Manchester United host Spurs in the crucial league stage.

After some great round of football last weekend when Chelsea lost and United won the league it back with the utmost excitement. All the twenty teams will be in action. Starting the play with an early kick off on Saturday is Tottenham Hotspur, who defeated Chelsea and previously defeated Arsenal also, will be on the way to Old Trafford to play against defending Champions Manchester United while leaders Chelsea will be hoping to cruise past Stoke City at home and sit at a comfortable position with their lead on Sunday.

The match at Old Trafford is important for both teams. Manchester United are desperate to get back at the top and retain the title while Tottenham on the other side would be hoping to cement their fourth place while takes them to the champions league qualification round. News from the locker room is that Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown may be back in the starting line up for the red devils while Wayne Rooney is still short of full fitness to start. Sir Alex will be banking on the experiece of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes to break the deadlock. For Spurs Jonathan Woodgate is out injured with a groin trouble while Jermaine Jenas is doubtful to play at OT. The table will be changed… lets see what happens.

The match timings of the weekend matches are:

Saturday

Manchester United Vs Tottenham Hotspur 1245 Hours GMT

Bolton Wanderers Vs Portsmouth 1500 Hours GMT

Hull City Vs Sunderland 1500 Hours GMT

West Ham United Vs Wigan 1500 Hours GMT

Wolves Vs Blackburn Rovers 1500 Hours GMT

Arsenal Vs Manchester City 1700 Hours GMT

Sunday

Aston Villa Vs Birmingham City 1200 Hours GMT

Burnley Vs Liverpool 1500 Hours GMT

Everton Vs Fulham 1500 Hours GMT

Chelsea Vs Stoke City 1600 Hours GMT

Chelsea’s step forward to the premiership title.

Chelsea are back at the top of the premiership table after a controversial goal by Chelsea‘s striker Didier Drogba took the blues to a narrow victory by 2-1 over Manchester United at Old Trafford in an early kick-off on Saturday. This has put a serious dent for the champions United to retain the league trophy. In other matches, Arsenal edged past Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 with a 90th minute goal by Nickalas Bendtner while relegation threatened Portsmouth held Blackburn Rovers to a goal less draw at Fratton Park. 

Pre-match Manchester United knew that this one is not going to be a cake walk specially with Rooney‘s absence. Chelsea broke the dead lock in the 19th minute when Florent Malouda skipped past United defenders in style,and fired a low shot into the box where Joe Cole, who was closely held, backheeled the ball brilliantly through the legs of Evra and into the far corner. 

 

In the second Chelsea‘s lead was doubled but with a huge controversy, Just in as a substitute, Didier Drogba was clearly in offside position but the linesman was too aware to see that and as a result the play carried on, with United players protesting, and Drogba lashed into the roof of the net. the small section of Chelsea fans which came all the way from London were in peak joy. But just 2 minute later United got one back when Nani‘s ran in from the left and his low cross bounced off Cech onto Macheda‘s chest and into the net but it was looking too late. The “comeback kings” as Manchester United is known as tried their best to come level closest being Dimitar Berbatov‘s shot in the injury time which went straight into the hands of the Cech. Thus, the final Score Chelsea 2-1 Man United.

Manchester United’s four retains top position after Chelsea’s struck seven.

Manchester United completed the double over Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok with an emphatic 4-0 win in the late kick-off on Saturday but not before Chelseastruck with a spectacular seven over Aston Villa at home. Meanwhile third placedArsenal’s title challenge suffered a major halt when an injury time goal by Kevin Phllips made the gunners lead go in vain and eventually they had to settle for a draw.

 

Manchester United got the lead in a pretty unusual fashion when in the crowded penalty area after Jloyd Samuelgot the ball and side footed into his own net in the 38th minute. The teams went into the break with 1-0 in home side’s favour.

Second half was truly Man United’s with three goals in it. Dimitar Berbatov got his first when a deflected ball by the goal keeper landed in his foot who simply tapped it behind the net. He got his second in the 78th minute when Nani teased Bolton defenders with some lovely footwork on
the left flank and pulled the ball back for Berbatov to complete. Finally things were wrapped up by Darron Gibson8 minutes from time when he came in as a substitute.

