City continue their 5 point gap with their 1-1 draw with Liverpool yesterday afternoon. Goals from Vincent Kompany and a Joleon Lescott own-goal show their condolences to Gary Speed who passed away that morning. Craig Bellamy, a great friend of Speed did not feature as he was too emotional. Right at the end, Carroll came off the bench and he was likely to score, but Joe Hart had other things on his mind. Carroll's header was flying into the top corner and Hart tipped it away with his fingers. A great finish to a game
Hours after they had discovered their national manager had died, Swansea had to continue their match with Aston Villa at Liberty Stadium, Swansea. After a 1 minute silence, Shay Given went back to his goal in tears. This picture will go one forever. Given then made a terrific save right at the end to show his condolences to Gary Speed.
Yesterday morning the world did not just lose a great footballer, we lost a great man. Known for his playing career with Leeds, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Wales, he scored 110 goals in all of his career. He left his playing career to join Sheffield United as manager, but only lasted a few games. He then joined his national team Wales as manager. Speed made a big difference to Wales FIFA Rankings. He came into the job when they were ranked 117!!!!!!!! But at the moment they are ranked 50! Gary Speed was a great player and manager. The world of football will never forget him.
Two goals from Vermaelen at each end saw Arsenal escape from a devastating defeat. Fulham took the lead thanks to a Thomas Vermaelen own-goal. But in the 81st minute Thomas Vermaelen ran up the field during a Gunners attack and smashed a header past Mark Schwarzer to score his 10th goal in Arsenal colours.
An another ''Baby Kanu'' day inspired Spurs as Adebayor scored twice to beat The Baggies 3-1 at The Hawthorns. West Brom took the lead after 10 minutes when Mulumbu headed in a lovely West Brom attack. Before the second half Spurs were given a penalty. Adebayor missed, but scored the rebound. In the second half a great long-ranged effort from Jermain Defoe flew into the bottom left-hand corner! In the 90+3 minute Adebayor wrapped up his second with a neat finish. Spurs go 3rd!
Newcastle showed bravery at Old Trafford when they fought for a 1-1 draw with The Red Devils! Big chances for Wayne Rooney and Demba Ba in the first half made everyone knew that this would be some exciting match. Javier Hernandez opened the scoring 4 minutes into the second half. But 15 minutes later Demba Ba scored from the penalty spot followed by a Rio Ferdinand tackle that was clean!
Chelsea went back to winning ways when they beat Wolves at Stamford Bridge. First half goals from ''The Captain'' John Terry, Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata was enough to settle the match. Young Irishman Anthony Forde came on in the second half. Mick McCarthy believes he will be a future star.
Arsenal was the first English side to qualify with a game to spare last night with their 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund. Two goals in the second half from Robin Van Persie assured qualification for The Gunners!!!! A late consolation goal from Kagawa didn't trouble Arsenal.
Manchester City's qualification hopes of their first year in the Champions League is hanging by a thread when they lost 2-1 to Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo. Goals from star man Edinson Cavani won the match for Azzuri.
The Red Devils qualification hangs in the balance after their 2-2 draw with Benfica at Old Trafford. Phil Jones got his first goal for United, except it was an own-goal. It wasn't soon after Man Utd equalized with a Dimitar Berbatov header. In the 59th minute Darren Fletcher, the Scot, put The Devils 2-1 up. But 80 seconds later Aimar scored for Encarnados.
Liverpool have now beaten Chelsea twice at Stamford Bridge in a year. Chelsea have also lost 2 consecutive home matches. Liverpool opened the scoring with Maxi Rodriguez in the 34th minute. Sturridge then scored in the second half after coming on as a substitute. But in the 87th minute, former Chelsea man Glen Johnson scored after a terrific piece of skill. What a win for The Reds!
Both unbeaten sides met at the Ethihad Stadium in Manchester for a great game. It was 1st against 3rd! Man City went into the half time lead winning by 2-0 with goals from Balotelli and Micah Richards. Goals from Aguero and a late consolation goal for Newcastle from Gosling ensure Man City stay 5 points clear from their RED HOT RIVALS MANCHESTER UNITED!!!!
