Manchester City vs. Chelsea

Defending champions, Manchester City, beat 3rd placed Chelsea 2-0. Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez go on the scoresheet. Chelsea had the chance to take the lead through Frank Lampard. Chelsea were awarded a penalty because Joe Hart took out Demba Ba's legs in the penalty area. Lampard stepped up for his 200th goal in Chelsea jersey and missed. An excellent Joe Hart, who saved a penalty from Ronaldhino, saved Lampard's shot. After that, Chelsea had many chances but couldn't find the final pass. Demba Ba started ahead of Fernando Torres but didn't impress. You can't blame Ba because Matija Nastasic did an excellent job containing the Senegalese striker. The 19 year old defender didn't allow Ba for any space. Another excellent player was Kolo Toure. He showed his experiance eith some world-class tackles and interceptions.  His only error came when he let Ba through behind which caused the penalty. Chelsea's game overall was very poor. Ivanovic was often found sleeping and David Luiz ran too much up the pitch leaving holes in the defense. Cahill looked solid and so did Cole. Mikel did a good job in holding the midfield. Hazard and Ramires didn't affect the game much and often dribbled too much. Jack Rodwell had an excellent game anticipating play and tackling in the City midfield. He had one or two chances to score but was denied by the superb Cech. Cech played and excellent game in terms of stopping the shots. The goals he conceded he could not do anything about. Chelsea's defense didn't tackle and waited for the City player to move first. They gave time for the City players to think and shoot. Overall it was a poor performance from Chelsea. Man City played an excellent match. Torres came on in the 2nd half but didnt make much of an impact on the game. Tevez scored through a brilliant shot from outside the box. Again Cahill gave Tevez too much time and space. Chelsea are now 7 points behind City and if Tottenham beat West Ham on Monday Spurs will be third place. Chelsea are one point behind Arsenal who are 5th place. Man City still have the 11 point gap between them and United.   

Will be seeing this again for the 20th time?

1st half UCL review

The first half of the champions league has finished with some surprising results. The most anticipated game was Real Madrid vs Manchester United. The game ended 1-1 with Ronaldo and Welbeck getting on the score sheet. It was intense match but everyone expected a win for Real Madrid because of their home advantage. Manchester United drew first blood with a headed goal from Danny Welbeck. A corner was whipped in by Wayne Rooney and Welbeck, who was marked by Sergio Ramos.Welbeck jumped highest and headed home. Later in the game a cross from Di Maria which found Ronaldo, who was marked by Evra. Ronaldo towered high and headed a powerful one into the goal of the superb De Gea. Evra didnt jump for the ball which left Ronaldo to jump with ease. An excellent performance from De Gea and Ozil of Real Madrid. PSG beat Valencia at the Mestalla stadium in Spain, 2-1. Goals from Lavezzi and fellow country men Javier Pastore. Zlatan Ibrahimovic got sent of in the 89' minute for being too aggressive and Rami scored in the following corner. PSG will be without the inspirational Ibra for the second leg. 

The other match up saw Borussia Dortmund face Shakter Donetsk at the Donbass Arena in Ukraine. The scoring was opened with a marvelous free-kick from Rat. Then Dortmund equalized with Robert Lewandowski. Shakter scored again with substitute Douglas Costa and Hummels equalized at the 90' for Dortmund. An interesting game but should be a tight math at theSignal Iduna Park. Juventus saw off Celtic with a comprehensive 3-0 win with goals from Matri, Marchisio and Vucinic. It was a tight game and there was a lot tugging shirts from the Juventus side but Juventus deservingly won the game. An interesting week and next week should have some amazing matches   

