Playing strictly for pride, given their spot in the Europa League is secured, Everton handed West Ham a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park. With the Hammers hopeful for a berth on the European stage and mired in financial collapse of owner Björgólfur Guðmundsson, the loss was a difficult blow for the East London side.
Using the match as a high quality tune-up prior to the months end FA Cup final against Chelsea, David Moyes fielded a starting eleven that will likely take the pitch at Wembley. Despite the Toffees early efforts Gianfranco Zola's side took the lead six minute prior to the half hour as Czech international Radoslav Kováč sent a shocking drive from thirty metres plus in. The match was proceeding without a significant moment shift until seven minutes were left in the half as James Tomkins adjudged to bringing down Tim Cahill and along with a penalty awarded was sent off with a straight red-card. Louis Saha, starting in place of Jô squared the match up but with the man advantage the Toffees were ready to open the floodgates. Three minutes after the restart Joseph Yobo took advantage of poor defending to send in Steven Pienaar's corner to give Everton the lead. Although both sides had chances quickly thereafter it wasn't till fourteen minutes remained when Pienaar crossed from the byline for Louis Saha to send to the back of the net for his second of the day, giving Everton the 3-1 victory.
With the whistle Everton jumps to fifth in the table and looks ahead to the final Premier League match of the year against Fulham with is of-course the FA Cup final at Wembley on 30 May. However with was their last appearance at Goodison and it was a time to celebrate the extraordinary season with their supporters one last time.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
VfB's 2-0 victory over Cottbus leads to exciting finish
With VfB's 2-0 victory over Cottbus at the Neckarstadion on Saturday, the Bundesliga championship race will come down to the final weekend. Trailing first place by two points, Markus Babbel's side look ahead to their match against Bayern München knowing a victory along with Bremen's upset of Wolfsburg will cap a stunning comeback with the Bundesliga title.
Without Mario Gómez and Sami Khedira in the lineup the capacity ground urged VfB on against a gritty tough Cottbus side. Those expecting a slow start to the match were surprised as both sides were advancing early with a series of close chances. However at the nineteenth minute VfB took the lead as Thomas Hitzlsperger's free-kick from the right managed to go untouched before bouncing in off the far post and in. Cottbus continued to fight back and were for the most part created the sole chances after the break. In the final quarter hour Shao Jiayi formerly of CSL's Beijing Guoan came close but his effort rang off the crossbar (Jens willed to) and with twelve minutes left VfB scored a much needed insurance goal. With Cottbus exposed at the back, Markus Babbel's side countered with a long pass to the left flank finding Mario Gómez, who had come on ten minutes early, with the striker crossing back to the centre for Cacau to finish from ten metres.
Without Mario Gómez and Sami Khedira in the lineup the capacity ground urged VfB on against a gritty tough Cottbus side. Those expecting a slow start to the match were surprised as both sides were advancing early with a series of close chances. However at the nineteenth minute VfB took the lead as Thomas Hitzlsperger's free-kick from the right managed to go untouched before bouncing in off the far post and in. Cottbus continued to fight back and were for the most part created the sole chances after the break. In the final quarter hour Shao Jiayi formerly of CSL's Beijing Guoan came close but his effort rang off the crossbar (Jens willed to) and with twelve minutes left VfB scored a much needed insurance goal. With Cottbus exposed at the back, Markus Babbel's side countered with a long pass to the left flank finding Mario Gómez, who had come on ten minutes early, with the striker crossing back to the centre for Cacau to finish from ten metres.
Rangers defeat Aberdeen 2-1
The Rangers put pressure on Celtic in the race for the SPL championship with a 2-1 victory over Aberdeen at Ibrox. The victory provides the Gers a three point lead on Celtic with the defending champions facing Hibernian Sunday afternoon, however the goal production is certainly disappointing given the goal differential could prove to decide the final position.
From the disappointing mid-week draw to Hibs, Walter Smith included Saša Papac, Kyle Lafferty and Kenny Miller into the starting eleven. After a series of fine attacking advances by the Gers, Charlie Mulgrew was shown a straight red-card for violent conduct or at least intent for violent conduct because contact was minimal with Kyle Lafferty likely pursuing his SAG card shortly given his brilliant thespian abilities. Presuming the calls needed to be "evened-up" Madjid Bougherra was sent off five minutes before the break in another harsh red-card. After the restart, with the referee assured he was the centre of attention, the Rangers continued to with a modest edge in momentum but were far from finding the mark. At the hour Barry Ferguson returned to the fold coming in for Pedro Mendes and only five minutes later the Gers had the lead as Richard Foster redirected Kenny Miller's cross in as a own goal. Two minutes later, Nacho Novo's corner was sent in by Kenny Miller to provide the Rangers a goal margin. However in dire need to closing down Celtic lead in goal differential, the Gers were denied by Aberdeen and with thirteen minutes remaining in regulation Michael Paton accepted Gary McDonald's provision before sending in.
