free kick goal

Manchester fights tooth and nail to keep Arsenal at bay

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:02:00 +0000

Wayne Rooney reacts after scoring on a penalty kick during the 58th minute of a contest between Arsenal and Manchester United Saturday.

Match of the week: Manchester united 2, Arsenal 1

The highly anticipated battle provided a little bit of everything; goals, a plethora of yellow cards and a gasping finish that almost ended in a late equalizer.

Even though both teams were missing key players — Arsenal was without captain and young superstar Cesc Fábregas while Manchester United missed their stalwart middle defender Rio Ferdinand — the sides were close to even and the play was first class throughout.

The match began with Arsenal dominating the first half in both possession and shots on goal. In the 40th minute, the Gunners capitalized as midfielder Andrei Arshavin blasted a right-footed shot from well outside into the top right of goal. It was a superb strike from the Russian, yet Manchester goalkeeper Ben Foster should have done better, as he narrowly tipped the ball into the top of his own net.

Ironically, just a minute before the goal, Arshavin should have been awarded a penalty kick after being cut down in the box by Darren Fletcher, but instead, the referee opted to let play go on.

Arsenal had a chance to double their lead early in the second half, but Robin van Persie’s close-range shot was blocked magnificently by the outstretched leg of Foster. Arsenal would later rue this missed golden opportunity.

In the 58th minute, Wayne Rooney found himself one-on-one with Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia. Rooney went down after a slight clip from the goalie, yet unlike the instance with Arshavin, this time the referee awarded a controversial penalty to United. Rooney calmly sunk the kick and the match was all square at one.

Four minutes later, Arsenal almost regained the lead as Van Persie’s left-footed free kick came crashing off the crossbar. But once again, Manchester United took advantage of an Arsenal missed chance.

This time, though, it came with a bit of luck, since Arsenal’s Abou Diaby headed a harmless free kick taken by United captain Ryan Giggs into his own goal while trying to clear the ball out of bounds. Manchester United was in full control of the match from that point until the dying seconds of stoppage time, where the Gunners managed one last ditch effort.

After a long ball played into the United box, Arsenal defender William Gallas headed it down into the path of van Persie, who took a few nifty dribbles and promptly scored.

Arsenal players and Coach Arsène Wenger were jubilant as they thought they had found a late equalizer, but it was not the Gunners’ day, Gallas was adjudged a fraction offside.

After the thrilling finish, United can breathe easier as their 2-1 win puts them in third place in the English Premier League. Arsenal is still in fine position since they have collected six points from three games, enough to claim the fifth spot on the EPL table.

Other matches:

Liverpool may have salvaged their season after Steven Gerrard scored a late winner against Bolton to pull the Reds to victory from behind, 3-2. The top two of the league remained unchanged as Chelsea destroyed Burnley 3-0, while Tottenham continued their surprising start to the season by beating Birmingham 2-1.

In Spain, gigantic spenders Real Madrid began their 2009 campaign with a win, beating Deportivo de La Coruña 3-2. $100 million signee Cristiano Ronaldo scored on a penalty kick in his La Liga debut for Madrid.

Meanwhile, in Italian Serie A, the hyped Milan derby between two powerhouses turned into a blowout as Inter decimated AC Milan, 4-0.

Tequila first !!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:57:00 +0000

With Panda’s 18th birthday today and some drinkies planned for this afternoon I unfortunately don’t have time to do up a full preview of the Celtic second-leg game. Instead, here is a quick summary of my thoughts on the match:

Only a monumental cock-up will see us lose this tie. I’m not taking it for granted but I honestly think the manager could rotate a few more players and we still wouldn’t have a problem getting through.
With Celtic needing to score at least twice they will be hugely vulnerable to the counter-attack and I think that’s where we’ll get them. And if we score again it’s curtains.
In terms of player availability Cesc Fabregas will be out (although he may be back for United) while everybody else who was fit is available. The manager has hinted that Aaron Ramsey will come in for the captain and I certainly like that idea.
Up front I think Robin van Persie will get a rest and Nicklas Bendtner will play as the centre-forward with support from Eduardo and Andrey Arshavin. Down back it should be full strength with Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna set to return to the starting team.
This game will - like the Portsmouth one - be as much about preparing for Manchester United as it is about getting through to the Champions League. A solid defensive performance will see us through and I think the manager would be smart to give a few more key players a rest if we happen to go a goal further in front.

It sounds like I’m taking the game for granted a bit and maybe I am, but I just don’t foresee any problems at home to Celtic. With a strong defensive unit and Alex Song back in the side we have the strength required to nullify their threat and with opportunities set to come on the break I wouldn’t be surprised to see us win 2-0 or even 3-0.

Anyway, that’s it. I’m off to have some beers and possibly some tequila with the Panda and Co.

Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa - Davies, Young & Lucas O.G Seal Win For Villans

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:48:00 +0000

Aston Villa have beaten Liverpool 3-1 in their Premier League match at Anfield on Monday evening, with an own-goal from Lucas Leiva giving the visitors the lead, before Curtis Davies doubled the scoreline before half-time.

Fernando Torres pulled a goal back late in the game, but minutes later Steven Gerrard conceded a penalty, which Ashley Young tucked away to give Martin O'Neill's side a valuable away win.

The game started at a fairly decent pace, with both sides showing intent, but it was the home side who were first to settle and Liverpool had an early chance in the match.

Yossi Benayoun was latched onto a chip from Fernando Torres, with the Israeli beating Villa keeper Brad Friedel, but his header went wide of the Villa goal.

Liverpool continued to press and were unlucky not to score after Steven Gerrard, then Fernando Torres, then Yossi Benayoun all managed to have shots blocked by the Villa defence.

Villa began to get into the game and Liverpool were caught-out by a set-piece which was tipped in by one of their own men.

It was an own-goal that gave Aston Villa the lead, with Lucas Leiva unwittingly deflecting the ball into the net with his head from a free-kick by James Milner in the 33rd minute, which beat the diving Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal.

Liverpool attempted to draw level before the break, but Friedel did well to palm away a shot from Torres, before Villa began to gain momentum.

Aston Villa scored their second goal of the half which came from a header from Curtis Davis from a corner from Nicky Shorey, deep into stoppage time, much to the consternation of Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, who believed that the referee should have blown for half-time a minute beforehand.

Steven Gerrard almost drew a goal back early in the second-half, with Friedel again saving well to deny the Liverpool skipper and the home side continued to press in the early stages of the second period.

Friedel made some impressive saves to deny Steven Gerrard’s free-kick and a header from Dirk Kuyt, while Nicky Shorey blocked another Kuyt header from the goal-line to keep Villa’s two-goal advantage alive.

Aston Villa came close to making it 3-0 after Gabriel Agbonlahor played a perfect cross to the onrushing Nigel Reo-Coker, but the Villa midfielder failed to connect with the ball.

Liverpool had a penalty appeal waved away by the referee for a foul on Torres before the Spaniard pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute, much to the delight of the home fans.

Emilano Insua was the provider, breaking down the left-wing and playing the ball into the path of Torres, who knocked the ball past Friedel from close-range to make it 2-1.

Less than two minutes later Steven Gerrard conceded a penalty to Villa after a rash tackle on Nigel Reo-Coker, with Ashley Young slotting home the spot-kick to make it 3-1 to the visitors with 15 minutes of normal play left.

Babel replaced Benayoun as Liverpool looked to pull a goal back, but the Villa defence and the immense frame of Brad Friedel denied the Liverpool attack from pulling a goal back.

Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey replaced Ashley Young, who seemed to have picked up a knock, in the 80th minute, while the home-side began to get irritated, meanwhile the travelling Villa fans were relishing their lead.

Javier Mascherano forced a corner with just over a minute of normal time to play, but yet again Torres was denied by Friedel, with Glen Johnson’s shot seconds later parried away well by the American keeper.

The match finished 3-1 to Aston Villa, with Brad Friedel excellent between the sticks and the Villa defence showing extraordinary resolve in fighting off the Liverpool attacks, while Liverpool will be rueing their missed chances and Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva will be wondering what happened to them.

Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa:

Goals:

Liverpool:
Fernando Torres 72.

Aston Villa:
Lucas Leiva (O.G) 34,
Curtis Davis 45+2,
Ashley Young (pen) 75.

Liverpool Team: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas Leiva (Voronin, 66), Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun (Babel, 76), Torres.

Liverpool Substitutes Not Used: Cavalieri, Riera, Kelly, Dossena, Ayala.

Aston Villa Team: Friedel, Beye, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Milner, Sidwell, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Ashley Young, Agbonlahor.

Aston Villa Substitutes Not Used: Guzan, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Heskey, Gardner, Lowry.

West Ham 1 - 2 Tottenham

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:37:00 +0000

Lennon (left) and Defoe grabbed the goals for Spurs

By Mandeep Sanghera

Aaron Lennon kept up Tottenham's 100% start to the season as he grabbed his side's winner at West Ham.

Lennon cut inside defender Jonathan Spector and angled a powerful left-footed strike into the far corner.

West Ham had taken the lead when Carlton Cole scored with a spectacular 22-yard strike on the turn.

But Jermain Defoe levelled when he smashed in after latching on to Cole's horrendous backpass, and Lennon's late goal sealed three points for Spurs.

It is the first time in 49 years that Tottenham have won their first three league games of the season - and during that 1960/61 campaign the Londoners took victory in their first 11 games on their way to claiming the old First Division title.

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The win also gave extra credence to belief in some quarters that they are good enough to break into the top four and challenge for a Champions League place, particularly as they had to come from a goal down at Upton Park to earn three points from a testing encounter.

Spurs certainly had an air of confidence and authority about them as they stroked the ball around trying to unlock the Hammers defence but found their London rivals in resolute mood.

West Ham may be a work in progress and not as established as the Spurs side but they have a similar style.

Both teams like to pass the ball around and complement some of their more cultured stars with a midfield enforcer - Scott Parker biting into tackles for the Hammers and Wilson Palacios doing the same for Tottenham.

Redknapp delighted with third League win

Cole should have put the hosts ahead a lot sooner than he did but he had a tame shot saved after being put through on goal - although there was a suspicion he was offside.

Sebastien Bassong poked a shot wide at the other end, and Ledley King looped a header against the crossbar from a Luka Modric free-kick as Spurs tried to gain the upper hand.

King had to be at his defensive best to block a Jack Collison shot after Cole had held the ball up and laid it into the path of his team-mate.

England striker Cole was producing a mixed performance and he left Hammers fans shaking their heads when he failed to react quickly enough to tap in a Junior Stanislas' low cross.

But Cole struck a spectacular opener to atone for that miss as he flicked the ball up and smashed in a shot on the turn.

Mistakes cost us - Zola

The West Ham striker's effort would have impressed watching England manager Fabio Capello, but he then ruined his performance with a shocking mistake.

Cole's misplaced pass put rival forward Defoe clean through on goal and the in-form Spurs man powered in a shot for his fourth Premier League goal of the season.

Jimenez had a header scrambled away by Spurs keeper Carlo Cudicini as the game opened up but it was the visitors who looked the more accomplished.

A feature of Spurs' play this season has been the way they have applied pressure high up the pitch.

And their pressure told when Lennon, who had drifted in and out of the match, arrowed in a shot to put Spurs top of the table on goal difference.

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola:
"When you play well and lose like we did you are disappointed.

"You can't afford to make any mistakes, especially against teams like Spurs.

"The first goal was a creation from Carlton Cole. He made a mistake but he is an intelligent guy and I think it will make him better in the future."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp:
"To come back from 1-0 down, it was a big win for us.

"It's early doors and a great start but that's all. We just have to keep going and see where that takes us.

"We have Birmingham, Manchester United and Chelsea coming up so we have got some hard games. It will be interesting to see how we shape up."

Sunderland 2 - 1 Blackburn

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Jones earned his side a win with his ruthlessness in front of goal

Striker Kenwyne Jones scored twice as Sunderland came from a goal down to beat Blackburn in a hard-fought game.

Jason Roberts had a header disallowed for Blackburn before Gael Givet drove in an 18-yard shot to put Rovers ahead.

But Jones rounded keeper Paul Robinson and slotted in and then powered in a header to put Sunderland in front.

Benni McCarthy should have equalised with a close range header but his effort hit the crossbar, while Nikola Kalinic put a late shot horribly wide.

Rovers will feel they deserved more from a determined performance and they will also feel hard done by because of some refereeing decisions, especially against Roberts and Steven Nzonzi.

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Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce will be frustrated at a second successive defeat but he can find encouragement in his side's battling qualities.

Allardyce's sides are always well drilled when it comes to set pieces and the visitors caused havoc in the Sunderland area with their aerial threat.

Black Cats keeper Marton Fulop and his defence were unconvincing in dealing with the bombardment of corners, free-kicks and long throws being launched into the home side's box.

Fulop was given a let off when the referee generously awarded a foul against him after he had missed a corner from El-Hadji Diouf and Roberts had nodded the ball in after it bounced back off the post.

Bruce delighted Sunderland 'dug in'

That effort might have been disallowed but the creaking Sunderland backline finally snapped under the pressure when a swinging Morten Gamst Pedersen corner was only cleared to Givet, who drove in a low shot to put Blackburn ahead.

Allardyce had stressed the importance of his side getting of the mark points wise and his side had clearly taken his words on board as their desire was vastly superior to Sunderland's.

The home side looked to be feeling the effects of having played on Tuesday in a defeat by Chelsea before they were given a way back into the game through a lapse in Blackburn's concentration.

Centre-back Christopher Samba failed to intercept Steed Malbranque's through ball and Jones capitalised by running on to the pass, rounding the on-rushing Robinson and coolly slotting in.

We've got to be more ruthless - Allardyce

The goal provided fresh impetus to Sunderland, although they were given a scare when Fulop failed to catch a Diouf cross at the far post and debutant Zalinic stabbed the loose ball high from close range.

The miss proved crucial as Sunderland went up the other end and showed the ruthlessness Blackburn lacked as Jones headed in Lee Cattermole's cross.

Blackburn were not helped by captain Ryan Nelsen and striker Franco Di Santo having to go off injured during the game.

The away camp were also unhappy when they were denied an equaliser after Nzonzi looped in a header only for Samba to be penalised for offside as he was deemed to be interfering with play.

Kalinic's shot wide late on summed up Rovers' problems as they were shown the importance of having a striker of Jones's calibre.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce:
"We struggled in the first half after putting in a big 60 minutes against Chelsea.

"We could not cope with Blackburn's physical threat in the first 45 minutes and we could not deal with them.

"It has been a gruelling week for us and Blackburn were fresh for this match.

"I am pleased we have dug in and got the win because we got off the hook a bit."

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce:
"I'm really quite sick as our performances are not achieving the results we perhaps deserve.

"We have to be more ruthless in front of goal and have to concentrate for 90 minutes, particularly defensively.

