Chelsea continues to lead the way, Arsenal stumbles in EPL
November 16, 2008
Chelsea has maintained top spot on the English Premier League table following a convincing 3-0 win against bottom team West Bromwich Albion. Nicolas Anelka continued his hot goal scoring form netting two goals. He has now scored eight in his last four matches and has 12 for the season.
Chelsea also equalled a long standing record for the most successive away wins which stands at 10. The record is now jointly shared with Tottenham Hotspur’s team from 48 years ago.
Liverpool stayed level on points with Chelsea following a 2-0 over Bolton Wanderers. Liverpool were in control for most of the match and took the lead in the 29th minute through a Dirk Kuyt header. The Wanderers were denied a goal just before the break after the ref said Liverpool’s keeper was fouled.
Steven Gerrard secured the points with another headed goal on 73 minutes. The cross was supplied by Fernando Torres who was sent on as a substitute.
Arsenal has given up further ground to the top three teams after going down 0-2 to Aston Villa. Manchester United took advantage of Arsenal’s loss by jumping into third spot on the ladder with their 5-0 thumping of Stoke City.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and single goals to Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck set up the scoreline. Welbeck was making his debut for Man United.
In other EPL matches West Ham United drew with Portsmouth 0-0. Newcastle and Wigan also drew but there were four goals in the match. Sunderland defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-1and Fulham defeated Tottenham 2-1.
Two games are to be played on Sunday. Everton take on Middlesbrough and Hull City face Manchester City.
Gamba Osaka are the new kings of Asia
November 13, 2008
Gamba Osaka have comprehensively defeated Adelaide United to claim the Asian Champions League title for 2008. The team from Japan scored two goals in the first half to take the aggregate to 5-0 after they had won 3-0 in Osaka last week.
For Adelaide to make the final was an achievement in itself as they have a lot smaller operating budget compared to their JLeague opponents.
Read more about the Asian Champions League.
Anelka double puts Chelsea back on top of EPL
November 11, 2008
Nicolas Anelka has scored the only two goals in the match between Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers. The double made him equal top goal scorer in the English Premier League.
Chelsea are now equal on points with Liverpool at the top of the ladder. A superior goal scoring record sees Chelsea in top spot. The top two have a six point break over third place Arsenal who on the weekend defeated Manchester United 2-1.
On the weekend coming Chelsea face the bottom place West Bromwich Albion. Last time the top team faced off against the bottom team it was the bottom placed Spurs team that got the better of top placed Liverpool.
I don’t expect a repeat of this with Chelsea.
Liverpool back on top after 3-0 win over WBA
November 9, 2008
Two goals from Robbie Keane have helped Liverpool bring up victory 150 under manager Rafael Benetez. Alvero Arbeloa also scored a late goal to make the final score 3-0.
Liverpool is on top of the EPL for now. Chelsea have a match Sunday against Blackburn and will replace Liverpool at the top if they win.
The two goals for Keane were his first in the Premier League for Liverpool. Keane was replaced by Fernando Torres with 20 minutes to go. This is good news for Liverpool as the Spaniard has been out injured over recent weeks.
In another match between the top teams Arsenal got the better of Manchester United. Nasri scored a double for Arsenal with goals in the 22 and 47th minute. Man United scored a late goal through Da Silva to make the score 2-1. The win saw Arsenal move into third spot on the Premier League ladder.
Liverpool’s cross town rivals, Everton had a good 3-1 win over West Ham United. Wigan and Stoke drew 0-0 and Portsmouth defeated Sunderland 2-1.
Matchday 4 Champions League results
November 6, 2008
Matchday 4 in the UEFA Champions league has been completed. The biggest result was perhaps the 3-1 defeat of Chelsea by Roma. Also Juventus defeating Real Madrid in Spain by 2 goals to nil was a good result for the Italian team. The win sees Juve join Barcelona in the knockout stage.
Liverpool and Atletico could have joined them if either of them won the match between the pair, instead they drew one all and now must wait another game to seal a spot in the next stage.
Del Piero was impressive for Juve scoring two great goals to help his team win at the Madrid home ground for the first time since 1962.
