At 3.00pm GMT, today, it will be exactly 12 days until the first round of Premier League fixtures get underway.
At Ewood Park, Craven Cottage, Anfield, Loftus Road, White Hart Lane, The DW Stadium and at St. James' "We-don't-know-quite-what-the -stadium-will-be-called" Park, the first whistle of the season will blow, and with it, absolute joy will wash over millions of football fans up and down the country!
After the (shorter-than-it-seems) Summer period where limited football is played and the back pages become filled with news of Cricket and Golf, we will finally start to see normality return as football will start to dominate
The fixture list in full, then, for the weekend of 13th-15th August: Saturday, 13 August 2011 Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland, 15:00
QPR v Bolton, 15:00
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00
Wigan v Norwich, 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Stoke v Chelsea, 13:30
West Brom v Man Utd, 16:00
Another round of fixtures produce some shocking results...
Darlington 0-2 Newcastle United
Firstly, on Friday evening, Newcastle United travelled to the Darlington Arena to take on Blue Square Premier League side, Darlington, who finished 7th last season.
A comfortable 2-0 victory for the Toon Army, through Barton (3) after a cross from Leon Best, and a strike from Ameobi (55), 10 minutes into the second half, were marred when Newcastle fans rushed onto the pitch and scenes turned ugly. Half-Time: 0-1
Full-Time: 0-2
Managing director, Derek Llambias said: "On behalf of everyone at Newcastle United FC, we wholly condemn the behaviour of a number of our supporters who invaded the pitch during the second half of the club's friendly against Darlington this evening (July 15). The club will be seeking to obtain footage of the disorder from Darlington FC and the police and will be taking the strongest possible action against those individuals responsible for the shameful behaviour.
This behaviour is not typical of the vast majority of our fans, however this incident gives a poor impression of Newcastle United and its loyal supporters."
On Saturday 16th July, six Premier League clubs played.
We'll start with the convincing victories- first Liverpool..
Malaysia XI 3-6 Liverpool
Charlie Adam got his first goal as a Red, converting a penalty in the convincing 6-3 victory over a Malaysia XI. Adam converted on 27 mins, after Jasuli's soft contact had taken down the big man, Andy Carroll. A Rahim goal levelled things on 43, giving a disappointing half time scoreline. Half-Time: 1-1
It took a further 23 minutes for Liverpool to regain the lead, with Ngog (68) first making it 1-2, then 2 minutes later on 70, making it 1-3. Rodriguez (76) made it 1-4, before Sali (79) got the first of his 2, making it 2-4, before adding Malaysia's 3rd on 82. At 3-4, and the scoreline the same as their earlier fixture, Liverpool turned it up a notch, hitting 2 stoppage time goals through Rodriguez (91) and Dirk Kuyt (94). Full-Time: 3-6
Gorleston 0-7 Norwich
An emphatic victory for Premier League newcomers, Norwich City, over Ridgeons Premier League side Gorleston at Emerald Park.
Captain Holt (6), Whitbread (12) and a Holt penalty (30) gave the Canaries a 3-0 lead. A Smith strike made it 4 and Jackson hit a 5th before half time. Half-Time 0-5 Johnson (49) and Wilbraham completed the rout, to set Norwich on their way to the Premier League. Full-Time 0-7
Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Accrington Stanley
At Morecambe's Globe Arena, Premier League Blackburn Rovers failed to convince against Accrington (Who are they? Exactly...) Stanley, but took the lead on 15 minutes through Keith Andrews. Half-Time: 1-0
Stanley equalised 9 minutes into the second half, through trialist, Kurtis Guthrie's 54th minute strike, before a Kalinic strike concluded the fixture. Full-Time: 2-1
Portsmouth 0-1 Chelsea
At Fratton Park, Chelsea fans had their first opportunity to see Andres Villas-Boas' line-up and match approach. Having played Wycombe behind closed doors in mid-week, fans were able to catch a glimpse in a damp squib of a match.
