Bharadwaj K V

Wigan Athletic vs Chelsea (17/12/2011) _ EPL

A Cech mistake gives Wigan a well-deserved point against a Complacent and Sloppy Chelsea.

The mood in Chelsea's camp before the game was upbeat with a morale boosting win at the bridge against the citizens which according to optimists' has put Chelsea’s title hopes back on track. The Latics would have proved to be an easy opposition considering that the three previous meetings between these two teams produced an aggregate of 15 goals for the Blues.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas made only one change by replacing Ramires with Lampard in the midfield. Apparently both Brazilians who were expected to start, picked up light knocks. Another reason might be that AVB was being careful considering the Thursday trip to White Hart Lane and did not want to risk suspension to Ramires who along with Lampard and Meireles, was on 4 yellow cards. Wigan’s Manager employed 3 central backs in a tight 4-5-1 formation to stifle Chelsea’s attacking instincts with Alcaraz just getting fit before the game.

The tactics of Martinez seems to have paid dividends early on when Chelsea could not create much chances and were limited to taking long range shots by Meireles, Terry and Romeu. Despite having more than 65% possession during the first 25 minutes, the deep backline of Wigan seemed to be preventing Chelsea from attacking from the flanks with Mata and Lampard virtually ineffective in the game.

The first decent chance came to Drogba in the 39^th minute when Raul Meireles crossed the ball from the right edge of the box. However, Drogba’s effort just sailed past the far post.  Four minutes later, there was controversy when Wigan claimed for a penalty after Ivanovic defended a shot with his arm close to his body. The referee Martin Atkinson was in a very good position, but waved the play on much to the dismay of the Wigan’s fans. The half ended with Moses just missing a chance to get across a cross from the left and the lackluster game was more evident when the commentators started discussing about the qualities of English pies during the end of the first half.

AVB made an automatic tactical switch by bringing on Salamon Kalou during the half time in place for a not so impressive Oriol Romeu and it almost paid dividends. Within minutes, Kalou made space for himself in the left and saw his shot defended for a corner.

The best chance for Wigan was in the 52^nd minute when Moses did well to get to a poor Ivanovic clearance in the box. He did well to confound Terry and was meters away from the goal before blasting it out for a throw in. Slowly, Wigan seemed to be getting a grip on the game before a killer pass at 59^th minute from Ashley Cole found Sturridge just onside who took advantage of slow defending by Figeuroa. He got behind the Wigan’s defence and his first touch killed the ball before he shot past the Wigan goalie with his right foot.

Wigan responded with some long range shots from Figueroa which was paved away by Cech and couple more from Jones and McCarthy which went wide. AVB responded, as some critics later on point out as a negative tactic by bringing on Obi Mikel in place of Mata to slow things down and get more possession. Chelsea had a decent chance to go two nil up during the 71^st minute when Bosingwa released Sturridge on the right flank only for the goal scorer to tamely give the ball back to the Wigan defence instead of finding an unmarked Meireles who made a decent run into the box at the far corner.

Trying to seize the initiative, Roberto Martinez made a double substitution by bringing on Rodellega and former Chelsea man, Di Santo. AVB had couple of nervous moments when he saw Terry go down to the ground apparently in severe pain trying to defend a header, but he was soon up and going.

Wigan looked more and more threatening as Chelsea seemed to have switched off after the goal and were content on defending the slender lead they had. The first risky moment came at the 76^th minute when Ivanovic played a poor back pass without realizing that Rodallega was gunning behind him. Cech had to be out fast and clear the ball which fell comfortably to Di Santo. After exchanging passes with Rodallega, he tried to score past the goalkeeper only for Ivanovic who redeemed himself with an excellent header away for a corner. 

AVB quickly brought on Malouda on for Sturridge meaning that Chelsea have used their 3 substitutes in all their games in the season and more importantly, another game goes without the requirement of Torres who looked forlorn from the bench. But the sucker punch was delivered by Wigan, 3 minutes before time. Di Santo collected a pass down the left flank, skipped away from Ivanovic before making a great through pass for Rodallega. He got ahead of Meireles before hitting the ball straight at Cech, who instead of going for the ball, spilled it straight on to the path of Gomez who scored into an open net and thus continuing his fine form of 4 goals in 5 games. This was too much for Chelsea and they would have even lost the game in the dying moments when Rodallega tried to make a pass to Di Santo in an excellent counter attack only for Bosingwa to make a challenge which Atkinson waved off.

The final whistle meant that though Chelsea still stay in the 3^rd position, they should be now more worried about Spurs who are just one point behind with two games in hand, one of which is between them on Thursday which would prove to be an exciting showdown and would potentially decide their Champions League fate. Wigan though still in the relegation zone, would be mighty pleased with their performance ahead of a tight schedule which includes Liverpool and both the Manchester clubs in the coming weeks.

Sevilla FC vs Real Madrid CF, Dec 17th

Mou hits back at critics and Sevilla for a six!

By Shivashankar

‎Real Madrid C.F. ends 2011 as leaders of la Liga BBVA with 3 points clear at the top. Jose’s men tamed a strong Seville side 2-6 at the Sanchez Pizjuan. 

