At the beginning of the season, many pundits predicted a three-way fight between Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool for the title while Arsenal would slip out of the "Big Four." Well after eleven games, it's Liverpool who find themselves on the outside looking in due to a string of irregular performances. Indeed, after topping Manchester United 2-0 last week, the Reds fell 3-1 against Fulham this week in a game where both Carragher and Degen were sent off. Meanwhile Arsenal trounced "Big Four" contender Tottenham with a 3-0 win that puts the Gunners in third place with a game in hand. In other games, Manchester United bounced back from last week's defeat with a 2-0 win against Blackburn while Chelsea thrashed Bolton 4-0 with another flawless performance. The full results follow.
After an interesting round of Champions League games midweek, the big talk last weekend was the meeting between a struggling Liverpool and Manchester United. Thankfully for Liverpool, Fernando Torres was fit enough to play and led the team to a 2-0 victory over the defending champions. United's defeat allowed Chelsea to reclaim the top spot as quietly went about their business with a dominating 5-0 win against Blackburn. The full results follow.
It was an interesting round of the Champions League this week as several results went against most experts' predictions. Several teams who were expected to be punching bags in their respective groups are surprisingly pulling great results out of thin air, making some groups' outcome difficult to judge even after three games.
- Group A -
After getting a draw against Juventus in Day 1, the French champions have taken complete control of the group with wins against Maccabi Haifa and Bayern Munich. The latter result came against a nine-man Munich who saw both Muller and Van Buyten sent off with red cards. Juventus took second place of the group after beating Maccabi Haifa to the score of 1-0.
Group B is one of the few groups where there is a clear-cut order. Manchester United stayed perfect, collecting all nine points after three games while Wolfsburg sits in second place after their draw against Besiktas.
CSKA Moscow Manchester United: 0-1
A depleted Manchester United found its way to victory in the final minutes of the game when Valencia beat Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev in the 86th minute. Without the likes of Evra, Rooney, Giggs, Fletcher and Park, United looked particularly flat on Wednesday but as they have shown time and time again, they got the result when it mattered.
For Wolfsburg, a disappointing draw against Besiktas was made even worse by the sending off of Grafite in the 74th minute. The goalscorer will miss the next meeting between the two teams on November 3rd.
For all the talk about the Galacticos, it was the Rossoneri who stole the show this week by stunning the Spanish giants at the Bernabeu and thus taking the group's top spot.
Real Madrid AC Milan: 2-3
After an early gaffe by Dida which led to Madrid's opening goal early in the game, Milan came through with steely determination, scoring three goals (two by Pato) in the second half to defeat Madrid 3-2. Facing his old teammates, Kaka was pretty much invisible for most of the game and you have to wonder if being on a team of superstars isn't weighing on him mentally especially when he has to deal with strong personalities such as Raul on the pitch.
Like Manchester United, Chelsea stayed perfect during the week, crushing Atletico Madrid to the score of 4-0. They top their group with nine points while Porto sits behind them with six points.
It's getting worse and worse for Liverpool who will be without Gerrard and Torres for awhile. Without those two anchors, the Reds suffered an embarrassing defeat against Lyon at Anfield. When N'Gog is your starting forward in a Champions League match, you have serious problems. Meanwhile in the other game, Fiorentina were almost upset by Debreceni but held on long enough to pull through with the win.
It's a three-way tie for first in Group F as Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv, and Rubin Kazan are all sitting with four points while Inter Milan isn't far behind with three points. Rubin Kazan stunned defending champs Barcelona by winning 2-1 at the Nou Camp while Inter could only draw against Kyiv. It'll be interesting to see how the situation unfolds in this group.
Apart from Sevilla who seem destined to go through, group G is also wide open for second place after Unirea Urziceni gave a footballing lesson to the Rangers on Tuesday.
Rangers Unirea Urziceni: 1-4
VfB Stuttgart Sevilla: 1-3
- Group H -
Arsenal let three points slip by them when they allowed AZ Alkmaar to equalize in the dying minutes of the game but it'll be surprising to see another team dislodge them from the top spot.
Manchester United reclaimed the top of the table this week after Chelsea's stumble at Villa Park. The Blues aren't looking as threatening as the first couple of weeks. As a matter of fact, none of the Big Four have really showed that they're really prepared to dominate the Premier League. Despite benefiting from seven minutes of added time, Liverpool couldn't salvage a point out of their meeting with Sunderland. Darren Bent found the back of the net once again but this time on a controversial goal that will probably draw a huge debate. Anyways, here are the full lists of results with full video highlights.
