Didier Drogba of Chelsea and Phillipe Senderos of Arsenal are two of the hard men of the English Premier League. Or so I thought. This weekend I have seen both of them fly through the air with all the grace of a top ballerina performing the dying swan. I hope they are both embarrassed when they watch the replays on television.
In Drogba's case, he was at least fouled. His ankle was clipped by a Tottenham player in the Carling Cup final defeat. It is remotely possible that the clip was enough to make him stumble and maybe even fall. It certainly wasn't enough to see him fly through the air with an arched back and land several feet away from the point of impact. It certainly wasn't enough to see him writhing in agony.
It got worse because Drogba then realised that the free kick was in a possible scoring position and if he received treatment he would have to leave the pitch and wouldn't be able to take it.
On realising this he managed to struggle to his feet and claim the ball. Of course, being a truly great player he then whacked the ball into the corner of the net to give Chelsea the lead.
That's my point. He's a great player, we do not need or want the theatricals.
As for Senderos, well his dive was even worse. He wasn't touched and it was in his own half. It was embarrassing and I hope the FA take a look at the video evidence because it was a disgrace.
Senderos is a fine player but that type of performance does nothing to enhance the reputation of hard and ugly centre halves everywhere!
Schalke 04 1 - 0 FC Porto
Liverpool 2 - 0 Inter Milan
Roma 2 - 1 Real Madrid
Olympiacos 0 - 0 Chelsea
SUMMARY:
Rafa Benitez's Liverpool has a knack for playing their best football in Europe and it was the same case overnight as the Mighty Reds came back from an embarrassing 2-0 loss against Barnsley to beat Italian giants Inter Milan 2-0 at Anfield.
The most ardent of Liverpool fans would have been worried by the prospect of facing the form side in Europe in the middle of a horrendous form slump, but Benitez's men had other ideas as Inter collapsed spectacularly in the last five minutes.
Dutchman Dirk Kuyt made it two goals in two games with his 85th minute opener, a deflected right-foot shot before talismanic captain Steven Gerrard took possession on the far right corner of the box and fired the second home off the far post in injury time.
While life was made easier for the Reds after the sending off of Marco Materazzi for two bookable offences on the half hour mark, the Italians defended bravely for almost an hour until the home side did enough to finally make a breakthrough.
There is still plenty to play for in the second leg of this intriguing tie.
Elsewhere, Roma were fourth time lucky as they beat Spanish giants Real Madrid 2-1 at home at the fourth attempt. Spanish striker Raul opened the scoring the visitors in the 8th minute, but Roma equalised through Pizarro in the 24th minute before Mancini sealed the game with a 58th minute winner.
Real, with a precious away goal, will fancy their chances when the return leg takes place at the Bernabeu.
Schalke 04 played admirably in their first appearance in the knockout phase of the Champions League, beating FC Porto 1-0 while English Premier League side Chelsea were held to a bore draw by Greek side Olympiacos.
Following Chelsea's win at Everton last night in the second leg of the Carling cup semi-final, Avram Grant said that he thought Chelsea deserved respect. He pointed out their good results in Europe, the Premier League, and now reaching the final of the Carling cup.
There is no doubt that Chelsea do deserve respect. Premier league winners in 2005 and 2006, runners up in 2007, and two Champions League semi-finals in that time. They are currently lying third in the league only four points behind the leaders and eight points clear of fourth place. They have drawn Olympiacos in the next round of the Champions League and have a great chance to progress. They have reached the Carling Cup Final and are currently on a winning run of seven games in all competitions during which they have conceeded only three goals.
My question is, who is it that Avram Grant thinks is not showing them respect?
Is it the fact that most pundits are saying that Manchester Unitd and Arsenal are playing the more entertaining football? I doubt it because even Grant must be able to see that is true.
I think it is more likely that Grant has learned from the master, Jose Mourinho, and is playing mind games with his players. He is trying to create an us against the world attitude, and make the players think that noone likes them and noone wants them to succeed.
Avram Grant has made an impressive start to his managerial career at Chelsea, and he might well win trophies for them this season.
Socceroo Tim Cahill's Everton were knocked out of the Carling Cup at the semi-final stage by Chelsea overnight. A 1-0 win on the night gave the London club a 3-1 aggregate win which will see them play in the final at Wembley against Tottenham on February 24.
