Posts Tagged ‘English Premier League’

Chelsea are three points behind the Reds while Manchester United are far back with seven but they have two games at hand. A win by Chelsea inures that the Blues shall increase their lead to seven points over the Red Devils as both teams try to overtake the Reds. The match could very well be the one that shall decide the title race for the three teams.
Chelsea and Man U are out to upstage each other in their hopes of winning the game to erase the memory of forgetful performances during the FA and Carling cup ties respectively.
Chelsea was held to a 1-1 draw by Coca-Cola League One team Southend with Salomon Kalou’s first half goal negated by an equalizer from Peter Clarke at the late minutes of the match played at Stamford Bridge. That earned the Shrimpers a third round cup replay, a game which will be played at the Shrimpers’ ground, the Roots Hall. The football match will be the Blues’ next game on the 14th of January. On the other hand, Man U are seeking a better football result than the unexpected 1-0 loss they suffered at the hands of Derby County at Pride Park for a spot to claim the Carling Cup to be played in Wembley Stadium.  Kris Commons produced an impressive first half strike during the semi-final first leg ending United’s unbeaten run to 14 games in all fronts. The streak saw them win eight games and draw the remaining four. Their last loss in all competitions was the 2-1 loss at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal last November 8.
Man U shall play host to the Blues with Chelsea being the first team to be a part of the big four to visit Old Trafford for this year. The last time the two teams met was at Stamford Bridge, in a 1-1 draw. Park Ji-Sung scored with a 17th minute strike while Salomon Kalou answered for the Blues with a second half goal. The game was quite physical with a total of eight yellow cards given by referee Mike Riley. However, United players received most of the cards with seven while Jan Mikel Obi was the only player booked for Chelsea.  Ever since the two teams contested the Premier League and Champions League titles last season with United winning both titles, there seems to be a competitive rivalry brewing between the two.
For the Sunday clash, Man U can expect that Patrice Evra shall return to the side after serving out his four game match ban as a result of the brawl he was involved in with the Chelsea groundskeeper. A concern though for sir Alex Ferguson shall be the fitness of Rio Ferdinand, who continues to suffer from a back injury, Wayne Rooney, who limped out in the dying seconds of the game against Derby and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in a car accident that wrecked the front of his car but escaped unhurt.Latest football results this weekend can be seen at Scorespro.com.

The glorious Manchester United achieves to keep the head position of the English Premier League after defeating 1-0 the West Ham United, victory that gave them the three points needed to move on and take the throne away from Liverpool, that won it momentaneously on Saturday after overcame Portsmouth 3-2, in what was the 25th match-day of the league.

This encounter was not as easy as the Red Devils thought it would be, due to the strong fight the Hammers gave them and also to the fact that they could not count with the participation of the forward, Wayne Rooney, who was out due to an injury. However Manchester began taking charge with the assistance of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov in the field.

Regardless of the domain Manchester had during the first part, could not reach the box contrary, limiting the game to constant shots lacking of menace towards West Ham, which figured out how to repel them.

At the minute 20, the Reds saw the opportunity to score coming along, which was captured by the Bulgarian Berbatov, but unfortunately for him, it happened during an offside action, which meant the goal was disallowed. Manchester continued with its hits straight to the goalpost, causing anxiety in the West Ham, that at a minute before finishing the first period was close to make its first mark, but the red defense stopped them.

For the second half were the 11 from Upton Park the ones that hold the sphere. Trying to reach the rival zone with some long distance strikes that –although could almost reach their purpose– did not cause much impression on Sir Alex Ferguson club, who in a good football explosion achieve their triumphal mark.

Thanks to a good pass from Scholes to the precise Giggs, who with impressive moves managed to evade two adversaries until reaching the contrary area, where at the 62’ and with a powerful kick crossed the frame protected by Robert Green.

Right after Manchester United grab the lead in the scoreboard, the hosts tried to even the situation, but despite all efforts they couldn’t accomplish it, since Edwin Van der Sar, goalie of the Reds, never lost the calm, not even with ingress of Diego Tristán –who did not had much time to stand out, as he entered at the 87th minute.

With this victory, the eighth uninterruptedly, the leaders demonstrated their capacity and playing high level by not falling under the pressure Liverpool put on them the day before. Besides, with this triumph the Red Devils reach already thirteen Premier encounters without receiving a goal against; which also helped Van der Sar impose a new record of 1.312 minutes goals-free.