The Rangers await next Sunday's final match against Dundee United with a very likely goal outpouring needed.
From the disappointing mid-week draw to Hibs, Walter Smith included Saša Papac, Kyle Lafferty and Kenny Miller into the starting eleven. After a series of fine attacking advances by the Gers, Charlie Mulgrew was shown a straight red-card for violent conduct or at least intent for violent conduct because contact was minimal with Kyle Lafferty likely pursuing his SAG card shortly given his brilliant thespian abilities. Presuming the calls needed to be "evened-up" Madjid Bougherra was sent off five minutes before the break in another harsh red-card. After the restart, with the referee assured he was the centre of attention, the Rangers continued to with a modest edge in momentum but were far from finding the mark. At the hour Barry Ferguson returned to the fold coming in for Pedro Mendes and only five minutes later the Gers had the lead as Richard Foster redirected Kenny Miller's cross in as a own goal. Two minutes later, Nacho Novo's corner was sent in by Kenny Miller to provide the Rangers a goal margin. However in dire need to closing down Celtic lead in goal differential, the Gers were denied by Aberdeen and with thirteen minutes remaining in regulation Michael Paton accepted Gary McDonald's provision before sending in.
The Rangers await next Sunday's final match against Dundee United with a very likely goal outpouring needed.
Borussia Mönchengladbach nears great escape despite loss
Borussia's "Nur der VFL" idea fell apart as Leverkusen dealt them their worst defeat of the Rückrunde, losing 5-0. The defeat aside, Borussia was fortunate that Dortmund defeated Bielefeld 6-0, resulting in actually improving the goal differential heading into the final weekend of the Bundesliga season.
The only absence to Hans Meyer's lineup was the loss of Paul Stalteri and for the first thirty minutes Borussia was showing the attacking initiative along with good defending patience. However Borussia's thin squad showed fatigue in its third match in six days and began to be picked apart by Leverkusen with its attacking runs on the flank. The first goal came at the thirty-first minute and typified Leverkusen's successful run as Stefan Kießling charged into the box and with sufficient space picked out the far bottom corner. the area and without a challenge from Roel Brouwers we sent the ball in off the far post. Using the same template Leverkusen added their second a minute prior to the break as Gonzalo Castro sent a low cross from the right flank into six-yard box that Patrick Helmes re-directed in. Looking to get back into the match, Hans Meyer brought in Sebastian Schachten and Marco Marin at the break but Leverkusen continued on, first with Gonzalo Castro hitting from the right side eight minutes after the restart with Michal Kadlec and own-goal by Dante to round out the scoring.
It is a difficult test to find something positive of the match but the size of the Dortmund victory was an huge gift. Borussia now heads into the final weekend three points above Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottbus but with a significant lead in goal differential. With the final week ahead Borussia faces one of the hottest teams in Bundesliga, Dortmund, in need of a point to guarantee the great escape.
The only absence to Hans Meyer's lineup was the loss of Paul Stalteri and for the first thirty minutes Borussia was showing the attacking initiative along with good defending patience. However Borussia's thin squad showed fatigue in its third match in six days and began to be picked apart by Leverkusen with its attacking runs on the flank. The first goal came at the thirty-first minute and typified Leverkusen's successful run as Stefan Kießling charged into the box and with sufficient space picked out the far bottom corner. the area and without a challenge from Roel Brouwers we sent the ball in off the far post. Using the same template Leverkusen added their second a minute prior to the break as Gonzalo Castro sent a low cross from the right flank into six-yard box that Patrick Helmes re-directed in. Looking to get back into the match, Hans Meyer brought in Sebastian Schachten and Marco Marin at the break but Leverkusen continued on, first with Gonzalo Castro hitting from the right side eight minutes after the restart with Michal Kadlec and own-goal by Dante to round out the scoring.
It is a difficult test to find something positive of the match but the size of the Dortmund victory was an huge gift. Borussia now heads into the final weekend three points above Arminia Bielefeld and Energie Cottbus but with a significant lead in goal differential. With the final week ahead Borussia faces one of the hottest teams in Bundesliga, Dortmund, in need of a point to guarantee the great escape.
BVB close in on Europa League with 6-0 hammering of Bielefeld
Die Schwarzgelben responded to Tuesdays defeat with a 6-0 devastation of Bielefeld at Westfalenstadion. The victory, combined with Köln's upset of Hamburg, pushes the Dortmunders into a Europa League spot.