Champions league and AFCON

The champions league is returning this week with the round of 16. There are 2 legs to the fixtures. First one home and then away. Both games are a few weeks apart. There are currently 16 teams remaining in the competition. The surprising events in the group stages were the elimination of title holders Chelsea and Manchester City as well as big-spenders Zenit St. Peterborough. Zenit spent a total of $90m for Hulk and Witsel. Chelsea brought some young stars to their ranks such as Hazard, Marin, Oscar, Moses and Azpilicueta. They finished third in their group meaning they qualify for the knockout rounds of the Europa League. Juventus and Shakter Donetsk qualified from Chelsea's group. Man City was in the so-called group of death which consisted of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Man City and Ajax. Dortmund and Real Madrid qualified. Malaga and Milan qualified at the expense of Zenit. There are some super-fixtures in the round of 16:

      The standout fixture is Real Madrid vs. Manchester United. This fixture sees Cristiano Ronaldo face his former club, Manchester United. Another interesting game is Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich were last year's finalists. The reason it is interesting is because nobody knows which Arsenal will show up. The Arsenal which lost to League 2 side Bradford City or the Invincible Arsenal. Shakter vs. Dortmund should be interesting because Shakter Donetsk is a very capable side and they managed to beat Chelsea. Shakter might have a disadvantage because the lost their star man Willian to Anzhi.
My Predictions for first leg:
Juventus 1-1 Celtic.
Galtasaray 0-1 Schalke 04
Arsenal 1-0 Bayern Munich
Shakter Donetsk 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
AC Milan 2-2 Barcelona
Real Madrid 2-1 Manchester United
Valencia 0-1 PSG
Porto 0-0 Malaga

    

Is It Over?

Is it over? is the question every Manchester City fan is asking themselves. They are 9 points behind leaders Manchester United and it seems as if the title race is all but over. Man U have the chance to be clear by 12 points if they win against Everton. They played Everton on the opening day and lost 1-0. But they were away from home. Now they are at home which gives them the advantage. Man City lost 3-1 to Southampton. Southampton were in the bottom 5 of the league. Everybody expected an easy win title holders Man City. In truth Man City played a very sloppily. Many of their players were caught sleeping on the ball. The first goal was scored by James Puncheon. Barry was caught sleeping on the ball by Puncheon who quickly dispossessed him and countered. It was 2 v 3. Lambert drew both defenders out wide leaving a gaping hole for Jay Rodriguez to run into. Rodriguez got the ball but a last ditch tackle from a City defender caused him to lose his balance and power a weak shot towards Joe Hart who parried it into the path of James Puncheon who slid the ball home into and open net. 7 minutes in and City were already 1-0 down.

The second goal came when Lambert shot straight at Joe Hart who fumbled the ball between his own legs and in front of his goal which lead to Steven Davis tapping the ball in from point blank range. Man City drew one back from a counter attack which resulted in Edin Dezko scoring. At this point it seemed that City would come back considering Southamptons's record of giving up 24 points from winning positions. This time it was self-destruction from Man City when Barry scored a bizarre own goal. Rodriguez crossed the ball and it ended up at the feet of Barry who had NO Southampton players around and had enough time to clear it upfeild but instead he tried passing it back to Hart and the ball rolled into his own net. Man City have no chance of coming back if they played like they did today everyday.      

For Highlights click here.

Brazil vs. England: Preview

On Wednesday, January 6, 2013, England will play Brazil at the New Wembly. Although it is only a friendly it will be a tense match. England's Ashley Cole (right) will be making his 100th appearance for England. The fact that he will start the match was confirmed on Tuesday, January 5. Ashley Cole has been considered as the best left-back in the world. His combination of speed, attacking creativity, defensive qualities and experience makes him a big threat on England's left flank. Ashley Cole, 32, made his international debut against Albania on 28th March, 2001. He is hated by Arsenal fans for his move from Arsenal to Chelsea. Arsenal fans have nicknamed him Cashley Cole or $ashly Cole. The star attraction of this friendly is Brazil's starlet, Neymar (left). He has been considered as the next Lionel Messi. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea are chasing him. He has recently revealed the he is not interested in a move until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He currently plays for Santos in his home nation in Brazil. He is thought to reach the heights Messi and Ronaldo achieved.

