouth took a pounding from Sporting Braga as their bid to reach the UEFA Cup knock-out stages began with a poor performance and a terrible 3-0 defeat. Braga fielded five Brazilians in the Group E opener and all their goals were scored by South Americans. Uruguayan Luis Aguiar fired a fabulous 30-yard free-kick past David James in the eighth minute and Colombian Wason Renteria added a second just after half-time. Portsmouth conceded a third three minutes from time when Sean Davis steered a right-wing cross against his own post and Brazilian Alan pounced to score from the rebound. Manager Harry Redknapp looked a depressed figure but he must now lift his troops for three Barclays Premier League matches in seven days starting with Fulham on Sunday - and mighty AC Milan at Fratton Park on November 27.

GROUP F

1-2 MSK ZILINA vs HAMBURGER SV
Mladen Petric led Hamburg to a 2-1 victory on his comeback from illness against Zilina in the opening match of Group F. A viral infection forced Petric out of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Schalke, but the Croatia forward, who has scored three Bundesliga goals in two starts this season, returned to the starting line-up and within 15 minutes the forward had given Hamburg the lead. Ivica Olic added a second before half-time as Hamburg secured an important win despite substitute Emil Rilke's second-half strike for Zilina. Despite Petric's return, Hamburg were still below full-strength with injured trio Nigel de Jong, Marcell Jansen and Thiago Neves unavailable for their trip to Slovakia. The hosts, unbeaten in their past five home games in Europe, suggested early on that they would not be intimidated by their opponents with Admir Vladavic's 20-yard shot that tested the Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost's handling.

2-1 ASTON VILLA vs AFC AJAX AMSTERDAM
Gareth Barry gave Aston Villa the ideal start to life in a bitterly tough group stage of this season's UEFA Cup with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory against Ajax. With tricky trips to Hamburg and Slavia Prague to come in Group F, boss Martin O'Neill came into the competition aware his side could ill afford to drop points at Villa Park. Against Dutch giants Ajax, this was a convincing victory, with Barry's winner coming on the stroke of half-time after Thomas Vermaelen had cancelled out home captain Martin Laursen's early opener.

GROUP G

1-3 FC COPENHAGEN vs ST ETIENNE
St Etienne celebrated their return to European action after a 26-year absence by beating FC Copenhagen 3-1 in Group G of the UEFA Cup. In a dramatic opening, Morten Nordstrand missed a penalty for the hosts just a minute after Bafetimbi Gomis had put St Etienne in front. Loic Perrin added a second for the visitors in the 37th minute and, though Cesar Santin's penalty reduced the arrears just before the hour, Dimitri Payet's strike sealed the win for the French side.

0-0 ROSENBORG vs CLUB BRUGGE
Rosenborg were held to a disappointing goalless home draw in their UEFA Cup Group G opener against Belgian outfit Club Brugge. Rosenborg striker Steffen Iversen had the best of what few chances there were on a disappointing night in Trondheim, the Norway international coming close to breaking the deadlock in the first half but Brugge goalkeeper Stijn Stijnen was equal to the effort. Neither side will be happy with a point against an opponent they would have hoped to outclass, and each will need to raise their game with matches against St Etienne, FC Copenhagen and group favourites Valencia still to come.

GROUP H

3-0 CSKA MOSCOW vs DEPORTIVO LA CORUNA
Two goals in the space of three first-half minutes from young midfielder Alan Dzagoev paved the way for CSKA Moscow to record a comfortable 3-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna and secure a perfect start to their UEFA Cup Group H campaign. Dzagoev has been the undoubted star of the Russian season with nine goals in his past 10 league games for CSKA that earned him a call-up to Guus Hiddink's Russia squad and it took the 18-year-old just nine minutes to add to his rising stock when he smashed in a free kick. He added a second just three minutes later from close range following some excellent lead-up work from Vagner Love, who completed the scoring with a goal of his own just after the hour mark.

3-0 NANCY vs FEYENOORD
Nancy struck three second-half goals to help put their league woes to one side and kick off their UEFA Cup Group H campaign with an emphatic 3-0 win against Feyenoord. Nancy entered the game low on confidence having managed just one win in nine Ligue 1 games to start the season and they were second best for the majority of the opening half as Feyenoord, struggling in the league themselves, piled on the pressure. But the visitors failed to find the net and were made top pay when first Julien Feret and then Monsef Zerka struck inside eight minutes of the restart. It was cruel on Feyenoord and they were made to suffer further when Maurilio Helder added a third after 84 minutes.

Uefa Champions League Matchday 3 - Wednesday

2008-10-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

After the amazement of yesterday,today was always going to be a bit of a comedown, but there were still plenty of talking points in todays Champions League. 17 goals across the 8 games isn’t a bad return, and right after that jump you’ll find a full round up and like yesterday, a roundup of the tables at half time.

1-0 CHELSEA vs ROMA

Roma might have been worried when a half-strength team took to the field against a free-scoring Chelsea, but the teams were seperated by just one goal Terry headed home from Frank Lampard's 77th-minute corner to keep Luiz Felipe Scolari's side top of Champions League Group A. Roma, struggling in the lower reaches of Serie A, were not expected to upset Chelsea's European momentum but they almost did so with a dogged defensive display which nearly earned them a share of the spoils. there was little sign of the beautiful game which Scolari desired as the home side were largely frustrated by the visitors. Scolari's touchline demeanour clearly demonstrated his distinct displeasure with Chelsea's inability to get on top.

1-0 BORDEAUX vs CFR CLUJ

Bordeaux finally got their Champions League campaign up and running as they recorded their first points in Group A with a narrow 1-0 win over the competition's surprise packages CFR Cluj.

Cluj were the orchestrators of their own demise as defender Ricardo Cadu turned the ball into his own net in the 53rd minute and Eugen Trica was sent off right at the death to add insult to injury. The game marks Cluj's first defeat in the competition after they beat Roma 2-1 and held Chelsea to a draw but the Romanians remain in second spot, three points behind the Blues. Les Girondins are a point behind them. Now this group is wide open.

The Table at Half Time
Chelsea 7

Cluj 4

Roma 3

Bordeaux 3

1-0 INTER vs ANORTHOSIS

Adriano was once again Inter Milan's Champions League hero as the Nerazzurri moved three points clear at the top of Group B with a solid performance in the 1-0 win over Anorthosis Famagusta. The goal came in just before half time on 43rd minute. Anorthosis, who were unbeaten going into the match, are now second in the group but they proved they are no lightweights. Inter were in full control of the match as the visitors were hardly able to venture out of their own half but the Nerazzurri lacked creativity and could not make their pressure tell.

2-2 PANATHINAIKOS vs WEREDER BREMEN

Hugo Almeida was the hero for Werder Bremen as he struck a late leveller to deny Panathinaikos a first victory in Champions League Group B following a pulsating 2-2 draw at the OACA Spiros Louis Stadium. Panathinaikos striker Vangelis Mantzios looked to have revived the Greek side's campaign after netting a superb double - both headers - to cancel out Per Mertesacker's opener for Thomas Schaaf's Bremen side. Now Bremen have 3 draws in row. The point means Panathinaikos are off the mark but that will be of little consolation to coach Henk Ten Cate, whose side were desperately unlucky not to take all three points after suffering two defeats against Inter and Anorthosis. And with skipper Georgios Karagounis and Brazil star Gilberto back in midfield it was the Greeks who bossed the opening half, passing the ball around with assured confidence against a Bremen team who struggled to gain any meaningful possession.

Inter 7

Anorthosis 4

Bremen 3

Panathinaikos 1

0-5 BASEL vs BARCELONA

If there were meant to be less goals today than yesterday, noone told Group C. Well one side anyway. Barcelona put 5 past Basel. Leo Messi, Busquets, Bojan (twice) and Xavi were the goalscorers. Who needs Eto’o and Henry eh? Barcelona made it three wins out of three in Champions League Group C.

