The weekend of 17th and 18th September 2011 serves the football world some special football games. Supporters, spectators and fans of the round leather sport will be licking their lips in anticipation of these extraordinary matches. I mean what will you say about duels involving Manchester United and Chelsea, Napoli and Milan, PSV-Ajax etc. It is only Spain that there are no such matches this weekend.
Below is a run-down of what to expect from the heavyweight bouts.
- INTER MILAN - AS ROMA
Gian piero Gasperini is under so much pressure at the moment. He has every reason to be worried as he is at a club where the President (Don Massimo Moratti) is extremely impatient, but success driven. The former Genoa tactician took over from Leonardo in the summer, and has led the Beneamata to three consecutive losses, including the Italian super cup v AC Milan. The Uefa Champions League hasn't alleviated his problems, as his charges flattered to deceive in their shock 1-0 loss at the Meazza on Wednesday. It left a sour taste in the mouths of those who love the club and the divorce bells have already started ringing. Although the Inter Supremo allayed such fears, stating firmly that he believes in the manager, GpG will do well to ignore such leading statements, as his predecessors have learnt the hard way.
Today, the black and blue host another club in similar situation at the moment, AS Roma. Spanish manager, Luis Enrique has found life as a professional manager a herculean task. The Capital club is not having it their way at all, as they have also been knocked out of the Europa League, and lost in their own backyard to Cagliari last time out. All these coupled with the strained relationship between II Bimbo d'oro (Totti) and the manager, are reasons why the club must put things right as soon as possible if they are to turn their season around. Inter's loss to Palermo at the Barbera was largely due to the exceptional display of Fabrizio Miccoli who consistently tore the defence of Walter Samuel and co apart. Enrique will be full of belief and hope that new signings, Bojan and Oswaldo can inflict a similar harm on their more distinguished opponents. Promising Argentine youngster, Eric Lamela is fit again and ready to play his part.
Internazionale have players like the divine Javier Zanetti, Wesley Sneijder, Diego Milito who amazingly missed a golden opportunity to put Inter ahead in midweek, Mauro Zarate, Diego Forlan, Gianpaolo Pazzini, Ricky Alvarez and others to count on. Despite Inter's loss last weekend, El Principe (Milito) still managed to register two goals and no one will bet against him adding to that tally tonight. Diego Forlan can also build on the confidence emanating from his debut goal against the Sicilians.
PREDICTION- An Inter win.
PSV -AJAX
Two of the most successful clubs in Dutch football history and two of the famous big three (ajax, feyenoord, and psv) lurk horns this weekend at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven. It hasn't been a flying start for the Boerens as they lie fifth in the table behind ajax, az, feyenoord, and fc twente. But they will aim to put one over one of their main rivals for the Eredevisie title. Ajax on the other hand, lead the table with 4 wins from 5 games, with the other a draw against an Ahmed Musa inspired VVV Venlo side who at a point led by two quality goals.
Fred Rutten has dismissed Media reports and assertions that his team will be favourites when they do battle, but in his heart of hearts, he will be very optimistic that the Landlords of the Philips Stadion can be the first team to bring the godenzonen to their knees this season. He has every reason to be.........new signing, Dries Mertens has been a revelation this season in spite of PSV's not too exemplary start. The Belgian has scored in each of his five league games for the club and tops the scorers charts with 7 goals. He was signed alongside dutch international, kevin strootman from fellow dutch club, fc Utrecht for about 13 million euros and has proved a bargain ever since.
Frank De Boer, one of the best footballers of his generation and manager of Ajax has been a blessing to the Eredevisie giants since he joined first as caretaker coach in the middle of last season. He led the Amsterdam club to their first league title in 7 years last season---a triumph that qualified them automatically for the UCL. He hasn't done badly this season either as he is sitting atop the league standings with his team largely due to the astonishing form of Miralem Sulejmani, Icelandic sharp shooter, Kolbeinn Sigporsson, captain, Jan Vertonghen, new signing from twente, Theo Janssen,(now vice captain), Danish teenager wonder, Christian Eriksen and other quality players. The stand out performers for them this season has been Sigporsson and Sulejmani who will look to continue their scary partnership up front. Undeterred by the loss of Dutch first choice goaltender, Martin Stekelenburg to DiBenedetto's revamped Roma, De Boer swiftly made Kenneth Vermmer the first choice safe hands and it hasn't been a bad decision up till now.....they face a daunting task this weekend against one of their arch-enemies, but winning is the objective as it is this kind of games that differentiates a good team from a great team.
PREDICTION: an entertaining draw.
NAPOLI - MILAN
It has been a fantastic rebuilding process and the turnaround has been breathtaking as only a few years ago, Aurelio De Laurentiiss' Napoli was Languishing in the lower tier of Italian football, but within a space of 3 to 4 years, they are back among the exclusive class of Italian Football, hoping to redeem their lost pride and place.
Walter Mazzarri has been charged with the unenviable task of leading them to diadem once again. They came third in the league last season thereby qualifying for the prestigious UCL and they have started brightly, taking a point of mega rich and quality assembled Manchester City at the Etihad stadium. Paolo Cannavaro and his colleagues have also started the season brightly, picking up their first points of the season away at Cesena with a goal from Hugo Campagnaro who miraculously recovered from a fatal accident which occurred in June.
Milan, on the other hand, haven't started as they expected. Maxi Allegri was very ecstatic especially when they defeated Inter in the Super Coppa Italia title match, that this season will be a continuation of the last where they ran away with the Serie A crown for the first time in seven years.
The Italian champions started the season with a very watchable feisty 2 all draw with Lazio, who had new signings, Klose and Cisse to thank for putting them two goals up in the early stages of the first half.....the Rossoneri rallied back to even matters with goals from Ibra and Cassano. The performance was satisfactory, but the end result was disappointing. The however went to the Camp Nou in mid-week to pull an unlikely draw v European Champions, Barcelona. Alex Pato the 'duck' scored a goal in the 24th second of the match to the dismay of of the Spanish side. Nevertheless, It was Thiago Silva's injury time bullet header that ensured that Milan did not leave Barca empty handed.
The match will be a great duel between two excellent teams who know themselves very well..Stars like Hamsik, Lavezzi, Edison 'el matador' Cavani, Clarence Seedorf, Pippo Inzaghi and co will be on show.
PREDICTION: A narrow win for Milan
SCHALKE - BAYERN
Gelsenkirchen which hosted the 2004 UCL final between Porto and Monaco is owned by Ralf Rangnick's Schalke. They play host to a very dangerous and in-form FC Hollywood (Bayern Munich/Munchen) on Sunday.
The match holds a lot of importance in many ways. It is the clash of two Bundesliga giants and then the small matter of Mnauel Neuer coming back to his old stomping ground. The Germany goalkeeper captained the team last season to a respectable quarter-final (l to Man Utd) place in the UCL and the DFB Pokal crown, beating his new employers Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, courtesy of a Raul goal. The 25 year old is expected to face a hostile crowd when the game kicks-off.
Bayern Munich are top of the pile in Germany, albeit only on goals difference and are looking so good under Jupp Heynckes, who is in his 3rd spell at the Bavarian club. In domestic matters, Freiburg were the latest victims of the rampaging bavarians as they romped to a 7-0 victory with Mario Gomez scoring a quadruple(4 goals) and Ribery contributing two fine goals. In Europe, they were again impressive as a Toni Kroos first half strike and a Rafinha clincher secured a 2 goal win for them at the El Madrigal v Villareal.
Schalke in their own case haven't done badly for themselves,taking 9 points from their 1st 5 games. However, last weekend they lost to Magath's Wolfsburg at the Wolkswagen stadium by 2 goals to one and will look to get back to winning ways. They have the awesome strike force of the bionic Raul and the predatory Klaas Jan Huntelaar 'the hunter' to rely for the goals, with the indefatigable Jefferson Farfan supplying the balls.
FC Hollywood have a lot of quality players in their ranks-.....the likes of Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, and goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer have it in them to turn a match on its head and in their team's favour, but they will miss the goals of Gomez and the attacking wizardry of Arjen Robben.
PREDICTION:a great game with both teams sharing the spoils.
MAN UTD - CHELSEA
Premiership Champions and European cup finalists, Manchester United host AVB's Chelsea for the 19th time at the Theatre of Dreams (OLD TRAFFORD), The red devils have a slim advantage over their new found rivals with six wins to Chelsea's 5. There is not much between them in the EPL standings too as United are only 2 points ahead of the pensioners and know quite alright that despite that jaw dropping start to the season, have it all to play for, come Sunday.
It will be a disservice to say Manchester United haven't been ferocious this season and that is putting it mildly. The red devils have glowingly set the pace for others so early in the season, going against their traditional way of playing catch up in the early stages in previous years. Wayne Rooney and co have scored a record 18 goals in 4 games and let in a paltry 3. The highlight of the season was an 8-2 annihilation of fellow top four side and previous main rivals, Arsenal. That performance sent a direct message to challengers that they are not prepared to relinquish the Title this season. Rooney has scored a career first 8 goals in 4 EPL games and equalled Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record of scoring in the first four games of an EPL season for the Manchester giants. New signings,Ashley Young, Phil Jones and David De Gea have contributed their parts in the amazing run, with Ashley and Phil racking up 2 goals and more than 5 assists between them. It has been a dream start for the lads who have already bagged the Community Shield and it was even sweeter because it was at the expense of Manchester City.
AVB and Chelsea may be third in the League, but they have just managed to win their matches so far and there is nothing really exceptional about them thus far. Fernando Torres is still searching for his scoring boots, DD is out injured, Lampard, a shadow of his former self, ALex and Luiz are error prone and Malouda hasn't really found his form. They have been however boosted by the return to fitness of Petr Cech, the acquisitions of Mata and Merieles and the good form of Daniel Sturridge who scored the winner in their last domestic outing v Sunderland. They can build on the victory over Bayer Leverkusen in midweek as Torres showed flashes of his old form when he set up two goals for luiz and compatriot, Mata to seal a 2-0 win.
The hosts will be without Vidic, Rafael, and Cleverley who are long term absentees. Welbeck is back in training, but will not feature and Rio is fit and raring to go. The team will be once again led out by new vice captain, Patrice Evra and they hope to continue from where they left off last weekend when they steamrolled Bolton. Chelsea represents a tougher proposition and they will go all out to prove a point as their young and very intelligent manager has not lost a League game since April 2010 and hopes to prolong that record at least for another week.
PREDICTION:Man Utd to win
That does it.
ff Ohireime Eboreime on twitter at @ohiskaka1990
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Why Manchester United should not underestimate Benfica!
The UEFA Champions League is here again. The World 's most prestigious club competition (arguably) is back on our TV screens. This year's group stage draw pitched Manchester United against Benfica for the third time in seven campaigns. The red army from Manchester will not forget in a hurry how the 'encarnados' put paid to their ambitions of reaching the knock out stages of the competition six seasons ago(05-06) when Geovanni dieberson mauricio gomez, simply known as 'geovanni' and Giberto galdino dos santos also known as 'beto' scored two first half goals to cancel out paul scholes' 6th minute opener. That season marked the first time that Fergie had failed to qualify for the knock out stages in as long as I can remember.
Although the Manchester giants got their revenge when they were drawn against each other in the next CL competition (06-07)..........(beat the Portuguese giants home and away 3-1,1-0), the pain has not really gone away. This season marks another chance to make amends for that grueling night in Lisbon.
Nothing will satisfy Sir Alex more than an impressive display capped by a very comfortable victory to kickstart the 11-12 UCL season. But, it is going to be far from easy. Looking at the 'aguias'(nickname for Benfica), you will agree with me that they have a wonderful and immensely talented squad............One better than the aging one of six years ago. The Scottish gaffer of Man Utd knows quite alright that this will definitely be far from a stroll in the park.
Jorge Jesus possesses a team capable of inflicting harm on any clubside in the world, including Barcelona.... If a team was all about names and talent, Benfica have that in abundance. If it is about quality, they also have that in droves. In Pablo Aimar aka 'EL PAYASO', they have a player who on his day, is World class. From his days in the Valencia team that had the likes of Claudio Lopez, Gaizka Mendieta, Sanchez, John Carew, Ruben Baraja, Santiago Canizares, et al, he has always shone brilliantly both for club and for country. If not for injuries, ill-luck and inconsistency, the diminutive Argentine playmaker would have been mentioned in the same breath as the Stevie Gs of this world. Aimar is only one out of many at the Lisbon club these days. Despite the loss of Coentrao to Real Madrid, they have in their Arsenal, weapons that can tame any army. Experienced players like skipper Luisao, Javier Saviola (the little rabbit), Maximiliano pereira, Oscar Cardozo(103 goals in 168 apps for Benfica) and exceptional talents such as axel witsel, Manuel agudo duran(also known as NOLITO), nicolas gaitan, nemanja matic make them an even tougher nut to crack.
The champions league runners-up should be under no illusion that this is going to be an easy day out. Confidence is sky high and rightly so, as a result of their scintillating start to the season to the season where they have registered 21 goals in 5 games (18 in 4 league games--------a record), and let in only 5. The red devils have capable hands too in Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney (has contributed 8 out of the 18 goals and a couple of assists), Chicharito, new signings Ashley Young and Phil Jones, Portuguese player, Nani, former Porto starlet, Anderson, etc. All these however count for little when proceeding go underway at the Estadio Luz (Stadium of light) as it is a completely different scenario from the domestic form they have shown. The Lisbon club will want to prove that they have the game to beat a European superpower like United. Therefore, all hands must be on deck that ensure that there are no loose ends and no regrets. There is still a lot of skepticism regarding the goalkeeping abilities of new number one, David De Gea..... The young man has done extremely well in my opinion as it isn't easy to acclimatize to the harshness of the English Premiership and all its head hunting, error searching analysts. He will do himself more favours by shutting the hungry and skillful attacking force of Benfica.
