Champions League Quarter-final Draw

                             

     AS Roma  v  Manchester United

Not the draw I had hoped for this round. These two met in the group stage with the Red Devils winning 1-0 at home and Roma getting a 1-1 draw in the return leg. So it’s safe to say that they know each other. Roma is coming off of a stellar thumping of Real Madrid in the last round and they have what it takes to make the finals. Manchester United had trouble finding the net against Lyon, but were dominant offensively in both matches.

On paper it would appear that the Italian side would be better suited to advance from this round. They are definitely scoring more against better opposition. I’m keeping the faith though and I think that Sir Alex is going to have the lads fired up and ready for Roma. If United can come away with a draw in Rome they will win at Old Trafford. The main concern is how protected the traveling supporters will be in Italy. History is not on their side. My guess- Manchester United 4-2 AS Roma aggregate.

          Schalke 04  v  Barcelona

Schalke are excited about drawing Barcelona and I kind of see why. Lionel Messi is out for this round, Thierry Henry isn’t a shadow of how he was at Arsenal and Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho still don’t like each other. The Germans ground down FC Porto and beat them in a penalty shootout, can they do the same with Barca? The Catalan club beat Celtic quite handily in the last stage, but Schalke has a better defense than the Scots.

Schalke are not a club that scores a lot, where as Barcelona have found the net consistently in the campaign. The Spaniards have a very potent attack and will make the German side run. Schalke will tighten the back and keep the scoreline down. Barca will come through, but it will be a fight.My guess- Barcelona 3-1 Schalke aggregate.

             Arsenal  v  Liverpool

Two English sides had to meet in this round, they just had to. The Gunners and the Reds will make the tie exciting. This is the match-up that will be the most physical with both sides showing flair and muscle. Arsenal came back from a bad first leg at home to send AC Milan packing with a stunner at the San Siro. For their part Liverpool sent off the other Milanese side with two straight victories over Inter Milan.

Rafa Benitez is a different manager in the Champions League than he is in the Premiership. By that I mean successful. Arsene Wenger has quite a pedigree for himself and will have the Gunners ready to go after the double. The keepers will be the difference in the round and I have to give that edge to Pepe Reina. My guess Liverpool 3-2 Arsenal aggregate.

           Fenerbahce  v  Chelsea

The “experts” seem to believe that Fenerbahce was the side everyone wanted to get. I don’t think so. The Turkish side have the ability to run and pressure a defense as Sevilla found out in the last round. Chelsea can find the twine very well themselves and have the midfield to pressure both offensively and defensively. A fact that Olympiacos can attest.

Avram Grant has to prove to his critics that he can manage in a big match and I think he will. Chelsea are just too strong of a side and after their debacle at Barnsley they will be focused on the game at hand. They will with stand Fenerbahce’s attack and advance to the semi-finals. I’m picking the Londoners to win BUT don’t be surprised if the Turks pull the upset. My guess Chelsea 5-2 Fenerbahce aggregate.

Week’s Round Up

It’s been a bit of a week and I’ve fallen way behind with all of the action. So I’ve bundled this exciting week together.

Champions League:

AC Milan 0-2 Arsenal- The Champions League holders came into the second leg in great position. They were returning home with a 0-0 aggrigate, and they usually play well at home in CL matches that matter. Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Addebayor scored late in a match that could have gone either way down to the very end to end the Italian side’s dreams of a repeat.

Barcelona 1-0 Celtic- The Spanish giants came home with a 3-2 aggrigate over the Scottish champions and even Gordon Strachan felt that his side had quite a hill to overcome to advance. Three minutes into the second leg Xavi popped in a Silvinho cross and put the match to bed early. The victory was costly for Barca as Lionel Messi was taken off in the 35th minute with a hamstring injury that will keep him out of action for awhile.