0-1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK vs SPORTING LISBON

Sporting Lisbon stole all three points as they survived a barrage of attacks from Shakhtar Donetsk to win the Champions League Group C encounter 1-0. The Ukrainian side dominated the game from start to finish, but they were made to pay for their inability to score when Liedson finished with Sporting's first shot on target after 75 minutes.

Barca 9

Sporting 6

Shakthar 3

Basel 0

1-1 ATLETICO MADRID vs LIVERPOOL

Liverpool can count themselves very lucky, as not only did they open the scores with a questionable Robbie Keane goal, Atletico had a goal disalowed for offside even though it was legit. The game finished 1-1. So Liverpool were denied another three-point haul in the Champions League as Simao Sabrosa netted a late equaliser to earn Atletico Madrid a 1-1 draw. The unmarked Simao - once targeted by Reds boss Rafael Benitez - drilled home a low shot with seven minutes remaining to cancel out Robbie Keane's early opener for Liverpool as the two sides, having each won their first two games, remained unbeaten in Group D. Liverpool controlled the first half and held a deserved lead at the break but Atletico, who had been unbeaten in their previous six home meetings with English opposition, fought back to salvage a point which could ease the pressure on under-fire coach Javier Aguirre.

2-0 PSV EINDHOVEN vs MARSEILLE

Danny Koevermans scored a brace of second-half headers as PSV Eindhoven breathed new life into their Champions League Group D campaign with a victory over rudderless Marseille on Wednesday. The match was delicately poised with 19 minutes left when the Holland striker broke the deadlock, connecting sweetly with Stijn Wuytens' corner. And the 29-year-old made the game safe for the Dutch side five minutes from time when he stooped to glance a header past Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda following a right-wing cross from Edison Mendez. It was PSV's first points haul in three matches but they are still four points adrift of joint pool leaders Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, who drew elsewhere on Wednesday. Marseille are still without a point and, after three defeats in a row, they can only really hope for a third-placed finish and a place in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. The two sides meet again in two weeks' time at the Stade Velodrome.

Liverpool 7

Atletico 7

PSV 3

Marseilles 0

Uefa Champions League Matchday 3 - Tuesday Action

2008-10-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

In Uefa Champions League Matchday 3 on Tuesday we saw GOALS! GOALS! GOALS! all the way and from every angel in every game. 36 goals across the 8 games, including two goals from Offside looking positions for Dietmar Berbatov, a briliant one from Alessandro Del Piero, Five different scorer’s for Arsenal (six if you include a Silvestre own goal) in Arsenal’s visit to ‘Hell’ made it a bit easier than thier visit to Hull, and nine goals in Villarreal’s game against Aaolborg just some of the many topsy turvy highlights on offer.

2-1 JUVENTUS vs REAL MADRID

Juventus against Real Madrid was arguably the tastiest fixture on paper at the begining of the games, and it looked to all kick off when Del Piero scored inside five minutes with a beautiful strike that left Iker Casillas standing. The game never really ignited though. Real failed to perform in the first half, and Juve kept them out, and it looked to be over when Amauri scored a second half header. Real suddenly found thier grove, playing wider, and Ruud Van Nistolrooy got a unmarked header to put Real back in the game. Snijder hit the post, but it finished 2-1 to Juve.

1-1 ZENIT vs BATE

The other game in that group was a draw, between BATE and Zenit St Petersberg. The Russian side completely dominated, but could easily have come away with nothing, a late goal from Tekke rescued a draw. The Zenit went even closer two minutes later when an almost identical cross from Arshavin was headed onto the post by Tekke.

At the half way stage, that group now looks like this:
Juventus 7
Real Madrid 6
BATE 2
Zenit St Petersburg 1

6-3 VILLAREAL vs AALBORG

9 goals came in Villarreals win over Aalborg, it finished 6-3. Substitute Llorente grabbed a hat trick with a last minute goal, to cap off a remarkable match. Fans certainly got their money’s worth, whichever side they support. Villareal's Capdevilla scored two goals one for his club and another is own goal. Llorente replaced the ineffective Guillermo Franco at the interval and scored twice inside three minutes to give the hosts what proved an unassailable 4-2 lead. Villarreal had not conceded two goals in a game all season going into the clash, but did so inside the opening 45 minutes here. All five second-half goals came in a stunning 17-minute spell and 3 first half gaols came in another thrilling 8 minute spell.

3-0 MANCHESTER UNITED vs CELTIC FC

Elsewhere, Celtic’s bad luck on the road continues, losing 3-0 to Man Utd in all-British clash after Dietmar Berbatov two suspiciously offside-looking goals and taking his Champions League tally to four goals. Wayne Rooney capped off the scoring at Old Trafford. Now Wayne Rooney, who now has nine in seven games for club and country, paid scant justice to United's total dominance. Celtic did not even make a fight of it, allowing Sir Alex Ferguson to gain the personal satisfaction of avenging a defeat at Parkhead on the last meeting between the teams two years ago. The absence of Rio Ferdinand with a groin strain was having a negligible impact on proceedings, although the contest was so one-sided, United lacked the edge needed to bring them towards top gear. In the early game Wayne Rooney's goal was disallowed.

At the Half Way Stage, That Group Looks Like This:
Manchester United 7
Villarreal 7
Celtic 1
Aalborg 1

3-0 BAYERN MUNICH vs AC FIORENTINA

In the group of Death, Bayern took on Fiorentina, and despite a shakey performance, La Viola couldn’t punish them, and the German side ran out 3-0 winners. Bayern took the chances that they had, early and late in the game, while Fiorentina scuffed their chances. That’s the difference at this level. Fiorentina were guilty of missing a hatful of chances. Miroslav Klose got Bayern off to the perfect start as he fired them into the lead in the fourth minute and Bastian Schweinsteiger doubled the hosts' advantage in the 25th minute. Fiorentina tried valiantly to get back into the match but it was not to be their night as chance after chance went begging before Ze Roberto added a stunning third right at the death.

3-5 STEAUA BUCURESTI vs OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS

Lyon had to fight back from behind to beat Steaua 5-3, a result which seems them move up to second in the group. The French side had gone down, and it looked like another miserable night for French sides in the CL, but the showed their fighting power, and attacking quality to come back. Karim Benzema and Fred grabbed braces as Lyon twice came from behind to emerge victorious in an eight-goal thriller against Steaua Bucharest and go clear in second place in Champions League Group F. In a pulsating end-to-end clash in the Romanian capital, Steaua capitalised on some desperate defending to go 2-0 then 3-2 in front before the break (Kader Keita and Benzema cancelled out goals in the opening 11 minutes by Arthuro and Dorin Goian, but Ovidiu Petre gave the hosts an interval advantage with a header on the stroke of half-time). The Romanians are bottom and still without a win, but with Bayern Munich beating Fiorentina on matchday three, Lyon's victory puts them three points clear of the Italians in second.

At the halfway stage The Group of Death looks like this
Bayern 7
Lyon 5
Fiorentina 2
Steaua 1

2-5 FENERBACHE vs ARSENAL
The intimidating atmosphere is always talked up when teams travel to Turkey, but it didn’t phase Arsenal tonight who ran out 5-2 winners, with five different scorers, Adebayour, Wallcott, Diaby, Song and new kid Ramsey all getting on the scoresheet. So did Mikel Silvestre, but it was at the wrong end. stunning first 21 minutes paved the way for Arsenal to beat Fenerbahce in their Champions League Group G match at the intimidating Sukru Saracoglu stadium in Istanbul. The profligate Daniel Guiza pulled a goal back in the 77th minute but it was too late to affect the outcome. It was the hosts' first defeat in Europe at home in 16 matches but in truth they were the architects of their own downfall. Both teams defended poorly and the only difference between the two was up front where Arsenal took their chances and Fenerbahce did not. Spain striker Guiza was the main culprit, squandering two excellent opportunities just before half-time which could have made it 3-3 at the interval and a much different proposition for Arsene Wenger's side.

