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Sporting Prove Abel Opponents
Fernando Abel put his side ahead after 22 minutes, although United had most of the possession, and until that point seemed to be in charge. Abel hit the ball goalwards from about 35 yards out, close to the touchline. There was some discussion over whether it was a cross or a shot, but no matter, it beat United's No2 keeper Kusczak, and finished up in the back of the net. Sir Alex described it in his half time interview, as a freak goal. It was certainly unlikely, but perhaps United's keeper should have saved it!
The surprise goal seemed to instil new confidence into the Sporting side, and four minutes later Liedson bagged a second. The player was deemed to be offside, and the goal was disallowed, but it was very close, and United were lucky to be only one goal down at the interval.
Sir Alex was determined to stop the rot, and immediately after the interval he substituted Fletcher and Nani, for Giggs and Tevez. That seemed to make all the difference and Tevez got the equaliser in the 61st minute. It was something of a scrappy affair, but they all count, and United were equal and deservedly so, as they were now exerting all the pressure.
Ronaldo was voted the man of the match, and as usual was a joy to watch. He is a rare talent, and right up there with the best in the world. However, after 90 minutes the game was still drawn but four minutes extra time were allocated. They proved to be crucial, because Ronaldo was brought down after 92 minutes and decided to take the free kick himself. There was an air of expectancy all round the stadium, as he calmed himself to take the kick. It was an absolute beauty and rocketed and curled into the top corner, giving Sporting's 19-year-old able keeper no chance.
Interviewed after the game, Ronaldo was obviously pleased but modest with it, claiming to be only doing his job. Well, he does his job at least as well as anybody in the world, and so United won the match. They are now top of their group and sure to play in the knockout stages of the European Championship.
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Man Utd Vs Sporting Lisbon
soccer and football
Man Utd Vs Sporting Lisbon
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Arsenal 2 - 0 Wigan
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Arsenal Are A Class Act
Arsenal are now three points ahead of all their rivals at the top of the Premiership. This was something of a last gasp win, and it had looked as though the game could be slipping away, but Arsenal are a team you can never take for granted, or think you have beaten until the final whistle has been blown.
For most of the first half Wigan were pinned back in their own half, resisting a series of Arsenal attacks. Theo Walcott was much involved, and is being allowed to develop gradually, into the shooting star he seems bound to become. Together with Adebayor, he was responsible for the home sides best chance in the first half, but the Wigan keeper brilliantly saved Adebayor's shot.
For all the pressure Arsenal exerted, they were missing the presence of Fabregas who is suspended. They were just lacking a definitive edge in front of goal, which is not to deny their excellent cohesion as a team. Wigan defended well and created scoring chances of their own, which could have saved the day, but it was not to be.
After 80 minutes, it almost seemed that a draw was inevitable, especially as the imaginative Walcott was stretchered of, after being floored by Emile Heskey. The good news is that his injury is not as serious as was initially feared. The game exploded into life in the 83rd minute, when Sagna's cross was powerfully headed home by William Gallas. Two minutes later Rosicky bagged another and it was all over.
Arsenal are going great guns, and their position, at the top of the Premiership, was helped by Manchester United's lack lustre display at Bolton, where they suffered a rare defeat. Liverpool and Chelsea both won, but Arsenal are a class act and will take some overhauling!
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Arsenal Vs Wigan
soccer and football
Arsenal Vs Wigan
Arsenal Are A Class Act
Arsenal are now three points ahead of all their rivals at the top of the Premiership. This was something of a last gasp win, and it had looked as though the game could be slipping away, but Arsenal are a team you can never take for granted, or think you have beaten until the final whistle has been blown.
For most of the first half Wigan were pinned back in their own half, resisting a series of Arsenal attacks. Theo Walcott was much involved, and is being allowed to develop gradually, into the shooting star he seems bound to become. Together with Adebayor, he was responsible for the home sides best chance in the first half, but the Wigan keeper brilliantly saved Adebayor's shot.
For all the pressure Arsenal exerted, they were missing the presence of Fabregas who is suspended. They were just lacking a definitive edge in front of goal, which is not to deny their excellent cohesion as a team. Wigan defended well and created scoring chances of their own, which could have saved the day, but it was not to be.
After 80 minutes, it almost seemed that a draw was inevitable, especially as the imaginative Walcott was stretchered of, after being floored by Emile Heskey. The good news is that his injury is not as serious as was initially feared. The game exploded into life in the 83rd minute, when Sagna's cross was powerfully headed home by William Gallas. Two minutes later Rosicky bagged another and it was all over.
