Shake Up Saturday

Well it definitely wasn’t exactly how we expected the days fixtures to go. But, by the end of the day the title race tightened up considerably.

Chelsea received some good news from their Brazilian central defender Alex when he announced that he was going to postpone much-needed knee surgery. But, while the Chelsea attack had numerous opportunities to score, it was Lee Bowyer’s fantastic strike that was the difference in this one. He timed his 17th minute run perfectly into the gap normally filled by John Terry and deftly slotted it home. 

After the humiliation of last week’s loss at home to Sunderland, this defeat has to have the Blues supporters nervously watching the injury board for some help to come soon. Birmingham City 1-0 Chelsea.

The match at Old Trafford had all the earmarkings of another draw. Wigan again showed the shortcomings of the United defense as they counter attacked effectively in the first half. But for a little luck the Latics could have had a 2-0 lead through Charles N’Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega. The Red Devils got a couple of fortunate bounces to keep the sheet clean and were rewarded when Patrice Evra headed home Park Ji Sung’s cross just before the half time whistle. Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi started to come out for the ball but second guessed himself and it cost him.

Red cards for Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega within a couple of minutes of each other took the sting out of a game Wigan side. Javier Hernandez drove home a diving header to double the margin with a shade less than a quarter of an hour remaining and United were cruising.

Wayne Rooney returned early in the second half to a fairly positive reaction by the Manchester United faithful and should have scored late. Manchester United 2-0 Wigan Athletic.

If you only watched the first half of the London derby, the final score would have come as quite a shock. Arsenal had an opportunity to take the Premier League lead and, after Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh each scored early, they had to have gone into the dressing room quite confident. Nasri’s goal was both exciting and comical as Gomes’ indecisiveness got him caught in no man’s land and the Frenchman slipped past him and rolled the ball in from a very sharp angle. Chamakh doubled the score mid way through the opening half by turning an  Andrey Arshavin cross home.

But, if the Spurs have taught us anything this season, it’s that when you have Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart on the pitch you’re never really out of the game. The two combined for the first goal as the Dutchman flicked the ball through two defenders to set up Bale for number one. A hand ball in the box gave van der Vaart a chance to even the score from the penalty spot. Younes Kaboul finished an epic comeback when he headed home a van der Vaart cross late in the match to break the Gunner’s hearts. Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur.

This is turning into an interesting season. Just when you are ready to hand the title to Chelsea, everything gets turned upside down. That’s what makes the Premiership so much fun!

Saturday Wrap Up March 1, 2008

  West Ham 0 - 4 Chelsea 

Hammers get lesson at Upton Park. Chelsea took their Carling Cup frustrations out on their hosts early. Even the loss of Frank Lampard to a silly red card did little to brighten the day for West Ham. Lampard opened up the scoring for the Blues by converting the penalty earned by Salomon Kalou when Anton Ferdinand brought him down in the box. Joe Cole doubled the scoreline three minutes later when he powered home a pass from Nicolas Anelka. Michael Ballack turned the match into a rout two minutes later when he got on the receiving end of a Lampard cross. So when the whistle blew for the half to end the hosts were already down 3-0, though it should have been 4-0 as Anelka was wrongly judged to be offside when he scored.

The Blues withstood a concerted effort by West Ham to get back into the game and dashed all hope when Ashley Cole finished them off with a 64th minute goal. Chelsea needed the boost before they host Olympiacos on Wednesday. What they didn’t need was for Lampard to have to sit out for the next three domestic matches.

   

  Arsenal 1 - 1 Aston Villa 

Gunners escape at Emirates. Aston Villa made the trip to London a memorable one as they showed a lot of fight. Arsenal had the better of the statistics, but I didn’t see it. The Villans kept slipping through and challenging the Arsenal defense. Gabriel Agbonlahor’s speed kept the Gunner defenders on their back foot as the England U-21 international made run after run at Manuel Almunia’s goal. Aston Villa got their goal when Philippe Senderos knocked a beauty into his own net in the 27th. There was some question about Agbonlahor being offside in the build up, but no flag went up and he sent in a fantastic cross that the Swiss international deflected into his own net.