Jose Mourinho is master tactician and he is very good at what he does. He proved that in a simply superb fashion as his side, waltzed passed Sevilla to reclaim top spot in the liga with a 3 point advantage.

Cristiano Ronalo scored a hat trick (really, he does follow up flops show performances, with a hammering against mid table opponents!! :P) But the guys who turned around the night in Real’s favour were two men. One is Jose Mourinho and the other is Di Maria (and definitely not CR, even though he scored a hat trick!).

First up, Mou, surprised everyone by leaving out both Ozil and Kaka in the bench and starting with CR and Callejon in the wings. Di Maria slotted in as the playmaker. This proved to be a master stroke as Maria racked up two wonderful assists and scored one too. The first goal was a typical Real Madrid counter. Two passes, from the defense to midfield, midfield to the box and goal. Maria is becoming Guti-esque as he leads the assists chart with a staggering number of 12!

The Castilla Kid

Callejon received huge praise from Jose, following his Copa Del Rey heroics and deservedly got the starting role. And boy, he did live up to the expectations. Once again, Maria provided a superb long ball and Callejon, omg, made a wonderful run inside the box and took an amazing touch to cleanly slot it in the bottom corner! Breathtaking!!

He was again involved in the buildup play in which CR scored the third, courtesy, a ferocious strike from 30 yards. Sadly for Callejon, he was substituted by Albiol, when Pepe was sent off for some stupid challenges that he is known for.

The second half, with Real reduced to 10 men saw the same story repeated as Real punishing Sevilla in the break , 3 more times. Benzema, who had a quiet night, sent Maria through, as the argentine completed a wonderful game.

Benzema was brought down inside the box and CR completed his hat trick. Altintop scored the 6^th after an assist from Xabi Alonso.

Curse of Ex-Madridista’s

It’s a known fact that ex- Real Madrid players have punished Real almost every time they play. Morientes, Eto, Soldado and plenty of other examples. This time, it was Negredo. He scored a consolation in the injury time, to keep the curse up and alive!

Prior to Negredo’s goal, Sevilla got one back through Navas, as the winger, tired of seeing his passes wasted, tried one on his own and gave back something for the home fans.

Manu Moral, who was perhaps the worst Sevilla player last night, wasted two-three glorious chances and got him sent off to draw curtains on an ugly night for the Andalusians.

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Jose's Real Madrid have thus opened up a 3 point gap at the top. Mourinho later in the post match conference, made his intentions clear, "If I said the other day we were league leaders, now I can say that we are leaders alone.”

Special One, I take a bow!

Share your thoughts with 'headerandfooter'  !!

What ails 'Miss'ter Fernando Torres??

By Raghavan,

Once the hottest striker to graze the BPL fields. His arrival from Athletico at Liverpool in 2007 lit up TVs across the world, as he shared equal space with scintillating stars across the BPL. He was no less feared than Cristiano Ronaldo or the erstwhile Didier Drogba, and was perhaps as complete a striker as Thierry Henry was in his days at Arsenal. Certainly, with Wayne Rooney playing in Ronaldo's background in those years, Torres was the striker of the BPL. Infact, he became an instant fan favorite in a club that newcomers always found it hard to find following with huge chunks of the spotlight always focussed on Steven Gerrard. Torres was the Liverpool fan's saviour to take them heights enough to pull down historical rivals Manchester United. And he did almost do that in 2008 when Liverpool finished second in the table.

One just has to ask the big boys, Chelsea and Manchester United, to digest the extent of threat he possessed. In 7 games against Chelsea, before joining Chelsea, he had scored 7 times and had scored a breathtaking blaze in his last game vs Chelsea before making a move. Nemanja Vidic of Man Utd dreads facing Torres, invariably getting sent off most of the games he had to face him. Torres possessed speed, strength to hold off  against the centerbacks, good control and a terrifying right foot that can impart such artistic swerves on the ball and also the ability to find cheeky finishes at keeper's near posts. All these are not quality's that can just die one fine morning. Not when he's 27. 

Much of Torres's success came when he had the reliability of a fit Steven Gerrard to find him. Torres was able to create his own space and find himself or someone else on goal as long as the likes of Gerrard were on the same frequency. The likes of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano were of great help to Torres, as they adeptly stopped dead the opposition and won the ball, Torres than quite often found himself with lesser distance to cover and lesser defenders to beat or go around.  Even when he found himself crowded out, Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun/Dirk Kuyt made sure they offered themselves to combine in the play and work a way through for one of them. And this combination wasn't one that materialises during the course of a match, but in the training grounds and practice sessions- a combination of the most definite of mutual understandings. Torres enjoyed the whole unit and derived the confidence that endeared him to fans of the Premier League.

Torres was injury hit during parts of the 2009-10 season and made largely substitute appearances in the 2010 World Cup he won with his country Spain. He started the 2010-11 season not fully recovered from injury and without the services of Gerrard who started his long spell of injury around then. He seemed to have hit back form against Chelsea. Gerrard started that game and Torres suddenly looked like the Torres of the past. Before once again hitting a lean patch. The exit of Roy Hodgson (the sacking of long time manager Rafael Benitez, with whom Torres seemed to enjoy his stay, is pointed to by some as the reason for his fall) and the installation of Liverpool Legend 'King' Kenny Dalglish found Torres gradually finding his feet with 4 goals in 4 starts after Dalglish shifted positions of key players like pushing Raul Mereiles (who incidentally later joined Torres at Chelsea) to play right behind Torres.Then came the shock move to Chelsea, a move that was seen as treachery and disloyalty by the Liverpool fans, a feeling they were right in having. 

