Long before my I used my computer for more constructive purposes such as writing this shit, I became dangerously entwined with football management simulator Championship Manager. To play it was to step onto the sort of temporal quicksands down which your very existence would be sucked away. The rope was only thrown in to fish me out when I started work (not as a bank clerk not a football manager) and began to interact with actual people I could see.

But I have fond memories of my stint in management and still look out for all the results of the teams I looked after. I’ve created a hall of fame in my head which includes my favourite teams, players and striking partnerships: Yorke and Kanu at Forest, Suker signed to join Shearer and Sutton at Blackburn to create a fearsome SASAS trio, Henry and Le Tissier at Middlesbrough. 

But the duo that inspired the deepest affection were Jermain Defoe and Dean Ashton at West Ham. I signed Ashton as an unknown from Crewe and he immediately struck up a rapport with the more established star. And while Defoe accepted all the caps and awards, Ashton got on with the day-to-day task of scoring goals: 40 or more for five consecutive seasons. But the England call-up never came.

And so a deep and elemental love affair with Ashton began, sparked further when he signed for West Ham in the real world. I pondered whether I’d somehow magically precipitated the move with my own sage mouse-clickings. And he repaid our faith in him by setting about his business like a meaty Teddy Sheringham. 

Ashton had a physique like prize bull: massive, muscular but with surprisingly dainty ankles. Which did for him in the end, aided in no small part by Shaun Wright-Phillips during a training session. On England duty. Poetic. He’d have been better off remaining in the international wilderness of my computer. 

Naturally I’d was crestfallen to hear the news of his retirement yesterday, even if it had been predicted for months. I’ll be wearing a black armband next time I play Champ Man.

Dean Ashton forced to retire at 26

The announcement that has been in the offing for several months was finally made today when it was confirmed that Dean Ashton has been forced to retire at the age of 26. It is always sad to hear when any player in any professional sport is forced into early retirement, especially when that person had all the promise of making a very accomplished international player.

I remember seeing Dean play for Crewe against Everton back in February 2002 when the two sides met in the FA Cup. The first tie finished 0-0 with Ashton impressing as Crewe took us back to Gresty Road for a replay. Ashton even put his side ahead in the replay before Everton turned it around and won the game 2-1 but I remember coming away from those two games being impressed with the then 18-year-old Ashton.

What a shame the curtain has come down on his career and I wish him all the luck in the world for his future endeavours. Notably suing Chelsea and Shaun Wright-Phillips for all he can squeeze out of them for SWP’s involvement in the injury that has ultimately retired Ashton.

All the best,

Andrew Kearney

There is really only one result I care about this evening, and I reckon I’ll give it its own post in the morning – so you’ll have to excuse me if it seems like I’m phoning this one in.

Calcio:

Juventus 2-1 Inter (Derby D’Italia) – Perhaps the most important game either of these teams have played yet this season, the Derby D’Italia is always a heated and highly-anticipated match between two of the peninsula’s best-supported sides. This match in particular had the potential to have an immediate effect upon the scudetto race; either consolidating Inter’s position atop the table or reviving Juventus’ flagging title hopes. What resulted was an intense and exciting match by which Juventus managed to steal a crucial 3 points from i Nerazzurri; ensuring that this year’s scudetto race is well, a race. La Vecchia Signora opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a set piece when Felipe Melo inadvertently volleyed a Giorgio Chiellini header past the fingertips of a flailing Julio Cesar and across the line. Juventus went up 1-0 and to top it off Jose Mourinho got himself sent to the stands after this play for sarcastically applauding the referee for awarding the free kick. It didn’t take long for the visitors to equalize though, with Samuel Eto’o leaping onto the end of a Dejan Stankovic cross to head past Gigi Buffon and restore parity in Torino. The sides went into halftime level and would remain that way until the 58th minute, when Claudio Marchisio scored what I wouldn’t doubt is the greatest goal we have seen from Juventus yet this season. Momo Sissokho fired a speculative long-range effort at Julio Cesar, who parried but couldn’t hold on to it. Enter Marchisio, who dashed to the loose ball, turned Walter Samuel inside-out with some slick footwork and then buried the ball neatly overtop of Cesar and into the back of the net. In the remaining half-hour of play, tempers flared, with Mario Balotelli elbowing Felipe Melo and then going to ground when the Brazilian retaliated, drawing the midfielder the red card. Balotelli’s ugly side showed through with the constant jeering from the Juventini and perhaps the crowning moment of the match for the home crowd was the young striker lining up to take a free kick and falling firmly upon his behind. Even Gigi Buffon, normally the most level-headed man in the Bianconeri shirt, allowed his temper to get the best of him at the match’s end, nearly getting into a quite physical altercation with Thiago Motta. In the end, Juventus grabbed the 3 points, while Jose’s men merely grabbed some added incentive for these sides’ next meeting at the San Siro.

Gigi descends from the heavens as Juve celebrate their Derby D'Italia win.

AC Milan 3-0 Sampdoria – Speaking of the San Siro, the Rossonero half of Milan were able to reassert themselves among the top of the table by drubbing Antonio Cassano & co. at Milan’s famous stadium this weekend. Marco Borriello, Clarence Seedorf and Alexandre Pato each found the back of the net to pile misery upon i Blucerchiati, who began the season in red-hot form but have fallen upon hard times lately. By cruising to this easy victory, il Diavolo rise to second place in the Serie A table, and with the favour done to them yesterday by Juventus, they are only 4 points adrift of the league leaders. A far cry from the Milan squad who struggled so profoundly at the beginning of this season – Leonardo and his men have grown into themselves as a consistent and dangerous squad – and it’s all because they beat Roma 2-1 a couple of months ago. Froci.

Fiorentina 2-0 Atalanta – The funny thing about calcio is that due to the nature of the language and the culture, sometimes two different teams will share the same nickname. Therefore, while one Nerazzurri squad tops the table, the other Nerazzurri are the league’s veritable whipping boys. Last week Atalanta fell at home to Roma (woo!) and this week they provided an easy three points for La Viola in Firenze. Juan Manuel Vargas and Alberto Gilardino provided the pair of goals that separated i Gigliati from their visitors – the Tuscans now sit in a 4-way tie for 5th place with Roma, Genoa and Sampdoria. They trail Parma by a point.

Football:

Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea – All good things must come to an end. Carlo Ancelotti’s men had been flying high in the Premiership, having sealed victories over each of their fellow ‘Big Four’ teams with a 3-0 victory over Arsenal last weekend. Who would’ve thought that it’d be the Citizens, who had not been able to do better than a draw in their previous 7 league fixtures, that would finally burst the Blues’ bubble and bring them back down to earth. However, things initially started off pretty well for the visitors in the Eastlands. Only 8 minutes into the match Frank Lampard fired on Shay Given’s goal only for the Irish keeper to deny him and then Nicolas Anelka; on the third rebound, however, Given’s parried ball struck the back of Emmanuel Adebayor, defending on the touchline, and this time the keeper was helpless to keep the ball out. 1-0 Chelsea. The big striker got the chance to atone for his sin just under half an hour later, however, when Shaun Wright-Phillips’ shot took a deflection in Chelsea’s box and fell at the Togolese hitman’s feet – this time he directed the ball into the right goal to make it all square at the City of Manchester Stadium. Things really started to go south for the visitors when Carlos Tevez’s rather tame free kick was able to beat the wall and Petr Cech to give the home side the lead on 56′. But the disaster was not complete yet. On 81′ Didier Drogba was fouled within City’s area – as always, Frank Lampard stepped up to the spot. By this time, however, tempers were flaring and Lamps was visibly unsettled as he took the kick. His effort ultimately was poor, and Shay Given saved it quite easily. Manchester City went on to hold out for the remaining 10 or so minutes and Chelsea dropped three points that would have given them a commanding lead of the Premiership table. If there are two things that are costing Chelsea right now, they are: a) conceding on set pieces and b) failure to convert penalties. And believe it or not, those two factors are costing the team in a way that not even Roman Abramovich’s bottomless pockets can repair.

It was a battle of the big spenders, and who'd've thought that Chelsea would lose?

Manchester Utd 4-0 West Ham – With Chelsea stumbling it the front of the pack, it seemed almost as though United smelled blood; they were quick to capitalize on the league leaders’ mistakes by doing their very best to catch up with them. While the Blues were facing defeat at the City of Manchester Stadium, the Red Devils were completing a rout of Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham at Upton Park. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men knocked four goals past a sorry Hammers side, with Paul Scholes, Darron Gibson, Luis Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney each finding the back of the net to keep West Ham hovering just above the relegation zone and cut Chelsea’s lead to only 2 points.

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City – Arsenal bounced back from last week’s defeat to Chelsea and a midweek loss to  Manchester City that saw them knocked out of the Carling Cup by defeating Stoke City 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners had a chance to take control of the match on 20′ when Andrei Arshavin was taken down in Stoke’s area, but Cesc Fábregas failed to convert the resulting penalty. Arshavin would nevertheless put his side ahead just a few minutes later, when on 26′ he completed an angled run into the box and slotted a low strike home to beat Thomas Sorensen. The home side nearly doubled their lead minutes later when a shot from Fábregas rattled off the post. It would be substitute Aaron Ramsey who would finally put Arsenal two up in the 79th minute, again with a run into the box followed by a low shot to beat Sorensen. This victory sees Arsenal retain their 3rd place spot above Tottenham Hotspur by a single point.

