Premiership Roundup Week 13

A third of the way into the season and things are starting to get serious as teams look to grasp the glittering prizes and/or start struggling desperately to avoid the abyss of relegation.

First match of the weekend seems form team of the moment Wigan Athletic brought back down to earth 2-3 by a resurgent Arsenal to claim their first away victory of the season and climb to fourth place.

Leaders Chelsea, rebuilding Manchester United and schizophrenic Liverpool all scored three goals each to mark routine victories against Newcastle United, Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth respectively with only Charlton's Darren Ambrose scoring for the losers.

Elsewhere Manchester City were held 0-0 by visitors Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland's stadium shone no light on their miserable season, going down 1-3 to the not-much-better Aston Villa. In the evening match, the gradually-getting-the-hang-of-it new boys of West Bromwich Albion were far too good for the been-here-so-long-we've-forgotten-what-to-do men of Everton, running out easy 4-0 winners.

The Sunday games saw Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United fail to settle which of them is the third best team in London in a 1-1 draw whilst Middlesbrough proved some North Eastern cheer, holding off visitors Fulham 3-2. That turned out to be the last football of the weekend as the Monday night game between Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers was postponed due to persistent dense fog.

Here's the link for the current Premiership League Table.

This article is cross-posted on the mighty BlogCritics site.

Charlton Athletic 1 Manchester United 3

I wasn't able to see this game for a variety of little reasons that ganged up to overwhelm me, but here's all the important news that matters.

Charlton Athletic
S Andersen, L Young, T El Karkouri, H Hreidarsson, C Powell, D Rommedahl, D Murphy, R Kishishev, A Smertin, D Ambrose, D Bent Subs: C Perry, J Thomas, B Hughes, T Myhre, J Bothroyd

Manchester United
E Van der Sar, J O'Shea, R Ferdinand, W Brown, M Silvestre, D Fletcher, A Smith, P Scholes, C Ronaldo, W Rooney, R van Nistelrooy Subs: T Howard, J Park, K Richardson, P Bardsley, G Rossi

It's 4-5-1 versus 4-4-2 today as United stick with the same starting lineup that beat Chelsea. United, in their weird blue away kit get things underway in another crucial game that they simply can not afford to lose.

Great play from Darren Fletcher in the Charlton 18-yard box as he squares the ball to Alan Smith who slams the ball into the net to give Manchester United a 1-0 lead at the Valley.
36:25 GOAL - Alan Smith Charlton 0 - Man Utd 1 Goal by Alan Smith (Man Utd) drilled right-footed (bottom-left of goal) from right channel (18 yards).Charlton 0-1 Man Utd. Assist (pass) by Darren Fletcher (Man Utd) from centre of penalty area.

64:10 GOAL - Darren Ambrose Charlton 1 - Man Utd 1 Goal by Darren Ambrose (Charlton) left-footed (top-left of goal) from left channel (25 yards).Charlton 1-1 Man Utd.

69:06 GOAL - Ruud van Nistelrooy Charlton 1 - Man Utd 2 Goal by Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd) volleyed right-footed (top-left of goal) from centre of penalty area (12 yards).Charlton 1-2 Man Utd. Assist by Wayne Rooney (Man Utd) from left side of penalty area.

84:09 GOAL - Ruud van Nistelrooy Charlton 1 - Man Utd 3 Goal by Ruud van Nistelrooy (Man Utd) right-footed (bottom-right of goal) from left channel (20 yards).Charlton 1-3 Man Utd.

Premiership Preview Week 13

There is no detailed Premiership Football preview this week due to a foul combination of flu and technical incompetence, but here's the fixture list at least.

Hopefully something resembling normal service will be resumed soon.



Saturday, 19 November 2005

Wigan Athletic v Arsenal, 12:45

Charlton Athletic v Manchester United, 15:00
Chelsea v Newcastle United, 15:00
Liverpool v Portsmouth, 15:00
Manchester City v Blackburn Rovers, 15:00
Sunderland v Aston Villa, 15:00

West Bromwich Albion v Everton, 17:15

Sunday, 20 November 2005

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United, 13:00
Middlesbrough v Fulham, 16:00

Monday, 21 November 2005

Birmingham City v Bolton Wanderers, 20:00

Farewell Roy Keane

One of the greatest footballers of the modern era, Manchester United captain ROY KEANE, has left the club today by mutual agreement.