The match between Inter and Anorthosis Famagusta produced the most goals. It was 3-3. A late goal by Julio Cruz saved Inter from embarrassment.
The full list of results are below.
A CFR Cluj 1-2 Bordeaux
A Roma 3-1 Chelsea
B Anorthosis 3-3 Internazionale
B Bremen 0-3 Panathinaikos
C Sporting 1-0 Shakhtar
C Barcelona 1-1 Basel
D Liverpool 1-1 Atlético
D Marseille 3-0 PSV
E AaB 2-2 Villarreal
E Celtic 1-1 Man. United
F Fiorentina 1-1 Bayern
F Lyon 2-0 Steaua
G Arsenal 0-0 Fenerbahçe
G Dynamo Kyiv 1-2 Porto
H BATE 0-2 Zenit
H Real Madrid 0-2 Juventus
Matchday 5 takes place on 25-26 November. The group stage wraps up on 9-10 December with matchday 6 fixtures.
Bottom team Tottenham knocks off top team Liverpool in EPL
November 2, 2008
Before I had a look at the results for the English Premier League I had a feeling the bottom place Tottenham Hotspur team would defeat the top placed Liverpool. I don’t know why but I guess it is the fairytale result you would expect after the struggling team is taken over by a new manager.
As it was Liverpool had taken an early lead after Dirk Kuyt scored after just two minutes. A Liverpool player scored again, unfortunately it was Jamie Carragher putting the ball into the Liverpool net to level the scores.
As the match appeared to be heading to a draw Roman Pavlyuchenko snatch a last-minute winner to take Tottenham off the bottom of the English Barclays Premier League. Since Harry Redknapp has taken over as manager the Spurs team has collected two wins and a draw.
Chelsea went back to the top of the league after thumping Sunderland 5-0. Manchester slipped into third place with an exciting 4-3 win over Hull City while Arsenal dropped all three points with a 2-1 loss to Stoke City.
In other matches Wigan Athletic defeated Portsmouth 2-1, WBA and Blackburn had a 2-2 result. Middlesbrough and West Ham United had a 1-1 draw and Everton defeated Fulham 1-0.
The loss to Tottenham was the first time Liverpool had missed out on some points this season.
Liverpool maintain lead after win over Portsmouth
October 30, 2008
After some mid-week action in the English Premier League Liverpool FC has kept the three point buffer they established last weekend following their one nil win over Chelsea. This time around they took on Portsmouth at home and claimed the points following a penalty goal by Steven Gerrard with 15 minutes left in the match.
Chelsea kept the pressure on Liverpool after they had a 3-0 win against Hull City. Frank Lampard scored a great goal early in the match after he chipped delicately over the keeper. Nicolas Anelka added a second goal for Chelsea just four minutes into the second half. Florent Malouda killed off the match when he scored Chelsea’s third goal with 16 minutes left in the match.
Tottenham Hotspur picked up another point under new manager Harry Redknapp as they staged a late comeback against Arsenal. It was a goal feast between the two clubs. Spurs opened the scoring with a goal in the 12th minute only to see Arsenal hit back with three before Darren Bent pulled on back on the 66 minute mark.
With the score 4-2 with minutes to play it looked like Arsenal would win. Spurs had other ideas and a goal in the 89th minute to Jermaine Jenas brought them to within one. Aaron Lennon completed the fairytale comeback and the match ended at 4-4.
In other matches Aston Villa moved into fourth place on the ladder with a 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers. Fulham defeated Wigan 2-0. Stoke City defeated Sunderland 1-0. Everton defeated Bolton Wanderers 1-0. Manchested United defeated West Ham United 2-0 and Middlesbrough got the points with a 2-0 win over Manchester City.
The English Premier League ladder now sees Liverpool on top with 26 points from 10 matches. Chelsea is on 23. Arsenal, Aston Villa and Hull City are next on 20 points. Manchester United are on 18 from 9 matches. Tottenham are down at the bottom of the table with 6 points, two behind Bolton and Wigan Athletic.
Next weekend sees the top side take on the bottom side as Liverpool travels to White Hart Lane to play Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea play Sunderland at home.
