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Serie A
It didn’t take long for San Siro to start whistling this Saturday. Opposed to a yet again Cassano-less Sampdoria, Inter were down to nine men after just 38 minutes of play, Samuel and Cordoba guilty of monstruous fouls. So Inter and Mourinho did what they do best. The team defended with all their might and the Special One put on a sideline show with equal valour (see the handcuffed gesture). Much talk for a soporific game, even Eto’o (where have you gone?) missed the game winner at the end of the game. 0-0 at full-time and a second consecutive (goalless) draw for the Nerazzuri. Not the best conditions to receive Chelsea in. Roma took advantage of the situation with a minimal service 1-0 win over Catania, to bring the distance back to -5. Thank you Vucinic, always and forever. Behind, Milan obtained a precious victory over surprising Bari. Borriello scored his usual volley from a Ronaldinho, again excellent Sunday night, assist and Pato concluded the game with another volley. The head trio is now clearly defined in Italy and the title might not be as easily promised to Inter as we (I) want to believe. Furthermore, Juve snatched the fourth position thanks to a controversial 2-1 win at Bologna. The Bianconeri were not in their best day so they relied on Del Piero and Diego to make the difference (very second half of championship of them). The Brazilian scored the first one whereas the Pinturicchio designed a golden assist for Candreva as a response to Buscé’s lucky goal. Juve seem to be coming back against all winds (handballs, penaltys, posts, so on so forth). The four big teams in the first four position.
It didn’t take long for San Siro to start whistling this Saturday. Opposed to a yet again Cassano-less Sampdoria, Inter were down to nine men after just 38 minutes of play, Samuel and Cordoba guilty of monstruous fouls. So Inter and Mourinho did what they do best. The team defended with all their might and the Special One put on a sideline show with equal valour (see the handcuffed gesture). Much talk for a soporific game, even Eto’o (where have you gone?) missed the game winner at the end of the game. 0-0 at full-time and a second consecutive (goalless) draw for the Nerazzuri. Not the best conditions to receive Chelsea in. Roma took advantage of the situation with a minimal service 1-0 win over Catania, to bring the distance back to -5. Thank you Vucinic, always and forever. Behind, Milan obtained a precious victory over surprising Bari. Borriello scored his usual volley from a Ronaldinho, again excellent Sunday night, assist and Pato concluded the game with another volley. The head trio is now clearly defined in Italy and the title might not be as easily promised to Inter as we (I) want to believe. Furthermore, Juve snatched the fourth position thanks to a controversial 2-1 win at Bologna. The Bianconeri were not in their best day so they relied on Del Piero and Diego to make the difference (very second half of championship of them). The Brazilian scored the first one whereas the Pinturicchio designed a golden assist for Candreva as a response to Buscé’s lucky goal. Juve seem to be coming back against all winds (handballs, penaltys, posts, so on so forth). The four big teams in the first four position.
It was Napoli who gave up their fourth place after coming back from Tuscany with a disappointing 0-0 draw. Disappointing because Siena are the worst defence in Italy this year (-21) and already have one foot and three quarters of the second in Serie B. Napoli were even overtaken by Palermo who crushed Lazio’s hopes of an incredible climb. The dream killers were named Hernandez (goal within the first minute), Miccoli and Nocerino. Matri continues to attract the recruiters interest with his eleventh goal of the season (and that really cryptic celebration) helping Catania cling on to the eigth spot with a 2-0 win over Parma. Unlucky Genoa and I-need-500-chances-to-score-one Fiorentina finally renew with success after a dry run. The Genovese beat an option-less Udinese 3-0 (goodbye Di Natale?) and the Viola came back to win 2-1 against Livorno. Credit to Gilardino and Vargas. The two teams occupy the ninth and tenth position. The low end of the Serie A table sees only twelve points separating the eleventh from the nineteenth. A real cluster---- (I’ll let you guess the second part of this composite word). Except Siena whose situation I explained previously, who knows what will happen to Lazio, Udinese and the others. Chievo already put itself in a good position by winning 2-0 against Atalanta.
English Premier League
Finally there is a team to chase. This week Chelsea took an option on the final race with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton. Not that big of a deal you might say, especially when you see that both goals were scored by the unavoidable Drogba. But first of all, despite a flimsy defence, the Blues can finally rely on a XXL Petr Cech: impossible and decisive saves as well as an assist to the Ivorian. And secondly because Everton continued their upsetting streak. After Chelsea last week, Arteta and company put a tired (thank you Milan) Manchester United to the floor. At the image of a Berbatov who doesn’t even celebrate his opening goal, the Red Devils stayed motionless as Bilyalelaldewodlkcnwkjfoirletdinov mystified Brown and Van Der Sar with a left-footed jewel. David Moyes then showed Ferguson (and us) that he knew what “winning coaching” meant by introducing two players (Gosling and Rodwell) who scored to give Everton a 3-1 home win. For his return home Rooney decided to send his useless cousin on the field. Rooney dependency anyone? It will be a battle to the death between Chelsea and Manchester, promising. Everton continues to live on day-to-day exploits and remain a disappointing eigth.
