FanFootball - English Premier League, Champion's League, La Liga and general soccer news and results.

English football news Chelsea Newcastle United - FanFootball

EPL: Premiership race goes right down to the wire

May 6th 2008 14:55

Mon, May 5:

Newcastle 0 - 2 Chelsea

SUMMARY:

The destination of the Barclaycard Premiership trophy will be decided on the final day of the season after Chelsea's 2-0 win over Newcastle at St. James' Park last night.

Needing a win to stay level on points with leaders Manchester United, Chelsea's Michael Ballack opened the scoring for the visitors in the 60th minute with a header before French winger Florent Malouda wrapped up the win in the 82nd minute.

There were nervous moments for Avram Grant's side as the hosts had good chances of their own with Michael Owen going particularly close to scoring on a number of occasions.

Ultimately, Chelsea had too much class despite the absence of Ashley Cole, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, and Salomon Kalou from the side that beat Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.

Chelsea will now have to win their final game at home against Bolton and hope that Manchester United draw or lose against Wigan in the corresponding game to clinch the Premiership title.

[Video source: DailyMotion]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: charles - Category: EPL results, English football news, Chelsea, Newcastle United

Email this Post to a Friend

Crouch scores sensational hat-trick for Liverpool

April 2nd 2007 05:58

Sat, Mar 31:

Liverpool 4 - 1 Arsenal
Bolton 1 - 0 Sheff Utd
Charlton 1 - 0 Wigan
Fulham 1 - 1 Portsmouth
Man Utd 4 - 1 Blackburn
Newcastle 0 - 1 Man City
West Ham 2 - 0 Middlesbrough
Watford 0 - 1 Chelsea

Sun, Apr 1:

Tottenham 1 - 0 Reading

SUMMARY:

No England supporter would ever have imagined themselves saying this, but boy did England miss out on the goal-scoring 'prowess' of Liverpool striker Peter Crouch.

The England striker signalled his come-back from surgery to a broken nose with a sensational hat-trick against Arsenal at Anfield.

The Bean-pole striker's first goal came as early as the 4th minute when Jermaine Pennant and Alvaro Arbeloa exchanged exquisite back-heels to setup the first goal.

Half an hour later, Crouch doubled his side's lead from a set-piece after being fouled by Kolo Toure. Xabi Alonso delivered a pin-point free-kick into the box for Crouch to power home the header. 2 - 0 Liverpool.

Rather than sit back and defend their lead, the Reds came out for the second-half in search for more blood and Daniel Agger delivered the third goal with a glancing header in the 60th minute.

Soon after, Arsenal bundled in a consolation goal through former Chelsea defender William Gallas - why do centre-backs always seem to have a knack for scoring against Liverpool (think Rio Ferdinand earlier this season).

Peter Crouch, high on confidence after two great goals in the first half, completed his brilliant hat-trick in the 81st minute when he danced around in the box before firing a left-foot shot pass the helpless Lehmann.

A fantastic result for the Reds that could go a long way in determining who ends up with the coveted third spot in the league as well as revenging the cup losses to the Gunners earlier this season.

And what about the main man Peter Crouch? I have never sung his praises, but he deserves a huge pat on the back for such a tremendous performance. Hat-tricks don't get any better than this and some would describe this particular one as 'perfect' - one with the right foot, one with the left, and a header.

Amazing.

Elsewhere, Manchester United came from behind to record a 4 - 1 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.

After falling behind to a Matt Derbyshire goal in the 29th minute, the Red Devils had to wait until the second half before finding the net and the floodgates opened thereafter.

Paul Scholes opened the scoring with a shot into the bottom corner and Michael Carrick (73), Ji-Sung Park (83) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (90) chipped in to send United 9-points clear at the table momentarily.

Chelsea only just managed to stay in touch with the league leaders courtesy of substitute Salomon Kalou's injury time goal to keep Chelsea's Barclays Premiership hopes alive.

Elsewhere, wins were recorded for Bolton, Manchester City, Charlton, West Ham and Tottenham.

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: charles - Category: EPL results, English football news, Arsenal, Bolton, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Tottenham, West Ham United, Wigan, Charlton, Reading, Sheffield United, Watford

Email this Post to a Friend

Ronaldo and Rooney double-act

March 19th 2007 03:57

RESULTS:

Sat, Mar 17:

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.

In other games, wins were recorded for Manchester City - a huge relief for under-fire manager Stuart Pearce - Tottenham, West Ham and Charlton.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]