The central defense is a worry because of the absence of Leader and Captain, Nemanja Vidic and his partner, Rio Ferdinand who was left at home with Sunday's cracker with Chelsea in mind. Teenager, Phil Jones has found it so easy to adapt to life as a Manchester United player, with his eye catching performances, especially against Bolton at the weekend. Evans is a doubt, but in Chris Smalling, United have another good replacement. But it is the Champions league and more often than not, experience says a lot in determining the outcome of games of this magnitude. Cardozo, Aimar and co will want to exploit this seeming weakness. We will see how well the young jewels can cope with this kind of pressure.
The game promises to be a cracker as of course most meetings between the two have turned out to be. For Man Utd fans, it was this same club, that Sir Bobby Charlton and co defeated in 1968 to claim its first European Cup, ten years after the Munich air disaster which claimed the lives of supreme talents of the EPL defending champions.
Although the Manchester giants got their revenge when they were drawn against each other in the next CL competition (06-07)..........(beat the Portuguese giants home and away 3-1,1-0), the pain has not really gone away. This season marks another chance to make amends for that grueling night in Lisbon.
Nothing will satisfy Sir Alex more than an impressive display capped by a very comfortable victory to kickstart the 11-12 UCL season. But, it is going to be far from easy. Looking at the 'aguias'(nickname for Benfica), you will agree with me that they have a wonderful and immensely talented squad............One better than the aging one of six years ago. The Scottish gaffer of Man Utd knows quite alright that this will definitely be far from a stroll in the park.
Jorge Jesus possesses a team capable of inflicting harm on any clubside in the world, including Barcelona.... If a team was all about names and talent, Benfica have that in abundance. If it is about quality, they also have that in droves. In Pablo Aimar aka 'EL PAYASO', they have a player who on his day, is World class. From his days in the Valencia team that had the likes of Claudio Lopez, Gaizka Mendieta, Sanchez, John Carew, Ruben Baraja, Santiago Canizares, et al, he has always shone brilliantly both for club and for country. If not for injuries, ill-luck and inconsistency, the diminutive Argentine playmaker would have been mentioned in the same breath as the Stevie Gs of this world. Aimar is only one out of many at the Lisbon club these days. Despite the loss of Coentrao to Real Madrid, they have in their Arsenal, weapons that can tame any army. Experienced players like skipper Luisao, Javier Saviola (the little rabbit), Maximiliano pereira, Oscar Cardozo(103 goals in 168 apps for Benfica) and exceptional talents such as axel witsel, Manuel agudo duran(also known as NOLITO), nicolas gaitan, nemanja matic make them an even tougher nut to crack.
The champions league runners-up should be under no illusion that this is going to be an easy day out. Confidence is sky high and rightly so, as a result of their scintillating start to the season to the season where they have registered 21 goals in 5 games (18 in 4 league games--------a record), and let in only 5. The red devils have capable hands too in Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney (has contributed 8 out of the 18 goals and a couple of assists), Chicharito, new signings Ashley Young and Phil Jones, Portuguese player, Nani, former Porto starlet, Anderson, etc. All these however count for little when proceeding go underway at the Estadio Luz (Stadium of light) as it is a completely different scenario from the domestic form they have shown. The Lisbon club will want to prove that they have the game to beat a European superpower like United. Therefore, all hands must be on deck that ensure that there are no loose ends and no regrets. There is still a lot of skepticism regarding the goalkeeping abilities of new number one, David De Gea..... The young man has done extremely well in my opinion as it isn't easy to acclimatize to the harshness of the English Premiership and all its head hunting, error searching analysts. He will do himself more favours by shutting the hungry and skillful attacking force of Benfica.
The central defense is a worry because of the absence of Leader and Captain, Nemanja Vidic and his partner, Rio Ferdinand who was left at home with Sunday's cracker with Chelsea in mind. Teenager, Phil Jones has found it so easy to adapt to life as a Manchester United player, with his eye catching performances, especially against Bolton at the weekend. Evans is a doubt, but in Chris Smalling, United have another good replacement. But it is the Champions league and more often than not, experience says a lot in determining the outcome of games of this magnitude. Cardozo, Aimar and co will want to exploit this seeming weakness. We will see how well the young jewels can cope with this kind of pressure.
The game promises to be a cracker as of course most meetings between the two have turned out to be. For Man Utd fans, it was this same club, that Sir Bobby Charlton and co defeated in 1968 to claim its first European Cup, ten years after the Munich air disaster which claimed the lives of supreme talents of the EPL defending champions.
Friday, 9 September 2011
ITALIAN SERIE A - 2011-2012 SEASON PREVIEW
The 2011 Serie A champions, AC Milan were all smiles at the Birds' nest in China last month when they defeated city rivals and neighbors, Inter Milan to the Super Cup title with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ghana's KP Boateng scoring to secure a 2-1 victory, despite being 1-0 down, courtesy of Wesley Sneijder's gorgeous free kick in the first half.
Serie A runners-up, Inter Milan, let the third coach out of their grasp, when Brazilian manager, Leonardo left for PSG. Former Genoa Tactician, Gian piero Gasperini has since been given the mantle of leadership. They also sold Samuel Eto'o to big spending Russian clubside, Anzhi Makhachkala - A deal which made the Cameroonian great, the highest paid footballer ever. The Nerazurri also sold Davide Santon to English club, Newcastle. They brought in the likes of Ricky Alvarez from Velez Sarsfield, Diego Forlan Corazo from 2010 Europa cup winners, Atletico Madrid and a few other quality additions. The black and blue will be looking to recover the Scudetto from the hands of Berlusconi's Milan.
The SENSI family finally relinquished control of the Capital club, Roma after almost two decades at the helm. Although it was officially agreed in the summer of 2010, Rosella Sensi was still a Director until Thomas DiBenedetto, a wealthy entrepreneur and his consortium, signed an agreement with UNICREDIT to buy about 67% of the club, thus becoming the Largest shareholder. He immediately went into action, bringing in the likes of Walter Sabatini as Club Director, signing a deal with the England assistant manager, Franco Baldini to take over as general manager after the European Championships next year, and recruiting former Spanish playmaker and Barcelona B coach, Luis Enrique to take over as Head Coach.
It is not only the board room that experienced bounteous changes. The playing staff was also altered and bolstered with the likes of Bojan Krkic, highly rated Celeste, Eric Lamela, Pablo Oswaldo, and Netherlands safe hands, Martin Stekenlenburg coming in. Free agent, Gabriel Heinze also joined the giallorossi. Roma seem to love south americans, especially argentines a lot. After the captures of heinze, lamela, and Oswaldo(argie-italian), the club added another argie in Fernando Gago, the much maligned midfielder who came from Real Madrid on a season long loan. The Italian giants also let the likes of Jeremy Menez, John Arne Rise and Mirko Vucinic leave for PSG, FULHAM AND JUVENTUS respectively.
There are some internal issues to be resolved though. The roman army was struck a major blow last month as they fell to lowly rated minnows, Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League Qualifying rounds. That isn't as burdensome to them as the rift between their most decorated and successful player, Francesco Totti and new manager, Enrique. Something that started when the new manager decided to leave the talismanic captain out of the matches against the Slovakian club. The President and Directors have however been working round the clock to reconcile the pair. The hierarchy of the team made it clear from the onset that nobody is bigger than the team-------but we all know that some players are almost indispensable and Er pupone (TOTTI) falls into that category. For a player that has been at the club for 19 years and scored more than 200 league goals, some rules can be bent to accommodate his excesses.
Roma's city rivals, SS Lazio haven't been shy in the transfer market either. If you take into account, the dealings they have made, they certainly mean business. Club Supermo, Claudio Lotto managed to tempt seasoned and experienced players like Miroslav Klose------ a player who is 6 goals short of equaling the all time record of Gerd Muller for the German national team and just one goal behind the great Ronaldo Da Lima as the highest goal scorer in World Cup History. Coincidentally, it is 'Da Bomber' Muller's world cup record that he equaled in South Africa. the Biancoceleste haven't stopped there. Players like Djibril Cisse, Marius Stankevicius, Abdoulay Konko and former Marseille skipper, Lorik Cana have also teamed up with the 'sky blue and white'. They let Mauro Mathias Zarate join Inter Milan on loan, but still have the likes of Tomasso Rocchi and major threat, Hernanes to depend on. No one would argue against them staking a claim for at least a UEFA champions League spot come the end of the season.
AC Milan won their 1st Italian League title (Scudetto) in seven years. They have Swedish Superstar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the ever reliable Dutch great, Clarence Seedorf, the ' duck' from Brazil, Alex Pato, Robinho and co, to thank for leading them to GLORY, after so many near misses in years gone by. Since the Departure of KAKA, no other player had really taken the bull by the horn, until they signed 'Ibracadabra' from Barcelona......by winning the 2011 Scudetto, it extended the giant Swede's incredible run of 9 league titles in 9 straight years with Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and of course Milan.
Coach, Maximilliano Allegri has brought in the likes of Taye Taiwo, Stephan El Shaarawy, Philippe Mexes, and Alberto Aquilani who is on loan from Liverpool. Aquilani was brought in to fill in the void left by long serving Andrea Pirlo who transferred to rejuvenated Juventus after 10 successful years with the Rossoneri. The Milan side will hope to bring back the glory days in Europe this season after falling in the second round to Spurs in the previous campaign. They officially kick start the 11-12 League season with a home game vs Lazio later tonight.
Since the Calciopoli scandal that rocked the Italian League some years ago. The 'old lady'----a sobriquet used to describe Juventus, has suffered a great decline both in form and in finesse. Last season was one of the worst in recent history. I cannot remember when Juventus failed to qualify for any European competition. Luigi Delneri was immediately shown the exit door by Andrea Agnelli and former player and legend, Antonio Conte installed to try and return Juve to the summit of Italian football where they truly belong. The most successful club in Italian football history with 29 Serie A titles, they spent heavily to tempt the very best players of the jump to jump ship. The club also officially opened their new home, the 'JUVENTUS ARENA' on the 8th of September with a friendly match against Notts County.
Quality players like Andrea Pirlo, Mirko Vucinic, Arturo Vidal, Eljero Elia, Stephan Lichtsteiner have been purchased from the likes of Hamburg, Bayer Lverkusen, etc..Marcelo Estigarribia, the flying Paraguayan has also become a Bianconeri. All these in their bid to at least challenge for honours when the season starts. Carvalho Amauri has returned from a successful spell at Parma and will fight for a place in the starting 11 with the likes of Quagliarela, Vucinic, Matri. Luca Toni, Ianquinta, and captain, Alex Del Piero.
SSC Napoli, the 4th most supported club in Italy, has returned to the European stage (UCL). The main catalyst behind their recent success is 2010 summer acquisition, Edison Cavani...........El Matador as he is affectionately called, scored 26 league goals to propel the Napolitans to the third and last automatic qualifying spot in the League. The partenopei predator was only just beaten to the Caponcannonierie (highest goal scorer) crown by lethal Zebrette veteran, Antonio Di Natale----scored 28 league goals to scoop the award for the second consecutive year. It will be unjust to neglect the excellent contributions of Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Captain Paolo Cannavaro and others......as a team they were almost unstoppable. The club which has boasted the likes of Diego Maradona and Fabio Cannavaro in their ranks, will hope to go one or two places better in their quest to restore the victory times the club enjoyed in the late 80s and early 90s. They are certainly title challengers and they signaled their intention of gatecrashing the big two of last season, with the inclusion of Goran Pandev who has enjoyed success with Lazio and Inter Milan. Swiss midfield gem and ex-Udinese star, has also teamed up with the Walter Mazzarri led team.
Udinese Calcio began the summer with the fight for the signature of speedy winger, Alexis Sanchez who was chased by Barcelona, and both Manchester Clubs. He eventually joined Barcelona after Chile's elimination from the Copa America. Giampaolo Pozzo immediately replaced him with Gabriel Torje.......a Romanian winger who is blessed with similar characteristics. Cristian Zapata, one of the reasons the Italian outfit came fourth last season, has been sold to Villareal. They also lost Gokhan Inler to Champions league campaigners, Napoli. Despite the set backs, they can continue to count on the dependable Tonio di Natale who has provided 57 goals in 71 League games in 2 seasons.
Other clubs like Palermo, Fiorentina, Genoa and co will have to make do with scampering for top 10 positions or at best Europa League spots.
Ohireime Eboreime
ff me on Twitter @ohiskaka1990
Serie A runners-up, Inter Milan, let the third coach out of their grasp, when Brazilian manager, Leonardo left for PSG. Former Genoa Tactician, Gian piero Gasperini has since been given the mantle of leadership. They also sold Samuel Eto'o to big spending Russian clubside, Anzhi Makhachkala - A deal which made the Cameroonian great, the highest paid footballer ever. The Nerazurri also sold Davide Santon to English club, Newcastle. They brought in the likes of Ricky Alvarez from Velez Sarsfield, Diego Forlan Corazo from 2010 Europa cup winners, Atletico Madrid and a few other quality additions. The black and blue will be looking to recover the Scudetto from the hands of Berlusconi's Milan.