Things went downhill for Torres ever since. It begged the question why he did ever leave Liverpool when he was just managing to find back his form. He said the wanted to win trophies, but quite frankly he himself would have known Chelsea were in contention for nothing in 2010-11. Torres hit a run of 9 appearances without finding the net in the process jeopardizing Chelsea's PL and UEFA Champions League campaigns, as Carlo Ancelotti was forced to start the misfiring striker in key games just in order to do justice to his price tag. Ending his draught, albeit temporarily, after being literally spoon fed by the whole Chelsea mid field against West Ham did not spark him to  fire as hoped.

Spark him to fire was what getting him the support of country mate Juan Manuel Mata would do, though new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas thought. It really didn't. He still went 3 games without scoring before scoring a good goal against Man Utd, a joy short-lived as 30 minutes later he cemented the miss of the season to his name, a miss I'm sure you're all familiar with now. But the way he lashed onto that ball, and the way he played in general in that match led to talks that he finally might be in touch again. It was strengthened by his goal against Swansea the next week where he controlled an overhead pass before swiveling to find the far corner. Getting sent off for a two-footed challenge in the same match set the clock back, and was found kneeing an open goal skywards upon his return against Blackburn. 

That Chelsea fell in danger of finishing outside the top 4 made matters worse for him. AvB not ready to risk losing further points by playing him, went back to starting with Drogba, who at 34 was set to be permanently replaced by Torres. Drogba has started in Chelsea's last 3 games in the BPL and Torres has not even been brought off the bench in the last two. His fate seems to be snowballing downwards. Rumours that AvB is ready to offload Torres for just 20m (30m less then  what he was bought for) next August if not the coming January is not doing his confidence any good.

Torres will feel sick to his stomach when he sees the new arrivals at Liverpool. Mata alone has not been able to do much for Torres. The likes of Lampard, Mikel/Romeu and Mereiles (from where Chelsea play him) are clearly too sedentary for Torres. But Liverpool right now have the proper ingredients for Torres, with Charlie Adam doing a decent duty of minimising the 'Gerrard is missing' feeling. Stewart Downing is a down and out wing player who can help Torres stick to playing down the center, and Dirk Kuyt is Torres's usual trusted mate. It is thus clear that Torres acted in haste, leaving a club that he was so familiar with, without waiting to see how the club shaped up in August. There is nothing he can do about it now. Other than fight it out as AvB wants him to, or find a fresh lease of life somewhere else in rumours are indeed true. But it remains the wish of every football fan that he returns to his best. Because at his best, he is an absolute treat to the eyes. 

SUMMARY OF THE FIRST-EVER THESIS ON A NEVER-RESEARCHED-BEFORE TOPIC: "TIGER BLOOD"

A new, mysterious blood group, hitherto unknown to the scientific world: TB+ (abbr. for Tiger Blood always Positive). Individuals who have this running in their veins are typically strong, active, popular and are guaranteed to get lots of media coverage...now, who wouldn't want that?


Now, without wasting any more time, lets get to the facts: here is the list of people who have been tested for Tiger Blood so far and this is what our very interesting research found out:


Group A: People with confirmed Tiger Blood:


1. Charlie Sheen (The One...i.e. the one from whom all the Tiger Blood in this world flows)
2. Tiger Woods (apparently, the original 'Tiger', and famed for being a nocturnal predator, just like tigers and Sheen)
3. Tigers (the ones with stripes and tails, commonly found in zoos and occasionally in jungles)
4. Sourav Ganguly (not just a Tiger Blood, but also one of the marquee Royal Bengal variety)
5. Velupillai Prabhakaran (no questions asked!!)


Group B: People suspected to have Tiger Blood:


1. John Terry (test results are being processed, but will be a huge shock if they dont report positive; JT satisfies all the criteria for being a pureblood Tiger Blood...btw, there are no half-blood Tiger Bloods...only purebloods and the rest of us Muggles)
2. Shane Warne (similar set of activities to Messrs Sheen, Woods and Terry is an indicator of true Tiger Bloodedness)
3. Rory McIllroy (calls himself 'Tiger-like', has been taking blood tests of late and has a tendency to break scoring records)
4. Salman Khan (Tigers dont wear shirts and like to hunt deer...needn't say more)
5. Ashton Kutcher (the producers of one of US's largest grossing TV shows surely can't be fools...they must've spotted some Tiger Blood in Ashton...though i doubt if they ever watched "Dude, Where's my car?")
6. Angelina Jolie (well, Lara Croft rather, not Jolie herself...Tigress Blood, Tiger Blood...not much difference..)
7. Robin Van Persie (his 'predatory instincts' of late had raised suspicions, but is likely to test negative...tigers dont spend half their time in hospitals, after all)


Group C: People who have been confirmed as not having Tiger Blood:


1. MS Dhoni (is being tested for Lion Blood though)
2. Rafa Nadal (confirmed as a pitbull and not a tiger)
3. Sebastian Vettel (runs on Red Bull, so doesn't actually need any blood)
4. Shah Rukh Khan (Tiger Bloods dont make cheesy superhero movies meant only for kids)
5. Dhanush (a true Tiger must have Kolaveri of its own, crying about someone else possessing that damn Kolaveri automatically rules you out of Tiger Blood status)


- By ARun

Bundesliga, EPL & La Liga - News and Rumours - Dec 16th

News and Rumours - Dec 16th

By Shivashankar

The last thread dealt with the news and rumors clouding the Serie A. Here's a compilation of the latest news and rumours doing the rounds across England, Germany and Spain.  

AVB vows to get Torres back to his goal scoring best!

"For me, it's indifferent who puts it in the back of the net" - AVB

With Anelka and Drogba set to leave Stamford Bridge in the near future, AVB has revealed that he would ensure that Fernando Torres doesn’t go down as the costliest flop in the history of British football!

He also made a super statement regarding strikers, "A player who wears the number nine lives for goals and a player who is a striker lives for goals.” (Torres, ears open?!) He also added "That's one of the prerogatives of the manager, to try to get the best out of everybody.”

This guy is definitely yet another legend (like Mourinho) in the making!

Balotelli and Micah Richards in a brawl!

Recently photographs have emerged depicting a clash between super Mario and Richards during a practice session, ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League game against Arsenal.

But Richards tried to pacify the news, by spurting out some nonsense!

"Me & mario are all good! These things happen in training & we shook hands after. It shows passion!"

Donovan ‘lands’ at Goodison park again!

Landon Donovan, after winning the MLS Cup with LA Galaxy, is all set to return to Everton for a two months loan. The loan deal would last until after the derby against Liverpool on February 25. The 29 year old Donovan had a successful loan spell at Goodison Park for a similar period in 2010.

  

David Moyes was extremely happy with the move and said "I am delighted that we have managed to get Landon back. He will give us some good experience over January and February.”

Chelsea’s winter target: Gonzalo Higuain

I had a ROTFLOL moment when I came across this rumour. AVB and Chelsea aren’t so brainless to even enquire about Higuain’a availability (That too in the winter transfer window :P). Real and Mourinho, definitely, won’t sell him off.

Mourinho is the best signing ever- Perez

For once, we all agree with Perez’s transfer target! Florentino Perez has stated that "Signing Jose Mourinho has been my best decision as president of Real Madrid. Apart from all his obvious qualities he has shown that he never gives up no matter how great the challenge.”

Well said Perez! You are spot on this time.

(It is absolutely wonderful that, Perez has finally placed very high beliefs on a manager. The last person he did so, for a while, was Vincete Del Bosque – one of the greatest football managers in modern football. )

David Villa…aaaggghhh – out for 6 months

Villa and Pep suffered a setback amidst a Club world cup semifinal victory over Al Saad, as suffered a fracture to the tibia in his left leg. The striker is definitely out for 6 months.

Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez was also declared injured in the same game!

The ‘Flying’ Dutchman – Arjen Robben

Bayern’s 2-1 victory over Stuttgart at the Mercedez-Benz Arena has not gone well with many across Germany and also throughout the footballing world. Robben’s theatricals, following tackles by the Italian Molinaro, ensured that Molinaro was sent off after just 30 minutes.

Even Germany sporting director Matthias Sammer offered a not-so-complimentary opinion on the issue. "It is clear that Robben waits for such situations and makes the most of them".

(With Robben around, Bayern not only exhibit ‘Rob-bery’ , but also a heavy dose of ‘dive-ery :P)

Alexander Helb gets the boot, er, again!

"It's very, very unfortunate," said Felix Magath, Wolfsburg’s man in charge.

Long long ago, Hleb (remember?!) was a successful midfielder, as Arsene Wenger had groomed the Belarusian into a match winner. Now, after a series of injuries and unpleasant stints with a few clubs, Hleb is feeling the heat yet again.

Hleb joined the Wolves in August on a short-term switch from Barcelona but injuries have restricted him to four appearances. And with his deal ending on December 31, Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath has confirmed the 30-year-old will leave over the winter break.

 "I would have gladly exercised the option to keep Alex but with the injury problems he has had we cannot do that.” – Felix Magath

Schalke aim to extend Huntelaar’s stay

The classy forward, whose contract is set to expire in 2013, has been in tremendous form for the ‘Royal Blues’. Following unsuccessful club stints at Real Madrid and AC Milan, the Dutchman has rediscovered his goal scoring panache, having scored 15 goals this season and also assisting a handful.

According to reports surfaced in Germany, Schalke 04 and Huntelaar are set to have contract talks soon. Raul and Jeffren Farfan are the other players, who have been linked to a move away from the club due to expiring contracts.

Share your thoughts with us!

Serie A - News and Rumours - 15th Dec

Serie A - News and Rumours

By Shivashankar

Now, this blog hasn’t seen a post related to Serie A in a while. So I guess instead of doing an usual matchday review/preview, I’ll give you guys the recent news and rumours that have been doing the rounds in Italy.

