Premier League Round-Up Sat 30-08-08
This week of premiership matches saw a first win for Portsmouth & Wigan with Arsenal being back to themselves after there loss last week thus ending Newcastle’s unbeaten record. Middlesborugh & west Ham had good wins also & Bolton & West Brom battled out a entertaining draw.
Arsenal came back with a bang this weekend with a fantastic 3-0 over Newcastle. Robin Van Persie was in fine form & showed what he could do. The first of his two goals came from the penalty spot after a unfortunate Charles N’Zogia handled inside the box . His second was a typical Arsenal flowing move which ended with Van Persie putting in to the net. The second half was much the same as the first half as Arsenal dominated & looked like a team who could challenge all the way this season & when Denilson struck a third in the 60th minute it was all over for Newcastle.
Portsmouth got there season on track with there first win of the season with a 3-0 win over a poor Everton side who looked very light in midfield & need more players. Jermain Defoe got there first goal after 12 minutes as he collected a Peter Crouch flick on from a long throw held of the defender Lescott done a turn & fired it into the net past Howard. Everton did have a couple of chances but David James was in fine form making one brilliant save from Arteta. But just before the break Portsmouth got there second Defoe layed the football of to Glen Johnson who showed a cool head & slotted it past Howard. Everton had a chance to get back into the game at the start of the second half when they were awarded a penalty but Yakubu saw it fantastically saved by James. But it was all over in the 69th minute when Defoe chip Howard & it hit the underside of the bar & in even though Crouch headed in the rebound it looked to have crossed the line from Defoe.
Hull’s unbeaten record went when they were shown what life was like in the premiership when they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Wigan. It only took Wigan 5 minutes to get on the score sheet when Kevin Kilbane’s corner was sliced into his own net by Sam Ricketts another 8 minutes later & they were two down as a counter attacking move saw it finished by Antonio Valencia. With no more scoring in the first half the second had even more. Wigan’s new signing Zaki added a third on 63 minutes hammering home a shot from the edge of the area then moments later Emile Heskey added a fourth & his 100 career goal as he sized onto a Wayne Brown mistake & slotting home. Zaki added the fifth wait a tremendous shot that smacked of the crossbar & into the net.
West Ham had a good day at the office giving Paul Ince his first defeat as a premiership manager & easing the pressure on Alan Crubishley by winning 4-1. West Ham were one up after only 12 minutes when Callum Davenport headed home from a corner, 8 minutes later it was two nil & Christopher Samba put the football into his own net after trying to clear a Dean Ashton shot. Back came Blackburn with a Jason Roberts goal which he scored very coolly past Robert Green but he got the best of it when he then made a superb save from Jason Robert’s penalty at the start of the second half. Blackburn pushed for the equlizer but couldn’t find a way through & it was up to sub Craig Bellamy to ease West Ham’s nerves with a third goal for them in the 90th minute. Carlton Cole then added a fourth right at the end of injury time to give the score a more convincing look.
Middlesbrough got back winning again with a 2-1 victory over 10 men Stoke. Stoke were holding there own quite well untill the 36th mnute when the ref had no choice but to send off Arndy Faye after his two footed kirate like challange on Mohamed Shawky. Stoke still trying to sort themselves out let Middlesbrough take advantage & just 60 seconds later scored from it, they got a free kick which Afonso Alves curled into the net all from 25 yards.They could have gone further ahead in the second half when Alves was fouled in the penalty box by Seyi Olofinjana. Up stepped Steward Downing but his penalty was awful & he hit the crossbar & out. Stoke rallied & equalized in the 71st minute when Justin Hoyte scored an own goal after being under pressure from Dave Kitson but Middlesbrough got the win when Didier Digard shot somehow fell into the path of Tuncay Sanli & he made no mistake & stabbed the ball into the net..
Bolton & West Brom fought out a entertaining draw after both being put out in the Carling cup in midweek 0-0. The closest any team got in the first half was a James Morrioson 20 yard effort which Jussi Jaaskelainen made a camera shot save. They came closest in the second half also when Do-Heon saw his shot cannon off the crossbar but Bolton thought they had gone ahead near the end but Kevin Davis goal was ruled off side & when you saw the tv reply the assistant ref was correct. Kevin Davis then had anouther goal ruled off side at the death which was also a correct decision.This leave only West Brom & Tottenham the only teams not to win so far something Tottenham could put right on Sunday against Chelsea.
Carling Cup Round-Up Wednesday Rd2
It was a good night for the Premier League clubs involved in the Carling Cup. West Ham, Fulham, Blackburn and Sunderland all went through to the Third round. There were no real shocks the like of last night’s games.