Former Chelsea defender, Ben-Haim headed past his own keeper on just 7 minutes. Half-Time: 0-1
A penalty for Portsmouth, taken by Luke Varney, and saved by Hilario, was the only thing of note in the second half. Full-Time: 0-1
Hangzhou Greentown 1-1 Arsenal
A desperately poor performance by the Gunners, as after just 16 minutes, Hangzhou took the lead through Sebastian Vazquez following a mistake from goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Carlos Vela drew Arsenal level on the stroke of half-time with a close-range strike. Half-Time: 1-1
Despite making a full 11 changes in the half-time interval, Arsenal failed to break down vastly inferior opponents and the 1-1 scoreline stood until the full time whistle blew. Full-Time: 1-1
Kaizer Chief's 1-0 Tottenham
A disappointing match for Tottenham at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. Twice denied by top-drawer saves from keeper Itumeleng Khune, the last in the 90th minute sparked the counter-attack that George Lebese scored the winner from.
Luka Modric, who handed a transfer request in this week was ruled out with an ankle problem, while fellow midfielder Sandro is expected to miss three months of action with a knee injury. Half-Time: 0-0
Full-Time: 1-0
Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Man City
Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham
Sun, Mar 18:
Charlton 2 - 0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal
SUMMARY:
Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Wayne Rooney both scored a brace in their team's 4-1 victory over Bolton at Old Trafford.
However, the chief tormentor for Bolton was none other than in-form Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo who played a part in three of the four goals, including a stunning 80 yard run from the edge of his own box to setup Wayne Rooney for a chipped goal.
A serious-looking ankle injury to skipper Gary Neville in the 10th minute was the only sour-note of a dominant Red Devils performance and with six senior players already on the treatment table, the latest injury blow will truly test the depth of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Chelsea are still in hot pursuit of the league leaders with a comfortable 3-0 demolition job on struggling Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and substitute Michael Ballack were more than enough to settle a game in which the home side were rarely in trouble.
Arsenal and Liverpool, however, were unable to keep up with the top two sides with a loss and draw respectively.
The Gunners lost to an injury time winner from Everton's Andy Johnson which came from Mikel Arteta's corner. Arsenal chose the worst time to lose concentration and failed to clear the ball allowing the striker to drill home with a left-foot shot.
Meanwhile, Liverpool dominated possession at Villa Park but was unable to find a way past a resilient Aston Villa defence, reinforcing the need for a world-class striker in the off-season.
The man known as "God" to Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler, replaced Gerrard with six minutes left and almost won the game for Liverpool when his header was turned around the post by Sorensen.
Oh what might have been had Fowler been brought on earlier when it was clear that a goal-poacher of his quality would not go amiss.
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 2 - 1 Reading
Fulham 1 - 1 Aston Villa
Man City 0 - 1 Wigan
Newcastle 0 - 0 Middlesbrough
Sheff Utd 1 - 1 Everton
Watford 2 - 2 Charlton
Portsmouth 0 - 2 Chelsea
Sun, March 4:
Bolton 1 - 2 Blackburn
West Ham 3 - 4 Tottenham
SUMMARY:
Liverpool's unbeaten home run was ended in dramatic fashion when Manchester United defender John O'Shea's shot from a loose ball ended in the back of the net in the dying seconds.
Manchester United visited Anfield knowing that a win would give them a hand on the prized Premiership trophy but Liverpool had other ideas and dominated the game throughout the match.
However, in the dying seconds, the Red Devils pulled off an amazing "smash and grab" when O'Shea scored after a Ronaldo free-kick had rebounded off Liverpool keeperJose Reina.
Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Manchester United were lucky to beat Liverpool - and admitted the referee was right to send off Paul Scholes, who flung a stray arm at Xabi Alonso, for violent conduct.
Manchester United now has a nine-point lead in the Premiership race with just nine games remaining and the win at Anfield may have just sealed it for the Red Devils.
Chelsea remains within sight of the leaders with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park courtesy of Didier Drogba's 29th goal of the season and Salomon Kalou's 82nd minute goal.
Arsenal bounced back from their recent disappoint to beat Reading at home to move within a point of third place Liverpool.
Elsewhere, West Ham's relegation battle looks doomed after throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-4 to Tottenham. The Hammer's defensive frailities were cruelly exposed when Tottenham scored twice in as many minutes to down the fellow Londoners.
Arsenal suffered their second cup blow in a week after fellow Premier League side Blackburn knocked them out of the FA cup with a spectacular strike from substitute Benni McCarthy.
After a young Gunners side lost in the final of the Carling cup to Chelsea on Sunday, an older Gunners side compromising of regular first-teamers could not find their way past Blackburn in a game they dominated for large spells.