 

Chelsea gave a strong signals to the leaders after they thrashed Aston Villa with 7-1 scoreline. Frank Lampardnetted 4 times for the blues and Florent Malouda scored twice and one for Kalou in the win. Needless to say… but Villa equalised at 1-1 when Carew tapped a cross over the line at the far post but that was it for the visiting side.

Arsenalsuffered a major setback against Birmingham City after Samir Nasri’s 82nd minute lead was cancelled byKevin Phillips in the injury time of the match.

Other results were:

Hull City 2-0 Fulham

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Portsmouth

West Ham United 0-1 Stoke City

Wolves 0-0 Everton

Arsenal face the champions Barcelona, United-Bayern re-run in the champions league quarter finals.

 

After some exciting action and some huge upsets the champions league now steps into the last-8 stage featuring some of the best team in Europe. The fixtures for the much awaited quarter finals were finally declared in Nyon, Switzerland. 1999 champions Manchester United have been put up against that year’s runners up Bayern Munich. Some old memories will definitely come in mind and Bayern will be hoping not to have a repeat of that night.

Another thing to note in the quarters is that the presence of two French clubs, FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique Lyonnais. Although they have been scheduled to play each other but this as shown the increasing dominance of French clubs. Lyon everyone knows had pulled a cracked after getting past Real Madrid to reach here.

The other English powerhouse Arsenal will be hosting defending champions Barcelona in the match to watch. Wenger is confident to take this one away but playing in Nou Camp is a different experience altogether.

CSKA Moscow will be celebrating their first ever entry to this level and the first Russian club in 17 years to reach this stage but they are up against Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan who comfortable defeated Chelsea to enter the last-8.

 The complete quarter finals fixture list:

All matches to start at 2045 Hours GMT.

First Leg

 30^th March 2010

Olympique Lyonnais Vs FC Girondins de Bordeaux           Venue: Stade de Gerland, Lyon 

Bayern Munich Vs Manchester United             Venue: Fußball Arena München, Munich

31^st March 2010

Barcelona Vs Arsenal      Venue: Emirates Stadium, London

CSKA Moscow Vs Inter Milan  Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan

Second Leg

6^th April 2010

Barcelona Vs Arsenal      Venue:  Nou Camp, Barcelona

CSKA Moscow Vs Inter Milan      Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

7^th April 2010

Olympique Lyonnais Vs FC Girondins de Bordeaux           Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux

Bayern Munich Vs Manchester United      Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester

Rooney, Park makes way for Manchester United to the table top.

Manchester Unitedretained the table top position after winning with a narrow 2-1 score line over Liverpool at Old Trafford while their title rivals Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood park. With a game in hand, the blues are 4 point behind Manchester United who will be point clear at the top even ifChelsea wins their next match.

 

On Saturday, Arsenal comfortably beat West Ham United by 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium but not before Thomas Vermaelen was red carded and Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia saved a penalty in the first half. Arsenal’s manager Sir Arsene Wenger was reported to be furious over the incident as the contact was minimum but the referee had no hesitation in sending him off.

At Old Trafford it was Liverpool who went ahead by a Fernando Torres header in the 5th minute of the match but the joy was short lived for the visitors as Wayne Rooney cancelled the reds lead in the 11th minute whenValencia ran into the box and was fouled by Mascherano inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot.Rooney’s penalty kick was saved by Reina but the rebound went past the net to level the things out. The teams went into the break with a 1-1 score line.

 

In the second half, Manchester United got the much awaited lead just a minute before the hour mark whenRooney passed the ball to Darren Fletcher who gave a wonderful cross and Park Ji Sung ran past the Liverpooldefenders to head home the winner much to the delight of the home crowd. The final score remained 2-1 to putUnited on the top of the table.

Now all eyes will be on Tuesday when Chelsea will be playing bottom players Portsmouth, any obstacles for theblues here can make them pay for the title this year too…

Other results of the weekend football were:

Saturday:

Aston Villa 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Everton 2-0 Bolton Wanderers

Portsmouth 3-2 Hull City

Stoke City 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Sunderland 3-1 Birmingham City

Wigan Athletic 1-0 Burnley

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United

Sunday:

Fulham 1-2 Manchester City

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Chelsea

Chelsea’s £100 million plan for summer after champions league defeat.

