Its been a long week and there's lots to discuss, so I suggest we skip the pleasantries and get right to it. First off, we had Internationals this week. England won against Denmark with goals for Bent and Young. Germany drew 1-1 with Italy, Klose (who I just realized looks like the lead singer for Muse) continues to score for Germany despite his dismal club showing. To be honest though he is one of my favorite international players on my favorite international team. (Not including USA of course) France against Brasil ended 1-0, France being the victors. A good game to watch especially for Chelsea fans. Our new signing Luiz played well with some impressive balls forward. The round of matches brought up the question: what is the role of Internationals anyway. Should they have them during the clubs' season, or should they be played after the season in one go? Hmmm...a question for another post I think.
Alright so on to the EPL. The weekend produced one of the most amazing goals of the season and possibly beyond, (in a big game too) possibly taking the race for the title down to just two. It all happened during a Manchester derby; Manchester United at home against Manchester City. This one ended with an incredible winning goal by Rooney, a bicycle kick that saw Rooney back in the spotlight after a quiet season from the United striker.
Arsenal matched United's pace with a win of their own against Wolves, and Liverpool drew with Wigan. Tottenham won 2-1 over Sunderland moving three points clear of Chelsea and taking fourth place at the same time. Chelsea themselves could have retained their place with a win Monday against Fulham. They ended with a 0-0 draw, Cech saving a very late penalty to secure at least one point for the Blues. New defender Luiz had his first start, and played excellent throughout. He was one of the best on the pitch for Chelsea, and despite giving away the late penalty, which by the way was a little soft. I've seen them not given for sure. He did awesome sending plenty of great balls forward, one of them for Torres who had a bad touch and sent the best chance of the game to naught.
Champions League!
So as you should know, Champions League resumes this week with a number of great matches. First we'll start with AC Milan at home with Tottenham coming in. Tottneham did come, dominating the first half and though Milan started pressing in the second half, great defense and good officiating kept them at bay. Tottenham was able to hang on due to some excellent saves from Gomez and grab the winning goal on the counter attack. (Crouch getting that one.) The second leg will be played at White Hart Lane, Tottenham going home with the advantage. I predict Tottenham will go through.
The even bigger match though, was Arsenal against Barcelona at the Emirates. The Gunners started out well, but eventually Barca took control and eventually got the goal with Villa putting it into the back of the net. The Gunners were then able to hold off the formidable attack of Messi and Co. and go on to get the equalizer late in the second half. Van Persie sent home a magnificent goal from an impossible angle. I don't care what position the keeper was in, it was a finish rarely seen. The Gunners weren't done though. Not much later, a break by Nasri from a sweet pass sent by Fabregas, lead him into the box to find an approaching Arshavin who sent the ball with a nice touch into the net giving Arsenal their first victory against Barcelona. It was an exciting game, and we'll see the climax in Barcelona in a few weeks. I think I'm going to take a gamble on this one and say the Gunners hold on and knock Barca out, and they themselves go on.
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