The John Terry scandal has probably affected Terry's playing much more
than anyone thought it to, and maybe this weekend he was feeling some
guilt for his former England teammate Wayne Beidge who refused to
shake Terry's hand. Not only this, but it seems that Manchester United
have no trouble winning thanks to their wonderboy Rooney who helped
them win the Carling Cup over Aston Villa.
Manchester City - Chelsea
It seemed that Roberto Mancini's pretty scarf was getting tighter and
tighter around his neck as results didn't go his way and may City
supporters accused him of being too defensive, but a fantastic victory
against Chelsea will surely help his team bounce back, possibly into
fourth place. Lampard started the scoring after a great finish after
being given too much space for the shot, it seemed routine stuff for
Chelsea until Tevez caught them on a break, he quickly baffled a
distracted Terry to slide in a cool finish past Cech. Bellamy put City
ahead soon after, wig lots of space on the left wing, Bellamy slid the
ball past Cech at a tight angle, crushing Chelsea's hopes of hanging
on. Belletti was sent off after a push on Gareth Barry in the box,
giving Manchester City a penalty that Tevez had no trouble with, and
not long after, the scoreline read 4-1 as Bellamy tapped in another
after City caught Chelsea's defense on a break again. Lampard put away
a late penalty, but it was too little too late, a fantastic
performance by Manchester City which certainly gave Wayne Bridge
something to smile about.
Final score: 2-4
Udinese - Inter Milan
Inter have little difficulty getting past Udinese 3-2, Pepe started the scoring after a great pass by Di Natale released him 1 on 1 with Julio Cesar in the 2nd minute, but three minutes later, Balotelli scored an unsavable volley rocket, making it all tied. Maicon then marauded onto a flick by Pandev sending a screaming volley into the top corner, and soon after a glancing flick of the head by Milito put Inter in front before the half. Udinese pulled one back with a penalty from Di Natale, and although they pushed for a draw, Inter held on to continue their dominance in Italy.
In Italy, Juventus lost to Palermo 2-0, the bianconeri pushed in the first half but were crushed after a fantastic goal by Miccoli, and then a fatal error by Grygera left Budan to score the second on an empty net. Genoa lost 4-3 to Bologna, and Chievo snatched a win against Cagliari, 2-1. Napoli and Roma drew 2-2 after Hamsik scored a late equalizer and AC Milan remain close to Inter after their win against Atlanta.
In Spain, Real Madrid continue their fantastic goal-scoring run after beating Tenerife 5-1, Tene were great defensively but eventually crumbled when Higuain scored two, Kaka followed, then Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul. Barcelona kept their distance from Real after a much fought for 2-1 win over Malaga, Pedro scored after a long range effort in the 69th minute, but Valdo equalized in the 81st, Malaga were close to completing the fabled deed of a draw when Messi got the winner keeping Barcelona three points ahead of Real Madrid. Atletico Madrid got a great win over Valencia, they won 4-1 and Valencia had two men sent off in the match.
In England, Tottenham beat Everton 2-1, after the Russian Pavlyuchenko put them in front in the 11th minute, Modric scored a beautiful goal, a great shot that hit the crossbar and went in out of the reach of Tim Howard. Yakubu pulled one back, and Landon Donovan missed an open goal to give Tottenham the win. Liverpool beat Blackburn Rovers after two goals from their most important players, Gerrard and Torres, who both seem to be returning to some good form, and Arsenal beat Stoke 3-1. Some terrible news though for the gunners, Ryan Shawcross who was recently called up for an England friendly against Egypt entered on a fifty-fifty ball along with Aaron Ramsey, subsequently injuring Ramsey. It is unsure how long Ramsey will be out, but it could easily be for the rest of the season.
What do you think of this week's action? Comment below!
I am a little upset with you saying that Shawcross made a 50-50 tackle. He had the ball and made the tackle. Why did he have to go in? People keep saying that he isnt a dirty player. He broke Francis Jeffers ankle 2 years ago, He fouled Adebayor last year when he wasnt even on the pitch and now this. I am not saying that he is a bad person but he needs to be shown how to tackle before he hurts someone. Oooppps he already did it. Shawcross has got all the sympathy from this incident while Ramsey is banged up in hospital. The only good thing out of the whole incident is that Glenn Whelan showed what a really good guy he is. He stayed by Ramsey and comforted him and prevented him from looking at his leg. Come you gunners lets win it for Aaron. Rant over
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean by the rant, and as a neutral, I LOVE Arsenal's style, but I think that:
ReplyDelete1) Shawcross, although he has had previous incidents, he can tackle, he can tackle well enough to play for England.
2) Arsenal bring on these types of tackles with their style,
3) We must remember the days that Wenger started out at Arsenal, he let thugs like Vieira and Petit run around bashing other players,
In the end, I think that gunners are jumping on Shawcross (who was so put off that he had his mother drive him back) and everybody else is sympathizing with shawcross.
In the end, just another rant.
How can you say that arsenal bring on these tackles with their style if play ? So you are saying that they should play ugly and slow? The fact that shawcross got called into the England squad means nothing. ask dave nugget , Francis Jeffers and micheal ball. He is a good player but how many legs has John terry, Paulo Maldini etc broken. Ok it is true that Vieria was physical but he didn't break any legs. While poor shawcross was been driven home by his mum poor Ramsey was in an ambulance . 3 injuries like this in 4 years isn't normal
ReplyDeleteTo justify a player breaking another beacuse of the style of play is not good. Shawcross was only called into the england squad because of injuries to others. It was clear that he was upset and also clear he didnt mean to do it but he has done so before and he needs to learn. I think what has upset most Arsenal fans was that Tony Pulis turned and told Sky that Wenger could keep his comments to himself after the game. I think now Pulis knows he was wrong and came out and said that he had contacted Arsenal which is very good. Football is changing and i certainly do not want it to be a non contact sport but it is true what the previous comment says that this is the third time in 4 years. Anyway i really do think that we are not going to see eye to eye on this so let bygones be bygones. All the best
ReplyDeleteUn salud from Spain
Hmm, you all make great points, but what really irks me, and it probably is what makes me change my opinion the most, is Arsene Wenger. I find he is a ruthless manager, and of course he is protecting the players and everything, but if the tackle was on Bobby Zamora, Roy Hodgson would not say the things that Wenger said.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think in the end, all the neutrals see Wenger rambling on, and this makes them very, "anti-arsenal".
When I first saw the tackle I personally thought it was a 'robust' challenge, that if we are being honest, you will see week in week out, against Arsenal, Man Utd, Wolves...anyone. You have to think if Ramsey hadnt broken his leg, would it have been a red? or even a yellow? Even the ref admitted he HAD to send him off simply because of the injury. If you watch the stills, Aaron had the immense misfortune that his boot got stuck in the turf when Shawcross came in.
ReplyDeleteThat said, teams and opposition managers do seem to target Arsenal for a bit of extra rough and tumble....and whilst thats a credit to Arsenals style of play, you can understand why Wenger gets angry about it all. Three horrible injuries in four years cant be a coincidence. Shawcross was unlucky, but he will learn that he cant go in SO gung-ho in the future as legs will be broken, whether he means it or not. Meanwhile lets all hope Ramsey gets back on the pitch soon, he could have no-one better than Eduardo by his side as he starts that long road back to fitness.