Premier League Round-Up Sun 14-09-08
Everton came away with all 3 points after some controversial decisions from the ref & some good play by both teams to make a very entertaining game..
Everton fielded two of there new signings in Fellaini & Castillo against a tall Stoke side who had started well with there new life in the premier league. The first half was a slow & not to interesting affair with not many shots on goal or on target & only Stoke with there long throws into the penalty area where any threat. It took until the 41st minute when the game came to life Yakubu showed some great footwork in the box & placed his shot beyond Thomas Sorensen.
The second half was completely different & in the 51st minute Everton doubled there lead after Anichebe lost his marker Olofinjana to get a back header off Arteta’s free kick & into the corner of the goal to leave Sorensen stranded. Stoke got back into the game with one of the long throws as the Eveton defence didn’t cope with it to well & Olofinjana make up for his mistake & hammered it into the goal past a despairing Howard. Fuller then had a euqailsing goal disallowed for a foul on Yobo but moments later they did draw level. It was from another long throw in then Howard didn’t deal with & Jagielka in trying to clear it could only head it into his own net.
Everton then should have had a penalty in the 73rd minute when Leon Cort handled in the penalty box the ref then pointed to the spot but he decided to consult his linesman then changed his mind & gave a free kick outside the box. You could see Cort was well inside the penalty box & no-one could understood why it was only a free kick. David Moyes was arguing the fact with the fourth official who in turn told the ref who then sent him to the stands which was totally wrong. But it didn’t matter as from a corner Arteta sent over a great cross & there was Cahill to meet it with his head & score from a powerful header & give Everton all 3 points…
Premier League Round-Up Sat 13-09-08
There were big wins this week for Liverpool who break there hoodoo, Arsenal who thrashed Blackburn, Fulham edge Bolton, Newcastle’s season just gets worse with a home loss to new boys Hull,Portsmouth leave it late to beat Middlesbrough, West Brom come behind to beat West Ham, Wigan & Sunderland fought out a hard draw & Chelsea win the big money game against Man City..
Man city started new signing Robinho against Chelsea & he made his mark after just 13 minutes after firing a free kick past the helpless Cech. But it didn’t last long as Chelsea hit back on 16 minutes with a neat finish from Carvalho. It stayed that way until the second half when Frank lampard ended a great flowing move to score to put Chelsea ahead . They went further ahead after 69 minutes when Anelka scored after a clever pass from Joe Cole but the game was marred near the end of the game when John Terry was shown the straight red card for brining down Jo but it was harsh to say the least but Chelsea held on to win 3-1.
What is going on a Newcastle? if it couldn’t get any worse it did when they were beaten at home 2-1 by newly promoted Hull. Marlon King opened the scoring when he just about got the ball past Shay Given from the penalty spot as it was given for Nicky Butt Bringing down Peter Halmosi. King scored his second after the break as he got clear from a Newcastle corner found some space rounded the last defender & scoring past Given. Newcastle was given some hope when new signing Xisco scored from a rebound after a shot hit the post but it got worse again as Guthrie was shown a straight red for hacking down Fagan..
Liverpool Finlay end there Man Utd Jinx by scoring a late winner to win 2-1. It was Man United who started the better when Anderson’s pass found new boy Barbatov & he showed some skill & vision when he cut thew ball back to Tevez who fired it passed Reina to give them the lead. But they then lost the plot as Van Der Sar was Flapping at a Xabi Alonso deflected shot & he ended pushing the football onto Wes Brown who couldn’t do nothing about it & into the net for a own goal. Anouther costly mistake cost them the game as Vidic & Giggs dwelled on the ball & Kuyt kicked the ball back into the danger area & there was Ryan Babel to fire the winning goal. Vidic was later send off in the last few seconds for his second yellow card.
Arsenal looked like they could be champions again with this thrashing of Blackburn 4-0. Theo Wallcott looks like the player he should be with a fine run & pass which saw Van Persie finish with the goal. Adebayor then got on the score sheet with a excellent close range header from a Denilson cross to the far post. He got his second later in the second half when he scored from the penalty spot after Stephen Warnock was adjudged to have brought down Eboue. He then went on to seal his hat trick when he was played in by Aaron Ramsey to score just before the end of the match.
West Ham’s new manager Zola was watching them get defeated 3-2 by West Brom. It only took 2 minutes for West Brom to get on the score sheet when James Morrison headed in a cross from Borja Valero. But back came West Ham Mark Noble scored first when he scored from a rebound after Scott Carson had made the save. Lucas Neill then put them in front when he capitalised on poor defending to score. But It didn’t take long for West Brom to get back into it when the equalized from a Roman Bednar penalty. West Brom got there first win & all three points when Chris Brunt collected a pass from Paul Robinson & sent his shot across Robert Green & into the net.