0-1 FC PORTO vs DYNAMO KIEV

The other game in that group was the dullest of the lot, with Dynamo Kiev nicking a 1-0 against FC Porto. A beautiful 30 yard free kick from Olexander Aliyev was the difference between the two sides. While Dynamo recorded their first Champions League win in 16 games, Aliyev's goal snapped Porto's unbeaten home run in Europe's premier team competition that had stretched back to 11 games. Dynamo moved up to second place in the group with five points from three matches, two behind leaders Arsenal who thrashed Fenerbahce 5-2. Porto tried their best to draw level but they were foiled by Dynamo's well organised defence.

Half way, and the group looks like this
Arsenal 7
Kiev 5
Porto 3
Fenerbache 1

Two Views on Beckham on Loan to Milan

2008-10-23T04:59:00.000-07:00

The latest rumor coming from the AC Milan camp is that David Beckham will be coming to Milan on loan in January — not just to train with the club, but to play with them competitively for several months. There are some rumors that Milan would like to make this a permanent move.

So what is this? A shrewd (and temporary) way to stoke the Beckham flame again? Or an admission of failure? Or bits of both?

Two views:

David Beckham joining AC Milan on loan is a win-win-win situation. David Beckham wins because he gets to play in a big European league again, if only for a short time. Assuming Beckham does OK (and his set pieces alone should guarantee some sort of impact) it’s a chance for him to prove he can still do the business, as well as prove to Fabio Capello that he’s still worth his place in the England squad.

AC Milan wins because the club gets a quality (if no longer top quality) footballer on loan for free. The club will probably make a tidy profit on shirt sales by signing a superstar, but Carlo Ancelotti won’t be under pressure to start Beckham if he doesn’t feel it’s necessary. As Beckham’s proved with England, his temperament and impact from the bench (again, set pieces) make him a very useful squad player. Finally, LA Galaxy and MLS win. You’d think these are the two organizations with the most to lose, but (provided Becks doesn’t get injured) they have plenty to gain. And it’s mostly to do with Beckham’s reputation. The shine has dulled a little now that Goldenballs has settled LA, and the idea of Beckham being semi-retired in California doesn’t help MLS’s reputation at all. But seeing Beckham in Serie A will re-invigorate the footballing department of Brand Beckham (which is still the most important part, whatever anyone says). And a stronger Brand Beckham means a stronger Brand MLS when he plays in the league.

The MLS DP Experiment Crashes and Burns
Remember, about year and a half ago, when David Beckham was going to save American soccer? It was going to happen. Everybody swore. He would use his skills and celebrity to take the game to the next level, and all we fans had to do was sit back and watch it happen. The rules were changed to bring him in. The salary cap was jettisoned, at least for one player per team. (Or two, if you were the LA Galaxy.) Tournament rules were bent or created on the fly to benefit Becks and Co. And hundreds of thousands of jerseys and seats were sold. MLS was on its way to credibility and legitimacy!
But…not so fast.

The Beckham-to-Milan loan is at heart a recognition that MLS can’t cut it yet. Bringing Beckham to MLS has been a bit like bringing a Ferrari to a city that only has unpaved, potholed roads. How can you take advantage of the power it offers when the infrastructure isn’t there? Start with the salary cap that’s prevented the Galaxy from surrounding Beckham with players who could make the most of his skills. Add in the single entity ownership that made making changes akin to steering the Titanic. Toss in the league’s refusal to recognize that international games exist, let alone that they should break for them…

The league’s reach exceeded its grasp.
And so Milan is standing in the wings, waving provocatively, cooing, “David, they don’t appreciate you. They can’t love you the way we will. Come to us. We’ll treat you right.” (Because all those other past-their-prime superstars — Ronaldo! Shevchenko! Ronaldinho! — haven’t provided quite enough luster or sold quite enough tickets. Maybe Beckham will be the one.) And what about Beckham? Even healthy and fit, he couldn’t guide the Galaxy to the playoffs this year. Yes, appalling management decisions played into it, but in the end Beckham didn’t get the job done. Like the rest of the team, he started strong and flamed out. I suppose we can’t blame him for wanting to go to a solid team in a solid league, to prove that, at 33, he’s still got it.
It’s just that I expected more.

UEFA Champions League - Matchday 3 Preview

2008-10-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Back then, to Champions League action, today and tomorrow, and some absolutely corking games to look forward to, including the ‘Battle of Britian’ between Celtic and Manchester United, a battle of two of last years Quarter-Finalists, Arsenal and Fenerbache, and Nine times champions Real Madrid are taking on Italian behemoths Juventus. Fiorentina visit Bayern Munich.

And that’s just Tuesday’s highlights. Wednesday, we have Athletico hosting a Torres-less Liverpool, and then the battle of the runners up - last years Serie A runners up Roma, take on last years EPL runners up Chelsea.

Full preview after the jump.

So Tuesday we start in Group E. Celtic visit Old Trafford, and they will be desperate to try and sort out their terrible away record in this competition. United however come off of a big win in the league at the weekend. Villarreal host Aalborg in the other game in that group.

Group F, The Group of Death, sees Bayern play host to Fiorentina, in what promises to be a fantastic match. The group is still wide open, and both sides will want to have a positive result here, as Lyon will be expected to beat Steaua in the other game.

Group G sees Arsenal visit Fenerbahce. Both sides will want a win to really kick start thier campaign, although Arsenal currently sit top of the group they have looked fragile. Fener meanwhile have struggled, and will want to pick up a home win. Porto are also hosting Dyanmo Kiev in the other game, which should be a close game.

Group H is where its at though. Zenit St Petersberg are playing at home to BATE, where both sides will want to get maximum points to spur them on, but the biggie is elsewhere. Real Madrid are taking on Juventus. Two clubs full of history, who have underperformed in recent times, looking to get back on top. Has all the makings of a classic encounter.

Wednesday
First big game on Wednesday is in Group A, where Chelsea play host to Roma. Couldn’t come at a worse time for the Italian side, who suffered at the hands of title rivals Inter at the weekend, while Chelsea are looking in fine form, battering Middlesbrough. Bordeaux host surprise package Cluj, and with the French side yet to get off the mark in this years CL, they will need a win.

Anorthosis against Inter in Group B, in a game the latter will expect to take, Panathinaikos meanwhile host German side Werder Bremen.

Group C sees Barca take a visit to FC Basel, while Shakthar are taking on Sporting Lisbon, in a battle of the teams that nearly always finsih third.

Group D’s big game is Athletico Madrid hosting Liverpool, though the latter are without ex-Athletico hitman Fernando Torres, the game will be played in Madrid’s proper stadium. PSV are taking on Marsielles in the groups other intriguing game.

Lets hope it lives up to promise.

Liverpool Will Play in Calderon

2008-10-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

It’s official. Champions League Matchday 3 will be played at the Vicente Calderon after all.
After Atlético appealed, the UEFA decided to cut us some slack for the time being and to not complicate things at such short notice.

The stadium ban is still postponed and will still be in effect in the future, but thankfully the Liverpool supporters that have booked everything already will have to change nothing.
Javier “‘I can wearz a Mexico jersey too lol” Aguirre is also un-banned from the sidelines for the next match. However, it’s still unknown if and when he’ll be facing ban.

Here’s part of UEFA’s official statement: “After immediate consideration of the request for suspension, and having considered in particular the organisational and logistical difficulties related to relocating the Club Atletico de Madrid v Liverpool FC match to another venue at short notice, the chairman of the appeals body has decided to grant the request for suspension of the sanctions."

The short notice was worst part of the original decision. The PSV match will be the match that will be re-located somewhere else. As things stand, we’ll still be banned from an additional home match, assuming we progress into the last 16 (which we will).