"We feel a bit hard done by on the goals disallowed, certainly the first one. If that's an infringement, then there would be 20 free-kicks and penalties given in every game."

Hot Rod shines as Everton stroll

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:46:00 +0000

Hot Rod shines as Everton stroll (©PAphotos)

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Rookie midfielder Jack Rodwell became Everton's youngest goalscorer in European competition with two spectacular long-range goals in their emphatic Europa League play-off first-leg victory over Sigma Olomouc at Goodison Park.

Louis Saha also weighed in with a brace, as manager David Moyes got the response he was looking for after the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal last Sunday.

Moyes recalled both scorers, dropping Joleon Lescott for a poor attitude, while skipper Phil Neville was drafted into defence with Saha replacing Jo against the Czechs, who had defeated Aberdeen 8-1 on aggregate in the previous round.

After a nervous start when goalkeeper Tim Howard parried a shot from Michal Ordos, Everton flexed their muscles and the return leg next week will surely be a formality.

The Toffees almost took the lead in the 23rd minute when Leon Osman rattled in a shot only for Petr Drobisz to turn it over the bar.

Everton's pressure paid off in the 34th minute when Saha got ahead of the goalkeeper to turn Marouane Fellaini's cross into the corner of the net.

The home side added a second six minutes later with a thunderous 20 yard effort from Rodwell after a free-kick by Leighton Baines had come back off the wall.

Moyes' went 3-0 in the 54th minute thanks to another thunderbolt from Rodwell. Baines' free-kick was only partially cleared and Steven Pienaar slid it back into the path of the teenager, who showed little hesitation to rifle a shot from 25 yards beyond a despairing Drobisz.

It was becoming a stroll for Everton with the visitors tiring and Saha added a fourth in the 74th minute with a sweet finish after he was set up by Osman.

Three minutes later Rodwell was given a standing ovation when he was replaced by another bright youngster Dan Gosling, as Everton surely secured their passage into the group stages.

Celtic now face an Arsenal mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:23:00 +0000

Mowbray and Celtic will pick themselves up for the second leg with Arsenal. (©PAphotos)

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Tony Mowbray

It is a big ask for us now but I think the secret is to go down there and try to score the first goal

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Celtic boss Tony Mowbray says the first goal in the Champions League qualifier, second-leg against Arsenal is crucial following his side’s 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park last night.

A deflected shot that went in off the back of William Gallas and a Gary Caldwell own goal means the Bhoys must now overturn a two-goal deficit when they travel south to the Emirates Stadium.

Mowbray said, “It is a big ask for us now but I think the secret is to go down there and try to score the first goal.

“That would make them very nervous and edgy, but if they score first we aren’t going to score four at the Emirates.

“Both goals were difficult to take. Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world but yet I can’t remember them having a shot on goal in the first half.

“Then they get a free-kick 30-yards out, it hits Gallas on the back as he’s trying to get out of the way and it goes in the bottom corner.

“If they have a 15-pass move and score you go “wow”. They never did that and didn’t look like doing it to be fair. But then again, we didn’t either.”

Despite the manner of the two goals his team conceded, Mowbray had mixed feelings about Celtic’s performance.

“The bottom line is that on the night we weren’t good enough with the ball,” he added.

“I think they worked really hard to deny Arsenal opportunities – and I think we did that really well.

“Ultimately, our passing to the forwards was not good enough from the back or the midfield.”

Lady Luck Kicks One Right in the Baws

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:21:00 +0000

Celtic did there best to keep the firepower of Arsenal under control, but William Gallas’ lucky arse and Gary Caldwell’s too long stud put a near impossible task for Celtic. Celtic seemed to be able to keep Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and company from getting one past Celtic, but it was still not to be for the Bhoys. While the Gunners held a majority of the possession in the first half, Celtic were able to create some counter opportunities, yet neither squad was able to net a goal in the first 43 minutes. A Cesc Fabregas free kick bounced off William Gallas, who seemed to be trying to avoid the kick, and past a helpless Artur Boruc. In the second half, Arsenal had more room with Celtic trying to push for a goal, but a Arsenal cross bounced off Gary Caldwell’s boot and into the net for Arsenal’s 2nd goal and a near impossible task for Celtic to move on in the Champions League. After starting with a new line-up of Georgios Samaras instead of Marc Antoine Fortune and Scott McDonald, the usual striking pair was inserted in the 2nd half to try and get one back, but it was not to be. Join me after the jump for my thoughts.

-So far, everything Tony Mowbray has done has turned gold with Celtic. However, this will mark the first disagreement and hindsight dispute I will make. From the kickoff, I did not like the move to a 4-5-1, with Samaras alone. It seemed to contain Arsenal, but Celtic needed to do more than contain the Gunners in this fixture. They needed to get a result, which a 0-0 draw would not have been, yet Celtic did not even get that, with Lady Luck sending two low blows our way. Why mess around with something when it was working?
-Gary Caldwell had a howler of a game. The goal was not his fault, as he had to play the ball. However, he was playing terrible long pass after terrible long pass and gave the ball away at will.
-Danny Fox’s weakness is the defending aspect of playing fullback? Could have fooled me! Another week of solid defending, while his final ball still needs work. He seemed to make some great runs with the ball though, so hopefully the final ball improves.
-Andreas Hinkel for 4 million quid? Where do I sign? Hinkel was another player who seemed to be giving the ball away for sport and his defending has never been the best. Might it be time for the Paul Caddis era?
-Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney showed that they are EPL quality last night. They were able to dance around the Arsenal defenders and put a lot of balls into the box. One must wonder what would have more targets in the box besides Samaras.

St. Johnstone this weekend, hopefully all the goals that weren’t used on Tuesday are busted out at Celtic Park this weekend. As always, Keep the Faith!

United and Chelsea on track as Gunners go top

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:53:00 +0000

Premier League opening weekend review

Aston Villa 0–2 Wigan Athletic
Anyone doubting the capabilities of Wigan’s new manager Robert Martinez will have been left impressed on Saturday as his team marched to a comfortable victory. A wonder-goal from new signing Hugo Rodallega set Wigan on their way as Villa failed to come to terms with the opposition. Indeed Martin O’Neill’s side looked a shadow of their former selves. Of course one must remember Villa have lost key figures this summer, Gareth Barry leaving for Manchester City and captain Martin Laursen retiring from football. Villa looked extremely vulnerable in defence, only for Brad Friedel keeping the Lactics out, it could have been a much a larger deficit. As it was, Jason Koumas added a second before the end to give Martinez a perfect start to his debut in the Premiership.

Blackburn Rovers 0–2 Manchester City
The game at Ewood Park began and ended with a flurry. A sweeping Manchester City move was started and finished by Emmanuel Adebayor. After that City failed to take the game by the scruff of the neck as Blackburn Rover slowly found a foot hold in the game. Blackburn midfielder David Dunn had issued a rousing battle call during the week insisting that Rover’s would kick their cash rich opposition all over the pitch. This simply never happened but Rovers did threaten continuously from set pieces as the new central pairing of Dunne and Toure was put under the microscope. City were content to hit Sam Allardyce’s side on the break with Robinho and Bellamy looking in fine form with the ball at their feet and running at defenders. The introduction of Carlos Tevez added an extra dash of spice to the City attacking line-up and Stephen Ireland, City’s best player last season, made it 2-0 on 90 minutes.

Bolton Wanderers 0–1 Sunderland
Steve Bruce will have been encouraged by the performance of new signing Darren Bent who scored the only goal of the game as the Black Cats left the Reebok Stadium with all three points. Another positive for Bruce will be the gelling of the Bent-Jones partnership up front as the pair ran Bolton’s defence ragged. Gary Megson has been relatively quiet in the transfer market and the signs point to another average season for his team with a comfortable lower mid-table spot. Megson will be disappointed with Bolton’s tendency to wastefully lose possession giving the initiative to Bruce’s men. Albeit in the second half after some brash words at half time delivered by Megson, Bolton started to match Sunderland’s efforts but it came too late and Bruce’s side held on to an opening day victory.

Chelsea 2–1 Hull City
Didier Drogba rescued all three points for Chelsea as he sealed his brace with a bizarre winner in the second minute of added time much to the dismay of Phil Brown. Carlo Ancelotti has borrowed the diamond system he used to great effect with AC Milan but in the first half it proved largely ineffective. Hull City were content to cram their own half with 10 men only leaving Caleb Folan to make the odd foray into Chelsea’s half. The one attack of any notice Hull had in the first half resulted in a goal as Chelsea villain Stephen Hunt capitalised on a kind ricochet to bag a goal on his City debut. Chelsea hit back before half time with a stunning free kick by Drogba which rocketed into the top of the net. The introduction of Deco and Ballack saw a more threatening Chelsea outfit in the second half and they produced a couple of good chances to take the lead. Hull surrendered the opportunity to snatch an unlikely victory before Drogba’s misdirected cross found the back of the net to land Ancelotti with maximum points on his baptism to the Premier League.

Everton 1–6 Arsenal
This match was effectively over before half time, but the final hammer blow came just minutes into the second half as Cesc Fabregas effectively ended the any chance of an Everton revival to extend Arsenal’s lead to four goals. All the off-pitch drama clearly affected Everton’s composure in defence. They looked vulnerable from the start. A Denilson wonder strike set Arsenal on their way as the Everton collapse began. The next to Arsenal goals came from free headers in the box for first Vermaelen and then Gallas making it 0-3 at half time. After some tidy passing by Arsenal, Fabregas finished the move with a shot that went through the legs of the on-rushing Tim Howard. Less than 15 minutes later Fabregas was allowed the freedom of Goodison as he ran from inside his own half to fire a second goal in from outside the box. Eduardo made it six before the end with a simple tap in after a shot from Russian Arshavin rebounded off the post into the Croatian’s path. Louis Saha poached the most meaningless of consolation goals to wrap up proceedings in Merseyside with Goodison Park already like a ghost town. Arsene Wenger’s men produced a classy display but they were unquestionably helped by Everton’s woeful efforts. The Lescott soap opera needs to be settled.

Manchester United 1–0 Birmingham City
It was by no means vintage Manchester United. The first half was a tale of United dominance with no cutting edge with the exception of Wayne Rooney’s goal on 39 minutes. Birmingham were content to put all their men behind the ball with Cameron Jerome providing the only outlet for City. They struggled to cope with United’s movement in the early stages of the match but as the half progressed they grew in confidence. Hart looked in good form between the sticks. The only other chance of note was presented to Darren Fletcher who blazed his shot wide of the post. During the second half Ferguson’s men became slightly complacent as the Scottish duo of Ferguson and McFadden started to dictate proceedings. Indeed McFadden gracefully floated in United’s half threatening to cut open the United defence. New Birmingham signing Christian Benitez was presented with the best chance for the visitors but he failed to beat Ben Foster in goal who palmed the ball wide of the post after Benitez has been clean through. United are perennial slow starters so this will be a welcome start for the Old Trafford side. Birmingham proved that they won’t be the whipping boys of the league if they can reproduce performances like this.

Portsmouth 0–1 Fulham
Affairs at Fratton Park are in complete disarray with owner elect Sulaimann Al Fahed still to finalise his takeover of the south coast club. A staggering £60 million has been raised from the sale of players, yet none has been reinvested into the club. The squad is becoming a little stagnant, so investment is needed. Paul Hart has arguably the most unglamorous job in the league right now with the future of the club uncertain. Fulham on the other hand are a club with a settled future under Roy Hodgson. Their defensive record last season was simply awesome and they continued on the right note at Fratton Park securing another clean sheet. A Bobby Zamora goal was the difference between the two teams. An away win so early in the season will please Hodgson whose side took over eight months last season to record a victory away from home. The closest Pompey went to an equaliser was a shot from Papa Bouba Diop but Fulham were good value for their win.

Stoke City 2–0 Burnley
Burnley didn’t enjoy their Premier League debut after being taught a lesson or two by Tony Pulis’ men after Stoke enjoyed a comfortable victory at home. The combative Stoke picked up from where they left off last season as they played some unattractive but effective football. A free kick from Liam Lawrence was headed home by centre back Ryan Shawcross to give the home side the advantage after 19 minutes. The infamous Rory Delap long throw worked it’s magic once again on 33 minutes as Stoke doubled their advantage thanks to Burnley’s captain Stephen Jordan. Stoke revelled in their title as favourites to win a game for the first time since their arrival in the top flight, and they bossed the new boys around the pitch and looked comfortable throughout the entire 90 minutes. Burnley fans have reason to be worried already.

Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 Liverpool
The late kick off Sunday meant Liverpool needed three points to keep pace with title rivals Chelsea and United. In truth it was a dour Liverpool side who desperately missed Xabi Alonso as Gerrard and Torres found themselves isolated from the midfield. Spurs have improved steadily under Harry Redknapp and have a strong squad. They out fought Liverpool yesterday with a shaken Jamie Carragher and a battered and bruised Martin Srktel conceding fouls at regular intervals. A Tom Huddlestone free kick ploughed into the Liverpool wall only to fall at the feet of Assou Ekotto who unleashed a fierce shot which soared into roof of Reina’s next. Liverpool lacked spark and any invention in midfield. However a Glen Johnson marauding run earned the away side after he was brought down by Spurs keeper Gomes in the box. Captain Steven Gerrard expertly scored from the spot to give Liverpool an undeserved equaliser. Less than five minutes later Bassong headed home the eventual winner after Carragher failed to match the Cameroonian’s leap. The arrival of Yossi Benayoun who should have started the game added some urgency and genius to Liverpool’s play but Spurs escaped with three points despite an obvious shove on Voornin in the box by Ekotto and then Ekotto was at the centre of controversy after he handled the ball in the penalty area. However a Liverpool equaliser would have been an undeserved result and Benitez’s men rightly succumbed to an opening day defeat.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0–2 West Ham United
Mick McCarthy made his welcome return to the Premiership but despite spending heavily in the summer it didn’t help Wolves avoid defeat at Moulineux. England under 21 captain Mark Noble opened the scoring on 22 minutes as he blasted a shot from outside the box past Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessy. McCarthy was missing his new £6 million signing Kevin Doyle and the normally lethal Ebanks Blake failed to finish the chances fashioned for him by the industrious Wolves midfield. Indeed Serbian playmaker Nenad Milijas enjoyed a promising debut looking dangerous throughout the match. Matthew Upson sealed victory for Gianfranco Zola as he nodded home from a corner to leave Wolves facing defeat on 69 minutes. In truth it was a fair result and McCartthy will be looking for a notable improvement in their next game away to Wigan Athletic.

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Liverpool kicked off their start to the season with a defeat at White Hart Lane today. It was a game that had its fair share of talking points but also a game that the Liverpool players will look back on and know that they have to do better when they take on Stoke at Anfield this coming Wednesday.

Rafa Benitez had to wait on the fitness of his captain Steven Gerrard, before the kick off. He was passed fit to play hours before the game and it was Steven Gerrard who got Liverpools only goal of this fixture.

