Looking Positively To Stamford Bridge

After a day of throwing brick-bats at each other, both Barca and Chelsea fans have slowly settled with the reality of the situation at Ground zero. Even the Spanish and English media are in the same mood - the article by Kevin McCarra in the Guardian is a prime example of that. Chelsea fans after a night of Euphoria has slowly understood the dangers held in the second leg. Barca fans and media after a night of dissappointment has settled to accept the fact that a nil-nil result is not at all a bad result as been made out. There were a bit of dissappointment in the Spanish side after the draw, but that was mainly due to a fear that a repeat of last year was on the cards. Last year Manchester United came to Camp Nou, defended their life out and returned with a goal-less draw; they then won at home to kick Barca out of the Champions League. But then that Barca was different, it was a Barca which was struggling in all fronts and finished third in the league. In that match also Manchester United played the defensive game but was lucky that Barca gave them a oppurtunity to score and Paul Scholes neatly obliged. But this Barcelona side is different as they are on top of their game.

Indeed they were denied by absolute perfect defending by Chelsea. They didn't see many opening but they did create an almost perfect four opening, only to be denied by Cech and a lack of cool heads by their own players. But our midfield, eventhough did not create much opening was perfect in ball possession. People, especially English media will say - "What's there with Ball Possession, if you can't get the goals!". But there were positives to look at Stamford Bridge from the performance of our midfield. Chelsea midfield had Essien, Malouda, Lampard, Obei Mikel and Ballack in their ranks and we had the likes of Iniesta, Xavi and Toure. Out of the three Toure is the only one who has a physical built which could challenge any of those midfielders, but to their credit Barca midfield did creat some trouble for Chelsea, especially Iniesta. Mikel might have kept Xavi quiet from creating chances but not from retaining possession.

The two reason why Barca failed to create much of chances were the decision by Chelsea to lay deep in their half and most importantly a lack of pace. FC Barcelona played the game at a lower pace than they normally used to. This has to be predominantly attributed to the poor game Messi and Eto had. But with the tie remaining at 0-0, we can expect Chelsea to open up a bit towards the end of the second tie. Chelsea's startegy would be the same as the first leg and to neautralise that we have to take extreme caution not to give Cheap balls away to Chelsea at decent positions. If we manage to do that Chelsea eventually had to open up, giving us space to exploit. For what all Chelsea players and English media might claim, in football you have to score goals to win. And that makes the tie evenly poised.

NB: You will here claims from English media and Chelsea players about how they are going to attack Barca at Stamford Bridge. Don't give a damn to those, as we all know they will start playing the same way as in the first leg.

Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0 Semi Final Champions League 2009

Champions League Result - Semi-Final 1st Leg
MAN UTD 1 ARSENAL 0

A convincing home performance by European champions Manchester United gave them a 1-0 lead to take into the 2nd leg of the Champions League against English Premier League rivals Arsenal.

In the first half Man Utd dominated and scored with John O’Shea, where Arsenal were caught flat footed chasing the ball and not closing down man for man. Almunia was tested numerous times and pulled off some good saves, Man U would have hoped to have made it 2-0 in the first half so at this stage you’d imagine that Wenger would have been philosophical about the 1-0 deficit.

In the second half it was more one way traffic. Christiano Ronaldo smacked the crossbar with a long range shot that dipped viciously towards the Arsenal goal. Manchester United bossed the midfield possession with neat passing between Scholes, Carrick and Giggs driving on the other big game players.

Nicholas Bendtner had a great opportunity to equalise towards the end of the match and Arsenal tried to put the home team under pressure in the final few minutes but Manchester United were just too strong for them.

So will a 1-0 lead be enough for the champions to take to the Emirates next week in order to progress to the Champions League final? I think so, as Man U seem to be peaking again just at the climax of this exciting season. If they don't Fergie will definitely look back at this match and think they should have capitalised on the form they showed with more goals...

Man U vs Arsenal Champions League News

Although previous encounters between Manchester United and Arsenal have been very heated affairs, both on the pitch between players and off the pitch with a war of words between Fergie and Wenger, the build up to this tie has been characterised by the mutual admiration from both managers towards the opposing team. The Scotsman has described the tie as the “perfect semi-final . .. full of terrific footballers” and in particular has heaped praise upon Cesc Fabregas. In return Wenger has paid homage to the 18 year top flight career of Ryan Giggs.