         

AFCON Update

This year's Africa Cup of Nations is hosted in South Africa. We are now at the semi-final stage which includes Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana. The surprising factor in the list is that the favorites to win the competition for the past 3-4 years hasn't made it. Cote d'Ivorie (Ivory Coast). The last 4 years has been described as the golden generation for Cote d'Ivorie. Their squad boasts players such as Yaya and Kolo Toure, Didier Drogba, Gervinho and Salamon Kalou. Cote d'Ivorie haven't been able to get it together. They also have many young and upcoming players such as Wilfreid Bony, Lacina Traore and Max Gradel. The don't have any teamwork in them. They can't gel together and play good football. They were eliminated by the hands of Nigeria in the quarter-finals. Nigeria scored through Emenike and Sunday Mba. Ivory Coast scored through Cheik Tiote. Emenike opend the scoring and then later on Tiote equalized through a header. Mba scored after making a mazy run through the Ivory Coast defense then making a shot which went in with a deflection from Bamba.    

   Ghana eased past newcomers Cape Verde with a comfortable 2-0 win. Wakaso scored a brace. This was Cape Verde's first tournament. They did quite well in their group. Unlucky for them to be eliminated. Hosts, South Africa played Mali and lost on penalties. For 120 minutes the game was 1-1. Mali legend scored for Mali and Rantie scored for South Africa. South Africa lost 3-1 on penalties. South Africa had a poor Cup of Nations because there wasn't much team-play involved and there were too many individual players. Burkina Faso beat rivals Togo in a tense match in which it took 105 minutes for someone to score. Patriopa scored in 105th minute to seal the game for Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso's star striker, Alan Traore was ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

     LIVE RESULTS AND SCORES: CLICK HERE

Newcatle vs. Chelsea review.

Newcastle United 3-2 Chelsea.
Europeans Champions Chelsea were left without a point at St. James's Park. Newcastle opened the scoring from a header from Jonas Gutierrez. Chelsea came back to overcome a 1-0 deficit with two wonder strikes from Frank Lampard and Juan Mata. Lampard scored his 197th goal for Chelsea. Ba was substitued minutes before half-time because of a broken nose. He broke his nose when attempting a header but instead he came in contact with Coloccini's foot. Newcastle equalized with a rebound goal from new boy Moussa Sissoko. Then at the 89th minute a drag back from Santon and Sissoko was there at the edge of the box to slot home in the right hand corner. This win lifts Pardews men away from the relegation zones. This losss is a blow for Chelsea because of Man U's win at Fulham. This means Man U has a 19 point lead on Chelsea and a 10 point lead on Man City.

For Highlights click HERE

Demba Ba's horror collision with Newcastle skipper, Fabricio Coloccini!

   

January transfer window recap.

The January transfer window closed on January 31st. There was a total of $188,628m spent this January. The star deals were Mario Balotelli (pictured above wearing blue) moving from Manchester City to AC Milan for around $29.8m. and Wilfreid Zaha moving from Crystal Palace to Manchester United. He was loaned back to Crystal Palace for the rest of the season. Zaha made his name in 2012. He has been at Crystal Palace since he was 12 years old. Zaha's signing is a good move for United because he is a future star. He is now only 20 has plenty more time to grow and become world-class player. He will join with his new team mates in the summer when his loan deal expires with Crystal Palace. Mario Balotelli was bought in by Mancini for $37m from Inter. He has a reputation as trouble maker. He most recent incident was a training ground brawl with manager, Roberto Mancini. Previously he had set his house on fire and had fights with his team mates. He doesn't score any goals on the pitch either.

The other highlight deals were Ba moving from Newcastle to Chelsea for $11.79m and Nacho Monreal moving from Malaga CF to Arsenal for $15m. Chelsea needed a new striker after Daniel Sturridge was sold to Liverpool. Ba is a good signing although his recent injury (broken nose) could rule him out for a while meaning Torres will be their only senior striker left. Arsenal struck a good deal with Malaga for Monreal. He is 26 and has Champions League experience which will help Arsenal and he will cover for the injured Kirean Gibbs. Their reserve left back Andre Santos hasn't impressed at all this season.

What do you think of this January transfer window?