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UEFA Cup action

Several English teams took part in the also-ran cup last night with some impressive results.

Everton had a barn-storming night, dispatching SK Brann 6-1 at home to give an aggregate malling of 8-1 to the Toffees.

A Yakubu hat-trick will take the plaudits but there were also goals for strike partner Andrew Johnson (2) that will give lots of confidence to the Merseysiders. Mikel Arteta, who has been having a rather non-productive time as of late, also had a deflected shot go in which will help in his quest for form. An all-round team performance, capped by the goal-scoring abilities of the above three players, will make Moyes a very happy man and will no doubt give the team confidence in the push for fourth in the league and against Fiorentina in the next round.

Tottenham also managed to get through. A 1-1 draw at home to Slavia Prague saw them secure a tie with PSV which could turn out to be the match of the next round. Jamie O’Hara scored for the Spurs but the London club will be indebted to recalled goalkeeper Paul Robinson for some good saves, which earned him praise from his manager.

Bolton had a great result last night, holding Spanish club Athletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw at their place, securing a tie against Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon in the next round. With only work-rate and determination to talk about football wise, the main action from the tie was left to the stands. Bolton have lodged an official complaint with UEFA about Spanish police actions. “overzealous and disproportionate” were the words used. 17 fans were left injured and even British police have said that it was heavy-handed. We’ll have to see what happens in the coming weeks.

Well done to all those English teams for progressing. Spare a thought for Scots Aberdeen who lost to Bayern Munich 5-1. Nuff said.

Wednesday Night Champions League Review

Three UK teams were involved in Champions League games tonight as the tournament reached it’s cup knock out stage. Manchester United traveled to France to face 6 in a row League Champions Lyon, Arsenal played AC Milan at the Emirates and Celtic hosted the almighty Barcelona.

Lyon 1 - 1 Manchester United

Manchester United traveled to France to play Lyon, Alex Ferguson though it was one of the hardest teams to meet at this stage, despite Rangers beating them 3-0 in the group stages. Karim Benzema who was point out as the danger man struck after halftime to give the home side the lead. Karim Benzema, 2o, has now scored 4 goals in the Champions League.

Substitute Carlos Tevez came on to rescue a point, a corner was deflected by Fred to Tevez who poked the ball in the roof of the net.

Arsenal 0-0 AC Milan

Arsenal were unable to break down AC Milan, the away side played for the draw as Arsenal tried to create opening for loan striker Emmanuel Adebayor. The best chance of the game fell to Adebayor who thumped a header against the bar late on from a Walcott cross.

Celtic 2-3 Barcelona

The pick of the games came at Celtic Park where Barcelona came back from behind twice to beat a plucky Celtic. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink put Celtic in the lead after 15 minutes from a powerful header. Lionel Messi equalized moments later but Barry Robson looped in a header to give Celtic a deserved lead going into the half time break. Thierry Henry in the second half smashed home the equalizer and Lionel Messi grabbed a winner, a drag back fooled Gary Caldwell then shot to leave Boruc helpless in the Celtic goal.

Soccer Saturday - Liverpool 1 - 2 Barnsley - Phil Thompson reaction

Last Saturday we witnessed a great cup shock when Barnsley of the Championship beat the stuttering Liverpool. Brian Howard smashed in a 90th minute from 20 yards. As the goal went in at Anfield the lads at the Soccer Saturday studio went wild as Phil Thompson couldn’t believe what was happening.

Grant hit by death threat

 Winning is Everything has learnt that Chelsea boss Avram Grant has recently been the subject of death threats.
Police were called to Chelsea’s training ground yesterday following the appearance of a note sent to Mr Grant which stated that “When you open this letter you will die a very slow and painful death.” In addition to this a packet of white substance was found to accompany the letter – this was later to be found to be harmless.
Although Chelsea Football Club are yet to comment directly on the issue, it is thought that the threats have been generated by a known anti semitic group operating within London.
Mr Grant and his wife Tzofit who is also well known celebrity in Israel are said to be shaken by the situation but are refusing to let it distract them from their day to day business.