There is however no doubting the desire of both managers to win this tie. Manchester United could and want to be the first European champions to successfully defend their title and Wenger is only too aware that the one big gap in Arsenal’s trophy cabinet and indeed in Wenger’s glittering career is Europe's most prestigious club competition. Wenger came close to winning in 2006, losing to Barcelona in the final and is determined to go one better this time around and admits he will be giving his all in pursuit of this honour. "I had the luck to stay at the same club for 12 years and I also know how much it means to the club and the players. I am just focused to give every bit of energy I have to the team.". Wenger has also made it clear that his strategy will not be to play a defensive game away with the hope of overturning the red devils during the return leg at the Emirates. "The modern rules in Europe encourage the home team to be cautious and the away team to be audacious," he said. "That's why I believe to score an away goal will be very important for us.”

Ferguson shares Wenger’s view that both teams will be playing an attacking exciting game for both legs. "It won't be decided on Wednesday," says Ferguson. "I feel sure of that. I think that there is a lot of football left at the Emirates.

As well as the similarities between the two managers’ approaches and respect for the opposing team, both Manchester United and Arsenal are finishing strongly to the season and appear to have the mental strength necessary to succeed at the top level. Arsenal have kept their nerve despite a very average start to the season and are currently undefeated in 20 league games. Manchester United came back from 2:0 down on Saturday to thrash Spurs 5:2.

Looks like an exciting night of football tonight. Hopefully at least a goal apiece with no red cards or pizza throwing in sight!!

FC Barcelona vs Chelsea Pictures

FC Barcelona Player Rating against Chelsea on 28/04/09

Valdes - 7.5 - Had kind of a quite night apart for the double save against Drogba. That denied Chelsea an away goal. How valuable was the save we can say only in the second leg.

Alves - 7 - Was theatrical throughout the match. But defended well. He should stop his unnecesssary play acting as it cuts the rhythm of the side. His crosses were poor apart from the one which set up Bojan header.

Marquez - 5 - Not much to do throughout the match. But his mistake which put Drogba infront of goal could have been worst had Valdes failed to deny him. And the night was made worst by his injury.

Pique - 7.5 - Decent performance, especially against the might of Drogba. But like his partner he also gave away the ball in a dangerous position.

Abidal - 7.5 - Solid performance. He was good in the left flank cutting down Essien's every effort. Most probably will have a greater job in the second leg.

Xavi - 6.5 - Obei Mikel marked him out of the attack. Could not find the usual self in attack, but was good in defense and regaining possession. But in a high profile encounter like this we expected much more from him.

Toure - 7.5 - Solid as Usual. Cut off most of Chelsea's attack and always won well against a defensively minded Cheslea midfield. But held the ball a bit longer when Barca ventured to attack.

Iniesta - 8 - Was decent in attack and defense. May not have created havoc as expected. But was a constant menance for Chelsea. He was the only one in our attack who used a bit of imagination.

Messi - 6.5 - A bit of run here and there, and some shots from outside box, that summed up Messi's day. Bosingwa's decision not to get out of their box meant he had no space to maneouvure with.

Eto - 6 - Never linked well with any of the players. But created a gem of a chance, should had the composure to pass the ball to Henry who was left unmarked.

Henry - 6 - Not a great performance and faded rapidly after the injury. But did troubled Ivanovic with his pace early on.

Substitutes:

Puyol - 6.5 - He looked confident when he came in and almost had a good game but for that yellow card. Now he will be missing the return leg.

Bojan - 6 - Should have done better with the header, otherwise looked lively than Eto.

Hleb - 6 -Had a great chance but was denied by Cech.

Man Of The Match - Peter Cech

FC Barcelona - 0, Chelsea - 0, Champions league Semi-Final First Leg ends in Stalemate

For the first time in this season, FC Barcelona were unable to score a goal at the Camp Nou. A boring but disciplined Chelsea held FC Barcelona to a goal less draw, now they have the advantage of playing the next match at their home. Both the coaches had earlier promised an open encounter but Hiddink realised early that attacking against Barca at Camp Nou can be of dangerous proportion. He send in a formation whose first look suggested that the only goal Chelsea had was to deny FC Barcelona a goal; and have to admit that they achieved the same. FC Barcelona player's post match comments had a touch of frustration to it, but they should really remember that a nil-nil result keeps the tie very much open. That means Chelsea cannot afford to park the bus and watch the game; they have to get out of their half and try to score a goal. Only thing we should be careful would be, not to allow a silly goal like the scholes one last season. If Chelsea venture forward we will have our chances and it was proven right by the two clear chances we had towards the end. But the problem for Barca is that within the next eight days they had to play two high profile away tie, which will define our season. To make matters worse, Marquez has been ruled out of the rest of the season with a knee injury and Puyol is suspended for the return leg.