The game kicked off and at first it seemed like a cagey affair where both teams struggled to cause any real danger. But as the time passed, it was Spurs who started to test Pepe Reina’s resolve.

Former Liverpool forward Robbie Keane had three very good chances to open the scoring for the home side, but Pepe Reina was determined to deny any joy for the irishman and made some excellent stops.

It was apparent that there wasn’t much communication between the Liverpool players as Spurs continued to press and this resulted in one incident where Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher collided after going for the same ball. Skrtel was eventually subbed with a jaw injury and Carragher soldiered on with 12 staples in his forehead, thanks to this collision.

Liverpool just couldn’t get any real attacking move going as the first half progressed and this inevitably invited pressure around the Liverpool box.

One minute before the break, Skrtel brought Wilson Palacios down outside the Liverpool box and Spurs were awarded a free kick. The resulting free kick was a poor one that rebounded off the Liverpool wall. But Benoit Assuo-Ekotto was waiting to get possession of the ball and he made certain of his shot which flew into the top left corner of the goal past the helpless Reina. 1-0 to Spurs.

Liverpool came out in the second half with a bit more determination, but unfortunately not the crisp passing we all know the Liverpool players can display. The game was certainly taking on a more open approach as both sides increased the tempo.

Gerrard had an attempt which just fizzed wide left of the post. But in the 56th minute, Glen Johnson, making his league debut for the reds, made an excellent determined run with the ball into the Spurs box and was brought down by Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes. It was a decision not even ‘I don’t award pens to Liverpool’ referee Phil Dowd could deny and the reds were awarded a penalty. Steven Gerrard stepped up and placed the ball dead centre into the net. 1-1.

The excellent traveling reds fans’ joy was short lived though as three minutes later, Liverpool were hit with a sucker punch.

Jermaine Defoe got the advantage of Jamie Carragher but the Liverpool defender blocked off the run of the Spurs forward, just outside the right of the Liverpool box. A free kick was awarded and Luca Modric floated in the cross. Spurs debutant Sebastien Bassong was on hand to outjump the Liverpool defenders and head the ball home past Pepe Reina. 2-1 to Spurs.

Liverpool were clearly lacking the inventiveness in the final third, no matter how much they tried to put pressure on the Spurs defence. In the 67th minute Yossi Benayoun was introduced from the bench at the expense of a disappointing Ryan Babel. Suddenly, Liverpool looked a lot more dangerous with the help of the tricky Israeli.

But it was too little too late. Glen Johnson, not for the first time in the match, crossed in an excellent ball from the right wing to Fernando Torres, but the Liverpool striker could only head wide.

In the 79th minute Andriy Voronin replaced Dirk Kuyt and not long after Voronin was denied an obvious foul in the Spurs box. But referee Phil Dowd waved away the claims from the Liverpool players – something he seemingly likes to do when he referees a game involving the reds.

Minutes later there was another call for a Liverpool penalty when Assou-Ekotto seemed to handle the ball in the box.

Rafa Benitez and his staff were understandably angered and frustrated by these decisions. And moments later, it resulted in Liverpool assistant manager Sammy Lee being sent off from the bench.

Maybe the pens should have been justified, but the influence on the result they would have had if they had been converted into goals, possibly wouldn’t have been justified. Some will argue that Liverpool didn’t deserve anything from this game. But then some will say that decisions can go against you unfairly at times.

Certainly a bad day at the office for the reds. Thankfully it was the first day of the season rather than the last. There’s still a lot of time left to put things right. But we’ve got to improve our football if we want to win trophies this season.

Post Match Comments

Rafa Benitez:

I think everybody could see, especially the challenge on Voronin. It was so clear. You could maybe say the second incident was ball to hand, but the first one was clear. We didn’t play well, especially the first half, but we were much better in the second half.

We pushed harder and had more options in the final third, but clearly we have to improve if we want to win these kind of games.

We have to improve in the middle and keep the ball more and pass it better. The understanding has to be better. As a team we were not comfortable in possession in the first half.

We were playing against a good team so we knew we needed to play well. We didn’t but we have another game on Wednesday against Stoke and we have to improve.

Team News

Liverpool: Reina, Insua, Carragher, Skrtel (Ayala 75), Johnson, Babel (Benayoun 67), Mascherano, Leiva, Kuyt (Voronin 79), Gerrard (captain), Torres.

Subs not used: Cavalieri, Spearing, Kelly, Dossena

Goals: Gerrard 56

Tottenham: Gomes, Assou-Ekotto, King, Bassong, Corluka, Modric (O’Hara 83), Huddlestone, Palacios, Lennon, Defoe (Pavlyuchenko 92), Keane (captain)(Crouch 67).

Subs not used: Gudicini, Bentley, Naughton, Hutton

Goals: Assou-Ekotto 44, Bassong 59

Ref: Phil Dowd

Rooney Down Birmingham

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:08:00 +0000

Wayne Rooney was a constant threat throughout the match up front

By Pranav Soneji

Wayne Rooney notched his 99th goal for Manchester United as the Premier League champions opened up their title defence with victory over Birmingham.

The striker tapped in after his header from Nani's cross rebounded off the post back into his path on 34 minutes.

Ben Foster made a brilliant stop to deny Christian Benitez a goal on his Birmingham debut in the 77th minute.

Substitute Michael Owen missed a chance to open his account for United when he shot at Joe Hart in stoppage time.

Although not one of their most convincing performances, United created enough chances to emphasise the depth of their attacking options, despite the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

Rooney relishing central role

Rooney, in particular, was menacing with the ball at his feet, making intelligent runs when his team-mates were in possession.

Deprived of first-choice centre-backs Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, who will have a scan on Monday on a calf injury sustained in training, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson moved John O'Shea into central defence alongside Jonny Evans, with Fabio da Silva promoted to right-back.

Paul Scholes returned to the centre of midfield, while new signing Antonio Valencia slotted into the sizeable hole vacated by Ronaldo on the right.

The daunting prospect of opening up against the Premier League champions convinced Birmingham manager Alex McLeish to start with a five-man midfield, with Cameron Jerome as a solitary striker.

Their defensive tactics offered United ample opportunities to exploit space in midfield, with Darren Fletcher threading a precise ball for Nani to attack on the left after seven minutes, but the winger's right-footed strike was well saved by Joe Hart.

606: DEBATE

We didn't take as many chances as we should of, something that we saw a lot last season

A Touch Of Class

Rooney once again pressed Hart into action, this time with a dipping 20-yard strike on 12 minutes, acrobatically tipped over the bar by the on-loan goalkeeper.

Attempting to frustrate United's invention in midfield, Birmingham's defensive intentions unravelled when Rooney put the champions in the lead with a precise move starting on the half-way line.

The striker fed partner Dimitar Berbatov, who released Nani down the left and the winger's teasing cross was tapped in by Rooney after his initial hanging header rebounded off the right-hand post back into his path, with Hart well beaten.

But rather than break Birmingham's resolve, the goal invigorated their attacking intentions as Jerome fired a dangerous 20-yard deflected strike just past Foster's right-hand post.

The resulting corner saw Patrice Evra clear Franck Quedrue's glancing goal-bound header off the line, to the relief of the near-capacity Old Trafford crowd.

Phelan backs youngsters to replace stars

However, the visitors should have taken a two-goal cushion into the break, but Fletcher contrived to side-foot his 10-yard strike wide of the post after an excellent cut-back from Evra on the left.

Resisting the urge to replace Antonio Valencia after a largely anonymous first half, Ferguson instead introduced Ryan Giggs for Nani on the left at the start of the second half.

The change in personnel had little effect on Rooney, whose 30-yard half-volley was destined for the top left corner but for a two-handed parry from Hart.

Birmingham's tactics began to have their desired effect, with Barry Ferguson in particular dictating terms in midfield.

A powerful burst from Keith Fahey preceded a right-foot strike from 20 yards past the right-hand post, while McFadden exploited space on the edge of the box to shoot straight at Foster.

However, the visitors had Lee Carsley to thank when the midfielder cleared Berbatov's header off the line on 70 minutes.

McLeish upbeat despite defeat

The Bulgarian striker could have had a penalty minutes later when Stephen Carr appeared to tread on the striker's boot.

It proved to be Berbatov's final contribution, replaced by Owen with 15 minutes left, while McLeish introduced record £8m signing Benitez for Jerome.

The Ecuadorian striker made an immediate impact when he timed his run to perfection to beat United's offside trap 13 minutes from time, only to be denied by a wonderful one-handed diving save from Foster.

Rooney came close to his 100th goal in the 83rd minute, but Owen should have put the result beyond doubt when he was released through the middle by Rooney's chested flick.

But one-on-one with Hart, the striker's effort deflected off the goalkeeper's leg for a corner.

The Power of Celtic

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:01:00 +0000

McGeady and McDonald menaced the Dons defence

Celtic opened their Scottish Premier League campaign with victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie thanks to an inspired performance by Aiden McGeady.

The midfielder opened the scoring from close range and then grabbed a second with an excellent curling strike.

Scott McDonald made it three before half-time as the home side's defensive frailties were exposed.

Sone Aluko pulled one back for Aberdeen after the break but it proved to be no more than consolation for the Dons.

Celtic engineered several openings in the early stages with McDonald and McGeady both threatening before Dons goalkeeper Jamie Langfield twice denied Shaun Maloney.

At the other end, newly appointed Aberdeen captain Mark Kerr could not find the target with a half-chance on the edge of the Celtic box.

Marc-Antoine Fortune drew a save from Langfield with a low drive on 26 minutes shortly before firing wide.

And Celtic's pressure finally paid off on 29 minutes when Fortune's shot was blocked by Langfield and ricocheted back off the striker into the six-yard box where McGeady volleyed into the net.

Aberdeen continued to struggle to contain Celtic and Zander Diamond made a crucial block from Fortune's shot before Langfield pulled off a point-blank save from McDonald.

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee tried to alter the pattern of the game by introducing Darren Mackie in place of Stuart Duff.

McGeady found the net again in the 42nd minute when he received the ball 20 yards from goal before twisting and turning past Kerr and unleashing a superb swerving shot beyond Langfield.

And McDonald finished the match as a contest when he capitalised on a poor clearance by Richard Foster by slamming the ball low into the corner a minute before the break.

Both sides made changes early in the second half with Scott Brown replacing Glenn Loovens for Celtic and Aberdeen's Michael Paton coming on for Chris Maguire.

Aberdeen reduced the deficit in the 61st minute when Paton's cross was cleared to Aluko, who chested the ball down and beat Artur Boruc with an impressive dipping volley.

Samaras side-footed effort was palmed away by Langfield as Celtic looked to dampen the Dons' rejuvenation and Fortune fired wide from an audacious angle before being replaced by Chris Killen.

The Dons suffered an injury blow when Diamond had to be stretchered off following an accidental collision with Kerr and the defender was replaced by Andrew Considine.

Aberdeen should have scored a second in the 83rd minute when Aluko escaped Andreas Hinkel and delivered a dangerous low ball but neither Lee Miller or Gary McDonald could convert, allowing Danny Fox to clear. McDonald then volleyed over from a promising position.

Langfield denied McGeady a hat-trick with a solid save and Maloney had to be withdrawn late in the match with a strain.

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee: "We found it difficult to cope with Celtic's movement in the first half with the movement of their strikers.

"But within that there were individual errors which we can sort out.

"We had a new back four and I could see things I'll have to fix. But there were elements that I can take encouragement from. Now we go onto the next game."

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray: "Particularly in the first half, with our domination, we should have given ourselves a bigger advantage.

"Then, in the second half, we allowed Aberdeen to score a goal.

"I'm not 100% happy but obviously delighted to get a win away from home. This is a difficult place to come. We've got things to work on."

Newcastle 3 Reading 0

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Newcastle 3 Reading 0. Ameobi is the star of the show as his treble hands the Magpies a much-needed win. Will this result prove to the catalyst Newcastle were looking for? In regards to Reading, they must improve if they are to avoid a difficult campaign.

90+4 Brilliant run from Enrique to end the game. He is eventually stopped in his tracks by Rosenior, but the Spaniard has looked very good today.

90+3 More elaborate play from Gutierrez with no end product. He does like to beat everyone in sight before offloading to a team-mate.

90+2 For the record, there are just over 36,000 here tody. Well short of capacity, but more than the doom-mongers had predicted.

90+1 Long is forced wide by Coloccini and can't squeeze a shot on target. He fires into the side-netting and Reading appear to have blown any chance they had of grabbing a goal.

90 Geremi takes. He picks out Steven Taylor, but his knock down is hacked clear by Hunt. The ref would be best advised to end this game now as both teams are just going though the motions.

89 Xisco tries a one-two with Carroll and almost gets on the end of it. He is bundled over by Cisse, but only a corner is given.

88 LuaLua tries to play his way out of trouble and is almost caught on the ball. Steven Taylor comes to his aid and concedes a corner. The set-piece is cleared at the front post.

87 Newcastle have eased off the gas and Reading are now seeing more of the ball, It's not going to make any difference, though, because this game has been over for a long time.

86 Robson-Kanu goes for goal from a tight angle and works Harper. No chance of beating the Magpies keeper at his near post though.

85 The Toon Army are going home happy and are determined to enjoy the last five minutes. This is precisely what this club needed.

84 Davies tries again with a free-kick from the other side, but fails to pick out a man in orange. Meanwhile, the word is that Barton has suffered a foot injury.

83 Davies wastes the free-kick as his low shot cannons into the wall. Just about sums up Reading's day.

82 Barton is forced off after falling awkwardly. LuaLua enters the fray.

82 Rare opportunity for the Royals as Steven Taylor bundles over Long on the edge of the box. Can they find a consolation?

81 Reading seem wary of gettting a trounching and have virtually given up all hope of pushing forward.

80 Nolan has taken a knock to his elbow and looks to be in some pain. He should be okay to continue though.

79 Smith is the next to make way, with Geremi on in his place.

78 Thoughts turning to a midweek round of fixtures in the Championship as Hughton uses the opportunity to rest some of his key men.

77 He his now replaced as Xisco comes on in his place.

76 Ameobi was set to be hauled off before the awrding off the spot kick.

75 GOAL NEWCASTLE - AMEOBI. Hat-trick for Ameobi as he calmly converts from the spot. He sends Federici the wrong way and easily finds the corner.

75 Handball by Hunt and the referee points to the spot. Ameobi quickly picks up the ball.

73 Barton fails to find a team-mate on this occasion, but does much better when the ball is returned to him. He flashes a ball across the face of goal and Nolan and Carroll are unfortunate not to bundle in a third.

72 Gutierrez pops up on the right and teases Karacan into conceding a corner. He could have got a cross over, but wanted too long on the ball.

