Manchester United will take a giant stride towards retaining their Premier League title if they beat Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday. United’s lead at the top was cut to two points by Chelsea after the Blues won 1-0 away to Everton on Thursday.
Owen Hargreaves was Manchester United’s unlikely goal-scoring hero as the English Premier League leaders came from behind to see-off title challengers Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford in London on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored in a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Anfield.
Manchester United completed a 3-0 aggregate win over AS Roma on Wednesday to join Liverpool and Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals as the three English teams repeated last season’s success. United will be joined by 2006 winners Barcelona, who beat German side Schalke 04 by a single goal at home to secure a 2-0 aggregate victory.
Michael Ballack put Chelsea on course for another Champions League semifinal collision with Liverpool as his goal set up a 2-0 win over Fenerbahce in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, second leg. Ballack’s first-half header was followed by a late Frank Lampard strike at Stamford Bridge to send Avram Grant’s side through 3-2 on aggregate.
Arsene Wenger bullishly insisted that Arsenal would take the next step towards a league and European Cup double by beating Liverpool in their Champions League quarterfinal second leg at Anfield on Tuesday. Wenger’s side arrive on Merseyside having failed to overcome Rafael Benitez’s side in the first leg.
Wayne Rooney scored an equaliser as Manchester United hit back for a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough on Sunday, which left them three points clear in the Premier League. After second-place Chelsea’s 2-0 victory at Manchester City on Saturday, the Red Devils needed to win at the Riverside and took a 10th-minute lead through Cristiano Ronaldo.
”Italians lose wars as if they were football matches and football matches as if they were wars”, said Sir Winston Churchill. On matters of war and politics, he was most certainly an expert. The fact is that ever since the fall of the Roman Empire, we have been luckier at calcio than at warfare.
Arsenal and Liverpool fought out a pulsating 1-1 draw while Fenerbahce came from behind for a 2-1 home win over Chelsea in Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal, first-leg matches. Liverpool soaked up intense second-half pressure from Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium to earn the away-goal edge for Tuesday’s return leg at Anfield in their all-English clash.
Manchester United beat Roma 2-0 away and Barcelona won 1-0 at Schalke in their Champions League quarterfinal, first-leg matches on Tuesday to take big steps towards a semifinal showdown. Goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney either side of half-time gave United victory at the Stadio Olimpico as the English champions continued to torment Roma.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a clinical 2-0 win at AS Roma on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. Portugal forward Ronaldo soared inside the area six minutes before the break to head home a Paul Scholes cross after Rooney had skipped away from Philippe Mexes.
Fernando Torres put Liverpool in pole position to claim fourth spot in the Premiership and a place in next season’s Champions League by scoring the only goal in the 207th Merseyside derby against Everton to seal a 1-0 win at Anfield on Sunday.
Manchester United beat old rivals Liverpool 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday as the reigning champions were left five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. But it was Chelsea who became United’s nearest challengers after a double from Didier Drogba saw them come from a goal behind to beat Arsenal 2-1.
In-form Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns eased to a 3-0 victory over the unsophisticated Curepipe Starlight of Mauritius in the MTN Champions League’s first-round, first-leg encounter at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday.
The giants enter the African club battleground this weekend as second round combat begins in the two major competitions. Both title holders hail from Tunisia and enjoy home advantage with Etoile Sahel playing AS Douanes of Senegal in the African Champions League while CS Sfaxien meet JSM Bejaia of Algeria in the African Confederation Cup.
Everton lost ground in the race for a Champions League place on Sunday when they lost 1-0 to struggling Fulham at Craven Cottage, a ground where the Merseysiders have not mustered a point in 42 years. Fulham, second-last in the standings but now only three points from safety, won a scrappy game in the 67th minute.
Inter Milan’s ill discipline cost them again as Liverpool won 1-0 at the San Siro on Tuesday to progress to the Champions League quarterfinals 3-0 on aggregate. Nicolas Burdisso was sent off just five minutes into the second half of the second-round, second-leg tie to scupper the Italian champions’ hopes of reaching the next round.
Arsene Wenger backed Arsenal to stay on course for the Premier League title after struggling Wigan held the league leaders to a 0-0 draw at the JJB Stadium on Sunday. Having eliminated holders AC Milan from the Champions League in midweek, Arsenal failed to negotiate an awful playing surface at Wigan that is surely the worst in England’s top division.
