bloggarriv

Liverpool 2 – Blackburn 1 (Premier League, February 28, 2009)

Liverpool broke the deadlock with Blackburn after 19 minutes, Gerrard spread the play to Yossi Benayoun out wide left and, after the Israeli had maneuvered into the box, Steven Gerrard was back on the scene to slip in the opener. A cheeky handball from Jamie Carragher while grounded in the Reds’ box was seen by the officials, allowing Keith Andrews to bring Rovers level from the spot. But then Anfield saw the sight they’ve been missing for much of the season as Fernando Torres was able to restored Liverpool’s lead from a neat Maxi pass.

via 101 Great Goals

Here are the highlights of Saturdays game:

Relief broke out at Anfield 10 minutes from the break as Liverpool took the lead against Bolton when Dirk Kuyt slid home after Insua crossed from the left and Aquilani did well to head the ball back across goal for the Dutchman. The Merseysiders made sure of the points midway through the second half when an Insua shot took a wicked deflection off Kevin Davies for 2-nil.

Here is the draw for the first knock-out round of this season’s Champions League:

The most intriguing ties involve the two Milan teams playing Man Utd and Chelsea

First legs to be played on 16/17 and 23/24 February with the second legs scheduled for 9/10 and 16/17 March.

Bad news, we are still third seeds. Uefa have changed how they calculate the ranking coefficient. They now include matches played in the finals of the World Cup and European Championships.

Here is the list of seedings, arranged into their respective pots. The qualifying competition will comprise six groups of six teams (groups A-F) and three groups of five teams (groups G-I). Sides in each group will play one another on a home and away basis, with qualifying matches scheduled according to the international match calendar between September 2010 and November 2011. The nine winners and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up contest play-off matches.. Note for Pot 3 Poland and Ukraine are not included in the qualifying as they qualify automatically as joint hosts. And by the way, the draw doesnt take place until February 7th 2010 in Warsaw. Meanwhile the draw for the finals of the World Cup in South Africa in the summer takes place next Friday.

Ranking to be used for the UEFA EURO 2012
Qualifying Draw National Team Coefficients Overview
WC 2006: 20% (Q/F)
EURO 2008: 40% (Q/F)
WC 2010: 40% (Q/–)

Pot 1 – Top Seeds

1 ) Spain 39,964
2 ) Germany 38,294
3 ) Netherlands 37,821
4 ) Italy 35,838
5 ) England 34,819
6 ) Croatia 33,677
7 ) Portugal 33,226
8 ) France 32,551
9 ) Russia 32,477
continue reading…

Proposals to accept Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers into an expanded Premier League will be put forward for consideration this week. Bolton chairman Phil Gartside will pitch plans for a two-tier league of between 36 and 40 teams on Thursday.

It is understood there would be a top tier of 18 clubs, with promotion and relegation to and from the league. Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp have backed the inclusion of the Scottish clubs.

The proposals are a revival of Gartside’s ideas which received a hostile reception from the Premier League’s 20 chairmen six months ago.

However, Gartside, the driving force behind the revamp, has tweaked the original plans to include promotion and relegation to and from the dual-tier league, while the two Scottish clubs would initially be invited to join the lower tier.

The Bolton chairman is also believed to be open to inviting an Irish franchise into the league in the future.

Here are the scores from all the Premier League matches in week 9:

Aston Villa 		2 - 1 		Chelsea
Arsenal 		3 - 1 		Birmingham
Everton 		1 - 1 		Wolves
Man Utd 		2 - 1 		Bolton
Portsmouth 		1 - 2 		Tottenham
Stoke City 		2 - 1 		West Ham
Sunderland 		1 - 0 		Liverpool
Blackburn 		3 - 2 		Burnley
Wigan 			1 - 1 		Man City
Fulham 			2 - 0 		Hull City

Most memorable of all is Sunderland’s beach ball goal against Liverpool. The Reds may bitch and moan about that goal, but the fact remains that they still didnt manage to score against the Wearsiders for the remainder of the game. Chelsea’s slip-up at Aston Villa allowed Man Utd to regain the top spot, while Portsmouth remain rooted to the bottom. See the table here

Here are the Premier League Results from the weekend of Sept 26th through 28th 2009.

Portsmouth 	0 - 1 		Everton
Birmingham 	1 - 2 		Bolton
Blackburn 	2 - 1 		Aston Villa
Liverpool 	6 - 1 		Hull City
Stoke City 	0 - 2 		Man Utd
Tottenham 	5 - 0 		Burnley
Wigan 		3 - 1 		Chelsea
Fulham 		0 - 1 		Arsenal
Sunderland 	5 - 2 		Wolves
Man City 	 V 		West Ham 	28 Sep 20:00

Congrats to Fernando Torres on a hatrick and also to Robbie Keane and a hatrick plus one. Is there a specific name for four goals?
Chelsea have finally dropped points and who would have thought they would first drop points at Wigan. And at the opposite end of the table, Portsmouth’s dismal 0% start continues. Pompeii have no have the worst top flight start to a season since 1930! The scores from Burnley’s away are in order: 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0. Burnley are away to Blackburn in 2 weeks time; will Rovers complete the sequence and make it 6-0?

Here are the results from the English Premier League matches played September 19th and 20th 2009:

Burnley 		3 - 1 		Sunderland
Arsenal 		4 - 0 		Wigan
Aston Villa 		2 - 0 		Portsmouth
Bolton 			1 - 1 		Stoke City
Hull City 		0 - 1 		Birmingham
West Ham 		2 - 3 		Liverpool
Man Utd 		4 - 3 		Man City
Wolves 			2 - 1 		Fulham
Everton 		3 - 0 		Blackburn
Chelsea 		3 - 0 		Tottenham

Chelsea stay top and maintain their 100% record with Man Utd second. Liverpool, City, Villa and Spurs take up the next 4 places on 12 points with Liverpool in front on goal difference.

At the other end of the table, Portsmouth remain bottom with a 0% “record” with Hull, Blackburn, Bolton and West Ham taking up the remaining bottom places all on 4 points.

Click here for the full table.

Bray Wanderers Football Club is planning a €5m development that could attract a major supermarket to the Carlisle Grounds. The development would also mean the construction of a new stadium on the existing site.

Still in the very early stages, with a planning application yet to be lodged, the project could be completed within 12 months of a successful application.

Club President Philip Hannigan, a former chairman and owner of Hard Metal, is spearheading the scheme and has been working on its inception since December. A scale model and pictures will be ready by next week.

Mr. Hannigan has been involved in negotiations with a well-known tenant and hopes to conclude those and make an agreement before releasing the name of the company. ‘The proposal will include a number of small retail outlets and one large shop as well as 80 parking spaces,’ he explained.

He said that the development is by the club itself not an outside investor and will enhance both the town of Bray and the future of the club itself. ‘Plans were presented to the board two weeks ago as well as to employees and the supporters club, all of whom are generally happy with the move, said Mr. Hannigan.