With all the players having played again for their clubs, it's time for us to look at our "Team of the Week" for week 2. Week two was, like the opening week, a surprising week in some ways but some performances really stood out:
Goalkeeper-Ali Al Habsi (Wigan)
The Omani Goalkeeper often seems to be one of the most of the most over-looked players in the Premier League but he was certainly responsible for Wigan taking home 3 points last weekend. The excellent stopper made a number of notable saves including an excellent one early on to deny Adam Lallana from breaking the deadlock. Fantastic performance.
Defence-Rafael (Manchester United)
The Manchester United wing back has often been criticised for his defensive skill though showed excellent ability both at the back and attacking as United defeated Fulham. Not only did Rafael show great attacking promise bagging a goal but he was also a key part of United's defense.
Defence-Gary Cahill (Chelsea)
Chelsea's centre defense may have revolved around John Terry for years but it now seems like Gary Cahill is becoming the new rock at the back for the Blues. Cahill was solid at the back helping Chelsea to completely neutralise Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse and really proved just why Chelsea opened the cheque book to sign him.
Defence-Glen Johnson (Liverpool)
I'll admit I'm not a big Glen Johnson fan, especially at national level but his performance against Manchester City showed just how good Johnson on his day can be. He neutralised many of the Manchester City threats and linked up amazingly well with Raheem Sterling (see below) as Liverpool showed a huge improvement on their opening day fixture.
Defence-Angel Rangel (Swansea)
Swansea appear to be the surprise team of Premier League so far. Having already scored 8 goals it'd be easy to forget how good they've been at the back but they're yet to concede a goal thanks to the likes of Rangel who helped put the Swans up against West Ham at the weekend.
Midfielder-Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The young Belgian already looks like the signing of the summer and the Chelsea new boy was again one of the keys to Chelsea's continued success. Not only did he create numerous opportunities against Newcastle (including Fernando Torres' goal) but he also opened his own account for Chelsea thanks to a penalty. Expect there to be much, much more to com from Hazard.
Midfielder-Marouane Fellaini (Everton)
Everton have gotten off to an excellent start to the season and much of that has been down to the continued threat of the Midfielder pairing of Steven Pienaar and Marouane Fellaini. Whilst Pienaar ran much of the game it was the worry about Fellaini that helped give the South African so much time and space to work his magic.
Midfielder-Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United)
Attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa not only opened his Premier League account but again pulled the strings for Manchester United. Many had claimed that Kagawa was only at United to sell shirts, but it's quickly become apparent that he's there to score and create chances which he did excellently here.
Midfielder-Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
Wow. It was hard to describe the performance of Liverpool's youngster any other way than "wow" or "amazing". The youngster had a game to remember against Manchester City and really looked sensational down the wing pushing the Blues back. Whilst he had a man of the match performance I wouldn't rush him as he could end up taking a knock, but using him sparingly will bring Liverpool a lot of success.
Attack-Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Well it suddenly appears that the sleeping giant has awoken. After receiving an unfortunate yellow card against Newcastle we suddenly saw the Torres of old as the Spaniard ripped the defenders to pieces before scoring a wonderful goal after linking with Eden Hazard. Torres looks to finally be enjoying his football once again and looks like a real threat once more. The Premier League has been warned.
Attack-Nikica Jelavic (Everton)
Everton's team really did look exceptional (not only with Pienaar and Fellaini in the middle but also Leighton Baines and Phil Neville at the back) and up front Nikica Jelavic once again proved that he's deadly on the ball. It was Jelavic's goal before half time against Aston Villa that secured the 3 points but his attacking run in the second half had the Villa defense on edge and saw Ciaran Clarke getting sent off, further secure Everton's place. near the top of the League table.
Manager of the Week-Brendon RodgersWhat a difference a week makes in the world of professional football. A week ago Liverpool were humiliated by a rampant West Brom side and yet this past weekend Liverpool were hugely unfortunate not to have taken 3 points against Manchester City, in fact barring a stupid mistake by Martin Skrtel Liverpool should have taken all 3 points. Rodger's men looked a completely different team, their passing was generally excellent and the work rate they showed was fantastic.
Showing posts with label Fernando Torres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fernando Torres. Show all posts
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Chelsea v Newcastle
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
In the late kick off of the day Chelsea tried to reclaim their position at the top of the Premier League table and win a 3rd Premier League match inside a week. To do that however they'd have to defeat a Newcastle side that had beaten them in the same fixture last season.
The match started slowly with very little to talk about in the first 15 minutes or so as both teams battled it out in the middle of the park and limited each other to decent shooting opportunities. In fact many of the early shots from both teams blazed over the bar as neither team could fathom a decent half between them.
The came alive around the midway point of the first half with Newcastle launching an attack that earned them a corner, the first corner of the match. The corner it's self did little for Newcastle and Chelsea broke quickly before Fernando Torres was brought down in the penalty area by Vernun Anita. It was to be Chelsea's 3rd penalty in as many games, though with normal penalty taker Frank Lampard being rested the duty fell to Eden Hazard who calmly slotted in the spot kick and scored his first goal for Chelsea.
The opening goal saw the game open up slightly and gave the likes of Hazard and Torres more time on the ball. After being booked in the 39th minute for a dive Torres appeared to get angry and played like a man possessed. The Spaniard gave the Newcastle defenders a real headache before scoring a beautifully crafted goal as Hazard linked with him just before half time as the Blues doubled their lead.
In the second half Chelsea crafted yet more chances as Torres and Hazard ran the Newcastle defense ragged with the two men linking together time and time again, though Chelsea couldn't add to their lead.
Roberto Di Matteo will be a very happy man. Chelsea are sitting happy atop the Premier League table with a maximum of 9 points, they are looking like an ever improving team and looked genuinely sensational at times today. Fernando Torres looked like a man on a mission to prove that he was worth the astronomical transfer fee that Chelsea payed for him and his link up play with Eden Hazard was genuinely sensation as they two men seem to be able to read each others mind now. Hazard, for the 3rd game in a row looked great, he looks like he's getting better, though really it was the return of the Torres of old that stood out as he looked like he was having real fun out there. It's scary to think just how fun Chelsea will be to watch when the whole team is settled together.
Newcastle will need to lick their wounds here and admit they were simply beaten by a much better team. Whilst they did have the odd chance here and their they didn't deserve to take anything from this game as they were always second best. Pardew will know his team were out played and although he may blame the trip to Greece on Thursday he knows his team, at their best, would still have struggled with the side Chelsea put out. Despite the loss Hatem Ben Arfa was once outstanding and appears to be playing with confidence, a scary thought for the rest of the Premier League.
In the late kick off of the day Chelsea tried to reclaim their position at the top of the Premier League table and win a 3rd Premier League match inside a week. To do that however they'd have to defeat a Newcastle side that had beaten them in the same fixture last season.
The match started slowly with very little to talk about in the first 15 minutes or so as both teams battled it out in the middle of the park and limited each other to decent shooting opportunities. In fact many of the early shots from both teams blazed over the bar as neither team could fathom a decent half between them.