71 Long does not look happy, even with Hunt now alongside him. In truth he hasn't been given the best servcie today.

70 Good chance for Robson-Kanu as he bursts into the box. The opportunity then goes to his head and he lashes well wide. Reading can't afford to waste chances like that.

69 Another corner to Newcastle and Barton. Ameobi rises unmarked to power towards goal, He connects perfectly and is only denied a hat-trick by a good save from Federici.

68 The ref gets in the way as Reading try a clever free-kick. The ball does cannon around the penalty area, before being hacked behind. The corner comes to nothing.

67 Bertrand skips past Barton, who then drags his man to the ground. Yellow card is shown for a professional foul.

66 Harper and Hunt come on in place of Kebe and Tabb.

65 Reading look beaten. Heads have dropped and they appear to have accepted their fate. There are changes to be made though, Will they help?

64 Threat over as Harper comes and claims a high ball in confident fashion. He has had little to do this evening.

63 Good wrok by Steven Taylor as he gets across Long. He does then bundle the ball behind, though, for a corner.

61 GOAL NEWCASTLE - AMEOBI. Newcastle double their lead and should have wrapped up the points. Nolan chases a lost cause, Ryan Taylor then delivers to the back post and Ameobi is again on hand to nod home. Good goal and that should be that!

61 Great leap from Ameobi nods a high cross into the mixer. Newcastle players fall over themselves trying to reach the loose ball, but Karcacan is again on hand to resuce the Royals.

60 Difficult to see how Reading are going to get back into the game at the moment, barring a mistake from the Magpies' back four. The home side are brighter all over the pitch.

59 Hughton is prowling the touchline and gets a good reception from the crowd. Reports suggest Joe Kinnear could be appointed next week, but the current caretaker coach is proving he can do a job.

58 Nice footwork from Ameobi, but he is unable to swing over a cross. Karacan, who has been full of running, is in the way.

57 Carroll chases Barton's chip over the top. Pace isn't his strongest point , though, and he is beaten in a foot race by Rosenior.

56 Head tennis in midfield as both sides struggle to keep the ball on the ground. There have been breaks in proceedings where the standard slips slightly.

55 We have seen little from Reading in the last 10 minutes. Long still looks isolated and Rodgers must be contemplating throwing on Noel Hunt.

54 Church makes way for Robson-Kanu.

54 Ameobi is proving to be a real handful this evening. Cisse knows he has been in a game.

53 Barton dlivers from the other side and finds Carroll. He is nudged off the ball, though, and fails to control his header. Meanwhile, Church has left the field for treatment.

52 Barton wins a corner and will take it himself. It drops into the six-yard box, where Cisse is forced to volley behind.

51 The fans have found their voice again. Their side deserve to be in front, but they will know that 1-0 is never enough.

50 Ameobi whistles a great effort inches past the post. He sprung the offside trap, cut inside and curled a thumping effort narrowly wide.

50 Rodgers looks slightly more concerned now. His side's inability to find the target will be bothering him.

49 Another corner to Reading, won by Long. What can they make of this opportunity? Taken quickly to Karacan, but his delivery is easily dealt with.

48 Church wins a corner, which was the best he could hope for with only Long in support. The set-piece comes to nothing as Nolan nods clear.

47 Newcastle look lively again and have got plenty of willing runners getting forward.

47 Carroll does well to bustle past Cisse, but then flies into a challenge and sees yellow. Frustration boiling over.

46 I am informed that Newcastle boast a 100 per cent record against Reading at St James' Park. That bodes well for the home support as we start the second 45.

Reading get the second half up and running.

The players are back out and we are ready for the off again.

Peter Collington is hoping Newcastle can build on their lead after the break and send out a message to the rest of the division. There is no doubting that victory today could be the boost they need to go on and dominate the Championship this season.

Newcastle are now 1/4 with skybet.com to take the spoils, with Reading at 10/1. A 1-1 draw is available at 9/2.

How do you see the second half going. Can the Magpies hang on or will Reading come back into the game?

Remember you can air your views throughout the game by contacting me direct at Chris.Burton@bskyb.com.

Newcastle 1 Reading 0. Ameobi's header seperates the sides at the interval. Newcastle just about deserve their lead, but Reading have had their moments. The other point of note from the opening 45 minutes regards whether or not Smith should have been dismissed.

45+1 Carroll tumbles in the box, but the ref is not interested. He did seem to go down a bit easily.

45 Bertrand makes progress down the left and scuffs over a cross. He fails to pick out a team-mate, though, and Harper is then bundled to the turf.

44 Smith, in his role as captain, calms things down and brings the game to walking pace. He is all too aware that conceding at this stage could be a hammer blow to the Magpies.

43 Barton is the furthest forward on this occasion and is prepared to chase a lost cause towards the corner flag. He is another who could set this division alight if his head is right.

42 Ameobi again. From 20-yards the Magpies frontman tries to pass the ball into the net. Needless to say he doesn't have much joy and Federici drops on his tame effort.

41 Nolan almost sends Carroll in on goal, but the final pass clips the striker's heels and prevents him from scampering past his man.

40 End-to-end stuff at the moment, with both teams going for it. This is what we wanted!

39 Almost an instant reply. Another great cross has Newcastle troubled. Long and Church bust a gut to get an all-important touch, but the ball evades them both.

38 GOAL NEWCASTLE - AMEOBI. At last we get a goal. Great cross from Enrique, who whips a ball across the six-yard box. Ameobi arrives at the back post and sends a diving header bouncing past Federici.

38 Barton delivers deep towards Ameobi, but he can't pick out a team-mate with a towering header.

37 Gutierrez gets a shot away on this occasion, after twisting and turning inside the box. He forces Federici into a smart save as he tips over the top.

36 Karacan does well to outmuscle Smith and free Long. He is penalised for knocking into Coloccini, but the decision seems half. Long is about half the size of the Magpies defender.

35 Lofted cross from Barton finds nobody. Federici comes off his line to comfortably claim. Mix of good and bad from the Magpies during the first half.

34 Carroll leaps highest to win a header six-yards out. His effort cannons into Rosenior, who smashes upfield.

33 Good one-touch football from Reading has them moving forward. They reach the edge of the area, then Long slips and the move breaks down.

32 Barton trots over to deliver again. Dreadful. His corner flies straight into the first man with no Newcastle player in sight.

31 Corner to the hosts as Cisse nods behind a Ryan Taylor delivery. Barton takes the set-piece and wins another one on the other side.

30 Newcastle are still prepared to throw men forward, but the Royals continue to frustrate them.

29 All getting a bit scrappy at the moment. A few nasty tackles are flying in and the ball is not spending much time on the deck.

28 Enrique is clear again down the left, but drags a disappointing cross behind those waiting in the middle.

27 Long drills a low cross into the middle one again. Coloccini hammers clear, but Reading feel a goal is coming. So do the crowd, with moans and groans starting to ring out.

26 Long sends a ball skidding across the face of the Newcastle goal. Kebe looks to get on the end of it, but Steven Taylor is on end to poke the ball clear. All that was needed was a touch and the Royals would have been ahead.

25 Keep-ball from Reading, who have come back into the game in the last few minutes.

24 Poor free-kick from Davies as he whips a ball into an area where no-one has moved into. Not the worst delivery, but the fact that he was on a different wavelength to everybody else made it look shabby.

23 Another wild challenge from Smith and he could be in trouble. Just a lecture for the former England international. Lucky boy.

22 Davies wins a corner as his cross is blocked. The midfielder takes the set-piece short and the Royals work the ball well. In the end, though, there are too many black and white shirts in the way.

22 Smith does see yellow for his ungamely lunge on Church.

21 Smith dives into a tackle and is fortunate not to be picked up for a foul. Reading break, but the move soon breaks down.

20 Coloccini has had a good game so far and cuts out two crosses from Reading on this occasion. The Argentine should be a class above at this level with his experience.

19 Solid from Cisse as he prevents Ameobi from bursting into the box. Newcastle are linking up well on the edge of the box, but can't unlock the door.

18 Barton tries to pick out Ameobi with a high cross to the back post. The languid frontman does all he can to reach the ball, but it is just too high.

17 Brendan Rodgers looks very relaxed on the Reading bence. His young side have started well and he will feel that they could snatch somehting on the break.

16 Gutierrez is seeing plenty of the ball and looks dangerous in possession. He has the beating of Rosenior, but needs greater support.

15 Davies tries to pick out runners in the middle, with three orange shirts bombing forward. Coloccini has the situation covered, though, and deals with the danger.

14 Ameobi sends Nolan into space, but the midfielder is flagged offside. Newcastle are playing some good football and there are positive signs for the Magpies followers.

13 Farce from Newcastle, Gutierrez is sent scampering clear, only to get the ball caught under his feet, before Carroll swings a dreadful effort across the face of goal. Should have been 1-0.

13 Rosenior forces Enrique into some smart defending, with the Spaniard doing brilliantly.

12 A few chants aimed in the direction of Mr Ashley by the home support. Suffice to say not all of them are complimentary.

11 Newcastle are looking to pick out Carroll whenever possible, with the bick frontman dominating in the air.

10 Carroll, sporting a long mop of hair, sees a low drive deflected narrowly past the post. Barton miskicks from the edge of the box after being picked out by a quick corner.

9 Kebe drifts into space on the right and pulls back to Long in space. He tries his luck from distance, but drags a tame effort well wide. Positive period of play for the Royals.

8 Corner to Reading as Enrique prevents Church from getting in a cross. Free header for Pearce, but he directs his effort straight at Harper. Early working for the Magpies.

7 There a few empty seats at St James' today, but the stadium still looks pretty full to me. One man who is here is owner Mike Ashley, with reports suggesting he could be set to take Newcastle off the market.

6 Bright start from both teams, with the hosts probably edging things. Ryan Taylor and Enrique look up for it, while Kebe has shown a few nice touches.

5 Moment of madness from Ryan Taylor as he looks set to handle a cross into the box. He pulls his arm away at the last minute, but the Toon Army were worried there for a moment.

5 Enrique is getting forward at every opportunity. He does need to be careful, though, of getting caught on the counter.

4 Worth a pop from Ryan Taylor as he latches onto a loose ball 25-yards from goal. His shot sails high and wide, but he can hit them from that distance.

3 Gutierrez sprints down the left and provides Enrique with an opportunity to cross. He finds the heart of the box, but also an orange shirt.

2 Shane Long is cutting a lone furrow up front for the Royals and is being outnumbered every time the ball comes near him. Reading need to offer him support.

1 Newcastle try to peg Reading back early on and have the Royals camped near their own corner flag.

Newcastle get us underway.

An emotional moment as St James' Park rises to remember the late, great Sir Bobby Robson. Applause rings out around the ground, with all in attendance showing their respect.

The teams are out and we are almost ready for the off. The home support are in good voice despite the turmoil which continues to grip their club.

You can also bet inplay on goings on at St James' at skybet.com. Newcastel start as 5/4 favourites, with Reading at 9/4 and the draw available at the same price. Andy Carroll is favourite to open the scoring at 6/1.

How do you see the game going? What do you make of the ongoing takeover saga on Tyneside? How will Reading cope without Stephen Hunt? Let me know your thoughts.

Remember you can air your opinions on this evening's game or any other topic which tickles your fancy by contacting me direct at Chris.Burton@bskyb.com.

Reading team: Federici, Rosenior, Cisse, Pearce, Bertrand, Tabb, Karacan, Davies, Kebe, Church, Long. Subs: Hamer, Mills, Gunnarsson, Hunt, Harper, Robson-Kanu, Sigurdsson.

Newcastle team: Harper, Ryan Taylor, Steven Taylor, Coloccini,Jose Enrique, Nolan, Barton, Smith, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Carroll. Subs: Krul, Xisco, Geremi, LuaLua, Kadar, Ranger, Donaldson.

Both sides were held on the opening weekend so will be looking to get a first win on the board this time around.

Welcome to St James' Park for our coverage of today's Championship clash between Newcastle and Reading.

City-Blackburn

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:57:00 +0000

It’s minutes away from the big kickoff on the 2009-10 Premier League season! Starting in a few minutes we’ll be live-blogging the action from Ewood Park.

One big surprise to the City starting 11: there is a place for Micah Richards, who had limited preseason action. It’ll be Bridge, Toure, Dunne, and Richards along the back, SWP, Barry and Ireland in midfield, Robinho, Adebayor, Bellamy in front. Given in goal.

Blackburn are putting out Robinson, Warnock, Samba, Givet, Jacobsen, Pedersen, N’Zonzi, Andrews, Diouf, Roberts, and McCarthy.

It’s a minute’s applause for Sir Bobby Robson, the whole park joining in. City’s fans are in blue but the players are in the black away strip, Blackburn in its familiar home strip.

2nd minute. City have had most of the ball very early on but nothing of consequence so far. Dunne had to make a clearance in the box, City move on the break–Adebayor SCORES!!! GOAL!!!

SWP broke out on the right wing, then played a great ball back for Adebayor (who had played the original ball), who smashed it to Robinson’s left. A terrific goal and a dream start to the season. 1-0, City!!

5th minute. Hughes’s decision to field an attacking lineup provides immediate dividends.

6th minute. Nice tackle from Bridge wins the ball back on the edge of City’s box. City need to hold on the ball and lead for a bit, but Dunne commits a foul 45 yards from goal. Pedersen lined up the free kick and put it a mile over the goal. Replay shows just how calm SWP was with the ball to set up Adebayor on the goal.

9th minute. Dangerous moment there off Blackburn’s long throw, resulting in a corner that Given fists away. City clear and break again through SWP, but this time it comes to nothing, Barry played the wrong ball.

12th minute. Bellamy just offside on Ireland’s chipped through ball, he would have been through. So far City look good but Blackburn have asked some questions with crosses and long balls into the box, trying to take advantage perhaps of City’s new defensive partnership.

14th minute. Another cross from Jacobsen that McCarthy gets a touch to but it’s well wide. One senses that one goal is not going to win this game for City.

16th. It’s ping-pong football at the moment, Blackburn are playing very direct and City are trying to do instant counter-attacks after recovering the ball. This time City keep it a big longer but Bellamy again is just offside–that one was closer. Carlos Tevez looks on from the bench.

17th minute. Richards with another clearance, he has looked just fine so far.

18th minute. Dunne has had his critics this summer but what Blackburn are doing suit his game–lots of headers need to to be won. Best chance yet falls to Roberts after some head tennis in the box but he side foots it over.

20th minute. It’s a hat-trick of offsides for Bellamy. But they are getting more and more fractional. Maybe it’s the #39 number he is wearing that used to belong to Anelka, who was always offside when he wasn’t scoring goals.

22nd minute. One would like to see City keep it on the floor a bit more, there’s no one out there inclined to play the simple ball. Pedersen briefly won the ball in dangerous decision but it’s a good recovery for City to get the ball back. Barry fouled in the center circle.

