A blog about the latest soccer news, best players, transfer talk and anything else about the world game, with a heavy focus on the Selecao and Inter Milan!
Tonights Champion’s League match at the Emirates stadium ended 1-1 under controversial circumstances. Adebayor rose up to nod home a corner kick after 23 minutes but Liverpool retaliated quickly. Gerard made an intelligent run past two defenders and centered the ball along the 6 yard line for Kuyt to slide it in on 26 minutes (although it may have actually come off Clichy in the end). The remainder of the match was pretty much all Arsenal trying to break down 9-10 men behind the ball and Liverpool were only really putting long balls through for Torres. The moment of controversy came on 65 minutes when Hleb slalomed through several defenders and was then clearly brought down by Kuyt only for the ref to award a corner instead of a spot kick. Five minutes later Arsenal had their best chance to get back ahead when the ball found Fabregas whose outstretched foot had guided it towards the net, only needing to roll in with the keeper beaten, until Bentner stepped in and cleaned up on Liverpool’s behalf. A stunning goal line blunder where he only needed to open his legs and let it roll through. Video highlights to follow later.
Two late goals from Fabregas and Adebayor at the San Siro saw Milan crash out of the champions league to top off a very disappointing season for the club. They’re struggling to even make one of the four spots for next year with Fiorentina several points ahead of them. Video highlights below.
Good see Walcott ride that Kaladze challenge and go on to set up Adebayor. It’s refreshing to see a young player that will stay on their feet when they could easily fall and make a meal out of it.
Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw by Birmingham but the talking point of the match was the disgusting tackle on Eduardo da Silva by Martin Taylor. You can see the footage below that he wasn’t interested in the ball and had plenty of time to pull out of it. He received a straight red but I hope he gets a serious ban for his actions. They suspect that Eduardo may have a broken leg and the game had to be stopped for eight minutes just to treat him before removing him from the field.
Seems they’ve removed that video so here’s one that’s not quite as good but shows the tackle well enough (at least until it gets removed!).
Man U have knocked Arsenal out of the FA cup with a convincing 4-0 rout. Fletcher was on the scoresheet twice and Rooney and Nani made up the total. Most of the goals came early on, Rooney on 16, Fletcher on 20 and Nani on 38 but Arsenal’s chance for a revival or at least to get some dignity back took a blow when Eboue was sent off on 49 minutes for a clumsy challenge on Evra. Fletcher wrapped things up in the 74th minute. Wenger tried to bring on some more firepower but left it a little late, that’s the way it goes when you have several competitions to think about.
Check out the highlights below
Also some of the goals in more detail.
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2-0
3-0
Independent thoughts
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There’s been talk in England that Inter are preparing to move on Tomas Rosicky, one of Arsenal’s many young talents. It’s not surprising that such an influential player is linked to Inter as they search for Figo’s replacement when he retires at the end of this season. There may be even more haste after Nedved’s challenge on Figo, which broke his shin bone and will see him sidelined for at least a couple of months. It wasn’t a particularly nasty looking challenge but it was one of those unlucky tackles (think Larsson when he was at Celtic or Cisse either when he was at Liverpool or later when France took on China).
The “Daily Mail” claim that Inter have prepared a 15 million Euro bid to lure him away from Arsenal but that would have to be a starting price to kick negotiations off, I can’t see Arsenal selling him for that amount. They’ve already lost Henry and I doubt they’d want to unsettle a young team that’s playing spectacular football at the moment. Rosicky and Hleb aren’t getting all the praise they deserve because Fabregas is shinning brighter but they’ve been instrumental to Arsenal’s success also.
Rosicky’s agent, Pavel Paska has been quick to squash the rumours and dismiss the possibility of a January transfer move. He stated that Inter tried to sign Rosicky in 2005 and last year also before Arsenal grabbed him from Borussia Dortmund. They got him at a bargain basement price of 6.8 million pounds but this is because the club was in financial trouble. There is a good chance for Arsenal to cash in and given Rosicky has had a fair few injury woes, it might be a good idea as they’ll be moving on Dinamo Zagreb’s Luka Modric in January anyway…
Check out Rosicky in action as well as the unfortunate challenge on Figo below…
So the big games of the weekend have been played and the battle for the top of the table fought. Interestingly both of these matches ended in draws and little ground was made for any of these teams. Inter vs Juve ended 1-1 with Inter retaining it’s lead at the top and Juve dropping one place to forth. Roma failed to capitalise on the chance and instead lost it’s place to Fiorentina by throwing away a two goal lead, a draw with Empoli the result. Arsenal and Manchester United remain as they were in first and second position respectively, although Arsenal still has that game in hand.
Rooney scored first (well really it was a Gallas own goal with little he could do about it) for Manchester United towards the end of the first half but the unstoppable Cesc Fabregas pulled Arsenal level soon after with a calm finish after receiving the ball near the penalty spot. Christiano Ronaldo looked to have won the game for Man U, scoring in the 82nd minute but Gallas made up for his earlier mishap by volleying in a goal which Van Der Sar seemed to have saved but the ball was already well into the goal.