Despite Avram Grant's admission that the tournament did not mean much to him, the Chelsea boss still fielded a near full-strength side against the Merseysiders who tried in vain to cancel out Chelsea's 2-1 lead from the first leg.
England midfielder Joe Cole's stunning 69th-minute goal ended any hope of Everton reaching their dream of a first Wembley final in 13 years. Despite the goal, Chelsea had goalkeeper Petr Cech to thank on more than one occasion while Everton were left to rue the missed opportunities.
Everton boss said: "It was a brilliant effort by my players but we had opportunities and we didn’t take them.
Now the task for me is to find that special ingredient that gets you to cup finals and wins you trophies.
It's always going to be difficult against the top sides over two legs but we need that bit of magic to challenge them."
After 28 matches in charge, Avram Grant now has identical statistics to his predecessor Jose Mourinho with 21 wins, five draws and two losses and is on course to win a trophy in his maiden season at the helm.
English Premier League side Chelsea has signed France striker Nicolas Anelka on a three and a half year contract for a reported fee of Ł15 million in the January transfer window.
The much travelled Frenchman made his debut for Chelsea over the weekend and was unlucky not to score against Spurs with one effort hitting the post in what would have been a dream start to his Chelsea career.
Anelka receives his No.39 shirt from boss Avram Grant
'Le Sulk' made his Premiership debut over 10 years ago with Arsenal as one of the first signings of the then newly appointed manager, Arsene Wenger. He broke into the first team during the 97/98 season as an 18 year-old and played a key part in winning the Premiership and FA cup double for the Gunners.
He won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award in the 1998-99 season and after a contract wrangle with the Gunners, Anelka made his first move to Spain with European giants Real Madrid in the summer of 1999.
Despite figuring in the successful Champion's League campaign of 99/00, he became surplus to requirements after falling out of favour with fans, fellow players, and coach Vicente del Bosque and after just one season at the Bernabeu, he was transferred back to the club where he made his professional debut, French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
After staying with the French side for 18 months, he left for Liverpool on loan for 6 months and after that, Manchester City for 3 seasons (his longest tenure at ANY club!), Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for 1 season, Bolton Wanderers for a little over 1 season and finally, to Chelsea.
Despite featuring for nine different clubs in 10 years, the talented and pacy forward has proclaimed that Chelsea will be his last club.
Chelsea are through to face Everton in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup after knocking out Liverpool at the quarter-final stages overnight.
With Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez showing little intent in a starting line-up that included reserve keeper Charles Itandje, youngsters Jack Hobbs and Leiva Lucas and a substitutes bench missing captain Steven Gerrard and Spanish striker Fernando Torres, it was always going to be an up-hill struggle against a near full strength Chelsea side.
Chelsea's class and experience prevailed in the second-half courtesy of strikes from Frank Lampard and Andriy Shevchenko to seal a 2-0 win for the London club.
The match was marred by a moment of madness from England striker Peter Crouch who was red-carded for a two-footed lunge on Mikel John Obi shortly after Lampard's opener in the 59th minute.
Crouch will now miss Liverpool's home clash with Portsmouth and the visits to Derby and Manchester City over the festive period.
In the other draw, bitter London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will battle it out for a place in the final.
Birmingham 1 - 1 Reading
Derby 0 - 1 Middlesbrough
Man City 4 - 2 Bolton
Portsmouth 0 - 1 Tottenham
Sunderland 1 - 1 Aston Villa
West Ham 0 - 2 Everton
Wigan 5 - 3 Blackburn
Fulham 0 - 1 Newcastle
Sun, Dec 16:
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 1 - 0 Chelsea
Sun, Dec 16:
The Premiership 'Big Four' went head to head over the weekend with Manchester United and Arsenal coming out on top with 1-0 victories over Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.
Despite dominating the match at Anfield, Liverpool failed to make any in-roads pass the United defence and were made to pay when Carlos Tevez pounced on a Ryan Giggs corner to fire home the winner late in the first half.
The win for Sir Alex Ferguson's men has left United nine points in front of their fierce north-west rivals.
Meanwhile at the Emirates, Arsenal captain William Gallas made his former club pay by heading home the only goal of the game on the stroke of half-time. The Frenchman cashed in on an uncharacteristic error from Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to give his side victory and a six-point cushion over their London rivals.