23rd minute. Nearly a bad miscue there on a long bouncing ball that fell awkwardly between Dunne and Given, Dunne left it but Given needed two tries to claim it. More pressure from Rovers.

26th minute. Blackburn line up another free kick, this one about 30 yards out. McCarthy took it but Given saw it all the way and gathers it easily.

27th minute. But Blackburn come right back at City and win a corner. Rovers have had the upper hand the last few minutes. Samba heads it in and Given makes a great save. Blackburn come back yet again and win another corner.

29th minute. Given takes the corner but his quick clearance for Robinho goes out of bounds. Replay shows Samba beat Richards to the ball on that corner kick a couple of minutes ago, Given had to go to his left and low to put a strong arm on that one. Finally City get the ball down into the final third but Barry’s cross from the left finds no one.

31th minute. City need one of three things to happen now: a) grab another goal on the counter b) control ball much better or c) pray to make it to halftime and make some tactical changes. City go for b) there with some nice spell of possession, SWP ran into the box but couldn’t control it cleanly.

32nd minute. Another long throw on the left from Pedersen ends with McCarthy smashing it so awry on the volley even Big Sam has a laugh.

35th minute. Blackburn fans are chanting “you’ve only come for the money” to City’s players.

37th minute. Excellent Blackburn move as Roberts beat Dunne for pace, then pulled it back for McCarthy, but he couldn’t get a strong shot off and City get out of that one.

38th minute. Robinho with an excellent strike from left of the box forces a good save from Robinson and a corner, but nothing comes of the City corner.

40th minute. Given is getting plenty of catching practice but he dropped that one to no consequence. Nice turn by Adebayor finds Bellamy, Pedersen recovers well to head Bellamy’s cross over for a corner.

41st minute. SWP tried to dribble through tight space in the box but it’s cleared away. On the ensuring throw Barry does well to win a foul 3 yards outside the area on the right side of the box.

42nd minute. Robinho gets it wrong there, Barry’s free kick was played beautifully and Robinho was unmarked on the back post. It would have been difficult to score from that angle but Robinho flubbed it well wide of the target.

43rd minute. Knock on wood, Toure has had a stellar first half winning balls at the back.

44th minute. Given came for the ball on a long throw but didn’t get the ball–another dangerous moment but City survive. Another long throw and the ball falls to Andrews who blasts it at Dunne’s arm, a half-hearted call for a penalty but the ref says no. Replay shows Dunne’s arm was tucked into the body.

46th minute. City have the ball for a good spell but Diouf stays on the floor after his challenge on Adebayor and City sportingly play it out. Mike Dean doesn’t think Diouf really needed to stay down and I agree.

There’s the halftime whistle and City will be happy to have the lead intact. After the first 10 or 15 minutes, Blackburn had the better of the game with their direct approach causing City some problems. City have looked unsteady at times at the back but so far but Given has only had to make one quality save. It’s the in-between long balls over the top and crosses that are causing more of a problem.

Will be interesting to see if Hughes rings in a change while there’s still a lead to protect. de Jong might well enter the fray, and surely at some point in the 2nd half Tevez will make an appearance.

48th minute. City need to do a better job wining the 2nd ball off these headers. Bellamy gets it on the left, the ball’s worked around left to right and back again, Bridge ended up taking a shot from outside the box that goes wide. That was better from City.

50th minute. Now Blackburn keep it on the floor for a brief spell but end up losing it over the touch line. Ireland breaks down the right side but can’t control an ambitious through ball. Meanwhile, rain has descended on to the park, conditions might get quite sloppy before this is over. This is English football!

52nd minute. Bob Dylan was wrong when he said a hard rain’s gonna fall. A hard rain IS falling on Ewood Park. Blackburn won’t mind this, how will City cope?

53rd minute. Warnock did well there to keep SWP from getting onto Robinho’s ball into the box, playing it off the City man for a goal kick.

55th minute. It’s an even game at the moment but that represents an improvement, City are playing better this half. That was an excellent team move spreading the ball across the pitch, ending with a Warnock tackle and a City throw. Some good passing and movement.

57th minute. Lovely shoulder fake that Robinho just used to get past Givet was worth a fiver alone, though nothing comes of it.

58th minute. “Blue Moon” is ringing through the stadium, City fans are cheered but what’s going on last few minutes. City still need a second, one feels.

59th minute. And Blackburn show why with a very dangerous cross from Diouf, it’s headed across but no one is there. Then on the follow up Roberts is wide open from 12 yards and Given has to make his second quality save of the match.

61st minute. City just kept the ball for a good 15 passes, ending with a cross from Bellamy that doesn’t find Adebayor. Blackburn now have the ball on the left with yet another dangerous throw from Pedersen coming up…

62nd minute. So close for Robinho! A great counter-attack eventually gives Robinho the chance to shoot on his left from just outside the area on the right, hard and low but Robinson does really well to get a hand to it. City have it again and Bellamy wins another corner.

64th minute. Enjoyable game this if you like English football. The rain seems to have gone away for now. Both sides are showing terrific commitment out there.

65th minute. Richard Dunne just knocked over Roberts like a bowling pin with that shoulder charge, judged as fair by the ref. Replay shows Roberts made a meal of that one. Roberts is now coming off and Chelsea loanee Di Santo is on. I’m not sorry to see Roberts go, he’s always caused City problems over the years.

66th minute. Toure did well there to recover after Pedersen was briefly in the clear getting on to the end of a long ball. Tevez is about to come on for City.

67th minute. Tevez on, Bellamy off. Bellamy has done well today. But wait, there’s a hold up because the 4th official putup the wrong number on the sub. Play goes on while that gets sorted out. Mark Hughes is annoyed. Now it’s Robinho that will come off, not Bellamy.

68th minute. Robinho not thrilled to be coming off, though to be fair most would pick Bellamy to play 20 hard minutes in the rain (which is back) to close out a match.

71th minute. Nice move there by City nearly sets up Tevez, Samba got a foot in. Game is in a bit of a lull at the moment, City need to hold its nerve.

72nd minute. Blackburn has yet another corner, City deal with it. Bellamy in the clear, he plays it to Adebayor who unselfishly sets up Ireland, but the pass is not great and Ireland has to use the left foot. Poor shot goes over the bar. That was a good chance….

Skipping ahead to injury time:

The rest of this thread was accidentally deleted, but to make a long story short, Ireland scored a BRILLIANT GOAL in the 91st minute to wrap this one up for City, 2-0. He was played in by SWP, tried to round the keeper, and when Robinson recovered he calmly moved the ball back to the centre before slotting with his right foot into the corner. That was the definition of cool!

Leading up to the goal there were some yellow cards handed out to Richards, Warnock, and Gallagher, and a couple more Blackburn free kicks, including one blazed just over by McCarthy in the 80th minute, and numerous City break-outs that didn’t quite to come to anything. Tevez was involved and looked quite good, his clever run in behind onto SWP’s pass in the 81st minute set him up for a shot that Robinson held well. City had chance after chance to counter before finally finding the net for a second time.

A funny moment at the final whistle as Mark Hughes slipped shaking Big Sam’s hand, but Toure and Dunne did not slip up at the back and they are my men of the match for City. Blackburn’s PA announced Pedersen as Rovers man of the match and that is fair.

An ideal opening start to the campaign for City–excellent early goal, successfully enduring extended pressure as Blackburn came more and more into the game, then re-asserting control in the second half, capped by a brilliant goal from Ireland that we’ll be enjoying on highlight reels for some time. You could hardly have written a better script for the opening day, and the fact that at times it was not pretty and that Blackburn certainly gave City a hard scrap in pouring rain is all the more encouraging.

Plenty to celebrate for City’s players, traveling supporters, and one or two bananas that also braved the rain. Slightly surprising that de Jong did not figure into this at all; rather than change tactics at halftime, Hughes apparently asked his players to be a little more patient and calm in possession. In any case, that was a big improvement after the interval. Shaun Wright-Phillips was immense today, and you just couldn’t take him off; he had assists on both goals and made numerous telling runs.

Adebayor made a very quick impact on his Manchester City debut

Emmanuel Adebayor struck after only three minutes of his debut to help Manchester City make a winning start to the new Premier League season.

The £25m summer signing lashed in an 18-yard drive to open his City account.

Chris Samba's header was superbly saved by Shay Given, who also denied Benni McCarthy as Rovers responded well.

After the break Given kept out Jason Roberts's header and Robinho's shot was saved by Paul Robinson, before Stephen Ireland slotted in to seal the points.

After City's summer spending spree that brought in five players at a cost of almost £100m, the pressure was on for them to deliver on the pitch from the first whistle.

And that was virtually what they did as Adebayor wasted no time in continuing his great run of form against Rovers that had seen him score eight times against them for his former team Arsenal.

Allardyce laments 'harsh result'

The Togo striker played the ball out wide to Shaun Wright-Phillips and when the winger cut back inside and rolled the ball square invitingly, Adebayor was there to drill home his shot that Robinson could only help into the net.

With Rovers clearly stunned, and their pre-match promise to kick lumps out of their opponents now needing a readjustment, City enjoyed a dominant 10-minute spell.

But once the dust had settled, Rovers hit back and began to run the midfield as Gareth Barry - another City debutant - struggled to cope as the only holding midfielder.

606: DEBATE

If we can have games where we don't gel fully and can still get a win then we are on to a good thing

Partington Blue

And soon it became clear that for all City's potential in attack - such apparent strength in depth that Carlos Tevez was only on the bench - their problems at the back had not been solved.

Kolo Toure, City's third new boy in their starting line-up, and his central defensive partner Richard Dunne looked less than comfortable under a number of diagonal high balls.

Rovers debutant Steven N'Zonzi had a shot hacked away and Roberts lifted a volley over the bar from 12 yards after Blackburn worked a chance via a bout of head tennis.

Frailties in City's backline were again in evidence when Given and Dunne, and then Given and Toure, just about got away with mix-ups.

Rovers, though, could not take their chances. McCarthy struck a free-kick straight at Given and Samba's header was also kept out by the keeper.

'Fighting spirit' pleases Hughes

Another well-worked move ended in McCarthy firing straight at Given as big-spending City found themselves firmly on the back foot.

The previously anonymous Robinho then announced his presence on the pitch when his drive from 18 yards was tipped over by Robinson.

Back came Rovers and when Keith Andrews' volley hit Dunne's arm there were loud shouts for a penalty but the referee waved them away.

A spell of driving rain after the break made conditions difficult and neither side could establish any rhythm or keep possession.

In fairness to City, they had also tightened up at the back and were no longer affording Rovers as much space to work in.

Oops - Hughes' early season slip-up

But one lapse of concentration almost cost the visitors when an unmarked Roberts headed through a crowd of players and it took another fine stop from Given to keep his side in front.

Shortly after, the enigmatic Robinho almost sealed it for City but his shot was brilliantly diverted by Robinson, who dived low to his right.

It was the last contribution by the Brazilian forward as he made way for Tevez to make his debut.

The Argentine, who joined for £25m in the summer, almost copied his strike partner Adebayor by notching on his debut but once again Robinson was equal to a testing shot.

Before that, Ireland ballooned over after great work by Bellamy who had launched a rapid counter attack.

And McCarthy fizzed over a 20-yard free-kick as Rovers desperately tried to salvage something from the game.

But late on, Ireland broke clear and bided his time before coolly converting at the far post to ensure City started the season - and their new era - with three points and an away victory that is already half the total they managed last season.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:
"I think it was very harsh," he said. "Our failing today was in the poor quality of our finishing.

"But their goalkeeper Shay Given also made one brilliant save after another and that kept them in the game.

"We should have gone in at half-time in front. In the second half we couldn't quite manage to achieve the same tempo. It is very disappointing."

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes:
"Many people might have been looking to see if we were going to fall flat on our face today and I thought we gave a great response.

"You saw great character from City today. If we continue to play with the character we showed today then we will keep progressing.

"We stood up to the challenge and we showed the qualities we will need."

Chelsea 2 - 1 Hull City

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Match reports

The Observer, Amy Lawrence: "Carlo Ancelotti gave a genteel royal wave when he was introduced at Stamford Bridge before kick-off and a wheeze of relief 91½ minutes later. Didier Drogba's lofted chip came anxiously late, preventing the ignominy of points dropped on the opening day of the season at home to the team who escaped relegation by their heavily bitten fingernails last term."

Sunday Telegraph, Oliver Brown: "Drogba dispelled all doubts about his suspect loyalties with a mesmeric display against Hull City, full of uncomplicated commitment as he first equalised for Chelsea through a bending free-kick, before scoring the winner in injury time from an improbable angle. Both strikes crystallised his qualities of touch, grace and poise, while his demeanour during the match suggested a refreshing and hitherto unseen lack of artifice."

Sunday Times, David Walsh: "Chelsea won because of Drogba, who was the game’s towering presence and the only one who looked likely to beat Hull’s excellent defence. It might seem a cliche to say the centre-forward is worth his weight in gold but in this team, in this league, that might not be far from the truth. His first goal was a brilliant free kick and though he had the good grace to say the winner was lucky, it was still a delightfully skilful cross that might have made a goal for Salomon Kalou had it not sneaked in."

Independent on Sunday, Steve Tongue: "New boy that he is, Ancelotti could have copied the old Bill Shankly line, "same team as last season". By the end of the game, however, he had been forced to give a run to substitutes Michael Ballack, Deco and Salomon Kalou, the first of them as early as the 46th minute. There is a tactical difference too in that he wants to use a diamond-shaped midfield and push Nicolas Anelka, last season's Golden Boot winner, right up alongside Drogba. Having Frank Lampard just behind them ought to provide a potent attacking triangle, though the worry is that the influential Lampard will not find space to do his best work. That was the case yesterday."

Official Chelsea FC Website: "Chelsea's happy habit for opening day success continues but it needed a stoppage-time winner from Didier Drogba. And what a winner it was too, scored from what is traditionally termed an impossible angle - the second of what will be Goal of the Month contenders from the Ivorian."

The goals

28' Hunt 0-1
37' Drogba 1-1
90+2' Drogba 2-1

The preamble

Last night I dreamed that I donated all my Chelsea paraphernalia to a local animal rescue centre, moved to the Midlands and started going to Molineux (the portly chap with the weathered complexion who hangs around the bench area at Chelsea games helped me move my belongings in a split-screen VW Camper which had a chicken painted on the front... analyse that). Twenty-eight minutes into this first competitive game of the season and I was thinking that supporting Wolves isn't such a bad idea after all: at least they aren't expected to win every game they play. I was also wondering why I voluntarily put myself through such emotional turmoil at weekends. For ten first half minutes after Hull had taken the lead nails were chewed, expletives uttered (mostly in the direction of a short Irishman) and doubts raised. Then Drogba eased the turmoil somewhat from a free kick that wasn't a free kick and all was well for a bit. The anguish gradually built up again as the second half progressed only for Drogba to pop up for a second time in injury time and rescue me from an evening of doom and gloom. That's why I put myself through the wringer every weekend, I thought as I made my way home.