Things are not going right at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea’s loss to Inter Milan in the Champions league last week. Many English dailies has reported that the club’s boss Roman Abramovich has plans to spend around £100 million($150 million) this summer to revamp the squad. He was reported to be unhappy after the blues exit from Europe and has pointed out key problems with the manager Carlo Ancelotti and the staff.

 

The first on the list of summer plan is Liverpool’s striker Fernando Torres who has been the top scorer at Anfield, while his injury has kept him out for most of the season, his form in the World Cup will be closely watched. 

 

Next in line is the Bayern Munich’s star midfielder Franck Ribery and Atletico Madrid’s striker Sergio Agüero. Things may not be easy to get both of them to Stamford Bridge as in the case of Ribery many clubs likeManchester United, Arsenal etc are following him and the big news is that his present employers Bayern has confirmed that they will not be extending his contract after the end of the season and review will only be done after the World Cup.

 

For Sergio Agüero, Real Madrid have him in sight for next year signing as part of there new signing for summer as they are also eager to get back after the Champions league debacle. Here also Real is not the only club to grab him as Manchester United and Chelsea are already in the queue for him. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his long term interest in the Argentine.

With the blues’ management’s above desires, current Chelsea players like Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Paulo Ferreiraand Juliano Belletti may be put under the axe by Ancelotti to raise the bank balance and make way for “better” players for the next season.

Manchester United eyes champions league quarters but Real has a task to perform.

After going top of the premier league, Manchester United will hoping to make it to the next round of the UEFA Champions Leaguewhen they will be facing Italian giants A C Milan for the return leg at Old Trafford. In the first leg United beat the home side 3-1 to take the crucial lead. In the other match of the day, Real Madrid will be hosting Olympique Lyonnais for their return leg and this time around Real needs to get early into the game to prove that the 0-1shock defeat in the first leg was just luck for the French side.

 

Manchester United has not always got the better over the Italians as when they met last time around they were routed 0-3 at San Siro after winning 3-2 at home in the semi finals of 2007. But as the proceedings have gone Manchester United are looking all fired up for the night. The defence seems to be getting better and better with Rio-Vidic standing like a wall and Nani, Valencia in good form in the mid field. Paul Scholes will be all fired up
after his scoring century of goals in the league in the last match.

The big talking point at OT is home coming of former United captain David Beckham who is on loan to Milan. His time at United was full of news which included wrong reasons and private life and problems with Sir Alex. So the kind of reception he receives will be worth seeing.

 

In the other match at Santaigo Bernebue, Real Madrid will be determined to get past Lyonwith the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka, Raul & Co. According to Portuguese winger statement on the official website he said “We need
to go out there to win and must begin the match thinking that we are going to score. Lyon didn’t concede any goals against us, but I hope Wednesday is a different story. We know it’s hard, but it is possible. We will do everything we can from the very first to very last minute.” 
Both the matches will be starting at 2045 Hours GMT on 10^thMarch.

Everton dashes Manchester United’s title hopes.

Manchester United‘s hopes to retain the premiership flag took a major blow when they lost 1-3 against Everton at Goodison park on Saturday. While their rivals Chelsea andArsenal cruised to victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sunderlandrespectively. At the bottom of the table Portsmouth’s survival is the top flight is almost becoming elusive after they lost 1-2 against Stoke City at home.

Leaders Chelsea went four poinst clear at the top of the table with 4 points lead over United when Didier Drogba‘s goal in each half made the task easy for the visitors. Drogba got is first in the 39th minute when Ballack slided a superb ball across the face of goal for Drogba to finish in he made no mistakes. In the 66th minute Drogba got his second in a relatively easy way when he held of two defenders before firing into an empty net.

Man United took the early lead in the 16th minute through Dimitar Berbatov who shot the ball well past the goalkeeper from six yards. Just three minutes later Everton equalised when Bilyaletdinov cleverly used Wes Brown to conceal a wicked left-foot shot that left Van der Sar still at his spot. The teams went into the break with 1-1 scoreline. Much was expected from Sir Alex who knows how to turn the tables but it was not United‘s day. In the 76th minute Dan Gosling scored through the cross from Steven Pienaar‘s cross from the left giving the home side the much awaited lead. Just when United were trying to level Everton sealed their victory with another one in the 90th minute through Rodwell giving them the much deserved victory.