The came alive around the midway point of the first half with Newcastle launching an attack that earned them a corner, the first corner of the match. The corner it's self did little for Newcastle and Chelsea broke quickly before Fernando Torres was brought down in the penalty area by Vernun Anita. It was to be Chelsea's 3rd penalty in as many games, though with normal penalty taker Frank Lampard being rested the duty fell to Eden Hazard who calmly slotted in the spot kick and scored his first goal for Chelsea.
The opening goal saw the game open up slightly and gave the likes of Hazard and Torres more time on the ball. After being booked in the 39th minute for a dive Torres appeared to get angry and played like a man possessed. The Spaniard gave the Newcastle defenders a real headache before scoring a beautifully crafted goal as Hazard linked with him just before half time as the Blues doubled their lead.
In the second half Chelsea crafted yet more chances as Torres and Hazard ran the Newcastle defense ragged with the two men linking together time and time again, though Chelsea couldn't add to their lead.
Roberto Di Matteo will be a very happy man. Chelsea are sitting happy atop the Premier League table with a maximum of 9 points, they are looking like an ever improving team and looked genuinely sensational at times today. Fernando Torres looked like a man on a mission to prove that he was worth the astronomical transfer fee that Chelsea payed for him and his link up play with Eden Hazard was genuinely sensation as they two men seem to be able to read each others mind now. Hazard, for the 3rd game in a row looked great, he looks like he's getting better, though really it was the return of the Torres of old that stood out as he looked like he was having real fun out there. It's scary to think just how fun Chelsea will be to watch when the whole team is settled together.
Newcastle will need to lick their wounds here and admit they were simply beaten by a much better team. Whilst they did have the odd chance here and their they didn't deserve to take anything from this game as they were always second best. Pardew will know his team were out played and although he may blame the trip to Greece on Thursday he knows his team, at their best, would still have struggled with the side Chelsea put out. Despite the loss Hatem Ben Arfa was once outstanding and appears to be playing with confidence, a scary thought for the rest of the Premier League.
Friday, 24 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Preview and prediction (Chelsea v Newcastle)
The late kick-off on Saturday promises to be a treat to all football fans as the European Champions Chelsea play their 3rd game inside a week to take on the very promising Newcastle United, who interestingly finished above Chelsea last season. Both teams have made solid starts to the season and both teams currently posses unbeaten records though which team will come out on top on Saturday?
Chelsea kicked off their season almost 2 weeks ago in a losing effort against Manchester City in the Community Shield, though started their league season a day later than most with their opening Premier League fixture taking place last Sunday as they took home 3 points following a 2-0 win against Wigan at the DW Stadium. Chelsea moved to the top of the table on Wednesday in the first midweek game of the season as they scraped past Reading by the very flattering scoreline of 4-2.
Despite being top of the league with 6 points from 2 games Chelsea haven't looked sensational, in fact they've looked rather flat for large portions of their 2 matches with only new signing Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic really looking threatening. Fernando Torres has looked off colour, Juan Mata appears to have completely forgotten his shooting boots and Frank Lampard has only looked like scoring from the penalty spot (which luckily for him he's had 2 chances from). Whilst they haven't been great they've been bagging the points and at the end of the day that's what matters.
Roberto Di Matteo will be wanting much more from his players here than he's seen from them so far this season and he'll be expecting them to step up a gear against a Newcastle team who will be looking to repeat last season's successes. With 2 goals conceded against Reading he'll worry just as much about their defense as attack, especially John Terry who looked off the pace against Jobi McAnuff in midweek. If they can tighten at the back and play from the defense they should just about nick this, but that hasn't been Chelsea's way in recent seasons as they've instead played attacking football often at the expense of defensive stability.
Like Chelsea, Newcastle have gotten off to a perfect start with a maximum 3 points from their opening game, a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Also like Chelsea, Newcastle didn't really perform against Spurs, in fact it's probably fair to say that Newcastle were the lesser team though they took their chances and secured the points.
Under Alan Pardew Newcastle have become a real threat to the Champions League places and will be looking to improve up on last season's 5th place. Sadly for them their 5th place finish last year may come back to haunt them here with the team having played in Athens on Thursday to face Atromitos in the Europa League. Having traveled to Greece and back in the past few days the players have really not been given a rest and they may very well look exhausted on Saturday. Added to the exhaustion of 2 games in 3 days they will also be with out 4 key players (Fabricio Coloccini, Demba Ba, Cheick Tiote and Shola Ameobi) who will all undergo late fitness tests.
Though the Magpies may have a number of fitness issues they have the a solid team and a manager who has them well drilled. Many of the players will also have memories of the same fixture last season, a match that Newcastle won 2-0 thanks to a brace by Papiss Cisse. In fact interestingly Newcastle's form at Stamford Bridge in recent years has been genuinely excellent with 2 wins and 2 draws in their last 4 games there.
Whilst Chelsea go in as a deserving favourite (4/7) they will know they are in for a game. It's, like I said earlier, their 3rd game inside a week and they are having a number of fitness issues themselves, including John Terry and new signing Marko Marin. With David Luiz expected to fill in for Terry, Newcastle may well see the opportunity to bag a goal or two for themselves. Sadly for the Newcastle fans Chelsea have a lot of quality up front and will likely fancy their chances to score more than they concede. I expect this will see both teams scoring, though Chelsea will likely grab a very hard fought win.
Prediction-2-1 Chelsea
Kick Off-17:30
Expected Line Ups:
Chelsea-
Cech, Cole, Ivanovic, Luis, Cahill, Lampard, Mikel, Ramires, Hazard, Mata, Torres (4-3-2-1)
Newcastle-
Krul, Simpson, Perch, S Taylor, Santon, Ben Arfa, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Ba, Cisse (4-4-2)
Notes-Dependent on results earlier in the day, Chelsea could start this match top of the Premier League thanks it being their 3rd league game inside a week.
Newcastle's 1-1 draw with Atromitos on Thursday has caused them to play 2 games in 3 days having had to travel to Greece and back since their last Premier League fixture.
Surprisingly Newcastle defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the league last season whilst Chelsea managed to defeat Newcastle at St James' Park.
Chelsea have scored a penalty in every Premier League game, in fact Lampard has scored a penalty in Chelsea's 2 Premier League games so far due to fouls on Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic has also scored in every Chelsea Premier League game so far.
Every Premier League game featuring one of these two teams has had a penalty.
Players to watch-
Chelsea:
Eden Hazard-The Belgian has been pretty much the key to all of Chelsea's attacks so far this season and he may well be looking to pull the strings once again against a Newcastle defense who, whilst sturdy are nothing spectacular at the back, especially not if Coloccini is absent. Whilst he's yet to score in the Premier League he has created many of Chelsea's chances and also been the player taken out for Chelsea's two penalties so far.