Fernando Torres will also miss his return due to injury from the match yesterday against Belgium, and is out for 10-15 days. We all wanted to see “The Fernando Torres Show: The Homecoming” and it looked like we were close to doing so, but bad luck smacked him upside the head at the worst possible time. I hate to say it, but the less Liverpool threat the better. Here’s to a speedy recovery, Fernando.

Enough about the ban, man. Fine, fine. Raúl García, Miguel de las Cuevas and Sinama are the first players back from international duty and are already training with the group. The rest of the players will arrive within the next day. Maniche, Simao and Diego Forlán have begun training with the team as well. Sabroso.

The derby match will be up soon against fierece rival Real Madrid. Aupa Atleti!

Wenger Have More Worries Ahead

2008-10-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

The injured list is lengthy heading into this weekend’s crucial clash with Everton. After dropping points in the past two matches, it’s vital to pick up three points. It’ll have to be done without William Gallas, Nicklas Bendtner, and Bacary Sagna, all three picking up knocks on international duty. That trio will miss at least two games.

On top of that, Cesc, RvP, and Johan Djourou are fighting off injuries too and will have to pass a fitness test in order to be included in the squad.

These things are common with international games - players always seem to come pack injured. You just have to grin and bear it and hope that Arsenal will pull through. Gallas’ injury will probably mean that Mikael Silvestre will feature this weekend. I can’t help but think that Philippe Senderos would be of use as well, if nothing more than having another central defender on the bench. I know that Song has seen time there, but it’s worrying how thin this team appears to be. Good news is that Abou Diaby is fit, although that will last for no more than one or two games with his track record.

It’s difficult to be optimistic and it’ll depend on who is fit and who isn’t. Aaron Ramsey played well for the Wales U-21 squad against England and would be a decent replacement for Cesc, but when Fabregas is your most senior central midfielder, that isn’t good. Plain and simple. These next few weeks will be a huge test to this team and to the youngsters that Arsene Wenger seems to have so much faith in.

Rosario Central President Horacio Usandizaga Threatens to Kill All His Players

2008-10-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes footballers need a little extra motivation. Goal bonuses, win bonuses, that sort of thing. Just a little carrot to dangle in front of their noses to make them reach that extra bit harder. Argentina’s Rosario Central are a team in need of such motivation, as the once great club currently occupies one of the Primera División relegation spots.

But Rosario president Horacio Usandizaga hasn’t gone for what you’d call a positive reinforcement structure. Quite the opposite in fact. He’s threatened to kill all his players and coaching staff if they don’t avoid relegation. Nice.

This is a what Horacio Usandizaga made to Rosario fans on October 8th, and secretly filmed and made public by someone in the crowd.

Here are highlights of Usandizaga’s rant, “Central are going to get out of this situation, we are going to move forward. We are going to get out of this or I’m going to kill the … players, coaching staff and anyone else. If Rosario Central was going to fall I will kill all those sons of bitches, be they players or coaching staff. The players want to be paid one million dollars to escape relegation. I’ve never seen a million dollars in my life!”

Let’s give Usandizaga the benefit of the doubt here and assume he didn’t actually mean what he said. As well as being Rosario president, Usandizaga is also a politician. Which means he habitually tells people what he thinks they want to hear, even if he doesn’t mean a word he says.
But even assuming he’s not planning to slaughter his playing staff, this is still dangerous talk from Usandizaga. It wasn’t so long ago that angry Flamengo fans attacked their own players with home-made explosives in Brazil. So maybe this isn’t the best time to be advocating violence against underperforming players.

Tevez : In Prospect of Losing Tevez to Madrid

2008-10-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

Latest news from transfer rumour machine/newspaper Marca is that Real Madrid want Man Utd’s Carlos Tevez. You might be thinking that transfers between Man Utd and Real Madrid are unlikely in the wake of the Cristiano Ronaldo saga, but this one’s a little more complicated that that.

I don’t fully understand the situation, but seems Carlos Tevez is technically on loan at Man Utd and his registration is still owned by Kia Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investments. According to The Guardian’s translation of Marca’s story: “Manchester United must pay €37m (£28.8m) to MSI before January 30. If they don’t, Tevez will effectively be owned by MSI, and Real Madrid will set the wheels in motion to bring him to the Bernabeu next season. Bernd Schuster has made it clear that the signing of a world class striker must be a priority for next season,” continues the report. Even Sporting director Predrag Mijatovic agrees with him.

Following all the “third party ownership” uproar when Carlos Tevez played for West Ham (which is still going on) it seems the exact details of Carlos Tevez’s current registration situation are being kept out of the headlines.

As I understand it (which I possibly don’t) the FA approved the Tevez to Man Utd loan deal and it’s all above board. But it still sounds a lot like third party ownership to me (with MSI being the third party.) I’m sure the FA will be glad to see Tevez properly signed up and Kia Joorabchian out of the picture.

The question is: will Man Utd want to pay €37m for Tevez now they have Berbatov? Or will the prospect of losing Tevez to Madrid provide the club with some extra motivation to sign him permanently?

Pavlyuchenko : Elected as Regional Council in Stavropol

2008-10-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations are due to Spurs’ Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who’s been elected to the regional council in his home town of Stavropol. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won 63% of the vote with Pavlyuchenko on the ticket and so now the big forward is officially a deputy.

Pretty impressive for someone who has no apparent interest in politics and lives about 2,000 miles away in North London.

One football commentator in Russia was less than impressed with Pavlyuchenko’s electoral victory: Anton Lisin, a football commentator with Sovietsky Sport, said: “He’s not from Moscow. He’s a village guy. The only reason Pavlyuchenko might be interested in politics is if the international financial crisis affected his wages.”

Think it’s safe to say that Pavlyuchenko was on the ticket mostly for name recognition after his impressive Euro 2008 performance. Which ironically enough is a bit like why Spurs signed him too. Seems a few goals in a major tournament can take you a long way in life.

Blatter : Something Has To Be Done...

2008-10-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

FIFA president Sepp Blatter claims 'something has to be done' about the growing number of overseas owners of clubs both in the Premier League and abroad. Blatter believes there should be stricter rules governing who can buy a club after revealing his concern at the European Parliament.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are a quartet of high-profile English club currently under foreign ownership, while reports claim Newcastle United could be the next to follow suit with a South African consortium leading the race to takeover at St James' Park.

"Something has to be done about these billionaire owners. These days you can buy a club as easily as you buy a football jersey. There is something wrong and that's why I ask the European Union to act. This is not just about England where the problem is acute. This will spread across Europe. Some of these owners prefer horse racing, others like to buy a Formula One team, now buying a football club is the big attraction."

Meanwhile, Blatter fears the current financial downturn could lead to problems for clubs owned by foreign investors.

He added: "We must ask ourselves about what motivates these owners and are they really interested in the game or just making money? There must be better control of football's finances especially in the difficult climate we are facing. I urge UEFA to work with the EU to tighten up the rules, otherwise there will be big financial difficulties in the future."

Allardyce : Newcastle Thrown Into Chaos...

2008-10-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Former Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce claims he is glad to be out of St James' Park after accusing owner Mike Ashley of trying to make a quick buck from the club. Allardyce was in charge of the Magpies when Ashley took over in June 2007 before being dumped the following January in favour of Kevin Keegan.

Ashley himself is now looking to leave St James' Park after putting the club up for sale following angry protests from supporters in the wake of Keegan's resignation last month. But Allardyce has little sympathy for the sportswear retailer after criticising his motives for getting involved with the Tyneside club.

And here what Big Sam has told :
"It is crystal clear now what the motives were for Mike Ashley. I think that he did buy the club in the hope that he could quickly sell it on for a vast profit. It is going from bad to horrendous and there is part of me that thinks I'm glad I'm out of it. I thought Kevin was going to get the money I didn't get, but the continuous sales and players moving in and out over the summer obviously caused him to conclude the job was untenable and the club was thrown into chaos."

