EPL Week 17: Big Four All Draw
December 16th 2008 06:10
Arsenal – Middlesbrough: 1-1
Although Arsenal are hanging on to the top five, their chances of grabbing the title are slowly diminishing. On Saturday, they couldn't get the winning goal against Middlesbrough who presented themselves as fierce competitors. Boro thoroughly dominated the first quarter of the first half. Unfortunately, it was Arsenal who opened at the 16th minute when Adebayor was left alone on the six-yard line and easily headed in Fabregas' corner. Around ten minutes later, Middlesbrough got their equalizer via Aliadere and the scoreline stayed the same until the final whistle.
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Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Johan Djourou, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Cesc Fabregas, Alexandre Song, Abou Diaby (Nicklas Bendtner, 82nd); Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor.
Manchester United – Tottenham Hotspur: 0-0
Saturday's match opposing Manchester United to Tottenham Hotspur marked the return of Dimitar Berbatov to The Lane as a member of the opposing team. The thunderous boos that rained down on him every time he touched the ball was to be expected, but the scoreless result was surprising considering the past encounters between the two teams. With both defenses standing tall against the opposition's attacks, most scoring opportunities came from long range strikes or set-pieces. The move of speedy winger Aaron Lennon to the Spurs right wing effectively canceled both teams' attack. Indeed, if the home side wanted to fully exploit Lennon's pace, they would have played him on the left where John O'Shea was taking Evra's place for the day. At the same time, the threat of Lennon limited Rafael's input on United's offensive rushes, giving them one less fullback/winger to stretch Tottenham's defense.
United were also horrible on corners until Ryan Giggs came in as a substitute. As a matter of fact, he seemed to have been put in the game only for that aspect of the play because the corners were way better than those struck by Park. At the 90th minute, the left-footed winger almost give the lead to United with a superb free-kick, but Tottenham's goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes came up with an equally great save to keep both teams level.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John O'Shea; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher (Paul Scholes, 68th), Park Ji-Sung; Carlos Tevez (Ryan Giggs, 68th), Dimitar Berbatov.
Chelsea – West Ham United: 1-1
With Liverpool drawing 2-2 against Hull on Saturday, Chelsea had the perfect opportunity to take first place in the standings as they were meeting West Ham United on Sunday. Unfortunately, they too were held to a draw in their home stadium. To everyone's surprise, it was the Hammers who scored first when Bellamy delivered a superb strike to beat Cech at the 32nd minute. Although Chelsea dominated the play, they simply couldn't find a way through. They got the equalizer five minutes into the second half which turned out to be Anelka's 100th goal in the Premiership. Their desperate attacks in the final quarter of the second half weren't enough to give them the edge. Even worse, it was West Ham who got the best chances on the break, only to be stopped by Cech.
Something has been going wrong at Chelsea ever since the second day of the Champions League. It isn't clear if it's because of the injuries or whatnot, but from a team who were undefeated at the Bridge, their fortress is slowly crumbling as more and more teams manage to get decent results over there. Fortunately, they are keeping pace with Liverpool which is all anyone could ask of them.
Find more videos like this on MySoccerPlace.net - The Real Football Social Network
Find more videos like this on MySoccerPlace.net - The Real Football Social Network
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Alex, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Joe Cole (Salomon Kalou, 74th), Deco, John Obi Mikel (Juliano Bellettu, 79th), Michael Ballack (Didier Drogba, h-t), Frank Lampard; Nicolas Anelka.
Although Arsenal are hanging on to the top five, their chances of grabbing the title are slowly diminishing. On Saturday, they couldn't get the winning goal against Middlesbrough who presented themselves as fierce competitors. Boro thoroughly dominated the first quarter of the first half. Unfortunately, it was Arsenal who opened at the 16th minute when Adebayor was left alone on the six-yard line and easily headed in Fabregas' corner. Around ten minutes later, Middlesbrough got their equalizer via Aliadere and the scoreline stayed the same until the final whistle.
Find more videos like this on MySoccerPlace.net - The Real Football Social Network
Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Johan Djourou, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Cesc Fabregas, Alexandre Song, Abou Diaby (Nicklas Bendtner, 82nd); Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor.
Manchester United – Tottenham Hotspur: 0-0
Saturday's match opposing Manchester United to Tottenham Hotspur marked the return of Dimitar Berbatov to The Lane as a member of the opposing team. The thunderous boos that rained down on him every time he touched the ball was to be expected, but the scoreless result was surprising considering the past encounters between the two teams. With both defenses standing tall against the opposition's attacks, most scoring opportunities came from long range strikes or set-pieces. The move of speedy winger Aaron Lennon to the Spurs right wing effectively canceled both teams' attack. Indeed, if the home side wanted to fully exploit Lennon's pace, they would have played him on the left where John O'Shea was taking Evra's place for the day. At the same time, the threat of Lennon limited Rafael's input on United's offensive rushes, giving them one less fullback/winger to stretch Tottenham's defense.
United were also horrible on corners until Ryan Giggs came in as a substitute. As a matter of fact, he seemed to have been put in the game only for that aspect of the play because the corners were way better than those struck by Park. At the 90th minute, the left-footed winger almost give the lead to United with a superb free-kick, but Tottenham's goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes came up with an equally great save to keep both teams level.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John O'Shea; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher (Paul Scholes, 68th), Park Ji-Sung; Carlos Tevez (Ryan Giggs, 68th), Dimitar Berbatov.
Chelsea – West Ham United: 1-1
With Liverpool drawing 2-2 against Hull on Saturday, Chelsea had the perfect opportunity to take first place in the standings as they were meeting West Ham United on Sunday. Unfortunately, they too were held to a draw in their home stadium. To everyone's surprise, it was the Hammers who scored first when Bellamy delivered a superb strike to beat Cech at the 32nd minute. Although Chelsea dominated the play, they simply couldn't find a way through. They got the equalizer five minutes into the second half which turned out to be Anelka's 100th goal in the Premiership. Their desperate attacks in the final quarter of the second half weren't enough to give them the edge. Even worse, it was West Ham who got the best chances on the break, only to be stopped by Cech.
Something has been going wrong at Chelsea ever since the second day of the Champions League. It isn't clear if it's because of the injuries or whatnot, but from a team who were undefeated at the Bridge, their fortress is slowly crumbling as more and more teams manage to get decent results over there. Fortunately, they are keeping pace with Liverpool which is all anyone could ask of them.
Find more videos like this on MySoccerPlace.net - The Real Football Social Network
Find more videos like this on MySoccerPlace.net - The Real Football Social Network
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Alex, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Joe Cole (Salomon Kalou, 74th), Deco, John Obi Mikel (Juliano Bellettu, 79th), Michael Ballack (Didier Drogba, h-t), Frank Lampard; Nicolas Anelka.
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