Francesco Totti considering Roma exit

Gracious god! This was my first reaction when I came about this. Roma’s captain fantastic, a legend who has spent his entire footballing career at Rome, has declared that due to the recent criticisms, he has even considered leaving the club. (Yes, that missed penalty against Juventus included!)

The talismanic striker made these revelations at the club’s Christmas dinner. Totti made his first club appearance as a 16 year old, in March 1993 (woah!)

(Totti starting XI place, in the club has deteriorated a bit since the arrival of Bojan Krkic and Osavaldo from La Liga)

Thiago silva wants Milan stay till 2020!

Now, here’s one guy who seems to be thinking exactly the opposite of Totti! Thiago has recently stated that he savours his life at Milan and would like to sign a new contract extension once his existing one expires in 2016.

Frederico Macheda. Remember this guy?!

People, this guy was “procured” by Manchester United in the 2008-09 season. But since he has played just 2 games for United this season, Macheda’s agent is looking out for prospective clubs in Italy. A move in January seems eminent.

Mario Yepes out for 10 weeks!

AC Milan’s Columbian defender, Yepes, is out for a whopping 10 weeks after being diagnosed with a damaged ankle ligament.

The defender will undergo a surgery in either Amsterdam or Italy

Lucas Podolski may move to Italy

This is new. Lucas Podolski, the 2006 Wc’s best young player has stated his desire to leave FC Koln! Podolski, who has scored 14 goals (with 5 assists) so far in the league has stated 4 times in the last 3 weeks that he would like to move abroad. Prospective clubs include Arsenal, AC Milan and Juventus.

Money has meant little to him, as he earns about a million less than what he got at Bayern. (Carlos Tevez, are you hearing?!)

Podolski has been a regular at visiting his youth team, Bergheim, and even attended a players birthday party a few days back.

"Prinz Poldi", you are a prod!!

End Note

Carlos Tevez has stated today that he wants a move only to Boca Juniors (AC Milan and PSG, heartbreak?!)

To conclude this thread, I give you all one of the best images ever to be captured!

Share your thoughts with us!

Barclays Premier League Roundup, 11th, 12th and 13th Dec 2011

By Raghavan,

It's the big match week again, or the rich match week, should I say?? So much happened going into the week with Manchester (both clubs) suffering an early exit from the UEFA Champions League. London (Chelsea and Arsenal) went through and so Andre Villas-Boas seemed to be releasing all the pressure inside him after the 3-0 win over Valencia (by lashing out at the media) and made a habit to continue empty rhetoric every morning from the win over Valencia to this match weekend that Chelsea are still in the title race. Both Manchesters vowed to bounce back and City in particular emphasizing that a win at Stamford Bridge would erase CL memories, and Gael Clichy was the one who assured that the most.

Chelsea vs Manchester City was the last game of the week, on Monday, and so we shall come to that last.

Manchester United put an end to their unity (i.e one goal a week) and deposited 4 past Hennesey's net, Nani was the player of the match. His trademark run along the edge of the box and shoot opened the scoring for united, then provided a simple assist to Rooney who scored from just outside the box for his first goal in 8 games. Steven Fletcher pulled a goal back for Wolves 2 minutes into the second half, after he rose well above Patrice Evra to direct home Matt Jarvis's cross. Antonio Valencia who started in place of Ryan Giggs/Ashley Young drove a low cross for Nani to net his second from close range. Rooney netted his second soon after when he prodded in another cross from the right from Valencia. A good response after a heavy dose of criticism for three days, a dominating performance that underlines why United are ALWAYS in with a great chance to retain the title no matter what.

Shock result #1. Somebody put 4 past Tim Krul. But that says the story of Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini. Both were out injured, Perch and Santon who are both wingbacks played in the heart of defence and it was all in disarray. Dan Gosling who had been booked for a foul on Grant Holt saw a direct red later for a two footed challenge on Russell Martin. Wes Hoolahan opened the scoring when Andrew Croft's header was pushed away by Krul  but went in off Hoolahan. Replays showed that the corner to which Crofts got his head was not one as Krul had managed to keep the ball in play. Newcastle's RvP, Demba Ba, gathered Yohan Cabaye's excellent through pass and finished neatly past Ruddy barely few minutes later though. In the second half Grant Holt restored the lead for Norwich after his header was parried by Krul, but the Holt was able to reach the rebound and finish. Steve Morison soon got Norwich's third after, another header, powering in Crofts' cross. This was followed by Gosling's marching orders. Sholay Ameobi then powerfully won the lofted ball in midfield and released Ba again, who scored to set up a close finish with only 70 minutes gone. However Norwich sealed the match in the 82nd, when Holt, with yet another header delivered Bradley Johnson's cross into Krul's net. The result pushes Newcastle to a less dreamlike 7th from 4th a couple of weeks ago.

Arsenal saw off Everton after exchanging roles with Manchester United, the only goal coming after Arsenal's goal scorer (stop watching BPL if you need me to name him) beautifully slotted an overhead pass from Alex Song, without even bothering to take a controlling touch. Something that Thierry Henry enjoyed from the stands and felt a tinge of pride go up his head. A goal that gave extra shine to the statue of Henry unveiled earlier in the week, a fitting goal for the 125th anniversary.