Guthrie : No Further Punishment

2008-09-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Newcastle United have received a welcome boost with the news that Danny Guthrie will receive no further punishment on top of his three-game ban despite breaking Craig Fagan's leg.

Guthrie was sent off in the latter stages of the Magpies' 2-1 defeat to Hull City at St James' Park on Saturday after a wild challenge on Fagan. The Tigers forward has since been told he faces three months on the sidelines after scans revealed a broken leg. But the Football Association has revealed that it does not have the power to extend Guthrie's automatic three-game suspension.

"Every sending off carries an automatic sanction under the current regulations. The FA doesn't have the power to extend automatic suspensions. The only circumstances in which we could take any further action would be to issue an additional charge against a player. This occurs only in exceptional cases, such as Ben Thatcher's challenge on Pedro Mendes in 2006."

Thatcher received an eight-match ban with a further 15 games suspended for two years after the FA took action over the then Manchester City defender's elbow on Portsmouth's Mendes in a Premier League game in August 2006.

Will Ashley Stays or £480m is Worth to Buy

2008-09-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mike Ashley may have inadvertently extended his ownership of Newcastle United by placing an astonishing price tag on the troubled club which is said to be in the region of £480m. Ashley is the current target of abuse from Newcastle supporters after disappointing signings and managerial decisions since he took over the club and, in a 16,000 word statement released at the weekend, has signaled his intent to listen to the fans and sell up.

However, with figures such as those quoted in the press attached to the club, it remains to be seen who, and in indeed why, anyone would want to buy into Newcastle.

"That price is just too much for this club, but we will see what happens and what offer can be made," a United source said, as quoted in The Telegraph.

"In reality, Newcastle have been up for sale for the last six months. If there had been interest from Dubai or Abu Dhabi it would already have surfaced."

Ashley is currently in Dubai, along with Dennis Wise, trying to find a suitor for the club. Ashley has given a detailed dossier on the club to a whole host of rich and influential figures in the region, including Dubai ruler C bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

It is believed that Ashley would be willing to lower his price to around £250m after negotiating, but £480m was quoted in the dossiers.

Sheikh Mohammed was part of the consortium that tried to buy Liverpool in 2006 and is said to be worth £8bn. However, Ashley must be mad in thinking that someone of his stature would want to pump this much money into the most poorly run club in England.

One of the main problems lies in the fact that the fans have too high an opinion of both the team and themselves for anyone to be given any sort of chance at the club. This means that instability is bred from the terraces as much as it is from the board room.

It looks as if Ashley will remain at the helm for sometime if he continues to attach unrealistic price tags on the club. But, if truth be told, he could slash prices like he does in Sports Direct and it is unlikely that he would find a buyer anytime soon.

Is Bilic a Option :West Ham

2008-09-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Slaven Bilic has distanced himself from the vacant managerial position at Upton Park, but has hinted that he would like to manage the club in the future.

The Croatia boss, who will meet England in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign later this month, gathered even more admirers following a solid showing at Euro 2008 and is considered a world class manager in the making.

"I always said that, if I come back to English football, I want it to be as manager of West Ham," He said yesterday, as reported in The Guardian.

But, as always, there is a small matter of a contract that he is tied to.

"I have a contract with Croatia until 2010 and intend to honour it." I’ve no doubt that Bilic will one day manage West Ham but there is no way that he will walk out of this Croatia job to take over at Upton Park. In 2010 perhaps, but he would be even madder than I remember if he took over at West Ham now.

The club have no money, the manager no longer makes the decisions; if Curbishley walked out through fear of damaging his reputation, then why would one of the hottest talents in the managerial world risk his by taking over the reigns. He doesn’t understand the world of Premier League management and would certainly want a summer transfer window and pre-season in order to get accustomed to the modern English game. And despite him spending many years in England, Kevin Keegan is just the latest case study of somebody who thought that they could return as if nothing has changed.

Naturally, Harry Redknapp has been linked with the job and, naturally, he has distanced himself from it. Is it a problem at West Ham that they never stray too far from the beaten track when it comes to managers? Will the next appointment be out of left field? Who would the fans like to see take over?

Is Bilic a realistic option at this point?

Harry Redknapp says NO WAY

2008-09-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp insists there is "no way" he would return to West Ham United to replace Alan Curbishley. Curbishley ended his two-year reign at Upton Park on Wednesday after citing a lack of control over the club's direction in the the transfer market.

Former Hammers boss Redknapp has emerged alongside Croatia coach and fellow former player Slaven Bilic as an early frontrunner for the post, but the current Pompey chief has no interest in returning to the east London club. Redknapp spent seven years in the Upton Park hot-seat before being sacked in 2001, told The Sun.

"Alan Curbishley may have gone as West Ham boss - but there's no way I'll replace him. Curbs quit because he feels he has been undermined and shown a lack of trust by the owner. I take my hat off to him for sticking to his principles. Don't get me wrong, West Ham is a fantastic club with fantastic fans and - having gone there aged 15 - it has a special place in my heart. But I love it at Portsmouth and I have one big advantage over a lot of Premier League bosses these days: I've got an owner who lets the manager manage."

Meanwhile, Redknapp was warned that the growing influence of billionaire club owners and European-style sporting directors is setting a worrying trend. The 61-year-old is alarmed that both Curbishley and Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United have reportedly been unsettled by interference in their transfer plans in recent weeks.

He continued: "The days of managing as I know it are coming to end. You will basically be given players and told to get on with it. West Ham sold players and it was nothing to do with Alan - but that will happen more and more. Let's face it, the way it's going, every Premier League club will be owned by a foreign billionaire. They all want to win the title, they all want to be in the Champions League and if they don't get it they'll be changing managers like we change socks. It will be a revolving door that never stops turning.”

Should West Ham scrap the Sporting Director role at West Ham and has it been the root of all problems at Upton Park and dare I say St James' aswell?

Berbatov : Spurs Made Him Rot in the Reserve...

2008-08-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Think it’s safe to say that the Dimitar Berbatov situation has gone from “annoying” to “ridiculous”, with Spurs threatening to let the player rot in the reserves unless Man Utd meet their £30 million valuation. So basically, Dimitar Berbatov would be the new Winston Bogarde. Not good. And not very realistic either.

Spurs have come so close to playing this thing right, but have gotten it so very wrong. The blueprint for not selling a player has been laid out clearly by Martin O’Neill with the Gareth Barry saga. You put a massive transfer fee on the players head and you say “this how much we want and not a penny less.”

Then either the buying club pays the massive fee, or they don’t. If they do, then you get an obscene amount of money. If they don’t, then the club clearly don’t want the player that badly and you get to keep him.

But that whole approach goes out the window if you start treating the player like he has a contagious disease.

First Ramos left Berbatov on the bench for Spurs’ opening game against Middlesbrough. They lost. Then Ramos left Berbatov out of the squad entirely for the game against Sunderland. They lost. Now Spurs are threatening to let him rot in the reserves, in which case everybody loses.
Now Spurs have gone nuclear by ostracizing the striker completely there’s a good chance they’ll have to accept a reduced bid from Old Trafford. Maybe around £25 million or so. Tottenham have essentially forced their own hand because now Berbatov is useless to them as a footballer.
Had Spurs played Berbatov from the start of the season, things wouldn’t be so bad. The Bulgarian would be an unsettled Spurs player who Man Utd wanted to buy instead of what he is now: a player who’s already finished at Spurs who Man Utd want to buy. Clearly the former is going to cost more than the latter.

EPL Week 2 Review

2008-08-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

English Premier League Round-Up: August 23, 24

Stoke win a thriller against Villa, while Liverpool stage a late comeback to see of Middlesbrough at Anfield. Tottenham continues loosing streak and Arsenal gave the 3 pointer to Fulham...

