All Entires In Sport Category
By Manchester United won 2-0 at Wigan and Chelsea could only draw 1-1 with Bolton; resulting in Manchester United winning the Premier League by 2 points.
At the foot of the table Fulham survived but Birmingham City and Reading joined Derby County in being relegated.
Roll on the Champions League final in a week and a half.
Today is the final day of the FA Premier League season and the title can still be won and lost.
Manchester United and Chelsea both sit atop the table on 84 points. Manchester United are away at Wigan Athletic and Chelsea are at home against Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.
If Manchester United beat Wigan they will almost certainly be champions. The only way Chelsea can win the title if Manchester United win today is if they beat Bolton by 18 goals more than Manchester United beat Wigan. Possible, but highly improbable.
If Manchester United only draw against Wigan then Chelsea just need to beat Bolton and they'll be champions.
If both Manchester United and Chelsea draw their games then Manchester United will be champions.
If Manchester United lose at Wigan then Chelsea just need to draw against Bolton to become champions.
If both Manchester United and Chelsea lose their games then Manchester United will be champions.
At the foot of the table only Derby County have been relegated so far.
In order to survive, Birmingham City need to win today and hope that both Reading and Fulham lose.
For Reading to survive they need to get a better result than Fulham. If Fulham and Reading both win then Reading need to win by 7 goals more than Fulham win. Not impossible, but considering their positions, highly unlikely.
Fulham have the best chance of the three to survive. If they win, they survive. If they draw then they are safe as long as both Reading and Birmingham don't win. They could still be safe if they lose as long as Birmingham and Reading both lose also. However, if they lose by 7 goals more than Reading then they would be relegated.
There is also the possibilty that Fulham and Reading could both survive. They would both need to win and then it would need Chelsea to absolutely destroy Bolton.
Chelsea will play Manchester United in the Champions League Final in Moscow on Wednesday May 21st.
The first half of tonight's game wasn't particularly inspiring; in fact I fell asleep during it. Liverpool played very poorly in the first half and Chelsea went into half-time with a deserved 1-0 lead thanks to a superb finish by Didier Drogba. The second half saw Liverpool play much better and Chelsea seemed to vanish. An excellent finish from Fernando Torres saw Liverpool equalize on the night and force extra time.
The first half of extra time saw Chelsea have a Michael Essien goal disallowed for offside and then a mistake by Sammi Hyppia which gave Chelsea a penalty that Frank Lampard converted for a 2-1 lead. Another superb strike from Didier Drogba, after good work by Nicolas Anelka and half-time in extra time saw Chelsea leading 3-1 on the night. A trip by Didier Drogba on Sammi Hyppia early in the second half of extra time should have resulted in a penalty for Liverpool but the referee waved away the claims. A late strike by Ryan Babel with less than 5 minutes left pulled it back to 3-2 but Liverpool couldn't find a way to equalize.
I would have preferred to see a Manchester United - Liverpool Champions League Final but beating Chelsea in Moscow will probably feel even better.
For the last 30 minutes I've been a bit of a nervous wreck; hoping and praying that Barcelona wouldn't get an equalizing goal that would take them through to the Champions League Final. Both teams played a lot of the game on the front foot and both sides could have scored a couple of goals.
I've been a bit critical of Paul Scholes in recent weeks; I thought he'd been playing poorly and giving the ball away much more than he should. The goal he scored tonight forgives him of all of that. Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown were excellent in the centre of defence and Carlos Tevez was tireless all over the front line.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's second semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool. I'd prefer Liverpool to go through but with an all-English final assured I'm not really going to be too bothered if Chelsea succeed and go through to face Manchester United in Moscow.
Three times last night Boston came from behind before taking the lead 4-3 with 4:15 left in the third period. Montreal tied it back up 11 seconds later before Boston took their final lead with 2:37 left and finally won 5-4. The series is now tied 3 games apiece after Boston had trailed by 3 games to 1. Game 7 is in Montreal on Monday night.