This triumph allowed Manchester United continue in the crest of the English league with 56 points, follow by Liverpool, their toughest enemies, that after this match-day sum 54 points; meanwhile, Aston Villa ascends to the third spot with 51 points, thanks to its conquest before Blackburn (2-0) and the draw 0-0 between Hull City and Chelsea, that descended to the fourth position.

Manchester United Football Club continued their push to grab the lead from Liverpool in the EPL – English Premier League with a win over Wigan Athletic last night with the football match score of 1-0. The win takes Man U past Chelsea at second place and is only two pints behind Liverpool. The Red’s next game will be a Merseyside derby with Everton but the match shall be played on Monday, giving United the chane to overtake the leaders as they go to the Reebok Stadium to face Bolton Wanderers this coming Saturday.After beating Chelsea Football club 3-0 in one of last Sunday football results, United played one of their matches they have on hand and finally recorded the win after Wayne Rooney scored in a tap in from a Cristiano Ronaldo assist at the first minute. Wigan tried to look for the tying goal throughout the match but failed to breakdown the United defense which surprisingly, held its own despite the absence of central defender Rio Ferdinand who continues to suffer from a back injury, defender Wes Brown who still has two weeks to go before he gets back to the side after ankle surgery and left back Patrice Evra, who suffered a foot injury right after the match against Chelsea and has been ruled out of future United games for three weeks. He actually injured his foot when he delivered the cross that  Rooney turned into a goal. It was such an unfortunate stroke of luck for Evra who just returned to the side after being suspended for four games for his participation in  an incident after a match against Chelsea  last April.It shall be a big loss for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United Football Club’s title aspirations as in form striker  Rooney might possibly join the list of injured players. He suffered a hamstring injury during last night’s game and could possibly be missing in action for three weeks. He scored the winnning goal but imped out of the game moments later and Carlos Tevez was sent in for Rooney’s place. Ferguson hopes though that  Ronaldo’s recovery from surgery and his recent triumph as FIFA’s Word Player of The Year shall be enough for the winger to continue his progress and be the dominant player like he was during the last season.The controversial Tevez  can benefit from Rooney’s expected absence as he shall fill up the other striker’s position in partnership with Dimitar Berbatov. Recent reports in English papers have said that the South American striker is unsettled and wishes to leave United. But Tevez personally debunked these reports himself and insists that United manager Ferguson has not talked to him or his agent to start contract negotiations. Tevez joined Manchester from West Ham United on a two year loan that is due to expire this summer. And he desperately wants to make the move permanent.Wigan gave a good account of themselves during the match. Emile Heskey and Wilson Palacios were constantly pressing for opportunties. Wigan manager Steve Bruce’s prized find Amir Zaki was kept quiet by the United defense. The loss however did not affect Wigan’s place in the team standings as they are still in seventh place.Catch English soccer results at ScoresPro.com/soccer.

Manchester United edged closed to another English Premier League title after beating Manchester City 2-0. First-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez took them four points from the league title. The soccer game between the two teams was far entertaining.Once again, Ronaldo produced another superb free-kick to put United in front. The distance of around 30 yards was small by the world player of the year’s recent standards. He duly strode up with confidence and fired into the corner, Given wrong-footed by the merest flick off Nigel de Jong.

Manchester City had plenty of possession, but did very little to threaten the home goal. First, it was Wayne Bridge who curled over a shot from the left flank but Nemanja Vidic headed clear, then Robinho fired wide after shrugging Rafael Da Silva off the ball.

Play quickly switched to the other end where a piece of impudence from Patrice Evra offered Tevez the chance to run into space and curl a shot towards the City goal which came crashing back off the angle of post and crossbar. Just before the break, Fletcher’s long ball was controlled by Berbatov. He square the ball to Tevez, whose precision shot bounced in off the post.

Manchester City needed a break and it should have arrived when Elano picked out Robinho with a deft right-wing cross. But Robinho blast his shot wide after he managed to control the ball. The striker again got ahead of Rafael and seemed destined to test Edwin van der Sar, only to inexplicably fire well wide.

On the hour mark, Ji-Sung Park and Ronaldo were substituted with Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney respectively. Ronaldo look unhappy and not impressed at the decision and was still shaking his head after he had taken his place in the dug-out. Sir Alex Ferguson might have the Champions League Final on his mind and do not want to his squad to be over strech.

Manchester United almost struck their 3rd-goal if not for Richard Dunne, who had made a last-ditch tackle to deny Scholes. Darren Fletcher rose to meet the corner, only for Tevez to strike the post with his header as he dived in and made contact less than half a yard out.

On Saturday English Premier League leader Manchester United drew 1-1 during the 35th closing round allowing Chelsea to reduce the gap to only three points.