The SENSI family finally relinquished control of the Capital club, Roma after almost two decades at the helm. Although it was officially agreed in the summer of 2010, Rosella Sensi was still a Director until Thomas DiBenedetto, a wealthy entrepreneur and his consortium, signed an agreement with UNICREDIT to buy about 67% of the club, thus becoming the Largest shareholder. He immediately went into action, bringing in the likes of Walter Sabatini as Club Director, signing a deal with the England assistant manager, Franco Baldini to take over as general manager after the European Championships next year, and recruiting former Spanish playmaker and Barcelona B coach, Luis Enrique to take over as Head Coach.
It is not only the board room that experienced bounteous changes. The playing staff was also altered and bolstered with the likes of Bojan Krkic, highly rated Celeste, Eric Lamela, Pablo Oswaldo, and Netherlands safe hands, Martin Stekenlenburg coming in. Free agent, Gabriel Heinze also joined the giallorossi. Roma seem to love south americans, especially argentines a lot. After the captures of heinze, lamela, and Oswaldo(argie-italian), the club added another argie in Fernando Gago, the much maligned midfielder who came from Real Madrid on a season long loan. The Italian giants also let the likes of Jeremy Menez, John Arne Rise and Mirko Vucinic leave for PSG, FULHAM AND JUVENTUS respectively.
There are some internal issues to be resolved though. The roman army was struck a major blow last month as they fell to lowly rated minnows, Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League Qualifying rounds. That isn't as burdensome to them as the rift between their most decorated and successful player, Francesco Totti and new manager, Enrique. Something that started when the new manager decided to leave the talismanic captain out of the matches against the Slovakian club. The President and Directors have however been working round the clock to reconcile the pair. The hierarchy of the team made it clear from the onset that nobody is bigger than the team-------but we all know that some players are almost indispensable and Er pupone (TOTTI) falls into that category. For a player that has been at the club for 19 years and scored more than 200 league goals, some rules can be bent to accommodate his excesses.
Roma's city rivals, SS Lazio haven't been shy in the transfer market either. If you take into account, the dealings they have made, they certainly mean business. Club Supermo, Claudio Lotto managed to tempt seasoned and experienced players like Miroslav Klose------ a player who is 6 goals short of equaling the all time record of Gerd Muller for the German national team and just one goal behind the great Ronaldo Da Lima as the highest goal scorer in World Cup History. Coincidentally, it is 'Da Bomber' Muller's world cup record that he equaled in South Africa. the Biancoceleste haven't stopped there. Players like Djibril Cisse, Marius Stankevicius, Abdoulay Konko and former Marseille skipper, Lorik Cana have also teamed up with the 'sky blue and white'. They let Mauro Mathias Zarate join Inter Milan on loan, but still have the likes of Tomasso Rocchi and major threat, Hernanes to depend on. No one would argue against them staking a claim for at least a UEFA champions League spot come the end of the season.
AC Milan won their 1st Italian League title (Scudetto) in seven years. They have Swedish Superstar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the ever reliable Dutch great, Clarence Seedorf, the ' duck' from Brazil, Alex Pato, Robinho and co, to thank for leading them to GLORY, after so many near misses in years gone by. Since the Departure of KAKA, no other player had really taken the bull by the horn, until they signed 'Ibracadabra' from Barcelona......by winning the 2011 Scudetto, it extended the giant Swede's incredible run of 9 league titles in 9 straight years with Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and of course Milan.
Coach, Maximilliano Allegri has brought in the likes of Taye Taiwo, Stephan El Shaarawy, Philippe Mexes, and Alberto Aquilani who is on loan from Liverpool. Aquilani was brought in to fill in the void left by long serving Andrea Pirlo who transferred to rejuvenated Juventus after 10 successful years with the Rossoneri. The Milan side will hope to bring back the glory days in Europe this season after falling in the second round to Spurs in the previous campaign. They officially kick start the 11-12 League season with a home game vs Lazio later tonight.
Since the Calciopoli scandal that rocked the Italian League some years ago. The 'old lady'----a sobriquet used to describe Juventus, has suffered a great decline both in form and in finesse. Last season was one of the worst in recent history. I cannot remember when Juventus failed to qualify for any European competition. Luigi Delneri was immediately shown the exit door by Andrea Agnelli and former player and legend, Antonio Conte installed to try and return Juve to the summit of Italian football where they truly belong. The most successful club in Italian football history with 29 Serie A titles, they spent heavily to tempt the very best players of the jump to jump ship. The club also officially opened their new home, the 'JUVENTUS ARENA' on the 8th of September with a friendly match against Notts County.
Quality players like Andrea Pirlo, Mirko Vucinic, Arturo Vidal, Eljero Elia, Stephan Lichtsteiner have been purchased from the likes of Hamburg, Bayer Lverkusen, etc..Marcelo Estigarribia, the flying Paraguayan has also become a Bianconeri. All these in their bid to at least challenge for honours when the season starts. Carvalho Amauri has returned from a successful spell at Parma and will fight for a place in the starting 11 with the likes of Quagliarela, Vucinic, Matri. Luca Toni, Ianquinta, and captain, Alex Del Piero.
SSC Napoli, the 4th most supported club in Italy, has returned to the European stage (UCL). The main catalyst behind their recent success is 2010 summer acquisition, Edison Cavani...........El Matador as he is affectionately called, scored 26 league goals to propel the Napolitans to the third and last automatic qualifying spot in the League. The partenopei predator was only just beaten to the Caponcannonierie (highest goal scorer) crown by lethal Zebrette veteran, Antonio Di Natale----scored 28 league goals to scoop the award for the second consecutive year. It will be unjust to neglect the excellent contributions of Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Captain Paolo Cannavaro and others......as a team they were almost unstoppable. The club which has boasted the likes of Diego Maradona and Fabio Cannavaro in their ranks, will hope to go one or two places better in their quest to restore the victory times the club enjoyed in the late 80s and early 90s. They are certainly title challengers and they signaled their intention of gatecrashing the big two of last season, with the inclusion of Goran Pandev who has enjoyed success with Lazio and Inter Milan. Swiss midfield gem and ex-Udinese star, has also teamed up with the Walter Mazzarri led team.
Udinese Calcio began the summer with the fight for the signature of speedy winger, Alexis Sanchez who was chased by Barcelona, and both Manchester Clubs. He eventually joined Barcelona after Chile's elimination from the Copa America. Giampaolo Pozzo immediately replaced him with Gabriel Torje.......a Romanian winger who is blessed with similar characteristics. Cristian Zapata, one of the reasons the Italian outfit came fourth last season, has been sold to Villareal. They also lost Gokhan Inler to Champions league campaigners, Napoli. Despite the set backs, they can continue to count on the dependable Tonio di Natale who has provided 57 goals in 71 League games in 2 seasons.
Other clubs like Palermo, Fiorentina, Genoa and co will have to make do with scampering for top 10 positions or at best Europa League spots.
Ohireime Eboreime
ff me on Twitter @ohiskaka1990
Thursday, 8 September 2011
THE 11-12 LA LIGA SEASON - an overview of what to expect.
The much anticipated Spanish La Liga season finally got underway two weeks ago, after the first weekend of matches was called off due to unpaid salaries and allowances in the excess of over 50 million euros owed to over 200 professional footballers. After trashing out the issue and reaching an agreement, the footballers have called off the strike and to God be the glory, the season kicked off with Gijon and Sociedad playing the first match.
The 10-11 Spanish Liga season was won by Barcelona and deservedly so. Although it will be unfair to disregard Real Madrid's challenge, it will also be very wrong to leave out the explosive and determined way Pep's boys went on to win their 3rd successive La Liga title.
Florentino Perez brought Jose 'the special one' Mourinho to dislodge Barcelona from the Zenith of Spanish football, but he knew quite alright that it wasn't going to be a piece of cake. Mourinho led the 'whites' to 2nd place, the semi finals of the UCL (lost to Barca) and the Copa deL Rey title( def. Barca). This season also began with Madrid losing the super cup title to Barcelona again, but with Mourinho, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Josep 'pep' Gaurdiola won his 12th title as manager of Barcelona yesterday at the Stade Louis Stadium in Monaco. The title was his second UEFA SUPER CUP victory in 3 years and thus made him the most successful manager in the history of Barcelona, eclipsing Johan Cruyff. It is not the tournaments they win that makes them so special, but the way and manner in which they win. The win yesterday also put Barcelona ahead of Madrid as the most successful Spanish club in terms of accumulation of trophies (Barca-76, RM-75). Although the los merengues (REALM) have a wide lead in la liga trophies won (31 to 21) and UCL (9 to 4) In all of Pep's 100+ games for Barcelona, his team has dominated possession...this is no mean feat. Even the great Rinus Michel of blessed memory will marvel at the masterclass performances delivered by the catalans week in week out, match after match. It is just breathtakingly easy on the eye. Football made simple and special. With great players like Xavi, iniesta, messi, fabregas, Villa, A.Sanchez and co, it will be a herculean task for Jose to win the La liga this season.
In the last three seasons, the battle for supremacy has largely been between the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Other teams have been way behind them. But this season might be different, especially with the emergence of Malaga as a strong force ready to mix it up with the big wigs of Spanish football. Formerly owned by past Real Madrid President, Lorenz Sanz, who sold the club to Qatari Billionaire business mogul,Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al_Ahmed_Al_Thani last year, the club has seen a huge inflow of cash since the acquisition. The man from the middle east has not hidden his desire to take Malaga to greater heights and he has lived up to his promise by spending big in January and in the summer, recruiting the likes of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Jeremy Toulalan, Joris Mathijsen, Santiago Cazorla, Joaquin Sanchez, Julio 'the beast' Baptista, Martin Demichelis, etc. The squad of former champions of various leagues like RVN and Demichelis is managed by seasoned tactician and former Villareal and Real Madrid Manager, Manuel Pelegrini, who took over the mantle of leadership from Jesualdo Ferreira after a dismal run by the Portuguese coach,. Although they haven't played as a team in official matches, the Andalusians cannot be taken lightly because they have the weapons in their 'Arsenal' to punish any team. In fact, their intention this season, is to slug it out with the Barcas, Madrids, Valencias and co of the Spanish League.
Real Madrid have been active in the transfer market as usual..........bringing in Fabio Coentrao, Jose Callejon, Nuri Sahin, Hamit Altintop, and teenager prodigy, Rafa Varane, to bolster their squad. Barcelona replied with the addition of long time target and catalan to the bones, Cesc Fabregas and speedy wing wizard, Alexis Sanchez. Valencia let Mata go to Chelsea, Joaquin and Isco to big spending and ambitious Malaga, but have brought in the likes of highly rated Argentine footballer, Pablo Piatti from Estudiantes de la plata and Sergio Canales from Real Madrid. New promoted Real Betis also recruited Roque Santa Cruz from Manchester City on a season long loan. Granada also made sure that Andalusia is well represented in the top tier of Spanish football, securing promotion from the Segunda (Spanish second tier league).. the new comers have tied up deals for players like Franco Jara of Benfica and a couple others from Udinese.
The La Liga season has started with criticisms from a lot of Presidents like Manuel Llorente of Valencia CF of and Jose Maria Del Nido of Sevilla, concerning disparity in t.v contracts and all sorts of irregularities. The Club supremos are of the opinion that Real and Barca are given preferential treatment in financial issues and that's why they can sign players for millions of Euros, while other clubs sell their prized assets to balance the accounts. This outbursts came after the first round of matches which saw both Spanish giants winning comprehensively, 6-0 and 5-0 respectively. Barca's was even more humiliating,, because it was against another Spanish powerhouse in recent years, Villareal.
Jose Mourinho will be hoping that his boys show much more resolve this season, as the bid to unseat Barca as the undisputed best team in the World has began.
Ohireime Eboreime
ff me on Twitter @ohiskaka1990
The 10-11 Spanish Liga season was won by Barcelona and deservedly so. Although it will be unfair to disregard Real Madrid's challenge, it will also be very wrong to leave out the explosive and determined way Pep's boys went on to win their 3rd successive La Liga title.
Florentino Perez brought Jose 'the special one' Mourinho to dislodge Barcelona from the Zenith of Spanish football, but he knew quite alright that it wasn't going to be a piece of cake. Mourinho led the 'whites' to 2nd place, the semi finals of the UCL (lost to Barca) and the Copa deL Rey title( def. Barca). This season also began with Madrid losing the super cup title to Barcelona again, but with Mourinho, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Josep 'pep' Gaurdiola won his 12th title as manager of Barcelona yesterday at the Stade Louis Stadium in Monaco. The title was his second UEFA SUPER CUP victory in 3 years and thus made him the most successful manager in the history of Barcelona, eclipsing Johan Cruyff. It is not the tournaments they win that makes them so special, but the way and manner in which they win. The win yesterday also put Barcelona ahead of Madrid as the most successful Spanish club in terms of accumulation of trophies (Barca-76, RM-75). Although the los merengues (REALM) have a wide lead in la liga trophies won (31 to 21) and UCL (9 to 4) In all of Pep's 100+ games for Barcelona, his team has dominated possession...this is no mean feat. Even the great Rinus Michel of blessed memory will marvel at the masterclass performances delivered by the catalans week in week out, match after match. It is just breathtakingly easy on the eye. Football made simple and special. With great players like Xavi, iniesta, messi, fabregas, Villa, A.Sanchez and co, it will be a herculean task for Jose to win the La liga this season.