Liverpool 0-0 Blackburn – Liverpool failed once again to get themselves back into the Premiership race by drawing what is an admittedly difficult fixture away at Ewood Park. Sam Allardyce’s men were able to grab a valuable point off the visiting Merseysiders, with Paul Robinson playing the hero for the home side and rejecting the myriad chances that Liverpool were given to attack the Rovers’ goal. It’s difficult to say who provided the Reds’ best chance on the evening (though Daniel Agger’s late 30 yard screamer is a contender), but easy to say that England-hopeful Robinson was at the very top of his game and simply would not be beaten. Seriously, Rafa Benitez unemployment watch anyone?

Futbol:

Messi bagged a brace to secure victory for Barca

Barcelona 3-1 Deportivo – It was the Lionel Messi show as the Blaugrana dismantled Deportivo La Coruña away at the Estadio Riazor. The diminutive Argentine proved that they don’t hand out the Ballon D’Or for nothing by scoring twice and menacing the home side’s backline throughout the entirety of the match. Messi opened the scoring on 26′ with a supreme individual effort before Deportivo were able to equalize after defensive errors saw Adrián through on goal. The deadlock would last until the 79th minute, when again it was the Ballon D’Or winner, this time scoring from a strong header to restore his side’s lead. Zlatan Ibrahimovic would put the icing on the cake, blasting into the top corner of the net on 87′ to seal victory for Barcelona and secure their position atop the table.

Real Madrid 4-2 Almeria – Both Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo had a bit of a rollercoaster night at the Bernabéu on Saturday. After Sergio Ramos opened the scoring for the home side on 30′, Almeria were able to respond with Soriano and Kalu Uche scoring twice in the span of 5 minutes to put their side ahead of Los Galacticos. Ten minutes later, a goal from Higuaín assured the home crowd that Manuel Pellegrini’s men were not finished yet. Near the 80th minute, Madrid were offered the chance to get ahead again when Cristiano Ronaldo was downed by keeper Diego Alves. CR9 stepped up to the spot, but failed to convert the penalty, and in a display of poor showmanship was seen to be sulking even after Karim Benzema tapped in the rebound to put his side ahead. Ronaldo would make up for his error on 85′ when a beautiful play from Higuaín gave him the perfect opportunity to put his side up 4-2. The game wouldn’t end on a high note for Ronnie, however, as he was sent off just minutes later for his second yellow of the match. As I always say, all’s well that ends badly for Cristiano Ronaldo!

Fußball:

Bayern München 2-1 Mönchengladbach – Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber were able to provide the difference for Bayern as they worked back to their winning ways at the Allianz-Arena on Friday evening. Gomez gave his side the lead on 19′ with a well-executed turn and shot into the bottom corner of the visitors’ net. However, Roel Brouwer would equalize for die Fohlen less than 10 minutes later, when a bad defensive mistake allowed Michael Bradley’s pass to slip through the Bayern backline; Brouwer only had to slot home past Hans Jörg-Butt. Butt was Bayern’s best man on the pitch for large stretches of the evening, pulling off a string of incredible saves to stop the likes of Juan Arango and Jean-Sébastien Jaurès. Arjen Robben made a substitute appearance in the second half and was immediately effective; his daring runs won a free kick for the home side just outside the 18-yard box which Holger Badstuber duly launched into the back of the net on 75′. Friday’s victory sees Bayern at 4th in the Bundesliga standings and finally starting to gain ground on the leaders after Die Roten got off to a dismal start to the season.

]]> http://apintofthebitter.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/sunday-360%c2%ba-7/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:02:30 +0000 Justin http://apintofthebitter.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/sunday-360%c2%ba-7/

It seems as though derby season is upon us; there have been quite a few this weekend and next weekend the most anticipated match in Roma’s season (and the greatest derby in Italy) gets underway. But, before we can start our countdown to a good Biancocelesti thrashing, we have to deal with all the derbies (and mundane regular matches) going down this weekend. Shall we?

Football:

Somebody get this guy a Red shirt.

Liverpool 2-0 Everton (The Merseyside Derby) – Well, the Scousers went head to head today as strugglers Everton took on strugglers Liverpool. It was a battle of the underachievers, with both Rafa Benitez and David Moyes’ sides badly needing the points and morale boost that come from a derby win. In a season when both sides have fared so poorly both in league and European competitions, it comes as no surprise that today’s match was decided not by a particularly heroic individual effort but by a particularly atrocious performance. A pair of grievous mistakes from Everton defender Joseph Yobo gifted the Reds a 2-0 victory, much to the dismay of the Toffeemakers’ fans at Goodison Park. Yobo put the visitors ahead in the 12th minute, putting his foot out and tipping a long-range effort from Javier Mascherano (which was veering well wide of the net, I might add) past Tim Howard and into the back of his own goal. It was a typically scrappy derby match, and Russian wiz Diniyar Bilyaletdinov nearly leveled the score 6 minutes later in the beginning of what was a very back-and-forth first half. Everton found the back of the net twice and were twice disallowed, but the home support were buoyed by their side’s performance and were left singing at the half despite the score remaining 1-0. However, they wouldn’t be singing at fulltime – their side failed to equalize in the second half with Pepe Reina denying the Blues over and over again, seemingly through sheer determination and a bit of luck. When it finally occurred on 81′, the second error from Joseph Yobo would all but put the game out of Everton’s reach. The Nigerian whiffed on an aerial clearance, leading to a shot from Albert Riera before Dirk Kuyt buried the rebound to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later, it was the away support who were singing as another Merseyside derby came to pass.

Manchester Utd 4-1 Portsmouth – Ah, our first non-derby match of the weekend. Still though, there is a bit of history here – the last time Avram Grant came up against Sir Alex Ferguson on the touchline was in the 2008 Champions League final, with Chelsea just one slip away from being crowned Champions of Europe. Despite being runners up in that competition and in the EPL, Grant was sacked as Chelsea manager, left to ponder what could have been. Yesterday he made his (unofficial) return to coaching, this time as manager of strugglers Portsmouth, who are looking to turn their fortunes around after going through 3 owners and 2 managers already this year. Fergie himself had to watch the match from the stands, as he is currently serving a touchline ban – luckily the match was quite a spectacle, abundant with soft penalties and controversy. On 25′ the visitors were awarded a somewhat questionable penalty which Wayne Rooney buried from the spot. The Fratton Park crowd could not complain too much, though, as 6 minutes later their side was awarded an even more inexplicable penalty which Kevin Prince Boateng was able to convert – apparently awarded for some rather run-of-the-mill shirt tugging by Nemanja Vidic. The teams went into the half level, but it would not take United much longer to find their stride. Within the first 8′ minutes of the second period Wayne Rooney would complete his hattrick with a low shot on 48′ and a second penalty on 53′. Ryan Giggs would top it all off on 87′ with the 100th Premiership goal of his career, making it 4-1 United and ensuring that Avram Grant will have Fergie-related nightmares for a while yet.

Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa – It’s always difficult to come down after an incredible high. No, I’m not referring to my own struggles with substance abuse (fictional, I assure you), but rather the 9-1 victory which the Spurs were able to achieve over Wigan Athletic last weekend. Instead of repeating that incredible feat, the Lilywhites were held to an unremarkable draw at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the home side an early lead on 10′, but Michael Dawson was able to level for Tottenham late in the match to earn his side a point and lift them to 3rd place in the English Premier League. Not an overly impressive performance from Harry Redknapp’s side, but they did just enough to keep themselves in the Premiership race.

Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (The London Derby) – Realistically, there are more intense traditional rivalries in London town; historically Chelsea and Arsenal have been less concerned with each other than their other London neighbours. However, the rise of Chelsea into the big four of Premiership football means that in recent years these two sides have been forced into competition with one another at the top of the table and as a direct result their rivalry has become much more intense. Today’s London derby turned out to be an absolute rout from the Blues, who have been in tip-top form all season under Carlo Ancelotti, decimating Arsene Wenger’s depleted side who have been just shy of top form of late. It was another episode of the Didier Drogba show at the Emirates, with the big Ivorian grabbing the brace to all but destroy the Gunners and keep his fantastic record against Wenger’s side alive – Drogba has found the net in each of the last 9 matches played against Arsenal. Drogba opened the scoring on 41′, firing from close range into the top of Almunia’s net after some impeccable service from Ashley Cole. Just 4 minutes later Cole would again play the role of provider, but this time it was Arsenal man Thomas Vermaelen who turned the ball into his own net – giving the home side plenty to think about as they retired for the halftime interval. Just after the break Arsenal should have made it 2-1 when Andrei Arshavin blasted a rebound past Petr Cech and into the Blues’ net, but the goal was disallowed for an alleged foul on the Czech keeper by Gunners man Eduardo. Despite some dangerous efforts, Chelsea dominated play for much of the second half; their persistence paid off on 86′ when (guess who?) Didier Drogba struck again from a free kick just outside the area, blasting past the wall and away from Manuel Almunia into the back of the net. Ultimately, Ancelotti’s side would cruise to a relatively easy win, taking advantage of a depleted and demoralized Arsenal side to further their dominance atop the Premiership table. Chelsea have now recorded wins this season against all of their fellow big four sides – a positive omen if there ever was one.