The match of the weekend - an eight-goal thriller - took place on Saturday between Wigan and Blackburn at the JJB stadium.
Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz both completed hat-tricks in a pulsating match which saw Wigan throw away a three-goal lead before eventually overcoming 10-man Blackburn 5-3 to end their 14-match winless run.
In other matches, wins were recorded for Middlesbrough, Man City, Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle.
Arsenal 5 - 0 Derby
Liverpool 0 - 0 Birmingham
Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Sunderland
Reading 2 - 1 Wigan
Fulham 3 - 3 Man City
Sun, Sep 23:
Newcastle 3 - 1 West Ham
Aston Villa 2 - 0 Everton
Blackburn 0 - 1 Portsmouth
Bolton 1 - 1 Tottenham
Man Utd 2 - 0 Chelsea
SUMMARY:
Premier League leaders Arsenal ran riot against Derby on Saturday by firing five unanswered goals past the bottom team in the league.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick with further goals from Diaby and inspirational midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Socceroos captain Mark Viduka showed the Toon army his ability with a double that sent his side on the road to victory against West Ham.
Dukes struck as early as the 2nd minute before completing his double just before the break. Viduka's striker partner Michael Owen had no such luck and limped off with an occurrence of a groin injury that puts his participation in England's Euro 2008 qualifiers in doubt.
Liverpool were held at home by a stubborn Birmingham side. A frustrating day for the Reds saw the side fail to break down the opposition defence thus falling 4 points adrift of Arsenal.
On Sunday, the most anticipated match of the weekend - Manchester United v. Chelsea - went underway with the Red Devils emerging victorious.
Chelsea's new manager Avram Grant debut could not have been any easier - away at Old Trafford - and he saw his new side fall a goal behind on the stroke of half-time to a well timed header from Carlos Tevez - his first goal for the club.
Frenchman Louis Saha made sure of the victory a minute from time when, after going down under minimal contact from Tal Ben Haim, he drilled home the penalty.
In other matches, wins were recorded for Reading, Aston Villa and Portsmouth.
The Sun newspaper in the UK has sensationally revealed that former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was SACKED and did not leave by 'mutual consent' despite the club’s insistence yesterday.
A fiery relationship with the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich finally came to a head after a poor start to the season and a disappointing 1-1 Champions League draw against Rosenborg on Tuesday.
No doubt his shaky relationship with superstar striker Andriy Shevchenko, a close personal friend of the club owner, played a huge part in the Chelsea hierarchy's decision.
Chelsea have since appointed their director of football Avram Grant as his replacement in the managerial hot-seat.
With three years of a Ł5million-a-year deal left on his contract, Mourinho can at least laugh all the way to the bank with an estimated Ł10million pay-off.
It has been reported in the UK media that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has sensationally quit the club after a heated show-down with club owner Roman Abramovich.
Now that three rounds of Premiership action have passed, full of surprises and curious situations, the big question of who will obtain the title this year gets even harder to answer a view on the performance of the top teams in the first rounds would make this task a little bit easier.
Chelsea are the current favourites of the bookies(2.10), but to be frank I'm not impressed with them. Pizzaro, Malouda and co are yet to show their capabilities, and they are quiality players, but this season I think that the problem for Chelsea won't be up front, they have too many top-class players there, and in case they don't play against Liverpool for instance(sorry but Chelsea were so plain and without any ideas against Benitez's boys last week), they will score enough. The issue is that they concede too many goals. It's not the pragmatic Chelsea of the last seasons, who scored one or two but didn't allow the opponents to respond(it was trendy to bet 1-0 or 2-0 correct score when Chelsea are at home). Now we have 3-2 at home against NEWCOMERS of Birmingham, 1-2 away to Reading and 1-1 at Anfield. The first two wins were very hard, and basically for a team with Chelsea's likes, such matches are supposed to be easier. And the draw against Liverpool was a gift from the referee, Liverpool were the winners there.
Liverpool is the team that is about to be the new participant in the pursue of the title. After spending more than 50 million euro for players like Torres, Babel and Voronin Benitez has no excuses now. Previous seasons Liverpool made more than enough for the capabilities of their squad, but now they have to fight for the Premiership, 18 years without a title is just too much. Benitez will put into action his famous rotation principle, that enabled Valencia some years ago to win two times La Liga. Still, we haven't seen enough from Liverpool, but judging from the performance against Chelsea,
their style remains the old one - pragmatic, deadly tactical and disciplined football. But now that they have a variety of performers, Merseysiders could be more stable and endanger not only the Champions League contenders as before, but Chelsea and Manchester United as well.