There was late drama at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Stoke City struck in the dying seconds against Aston Villa to claim victory in their first home game back in the Premier League. Tony Pulis's men needed a confidence-booster after their 3-1 opening day defeat at Bolton, and they got off to the best possible start through Liam Lawrence's 30th minute penalty. John Carew levelled up midway through the second half with a neat finish from Ashley Young's pass, but this didn't fluster the determined Potters. They had controlled much of the first half, continued their fine football in the second and regained the lead ten minutes from time. Lawrence threaded the ball through to Ricardo Fuller and the forward finished neatly from an acute angle to make it 2-1. Martin Laursen smashed home two minutes later to seemingly put the visitors on course for a point. But the Potters were not to be denied and, with just seconds left, Mamady Sidibe bundled home Rory Delap's long-throw to seal a sensational home debut for the Premier League new-boys.

There was also late drama at Anfield, where Liverpool came back from a goal behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1. The afternoon started badly for Gareth Southgate's men as Ross Turnbull had to step in for Brad Jones, who injured his finger in the warm-up. However, Boro played the better football for long stretches and deservedly took the lead midway through the second half when Mido smashed into the bottom corner from 22 yards out. Liverpool continued to struggle as the match entered its closing stages, with Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane's partnership still not gelling. However, a stroke of luck turned things in their favour. Jamie Carragher hit a speculative effort from outside the box and a fortuitous deflection off Emmanuel Pogatetz took the ball into the net. Buoyed by the equaliser, the hosts then bossed the closing minutes and forced the winner in familiar circumstances. The ball broke to Steven Gerrard on the edge of the area, and the captain smashed home to keep his side's winning start to the season going.

There was also good news for a former Liverpool star at White Hart Lane, as Djibril Cisse scored the winner for Sunderland in his debut against Tottenham Hotspur. Following a goalless first half, the visitors took the lead ten minutes into the restart through Kieron Richardson's 20-yard stunner. Jermine Jenas levelled up not long after following some fine work from Luka Modric, but the hosts took their foot off the pedal after the goal, and were duly punished by the visitors. Just a matter of minutes after coming off the bench, Cisse headed in Daryl Murphy's cross to send the home team off at the full-time whistle to boos from the crowd.

Newcastle United followed up last week's solid 1-1 draw at Old Trafford with a 1-0 victory at home to Bolton Wanderers. The visitors missed the perfect chance to take the lead midway through the second half when Kevin Nolan saw a penalty saved well by Shay Given, and they were made to pay 20 minutes from time. Geremi put a fine cross in towards Michael Owen, and the England international, recently returned from injury, headed home to take his side into the upper echelons of the table.

Everton picked up their first points of the season with a hard-earned 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion. This game, like many on Saturday, didn't really spark into life until the second half, with the first goal arriving on 65 minutes when Leon Osman struck home from the edge of the area. Yakubu added the second with a neat header ten minutes later, and although the Baggies found one back through Roman Bednar's late penalty, there was not enough time to force an equaliser and halt their poor start to the new season.

Fulham recovered from last week's opening defeat with a surprise 1-0 win at home to Arsenal. New signing Andrew Johnson is still sidelined with injury, so it was left to Brede Hangeland to put the hosts ahead, the defender stabbing home Jimmy Bullard's corner early in the first half. The Gunners huffed and puffed as they looked for an equaliser, but despite having most of the possession they couldn't find the back of the net, and suffered their first defeat of the season in only their second game.

Hull City notched up another fine display as they forced a point in a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers. Paul Ince's side took the midway through the first half when Jason Roberts beat the offside trap to flick home. However, the Tigers struck back almost immediately with Richard Garcia heading past Paul Robinson. No further goals could be added as the match petered out in the second half, but both managers will be happy with a solid point.

Chelsea's former Barcelona star Deco repaid another chunk of his £8million transfer fee as Wigan Athletic were again sunk by an early goal. After conceding twice in the opening ten minutes at West Ham last week, the Latics held out for less than four minutes before the Portugal international fired in a stunning free kick. But the big spending London side found the going a lot tougher than they did in the 4-0 opening day win over Portsmouth and only a late save from Petr Cech denied the Latics a point.

Daniel Sturridge and Elano, with two goals, ensured that Manchester City polished off ten-man West Ham United at Eastlands with an assured display marred only by injuries to Micah Richards and Kelvin Etuhu. An initially pedestrian match exploded into life after a turgid opening spell when West Ham's Callum Davenport first deflected Stephen Ireland's shot off the line and then managed to chest Tal Ben Haim's follow-up effort on to the bar. The Hammers were further rattled after 21 minutes as City's workrate increased and they won a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Elano was brought down while trying to go past Matthew Etherington and Martin Petrov stepped up to thump a curling left-footer on to the right post and out of play, with Robert Green rooted to the spot.

Saturday 23rd, August 2008
Blackburn Rovers (1) 1 vs Hull City (1) 1
Fulham (1)1 vs Arsenal (0) 0
Liverpool (0)2 vs Middlesbrough (0) 1
Newcastle United (0) 1 vs Bolton Wanderers (0) 0
Stoke City (1) 3 vs Aston Villa (0) 2
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 vs Sunderland (0) 2
West Bromwich Albion (0) 1 vs Everton (0) 2
Sunday 24th, August 2008
Manchester City (0) 3 vs West Ham United (0) 0
Wigan Athletic (0) 0 vs Chelsea (1) 1

Manchester City Gets Kompany

2008-08-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Vincent Kompany Belgium and Hamburger SV defender deal is now finalized and he is likely in the line-up for this weekends tussle against West Ham.

While Mark Hughes must be in glee for acquiring the twenty-two year-old central defender, this is a peculiar story from the Hamburger vantage. While Martin Jol may have been annoyed with Vincent Kompany’s involvement in the Olympics, it is poor business management to lose a great talent because he chooses to serve his nation. I would have expected Martin Jol to personally give a bit of latitude to this but this has a stench of a old behind-the-scenes power struggle that cost the Bundesliga club a superb young talent. Either way, its a great coup for Man City.

English - The Championship Preview...

2008-08-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Charlton Athletic v Reading FC

Reading boss Steve Coppell could hand a debut to new recruit David Mooney who has signed from Cork City for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old forward follows in the footsteps of current Royals forward Kevin Doyle who swapped Cork for Berkshire in 2005 and will be hoping to make a similar impact on English football. Charlton will be without midfielder Therry Racon after a mid-week X-ray confirmed the Frenchman had broken his fifth metatarsal in the 1-0 defeat to Watford last weekend. The Addicks have suffered back-to-back defeats after winning their opening game of the season and boss Alan Pardew will be desperate to get back to winning ways against his former club.

Birmingham v Barnsley

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish will have to make do without Tunisia international Medhi Nafti as Blues play host to last season’s FA Cup semi-finalists Barnsley. The news that Nafti will be sidelined for two weeks with a hamstring injury, picked up in last week’s victory over Southampton, will come as a blow to McLeish who is already short of midfielders with former captain Damien Johnson still ruled out. Barnsley’s Iain Hume will miss the trip to St Andrews as he serves a one match ban while forwards Kayode Odejayi and Miguel Mostto are pushing for starting places. Simon Davey has right-back Rob Kozluk available again after he missed the 2-1 defeat to Coventry as The Tykes go in search of their first points of the season.

Ipswich v Wolves

Ipswich boss Jim Magilton had hoped to solve his striker problem by securing the services of Newcastle forward Shola Ameobi in time for Saturday’s clash with Wolves. Ameobi’s move to Portman Road has been put on hold however as a hamstring injury was detected in the 26-year-old’s medical forcing Magilton to persevere with the same front-line that beat Burnley 3-0. Wolves will head to Ipswich full of confidence following their 4-1 demolition of Sheffield Wednesday last weekend but captain Jody Craddock will not be making the trip east. The 33-year-old defender will be out of action for three months following a broken metatarsal so Mick McCarthy has handed the captaincy to Karl Henry.