Arsenal threw what they had at Scott Carson in the last ten minutes and the defense rose to the occasion over and over. Then they failed to clear a cross into the box and the defender knocked the ball in front of Nicklas Bendtner, who slotted home from close range and rescued a point and a slim lead in the Premiership.

One last point. Theo Walcott needs to get over himself. He had a couple of opportunities to find teammates for a good shot on goal and instead he took some pretty lousy shots. Nice one Theo.

  

  Birmingham 4 - 1 Tottenham 

Blues spoil party at St Andrews. A quick word of advise to the Hotspurs…FOCUS! Birmingham City didn’t just beat Tottenham, they demolished them. Mikael Forssell welcomed himself back to the starting line-up with a hat-trick. Forssell has had a recent history of injury though you would never have guessed as he showed that he has lost none of his skill. Sebastian Larsson added to the Blues talley with a great free kick of his own.

Jermaine Jenas scored in stoppage time for the Spurs, but the points all went to the home side. Tottenham tried to claw themselves into this match, but couldn’t beat Maik Taylor. City have had two great results in the last two weeks and are playing some good football.

  

  Fulham 0 - 3 Man Utd 

Red Devils run riot at Craven Cottage. Sir Alex rested his big guns for long stretches during their trip to the capital. Fulham had some good chances that they just could not put away in the match and United made them pay for it. Owen Hargreaves got a rare chance at a free kick and sent it into the upper right hand corner to give Manchester United the lead at the 15 minute mark for his first United goal. Park Ji-Sung scored a superb header at the end of the first half to make the Fulham task even harder. The Cottagers hopes were dashed midway through the second half when Simon Davies sent the ball through Antti Niemi’s wicket and into the net.

Brian McBride and Eddie Johnson formed an all American front line for Fulham with Johnson getting off a couple of good shots at Edwin Van Der Sar. McBride has been out for a long time through injury and was unable to resurrect the form he has shown so often at Craven Cottage. Sadly the run in will probably be the end of his stay in England.

   

Elsewhere: Derby County 0-0 Sunderland; Middlesbrough 0-1 Reading; Newcastle United 0-1 Blackburn Rovers; Manchester City 0-0 Wigan Athletic.

Saturday Wrap Up February 23, 2008

  Birmingham 2 - 2 Arsenal 

Travesty at St Andrews. Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo can only be described as horrendous. Sadly the early information doesn’t bode well for his future. Taylor was sent off with a straight red card in the 3rd minute leaving the Blues to play the entire match with 10 men. The loss of their striker so early and having to watch him being treated for eight minutes definitely had an impact on the Gunners.

James McFadden gave City the lead in the 28th with a sublime free kick that Manuel Almunia just couldn’t get to. The goal seemed to spark the visitors and they stepped up the attack, but  they were unable to break through at the half. Theo Walcott finally got on the Premiership score-sheet when he poked home a Maik Taylor loose ball to knot the score at 1-1. Walcott doubled his league total with a weaving run that culminated with a fantastic shot to the corner of the net. Three points seemed to belong to Arsenal until Gael Clichy brought Stuart Parnaby down in the box. McFadden slotted home the penalty and stole a not necessarily earned point.

  Liverpool 3 - 2 Middlesbrough 

Torres’ pays off at Anfield.£20 million 21 goals. Definitely showing that he is well worth the money. If Rafa Benitez would play the young Spaniard more, Liverpool might be challenging for the title. Middesbrough played well throughout the match and could have added to the domestic woes of the Merseysiders. Tuncay Sanli found the net early with a fine header for Boro. But, Fernando Torres fired off two quick goals two minutes apart. Boro could have done some damage as the Reds showed some lack of concentration and opened the door a couple of times.

Torres fired home his third early in the second half which should have put an end to the match. Middlesbrough didn’t get the memo though as Stewart Downing kept his side in it with a late goal at the 83rd minute mark. But, the wheels came off as Jeremie Aliadiere smacked Javier Mascherano after an altercation. Liverpool won the game, however they could have easily lost. Benitez is living with uncertainty and I’m concerned that with the whinging that has hit the media from the changing room recently is showing in their performance.