Fulham continued a good run when they defeated Bolton 2-1. Zoltan Gera gave them the lead when his shot from the edge of the area when in with Jussi Jaaskelainen unsighted. Just before the break they went further ahead when Zamora showed some good skill turned away from two defenders & curled a low shot into the bottom corner. Bolton got back into the game near the end with some route one football as Kevin Davies headed Jaaskelainen long free kick.
Wigan managed to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland. It was an own goal that gave Sunderland the lead when a cross was meat by Titus Bramble & he managed to head beyond his own keeper Chris Kirkland. But with 12 minutes left Amr Zaki took advantage of some hesitant defending & fire home to equalise. The only other thing that happened was Lee Catermole was sent off for his sceond bookable after a clumsy tackle on Teemu Tainio.
Portsmouth came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1. Mido had put middlesbrough in front with a excellent goal but Jermain Defoe made up for any disappointment he had from his England chance with two goals.His first was was from a collected pass from Peter Crouch & he fired home his second was from a Terrible back pass from Stewart Downing which he latched on to & smashed a volley past the Middlesbrough keeper Ross Turnbull…
Spanish La Liga Round One
Sunday 30th August
The first two games of round one of La Liga saw Espanyol beat Real Valladolid 1-0 and Valencia beating Real Mallorca 3-0. Luis Garcia scored Espanyols winner against Valladolid in the 49th minute. This was the first goal of the La Liga Season. David villa gave Valencia the lead after 35 minutes. That lead was doubled by Juan Mata just three minutes later. Vicente completed the scoring in the 82nd minute for Valencia.
Sunday 31st August
The two favourites for the La Liga title both suffered defeats in the first round of games in La Liga. Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat away from home to Deportivo. Barcelona were beaten 1-0 at league newcomers Numancia. This season was meant to be the rejuvenation of a Barcelona team who looked very stale last season. In their first game of the season they looked just like the team that appeared under the leadership of Frank Rijkaard. Barca were beaten by a 13th minute Mario goal. They had no answer to the newly promoted team.
Real Madrid were also poor away in Coruna. The home team took the lead on the 27th minute through Miguel Mista. Real equalised just after the break on the 47th minute through Dutchman Ruud Van Nistelrooy and must of thought that they could go on to win the game. Albert Lopo scored the winner just five minutes after Real’s equaliser.
Second place team last season Villarreal fared only slightly better with a 1-1 draw against Osasuna. Villarreal took the lead through Marcos Senna nine minutes into the second half. Iranian Javad Nekounam levelled the scores through a free-kick on the 68th minute. Hugh Leal was sent off after conceding the free kick that resulted in the goal. Osasuna then had Bejunartea Miguel Flano sent off in the 78th minute.
Atletico Madrid managed a big 4-0 victory over Malaga. Two Diego Forlan goals, a Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero goal and the scoring was completed by former Liverpool player Florent Sinama-Pongolle. Sevilla could only manage a 1-1 draw with Racing Santander. Luis Fabiano opened the scoring for Sevilla in the 71st minute. Only for Juan Juanjo to come off the bench to grab an equaliser 5 minutes later. Almeria beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 with Hernan Pellerano (7), Alvaro Negrado (33) and Juan Manuel Ortiz (50) scoring the goals for the away side. Ion Velez scored a consolation goal in the 56th minute for Bilbao.
Recreativo Huelva beat Real Betis 1-0 in Andalucia. Perez Adrian Colunga scored the only goal of the game in the 36st minute. Getafe won 2-1 against Sporting Gijon thanks to a winner just four minutes from time. Getafe took the lead in the 14th minute through Juan Albin. Gimenez Diego Castro scored an equaliser in the 35th minute for Gijon. Javier Casquero scored the winner four minutes from time.
Italian Serie A First Round
Saturday 30th August 2008
The Italian Serie A season kicked off with disappointment for champions Inter Milan after they drew with Sampdoria 1-1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring for the Nerazzurri in the 30th minute set up by new signing Mancini. Samp managed an equaliser on the 68thminute through Gennaro Delvecchio from close-range.
Elsewhere Udinese beat Palermo 3-1. Antonio Di Natale started the scoring in the 9th minute and he secured his brace before the break. A Mark Bresciano goal looked to have put Palermo back into the game. That hope was short-lived though as Swiss international Gokhan Inler headed a third for Udinese as they wrapped up the points.