 Sevilla FC 3-2 Fenerbahce- I had a feeling that Fenerbahce were going to make the second leg interesting, but I wouldn’t have guessed how interesting it would be. Leading the aggregate 3-2 the Turkish club saw their hopes sink after 10 minutes when Sevilla snatched two quick goals from Daniel Alves and Seydou Keita. Fenerbahce drew the aggregate through Deivid’s twelve yard strike. Frederic Kanoute put the Spanish hosts ahead again just before the half with a deflected volley. Sevilla’s hopes of an outright victory died when Deivid scored off of his own rebound to tie the aggregate score at 5-5 in regulation. Volkan Demirel saved from Julien Escude, Ivica Dragutinovic and Dani Alves in the shootout to win (fittingly) 3-2 on penalties.

 Manchester United 1-0 Olympique Lyon- Cristiano Ronaldo scored a beauty from an Anderson rebound to send the English champions through to the quarter-finals. Lyon made them work for it as they had in France for the first leg. United were holding a 1-1 aggregate score and could have easily sat back for a goal-less draw, but they came out fired up and could have had a sizable lead by halftime. They were unable to find the net until the Portuguese winger found the mark in the 41st minute. Lyon tried to come back and could have knotted the score late as Kader Keita hit the post. Manchester United equaled Juventus’ 11 year old record for consecutive home wins in the Champions League with this result.

FC Porto 1-0 Schalke 04- Porto won the battle, but lost the war against visiting Schalke. The German club had a 1-0 lead on aggregate coming to Estadio do Dragao and looked set to advance until Lisandro Lopez scored in the 86th minute to send the Porto supporters into a frenzy. Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer made two huge saves in the shoot-out to see his side advance 4-1 on penalties.

Real Madrid 1-2 AS Roma- Real went down 2-1 in Rome in the first leg and faced an uphill battle to begin with at home. The task became massive when defender Pepe was sent off for his second bookable offense in the 71st minute. Two minutes later Roma made them pay with a header by Rodrigo Taddei. Raul tried to right the ship as he scored from Robinho’s through ball in the 75th, but it was Roma’s night as Mirko Vucinic’s diving header found it’s target in the dieing seconds of the match. I wonder how many away fans the Roman ultras will hospitalize in the quarter-finals? Rome’s finest don’t seem to care.

Chelsea 3-0 Olympiacos- The Blues cruised in this match with first half goals from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, and an early second half strike from Salomon Kalou. I had hoped for more from the Greek side as they had been gritty in the first leg in Athens. Sadly they never showed for the return leg in London. The Blues made it three of three for the Premiership so far with Liverpool in great shape to make it a foursome against Inter this week.

FA Cup:

Manchester United 0-1 Portsmouth- Sometimes the better side doesn’t win and sometimes the referee makes a game changing decision, but United need to suck it up and realize that whinging about it isn’t going to change things. The Red Devils had so many chances to score there just isn’t enough time to list them. They lacked the killer instinct that they have showed in recent weeks. Tomasz Kuszczak was harshly judged by Martin Atkinson when he was red carded for “bringing down” Milan Baros in the box. I saw the replay and he got the ball first, but Baros sold it and got the penalty. Rio Ferdinand pulled on the keeper’s jersey and stepped up for the penalty. He guessed right on the direction of Sulley Muntari’s shot he just couldn’t get to it. The Nigerian’s goal sends Pompey into the semi-finals.

 

BARNSLEY 1-0 CHELSEA!!!!!- The Tykes earned this victory over the Blues. Chelsea were without Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Claude Makelele, Paulo Ferreira and Ashley Cole, but with the star power that Avram Grant has at his disposal there are no excuses. Barnsley’s attack repeatedly exposed the Chelsea defense. If they’d have taken advantage of their breaks the score line would have been ugly for the Premiership side. Kayode Odejayi made history when Marciano van Homoet crossed it in and the Nigerian striker cut the ball off before it got to Carlo Cudicini and headed it into the net. Whoever gets the Tykes in the semi-finals will fall if Barnsley play like they have against Chelsea and Liverpool.

