Tag Archives: columns

Dizzel’s La Liga Column: Ronaldo and Messi steal the show in El Clasico

  By O-Posts Team | October 9, 2012 - 22:42 | , ,
Leave a comment
Ronaldo and Messi

The 7th match-day of the 2012/2013 La Liga season has been played and currently it is Barcelona and Atletico that top the log with 19 points from a possible 21 each. Falcao, Messi and Cristiano are tied as the top goal scorers with 8 goals each.

I will do my usual rundown of the 5 best matches of the weekend as well as my personal team of the week and awarding the Dizzels Player Of The Week award to the best player of this match-day.

 

1) Celta Vigo vs Sevilla

The biggest upset of match-day 7. Sevilla were raring to go and get three points after their humiliating loss to Barcelona last week. Neither team could make use of one of their opportunities to score in the first half and they were dead even at 0-0. Sevilla seemed to start the second half better with a flurry of attacks.

Navas was productive on the right side, but no player could get on the end of his balls into the box. Celta shocked the Sevilla team when they received a penalty in the 60th minute. Aspas calmly converted it. Sevilla tried with everything they had to get back in the match, but it was to no avail as De Lucas doubled Celta’s lead in the 85th minute.

This was a great result for Celta Vigo, while Sevilla will have to improve very rapidly if they want to finish in the Champions League places.

 

2) Valladolid vs Espanyol

Espanyol got only their second point of the season and will be very disappointed that they couldn’t win this match. They had most of the possession in the first half and enjoyed a lot of time on the ball.

All of that changed when Victor Alvarez received a red card in the 43rd minute for a deliberate hand-ball. Espanyol were rattled and changed their tactics at half time, to such an extent that they played completely different. It did work out for them when Verdu opened the scoring for Espanyol in the 69th minute with a well taken penalty.

They tried hard with a man down, but could not keep out the Valladolid attack. Oscar scored his fourth goal of the season in the 81st minute to equalize and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

 

3) Mallorca vs Granada

Mallorca were overwhelming favorites going into this match. They have started the season excellently mainly due to their strong defensive play. However Granada got the result. Mallorcas great defense kept it even in the first half and they also threatened to score before the half-time whistle.

It took a whole 64 minutes for Granada to beat Dudu Aouate when Emilio Nsue conceded a penalty and El Arabi converted it. In the 76th minute Torje slotted home the second for Granada.

Mallorca tried to mount a comeback, but failed as they could only score one goal through Hemed in the 86th minute.

 

4) Atletico Madrid vs Malaga

This was touted to be more important than the Clasico by some football pundits. The second and third placed teams going into the match-day facing each other. The players to watch would be Falcao and youngster Isco. Both of them definitely delivered and had excellent performances.

Falcao claimed before the season started that he could score as many goals as Ronaldo and Messi and he is certainly backing himself up. Falcao opened the scoring in the 6th minute to give Atletico the lead in this crucial match. The former Manchester City Striker Santa Cruz then leveled a half-hour later.

Both teams created a lot of chances including one stinging shot from Isco that went just over the bar. The deadlock was finally broken in the worst of ways in the 89th minute when Weligton got credited or rather blamed for the own goal.

Atletico got the 3 points and now share the top of the log position.

 

5) El Clasico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid

With millions of viewers from all over the world El Clasico certainly lived up to its reputation of the best match in the world. It is a great match for neutrals, but a real emotional roller coaster for Madrid and Barca fans. Both sets of supporters had their hearts in their mouths every time the rival team approached their goal.

The first clear chance came to Benzema from a Ronaldo cross. He fluffed the volley horribly when he had the time to take a touch. Minutes later Sergio Ramos had an unchallenged header over the miniature Barca defense, but sent it just wide. Real would not keep missing and Barca’s makeshift defense got beat by Ronaldo who then shot past Valdes at the near post with his left boot in the 23rd minute. Benzema missed another clear chance when he hit the post when he really should have buried it.

Madrid paid for their sloppy finishing in the 31st minute. A defensive error by Pepe gave Messi a great chance and he kept calm and easily beat Casillas from less than 8 yards. Madrid were by far the better team in the first half.

In the 61st minute the whole game got turned on its head when Messi scored the perfect free-kick. The roof almost went flying off of the Camp Nou as the Blaugrana celebrated their little magicians best trick. The joy however only lasted 5 minutes until Ronaldo leveled the scores again just after he injured his shoulder when attempting a bicycle-kick. Ozil played the perfect pass and Ronaldo did what is expected when he is one-on-one with a ‘keeper.

The closest anyone came to getting the winner was when Montoya (the RB that replaced Alves) hit the post with a magnificent strike. The worrying fact for Barcelona will be that they are depending to heavily on Messi. The two solo efforts he scored were all that kept Barca in a match that they were obviously the weaker team.

The match ended as a 2-2 draw and meant that Real Madrid are still trailing Barcelona by 8 points.

 

Team Of The Week: Match-day 7

 

GK: Sergio Álvarez Conde (Celta Vigo)

This ‘keeper was truly thrown straight into the deep-end this week. His first start of the season was against the devastating attack of Sevilla. He still managed to keep a clean-sheet so he earns his position.

 

LB: Paulao (Real Betis)

I broke the rules a bit by picking a centre-back as my LB. He was just to good in his teams victory to leave out. He was a giant in defense and even got on the score-sheet himself.

 

CB: Pepe (Real Madrid)

Although he made an error that led to a goal, Pepe was still very solid in defense throughout the whole match. He cleared a lot of balls and even once went on a marauding run forward that almost worked out.

 

CB: Mascherano (Barcelona)

Mascherano has become accustomed to playing at centre-back for Barca since Puyol and Pique are both prone to injuries. He was caught out a few times, but he was a much better centre-back than he was a couple of months ago. He looked comfortable in the position and did really well overall.

 

RB: Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao)

Iraola was exceptional going forward in Bilbao’s 1-0 victory. He has an immense amount of skill and pace and looked like a track athlete at times. He did seem a little tired sometimes when defending, but he still did enough to help keep the clean-sheet.

 

MID: Enrique de Lucas (Celta Vigo)

De Lucas scored his 20th goal for Celta. His goal secured a win over tough rivals Sevilla. He had a really good game overall.

 

MID: Oscar de Marcos (Athletic Bilbao)

De Marcos finally started playing really well in this game. He picked the right match to step up his game. He assisted Aduriz in the only goal of the match. If he can keep playing like this Athletics season may be back on track.

 

LM: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

CR7 scored a brace against Barcelona this match-day and that should already be enough to get him on this list. He also tracked back to keep out Barca a lot. He dominated the Barcelona defense and even kept on playing after he injured himself.

 

RM: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Messi had an exceptional game yet again. He was not on his best in the open play, but when the game got fragmented he pounced on the opportunities and scored a magnificent brace against one of the best ‘keepers in the world. He carried a Barcelona team that played way below par.

 

ST: Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid)

The Colombian forward did what he does best, scoring goals. He scored once and had a big influence on the Weligton own-goal. He certainly is living up to his reputation. He sure put on a show for Roberto Mancini who was at the match to watch him personally according so some accounts.

 

Dizzels La Liga Player Of The Week: The recipient of this weeks award was certainly the hardest to decide. After amazing performances by the two best players in the world I decided to award the Dizzels Player Of The Week to both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. I believe there can be no dispute that they both deserve it.