West Ham beat Macclesfield 4-1, eventually after extra time. Macclesfield scored from a 5thminute corner through Gareth Evans. This led to multiple boos from the Upton Park faithful as the Hammers struggle to get back into the game. West Ham did manage to equalise through 15 minutes from time through Lee Bowyer to the relief of the Hammers fans. Izak Reid was sent off for a professional foul on Kyle Reid. West Ham made the break through 10 minutes into extra time through Carlton Cole to make it 2-1. Zovan Hines making his debut then made it 3-1. Kyle Reid then made it 4-1 to make the score rather flattering.
Nottingham Forest and Sunderland played out an exciting game at the City Ground. Sunderland eventually came out on top 2-1, after extra time. Robert Earnshaw gave Forest the lead with a deflected free-kick. Sunderland left it late to equalise, they struck in the 86st minute. The goal came from an unlikely source, defender Phil Bardsley on hand to finish from close range. David Healy proved his finishing skills by scoring the winner in the first half of extra time.
Blackburn came from a goal behind to see off Grimsby 4-1. Tom Newey opened the scoring for Grimsby with a wonderful curling free kick. Carlos Villaneuva was the star of the show as the Chilean put in a majestic performance on his debut. The Chilean equalised for Blackburn from 30 yards. He then set up Matt Derbyshire for the Rovers second goal to make it 2-1. Blackburn made it 3-1 before half time through Australian Brett Emerton. Matt Derbyshire then added his second in the second half to give Blackburn a 4-1 win.
Fulham were strong in the first half of their game against Leicester and took the lead through a deflected Zoltan Gera strike to make it 1-0. The second half was a different story though, as Paul Dickov scored an equaliser to make it 1-1 in the first minute of the second half for the Foxes. Leicester then took a surprise 2-1 lead through midfield youngster Andy King. Jimmy Bullard saved Fulham’s blushes seven minutes from time to level it at 2-2. Danny Murphy then struck a winner a minute from time with a long range effort to give Fulham a 3-2 win.
Elsewhere Sheffield United beat Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield. Michael Flynn gave the harriers the lead but two late goals from first Darius Henderson in the 82 minute to make it 1-1 and then took a 2-1 lead through Kyle Naught a minute later.
Carling Cup Round-Up Tuesday Rd 2
The Carling cup kick off its second round with some of the premiership teams involved other who play in Europe are excluded until the third round. It produced 2 shocks with Bolton being humbled by Northampton & Hartlepool beating premiership newcomers West Brom. Hull lost to a good Swansea side & Middlesbrough & Wigan Cruised through.
Northampton with the shock of the night beating Bolton 2-1 at the Reebok. In form striker Akinfenwa grabbed a penalty & a header. Keven Nolan got a goal back with 8 minutes left but Northampton held on.
West Brom were beaten 3-1 in extra time by Hartlepool at Victoria ground. Joel Porter got the goal for Hartlepool to get them on there way but Robert Koren equalized for West Brom to sent it into extra time. But it was Hartlepool’s substitutes that got the winning goals from David Foley & Ritchie Baker.
Hull were the next premiership side to fall going down 2-1 to Swansea. Hull went into the lead with a Dean Windass strike but Swansea equalized through Gorka Pintados goal so extra time was needed. But it took a Penalty from Jordi Gomez in the 105th minute to win the game.
Newcastle got through by the skin of there teeth in extra time to beat Coventry. It didn’t start well for Coventry as the captain Scott Dann put through his own net & then James Milliner put them 2-0 up. But a fantastic strike by Clinton Morrison got them back into the game they then sent the game into extra time when Dann redeemed himself by putting in a powerful header to bring the scores level. But it took Michael Owen to come off the bench in extra time to score to put Newcastle through.
Middlesbrough were too good for Yeovil as they were thrashed 5-1. Goals from Mido new boy Didier Digard & Jeremie Aliadiere had them 3 up in the break. Yeovil did get one back through a Gavin Tomlin But Marvin Emnes & Adam Johnson completed the scoring.
Stoke had a very hard game but got through it against Cheltenham 3-2. It was in the second half all the goals were scored Glenn Whelan got the ball rolling with a fantastic free kick & then Richard Cresswell put Stoke in a good position. But Cheltenham got one back through Ashley Vincent but it was Jon Parkin got Stokes 3rd in the 78th minute Alex Russell did get another goal back but it was all too late.
Rotherham & wolves played out a 0-0 in full time & the same score after extra time but Rotherham held there nerve & made it through to the next round beating Wolves on penalties.
Wigan Thrashed Notts County 4-0 to progress. Henri Camara on his first start grabbed a couple of goals to try & impress Steve Bruce with Amr Zaki & Tomasz Cywka adding the others.
Leeds also thrashed Crystal Palace at Elland Road 4-0. They were cruseing past a poor palace team with goals by Jonathan Douglas, Jason Beckford, Luciano Becchio & Enoch Showunmi.