West Brom came back to winning ways when new signing Shane Long scored a late header to give The Baggies 3 points to savoir. West Brom opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Jerome Thomas skipped around the keeper and side-footed it into the open net. Bolton equalized from the penalty spot with the scorer Thomas conceding the penalty!!! Klasnic scored calmly. What a win for Roy Hodgson and his men Highlights: http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/west-brom-v-bolton-highlights
Arsenal climbed above Liverpool when they came from behind to beat Norwich at Carrow Road. A stupid mistake by Arsenal's new signing Per Mertesacker gifted Steve Morrison to give The Canaries a 1-0 lead. Although 5 minutes later ''STAR MAN'' Robin Van Persie equalized with an easy tap-in. Van The Man then got his second with a delightful chip that looped over John Ruddy.
Ireland have qualified for the Euros for the first time in 24 years!!!! A 1-1 draw with Estonia was enough with a 5-1 aggregate score!! Stephen Ward scored his 2nd goal for Ireland in the first half, followed by a howler from Shay Given when he was denied to keep Vassilijev's shot out. What a night it was for the Irish. COME ON IRELAND!!!!!!!!!
Ireland have a really good chance of qualifying for Euro 2012 in Poland & Ukraine after their 4-0 win in the A. Le Coq Arena. A Keith Andrew's header in the first gave them a 1-0 lead. Jonathan Walter then scored a header in the 67th minute followed by a Robbie Keane hat-trick. Keano then got his second goal of the match with his calm penalty. Ireland have a big lead to protect in Dublin on Tuesday night.
Manchester City extended their 5-point lead at the top of the table with their win over QPR. Goals from Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Yaya Touré settled it for The Citizens. Bothroyd's goal http://www.soccerclips.net/videos/qpr-1-0-man-city-bothroyd
The Red Devils celebrated when their manager Sir Alex Ferguson was named after Old Trafford's biggest stand. They also won 1-0 over Sunderland with former Man Utd defender Wes Brown scoring an own-goal! It was a great day for all The Red Devil fans.
Arsenal closed the gap on Liverpool with 3-0 win over West Brom at the Emirates Stadium. Robin Van Persie scored his 10th goal of the season with an easy tap-in. Later in the first half The Verminator scored his 9th goal in Arsenal colours. Then the goal of the match came in the second half when Mikel Arteta scored his second goal for Arsenal after some superb passing from The Gunners. LIVERPOOL WILL HAVE TO WATCH OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey guys I am going to start a new segment where I pick the game of the day before the start of the weekend's Premier League games and I will play that match on Fifa 11 (UPDATED) for predicting the score.
Viktoria Plzen had a tough encounter with ''The Mighty'' Barcelona at Synot Tip Arena. ''The magical'' Lionel Messi started the game with 199 goals for Barcelona. But he got his 200th in the 24th minute with his penalty and he then got his second just before half-time. In the 72nd minute star-signing Cesc Fabregas headed in off of Cuenca's cross. Messi then got his hat-trick just before the final whistle.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated a century of goals in a Real Madrid shirt at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon last night. The match started with a great chance for Benzema, but Lloris made a great save. The breakthrough came in the 24th minute for Real with a superb Ronaldo free-kick. Lloris made some outstanding saves throughout the half. But Real were given a penalty and Ronaldo got his 100th goal with a calm finish down the middle of the goal.
Arsenal were denied qualifying into the knockout stage with two game left with a 0-0 draw with Marseille. The biggest suprise of the night was when Premier League top-scorer Robin Van Persie was left on the bench with Korean star Chu You Park starting on his European debut. Shots from Gervinho and Walcott tested Mandanda and a Van Persie chip in the second half also.
Chelsea were denied qualification with 2 games to spare with 1-1 draw with Genk. The first half was filled with drama at the Cristal Arena in Belgium. Ramires opened the scoring and defender David Luiz missed a glorious opportunity to go 2-0 up with a spot-kick. Chelsea paid the price in the end when Jelle Vossen equalized with more bad defending from The Blues. Chelsea will be kicking themselves for not qualifying early in the group stage.
