The Citizens hopes for the Europa League ended with a 2-1 loss to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday afternoon. With Man City targeting a number of top shelf players, the impact of not winning a Europa League berth could greatly reduce the lure of signing with the club.
With so much on the line for both sides, Man City's performance was a hearty slice shy of being sufficient and if wasn't for Shay Given the score line could have been significantly worse. After a number of top quality chances, Tottenham found the mark just past the half hour as Jermaine Jenas linked to Tom Huddlestone before his cross was half-volleyed in by Jermaine Defoe past the City 'keeper. Losing Elano to injury Pablo Zabaleta was ushered in and despite a few respectable efforts City was unable to level the match until five minutes past the hour when Valeri Bojinov found the mark. Just on the outskirts of the box, Stephen Ireland one-touched a perfect chip to Benjani who brought the ball down to the Bulgarian international who then sent it in the far side of the net. With the match already dotted with a peculiar incident at the half between Jermaine Defoe and a assistant referee, at the seventy-fifth minute Roman Pavlyuchenko stormed off the pitch as he was pulled for Fraizer Campbell. Not to be outdone with four minutes remaining referee Mark Halsey adjudged Micah Richards to bringing down Fraizer Campbell in a highly questionable call with Robbie Keane converting to make it 2-1. Despite having a quality chance to level the match late with Benjani's point-blank chance the match ended without further mark.
Despite considerable commentary from City's management that failure to qualify for European football, this will definitely complicate their efforts and will rule out a number of top shelf players
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wolfsburg edges closer to historic first Bundesliga title
Wolfsburg edged closer to its historic first Bundesliga title with a empowering 5-0 defeat of Hannover 96 in the Niedersachsenderby. Led by Edin Džeko three goals, Wolfsburg stands atop the Bundesliga, ahead of both Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart by two points with a next weeks crucial match against Werder Bremen being the decider.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international, Edin Džeko, who started his professional career in his native Sarajevo for Željezničar opened the scoring fourteen minutes in as he controlled Makoto Hasebe provision before driving the ball past Robert Enke from just outside the box. Three minutes past the half hour Marcel Schäfer sent a low cross into the box the young Bosnian redirected to Grafite who sent it to the back of the net. Only three minutes later, from nearly the same spot Christian Gentner crossed to Grafite, who after out-dueling Mario Eggimann, made it 3-0 from close range. After the break Zvjezdan Misimović set up his countryman Džeko who escaped Sergio Pinto as he escaped his mark before heading the ball in. With eleven minutes remaining, Wolfsburg took a 5-0 lead as Makoto Hasebe's cross from the lead was nodded in by Edin Džeko for his third of the day.
On Saturday Wolfsburg faces Werder Bremen to seal the title in the final match day of the Bundesliga campaign.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina international, Edin Džeko, who started his professional career in his native Sarajevo for Željezničar opened the scoring fourteen minutes in as he controlled Makoto Hasebe provision before driving the ball past Robert Enke from just outside the box. Three minutes past the half hour Marcel Schäfer sent a low cross into the box the young Bosnian redirected to Grafite who sent it to the back of the net. Only three minutes later, from nearly the same spot Christian Gentner crossed to Grafite, who after out-dueling Mario Eggimann, made it 3-0 from close range. After the break Zvjezdan Misimović set up his countryman Džeko who escaped Sergio Pinto as he escaped his mark before heading the ball in. With eleven minutes remaining, Wolfsburg took a 5-0 lead as Makoto Hasebe's cross from the lead was nodded in by Edin Džeko for his third of the day.
On Saturday Wolfsburg faces Werder Bremen to seal the title in the final match day of the Bundesliga campaign.
Schalke frustrates Hertha BSC
Die Königsblauen put forth a brilliant effort Saturday afternoon as they stymied Hertha BSC in route to a nil draw at the Olympiastadion. With chances for European football long since forgotten the match was effectively for pride and with the Berliners still fighting for the Bundesliga title, it was an extraordinary performance.
With Heiko Westermann and Halil Altintop back in the lineup, Schalke was resolute in returning from their journey to the capital with a point. Complete ball possession dominated the proceeding as Schalke greatly limited the Berliners efforts. However that isn't to say they didn't have their chances, most notably with Crvena Zvezda product Marko Pantelić consistently denied by "man of the match", Schalke 'keeper Manuel Neuer. On the opposite end, Schalke's efforts were pinned back most notably with Pál Dárdai and Serbian international Gojko Kačar keeping advances in-check. Just before the hour mark Andriy Voronin came in for Hertha but there was no way through as the match ended without a score.
Schalke's season comes to a close next Saturday against Hoffenheim at home in Gelsenkirchen.