Swansea continued their good run at home after winning 2-0 against Fulham. Scott Sinclair opened the scoring after his shot was taken past mark Schwarzer by an unlucky deflection from Clint Dempsey. The day got worse for Dempsey as he had his penalty saved brilliantly by the amazing Michel Vorm, before Danny Graham sealed the game in added time.

And a breather for Wigan. They won, and it came away from home too - at the Hawthornes. Defender Steven Reid opened the scoring with a blinding free kick. Victor Moses' curling effort brought Wigan back into the match before Jordi Gomez's penalty turned into the goal that eventually got Wigan indescribably precious 3 points that took them past Blackburn and Bolton in the table.

Liverpool dropped Andy Carroll from the starting XI and Maxi Rodriguez started on the right of midfield. Liverpool played as they have played many a match this season, pushing and dominating midfield and faltering in the final third. It came down to Stewart Downing's cross from play resulting from his own corner, Luis Suarez finally finding the goal with his head. Craig Bellamy was introduced later to put the result beyond doubt but the result stayed the same. 

Bolton Wanderers went down 2-1 at home to Aston Villa in a result that further piles the pressure on Owen Coyle and his men. Gabriel Agbonlahor's low cross was slotted in by Marc Albrighton and Stiliyan Petrov's long range effort made it 0-2 at 45 minutes. Ivan Klasnic scored a consolation. Bolton remain at the very bottom. BIG PROBLEMS...

And Harry Redknapp's men were downed by the Potters (Ironic!). An Mathew Etherington brace in plays resulting from Ryan Shotton's long throws (no Rory Delap) put Stoke on top at half time. Emmanuel Adebayor fired up hopes after converting the penalty won by Luka Modric after being fouled by Glen Whelan. Thereafter it was all about referee Chris Foy. Jermaine Defoe went down in the Stoke penalty box and when Yunus Kaboul's shot was handled by Ryan Shawcross, Foy denied the penalty again. Foy also blew the whistle for offside when Adebayor tucked in the loose ball when replays indicated he was onside. Kaboul who was booked earlier, later received his second yellow for bringing down Walters on a late counter-attack. The ensuing reports have now shifted much of the focus to Chris Foy. Nonetheless a good result for Stoke who are now unbeaten for 3 weeks. And this game against a good opponent.

Sunderland saw off Blackburn at the Stadium of Light by registering a 2-1 win. Sunderland left it very very late after Simon Vukcevic opened the scoring inside 20 minutes. David Vaughan equalised in the 84th minute and Seb Larsson provided a jaw dropping masterpiece with his trademark free kick in the 2nd minute of extra time to register a dramatic victory for the Black Cats. The win kept Sunderland a touch above the relegation zone while Blackburn still seeth under pressure after Wigan had earlier climbed above them.

And now the 'El Cashico' as many called it. Team news: Chelsea start with back to form veteran Didier Drogba up front. Raul Mereiles keeps Frank Lampard on the bench, while Jose Bosingwa got a start instead of Alex, while Branislav Ivanovic shifted to play alongside John Terry. Manchester City started Mario Balotelli in place of Edin Dzeko while Pablo Zabaleta replaced the injured Micah Richards and James Milner started keeping Samir Nasri out. It was a blistering start for the run away leaders. Sergio Aguero picked out Mario Balotelli with an incisive through ball and indecisive defending from Ivanovic helped Balotelli go through to round Petr Cech and put the ball into the wide open net. A goal inside 2 minutes. Aguero was involved again as he beat Ashley Cole towards the Chelsea goal and tried to turn to face Cech and score at the near post. But Cole just slide and cramp Aguero's space in time to make Aguero finish poorly and shoot wide. Referee Mark Clattenberg was then involved in a controversial decision when Bosingwa brought down David Silva  5 yards in front of him. But Clattenberg just asked Silva to get up. Didier Drogba had Chelsea's first good chance of the match when he powered past the City defence and tried to force the shot between Joe Hart and the near post but only got a corner from it. Chelsea equalised in the 35th minute when former Citizen Daniel Sturridge tricked his way past Gael Clichy and delivered an incisive ball into the center of City's penalty box for Raul Mereiles to bury it. There was a scuffle that ensued, once again pointing to poor refereeing by Clattenberg, when Juan Manuel Mata was fouled on the right flank by Yaya Toure. Yaya then kicked Mata on his hamstring asking him to get up which went unnoticed by Clattenberg. Mata then went verbal against Yaya asking why he kicked him for which Yaya slapped Mata, and Clattenberg looked away at the exact moment though he was just a few feet away (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvyrpsUiSdA). Mata however made no issue of it and continued to let his football do the talking as he then kept having the better of Yaya. Things soon took a downturn for City as Ramires's domineering burst through the middle by Clichy's late tackle that saw him pick up his second booking. Though City started to dominate possession for 5 mins after the sending off, Mancini in a panic decision, removed Sergio Aguero for Kolo Toure and soon later David Silva for Nigel de Jong. Villas-Boas took off the booked Raul Mereiles for Frank Lampard. At 78 minutes, Daniel Sturridge was picked out in the box and his shot found the high flying hands of Joleon Lescott. Lampard smashed the penalty straight down the middle, taking big pressure off himself after his miss against Newcastle last time. While Villas-Boas brought on Florent Malouda and John Obi Mikel for Sturridge and Mata, Mancini in a last gasp brought on Edin Dzeko for Lescott. But in the end Chelsea registered their first win against a top 6 team for the first time this season and Manchester City lost their first ever BPL match this season.