Coventry v Bristol City

Coventry are sitting pretty at the top of The Championship having taken maximum points from their opening two matches and have no fresh injury concerns as they host Bristol City. Malta international forward Michael Mifsud is unlikely to play any part after his collapsed transfer to Bristol City in the summer has left him sitting on the sidelines at The Ricoh Arena. City defender Liam Fontaine is expected to return to strengthen Gary Johnson’s defensive options having missed the 1-1 draw with Derby last week. Nicky Maynard scored his first goal for The Robins against Derby since his big money move from Crewe and will continue to lead the line while Marvin Elliott is still two weeks from fitness.

Derby v Southampton

Derby boss Paul Jewell believes he has brought some much-needed flair to his side following the acquisition of 18-year-old midfielder Nacer Barazite from Arsenal. The Holland Under-19 international joins The Rams on an initial one-month loan and could be thrown straight into the match at Pride Park on Saturday as Derby look to bounce back following their relegation from The Premier League. Southampton will also have a new face on show in the shape of 19-year-old Jack Cork who joins on a one-month loan from Chelsea until January. Saints boss Jan Poortvliet has moved quickly to replace the departing Andrew Davies who secured his switch to Premier League new boys Stoke in midweek and was delighted to have snapped up the England Under-19 captain.

Blackpool v Sheffield United

Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell has warned his players not to take their feet off the gas after last week’s thumping 3-0 win over QPR. Fresh from his hat-trick last weekend, Billy Sharp is sure to retain his place in The Blades’ starting line-up with Blackwell still deprived of forwards James Beattie and Jon Stead. The Blades may also be without Chris Morgan after Blackwell revealed his central defender blacked out for 25 minutes following his concussion against QPR. Blackpool boss Simon Grayson is expected to chop and change his starting line-up once more as he experiments with his new-look side following 12 new recruits in the summer.

Cardiff v Norwich

Norwich midfielder Sammy Clingan will not be making the trip to Ninian Park having picked up an ankle injury while on midweek international duty with Northern Ireland. Canaries boss Glenn Roeder is expected to push midfielder Darel Russell into attack in his search for goals having lamented his side’s lack of killer instinct in their opening games of the season. Cardiff boss Dave Jones will hand a debut to Hungarian international defender Gabor Gyepes who comes in as a replacement for the departing Glen Loovens. The 27-year-old will go straight into the heart of The Bluebirds’ defence but winger Joe Ledley remains a major injury doubt.

Nottingham Forest v Watford

Nottingham Forest boss Colin Calderwood faces an injury crisis as his troops entertain Watford on Saturday with Lewis McGugan becoming the sixth Forest player to be sidelined. Forest have scored just once in the league so far this season and Calderwood might hand a debut to veteran striker Andy Cole or give Nathan Tyson his first start of the season to bolster his attacking options. Gzregorz Rasiak came off the bench in Watford’s 1-0 victory over Charlton last Saturday and is in line for a first start since his move from Southampton after impressing manager Aidy Boothroyd. Forest came out in top the last time these two sides met in March 2005 and the visitors have a good record at Vicarage Road, with eight victories to Watford’s five.

Plymouth v Swansea

Plymouth have no new injury concerns as they place host to newly-promoted Swansea with The Pilgrims going in search of their first win of the season. Paul Sturrock may give new signing Craig Noone his first appearance following his switch from non league Southport while defender David McNamee is back in contention having recovered from a hamstring injury. Swansea have acclimatised quickly to life in The Championship and sit comfortably in mid-table so Roberto Martinez is expected to name an unchanged line-up for the trip to Home Park.

Queens Park Rangers v Doncaster

QPR will welcome back captain Martin Rowlands for Saturday’s clash with Doncaster as the midfielder has served his three-match suspension. Former West Ham forward Hogan Ephraim missed the start of the season with shin splints but could be handed a surprise start while Patrick Agyemang is also available again. Doncaster boss Sean O’Driscoll is expected to name an unchanged line up for the trip to Loftus Road as Darren Byfield remains sidelined following a hernia operation. But Brian Stock could feature for Rovers having overcome the back injury that forced him out of Wales’ midweek loss to Georgia.

Sheffield Wednesday v Preston North End

Sheffield Wednesday has bolstered his defence with the addition of Tony McMahon who joins on loan from Middlesbrough and will go straight into the starting XI against Preston. Laws will also be grateful for the timely return of Marcus Tudgay who has recovered from a thigh injury having bagged two on the opening day of the season. Preston have been boosted by the news that Callum Davidson’s knee injury is not as bad as first thought and the Scot could make the trip to Hillsborough. Matt Hill will deputise for Davidson should the full-back not recover in time.

Crystal Palace v Burnley

Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock admitted his frustration at failing to land enough quality players over the summer but believes his troops will get back to winning ways against Burnley Palace sit precariously one place above the drop zone after their first two games of the season but Warnock will be buoyed by the news that Matt Lawrence has signed a new contract. Burnley are rock bottom of The Championship after two games with no points and seven goals conceded as boss Owen Coyle continues in vain to bring new faces to the club.

Bundesliga Week 2 Preview

2008-08-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

WEEK 2 PREVIEW

Friday 22nd August (all times local)

20:30 Hannover – Energie Cottbus

Saturday 23rd August

15:30 Werder Bremen - Schalke

15:30 Hamburg - Karlsruhe

15:30 Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich

15:30 VfB Stuttgart – Bayer Leverkusen

15:30 Hertha Berlin – Arminia Bielefeld

15:30 1899 Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach

Sunday 24th August

17:00 Bochum - Wolfsburg

17:00 1.FC Köln – Eintracht Frankfurt

Hannover – Energie Cottbus

The weekend action gets underway at the AWD Arena as Hannover entertain Energie Cottbus. Both sides suffered 3-0 defeats on the opening weekend and will be keen to avoid a second consecutive loss at the start of the season. Hannover were beaten away to Schalke, whereas Energie Cottbus, who had a season-long battle against relegation last time round were soundly beaten by newly promoted Hoffenheim. Dieter Hecking was disappointed with the defending against Schalke with all three goals coming from set-pieces. Equally worrying was the lack of chances at the other end and an improvement against Cottbus will be needed. Having struggled last season only to claw themselves clear of relegation, Cottbus trainer Bojan Prasnikar was looking to start the new season on a positive note against Hoffenheim. What he got however was a poor display and a 3-0 home defeat. Another defeat to Hannover will have the talk of another relegation struggle raising its head.

Werder Bremen – Schalke 04

The first meeting of the ‘big guns’ takes place at the Weser Stadion on Saturday as Werder Bremen entertain Schalke. Two genuine title contenders go head to head and these results against each other may have a huge bearing on their eventual title hopes. Just like last season, Werder opened with a 2-2 draw away from home (to Bielefeld) despite the fact they should have won. Thomas Schaaf and Torsten Frings have been highly critical of the defence this week and that back four is sure to be put under pressure by the visitors this weekend. Claudio Pizarro is expected to make his debut for the club after signing a one-year loan deal from Chelsea. This will be his second spell at the club and he will be hoping to add to his 100 Bundesliga goals and three league titles. The Königsblauen maintained their momentum after their Champions League win over Atletico Madrid by beating Hannover last week. A brace from Kevin Kuranyi and one from Marcelo Bordon (all from set-pieces) set up the win and Fred Rutten will no doubt we wanting more of the same at the Weser Stadion. Jermaine Jones will be missing after injuring his ankle last week.

Hamburg – Karlsruhe

With all the headlines being about Bayern not winning, some of the attention has been taken away from what a good performance Hamburg put in. The loss of Rafael van der Vaart wasn’t noticeable as HSV really pushed Bayern at the Allianz Arena. De Jong, Jarolim and Trochowski orchestrated the midfield, while Olic ran and ran for the team. The signing of Mladen Petric this week will further strengthen the side and he is expected to make his first appearance this season partnering his Croatian countryman Olic up front. Karlsruhe also opened with a win, but it was a close-run thing against Bochum at the Wildparkstadion with a Christian Eichner goal giving them their first win over Bochum since 1994. Edmund Becker’s side will not want a repeat of the performance from their last game at the HSH Nordbank Arena. The final game of last season saw the ‘Badener’ thrashed 7-0 by a rampant Hamburg side.