Guardiola decided to drop Puyol for Marquez in the defense and the rest of the team was as expected. Valdes kept the goal; Alves, Marquez, Pique and Abidal formed the defense. Xavi, Toure and Iniesta formed the midfield. Messi, Eto and Henry formed the attack line. The Chelsea started the game well. In the 4th minute hit a shot from 25 yards out wide of the goal. That was really the only time we can say Chelsea created something. But Chelsea held their formation well and restricted Barca to long range effort. In the 18th minute Eto shot wide after Xavi laid of the ball to him from an Iniesta pass. Messi and Xavi shot wide from outside in the 20th and 28th minute respectively. In the 31st minute Henry tested Cech with a shot from outside the box but Cech was upto the task. In the 34th minute Cech brought out a good save to deny Henry from outside the box. Chelsea meanwhile was trying to feed Drogba with long balls without much success. In the meantime Alex and Ballack got themselves booked for stupid fouls and Toure also got into referee's book for arguing. Then in the 39th minute Marquez nearly conceded the goal when his back pass allowed Drogba to get ahead of him and have a clean shot at goal; Valdes who is one of the best in one-to-one pulled out a double save to deny Drogba. Barca immediately responded with Iniesta releasing Eto for a run on goal but the linesman incorrectly flagged offside.

The second half started the same way with Chelsea venturing forward to see whether they can have a go at Barca goal. Once they found that it is difficult , they retrieved back to their shell and defended all the night out. But for Barca the half started horribly. First Henry was injured in the 48th minute from a whack from Alex. Then in the 50th minute went down after it looked like he has twisted his knees. Guardiola had to bring in Puyol for him. In the 58th minute Pique released Alves with a great ball into the box, but Cech came forward to clear the danger. Then in the 59th minute Messi's volley went high from a Xavi corner. Next was the opportunity of Alves to test Cech in the 62nd minute, but Cech did well to block a powerful Alves shot. Then in the 68th minute Eto who had a quiet night till then, turned past Alex brilliantly in the halfway line and fed the ball forward through Terry's leg and stormed forward; Eto then cut past a back tracking Alex but his shot was saved by Cech with his out-stretched leg. He should have looked at an option of passing the ball to Henry. Then in the 74th minute Eto's great pass found Henry in the box in a promising position, but Henry was pulled down by Bosingwa but the referee overlooked that foul. We had a clear cut case of a penalty there. Towards the end of half Guardiola brought in Bojan and Hleb in place of Eto and Henry respectively. Both of them had clear cut chance to put Barca ahead. The best fell to Bojan in the first minute of injury time, but he could only head high from an excellent cross from Alves. Then in the third minute of injury time Hleb had a great chance but was denied by excellent keeping of Cech.

FC Barcelona would have to find a centre defense combination against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The best option would be to have Abidal and Pique as the CBs. If our midfield controls the game like they did in Camp Nou, the centre defense pairing will not be put under great pressure. But again Barca players have to be at their best at Stamford Bridge. Everyone expects the game at Stamford Bridge to be an open one, but I doubt. Atleast the first half will resemble this match and if we can remain without conceding a goal the Chelsea will open up. They will not prefer a penalty shoot-out as they may not be that confident with after the Moscow debacle. But I believe Barca has a better chance in the second leg than Chelsea. But we would definitely prefer a referee who is not so much in for physical play.

Barcelona vs Chelsea Champions League News

This evening is the first leg in what promises to be an epic clash between two of the biggest teams in European football, when the Catalan giants Barcelona FC host Chelsea at the Nou Camp in the semi-final of the Champions’ League.

The last 2 times these sides met in Europe (2004-05 and 2006-07 seasons) the Londoners were victorious but the time before that (1999-2000 quarter finals) Barca made a dramaric comeback and beat the Blues 5-1 after extra time despite losing the away match 3-1 in London. Arguably this year Barca are stronger than ever, lying streets ahead of all opposition in La Liga and able to field Messi, the highest scorer in the Champion’s League and described by many as the best player in the world, in their line-up.