Referee Graeme Poll did his best to displease the Gunners fans by blowing his whistle at every opportunity and turned away a very good penalty appeal when Jeremie Aliadiere was felled in the Rovers box.
Blackburn will now face Manchester City in the FA cup quarter final on March 11.
English Premier League outfits Chelsea and Tottenham went on scoring sprees in the FA cup with both teams recording 4-0 victories against Norwich and Fulham respectively.
Championship side Norwich was always going to be in trouble against a Chelsea team that could summon the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Essien from off the bench in an easy match for the Blues as they begin an important week with a Champion's League fixture against Porto in mid-week.
Tottenham annihilated fellow Londoners Fulham with a 4-0 romp including two expertly taken goals by skipper Robbie Keane and substitute Dimitar Berbatov.
Premiership leaders Manchester United and Arsene Wenger's Arsenal had no such luck and were both held to fifth round replays after draws at home against Reading and Blackburn respectively.
Reading 2 - 0 Aston Villa
Chelsea 3 - 0 Middlesbrough
Everton 1 - 0 Blackburn
Man Utd 2 - 0 Charlton
Newcastle 2 - 1 Liverpool
Sheff Utd 2 - 1 Tottenham
West Ham 0 - 1 Watford
Portsmouth 2 - 1 Man City
Sun, Feb 11:
Bolton 2 - 1 Fulham
Arsenal 2 - 1 Wigan
SUMMARY:
The results from the Premier League this weekend was "same old, same old" with Manchester United and Chelsea achieving 2-0 and 3-0 wins respectively.
The Red Devil's 6-point cushion remained intact despite never hitting top form after goals from midfielders Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher secured a 2-0 victory.
Didier Drogba's brace helped Chelsea on their way to a 3-0 victory against Aussie Mark Viduka's Middlesbrough with the Aussie guilty of missing a sitter after superbly pulling away from his marker, England captain John Terry, no less.
Rather than celebrating their first win under new American owners, Liverpool came unstuck against Newcastle at St James' Park having taken the lead through ex-Newcastle player Craig Bellamy (who was roundly booed, as one would expect) before the Toon brigade fought back to snatch a 2-1 home victory.
On Sunday, Arsenal came from behind to earn a hard fought victory over Wigan to keep their unbeaten home record intact.
Wigan stole the lead in the first half with a screamer from Denny Landzaat and it took until the 81st minute for the Gunners to equalise through a fortuitous own goal.
Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky then scored the winner for Arsenal with a header in the dying minutes of the game to seal the three points for the home side.
Liverpool 0 - 0 Everton
Aston Villa 1 - 0 West Ham
Blackburn 2 - 1 Sheff Utd
Charlton 0 - 1 Chelsea
Fulham 2 - 1 Newcastle
Man City 0 - 2 Reading
Watford 0 - 1 Bolton
Wigan 1 - 0 Portsmouth
Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Arsenal
Sun, Feb 4:
Tottenham 0 - 4 Man Utd
SUMMARY:
The 205th Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton finished goal-less with the blue half of Merseyside celebrating the feat of taking four points off fierce rivals Liverpool in a single season.
The build-up to the big game was all about the Mighty Reds avenging the 0-3 loss to Everton earlier in the season with manager Rafa Benitez signalling his intent by fielding a three-pronged attack of Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy.
However, a determined Everton outfit defended admirably to earn a point at the fortress that is Anfield with the Reds unable to breach the stubborn defence marshalled by Alan Stubbs.
Ten-men Arsenal fought hard to earn a draw with Middlesborough on Teeside and hard to rely on talismanic captain Thierry Henry to equalise in the 77th minute.
Australia captain Mark Viduka was on fine form and gave nightmares to Arsenal defender Kolo Toure all afternoon and was unlucky not to make the score-sheet.
Elsewhere on Saturday were wins for Aston Villa, Blackburn, Chelsea, Fulham, Reading, Bolton and Wigan.
On Sunday, league leaders Manchester United regained their six-point cushion on second placed Chelsea with a 4-0 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
On-form Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a controversial penalty at half-time when he appeared to dive in the box when challenged by Spurs defenders Steed Malbranque and Lee Young-Pyo.
I would've liked to give Ronaldo the benefit of the doubt, but given his reputation as a diver and the minimal amount of contact in the challenge, I would have to say that Spurs were hard done by.
Watch the video and see for yourself.
In the second half, it was all United with defender Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all getting on the score-sheet.
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