Arsene Wenger had promised a magnificent performance from his side ahead of the second leg Champions League semifinal tie at home against Manchester United. Instead the Gunners received a master class in counter-attacking football from the Red Devils, especially Cristiano Ronaldo.
Video highlights will follow.
Of the three goals United scored tonight, my favorite is the third [...]
El clásico, the Real Madrid – Barcelona derby turned out to be a total humiliation for Real Madrid today, as the hosts were blanked out 6 – 2 by a rampaging Barcelona side that moved ever closer to regaining the Primera Liga. To be honest, I think I’ve used the word rampaging incorrectly, because it [...]
Though already a UEFA Cup winner, Jose Mourinho came to be taken seriously across Europe after his FC Porto side knocked Manchester United out of the 2003-04 Champions League. We know the rest of the story. Porto won the Champions League, Mourinho went to Chelsea, won two consecutive league titles and had a solid record [...]
When Harry Redknapp took over the reins at Tottenham Hotspur from Portsmouth a week ago, the jury was unsure about the effectiveness of the move. In their first 8 games this season, Spurs, under Juande Ramos, could muster only 2 points. Spurs were in free fall, and below Bolton and even Newcastle (!) in the [...]
In cricket, so often we see a shot played when the ball races to the fence, and no one needs to move – not the batsmen, nor the fielders. Often we hear commentators say, “Ah, a stand and deliver shot! No one moved.”
In football, one hardly comes across such moments. The game is always in [...]
Continue reading about A free-kick, frozen in time and space
Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, said earlier this week that Javier Mascherano was the new Roy Keane. In attempting to live up to his manager’s expectations, the Argentinian failed rather badly, by evoking only the bad side of the former United captain. Mascherano got himself sent off in the first half.
Liverpool fans would have you [...]
Last week, I had ended a post looking forward to the Champions League draws by predicting that United could draw Roma again in the quarterfinals of the Champions League this year. And that this would settle all doubts about whether the draws are doctored. Surely now, this confirms everything.
The pick of the draw though is [...]
The pain of enduring Portsmouth knock United out of the FA Cup was allayed by watching Barnsley dump Chelsea out of the competition a few hours later. But it was joy unbounded today as Wigan held Arsenal to a draw, so United retake the League by battering the Rams next weekend!
Portsmouth can now be called [...]
For the second successive year, English teams are meeting with increased success in the UEFA Champions League. United, Arsenal and Chelsea are through already to the quarterfinals, and Liverpool look set to join them in a week’s time.
While English football, in general, is moving from one crisis to another (the national side’s poor form, a [...]
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