Finally there is a team to chase. This week Chelsea took an option on the final race with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton. Not that big of a deal you might say, especially when you see that both goals were scored by the unavoidable Drogba. But first of all, despite a flimsy defence, the Blues can finally rely on a XXL Petr Cech: impossible and decisive saves as well as an assist to the Ivorian. And secondly because Everton continued their upsetting streak. After Chelsea last week, Arteta and company put a tired (thank you Milan) Manchester United to the floor. At the image of a Berbatov who doesn’t even celebrate his opening goal, the Red Devils stayed motionless as Bilyalelaldewodlkcnwkjfoirletdinov mystified Brown and Van Der Sar with a left-footed jewel. David Moyes then showed Ferguson (and us) that he knew what “winning coaching” meant by introducing two players (Gosling and Rodwell) who scored to give Everton a 3-1 home win. For his return home Rooney decided to send his useless cousin on the field. Rooney dependency anyone? It will be a battle to the death between Chelsea and Manchester, promising. Everton continues to live on day-to-day exploits and remain a disappointing eigth.
Behind, Arsenal cling on to their eternal 3 rd position with a 2-0 win over Sunderland. Bendtner and Fabregas (don’t get excited it was a penalty kick, did I mention Cesc now lives in Barcelona?). Boring compared to the announced death-match for fourth place: Manchester City vs Liverpool. The media went crazy, the players were put under pressure, people talked about the beginning of a change in the Big Four, a new hierarchy. Result: nothing. A boring 0-0 draw that gave no answers to no questions. Just the fact that Liverpool still knows when to acquire a good draw. In fact, it’s Tottenham who laughs by stealing that famous fourth position. On a beautiful (sarcasm anyone?) Wigan field, Hughes’ men beat the locals 3-0 with the help of Defoe and the resuscitated Pavlyunchenko. Rock’n Roll lives on in North London. Aston Villa carries on its flawless home streak. 5-2 and Burnley crushed. Interestingly enough the visiting team scored the opening and closing goal. At the bottom of the league, it is said Portsmouth has found yet another buyer: a New Zealander who made fortune in Hong Kong. And Hong Kong because he was always accused of fraud in New Zealand. Some things never change. Did Portsmouth even win this week?
La Liga
After last week’s defeat, Barcelona got back to their cruising rhythm with a typical 4-0 win over Santander. Iniesta started the festivities at the eighth minute after the Santander defence went on holidays. Henry (who started for an inured Ibra) and Marquez then scored the same goal: free kick, bad shot but the wall opens up and the keeper stays paralyzed. The young Thiago sealed the score after Messi gave him the goal on a silver platter. Barcelona finished the game with nine players formed at the Masia. Champion’s League is coming, Stuttgart is warned. Real Madrid also scored plenty this weekend: 6-2 win over a forever more deluding and experimental Villareal, just to wash down the defeat at Lyon on Wednesday. Although not spotless (hence the two goals conceded) Real have Cristiano Ronaldo and that makes all the difference: provoking penalties, assists, scoring, being glamour Cristian Dior (this is how Patrice Evra calls him) does it all. Higuain, Xabi Alonso and Kaka took advantage of the Portuguese’s show to score. CR7 feels more and more at ease in the White House, and it shows. The Catalans remain two points clear of the Madrilènes.
After last week’s defeat, Barcelona got back to their cruising rhythm with a typical 4-0 win over Santander. Iniesta started the festivities at the eighth minute after the Santander defence went on holidays. Henry (who started for an inured Ibra) and Marquez then scored the same goal: free kick, bad shot but the wall opens up and the keeper stays paralyzed. The young Thiago sealed the score after Messi gave him the goal on a silver platter. Barcelona finished the game with nine players formed at the Masia. Champion’s League is coming, Stuttgart is warned. Real Madrid also scored plenty this weekend: 6-2 win over a forever more deluding and experimental Villareal, just to wash down the defeat at Lyon on Wednesday. Although not spotless (hence the two goals conceded) Real have Cristiano Ronaldo and that makes all the difference: provoking penalties, assists, scoring, being glamour Cristian Dior (this is how Patrice Evra calls him) does it all. Higuain, Xabi Alonso and Kaka took advantage of the Portuguese’s show to score. CR7 feels more and more at ease in the White House, and it shows. The Catalans remain two points clear of the Madrilènes.
