Rooney-less United to prove a point against Chelsea this weekend.

The stage is set for the biggest match of the season. It will be the clash of the titans as champions Manchester United will be hosting rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford as if not everything, allot depends upon the leader of the league after this match. The two have met in the Champions league, FA Cup and all loads of tournament and most of the time the result have always seen one team losing the trophy to other.

 

In other matches, Arsenal will be hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers and would be hoping to get back on track for the title while struggling Liverpool hope to get the fourth place when they face Birmingham City. Fourth placed Tottenham will be visiting the stadium of light to face Sunderland who had put up a decent show this season.

After their champions league defeat in the hands of Bayern, Manchester United will be hoping to have a positive result out of this one. Big blow for the red devils is the injury to Wayne Rooney which he received in the midweek loss.Although it is not a fracture but a ligament tear will also take a minimum of two weeks to heal as a result he may miss the return leg against Bayern Munich at Old Trafford. Other than that Manchester United will going with their usual side with Ryan Giggs, Valencia in the wing and Berbatov up front.

Knowing the intensity, the blues are all fired up to get this one away that to in front of the devils crowd. After their exit from Europe they will be hoping to lead the table after the match. With Drogba fit and Lampard providing the breakthroughs, Carlo Ancelotti’s men has no doubt to get this one.

The match timings are:

Saturday:

Manchester United vs Chelsea 12:45 Hours GMT

Arsenal vs Wolverhampton Wanderers 15:00 Hours GMT 

Bolton Wanderers vs Aston Villa 15:00 Hours GMT
Portsmouth vs Blackburn Rovers 15:00 Hours GMT
Stoke City vs Hull City 15:00 Hours GMT
Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur 15:00 Hours GMT
Burnley vs Manchester City 17:30 Hours GMT

Sunday:
Birmingham City vs Liverpool 15:00 Hours GMT
Fulham vs Wigan Athletic 15:00 Hours GMT
Everton vs West Ham United 16:00 Hours GMT

Wembley stadium add “new” to its name.

Wembley Stadium is a stadium, located in Wembley Park in London, England. Primarily an association football venue, Wembley is owned by The Football Association (The FA) via its
subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, and hosts the home international
matches of the England national football team
and the main English domestic cup finals.

As long ago as the 1880s, Wembley Park Leisure Grounds had football and cricket pitches, a running track, fountains and waterfalls, walkways and flowerbeds. The first
event in the old stadium was the famous ‘white horse cup final’ of 1923. Over
the years, the stadium was regularly updated and improved. Floodlights were
added in 1955. Whilst the electric scoreboard and the all encircling roof, made
from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. Those changes aside,
the structure of the stadium remained essentially the same as it was in 1924
and the old stadium struggled to meet the developing needs of sports fans when
it was finally closed in 2000.

The stadium was renovated and reopened to the fans lately in 2007 and the final of the FA Cup took place where Chelsea won 1-0 against Manchester United with a goal by Didier Drogba,making him the first player to score in the FA Cup final at the new Wembley.

Wembley’s 90,000 capacity makes it the second largest stadium in Europe (after Camp Nou,
Barcelona) and the largest and tallest in the world with every seat under
cover. It is one of the most expensive stadia ever built, costing close to
£800 million. Immediately following its opening, it was often referred to
as the “new Wembley Stadium” to distinguish it from the original stadium.
Now again the stadium will be alive with the league cup final between Manchester Unitedand Aston Villa will take place on the last day of this month.

Know your player: Didier Drogba.

Considered to be Chelsea’s spread head, Didier Drogba has surely been one of the best players Chelsea has ever had. Didier Yves Drogba Tébily, born 11 March 1978 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) is an Ivorian, who plays in the centre forward position. France was his adopted home where he started playing club football and spent his childhood years. He is a regular in a Chelsea’s line up in the English Premier League and is the captain and all-time leading scorer of the Côte d’Ivoire national football team. He recently took his team into the African Nation’s Cup and to the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Funny things happened to him when he was 13, he had to repeat his class and for that his parents banned him from playing football but after that there was no looking back. After turning 15, Drogba signed up with Levallois and started playing club football there. And finally at the age of 21, he got his professional contract with Le Mans club in France when he scored hand full goals.

After scoring many goals for Olympique de Marseille, Drogba was transferred to Chelsea for a record £24 million by making him one of the most expensive player from his country. He scored his first goal for the blues as early as the third match against Crystal Palace. He then took his team to the league cup victory and the semi finals of thechampions league in the same year.

He was included in the PFA Team of the year & UEFA Team of the year in 2007, he was also the top scorer in thepremier league in 2007. He is currently the leading the goals tally for his country.
As far as the current season is concerned, Drogba has been always in the thick of the action and has scored 14 goals in 16 matches which is nearly a goal per match in the league. So definitely he is the player to look out for. Beware of it everyone!!!

Hammers Hammered by United. City clips Chelsea’s wings.

In what was a one sided game at Opton park, visiting Man United thrashed West Ham United by 4-0 in the English premier league this Saturday. In the other big match of the evening, Manchester City managed to hold on to a 2-1 lead against Chelsea by saving Frank Lampard’s late penalty giving leaders their first loss in 6 matches. With the result Chelsea are now only two points above Manchester United.