The odds for Liverpool to win Outright were 6.50 in the beggining of the season, and now are 4.50, which speaks for itself.
Keep eyes on the Sunderland - Liverpool match in the weekend, I consider it a very important one for Liverpool's self-confidence after the blow against Chelsea.
Manchester United hit a bad streak in the first rounds. 2 draws and 1 lost in a row are results that we haven't seen from the Red Devils in the last two seasons. But it would be an airy statement that United are out. They just need one win to boost their confidence, and good results will flow. I guess, Tottenham this Sunday will be the first victims, though this promises to be a very tight fixture. Yes, it will be more difficult without injured Rooney and the suspended Ronaldo, but a team with the likes of United must be able to cope with such situations. My personal prediction is that United will bounce back in the next rounds and we will witness a three-sided fight for the title this season. A really intriguing one.
Arsenal, the other member of 'the big four', don't have the capability and the squad for the title. No offence to their fans, but this is reality and now without Henry it's even harder.
Some said that Tottenham will be able to intrude in big four's hegemony, but they still are quite unstable. And I'm really puzzled why did Jol buy Darren Bent for so much money, instead of strengthening his defensive line with experienced backs. So now he has around 5 forwards, but if a defender is injured(like skipper Ledley King is now), defensive problems occur.
Sorry, just UEFA for Tottenham, or the maximum is a fight with Arsenal for the 4th position.
So, perhaps the most intriguing season in the best league in the world is in front of us.
For previews and stuff before the rounds, see my b-log
With less than 2 weeks away from the start of the 2007 Barclays premiership season, there is up and downs with most of the premiership teams with Man United and Liverpool showing they will be the teams to beat this year with top signings.
Last years runners up, Chelsea, did not show anything promising in the very over promoted show down with current 5th placed MLS western conference team L.A Galaxy. Chelsea nearing a full strength for the match up that saw former English captain David Beckham take the field for the first time with his new team LA Galaxy, besides captain John Terry playing with a broken foot.
Beckham, 32 was brought into the game at the 78th minute mark, with a huge reception from the sell out crowd at the Home Depot stadium in California. Prior to his introduction there was a bit of teasing from the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player with warm ups on the side line causing cheers from the crowd. Whether this is PR stunt to match the likes of Manchester United with its marketing when Beckham was there, time to tell.
Beckham was seen to aggravated his ankle injury when contesting for the ball late in the match but later said "my anklehas swollen up, but that was going to happen anyway".
If the Galaxy is going to be a force in the MLS with David Beckham, they require a top signing forward or two who can deliver when retreiving a long pass from Beckham, whom, I think will play centre, as he wants to control the game. As well as Beckham was allegably told he can play any where he wishes.
On the other hand Chelsea who finished off their USA tour with a 1-0 win against the Galaxy, bringing their tour to 3 wins from 3 matches played will return to London where they have 3 more friendlies before the start of their premiership campaign on August 5th.
Else where in the premiership over the weekend Man United beat Seoul 4-0 away, Liverpool beat Auxerre 2-0 away, Burnley and Middlesborough as well as Carlisle and Newcastle played out a one all draw, newly promoted Sunderland under the management of first time premiership and former Man United and Ireland captain Roy Keane lost to Scunthorpe 1-0, and Tottenham beat the Kaiser Chiefs 1-2 away.
With more friendlies scheduled for during the week, who are the teams that are going to fall away and lag at the bottom of the table.
Here are the official images of the new 'electric' yellow away kit Chelsea will be sporting for the new season.
Away kit short sleaves
Away kit long sleaves
Goalkeeper shirt
Dummy?
Yep, you read right - Dummy! That is exactly what Chelsea calls their captain. Don't believe me?
Click here and look at the file name they have given for this image.
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Posted: June 12th 2007 05:10
Two days out from Chelsea's unveiling of their new away kit for 2007/2008, (click here) I have obtained a picture of what appears to be the new kit in all its glory - so much for the secrecy and hype then!
While no one can confirm whether this is the real deal or not, the little hints here and there on the official Chelsea website does at least confirm that the fluorescent yellow will be the colour of choice for Chelsea away from home.