On the second day of First round matches in Serie A we saw a Bologna shock 2-1 Ac Milan at the San Siro. The former European champions were shocked by an 18th minute Marco Di Vaio goal to give Bologna an early lead. AC hit back through midfielder Massimo Ambrosini in the 41st minute. Francesco Valiani scored the winner in the 79th minute. Milan do not seem to have improved from last season’s poor form.
New Boys Chievo also won as they beat Reggina 2-1. Reggina opened the scoring in the 72nd minute through a Bernardo Corradi penalty. Michele Marcolin then equalised with Chievos on spot-kick just four minutes after Corradis goal. Vincenzo Italiano clinched victory for Chievo in the 88th minute.
Lazio saw off Cagliari 4-1 in an impressive display. Joaquin Larrivey gave Cagliari a 33rd minute lead. In the 60th minute Diego Lopez conceded a penalty and saw red for Cagliari. Mauro Zarate converted from the spot for the equaliser. Pasquale Foggia then gave Lazio the lead in the 65th minute. Zarate then added a third for Lazio in the 72nd minute. Goran Pandev then rounded it off with a fourth goal six minutes from the end.
Roma could only manage a 1-1 draw with Napoli at the Stadio Olimpico. Roma took the lead on the 29th minute through Italian international Alberto Aquilani. Things got worse for the team from Naples in the 54th minute when Fabiano Santacroce was given his marching orders. Just a minute after losing Santacroce Napoli equalised through Marek Hamsik.
Juventus and Fiorentina drew 1-1. Juve took the lead on the 38th minute through Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved. That goal seemed to be enough for victory, especially as the Viola had Felipe Melo sent off in the 83rd minute. Alberto Gilardino ensured Fiorentina would share the spoils with a last minute equaliser.
Catania beat Genoa 1-0 courtesy of a Giuseppe Mascara strike in the 60th minute. Atalanta beat Siena 1-0 Simone Padoin’s 15th minute header was the only goal of the game. It got worse for Siena as Massimo Maccarone was sent off. Elsewhere Torino trounced Lecce 3-0 thanks to goals from Alessandro Rosina in the 29th minute, Paolo Zanetti in the 33rd minute and Rolando Bianchi’s 73rd minute strike finished the scoring.
Premier League Round-Up Sun 31-08-08
Three more games today as the first live game saw Tottenham come back to earn a draw with Chelsea. Man City with new signing Shawn Wright Phillips beat a Sunderland side that with all there signings look like struggling again. Also Liverpool who don’t really look that good so far this season getting a draw against big spending Aston Villa.
Chelsea’s 100% record went when they could only draw with Tottenham 1-1 in the first London derby. Chelsea dominated the first half with some good play & movement Lampard had the first chance when he chipped goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes it looked like going in but the big goalkeeper managed to get back & finger tip it over the bar. Anelka also had a good chance but wasted it but after 27 minuted they took the lead a Deco corner came in & missed everyone but it hit Belletti & went into the bottom corner. Tottenham got back into the game on the stroke of half time when a lucky bonce of the football off Lampard put Bent free & he finished coolly past Peter Cech. The second half was about both teams keeping each other apart & neither really tested each others keeper’s but even with the frantic finish the game ended a draw…
Man City look like a team on the up with everything happening & with new boy Shaun Wright-Phillips coming back & scoring didn’t give Sunderland much of a chance as they went down 3-0. The game started with the ref being more busy then the players with him booking players left right & centre & hardly any goal scoring chances. But just before the break Man City took a chance to go into the lead Stephen Ireland was there to meet a Michael Johnson Cut back to guide it past Craig Gordon. The second half wasn’t much better as even more tackles went in with the Sunderland players looking frustrated. But they were even more mad when good work by new striker Jo found Shaun wright-Phillips unmarked at the far post & he tapped in to mark his return with a goal. He was at it again 9 minutes later when he ran onto a clearence from Michael Ball & hit the ball on the bounce & fired it past Gordon into the net leaving Sunderland in the bottom 3 & fans wondering were they will be this season..
Liverpool lost there 100% record for the start of the season when they could only have a bore draw against Aston Villa 0-0. Liverpool had to start the game with out there captain Steven Gerrard also had to suffer another injury when Torres looked to do his hand string during the first half. Liverpool could have gone top of the premiership but it was Aston Villa who had the best chance of the first half but John Carew could only send his shot straight at Jose Reina after Ashley Young set him up. The two teams did step it up in the second half but but creating chances wasn’t on any one’s agenda as both keepers didn’t really have much to do. But with 20 minutes left Robbie Keane could have scored his first goal as he found himself through on goal but he completely made a mess of things & wasted the chance. The game after that died out as a draw..
-
Sponsors