The rest of Barca’s squad is also impressive, including Henry and Xavi. Henry of course needs no introduction to fans of English football and Xavi is an excellent player who currently is joint top with Ribery of Bayern Munich in terms of assists in the competition. Chelsea will be disappointed that they are not able to field Ashley Cole (suspended) to mark Messi, but a confident Jose Bosingwa is likely to cover at left back. Chelsea are also likely to play Drogba, who is demonstrating a fine run of form at the moment, including scoring in the last 5 of Chelsea’s Champions’ League matches.

Undoubtedly tonight will be a showcase for some fine displays of attacking football, but if history is anything to go by, there may also be some tempers shown. Drogba received a red card during Barcelona's 2-1 win over Chelsea in the 2004-05 competition. The 2-2 draw between the 2 clubs in October 2006 saw 10 players receiving a yellow card. The managers also have some history when it comes to cards; when Hiddink managed Valencia against Barcelona in 1992, the Dutchman was sent off the pitch for arguing and Guardiola, who was then a Barca player, was sent off for two yellows.

Both teams do however have a lot of respect for each other. Despite confidently proclaiming that Barça “won’t fail” Josep Guardiola believes the tie will be decided in London and acknowledges that “no-one goes to Stamford Bridge thinking they’ll have an easy game.” When asked about how Barça would play against Chelsea, Guardiola said that Barca were up against a very strong team, “They’ve got some very powerful players with a lot of experience ... their players are a lot more powerful than ours and are dangerous in the air.”

Hiddink will however not be under-estimating the Spanish giants, who are often brilliant in their own stadium, aiming to overpower the opposition both with skill and with a high tempo closing down style in the opposition's half, which leaves many teams floundering and unable to recover under this early onslaught. Hiddink’s defence will have to be at their absolute best to resist this. Hiddink is however insisting that Chelsea will not sit back and allow Barcelona to dictate play, "This team has to go for it," says Hiddink."Chelsea are not a team who can sit back and wait for one or two counter-attacks. We must play courageously. It's important to score in Barcelona given it's a two-legged tie, so we can have a big chance at home as well. “

The Catalans are favourites to progress to Rome, but no one at Barcelona is viewing this as an easy tie and no one at Chelsea lacks confidence that they will put up a great challenge. This tie is hard to call but my prediction is 2:0 to Barca, which will set things up nicely for an explosive return leg next week at Stamford Bridge.

A Must Win Match; FC Barcelona vs Chelsea UCL Semi-Final Preview

The mouth watering Champions League clash between FC Barcelona and Chelsea is upon us and if you are still sleeping wake up. For FC Barcelona this is a much win match and they should also make sure that they don't concede against Chelsea. But with FC Barcelona's defensive fragility and aerial weakness, that is going to be difficult. So we have to realistically hope for Barca not to concede more than one goal and most importantly hope that we are able to have a two goal lead. Stamford Bridge would be a difficult place to score a goal, so we have to grab the tie in this match. FC Barcelona surely would have preferred to get into the match with a win at Mestalla, but that was not the case to be. But the tough draw at Mestalla might have given them enough preparation for the tough encounter against Chelsea. Especially the fight and spirit shown to grab a vital point against Valencia would have done the team some good. There is nothing to separate between these two teams when it comes to head-on-head record. But FC Barcelona definitely hold an advantage against team's managed by Guus Hiddink. Hiddink have only managed to win twice against Barca in nine encounters. So Barca will be hoping that he keep in line with that record.

Guardiola will have only one decision to make as far as team combination in tonight's line-up. Puyol had a terrible night against Valencia and the huge sentiment in the blogosphere is to rest him and play Marquez. I don't subscribe to this thinking. There are three reasons for this - first the last time Puyol played was against Getafe as Left-back. Now he has been shuffled all over the place in the defense and I have belief that he will come good in this match. Secondly, I have already said that our defense works well when our midfield is in control; against Valencia our midfield failed and our defense simply wilted. Thirdly we want our Captain on the field for such an enormous encounter, absence of Captain definitely will send in a negative message to the rest of the team. So I expect Puyol and Pique to start as centre backs infront of Valdes. Dani Alves and Eric Abidal should play their usual full-back roles. The midfield is the most important section for tonight's encounter and Guardiola should be shot if he decides to have any other formation that a Xavi, Toure and Iniesta in midfield. The forward line-up has to be made of Messi, Eto and Henry. Eto has been poor in last match but we need him there to lead the attack.