In the last three seasons, the battle for supremacy has largely been between the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Other teams have been way behind them. But this season might be different, especially with the emergence of Malaga as a strong force ready to mix it up with the big wigs of Spanish football. Formerly owned by past Real Madrid President, Lorenz Sanz, who sold the club to Qatari Billionaire business mogul,Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al_Ahmed_Al_Thani last year, the club has seen a huge inflow of cash since the acquisition. The man from the middle east has not hidden his desire to take Malaga to greater heights and he has lived up to his promise by spending big in January and in the summer, recruiting the likes of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Jeremy Toulalan, Joris Mathijsen, Santiago Cazorla, Joaquin Sanchez, Julio 'the beast' Baptista, Martin Demichelis, etc. The squad of former champions of various leagues like RVN and Demichelis is managed by seasoned tactician and former Villareal and Real Madrid Manager, Manuel Pelegrini, who took over the mantle of leadership from Jesualdo Ferreira after a dismal run by the Portuguese coach,. Although they haven't played as a team in official matches, the Andalusians cannot be taken lightly because they have the weapons in their 'Arsenal' to punish any team. In fact, their intention this season, is to slug it out with the Barcas, Madrids, Valencias and co of the Spanish League.
Real Madrid have been active in the transfer market as usual..........bringing in Fabio Coentrao, Jose Callejon, Nuri Sahin, Hamit Altintop, and teenager prodigy, Rafa Varane, to bolster their squad. Barcelona replied with the addition of long time target and catalan to the bones, Cesc Fabregas and speedy wing wizard, Alexis Sanchez. Valencia let Mata go to Chelsea, Joaquin and Isco to big spending and ambitious Malaga, but have brought in the likes of highly rated Argentine footballer, Pablo Piatti from Estudiantes de la plata and Sergio Canales from Real Madrid. New promoted Real Betis also recruited Roque Santa Cruz from Manchester City on a season long loan. Granada also made sure that Andalusia is well represented in the top tier of Spanish football, securing promotion from the Segunda (Spanish second tier league).. the new comers have tied up deals for players like Franco Jara of Benfica and a couple others from Udinese.
The La Liga season has started with criticisms from a lot of Presidents like Manuel Llorente of Valencia CF of and Jose Maria Del Nido of Sevilla, concerning disparity in t.v contracts and all sorts of irregularities. The Club supremos are of the opinion that Real and Barca are given preferential treatment in financial issues and that's why they can sign players for millions of Euros, while other clubs sell their prized assets to balance the accounts. This outbursts came after the first round of matches which saw both Spanish giants winning comprehensively, 6-0 and 5-0 respectively. Barca's was even more humiliating,, because it was against another Spanish powerhouse in recent years, Villareal.
Jose Mourinho will be hoping that his boys show much more resolve this season, as the bid to unseat Barca as the undisputed best team in the World has began.
Ohireime Eboreime
ff me on Twitter @ohiskaka1990
Saturday, 27 August 2011
NOVAK DJOKOVIC'S RISE TO THE SUMMIT OF MEN'S TENNIS-----the Journey*
Serbia has produced great sportsmen like Dejan Stankovic and Nemanja Vidic, but it is safe to say that none can compare to the new WORLD NUMBER ONE of Tennis, Novak Djokovic commonly known as the Djoker-joker or nole among friends, fellow professionals and fans alike.
Born, 22 May 1987, the 24 year is just a week younger than Andy Murray (15 May 1987)......but has won 3 grand slam titles and 9 ATP masters 1000 crowns in addition to a bronze medal at the 08 Olympic games in China, the 09 ATP season ending tour finals tournament (formerly known as the MASTERS CUP),etc.
The humorous sports man who turned pro in 2007, is also the youngest male player to reach the semi finals of all four grand slams.
The chap first caught my attention four years ago in Montreal when he defeated then World no 3, Andy Roddick, no 2 ranked Rafa Nadal, and no 1, Roger Federer in consecutive days to claim the Masters 1000 title in the Canadian town. Although he immediately lost early in the next tournament (Cincinnati) to former World no 1, Carlos Moya, the tennis world had already began to witness the making of a great player.
The djoker went to the US open and true to it, finished runner-up to Roger Federer in three tight sets, while the then world number 2, nadal buckled in the fourth round against country man,david ferrer. The djoker finished the year ranked world number 3 for the first time.
At the 08 Australian Open, Novak djokovic was in inspired form, beating every player that came his way, including the undisputed World number one, Roger Federer in the semi-finals(thus claiming the Swiss' scalp for the first time in grand slam play), thus reaching his second consecutive slam final. He went on to defeat frenchman , Jo-Wilfred Tsonga(who dismissed nadal in straight sets in the semis) in four sets in the title match, to win his maiden grand slam. He also made history, becoming the first Serbain player to win a slam. He started knocking on the door of Nadal's no 2 spot. H e went on to defeat american, mardy fish in the 08 indian wells final, hi second successive final appearance (after losing the 07 final to nadal). He avenged the defeat to Nadal in key Biscayne, sending the Spanish supremo packing in the q/finals(07). In Hamburg, he had the chance to become world number two, if he beat nadal, but he lost to his friend and rival, thus remaining world number 3. He reached his 5th straight grand slma semi finals at Roland Garros, but fell again to eventual champion, Rafa Nadal in straights. He lost before the semi-final for the first time since the 07 french open at the 08 Wimbledon v former world number one, Marat Safin in the early rounds (Safin went on to reach the semis losing to Federer). Novak reached another slam semis at the US Open, losing to Fed-xpress again. Djokovic went on to win the season ending masters tournament , defeating Nik Davydenko in the final. He also made huge strides in 09 and 10 reaching q/finals,semi-finals and finals of major tournaments. He reached his 3rd grand slam final at the '10 US open final, but was unlucky at that time, as he was up against Rafa Nadal, a man on a mission to complete a career grand slam/golden slam.He lost in 4 sets. He again lost to Nadal in the semi-finals of the season ending masters tournament in London. That represented his last loss in a long time. He went on to inspire Serbia to the 2010 Davis cup title and from then on, was UNSTOPPABLE.
2011 began with Djokovic in total dominance. He brushed past all who came his way in the 1st grand slam tournament of the year, including Roger Federer in the semi-finals. He lost only one set en route to his 2nd grand slam triumph, defeating Murray in the final in a straight sets. This was Murray's third straight grand slam final heart break (his 1st 2 was to King Roger). Nole went on defeat Federer again in Dubai in the final in straight sets and took his second title of the year. He was full of confidence going into the first two masters 1000 tournaments of the year and he again swept past everyone who came his way in lightening fashion, including Roger, who he defeated for the 3rd successive time in Indian Wells. In the final, he was up against a man who had a 16-7 match win-loss record against him and had beaten him the all the five finals they had met on the ATP tour. He didn't let that get into his head though, as he edged the great MATADOR in 3 sets,thus winning his 5tth masters 1000 title and preventing Nadal from lifting his 19th masters 1000 title. He was determined to win more and he had that air of invincibility in his play. He wasn't the Novak who would retire at the slightest opportunity anymore, nor was he one who couldn't grind out matches. Many believed it was his gruelling semi-final win v Federer at the 10' US open, that was responsible for this mental supremacy. In his cheerful and ebullient style, he was also extremely dominant even against people who had the edge over him in previous years. After taking out Roger in Miami, he took the number two spot from the Swiss Master. He was not only winning, but also winning convincingly and expertly. He carried his devastating form to Miami where he accounted for the dismissals of Mardy fish, kelvin anderson and co to set up another final v Nadal. He again came out on top in three sets to claim his second straight victory over Nadal and improve to 2-5 in finals and also his 26th consecutive win and 24th of the year. By winning the Aussie Open, Indian wells and Miami tournaments, he emulated the feat achieved by Roger Federer in 2006.
He withdrew from Monte Carlo to the relief of his fellow professionals. A tournament Nadal won for the 7th straight year. He however came back at his home tournament in Belgrade. The end result was a familiar sight as he flashed past Feliciano Lopez in the final to win his 5th straight tournament. Tennis Legends Matt Wilander, Bjorn Borg, and John McEnroe, whose record of 42 straight match wins was under serious threat, praised the 24 year old Tennis champion. He took them in his stride and all that motivated him to achieve even more. He went into the clay masters 1000 swing with a lot of belief and that paid off as he became the first man to defeat Nadal in consecutive clay court finals (Rome and Madrid) and four consecutive finals overall. Nadal was broken and his number one position was under serious threat. It was not long before Nole claimed it as that was his ultimate goal. In fact , it would have been a disservice if he wasn't crowned the Undisputed numero uno of Tennis, sooner rather than later.
Despite Nole's heroics, Nadal was favourite to win his 6th french open title, but Tennis commentators and former players didn't disregard the huge challenge posed by the sparkling Serb. The Serb's 41 match winning streak finally came to an end against Tennis's Greatest player, Roger Federer, who defeated him in the semi finals, before going on to lose the final to Nadal for the 4th time in Paris, and 6th in Grand slam finals. By beating Djokovic, Federer delayed the inevitable situation of the Serb being Number one. Nadal still held his position at least for the time being.
The djoker pulled out of Queen's (the warm up tourney for Wimbledon which was won by Andy Murray),but was fit enough for the grass slam at the SW19. He had reached two semi-finals in this tournament already, including the previous year where he inexplicably lost to Thomas Berdych in straight sets. This was a different player now and he was determined to improve on last year's run. He did and even went on to displace Nadal as the champion of Wimbledon and World number one, beating him for the 5th time on the bounce to even their final match-ups 5-5. The Serbian genius was in bullish mood and there was no stopping him. It was official............JULY 4 2011, NOVAK DJOKOVIC WAS RANKED WORLD NUMBER ONE for the first time in his fantastic career. He achieved in two days, all what he has been dreaming of...triumphing at the All England Club and becoming Numero Uno of Tennis.
The Top tier of Tennis didn't feature in the small tournaments leading up to the US OPEN, but came out of their holes when the big one in Montreal went underway. Djokovic continued from where he left off a month ago, winning the tournament after just edging past Mardy Fish in three tight sets. This was his 9th title in 10 tournaments and his 12th consecutive win on the spin. Who can stop him?????????was the question on every one's lips.The other members of Tennis top echelon (nadal, federer, murray) couldn't even make the semis. Next stop was Cincinnati and Nole again, expectedly reached the final only to retire with a shoulder injury, after trailing Murray 4-6, 0-3. This marked the end of his astonishing run post Roland Garros. He has compiled a remarkable 57-2 loss record this season and no one will bet against him lifting his 4th grand slam title and 3rd of 2011 at Flushing Meadows(US OPEN). Nadal will be wary of his friend and rival, considering what has transpired between them this year. Djokovic is the only man on the ATP tour to defeat Nadal in 10 or more matches
Ohireime Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
Born, 22 May 1987, the 24 year is just a week younger than Andy Murray (15 May 1987)......but has won 3 grand slam titles and 9 ATP masters 1000 crowns in addition to a bronze medal at the 08 Olympic games in China, the 09 ATP season ending tour finals tournament (formerly known as the MASTERS CUP),etc.
The humorous sports man who turned pro in 2007, is also the youngest male player to reach the semi finals of all four grand slams.
The chap first caught my attention four years ago in Montreal when he defeated then World no 3, Andy Roddick, no 2 ranked Rafa Nadal, and no 1, Roger Federer in consecutive days to claim the Masters 1000 title in the Canadian town. Although he immediately lost early in the next tournament (Cincinnati) to former World no 1, Carlos Moya, the tennis world had already began to witness the making of a great player.
The djoker went to the US open and true to it, finished runner-up to Roger Federer in three tight sets, while the then world number 2, nadal buckled in the fourth round against country man,david ferrer. The djoker finished the year ranked world number 3 for the first time.
At the 08 Australian Open, Novak djokovic was in inspired form, beating every player that came his way, including the undisputed World number one, Roger Federer in the semi-finals(thus claiming the Swiss' scalp for the first time in grand slam play), thus reaching his second consecutive slam final. He went on to defeat frenchman , Jo-Wilfred Tsonga(who dismissed nadal in straight sets in the semis) in four sets in the title match, to win his maiden grand slam. He also made history, becoming the first Serbain player to win a slam. He started knocking on the door of Nadal's no 2 spot. H e went on to defeat american, mardy fish in the 08 indian wells final, hi second successive final appearance (after losing the 07 final to nadal). He avenged the defeat to Nadal in key Biscayne, sending the Spanish supremo packing in the q/finals(07). In Hamburg, he had the chance to become world number two, if he beat nadal, but he lost to his friend and rival, thus remaining world number 3. He reached his 5th straight grand slma semi finals at Roland Garros, but fell again to eventual champion, Rafa Nadal in straights. He lost before the semi-final for the first time since the 07 french open at the 08 Wimbledon v former world number one, Marat Safin in the early rounds (Safin went on to reach the semis losing to Federer). Novak reached another slam semis at the US Open, losing to Fed-xpress again. Djokovic went on to win the season ending masters tournament , defeating Nik Davydenko in the final. He also made huge strides in 09 and 10 reaching q/finals,semi-finals and finals of major tournaments. He reached his 3rd grand slam final at the '10 US open final, but was unlucky at that time, as he was up against Rafa Nadal, a man on a mission to complete a career grand slam/golden slam.He lost in 4 sets. He again lost to Nadal in the semi-finals of the season ending masters tournament in London. That represented his last loss in a long time. He went on to inspire Serbia to the 2010 Davis cup title and from then on, was UNSTOPPABLE.