Fernando Torres-It's only a matter of time before Torres gets back to regular goal scoring and whilst he did score against Reading in midweek he didn't look himself and he did need a helping hand from a poor decision by a linesman. It seems to be a confidence thing and hopefully the goal on Wednesday will help him regain.
Newcastle:
Hatem Ben Arfa-Attacking Midfielder Ben Arfa is one of the stand out players in the Newcastle squad and can do it all. If he gets on the ball expect the Chelsea defense, especially David Luiz, to make mistakes. Able to shoot, dribble and pass excellently he's a true threat both with his own shots and with his creative passing which could help open up the Chelsea defense at any time.
Tim Krul-This may seem like a weird choice but the Newcastle goalkeeper certainly appears to be one of the players that will need watching here. I expect he will be tested more than just once or twice and he will need to put on an excellent performance if Newcastle are going to get anything from the match.
Chelsea kicked off their season almost 2 weeks ago in a losing effort against Manchester City in the Community Shield, though started their league season a day later than most with their opening Premier League fixture taking place last Sunday as they took home 3 points following a 2-0 win against Wigan at the DW Stadium. Chelsea moved to the top of the table on Wednesday in the first midweek game of the season as they scraped past Reading by the very flattering scoreline of 4-2.
Despite being top of the league with 6 points from 2 games Chelsea haven't looked sensational, in fact they've looked rather flat for large portions of their 2 matches with only new signing Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic really looking threatening. Fernando Torres has looked off colour, Juan Mata appears to have completely forgotten his shooting boots and Frank Lampard has only looked like scoring from the penalty spot (which luckily for him he's had 2 chances from). Whilst they haven't been great they've been bagging the points and at the end of the day that's what matters.
Roberto Di Matteo will be wanting much more from his players here than he's seen from them so far this season and he'll be expecting them to step up a gear against a Newcastle team who will be looking to repeat last season's successes. With 2 goals conceded against Reading he'll worry just as much about their defense as attack, especially John Terry who looked off the pace against Jobi McAnuff in midweek. If they can tighten at the back and play from the defense they should just about nick this, but that hasn't been Chelsea's way in recent seasons as they've instead played attacking football often at the expense of defensive stability.
Like Chelsea, Newcastle have gotten off to a perfect start with a maximum 3 points from their opening game, a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Also like Chelsea, Newcastle didn't really perform against Spurs, in fact it's probably fair to say that Newcastle were the lesser team though they took their chances and secured the points.
Under Alan Pardew Newcastle have become a real threat to the Champions League places and will be looking to improve up on last season's 5th place. Sadly for them their 5th place finish last year may come back to haunt them here with the team having played in Athens on Thursday to face Atromitos in the Europa League. Having traveled to Greece and back in the past few days the players have really not been given a rest and they may very well look exhausted on Saturday. Added to the exhaustion of 2 games in 3 days they will also be with out 4 key players (Fabricio Coloccini, Demba Ba, Cheick Tiote and Shola Ameobi) who will all undergo late fitness tests.
Though the Magpies may have a number of fitness issues they have the a solid team and a manager who has them well drilled. Many of the players will also have memories of the same fixture last season, a match that Newcastle won 2-0 thanks to a brace by Papiss Cisse. In fact interestingly Newcastle's form at Stamford Bridge in recent years has been genuinely excellent with 2 wins and 2 draws in their last 4 games there.
Whilst Chelsea go in as a deserving favourite (4/7) they will know they are in for a game. It's, like I said earlier, their 3rd game inside a week and they are having a number of fitness issues themselves, including John Terry and new signing Marko Marin. With David Luiz expected to fill in for Terry, Newcastle may well see the opportunity to bag a goal or two for themselves. Sadly for the Newcastle fans Chelsea have a lot of quality up front and will likely fancy their chances to score more than they concede. I expect this will see both teams scoring, though Chelsea will likely grab a very hard fought win.
Prediction-2-1 Chelsea
Kick Off-17:30
Expected Line Ups:
Chelsea-
Cech, Cole, Ivanovic, Luis, Cahill, Lampard, Mikel, Ramires, Hazard, Mata, Torres (4-3-2-1)
Newcastle-
Krul, Simpson, Perch, S Taylor, Santon, Ben Arfa, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Ba, Cisse (4-4-2)
Notes-Dependent on results earlier in the day, Chelsea could start this match top of the Premier League thanks it being their 3rd league game inside a week.
Newcastle's 1-1 draw with Atromitos on Thursday has caused them to play 2 games in 3 days having had to travel to Greece and back since their last Premier League fixture.
Surprisingly Newcastle defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the league last season whilst Chelsea managed to defeat Newcastle at St James' Park.
Chelsea have scored a penalty in every Premier League game, in fact Lampard has scored a penalty in Chelsea's 2 Premier League games so far due to fouls on Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic has also scored in every Chelsea Premier League game so far.
Every Premier League game featuring one of these two teams has had a penalty.
Players to watch-
Chelsea:
Eden Hazard-The Belgian has been pretty much the key to all of Chelsea's attacks so far this season and he may well be looking to pull the strings once again against a Newcastle defense who, whilst sturdy are nothing spectacular at the back, especially not if Coloccini is absent. Whilst he's yet to score in the Premier League he has created many of Chelsea's chances and also been the player taken out for Chelsea's two penalties so far.
Fernando Torres-It's only a matter of time before Torres gets back to regular goal scoring and whilst he did score against Reading in midweek he didn't look himself and he did need a helping hand from a poor decision by a linesman. It seems to be a confidence thing and hopefully the goal on Wednesday will help him regain.
Newcastle:
Hatem Ben Arfa-Attacking Midfielder Ben Arfa is one of the stand out players in the Newcastle squad and can do it all. If he gets on the ball expect the Chelsea defense, especially David Luiz, to make mistakes. Able to shoot, dribble and pass excellently he's a true threat both with his own shots and with his creative passing which could help open up the Chelsea defense at any time.
Tim Krul-This may seem like a weird choice but the Newcastle goalkeeper certainly appears to be one of the players that will need watching here. I expect he will be tested more than just once or twice and he will need to put on an excellent performance if Newcastle are going to get anything from the match.
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Week 1-Wednesday Night Football As It Happened (Chelsea v Wigan)
Ful Time
Chelsea 4-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Torres (81)
Ivanovic (90)
Chelsea GOAL!Chelsea break straight away from the Reading corner and catch The Royals at the wrong end of the pitch with Federici still in the Chelsea half. Eden Hazard makes a simple lay off for Branislav Ivanovic who scores his second in 2 games as the home team seal a very flattering 4-2 victory.
Chelsea 4-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Torres (81)
Ivanovic (90)
Reading FreekickReading get another freekick, quite central and around 35 yards out. Ian Harte shoots and it deflects behind the Chelsea goal for a corner with Federici coming up for it.
Reading Freekick
With just a few minutes of stoppage time Reading have a free kick in a promising position, sad it's not one of Ian Harte's better efforts and comes to nothing.