The Bruins, seeded 8th in the eastern conference, have never won a series after trailing 3-1. Monday night, they get another chance, the 21st in franchise history, to end that streak and knock out the Canadiens, the 1st placed seeds in the east.
Normally on a Monday night I'll record WWE Raw and perhaps, depending on how tired I am, watch the first hour or so. Not this Monday! Instead, I'll be recording Raw and watching and cheering on Phil Kessell, Milan Lucic and the rest of the Bruins.
A hard fought draw for a below par Manchester United has opened up a three point lead for them over Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table. Both teams have 3 games left and they meet next weekend at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium.
For long periods it looked like United were not going to get anything out of the game; especially with Blackburn's Brad Friedel making a string of excellent saves near the end of the match. United felt they should have had a penalty within the last 10 minutes when the ball struck Brett Emerton's elbow but with about 5 minutes left Carlos Tevez headed in from a corner to cancel out Roque Santa Cruz's first half goal.
Even if United lose to Chelsea next weekend they have a vastly superior goal difference and the title would still be in their own hads. They round out the season with games against Wigan Athletic and West Ham United. However, their next game is the Champions League Semi-Final 1st leg vs Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening.
Tonight, Manchester United successfully joined Liverpool and Chelsea in the semi-finals of this season's Champions League. This is the second season in a row that 3 English clubs have made the semi-finals and marks the 4th season in a row that an English side will reach the final.
The 2 semi-final first legs will be held on 22nd and 23rd April with the second legs on 29th and 30th April. First legs are:
- Chelsea vs Liverpool
- Barcelona vs Manchester United
Wrestlemania was live on pay-per-view from Orlando, Florida last night. I didn't watch it live but watched it this afternoon; meaning that I could fast forward through all the associated back stories and backstage crap that goes on. Fast forwarding past all the crap saved an hour in viewing time.
Anyway, I fully enjoyed the show. A number of predictable results but also a couple of surprises. Nothing really stood out as being bad but there was at least 2 or 3 matches that I would rate as really good.
I've just watched the France - England game and can honestly say it was a poor game and England can feel disappointed that they lost the game. England didn't play particularly well and with such a lacklustre display they definitely didn't deserve to win the game, but can feel that they, maybe, deserved a draw. France looked dangerous going forward, but the defence seemed to cope well enough.
David James didn't really have much to do other than pick the ball out of his net after the penalty that won the game for France. The back four was pretty solid throughout other than the momentary lapse that led to the penalty from which France scored. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry were solid again. Ashley Cole is probably the best choice we have at left-back although his distribution is questionable at times. Wes Brown wasn't at all impressive and his distribution was woeful at times. I'm a Manchester United fan but Glen Johnson impressed me more in the brief spell he got. I'm not totally sure that we have a natural successor to Gary Neville yet.
In midfield Owen Hargreaves was solid and dependable; probably our best player. Gareth Barry also had a really good game. Steven Gerrard was pretty decent. David Beckham, winning his 100th cap, spent good periods of the game watching the game go by him and spent a lot of the game underused, but the moments he did get the ball, his distribution was as good as ever. David Bentley came on after an hour in place of Beckham and did well. England, for whatever reason, decided to play a lot on the left side of the pitch in the first half and it was rather compact at times. However, Joe Cole was pretty good out there. Stewart Downing replaced him for the second half and I really have to question his continued selection. The guy can't bring a ball under control, can't pass the ball and definitely can't cross the ball. I doubt very much that he can even run or tackle. I'm not a Chelsea fan but it's patently obvious that Joe Cole is the best left-sided midfield player that England has.
Up front, Wayne Rooney was exposed for much of his time on the pitch. Playing by himself, he tried his best but was often crowded out by the defence. It just felt that the balls in to him were not of sufficient quality and support from midfield was lacking. Michael Owen and Peter Crouch came on for the second half and were both pretty unimpressive.