Ipswich secured a 2-1 win against Colchester at Portman Road. Pablo Counago got the goals going in the 28th minute followed by Kevin Lisbie in the 58th. Steven Gillespie got the consolation for Colchester.
Reading heaped more trouble on Luton by thumping them 5-1. Reading haven’t really played very well this season but goals from Noel Hunt, Stephen Hunt,Alex Pearce,Jerm Kavacan & James Henry saw Reading through & hopefully kick start there season.
QPR went through to the next round with a easy 4-0 win over Carlisle at Loftus Road. It was a hat trick from Emmanuel Ledasma in the 56,63,& 85 minute that done the damage after Damion Stewart opened the scoreing to give Carlisle a hard night.
Crewe had a good night beating championship side Bristol City 2-1 at Gresty Road. Crewe made a good stat when Anthony Elding got a good goal in the first half & when Bryon Moore got the second in the 79th minute things were looking good but when Brian Wilson scored for Bristol City 3 minutes later it was a nervy time but Crewe held on to get the win.
Burnley were way to strong for Oldham who had started the season very well. Martin Paterson was the difference between the 2 teams as his brace settled the game 3-0.
Southampton progressed through to the next round by beating championship leaders Birmingham. Goals from Lee Holmes & Adam Lallana sent them through.
Preston were the first team to suffer defeat to Derby this season. They had gone 35 odd matches without a win until Paul Green effort 5 minutes before the break sealed the game & the win for Derby 1-0..
Cardiff went through to the next round by beating the M.K Dons 2-1 at Ninian Park. Goals from Ross McCormack & Peter Whittingham sent Cardiff on there way But a header from Sean O’Hanlon with 15 minutes left but they hung on to win.
Watford needed extra time to beat a stubborn Darlington side. John O’Toole popped up to score the winner in extra time to send Watford through after a entertaining 90 minutes of football.
Portsmouth 0 Manchester United 1
Manchester United won there first game of the season against a Portsmouth side where they don’t really have much success. But they total looked in control & Portsmouth look to have work to do if they want to finish like they did last year.
This was the live Monday night game & it could have started with a bang as with only 15 seconds on the clock when Diop shot from 25 yards & it wasn’t that far away. They could have had a penalty after 13 minutes when the ball seem to strike Vidic on the hand but the ref waved that away. Diop then got booked 5 minutes later for bringing down Tevez but the resulting free kick brought a save out of James from Paul Scholes. Portsmouth then had 3 great chances Crouch was stopped from taking a shot by Evra then Defoe made space for himself but shot wide then Kaboul had a free header from a Diarra corner but could only head wide. Then Man United struck Evra went down the left put in a great low cross & there was Darren Fletcher to get the last touch to guide it past James & into the net while Sylvain Distin was trying to clear the football. Portsmouth tried to get back into it but Defoe could only hook the ball wide from a Campbell knock down from a corner. Rooney nearly had a wonder goal just before half time when he sold a dummy to Kaboul but could only shoot straight at James.
The second half started with Portsmouth feeling hard done by but couldn’t break the defence of Man United so after 55 minutes they made a sub bringing on Jerome Thomas for Armand Traore. He could have made his mark within 10 minutes when he sent in a stinging shot but Van Der Sar punched away. Tevez & Rooney almost got Man United’s second goal when some good inter play found man of the match Anderson but he failed to force the football into the net. Crouch then had a chance when he out-jumped Brown but Van Der Sar comfortably held his near post header. For the rest of the match Man United held Portsmouth to just long range shots as they couldn’t break down there defence & held on for victory & there first 3 points of the season..
Argentina Claim Olympic Title Yet Again
Argentina has retained the title of Olympic champions courtesy of a 1-0 win over Nigeria. The Argentines won the title in Beijing after claiming the same title four years ago in Sydney. The winning goal came from Benfica’s highly rated midfielder Angel Di Maria in the 58th minute. The star of the contest was undoubtedly Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. He tormented the Nigerian defence and it was Messi who set up Di Maria to score the winner.
The Nigerians were actually the better side in the first half with forward Peter Omedwingie having a few chances to put them in the lead. The best effort however came from the scorer Di Maria at the end of the half as Nigeria goalkeeper Ambruse Vanzekin pushed his low effort wide of the goal. At the start of the second half Lionel Messi saw a curled shot parried well by Vanzekin.
There was nothing that the Nigeria goalkeeper could do about Argentina’s winner though. Messi produced a perfect pass and Di Maria held his nerve to run in on goal and chip the ball past the helpless Nigeria keeper. Nigeria brought on Everton forward Victor Anichebe and he went close to equalising denied only by a combination of keeper and defender. Anichebe went close for a second time later on, again only being denied by Argentine keeper Sergio Romero. All Nigeria’s efforts were in vain though, as Argentina held on to their 1-0 lead to retain their title as Olympic champions.
-
Sponsors