 

Written by Deon Beauzec

Follow him on Twitter @DIZZEL001

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

Adam’s Premier League Column: Weekly Round Up 7- Chelsea put four past the Canaries

  By O-Posts Team | October 9, 2012 - 00:58 | , ,
Leave a comment
Chelsea v Norwich City

 

Chelsea 4 Norwich 1

Chelsea were victorious at Stamford Bridge, putting aside their many off-field problems and sending them top of the pile. Endless Court Cases, disciplinary charges and Twitter rows surrounded the Blues, and eleven minutes in, things got worse as Norwich hero Grant Holt scored to put the visitor’s ahead. But after 14 minutes, all was forgotten as Spaniard Fernando Torres headed in to equalise.

It was the start of a torrid afternoon for the Canaries, with the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar, and Juan Mata all on top form and playing well. Frank Lampard still showed us what he can do by doubling Chelsea’s lead with a well taken goal from just inside the box. He has been a wonderful servant to the club, and he still has lots to give.

Eden Hazard continued his scintillating form in front of goal, by scoring Chelsea’s third of the afternoon. The scoring didn’t stop there as Ivanovic thumped in an effort to seal the victory.

Norwich paid for their missed chances, and they will no doubt be frustrated with themselves as they still search for their first league win and have conceded 17 goals.

 

West Ham 1 Arsenal 3

Arsenal had to come from behind to beat a very physical West Ham United side at Upton Park. The Hammers were blowing their bubbles on 21 minutes as midfield talisman Diame netted from an incredibly tight angle to stick the Irons noses in front.

West Ham’s defence stood strong throughout the first half, but was sliced open by a beautifully weighted cross by Lukas Podolski which found Olivier Giroud, who then tucked it away to score his first Premier League goal for the Gunners.

Arsenal kept mounting on the pressure after the interval, and it was only a matter of time before Arsenal scored a second. That’s what happened. The second half was dominated by Arsenal, with them having an impressive fourteen shots on target to West Ham’s three.

Kevin Nolan missed a sitter for the Hammers, and if he put that away, which he normally does, then the result would have been very different. A plethora of chances were pondered soon after, and it took Theo Walcott to come off the bench to put the Gunners in front and break the deadlock.

Then six minutes later, midfielder Santi Carzola, and perhaps the signing of the season for Arsenal, scored a spectacular goal to put the gloss on the deserved victory.

 

Manchester City 3 Sunderland 0

Manchester City silenced their critics with a comfortable victory over Martin O’Neil’s Black Cats at the Etihad. A defensive reshuffle saw City claim their first clean sheet of the season, with Richards and Lescott coming in for Nastastic and Kompany.

Sunderland were on the back foot as soon as the fifth minute as Carlos Tevez was brought down when through on goal, the resulting free-kick was turned in by Aleksandar Kolarov from a tight angle. Man City had to wait until 60 minutes to double their lead, although they had chances to score much earlier.

Still, Sergio Agϋero came off the bench to score the second, and the Citizens didn’t stop there. James Milner rounded off a fine afternoon for City, his free-kick took a slight deflection.

Man City will take lots of positives from this game, and I’m looking forward to what they can do when the Premier League returns in  two weeks’ time.

 

Swansea 2 Reading 2

Michael Laudrup’s Swans were swimming in deep water and had to come from two goals down to salvage a point at the Liberty Stadium.

Reading’s first goal could have been prevented and Swans ‘keeper Michel Vorm will be the first to admit it after he let Pavel Pogrebnyak’s shot underneath him. Hunt doubled the lead just before the break with a great volley.

Swansea came out fighting in the second half, and were rewarded with their efforts, Michu scoring his sixth goal this season to pull one back on 71 minutes. Wayne Routledge completed the comeback as the Swans drew level after 78 minutes.

Warning signs are there for Michael Laudrup, and he will need to start digging in to get results, although he shouldn’t alter his philosophy to just get wins, he needs to stick by what he believes in.

 

West Brom 3 Queens Park Rangers 2

QPR added to the disappointing loss at Loftus Road earlier on in the week at the hands of West Ham with a 3-2 defeat at the Hawthorns. Steve Clarke continues his fine run as West Brom boss and they now have fourteen points on the board.

The pressure is growing on Mark Hughes as QPR boss, although owner Fernandez has described his position as ‘safe’. Morrison opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute. Zoltan Gera doubled the lead before Adel Taarabt netted to draw one back.

The comeback was on, but Mulumbu thought otherwise, increasing West Brom’s lead to 3-1. Man of the match Granero scored a delightful goal for the visitors to make the score 3-2. Then, the best chance of the game came to QPR full back Jose Bosingwa to blast over, and that was to be the last kick of the game.

Under-fire QPR boss Mark Hughes talked to BBC Sport and here’s what he had to say; “In the early part of the game we gave ourselves too much to do. We talk about the fundamentals of defending and we didn’t do that. We didn’t start correctly. We were slow and not dynamic. They produced two good balls and we didn’t deal with them. If you go 2-0 down away from home it’s nigh-on impossible to get back into it. For the vast majority of the game I thought we were in control, but we need to take the defensive errors out of our game.”

 

Wigan 2 Everton 2

Leighton Baines rescued the point for Everton against his old club at the DW stadium. Kone put the home team in the lead; he put in a real shift and was absolutely superb on the day. The lead didn’t last long though, as a minute later Everton frontman Jelavic scored to pull the teams level. Wigan then went in front again.

 

Southampton 2 Fulham 2

Martin Jol’s Fulham thought they stole the three points at St Mary’s after coming behind to take the lead. Southampton initially went in front when Fonte guided in a header for it to find the top corner in the fourth minute.

Fulham then equalised on 70 minutes when Jon Arne Riise’s shot struck the foot of Hooiveld who deflected it in. Fulham, who were without star striker Dimitar Berbatov, carried in pressing and were eventually rewarded. Kieran Richardson netted to put the Cottagers in front. Fulham thought they had grabbed the three points, and so did some of the Southampton faithful, who actually left the stadium with time a plenty.

Southampton centre back Fonte scored his second goal of the game to earn a share of the spoils at St Mary’s for Nigel Adkins Saints.

 

Newcastle 0 Manchester United 3

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United rectified last week’s disappointing loss at Tottenham with a comfortable win over Newcastle.

On 8 minutes Johnny Evans scored a free header to send the Red Devils in front, and seven minutes later the Toons were left fuming again as they conceded from yet another set piece, this time as Patrice Evra found himself unmarked to head United two goals to the good.

Tom Cleverley then rounded off the scoring with an attempted cross which found the back of Steven Taylor’s goal, to finish what was in truth, a walk in the park, Newcastle hardly threatened.

 

Liverpool 0 Stoke 0

It was goalless at Anfield, although both sides had a chance to capitalise. Pepe Reina’s back passes went astray on a couple of occasions, but the Potters couldn’t accept the gift. All in all, a poor game, and I’m sure Brendan Rodgers will be disappointed with his teams efforts.

 

Tottenham 2 Aston Villa 0

Andre Villas-Boas’ decision to omit Brad Friedel from the starting line-up ended his 310th consecutive Premier League appearance, meaning he hadn’t missed a game since May 2004, which is a fantastic achievement. So in came France Number one Hugo Lloris, and if truth be told, his distribution was quite poor.

Nonetheless, Spurs kept a clean sheet, and their frontline played well, linking up nicely. Steven Caulker scored his first goal in Tottenham colours, although at the time he didn’t know much about it, as the initial shot by England front man Jermain Defoe ricocheted into the back of the net via his leg.

