Sunday Wrap Up March 16, 2008

  Fulham 1 - 0 Everton 

McBride heroics at Craven Cottage- Fulham have had a tough season, but they are still in the battle to stay in the Premiership. Thanks to their “Captain America” they stayed in that battle for just a little longer. From the start of the match the Cottagers showed that they were the more determined of the two as Jimmy Bullard and Brian McBride both had good opportunities to open the scoring in the first half. Everton seemed to have trouble getting motivated although the chance to retake fourth place in the league should be enough to get a side going. The loss of Andrew Johnson before the fifteen minute mark did little to help their cause.

Fulham didn’t play smooth, mistake free football so some chances went wanting. But, in the 67th minute McBride got his head to Simon Davies cross and put the hosts ahead. Everton fell victim to the top level club should pound the relegation contender and it bit them badly.

  Wigan 1 - 0 Bolton 

Bolton bombs at JJB. Wigan Athletic must have been thinking that this match was going to be the usual when referee Steve Tanner gave Jason Koumas an iffy straight red in the 4th minute and gave the cellar dwellers an entire game with ten men. Emile Heskey scored his first goal in twenty matches with a fine volley from close range. Mario Melchiot chipped the ball into the area and found Heskey in the box for what would prove to be the winner. The Wanderers had their share of chances, but Chris Kirkland got to every attempt and kept his side from dropping any points to the visitors.

The Latics have some tough matches coming up for the run in, including at Portsmouth, at Chelsea, at Aston Villa and home to Manchester United. Not good news as far as beating the drop is concerned. Bolton are now fighting to stay up for next season and their schedule with a trip to Manchester United this week as well as hosting Arsenal and finishing with a trip to Chelsea. Good luck to both of them.

  Man City 2 - 1 Tottenham 

Blues storm second half at the City of Manchester. If the match were only forty-five minutes the Spurs would have been the undeniable winners of the game. Sadly, there were another forty-five minutes to play and the Blues made the most of them. Robbie Keane started the scoring a nice goal just after the half hour mark that put some excitement in the Tottenham attack. They just couldn’t add to their total.

City came out in the second half looking like they still had some fight in them and they worked the Spurs defenders, probing for weakness. Their break came in the 59th when Blumer Elano nodded the ball through to Stephan Ireland (maybe offsides??) who finished nicely to draw the match. Juande Ramos made a couple of substitutions to shake things up. One of which may have been a tad unpopular with Keane. But, the change didn’t have the desired effect for the Spurs as they watched Nedum Onuoha out jump Pascal Chimbonda to head the winner past Paul Robinson for the victory. When you are up against Robinson in goal, there is a great chance that you’ll get the goal you need.

Sunday Wrap Up March 2, 2008

  Bolton 1 - 3 Liverpool 

Wanderers woes at Reebok. Gary Megson’s Bolton side started the day on a positive note as El-Hadji Diouf and Joey O’Brien each had opportunities to put them ahead. Diouf’s shot beat Pepe Reyna only to rebound off of the post while Steven Gerrard cleared O’Brien’s attempt from the line. Jussi Jaaskelainen suffered the embarrassment of scoring the opening goal when he deflected Gerrard’s shot into his own net 12 minutes into the match. The Finnish keeper showed that the mistake was not going to undo him however as he made a great save from a Ryan Babel 5 minutes later. Babel threatened every time he had the ball and his 60th minute interception of Gary Cahill’s hashed clearance allowed him to put away Liverpool’s second goal of the match.

Bolton kept at it throughout the game and looked as though they might score a few times. But, Fabio Aurelio chested down the ball and powered home the death stroke in the 75th. The hosts got on the board when Tamir Cohen headed home a nice goal, too little too late though as the Reds took all three points to move into fourth position for a little while and pushed Bolton further into the relegation battle.

            

  Everton 3 - 1 Portsmouth 

Yakubu brace bookends at Goodison. Ayegbeni Yakubu set the tone early, very early, with a goal in 47 seconds. The Nigerian won the foul and headed in the free kick that stunned visiting Pompey. The Toffees failed to press the early advantage and gave up the equalizer through Jermaine Defoe’s deflection of Glen Johnson’s cross. Portsmouth worked hard to get a leg up as they surged forward continuously from the start of the second half. Everton kept their composure and were rewarded when Tim Cahill headed home Steven Pienaar’s chip. Yakubu not only started the build up for Cahill’s goal, he finished off Portsmouth with a neat turn and finish to regain the fourth position from their Merseyside rivals.

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.

Sunday Wrap Up January 20, 2008

Wigan left wondering at the JJB. Steve Bruce’s side had to be stunned that they went into halftime down by two goals. After all they had played a competative first half and use of wingers Wilson Palacios and Antonio Valencia were giving the Toffees fits. Then Titus Bramble gaffed on a back pass and opened an opportunity for Andy Johnson to jump on it and embarrass Chris Kirkland for the first goal at 39 minutes. Joleon Lescott tapped in a corner three minutes later and the Latics chances were bleak.

Everton defender Phil Jagielka gave Wigan new life when he knocked the ball into his own net. But they couldn’t make any more headway even with all of the posession they had in the second half. Everton moved ahead of Liverpool for fourth spot in the Premiership for now, and with the Reds hosting Aston Villa on Monday, the Toffees could solidify that spot by tomorrow night. Wigan 1-2 Everton.

    

                        

Hammers dominant in City of Manchester. Carlton Cole scored early for the visitors with a beautiful overhead volley in the 8th minute to give West Ham an early lift. Then Darius Vassell brought them back down to earth with a controversial equalizer eight minutes later. He looked offsides, but it was close so they gave it to him. The Hammers put the pressure on in the second half and could have done it except for some nice saves by City keeper Joe Hart. Hart is getting better in the box and could make a run soon at the England keeper job. Manchester City 1-1 West Ham.