The points were scored by South American Roque Santa Cruz who opened the scoreboard in the 21st minute and Manchester’s goal came from the Argentinean Carlos Tevez in the 88th minute with a shooting to the net in combination with offensive midfielder Paul Scholes.

But the hero of the day was Chelsea’s goalkeeper Brad Friedel who played an exceptional game stopping some eminent goal shots above all when the visitors were hunting the draw desperately in the second half.

During the 79th minute Friedel stopped Tévez and later on Wayne Rooney as well as the Irish defense John O’Shea (86th) before the goal arrived. Before the 64th minute the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo threw a ball against a post. This unexpected result holds back Manchester’s run for the title, which previously seemed to be an easy task for the “Red Devils.”

On Thursday Chelsea won over Everton 0-1 and now had 78 points only three points shy of the current leader. The only goal of the game was that of Ghanaian Michael Essien during the first half of the game at the 41st minute.

On the other hand, Arsenal was left out of the competition for the title after being overrun by Reading 2-0. This game put an end to Arsenal’s five games without winning at the Emirates Stadium.

At last the Londoners managed to offer a victory to their supporters thanks to the good work of the Spaniard Cesc Fábregas who was defending the center of the field as well as Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor and of the Brazilian Gilberto; the ‘Gunners’, third in the general classification are situated seven points behind of the leader.

Liverpool achieved a new victory, this time against Fulham (0-2), with a total of eight points from Everton which is in fifth position in the battle for the title; situation which is not completely obscure as this allows them a pot for the next Champions League edition

Lastly; there is Bolton, which recently won over Middlesbrough 0-1 and was able to take a breath. Meantime, the Derby County continues in bad shape after losing to West Ham 2-1.

This Sunday, Aston Village sixth place of the classification board, sank even further down after losing to Birmingham (5-1), while Newcastle took air after winning 2-0 over Sunderland.

We are pleased to announce our new partnership. Train and Play the Italian Way

Australian Football Players is pleased to announce a unique partnership with Italy’s Ascoli Soccer Academy. This partnership will not only forge relationships between Australian Football Players and Italian football clubs like Ascoli Calcio 1898 but we are now able to offer Australian players and teams the opportunity to travel to Italy and participate in Camps, Trials and Year Long Soccer Courses. Ascoli Soccer Academy and Ascoli Calcio 1898 technical staff conduct trials both in Italy and abroad. We hope to bring both Academy and Club to Australia in the near future to conduct trials. 

The Italian Football Academy (IFA)- Ascoli Soccer Academy has brought together the experience of its’ own technical staff and the experience acquired from the Perugia Football Club’s coaching staff to create a unique developmental institution. Australian Football Players has now joined Ascoli Soccer Academy in a consolidated effort to bring advanced player and coach education to local Australian clubs. Australian Football Players and Ascoli Soccer Academy have identical philosophies which clearly put an emphasis on structured and methodical football education. Australian Football Players, as the Australian based affiliate, will work closely on a yearly basis with the academy to identify quality players and possibly fill its’ ranks in the Italian professional league. Australian Football Players will also provide learning opportunities for youth coaches as the demand for “higher learning” continuous to increase. The Ascoli Soccer Academy technical organization chart consists of 80 observers and 20 supervisors distributed along the national territory, all of them coming from multi-year professional experiences.  

Every football season Ascoli Soccer Academy staff are required to attend affiliated team games and try-outs as part of a monitoring process impacting over 16000 young players per year. The goal is to identify and assess qualified players to possibly join other professional youth players in the Italian 1st Division (Serie “A”, “B” or C).  

The Italian Football Academy (IFA) has consolidated the experience developed by its own technical staff and the experience acquired from the Perugia Football Club’s technical staff in the nearly 10 year long co-operation.In IFA we like to stress the idea of making football scouting, education and player’s improvement as a unique and whole concept of the company mission. Further to this we have created a wide network of affiliated teams, both national and international, plus many observers coordinated by local areas and all coming from direct past experiences in the world of soccer.The results of this complex and organized activity takes us to identifying the best players who can then be selected to join professional youth players of Italian Serie A, B or C championships. Moreover, at the end of each sport season, players chosen by IFA are primarily selected to join IFA’s junior national teams main partner such as Ascoli Calcio 1898.The IFA project was born on the wake of Perugia soccer Club which, even if excluded last 2005 from the professional chanpionship, have left talented sport managers heritage to increase new teams fortunes. And this is what our staff does right today.IFA and Ascoli Calcio 1898 co-share the mentality and carried out the idea of Ascoli Soccer Academy. Ascoli Soccer Academy unique target is to enrich Ascoli’s youth teams and, possibly after a while, the main professional team.Inside Ascoli Soccer Academy project a great importance is given to international aspects. In fact our management is continuously “on the road” monitoring and analyzing the practise of the game even in those countries where football is still not very popular. Activities such as Camps or Year Long Soccer Course normally host multi-cultural applicants, but we invite you to take a look to the proper web section for these.IFA has its main headquarter in Perugia, where we benefit of qualified and experienced structures such as the Convitto Nazionale “Principe di Napoli” in Assisi, the prestigious “University for Foreigners of Perugia” and all the sport partners we work with since many years so far. Since last year we have settled also into Ascoli Calcio’s main headquarter in Ascoli. This new branch and the IFA’s staff operating by there work in order to facilitate co-operation and fulfil any technical and organizational requirement. By creating this new branch we will also be able to maximize the co-operation with all national and international affiliated clubs.  