It'll be some time before all the full story be told but things had clearly been building to a head for some time and the clear sighted United captain was clearly in a mood to be uncompromising about the problems the Red Devils have been facing on the pitch for the last couple of seasons and felt the time had come to go.







Thanks for twelve years of glory Roy, you certainly did it your way.




Career stats
Date of birth: 10 August, 1971
Nationality: Rep of Ireland
Position: Midfielder
Height: 1.75 metres

Manchester United

................Apps As sub Goals Yellow Red
Total (Club) 479 19 51 88 13
League 326 17 33 65 9
FA Cup 46 1 2 9 2
League Cup 14 0 0 1 0
Euro/Others 93 1 16 13 2

International career

Rep of Ireland 67 1 9 9 1

Overall career record

Apps As sub Goals Yellow Red
Total (Club) 630 19 87 95 13
League 440 17 55 72 9
FA Cup 64 1 5 9 2
League Cup 31 0 6 1 0
Euro/Other 95 1 21 13 2

Premiership Roundup Week 12

Bonfire Weekend in England didn't disappoint with a sensational victory by Manchester United over leaders Chelsea; Blackburn's demolition of the previously unbeaten away Charlton and Bolton edging Spurs.


Arsenal's captain Thierry Henry scored twice for The Gunners

The fireworks started at Saturday lunchtime as Liverpool thumped two late rockets through the soggy Aston Villa defence and continued with Thierry Henry leading by example as always, scoring two of Arsenal's three against the already seemingly doomed Sunderland; Blackburn Rovers continued their recent habit of turning over "better" teams with a 4-1 destruction of Charlton Athletic, and Fulham surprisingly eclipsed the sky blue of Manchester City.


Fulham's Steed Malbranque, whose goals rocket the struggling Londoners closer to safety

Routine and unremarkable results in the last three of the day as the Uniteds of Newcastle and West Ham banked three points against Midlands duo Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion respectively. In the late game, Wigan Athletic continued their remarkable run to second place in the table with an easy 2-0 victory at strugglers Portsmouth.


Manchester United's match winner Darren Fletcher

Sunday's matches sparkled into life with the return to form of Everton being just too much for the disappointing Middlesbrough for their first home victory of the season before, in the weekend's star fixture, Manchester United finally stop Chelsea with a rare Darren Fletcher goal.


Bolton captain Kevin Nolan leads his side to victory and third place

The fiery weekend is brought to a close with the Monday night thriller between Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, with the Northerners nicking it 1-0 thanks to another great goal from captain Kevin Nolan, his fifth in six games, to go above neighbours Manchester United into third place in the Premiership table as we break for two weeks for International matches.

This roundup is cross-posted here at BlogCritics.

Manchester United 1 Chelsea 0

Even though Chelsea start this match as clear favourites, Manchester United, for the first time in ages, come out like a team that does believe in itself and take the fight to the reigning champions.

A fierce battle for midfield control sees the Red Devils compete on more than equal terms with the more physically imposing Chelsea; every one of them looks huge compared to the shorter guys in red.

Thirty minutes in, United's combativeness pays off when a sweeping fluid cross park ball is swung back in from the left by Ronaldo and Darren Fletcher, of all people, sends a looping header over Cech and a despairing Chelsea captain John Terry into the top right hand corner of the Chelsea net and it's a GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL for United to take a deserved early lead. Now we'll see how good Chelsea really are at coming back from behind, as manager Jose Mourinho has been boasting recently.


Manchester United's unlikely matchwinner Darren Fletcher

The atmosphere is electric as the momentum switches back and forth, with half chances at both ends in a high-paced festival of open attacking football as both sides compete fiercely and mostly fairly.

On the stroke of half time Chelsea win a threatening free kick and the comparatively subdued Frank Lampard strides purposefully forward but Chelsea blow the setup and the ball flies harmlessly wide.

So that's it for the first half, a thrillingly competitive forty-five minutes with United worth their lead. Is this the start of another classic United recovery or will the sleek Chelsea machine purr into life in the second half.

Fifteen minutes later United get the second half started but Chelsea have clearly come out a lot more highly motivated than in the first half and the home side is penned in under the ferocious attacking pressure of the most expensive football team in the world.

Ten minutes later there has been little to show for all the Chelsea wealth of riches. Manager Mourinho, clearly starting to worry about Chelsea's failure to impose themselves over the physically smaller United, feels forced to try a different approach, bringing on the Icelandic warrior Eidur Gudjohnsen for for midfielder Michael Essien.

