The Round Football Column 10.08.07: 117th Edition – Celtic stun Milan, Man Utd score more than one goal in a game, plus more
Posted by on 10.08.2007
Elano inspires Man City once again, Robin van Persie helps Arsenal stay top, Champions League round-up, plus more. One Click Away.
Welcome………….
United hit four
After forty-five minutes after stale play in the final third, Manchester United finally showcased their glowing attacking potential in a devastating second half against Wigan. The visitors' defending for the goals was pretty shocking for the majority, but you still have to admire the hunger of Tevez for the first and the movement of Rooney for the fourth. Plus, the introduction of United's youngsters was an interesting addition to proceedings and rounded off a very positive day for the reigning champions. They have some tricky matches after the international break though, with away trips to Villa and Arsenal in their next three league fixtures.
Gunners scrape thriller
Arsenal just about stayed at the summit of the good ship Premier League, with a reasonably dramatic 3-2 win over Sunderland. Before the start of the day, I don't think many people thought this had the potential to be an early ‘game of the season' contender, but that certainly happened. It would be one thing if Sunderland took a two-goal lead and Arsenal recovered, but for the reverse to take place proves just how resilient Roy Keane's side is. They are still lacking a bit of technical quality outside of Yorke (who was exceptional), but they have blood and guts players like Nosworthy, Leadbitter, McShane and Higginbotham who will fight until they fall down. As for Arsenal, well they were complacent but they still warranted the win and produced some exceptional moments.
The rest of the Prem…….
Reading and Derby battled in a contest that looked suspiciously like a relegation scrap. Not so surprising for the latter, but after their form of last season, it's still odd to observe Steve Coppell's side in such a manner. That's the way it looks, though, and despite Sunday's win, Reading increasingly smell like relegation candidates.
Villa and West Ham took part in an entertaining yet scrappy match at Villa Park on Saturday, with the home side nicking the three points. Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor looked good for the Villa, but Lucas Neill was hideous for The Hammers and they were the victim of a few dodgy refereeing decisions.
Liverpool's erratic form continued with a 2-2 draw against Spurs. Not just that, but they needed a stoppage time equaliser from Torres to claim that solitary point. Jamie Carragher still can't seem to get out of his surprising bad run of form and Sami Hyypia is the worst third-choice centre-back from the top ten teams, I think. Martin Jol's tales of pain and cruelty at the late equaliser would be more endearing if it wasn't for Monday night's events, but in fairness to Spurs they did really well, with Berbatov, Chimbonda and especially Keane looking class.
Michael Owen came off the bench to score for Newcastle during their 3-2 win over Everton.
Portsmouth's incredible run of form continued with a 2-0 win at the tricky Craven Cottage. Seriously, Pompey's run has slipped under the radar, but they've been superb.
David Bentley impressed once again as Blackburn scraped past Birmingham.
Chelsea dragged their confidence from The Mestilla to The Reebok to beat Bolton 1-0. Kalou's goal was scrappy, but they deserved it overall.
Elano is some sort of king. Maybe like Simba or something.
Barclays Premier League – Team of the Weekend
GK - David James (Portsmouth)
RB - Pascal Chimbonda (Tottenham)
LB - Patrice Evra (Man Utd)
CB - Sol Campbell (Portsmouth)
CB - Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)
CM - Elano (Man City)
CM - Dwight Yorke (Sunderland)
RM - Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
LM - Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
ST - Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
ST - Robbie Keane (Tottenham)
UEFA Champions League – Matchday 2
One of "those" famous European nights at Anfield was on the cards for Wednesday………..before it never materialised BECAUSE ITS BULLSHIT! Seriously, those recent triumphs over Chelsea, Juventus and Olympiakos have created a myth, truly. They won the aforementioned games because of a great team effort, individual magic, luck, or a mix of all three. The media and Liverpool fans seem to forget the losses to Benfica and Barcelona, where they were simply outclassed, even with the Anfield crowd getting behind the team. The same happened on Wednesday. They lost to a better side. It doesn't matter whether it was at Anfield, Velodrome or some park in Scarborough……..Marseille were better than Liverpool – and this is the goal that gave the French side a deserved win:
Real Madrid got a reasonably decent draw at Lazio, but being ahead twice they really should have bagged all three points. I know it's easy to talk about the exciting and vibrant strikers in the most positive light, but van Nistelrooy is still one of the top five forwards in world football, for me.
Werder Bremen got hammered at home by Olympiakos, in one of many surprise results last week.
Shakhtar did what most teams barring Man Utd have failed to do in recent years and that's win at Benfica's version of Sunderland's stadium.
Rosenborg showed their true colors against Schalke.
Chelsea proved me and many others wrong with a fantastic win in Valencia. A cruel ricochet and David Villa's ruthlessness put them one down, but Joe Cole and Didier Drogba brought them back in the game. Drog has rightly received the plaudits for his winning finish, but the assist from Joe Cole was just stunning.
Barca were hurried and hassled by German champions Stuttgart, but class and ruthlessness won the day to put Messi and co. top of Group E.
My gut feeling for Roma getting their revenge at Old Trafford never materialised, in a contest that never really got going. United ended up as deserved winners and it was a fantastic finish from Rooney to answer his gradually increasing number of critics wrong, for the time being. It was another fantastic outing for Ferdinand and Vidic, though, and despite Roma spurning a couple of chances, the defenders were immaculate for the majority of the match.
Rangers shocked the football world with an unbelievable win in Lyon. The 3-0 win has put them in a great position in a ridiculously tough group, but the double header with Barca may bring them back down to earth. Still, they should enjoy the moment, because it was an incredible night. The goalkeeping for the third goal was insanely bad……..but we don't talk about that.
Ricardo Quaresma is a pimp.
