Arsenal took little time in asserting themselves on their opposition with Denilson putting the Emirates side ahead inside five minutes when the Brazilian put away one of his clinical mid range efforts past Robert Green. It was just the start the north London side needed to help steady nerves in a game they badly needed to in order to keep the pressure on fellow title chasers Chelsea and Manchester United.
However just before the break Thomas Vermaelen crudely brought down Guillermo Franco in the box and the Belgian centre back was given a straight red. Manuel Almunia was on hand to save brilliantly from Alessandro Diamanti’s spot kick and hence went some way to proving his doubters wrong.
The Hammers continued to keep up with the home side but couldn’t level matters and Gunners skipper Cesc Fabregas put away a penalty with seven minutes left on the clock to seal the win for the Emirates side. The win, Arsenal’s sixth in a row, puts them top of the Premier League albeit with both their competitors having games in hand.
Sunderland continued their fine run of recent form with a good win over in form Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light. Darren Bent once again staked his claim for a place in the England World Cup squad with his fourth and fifth goal in three games in quick succession putting the home side two goals to the good inside ten minutes.
Cameron Jerome put the St Andrews’ side back in the match with a strike on the hour mark but Frazier Campbell scored a late goal to restore the Black Cats two goal lead.
David Moyes had to wait a very long time to see his Everton side put away one of their chances at Goodison Park during a fairly tepid match against Bolton. Mikel Arteta put away an excellent free kick to give the home side the lead and Steven Pienaar scored late on to confirm victory against a Bolton who may have taken their foot of the pedal thinking that they are clear of the drop zone.
Portsmouth twice came back from behind to score a remarkable victory at Fratton Park. Avram Grant’s side may have little to play for but pride but they managed to squeeze past a Hull City side under the new management of Iain Dowie.
Tigers striker Caleb Folan twice put the away side ahead only to see first Tommy Smith and then Jamie O’Hara peg them back. Then in the dying seconds Kanu put away the winner for Pompey. Its a win that will do little to stave off relegation but may go a long way to rewarding their loyal fans who have endured a miserable season.
Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers played out an enthralling local derby at Villa Park. Both sides had plenty to play for with Martin O’Neill looking to make up ground in the top four race and Mick McCarthy looking for valuable points to avoid the drop.
John Carew put the home side ahead only to see Wolves battle back back superbly thanks to another goal from Jody Craddock and a James Milner own goal. However John Carew confirmed his cult hero status by popping with the equalizer with ten minutes to play.
Harry Redknapp’s White Hart Lane outfit took one step nearer to the dream of Champions League football with a well earned win away at Stoke City. Eidur Gudjohnsen put Tottenham ahead early in the second half and then saw the home side reduced to ten men when Dean Whitehead was sent off.
Matty Etherington then sent the Britannia Stadium wild by putting Stoke level against the odds. However Niko Kranjcar scored the winner for Spurs with fifteen minutes to play.
The win puts Tottenham four point clear of fifth placed Liverpool however Man City do have two games in hand and could well be the north London sides main threat to a top four finish.
You know how this works. This is where we ask you all very nicely to click on the video below so that we here at COS Towers can eat. This latest Adidas advert is resplendent with some nice visuals, an array of celebrities and some nice images of women’s attractive behinds.
Saw this on Anfield Red and wasn’t sure if they are the genuine article. They look pretty decent. Like the sleeves and the golden shirt looks pretty damn good.
Obviously next term brings an end to the Carlsberg connection and that’s a shame but hopefully we can build a new partnership with Standard Chartered that will be lengthy and mutually beneficial. Clearly they are a company with big spending power and hopefully we can display the Champions League kit next term all being well. Maybe we have a spare Europa League design just in case?
Talking of Champions League football we badly need to come back from Old Trafford with something on Sunday otherwise we could find ourselves falling further behind Tottenham and Man City. Clearly we have had no problem overturning Man United in recent fixture so fingers crossed. Our last two performances, at Anfield against Portsmouth and Lille, have been pretty solid and give me hope of a good run of form until the season ends and hopefully we can drag some dignity from a season that really has been a painful one thus far.