Reading Substitution
Reading make their final substitution as Hal Robson-Kanu comes on to replace Garath McCleary as Reading seek a late equaliser.
Chelsea Substitution
Raul Meireles replaces Juan Mata with around 6 minutes left.
Chelsea GOAL!
We now have controversy. Ashley Cole makes an excellent pass to Juan Mata who instead of shooting lays across a weak cross that runs to fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres who is stood noticeably offside. Torres pops it in and Chelsea re-take the lead. When the Reading team look back over this they will feel very hard done by.
Chelsea 3-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Torres (81)
Chelsea Chance
After some Chelsea pressure the ball breaks to Juan Mata who really should hit the target but ends up screw his shot well wide.
Reading Substitution
Reading make their first change as goal scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak is replaced by by fellow attacker Noel Hunt.
Chelsea GOAL!
Chelsea finally break through the Reading defence via the unexpected threat of defender Gary Cahill. The shot, taken at a distance, just seemed to slide away from Federici who really should have done better than he did.
Chelsea 2-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Penalty Appeal
Oscar lays in Torres with an excellent little pass but Torres "shot" goes straight into a Reading defender with Torres appealing for a handball. The referee ignores the plea.
Yellow Card
The referee shows the second yellow card of the match, this one going to goalscorer Pavel Pogrebnyak.
Reading Corner
Reading get their first corner of the second half though it leads to nothing.
Chelsea Shot
Oscar attempts to make an early impact by taking a tame shot at the Reading goal that hardly extends Federici.
Yellow Card
The referee goes to his book for the first time in the match as he shows Reading's Jem Karacan a yellow card.
Chelsea Substitution
Brazilian attacker Oscar comes on to replace Ramires as Chelsea look to add to their attack with the first substitution of the match.
Chelsea Corner
Chelsea get their first corner of the match after some intense pressure on the Reading defense though, like much of Chelsea's offensive play it comes to nothing.
Chelsea Chance
Chelsea start the second half fast and within minutes get their first chance on the second half as Fernando Torres turns provider and lays off a very nice ball for Branislav Ivanovic who blasts his shot well over the ball.
Half Time Chelsea 1-2 Reading
Chelea's leaky home defense from last season (which conceded 24 goals in 19 games) appears to again be an issue as Reading unexpectedly lead 2-1 going into the half. Despite the fact Chelsea have had a number of chances they simply haven't been able to take them and, the penalty aside, Federici has had an easy game as Chelsea have simply been to wasteful.
Whilst Roberto Di Matteo may feel his men should be in the lead he will be unhappy about their inability to convert chances and will likely have a word or two with his attackers who have let the team down. Whilst their defense has been breached twice the first goal was simply unstoppable and the second was a huge error by Cech who shouldn't have been beaten by the freekick. Chelsea started really well though quickly slowed down and Reading managed to get a foot hold in the game before taking the lead. Chelsea will need to increase the pace if they wish to come back into this. Despite being down Eden Hazard has shined in the first half.
For Reading's Brian McDermott he will just tell his players to continue doing what they are doing, they are neutralising the attack of Chelsea pretty well and even the better Chelsea attacks are coming to nothing as the Royals get a bit of luck here and their. Despite going into the half time team talk as the happier manager McDermott could well feel annoyed that they aren't 3-1 up at the half after Pearce's fantastic chance late in the half. Pogrebnyak looks excellent up front and seems to be a real threat in and around the penalty area though McAnuff looks the biggest threat when he's running at the Chelsea defense and terrifying them with his pace.
Half Time Stats
Shots
Chelsea 8 Reading 5
On Target
Chelsea 4 Reading 3
Corners
Chelsea 0 Reading 3
Chelsea Chance
Eden Hazard makes an exceptional cross but Fernando Torres fails to get his header on target as another chance goes begging for the European Champions.
Freekick
Reading get a free kick which is taken by Ian Harte and it just whistle's inches away from the head of an on rushing Alex Pearce who could have doubled Reading's lead with any sort of a touch.
Reading Corner
Reading get their second corner in seconds though again it leads to nothing.
Reading Corner
Reading get their second corner of the game and despite it coming to nothing it was a significantly better corner than the previous one.
Freekick
Eden Hazard gets fouled to the edge of the Reading penalty area, the good cross is headed over by John Terry and goes out for a Reading goal kick.
Freekick and GOAL!
Chelsea defender John Terry is lucky not to receive a booking as he cynically ends a promising dribble by Reading's Jobi McAnuff. The resulting free kick, taken by Danny Guthrie takes a deflection but ends up going over the line to give Reading a very unexpected lead!
Chelsea 1-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebyan (25)
Guthrie (29)
Reading GOAL!
Russian forward Pavel Pogrebnyak equalises for Reading with an excellent heading from the centre of the penalty area. It came off his head like a rocket.
Chelsea 1-1 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Reading Corner
Reading pick up the first corner of the game, but it's easily taken by Chelsea's Petr Cech who hoists the ball up and Chelsea come close to doubling their lead.
Chelsea Penalty and GOAL!
Eden Hazard gets tripped by Chris Gunter and Chelsea are given their second penalty in successive games. Frank Lampard nets the penalty past Federici who manages to just get a slight finger tip on on the ball.
Chelsea 1-0 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Chelsea Chance
A Chelsea attack opens up the Reading defense for Ramires but he appears to have too many options before selecting the wrong one leaving Adam Federici with an easy save.
Chelsea Chance
Juan Mata plays through new signing Eden Hazard who tamely hits his shot wide of the Reading Goal as Chelsea open up the Reading defense within 2 minutes.
And we're off!
Our first midweek kick off of the season takes us to Stamford Bridge where European Champion's Chelsea host the recently promoted Reading with both teams looking for a win, which would take them to the top of the league until at least Sunday. As with the Monday night game (Everton v Manchester United) this will be an in depth "As it happened".
Chelsea-
Starting XI- Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Ramires, Eden Hazard, Mata, Torres
Subs-Turnbull, Essien, Romeu, Oscar, Meireles, Sturridge, Bertrand.
Reading-
Startin XI-Federici, Gunter, Pearce, Gorkss, Harte, Karacan, McAnuff, Leigertwood, Guthrie, McCleary, Pogrebnyak
Subs- McCarthy, Mariappa, Le Fondre, Hunt, Tabb, Robson-Kanu, Cummings.
Referee-Lee Mason
Kick Off-19:45
Pre Match Odds
Match Odds
Chelsea 1/3
Draw 5/1
Reading 12/1
Over/Under 2.5 Goals
Over 4/7
Under 13/10
A full preview of the match can be read here.
Chelsea 4-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Torres (81)
Ivanovic (90)
Chelsea GOAL!Chelsea break straight away from the Reading corner and catch The Royals at the wrong end of the pitch with Federici still in the Chelsea half. Eden Hazard makes a simple lay off for Branislav Ivanovic who scores his second in 2 games as the home team seal a very flattering 4-2 victory.