The aded firepower almost pays off straight away as the Iceman, wide on the left, whips in a low fast cross which is met first time by Didier Drogba, big, fast and skillful but Mikael Silvestre blocks what looked a certain goal.

The added urgency of passing time is starting to be felt by all and there's a flurry of yellow cards as Silvestre, Smith, van Nistelrooy, Paolo Ferreira and Darren Fletcher all offend the ref within the space of five minutes.


Jose Mourinho finds out what it feels like to lose three games out of four at Chelsea

Still frustrated with only fifteen minutes remaining Mourinho ups the stakes and makes another tactical move, bringing on the speedy Shaun Wright-Phillips for the mostly anonymous Joe Cole and three minutes later raises again, sending on Carlton Cole for defender Asier del Horno.

With only eight minutes remaining, Manchester manager Sir Alex Ferguson makes his first change, bringing on the assertive South Korean midfielder Ji-sung Park for van Nistelrooy to protect the lead, whilst Mourinho can only stand and scowl.

As well as defending like heroes, United are also looking to seal this crucial victory, repeatedly counterattacking at speed and only just failing to double the lead thanks to some outstanding goalkeeping heroics by Cech.

Four minutes of extra time provide no relief for the Londoners and United hold on in style to clinch a massive victory, bring an end to Chelsea's 40-match unbeaten run and bring some hope to the rest of the chasing pack, with the Blues lead at the top down to only six points and United up to third.

This match report is cross-posted here at BlogCritics.

Premiership Preview Week 12

There's some great fixtures in the Premiership this English Bonfire Night weekend, starting with a bang in the Saturday lunchtime fixture when Aston Villa, whose midterm fadeout has started early this season, entertain a resurgent Liverpool.

The traditional three o'clock kickoffs feature some real firecrackers, not least when Arsenal host the demoralised Sunderland for what should be an easy win, however Blackburn versus Charlton looks a bit of a possible damp squib and a probable 0-0 draw.

On the other hand, Fulham v Manchester City looks a real sparkler and could go either way; Newcastle should rocket against a struggling Birmingham; and West Ham should have too much gunpowder for those other Westies, West Brom.

The late afternoon fixture will be played after dark, so expect Portsmouth to be outshone by the high flying rocket that is Wigan Athletic.

The biggest explosions are reserved for Sunday when the twisted firestarters of Middlesbrough head for the obstinately soggy fuse we know as Everton. Literally anything could happen with these two unpredictable shooting stars in this late lunchtime game.

Without a doubt, the biggest bangs of all will emanate from Old Trafford, when the unpredictable catherine wheel that is Manchester United will be hoping to raise their game for the visit of the giant roman candle that is league leaders Chelsea at 4pm.

The week winds down with a Monday night barbecue when the crackers at Bolton Wanderers are visited by the giant thunderflash of Tottenham Hotspur. Stand well back for your own safety - sparks are surely going to fly between two ambitious teams currently locked together in joint third place.

Due to technical problems on the part of the hugely inept Telefonica of Spain, this article could not be cross-posted here on BlogCritics until Monday 7th November.

Lille 1 Manchester United 0

With Saturday's humiliating thrashing at Middlesbrough still hurting, Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United have a lot to prove in their UEFA Champions League fixture in Paris tonight.

Yes, that's right, Paris; opponents LOSC Lille Métropole's stadium needs upgrading so tonight they call the Stade de France home. The giant stadium at St-Denis near Paris played host to the 1998 FIFA World Cup final and will also play host to this season's Champions League Final on July 13th next year.

Paul Scholes was sent off in the corresponding fixture a fortnight ago so misses the game along with the continuing long list of injury victims Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Gabriel Heinze, Gary Neville, Quinton Fortune, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

United line up with a cautious 4-5-1 with Edwin van der Sar looking nervous in goal; another new back four of of club captain Roy Keane favourites John O'Shea and Rio Ferdinand with fit again Wes Brown easing Mikael Silvestre out to left back. The five chosen to establish some degree of midfield control are Cristiano Ronaldo and Kieran Richardson down the wings with Fletcher and Smith as the holding men behind Wayne Rooney, back from his ban, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who will captain Manchester United for the first time.