For further information for Australian players, clubs and teams, please contact Australian Football Players through our website www.australianfootballplayers.com.au or call Sergio Garcia direct on +61 2 414 997 205.

The 24-year old Brazilian forward known as Robihno who plays for the Spaniard giant Real Madrid since mid 2005 has recently stated that he would like to consider the proposal made by the English Premier League team Chelsea before the start of this year’s new season.  Nevertheless, Robihno’s time to negotiate with his current team and the English one is about to expire as a decision has to be reached by the end of the weekend.

Robihno’s professional career began early in 2002 when he played for three consecutive years for the Brazilian team Santos totalling 44 goals in the 104 game participations. As of 2005 Robihno was transferred to the Real Madrid where he became an important part of the team’s success especially during the 2007-08 Liga Season when Real Madrid won the championship. 

In order for the footballer to be able to be part of Chelsea’s roster he will need to come to an agreement in terms of money with the Real Madrid as his contract is valid until 2010; the amount in question could be around 150m Euros  or 119m British Pounds.  It is well known the Brazilian has repeatedly stated his wish to play in England and leave the Spanish club as soon as possible. 

On the other hand, the Liga club has announced that “the Real Madrid would never want to retain a player against his wishes and as a result they have no alternative but to accept his unilateral decision to rescind his contract – if that is what the player wants.”

Two of the major reasons for Robihno’s discomfort and deep wish to leave the Real Madrid are the facts that he recently became aware the club was negotiating his sell to another club in order to gather all the required funds to buy Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract before the starting of the season and that he could not participate as part of his Brazilian National Squad neither help them as his request to participate in the Olympic Games was refused.

Chelsea’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was the first to contact Robihno during the first days of the month of August and to his surprise he received very positive feedback from the Brazilian forward and from that point on the transfer saga has become the daily news in the football world. It is very clear Robihno does not want to be part of the Real Madrid anymore and he should be able to freely move to another club where he feels his game and efforts are more appreciated.

There have been reports that Chelsea’s bid could be around 19m to 30m British Pounds to get Real Madrid’s permission release signed.  But now another issue has awaken which is to whether the Spaniard club should let go of the player or not, as the player is known for his exception skills and capability on the football field. The acquirement of Robihno would certainly be a gain for Chelsea as he will make an excellent pair with Deco who is already part of the Chelsea’s players list while for the Real Madrid will be an open spot – a very difficult to be replaced within only a few days time.

It will be a great match that you can enjoy and many football fanatics are waiting for it passionately. Arsenal got disappointment in the premium league matches this season as they need to perform well in this coming match if they want to fulfill the expectations of their fans. While Fulham seems confident to get more points to enhance their level to top position, do not miss this excited match that will be watched on the coming Saturday 28th February at 15:00 GMT.While reviewing past performance of Arsenal, it is thought that Arsenal needs to perform well in the coming match if they hope for league title. But they were held frustrating in their last match against Sunderland where the results of match remained draw 0-0 despite of their best efforts of getting lead over their opponents. As a result of this match, Gunners are placed at the 5th position of the premier league chart, and sits 6 points back from the 4th position currently held by Aston Villa. Anyhow, recently they possessed 45 points that are product of their 9 draws, 12 wins and 5 losses with 38 goals and 25 conceded. This week, Eduardo Da Silva, Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas will miss the match due to injury problems. That will not prove good for the Arsenal but they need to make such replacements that will fulfill the compensation of their experienced players nicely.The visiting team Fulham faced striking victory in week 26 with 2-0 lead over West Brom at Craven Cottage. With this win, the coach of Fulham Roy Hodgson is focusing on hard work as his team will be good performer for the coming match. Their last victory placed them on the 8th position at the premier league with 33 points that make them to get 33 points behind the 7th position. These 33 points are gained due to the product of 9 draws, 8 wins and 8 losses with score of 24 goals and 22 conceded.It is good news for Fulham that they are not facing any injury problem from the side of their players. That would bring positive results for their players and increase their confidence. To review more details, you can check football news to get latest information about your favorite team players. While taking into consideration about the past performance of Arsenal, it seemed that this match can be proved difficult for Arsenal at home as Fulham are preparing with great enthusiasm to defeat them at any cost. Many sports critics are also favoring this idea that Arsenal performance may seem weak as compared to the Fulham. But the real fact will disclose on the coming Saturday 28 February.