Arsenal are going great guns, and their position, at the top of the Premiership, was helped by Manchester United's lack lustre display at Bolton, where they suffered a rare defeat. Liverpool and Chelsea both won, but Arsenal are a class act and will take some overhauling!
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Arsenal Vs Wigan
soccer and football
Arsenal Vs Wigan
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The High Price of England's Failure!
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England 2 - 3 Croatia
England threw the lifeline they received from Israel back in their face, with a disgraceful show by the team picked to play by their inept manager, Steve McClaren. The bosses at the FA have sacked him today, with a compensation package rumoured to be around £2.5 million. If this is the price of failure, surely those who appointed the manager should also be sacked, after what amounts to a national sporting scandal.
Back to the game. How could a manager play a rookie international goalkeeper with so much at stake? Carson simply didn't have the experience to play at this level, and it showed when, after only 8 minutes, Croatia went ahead. Kranjcar let fly from about 30 yards out, and it looked like as easy stop, until Carson somehow fumbled the ball into the net. The noisy England supporters were momentarily silenced, but they might have just thought that accidents can happen, on an atrociously wet night, in a first class stadium, on a third class pitch!
Astonishingly, but deservedly, Croatia went further ahead 6 minutes later, Eduardo strode confidently forward, and passed the ball to Olic, who coolly dribbled it round Carson, and tapped it home. England had seemingly collapsed at Wembley, after only 14 minutes.
After the interval Beckham and Defoe came on as substitutes for Barry and Wright-Phillips. England had a stroke of luck, in the 56th minute, when an assistant referee spotted Simunic tugging on Defoe's shirt. It wasn't a particularly serious foul, but after consulting with his assistant, the ref had no option but to award the penalty, which Frank Lampard coolly slammed home.
Ten minutes later Beckham despatched an inch perfect pass to Peter Crouch who expertly put it away. So the scores were level after 65 minutes, and if they had stayed that way England would have been safe. But with only about 20 minutes left, Croatia substituted the able Eduardo, with Petric. In the 77th minute Petric rewarded his manager's confidence, by scoring from about 25 yards out.
It was a great night for Croatia, who fully deserved to win, possibly by a wider margin. England are out of Euro 2008, which is one hell of a let down, not just for their fans as there is an estimated £2 billion loss to various businesses.
While sporting authorities seem content in following big business in rewarding failure, what real incentive is there to succeed? McClaren has trousered the sort of pay, that most of the 88,000 fans packed into Wembley, will not earn in their lifetimes. Sure he may have had a contract, but there are many who will think that whoever was responsible for awarding that ought to go too - but please no more big pay offs!
Tags:
England Vs Croatia
soccer and football
England Vs Croatia
England 2 - 3 Croatia
England threw the lifeline they received from Israel back in their face, with a disgraceful show by the team picked to play by their inept manager, Steve McClaren. The bosses at the FA have sacked him today, with a compensation package rumoured to be around £2.5 million. If this is the price of failure, surely those who appointed the manager should also be sacked, after what amounts to a national sporting scandal.
Back to the game. How could a manager play a rookie international goalkeeper with so much at stake? Carson simply didn't have the experience to play at this level, and it showed when, after only 8 minutes, Croatia went ahead. Kranjcar let fly from about 30 yards out, and it looked like as easy stop, until Carson somehow fumbled the ball into the net. The noisy England supporters were momentarily silenced, but they might have just thought that accidents can happen, on an atrociously wet night, in a first class stadium, on a third class pitch!
Astonishingly, but deservedly, Croatia went further ahead 6 minutes later, Eduardo strode confidently forward, and passed the ball to Olic, who coolly dribbled it round Carson, and tapped it home. England had seemingly collapsed at Wembley, after only 14 minutes.
After the interval Beckham and Defoe came on as substitutes for Barry and Wright-Phillips. England had a stroke of luck, in the 56th minute, when an assistant referee spotted Simunic tugging on Defoe's shirt. It wasn't a particularly serious foul, but after consulting with his assistant, the ref had no option but to award the penalty, which Frank Lampard coolly slammed home.
Ten minutes later Beckham despatched an inch perfect pass to Peter Crouch who expertly put it away. So the scores were level after 65 minutes, and if they had stayed that way England would have been safe. But with only about 20 minutes left, Croatia substituted the able Eduardo, with Petric. In the 77th minute Petric rewarded his manager's confidence, by scoring from about 25 yards out.