The good

Three points. This was our eighth straight opening day win, a Premier League record. Once again the never-say-die attitude that has played such a big part in the current squad's success was on show - like it or not the spirit of Mourinho lives on. We dominated play and had nearly 70% of the possession over the 90 minutes, but we failed to make it count. Hull keeper Myhill had a good game, although it was our poor finishing and lack of killer instinct in front of goal that cost us. I'll leave what I've got to say about that for 'the bad' section.
Didier Drogba. He wasn't at his best - a Drogba in peak form would have taken several more of the many chances he created for himself - but that shouldn't take away from what was a splendid all-round performance from a rejuvenated player. It didn't look promising when he blasted a golden opportunity into the Matthew Harding stand after just 60 seconds - if that had gone in it would have been a rout, and I would still have some finger nails left. His free kick was Ronaldo-esque, and he was honest enough to admit that his second was meant as a cross. Not once did he feign injury, or fall to the ground as if shot - Bryan English didn't know what to do with himself in the dugout. If only Drogba would behave as impeccably as he did today in every game. Let's hope his knee holds out, because we're going to need him to play at his best in every game if we're going to win anything this season.
Deco. This is probably a contentious choice seeing as he only played the last 20 minutes of the match. He impressed me though, he's much more suited to playing at the point of the diamond behind the strikers. That's not to say Lampard didn't have a good game, because he did - he orchestrated a lot of our best stuff in the first half - but most of it came after he dropped deep, often to pick up the ball from the back four. The fact that Mikel had a shocking opening 20 minutes probably didn't help. That said, I think Lampard is a much better player coming from deep. Deco on the other hand looks more adept in the hole. He looked really sharp today.

The bad

Our profligacy in front of goal. We had something like 30 attempts of which a third were on target (we failed to make Myhill save a shot in the first half hour though), yet we only managed to score two somewhat fortunate goals from a questionable free kick and a miss-hit cross. Last season teams came to the Bridge and played five across midfield in the hope of nicking a draw and more often than not we struggled to break them down - it was the number of draws at home that probably cost us the title. It looks like history could repeat itself this season. Today we should have been several goals to the good before Hunt gave Hull a shock and undeserved lead. We got away with it again, but we won't over the course of a whole season. We need to bring in a world class striker. I've been saying it all summer, we need an out-and-out goal scorer, a Torres type player, a player like Owen in his prime, a David Villa (can you imagine any of them missing some of the chances we created in this game?), an Aguero. As I see it, neither Drogba nor Anelka is this player. Drogba is awesome at what he does and he does score plenty of goals when fit and focussed, as does Anelka who let's not forget finished last season as the Premier League's Golden Boot winner. But Drogba's the battering ram, the player who bullies defences and creates opportunities for others as well as himself. Anelka works hard but often finds himself out wide or dropping deep when playing against a packed midfield and defence, and he's not always there to pick up the pieces and put the ball in the net. I read a couple of reports this morning that said that Ancelotti has hinted at more arrivals (make up your mind, Carlo), and the Sun leads with a story linking us with a big-money move for Aguero, so it does appear that we're trying to address the problem.
Jon Obi Mikel. A bit harsh perhaps, but he had a really poor opening 20 minutes or so. During this time every Hull attack came from one of his misplaced passes or after he had been caught in possession. He doesn't seem to be up to the pace of the Premier League yet. It was a similar story in last weekend's Community Shield. Ancelotti was chipping away at him from the sidelines after just a few minutes and then substituted him at half time. There's no doubting we improved after he went off. Whoever it was who commented on a recent post that Ancelotti doesn't trust Mikel, it looks like you were right, and this could be why Ancelotti's still looking to sign another midfielder. Mikel could find himself frozen out if he doesn't improve soon.
Stephen Hunt. An obvious inclusion. His first contribution was a bollock-high, studs-up tackle on Lampard after just a few seconds of the match. A nasty moment from a nasty player which deserved at least a yellow card. It had to be him that scored though didn't it? Sod's Law and all that. He took his goal well though. The c***.

Player ratings

Cech - 6.5/10 - Saved early on with an outstretched leg and looked confident whenever called upon. Tipped over a deflected cross late in the game but didn't have a great deal else to do to be honest.
A. Cole - 6.5/10 - Again provided the width down the left. Solid in defence as per usual. Certainly looks fit but probably like several players is still lacking the sharpness that a few Premier League games will give him.
Carvalho - 7/10 - The old Carvalho is back. Made a couple of storming runs out of defence, as is his wont, but also defended like we know he can. Was a danger from set-pieces. He's still one of my favourites.
Terry - 7/10 - Threw himself about in his usual customary fashion. Came close to scoring with a header from a first half corner. Made a great last-ditch tackle on Hunt which got the crowd going.
Bosingwa - 7/10 - Reinstated to the side after losing out to Ivanovic last weekend. Got forward and supported the attack, put in several decent crosses and forced a save out of Hull keeper Myhill with a low left-footed shot.
Mikel - 5.5/10 - A poor opening 20 minutes saw him replaced by Ballack at half time. Needs to pull his socks up and finger out if he wants to keep his place in the starting eleven.
Essien - 6.5/10 - Had a couple of strikes on target, one in each half. Played on the right of the diamond before the break, dropped into the holding midfield position after it. Solid in both.
Malouda - 6/10 - Did okay. We improved a bit after he went off, but that was probably more to do with the system and players' positions in the system than it was to do with Malouda.
Lampard - 7/10 - He was supposed to be playing at the point of the diamond in the first half, but he seemed to be everywhere and kept dropping back looking for the ball (an effect of Mikel's poor form?). I still think he's better coming from a deeper position, although he has the intelligence to eventually adapt to any role he's asked to play.
Anelka - 6/10 - Floated in and out of the game. Kept disappearing for periods, to the point where you wouldn't have known he was on the pitch. But when he did find himself involved he worked hard. Tends to drop deep looking for the ball, or drifts out wide and thus isn't always in the right place at the right time to score. Last season he scored most of his goals against weaker opposition away from home.
Drogba - 8/10 - Wasn't at his best but still managed to score both goals. It didn't look like it was going to be his day after he squandered a great chance after just 60 seconds, but he stuck at it and got his reward. Great free kick, and he admitted after the match that his second goal was meant as a cross. A big season ahead if he can stay fit. Man of the Match.
Ballack (sub) - 6.5/10 - We improved considerably after he came on in place of Mikel at half time. Played on the right of the diamond in place of Essien who dropped into the holding role. Solid if unspectacular.
Deco (sub) - 7/10 - Was more disciplined in the role behind the strikers than Lampard, who dropped deeper to the left when Deco came on in place of Malouda. Played some nice passes, looked sharp and could find himself starting more games if Ancelotti loses patience with Mikel.
Kalou (sub) - 6.5/10 - Replaced Anelka with 10 minutes to go and came close to scoring twice, once with his head - his first touch - and once with a sweetly struck right-footed curling shot that just missed the right hand post. He's the perfect player to bring on when opposition defences are tiring.

Man of the Match

There's only one contender: Didier Drogba. He wasn't at his marauding, world-beating best but that didn't prevent him from scoring two goals. I predict a big season for the big man if his knee holds out.

Final thoughts

This wasn't the ideal start to the new Premier League campaign, it raised more questions than it answered: What's up with Mikel? Is the point of a midfield diamond Lampard's best position? Do we need another striker? Why is Stephen Hunt such a c***?

A trip to Sunderland, who beat Bolton at the Reebok this afternoon, is next, in three days' time. Then it's Fulham away, Burnley home and Stoke away before Spurs visit the Bridge next month. It doesn't look quite as inviting as it did this morning, does it?

If you see any donkeys wearing Chelsea scarves in the next couple of weeks, you'll know I've given it all up to go and support Wolves.

Keep the Blue Flag Flying High!

Wiley 2–Hull 1

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:51:00 +0000

If today’s opening match fixture was a litmus test for the rest of the premier league season, my bet is on the match officials. As soon as the match kicked off I had that gut feeling of “here we go again”. Now I know it’s easy to accuse the officials of ruining the game for you, today’s match however was no excuse.

Chelsea had created a slew of chances, give credit where credit is due. Stephen Hunt, known for the skull fracturing incident at Reading 2 years on, made a dream debut for Hull at the Bridge with a goal in the 28^thminute to put the Tigers up 1-0. The free kick was a good one, with the lucky deflection, that lead to the goal and set the tempo of the match

The Blues goal that came in the 37^th minute was unbelievable by way of a Didier Drogba free kick which should have never been awarded. First of if you were watching the same match as me you would have noticed that Obi Mikel instigated Seyi Olofinjana with an (wrestling like) elbow to retaliate which ensued in the free kick being awarded. Apparently Alan Wiley didn’t see the elbow. Wiley for sure was pressured by the home supporters and we all know that the “big four” do this. So 1-1 to Alan Wiley. After that it was just a matter of time before Chelsea won.

Now the big mystery which not even Sherlock Holmes himself could have solved was where the 6 minutes of added time came from? This resulted in a chip shot from Drogba to win the match. If I was a Wolves fan I would be furious. There was absolutely no justification for 6 added minutes. First of there were no serious injuries or crowd disturbances to warrant that much amount of time. The match would have ended 1-1, deservedly so in my opinion. I got a fishy feeling that this isn’t the last we seen of “extra time” being awarded at Stamford Bridge or other Premier League grounds. Of course with a little help from the men in the black.

I am not against Chelsea but I am against the fact when referees take over the match, they ruin it with controversial calls (i.e. Rob Styles) for everyone including the fans that paid a lot of money to see a football match and those watching at home.

If today’s match taught me anything about the season upon us, is that I am betting on blue the next time Chelsea plays. They definitely have some powerful help from the men in black.

Everton 1 Arsenal 6

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:49:00 +0000

Everton Gunned down

Everton 1 Arsenal 6

That was the result of gunners opening fixture against toffees at Goodison Park, Well sure goals rained down on Everton who had no solution to total football played by Wenger men. The opening goal by Denilson after fine work by Nicky who passed to Fab then easy ball for Denilson to target to right side of Everton goal 1 nil to gunners and for a minute it looked like back to good old days of winning 1 nil, Well soon after after Our new boy Vermalean scored with bullet header after Free kick by RVP eluded everyone to find unmarked Vermalean who jumped high to nod home 2-0 nil to gunners.
Then Gallas got another header from a set piece would you believe? well two goals from free kicks? Yeah it was due to Gunners fluid play that Everton ended up completely lost and to be honest their defence with want away Lescott looking like he was forced to turn up instead of signing for city. Then came the second half Gunners picked where they left and these time captain got in on the act to scored a perfect counter attack team goal wow it was hard to believe what was going on but today they clicked in perfect harmony and it was breathtaking to watch drama unfolding in Goodison Park, Some media hacks must have been choking on their sandwich due to all doom monger who predicted Arsenal total collapse..Well let not get carried away Arsenal simply to need to buy two more players in key position namely defence and Midifield. I am sure it would not hurt to reinforce already a strong tean who just need that extra help in hard times which are goner come after these walk over.

Then Fab scored another goal which he dedicated to his Espanyol Friend who passed away last week, With gunner Kit man ready with a shirt bearing the late Jarque who sadly passed away. Fab is a class player who gunners should built team around he is key to Gunners and surely the spineless board who are selling players should know if they sell him then it would backfire in big way. His time would come sure after first achieving something with Arsenal hopefully not anytime soon.

Eddie came on for RVP who as usual scored his trademark fox on the box goal 6-0 nil to gunner but then last second gunners defence where caught napping going home cue to Everton to score a consolation goal courtesy of Saha, 6-1 Final whistle....What a day to savour, Great match, Great goals and a Great win for Arsenal. I just hope Wenger is not fooled into thinking these team is complete it is but need reinforcement full stop. Many more days like these would make everyone day, Cheers.

Stoke City 2 Burnley 0

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:46:00 +0000

Aug15

RYAN Shawcross, the man dropped after the first game of last season, enjoyed the honour of opening the scoring in the first game of this.

And his 19th minute header was followed by a similar effort - this time by Burnley's makeshift centre half Stephen Jordan - as Stoke established a two-goal lead they were never to surrender against Premier League new boys Burnley.

The Clarets never lost heart and Stoke, despite never being at their most fluent, were forced to work diligently to prevent any mishaps en route to a successful start to the 2009/10 campaign.

And it was a victory appreciated by another vociferous following as Stoke's support also warmed up nicely for the season ahead.

Stoke kicked off their campaign with Rory Delap and Ricardo Fuller winning the nod in the only two contested areas of the field to leave Glenn Whelan and Dave Kitson starting on the bench.

Greeted by a predictably blood curdling atmosphere, the top-flight newcomers showed few early nerves and threatened first when Andy Wilkinson superbly blocked Robbie Blake's first-time sweep from a low right-wing ball.

Stoke, with James Beattie looking livelier than at any time during pre-season, just lacked the final ball in trying to conjure anything similar at the other end during the opening 15 minutes.

The exchanges remained earnest, if a little scrappy, and it was that man Blake glancing goalwards again when he drove first time from way out to send Thomas Sorensen tumbling low to his left to save with relative ease.

But the breakthrough was to come in front of an ecstatic Boothen End in the 19th minute when Burnley paid dearly for slack marking from a free-kick conceded when Tyrone Mears tripped the fleet-footed Fuller.

Liam Lawrence curled towards the edge of the six-yard box from out on the Stoke left and Shawcross, drifting between two defenders, planted a pretty simple header across the keeper and inside his right-hand post.

The visitors took time to re-gather their composure before showing their pace on the break when Wade Elliott bisected Stoke's defensive lines and crossing too weakly to trouble Sorensen.

The Clarets then saw Blake plonk a free-kick straight into Sorensen's waiting grasp and Graham Alexander spurn a possible shooting chance as Stoke's lead remained in seemingly safe hands.

The visitors looked far more threatening shortly after, however, when Martin Paterson beat Danny Higginbotham to cross to the near post for
Wade Elliott to be confounded by Rory Delap's vital presence.
Stoke responded in the 32nd minute when Fuller volleyed a pass to release
Matthew Etherington down the right channel, but after cutting inside onto his favoured left his shot was deflected wide of goal.

The resulting throw out on the left was launched into the mix by you-know-who and Jordan, having outjumped Beattie, inadvertently glanced his head past Brian Jensen and into his own goal for 2-0.

Cries of "we are top of the league" rang out and, given the other scores, the home fans were spot on.

Beattie was then booked for clattering into Blake who, after clambering to his feet, drilled the subsequent free-kick a couple of yards over.

Wilkinson was lucky to escape a penalty when his upper arm visibly prodded the ball after he was caught unawares by Sorensen ducking out of a high cross curling nastily in the air.