Borussia Dortmund – Bayern Munich

It’s the battle of the two Jürgens at the Signal Iduna Park as Klopp’s Dortmund welcome Klinsmann’s Bayern. Borussia got their season off to a great start with a 3-2 win away to Leverkusen last week and will be looking to maintain that positive start against Bayern. The defence was BVB’s weak spot last season, but both Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels looked good last week and Hummels in particular will relish the challenge of facing Bayern. Midweek signing Mohamed Zidan will want to make his debut against Bayern, against whom he scored last season. He will probably partner Nelson Valdez who scored one and set one up against Leverkusen. Diego Klimowicz would then drop to the bench. Dortmund will however have to do without full back Dede and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller. The pair were both injured during the opening match at the Bay Arena. The good news for Bayern is that Luca Toni is ready to return against Dortmund after recovering from his calf injury. The dilemma for Klinsmann is whether to pair him with Klose or Podolski. Tim Borowski is also ready to be called upon, but Franck Ribéry remains on the sidelines. Bayern’s defending is the concern at the moment. A weeks worth of work on the training pitch would have helped but the midweek internationals put paid to that.

VfB Stuttgart – Bayer Leverkusen

Both these sides missed out on European qualification last season by finishing 6th and 7th respectively. Stuttgart subsequently went into the InterToto Cup and look set to make it into the Uefa Cup group stage. VfB got off to a winning start last week with a 3-1 away win over newly promoted Mönchengladbach. Three first half goals put the game beyond Gladbach. However the Swabians are not getting carried away and will no doubt face a tougher challenge against Leverkusen at the Mercedes Benz Arena. There were highly promising debuts from Jens Lehmann and midfielder Jan Simak, while both Ciprian Marica and Mario Gomez opened their scoring accounts. Bruno Labbadia got his Bundesliga coaching career off to a bad start last week losing at home to Borussia Dortmund and will be desperate to gain his side’s first points against Stuttgart. The forward pairing of Kiessling and Helmes looked good, while Brazilian midfielder Renato Augusto also impressed on his debut. An interesting game is in store this Saturday.

Hertha Berlin – Arminia Bielefeld

The ‘Old Lady, got off to the ideal start last weekend with a 2-0 away win over Eintracht Frankfurt and they did it without Marko Pantelic getting on the score sheet. He did though set up both goals for Raffael and Patrick Ebert. This weekend sees them make their home bow at the Olympiastadion with Arminia Bielefeld the visitors. Another three points would represent a very successful start to the season for Lucien Favre’s team. Bielefeld held Werder to a 2-2 draw last week with Artur Wichniarek grabbing two goals. They will be looking to build upon that performance against Hertha. Arminia know that a fight against relegation awaits them this season, and points picked up early in the season will take the pressure off.

1899 Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach

Last season’s second division champions take on the runners-up this weekend as Hoffenheim play their first home game in the Bundesliga against Mönchengladbach. I say ‘home’, but home this season is the Carl Benz Stadion in Mannheim until their own stadium is built. Hoffenheim made a dream start to life in the top flight with a 3-0 win away to Energie Cottbus and will be looking to make it two wins out of two against Gladbach. They currently sit atop the embryonic league table and have Vedad Ibisevic leading the scoring charts. That is unlikely to last, but they can enjoy it while it does. Gladbach on the other hand made a losing start to life in the top flight with a 3-1 home loss to Stuttgart. The damage was all done in the first half with three goals putting the result beyond much doubt before 45 minutes were up. An improved defensive display will be required, and even more eyes will be on winger Marko Marin after his sublime goal for Germany in midweek.

Bochum – Wolfsburg

Bochum play Wolfsburg on Sunday at the Rewirpower Stadion looking to secure their first points of the season. A 1-0 loss to Karlsruhe sees the Bochumer pointless at the moment. The home fans will no doubt be looking for a repeat of the goal-fest and the result from last season, which saw Bochum win 5-3. Star man Stanislav Sestak was awesome that day and the club will look to him to provide the inspiration this weekend. Wolfsburg opened with a 2-1 win last week over 1.FC Köln thanks to a much better second half display. They still have Grafite unavailable thanks to his suspension, while Zvejezdan Misimovic returns to his former club looking to help the Wölfe to their second win. To some, Wolfsburg are an outside bet to become title contenders, so games like these need to be won.

1. FC Köln – Eintracht Frankfurt

Both Köln and Frankfurt will be looking to pick up their first points of the season in the weekend’s final game at the Rhein-Energie Stadion. Köln succumbed to a second half fight-back from Wolfsburg last weekend, while Frankfurt went down to a 2-0 home defeat to Hertha. The atmosphere in side the stadium will be excellent for this first home game of the season and Christoph Daum will want to give the fans something to cheer about with their first three points of the season. Hertha at home and Köln away, was on paper not the hardest opener for Friedhelm Funkel’s side, but if they were to lose again on Sunday, it would set them back and have them playing catch-up already. A much improved display from last Sunday is required if the ‘Eagles’ are to triumph over the ‘Billy Goats’.

RCD Mallorca Valero Out and Navarro In...

2008-08-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

It may come as a shock to Mallorca fans, but surprisingly, we have lost another player to another club following our outstanding season last year. The latest is young Argentinian midfielder Borja Valero who will now ply his trade for West Brom in the EPL. Now even the crappy EPL teams are getting our players.

Valero is a solid player who is up and coming, but from a cost standpoint, it seems like an awful lot to shell out 4.9 million for a still unproven player. West Brom basically said they will pay his buyout price in his contract and once they did that, he was theirs. They have some money to spend and it is a good move for a team that wants to stay in EPL and who cannot attract star players. Mallorca wanted him to stay, so I guess all they can do is in the future make the buyout clauses bigger. The bottom line is if a club with money comes for your player, they will get him. We need to somehow be willing to spend some money and get other players by simply buying out their sizable contract. I know they have their eye on Trejo as well so we need to try and keep him if at all possible as I think he is better then Valero.

I think Valero was for some reason unhappy in Palma because I dont think he is moving to a better club. They might have more money, but Mallorca is better then West Brom even if you foolishly think the EPL is better then La Liga. If he wanted to play English football, good for him but it is not an upward move for his career. I will not argue though that if he is successful, he could land at a bigger EPL club.

The bottom line is that our talent really showed itself last year and even our second tier youngsters are getting attention. These players we seem to replace for less money and while I hate to lose players that are good and up and coming, he can be replaced easier then a Guiza. No matter what we cannot keep losing players like this but I dont fault the club as they made WB pay full price. Time will tell if the replacements will make up for the loss.

The loss stings a little less with the word that Valencia is loaning us David Navarro for another year. He was a solid contributor in defense for us last year and improves our weakest area. Maybe this is an early present for us letting them eventually have Moya. I still dont think that situation is resolved so if you think the transfer destruction of our team is over, hold on tight until the final deadline.

Even if the club has done well to build up its midfield and tried to improve its strike force with bargain players, to think we will be as good as last year is just pure fantasy. When was the last time a mid sized or small club took such huge losses in the offseason. Every fan, including myself, has to be going crazy.

Is our new owner ready to spend some real money? We cannot simply rely on Manzano and managment to scout young talent and bring them in under the radar only to see them leave for a profit and find suitable replacements. For all the frustration we have seeing our players leave, it makes me feel better that somewhere in our club there is a system in place that finds these players while they are cheap and who are then brought in to make a difference for us.

So who is this years cheap surprise(s)? We have a few with potential so LaLiga get ready for us. We wont let these player losses keep us down for long.