Manchester City 1-1 Hull City – Oh, and City drew their 7th straight game after Shaun Wright-Phillips’ opener was cancelled out by a late penalty converted by Jimmy Bullard.

Calcio:

Inter 1-0 Fiorentina – Oh, Inter. I am growing to hate you so. In a game when Jose Mourinho’s side played poorly and were well-met by an organized outing from Cesare Prandelli’s men, it would be a penalty kick which separated the two sides in the end and allowed i Nerazzurri to go 8 points clear atop the Serie A table. It’s so typical of this side to underachieve thoroughly and then get by on the skin of their teeth that I shouldn’t be surprised, but yet I am disappointed each time a more deserving team outplays them and ultimately falls, especially due to this sort of misfortune. I’m not saying that the penalty wasn’t there, but had it not been for Gianluca Comotto’s hotheadedness, or had Alberto Gilardino buried his one-on-one chance against Julio Cesar instead of hitting the post just moments earlier, then Inter surely would have dropped points on the evening. In the end, Diego Milito’s penalty made the difference in a match full of could’ve-beens for La Viola that was perhaps ultimately a shouldn’t-have-been for La Beneamata.

Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria (il Derbi della Lanterna) – The Genovese derby, or il Derbi della Lanterna, as it is known, always produces some fireworks. This year’s was no different, as i Grifoni demolished i Blucerchiati in a game that had as many goals as it did red cards. Omar Milanetto opened the scoring for Genoa on 10′ with a spot kick after Reto Ziegler executed a clumsy tackle in the box. Genoa’s Giuseppe Biava was sent off for handling the ball as he fell to the ground, Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi received two yellows, and his teammate Fabrizio Cacciatore received a straight red late in the match. Meanwhile, Genoa’s Marco Rossi (yes, there are two of them) scored on 53′ and Raffaele Palladino capped off the victory with a spot kick on 75′. An eventful and exciting derby, and also a hard-fought one, which I’m sure an inspection of Antonio Cassano’s shins would tell you. They really don’t like that guy, eh? I bet Lippi calls up the whole team come June.

Cagliari 2-0 Juventus – La Vecchia Signora ha perso contro… gli Isolani? Cagliari managed to pull one (better yet, two) over on their visitors at the Stadio San’Elia today, snatching all three points from a rather toothless Old Lady. I think I’ve waited long enough to say this – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has certainly been a huge flop at AC Milan this season, but realistically, what has Diego done for Juventus’ offense lately? I’ll tell you what he did today: not enough. Their confidence shattered by a midweek loss to Bordeaux, Juventus fell about play clumsily and were victimized by a sharp and determined performance from the Sardinians. The home side opened the scoring on 30′ when Nenê unleashed  35-yard screamer that blasted into Buffon’s top corner. Juventus struggled to respond, and with their own Brazilian Diego firing well-wide before the half, went into the break with a much-deserved 1-0 deficit. After the interval, Amauri thought he had grabbed a quick equalizer for his side, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside, leaving Cagliari keeper Federico Marchetti more than happy to pick the ball out of the back of the net. Cagliari also had fair claim to a spot kick after Martin Cácares handled the ball in the area, but the referee adjudged it ball-to-hand and play continued. A late goal would come to pass, but it would not be the strike that Juventus needed: substitute Alessandro Matri turned Fabio Cannavaro absolutely inside-out before slotting past Gigi Buffon in the 89th minute. Both Diego and substitute Alessandro Del Piero would miss absolute sitters for the visitors in added time and Juventus were forced to swallow their second humbling defeat in 5 days, dropping to 8 points behind league-leaders Inter.

Vucigol had me praising the heavens with his 44th-minute header.

AS Roma 2-1 Atalanta – An ugly, nervy, but ultimately deserved away win. I couldn’t be happier. Though dominations at the Stadio Olimpico like the one last weekend over Bari are a joy to watch, they are expected – those are the games that we will always win, because the magic of the Olimpico rarely fails us. However, it is matches like today’s at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia that are must-wins for i Giallorossi, because they are the ones where we so often lose our nerve and drop points against teams we would easily beat at home. It’s not called an advantage for nothing, you know. Luckily, Roma was able to pull out a comeback win against gli Orobici today after Fabio Ceravolo gave the home side the lead on 13′. Roma looked decidedly lackluster for huge spells during the first half, but were able to grab a set-piece goal just before the half as Mirko Vučinić nodded home a corner from David Pizarro on 44′. Simone Perrotta was able to give his side the lead 20 minutes later, ghosting into the box unnoticed to head home a cross from Vučinić. After gaining the lead, i Lupi simply fought to maintain it. The substitutions of Jérémy Ménez for Rodrigo Taddei and Roberto Acquafresca for Cristiano Doni changed the entire complexion of the game; suddenly Roma were on the backheel and fighting only to maintain their lead while the home side heaped on piles of offensive pressure. For the most part Roma held up nicely under the waves of attack; Riise almost scored an own-goal on 85′ but instead cleared the ball nicely, while Atalanta had a legitimate appeal for a penalty on Juan two minutes later which was happily waved off. Finally the fulltime whistle blew and Roma were able to take a much-needed 3 points home to Trigoria. We’ve finally cracked the top 10! Rejoice ironically – but only for a second. We have il Derbi della Capitale to think about.

Udinese 2-0 Livorno – The other Bianconeri were able to achieve a much better result this weekend than Juventus. A cracker of a free kick from Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring on 29′, bringing his total for the season to a round 10. 7 minutes later, Antonio Floro Flores doubled his side’s money, heading home after a build-up that was again largely the work of Di Natale. The one-two punch was more than enough to subdue the Tuscan visitors at the Stadio Friuli and le Zebrette ran away with the 2-goal win. I almost feel bad for Sersi Cosmi, fervent Romanista that he is, until I remember that it was his cursed side which sent us on the downward spiral earlier this season from which we are just now recovering (ie, getting Totti back). But then again, Udinese was a part of that spiral too… Aw, to hell with the both of them.

The Hunter finally found his gun!

AC Milan 2-0 Catania - AC Milan were given a golden opportunity to leapfrog Juventus in the standings this weekend, with i Bianconeri dropping points at Cagliari and i Rossoneri overcame Catania in Sicily to make the most of that chance. Leonardo’s side were held to a goalless draw by the Rossazzurri for 93 minutes, but Milan ‘flop’ Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finally made good on his promise to score an added time brace and catapult his side into second place. First the Dutchman sent a low strike in after some lovely control by Filippo Inzaghi, and then only seconds later after the restart he struck again, chipping Andújar beautifully to make it 2-0 for Milan. Well, the Hunter certainly took his time, but it seems that he has finally found his form for his new side – and his timing couldn’t have been better.

Futbol:

Ibra done good.

Barcelona 1-0 Real Madrid (El Clásico)- Well, it might be called El Clásico, but there was nothing ‘classic’ about Spain’s biggest derby this evening. Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a scrappy game in which neither truly came into their stride or were able to showcase their own particular brand of football. Despite injury concerns, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were all able to feature in the game, but the big Swede would be the only one to make his mark on the match. The Camp Nou was buzzing with energy as 98,000 of los Culés welcomed their most hated rivals to their home ground. Madrid, however, were not daunted, and were the first to impress, with Xabi Alonso and Kaká putting in perhaps their most impressive performances in the shirt of Los Blancos to date. Cristiano Ronaldo played for a solid hour, but was clearly not at full fitness and unable to terrorize the Barcelona backline as he might have wished. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi caused all sorts of trouble but was ultimately kept fairly quiet by Real Madrid’s defense, who put in a surprisingly solid performance. It was the combination of the substitute Ibrahimovic and Dani Alves which would prove deadly, as the diminutive right-back put in an inch-perfect cross which Ibracadabra struck home with authority to put the home side ahead on 55′. However, that would be the only goal of the match, and besides red cards for both Sergi Busquets (63′) and Lassana Diarra (90′), there was not much other action to speak of. In fact, in light of the last Clásico, in which Barca drubbed Madrid 6-2, tonight’s match was a bit of a dud.