Chelsea 4-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Torres (81)
Ivanovic (90)
Reading FreekickReading get another freekick, quite central and around 35 yards out. Ian Harte shoots and it deflects behind the Chelsea goal for a corner with Federici coming up for it.
Reading Freekick
With just a few minutes of stoppage time Reading have a free kick in a promising position, sad it's not one of Ian Harte's better efforts and comes to nothing.
Reading Substitution
Reading make their final substitution as Hal Robson-Kanu comes on to replace Garath McCleary as Reading seek a late equaliser.
Chelsea Substitution
Raul Meireles replaces Juan Mata with around 6 minutes left.
Chelsea GOAL!
We now have controversy. Ashley Cole makes an excellent pass to Juan Mata who instead of shooting lays across a weak cross that runs to fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres who is stood noticeably offside. Torres pops it in and Chelsea re-take the lead. When the Reading team look back over this they will feel very hard done by.
Chelsea 3-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Torres (81)
Chelsea Chance
After some Chelsea pressure the ball breaks to Juan Mata who really should hit the target but ends up screw his shot well wide.
Reading Substitution
Reading make their first change as goal scorer Pavel Pogrebnyak is replaced by by fellow attacker Noel Hunt.
Chelsea GOAL!
Chelsea finally break through the Reading defence via the unexpected threat of defender Gary Cahill. The shot, taken at a distance, just seemed to slide away from Federici who really should have done better than he did.
Chelsea 2-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Guthrie (29)
Cahill (69)
Penalty Appeal
Oscar lays in Torres with an excellent little pass but Torres "shot" goes straight into a Reading defender with Torres appealing for a handball. The referee ignores the plea.
Yellow Card
The referee shows the second yellow card of the match, this one going to goalscorer Pavel Pogrebnyak.
Reading Corner
Reading get their first corner of the second half though it leads to nothing.
Chelsea Shot
Oscar attempts to make an early impact by taking a tame shot at the Reading goal that hardly extends Federici.
Yellow Card
The referee goes to his book for the first time in the match as he shows Reading's Jem Karacan a yellow card.
Chelsea Substitution
Brazilian attacker Oscar comes on to replace Ramires as Chelsea look to add to their attack with the first substitution of the match.
Chelsea Corner
Chelsea get their first corner of the match after some intense pressure on the Reading defense though, like much of Chelsea's offensive play it comes to nothing.
Chelsea Chance
Chelsea start the second half fast and within minutes get their first chance on the second half as Fernando Torres turns provider and lays off a very nice ball for Branislav Ivanovic who blasts his shot well over the ball.
Half Time Chelsea 1-2 Reading
Chelea's leaky home defense from last season (which conceded 24 goals in 19 games) appears to again be an issue as Reading unexpectedly lead 2-1 going into the half. Despite the fact Chelsea have had a number of chances they simply haven't been able to take them and, the penalty aside, Federici has had an easy game as Chelsea have simply been to wasteful.
Whilst Roberto Di Matteo may feel his men should be in the lead he will be unhappy about their inability to convert chances and will likely have a word or two with his attackers who have let the team down. Whilst their defense has been breached twice the first goal was simply unstoppable and the second was a huge error by Cech who shouldn't have been beaten by the freekick. Chelsea started really well though quickly slowed down and Reading managed to get a foot hold in the game before taking the lead. Chelsea will need to increase the pace if they wish to come back into this. Despite being down Eden Hazard has shined in the first half.
For Reading's Brian McDermott he will just tell his players to continue doing what they are doing, they are neutralising the attack of Chelsea pretty well and even the better Chelsea attacks are coming to nothing as the Royals get a bit of luck here and their. Despite going into the half time team talk as the happier manager McDermott could well feel annoyed that they aren't 3-1 up at the half after Pearce's fantastic chance late in the half. Pogrebnyak looks excellent up front and seems to be a real threat in and around the penalty area though McAnuff looks the biggest threat when he's running at the Chelsea defense and terrifying them with his pace.
Half Time Stats
Shots
Chelsea 8 Reading 5
On Target
Chelsea 4 Reading 3
Corners
Chelsea 0 Reading 3
Chelsea Chance
Eden Hazard makes an exceptional cross but Fernando Torres fails to get his header on target as another chance goes begging for the European Champions.
Freekick
Reading get a free kick which is taken by Ian Harte and it just whistle's inches away from the head of an on rushing Alex Pearce who could have doubled Reading's lead with any sort of a touch.
Reading Corner
Reading get their second corner in seconds though again it leads to nothing.
Reading Corner
Reading get their second corner of the game and despite it coming to nothing it was a significantly better corner than the previous one.
Freekick
Eden Hazard gets fouled to the edge of the Reading penalty area, the good cross is headed over by John Terry and goes out for a Reading goal kick.
Freekick and GOAL!
Chelsea defender John Terry is lucky not to receive a booking as he cynically ends a promising dribble by Reading's Jobi McAnuff. The resulting free kick, taken by Danny Guthrie takes a deflection but ends up going over the line to give Reading a very unexpected lead!
Chelsea 1-2 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebyan (25)
Guthrie (29)
Reading GOAL!
Russian forward Pavel Pogrebnyak equalises for Reading with an excellent heading from the centre of the penalty area. It came off his head like a rocket.
Chelsea 1-1 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Pogrebnyak (25)
Reading Corner
Reading pick up the first corner of the game, but it's easily taken by Chelsea's Petr Cech who hoists the ball up and Chelsea come close to doubling their lead.
Chelsea Penalty and GOAL!
Eden Hazard gets tripped by Chris Gunter and Chelsea are given their second penalty in successive games. Frank Lampard nets the penalty past Federici who manages to just get a slight finger tip on on the ball.
Chelsea 1-0 Reading
Lampard (18)-Pen
Chelsea Chance
A Chelsea attack opens up the Reading defense for Ramires but he appears to have too many options before selecting the wrong one leaving Adam Federici with an easy save.
Chelsea Chance
Juan Mata plays through new signing Eden Hazard who tamely hits his shot wide of the Reading Goal as Chelsea open up the Reading defense within 2 minutes.
And we're off!
Our first midweek kick off of the season takes us to Stamford Bridge where European Champion's Chelsea host the recently promoted Reading with both teams looking for a win, which would take them to the top of the league until at least Sunday. As with the Monday night game (Everton v Manchester United) this will be an in depth "As it happened".
Chelsea-
Starting XI- Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Ramires, Eden Hazard, Mata, Torres
Subs-Turnbull, Essien, Romeu, Oscar, Meireles, Sturridge, Bertrand.
Reading-
Startin XI-Federici, Gunter, Pearce, Gorkss, Harte, Karacan, McAnuff, Leigertwood, Guthrie, McCleary, Pogrebnyak
Subs- McCarthy, Mariappa, Le Fondre, Hunt, Tabb, Robson-Kanu, Cummings.