Liverpool end Chelsea’s home unbeaten streak and take top spot
October 27, 2008
A solid defensive effort and a single goal from Xabi Alonso has seen Liverpool bring to an end an impressive 86-match unbeaten home league record in the English Premier League for Chelsea.
A deflected shot from Alonso in the ninth minute was enough to see Liverpool take full points and with that go three points clear at the top of the English Premier League. A deflection by Chelsea full-back Jose Bosingwa fooled his keeper Petr Cech.
Liverpool went close to doubling their lead in the 24th minute after a superb Steven Gerard shot from long range was tipped over the bar by Cech.
Chelsea had several good chances in the first half however they were not able to find the net. Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher played with passion in defence and helped the Liverpool cause. In the 36th minute Chelsea’s Deco found some space to make a run at Liverpool but he wasted it with a left foot shot wide of the target.
Alonso was almost a two goal hero as he had another effort on goal denied by the upright. Cole wasted a real chance to score when he was fed the ball by a Di Santo header only to blast wide from just eight metres out from goal.
That pretty much summed up Chelsea’s day. They did not take the chances that fell their way, along with good defence from Liverpool sees the Rafael Benitez coached team sit on top of the league for the time being.
On Wednesday another test of their credentials will come as they face former Liverpool player Peter Crouch and his Portsmouth team at Anfield. To have beaten Chelsea in this match will count for nothing if they go and drop the points to Portsmouth.
Liverpool let points slip at Atletico
October 23, 2008
In match day three Champions League action Liverpool FC traveled to Spain to take on joint group D leaders Club Atletico de Madrid. Up until the 83rd minute of the match they were looking good to go top of the group with a valuable away win after Robbie Keane had given them the lead in the 14th minute.
Keane’s goal was setup with a through ball from Steven Gerrard that helped Keane slip past the last line of defence. It was touch and go if he was on-side. In the end play continued and he slotted home past Leo Franco.
The referee assistants were to play a big role in this match as first Liverpool then Atletico had goals ruled out for offside. Both decisions were questionable. Liverpool’s Yossi Benayoun was first to feel the disappointment of seeing the flag go up as he put the ball into the back of the net. Not long after Seitaridis for Atletico was also denied by an offside call.
As it looked likely that Liverpool would take full points a Jamie Carragher error allowed Diego Forlan to take possession before passing to Simao who then beat Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina. More chances came for both sides as Reina tipped away a Miguel strike and Ryan Babel headed wide of the post.
Rafael Benitez said after the match that he felt Liverpool lost two points rather than gaining one which is normally a good result when playing away.
The draw leaves the two sides on top with seven points, four clear of PSV who defeated Marseille 2-0 at home.
In other matchday three action Barcelona stayed the only team to win three from three as they thumped Basel 5-0. Chelsea won at home over Roma with a 1-0 score after a John Terry goal in the 77th minute.
Matchday four is scheduled for November 4-5. The group stage will be completed on 10 December. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage.
Adelaide United reach Asian Champions League final
October 23, 2008
Adelaide United have become the first Australian football (soccer) team to reach the final of the Asian Champions League. They advanced with a 3-1 aggregate win over Uzbekistan’s Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor.
The South Australian team took a comfortable 3-0 lead into the second leg of their semi-final tie against the Uzbekistan league leaders Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor. The first leg was played in Adelaide two weeks ago and goals were scored by Adelaide’s Diego, Fabian Barbiero and Cristiano.
Adelaide United will play the Asian Champions League final against Gamba Osaka of Japan, who knocked out defending champions and J.League rivals Urawa Reds in the other semi-final. Gamba won their tie 4-2 on aggregate. In the second leg Gamba were too strong for the Reds as they won 3-1.
Big as Australia in the World Cup
“This certainly is as big as the national team getting to the World Cup. It is the biggest competition in club football in Asia and it is a magnificent achievement to get to the final, a real magnificent achievement,” said Vidmar.
Adelaide looked pretty comfortable in the second leg and played a defensive match. Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor took until 11 minutes before fulltime to score through substitute Bahodir Pardaev.
Unlike the European Champions League the Asian final will be played over two legs. The first leg will be played in Japan on November 5 with the second leg on November 12.