Without a change to BVB-Cheftrainer Jürgen Klopp's starting eleven from prior weeks the visiting schwarz-weiß-blauen imposed a difficult defensive approach early. However two minutes prior to the half Alexander Frei sent a free kick from the left into the box that the captain, Sebastian Kehl, rose high to out-duel Bielefeld 'keeper Dennis Eilhoff and headed the ball in. After the break, possibly because news had leaked around Westfalenstadion of Köln's upset brewing, BVB came out and took advantage of the visitors being forced to open up their play. Eight minutes after the re-start the score was doubled as Polish international Jakub Błaszczykowski came down the right wing before sending to Nelson Valdez near the byline, whose cross to Frei in-close came out to Tamás Hajnal to finish from six metres out. The third goal came with twenty-one minutes left as Kuba chased down a long through ball down the right flank and outracing the defender sent a perfect cross that Valdez redirected into the back of the net via a sliding touch. After the goal Jürgen Klopp allowed Valdez to leave the match to the cheers of 80,000 plus and only three minutes later his replacement, Mohamed Zidan, created the fourth goal. To the left of the box near the byline the Egyptian international sent a perfect low pass near the spot that Tamás Hajnal allowed to go through to Kehl to drive in. Up 4-0, the celebration continued with regular updates of Köln's success still being the hot topic but with six minutes later it was 5-0 as Dedê's cross from the left was headed in by Tinga from the top of the six yard box. Finally Mohamed Zidan puncuateted the celebration as he made it 6-0 with a drive from just inside the box three minutes from time.
Without a change to BVB-Cheftrainer Jürgen Klopp's starting eleven from prior weeks the visiting schwarz-weiß-blauen imposed a difficult defensive approach early. However two minutes prior to the half Alexander Frei sent a free kick from the left into the box that the captain, Sebastian Kehl, rose high to out-duel Bielefeld 'keeper Dennis Eilhoff and headed the ball in. After the break, possibly because news had leaked around Westfalenstadion of Köln's upset brewing, BVB came out and took advantage of the visitors being forced to open up their play. Eight minutes after the re-start the score was doubled as Polish international Jakub Błaszczykowski came down the right wing before sending to Nelson Valdez near the byline, whose cross to Frei in-close came out to Tamás Hajnal to finish from six metres out. The third goal came with twenty-one minutes left as Kuba chased down a long through ball down the right flank and outracing the defender sent a perfect cross that Valdez redirected into the back of the net via a sliding touch. After the goal Jürgen Klopp allowed Valdez to leave the match to the cheers of 80,000 plus and only three minutes later his replacement, Mohamed Zidan, created the fourth goal. To the left of the box near the byline the Egyptian international sent a perfect low pass near the spot that Tamás Hajnal allowed to go through to Kehl to drive in. Up 4-0, the celebration continued with regular updates of Köln's success still being the hot topic but with six minutes later it was 5-0 as Dedê's cross from the left was headed in by Tinga from the top of the six yard box. Finally Mohamed Zidan puncuateted the celebration as he made it 6-0 with a drive from just inside the box three minutes from time.
Lokomotiv Moskva keeps chugging along with 4-0 win over Terek Grozny
Vladimir Maminov's unbeaten string at the end of Lokomotiv Moskva continued as his side devoured Terek Grozny 4-0. Despite urging patience when he took over, Mr. Maminov has restored the pride and passion of Lokomotiv only as a playing veteran of sixteen seasons could and has moved them to the top half of the table.
With Dmitri Sychev and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov out of the starting eleven, Lokomotiv's attacking trident comprised the highly promising Aleksandr Minchenkov, Peter Odemwingie and Romanian international Răzvan Cociş. Lokomotiv took the lead thirteen minutes in a Peter Odemwingie outraced Grozny defender Sergei Bendz to a long ball to the right before slotting it to the near post past 'keeper Rizavdi Edilov. The young Grozny goalkeepers day was made worse with a dreadful piece of defending as eight minutes prior to the hour as a long free-kick from the right was headed on by Răzvan Cociş into the box and after both Radoslav Zabavník and Jean Bouli failed to clear, Peter Odemwingie drove the loose ball in from inside the six yard box to make it 2-0. Four minutes past the hour Grozny was forced to play a man down as former Rapid Bucureşti-man Daniel Pancu was shown his second yellow-card of the day. Only a minute later Renat Yanbayev was the architect of the third goal as he drew the ball back from the byline to Dennis Glushakov who closed out perfectly from close-range. As time ran down Grozny were victimized by a less than memorable goal as David Mujiri's corner from the left skipped into the net and in without being touched.