The main battle will be held between Barcelona's midfield duo of Iniesta and Xavi against Chelsea's. They both have to be in top form if Barca needs to win this game comfortably. Messi has been not in his usual top form for last couple of matches but should be motivated to play well against Chelsea. Yaya Toure would be the key to stop Chelsea's direct play and guard the defense from extreme pressure. Another key battle will be between our centre back and Drogba. Drogba has done always well against Barca and would be looking to repeat the same. But one thing is for sure anything other than a victory will put Barca seriously on the backfoot in the Champions League and maybe in the league also. I predict a very tough match but Barca should emerge victorious by 3-1.

Barca’s terrifying trio threaten Chelsea

Ahead of the Champions League semi-final showdown this week, Barcelona’s triple attacking threat of Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry have been described as a “world-class” front line by Chelsea interim boss Guus Hiddink. No wonder – Chelsea fans may want to look away now because the trio’s goalscoring stats this season are incredible.

Between them, Messi, Eto’o and Henry have amassed a terrifying 90 goals in all competitions as Pep Guardiola has unleashed a devastating assault on Spain and the rest of Europe. The figures are all the more compelling when you consider those three have hit 66 of the club’s total of 94 league goals so far and 16 of the Catalans’ 29 strikes in the Champions League. This makes this ‘unplayable’ triumvirate Barca’s best-ever forward line collectively so it’s no wonder they remain favourites to see off England’s finest in the remainder of this year’s competition. It’s shudder-inducing stuff indeed.
Barcelona bashed Bayern Munich in the quarter-final, 5-1 on aggregate, after racing into a 4-0 lead inside just 43 minutes of the first leg. No need to ask which players provided all those four goals either.

The problem Chelsea face, other than ensuring they’re still in the tie after Tuesday’s first leg at the Nou Camp, is that all three players are different in terms of style but all pose a huge goalscoring threat. Messi is the incomparable playmaker, all quick-feet often running from deep and linking the play with deft touches while Henry tends to operate out wide on the left these days but is still as devastating in front of goal as he was at Arsenal. Eto’o often does the dirty work for the other two, always chasing and harassing the opposition but his strength and killer instinct means he is just two goals behind Messi on 32 from 42 games in total this term. Not bad for a player who probably would have left if another club had stumped up Barca’s asking price of £25m-plus last summer.

So, how do Chelsea cope in the semi-final? Well, by not reading the football stats for a start.

Aidan Perkins is a sports journalist who writes regularly for Betfair.

West Ham 0 Chelsea 1 Premiership match result

Chelsea managed to get 3 points away at Upton Park to keep the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League. This game had a bit of an end of season feel, as Chelsea will be gearing up for their Champions League match against Barcelona and West Ham are definitely safe from the drop and will be hoping for a UEFA Cup spot.

Salomon Kalou was at the heart of the action yesterday, initially he conceded a penalty in the second half which Petr Cech saved and then in the 55th minute scored the winning goal. Lampard clerverly got into a decent crossing position on the left hand side which Green managed to get his finger tips to but it was not enough to divert the ball away from Kalou who took one touch then hit it into the top corner from 6 yards out.

A pretty average game really. Anelka could have made it 2-0 when Upson miss kicked to give the Frenchman the opportunity but Robert Green stood up and made himself big to deny the visitors a second goal.

Not a classic!

Chelsea scorer: Kalou 55th minute
Attendance: 34,749 (Upton Park)

West Brom 3 Sunderland 0 Premier league match result

West Brom have proved that they are fighters this season with a fantastic attitude – they beat Sunderland in great style yesterday at the Hawthorns.
Jonas Olsson scored the home team’s first five minutes before half time before Chris Brunt scored in the 58th minute to become the Baggies top goal scorer, who is now on 7.

Substitute Juan Carlo Menseguez then rounded up a brilliant day for the Baggies, scoring a good goal in the 88th minute to compound the Black Cats misery.

Sunderland were poor and lacked confidence in front of goal. Sbragia said that they lacked fight which will have been quite alarming for him considering the fact that they are in 15th position, dangerously close to the relegation zone. The play in form Everton at home next at the Stadium of Light which really is a must win for them.