Tottenham carried on pressing, and Aaron Lennon, who was recently called up to the England squad for their up and coming World Cup Qualifiers, doubled Spurs’ lead with a well taken shot which found the bottom corner.

 

Team of the Week

 

Written by Adam May

Follow him on Twitter @Adam132Football

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

Dizzels La Liga Column: Match-day 6- Madrid reborn while Barca escape, but Cesc brings shame

  By O-Posts Team | October 3, 2012 - 15:50 | , ,
Leave a comment
Barca vs Sevilla

The 6th round of La Liga has just been completed and at the moment Barcelona still sit at the top of the log with 18 points. They are closely followed by Malaga and Atletico.

Falcao leads the race for the Pichichi with 7 goals while Caballero leads the race for the Zamora trophy with only 2 goals conceded in 6 games (4 clean-sheets).

I will be doing my usual rundown of the action-packed best 5 matches of the weekend. I will also be naming my team of the week as well as Dizzels Player Of The Week.

 

1) Málaga vs Betis

Málaga have been superb early in the season. They are playing well together and are at the moment a real joy to watch.

From the start it was obvious that Málaga would dominate this match. The first goal was a penalty that Joaquín scored in the 13th minute. After the departure of Cazorla in the summer, Joaquín has really stepped up and is playing excellently.

They doubled their lead in the 28th minute through Saviola. Any hopes of a comeback were destroyed after Amaya put the ball into his own net after 72 minutes.

Only 2 minutes later Málaga’s best player this season: Isco made it 4-0. A great performance by Málaga.

 

2) Sevilla vs Barcelona

This was a match that no Sevilla fan will want to watch again. They were storming ahead after Trochowski scored the opener in the 26th minute. Sevilla seemed to be on their way to another great upset when Spanish international striker Alvaro Negredo doubled the lead in the 48th minute.

Barcelona started their comeback 5 minutes later when Cesc Fabregas netted his first of the match. Then a disgusting insult to the game of football occurred when Fabregas got Sevilla player Gary Medel sent off with some shocking play-acting.

With Sevilla now a player down Messi assisted Fabregas’ second goal after Thiago handled the ball before passing it to him. In added time Messi got his second assist of the match as David Villa scored the winner.

You still have to ask whether or not the victory was worth it.

 

3) Valladolid vs Rayo Vallecano

Valladolid got their third win of the season in emphatic style. The highest winning margin this season couldn’t have come from a more shocking team. They played excellently on the day and surely did not ease up second half.

Valladolid were behind after 5 minutes when Dominguez scored for Rayo. The Rayo lead didn’t last long. Bueno opened Valladolids account in the 10th minute. Manucho scored just three minutes later. Oscar scored his first in the 21st minute. Rukavina scored the last of the first half.

Oscar got his second in the 56th minute and Manucho finished his brace 4 minutes from time.

This was a very impressive match from Valladolid and next week we will see if they can do it again when they face bottom of the log Espanyol.

 

4) Osasuna vs Levante

Osasuna finally got their first win of the season when they beat a strong Levante side this past week. The match went into halftime as a scoreless draw. It was a fairly even match. Armanteros gave Osasuna the lead in the 55th minute.

The floodgates opened when Lamah scored in the 82nd minute. Timor converted a penalty 6 minutes later and Nino added another before the match was over. Levante were shocking and will need to step up their game when they face Valencia in match-day 7.

 

5) Real Madrid vs Deportivo

Los Blancos are back. Real got back to winning ways with a very impressive display. They got shocked when Riki scored in the 16th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty in the 22nd minute to level the scores after Di Maria was taken out on the line. Di Maria scored a header in the 38th minute and Ronaldo also used his head to take Madrid to a 3-1 half-time lead.

Xabi Alonso was spectacular when he came on and assisted Pepe’s 66th minute header from a free-kick. Ronaldo scored his second penalty of the night in the 84th minute to complete his hat-trick.

 

Other results:

Valencia 2-0 Zaragoza; Sociedad 2-0 Athletic; Granada 2-1 Celta Vigo; Espanyol 0- 1 Atletico; Getafe 1-0 Mallorca.

 

Team Of The Week Match-day 6:

 

GK: Wilfredo Caballero (Malaga)

Caballero kept his 4th clean sheet of the season against Betis. He made a couple of impressive saves and his positioning was the best of any ‘keeper this week.

 

LB: Juanfran (Atletico)

I picked Juanfran at left-back even though he played at right-back this weekend. Juanfran had a very solid game for Atletico. He had a huge influence going forward. He made a couple of excellent fast overlapping runs down the side. He was one of the main reasons why Atletico managed to keep a clean-sheet.

 

CB: Pepe (Real Madrid)

Pepe had another outstanding game for Madrid. He was very strong in tackles and secure with possession. He made a lot of clearing header from his own box and should be praised for scoring a well taken header.

 

CB: Manuel Ortiz Toribi (Osasuna)

The best centre back this match-day. He played a near perfect game defensively. He kept Levante’s dangerous attackers at bay and frustrated them for the whole 90 minutes.

 

RB: Rukavina (Valladolid)

Rukavina got on the scoresheet in Valladolids thumping of Rayo. He got his first goal for the side he joined this past summer. It was just his sixth match for Valladolid. His movement down the wing and link up play was phenomenal.
MID: Fabregas (Barcelona)

I was going to leave Fabregas out because of his negative actions, but he did score two important goals for Barcelona. He has had a good couple of games and if he can clean up his act he could be a vital player for the Blaugrana this season.

 

MID: Óscar (Valladolid)

Óscar scored a brace in Valladolids amazing 6-1 win over Rayo Vallecano. The 29 year old Spaniard had a great game.

 

LW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 16th hat-trick in his career. He is now equal second top-scorer along with Messi. He scored two penalties and a powerful header and was tormenting defenders for the whole match.

 

CAM: Piotr Trochowski (Sevilla)

Piotr Trochowski scored the opener against Barcelona. He also scored against Real Madrid earlier this season. He is a real big game player and was good against Barca until they went a man down.

 

RW: Di Maria (Real Madrid)

Even though he faded slightly in the second half, Di Maria played very well against Deportivo. He worked hard to get his goal and was running circles around defenders. He played much better while he was playing on the left-hand side and was less active on the right.

 

ST: Manucho (Valladolid)

Manucho had what was probably his best game for Valladolid so far. He not only contributed heavily in attack he also tracked back to help out the mid-field. He scored a brace to help his team to victory.

 

Dizzels La Liga Player Of The Week:

The player of the week award has to go to none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid winger was the best player this match-day because of his overall performance as well as scoring 3 goals.

 

Written by Deon Beauzec

Follow him on Twitter @DIZZEL001

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

Adam’s Premier League Column: Weekly Round Up 6- Edin Džeko scores dramatic late goal for the Citizens

  By O-Posts Team | September 30, 2012 - 21:53 | , ,
Leave a comment
Edin Dzeko scores vs Fulham

 

Manchester United 2 Tottenham 3

AVB looks to have restored faith with the Spurs faithful with this historic victory away at Old Trafford.

André Villas-Boas struggled to win over Tottenham fans in the first few games of the season, but now with 11 points on the board, they look like their squad is settling well and AVB is doing what he does best.

Prior to the game, Tottenham hadn’t won at Old Trafford in their last nine games, and in the first two minutes, Spurs looked like they weren’t going to make that record reach 10 games. Spurs centre back Vertonghen struck a shot which took a wicked deflection to elude united ‘keeper Lindergaard.