Referee-Lee Mason
Kick Off-19:45
Pre Match Odds
Match Odds
Chelsea 1/3
Draw 5/1
Reading 12/1
Over/Under 2.5 Goals
Over 4/7
Under 13/10
A full preview of the match can be read here.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Preview and prediction (Wednesday)
The Premier League season may just have kicked off but we're already on the eve of our first midweek game as prospective title contenders Chelsea face off against the recently promoted Reading, with both teams knowing a win will take them to the top of the table.
On the opening day of the season Reading looked rather toothless for much of their game as they struggled to a 1-1 draw with Stoke, thanks in part to Dean Whitehead getting sent off and conceding a penalty late. The extra man advantage suddenly seemed to charge Reading up and despite their being only minutes of the match left they looked to be a team who had cast of the shackles.
Just a day later Chelsea managed to earn three 3 points away to Wigan after an excellent start going 1-0 up inside 2 minutes before bagging a second just minutes later as they looked almost certain to rout the Latics. Instead of bagging more goals however Chelsea went into their shells and just sat back allowing Wigan to play themselves into the game. Despite their timid performance after taking an early lead Chelsea did have positives to take from the match, mainly the showing by new signing Eden Hazard who worried the Wigan defense every time he had the ball.
Despite having had an extra days rest however it'll be very hard to favour Reading who will be going into the lions den against a Chelsea team who will almost certainly want to not only climb to the top of the league but put on a performance for their own fans at Stamford Bridge in their first home fixture of the season.
At the home last year Chelsea were defensively poor conceding 24 home goals (11th worst home defence) though they often found ways to win by simply out scoring their opponents racking up an impressive 41 home goals (3rd most) to give them 39 home points (5th most). In fact the combined 65 goals scored at Stamford Bridge was the 3rd most goals at a single ground in the Premier League last season (behind only Old Trafford-71 and the Etihad-67) giving fans plenty of action to watch.
Against Reading I don't see the Chelsea defense being pushed too hard, the performance against stoke was less than threatening and on last years form Reading really aren't a great threat away from home. Despite scoring 33 away goals (5th most in the Championship) last season they netted 14 of those in 4 games (with 4 against West Ham, 4 against Barnsley, 3 against Southampton and 3 against Bristol City) meaning in the other 19 away games they netted an average of once per game. Though Reading's strong point away from home, and what helped win them 13 away games (tied most with West Ham in the Champion) was their away defence which conceded just 23 goals in 23 games (the 2nd best behind West Ham).
What we have here then is a very strong offensive team in Chelsea who will attack, especially at home, against a strong defensive team in Reading who will likely only play with one out and out attacker giving them little threat up front. Though the bigger point isn't about last years stats but more about the mentality of the Reading players. We know Chelsea's players, on the whole, have international pedigree, with the technical ability to really play Reading off the pitch. With the likes of Lampard and Hazard pulling the strings behind Torres it could well be a difficult night for Reading who will find themselves under a lot of pressure. How will Reading cope with not getting much of the ball? How well drilled are they? And most importantly, are they capable of taking a chance if they get one?
For me the key here is whether or not Reading can shut down the service Chelsea will try to provide to Torres. If they can stop the likes of Hazard, Lampard, Ivanovic and Cole from playing in the Chelsea hitman it could prove to be a fruitless night for the Blues. Sadly for the Royals I genuinely can't see them holding out for 90 minutes against a very threatening Chelsea attack which despite only playing a single Striker has goal threats from every where on the pitch. Lampard, as we know can bang them in, Ivanaovic, as he showed on Sunday is a threat, Torres, Hazard and Oscar are all solid in front of goal and Terry is a serious threat from set Pieces.
Whilst Reading do have goals in them through Adam le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebyank in open play and Ian Harte from set pieces I don't imagine they will have enough of the ball to threaten Petr Cech in what could be a steep learning curve.
Kick off-19:45
Prediction 3-0
Expected Line Ups:
Chelsea-
Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Bertrand, Hazard, Oscar, Torres (4-2-3-1)
Reading-
Federici, Gunter, Harte, Gorkss, Pearce, Guthrie, Leigertwood, McAnuff, McCleary, Le Fondre, Pogrebnyak (4-4-1-1)
Notes:
Chelsea's new signings Eden Hazard and Oscar are expected to both make their home debut's for the Blues who are expected to start Mata on the bench so as to start Oscar.
Whilst no new injury worries have come up for Reading Jimmy Kebe still hasn't returned to the team and isn't expected back for several weeks.
This will be Chelsea's 2nd game of 3 inside a week as they start the Premier League with a relatively hectic schedule.
As a sub story to the game expect the comparisons between Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Reading's owner Anton Zingarevich to at least get a mention on TV and Radio
Players to watch out for-
Chelsea:
Fernando Torres-The Spanish Striker looked like he was slowly getting back to his best at the end of last season and again at Euro 2010 where he claimed the Golden Boot. Whilst not at his most impressive against Wigan he is a serious threat and seems to be getting more confident. With the service he is likely to get it's hard to imagine him not getting at least one chance here.
Eden Hazard-New signing Eden Hazard look excellent on the ball against Wigan and whilst he went down far too easily he seems to have the innate ability to open defenses up at will. Against Reading I can can imagine him creating chances left right and centre as he looks to justify his hefty price tag.
Reading-
Adam Federici-Despite effectively giving Stoke their goal on Saturday the Australian Keeper is a very reliable keeper and will be looking to put the blunder behind him as he faces Chelsea's fearsome attacking line. Whether Reading fan's like it or not Federici will be a busy man in goal.
Kaspars Gorkšs-The defensive stalwart will need to show why he is so highly rated by Reading fans as he attempts to organise the Reading defense as well as neutralise the Chelsea task. The Latvian was incredible in the Championship last year and will need to step up here. If Gorkšs has a bad game this could be hugely embarrassing for Reading.
On the opening day of the season Reading looked rather toothless for much of their game as they struggled to a 1-1 draw with Stoke, thanks in part to Dean Whitehead getting sent off and conceding a penalty late. The extra man advantage suddenly seemed to charge Reading up and despite their being only minutes of the match left they looked to be a team who had cast of the shackles.
Just a day later Chelsea managed to earn three 3 points away to Wigan after an excellent start going 1-0 up inside 2 minutes before bagging a second just minutes later as they looked almost certain to rout the Latics. Instead of bagging more goals however Chelsea went into their shells and just sat back allowing Wigan to play themselves into the game. Despite their timid performance after taking an early lead Chelsea did have positives to take from the match, mainly the showing by new signing Eden Hazard who worried the Wigan defense every time he had the ball.
Despite having had an extra days rest however it'll be very hard to favour Reading who will be going into the lions den against a Chelsea team who will almost certainly want to not only climb to the top of the league but put on a performance for their own fans at Stamford Bridge in their first home fixture of the season.