2011 began with Djokovic in total dominance. He brushed past all who came his way in the 1st grand slam tournament of the year, including Roger Federer in the semi-finals. He lost only one set en route to his 2nd grand slam triumph, defeating Murray in the final in a straight sets. This was Murray's third straight grand slam final heart break (his 1st 2 was to King Roger). Nole went on defeat Federer again in Dubai in the final in straight sets and took his second title of the year. He was full of confidence going into the first two masters 1000 tournaments of the year and he again swept past everyone who came his way in lightening fashion, including Roger, who he defeated for the 3rd successive time in Indian Wells. In the final, he was up against a man who had a 16-7 match win-loss record against him and had beaten him the all the five finals they had met on the ATP tour. He didn't let that get into his head though, as he edged the great MATADOR in 3 sets,thus winning his 5tth masters 1000 title and preventing Nadal from lifting his 19th masters 1000 title. He was determined to win more and he had that air of invincibility in his play. He wasn't the Novak who would retire at the slightest opportunity anymore, nor was he one who couldn't grind out matches. Many believed it was his gruelling semi-final win v Federer at the 10' US open, that was responsible for this mental supremacy. In his cheerful and ebullient style, he was also extremely dominant even against people who had the edge over him in previous years. After taking out Roger in Miami, he took the number two spot from the Swiss Master. He was not only winning, but also winning convincingly and expertly. He carried his devastating form to Miami where he accounted for the dismissals of Mardy fish, kelvin anderson and co to set up another final v Nadal. He again came out on top in three sets to claim his second straight victory over Nadal and improve to 2-5 in finals and also his 26th consecutive win and 24th of the year. By winning the Aussie Open, Indian wells and Miami tournaments, he emulated the feat achieved by Roger Federer in 2006.
He withdrew from Monte Carlo to the relief of his fellow professionals. A tournament Nadal won for the 7th straight year. He however came back at his home tournament in Belgrade. The end result was a familiar sight as he flashed past Feliciano Lopez in the final to win his 5th straight tournament. Tennis Legends Matt Wilander, Bjorn Borg, and John McEnroe, whose record of 42 straight match wins was under serious threat, praised the 24 year old Tennis champion. He took them in his stride and all that motivated him to achieve even more. He went into the clay masters 1000 swing with a lot of belief and that paid off as he became the first man to defeat Nadal in consecutive clay court finals (Rome and Madrid) and four consecutive finals overall. Nadal was broken and his number one position was under serious threat. It was not long before Nole claimed it as that was his ultimate goal. In fact , it would have been a disservice if he wasn't crowned the Undisputed numero uno of Tennis, sooner rather than later.
Despite Nole's heroics, Nadal was favourite to win his 6th french open title, but Tennis commentators and former players didn't disregard the huge challenge posed by the sparkling Serb. The Serb's 41 match winning streak finally came to an end against Tennis's Greatest player, Roger Federer, who defeated him in the semi finals, before going on to lose the final to Nadal for the 4th time in Paris, and 6th in Grand slam finals. By beating Djokovic, Federer delayed the inevitable situation of the Serb being Number one. Nadal still held his position at least for the time being.
The djoker pulled out of Queen's (the warm up tourney for Wimbledon which was won by Andy Murray),but was fit enough for the grass slam at the SW19. He had reached two semi-finals in this tournament already, including the previous year where he inexplicably lost to Thomas Berdych in straight sets. This was a different player now and he was determined to improve on last year's run. He did and even went on to displace Nadal as the champion of Wimbledon and World number one, beating him for the 5th time on the bounce to even their final match-ups 5-5. The Serbian genius was in bullish mood and there was no stopping him. It was official............JULY 4 2011, NOVAK DJOKOVIC WAS RANKED WORLD NUMBER ONE for the first time in his fantastic career. He achieved in two days, all what he has been dreaming of...triumphing at the All England Club and becoming Numero Uno of Tennis.
The Top tier of Tennis didn't feature in the small tournaments leading up to the US OPEN, but came out of their holes when the big one in Montreal went underway. Djokovic continued from where he left off a month ago, winning the tournament after just edging past Mardy Fish in three tight sets. This was his 9th title in 10 tournaments and his 12th consecutive win on the spin. Who can stop him?????????was the question on every one's lips.The other members of Tennis top echelon (nadal, federer, murray) couldn't even make the semis. Next stop was Cincinnati and Nole again, expectedly reached the final only to retire with a shoulder injury, after trailing Murray 4-6, 0-3. This marked the end of his astonishing run post Roland Garros. He has compiled a remarkable 57-2 loss record this season and no one will bet against him lifting his 4th grand slam title and 3rd of 2011 at Flushing Meadows(US OPEN). Nadal will be wary of his friend and rival, considering what has transpired between them this year. Djokovic is the only man on the ATP tour to defeat Nadal in 10 or more matches
Ohireime Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
Friday, 26 August 2011
THE UEFA SUPER CUP 2011 ........PREVIEW!
The 2011 edition of the super cup pitches Barcelona (UCL winners) against FC Porto (Europa League champions) at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, France. It is the 36th super cup duel in European. football and it promises to be an exciting affair between two teams that believe in entertaining football.
The Portuguese club, Porto lost their manager, Andre Villas Boas, a month ago to Chelsea FC of England. Chairman, Pinto Da Costa immediately handed over managerial duties to AVB's assistant, Vitor Manuel De Oliveira Lopes Pereira--simply known as Vitor Pereira. The 43 year old took over the reigns and has won one trophy already. The Portuguese Super cup. The 10-11 quadruple winners also lost the predatory instincts of Radamel Falcao Garcia, who was sold to Spanish club, Atletico Madrid in a 40 million euro deal. The Columbian attacker scored 72 goals in 87 games in 2 seasons at the club, including a record breaking 17 European goals in their all conquering Europa League campaign last season. He broke the long time record of 15 goals set by Germany Legend and current USMNT (United States men's national team) coach, JURGEN KLINSMANN. He will be sorely missed, but Porto can rely on the likes of Freddy Guarin and the powerful Giovanildo Vieira de Souza (Hulk) to provide the ammunition in his absence.
Vitor Pereira faces a daunting task tonight. He is attempting to beat the best team on earth by a mile and possibly the best team in History. It is true that no team is unbeatable, but the benchmark that the Catalans have set in the past 3 years is just frightening. Pep Guardiola has re-written the record books in his 3 seasons as manager, winning 11 trophies including 2 UCL crowns, 3 consecutive La Liga tourneys, one UEFA super cup, one FIFA world club cup, etc. The blaugrana are fresh from winning the Spanish Super cup just a little more than a week ago against arch-enemies, Real Madrid, and have added Csec Fabregas and flying speedster, Alexis Sanchez to their squad of champions. In Messi, they have the newly crowned UEFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2011, thus making him the 1st winner of the inaugural award. Not only that, the diminutive Argentine is also the reigning FIFA-BALON D'OR winner and on course to retain it for the 3rd consecutive year. He has also scored 13 clasico goals in 15 appearances v REAL MADRID and Barcelona have only lost in 2 of the 124 games in which he has found the net. The Spanish champions also have the two best midfielders in World football, Xavi and Iniesta in their ranks.
Today's game represents the second time in 3 years that Barcelona will appear in a match of this magnitude. In 2009, they needed extra-time to defeat Europa League winners at that time, Shakhtar Donestk. Pedro Rodriguez was on hand to deliver the sucker punch five minutes to the end of the game.
Porto will attempt to be third time lucky this time around after losing back to back Super Cup games in 03-04...... AC MILAN AND VALENCIA respectively.
The Stade Louis II has hosted the Super Cup for many years now and today's affair will be too close to call, despite Barcelona's INVINCIBILITY.
Sit back and enjoy the game.
Ohireime P. Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
The Portuguese club, Porto lost their manager, Andre Villas Boas, a month ago to Chelsea FC of England. Chairman, Pinto Da Costa immediately handed over managerial duties to AVB's assistant, Vitor Manuel De Oliveira Lopes Pereira--simply known as Vitor Pereira. The 43 year old took over the reigns and has won one trophy already. The Portuguese Super cup. The 10-11 quadruple winners also lost the predatory instincts of Radamel Falcao Garcia, who was sold to Spanish club, Atletico Madrid in a 40 million euro deal. The Columbian attacker scored 72 goals in 87 games in 2 seasons at the club, including a record breaking 17 European goals in their all conquering Europa League campaign last season. He broke the long time record of 15 goals set by Germany Legend and current USMNT (United States men's national team) coach, JURGEN KLINSMANN. He will be sorely missed, but Porto can rely on the likes of Freddy Guarin and the powerful Giovanildo Vieira de Souza (Hulk) to provide the ammunition in his absence.
Vitor Pereira faces a daunting task tonight. He is attempting to beat the best team on earth by a mile and possibly the best team in History. It is true that no team is unbeatable, but the benchmark that the Catalans have set in the past 3 years is just frightening. Pep Guardiola has re-written the record books in his 3 seasons as manager, winning 11 trophies including 2 UCL crowns, 3 consecutive La Liga tourneys, one UEFA super cup, one FIFA world club cup, etc. The blaugrana are fresh from winning the Spanish Super cup just a little more than a week ago against arch-enemies, Real Madrid, and have added Csec Fabregas and flying speedster, Alexis Sanchez to their squad of champions. In Messi, they have the newly crowned UEFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2011, thus making him the 1st winner of the inaugural award. Not only that, the diminutive Argentine is also the reigning FIFA-BALON D'OR winner and on course to retain it for the 3rd consecutive year. He has also scored 13 clasico goals in 15 appearances v REAL MADRID and Barcelona have only lost in 2 of the 124 games in which he has found the net. The Spanish champions also have the two best midfielders in World football, Xavi and Iniesta in their ranks.
Today's game represents the second time in 3 years that Barcelona will appear in a match of this magnitude. In 2009, they needed extra-time to defeat Europa League winners at that time, Shakhtar Donestk. Pedro Rodriguez was on hand to deliver the sucker punch five minutes to the end of the game.
Porto will attempt to be third time lucky this time around after losing back to back Super Cup games in 03-04...... AC MILAN AND VALENCIA respectively.
The Stade Louis II has hosted the Super Cup for many years now and today's affair will be too close to call, despite Barcelona's INVINCIBILITY.
Sit back and enjoy the game.
Ohireime P. Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
Monday, 22 August 2011
EPL WEEK 2 ............RECAP (August 20-22 2011)
The furore that surrounded Kun Aguero's amazing half hour debut made the wait for the commencement of the 2nd week of EPL football little bit longer. That and the mere thought of seeing an Aguero -Tevez partnership, how Arsenal would cope without Fabregas, the first Tyne & Wear derby of the season and many other expected outcomes are the very reasons why fans and club supporters all the world couldn't wait for another exciting and mind blowing weekend of premier league football.
The events filled EPL week started with the TYNE & WEAR DERBY.
SUNDERLAND -NEWCASTLE (STADIUM OF LIGHT)
Steve Bruce was full of confidence in the build up to this derby game. He had players at his disposal who could hurt any team in the League. More so, it was a chance to give the home supporters something to cheer after a very crushing defeat at St jamess' Park last season. It was time for reprisal. His opposite number, Alan Pardew was in no mood to entertain anything but a victory against the black cats. He was hell bent on inflicting more harm on Bruce's lads.
There was still no straight replacement for Jose Enrique in the Newcastle back line. The magpies were still in negotiations with Dutch giants PSV, over/for the transfer of Holland international and Gio van Bronckhorst's replacement, Erik Pieters. Ryan Taylor had to continue his duty as the make shift left back. Transfer listed and controversial midfielder, Joey Barton was once again given a starting role. The only change from the match against Arsenal last week, was the inclusion of Gabby Obertan in place of Demba Ba who dropped to the bench.
The home side lined up the same way they did against Liverpool a week ago, despite fears that Gyan picked up an injury in the match. Connor Wickham had to be content with a place on the bench for the second game running.
THe match began in breathtaking pace and Sunderland were the pacesetters, getting into good positions, but no end result. It was Newcastle who got the first big shout of the match.---- a corner was swung in by Yohan Cabaye and Shola Ameobi who has an impressive goal scoring record in derby games, rose highest to meet it.....it then fell to Joey Barton who directed a header towards the far corner of the goal. He was already in celebratory mood, thinking he had put his side ahead, when Swede, Seb Larsson, criminally stuck out a hand to prevent the goal.(a red card offence). 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL AND UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL match(es) referee, Howard Webb, discussed with his assistant on the line and decided it was a corner. Barton was bemused, as well as his teammates and manager, but it brought no result as the game remained scoreless. Stephane Sessegnon was the worst culprit for Sunderland as he missed chances upon chances in the times they were able to break through the Wes Brown marshaled rear guard. Yohan Cabaye also came close for the magpies, but Belgian International, Simon Mignolet, was equal to the effort 13 minutes to half time. Ryan Taylor and Cabaye picked up bookings for Newcastle, while Wes Brown was cautioned for the black cats. The first half ended 0-0.
The second half began with both teams getting at each other, not allowing any of them to build up momentum. Challenges were flying and it was no surprise when Phil Bardsley picked up a booking after a bad challenge. Joey Barton had a shot charged down by Anton Ferdinand and Mignonlet was kept busy by the marauding Gutierrez. The deadlock was finally broken when Ryan Taylor stood over a free kick just after the hour mark. Steve Bruce should have known what was coming after (he managed him at Wigan)..........his worst fears were confirmed when Taylor sent a dipping cross over and above Mignolet . Bruce was livid and the prospect of another derby day disappointment loomed large in his heart. He brought on Teenager, Wickham and Ji Dong Won to try and salvage at least a point. Asamoah Gyan, who was very inactive in the game, had a chance 13 minutes from time, but he blooped his shot. Sunderland continued to find the elusive equalizing goal....but all to no avail, as Newcastle were already home and dry. Philip Bardsley was sent off late on for the black cats to further compound Bruce's misery. Bruce had yet again lost another derby match. The fans were distraught and very sad at the lackluster display of the home team. The only surprise in this match was the fact that Chiek Tiote didn't pick up a booking.