  Newcastle 1 - 5 Man Utd 

Ron and Roo thump Toon at St James’. Manchester United took a little bit of time to hit their stride, but when they did it was amazing. Wayne Rooney has been a terror in the pitch lately. Today was no different. The Tynesiders had an equal share of possession they just couldn’t come through defensively. Rooney volleyed in a beautiful cross from Ronaldo for the first goal of the night. The Portugese winger turned from provider to finisher at the half from a Michael Carrick pass. He did it again at the start of the second half when he slid around Steve Harper and popped in United’s third of the match.

Newcastle winger Damien Duff and Charles N’Zogbia gamely both fought on and came close to netting for the home side. Abdoulaye Faye was the one who finally broke through the Red Devil defense and put Kevin Keegan’s lads on the board in the 79th. In a display that showed who was the boss of this match, Rooney calmly scored a minute later to restore the three goal margin. Louis Saha finished the job at the end of the match with a well directed shot from a Rooney square.

Newcastle is still looking for their first victory under King Kev and unless they pull out of their free fall they could be challenging for the 18th position in the league when all is said and done. Manchester United moved to within 3 points of Arsenal with today’s demolition of Newcastle.

             

Other Saturday results- Fulham 0-1 West Ham; Portsmouth 1-0 Sunderland; Wigan Athletic 2-0 Derby County.

Saturday Wrap Up February 9, 2008

With twelve weeks left in the Premiership season things are going to get dicey for those in the Relegation Race. Every match is another step closer to making the rounds of the Championship grounds next season. Let’s look at the results from those lurking at the bottom of the table.

Spurs cruise at Pride Park. Paul Jewell tried his best to help the Rams avoid the drop in January when he brought in a seasoned group to help shore up all areas of their game (see January 10th posting). Even with the new arrivals Derby have only 9 points in 26 matches this season. Tottenham didn’t give the home side a chance to move off of the bottom of the League. The first half held some opportunities for Derby as they hassled the Spurs enough to provide some chances for themselves. Giles Barnes came close a couple of times and could have given Jewell his first win since taking the helm.

The second half saw Juande Ramos adjusting early to counter a very game Rams attack and was rewarded by Robbie Keane’s 68th minute cleanup of a Roy Carroll rebound. Younes Kaboul and Dimitar Berbatov drove the point home with late goals for the visitors. Jewell has to be proud of the effort put forth by the lads today. I am concerned for his ability to hold onto players like Barnes and Kenny Miller when they go down. Tottenham 3-0 Derby County.

Fulham falls at the Riverside. Gareth Southgate trotted out new signing Afonso Alves early in the second half, but Boro’s record signing was overshadowed by Jeremie Aliadiere’s early goal. The Teesiders three points gave them a little room for themselves from the drop zone while the Cottagers supporters are already getting the train schedule for Hull City pinned to the fridge. The early goal put Fulham on their back foot for much of the game until Clint Dempsey and Leon Andreasen gave the home supporters a couple of moments on edge. In the end Roy Hodgson might be available for Finland again this summer. Middlesbrough 1-0 Fulham.

Toffees unimpressive at Goodison. Everton looked like anything but a Champions League hopeful as they downed a scrappy Reading side through Phil Jagielka’s header in the 62nd. David Moyes’ boys had some unbelievable chances to put the wood to the Royals, they just couldn’t find the net. What happened to Andy Johnson by they way? The man will run all day and his tenacity is unquestionable, BUT when the keeper is out of the goal and nothing is stopping you how can you miss that badly???? In the end Everton did just enough to pull this game out, Reading should have probably gotten a draw though.

Stephan Hunt could have given the Royals a very early lead with a 25 yard free kick that gave Everton keeper Tim Howard fits. Nicky Shorey also had a good opportunity to get the visitors ahead when he found David Kitson for a header that sailed over the bar. Steve Coppell likes an ugly match and this one was ugleee. Everton 1-0 Reading.

Elsewhere: Sunderland helped their cause as they dumped Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light 2-0. Bolton couldn’t find the net at the Reebok, but Portsmouth did 0-1. West Ham hosted Birmingham City to a draw 1-1. Aston Villa watched Michael Owen put Newcastle ahead, then thumped the travelling Toon 4-1.