The Football Thread

[ron9]

What a way to start the morning!

 

Woke up at 3:55 to watch the live telecast of Man Utd vs. Arsenal played in Highbury. The game could easily be one of the best matches of the season.

 

Arsenal went ahead on a set play (corner) with Viera outjumping Hienze for a header.

 

Man Utd equalize on a woderful deft pass by Rooney to Giggs for a thunderous shot just outside the box. The shot took a deflection but it should not take anything away from Giggs.

 

Arsenal then took the lead on an excellent low shot by Bergkamp coming from off a cool pass from Henry.

 

The first half had it all, with both sides trying to claim penalties but Man Utd was lucky not to have penalized when Silvestre took down Pires (I think it was Pires) inside the box.

 

Then the second half.

 

Both sides already admitted in prematch interviews that the rivalry was both intense and very much personal, and that a draw for both teams do not do them any good in their plans of catching up with Chelsea.

 

The second half started pretty slow until Ronaldo was spotted by (Giggs, again, I think) on the left side then placed his shot to the right side of the goal. Goal! 2-2!

 

Then about in a stretch of 5 minutes, Keane feeds Giggs deep down to the right flank. Giggs is able to shake off Viera, then Arsenal keeper (Almunia ? did I spell it right?) does the unthinkable! He hesitates coming at Giggs on right flank and just plays token defense. Giggs lobs the the ball across the goal and Ronaldo, being in the right place at the right time, taps the ball in! 3-2 to United!

 

The rest of the game was back and forth with Arsenal getting much of the possesion.

 

Silvestre gets a red card in the 70th minute for head butting Ljunberg!

 

It's tight until in the 80+ minute, O'Shea (replacing Ronaldo for defensive purposes after the red card) is again fed down the middle and just shoots just above Almunia for the 4th goal!

 

Man Utd now in second place, 2 pts above Arsenal.

 

Of couse, all of this is meaningless since Chelsea is still way up front.

 

Great game, nonetheless.

[guwardiya]

Too bad i wasn't able to watch, it seemed like a great game.

[ron9]

Too bad i wasn't able to watch, it seemed like a great game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

go to www.espnstar.com and click on "tv times" to check when the replays will be

[howard_the_duck]

Kung may cable lang sa dorm namin nanood ako!

Sana may replay this weekend!

Go Chelsea!!!

(At wala pala sa Chelsea neighborhood ang Chelsea FC hehehehe)

[_eRon_]

nice win by Manchester United! too bad i wasn't able to watch it..

 

tnx for the info ron9, hope to watch the replay..

 

go manU! hope they can rally from behind to win the premiereship.. :cool: :mtc:

[_eRon_]

i looked @ the skeds of espnstar.com..ala pang sked ng replay..pag may nakaalam nman ng sked ng replay, papost d2, tnx..

 

:mtc: :cool:

[ruud]

i watched it also!!! twas a very nice game!! (manutd fan ako eh)

it was a good win! giggs equalizer! ronaldo's double and oshea sealer goal!!

 

rooney was always a potential threat. that is why the wingers made goals. scholes and saha doesnt look like they are in form. kean is still as he is, the most dominating midfielder for them. fletcher on the other hand easily gets tired. caroll looks shakey but, he also made some spectacular save esp durng the 2nd half.

 

manutd is getting there. chelsea will have to make a slip before march to make things more interesting in the epl!!

 

we never die, we never die!!

[ron9]

Keane and Viera almost came to blows in the tunnel even before the match. According to Keane, Viera was trying to intimidate some Man Utd players specifically Gary Neville, and Keane said he would have none of it telling Viera to "come and have a go at me"!

 

Too bad they face each other only twice in EPL, maybe an FA Cup rematch between the two can be in the near future.

 

Arsenal fullback Ashley Cole has also been the center of attraction with a reported "secret" meeting with Chelsea fueling speculations of a future transfer.