After defeating Liverpool 2-0, Chelsea took the lead in the Premiership thanks to Manchester United's misstep against Sunderland. Troubled Portsmouth got their first win of the season while Arsenal steamrolled over Blackburn with a masterful performance by Captain Cesc. The full results along with video highlights follow.
After two games played, we're getting a better picture of the standings in the Champions League group stage. While some powerhouses are making a good case for themselves (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United), others (Liverpool, Inter, Milan) are finding the task more difficult and should kick it up a notch in Matchday 3.
Although the Manchester derby took most of the headlines (and what a game that was!), there were plenty of surprising results in the Premiership last weekend. Promoted clubs Burnley and Wolves are showing that they're here to stay with the big boys after respectively defeating Sunderland and Fulham. Birmingham also grabbed full points against Hull City. Liverpool had another complicated game against West Ham and you have to wonder if Benitez will ever tighten that defense. Finally, Chelsea kept up their winning streak by defeating Tottenham who suffered their second defeat in a row. The full results follow.
After two consecutive losses in the Premiership and a disappointing mid-week showing in the Champions League, Arsenal had to seize the opportunity to get back on the right track this weekend. Arsene Wenger's men responded positively to the challenge, easily disposing of Wigan to the score of 4-0.
The Gunners dominated the opening twenty minutes but their final pass never seemed to get to their man. It was defender Vermaelen who finally broke the deadlock in the 24th minute by heading in Van Persie's corner-kick. As the hosts continued to dominate, Vermaelen scored his second goal less than five minutes into the second half with a beautiful left-footed strike after a great one-two with Song
So, the Inter Milan-Barcelona game wasn't as exciting as I anticipated so I won't be posting an individual recap of that game but read on for my thoughts on Day 1. There are several games for which I didn't find any highlights. Video sites are quick to take off links these days, so there's not much I can do about that.
La Liga may claim to be the best league in the world this season but this year's edition of the Barclay's Premier League has one of the most enthralling race even at this early stage.
Last weekend, Manchester City stunned Arsenal with a football lesson on realism that ended on the score of 4-2. At White Hart Lane, Manchester United overcame an early deficit and a red card to defeat Tottenham 3-1. In other games, Yossi Benayoun's new haircut seems to have given him back his finishing touch as he scored three goals in Liverpool's 4-0 victory over Burnley. The upset of the week was probably Wigan's victory over West Ham on Saturday while Fulham also came up with a surprising victory of their own, topping Everton 2-1. The full results follow with Match Of The Day highlights
After beating the likes of Portsmouth, Wolves and Blackburn, many people questioned Manchester City's true potential to crack the top four. On Saturday, the Citizens proved they mean business as they humiliated Arsene Wenger's boys to keep a perfect record so far this season.
Although the Gunners dominated the opening twenty minutes with their beautiful passing game and fluid movement, it was the home side who scored first on a set-piece in the 19th minute. A useless foul by Sagna led to a City free-kick that was headed by Micah Richards only to hit the post and bounce in off Almunia's head. It was a lucky goal, but a goal nonetheless
There were lots of good games over the weekend in the Premiership. First, Chelsea cruised to victory against an impressive Burnley side that's surprising everyone so far this season. Liverpool took the difficult approach to their three points by having to fight back from behind against Bolton until Gerrard finally put them ahead in the final minutes. Manchester United had some luck on their side as their first meeting against Arsenal was decided on Abou Diaby's own-goal despite the Gunners' domination. Finally, Everton got their first points of the season thanks to a stoppage-time penalty against a stubborn Wigan side. Full results follow (along with the weekly video special).
Lots of stuff going on this week in the Premiership. Arsenal and Tottenham are continuing their quest to the top with their third (second in Arsenal's case) win of the season. Chelsea is slowly improving as Ballack tries to force Ancelotti's hand to start him every game. Manchester United exploded offensively pumping five goals past goalkeeper Kirkland. And in the surprise category, Burnley is seemingly set on putting wrenches in everyone's plans. After stunning Manchester United with a 1-0 win, they played the same trick to Everton on Sunday. As for Liverpool they canceled an excellent mid-week performance with another heart wrenching defeat, this time against Aston Villa. The full results follow.
The Premiership got off to a bang last weekend with no teams settling for draws. Chelsea huffed and puffed to a 2-1 win against Hull City while Arsenal gave a footballing lesson to Everton at Goodison Park. Manchester United did the strict minimum against Birmingham to get their three points while Liverpool couldn't break down a well-organized Tottenham. In other games, ex-Gunner Adebayor started his season at Manchester City with a goal in a 2-0 win. Ex-Spur Darren Bent also started on the right foot by scoring the only goal in Sunderland's meeting with Bolton. The full list of results follows.
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