At the home last year Chelsea were defensively poor conceding 24 home goals (11th worst home defence) though they often found ways to win by simply out scoring their opponents racking up an impressive 41 home goals (3rd most) to give them 39 home points (5th most). In fact the combined 65 goals scored at Stamford Bridge was the 3rd most goals at a single ground in the Premier League last season (behind only Old Trafford-71 and the Etihad-67) giving fans plenty of action to watch.
Against Reading I don't see the Chelsea defense being pushed too hard, the performance against stoke was less than threatening and on last years form Reading really aren't a great threat away from home. Despite scoring 33 away goals (5th most in the Championship) last season they netted 14 of those in 4 games (with 4 against West Ham, 4 against Barnsley, 3 against Southampton and 3 against Bristol City) meaning in the other 19 away games they netted an average of once per game. Though Reading's strong point away from home, and what helped win them 13 away games (tied most with West Ham in the Champion) was their away defence which conceded just 23 goals in 23 games (the 2nd best behind West Ham).
What we have here then is a very strong offensive team in Chelsea who will attack, especially at home, against a strong defensive team in Reading who will likely only play with one out and out attacker giving them little threat up front. Though the bigger point isn't about last years stats but more about the mentality of the Reading players. We know Chelsea's players, on the whole, have international pedigree, with the technical ability to really play Reading off the pitch. With the likes of Lampard and Hazard pulling the strings behind Torres it could well be a difficult night for Reading who will find themselves under a lot of pressure. How will Reading cope with not getting much of the ball? How well drilled are they? And most importantly, are they capable of taking a chance if they get one?
For me the key here is whether or not Reading can shut down the service Chelsea will try to provide to Torres. If they can stop the likes of Hazard, Lampard, Ivanovic and Cole from playing in the Chelsea hitman it could prove to be a fruitless night for the Blues. Sadly for the Royals I genuinely can't see them holding out for 90 minutes against a very threatening Chelsea attack which despite only playing a single Striker has goal threats from every where on the pitch. Lampard, as we know can bang them in, Ivanaovic, as he showed on Sunday is a threat, Torres, Hazard and Oscar are all solid in front of goal and Terry is a serious threat from set Pieces.
Whilst Reading do have goals in them through Adam le Fondre and Pavel Pogrebyank in open play and Ian Harte from set pieces I don't imagine they will have enough of the ball to threaten Petr Cech in what could be a steep learning curve.
Kick off-19:45
Prediction 3-0
Expected Line Ups:
Chelsea-
Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Bertrand, Hazard, Oscar, Torres (4-2-3-1)
Reading-
Federici, Gunter, Harte, Gorkss, Pearce, Guthrie, Leigertwood, McAnuff, McCleary, Le Fondre, Pogrebnyak (4-4-1-1)
Notes:
Chelsea's new signings Eden Hazard and Oscar are expected to both make their home debut's for the Blues who are expected to start Mata on the bench so as to start Oscar.
Whilst no new injury worries have come up for Reading Jimmy Kebe still hasn't returned to the team and isn't expected back for several weeks.
This will be Chelsea's 2nd game of 3 inside a week as they start the Premier League with a relatively hectic schedule.
As a sub story to the game expect the comparisons between Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Reading's owner Anton Zingarevich to at least get a mention on TV and Radio
Players to watch out for-
Chelsea:
Fernando Torres-The Spanish Striker looked like he was slowly getting back to his best at the end of last season and again at Euro 2010 where he claimed the Golden Boot. Whilst not at his most impressive against Wigan he is a serious threat and seems to be getting more confident. With the service he is likely to get it's hard to imagine him not getting at least one chance here.
Eden Hazard-New signing Eden Hazard look excellent on the ball against Wigan and whilst he went down far too easily he seems to have the innate ability to open defenses up at will. Against Reading I can can imagine him creating chances left right and centre as he looks to justify his hefty price tag.
Reading-
Adam Federici-Despite effectively giving Stoke their goal on Saturday the Australian Keeper is a very reliable keeper and will be looking to put the blunder behind him as he faces Chelsea's fearsome attacking line. Whether Reading fan's like it or not Federici will be a busy man in goal.
Kaspars Gorkšs-The defensive stalwart will need to show why he is so highly rated by Reading fans as he attempts to organise the Reading defense as well as neutralise the Chelsea task. The Latvian was incredible in the Championship last year and will need to step up here. If Gorkšs has a bad game this could be hugely embarrassing for Reading.
Friday, 17 August 2012
The Pre-Season Part 1-The Euro's
So we are finally here, the Premier League 2012-2013 season is upon us and with less than 15 hours to kick off it's time to look at what has happened over the very, very busy Summer. Of course as we all know Summer was not only the time for transfers (which I will get on to a little bit later) but also the summer of the European Championships (Euro 2012), so lets start this by looking at those.
The Euro's which was hosted in Poland and Ukraine kicked off on June 8th and finished with the final on July 1st with Spain successfully defending the title they won 4 years ago in Austria and Switzerland. As a result of their triumph Spain became the first nation to not only defend the European Championships but also the first nation to win 3 successive major international titles.
The Euro's started with Group A and co-host Poland scoring a 1-1 draw with former champions Greece (who infamously won the tournament in 2004) with Russia later destroying the Czech Republic 4-1 in a truly impressive performance. Sadly despite Russia's fantastic performance on the opening day they flattered to deceive and they went out at the group stage after drawing with Poland and losing to Greece in a huge upset. Despite the Czech Republic and Greece qualifying from the Group it was young Russian striker Alan Dzagoev that really made his name scoring 3 goals in his teams 3 group matches.
The second set of matches were in the dreaded "Group of Death", Group B. This Group really was an amazingly tough Group on paper with Germany, Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark and it seemed like any of the teams had the pedigree to qualify. Sadly, despite the class of the Dutch team, which included a number of household names such as Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin Van Persie they failed to click and suffered an embarrassing loss to Denmark in their opening fixture, this was then followed by losses to both Germany and Portugal as they ended up being one of only 2 teams not to score a point. Whilst the Netherlands were the laughing stock of the group the Germans were the class act winning all 3 of their games as they lived up to their reputation. Joining Germany were Portugal who's win over Denmark in their second game was effectively the deciding match.
In Group C we saw Spain managing to qualify top despite not looking at their best. In their opening game they drew 1-1 with Italy before walloping the Republic of Ireland 4-0 (though they really should have had 8 or 9) and then scraping past Croatia. Italy, who had drawn with Spain in their own opening game also only managed a draw with Croatia before beating the groups poor whipping boys the Republic of Ireland. The poor Republic of Ireland finished not only pointless but also with the worst record ever seen in a European Championship, conceding an impressive 9 goals whilst scoring just 1 (a Sean St Ledger header against Croatia). Despite Croatia falling at the first hurdle they did show some impressive ability (as is expected of the Croatians) with Bayern Munich's Mario Mandžukić being arguably the pick of the bunch.