Sevilla 2-2 Málaga (Andalusian Derby) – Sevilla’s closest (and fiercest) rivals are Real Betis, against whom they contest the Derby of Seville. However, with Real Betis currently languishing in Segunda División, Sevilla’s closest rivals in the interestingly-named Autonomous Community of Andalucía are perhaps their neighbours in Málaga, who are currently languishing at the bottom of the Primera División. So, we have the Andalusian Derby; and while the rivalry might not be as intense as El Clásico, I personally found the game itself to be much more entertaining. At the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán Sevilla were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat in midweek to Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, but they certainly did not get off to a good start. Although in a bizarre incident Málaga substitute Albert Luque was shown the red card from the bench, it was still the visitors who took the early lead. Fernando opened up the scoring for the visitors on 22′, and Duda made it 2-0 just before the half after being set up by Fernando. It seemed as though Málaga were headed towards all three points, but a spectacular second-half performance from Luis Fabiano ensured that the spoils were shared in Seville this weekend. The Brazilian struck first on 58′, heading home past Gustavo Munúa, and then on 72′ struck again, smashing the ball into the lower corner of the net to bring his side level. Both sides fought hard for an equalizer, and Sevilla came closest right at the death with a point-blank header from Fernando Navarro that Munúa probably saved by accident. In the end, each team would come away with a single point in a 2-2 draw that was anything but uneventful.

Fußball:

Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96 – Well, it seems that die Roten have finally regained their lost form, overcoming midtable side Hannover 96 with ease in a match that featured goals from two of their most talented young stars. Thomas Müller tapped in from close range on 19′ to open the scoring, but Bayern looked shaky at times and were not convincing in their possession of the ball. Constant Djakpa caused all sorts of trouble for Phillip Lahm up the flank, and drew a good save from Hans-Jörg Butt, but was unable to affect the scoreline before the stroke of halftime. Ivica Olic made sure that the visitors got off to a good start in the second half, rising at the far post to meet a Danijel Pranjic cross with his head and double Bayern’s lead. For the rest of the half the home side did everything they could do to reduce Bayern’s lead, but to no avail – it would ultimately be Mario Gomez who would get the last laugh, beating the offside trap on 90′ and slotting home to make it 3-0 for his side. This victory sees Bayern rise to 4th in the Bundesliga standings, while Hannover 96 sit at 12th.

Someone control this guy!

Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 VfB Stuttgart – Leverkusen exit this weekend sitting three point clear atop the Bundesliga table, and it can largely be contributed to one man: Stefan Kießling. The 25-year old striker has been absolutely on fire for his club of late and bagged a hattrick this weekend at the Bayarena to cement his place atop the German scoring charts as well. Kießling struck on 22′, 59′ and 87′, while Eren Derdiyok added a goal of his own on 38′ to complete a 4-0 drubbing of a lacklustre Stuttgart side.

Werder Bremen 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg – Edin Dzeko’s double was not enough for the reigning Bundesliga champions to grab all three points away at the Weserstadion. Each time the young Bosnian scored to give his side the lead, the home side were quick to equalize, and ultimately the two squads cancelled one another out and had to settle for a point apiece. Hugo Almeida and Per Mertesacker were on hand to restore parity for their side, with the latter scoring at the very death in the 91st minute of stoppage time. The sharing of points means that Werder Bremen now sit at 2nd place in the Bundesliga standings, while Wolfsburg remain 8th.

]]> http://harrissports.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/the-wrong-stuff/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:02:18 +0000 harrisharrison http://harrissports.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/the-wrong-stuff/

One of the great unfathomable mysteries of life is the ongoing appeal of Ian Wright. Having scratched his name from the pundit rota at the BBC Sports department, he has now bobbed back up again alongside Steve Rider over at ITV. Presumably this reinstatement hasn’t come as a result of Wright’s recent work on Five’s Live From Studio Five, a minute’s viewing of which compelled me to throw my TV set onto the street cursing the death of television.

Wright’s unique selling point at the Beeb was a kind of call-a-spade-a-spade everyman-down-the-pub cheerleading during England games. But all of us, including Wright probably, realised quickly that a) calling a spade a spade isn’t entertaining or clever, it’s just stating the bleedin’ obvious b) blokes talking to you unsolicited about football in a pub are generally quite tiresome c) invariably you’re watching England matches in pubs anyway, and it’s a venue where blokes tend to congregate to talk about football, so Wright was stepping into a vacancy already filled by a thousand boring inarticulate idiots.

Admittedly not many of your average punters can point to an adoptive son in the line-up but this is irritating in itself. Wright is annoyingly, if understandably, pre-occupied with his little Shaun.

Wright quit the BBC citing the fact that he was fed up with playing the ‘court jester’ role, sort of light relief to the dour Alan Hansen. It seems that to compensate for this over on ITV, Wright is now overtly pessimistic about England, with nothing constructive to say about our failings against Brazil, just repeating that it was ’shit’. Okay he didn’t say that, but if he had done it would have been more eloquent.

It seems Photoshop Thursday has become Photoshop Tuesday without me realising hence I have no entry in this week’s Guardian gallery. Looks like it’s a permanent move so I’ll probably start posting this on Tuesdays too. The theme this week was England’s largely meaningless friendly against Brazil in Doha, Qatar. Here’s what I would have sent in. A bit random but  there  you go.

Fabio plays the Weakest Link and trims some of those rubbish players from his squad.

This week’s gallery is here.

T.

Archive.

A clean sheet, goal and win bonus earned 19 points for El Tel

It was a big weekend in the Barclays Premier League as Chelsea and Manchester United went head-to-head on Sunday, with Chelsea taking the points in a 1-0 win. Arsenal climbed into second spot with a comfortable 4-1 win at Wolves, while Spurs moved up to fourth after their 2-0 win over Sunderland. At the bottom, both Portsmouth and West Ham lost as Hull picked up an important win over Stoke.

Did you have a good weekend?

Chelsea captain John Terry (El Tel’s Stamford Bridge Blue Army 19 pts) was the leading points scorer over the weekend, scoring the only goal in the win over Man United and keeping a clean sheet. Another captain, Cesc Fabregas (Flash in the Pan 16 pts), also had a good week by scoring one and setting up another in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Wolves, with Jody Craddock (8 pts) finding the back of the net for both teams.

Aston Villa’s 5-1 win over Bolton produced plenty of points for James Milner (El Tel’s Stamford Bridge Blue 16 pts), John Carew (16 pts) and Carlos Cuellar (14 pts), with Milner setting up 3 goals and scoring one himself as well as missing a penalty. Elsewhere, two goals from Jason Roberts (14 pts) helped Blackburn beat bottom club Portsmouth, a goal and a key contribution from Shaun Wright-Phillips (Team Skin 14 pts) brought Manchester City back into the game against Burnley, and goals from Seyi Olofinjana (13 pts) and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (9 pts) helped Hull to their third win of the season.

A couple of very big (in my not-so-humble opinion, at least) matches went down this weekend, with some producing more exciting results than others. This week there was a double countdown to what I thought were two of the biggest Red v. Blue matches this year. In England we had arguably the two largest Premiership contenders in Chelsea and Manchester United going head-to-head, while in Italy Scudetto favourites Internazionale went testa-alla-testa with my beloved (but struggling terribly) AS Roma.

Football:

Arsenal 4-1 Wolverhampton – Sure, Chelsea and United are probably the two favourites in the Premiership race this season, but I’m not fool enough to dismiss Arsenal as also-rans just yet. For one thing, the Gunners are on a hot streak of 13 unbeaten matches in all competitions. For another thing, one of those matches consisted of something of an Arsenal youth squad (but then again, aren’t all their squads youth squads?) defeating admittedly-struggling Liverpool in Carling Cup play. On the other hand, this weekends performance in particular wasn’t all that impressive, and it might be more appropriate to say that Wolverhampton lost the match rather than saying Arsenal won it. The Molineux Stadium offered the Wolves no security, as the visitors went up 3-0 before the end of the first half, with 2 of those goals being put into the Wolves’ own net by their defenders Ronald Zubar and Joey Craddock. Cesc Fàbregas would provide the third. Andrei Arshavin added his name to the scoresheet in the second half, and Joey Craddock somewhat atoned for his errors by scoring a consolation goal (in Arsenal’s net, this time) in the 89th minute. Along with the result of the Chelsea-United match this afternoon, this win in Wolverhampton sees Arsenal climb to second in the League table.

Perhaps one day Drogba will follow the footsteps of Vinnie Jones to Hollywood.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester Utd A fairly controversial match – but then again, it was always going to be. There’s bound to be a million gripes from United fanboys about the various ‘injustices’ committed against them today, so if you’re a Blues fan gloat with caution, because you’re likely to receive a long series of whines in response. Let me say a few things: Darren Fletcher’s foul was not a foul, Drogba should probably retire and become an actor, and Jonny Evans is a little punk. Many tempers flared during the match, and it seemed as if a full-out brawl was imminent at points, but alas they kept their heads and all that came of it was a flurry of yellow cards. It was nevertheless dramatic, though, with such highlights as the constant battle between Didier Drogba and Wes Brown providing (me, at least) with much entertainment. It would be Mr. Chelsea himself, John Terry, who would make the difference between the two sides, heading in what I believe was the only goal United have conceded from a set piece this year on 76′. I suppose that earns him a man of the match nod, but other contenders include Wayne Rooney, Nicolas Anelka and Michael Essien, who all gave 110% and played hard-nosed games (must’ve eaten their Toast’n'Butta this morning). Though Drogba’s theatrics were shameful, and he may have hauled down Wes Brown in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, I have to call out Jonny Evans here, for his kung-fu kick to the chest of Drogba and then his tackle on Ricardo Carvalho long after the whistle. Horrific performance for the youngster; he should consider himself lucky that he wasn’t sent off. A win that sees Chelsea sitting 5 points clear atop the EPL table, and which should boost their morale for weeks to come. As for United; well I’m sure we’ll hear all about how they feel.