Cardiff extended the run of FA Cup upsets on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, putting the Welsh team in the semifinals of the English competition for the first time since it won in 1927. Peter Whittingham and Roger Johnson scored at Riverside Stadium for Cardiff, the only team from outside England to have won the trophy.
Rafa Benitez hailed a ”perfect” victory over Newcastle, which sees Liverpool travel to Inter Milan in the Champions League highly confident of finishing the job they started at Anfield three weeks ago. Another inspirational Fernando Torres performance propelled Benitez’s side to a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Newcastle at Anfield on Saturday.
English football’s big guns were shot down in flames on Saturday as Chelsea and Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup quarterfinals in two of the famous old competition’s most remarkable upsets. Between them Chelsea and United have won four of the last five Premier League titles and boast some of the world’s finest players.
Harry Redknapp pulled off a unique FA Cup hat-trick against Manchester United as Sulley Muntari’s second-half penalty sealed a 1-0 victory that sent Portsmouth through to the semifinals for the first time since 1992. Redknapp, who had previously guided Bournemouth and West Ham to FA Cup wins against United, saw his team win at Old Trafford for the first time in 51 years.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez hailed Fernando Torres as ”on fire” after the Spanish striker hit his second successive Anfield hat-trick to lift his club into fourth spot on the Premier League table on Wednesday. Torres sentenced West Ham to their second 4-0 defeat in four days after a sizzling performance by Benitez’s side.
AS Roma eliminated Real Madrid from the Champions League on Wednesday, beating the nine-time champions 2-1 and sending the Spanish team out of the first knockout round for the fourth season in a row. Chelsea also made it to the quarterfinals, beating Olympiakos 3-0, while Schalke beat FC Porto 4-1 on penalties.
Arsenal produced one of their finest performances under Arsene Wenger on Tuesday to dethrone AC Milan, beating the Champions League holders 2-0 on the night and on aggregate in their last 16 second leg clash. Arsenal’s great Premiership rivals Manchester United also eased through with a 1-0 victory.
Benni McCarthy has moved to end speculation over his future by insisting that he is ready to remain with Premiership outfit Blackburn Rovers for the rest of his career. The South African striker has two years left to run on his current contract at Ewood Park, but has continually been linked with a move away from the club since his arrival in July 2006.
Arsenal left it late to stay top of the Premier League as second-placed champions Manchester United closed to within a point on Saturday. The Gunners were seconds away from being knocked off top spot at the Emirates Stadium when Nicklas Bendtner cancelled out an early Philippe Senderos own-goal to secure a 1-1 home draw against Aston Villa.
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/ 26 February 2008
Phil Jagielka believes a convincing defeat of Manchester City is evidence that Everton have what it takes to pip Liverpool in the battle for the final Champions League qualifying spot. Midfielder Jagielka has been outstanding for David Moyes’s side in recent weeks and impressed again in Monday night’s 2-0 win at the City of Manchester Stadium.
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/ 21 February 2008
Arsene Wenger admits AC Milan are favourites to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals at Arsenal’s expense but he remains confident his side can defy the odds in the San Siro. The Gunners were frustrated as Milan’s aging maestros gave a defensive masterclass in Wednesday’s goalless last-16, first-leg draw.
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/ 20 February 2008
The row over Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez’s squad rotation system continued to rumble on Wednesday as former Anfield goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar said lack of continuity was at the root of the Premier League club’s ills. One day after current striker Fernando Torres had supported his boss’s policy of switching the first team around, Grobbelaar hit out at the controversial method.
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/ 18 February 2008
Liverpool tackle Italian giants Inter Milan in their Champions League second round clash on Tuesday desperately needing a victory to prevent their season falling apart. Liverpool will be one of two English clubs who entertain Milan’s finest this week as Arsenal attempt to recover from their 4-0 FA Cup mauling by Manchester United.
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/ 15 February 2008
There is little doubt Cristiano Ronaldo is the Premier League’s greatest entertainer. Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres are his only rivals for flair and, with 27 goals already this season, Ronaldo is way ahead in the striking stakes, never mind all the counterattacks, dribbles and step-overs he also provides.
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/ 15 February 2008
First things first: the best team won. Many, including myself, dismissed Egypt’s chances of defending their crown because of a ropey qualifying campaign and because they lost a number of important players from their 2006 squad. But the Pharaohs showed that their domestic league continues to cultivate quality footballers.