Winning the Champions League Final is now seen by Europe’s top teams as the ultimate prize. No longer is winning the domestic title enough for the likes of the big four in the English Premier League, or the leading clubs participating in Spain, Italy and the rest of Europe. Much is at stake, reputation, glory and money and this season’s Champions League has been nothing if not controversial. Now the climax that most neutrals have wanted is imminent; Manchester United will take on Barcelona in Rome on May 27th in the 2009 Champions league Final. Barcelona’s spectacular last-gasp semi-final, second-leg added time winner denied Chelsea the chance to make the Final an all-English affair for the second year in a row, leaving the London-based team to lick their wounds and a certain Norwegian referee, embroiled in controversy to hurriedly exit the UK. However, Manchester United’s place in the Final never looked in doubt from as early as 10 minutes into the semi-final, second leg when they stormed to a 2-0 lead on the night, eventually steamrollering Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate and breezing into the final berth. Now, the reigning Premier League champions are aiming to return the Champions League Cup to their trophy cabinet with a win over Barcelona. But, having lost their appeal to UEFA, United will face the Spanish giants without key defender Darren Fletcher who was sent off during the second-leg semi for a foul on Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. Rio Ferdinand is also a big doubt as he struggles to overcome injury, but that won’t stop as many Manchester United fans as possible attempting to book their ticket to Rome. Advice to non-football fans planning a trip to the Italian capital – avoid the last week of May! While in town both sets of supporters will no doubt be taking the opportunity to see what else the beautiful city has to offer, meaning that Rome hotels, restaurants and bars will be packed with tens of thousands of Mancunians and Catalonians. So, unless you can stand frenzied football fans all teetering on the edge of anticipation then it may be best to avoid Rome until the start of June. Although no trouble is anticipated, travelling football fans do tend to get quite boisterous, especially in the final 24 hours before the game kicks-off. So, there will be no quiet contemplation at the Trevi Fountain, or rest and relaxation in Rome’s piazzas during the run-up to the final, and unless you are willing to be part of that atmosphere, steer clear of Rome until the football circus departs!

The young Portuguese football player phenomenon Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro has become the centre fold of attention in Europe now that he plays with the Manchester United as well as around the world.

Ronaldo was born in Funchal, Madeira Portugal in 1985 and has been known for his natural born talent since he was an infant. By eight years of age he was already playing with Andorinha and just a couple of years later two top teams were interested in having Ronaldo as part of their groups; Ronaldo then signed with CD Nacional and subsequently became part of Sporting.

His early career steps were very difficult as he struggled with his team mates and the fact he was living in a different city – Lisbon. But his outstanding performance set the differences between him and the rest of the players. His first international debut was at the UEFA Under 17 Championship.

In 2003 he was then quickly spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson of the Manchester United at the friendly match at the Alvalade XXI stadium between Sporting and Manchester. Ronaldo’s abilities as a two-footer player allow him to play on both wings and be an volatile and tricky winger besides his utmost technical skills and air game became the facts which engaged Ferguson’s quest to acquire the footballer.

Ronaldo is the first Portuguese player to ever play with the club; his contract was for £12.24 millions. During his time with the Manchester club Ronaldo obtained the FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year Award in 2005, he also ranked among the FIFA’s top players and he was awarded the Barclays Player of month (2006). More recently, there were rumours the young Red Devil would leave the British and would play for the Real Madrid that was willing to play over 80 million Euros for the transfer; but those shadows were hastily dissolved as he was offered a five-year contract extension and £120,000 weekly to remain with the club.

For this year’s campaign; Ronaldo has shown that he is the man who gets the job done as the club is leading the table of rankings of the English Premier League while he keeps scoring goals; a total of 27 in all games just this season. The Portuguese’s potential seems to increase as he continues to play therefore it is very likely Ronaldo will stay in England for a good amount of time.