MIDDLESBROUGH 0-2 CARDIFF CITY!!!!!- Cardiff City always looked like the winner in this match and that was without the goals. Boro only had the Cup to play for, but they played like they weren’t that interested. Peter Whittingham got on the end of a ball that Middlesbrough couldn’t clear and with some fancy footwork he curled the ball into the top right hand side of the net in the 9th minute. Roger Johnson scored a fantastic header from a great Whittingham cross in the 23rd minute to finish the hosts off early. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink showed that he is not a player to ignore as he came frighteningly close a couple of times. So far the FA Cup final I’d love to see is Barnsley vs. Cardiff City. They have both proven against the big boys.

Bristol Rovers 1-5  West Bromwich Albion- This may have been the “least interesting” of the FA Cup matchups, but I don’t think so. The Rovers are the lowest ranked team left in the Cup so a Final appearance for them would be monumental. West Brom started the scoring early as  James Morrison sent a rebound into the roof of the net in the 17th minute. Ishmael Miller doubled the tally on the half hour mark as he got on the end of a long ball and sent the ball into the upper left of the goal. Bristol Rovers refused to cash it in as Danny Coles finished off a cross in the 31st minute to stay in the match. The Baggies ended the Rovers dream with two more goals from Miller and one from Kevin Phillips. So the semi-finals will be dominated by the League Championship with Portsmouth as the lone Premier League representative.

Premier League:

Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United- Liverpool took advantage of a reeling Newcastle and kept Kevin Keegan winless since his return Tyneside. If he doesn’t do something soon they will have to fight their way out of the relegation zone. Jermaine Pennant, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard all found the twine for the Reds in a match that the Geordies never really threatened in.

 Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 West Ham- Couldn’t pass this one up as the newly minted Carling Cup holders got back on track and dominated a feeble Hammers side. Dimitar Berbatov netted twice in the first 11 minutes to set the tone for the match. Gilberto scored his first for the Spurs and Darren Bent made a rare appearance on the score-sheet to round out the beating.

Wigan Athletic 0-0 Arsenal- Not an exciting match although it had it’s moments. The Gunners needed three points from this match and to drop two to Wigan leaves the door open for Manchester United who have a game in hand and should be a bit angry with the way they left the FA Cup this weekend. Wigan did a good job of containing Arsenal, but they just didn’t look like they had a plan for actually scoring against the league leaders.

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.

Carling Cup Final

  Tottenham 2 - 1 Chelsea 

                              

                              Woody Wins at Wembley!

While Jonathan Woodgate will go down in Spurs lore as the man who delivered the Cup to Tottenham this victory belongs to the team. The Spurs started out the match like the club that truly wanted the silverware as they sent wave after wave of attack at the Chelsea goal. They went down a goal in the 40th through a sublime Didier Drogba free kick that left recent returnee Paul Robinson rooted to his spot (there’s a shock). Didier Zokora had fouled Drogba to give him his second free kick at goal in just minutes and the Ivornian striker made good on the second try.

 Tottenham continued the push and had some chances created by Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. In the 69th minute their persistence paid off when Tom Huddlestone and Aaron Lennon put pressure on Wayne Bridge in the Chelsea box and caused the Blues defender to handle the ball. Berbatov cooly let Petr Cech go right and slotted his shot to the left to knot the score at 1-1.

   

The Spurs kept up the pressure up on the final minutes with Zakora and Berbatov both having clear opportunities to win it in regulation. When the final whistle sent the match the two sides were definitely headed in opposite directions. Four minutes into extra time the defender that joined the Spurs in January paid huge dividends. Woody got his head to a Jermaine Jenas free kick. Cech got a fist to the ball and it rebounded off of Woodgate’s £8 million face and into the net. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective.

   

Chelsea put on a push at the end of extra time and Tottenham stood tall to seal the victory. Good job Tottenham a well deserved victory.