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!

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 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.

        

        

Saturday Wrap Up January 12, 2008

Gunners gutted at Emirates. How Arsenal didn’t get full points in this match is the mystery. Birmingham City had two shots in the game to Arsenal’s sixteen. Usually if there is that much of a discrepancy you would expect the more active team to win. Emmanuel Adebayor’s  penalty in the 21st minute seemed to be a harbinger of things to come, but, the Blues had a stifling defense that had an answer for every flashy move that the Premiership leaders tried. A Gary O’Connor header from a Sebastian Larsson corner in the 48th minute leveled the score and the Arsenal rush was on. At the end of the game the London side spent as much time in  the City box as Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor. They just couldn’t find the twine and in the end they had to settle for the draw. Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham City

            

Ronaldo adds to Toon Woes.  Like him or not, that boy can score. The Red Devils opened the match with plenty of shots at Shay Given. Wayne Rooney had enough chances in the first half hour to match most people for an entire game. The England international kept the Newcastle keeper limber he just couldn’t get the ball in the net. Alan Smith welcomed himself back to Old Trafford with a foul on Ryan Giggs that should have resulted in a penalty to open scoring in a scrappy first half, but referee Rob Styles set the tone by ignoring one of a string of fouls on both sides.

The second half opened up when Styles finally joined the game mentally and gave a free kick to Ronaldo after Smith fouled him just outside the box. The Portuguese winger drove the shot from 20 yards out under the jumping wall and past Given to open his account. When all was said and done the little diver finished with a hat-trick while Carlos Tevez tallied two and Rio Ferdinand (not to be outdone by his brother’s earlier game winner) drove in a header from a Rooney cross. Steven Taylor was amazing at the beginning of the second half as he kept Man U off of the scorecard with an amazing display of defense on his own goal line. In the end the Red Devils went back on top of the table on goal difference. Manchester United 6-0 Newcastle United.

         

No Derby day at Pride Park. Four new players went from signing a few days ago to starting for the Rams today. Robbie Savage, Emanuel Villa, Laurent Robert and Hossam Ghaly all made their debut for Derby County, but none were able to bring a victory to the beleaguered cellar dwellers. Savage and Ghaly were able to give some backbone to the midfield, which was comforting, and they were able to give the defense some much needed help.

The Latics had the lion’s share of shots (13-3) but just could not break through until Steve Bruce sent in Antoine Sibierski in the 81st minute. Forty-three seconds on the pitch and the Frenchman broke Derby’s heart by slotting home the winner. Wigan earned their first away win of the season while pushing the Rams ever closer to the precipice. Derby County 0-1 Wigan.

         

Missing African players, same result at Stamford Bridge. Avram Grant got his man when he brought in Nicolas Anelka this week for 15 million pounds. But he really didn’t need him for this one. Tottenham Hotspur played hard but Juliano Belletti put them behind early with a brilliant shot from thirty yards out. Dimitar Berbatov had a chance to tie with a free kick from just outside the penalty area in the 69th minute. The visitors had to watch as his shot went just wide. Shaun Wright-Phillips sunk the dagger in the 80th with a low drive. The final score really isn’t a good snapshot of this match, they both played well.

Anelka came on mid-way through the second half. He failed to score, but Chelsea are going to have to bend the crossbar back into shape after it stopped a rocket from the Frenchman. His second attempt was palmed away by the keeper. If Grant can convince him to play with Didier Drogba this will be a duo to be reckoned with.

Paul Robinson had to watch this one from the bench as Radek Cerny got another start ahead of him. Cerny said earlier this week that he felt Juande Ramos was going to bring in a new keeper which doesn’t bode well for either of the two he already has. Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur.

                 

                                       

Aston Villa 3-1 Reading; Everton 1-0 Manchester City; Middlesbrough 1-1 Liverpool; West Ham 2-1 Fulham