Gareth Bale then took on the United defence on 32 minutes, and the defenders just couldn’t keep up as the Welsh winger dispatched a right footed shot which nestled into the far corner.

Wayne Rooney replaced Ryan Giggs at the interval in a United re-shape. 6minutes after the restart, Nani found the net to set up a real goal fest. One minute later, Clint Dempsey pounced on a rebound to make the score 3-1 in Tottenham’s favour. Then after another minute, Shinji Kagawa scored to unsettle Tottenham’s nerves.

However, Spurs withstood a lot of pressure from Manchester United, who I feel are really lacking in midfield with the likes of Carrick, Scholes and Giggs not getting any younger.

 

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2

Roberto Di Matteo’s high flying Pensioners were not short of energy as they came out winners at the Emirates.

Fernando Torres came out on trumps after some lacklustre defending from Arsenal at a set piece. Laurent Koscielny got beaten in the far too easily and could only stand and watch the Spaniard head into the back of the net.

Arsenal kept on pressing and their patience was rewarded, this time Gervinho levelled and the sides were back on equal terms at half time.

After the break of 53 minutes Juan Mata floated in a free kick for it only to deceive all and bounce straight in. Questions have to be asked about Arsenal’s inability to defend set pieces. They started off so well, but their poor defensive errors cost them dearly in the end.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are playing incredibly well and the young players brought in are coming to fruition. Exciting times loom for the Blues.

 

Everton 3 Southampton 1

A possible midweek hangover loomed over Everton after their midweek loss at the hands of Leeds United in the Capital One Cup, and they didn’t make the best of starts against the Saints.

Southampton found themselves in the lead six minutes in, Gaston Ramirez firing the Saints in front.

Southampton couldn’t capitalise on their chances though, and on 25 minutes Leon Osman levelled for the Toffees in front of the home crowd.

Everton didn’t stop there and found themselves 3-1 to the good at half time. Nikica Jelavic scored both in the space of six minutes. Jelavic converted header to nail down the three points.

I have to say, I have been really impressed with Everton this season, and the work David Moyes has done shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Leighton Baines, as usual, is playing at the top of his game. Leon Osman, Fellaini and Jelavic are playing really well, too, and if they can keep going like this all through the season, the future is gleaming.

 

Fulham 1 Manchester City 2

The champions are finding it hard as late to carry on the form from last season and they haven’t quite clicked into gear just yet.

They found themselves 1-0 down after a dubious penalty was given. The replay showed that John Arne Riise took a blatant dive and the Norwegian should be ashamed with himself. The penalty was converted by Mladen Petric who slammed hope past the helpless Joe Hart.

Just before the break, Sergio Agϋero levelled for the visitors. Both sides had their chances in the second half but they didn’t take them. Then, Edin Dzeko stuck City’s noses in front after being on the pitch for a minute.

Manchester City were worthy winners though, without playing to their absolute best that we all know.

 

Norwich 2 Liverpool 5

Liverpool shipped 5 past Chris Hughton’s Norwich, who have been incredibly disappointing this season under the new boss.

Liverpool front man, Luis Suarez, lead the line at his favourite ground, Carrow Road. He netted a hat trick against the Canaries this season and in the same fixture last term, albeit under a new style. He could have had five or six.

On loan midfield maestro Nuri Sahin netted and so did Steven Gerrard thanks to a deflection to round off a great day for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

There are still warning signs for Liverpool, Pepe Reina could have kept out Norwich’s two goals, but after the new style and philosophy has settled in those mistakes will hopefully be erased, although Reina has a knack of losing his concentration.

 

Reading 2 Newcastle 2

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew and his coaching staff were awarded for their Premier League and Europa League efforts with a mega 8 year contract, and they would have wanted a win today to celebrate.

Senegalese striker Demba Ba scored a brace to earn a draw at Reading. His first strike was contender for goal of the month, his second, not so. He appeared to handball it in, it may have been harsh to give it but I have seen them given.

Reading, who still haven’t registered a point yet, fought hard, and really made the Toons work hard for the point. Brian McDermot will be surely be the happier out of the two managers, but would have wanted a win I feel, like all managers and teams do.

 

Stoke City 2 Swansea 0

Swansea, who have managed only one win away from home, suffered their third league defeat in a row.

Stoke City, who themselves have had a tough start to the season, played very well to prevent Swansea from threatening and all it took was a Peter Crouch brace to deplete the Swans.

Michael Laudraup has struggled to keep up what Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers started off, despite starting the first couple of games very convincingly.

Potters boss Tony Pulis has managed to get a really good group of players together, and when they settle, they will be definitely be finishing mid-table.

It is still early days though, and a lot can change.

 

Sunderland 1 Wigan 0

Martin O’Neil’s Black Cats were triumphant at home to Wigan Athletic, who currently occupy the 16th spot.

No prizes for who guesses who the scorer was. Of course it was Steven Fletcher, his fifth goal in four games. It was also Sunderland’s first home win of the season, and their first Premier League home win since March.

Wigan’s Jordi Gomez was shown red for the Latics for violent conduct just three minutes before Fletcher fired in a fierce shot pass Ali Al Habsi.

 

Aston Villa 1 West Brom 1

It was derby day at Villa Park and it didn’t disappoint. West Brom have made a terrific start to season, picking up ten points prior to this game. The loan signing of Lukaku looks to be a fantastic piece of business.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, have started the season poorly, although they were victorious against Manchester City in the Capital One Cup. Paul Lambert’s Villa have only managed to collect 5 points so far, and they had to come behind to draw against West Brom.

It took around 51 minutes for the deadlock to be broken. Shane Long turned in a cross to put the visitors in front. Then Darren Bent came off the bench to earn a point in the midlands derby. West Brom also hit the bar late on, but Villa withstood the pressure.

 

My Team of the Week

 

Written by Adam May

Follow him on Twitter @Adam132Football

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dizzels La Liga Column: Match-day 5 – Xavi saves Barca’s blushes

  By O-Posts Team | September 26, 2012 - 18:49 | , ,
Leave a comment
Xavi

The 5th match-day of the 2012/13 Spanish League has been completed and it is Barcelona that sit on the top of the log with 15 points.

I will be doing my usual rundown of the 5 best matches of the weekend as well as introducing my team of the week and giving the second Dizzel’s Player of the Week award.

 

1) Real Zaragoza vs Osasuna

The match started off with a bang when Portuguese forward H. Postiga opened the scoring in the 4th minute. Osasuna equalised in the 29th minute through an Armenteros goal.

The level score would be short lived as V. Rodríguez scored in the 45th minute and Apoño made it 3-1 by slotting a penalty 20 minutes from time.

Zaragoza was really impressive in this match and I consider them as favorites for their next league match against Valencia.

 

2) Celta Vigo vs Getafe

Celta Vigo were very unlucky to lose 2-1 the previous match-day against Valencia, but they made their own luck and turned around their fortunes around. The match was a tight contest until the end.

The first goal was scored by Fernández in the 57th minute, but Barrada equalised just two minutes later. It took the debut appearance of Park Chu Young to make the difference.

The Arsenal flop started his Celta campaign greatly with a goal from his first shot for them. His goal also made him the first Korean player to score in the Spanish league.

The stand-out performer was Krohn-Deli yet again. He assisted both goals and had an overall excellent game.

 

3)Barcelona vs Granada

Barcelona were expected to easily win this match, but Granada definitely came to the party. It took a whole 87 minutes for Barcelona to take the lead through a wonderful Xavi strike from the edge of the box.