Winners: Chelsea & Andre Villas-Boas- a win against the hithero invincible, and a comeback from behind, too flattering to say their title ambitions are back, but a big load off Villas-Boas; Wigan Athletic- a win and 3 'oh so dear' points; Stoke City -  a hard fought win at home against the team third on the table at the start of the match; Swansea - they continue their solidity at home; Norwich - fully capitalised against a depleted Newcastle side to hit 4 and register a good win to keep up a decent position on the table; Manchester United - a slap on the face to critics, United show they are still a great force and that they can still score more than a goal a game; Arsenal - a memorable way to celebrate 125 years.

Losers: Manchester City- An end to their unbeaten BPL run days after a first round CL exit, and opening up the gates for United to approach; Newcastle United - feel sorry for their injury woes, but it does hurt to slide from 3rd to 7th, though 7th is something they would have been happy with at the start of the season; West Brom - A loss at home to a team in dire straits in the relegation zone; Wolverhampton- alright they lost only to a big team,but they were expected to put up a better show against a United that has failed to score than once in their previous 4 matches, perhaps taking some inspiration from FC Basel; Tottenham- okay, they will cry about Chris Foy, but it doesn't change the fact that they came up short against Stoke's physical play and long throws. A bad result when there was a chance to go 5 points clear of 4th place and within 2 points of 2nd place.

German Bundesliga Review, 11th and 12th Dec 2011

By Raghavan,

The clash of the rivals was the biggest match in terms of the expectation while Werder Bremen were the biggest in terms of authority this week. Bayern resumed with a stronger team than the one that were defeated 2-0 by Manchester City last Wednesday. Ribery, Robben and Kroos all start. Jerome Boateng and Luis Gustavo made way for Antolin Tymoschuk and Rafinha. Bayern were presented with a chance to move 3 points clear at the top after Dortmund drew with Kaiserslautern earlier. Stuttgart started without German forward Cacau with Julian Scheiber getting a start. Bayern were flying and could have capitalised early from excellent vision by Toni Kroos who picked out the flying Dutchman Arjen Robben who beat the offside trap and was through on goal. However, he tried to take it around the young Sven Ulreich instead of taking the shot himself, and served the ball on a plate for Mario Gomez to tap in, and the latter incredibly missed. Stuttgart opened the scoring when Cristian Molinaro's cross found Martin Harnik's leap. Harnik headed the ball down to the path of approaching Christian Gentner who stretched to force home the opener. Bayern set things right soon and Gomez made amends as he reached Rafinha's perfect cross that landed right on Gomez's left foot and the top scorer prodded it into the net. Things however got worse soon for Stuttgart as Molinaro received his second yellow for a late challenge on Arjen Robben. Bayern started the second half creating most of the chances with Toni Kroos in particular testing Ulreich from distance and the latter reacted well on a couple of occasions to keep Kroos's efforts out. However Kroos delivered the telling through pass to Philip Lahm who was in an advanced position, and the German left back superbly cut it back for the waiting Gomez to stretch his legs to find his and Bayern's second and match winning goal. The substitutes Pavel Pogrebnyak and Cacau were thrust in to find a second goal, but Jupp Hynckes responded by recalling the strike force of Muller,Robben and Ribery and sending in Boateng, Gustavo and David Alaba. Bayern saw through the game to clinch 3 vital points in a crowded space at the top of the league.

Second place Borussia Dortmund received a setback to their ambition of retaining the Bundesliga as they were held to a one-all draw by Kaiserslautern, a result that helped the latter just stay afloat of the drop zone. The result was a blow to Dortmund that came in the back of being knocked out of the UEFA Champions league. Robert Lewandowski came close to continue his scoring run when his heroic effort just whisked past the crossbar. But soon around 30 mins, Shinji Kagawa put Dortmund ahead from outside the box after receiving the assist from Kevin GroBkreutz. Antonio da Silva's headed effort was cleared off the line by Olcay Sahan. Sahan was the hero for Kaiserslautern as he helped his team draw level with a fantastic volley that left Roman Weidenfeller helpless. Mario Gotze who was rested in place of da Silva was brought on by Klopp, and hit the post from long range. Dortmund would have felt unlucky as this was preceded by Mats Hummels' header bounced off the post from a corner. Klopp and his team were to be disheartened later as Bayern overturned an early deficit agianst Stuttgart to pull ahead of Dortmund by 2 more points.