Michael Ballack models the new Chelsea away kit
All will be revealed (officially, at least) on June 14 and available for purchase on June 28.
In a dull affair, Chelsea ended the Double dream of Manchester United when Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba pounced in the second-half of injury time to score the only goal of the match.
The first FA cup final at the new Wembley failed to live up to expectations with both teams failing to make any significant breakthroughs throughout the match.
The first-half drew comparisons with a boxing match - both Chelsea and Manchester United sparring with one another with neither team willing to press forward in search of a killer punch.
Both teams upped the ante in the second-half with Chelsea's introduction of Dutch winger Arjen Robben sparking considerable life into the Blues' attacking play with a series of mazy runs and crosses into the United penalty box.
However, nothing could mask the level of fatigue both sides were experiencing.
Triple award-winner Cristiano Ronaldo was in stealth-mode for much of the game - his lack of involvement was one of the main reasons why United lacked the creativity they needed so much from midfield.
Inevitably, the game ended nil-all in normal time and the crowd braced themselves for the third consecutive FA cup final to head into extra-time.
Manchester United had the upper-hand and Welsh winger Ryan Giggs thought he had scored the winner when he slid in to meet a far-post cross from Rooney. TV replays showed Giggs was correct, although if it had not been for him maintaining his slide to bundle into Cech, he would not have been.
From what I saw, however, was that Cech made the save but then pulled the ball into his chest protectively and that was what made the ball cross the line.
With the match seemingly headed to penalties, Drogba exchanged a neat one-two with Frank Lampard to score the winner with just five minutes left on the clock.
15:00 UK - Wembley Stadium
Chelsea vs Manchester United
PREVIEW:
This year's FA Cup final will return to the world famous Wembley Staduim after an absence of six years while the stadium was rebuilt.
Chelsea will be looking to add the FA cup to the Carling cup the team won earlier this season. Failure to do so will see a disappointing return for club owner Roman Abramovich's millions invested into 'world-class' players.
Manchester United are looking to complete the Premier League and FA cup double yet again but will be without injured stars Louis Saha and captain Gary Neville. Chelsea are without Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Andriy Shevchenko.
Newly crowned English Premier League champions Manchester United visited Stamford Bridge over-night to be welcomed by a guard of honour led by Chelsea skipper John Terry as the players strolled onto the pitch.
With the destination of the Premiership already decided over the past weekend, both Chelsea and Manchester United fielded largely reserve teams in this fixture which included the debut of China striker Fangzhou Dong for the Red Devils.
Despite this, both teams had much pride to play for with seven yellow cards awarded by referee Graham Poll.
Chelsea dominated for much of the game, particularly in the second half, but the Red Devils were able to hang on for a draw courtesy of some fine shot-stopping from stand-in keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
The two teams will meet again in the final of the FA Cup on May 19.
Here is a video clip of Daniel Agger's goal which cancelled out Joe Cole's winner from the 1st leg of the Champion's League semi-final clash between Liverpool and Chelsea.
The goal was brought about after Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was fouled by Joe Cole outside the penalty box.
Gerrard fooled the Chelsea defence by appearing to run up for a crack at the near post only to roll the ball into the path of the unmarked Daniel Agger for the defender to prod the ball home.
The might Reds went onto win 4 - 1 on penalties to book a place in the final of the Champion's League for the second time in three years.
I wonder what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be doing now on the night May 23rd?
Yes, you heard it right, Liverpool is going to the Champions League final once again! The tickets to Athens have just been booked and it's going to be the Reds! No Blues!
This is perhaps the most important match of the season so far as i have mentioned and the result couldn't have gone any better! Somehow it felt like we have just won the trophy! Guess it's probably because everyone's been wary about our chances in getting through this time after down one goal deficit in aggregate.
The match started well, and Rafa surprised everyone again (well, at least i am!) with his starting lineup, with Zenden starting his 3rd consecutive match on the left wing. Alonso is dropped to allow Gerrard playing at the middle alongside Mascherano, and Pennant on right wing. The solid Finnan returned to his right back position, and that's the only change in the defensive line from the first leg's team. Crouch upfront with Kuyt, to all Liverpudlians' delight.
Once again, the victorious Reds!