The Granada defenders were playing well on the night, but the eye-catcher of the game was Granada ‘keeper Toño who strung together a lot of outstanding saves to deny the Catalans. He had the best game of his career and he provided a goalkeeping masterclass.

In just his 4th game for Granada after signing from relegated Racing Santander he proved a great buy for the club.

Barcelona still proved too much of a task for Granada and the Blaugrana doubled their lead with Messi crossing the ball in after which a Granada player accidentally turned the ball into his own net.

 

4) Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano

This match was delayed after wires were cut at Rayo’s stadium that led to the floodlights not working. There are a lot of accusations going around, the main suspects being the Rayo fans that were protesting against the club.

Real Madrid started that match in 17th place and Rayo started six places above them in 11th place. Los Blancos finally got back to winning ways by winning 2-0.

The first goal came after a sublime run by Di Maria who then played the ball sweetly to Benzema, who in turn, slotted calmly from inside 6 yards.

The second goal was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo from the penalty spot.

The Whites were not at their best again, but they are gaining momentum and will surely mount a title challenge again.

 

5) Atlético Madrid vs Valladolid

This was a match that saw the men from Madrid have less of the ball and just proved it’s what you do with the possession that counts.

Atlético had an astounding 32 crosses in the match , 20 more than Valladolid, but failed to transfer these balls into genuine chances most of the match.

Atlético finally took the lead in the 33rd minute when Diego Godín scored a great goal.

Falcao saw his brilliant start to the campaign continue with his penalty in the 44th minute.

Valladolid got one back in the 55th minute through Bueno, but it failed to genuinely change the game.

The match came to a dissapointing end and after the third goal seemed to fizzle out.

 

La Liga Team Of The Week:

 

GK: Toño (Granada)

His outstanding game against Barcelona was exemplary and he was surely the best goalkeeper of the weekend.

 

LB: Nacho Monreal (Malaga)

One of the few highlights of a match that ended in a scoreless draw. He provided a lot of speed down the left and was also impressive when defending.

 

CB: Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid)

He was surely one of the best CBs this match-day and topped his terrific defending off with a goal that any striker would be proud of.

 

CB: Paulao (Real Betis)

Another goal scoring Centre Back in the line up. He scored the winning goal against Espanyol and also contributed to the clean-sheet.

 

RB: Allan-Roméo Nyom (Granada)

Another player from Granada. He had a solid game and kept David Villa far away from the goal. He made a lot of excellent tackles, but it is his positioning that set him apart.

 

MID: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)

Xabi is arguably one of Madrid’s most important players. He controlled the whole flow of the game and his long-balls once again left everyone open mouthed.

 

MID: Xavi (Barcelona)

It has became regular for Xavi to dominate the midfield with his amazingly accurate passes, but this week he also showed off his good shooting skills. He had a couple of impressive shots and his goal was surely the goal of the week.

 

LW: Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Even if CR7 has not been on his scorching best he has still been better than any of the other wingers in my opinion. He still scored a goal and terrorized the defenders.

 

RW: Michael Krohn-Deli (Celta Vigo)

Krohn-Deli has been a revelation since joining Celta. He makes dangerous runs every few minutes, links up everywhere on the pitch and generally just lifts up the teams whole performance. 2 assists get him in the team.

 

ST: Park Chu Young (Celta Vigo)

The type of debut that a player can only dream of – Coming on and scoring immediately. He also became the first Korean to ever score in La Liga.

 

ST: Obafemi Martins (Levante)

The Nigerian scored the winning goal against Real Sociedad. He also had one goal ruled offside. It was his first game since joining from Rubin Kazan.

He has played for a lot of teams, but maybe Levante will be the one club that he can stay at for a while.

 

Dizzels La Liga Player of the Week:

I would have loved to give the second Dizzels La Liga Player of the Week to Toño for his great display, but he did concede two goals. So the award goes to Michael Krohn-Deli of Celta Vigo.

He has been Celta Vigo’s best player and I am tipping him to have a great season with them.

 

Written by Deon Beauzec

Follow him on Twitter @DIZZEL001

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

Adam’s Premier League Column: Weekly Roundup Week 5- RVP steals the show as Man United beat 10-man Liverpool

  By O-Posts Team | September 24, 2012 - 18:33 | , ,
Leave a comment
Above: Robin van Persie seals the three points for Man Utd from the penalty spot.

Above: Robin van Persie seals the three points for Man Utd from the penalty spot.

 

Liverpool 1 Manchester United 2

An emotional day for Liverpool, after the recent Hillsborough reports. Liverpool were reduced to 10 men after a somewhat strange decision. Jonjo Shelvey looked to have played the ball, replays suggest that too, but referee Mark Halsey thought otherwise, and Shelvey saw red.

You would have thought that that would have depleted Liverpool, but after the break, Captain Steven Gerrard took the ball on his chest, swivelled and thumped the ball into the bottom corner which saw Liverpool take the lead.

The lead didn’t last for too long, though, five minutes later Rafael guided a left footed curling shot in off the post to draw level.

Tackles started flying in, and the game really stepped up. Manchester United won a penalty, perhaps a little unfortunate for Liverpool, on 81 minutes. RVP made no mistake in tucking away the penalty, despite ‘keeper Pepe Reina getting a hand on it.

Liverpool still haven’t recorded a win this season, but I am sure it won’t be long until they register their first three points.

 

Manchester City 1 Arsenal 1

After Man City’s calamity in Spain midweek, they took the lead through England defender Joleon Lescott after he found faults with Arsenal’s zonal marking system with an unmarked header.

Man City were then on top for most of the game, changed formation, and struggled from then on.

Another defender, this time Laurent Koscielny converted his chance to draw level late on in the second half. City came incredibly close to re-taking the lead, when Vincent Kompany’s spectacular over-head kick effort was saved and then Sergio Agϋero glanced wide from a matter of yards.

I thought Silva, Kompany and Garcia played quite well for the Citizens, and as usual this season, Podolski and Arteta shined.

I feel Arsenal will be pleased that they got a point, and it was a closely fought contest.

 

Southampton 4 Aston Villa 1

It was a tale of two Lamberts at St Mary’s as Southampton looked to register their first league victory of the 2012/13 season. However, in the first half Villa dominated, Darren Bent scored his first league goal since February to send Southampton 1-0 down at half time.

Southampton came out all guns blazing and was a completely different side second half.

Thanks to two goals from in-form forward Ricky Lambert, a deflected Puncheon shot and a well taken goal from Nathaniel Clyne, Southampton came out the victorious side.

Influential playmaker Ramirez played really well, and his looped pass to set up Clyne was exquisite.

 

Swansea 0 Everton 3

After an emotional game at Merseyside mid-week, Everton managed to put behind what happened last Monday, by thrashing Michael Laudraup’s Swansea 3-0.

The Toffees squandered some great chances in the opening minutes of the game, however, Anichebe opened the scoring on 21 minutes through a well taken goal, which he struck into the bottom corner past ‘keeper Vorm – Fellaini the influential player in that particular attack.

Swansea had their chances on 39 minutes, with Danny Graham and Ki Sung-Yeung missing some good opportunities.

Mirallas scored Everton’s second of the game on 43 minutes, Fellaini again setting up the attack.

Swansea’s day got worse after Nathan Dyer saw red, his first a dubious decision, his second offence was a poorly timed tackle.

On 82 minutes Fellaini deserved to get his name pencilled onto the score sheet, albeit it took a big deflection.

Everton could have easily scored 5 or 6 goals, picking up many holes in Swansea’s defence.