Final score of Saturday’s matches are:

Everton 3-1 Manchester United
Arsenal 2-0 Sunderland
West Ham United 3-0 Hull City
Wolves 0-2 Chelsea
Portsmouth 1-2 Stoke City

Liverpool next in line for Arsenal for Wednesday night.

After their sucessive losses to Manchester United and Chelsea, Arsenal will be hostingLiverpool this mid-week who are fast coming back in form in the premier league. Leaders Chelsea will be up against Everton who seems to have lost touch from their glory days and finally Manchester United will be visiting Villa park to face Aston Villawho were fourth weeks ago and now have slowly gone down to 7th.

 

After their below average display against the top two sides, Arsenal will be up against the Mercey side club with nothing to loose as the reds are only 5 points behind them. Gunners will be without their Croatian striker Eduardobecause of the hamstring injury which he picked up recently and the good news is that Nicklas Bendtner is match fit and is expected to play for full 90 minutes.Arshavin will be all set to fire as he is missing from the scoring sheet.Liverpool will be hoping to win at the Emirates for the first time as their last win against them was at Highbury seasons ago.

 

Manchester United will be going with their full squad minus Rio Ferdinand who is out due to suspension. The player of the month Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov are all fired up as the United goals are fast flowing in. Their form is a cause of worry for the hosts who will be wihout defender Stephen Warnock who is out due to calf injury.
The timings for the mid-week matches are: Tuesday

Manchester City Vs Bolton Wanderers 19:45 Hours GMT

Portsmouth Vs Sunderland 19:45 Hours GMT1″”>

Wigan Athletic Vs Stoke City 19:45 Hours GMT

Fullham Vs Burnley 20:00 Hours GMT

Wednesday

Arsenal Vs Liverpool 19:45 Hours GMT

Aston Villa Vs Manchester United 19:45 Hours GMT

West Ham United Vs Birmingham City 19:45 Hours GMT

Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Tottenham Hotspur 19:45 Hours GMT

Blackburn Rovers Vs Hull City 20:00 Hours GMT

Everton Vs Chelsea 20:00 Hours GMT

(+5:30 Hours for IST)

Old rivals Gunners host the Red Devils to get that second place.

After their victory in the league cup over Manchester City, Manchester United has a bigger test to face when they will be up against their placed Gunners at the Emirates Stadium. The timing of the match seems to be perfect when the premier league is at its most crunch time. After their loss to Chelsea during the mid-week, Birmingham City will be hoping to get the winning form back when they will be facing fourth placed Tottenham Hotspurs this Sunday. Chelsea will be having an easy run on the top when they will be meeting Burnley this Saturday. What will excite the blues will be the result of the Arsenal-Man United match.

Just one point separate the Gunners and the Red Devils for the second and the third place and this one is all what the two teams are waiting for. Rio Ferdinand will be out for four matches starting the current match after he was handed a four match ban by the FA after his violent conduct against Hull City on 23rd January. Other than that Manchester United will be going with their usual squad featuring Wayne Rooney up front whose current form is definitely a reason to worry for his opponents.
Arsenal on the other hand will be banking on the experience of their latest signing Sol Campbell for the all important fixture. According to thier manager Sir Arsene Wenger , Thomas Vermaelen may sit out after he picked up injury against Aston Villa in the mid week. Eduardo is certain to miss this game so that he gets match fit for the next match against Chelsea. Whatever the result comes out to be, Chelsea is sure to get some benefit out of it. The match will be starting at 1600 Hours GMT (2130 Hours IST) on Sunday. Don’t miss the action… Matches in the coming days are: Saturday:
Birmingham City Vs Tottenham Hotspurs 1500 Hours GMT
Fulham Vs Astov Villa 1500 Hours GMT
Hull City VS Wolverhampton Wanderers 1500 Hours GMT
Liverpool Vs Bolton Wanderers 1500 Hours GMT
West Ham United Vs Blackburn Rovers 1500 Hours GMT
Wigan AthleticVs Everton 1500 Hours GMT
Burnley Vs Chelsea 1730 Hours GMT

Sunday:
Manchester City Vs Portsmouth 1330 Hours GMT

Monday:
Sunderland Vs Stoke City 2000 Hours GMT

Tuesday:
Hull City Vs Chelsea 1945 Hours GMT

Wednesday:
Fulham Vs Portsmouth 2000 Hours GMT