Manchester United captain for the night Ruud van Nistelrooy

Lille, who lie sixth in the French league, are still without injured captain Stephane Dumont but otherwise have a full squad to choose from and are playing a more positive 4-4-2. Lille coach Claude Puel has opted for stability in his team selection, keeping faith with ten of the players who drew against Olympique de Marseille at the weekend.

United get the match started in the pouring Parisian rain, knowing only a victory will do against a team that have yet to score in the group stage but it's Lille that make the first tentative attacking moves, albeit to no avail.

Twenty minutes in and United are really struggling to get through a very comfortable looking home defence whilst Lille just look happy to counter so it's all dancing but precious little singing in the packed arena. There's so little ambition on display here Donald Trump would sack the lot of them.

Suddenly, out of nowhere in this sodden snoozefest, a sharp forward run in the 38th minute by Lille left back Gregory Tafforeau catches the Reds' defence sleeping and a pass across the park is met by Slovenian striker Milenko Acimovic and, with no sign of opposition, he has all the time in the world to slam the ball into the roof of the net and it's the first European GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL this season for Lille who lead 1-0.


...............Lille goal scorer Milenki Acimovic

The French team have already proven their deep defensive skills and that's all we see for the rest of the first half. United are clearly bewildered and don't seem to have any idea beyond sheer persistence as to how to crack the code and the German referee Markus Merk brings a depressing first half to a soggy end.

Fifteen minutes later Lille get the second half started, knowing that another unlikely defeat of the increasingly shambolic Manchester United is on the cards. Amazingly though, it is the home side that goes on the offensive, the half time break only seems to have given United more time to rot, so poorly are they playing.

The most positive thing Sir Alex comes up with is to replace the largely ineffective Richardson with the bustle of the Korean midfielder Ji-sung Park but even his energy fails to lift the team. Little Lille are playing out of their skins, creating more chances and, in the 70th minute have the best chance of the match yet, but somehow striker Matt Moussilou sends a free header over the bar.

There's precious little else to report; Lille had a couple more half chances whereas United only produced two shots on goal in the whole match, a sad statistic that reveals the truly devastatingly poor grasp of football basics on display by Manchester United these days.

Mercifully the referee only adds two minutes of injury time and the suffering is over, leaving Lille delighted with their famous victory and the once mighty United as flat and ragged as a burst balloon, in serious danger of failing to even qualify out of the group stages again.

This review is cross-posted here at BlogCritics.

Premiership Roundup Week 11

This week's Premiership fixtures kicked off with Wigan Athletic proving just too strong for the improving Fulham but only just, leaving it until the 90th minute to edge it 1-0. The weekend's big fixture saw the strutting Tottenham Hotspur just fail to beat bitter rivals Arsenal, ending 1-all after Spurs had dominated the match but failed to finish off the opposition.

The three o'clock games saw Chelsea extend their control of the Premiership, running out easy 4-2 victors over an initially hard to break down Blackburn Rovers, thanks to great performances by lethal striker Didier Drogba and the best player in Britain today, Frank Lampard in midfield.


..............Chelsea's Didier Drogba

Elsewhere, Bolton Wanderers proved just too strong for hosts Charlton Athletic, stealing a vital 0-1 away win thanks to another crucial goal from captain Kevin Nolan and going above the East Londoners in the table, whilst Liverpool returned to winning ways with a steadying 2-0 victory over the original East Enders West Ham United.


..........Bolton's inspirational captain Kevin Nolan

The two basement battles were decisive, the previously rooted to the bottom Everton leapfrogging over the increasingly vulnerable Steve Bruce's Birmingham City to 18th place, their second away victory coming due to the first of the day's crucial goalkeeping errors. Over on the East Coast, sad strugglers Sunderland confirmed the mammoth task facing them as they are already looking like relegation fodder, going down 1-4 to fellow minnows Portsmouth.

The same score at Middlesborough sounds unremarkable until one realises that it's 4-1 to the home team over a truly dire Manchester United, who were inept in defence and clueless in front of goal. Apparently billionaire American owner Malcolm Glazer is prepared to give Sir Alex Ferguson a blank cheque to make the team competitive with rouble-rich Chelski, news which can't come soon enough for the bewildered fans.


............Sir Alex Ferguson on a happier day

Sunday saw the heretofore underperforming Newcastle United return to winning ways, slamming West Bromwich Albion 0-3, thanks to a brace from the now fit Michael Owen and a late goal from supersub Alan Shearer, a result which takes the Geordies back into the top half of the table but leaves the generally impressive Brummies right on the edge of the drop zone.