In the other big match, Julio Cruz put Inter in front just before half-time, continuing his strange ability to consistently score against Juve. It wasn’t enough though as Mauro Camoranesi equalised in the 77th minute to snatch a share of the spoils. Both teams were playing fairly cautiously although it was clear that Inter was in control of the match, nearly scoring again on several occasions after the first goal. Raneiri made a couple of changes which ended up being the perfect tactic and provided the equaliser. Iaquinta and Camoranesi were brought on in the last half an hour and combined to create Juve’s goal. It seems that Inter will have more competition this year and the Scudetto won’t come as easily.
So Arsenal and Manchester United are set to face off this weekend in a top of the table clash. Both teams are sitting on 26 points, although Arsenal is on top through goal difference and still has a game in hand. Many will say that this game could decide the eventual league champion but I feel it’s far too early for that. It does promise to be a hugely entertaining match though. With Fabregas in hot form, he may be able do dictate the match but Manchester United also have a few players in form as well with the likes of Nani, Tevez and as always, Christiano Ronaldo.
Gerard lavished praise on Fabregas after he equalised against Liverpool to grab a point and maintain Arsenal’s unbeaten run. His team mate Gallas also had kind words in saying that he can be the best with a little discipline to not push himself too much when tired. The draw didn’t do Arsenal justice as they outplayed Liverpool for most of the match, but that’s the way it turns out sometimes. Even Carragher confirmed this in stating that it would’ve been harsh is Arsenal did not come away from the match with something to show.
Although Man U have been slow to kick their season off, they have started to play some high quality football lately. Arsenal has had a great start but Christiano Ronaldo has come out to say that the race to the premiership title is a marathon, not a sprint suggesting that Arsenal may run out of steam before the end of it. He does raise a good point, Man U has a large squad with a bench that could make another top level team, while Arsenal is relying on it’s youngsters and doesn’t quite have the same depth in reserve. News that Paul Scholes is out for at least 3 months (he needs a knee operation to repair ligament damage sustained in training) means that the reserves will already get a chance.
Check out Arsenal’s draw with Liverpool below.
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As well as Manchester United’s slaughtering of Middlesbrough.
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Independent thoughts
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Just a quick post with some of the best highlights you’ll see (if you’re into one-sided demolitions!) from the champions league this matchday. Arsenal ran rings around their competition to finish 7-0 with a brace each from Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott. The youngsters really proved what they can do.
I love it whenever a player speaks out hypothetically and the press goes wild. Kaka’ was interview earlier this week by Esquire magazine and was quoted as expressing interest in playing in England or Spain if he were to ever leave Milan… Well shock, horror! If you’re not playing in Italy, what are the other major leagues in Europe? That’s right, in England and Spain.
He merely stated that he’d want a move to a club with the history, ability and stature of Milan. He did elaborate somewhat and went on to say that he prefer’s Arsenal and Manchester United over Liverpool and Chelsea. He was actually quite diplomatic in his manner of basically saying that neither Liverpool or Chelsea are playing the sort of inspiring, attractive football he’d want to be involved in. Can’t blame him!
He was also recently named FIFPro World Player of the Year. Many saw him as not only the inspiration but the main driving force in taking Milan to their seventh European trophy earlier this year. He was the top scorer in the competition (don’t forget he’s a midfielder, not a striker!) and was voted as the best player by footballers from all around the globe (45,000 were eligible to vote!). In fact, Christiano Ronaldo has praised him as the best player of the moment (although he did rate Man U over Milan).
Kaka’ joins three others from Milan to enter the running for the Fifa World Player 2007. An award voted by the coaches and captains of all the national teams. Many are already tipping him to win this award (although I think he would’ve boosted his chances had he player in the Copa America winning selecao side). Kaka’ himself said he is confident that he has a good chance to win but also returned the favour in stating that Christiano Ronaldo may take the award because of his blistering performances that took Manchester United to a domestic title. Either way, sit back for some great Kaka’ footage!
As I posted earlier, Manchester United were able to seal another 1-0 result at home against Roma. A Wayne Rooney effort made the difference.
Dynamo Kyiv faced off against Sporting Lisbon with a score that ending 2-1 in favour of Lisbon. The Kyiv goal was quite spectacular with a backheal assist. This left Group F with Manchester United comfortably on top, Roma and Sporting equal on points in 2nd and 3rd respectively (goal difference helping Roma). While Kyiv sit on the bottom with no points at all and a very difficult campaign ahead of them.
Rangers played a spectacular match against Lyon and were able to brush them aside 3-0 in France for some valuable points. Very strange indeed to see Lyon so overwhelmed. Puyol scored the first goal for Barca against Stuttgart after the keeper couldn’t hold on to a Ronaldinho header. The match ended 2-0 when the man of the moment, Messi, slammed home a Henry cut-back.
Robin van Persie slotted a nice goal after Adebayor performed a cut-back of his own to show he’s learnt a few things from the departed Henry. The final score was 1-0 to Arsenal over Steaua Bucuresti. Sevilla defeated Slavia Praha 4-2 with Fabiano scoring some nice goals (one leaving the keeper for dead). CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Inter were able to carry on their good form from earlier in the week where they destroyed Roma in a 4-1 drubbing. More importantly it was the form of Ibrahimovic which continues to win games for Inter, a brace from him sealed the score at 2-0. Check out the highlights for a truly spectacular finish on the second goal.