For WBA, this victory ended a miserable 11-game winless league run and puts them on 28 points, 2 behind the Magpies....too much too late? We shall see.


West Brom scorers: Olsson 40th minute, Brunt 58th minute, Menseguez 88th minute
Attendance: 26,256 (The Hawthorns)

Man Utd 5 Tottenham H 2 Premier League report

It’s a game of two halves.You’ve got to love the old cliché from Jimmy Greaves because invariably it is pure wisdom. Spurs are renouned with their obsession for playing the passing game and giving the big teams a run for their money. Well, in the second half they battered the champions with Bent and Modric scoring from slick counter attacks with a sleepy Manchester United defence looking like they could have conceded more in the first half. Redknapp would have been praying for some of those chances to go in because he will know that when you’re up against Berbatov, Rooney and Ronaldo that anything could happen. And it did.

Man Utd racked up an unbelievable 5 goals in the second half after some hair dryer treatment from Sir Alex. Their one touch passing and relentless pressure was too much for Spurs, however the first Manchester United goal was very controversial. The red devils were awarded a penalty as ex Spurs midfielder Michael Carrick moved into the 18 yard box and Gomes met him, diving at his feet to take the ball away from him. Harry Redknapp and the players appealed to Howard Webb but the penalty stood and Christiano Ronaldo stepped up and didn’t make any mistake about converting the spot kick.
Spurs fell to pieces after this penalty decision with goals in quick succession from Rooney, Ronaldo, Rooney and then ex Spurs striker Berbatov made it 5 to add misery to unfortunate Spurs. Interestingly, it appeared earlier on in the game Manchester United supporters were booing the Bulgarian international presumably for his penalty miss in the FA Cup semi final last week against Everton.

Harry Redknapp’s view of the game was summed up on the THFC website:
"It wasn't a penalty and the referee made a terrible mistake," said Harry at Old Trafford. "The players couldn't believe it, they were all saying 'how did he give a penalty for that' but he did and it changed the game.

"I know we conceded four goals after that but the penalty pulled them back into it. They weren't going to win the game from where they were, unless something like that happened.

"In my opinion, it changed the game completely.

"I'm not making excuses for conceding bad goals but at that stage of the game there was no way they were going to get back into the game.

"At half-time I felt confident we were going to score again. Every time we got the ball to Aaron Lennon they were afraid and I felt there were more goals there for us.

"The penalty gave them a massive lift. I felt they were giving the ball away, the crowd was a little edgy and the longer the game went on the more comfortable we were.

"Again, I'm not saying that we should concede the goals we conceded after that but it changed the game for both teams - it gave them a massive lift and I felt we became very deflated over it."

Man Utd’s win puts them 3 points ahead of Liverpool now and the champions also have 1 game in hand. Not all over yet but pretty close to it.

Manchester United scorers: Ronaldo 57th minute (pen), 68th minute, Rooney 67th minute, 71st minute, Berbatov 79th minute.
Tottenham scorers: Bent 29th minute, Modric 32nd minute
Attendance 75,458 (Old Trafford)

Hull 1 Liverpool 3 Premier League news 25 April

Despite the Man Utd v Spurs, evening match that was ahead of them Liverpool kept their eye on what they could influence in the Premier League title race yesterday with a 3-1 away win at the KC stadium.

Xabi Alonso scored the first goal for the Reds, smashing a 25 yard screaming volley after his free kick had been blocked and rebounded to him for a second try. Conceding just before the half time break proved to be a killer blow for the Tigers.

Then it was Dirk Kuyt who added a second in the 63rd minute with a close range header. Things then got worse for Hull when Caleb Folan got a red card for kicking Reds defender Martin Skrtel.

Phil Brown’s team kept fighting though and their efforts were rewarded with a goal from Tigers favourite Geovanni who found some space in the Liverpool box to rifle home from close range.

In the 89th minute, Arbeloa took a shot that rebounded back to him and he made no mistake the second time to take this hard fought match out of the home team’s reach.

Phil Brown will be more than aware that their form will need to pick up and convert into points in order to retain Premier League status for next season as this loss takes them to fourth from bottom with Boro and Newcastle both having a game in hand on them.

Hull scorer: Geovanni: 72nd minute
Liverpool scorers: Alonso 45th minute, Kuyt 63rd minute, 89th minute
Attendance 24,942

Everton 1 Man City 2 25th April

In contrast to their brilliant win against Man Utd in the FA Cup last weekend, home team Everton lost 2-1 and picked up an injury wit Phil Jagielka being stretchered odd towards the end.