Liverpool edged past Lille with a commanding Anfield display seeing Rafa overturn the one goal deficit to make it through to the next stage of the Europa League thanks to goals from Steven Gerrard and a brace Fernando Torres.
The win eases pressure on the Anfield sides boss and gives them a good chance of salvaging some silverware from what has been a wretched season. An early goal was always going to be crucial and Steven Gerrard put away a spot kick after Lucas was taken down in the box.
Fernando Torres then doubled the lead five minutes into the second half with a typically well taken goal and with Lille still only needing to net once to go through on away goals the Spaniard calmed Liverpool nerves by scoring his second and his sides third in the dying seconds.
A David Villa hat-trick helped Valencia to progress past Werder Bremen on away goals after a truly enthralling eight goal thriller against their Bundesliga opponents.
Fulham pulled off a incredible result at Craven Cottage as Roy Hodgson guided the Premier League side back from a 3-1 first leg deficit as well as an early David Trezeguet goal to romp home 4-1 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate.
Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool side romped home past doomed Portsmouth at Anfield. Goals from Fernando Torres, Ryan Babel and Alberto Aquilani’s first for the club put the home side 3-0 up inside the first thirty minutes and looked like they would go on a scoring spree.
Luckily for Pompey Liverpool took their foot of the gas and only managed one more goal, Torres scoring his second. Belhadj scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes.
The win puts Liverpool back in the Champions League hunt and Rafa will hope that the convincing nature of the win will appease the fans and stifle speculation about his future as Anfield boss.
Jose Mourinho had a triumphant return to Stamford Bridge as he led his Inter Milan to a tight victory against Chelsea that sees the Italian champions progress to the Champions League Quarter Finals after a 3-1 aggregate win.
Keisuke Honda scored the all important goal in this Champions League tie as he put Russian side CSKA Moscow into an overall lead with his free kick early in the second half to secure an impressive win over La Liga side Sevilla.
While all of us at CaughtOffside are self-confessed football addicts to the core, we do occasionally flick the channels on our flatscreen TV and have found ourselves quite enamoured by the Six Nations Championship.
A goal from Yoann Gourcuff put French champions Bordeaux in the driving seat and even an equalizer from Konstantinos Mitroglou could not help Olympiakos back into the tie. A goal from Arsenal target Marouane Chamakh sealed progress to the Champions League Quarter Finals.
Jose Mourinho hardly ever loses at Stamford Bridge and this fact was proven again on Tuesday night when his Inter Milan side came, saw and conquered a Chelsea side who were reduced to ten men late on when Didier Drogba was sent off, but did the Ivorian have an ulterior motive for getting an early bath?
Well those funny guys at Studs Up believe there was another reason the prolific striker wanted to leave the game early and you would do well to CLICK HERE to see the comic sketch that explains all!
Still the exit from the Champions League may well work in Chelsea’s favour as it gives the west London side more time and energy to concentrate on their Premier League title push whilst direct rivals for the domestic crown Arsenal and Manchester United will have their minds on two big pieces of silverware.
Everyone one loves a bit of nostalgia and the shirt the Emirates outfit will be wearing next term has it in bucketloads. The cut and the design of the Arsenal shirt, a homage to the 1971 double winning side, is simply perfection itself.
One can only hope that the Gunners can replicate the successes of the Bertie Mee side but perhaps we can end our silverware drought this term rather than hope for some of the 71 magic rub on the current crop of Gunners. There appears to be a retro vibe present in a lot of recent kit designs and it makes a change from the usual act of making the slightest little change to a shirt so as to force the purchase of the latest bit of merchandise.
Thanks to The Gunner Blog for the heads up on this latest pic.
Celtic made light work of St Johnstone at Parkhead with Robbie Keane once again getting himself on the scoresheet in a game that takes the Celtic Park side back to within ten points of runaway leaders Rangers.
Louis Van Gaal’s Bayern Munich side came a cropper in Frankfurt and somehow surrendered an early lead given to them by Miraslav Klose as the home side scored twice in the last five minutes to pull off a surprise win.
Anderlecht battled manfully to try to get past Hamburg in this Europa League tie but ultimately fell short when their Bundesliga opponents scored a third through Mladen Petric.