Manchester City 3-3 Burnley – Bad news all over Manchester this weekend, it seems. City have been struggling for weeks now, and had drawn their 4 previous fixtures. Well, make it five, Citizens. Newly-promoted Burnley are notoriously shoddy away from home, yet a late goal helped them to steal a point at the City of Manchester Stadium in a 6-goal draw. Burnley in fact took an early 2-0 lead over their hosts after Graham Alexander converted a spot kick and Steven Fletcher found the back of the net. City fought back, and goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy saw them take control of the game by the 56th minute. However, they were unable to keep hold of that control and on 87′ Burnley substitute Kevin McDonald scored to bring his side level for once and for all. I’m sure Burnley won’t be happy to have given up that initial 2-0 lead, but all in all, this is a result which should leave Owen Coyle pleased and Mark Hughes with his head in his hands.

Futbol:

The dangerous duo nearly gave Los Blancos a run for their money.

Real Madrid 3-2 Atlético Madrid – Well, El Clásico never fails to disappoint. Even in a season where Atléti has struggled so badly that they have been forced to make a change in management, against Los Blancos they always bring their all. It seemed at first that Real would simply stroll to a Clásico win this season, after Kaká gave his side the lead on 5′, with Marcelo and Higuaín adding their names to the scoresheet on 24′ and 64′, respectively. However, Los Colchoneros would battle back late in the second half after Sergio Ramos was given his marching orders on 66′; a frenzied 2 minutes would see Diego Forlán and Sergio Agüero pull two goals back for their side with 10 minutes left to play. Manuel Pellegrini’s men would ultimately be able to hold off their crosstown rivals, but Quique Sánchez Flores can at least take heart from his side’s spirited fightback. An exciting Clásico, to say the least.

Barcelona 4-2 Mallorca – Samuel Eto’o commented this week that if he had not been bound by his duties to Inter, he would have traveled to the Camp Nou to see his ex-sides face off against one another – he would have sat directly at the centre line so as to not betray his allegiance to one over the other. I gotta say, Sammy, from a Romanista’s point of view, I wish you’d gone. But I digress. Barcelona youngster Pedro gave his side an early lead on 10′, only for Mallorca’s Nunes to equalize from a corner kick just under 10 minutes later. Pedro wasn’t finished yet, though and on 39′ restored the lead to his side, smashing home the third rebound after Mallorca keeper Aouate denied teammates Thierry Henry and Sergi Busquets. The two would get their chance just a few moments later, when Busquets sent in a cross for Henry, who beat Aouate with a diving header to make it 3-1. Lionel Messi was introduced after the break to further increase Barca’s tally – he would eventually, but he would take his time, and it would only be from the spot after teammate Ibrahimovic was brought down in the area. Mallorca sub Alhassane Keita would earn one back for his side late into stoppage time, but ultimately it was too little too late and Barcelona would cruise to an easy victory.

Fußball:

Bayern München 1-1 Schalke 04 – Bayern have been demoralized over and over again the past two weeks, and were perhaps unenthused to face the stiff challenge of Schalke this weekend. Schalke sit above Die Roten in the standings, and looked to pressure the home side early, forcing them into rash challenges and using their wingers to cause Bayern problems on the break. Both sides traded chances in the early stages of the match, but ultimately it would be Bayern who would get ahead first, with a little bit of luck. On 31′ Holger Badstuber lofted in a long ball to Miroslav Klose, whose headed effort deflected off of Kevin Kuranyi and landed at the feet of Daniel van Buyten, who duly buried it. However, Joel Matip, making his debut for Die Königsblauen, was able to cancel out the home side’s advantage with a strike of his own on 43′. The teams would go into the half level, and when they came back it was all Bayern – Louis van Gaal’s men poured forward and for the better part of the half had their visitors pinned in their own end. However, no matter what Bayern did, they were unable to find the back of the net, and both van Gaal and Felix Magath’s sides would come away from the game with a point. Bayern need to get themselves out of this current slump if they are to have any chance of keeping alive their hopes of European and domestic conquest.

Calcio:

AS Roma 1-1 Inter – I think I’ll tackle this one in its own article.

Mauro Camoranesi makes the difference for Juventus once again.

Juventus 5-2 Atalanta – It seems that when Mauro Camoranesi is on form, so is La Vecchia Signora. Forget Brazilians and expensive summer signings (and those that are one and the same); the success of Ciro Ferrara’s squad depends on the performance of the Italian international, who has been with i Bianconeri since 2002. In the case of yesterday’s game, it was Camoranesi’s brace which opened up the scoring in a 5-2 drubbing of Atalanta. Felipe Melo, Diego and David Trezeguet would account for the other 3 goals on Juventus’s part, while Valdes and Fabio Ceravolo pulled back 2 for the home side. This is a very positive result for Juve; while Atalanta generally climb to midtable at the best of times, they are nonetheless notoriously difficult to defeat at home. With Inter tying Roma and yesterday’s drubbing in Bergamo, Juve move to 5 points off of first place.

AC Milan 2-1 SS Lazio – I give Davide Ballardini until the end of the month. After the horrendous loss to Villareal in Europa League play on Thursday, Lazio needed some kind of result to break them out of a long, long losing streak. Admittedly, this revived AC Milan team are not the easiest team to achieve it against, but if they are going to do it anywhere, it would be in their Roma’s house, the Stadio Olimpico. As it can plainly be seen, they did not achieve said result. Thiago Silva and Alexandre Pato both found the Lazio net with first-half goals to dash whatever hopes could still be held in the Curva Nord even before the halftime whistle. However, Lazio were handed a lifeline when Thiago Silva deflected the ball into his own net after some deft play by Mauro Zarate. After that own-goal, gli Aquilotti seriously threatened to equalize, with Tommaso Rocchi and Mauro Zarate both coming close to restoring parity. In the end though, AC Milan would grab a valuable 3 points, while Lazio return to their fortress of solitude media silence to ponder what continues to go wrong.

Fiorentina 1-0 Udinese – It took them 84 minutes, but la Viola were able to to squeak by midtable side Udinese with some help from a Juan Manuel Vargas strike. It was  night of missed chances for both sides; a race to the finish where both teams were misfiring on all cylinders. Fiorentina had the bulk of the chances, with 14 shots and 5 on target, compared to Udinese’s 7 and 2. However, only one of those shots would make a difference tonight at the Stadio Friuli, and it would be Vargas’ set-piece shot. That shot earned i Gigliati a victory which sees them only 1 point behind AC Milan in the standings, sitting comfortably in 4th place.

Well today hasn’t started too swell, I missed the 11:10 train to Nice I intended to get. The problem was that I just missed a tram to the central station while buying a ticket and annoyingly the screen said the next one wouldn’t be for 25 minutes which wouldn’t give me time to get my train ticket.

I had planned to get it yesterday but didn’t get a chance and as it’s an international journey I can’t use the ticket machines that I’ve become a dab hand at. So that means I need to wait in a queue (which are usually rather hefty).

As I knew I didn’t have time I just mooched back to the hostel to hang out there while waiting for the 15:10 train.

The worst bit is though that I’d sourced a bar in Nice that is showing the City vs Burnley game, now I’ll get there much too late for it. Boo.

France will bring me up to country number 26, the bad news is there will be no completely new countries for me now that I’m not going to Andorra or Portugal. Boo.

I made the 15:10 without issue. €30, not too bad for a 5 hours journey.

‘To Lose My Life’ by White Lies starts with a good opening track and then goes downhill rapidly, very dull stuff.

My mate Jimbo is texting me the City score, it’s now nearly half time and we are 2-0 down. I’m glad I got the late train. Unless there is a magnificent 2nd half comeback it will be a disastrous result. As I type SWP has just pulled one back.

It finished 3 a piece in the end apparently. Not quite disastrous but certainly not very bloody good.

While on the train some crazy Italian fella who was with his wife and daughter was grilling me indirectly via a Russian girl who speaks Italian and English. He was asking banal questions like “Have you ever had lasagna?”, “What do you like and dislike about Italy?” and “What do people drink in England?”. He was driving the poor girl mad.

The Villa Sant Exupery is where I’m staying in Nice. My first impressions are very good, a nice big bar with loads of free internet terminals and cans of Ottweiler Pils at €1. Goodo.

Actually it’s just occurred to me that I will likely go to Monaco at some point tomorrow, that counts as a new country. Whoo!

The pic is of the pet reptile thingy at the hostel in Milan, a right vicious little bugger when worms are dropped in he is.

A solid display earnt Blues a point on a night when they may feel hard done by to not have all three.

The back four were rarely tested by an attacking line up compromising of Tevez,Santa Cruz, Bellamy and Wright Phillips. Bellamy on the left and Wright Phillips on the right failed to dominate Stephen Carr and Liam Ridgewell. Ridgewell continuing to fill in at left back, doing well defensively however his distribution isn’t great.