City scored in the 35th minute when Elano put in Brazilian trickster Robino, who skipped past Jagielka. This was a blow to the home side who then conceded again wuickly after the half time break, this time with Man City favourite Stephen Ireland fnding himself in space at the end of a siwft counter attack, Ireland coolly side footed past ‘keeper Tim Howard.

Awkwardly for the Toffees, Moyes had used all 3 subs by the time that Jagielka came off with his injury but one of those subs Dan Gosling who replaced Louis Saha smashed the ball in the net from a good pass from winger Pienaar but the game was over and done with even with 7 minutes of added time.

Man City’s victory gave them a much needed boost in the league, pushing them up into ninth, giving the Blues the belief that they can get right back into the UEFA Cup next season after last week’s exit against Hamburg.

Attendance: 37,791 (Goodison Park)
Everton 1 Man City 2 25th April

Everton scorer: Gosling 90th minute
Man City scorers: Robinho 35th minute, Ireland 54th minute

In contrast to their brilliant win against Man Utd in the FA Cup last weekend, home team Everton lost 2-1 and picked up an injury wit Phil Jagielka being stretchered odd towards the end.

City scored in the 35th minute when Elano put in Brazilian trickster Robino, who skipped past Jagielka. This was a blow to the home side who then conceded again wuickly after the half time break, this time with Man City favourite Stephen Ireland fnding himself in space at the end of a siwft counter attack, Ireland coolly side footed past ‘keeper Tim Howard.

Awkwardly for the Toffees, Moyes had used all 3 subs by the time that Jagielka came off with his injury but one of those subs Dan Gosling who replaced Louis Saha smashed the ball in the net from a good pass from winger Pienaar but the game was over and done with even with 7 minutes of added time.

Man City’s victory gave them a much needed boost in the league, pushing them up into ninth, giving the Blues the belief that they can get right back into the UEFA Cup next season after last week’s exit against Hamburg.

Attendance: 37,791 (Goodison Park)
Everton scorer: Gosling 90th minute
Man City scorers: Robinho 35th minute, Ireland 54th minute

Fulham 1 Stoke 0 Premiership result 25 April

Roy Hodgson’s Fulham beat Premier League strugglers Stoke 1-0 moving them up to seventh in the Premier League to boost their chances of a European spot next season.

It was substitute Erik Nevland who separated the two teams, finishing a counter attack from close range. Norwegian striker Nevland replaced injured Bobby Zamora and was sharp.

Stoke’s usual bombardment of spectacular Rory Delap throw ins couldn’t save them yesterday, but the visitors were without Beattie, Higginbotham and Wilkinson. The Potters did push Fulham in the second half but coach Tony Pulis wanted more from his team in terms of testing Mark Schwarzer.

"The 'keepers didn't have a lot to do but we created four good chances today and disappointing thing is we haven't made their goalkeeper make a save.
"I thought the two from Rory in the first half were very good chances, as were the two headers in the second half. Ryan's headed it down and it's bounced over the bar, and the second glanced off Ric's head when on another day it would have been buried in the back of the net."

Fulham scorer: Nevland 29th minute
Attendance: 24,997 (Craven Cottage)

Bolton 1 Aston Villa 1 Premier League result 25th April

Martin O’Neill and his team felt disappointed at the end of 90 minutes yesterday at the Reebook Stadium but then found out that Man City had beaten Everton who are also trying to get into Europe next season Aston Villa took the lead just before half time against the Wanderers with Ashley Young and in the second half carried on playing great football. Predictably, Gary Megson’s team were tough, resilient and scored on the 60th minute with Israeli Tamir Cohen. Megson admitted:

"We did okay without playing anywhere near like champagne football. Aston Villa have taken a lead 13 times this season and they have won 11 of them and drawn two, so we've done well against a top-class side."

Although both teams wanted 3 points for different reasons, the home team will be content to have improved on their points tally as they remain in 13th, now on 38 points. Villa are now 2 points above Everton and will be looking to finish strongly after a difficult phase of results in the last 2 months.

Attendance: 21,709 (Reebok Stadium)

Bolton scorer: Cohen 60th minute
Aston Villa scorer: Young 43rd minute

Valencia vs Barca Pictures on 25/04/09