All in all it was a pretty laboured performance. I think the core of the side is there but we need somebody at right back to replace the absent Gary Neville and we need to stop playing just 1 up front. As good as Wayne Rooney is, he can't work miracles against quality defences on his own. He needs a partner up front, be it Michael Owen, Peter Crouch or even somebody like Jermaine Pennant or Jermaine Defoe.
Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal
Didier Drogba scored twice in the last 20 minutes to cancel out Bacary Sagna's first ever goal for Arsenal; scored on the hour, and give Chelsea 3 vital points near the top of the table.
United are top with 73 points and the result has helped Chelsea leapfrog over Arsenal and maintain the 5 point gap Manchester United had on them at the start of the day. Arsenal are a further point behind in 3rd. Liverpool are still 4th; but 14 points adrift of United. All 4 teams have 7 games remaining. United will feel confident but they still have to entertain Arsenal and visit Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea within their final 7 games.
Manchester United 3 - 0 Liverpool
I've just watched the first game of Sky's double-header and as a Man Utd fan I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a pretty even first 30 minutes until Wes Brown popped up and scored. Then just before half time Fernando Torres was fouled and ended up getting booked for complaining. Javier Mascherano came running across from halfway across the pitch to complain to the referee. After previously been booked for a foul and spending most of the first half harping on at Steve Bennett, the referee, he ended getting himself a second yellow card, and sent off; reducing Liverpool to 10 men. Bennett's reaction did seem a wee bit over the top but given the fallout from Ashley Cole's behaviour in midweek it can be somewhat understandable. Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a header from a corner in the second half and Nani scored a quite sublime goal late on to make it 3-0. Liverpool can probably feel a bit aggrieved at the referee but United really were dominant.
I'm now going to go and watch the 2nd game: Chelsea vs Arsenal.
The draw for the Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals and Final of the Champions League have just recently been drawn in Lyon.
Quarter Finals (1st/2nd April 2008 & 8th/9th April 2008)
1. Arsenal vs Liverpool
2. AS Roma vs Manchester United
3. FC Schalke 04 vs FC Barcelona
4. Fernerbache SK vs Chelsea
Semi Finals (22nd/23rd April 2008 & 29th/30th April 2008)
a. Winner 1 (Arsenal/Liverpool) vs Winner 4 (Fernerbache SK/Chelsea)
b. Winner 3 (FC Schalke 04/FC Barcelona) vs Winner 2 (AS Roma/Manchester United)
Final (21st May 2008)
Winner b vs Winner a
Both the quarter finals and semi finals will be played over 2 legs with the final being played at a neutral venue, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
First impressions are that if Chelsea get past Fenerbache it would mean that an English club would definitely reach the final with their semi-final opponents either being Arsenal or Liverpool. And if that happens then Manchester United would need to get past both AS Roma, whom they met in the group stages this season, and the winner of the Schalke/Barcelona tie to get to a possible all English final.
To be honest; I think the title says it all...
Today's Manchester derby ended in a shock 2-1 win for the blue half of the city. This was the fifth game that Wayne Rooney had missed so far this season; he was suspended, and United have lost all 5 times.
Prior to the game starting both teams were lead out by a lone bagpiper and as they gathered on the edge of the centre circle both managers laid a wreath. The minute silence in honour of the 23 victims of the Munich air crash was impeccably observed by everybody in the ground.
In honour of the occasion City wore shirts devoid of any sponshorship and United wore 1958-styled shirts numbered 1-11 with no logo or sponsorship on. The names of the victims were displayed around the ground on the pitch-side advertising boards prior to kick-off. However, I was really disappointed that, after all the hooplah over paying respect by removing the sponsorship logos from the shirts, they still ran their normal range of advertising on the boards during the match.
As the game itself wore on it became obvious that City were going to be very strong defensively and it also became more apparent that United were just not on song. City went in at the break 2-0 up and both goals had a wee touch of fortune about them, but I'm taking nothing away from City; they played really well. United got their equalizer in injury time at the end of the game, but, by then, it was way too late.