All in all, a job well done by David Moyes’ Everton with three goals and a clean sheet.

 

Chelsea 1 Stoke 0

A change in personnel for Chelsea, after their Champions League draw against Juventus mid-week, as players like Lampard found themselves on the bench.

Walters rattled the crossbar early on, a warning sign for Chelsea of a difficult match-up.
Torres missed a sitter at the other end soon after, and really should have tucked it away. Chelsea were denied two penalties by referee Oliver, both players booked for simulation.

Chelsea continued to pile on the pressure, Torres, Mata and Ivanovic all firing over. If it wasn’t for Stoke’s ‘keeper Begovic, the score-line could have been embarrassing.

The breakthrough came on 85 minutes; Ashley Cole dinked it over an already diving Begovic, to seal a win for The Pensioners and a somewhat unfortunate defeat for the Potters.

 

Wigan 1 Fulham 2

Hugo Rodallega, who was Wigan’s saviour last season, and on his return to the DW stadium scored against them to head Fulham in front with muted celebrations.

Fulham carried on pressing, Wigan didn’t present too much of a threat until Gomez’s effort thumped the wood-work. Fulham’s Bryan Ruiz then came close from a free-kick which was saved well by Ali Al Habsi.

On 68 minutes, Damien Duff doubled the Cottagers lead with a spectacular right footed effort, his third league goal this season.

I think Fulham are looking a strong side with the new recruits and could pose a big threat this season if they carry on playing like they did today.

Wigan got a consolation goal on 90 minutes thanks to Kone, but it was too little too late for the Latics.

 

West Brom 1 Reading 0

West Brom were on top throughout the game, Reading really haven’t played to their full potential yet have they?

Refreshed striker Lukaku, on loan from Chelsea, put West Brom in front on 71 minutes, a superb left footed effort. He really is a top class player, and when he returns to Chelsea, expect him to make a few first team starts.

Reading had their chances in the dying embers of the game, but couldn’t capitalise.

All in all, West Brom will be happy with the win, Steve Clark is doing a fantastic job and he really has impressed me.

His counter-part Brian McDermot will be asking questions of his Reading side, they need to step up their performances to survive this closely contested season.

 

West Ham 1 Sunderland 1

Sunderland took the lead early on, from who else other than Steven Fletcher? His razor sharp form is truly outstanding; all four of his Premier League shots have resulted in goals. Not a bad start, eh?

The Hammers tried to get back into the game, Ricardo Vaz Te and Diame linking up well, but they couldn’t breakthrough the strong Sunderland defence.

Kevin Nolan had two overhead kicks saved, but he eventually scored his 16th goal for West Ham since he joined at the start of the last season in the 90th minute to nick a point. But the scoring could have been more if chances hadn’t been pondered early on, most noticeably from both Collins and Benayoun.

Martin O’Neil will be very unhappy as they were denied their first win of the season; Sam Allardyce should be and will be glad that the Hammers rescued a point.

 

Tottenham 2 Queens Park Rangers 1

Spurs’ boss Andre Villas-Boas registered his first home league win at QPR, despite initially going behind.

QPR started strongly, Bobby Zamora and Shaun Wright-Phillips linked up well in the early stages. Zamora put QPR ahead on 33 minutes, with a well taken goal.

That goal inspired Tottenham to score twice in two minutes in the second half. The first was a really unfortunate own goal, a corner was whipped in, the ball went past everyone and bounced off of Alejandro Faurlin’s shoulder as he turned. I think that his positioning could have been better, and if QPR are to survive this season, they need to stop giving away easy goals like that.

Tottenham kept on pressing, this time Jermain Defoe was the hero, after Gareth Bale’s initial cross cannoned off the cross-bar and into the path of the England frontman who only had to tap-in.

Defoe looks to be flourishing this season when played off of another frontman, and I think with Jermain’s recent scoring efforts, Adebayor may have to wait.

 

Newcastle 1 Norwich 0

Demba Ba criticised the management team’s selection policy in the week after he came off the bench to score twice in the Toons’ 2-2 draw against Everton. He started against the Canaries, and of course scored.

Suddenly doesn’t look too fazed by Pappis Cissé anymore, does he?

Newcastle have looked as if playing of Thursday’s in the Europa League is taking its toll on the squad, and when that happens you have to grind out a result. Despite not being at their best, 8 of their 16 shots were on target, whereas Norwich had 8 shots and only 3 forced saves from stand-in ‘keeper Harper’s goal.

Newcastle could have made it 2-0 but Cissé’s penalty soared high into the stands at the Sports Direct Arena.

Norwich boss Chris Hughton has his work cut out, as Norwich currently sit 17th in the table, with three points from five games.

 

My Team of the Week

Written by Adam May

Follow him on Twitter @Adam132Football

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

Peanut Butter and Calcio: The Rossoneri’s disappointing start continues

  By O-Posts Team | September 23, 2012 - 21:44 | , , ,
Leave a comment
Allegri vs Udinese

Allegri… on the verge of getting sacked?

This weeks installment of Serie A was a low scoring affair all around however teams made the most of it as Juventus, Udinese, Atalanta, Genoa and Siena were the only teams that secured themselves all 3 points this round.

Round 4 of Serie A started off as Parma hosted Fiorentina in a relatively entertaining match up. Both Fiorentina and Parma were awarded penalties in the second half which we’re both kept out of the net until the dying seconds of injury time when the ref pointed to the spot in Parmas favor giving them the last chance of the game to tie it, and that’s exactly what they did. Midfielder J.Valdés stepped up for Parma and netted their only goal of the game ensuring that both Fiorentina and Parma would have to settle for 1 point each.

Saturdays second game saw current Serie A Champions Juventus play host to Chievo. Juventus started off slowly but finally broke through and made sure that they would come away with all 3 points as Fabio Quagliarella found the back of the net twice in a span of 5 minutes.

Many thought that Juventus would have trouble with Chievo when the manager rested key players like Andrea Pirlo, Andrea Barzagli and Sebastian Giovinco due to their mid week Champions League clash with European champions Chelsea. Juventus played well without these players but at times it was a little slippery. Juventus now unbeaten in 43 Serie A games and are alone at the top of the table with a record of 4-0-0.

Majority of sundays games were played to ties when Sampdoria – Torino tied 1-1, Bologna – Pescara tied 2-2 and Catania and Napoli shared points in a goalless game that almost saw Catania steal all three points near the end of the game.

Atalanta defeated Sicilian side Palermo in the dying seconds of their clash when Raimondi scored in the 88th minute stunning Palermo and giving them something to think about on their ride home. Cagliari and Romas game was postponed as Cagliaris stadium was ruled unsafe for spectators – no makeup date has been set as of today.

Lazio vs Genoa finished 1-0 in Genoa’s favor with Marco Borriello scoring the only goal in that game. In my opinion it should have been Lazio who took the win as for the majority of the game it was Lazio who was putting pressure towards the Genoa goal. Genoa goalie Stephan Frey had a very good game and deserved his clean sheet today.

Moving onto Milan vs Udinese where troubled Milan were looking to settle for nothing less than all 3 points because of their horrendous 1-0-2 start to the Season. There was a lot of talk speculating that if Milan were to lose that Massimo Allegri , Milans manager would be sacked and replaced with another manager who many speculate could be Milan and Italian football legend Pippo Inzhagi.