Hannover and Bayer Leverkusen played out a goal-less draw that still provided good entertainment and it was a hard fought and fast paced game. One just has to ask Simon Rolfes and  Manuel Pogatetz as both suffered a clash of heads which left both with an enormous bump. Rolfes had to be taken off at half time for Michael Ballack while Pogatetz, who stayed on, had blood flowing from the stitches he received earlier from the bump opening up late  in the second half. Both sides had even possession in the first half as Sidney Sam floated into the box and cut back a pass to Lars Bender who skied his shot. Andre Schurrle was presented with an opportunity to feed Eren Derdiyok but his final cross had too much distance on it. Rausch was particularly impressive in the first half but the rest of Hannover seemed to lag behind as he was left searching for support time and again. However Hannover came out at full throttle in the second half as Jan Schauldraff, Christian Schulz, Rausch and Mohammed Abdelloui threatened with every attack as Hannover dominated swathes of possession. Schauldraff in particular gave a hard time to Kadlec and  picked out Pinto with his low cross but his shot was blocked at the near post by Leno. Rausch delivered a floated cross in the area which was just a wee bit high for Abdelloui. Didier Ya Konan was brought on for Schauldraff to add some power late on, but Leverkusen managed to hold on to a point.

Werder Bremen blew apart a woefully out of sorts Wolfsburg, in a completely one sided match in which Bremen created a promising chance with every minute of play, literally. So much so that 4-1 is a score too low for the amount of chances created. Wolfsburg appeared to have been playing to an offside trap all game long, and all game long Bremen kept breaking it with utmost ease. Socratis Papasthapolous opened the scoring from a well directed free kick from Ignjovski, resulting from a foul on Bargfrede who had a very good game commanding the center of the pitch and starting many of Bremen's attacks. Claudio Pizzaro met the free kick with his head, and Benaglio could just push it into the path of the Greek philosopher. Dejagah almost lead Wolfsburg's response as his domineering run down the left and run into the box put him in a promising position. But he took too long to get his shot away and ended up firing wide in an effort to curve it around Tim Wiese. Just on the stroke of half time Bremen capitalised on a throw taken alongside the box. Pizzaro gathered the throw and ran straight across pitch alongside the goal-kick line and tricked his way past Chris before getting his shot past Benaglio into the far post. A spectacular solo. The first half also saw the miss of the Bundesliga so far this season. Rosenberg was through on goal with Trinks following up. Rosenberg left it dead center in front of an open goal for Trinks to finish but the youngster sent it flying high and wide.  Bremen continued dominating in the second half as Rosenberg got his goal from another successful negotiation of the offside trap. Rosenberg beat it and advanced towards goal, side-stepped and turned around the defender who tracked back and got his shot into the far post with a neat finish and a neat bit of skill to lose the defender. Substitute Marko Arnautovic helped himself after a cheeky back pass by Pizzaro was duly put away. Arnautovic could have had his second had he properly connected with Trinks' diagonal ball that found itself at Arnautovic's feet that stretched out too late to send the ball wide of the goal. Schafer got back a consolation that Wolfsburg really didn't deserve. The result saw Bremen move within a point of 4th placed Monchengladbach.

And speaking of Monchengladbach, the high flying underdogs suffered a 1-0 defeat at Augsburg that saw them slip to 4th after Schalke won their match. Callsen-Bracker scored the only goal of the game in the 51st minute when his free kick deflected off Raul Bobadilla and keeper ter Stegen went the other way. Bobadilla had a powering run down the middle earlier but his shot lacked quality and was kept away by Augsburg keeper Mohammed Amsif. Marco Reus did not play and this perhaps had a telling effect on the result.

In other games, Schalke moved into third with a 2-1 win at Hertha Berlin. Klaas-jan Huntelaar opened the scoring and continued his fine form in the 18th minute. Ramos pulled terms back 10 minutes later before Pukki who started in place of Julian Draxler scored the goal that sealed 3 points just before half time. Cologne were runaway winners at Freiberg with Lukas Podolski and Christian Clemens registering braces to their names. TSG Hoffenheim were handed a 2-0 win at Nurnberg by veteran Vedran Ibisevic. The result took Hoffenheim into the top half of the table. SV Hamburg and FSV Mainz played out a goal-less draw that kept the teams at 12th and 13th in the table respectively. A disappointing result for Thomas Tuchel and his men who would have expected a win at home to get their season back on track to enter the top half. 

Winners: Bayern Munich- A win at Stuttgart, a tough rival, and on the week second place dropped points; Schalke- a healthy win to move to third; Werder Bremen-complete dominance and a big win; Cologne- a big win and a jump to 10th in the table; Hoffenheim-a handsome away victory to enter the top half; Kaiserslautern- a point against the champions and an escape from the danger zone; Mario Gomez and Claudio Pizzaro- neither can stop scoring presently, and Pizzaro is doing a lot more creatively too

Losers: Borussia Dortmund- an under par performance and now have a a bigger distance between them and the leaders; Borussia Monchengladbach- seemingly created little in the absence of Marco Reus and failed to even scrape a draw vs the last placed (before the match) team; Stuttgart- a loss at home hurts whether you lose to the upcoming champions or a lower team for a team as established in the Bundesliga as Stuttgart; Hannover - in all honesty they aren't to be included in the losers for they played very well, but they will be disappointed to not get that win at home after dominating for a whole half; FSV Mainz - they have higher ambitions after a decent top half finish last season, a draw at home does them no good; Hamburg - that they drew at a recently mediocre Mainz