It was a great night for Croatia, who fully deserved to win, possibly by a wider margin. England are out of Euro 2008, which is one hell of a let down, not just for their fans as there is an estimated £2 billion loss to various businesses.
While sporting authorities seem content in following big business in rewarding failure, what real incentive is there to succeed? McClaren has trousered the sort of pay, that most of the 88,000 fans packed into Wembley, will not earn in their lifetimes. Sure he may have had a contract, but there are many who will think that whoever was responsible for awarding that ought to go too - but please no more big pay offs!
Tags:
England Vs Croatia
soccer and football
England Vs Croatia
Monday, November 12, 2007
Manchester United 2 - 0 Blackburn
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Ronaldo Bags a Brace!
The shooting season has started in earnest with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring with two of the finest. Although Samba, had come close to putting Blackburn ahead, the Portuguese hot shot soon put them in their place, with two goals in two minutes, to clinch the game just after the half hour.
Mark Hughes was not pleased when David Dunn was sent of in the 53rd minute. Neither was Dunn, but it was a second yellow, resulting in a red card. There seemed to be some controversy, whether the first card was deserved or not, for a foul on Tevez that match commentators thought wasn’t particularly severe. However, he had an arm round Tevez's shoulder, and if the ref sees it, a foul is a foul as they say! There may be many that do not result in a yellow card, but there are probably more still that go unseen!
Ronaldo has scored 26 goals in 51 games, in 2007, for club and country. His double here, brought his tally for the season up to 10, and he is almost worth the entrance money on his own, because he is an absolute star, who rarely turns in a poor performance. He showed United's strength, even without the injured Rooney, who has been sidelined for about a month. If it wasn't for Blackburn's efficient American goalkeeper, Ronaldo would have got his hat trick.
Prior to this match, Blackburn had won seven out of their last eight games, and they are certainly a pretty smart outfit, with a pretty smart manager in Mark Hughes. He is the bookmaker's favourite, in front of Roy Keane, to eventually succeed Sir Alex.
After a fine show against worthy opponents, United are again at the top of the Premiership, but Arsenal are in hot pursuit, with two games in hand.
Chelsea 1 - 1 Everton
Chelsea looked all over the winners, until right at the end, in the 90th minute, Cahill got a tremendous equaliser.
Overhead scissor kicks are always spectacular, but when Cahill received the ball after McFadden's shot was blocked, he fired it into the net with an acrobatic display, that wouldn't have been out of place in a circus ring!
Chelsea could/should have been ahead by the interval, but Everton keeper, Tim Howard, was in scintillating form and kept them out. Then Drogba inexplicitly missed a sitter, when he failed to make contact in front of an open goal.
Despite some good efforts at both ends, there was no score, until Drogba made amends in the 70th minute. He was presented with a free header at the near post, and this time there was no mistake as he headed home.
You might have expected Chelsea to carry the day, and perhaps they deserved to win, but Cahill's equaliser was a boy's own special, so the points were shared after a little bit of football magic!
Tags:
Man Utd Vs Blackburn
soccer and football
Chelsea Vs Everton
Ronaldo Bags a Brace!
The shooting season has started in earnest with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring with two of the finest. Although Samba, had come close to putting Blackburn ahead, the Portuguese hot shot soon put them in their place, with two goals in two minutes, to clinch the game just after the half hour.
Mark Hughes was not pleased when David Dunn was sent of in the 53rd minute. Neither was Dunn, but it was a second yellow, resulting in a red card. There seemed to be some controversy, whether the first card was deserved or not, for a foul on Tevez that match commentators thought wasn’t particularly severe. However, he had an arm round Tevez's shoulder, and if the ref sees it, a foul is a foul as they say! There may be many that do not result in a yellow card, but there are probably more still that go unseen!
Ronaldo has scored 26 goals in 51 games, in 2007, for club and country. His double here, brought his tally for the season up to 10, and he is almost worth the entrance money on his own, because he is an absolute star, who rarely turns in a poor performance. He showed United's strength, even without the injured Rooney, who has been sidelined for about a month. If it wasn't for Blackburn's efficient American goalkeeper, Ronaldo would have got his hat trick.
Prior to this match, Blackburn had won seven out of their last eight games, and they are certainly a pretty smart outfit, with a pretty smart manager in Mark Hughes. He is the bookmaker's favourite, in front of Roy Keane, to eventually succeed Sir Alex.