James McFadden, who is usully reliable from the spot, hit a weak penalty to Givens left and the keeper ,who once again showed why he is one of the best in the world, saved with ease.

Match Report

It’s another encouraging performance witnessed by Mr Yeung, what must have been as encouraging for Blues fans would have been seeing him and his associates looking like they were getting involved and enjoying the action.

According to reports, this move only requires the signatures as it has been agreed. This is excellent news for Becks and England.

No matter what anyone says about Walcott, Lennon, Wright-Phillips and all the others, there is still not one single wide player in the world, never mind England, who can do what Beckham does.

No-one can alter a game at the highest level like he does. He dominates a game with his distribution and vision and his work rate can never be questioned.

The only question mark over his presence at the World Cup next year was whether he could secure top flight football in a quality league for a quality team once the MLS season had ended.

Now he has we will surely be able to take one of our most experienced, inspirational and impressive footballers to South Africa and hopefully come home with the cup.

ENGLAND put behind them the Ukraine blip with an assured victory over Belarus at Wembley on Wednesday.

Now the speculation will really start about who will be on that plane to South Africa and who more importantly will partner Wayne Rooney in attack.

Much will undoubtedly be said about the credentials of Peter Crouch and the advantages of Emile Heskey but personally I think there is a more obvious solution.

Steven Gerrard.

Despite amounting 76 caps, many critics still dispute whether Gerrard has ever really taken his Liverpool form into international football.

But he has never really been given the freedom he has at Liverpool with England.

How to get the best out of Gerrard, Lampard and Barry is not a new argument but is one which I think has never been settled.

Fabio Capello seems to have reached a comprise by playing Gerrard out wide on the left but giving him the liberty to roam infield.

This formation is all well and good at the moment but what happens when Joe Cole comes back?

Cole was in my opinion England’s best player at the last world cup and has that match changing ability in his locker. Capello would certainly have a tough decision to make if the Chelsea winger returns to full fitness in time for next June.

None of the strikers competing for that slot alongside Rooney has really made a compelling claim. Heskey is clearly the favoured striker but can he really be first choice given his goal scoring ratio?

In Gerrard and Cole Capello has two players of world-class ability and he would be silly to ignore either of them or play them out of position.

Before his injury, Cole had made that left berth his own and I don’t see why he can’t again.

While Gerrard has proven over the past few years at Liverpool that his best position is behind the striker. The stats speak for themselves – 45 goals in 93 appearances in the past two seasons. The solution some might say to the Heskey dilema?

If Cole was to reclaim the left side of midfield Gerrard would probably be touted for the right. But with Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and the age defying David Beckham all more than capable of antagonising defences it would be another silly mistake to put Gerrard in there instead.

Unfortunately for Gerrard his ability to put in an effective, if underwhelming, performance anywhere on the pitch has proved a curse for him.

Too much is made of getting the best out of Rooney – but he is a world-class talent and he I’m sure would relish playing alongside another world-class talent in Gerrard.

If I was a defender and I had Heskey and Rooney, or Gerrard and Rooney running at me I know which pair I’d fear most.

Neither Heskey, Crouch, Jermaine Defoe, Gabriel Agbonlahor or Carlton Cole have true international class – Gerrard has.

Just a quick post in regards to Steve Bruce’s decision to choose David Beckham as England’s man of the match. A decision that Fabio Capello compared to handing Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize – make of that what you will, although I have to say I’m fairly non-plussed.

After the game, Beckham’s fellow teammates, Crouch and Wright-Phillips were both asked about the man of the match award. They both deflected the questions with grace and skill, in much the same way someone defends an elderly relative who speaks out of turn. The reality is that with two goals for Crouch and one for SWP they’ve got to feel miffed that Becks second-half sojourn was rated more highly. Even Beckham seemed shocked by the decision, quipping, “I don’t know who chose that”.

Anyway, back to Bruce. Decent manager, decent enough at providing generally inane comments about television football, obviously good at supporting Beckham, but dear god let’s not give him any more choices in regards to man of the match awards.

And well that Beckham beard – shocker, absolute shocker.

England won in a mismatch of skills against Belarus by a 3-0 scoreline courtesy of a brace from Peter Crouch and a snazzy goal from Shaun Wright Phillips in a game that saw Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney on the sidelines through injuries sustained over the weekend.

In the stands was a rather forlorn Michael Owen who is dwindling away at a steady pace in Fabio Capello’s reign. Equally forlorn was Emile Heskey who senses that his days in the English team are numbered if he doesn’t match up to the goal scoring prowess of Crouch, the latter having scored 18 goals in 35 games while I am quite sure that Heskey won’t be able to achieve such a high conversion ratio of a goal every two games!

England have qualified for the world cup in South Africa next year and it remains to be seen if the lions can continue to roar or if they would metamorphose into the innocuous kittens that they were in the pre-Capello era.

Probably the most awaited manchester derby in recent times with the Arab money pumped into the blue half of Manchester looking to match the talent in the red half. Ferguson is already talking about Mark Hughes and his team and it is not in good humour, so he better be prepared for the worse in pre and post match interviews.

It’s City isn’t it? They are a small club with a small mentality. All they can talk about is Manchester United; they can’t get away from it. That arrogance will be rewarded. It is a go at us, that’s the one thing it is. They think taking Carlos Tevez away from Manchester United is a triumph. It is poor stuff.

This is what he said post the Tevez poster that came up in the blue half of Manchester.

On team strength, United is definitely weaker than last year with the exit of Ronaldo and Tevez. But credit has to be given to Ferguson’s team for their fighting attitude. They might look in deep trouble, like how they were in the last match of the Premier League, but they dig themselves out of it within no time. Average players like Fletcher come out in shining colours in situations like this giving 110% on the field. The way they played with 10 men were something not many teams in the premier league can replicate, probably the only exception could be Chelsea. And this attitude is what I would wish the Gunners can learn from Utd. But to me the most important player that this United team has is Wayne Rooney. He personifies this team the best. He got one chance when the team were leading 2-1 with 10 men and he converted a very difficult chance to make it beyond the Spurs. In team news, Rio Ferdinand looks like missing the match following his groin injury in the Champion’s league tie in mid-week.

Man City on the other hand come to this match at the back of a wonderful 4-2 victory against Arsenal. But what they have to understand is the fact that the Gunners gifted them opportunities which this United team will not. And city will be without Adebayor in this match and there is only a slight possibility that Tevez will pass a late fitness test to play against his previous employers. On paper City will have a good team pitting against Unted, but on skills and temperament, it would be a completely different ball game. With only Bellamy as the fit forward available, it would be a challenge to Hughes to put up an attacking front against United.

Wright Phillips vs Evra battle

Probably the quickest of the left-backs and right-midfielders in this league this would be an interesting battle on the cards. Anderson’s presence in the team becomes vital to support Evra in not just controlling Philips but also in helping him move forward and provide support to Rooney. Phillips on the other hand will hope that De Jong will break up enough play for the creative play of Ireland to flourish on the middle of the park.

City look more creative with Stephen Ireland and Wright Phillips in the team. But it could all be neutralised by the effectiveness of players like Fletcher and Anderson.

Prediction: 1-0 to Manchester United

Other matches

Chelsea take on Tottenham Hotspurs in a London Derby which is always interesting due to the sheer number of goals and attacking play. I think this time also we won’t be surprised if there are more than 3 goals in this match. Chelsea is far more superior and this is one match in which I think Spurs will miss Modric.

Prediction:Chelsea to win 3-1

An injury-hit Arsenal take on a flly-fit Wigan at home on Saturday.The good news is that Van Persie might be ruled fit for the match and the bad news is that, that is the only good news. Still many players are injured and will take couple more weeks before we see some new face in the team. Vito mannone will be under the bars and hopefully Wenger should start with Rosicky and Eduardo.

Prediction:Arsenal to win 2-0

Liverpool are away to West Ham who lost to Wigan by a solitary goal last week away from home. But at home I expect them to trouble Liverpool

Prediction: 1-1

Hasta hace bien poco, la selección española presentaba siempre en las grandes citas, a priori, uno de los mejores equipos pero ,por una u otra razón, y a pesar de dar muy buena impresión ante equipos menores, siempre se iba a casa recibiendo con el rabo entre las piernas y con la oreja mojada en los partido importantes. Es lo que la prensa llamaba “no saber competir”.

J5: El Arsenal y el “saber competir”

• Partido de la jornada: Manchester City 4 – 2 Arsenal

Pues bien, tras el doble partido en Manchester (primero en Old Trafford y después en el City of Manchester), bien se podría decir que el  Arsenal de hoy sufre del mismo mal que la España de entonces. Y lo peor es que nadie conoce el remedio a semejante mal (quizás contratar a Luís Aragonés?). Bromas aparte, creo que sólo el tiempo puede hacer que este equipo aprenda a manejar partidos igualados contra rivales de la más alta entidad. Y este City es uno de esos rivales.