Avram has recently returned back to the country following Chelsea’s draw in Athens last night and is said to be totally focused on Sunday’s Carling Cup Final with Spurs.

I guess however that this sort of story makes how consider how important football really is on the scale of things!

FA Cup

So now we have the quarter-finalists, or at least we would were it not for the 0-0 at Sheffield United Middlesbrough, as if you couldn’t see that one coming a mile off.

Todays other game was between Preston and Pompey, with Pompey very fortunate 1-0 winners, a controversial own goal in the 93rd minute getting the win for the south-coast team. Preston had earlier missed a penalty and dominated the second-half, David James providing some excellent keeping to earn his side the result. In the dying moments a later than late Pompey corner, an unseen handball and a cock-up of a clearance by the PNE defence and it was game over.

Yesterday saw some surprises and some not. Chelsea plowed a way through to the QF despite a spirited resistance by Huddersfield. The score ended 3-1 to the home side. Goals from a returning Frank Lampard (2) and Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea the win. Huddersfield did equalise at going in to half-time through Michael Collins but could not hold on.

Cardiff reached the QF for the first time since 1927 via a 2-0 win at home to Wolves. Goals by Jimmy Floyd and Peter Whittingham gave the Bluebirds the victory.

A couple of shocks, in vogue this season, as Barnsley beat Liverpool at Anfield 2-1, in fact coming from behind for the victory which leaves Rafa in a whole load of trouble. Despite Kuyt’s goal in the first half, Barnsley showed grit and determination and through Stephen Foster and a late dramatic winner by Brian Howard. Also up there, though not as high, in the shock stakes were Bristol Rovers as they beat Southampton thanks to a deflected Richard Lambert free-kick.

Last but not least some drubbings. A shock in score line if not in result, Manchester United beat a pathetic Arsenal 4-0. United played with more heart and hunger than their southern opponents and the score was perhaps light on the Gooners. An opening header by Rooney, impressive all night, was followed by another (deflected) Fletcher header before Nani neatly brought done a wonderful Carrick pass and slotted in the third before half-time. Arsenal came out after the break with some ill-conceived aggression and it cost them through a lunge by Eboue on Evra resulting in a red for the former. Fletcher rapped up the scoring and a victory became a rout.

Not to be outdone West Brom defeated Coventry at their place to secure a QF berth. Goals from Roman Bednar (2), Chris Brunt, Ishmael Miller and Zoltan Gera completed the rout. Coventry were unlucky to have Michael Doyle sent off for a foul on Gera and that all but ended the game, West Brom picking off the Sky Blues.

So there are your quarter finalists. The draw is tomorrow at 13.25pm GMT.

DRAW NUMBERS:

1 Bristol Rovers
2 Cardiff City
3 Sheffield United or Middlesbrough
4 Barnsley
5 Manchester United
6 Portsmouth
7 West Bromwich Albion
8 Chelsea

Good luck to all teams remaining, except Chelsea of course.

Europe

Seems that the English clubs in the also-rans competition have a good chance of dominance this year.

Along with Everton’s win Wednesday night, Tottenham and Bolton both won their respective ties last night.

Tottenham strolled to a 2-0 lead at half-time of their match away to Slavia Prague although the headlines were taken by an error by Radek Cerny meaning that a final score of 2-1 in favour of the Spurs, although good, is not what they would have wanted after the first half.

Goals from, who else, Berbatov and Keane gave Tottenham the win but the game changed when Cerny dropped David Hubacek’s cross, allowing David Strihavka to bundle the ball home producing a frantic finish in which Tottenham managed to hang on. Paul Robinson was seen to be doing cartwheels and punching the air although this remains unconfirmed.

Not to be outdone, Bolton gained a very valuable win at home to Athletico Madrid, which is all the more impressive since the lesser Madrid are 4th in the Spanish table. They take a 1-0 lead into the second leg thanks to a Diouf goal with his only chance of the game. Athletico had a man sent off, Aguero who had only graced the pitch 12 minutes after coming on as substitute but the win will still please “the Ginger Mourinho”. Expect on onslaught on the Bolton in the second leg.