Arsenal won a priceless three points at a Steaua Bucharest side who are surprisingly dynamic at home. If not for their torrid finishing, Steaua would have got at least a point. In the end though, van Persie's bullet finish was enough and with Slavia Prague back-to-back, The Gunners may qualify by the end of matchday four.
Celtic took advantage of Milan's shocking form and torrential rain to claim a dramatic win at Celtic Park. The win was overshadowed by Dida's outrageous reaction to some plonker tickling his neck, but it was still a superb win for Celtic nonetheless.
Charlie Nicholas' analysis of Dida's outrageous dive:
Well done to Celtic, but Meeeeelan look horrible. Their midfield has great individuals, but the formation seems a little stagnant. The defence is a ticking time bomb. The attack is borderline non-existent. Inzaghi's not getting any younger and Gilardino has never recaptured his Parma form under Ancelotti. They need Ronaldo and Pato in the side to provide some sparkle, because at the moment they are looking a million miles away from the tag of Europe's best. We all know they'll be ready in late February, though. It's what they do, isn't it?
Football rules………….but what actually happened last week?
Afonso Alves scored a staggering SEVEN goals during Heerenveen's 9-0 win over Heracles. That's more than Sheva will bag all season.
Kaka rightly won the FIFPro World Player Of The Year award and celebrated by bagging a brace in AC Milan's 5-1 romp at Lazio. Meeeeelan are back then, I guess.
Juventus could only manage a draw at Fiorentina after a late Mutu penalty cancelled out Iaquinta's opener.
Roma got over another defeat at Old Trafford with an impressive 3-0 win at Parma. Totti netted a brace because he's a bit good.
Valencia lost at home for the third time this season, with Espanyol the latest winners. Bad week for gaffer Quique Sanchez Flores. Could Valencia be Mourinho's next team?
Sevilla lost in the league AGAIN – this time against Deportivo.
Real Madrid won……and Ruud scored again.
The battle of the Argentinean superkids was a bit of a one-man show as Lionel Messi's Barcelona hammered Sergio Aguero's Atletico Madrid 3-0. The Barca wizard also got on the scoresheet.
Villarreal lost their second game of the season, away to Osasuna.
The UEFA Cup saw some shock exits with Palermo and Blackburn going out, but anyone that puts Ajax in that bracket obviously hasn't seen Dinamo Zagreb over the past couple of seasons. Two goals in defeat for Huntelaar, though. Surely he must go in January.
Everton won a surprisingly RIVETING game at Metalist……..and I'm happy I randomly watched it. Yakubu has turned into a terrible player, though.
GRETNA WATCH: They were 1-0 up on Celtic for ages – yay………….but then the champions came back to win 2-1……..BOOOO!
Top 5 Moments of the week
05 – Dida Brando 04 – Robin van Persie's first vs. Sunderland 03 – Afonso Alves' magnificent seven 02 – Elano's display vs. Boro 01 – Marseille's goal at Anfield
The Adventures of Laurence Hobbs
Hobbsy was so sickened by Soccer AM's continuous use of guests who WERE NOT footy fans that he wrote them a letter revealing his disgust.
In fairness to the lettuce dodger, he has a point. It is called Soccer AM!
The Week Ahead………
Not as exciting as last week……nowhere near in fact.
Championship strugglers QPR and Norwich square-off at Loftus Road tonight.
Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Tuesday.
Then nothing of significance until the Euro 2008 qualifiers on Saturday.
Highlights obviously include England's presumably nervy meeting with the world's 127th best international side.
Also, Scotland will be keen not to capitulate and carry on their amazing form with a win over Ukraine.
Ireland could keep their ridiculously feint qualification hopes alive with a win over Germany.
Last Week's Match Predictions (Bold = Prediction ……. Italics = Actual Result)
UEFA Champions League – Group Stages
Tuesday October 2nd
Group E – Lyon v Rangers 2-0 // 0-3
Group E – Stuttgart v Barcelona 2-4 // 0-2
Group F – Dynamo Kiev v Sporting Lisbon 1-1 // 1-2
Group F – Man Utd v Roma 1-2 // 1-0
Group G – CSKA Moscow v Fenerbahce 3-1 // 2-2
Group G – Inter Milan v PSV 2-1 // 2-0
Group H – Sevilla v Slavia Prague 2-0 // 4-2
Group H – Steaua Bucharest v Arsenal 1-1 // 0-1
Wednesday 3rd
Group A – Besiktas v Porto 1-1 // 0-1
Group A – Liverpool v Marseille 3-1 // 0-1
Group B – Rosenborg v Schalke 1-1 // 0-2
Group B – Valencia v Chelsea 3-0 // 1-2
Group C – Lazio v Real Madrid 0-1 // 2-2
Group C – Werder Bremen v Olympiakos 3-0 // 1-3
Group D – Benfica v Shakhtar Donetsk 1-3 // 0-1
Group D – Celtic v AC Milan 0-0 // 2-1
Premier League
Monday October 1st
Tottenham v Aston Villa 2-1 // 4-4
Saturday 6th
Aston Villa v West Ham 2-1 // 1-0
Man Utd v Wigan 4-1 // 4-0
Sunday 7th
Arsenal v Sunderland 3-0 // 3-2
Blackburn v Birmingham 2-1 // 2-1
Bolton v Chelsea 1-0 // 0-1
Fulham v Portsmouth 3-2 // 0-2
Liverpool v Tottenham 2-0 // 2-2
Man City v Middlesbrough 3-0 // 3-1
Newcastle v Everton 1-1 // 3-2
Reading v Derby 3-1 // 1-0
Next Week's Match Predictions
I'm not a fan of predicting Euro 2008 qualifiers……..so I won't.
Read these or I can't guarantee you'll have a good week