............Michael Owen of Newcastle United and England

Week 11 draws to a close with the Monday night victory of Manchester City over up for sale Aston Villa 3-1 with former Villa striker Darius Vassell scoring twice as the Sky Blues soar to fourth place.

The current English Premiership Football league table is here.

This article is cross-posted here on BlogCritics.

Middlesbrough 4 Manchester United 1

It's a full house at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium as former Alex Ferguson assistant Steve McClaren, now in charge here in the North East for four years, hopes to continue Middlesbrough's good run of results against his former boss. Sir Alex in turn will be hoping Manchester United start a good run of form, knowing that his season, and possibly his career, depend on the next nine days.

Middlesbrough centre-backs Gareth Southgate (groin) and Ugo Ehiogu (knee) are both out injured but Franck Queudrue, Emanuel Pogagtetz and Matthew Bates all return to the team. Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Bates, Riggott, Queudrue, Parnaby, Boateng, Mendieta, Rochemback, Pogatetz, Hasselbaink, Yakubu. Subs: Jones, Nemeth, Doriva, Morrison, Viduka

Manchester United's Wes Brown and Kieran Richardson return to the squad but Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Gabriel Heinze, Quinton Fortune, Gary Neville and Louis Saha are all still unfit. Man Utd : Van der Sar, Bardsley, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Silvestre, Fletcher, Smith, Scholes, Park, Rooney, van Nistelrooy. Subs: Howard, Brown, Ronaldo, Richardson, Rossi.

Middlesbrough get things going and it's hammer blows to the United heart straightaway as Gaizka Mendieta collects a long crossfield ball outside the Reds' penalty area and with barely a glance slams a rocket into the back of the net, it's GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLL and 1-0 to Middlesbrough with only two minutes gone. Game on!

.......................................Middlesbrough's Gaizka Mendieta

Unfortunately for United, the home side are now filled with self belief and contesting every ball. Sir Alex' cautious 4-4-1-1 formation isn't built for buccaneering and with Park as the only real wide player, the Red Devils are finding midfield control impossible.

Suddenly, in the 24th minute, it gets worse; Mendieta, helping out in defence, sends a long visionary pass deep into United territory where Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink makes no mistake from close range and it's GOOOOOOAAAALLL and 2-0 to Middlesbrough.

It's bedlam in the Riverside and things are looking grim for the Manchester men. There seems scant prospect of one of those miraculous comebacks which the United fans once took for granted as Middlesbrough seem to have total control and Mendieta is proving the master of midfield.

It's almost half time, offering a chance to re-group for United, when events take a turn for the even worse. Kieron Richardson, on as a tactical change for Bardsley, brings down Stuart Parnaby in the United area and Aiyegbeni Yakubu makes easy work of the penalty, sending Van der Sar the wrong way, so it's another GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL and now 3-0 to Middlesbrough.

As the referee mercifully brings the first half to a close, the words "Sir Alex" and "hairdryer treatment" spring to mind as the United players trudge towards the dressing room.

Fifteen minutes later, United get the second half started playing 4-3-3 now but there's still no sign of winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who would surely help unlock this tight defensive unit. Middlesbrough look determined to continue their good work and not simply defend the lead.

For all their good passing and not for want of trying to get forward, United are getting nothing but scrappy little chances with little real threat to Mark Schwarzer in the 'Boro goal and the danger of a swift counter attack is continuous and real as the home team grow in confidence.

Ronaldo comes on for Manchester with only thirty minutes remaining, but replaces Park, still leaving United with only one wide guy. Predictably, this proves too little and further hurt is caused in the 77th minute when Yakuba brushes past the ineffectual Ferdinand and squares the ball to that man Mendieta who shoots rightfooted into the bottom corner for another easy GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL and 4-0.


Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of Manchester United's 1000th Premiership goal

Just before the end of this shoddy performance by the team expected to lead the Chelsea chase, the hugely disappointing Rio Ferdinand is taken off by Ferguson and replaced by the welcome return of long term injury victim Wes Brown. Then, in the second minute of added time, a further crumb of comfort comes Manchester's way when they become the first ever team to score one thousand Premiership goals as a Paul Scholes corner is met by a bullet header from Cristiano Ronaldo who scores a great consolation GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAL to make the final score a well-deserved 4-1 to Middlesbrough.

Cross-posted here at BlogCritics.