The game ended 1-0 to Newcastle.
WOLVES - FULHAM (MOLINEUX)
The game was dominated by the pre-match apology tendered by Fulham skipper, Danny Murphy, who,lase season, accused McCarthy's wolves of being a dirty team who employed unusual tactics to claim points. Micky grudgingly accepted the apology.
The Wolves manager was very glad at the fine start his wards have had to the 20th premier league season. Despite the fact that it was early days, he still had everything to smile about, because were at an unfamiliar position in the League standings ( no disrespect). Prior to their home match on Saturday vs Fulham, they lied 4th in the League table only behind Man City, Bolton and Man Utd. The Irish man would be expecting another 3 points against tricky customers, Fulham.
The west Londoners were not faring badly too. They drew their first game at home to Aston Villa and have been unbeaten this season after a great start to the Europa League campaign. But the Premier League was a different proposition and Martin Jol was very much aware of that. His previous spell at Spurs was highly successful as he took spurs to consecutive 5th place finishes in the League, on one occasion, they could have been fourth, but for the food poisoning incident that took place during their pivotal match against West Ham at the end of the 05-06 season.
Mick named an unchanged side, sticking with the same one which took three points at Ewood Park in the opening weekend. While Martin Jol had to make changes to the side who trounced Juande Ramoss' Dnpro, recalling John Arne Riise, A.J, Etuhu, and Senderos. Bobby Zamora was not in the mach day squad, so Dempsey and A.J led the attack.
Fulham began the stronger of the two sides..........talented youngster, Pajtim Kasami blasted a shot in the opening seconds of the game which went wide off the mark. wolves began to assert their superiority on proceedings ......Jamie O;hara was dictating things in the middle of the pack with etuhu and captain, Danny Murphy looking astounded There were chances for both teams with etuhu taking advantage of a Richard Steadman error to fire at goal, but the shot was well saved by Hennessey. kevin Doyle had a chance at the other end afterwards, but he blasted i over the bar. He made up for his earlier miss and his p.k miss a week ago as he weaved his way through the Fulham defence and let fly a good shot which went past the Austrian goalkeeper, Schwarzer and into he net to give Wolves a 1-0 lead going into the interval.
At the start of the second half, Jol replaced kasami and etuhu with dembele and sidwell, but that did little to help the cottagers as wolves doubled their lead through the ever impressive, fleet footed winger, Matt Jarvis who has already been called up by Capello before. ... A.J shot in anger, as well as Riise, but it did little to alter the result as wolves came out on top.... 2-0 winners.
ARSENAL -LIVERPOOL (EMIRATES STADIUM)
Arguably the match of the weekend, Liverpool came to a ground they haven't had the happiest of times. They hadn't won at the Emirates since Arsenal switched homes. King Kenny, a premier league winner with B'burn 16 years ago, knew everything about success and was determined to achieve it.........more importantly, as Man Utd had already jumped past them as the most successful English club in terms of domestic titles won.
Arsene Wenger had a lot of things to worry about, asides from the departure of Fabregas and the soon to exit Nasri. Injuries to gibbs, wilshere, rosicky, diaby and suspsensions of song and gervinho, forced the frenchman to name some untried youngsters in his match day squad. talented youngsters like miyaichi and iggy miquel, were given the chance to prove themselves if and when they are called upon.
Both mangers started with familiar line-ups, except for the exclusion of Suarez by Daglish in favour of Dutch workaholic, Dirk Kuyt. He still put Carroll in the firing line. Wenger of course had to make changes as a result of the set backs faced in the last few days before the match. Frimpong came in for song, nasri for roiscky, walcott for gervais, and jenkinson for gibbs , with sagna going to an unfamiliar left back spot. It was also an important day in the life of Robin Van Persie who was playing his first match as Club Captain of Arsenal. The match started with Arsenal having the upper hand in terms of possession and carved out chances. Dutch technician, Van Persie, who saw his record of scoring in 9 consecutive away games, end at Newcastle last week, was in the thick of things as he worried the Liverpool defence. Frimpong showed his inexperience in the early stages, when he unnecessarily squared up to Henderson under the nose of the referee's assistant.
Laurent Koscielny made an already bad situation worse for Wenger as he pulled up just after a quarter of an hour of play with injury to his back.. Miquel had to come in earlier than planned and he put in a wonderful shift alongside Thomas Vermaelen to curtail the threat of the Liverpool attack, The only real meaningful chance was Carroll's bullet header who was smartly saved by Szczesny. Samir Nasri never showed signs of loss of form or anything of the sort despite increasing speculations concerning his future....His mazy, lightning run which tore the Liverpool midfield and defence apart, ended up with him side stepping Daniel Agger and sending a low shot which just evaded Reina's right hand post. The first half ended with both teams still looking for the opener.
The second half started with the visitors slightly gaining the upper hand. Andy Carroll who has been rather anonymous, except for a few glimpses, set up a good chance for full back, martin kelly, whose belter beat szczesny, but hit the outside of the post. Arsenal upped their game, but had to feed on crumbs except on rare occasions where arshavin and RVP had one or two bright moments. ......As if the gunners were not disadvantaged enough, frimpong was sent off for a rash challenge on Lucas in the 70th minute.....Arsenal down to 10 men and Daglish immediately found a hole in the midfield and brought on Raul Meireles. That was surely the game changing moment as seven minutes later, Suarez's foray into the Arsenal defence led to an unfortunate own goal by Aaron Ramsey who did not know anything about the Miquel clearance which hit him and went in past the young pole in the gooners' goal. Wenger could not hide his displeasure and a minutes from the end, the merseysiders put the icing on the cake with a suarez goal which meireles unselfishly laid on a plate 2 - 0 Liverpool. Their first victory on ARSENAL SOIL (HIGHBURY AND EMIRATES) in 11 years.
EVERTON -QPR (GOODISON'S PARK)
It was not happy days for the fans of the blue half of Merseyside. They were not in any way finding it humorous that Bill Kenwright,( CEO of Everton) refused to invest in the squad during the transfer window which still has about 8 days to run. QPR supporters on the other hand, were still celebrating the takeover of the club by Tony Fernandes
This was the toffees first game of the season (the first match at White Hart Lane was postponed) and they intended to kick start it with a win. Talisman, Tim Cahill, although he is getting older, hasn't lost any of his aerial prowess....they also had leighton baines, mikel arteta, phil neville and co, who are basically the core of the team.
Perhaps the major surprise was the inclusion of youngster, Ross Barkley ahead of experienced players like arteta and fellaini. It was a move which was justified by the all action play of the young lad who put in a shift worhty of praise by all who watched the game. QPR made changes to the team which fell badly to Bolton on the first day of the season. Agyemang came in for Bothroyd and there was no place in the squad for DJ Campbell who was apparently injured. Adel Taraabt was as usual, given a free role.
Everton had chances to take the lead but they were wasted, mostly by Australian predator, Tim Cahill and former Leeds player, Jermaine Beckford. On the half hour mark, Tommy Smith scored what will eventually be the winning goal for Neil Warnock's londoners...........even the introduction of Arteta and Marouane Fellaini, made no difference to the scoreline. QPR took their first points of the season and handed the toffees their first home loss in 8 months. 1-0 QPR.
ASTON VILLA-BLACKBURN (VILLA PARK)
Alex McLeish was determined to win the fans over after a rocky relationship during the summer, because of his defection from city rivals, Birmingham. He got the villans off to a satisfactory start.......taking a point in the first game v fulham. The visitors to Villa Park was Blackburn Rovers who had a disappointing start to the season, losing at home to Wolves. The EPL is a 38 game season, so there was a lot of time to get back in the groove. Steve Kean named new signing, David Goodwillle in the starting line-up to pair Jason Roberts. Villa named an unchanged side to the one that shared the spoils v fulham. The attacking trident of heskey, agbonlahor and bent (scorer of 17 premier league goals last season), promised a whole lot this season. the attack had pace, power and precision. It wasn't long before Blackburn bore the brunt as Gabby Agbonlahor turned salgado inside out and sen t a cleverly placed shot into the top left hand side of Robinson's post to give McLeish a dream start. They didn't stop there as Emile Heskey broke his 7 month goal drought with a sweeping shot from the edge of the area to make it 2-0 Villa. First half ended with Villa on top.
At the start of the 2nd half, VIlla made an enforced change.......Mark Albirghton for the injured Agbonlahor. There was a rapid change of events as the blue and whites started to get into the game more and more. Their intense pressure paid off when Junior Hoilett dribbled his way to the left flank and sent a pciture perfect cross for the on rushing Pedersen to head home. B'burn 1-2 Villa.
Blackburn continued to mount on the pressure and it started telling on the Villa players as Luke Young had to be substituted for youngster, Ciaran Clark and some minutes later, Emile Heskey was also hurled off for yet another young lad, Barry Bannan. Villa extended their lead soon after....Darren Bent (you always thought he will join the party) got on to a loose ball and sent a shot past the helpless Robinson to restore Villa's 2 goal advantage. Blackburn tried their utmost best to come back, but Richard Dunne and James Collins were rock solid at the back as well as Stephen Warnock who was forced to play in an unfamiliar right back role when Ciaran clark came on. Final score VILLA 3-1 B'BURN
CHELSEA -WEST BROM (STANFORD BRIDGE)
West Brom were probably unlucky not to come out with at least a point against Manchester United a week prior. The baggies were in inspired mood when they travelled to the Bridge to face AVB's Chelsea. The Portuguese manager made 2 changes to the side which picked up a point at the Britannia. Hilario kept the goal in place of the injured Cech and 08/09 EPL golden boot winner, Nicholas Anelka, took the place of his countryman, Florent Malouda. Hodgson's men remained unchanged from last week....Peter Odemwingie, fresh from signing a new 3 year deal, was on the bench again after recovering from a knee injury
The brom struck early in the first half .......Shane Long making the 'slow to react' Alex and Chelsea pay as he stabbed in past Hilario to give Roy's boys a dream start. Chelsea fans were in disbelief. The blues did their best to get back into the game, but they couldn't fashion out clear opportunities on goal. The baggies should have been 2-0 up, but for the goalscorer, Shane Long who mistimed an easy pass to Tchoyi----------who could have tapped it in to double their lead. West Brom was covering all the spaces and Somen Tchoyi and Chris Brunt were brilliant in the first stanza. Torres should flashes of his old self, but that was all to it....Kalou was all over the place making little or no impact. Boas had seen enough and yanked him off immediately for Malouda...... Chelsea's best chance of getting back on level terms came from leftback, Ashley Cole, who unleashed a canon of a shot which was well dealt with by Ben Foster. The 1st half ended with the blues starring at defeat in AVB's first home game in charge.
The second half was all Chelsea and it was no surprise when they pegged the baggies back 8 minutes into the second half.... the Brom defence couldn't clear their lines properly and like every hungry poacher, Anelka pounced on the loose ball and took a hopeful shot which was deflected in, leaving Ben Foster on his backside. 1-1..
Ivanovic came on for Alex, who was largely at fault for the Brom goal. The baggies had good chances to restore their lead, but took none of them. Chelsea then took the lead and deservedly so. Jose Bosingwa rolled back the years(not that he is old).......skillfully got in between morrison and shorey and sent a lovely low cross into the box...it was met by Malouda who sent an unstoppable shot into the net to give Chelsea the advantage and effectively seal the win. The veteran Hodgson responded by taking off Tchoyi for Odemwingie and dorrans for Mulumbu. Odemwingie had a volley saved by Hilario late on and there was an altercation between terry and peter odemwingie...ashley cole also tried to ruffle the Nigerian striker who netted an impressive 15 league goals last season. The match ended 2-1 in favour of Chelsea.
BOLTON----MANCHESTER CITY (REEBOK STADIUM)
The early pacesetters met at the Reebok. Manchester City had Carlitos Tevez on the bench after a summer dominated by news of his imminent departure. Roberto Mancini made two changes to the side which thumped Swansea six days earlier. Milner coming in for the injured De Jong and Adam Johnson making way for Aguero. Bolton started with the same team that destroyed QPR at Loftus Road, using the width of Petrov and Eagles as a ploy.
City dominating the early exchanges. Aguero inexpicably missed from 5 yards and he kept on missing chance after chance, including a free header. It didn't take long though for City to break the deadlock. Mercurial playmaker, David Silva was on hand to benefit from a goalkeeping error from Jaaskelainen,.....his shot just got away from the fin's hands and into the net to hand city a priceless 1 goal lead. Bolton rarely win games they fall behind in and this was looking like one of the many they have lost, when Gareth Barry doubled the lead with a fine rising shot from just outside the area to double the citizens' lead.
Just as we were about writing the trotters off, they came up with a goal of sublime quality.....petrov got the ball on the left wing and sent in a cross which was well connected by Ivan Klasnic who sent a ferocious low volley into the man city net. Hart was floored. The 1st half ended in City's favour 2-1
The second half began with City continuing from where they left of and scored almost immediately through Edin Dzeko who notched up his 3rd goal in as many games to restore city's 2 goal advantage.........minutes later, kevin davies won a free kick which was sent in by eagles and met by Davies , whose unstoppable looping header went into the city net...2-3 bolton. Want away hero, tevez cam eon for his fellow argentine, adam johnson came on for edin dzeko....el apache (tevez) was very lively running helter skelter and making a nuisance of himself as usual in the danger zone...darren pratley and mark davies came on to add creativity to the trotters play, but all proved abortive as man city ran away with the 3 points to go top of the premier league... City won 3-2
SWANSEA-NORWICH (LIBERTY STADIUM)
Roberto Martinez took his boys to his old stumping ground, the Liberty stadium......home of the swans (Swansea). Swansea's best player thus far has been new goaltender, Michel Vorm, who despite conceding 4 goals, was still very fantastic in the match against city.