Valencia plays tomorrow against a surprising Getafe. If they succeed, Villa and co. could go clear of four points from Sevilla. In fact the Sevillans won their exciting confrontation against Majorca 3-1. After the islanders opened the score with Mario Suarez, the Sevillians switched gear. Jesus Navas (baby face) pulled out a great performance with, first, a wonderful equalizer (keeper and last defender grilled on a deep pass) and an assist to Perotti. In the meanwhile Dragutinovic scored a free kick which Mihajlovic could be proud of. Sevilla is now almost sure of participating in Champion’s League next year. Atletic Bilbao are slowly recovering from a horrible first part of the season. With a deserved 4-1 win victory over Tenerife that a full stadium, yellow and red cards, posts and a lot of goals (all in all a very exciting game), Atletic moves to the seventh position and becomes a pretender to a European season for 2010-2011. After their win against the Blaugrana, Atletico Madrid fall back into their mediocrity habits and lose 1-0 at Almeira. For the Colchoneros the relegating zone will soon be approaching if their game level is not raised dramatically and soon. Almeira on the other catch a breath of fresh with this home win and move six points clear of the first relegating spot. Although displaying some good will along with a nice bucket of talent, Xerex continue their descent to hell (second division) with their sixteenth defeat of the season against a resilient Deportivo La Coruna.
Bundesliga
Stalemate this week at the top of the Bundesliga. Leverkusen wasn’t able to take advantage of Bayern’s Saturday draw at Nuremberg. Van Gaal finally saw the light and took Van Buyten out of the starting line-up, but that didn’t prevent Nuremberg’s Gundogan to score his first of the season after a nice flipper party. Earlier in the game Muller had put in a cross from Gomez to give the Bavarians the lead. Schafer pulled a last minute great save in front of Gomez to keep the teams at parity. Leverkusen were, on their side, opposed to Werder Bremen in a game where shots were kings. The first two goals came from free kicks over thirty meters out (watch Leverkusen’s goalie) and Kroos invented a wonder shot to give Leverkusen the lead in the second half. That’s without counting on Mertesacker’s (ugly) head at the 90’. 2-2 final score. Schalke 04 lost a good opportunity to come back closer to the head teams. Opposed to Wolfsburg, Kuranyi’s team lost 2-1 in a game that showed all that German soccer has best to offer. Three crossbars, Neuer’s excellent saves, many free kicks, the Brasilo-German’s header as a 1-0 and Grafite’s double retaliation (header then incredible flick) for Wolfsburg’s final victory. Delicious. Hambourg and Fankfurt neutralized each other at 0-0, which helped Borussia Dortmund, who defeated Hanover 4-1, come back closer and latch on to the fifth spot. In eighteenth position Hertha Berlin recuperate precious points in the race to maintaining itself in the 1. Bundesliga, with 0-3 win at Fribourg.
Stalemate this week at the top of the Bundesliga. Leverkusen wasn’t able to take advantage of Bayern’s Saturday draw at Nuremberg. Van Gaal finally saw the light and took Van Buyten out of the starting line-up, but that didn’t prevent Nuremberg’s Gundogan to score his first of the season after a nice flipper party. Earlier in the game Muller had put in a cross from Gomez to give the Bavarians the lead. Schafer pulled a last minute great save in front of Gomez to keep the teams at parity. Leverkusen were, on their side, opposed to Werder Bremen in a game where shots were kings. The first two goals came from free kicks over thirty meters out (watch Leverkusen’s goalie) and Kroos invented a wonder shot to give Leverkusen the lead in the second half. That’s without counting on Mertesacker’s (ugly) head at the 90’. 2-2 final score. Schalke 04 lost a good opportunity to come back closer to the head teams. Opposed to Wolfsburg, Kuranyi’s team lost 2-1 in a game that showed all that German soccer has best to offer. Three crossbars, Neuer’s excellent saves, many free kicks, the Brasilo-German’s header as a 1-0 and Grafite’s double retaliation (header then incredible flick) for Wolfsburg’s final victory. Delicious. Hambourg and Fankfurt neutralized each other at 0-0, which helped Borussia Dortmund, who defeated Hanover 4-1, come back closer and latch on to the fifth spot. In eighteenth position Hertha Berlin recuperate precious points in the race to maintaining itself in the 1. Bundesliga, with 0-3 win at Fribourg.
Ligue 1
As I know not many people will read this section, I will make it short and therefore attractive. Bordeaux was exempt from any game this weekend (now this is really unattractive) so the big teams did the job. Niang (if you don’t know him shame on you) scored three stunning goals for Marseille to win over Nancy, and Bastos produced his hat trick (three consecutive goals, all in one half) to help Lyon beat Sochaux 4-0. In the other games, Paris Saint Germain finally won in this 2010 year, 1-0 against Toulouse. Champagne is popping but the capital still finds itself at the twelfth position in the Ligue. Surprising second Montpellier loose a bit of rhythm with a 1-0 defeat at St Etienne and see Lille come back to a point deficit thanks to their win over Rennes. I could also tell you about Grenoble who has had the worse start of all the leagues this year (11 defeats in the first eleven games of the season) or about Monaco who should really be up there had they had a decent coach, but you probably stopped reading by now anyways.
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