Liverpool went on initiative from the start, and at one point around 20 minutes the possession reads Liverpool 71% to Chelsea's 29%. Pushing for that one goal to put us back into equation is important and at 22nd minute we got what we wanted! Agger's strike from Gerrard's free kick stunned Chelsea's defense and the ball in the net send the crowd into frenzy. From then on, we should be pushing for more, but Chelsea fight back. The latter part of the first half saw Chelsea bombarding their way to get the advantage goal, but we held on.
Second half was pretty much an evenly fought game, although Chelsea put more pressure on us. But we were the ones that came closest when Crouch's header somehow put away to safety by Cech and Kuyt's header hit the crossbar! Pennant also could have scored from Terry's clearance mistake, but was too slow to hit the ball. And Chelsea were always dangerous with their free kicks, but we persevere and both teams enter extra time. The only real chance in extra time was when Kuyt's free inside the penalty box but could only hit it straight at Cech and being parried away.
So here it is, we are in another intense penalty shootout.
To be honest, i was a bit shocked when i saw Zenden came on as the first penalty taker. But i guess it all makes a bit sense that maybe Rafa had always been preparing him for this kind of moment. He was the utility player, and calm head is so important in taking penalties. He didn't fail Rafa. The rest of the story is on the video above, and Reina has proven his heroics last year at FA Cup final wasn't pure luck. We are in for another Champions League final!
Overall, the team played well. Zenden was a bit non-existent, he should be taken out if not for him having a better defensive ability compared to Gonzalez, and also the experience in big matches. Pennant was decent and his cross to Crouch was superb. I think it's quite surprising when he is taken out instead of Zenden at that moment. Gerrard put an inspirational display where he drives around and some good passings. Kuyt was very hardworking, and Mascherano was magnificient! I am very impressed by his defensive display, no nonsense and less complains. I am certain we will see him very often next season.
Defensively, all four backs were tough and solid. Agger's goal pretty much cancelled out his first leg's mistake in allowing Drogba's cross to Joe Cole which resulted the goal. And today he is in no mood to be dragged around by Drogba as easily as the first leg. Credit to Chelsea for keep pushing until the end, but we don't really appreciate how players such as Mikel Obi and Drogba keep going down easily. Essien did an excellent job playing out of position. Mourinho is again controversial with his comments that Chelsea were the best team and the only ones who wants to win. That is not true considering we have more shot on goals, although they did push very hard through the end of the match.
I am in no mood to be pissed by his comments, whatever they said, we are in the final. We are in for another memorable Champions League final, and that is all that matters. Good luck to them in the Premier League race and fighting for the prestigious FA Cup. It's a good day, great day where everything is about the colour red. Excellent job everyone, well done!
Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole ended his recent injury nightmare with the only goal of the match in a 1 - 0 victory over Liverpool in the semi-final of the UEFA Champion's League over-night.
The talented midfielder scored the decisive goal from a cross in the 29th minute after good work from defender Ricardo Carvalho and striker Didier Drogba.
The high-light of the game came after the match when Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, or 'Moaninho', complained on television about the referee failing to award a penalty for a hand-ball by Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa.
He said: “I do not understand why we do not have penalties when it is clear. It’s not fair. I hope, after the second leg, we are not crying again and thinking about a big decision.”
What he failed to note was that the hand-ball incident - and a purely accidental one at that - occurred OUTSIDE the penalty-box and by a fair distance.
Perhaps there really is a separate set of rules for Chelsea if that was to be deemed a penalty or Mourinho should simply get his eyes checked out.
Luckily, the referee was a much wiser man and waved the penalty claims away.
The 2nd leg of semi-final two will take place on May 1st with Chelsea holding a slender advantage. However, with Liverpool playing at home with the vocal Anfield faithful in full song, anything can happen.
The frontrunner for this award is Manchester United starlet Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been in scintilating form this season for the Red Devils.
Chelsea's Didier Drogba is another favourite for the award on the back of his sensational goal scoring exploits for the London club this season.
The winner will be unveiled at a gala dinner on April 22nd.
My personal pick for this award has got to be Ronaldo. He has improved evert facet of his game over the course of the season and although he is still prone to going down in the box far too easily, he has cut back on his theatrics as well as his show-pony tactics in favour of a killer final ball.
His great scoring record this season will also work in his favour and I will be surprised if the recipient is not Ronaldo come Sunday evening.
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