With Heiko Westermann and Halil Altintop back in the lineup, Schalke was resolute in returning from their journey to the capital with a point. Complete ball possession dominated the proceeding as Schalke greatly limited the Berliners efforts. However that isn't to say they didn't have their chances, most notably with Crvena Zvezda product Marko Pantelić consistently denied by "man of the match", Schalke 'keeper Manuel Neuer. On the opposite end, Schalke's efforts were pinned back most notably with Pál Dárdai and Serbian international Gojko Kačar keeping advances in-check. Just before the hour mark Andriy Voronin came in for Hertha but there was no way through as the match ended without a score.
Schalke's season comes to a close next Saturday against Hoffenheim at home in Gelsenkirchen.
1899 spoils Bayern title hopes
Despite not having a lot to play for 1899 played Bayern München to a 2-2 draw. While the single point has little impact for Ralf Rangnick's side, it is a moral victory to build upon and additionally ends Bayern's hopes for winning the Bundesliga title.
A capacity crowd at Rhein-Neckar-Arena witnessed a end-to-end match in which the visitors took the lead sixteen minutes in with Franck Ribéry netting Lukas Podolski's provision. However only seven minutes later Demba Ba squared the match with a drive that took a strong deflection into the back of the net. The fast pace continued with Carlos Eduardo putting 1899 ahead two minutes before the half hour. Bayern raced back and after a number of close efforts Luca Toni leveled the match just before the whistle. After the restart Bayern was desperate to find the winning goal, given the draw would end their chances at the title but that is precisely what happened as 1899 held them back.
After the difficult slide in the Rückrunde, 1899 has quietly slipped into a three match unbeaten streak. Perfect to build on for next year as 1899 finishes the year next Saturday against Schalke.
A capacity crowd at Rhein-Neckar-Arena witnessed a end-to-end match in which the visitors took the lead sixteen minutes in with Franck Ribéry netting Lukas Podolski's provision. However only seven minutes later Demba Ba squared the match with a drive that took a strong deflection into the back of the net. The fast pace continued with Carlos Eduardo putting 1899 ahead two minutes before the half hour. Bayern raced back and after a number of close efforts Luca Toni leveled the match just before the whistle. After the restart Bayern was desperate to find the winning goal, given the draw would end their chances at the title but that is precisely what happened as 1899 held them back.
After the difficult slide in the Rückrunde, 1899 has quietly slipped into a three match unbeaten streak. Perfect to build on for next year as 1899 finishes the year next Saturday against Schalke.
Die Geißböcke play spoiler, defeating Hamburg 1-0
Die Geißböcke took a step closer to Cheftrainer Christoph Daum's goals of forty points with a 1-0 defeat of Hamburg at Volksparkstadion. The victory simultaneously brings the two match slide to an end but also stakes Köln's claim as the "spoiler" as result casts HSV's once brilliant season on the verge of disaster as they have now slipped from a spot in European football.
Once again Thomas Kessler was handled the goalkeeping duties with Faryd Mondragon out but Köln was further challenged without top-scorer Milivoje Novakovič, Pierre Wome and Youssef Mohamad. Surprising because of the poor quality defending Köln scored the only goal of the day nine minutes in as Kessler's long ball down the middle was left unchallenged and after bouncing Fabrice Ehret held off Collin Benjamin for the ball and fired the ball in from twelve metres. How this evaded attention of both Guy Demel and Joris Mathijsen was surprising however the key fundamental error of proved to be the catalyst of Köln's goal. For the balance of the match HSV were unable to press into the final third and picture perfect defending of Köln didn't allow a single notable attempt challenge Thomas Kessler's day.
Next Saturday RheinEnergieStadion will be the setting for the final match of the year as Köln welcomes Bochum.
Once again Thomas Kessler was handled the goalkeeping duties with Faryd Mondragon out but Köln was further challenged without top-scorer Milivoje Novakovič, Pierre Wome and Youssef Mohamad. Surprising because of the poor quality defending Köln scored the only goal of the day nine minutes in as Kessler's long ball down the middle was left unchallenged and after bouncing Fabrice Ehret held off Collin Benjamin for the ball and fired the ball in from twelve metres. How this evaded attention of both Guy Demel and Joris Mathijsen was surprising however the key fundamental error of proved to be the catalyst of Köln's goal. For the balance of the match HSV were unable to press into the final third and picture perfect defending of Köln didn't allow a single notable attempt challenge Thomas Kessler's day.
Next Saturday RheinEnergieStadion will be the setting for the final match of the year as Köln welcomes Bochum.