Much was expected from Gianfranco Zola’s side at home against the red devils but in the end it looked like a practice game from Manchester United who went in with their new formation keeping only one striker at the front. The first half saw plenty of chances and finally Manchester United scored their first goal in the stoppage time when a right footed cross found West Ham’s defender who cleared the ball only to find Paul Scholes outside the penalty area who shot the ball like a trace of bullet with his left foot to find the up right corner of the goal.
In the second half, Ryan Giggs was again the play maker when he passed a perfect rolling ball to Gibson who shot a similar ball of that of Paul Scholes from his right foot but from a different angle from the right flank. And just 9 minutes after this Antonio Valencia tripled United’s lead when point to point passing of Wayne Rooney and Giggspassed to Anderson on the left, and the Brazilian’s cross found Antonio Valencia free in the six yard box to convert easily. And finally just 2 minutes after the previous goal, Rooney completed the 4-0 whitewash from a narrow target after combining with Dimitar Berbatov.

In the other big match at the Stadium of Manchester City, Emmanuel Adebayor own goal had put Chelsea in front just seven minutes but the he himself scored the equaliser just before the half time. Carlos Tevez gave the home side the vital lead with a low free kick in the second half which they managed to keep till the end but not beforeDidier Drogba won a penalty for Chelsea which was saved by goal keeper Shay Given when Lampard’s week shot on the right was spotted by him.
So a good day at office for United and with Sir Alex back to the touchline things seems to go United way now. As the lead is narrowed to 2 points the next weekend will be crucial for both Chelsea and United.

Chelsea wins with a Terry Goal.

One of the toughest match of the premiership featuring Chelsea and Manchester United, the hosted just managed to win from a lone goal by John Terry from a set piece in the 76th minute. With the result Chelsea go 5 points clear and have a new rival at second place that is their London neighbours Arsenal who thrashedWolverhampton Wanderers 4-1. Gunners are now second with higher positive goal difference and they may even narrow the gap with a game in hand.

The match started in front of electrifying crowd at Stamford bridge with a heavy amount of play in the midfield. Soon in the fifth minute United’s goalkeeper Van der Sar was tested when Ivanovic shot had to be saved. Otherwise the visiting side dominated the possession but could not convert it, the first real chance came in the 29th minute when a brilliant pass by Fletcher found Giggs who shot to high over Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech. Chelsea kept on creating half chances but both the teams went into the half with a 0-0 score line.

Second half saw plenty of action and the eventual goal but before that in the 67th minute Reds’ had their best effort came. A quick free-kick from Anderson allowed Rooney to press menacingly on into the final third. He played a clever one-two with Antonio Valencia and then drilled his shot inches wide. As the situation was getting hotter on the field even little fouls were an ignitions to big fights and by the end of the match three players from both the teams were showed yellow card.
The goal finally came for the home side in the 76 minute when referee Martin Atkinson gave a foul to Darren Fletcher who had clearly won the ball from Ashley Cole. Frank Lampard took the free kick, the ball curled in to find John Terrywho headed it into the back of United net. With the result Chelsea is intact with a 100 per cent home record under Carlo Ancelotti this season that too conceding only one goal.
It was Chelsea’s day and they made everything out of it, Drogba tried his best but was checked by United every time so was the case with Anelka. A positive note for the visiting team who played well expect the decision that went against.
Other results from this weekend are:
Aston Villa 5-1 Bolton Wanderers
Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Portsmouth
Manchester City 3-3 Burnley
Tottenham Hotspurs 2-0 Sunderland
Hull City 2-1 Stoke City
West Ham United 1-2Everton
Wigan 1-1 Fulham

The leaders everywhere: Chelsea FC

Chelsea FC. The club which one can say is the customized dream team in today’s world. The premiership leaders has it all, may it be Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast, Deco from Portugal or John Terry of England, the team has it all. Transformed in 2003 Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich, he has made this club amongst the most feared ones in Europe. As soon as he bought the club, he targeted the best in Europe and nearly got all, The best thing aboutChelsea was the players knew each other quickly as a result it was a big force in the coming years.

One of the most attracting about Chelsea is the jersey they wear. Simple blue with the 3 lines of Adidas is the best thing a jersey can have. When they are playing under lights then the strips of Adidas looks like they are illuminating by themselves.

For those who are Red Devils fans, it took more than 5 years to make a good Manchester United squad butChelseatook only 2-3 years. The best buy also includes former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon who is responsible for talks to buy some of the best in the world for the very best in Europe. Frank Lampard keep pouring in goals with partner Didier Drogba while rock solid defence is due to the Captain John Terry himself.
Currently the Blues are at top of the table with a clear margin of two points and are going strong in this year’schampions league. Chelsea would have been victorious in last year’s champions league if the return leg of the semi final against Barcelona would have been judged properly by the referee. Majority of the decisions were gone against the Londoners which costed them the final spot. Still Humiliating the referee could not see a simple and in the final minutes of the game. As history is history and it should be put to rest, the time has come to prove what we are. The target is not the league but FA cup, champions League, Carling cup and the world club cup. We’ll have it all. And with the new manager Carlo Ancelotti , man just look out!!!