In the final Group, Group D, England and France both qualified despite neither team really looking at their best. In the opening round of matches England and France both drew (1-1) with each other whilst co-host Ukraine managed to eek out a 2-1, come from behind victory over the Swede's thanks to a brace by Andriy Shevchenko. Sadly losses to both England and France ended Ukraine's hopes for qualification, though they did run England close losing 3-2 in one of the tournaments most exciting matches. Whilst England qualified with out a loss, France were much less fortunate and lost 2-0 to Sweden in their final group game, in part due to an excellent goal of the competition contender by the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimović.
The quarter finals began with Portugal narrowly beating the Czech Republic thanks to a second half goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. The following day Germany defeated Greece 4-2 in a match that was closer in scoreline than it appeared on the pitch (due in part to a Greek penalty in the 89th minute). Portugal were joined the following day by their semi final opponents Spain who inflicted the second successive 2-0 loss on France whilst England were sadly disposed of, on penalties to the Italians (4-2) after both Ashley Young and Ashley Cole missed their penalties.
In the first Semi Final Portugal held Spain to a 0-0 draw in a match that seemed to really push Spain to the brink. Despite holding on 0-0 for 120 minutes Portugal failed to hold their own at penalties with João Moutinho and the seemingly petrified Bruno Alves both failing to score and like England they fell by the wayside 4-2 on penalties. In the other Semi Final Italian Mario Balotelli stole the show scoring twice in the first half (including an absolute blinder) to see off the German's 2-1, and book a rematch with Spain in the final.
Sadly for Italy the final was a nightmare as Spain took advantage of a weary looking Italian team and played them off the pitch in an embarrassingly 1 sided match that saw Spain dominate much of the match and score 4 unanswered goals. Whilst the victory left Spain in a state of jubilation it left the Italians heartbroken, and not for the first time in recent competitions, having also been losing finalists in Euro 2000 and the 1994 World Cup.
For the stat lovers out there:
The competition had 6 players tied on 3 goals-
Fernando Torres (who won the Golden Boot due to playing less time than Mario Gomez, with the two players tied on assists)
Mario Gomez
Mario Balotelli
Cristiano Ronaldo
Alan Dzagoev
and Mario Mandžukić
For Premier League fans the list above should be very exciting as it shows not only that Balotelli (Man City) can perform at the highest level but also that Fernando Torres is getting back into the swing of scoring goals.
Also over Summer we had the Summer Olympics, which again featured some football...but more about that in the next entry.
The video below is thanks to CR10Productions
The Euro's which was hosted in Poland and Ukraine kicked off on June 8th and finished with the final on July 1st with Spain successfully defending the title they won 4 years ago in Austria and Switzerland. As a result of their triumph Spain became the first nation to not only defend the European Championships but also the first nation to win 3 successive major international titles.
The Euro's started with Group A and co-host Poland scoring a 1-1 draw with former champions Greece (who infamously won the tournament in 2004) with Russia later destroying the Czech Republic 4-1 in a truly impressive performance. Sadly despite Russia's fantastic performance on the opening day they flattered to deceive and they went out at the group stage after drawing with Poland and losing to Greece in a huge upset. Despite the Czech Republic and Greece qualifying from the Group it was young Russian striker Alan Dzagoev that really made his name scoring 3 goals in his teams 3 group matches.
The second set of matches were in the dreaded "Group of Death", Group B. This Group really was an amazingly tough Group on paper with Germany, Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark and it seemed like any of the teams had the pedigree to qualify. Sadly, despite the class of the Dutch team, which included a number of household names such as Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin Van Persie they failed to click and suffered an embarrassing loss to Denmark in their opening fixture, this was then followed by losses to both Germany and Portugal as they ended up being one of only 2 teams not to score a point. Whilst the Netherlands were the laughing stock of the group the Germans were the class act winning all 3 of their games as they lived up to their reputation. Joining Germany were Portugal who's win over Denmark in their second game was effectively the deciding match.
In Group C we saw Spain managing to qualify top despite not looking at their best. In their opening game they drew 1-1 with Italy before walloping the Republic of Ireland 4-0 (though they really should have had 8 or 9) and then scraping past Croatia. Italy, who had drawn with Spain in their own opening game also only managed a draw with Croatia before beating the groups poor whipping boys the Republic of Ireland. The poor Republic of Ireland finished not only pointless but also with the worst record ever seen in a European Championship, conceding an impressive 9 goals whilst scoring just 1 (a Sean St Ledger header against Croatia). Despite Croatia falling at the first hurdle they did show some impressive ability (as is expected of the Croatians) with Bayern Munich's Mario Mandžukić being arguably the pick of the bunch.
In the final Group, Group D, England and France both qualified despite neither team really looking at their best. In the opening round of matches England and France both drew (1-1) with each other whilst co-host Ukraine managed to eek out a 2-1, come from behind victory over the Swede's thanks to a brace by Andriy Shevchenko. Sadly losses to both England and France ended Ukraine's hopes for qualification, though they did run England close losing 3-2 in one of the tournaments most exciting matches. Whilst England qualified with out a loss, France were much less fortunate and lost 2-0 to Sweden in their final group game, in part due to an excellent goal of the competition contender by the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimović.
The quarter finals began with Portugal narrowly beating the Czech Republic thanks to a second half goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. The following day Germany defeated Greece 4-2 in a match that was closer in scoreline than it appeared on the pitch (due in part to a Greek penalty in the 89th minute). Portugal were joined the following day by their semi final opponents Spain who inflicted the second successive 2-0 loss on France whilst England were sadly disposed of, on penalties to the Italians (4-2) after both Ashley Young and Ashley Cole missed their penalties.
In the first Semi Final Portugal held Spain to a 0-0 draw in a match that seemed to really push Spain to the brink. Despite holding on 0-0 for 120 minutes Portugal failed to hold their own at penalties with João Moutinho and the seemingly petrified Bruno Alves both failing to score and like England they fell by the wayside 4-2 on penalties. In the other Semi Final Italian Mario Balotelli stole the show scoring twice in the first half (including an absolute blinder) to see off the German's 2-1, and book a rematch with Spain in the final.
Sadly for Italy the final was a nightmare as Spain took advantage of a weary looking Italian team and played them off the pitch in an embarrassingly 1 sided match that saw Spain dominate much of the match and score 4 unanswered goals. Whilst the victory left Spain in a state of jubilation it left the Italians heartbroken, and not for the first time in recent competitions, having also been losing finalists in Euro 2000 and the 1994 World Cup.
For the stat lovers out there:
The competition had 6 players tied on 3 goals-
Fernando Torres (who won the Golden Boot due to playing less time than Mario Gomez, with the two players tied on assists)
Mario Gomez
Mario Balotelli
Cristiano Ronaldo
Alan Dzagoev
and Mario Mandžukić
For Premier League fans the list above should be very exciting as it shows not only that Balotelli (Man City) can perform at the highest level but also that Fernando Torres is getting back into the swing of scoring goals.
Also over Summer we had the Summer Olympics, which again featured some football...but more about that in the next entry.
The video below is thanks to CR10Productions
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