After a fine show against worthy opponents, United are again at the top of the Premiership, but Arsenal are in hot pursuit, with two games in hand.
Chelsea 1 - 1 Everton
Chelsea looked all over the winners, until right at the end, in the 90th minute, Cahill got a tremendous equaliser.
Overhead scissor kicks are always spectacular, but when Cahill received the ball after McFadden's shot was blocked, he fired it into the net with an acrobatic display, that wouldn't have been out of place in a circus ring!
Chelsea could/should have been ahead by the interval, but Everton keeper, Tim Howard, was in scintillating form and kept them out. Then Drogba inexplicitly missed a sitter, when he failed to make contact in front of an open goal.
Despite some good efforts at both ends, there was no score, until Drogba made amends in the 70th minute. He was presented with a free header at the near post, and this time there was no mistake as he headed home.
You might have expected Chelsea to carry the day, and perhaps they deserved to win, but Cahill's equaliser was a boy's own special, so the points were shared after a little bit of football magic!
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Man Utd Vs Blackburn
soccer and football
Chelsea Vs Everton
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Arsenal 2 - 2 Man Utd
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Arsenal Break Club Record
Although the result was a draw, it was a win of sorts for Arsenal, as they remain top of the premiership. Also they set a new club record of 25 games without defeat, and once again are a force to be reckoned with. Not that they have ever been much else, but they have tended to live slightly in the shadow of United and Chelsea for a season or three!
As it happened the game was no classic, and the first half almost finished goalless. But Wayne Rooney miss hit Ronaldo's cross, on the stroke of half time, and the ball sped into the net off William Gallas. United were in front but only by a slice of good fortune.
The second half was better, and the game livened up considerably, as Arsenal made amends. Adebayor's shot was blocked by Van der Sar, but the redoubtable Fabregas was lurking nearby, and thumped the ball home, like the splendid opportunist he is. You would have to say that he is just one of a host of Arsenal players, making up for the departure of Thierry Henry.
The home side were enjoying a good spell, but it was Rooney who missed a great chance, when he headed wide after 63 minutes. However, the pendulum had swung back in United's favour, and substitute Saha found Ronaldo, who else, who shot his side ahead again after 82 minutes.
You might have thought that United were on their way to an impressive win over their illustrious opponents, but it was not to be. Just before the end, there was something of a goalmouth scramble at Van der Sar's end. It was a bit like volleyball with the ball being scrambled this way and that. United's keeper managed to claw the ball away, but not until it was first clearly over the line. Gallas was credited with the goal, which was fair dues, after his first half deflection.
Arsenal deserved to share the spoils and stay on top, but it's still early days with all to play for.
Tags:
Arsenal Vs Man Utd
soccer and football
Arsenal Vs Man Utd
Arsenal Break Club Record
Although the result was a draw, it was a win of sorts for Arsenal, as they remain top of the premiership. Also they set a new club record of 25 games without defeat, and once again are a force to be reckoned with. Not that they have ever been much else, but they have tended to live slightly in the shadow of United and Chelsea for a season or three!
As it happened the game was no classic, and the first half almost finished goalless. But Wayne Rooney miss hit Ronaldo's cross, on the stroke of half time, and the ball sped into the net off William Gallas. United were in front but only by a slice of good fortune.
The second half was better, and the game livened up considerably, as Arsenal made amends. Adebayor's shot was blocked by Van der Sar, but the redoubtable Fabregas was lurking nearby, and thumped the ball home, like the splendid opportunist he is. You would have to say that he is just one of a host of Arsenal players, making up for the departure of Thierry Henry.
The home side were enjoying a good spell, but it was Rooney who missed a great chance, when he headed wide after 63 minutes. However, the pendulum had swung back in United's favour, and substitute Saha found Ronaldo, who else, who shot his side ahead again after 82 minutes.
You might have thought that United were on their way to an impressive win over their illustrious opponents, but it was not to be. Just before the end, there was something of a goalmouth scramble at Van der Sar's end. It was a bit like volleyball with the ball being scrambled this way and that. United's keeper managed to claw the ball away, but not until it was first clearly over the line. Gallas was credited with the goal, which was fair dues, after his first half deflection.
Arsenal deserved to share the spoils and stay on top, but it's still early days with all to play for.
Tags:
Arsenal Vs Man Utd
soccer and football
Arsenal Vs Man Utd
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