Porque el City ya no es el tapado: va a luchar por ganar la Premier a poco que no se le tuerzan las cosas. Faltaba la confirmación ante uno de los 4 fantásticos (que pasarán a ser cinco esta temporada) y aquí la tenemos. La solidez con la que están ganando partidos y, sobre todo, la contundencia en los últimos metros, incluso sin haberse acoplado aún ni Robinho ni Tévez al nuevo equipo -parece que Adebayor se bastase él solo- dan miedo.

Fue un partido quizás algo soso en la primera mitad. Ambos equipos llegaban al área con pocas ideas, y las defensas no tenían problemas para imponerse. La única forma de romper el marcador parecía de suerte o a balón parado, y el primer gol de los locales fue una conjugación de ambas. Saque de falta que Barry cuelga al área desde 35 metros,  cabecea Micah Richards y Almunia se mete el gol en su propia portería después de no ser lo suficientemente contudente a la hora de despejar el disparo a córner. Manos blanditas de un portero al que le intenté dar un poco de crédito cuando empezó a desbancar a Lehmann, pero cada vez lo está perdiendo más rápido con sus inseguras actuaciones. Aunque la mala suerte también jugó su papel, la culpa de este gol es 99% suya. Ésta vez tocaba ver cómo iba a reaccionar el Arsenal con el marcador en contra. E incluso parecían más cómodos. El City se metió algo atrás y dejó jugar a los londinenses, que, aunque faltos de pegada, acabaron por conseguir el empate, ya en la segunda mitad, con una obra de arte del holandés Robin van Persie. Él solito se recogió un balón en la frontal del área, se dió la vuelta y la colocó rasa y pegadita al palo, imposible para Given.

Pero de nuevo llegó otra “autodestrucción” gunner. A pesar de seguir llevando el peso del partido, como siempre hizo la selección española (incluso en tiempos de Clemente), los rivales se beneficiaron de ello. Sólo diez minutos después del empate, en el 75, Clichy avanza en mediocampo dejando la defensa descubierta, Lescott le roba el balón impecablemente, el City monta un rápida contra que remata Craig Bellamy para poner de nuevo por delante a los Citizens, mostrando que este equipo tiene profundidad de banquillo. Y por si no llegó con una, de nuevo Clichy pierde otro balón, esta vez ante Shaun Wright-Phillips en las inmediaciones del área visitante. Intenta remediarlo cometiendo una clara falta sobre el inglés, que se levanta rapidamente para seguir la jugada, pillando a la defensa gunner en las nubes y poniendo un balón perfecto a Adebayor para cabecear totalmente libre de marca el 3-1, y desatando la locura del togolés que se marcó un sprint de 90 metros digno de Usain Bolt para ir a “celebrarlo” en frente de la aficción del Arsenal (ver foto inicial) que, según él, le despreció en los últimos años. No voy a entrar en la polémica, pero cabe mencionar que Adebayor se encuentra ante una posible sanción de varios partidos por provocar a la afición rival. Y ojo que la próxima semana visitan al eterno rival…

No se habían acabado aún los regalos. Tras un corner a favor del Arsenal, nueva pérdida de balón en las inmediaciones del área de Given. Bellamy se recorre 75 metros aguantando el balón en un 3 contra 3 y, cuando llegan al área rival se la pone en bandeja a Wrigth-Phillips que acabó de destrozar al rival. 3 pérdidas de balón, 3 goles en contra. Totalmente inasumible en un equipo que pretende estar entre los grandes.

Si hay alguna noticia positiva a destacar para el Arsenal, esa sería la vuelta de Rosicky, más de un año después. Con el City ya relajado, el Arsenal intentó maquillar un poco la abultada derrota. Tras un par de lanzamientos al palo de van Persie, el magnífico jugador checo acabó por aprovechar un gran pase de un desaparecido Cesc para poner el definitivo 4-2 en el marcador.

Bautizo de fuego para un City que tiene pinta de ganador de la Premier y que, de ganar el próximo domingo en Old Trafford le dejaría a la altura de un Chelsea que, de momento, sigue siendo el máximo favorito. Eso será en la J6. De momento, os dejo el resumen del que ha sido el mejor partido de la J5:

• Resto de partidos

No ha sido el del City of Manchester el único gran partido de esta quinta jornada. En White Hart Lane, el Tottenham intentaba mantener su racha de victorias ante su bestia negra de los últimos años, el Manchester United. Y de nuevo, volvió a caer ante los campeones. 1-3 ganaron los diablos rojos con un festival de golazos en ambas porterías, el primero marcado por Defoe (ver abajo) a los 50 segundos de partido. Pero parece que el United ya empieza a juntar las piezas que van a componer el puzzle de Ferguson esta temporada, y acabó arrasando a los locales con un Giggs espectacular.

Si mantuvo el pleno de victorias el Chelsea con el gol nuestro de cada día de Drogba y otro de Malouda en el último suspiro para remontar el gol inicial de la, por así llamarlo, revelación de lo que va de temporada, el Stoke City. Llamó la atención la efusividad de la celebración de este último gol por parte de todo el equipo, lo que nos hace creer aún más en la fortaleza de este Chelsea.

En el derbi de Birmingham se impuso el Aston Villa con un gol de Agbonlahor en los últimos minutos, mientras que el Bolton venció en Portsmouth en el duelo entre los dos único equipos que aún no habían puntuado, y que deja a los del sur de la isla como uno de los claros favoritos para bajar a la Championship.

Blackburn 3 – 1 Wolverhampton

Liverpool 4 – 0 Burnley

Portsmouth 2 – 3 Bolton

Stoke City 1 – 2 Chelsea

Sunderland 4 – 1 Hull City

Wigan 1 – 0 West Ham

Tottenham 1 – 3 Manchester United

Birmingham 0 – 1 Aston Villa

Fulham 2 – 1 Everton

• Clasificación

El Chelsea mantiene el liderato una semana más y tendrá que defenderlo la próxima semana en el derbi londinense ante el Tottenham, que baja a la cuarta posición. Al acecho del líder ya están los dos equipos de la ciudad de Manchester, mientras que el Arsenal, líder en las primeras jornadas, baja ya hasta la 9ª plaza. El mal arranque del Everton, sitúa a los de David Moyes en la penúltima posición.

• El gol de la jornada

Cada jornada de la Premier trae un buen saco de grandes goles que merecerían aparecer en esta categoría. Tres de esos golazos se vieron el sábado en el duelo estelar de White Hart Lane, y aunque sea difícil descartar la maravilla de Mister Giggs y el jugadón de Rooney, me quedo con la belleza estética de la chilena del delantero inglés más en forma (con permiso del propio Rooney, con el que comparte el título de máximo goleador): Jermaine Defoe. Impresionante!

Y pensar que muchos árbitros de otras ligas lo anularían por juego peligroso…

Back from International week – hoo hah! Roma won – hoo hah! …Okay, lets get on with it. As per usual, just the big games.

Football:

Manchester Utd 3-1 Tottenham – 47 seconds. That’s all it took for Jermain Defoe to give the Spurs a gloriously early lead over the Red Devils. With a bicycle kick, no less. It would take United twenty-two minutes to recover completely, as Ryan Giggs curled an equally glorious free kick away from the fully outstretched keeper Cudicini. The play went back and forth for a time, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s men went ahead before the half (40′) courtesy of Anderson’s first ever EPL goal. Dimitar Berbatov had an active night, posing a constant problem for the Spurs defensive line until he made way for substitute Michael Carrick. United saw their fortunes flag a bit upon the hour mark, as Paul Scholes received a (perhaps harsh) second yellow and was shown his marching orders after clattering into Tom Huddlestone. However Tottenham was largely lackluster and the Devils would double their lead on a Wayne Rooney goal with twenty minutes remaining – more than enough to see 10-men United earn a deserved three points.

Chelsea 2-1 Stoke City – Stoke Fans knew it couldn’t last forever. The team looked to continue their 100% success rate at home in Britannia Stadium, and were aided in that by the head of Abdoulaye Faye in the 30th minute. An enormous amount of pressure was put on the Blues, and Cech was forced to make more than a few last-ditch saves, but the tides began to turn in the second minute (out of a whopping eight) of first-half stoppage time, when Didier Drogba proved that Chelsea are not going to let a little FIFA ban ruin their fiery streak by smashing the ball into the roof of the net. After the half the Stoke back line took a relentless pounding, and though they looked rock-solid, like any rock they eventually began to crumble under the waves of assault. It would be Florent Malouda who would eventually find the back of the net, though it would be again in stoppage time (4th minute) that Chelsea preserved their fantastic winning streak.