Bochum defeats Eintracht 2-0
Secure of their spot in the Bundesliga next season, Eintracht dropped Saturday's match 2-0 to Bochum. A strong group of traveling die Adler supporters, never to be held back in their efforts made the short trip to the Bochumer Stadion. The streets were packed and the always notable presence of Germany's best fans could not be slowed. Efforts to inspire our team who will never surrender, were highly vocal and definitely were well received by the team.
Needing to shuffle the lineup Chris, Michael Fink and Sebastian Jung came in for Habib Bellaid, Nikos Liberopoulos and Patrick Ochs. After Eintracht came up empty with a few good scoring chances, notably Alexander Meier's effort cleared off the line, Bochum took a 1-0 lead as Joël Epalle's cross from the left was headed in by Vahid Hashemian. After the break Nikos Liberopoulos was brought-in but the striking tandem still couldn't break through. Finally with eighteen minutes left Diego Klimowicz sent in a loss ball after a series of efforts by Hashemian and Epalle were saved by Markus Pröll. Eintracht came close late with Markus Steinhöfer and Alexander Meier driving to the last minutes but the match ended 2-0.
Eintracht's farewell performance of the year features HSV at Waldstadion and as always support will imposing.
Needing to shuffle the lineup Chris, Michael Fink and Sebastian Jung came in for Habib Bellaid, Nikos Liberopoulos and Patrick Ochs. After Eintracht came up empty with a few good scoring chances, notably Alexander Meier's effort cleared off the line, Bochum took a 1-0 lead as Joël Epalle's cross from the left was headed in by Vahid Hashemian. After the break Nikos Liberopoulos was brought-in but the striking tandem still couldn't break through. Finally with eighteen minutes left Diego Klimowicz sent in a loss ball after a series of efforts by Hashemian and Epalle were saved by Markus Pröll. Eintracht came close late with Markus Steinhöfer and Alexander Meier driving to the last minutes but the match ended 2-0.
Eintracht's farewell performance of the year features HSV at Waldstadion and as always support will imposing.
Bayer Leverkusen trample Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-0
If Bruno Labbadia was looking for a reaction from Tuesday's loss to Bayern München he got it as Werkself, in their final match in Düsseldorf, pounded Gladbach into submission 5-0. However far beyond the victory the match was highlighted by the glorious return of veteran Bernd Schneider.
The derby against the Gladbachern started with the visitors looking strong but after a failed attempt, a packed LTU Arena was on its feet as Stefan Kießling gave Bayer 04 the lead just past the half-hour. Accepting a ball on the right with a great deal of space, he stormed into the area and without a challenge from Roel Brouwers we sent the ball in off the far post. Knowing full-well that Borussia's Tomáš Galásek and Dante create formidable defending interior, Werkself continued to try and create space with flanking assaults and just before the break it was 2-0 as Tony Kross absorbed collapsing Gladbach defenders before supplying Gonzalo Castro the ball on the wide open right flank. Moving into the area he sent a low cross that Patrick Helmes edged into the near post. As Gladbach's efforts to get back to match started to slow, Werkself went into overdrive as Gonzalo Castro made it 3-0 eight minutes past the hour when he sent the ball in from a acute angle on the right. Entering for Toni Kross six minutes before Bernd Schneider created the fourth goal as his chip from the right was headed in by Michal Kadlec a few metres out. For the fifth goal, once again coming from the right Gonzalo Castro's cross was sent in by Dante in a awkward own goal as he was under no pressure.
With the victory, Werkself has one remaining week in the Bundesliga season before the all-important DFB Pokal final and a chance for the Europa League
The derby against the Gladbachern started with the visitors looking strong but after a failed attempt, a packed LTU Arena was on its feet as Stefan Kießling gave Bayer 04 the lead just past the half-hour. Accepting a ball on the right with a great deal of space, he stormed into the area and without a challenge from Roel Brouwers we sent the ball in off the far post. Knowing full-well that Borussia's Tomáš Galásek and Dante create formidable defending interior, Werkself continued to try and create space with flanking assaults and just before the break it was 2-0 as Tony Kross absorbed collapsing Gladbach defenders before supplying Gonzalo Castro the ball on the wide open right flank. Moving into the area he sent a low cross that Patrick Helmes edged into the near post. As Gladbach's efforts to get back to match started to slow, Werkself went into overdrive as Gonzalo Castro made it 3-0 eight minutes past the hour when he sent the ball in from a acute angle on the right. Entering for Toni Kross six minutes before Bernd Schneider created the fourth goal as his chip from the right was headed in by Michal Kadlec a few metres out. For the fifth goal, once again coming from the right Gonzalo Castro's cross was sent in by Dante in a awkward own goal as he was under no pressure.
With the victory, Werkself has one remaining week in the Bundesliga season before the all-important DFB Pokal final and a chance for the Europa League
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