United are still 2 points behind Arsenal, who will be hoping to extend their lead to 5 points when they play Blackburn on Monday night.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to takeoff from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, Germany. 23 of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster.
The flight was operated by British European Airways (BEA) as an "Elizabethan" class Airspeed Ambassador charter aircraft G-ALZU Lord Burghley.
Eight of the victims were Manchester United footballers:
- Geoffrey Bent
- Roger Byrne
- Eddie Colman
- Duncan Edwards
- Mark Jones
- David Pegg
- Tommy Taylor
- Liam "Billy" Whelan
Three were members of the club's staff:
- Walter Crickmer, the secretary
- Tom Curry, the trainer
- Bert Whalley, the coach
Eight were newspaper representatives:
- Alf Clarke of the Manchester Evening Chronicle
- Don Davies of The Guardian
- George Follows of the Daily Herald
- Tom Jackson of the Manchester Evening News
- Archie Ledbrooke of the Daily Mirror
- Henry Rose of the Daily Express
- Eric Thompson of the Daily Mail
- Frank Swift of the News of the World; the former Manchester City and England goalkeeper
Two were members of the BEA crew:
- Captain Kenneth Rayment, the co-pilot
- Tom Cable, a steward
Two other passengers also died:
- Bela Miklos, the travel agent
- Willie Satinoff, a supporter
For those of you that may not want to know the result please do not continue reading this post..
Tonight is Super Bowl XLII (42) from Glendale, Arizona between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Whereas I'm not really bothered who wins since the Chicago Bears failed to make the playoffs, I am hoping for a decent game to mark the end of the season. The two teams have already met once this year; in the final week of the regular season, with the Patriots coming out 38-35 winners.
The Patriots have a chance to make history tonight; not only are they going for their fourth Super Bowl title in seven years but more importantly, they are going for a 19-0 unbeaten record; surpassing the 17-0 record set by the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
The Giants have a chance to deny history; although, Eli Manning could make history by emulating his brother Peyton and lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy one year later; the first time siblings would've won the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons.
The game is live on Sky Sports and BBC2 in the UK. I'm off to settle down in front of the TV.
Thursday was football's transfer deadline day. In the past my hometown team; Peterborough United, have tended to be rather busy on deadline day. However, today there has be no announced business from them. In fact, their main activity during the entire month was just signing Joe Lewis from Norwich City for £400k on 8th January.
My main club, Manchester United have also been very quiet this month. Other than signing Manucho from Petro Atlético for an undisclosed fee their only other main deals have been the sale of Ryan Shawcross to Stoke for £1m on 18th January and the sale of Phil Bardsley to Sunderland for £2m on 22nd January.
I've just watched one of the best games of football I've seen in a long time.
Tottenham Hotspur just beat Arsenal 5-1 in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final; progressing by a 6-2 aggregate score. The game was very open and swung from end to end for virtually the entire match. Although Spurs were at full strength and Arsenal rested some key players the result is still quite a shock.
Spurs will now play the winners of the second semi final; either Everton or Chelsea, who conclude their tie on Wednesday evening. Chelsea lead the second semi final 2-1 after the first leg and Everton have it all to do.
The final will be played at Wembley on 24th February.
There can't be many people unaware that England have failed to qualify for next Summer's European Championships in Switzerland and Austria.
Went back home at the weekend; first time in over 30 years. Went to watch Peterborough United vs Morecambe. Was a good game. Finished 1-1.
Tonight is the Champions League Final in Athens between Liverpool and AC Milan.
Go Bears.
Went to the Manchester United vs Portsmouth FA Cup match today.
Drove down to Manchester yesterday afternoon.
Well, the season is almost upon us and it's time to pick Fantasy Teams again.
Normally a result like this would fill me with joy, but not tonight.
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