Events at the other end were even more dramatic shortly after, however, when Fuller beat the keeper to the punch to head another high ball goalwards, but Clark Carlisle made great ground to clear from under his own crossbar.

Half-time: Stoke 2, Burnley 0.

Sorensen was soon ushering Elliott's piledriver just over his bar as the visitors, to their credit, again began perkily in the summer sunshine.

But then Beattie skewed wide on the stretch at the far post with one effort, and was then outjumped by Carlisle when homing in on another, as Stoke retorted promisingly upfield.

Stoke suffered a jittery little spell just before the hour when Faye was lucky to escape a second yellow for a needless lunge wide on City's right - and then the subsequent free-kick saw shots from both Blake and Grant McCann blocked by red and white-shirted bodies.

Sorensen's first real save of the season came in the 62nd minute when he dived full-length to his left and did well to hold onto Blake's firm effort from a short free-kick 25 yards from goal.

Paterson then blazed well over from distance at the end of a sequence in which the home crowd registered their displeasure and frustration at Stoke's failure to retain greater possession.

And City were back-tracking again soon afterwards when Steven Fletcher went marauding down the left channel before unleashing a shot that was deflected wide before it could test Sorensen at his near post.

The game was opening up more than Stoke might prefer at 2-0 up and Jordan's trip on the free-flowing Etherington left Beattie popping one disappointingly over from just outside the Burnley box.

Dave Kitson replaced Beattie to warm applause on his return to the club - and he was soon shouting vainly for a pass as Fuller twisted and turned before trickling his shot at Jensen.

Fuller was equally wasteful in the 76th minute when scooping over after an otherwise magnificent break on the Burnley goal.

Kitson stamped his class on proceedings 11 minutes from time when beating the offside trap to gather Higginbotham's chip down the left channel before losing his man and smacking his shot against the top of the bar from a tight angle.

Burnley continued to enjoy plenty of ball as Stoke invariably threw 10 men behind it to protect that two-goal buffer in the final few minutes.
And there was even the prospect of a third when sub Richard Cresswell rolled one across goal and just past the far post deep into stoppage time.

Stoke 2, Burnley 0.
Shawcross (19), Jordan (og,33)

TEAMS
Stoke: 29 Sorensen, 28 Wilkinson, 3 Higginbotham, 17 Shawcross, 25 Ab Faye, 7 Lawrence, 18 Whitehead, 24 Delap, 26 Etherington (6 Whelan,76), 9 Beattie (12 Kitson,67), 20 Fuller (16 Cresswell,88). Subs: 1 Simonsen, 2 Griffin, 5 Cort, 14 Pugh.
Burnley: 12 Jensen, 14 mers, 3 Kalvenes, 5 Carlisle, 23 Jordan, 20 Blake (33 Eagles,72), 2 Alexander (30 Thompson,81), 16 McCann, 11 Elliott, 9 Fletcher, 10 Paterson (32 Guerro,72). Subs: 1 Penny, 7 McDonald, 8 Gudjonsson, 17 Eckersley.
Referee: S Bennett (Kent).
Att: 27,385.
Bookings: Stoke - Beattie (foul,36), Faye (foul,53). Burnley - Alexander (dissent,57), Jordan (foul,66).

Potters hand Clarets warning

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:41:00 +0000

Premier League new boys suffer first day defeat

Shawcross (right): Celebrates opener

Man of the match - Ricardo Fuller: The striker caused a lot of problems for the Burnley defence with his strength and held the ball up well after the second goal
Save of the match - Sorensen from Fletcher: One of only a handful of shots on goal from the away side was sharply saved at the near post by Sorensen after Fletcher found space to shoot from a difficult angle
Shot of the match - Dave Kitson: The substitute hit the crossbar in injury time with a thumping effort as Stoke hit Burnley on the break
Talking point: Will Burnley have enough to survive? They struggled to cope with Stoke's aerial threat and will face tougher tasks this year. Lack of quality in the final third is also a worry. Meanwhile, Stoke look to have picked up where they left off.

Chicharo Leads Chivas To Win Over Queretaro

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Chivas thumped Queretaro 2-0 to win their first game of the season.

Aug 15, 2009 10:29:56 PM

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Javier Hernandez- Chivas (Mexsport)

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Chivas were finally able to achieve their first game of the season with a 2-0 win over Queretaro. Omar Bravo made his awaited comeback, but was unable to score on his second debut with Chivas. The victory for Chivas is the first win for the team in the Apertura 2009, and ‘Paco’ Ramirez’ second win while in charge. Meanwhile, Queretaro remain with only one point from the Apertura 2009.

El Rebaño was the first one to come out with a clear shot. ‘Chicharo’ Hernandez received a ball inside the area in the 7th minute, but sent his shot far wide from the goal. Gonzalez was on Hernandez’s back

It Didn’t take too long for ‘Chicharo’ to make his goal anyways. Marco Fabian and ‘Chicharo’ passed the ball between themselves, and left the player to easily push the ball past Bossio for Chivas’ 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

Adrian Romero then decided to take a shot in the 31st minute. Adrian Romero took a shot with his right foot three fourths into the Chivas area but went just wide to the right of goal.

Again, in the 38th minute Chivas came close. Ramon Morales took a shot towards goal, but Bossio was able to get a hand on the ball and sent it out for a corner kick.

The newly ascended team was reduced to 10 men in the 42nd minute. Hector ’Pirata’ Castro went in on Xavi Baez studs up, and the referee had no doubt in whipping out a red card. Chivas were given a free kick, and immediately Queretaro felt the consequences.

‘Chicharo’ scored his second of the night in the 44th minute off the free kick given by the previous foul. Ramon Morales had sent in a free kick towards Hector Reynoso who then set up a shot for ‘Chicharo’ at the far post. Once more, Chicharo arrived and pushed in the ball for his and Chivas’ 2-0 for the night.

Coming back for the second half Queretaro were the first to look dangerous. Queretaro took a soft shot towards Luis Michel’s goal, and the Chivas ‘keeper was barely able to get a hand on the ball.

In the 66th minute Diego Chavez headed the ball with only one defender at his back, but Luis Michel was able to stop the low ball with his right hand.

Alberto “Venado” Medina came close to adding the third in the 69th minute. Medina was able to leave the Queretaro defenders behind, as well as Bossio who had come out, but the ball ended up on the left outside netting instead.

Marco Fabian then had his opportunity. Omar Bravo chested a pass to Fabian, but his stop was blocked and sent over goal in the 75th minute.

In the 82nd minute ’Chicharo’ tried again to get his name on the score sheet, but his shot went wide of goal.

Andrea Martinez, Goal.com

Visit Goal.com for more coverage of the Mexican Primera Division.

Steelers Rookie Redman

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:31:00 +0000

Steelers rookie Redman makes statement in win over Cardinals

PITTSBURGH - The Steelers may have found themselves a goal-line back and his name isn’t “the tank”.

Rookie undrafted free-agent Isaac Redman ran hard and scored two short-yardage touchdowns as the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 20-10 in the preseason opener Thursday night at Heinz Field.

Redman finished with 32 yards on 10 carries and scored on 5 and 3-yard runs.

His tough running style carried over from the traditional 7-on-7 goal-line drills the team held on Sunday in which Redman scored twice.

"This team prides itself on being able to find those free agents that are capable of playing," Redman told the Associated Press, referring to finds such as the undrafted Willie Parker and James Harrison.

"Hopefully I can be that next free agent. I knew I had to make an impression, or I might not even make it to the first (preseason) game.

He may be have went up against the second and third string and is a longshot to make the team, but his play Thursday night certainly was a big statement.

Speaking of "the tank", Frank Summers carried only twice for three yards.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played two series and didn't look very rusty, completing 4 out of 6 passes for 33 yards including two to receiver Hines Ward.

A lot of eyes are on second year running back Rashard Mendenhall, who started in place of Willie Parker (back spasms) Thursday. Mendenhall ran hard and carried for 24 yards on 9 attempts.

Second year wide receiver Limas Sweed continued his strong preseason as he caught two passes for 54 yards, including a 45 yarder in the second quarter to set up a Jeff Reed 50-yard field goal.

Veteran Shaun McDonald led all receivers with 69 yards on six catches.

The defense played their usual "bend but dont break" style, as it held Arizona's starting offense off the board. Linebacker Lamaar Woodley contributed a sack for the Steelers starters.

The stat of the night may have been that the Steelers offensive line gave up no sacks. Thatat's right zero, absolutely none. This despite playing without starting center Justin Hartwig.

Neither team had scored a touchdown until rookie Joe Burnett intercepted a pass by former Steeler Brian St. Pierre and returned to the Arizona 3 to set up one of Redman’s TD run.

Jeff Reed and backup kicker Pitor Czech each had field goals for the Steelers.

Former Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko threw for 103 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinals.

Players have an off day tomorrow, and return to practice at Latrobe on Saturday.

Other views from Thursday night:

- Keeping in mind it is against third-string players, QB Dennis Dixon showed good accuracy as he completed 10 of 19 for 112 yards and threw deep several times.

- How nice was it to see Daniel Sepulveda back in punt formation rather than Chris Gardocki? Sepulveda’s surgically repaired knee looked fine as he booted six punts, good for an average of nearly 44 yards, including a 53 yarder.

- A.Q. Shipley played most of the second-half at center and played pretty well. His block helped spring Isaac Redman into the end zone on one of his scoring runs.

- The Steelers and their fans have to be excited about Limas Sweed. He already seems to have matured 100 percent from last year and made a great leaping grab Thursday.

- Speedy receiver Mike Wallace only returned one kick but showed what he can bring to the offense at wide receiver. Wallace had two catches for 25 yards and continues to show he is developing into a weapon at both.

- To further prove the point that ESPN cares as much or more about the “soap opera” than the game, sideline reporter Suzie Kolber’s first question to Mike Tomlin was about the sexual harassment charges against Ben Roethlisberger. As a matter of fact, I believe all the questions were about that. Pathetic.

- Despite a little rough start, Jon Gruden did well in his debut with the Monday Night Football crew. The former Tampa Bay Bucs coach defended Hines Ward block on the Bengals Keith Rivers last year, in which Rivers suffered a broken jaw. Fellow analyst Chris Mortensen didn’t feel the same way.

Honduras Crush Costa Rica 4-0

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Honduras Crush Costa Rica 4-0 To Keep WC Qualifying Tight

Carlos Costly hit a brace in a 4-0 win over Costa Rica that puts Honduras back in the thick of World Cup qualifying.

Aug 13, 2009 12:02:06 AM

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Carlos Costly - Honduras (Mexsport)

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Two goals late in the match turned a respectable win over Costa Rica, the current CONCACAF World Cup qualifying leaders, into a rout for Honduras. Striking tandem Carlo Costly and Carlos Pavon each notched, and Costly added another, mere seconds after Melvin Valladares had put the game out of reach.

With the win, Honduras moves up to tied for second place with the United States on 10 points, bumping Mexico down to fourth again. Costa Rica still leads the group with 12 points. With four teams within three points, the final stretch of 2010 World Cup qualifying games promise plenty of drama.

First Half

Host Honduras announced its intention early. Carlo Costly raced onto a ball in the box in the third minute and went down under a challenge. The athletic Birmingham City striker appealed for a penalty, but instead a free kick was given the other way as Costly had handled the ball when controlling it.

Minutes later, Costly slalomed down the touchline and blasted a narrow shot at goal. Already, Costly's combination of size and speed was troubling Costa Rica. Keylor Navas in the Costa Rica goal managed to push the shot out, and Wilson Palacios blasted the follow up shot harmlessly high.

Honduras continued to dominate play, controlling the midfield tempo and wanting the game more than the bewildered visitors.

The first “goal” caused a fair bit of controversy. As Costly went in for a cross, he caught goalkeeper Navas. The ball was hooked off the line, but eventually fell to Honduran Mauricio Sabillion. He drilled a low shot in past the prone Navas, who was injured.

After much deliberation and delay, the referee waved the goal off. Navas had to be substituted for reserve 'keeper Ricardo Gonzalez.

After half an hour, Costly finally got a goal to stick. Palacios scooped the ball into the box, where Junior Diaz failed to deal with it properly. His weak header fell straight to Carlos Pavon, who passed the ball a yard to his left where Costly had a better angle. The striker didn't miss from his open position in the box.

A minute later, Costly picked up a yellow for diving in the corner of the Costa Rica box.

Hard tackles continued fly as both team went at each other, desperate for the valuable points. Costly had another chance saved before five minutes of injury time were added on.

Second Half

Seven minutes in to the second half, Pavon doubled the score. He spun his marker, Freddy Fernandez, and coolly sidefooted into the bottom corner of the goal from 25 yards out. It was a crucial lapse from both defender and goalie that allowed a solid lead to be built up.

That goal seemed to motivate Costa Rica more than anything else had. Some nifty flowing work around the box found Alvaro Saborio in the box, but the striker skied his shot. Earlier, playmaker Walter Centeno had pinged a narrow freekick off the upright.

'Keeper Gonzalez showed why he was brought along to the match, albeit in a substitute role, roughly 20 minutes into the half. An in-swerving corner looked destined for the net, but Gonzalez punched off the crossbeam. From the next corner, the ball fell to Danilo Turcios who drilled into the feet of Gonzalez.

Two minutes later, Pavon raced in free on goal but cleared the goal when he really should have put the game out of doubt.

Straight from that play, the Ticos had their best chance in what was turning into an open match. Saborio challenged Honduras 'keeper Noel Valladares for a cross and the ball squirmed past both of them to the open Esteban Sirias. However, the ball wouldn't sit for Sirias and he ended up missing the goal once pressure arrived.

Heading into the last ten minutes, Honduras took the sting out of the game by slowing down the tempo and controlling the midfield battle once more.

With one minute left in regular time, Honduras finally made sure of the win. A chip over the Costa Rican defense found substitute Melvin Valladares. He dragged the ball past one defender before easily slotting home for a three goal lead.

A minute later, Costly hit again to make it a rout. Substitute Julio Leon, who had been very bright since entering on the hour mark, ran at the Costa Rican defense. With the outside of his foot he played a little dink to Costly who was waiting on the outside of the backline. From there, it was an easy sidefooted effort that made the score 4-0.

In injury time, Costa Rica actually had the ball in the back of the net, but it didn't count because Saborio had bumped into the goalkeeper in the buildup.

oRaNjE DrAW WiTh EnGLAnD

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:46:00 +0000

2 Draw 2

Two football behemoths versing each other in a friendly. In the pre-season… What to expect?

The English lads are still prepping, our Madrid boys came back from a trip to the USA. Huntelaar and Vaart lack rhythm altogether (with Rafael also focused on something totally different than football).

The game ended in 2-2. Oranje was superior to the English in the first half, but not able to keep the lead in the second half, when Capello made some crucial changes.

The Oranje players all have one year to secure their personal ticket to South Africa. Oranje will go, but the question is: which players will be part of the group?