Udinese took the lead in the 40th minute when Ranegie found the back of the net. Hitting back was Stephan El Shaarawy who tied the game in the 50th minute giving Milan fans some hope. Udinese re-took the lead in the 68th minute and who else but skipper Antonio Di Natale through a spot kick. Milan players Zapata and Kevin Price Boateng were both sent off.

Milan were unable to find another goal giving Udinese the win and with Milans troubles continuing they now fall to 15th place in the table and 1-0-3 for the season.

Other Milan club, Inter Milan hosted Siena in the San Siro where fans were expecting Inter to walk all over Siena but in retrospective got totally the opposite of what they were expecting.

Despite Inter playing what seemed to be an amazing game could not find the back of the net as Siena went up 1-0, and never looked back when Vergassola scored in the 73rd minute. Inter fans encouraged their team to push for a equalizer but in the 88th minute Siena put the final nail in Inters coffin as Valiani scored the second and final goal for Siena.

 

September 26,2012, Week 5 Serie A:

Catania – Atalanta
Chievo – Inter
Fiorentina – Juventus
Genoa – Parma
Ac Milan – Cagliari
Napoli – Lazio
Pescara – Palermo
As Roma – Sampdoria
Siena – Bologna
Torino – Udinese

 

Serie A Week 4 Player of The Week:

Fabio Quagliarella (Juve) – 2 Goals ( vs Chievo )

 

Serie A Week 4 Flop Player Of The Week:

Stephan Jovetic (Fio) – 0 Goals ( vs Parma)

 

Predictions Week 5:

Catania – Atalanta 1-1
Chievo – Inter 2-1
Fiorentina – Juventus 0-3
Genoa – Parma 1-0
AC Milan – Cagliari 0-3
Napoli – Lazio 0-0
Pescara – Palermo 0-2
AS Roma – Sampdoria 2-2
Siena – Bologna 1-0
Torino – Udinese 1-3

 

Standings:

Juventus 12, Napoli 10, Lazio 9, Sampdoria 9, Fiorentina 7, Inter 6, Genoa 6, Atalanta 5, Catania 5, Roma 4, Torino 4, Parma 4, Udinese 4, Bologna 4, Milan 3, Chievo 3, Cagliari 2, Pescara 1, Palermo 1, Siena -1

 

Written by Matteo

Follow him on Twitter @Lodico_M

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

Dizzel’s La Liga Column: Barca show their class as Fabregas shines and Messi strikes again

  By O-Posts Team | September 18, 2012 - 17:49 | , ,
Leave a comment
Lionel Messi after scoring against Getafe.

Another weekend of La Liga action has passed and after 4 match-days it is Barcelona that is sitting on the top of the log with 12 points after winning every one of their 4 matches.

A lot has happened in this weeks matches and I will be doing a quick analysis of my top 4 matches of the weekend.

 

Malaga vs Levante

I thought of this as the possible best match of this weekend because of both teams final standings last season (Malaga 4th and Levante 7th) before the match started and the players did not disappoint.

Malaga opened the scoring with Saviola netting in the 27th minute on the end of some nice team play.

Herrero drew level in the 46th minute.

The scores only remained level for 12 minutes before Joaquin calmly finishing and in added time Portillo’s badly struck volley ended up in the net after bouncing over the ‘keeper and hitting both the post and bar.

On a sour note Sánchez received his second booking of the match in the 87th minute and was sent off.

 

Valencia vs Celta

Valencia headed into this match as overwhelming favorites but were shocked to go into half time 1-1.

They took the lead with the Algerian attacking midfielder Feghouli scoring. Celta’s signing of the Danish winger Krohn-Dehli who impressed at the Euros payed of when he scored his first goal for the club in his second match.

Valencia continued to produce a lot of chances and finally broke the deadlock in the 50th minute when Cissokho scored a perfectly placed header from a free-kick.

The match ended in a 2-1 victory for Valencia.

 

Getafe vs Barcelona

The media was raving because of the shocking exclusion of Leo Messi from the starting 11.

Barcelona still proved their class even without their biggest star.

Adriano opened the scoring and David Villa also got on the score sheet for the second time since his return from injury, but he is still not guaranteed a starting position in Vilanova’s team.

Messi grabbed the headlines again because of his second half brace after coming on for Thiago. He scored a penalty in the 74th minute and tapped the ball in with his amazing precision in the 78th minute.

Fabregas set the pace for the whole match and was surely their best player.

Pablo Sarabia scored a consolation goal for Getafe, but it was too little too late.

The worst part of the match was when Spanish defender Carles Puyol sustained a knee injury that might keep him out of action for as long as 4 weeks.

 

Atletico Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano

The highest scoring match of the weekend. Atletico started out all guns blazing and were ahead at half-time through a Mario Suarez goal in the 29th minute.

Shortly after half-time the young mid-fielder Koke doubled the lead. Turan also netted and the in-form striker Radamel Falcao scored just 4 minutes later.

Rayo almost completed a stunning comeback, but fell just short after scoring 3 goals in 7 minutes. The scorers were Baptistão and Delibasic with a brace.

 

Player of the weekend

The almost prestigious award of Dizzel’s La Liga player of the week goes to none other than the man that inspired the Catalans to a huge victory over Getafe – Cesc Fabregas.

He pulled the strings in a depleted midfield and was truly the most outstanding player of this matchday.

 

Written by Deon Beauzec

Follow him on Twitter @DIZZEL001

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

The Ligue 1 Review: Five wins out of five for Marseille

  By O-Posts Team | September 18, 2012 - 17:08 | , ,
1 Comment
Marseille celebrate a hard-fought against Nancy.

Five wins from the opening five — a club record and quite the statement of intent from Marseille who dominated at Nancy but somehow failed to convert any of their first-half chances. The breakthrough came just before the hour courtesy of the Ayew brothers — André crossing for Jordan — and it turned out to be the winner.

An impressive, and perhaps surprising, start from Élie Baup’s team who are beginning to prove themselves as genuine title-contenders alongside Lyon and PSG.

With Lille and Montpellier both seeming to have their minds on the Champions League, their league threats may be somewhat blunted. Marseille’s only potential problem could be a lack of squad depth; with Stéphane Mbia and Alou Diarra departed, their only direct replacement Joey Barton is suspended until November.

PSG are beginning to look comfortable, and they brushed aside the previously unbeaten Toulouse with very little problem on Friday night. Jérémy Ménez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic linked up well, with Ibra netting his fifth of the season.

Earlier in the game, Javier Pastore’s neat chip marked the first non-Ibrahimovic goal of PSG’s season. The Swede said “If I score, I am happy, and if someone else scores I am even happier!” but that seems rather hard to believe.

The slightly less free-scoring Montpellier lost their third game of the season 3-1 away at Reims as, yet again, their defence was cut open far too easily.

Coach René Girard admitted: “This is the first evening where I have had to ask myself some serious questions. We lost our values. We can be ashamed of ourselves tonight.”

The reigning champions have big problems ahead of facing tougher opponents in the Champions League. They face the man who they are missing dearly already, Olivier Giroud, and his Arsenal team, on Tuesday night.

There was a bizarre game at Nice where it was goalless at half-time but finished 4-2 to the hosts.

In truth, Brest were never in the match, with both their goals coming while they were three goals behind, and Nice did enough for their first win of the season.

Sochaux also picked up their first three points with the ultimate smash-and-grab at Saint-Étienne.

Simon Pouplin had an incredible performance, and certainly didn’t look like a keeper who had spent a year without a club, before Thierry Doubaï’s fantastic overhead kick fifteen minutes from time was enough to seal the points for the away side and lift them off the bottom of the table.