[ron9]

Updates:

 

Man City hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw while Man Utd win 2-0 over Birmingham. Chelsea still hold 9 point lead over 2nd Man Utd. Arsenal win over Aston Villa 3-1 to stay in 3rd.

 

Juventus lose 1-0 to Palermo. If AC Milan wins against Lazio today it will cut Juve's lead at the top to only 2 points.

 

Real Madrid rout Espanyol 4-0 while Barcelona lose to Atletico 2-0. Only 4 points separate the two.

 

UEFA knockout stages to begin this month.

Feb. 22

Real Madrid vs Juventus (replay of 2003 semis with Juve beating Real 3-0 to advance againts AC Milan)

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

PSV vs Monaco

Bayern Leverkusen vs Liverpool

 

Feb. 23

Porto vs Inter

W Bremen vs Lyon

MAN UTD VS AC MILAN

BARCELONA VS CHELSEA

 

IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTR THAN THIS!!!!

[damaso]

barcelona vs chelsea

 

i really don't know who was luckier. barca was dominating yet went behind via an own goal by belleti on chelsea's only foray forward. barca deserved to be 2 goals to the good at that time, with ronaldinho and giuly rampaging down the flanks and eto'o bursting thru the middle, yet conceded an away goal. the luck turned tho on the 2nd half, when drogba made a reckless challenge on the keeper. did it merit a sending off? i don't know. tide turned and goals from newly acquired maxi lopez (what a great find! what a great goal!) and eto'o sealed the win for the catalans.

 

i'm sure mourinho felt awful letting barca get back into the tie, but if a 2-1 loss was offered to him 15 minutes into the match (when barcelona was swarming all over the chelsea goal) he would have gladly taken it.

 

this puts the tie on a knife edge as chelsea need only a 1-0 home win to get them through. barcelona, however, would be confident after dominating chelsea for much of the match.

 

 

 

real madrid vs juventus

 

hold on ronaldinho, zidane's not retired just yet. and while he's playing, he is still THE man. poor finishing combined with great goalkeeping from buffon though, and the galacticos have only a 1-0 lead going to turin. del piero, was that u? he seems a ghost of his old self. same goes for ronaldo.

 

 

 

man utd vs ac milan

 

was that ac milan?! they looked like a premier league team! i give them all the respect, i don't really see them in action as the serie A isnt shown where i live, but i thought they were a typical italian team. boring. but they've proven me wrong. the pace was fast, the action was furious, and they kept up with man u at old trafford! yes, the goal was because of a goalkeeping blunder but ac milan has proven they can play at any style, at any pace.

 

i now put them as co-favorites (along with barcelona) to lift the european cup.

 

 

 

special mention to olympique lyon who are probably through to the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over werder bremen. juninho, not beckham, not assuncao, is the best dead ball kicker in world soccer.

[ron9]

I think Man Utd still shows some good form in the EPL that can help them overcome AC Milan in the return leg. I'm still not convinced with Real's performance againts Juve and they're still in danger of elimination. I would also have to think Barca did deserve to win and hope they can repeat in London.

 

Lyon's Junhinho was also fantastic and they could end up being a wild card!

[howard_the_duck]

Ano nang nangyari s sa chelsea?

[ron9]

After praising Man Utd's recent run of victories in the EPL, they are held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Crystal Palace. Very disappointing. A win would have cut the lead of Chelsea to 3 points (with Chelsea playing later in the day). It would have been a good chance to put some heat on Chelsea. Unfortunately they didn't capitalize. If Chelsea wins later on then the title is as good as theirs.

[ron9]

Ano nang nangyari s sa chelsea?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Chelsea still has a chance if they beat Barcelona by 1-0. They will advance due to away goal rule.

 

They also won the League Cup againts Liverpool so a treble is still possible.

[ruud]

united missed it a again!!! it will be a steep journey now, chelsea could still slip! they could slip!!!