Brendan Rodgers dropped Tate surprisingly...Martinez's decision to leave Rodallega on the bench in favour of Di Santo was even more amazing. It was an interesting game , but bereft of clear cut chances. Michel Vorm saved a 73rd minute Ben Watson penalty to keep a clean sheet and prevent yet another defeat for the swans, Jordi Gomez, McCarthy and Alcaraz picked up bookings for the latics and the Paraguayan picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Stam after the hour mark. The match ended 0-0.
NORWICH - STOKE (CARROW ROAD)
Fresh from picking up a precious away win at Switzerland in the Europa League a few days earlier, The otters were high on confidence going into the match. Paul Lambert's Norwich had no fear whatsoever for their more accomplished rivals (recent history). In all honesty, Tony Pulis has really done a wonderful job with Stoke.---- F.A CUP finalists last year, after giving Bolton a football lesson in the s/finals(5-0), they have also maintained their premier league status and have racked up wins in Europe to the incredulity of football analysts and cynics alike.
This was the canaries first home match of the season and they were up for it from the very beginning as the likes of Graham Holt and Elliott Bennett were piling a lot of pressure on Woodgate and co in the stoke defence, It paid off 8 minutes to the end of the first half when Ritchie de Laet scored against his former club to give the canaries a 1-0 going into the break.
After the break, Stoke played extremely well and deserved their chance to equalize in the 63rd minute. Walters was brought down inside the area by Leon Barnett and was immediately sent off. Walters dusted himself up to take the penalty, but Ruddy guessed right to preserve his team's slender lead. Norwich was seconds away from victory, when Kenwyne Jones rose highest to meet a Glenn Whelan hopeful ball into the box,....his header was way beyond the reach of the canaries keeper who was superb in the match. 1-1 it ended.
MANCHESTER UNITED - SPURS (OLD TRAFFORD)
Harry Redknapp was busy answering reporters about the current state of affairs concerning Modric....the man who never shies away from public glare was categorical and affirmative that Modric will not leave the club. He also added that the Croatian has a minor injury which he would have been able to play through, but because he wasn't in the right frame of mind, he couldn't feature against the Champions of England and UEFA Champions League Finalists, Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson made changes to his back line...Ferdinand and Vidic were unavailable through injury, so jones and evans stood in for them......evra came back to push fabio out of the starting 11. the front six remained unchanged with fergie sticking to the majority of the side that started against West Brom.
Redknapp picked a good team with 21 year old, Jake Livermore starting in midfield alongside Niko Kranjcar. harry had a lot of players on the injury list----pienaar, crouch, gallas, king, and co..half-fit huddlestone was on the bench.
United dominated the match from start to finish with Ashley young impressing once again. Phil Jones reminded me of Paul McGrath with his dignified display...Smalling was lustrous at right back. Spurs were restricted to half chances...bale, defoe lennon and VDV will not want to remember this match because they performed below expectation.assou-ekotto was solid at the back, alongside dawson and kaboul..the first half was not as comfortable as it seemed for the red army as they were restricted to half chances. the best chance of the half fell to ashley young who could not connect well with a rooney lovely weighted cross. his header went narrowly wide. the first half ended 0-0
None of the managers made changes to their respective teams. Mnachester United stepped up the gear in their attempt o score the opening goal and they were asking a lot of questions of the Spurs defence. The eye catching football of Man Utd finally paid off just after the hour mark...........smalling and cleverley combined brilliantly, with the latter sending an inch perfect cross into the area and welbeck caught it with a fine header which left 40 year old brad friedel (who was appearing in his 275th consecutive PL game) motionless.
The red devils-made up largely of youngsters were in no mood of settling for a 1 goal win. Anderson and Cleverley dominated the midfield in its entirety. Rooney was everywhere,.......playing some breathtaking passes and cutting open tott'ham's defence gradually. It paid off in the 76th minute when a Rooney started attack was finished up by Anderson who benefited from a brilliant back heeled pass from Welbeck to make it 2-0 MUFC and essentially game over. DE GEA was solid throughout.......when called upon, he was always up to the task. Defoe was a shadow of his old self , but still had an effort that came off the bar after a cross into the box was taken out of De Gea's hand by Pav.
There was still time for both teams to make substitutions....Spurs brought on Huddlestone and Umited responded by bringing on Giggs for his record breaking appearance for one club in the top flight (614),going one ahead of Spurs' Steve Perryman who was on 613....PARK AND CHICHARITO also came on, with young, welbeck and cleverley going off to a standing ovation by the spectators. giggs came on for his 21st season in the top flight and 20th in the EPL. The evergreen midfielder still had the legs to assist a Wayne Rooney goal three minutes from the end after he (rooney) has missed a sitter from 3 yards via a nani perfect cross. It was a sublime performance, although Fergie will want a better one come Sunday.
Final score 3-0 Man United.
Ohireime Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
The events filled EPL week started with the TYNE & WEAR DERBY.
SUNDERLAND -NEWCASTLE (STADIUM OF LIGHT)
Steve Bruce was full of confidence in the build up to this derby game. He had players at his disposal who could hurt any team in the League. More so, it was a chance to give the home supporters something to cheer after a very crushing defeat at St jamess' Park last season. It was time for reprisal. His opposite number, Alan Pardew was in no mood to entertain anything but a victory against the black cats. He was hell bent on inflicting more harm on Bruce's lads.
There was still no straight replacement for Jose Enrique in the Newcastle back line. The magpies were still in negotiations with Dutch giants PSV, over/for the transfer of Holland international and Gio van Bronckhorst's replacement, Erik Pieters. Ryan Taylor had to continue his duty as the make shift left back. Transfer listed and controversial midfielder, Joey Barton was once again given a starting role. The only change from the match against Arsenal last week, was the inclusion of Gabby Obertan in place of Demba Ba who dropped to the bench.
The home side lined up the same way they did against Liverpool a week ago, despite fears that Gyan picked up an injury in the match. Connor Wickham had to be content with a place on the bench for the second game running.
THe match began in breathtaking pace and Sunderland were the pacesetters, getting into good positions, but no end result. It was Newcastle who got the first big shout of the match.---- a corner was swung in by Yohan Cabaye and Shola Ameobi who has an impressive goal scoring record in derby games, rose highest to meet it.....it then fell to Joey Barton who directed a header towards the far corner of the goal. He was already in celebratory mood, thinking he had put his side ahead, when Swede, Seb Larsson, criminally stuck out a hand to prevent the goal.(a red card offence). 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL AND UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL match(es) referee, Howard Webb, discussed with his assistant on the line and decided it was a corner. Barton was bemused, as well as his teammates and manager, but it brought no result as the game remained scoreless. Stephane Sessegnon was the worst culprit for Sunderland as he missed chances upon chances in the times they were able to break through the Wes Brown marshaled rear guard. Yohan Cabaye also came close for the magpies, but Belgian International, Simon Mignolet, was equal to the effort 13 minutes to half time. Ryan Taylor and Cabaye picked up bookings for Newcastle, while Wes Brown was cautioned for the black cats. The first half ended 0-0.
The second half began with both teams getting at each other, not allowing any of them to build up momentum. Challenges were flying and it was no surprise when Phil Bardsley picked up a booking after a bad challenge. Joey Barton had a shot charged down by Anton Ferdinand and Mignonlet was kept busy by the marauding Gutierrez. The deadlock was finally broken when Ryan Taylor stood over a free kick just after the hour mark. Steve Bruce should have known what was coming after (he managed him at Wigan)..........his worst fears were confirmed when Taylor sent a dipping cross over and above Mignolet . Bruce was livid and the prospect of another derby day disappointment loomed large in his heart. He brought on Teenager, Wickham and Ji Dong Won to try and salvage at least a point. Asamoah Gyan, who was very inactive in the game, had a chance 13 minutes from time, but he blooped his shot. Sunderland continued to find the elusive equalizing goal....but all to no avail, as Newcastle were already home and dry. Philip Bardsley was sent off late on for the black cats to further compound Bruce's misery. Bruce had yet again lost another derby match. The fans were distraught and very sad at the lackluster display of the home team. The only surprise in this match was the fact that Chiek Tiote didn't pick up a booking.
The game ended 1-0 to Newcastle.
WOLVES - FULHAM (MOLINEUX)
The game was dominated by the pre-match apology tendered by Fulham skipper, Danny Murphy, who,lase season, accused McCarthy's wolves of being a dirty team who employed unusual tactics to claim points. Micky grudgingly accepted the apology.
The Wolves manager was very glad at the fine start his wards have had to the 20th premier league season. Despite the fact that it was early days, he still had everything to smile about, because were at an unfamiliar position in the League standings ( no disrespect). Prior to their home match on Saturday vs Fulham, they lied 4th in the League table only behind Man City, Bolton and Man Utd. The Irish man would be expecting another 3 points against tricky customers, Fulham.
The west Londoners were not faring badly too. They drew their first game at home to Aston Villa and have been unbeaten this season after a great start to the Europa League campaign. But the Premier League was a different proposition and Martin Jol was very much aware of that. His previous spell at Spurs was highly successful as he took spurs to consecutive 5th place finishes in the League, on one occasion, they could have been fourth, but for the food poisoning incident that took place during their pivotal match against West Ham at the end of the 05-06 season.
Mick named an unchanged side, sticking with the same one which took three points at Ewood Park in the opening weekend. While Martin Jol had to make changes to the side who trounced Juande Ramoss' Dnpro, recalling John Arne Riise, A.J, Etuhu, and Senderos. Bobby Zamora was not in the mach day squad, so Dempsey and A.J led the attack.
Fulham began the stronger of the two sides..........talented youngster, Pajtim Kasami blasted a shot in the opening seconds of the game which went wide off the mark. wolves began to assert their superiority on proceedings ......Jamie O;hara was dictating things in the middle of the pack with etuhu and captain, Danny Murphy looking astounded There were chances for both teams with etuhu taking advantage of a Richard Steadman error to fire at goal, but the shot was well saved by Hennessey. kevin Doyle had a chance at the other end afterwards, but he blasted i over the bar. He made up for his earlier miss and his p.k miss a week ago as he weaved his way through the Fulham defence and let fly a good shot which went past the Austrian goalkeeper, Schwarzer and into he net to give Wolves a 1-0 lead going into the interval.
At the start of the second half, Jol replaced kasami and etuhu with dembele and sidwell, but that did little to help the cottagers as wolves doubled their lead through the ever impressive, fleet footed winger, Matt Jarvis who has already been called up by Capello before. ... A.J shot in anger, as well as Riise, but it did little to alter the result as wolves came out on top.... 2-0 winners.
ARSENAL -LIVERPOOL (EMIRATES STADIUM)
Arguably the match of the weekend, Liverpool came to a ground they haven't had the happiest of times. They hadn't won at the Emirates since Arsenal switched homes. King Kenny, a premier league winner with B'burn 16 years ago, knew everything about success and was determined to achieve it.........more importantly, as Man Utd had already jumped past them as the most successful English club in terms of domestic titles won.
Arsene Wenger had a lot of things to worry about, asides from the departure of Fabregas and the soon to exit Nasri. Injuries to gibbs, wilshere, rosicky, diaby and suspsensions of song and gervinho, forced the frenchman to name some untried youngsters in his match day squad. talented youngsters like miyaichi and iggy miquel, were given the chance to prove themselves if and when they are called upon.
Both mangers started with familiar line-ups, except for the exclusion of Suarez by Daglish in favour of Dutch workaholic, Dirk Kuyt. He still put Carroll in the firing line. Wenger of course had to make changes as a result of the set backs faced in the last few days before the match. Frimpong came in for song, nasri for roiscky, walcott for gervais, and jenkinson for gibbs , with sagna going to an unfamiliar left back spot. It was also an important day in the life of Robin Van Persie who was playing his first match as Club Captain of Arsenal. The match started with Arsenal having the upper hand in terms of possession and carved out chances. Dutch technician, Van Persie, who saw his record of scoring in 9 consecutive away games, end at Newcastle last week, was in the thick of things as he worried the Liverpool defence. Frimpong showed his inexperience in the early stages, when he unnecessarily squared up to Henderson under the nose of the referee's assistant.
Laurent Koscielny made an already bad situation worse for Wenger as he pulled up just after a quarter of an hour of play with injury to his back.. Miquel had to come in earlier than planned and he put in a wonderful shift alongside Thomas Vermaelen to curtail the threat of the Liverpool attack, The only real meaningful chance was Carroll's bullet header who was smartly saved by Szczesny. Samir Nasri never showed signs of loss of form or anything of the sort despite increasing speculations concerning his future....His mazy, lightning run which tore the Liverpool midfield and defence apart, ended up with him side stepping Daniel Agger and sending a low shot which just evaded Reina's right hand post. The first half ended with both teams still looking for the opener.