Replacing them at the bottom were Troyes, despite a decent point at home to Lille. The 2011 champions haven’t had the most convincing start to the season, and failed to capitalise on their 1-0 lead before conceding a late equaliser.

Rudi Garcia’s side will need to win against BATE on Wednesday to have any chance of getting out of a Champions League group containing Bayern Munich and Valencia.

Alain Traoré was again the star for Lorient in the Brittany derby against Rennes, scoring his third and fourth goals of the season, and once again they were spectacular. A delicious first-time lob over Benoît Costil was followed by a free kick reminiscent of a Roberto Carlos swerving effort.

Alain Traore…. steals the show yet again.

Rennes were uninspiring in a 2-1 defeat that left them third-from-bottom, and their rivals third from the top.

Just above Lorient in second lie Lyon, who did enough to dismiss Ajaccio. It could have been more but for a rather greedy Bafétimbi Gomis who seemed intent on going alone at every opportunity, but a goal in each half from Dejan Lovren and Lisandro López were enough to seal off the visitors.

The Corsican side brought on new signing Adrian Mutu for his debut, but it remains to be seen whether he will turn out to be a useful acquisition or a mere vanity signing.

Six Ligue 1 sides are involved in European competition this midweek, with Montpellier facing the toughest task, against Arsenal.

Interestingly, only Marseille have an away tie, a lengthy trip to Istanbul to face Fenerbahçe, so we may well see some rotation from Élie Baup, giving some of his younger players a chance before refocusing on the league for Sunday’s clash with Évian.

Lille have a home tie with Lyon to prepare for after their Champions League game against BATE, so this week will be crucial in gauging how competitive they will be this season. Lyon themselves will play Sparta Prague on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Bordeaux play Club Brugge in the Europa League and PSG play Dynamo Kiev in Europe’s premier competition.

Paris should be fairly confident in getting out of a group also containing Porto and Dinamo Zagreb, and Tuesday should see the long-awaited debut of record signing Thiago Silva as the side from the capital continue their effort at world domination.

 

Written by Alasdair Shaw

Follow him on Twitter @radalias

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

You can follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts

 

The Ligue 1 Review: Marseille continue to fly high, while PSG finally gain their first win

  By O-Posts Team | September 5, 2012 - 13:42 | , , , ,
Leave a comment
Ibra vs Lille

Right then — Ligue 1. It’s a bit interesting now, isn’t it? With some very big money arrivals, and equally expensive departures, people seem to be starting to take the French league seriously.

While Eden Hazard’s early form at Chelsea has shown the league isn’t as weak as many would have you think, the arrival of some of the best players in Serie A in Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic perhaps indicate a shift in the power balance. OK, so PSG’s petro-dollars are behind all of those, but it was encouraging to see players like Salomon Kalou and Adrian Mutu choose to move to France, as well as the likes of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Marvin Martin staying in the country.

With Lyon’s monopoly on league titles well and truly over, and four different champions in the last four years, Ligue 1 is looking stronger and more competitive than ever.

Two of the strongest looking outfits, the aforementioned oil-powered Paris Saint-Germain, and 2011 champions Lille, met on Sunday with just one league win between them. Having sealed their place in the Champions League group stage during the week, Lille were slow to start, and were punished within a minute by Ibrahimovic.

PSG’s slick passing in the build-up to the goal displayed that their expensively-assembled side is beginning to show some cohesion, a lack of which had led to their string of draws in their first three matches of the season.

Aurélien Chedjou’s second goal of the season levelled the scores before Ibrahimovic’s second of the match put Paris back in front. The Swede has scored all of his team’s goals so far this season and seems to enjoy being an even bigger fish in a perhaps smaller pond.

Reigning champions Montpellier got their first win of the season this weekend too, as the returning Younès Belhanda pulled the strings in a straightforward win over pointless Sochaux. Montpellier have had an awkward start to the season as they dealt with the loss of last season’s top scorer Olivier Giroud. The goalscoring baton has been passed to the significantly less handsome Emanuel Herrera, who got his second goal for the club, albeit a tap-in.

Sochaux look in deep trouble, having failed to significantly strengthen a side that finished just four points above the relegation spots last season, and have since lost their primary creator and goalscorer in Marvin Martin and Modibo Maïga respectively. Winger Sébastien Roudet’s comments that Sochaux “are a Ligue 2-quality squad” won’t encourage the fans, who saw their side qualify for European competition just two years ago.

While Sochaux have made the worst possible start, Marseille are flying with four wins from four. Élie Baup was something of a leftfield appointment to succeed Didier Deschamps, but, of course, the appointment suddenly looks a masterstroke in a week in which OM successfully qualified for the Europa League group stage and got a deserved victory against Rennes at the Stade Vélodrome.

Mathieu Valbuena looked sharp, and the return of Loïc Rémy was another positive sign, but there was one clearly outstanding performer in André-Pierre Gignac, who is playing, in stark contrast to last season, like a man with all the confidence in the world. This was summed up by the gall he had to even attempt his glorious strike to make it 2-1 to the home side. If Rémy can make a full recovery from his long-term injury problems, Marseille will go from strength to strength.

After a tricky start, Saint-Étienne have picked up six points in seven days, scoring seven without reply. In their 3-0 outclassing of Bastia they were efficient in launching counterattacks and clinical in front of goal, thanks mainly to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, scoring one and creating another. With Brandão still to be integrated into their attack, things are looking up for Christophe Galtier’s men.

Lyon had a mixed final week of the transfer window. While Cris was a great servant to the club, his departure to Galatasaray will not be much of an issue on the pitch, especially after the arrival of Milan Bisevac. But the loss of Hugo Lloris will be much more keenly felt, with long-term bridesmaid Rémy Vercoutre finally getting his wedding day. The goalkeeper has never played a full season as first choice in his career, so will take a bit of time to become fully match-ready, as was evident in his half-hearted effort to collect a Valenciennes cross that led to the opening goal on Saturday.

New signing Steed Malbranque and Clément Grenier were industrious in midfield to turn the game in Lyon’s favour, the latter scoring a deserved winner.

Elsewhere, Toulouse continued their unbeaten start to the season, but made hard work of it against newly-promoted Reims. Wissam Ben Yedder boosted his burgeoning reputation with an excellently taken equaliser, his third of the season, and his form has earned him a deserved call-up to the France under-21 side. Ben Yedder was influential in all of Toulouse’s good work, and, with the smallest squad in the league, his manager Alain Casanova will be desperate for him to avoid injury over the international break.

It’s been a long time since Ludovic Giuly has been eligible for the U21s, but he showed he’s still got something to offer France’s top flight with Lorient, as he scored against Nancy. Deemed surplus to requirements in Ligue 2 by Claudio Ranieri’s Monaco, the signing of the 36-year-old could turn out to be a shrewd move by Christian Gourcuff, bringing experience to a squad that survived relegation by just a point last season.

A player who could have an impact over a longer period of time could be Alain Traoré, scorer of a glorious free kick from an unlikely angle. Whether these summer signings can end Lorient’s appalling record away from home next weekend at Rennes remains to be seen.

The final word goes to Évian, who have sacked Pablo Correa after a gutless performance against Ajaccio. In a grand tradition of former managers in sinister “sporting director” roles, the Uruguayan has been duly replaced by Pascal Dupraz.

 

Written by Alasdair Shaw

Follow him on Twitter @radalias

Please like O-Posts on Facebook

Follow O-Posts on Twitter @OPosts