For most players, these games are ideal to show team manager Van Marwijk that they’re eager to go.

Dirk Kuyt opened the account quickly in the game. The dynamic Liverpool player was poised to bring fireworks to the game from the first ball circulation onwards and saw his work ethos rewarded with a goal after ten minutes of play.

The shrewd mover got the ball by accident from Rio Ferdinand. He took on goalie Green and actually needed to place the ball back from the touchline to the unmarked Van Persie, but the confident Kuyt decided to go for glory. He took the tough option and was lucky Terry wasn’t able to block the ball, otherwise Van Persie would have been asking some tough questions.

With his goal, Dirk enters the Top 25 of Oranje goalscorers.

Robin van Persie was motivated to show his English colleagues how good he is, with some trickery. The Arsenal star wasn’t too luckty with his final pass and his goal attempts. Arjen Robben demonstrated his wonderful form, like he did with Madrid in the past weeks, but his actions didn’t have any effectiveness.

England tried to do it with high crosses into the box, but Ooijer/Heitinga stood firm. In particular David Beckham was remarkable, with his drive and sense of urgency. The superstar isn’t sure of a spot in the England group and demonstrated to Capello he’s really hunger for more.

After 30 minutes of play, Oranje got another good opportunity. A Vaart free-kick - and what a kick it was - ended on Kuyt’s head who hit goalie Green’s feet. Two minutes later, Holland was close to scoring again. Robben fled from the English defense with the ball on his feet but missed the target with his scorching attempt. The winger actually had to try to find Kuyt who was in a better position.

Another howler in the English defense allowed Robben a free road towards goal in the 37th minute. Robben hit Green’s body but the rebound was for skipper Raf van der Vaart. The captain could use this break.

The only real attempts England had, were two Rooney attempts on Stekelenburg. Basically the only real attempts by England in the first 45 minutes.

At half time, Van Marwijk brought Babel for Van Persie and Sneijder for Van der Vaart. Capello brought three new players and that resulted in success pretty quickly.

In the 48th minute, a Green kick found Defoe via Rooney’s chest and Lampard’s feet. The Tottenham striker outran his opponents and pin-pointed the ball into the goal: 2-1.

Defoe and the other sub Wright-Philips made it hard for Oranje in the second half. It took some time for Van Marwijk to respond. Nigel de Jong and Braafheid were instructed to mark the players more tightly, which resulted in more control.

Capello subbed more players and West Ham’s Carlton Cole relegated Mathijsen twice to the role of extra. Cole wasn’t able to find the target and Oranje was lucky in that phase of the game.

With 15 minutes to go, England equalized. Sub Milner benefited from a Heitinga mistake and ran in the left channel to cross the ball in hard into the box. The Dutch defenders were too late and Defoe could score his second: 2-2.

Van Marwijk immediately brought Huntelaar for the tired Kuyt. The AC Milan man couldn’t impress in the short timespan. Sneijder took a chance from a free kick, but a third goal wasn’t in the cards for Oranje.

This game gave Van Marwijk lots of homework. In an attacking sense, Oranje seems to be well endowed, but defensively Oranje offers up some headaches. Whenever the opponents attack via crosses or deep balls into our defense, Ooijer and Heitinga rule. Whenever the opponents use speed and skills, our defenders - bar Braafheid - are vulnerable. We saw it against Russia at the EC and Capella and Co proved it again in the second half.

This statement isn’t new. It’s not rocket science. Van Marwijk knows where the weaknesses are. And he has a year to solve this puzzle.

After the game, team manager Van Marwijk wasn’t too happy with a casual Dutch reporter who grilled the coach with a beer in his hand. “Did you feel the replacements worked out?”. Van Marwijk explained that the subs weren’t made for tactical reasons, but were decided upon before the game to allow different players time. “And how’s your beer?”, Van Marwijk concluded his answer.

Press chief Jansma went on: “Any reporters out there with a question but without a glass in their hands?”.

Van Marwijk: “To me, Kuyt and Van Persie were the most remarkable players today. Our defense didn’t do too well. I didn’t have too many complaints about them in the run up to this game, but today they made two mistakes. Our positioning was lousy with their first goal and with the second we needed to intervene much earlier. Looking at our first goal, we did everything we needed to do: we put pressure on them from the first second and they made their mistake after ten minutes. All in all, we didn’t do too bad against a strong opponent. The idea was to find Van der Vaart inbetween their lines, but our final pass lacked. The execution was mediocre, it’s clear that we miss rhythm.”

Bert was happy about the first 45 minutes. “Defensively, we did well. In particular Johnny Heitinga, but in the second half they outpaced us. Our defense didn’t have an answer. The thing is: under pressure you need to improve your pass and move play. That’s how you get out of that pressure, but we didn’t, hence the problems we faced.”

Van Marwijk also thinks our physical strength lacks. “Physically, we suffered. We weren’t there. Players like Van Persie and Kuyt who play and train in England can manage against this England, but most other players lack that strength at the moment.”

Andre Ooijer was clearly disappointed. “When you lead 2-0 after 45 minutes at home and you give it away in the second half due to defensive problems, you clearly haven’t done well. I’m not happy.”

Stijn Schaars: “I didn’t play well at all. I lost the ball to often. The pace is so much higher with Oranje and particularly against England. I couldn’t adjust quick enough. I’m not happy, I wanted to show myself and I feel I missed an opportunity to do so…”

Deadly Defoe Double Denies Dutch

If you want to know what it feels like to have two birthdays so close together, you could ask the Queen. Or, come to think of it, Bert van Marwijk. Two ridiculously fortunate Dutch goals appeared to gift Holland the win, until supersub Jermain Defoe dug England out of a royal mess in Amsterdam. Pundits and journalists stood in disbelief as Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry, so often reliable, made the kind of errors that schoolchildren would be embarrassed of. Had it not been so easy to take initial control, Holland probably would have lost. A lacklustre performance from the Oranje, as well as an inaudible rendition from the Dutch contingent, left most leaving the Amsterdam ArenA displeased.

Surprisingly, Holland left out key men Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, with the rest of the starting eleven as expected. And, for a while, it showed. Holland were missing a sense of flair, as England started to boss the play. Until the frailness of their defence became apparent, that is. John Terry sprayed the ball out wide to Rio Ferdinand, who tried to lay the ball to Robert Green at a snail’s pace – a clear lapse of concentration. Dirk Kuyt nipped in and rounded Green, before scuffing past a despairing Terry. England were not to be disheartened though, and Frank Lampard almost levelled as Stekelenburg saved with his legs.

: Emile Heskey battles to win the ball from Nigel De Jong

But, as England attacked, Holland countered their every move. Van der Vaart’s hanging cross nearly caught out the hesitant Green, who luckily saved Kuyt’s header, before Robben’s stinging drive was tipped over. As the game became disjointed, Holland almost doubled their lead. Robin van Persie fired just wide after indecision from Barry, who breathed a sigh of relief. Soon after, relief became dejection. Another lazy backpass put Robben clean through, and although Green saved neatly, Van der Vaart was on hand to tap home, justifying his selection. It was defending that made a mockery of claims that England could win the World Cup. Teacup, more like!

: Rafael Van der Vaart celebrates doubling Holland’s lead as Ashley Cole watches in disbelief

Fabio Capello had spoken about his half-time ‘hairdryer treatment’, in this case it needed to be switched on full-blast. And whatever he said, worked. Half-time substitute Jermain Defoe raced on to a clever ball by Lampard, before brilliantly slotting home, albeit via the post. Game on. England started to show a bit of ‘dutch courage’, and the bravery of James Milner, who had replaced the ineffective Ashley Young, almost saw England equalise, but Carlton Cole’s shot just cleared the crossbar. Then came the break England thoroughly deserved. Indecision from the lethargic John Heitinga saw Milner race clear, before pulling the ball back for Defoe to slide home. And England could, and should, have won it. Further chances fell to Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, but both were deflected wide. England survived the only hairy second-half moment, after Glen Johnson had brought down club-mate Ryan Babel. Luckily, Sneijder’s free-kick could only find the wall.

: Jermain Defoe celebrates his first goal

But the undertone is, England got away with it. There is no need to knock the ball around the back four when under pressure. It leads to conceding. What’s wrong with a traditional hoof, eh?

Venezuela Beats Colombia (2-1)

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:13:00 +0000

Venezuela beats Colombia, 2-1, in international friendly at Giants Stadium

Venezuela's ability to capitalize on its scoring chances proved to be the decisive factor in an international friendly against Colombia marked by physical play.

In front of a sparse crowd at Giants Stadium Wednesday night, goals from Oswaldo Vizcarrondo and Jose Manuel Rey powered the Venezuelans to a 2-1 victory.

The game was followed by a friendly between Ecuador and Jamaica.

Venezuela turned a rare spell of pressure in the Colombian end into the decisive goal in the 72nd minute.

A pair of corner kicks proved fruitless, but as the Colombian defense scrambled to reset, Venezuela midfielder Luis Manuel Seijas curled a ball from the left side onto the head of the unmarked Vizcarrondo. The defender rose and powered the ball into the back of the net as Agustin Julio, the Colombian goalkeeper who came on in the 67th minute, watched helplessly.

Despite spurts of possession in the first half, Venezuela tallied the first goal, in the 35th minute, on a sensational free kick from Rey, a defender.

Giancarlo Maldonado, the Venezuela captain, played a low through-ball to Nicolas Fedor, who was sprinting down the center of the field between two Colombia defenders. As Fedor reached the low pass at the edge of the 18, he was slammed to the ground by an Ivan Ramiro Cordoba hip check.

The referee awarded a free kick to Venezuela as Fedor rolled back and forth on the turf. Rey stepped over the ball and curled a picture-perfect free kick over the wall, past the sprawling Colombia goalkeeper, David Ospina, into the left corner of the net.

Suddenly, Venezuela had an unexpected 1-0 lead.

Moments later, Fedor began causing more problems for the Colombia defense. He pounced on a ball near the right sideline that was misplayed by Colombia captain Mario Alberto Yepes. Fedor sprinted toward the goal and angled a shot past Ospina that ricocheted hard off the crossbar.

It did not take Colombia long to draw even, however.

Four minutes after Rey's goal, Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who plays professionally for FC Porto, in Portugal, notched the equalizer on a hard-earned piece of determination and skill.

Garcia displayed his determination first, by corralling a bouncing ball at the top of the Venezuela box and fighting off a pair of defenders. He then pivoted and struck the ball low and hard with his right foot.

Venezuela goalkeeper Renny Vega, who had made three saves until that point, in the 39th minute, had no chance to make a fourth as the ball slid into the lower left corner of the net.

As the game opened up in the second half, play became more physical and tempers started to flare. Colombia midfielder Fabian Vargas was shown a second yellow card in the 86th minute, both awarded for hard tackles.

Two minutes later, Venezuela midfielder Pedro Fernandez, was shown a straight red card.

Messi Profile's

noreply@blogger.com (Kazuya Garo) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:26:00 +0000

Barcelona

Messi
Full Name:	Lionel Andrés Messi
Nickname:	Lio
Date of Birth:	24 Jun 1987
Place of Birth:	Santa Fe
Nationality:	Argentina
Height:	169 cm.
Weight:	67 Kg.
Position:	Striker
Squad Number:	10
National Team:	Argentina

Club Friendlies

1 Aug 2009 11:00

They might have won every trophy on offer last season but all the talk in Spain this summer has not been about Barcelona, but rather Real Madrid. Whilst the Catalans have been basking in their glory, Madrid have wasted no time in reinforcing their squad, spending over €150 million so far on the likes of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.

European Champions Barcelona have made just one signing at the time of writing, that of left-back Maxwell, who is expected to be a direct replacement for the outgoing Sylvinho. It seems that this is unlikely to be the only bit of business they do with Italian champions Inter this summer though, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o seemingly close to trading places, and Aliaksandr Hleb rumoured to be going on loan to the San Siro.

What does all this mean to Barcelona? Well the lack of movement in the market suggests that Pep Guardiola is largely content with the squad he has, and why wouldn’t he be? Undoubtedly the best team in Spain and Europe last season, they don’t seem to have too many weaknesses and, with Victor Valdes extending his contract in goal, only need to strengthen a few areas.

Should Eto’o depart then they will clearly need to bring a new striker in, whilst most of the other transfer talk has been about defenders like Dmytro Chygrynsky, but those deals do not appear to be close, nor essential. Indeed, should they go into their first match of the summer against Tottenham Hotspur in the Wembley Cup with the squad they have now, it should still be more than strong enough to see off the London club.

The clash on July 24 will be the first chance to see the Catalans in action since their Champions League triumph in Rome and it should give some indication of just how they will line up next season. Whether or not Ibra will be in the squad for the match in London is not yet clear but certainly Barca’s second opponents, Al-Ahly, will fear the worst if he has arrived by the time they meet on July 26.

After the two matches in England, Barcelona have just seven days before they take on David Beckham and the LA Galaxy in the United States. With the American side half-way through their season and already having drawn against AC Milan, they should prove to be a decent test for Guardiola’s team and the match will be a good way for Barca to start their tour of North America.

Following the game in California, Barcelona travel north up the coast to Seattle, where they take on the Seattle Sounders on August 6. Like the Galaxy, Seattle have already played decent opposition in the form of Chelsea and whilst they didn’t manage to take anything from the English club, they will be keen to pick up a positive result against Barca.

The final match of the pre-season tour sees Guardiola and his side return to California, where they take on Chivas Guadalajara, before they then head back to Spain. By that time not only should Barcelona’s plans for the following season be clear, but they should have nearly finalised any changes in the squad, with the first competitive match of the year taking place on August 16 in the Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao.

After the first-leg of that encounter they will still have a few more matches before the domestic league season gets underway, with the Joan Gamper Trophy beginning on August 18 and the European Super Cup against Shakhtar Donestk taking place on the 28th. When they meet Sporting Gijon on August 31 in their first match of the domestic campaign, Real Madrid might well have made more signings, but Barcelona might already have two trophies in the cabinet.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Whilst the Samuel Eto’o situation is certainly worth keeping an eye on this summer, there are other stars in the Barcelona team who will impress with or without the Cameroonian. The likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Thierry Henry are likely to be the big attractions in the United States, whilst Andres Iniesta will be hoping to recover from injury and play some part in pre-season.

Elsewhere, Maxwell should get his debut during the Wembley Cup, and some of the youngsters could get valuable minutes and experience as Barcelona prepare for a hectic season.

James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com

Stoke City	Team Statistics	Burnley
2	Goals	0
2	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	3
8	Shots off Target	5
1	Blocked Shots	6
3	Corners	6
16	Fouls	10
3	Offsides	0
1	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
58.3	Passing Success	73.2
16	Tackles	11
43.8	Tackles Success	72.7
36.9	Possession	63.1
41.6	Territorial Advantage	58.4

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