Everton win in UEFA: Cup of also-rans

Everton maintain their good chances of winning the UEFA cup in an impressive season by beating SK Brann 2-0 away in Norway.

Goals by Leon Osman and Victor Anichebe saw them take a lead into the second leg that most peeps would assume to be enough for them to get through.

A late scare in the first-half was the best that the home side could muster, former-Pompey striker Karadas bundling in a corner, the goal being ruled out for a foul on keeper Tim Howard by former Leeds midfield man Eirik Bakke.

Everton broke the deadlock on 59 mins, thanks to Osman’s technique and skill, sending a low, swerving shot past keeper Opdal.

With three minutes left, Lescott whipped in a superb cross converted through Anichebe.

Manager Moyes was very happy with Yaks after he put in lots of work during the game with no goal-reward. After his recent antics and subsequent punishment, this may signal that there are no hard feelings.

Well done the Toffees, its always nice to get English teams through in Europe.

Everyone goes Italian

Giovanni Trapattoni will be named Republic of Ireland boss.

This will probably happen at 5pm today apparently. Eire or the Republic of Ireland to these shores felt left out when England has an Italian manager and of course Italy has one too so they thought that they would get their own.

Current reports suggest that it’s a two-year contract starting in May. This is when his current employment at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg finish their season.

Old boy ‘Trappy’ (as we like to call him) won six Serie A titles with Juventus and one with Inter Milan. He also helmed at Bayern Munich, Benfica and Salzburg taking them to league titles also.

He has European honours including the European Cup, three UEFA Cups and a Cup Winners’ Cup triumph during his spells at Juventus and Inter.

Trappy will have to face his old haunt as Italy (whom he also used to manage, boy this guy is a management hoar) will be at home to the Republic on April Fool’s Day in 2009 with the return game taking place at Croke Park six months later on 10 October.

Arsenal move 5 points clear

After a interesting weekend of action Arsenal managed to move five points clear of Manchester Untied thanks to a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers tonight at the Emirates. It was always going to be tough for Blackburn who lost 6-2 last season at the Emirates, it didn’t take long for the home side to break the deadlock with defender Philippe Senderos heading home from a corner on 4 minuets.

The home side did have to wait till late in the second half to seal the points when Emmanuel Adebayor fired in, Adebayor had been denied several goals in the game due to some great saves form Brad Friedel. The goal did move Adebayor level top of the top scorer in the Premiership with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Overall it was Adebayor’s 22nd goal of the season, he’s scored in the last 9 games on the trot.

Manchester United 1 - 2 Manchester City

Manchester United 1 - 2 Manchester City

After a Saturday’s matches attentions turned to the Manchester derby to complete the weekends action. The match also marked the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. A minutes silence was perfectly respected from all inside the stadium, home and away fans although there were fireworks from outside Old Trafford. United, in a replica kit from 1958 lined up 1 to 11, but the 11 from the other half of Manchester proved to be too much for the home side to handle.

City took the lead from a break away, Petrov played in Ireland who’s shot was saved by Van der Saar, Vassell followed up with a shot, again saved by Van der Saar and on the third attempt Vassell thrashed the ball in past Van der Saar. City doubled the lead before half time, once again Petrov the instigator. His cross from a cleared corned was flicked on by Benjani into the far post for a debut goal.

It was expected that United would come out on top in the second half but with only Tevez upfront they missed the class and desire of Wayne Rooney. City held strong with the odd save being made by Joe Hart. Substitute Micheal Carrick slotted in a consolation goal in injury time but it was too little too late. The win gives City a double over their rivals who lose for the first time in the league at Old Trafford this season.

Chelsea 0 - 0 Liverpool

The second of the game of the day gave the chance for Chelsea to move one point behind United if they could beat the misfiring Liverpool. It was the visitors to Stampford Bridge who should have taken the lead, Peter Crouch volleying wide. Before that Chelsea were unlucky not to have a penalty when Javier Mascherano clattered into Joe Cole. Once again a Liverpool V Chelsea match failed to live up to the billing, so much I left the pub at half time and listened to the rest on Five Live.

Arsenal now have the chance to move 5 points ahead of Manchester United if they beat Blackburn Rovers tomorrow night

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