Manchester City 4-2 Arsenal – Manchester City faced by far the hardest test they have come up against this season in the form of Arsenal – and passed with flying colours. It was the first return to the Emirates for former Arsenal players Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor since both picked up big-money transfers to Manchester in the offseason – neither expecting a warm welcome. Both sides were missing key players, with Robinho and Carlos Tevez out for City and Andrei Arshavin missing from the Gunners – all picked up knocks while serving international duty this week. A Manuel Almunia own-goal opened the scoring in this fiery first battle between the two sides who will both likely be jockeying for fourth place this season – the ball hitting the crossbar and bouncing, somewhat comically, off the diving keeper’s head and over the line. The second unfortunate own-goal in two weeks for Arsenal did not diminish their spirit, as they dominated the early portion of the game despite the deficit. The game was an incredibly scrappy outing, and the next goal did not come until well into the second half, with Robin Van Persie equalizing for the Gooners on the counter-attack on 62′. Soon after, Emmanuel Adebayor left the Dutchman with a mark to remember, making accidental boot-to-head contact, drawing blood and enraging his former sides’ fans. Unfortunately, their outrage would not subside any time soon, as Craig Bellamy would restore City’s lead before none other than Adebayor doubled it, celebrating his goal with a 90-yard run to stand defiantly before the Arsenal supporters, a move which earned him a booking and a plastic seat thrown at him from the stands. Shaun Wright-Phillips would all but seal the win in the 83rd minute, capping off a half that saw City turn the game around to dominate the home side, though Tomas Rosicky, returning from injury, would do his best to shake that dominance with a fantastic strike in the 87th. A day to forget for City fans, though they’ll take consolation in the fact that the FA will have taken an interest in Adebayor’s inflammatory celebrations.

Yeah, they almost looked this good.

Liverpool 4-0 Burnley - Welcome to the Yossi Benayoun show! The Israeli international was nothing but class on Saturday, bagging a brace and lifting his side through a thorough thrashing of the Clarets. Burnley started well enough, looking organized and confident under the leadership of Owen Coyle. Liverpool fans suffered through a frustrating first twnety-odd minutes, as Fernando Torres seemed to lack any conviction on the attack – but Rafa Benitez moved Steven Gerrard up from his unusual position as a holding midfielder and Dirk Kuyt in from the wing to add some danger to his side. On 25′ Glen Johnson spotted Yossi Benayoun making a run and fed him the ball – the Israeli continued his mazy run past two defenders before slotting home to give his side the lead. Burnley looked to silence the jubilant Kop by way of Martin Patterson, who troubled the home side’s defense and might have drawn a spot kick after being nudged off the ball in the box by Lucas. Dirk Kuyt doubled ‘Pool’s lead before the half, burying a rebound from a long-range Benayoun strike. Gerrard only gained dominance in the second half, passing up a clear-cut chance for himself to supply Benayoun with his second of the night, and hitting the post after a bombing run into the box. It would be the Israeli who would ultimately knock the Clarets into the dust, with an easy finish after taking advantage of a misplayed offside trap to lift his side to a 4-0 win at Anfield.

Calcio:

Roma 2-1 Siena – I don’t really know how to feel about this one. The win is much-needed, but Massimo Maccarone made mince-meat out of our defense to score the opener, despite Claudio Ranieri’s ultra-defensive 4-4-1-1. Speaking of ultra-defensive, this was an ugly game – I feel that the fickle Roma fans who effectively ousted Spalletti might soon be longing for his attractive attacking style of football. It is noteworthy that both of our goals came from our back lines (Philippe Mexes and John-Arne Riise, respectively), though Mexes was set up beautifully by Totti. Also notable is that both were second half goals, and that our winner came in the 89th minute. Daniele De Rossi seemed to be on the verge of exploding throughout the match, and several times had to be calmed down by his teammates – a sign of intensity, or a worrying one? One bright spot: When Vucinic took the field, the whole squad was galvanized; Totti became a new man (well, an old one – but the one we like) and we began to look dangerous. At any rate, a win is a win, and let’s look towards grabbing another one against Fiorentina next weekend instead of picking apart this one too much.

Juventus 2-0 Lazio – Another entry for the good news column. I hate Juventus as much as any self-respecting Italian, but the choice between La Vecchia Signora and I Biancocelesti is no choice at all. Like Roma, Juventus scraped out an ugly win to secure a place at the top of the Serie A table, two points ahead of scudetto favourites Inter. Lazio thought they had gone ahead just before the half with a strike from Stefano Mauri, but the shot was disallowed after Julio Cruz was adjudged to have fouled Nicola LeGrottaglie in the box and the whistle had blown. Neither side was able to find the back of the net until the 73rd minute, when a rocket-powered volley from on-loan Martín Cáceres, making his Juventus debut, beat Lazio shot-stopper (and fellow Uruguyan) Fernando Muslera. Lazio pushed hard to equalize, but to no avail, and David Trezeguet added insult to injury with a late, late goal in the 94th minute to ensure Juve back-to-back successes in the Eternal City. The good news for Juve haters though is that young star Sebastian Giovinco, who was substituted after Diego picked up an injury (more good news) has complained bitterly about the club’s continued practice of ignoring its young talent – going so far as to say that he regrets being born Italian, as the foreigners get better starting chances (paraphrasing, of course). Gio; come to Roma – ti amiamo!

AC Milan 0-0 Livorno – Milan coach Leonardo has lamented after this weekend’s match that his team failed to show up for the first half of their disappointing draw against the newly-promoted Amaranti. Both teams missed golden opportunities, with Cristiano Lucarelli losing his marker to nod just wide of goal, and Andrea Pirlo crashing a free-kick off the crossbar. For the most part though, it was a quiet night, and won’t say any more than that – because I don’t think I can put it any better than Leonardo did himself.

Genoa 4-1 Napoli – Leonardo isn’t the only disappointed manager this weekend: Napoli’s Roberto Donadoni is livid with his squad after they lost their 17th straight away game at Genoa this weekend – a streak that extends all the way back to October of last year. Sergio Floccari, Giandomenico Mesto, Hernan Crespo and Houssine Kharja all netted for I Grifoni, despite Napoli taking the early lead by way of Marek Hamsik. Genoa have grabbed 9 points from their first three outings to tie them with Juventus and city rivals Sampdoria at the top of the table.

Inter 2-0 Parma – A result to be expected – the newly promoted Parma failed to live up to the promise of their companions in promotion Bari and fell to the reigning champions. However, though they didn’t see much of the play, the visitors did manage to frustrate the Nerazzurri at home in the San Siro, and managed to hold them off for 70 minutes before Samuel Eto’o broke the deadlock and Diego Milito sealed their fate.

Udinese 4-2 Catania - Le Zebrette were lifted from a rather tepid start to the season by an Antonio Di Natale treble which saw them rise above the Sicilians in front of their home crowd at the Stadio Friuli. Finally a truly convincing result from the Northern side.

Fußball:

Bayern Münich 5-1 Borussia Dortmund – Fallen Bundesliga giants Bayern Münich have reasserted themselves as a force to be reckoned with after the international break, dismantling Borussia Dortmund in their own home at Signal Iduna Park. Borussia manager Jürgen Klopp had been adamant that his side would attack the visitors and hold them at bay, but Bayern were in unbeatable form and goals from Franck Ribery, Mario Gomez and Bastian Schweinsteiger, as well as a brace from Thomas Müller, were enough to ensure that Louis Van Gaal’s men emerged victorious. Not even the capacity crowd of 80,000 was enough to daunt Die Roten, who sent their opponents packing with style and ease.

Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Vfl Wolfsburg – Last year’s Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg suffered another blow to their title hopes, with their second loss in as many weeks of play. Wolves’ keeper Diego Benaglio was sent off early in the first half after a reckless foul, and Leverkusen smelled blood, taking the lead just six minutes later thanks to Simon Rolfes, who would bag a brace in the outing. Zvjezdan Misimovic and Grafite would score for Wolfsburg, and their ten-man disadvantage was eased with the second-half ejection of Eren Derdiyok, but Stephan Kiessling’s fast-break goal would prove to be enough to see Der Werkself take three points and rise to the top of the table.

Futbol:

Valencia 4-2 Valladolid – Valencia’s lethal combination of David Silva and David Villa proved that the International break did them absolutely no harm, with Silva grabbing a goal and Villa a brace (alongside a goal from Mata) to lift their side in an impressive display away at the Estadio Jose Zorilla. Los Che maintained their winning start to the season, while Valladolid picked up their second loss. Nauzet Alemán and Manucho netted for the home side.

Villarreal 1-1 Mallorca - Neither side could come away with more than one point from this weekends match at El Madrigal, with Giuseppe Rossi and Borja Valero scoring a lone goal for each respective side.

Real Madrid 3-0 Espanyol – The Catalan side fell before the still-shiny-new might of Los Galacticos, with new signing Kaka proving his worth by providing two crucial assists that lifted his side well clear of Los Periquitos. Granero, Guti and Cristiano Ronaldo, who came on as a substitute, all found the back of the net to make sure Madrid returned home with three points in hand.

Barcelona 2-0 Getafe - No surprises here. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi both scored in order to ensure Barca a win away at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

Sevilla 4-1 Zaragoza – Luis Fabiano once again proves that he is one of the most dangerous (and perhaps underrated) strikers in the world, bagging a brace to help his side dismantle Zaragoza at home in the Estadio Sánchez Pizjuán. Abdoulay Konko and Perotti added to their sides total with a goal apiece, while Arizmendi scored Zaragoza’s lone goal which briefly equalized in the 32nd minute.

Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
20′ Almunia (own goal)
Richards is offside! Watch closely.