With Dmitri Sychev and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov out of the starting eleven, Lokomotiv's attacking trident comprised the highly promising Aleksandr Minchenkov, Peter Odemwingie and Romanian international Răzvan Cociş. Lokomotiv took the lead thirteen minutes in a Peter Odemwingie outraced Grozny defender Sergei Bendz to a long ball to the right before slotting it to the near post past 'keeper Rizavdi Edilov. The young Grozny goalkeepers day was made worse with a dreadful piece of defending as eight minutes prior to the hour as a long free-kick from the right was headed on by Răzvan Cociş into the box and after both Radoslav Zabavník and Jean Bouli failed to clear, Peter Odemwingie drove the loose ball in from inside the six yard box to make it 2-0. Four minutes past the hour Grozny was forced to play a man down as former Rapid Bucureşti-man Daniel Pancu was shown his second yellow-card of the day. Only a minute later Renat Yanbayev was the architect of the third goal as he drew the ball back from the byline to Dennis Glushakov who closed out perfectly from close-range. As time ran down Grozny were victimized by a less than memorable goal as David Mujiri's corner from the left skipped into the net and in without being touched.
Genoa heads to final three weeks against Chievo
With three remaining weeks in their extraordinary Serie A campaign, Genoa welcomes Chievo to Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday afternoon. Any attempt to label the year pales in comparison to the actual accomplishments as Genoa turned the corner from the problematic 90's, re-emerged in Serie A last year and now sits on the cusp of winning a berth in the Europa League.
Naturally, as is so often the case, success has brought many admirers and with the end of the year in sight rumours are rampant of the future of talisman striker Diego Milito, Giandomenico Mesto and Boško Janković to name only a few. Speculation is futile at this point but as the Footballing world grapples with its financial underpinnings being shook out, there will be a number of opportunities that a club with a sturdy balance sheet can take care of. This is particularly important for a club such as Genoa and while it pains me to say it, Rossoblu supporters need to prepared for a number of changes.
Certainly one of the hottest commodities in the Serie A is the leadership of Gian Piero Gasperini, who many believe is nearing his final period in charge of Genoa. That not-so hot little rumour aside the Rossoblu leader enters a particular period with his side close to securing a spot in Europa but sputtering to the finish line. After a brilliant start to the second half of the year, Genoa are chugging along and lost some of their shine recently. With their tactical plan becoming remarkably predictable he has been slowly tinkering the formation and in light of a series of absences he is likely to use four in the backline in a 4-2-3-1. Whether this maintains its shape is reason for concern as when using this lineup in the past they have often drifted to more of a stacked and packed midfield and much of their attacking vision has slowed with fear of going forward. Should they utilize this formation Diego Milito will play up-top with support provided by a quorum of Giuseppe Sculli, Omar Milanetto, Raffaele Palladino and Boško Janković, who continues to exhibit his vast potential as he did coming up through the ranks of Crvena Zvezda.
As they approach Sunday's affair against the visitors from beautiful Verona, Genoa will be without the services of versatile Giandomenico Mesto, Domenico Criscito and former AEK man Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Chievo, who many felt "a lock" for relegation at the start of the campaign have simply been outstanding of-late as they have scratched and clawed their way out of the basement. With recent top shelf draws against Roma, Inter Milan and Juventus they have exhibited a curmudgeonly approach to defending and Genoa should anticipate the same on Sunday.
Naturally, as is so often the case, success has brought many admirers and with the end of the year in sight rumours are rampant of the future of talisman striker Diego Milito, Giandomenico Mesto and Boško Janković to name only a few. Speculation is futile at this point but as the Footballing world grapples with its financial underpinnings being shook out, there will be a number of opportunities that a club with a sturdy balance sheet can take care of. This is particularly important for a club such as Genoa and while it pains me to say it, Rossoblu supporters need to prepared for a number of changes.
Certainly one of the hottest commodities in the Serie A is the leadership of Gian Piero Gasperini, who many believe is nearing his final period in charge of Genoa. That not-so hot little rumour aside the Rossoblu leader enters a particular period with his side close to securing a spot in Europa but sputtering to the finish line. After a brilliant start to the second half of the year, Genoa are chugging along and lost some of their shine recently. With their tactical plan becoming remarkably predictable he has been slowly tinkering the formation and in light of a series of absences he is likely to use four in the backline in a 4-2-3-1. Whether this maintains its shape is reason for concern as when using this lineup in the past they have often drifted to more of a stacked and packed midfield and much of their attacking vision has slowed with fear of going forward. Should they utilize this formation Diego Milito will play up-top with support provided by a quorum of Giuseppe Sculli, Omar Milanetto, Raffaele Palladino and Boško Janković, who continues to exhibit his vast potential as he did coming up through the ranks of Crvena Zvezda.
As they approach Sunday's affair against the visitors from beautiful Verona, Genoa will be without the services of versatile Giandomenico Mesto, Domenico Criscito and former AEK man Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Chievo, who many felt "a lock" for relegation at the start of the campaign have simply been outstanding of-late as they have scratched and clawed their way out of the basement. With recent top shelf draws against Roma, Inter Milan and Juventus they have exhibited a curmudgeonly approach to defending and Genoa should anticipate the same on Sunday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