The second half started with the visitors slightly gaining the upper hand. Andy Carroll who has been rather anonymous, except for a few glimpses, set up a good chance for full back, martin kelly, whose belter beat szczesny, but hit the outside of the post. Arsenal upped their game, but had to feed on crumbs except on rare occasions where arshavin and RVP had one or two bright moments. ......As if the gunners were not disadvantaged enough, frimpong was sent off for a rash challenge on Lucas in the 70th minute.....Arsenal down to 10 men and Daglish immediately found a hole in the midfield and brought on Raul Meireles. That was surely the game changing moment as seven minutes later, Suarez's foray into the Arsenal defence led to an unfortunate own goal by Aaron Ramsey who did not know anything about the Miquel clearance which hit him and went in past the young pole in the gooners' goal. Wenger could not hide his displeasure and a minutes from the end, the merseysiders put the icing on the cake with a suarez goal which meireles unselfishly laid on a plate 2 - 0 Liverpool. Their first victory on ARSENAL SOIL (HIGHBURY AND EMIRATES) in 11 years.
EVERTON -QPR (GOODISON'S PARK)
It was not happy days for the fans of the blue half of Merseyside. They were not in any way finding it humorous that Bill Kenwright,( CEO of Everton) refused to invest in the squad during the transfer window which still has about 8 days to run. QPR supporters on the other hand, were still celebrating the takeover of the club by Tony Fernandes
This was the toffees first game of the season (the first match at White Hart Lane was postponed) and they intended to kick start it with a win. Talisman, Tim Cahill, although he is getting older, hasn't lost any of his aerial prowess....they also had leighton baines, mikel arteta, phil neville and co, who are basically the core of the team.
Perhaps the major surprise was the inclusion of youngster, Ross Barkley ahead of experienced players like arteta and fellaini. It was a move which was justified by the all action play of the young lad who put in a shift worhty of praise by all who watched the game. QPR made changes to the team which fell badly to Bolton on the first day of the season. Agyemang came in for Bothroyd and there was no place in the squad for DJ Campbell who was apparently injured. Adel Taraabt was as usual, given a free role.
Everton had chances to take the lead but they were wasted, mostly by Australian predator, Tim Cahill and former Leeds player, Jermaine Beckford. On the half hour mark, Tommy Smith scored what will eventually be the winning goal for Neil Warnock's londoners...........even the introduction of Arteta and Marouane Fellaini, made no difference to the scoreline. QPR took their first points of the season and handed the toffees their first home loss in 8 months. 1-0 QPR.
ASTON VILLA-BLACKBURN (VILLA PARK)
Alex McLeish was determined to win the fans over after a rocky relationship during the summer, because of his defection from city rivals, Birmingham. He got the villans off to a satisfactory start.......taking a point in the first game v fulham. The visitors to Villa Park was Blackburn Rovers who had a disappointing start to the season, losing at home to Wolves. The EPL is a 38 game season, so there was a lot of time to get back in the groove. Steve Kean named new signing, David Goodwillle in the starting line-up to pair Jason Roberts. Villa named an unchanged side to the one that shared the spoils v fulham. The attacking trident of heskey, agbonlahor and bent (scorer of 17 premier league goals last season), promised a whole lot this season. the attack had pace, power and precision. It wasn't long before Blackburn bore the brunt as Gabby Agbonlahor turned salgado inside out and sen t a cleverly placed shot into the top left hand side of Robinson's post to give McLeish a dream start. They didn't stop there as Emile Heskey broke his 7 month goal drought with a sweeping shot from the edge of the area to make it 2-0 Villa. First half ended with Villa on top.
At the start of the 2nd half, VIlla made an enforced change.......Mark Albirghton for the injured Agbonlahor. There was a rapid change of events as the blue and whites started to get into the game more and more. Their intense pressure paid off when Junior Hoilett dribbled his way to the left flank and sent a pciture perfect cross for the on rushing Pedersen to head home. B'burn 1-2 Villa.
Blackburn continued to mount on the pressure and it started telling on the Villa players as Luke Young had to be substituted for youngster, Ciaran Clark and some minutes later, Emile Heskey was also hurled off for yet another young lad, Barry Bannan. Villa extended their lead soon after....Darren Bent (you always thought he will join the party) got on to a loose ball and sent a shot past the helpless Robinson to restore Villa's 2 goal advantage. Blackburn tried their utmost best to come back, but Richard Dunne and James Collins were rock solid at the back as well as Stephen Warnock who was forced to play in an unfamiliar right back role when Ciaran clark came on. Final score VILLA 3-1 B'BURN
CHELSEA -WEST BROM (STANFORD BRIDGE)
West Brom were probably unlucky not to come out with at least a point against Manchester United a week prior. The baggies were in inspired mood when they travelled to the Bridge to face AVB's Chelsea. The Portuguese manager made 2 changes to the side which picked up a point at the Britannia. Hilario kept the goal in place of the injured Cech and 08/09 EPL golden boot winner, Nicholas Anelka, took the place of his countryman, Florent Malouda. Hodgson's men remained unchanged from last week....Peter Odemwingie, fresh from signing a new 3 year deal, was on the bench again after recovering from a knee injury
The brom struck early in the first half .......Shane Long making the 'slow to react' Alex and Chelsea pay as he stabbed in past Hilario to give Roy's boys a dream start. Chelsea fans were in disbelief. The blues did their best to get back into the game, but they couldn't fashion out clear opportunities on goal. The baggies should have been 2-0 up, but for the goalscorer, Shane Long who mistimed an easy pass to Tchoyi----------who could have tapped it in to double their lead. West Brom was covering all the spaces and Somen Tchoyi and Chris Brunt were brilliant in the first stanza. Torres should flashes of his old self, but that was all to it....Kalou was all over the place making little or no impact. Boas had seen enough and yanked him off immediately for Malouda...... Chelsea's best chance of getting back on level terms came from leftback, Ashley Cole, who unleashed a canon of a shot which was well dealt with by Ben Foster. The 1st half ended with the blues starring at defeat in AVB's first home game in charge.
The second half was all Chelsea and it was no surprise when they pegged the baggies back 8 minutes into the second half.... the Brom defence couldn't clear their lines properly and like every hungry poacher, Anelka pounced on the loose ball and took a hopeful shot which was deflected in, leaving Ben Foster on his backside. 1-1..
Ivanovic came on for Alex, who was largely at fault for the Brom goal. The baggies had good chances to restore their lead, but took none of them. Chelsea then took the lead and deservedly so. Jose Bosingwa rolled back the years(not that he is old).......skillfully got in between morrison and shorey and sent a lovely low cross into the box...it was met by Malouda who sent an unstoppable shot into the net to give Chelsea the advantage and effectively seal the win. The veteran Hodgson responded by taking off Tchoyi for Odemwingie and dorrans for Mulumbu. Odemwingie had a volley saved by Hilario late on and there was an altercation between terry and peter odemwingie...ashley cole also tried to ruffle the Nigerian striker who netted an impressive 15 league goals last season. The match ended 2-1 in favour of Chelsea.
BOLTON----MANCHESTER CITY (REEBOK STADIUM)
The early pacesetters met at the Reebok. Manchester City had Carlitos Tevez on the bench after a summer dominated by news of his imminent departure. Roberto Mancini made two changes to the side which thumped Swansea six days earlier. Milner coming in for the injured De Jong and Adam Johnson making way for Aguero. Bolton started with the same team that destroyed QPR at Loftus Road, using the width of Petrov and Eagles as a ploy.
City dominating the early exchanges. Aguero inexpicably missed from 5 yards and he kept on missing chance after chance, including a free header. It didn't take long though for City to break the deadlock. Mercurial playmaker, David Silva was on hand to benefit from a goalkeeping error from Jaaskelainen,.....his shot just got away from the fin's hands and into the net to hand city a priceless 1 goal lead. Bolton rarely win games they fall behind in and this was looking like one of the many they have lost, when Gareth Barry doubled the lead with a fine rising shot from just outside the area to double the citizens' lead.
Just as we were about writing the trotters off, they came up with a goal of sublime quality.....petrov got the ball on the left wing and sent in a cross which was well connected by Ivan Klasnic who sent a ferocious low volley into the man city net. Hart was floored. The 1st half ended in City's favour 2-1
The second half began with City continuing from where they left of and scored almost immediately through Edin Dzeko who notched up his 3rd goal in as many games to restore city's 2 goal advantage.........minutes later, kevin davies won a free kick which was sent in by eagles and met by Davies , whose unstoppable looping header went into the city net...2-3 bolton. Want away hero, tevez cam eon for his fellow argentine, adam johnson came on for edin dzeko....el apache (tevez) was very lively running helter skelter and making a nuisance of himself as usual in the danger zone...darren pratley and mark davies came on to add creativity to the trotters play, but all proved abortive as man city ran away with the 3 points to go top of the premier league... City won 3-2
SWANSEA-NORWICH (LIBERTY STADIUM)
Roberto Martinez took his boys to his old stumping ground, the Liberty stadium......home of the swans (Swansea). Swansea's best player thus far has been new goaltender, Michel Vorm, who despite conceding 4 goals, was still very fantastic in the match against city.
Brendan Rodgers dropped Tate surprisingly...Martinez's decision to leave Rodallega on the bench in favour of Di Santo was even more amazing. It was an interesting game , but bereft of clear cut chances. Michel Vorm saved a 73rd minute Ben Watson penalty to keep a clean sheet and prevent yet another defeat for the swans, Jordi Gomez, McCarthy and Alcaraz picked up bookings for the latics and the Paraguayan picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Stam after the hour mark. The match ended 0-0.
NORWICH - STOKE (CARROW ROAD)
Fresh from picking up a precious away win at Switzerland in the Europa League a few days earlier, The otters were high on confidence going into the match. Paul Lambert's Norwich had no fear whatsoever for their more accomplished rivals (recent history). In all honesty, Tony Pulis has really done a wonderful job with Stoke.---- F.A CUP finalists last year, after giving Bolton a football lesson in the s/finals(5-0), they have also maintained their premier league status and have racked up wins in Europe to the incredulity of football analysts and cynics alike.
This was the canaries first home match of the season and they were up for it from the very beginning as the likes of Graham Holt and Elliott Bennett were piling a lot of pressure on Woodgate and co in the stoke defence, It paid off 8 minutes to the end of the first half when Ritchie de Laet scored against his former club to give the canaries a 1-0 going into the break.
After the break, Stoke played extremely well and deserved their chance to equalize in the 63rd minute. Walters was brought down inside the area by Leon Barnett and was immediately sent off. Walters dusted himself up to take the penalty, but Ruddy guessed right to preserve his team's slender lead. Norwich was seconds away from victory, when Kenwyne Jones rose highest to meet a Glenn Whelan hopeful ball into the box,....his header was way beyond the reach of the canaries keeper who was superb in the match. 1-1 it ended.
MANCHESTER UNITED - SPURS (OLD TRAFFORD)
Harry Redknapp was busy answering reporters about the current state of affairs concerning Modric....the man who never shies away from public glare was categorical and affirmative that Modric will not leave the club. He also added that the Croatian has a minor injury which he would have been able to play through, but because he wasn't in the right frame of mind, he couldn't feature against the Champions of England and UEFA Champions League Finalists, Manchester United.
Sir Alex Ferguson made changes to his back line...Ferdinand and Vidic were unavailable through injury, so jones and evans stood in for them......evra came back to push fabio out of the starting 11. the front six remained unchanged with fergie sticking to the majority of the side that started against West Brom.
Redknapp picked a good team with 21 year old, Jake Livermore starting in midfield alongside Niko Kranjcar. harry had a lot of players on the injury list----pienaar, crouch, gallas, king, and co..half-fit huddlestone was on the bench.
United dominated the match from start to finish with Ashley young impressing once again. Phil Jones reminded me of Paul McGrath with his dignified display...Smalling was lustrous at right back. Spurs were restricted to half chances...bale, defoe lennon and VDV will not want to remember this match because they performed below expectation.assou-ekotto was solid at the back, alongside dawson and kaboul..the first half was not as comfortable as it seemed for the red army as they were restricted to half chances. the best chance of the half fell to ashley young who could not connect well with a rooney lovely weighted cross. his header went narrowly wide. the first half ended 0-0
None of the managers made changes to their respective teams. Mnachester United stepped up the gear in their attempt o score the opening goal and they were asking a lot of questions of the Spurs defence. The eye catching football of Man Utd finally paid off just after the hour mark...........smalling and cleverley combined brilliantly, with the latter sending an inch perfect cross into the area and welbeck caught it with a fine header which left 40 year old brad friedel (who was appearing in his 275th consecutive PL game) motionless.
The red devils-made up largely of youngsters were in no mood of settling for a 1 goal win. Anderson and Cleverley dominated the midfield in its entirety. Rooney was everywhere,.......playing some breathtaking passes and cutting open tott'ham's defence gradually. It paid off in the 76th minute when a Rooney started attack was finished up by Anderson who benefited from a brilliant back heeled pass from Welbeck to make it 2-0 MUFC and essentially game over. DE GEA was solid throughout.......when called upon, he was always up to the task. Defoe was a shadow of his old self , but still had an effort that came off the bar after a cross into the box was taken out of De Gea's hand by Pav.
There was still time for both teams to make substitutions....Spurs brought on Huddlestone and Umited responded by bringing on Giggs for his record breaking appearance for one club in the top flight (614),going one ahead of Spurs' Steve Perryman who was on 613....PARK AND CHICHARITO also came on, with young, welbeck and cleverley going off to a standing ovation by the spectators. giggs came on for his 21st season in the top flight and 20th in the EPL. The evergreen midfielder still had the legs to assist a Wayne Rooney goal three minutes from the end after he (rooney) has missed a sitter from 3 yards via a nani perfect cross. It was a sublime performance, although Fergie will want a better one come Sunday.
Final score 3-0 Man United.
Ohireime Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
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