Last
Day Drama As Blades Are Cut Adrift
The
Premiership season came to a close this weekend, at least in a football
sense. With all eyes on the bottom of the table several teams were fighting
against relegation. And with the controversy surrounding West Ham’s
dodgy player dealings, it’s possible that the season will rumble
on in court after the way the last Sunday of the league calendar panned
out.
At
three o’clock on Sunday there were three teams who could end up occupying
the last relegation place. Two of them were facing each other; Sheffield
Utd were at home against Wigan, anything but a win for the latter and
they would be down. The other relegation threatened team was West Ham,
who were away at champions Man Utd.
Paul Scharner put Wigan ahead inside the first 15 minutes but John Stead
drew Sheffield Utd level on 38 minutes. In the closing moments of the
first half Wigan won a penalty, which was duly converted by former Sheffield
Utd defender David Unsworth. The second half was goalless and the game
ended 2-1 to Wigan. A result which would be enough to keep both teams
up on goal difference if West Ham lost against Man Utd.
At Old Trafford West Ham took the pitch with their fate in their own hands,
knowing that a point would be enough to save them from relegation. They
went two better than that as Carlos Tevez scored on 45 minutes to secure
them a 1-0 victory and a place in the Premiership next season, although
it’s unlikely we’ve heard the end of the story.
In the race for European places, goals from Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov
gave Tottenham Hotspur a 2-1 home victory over Man City, Emile Mpenza
scored for the visitors. Everton’s draw against Chelsea secured their
6th place finish and European football next season. Youngster Vaughn put
the Toffees in front only for Drogba to equalise seven minutes later.
A set of action packed draws as Blackburn welcomed Reading and Bolton
hosted Aston Villa saw the Wanderers clinch the last available UEFA Cup
place. Blackburn went ahead three times against the Royals only to be
pegged back on each occasion, ending 3-3. Similarly, Bolton twice went
in front against the Villans but couldn’t hold on to their lead either
time as the game finished 2-2.
In the remaining games there was only prize money to play for. Liverpool
drew 2-2 against Charlton to cement third place and qualification for
the Champions League next season. Arsenal’s 0-0 stalemate against
Portsmouth meant that they missed the chance to leapfrog Liverpool into
third place. Middlesbrough beat Fulham 3-1 and Newcastle drew with 1-1
Watford.
Now on to more important matters, who has won the Pilkington Fantasy Football
League? We will reveal all in next week’s Gl@zine.
With the benefit of hindsight, here are some of the players you definitely
should have picked: Jose Reina was the highest scoring goalkeeper with
126 points, Rio Ferdinand topped the defender chart on 134 points. In
the midfield league, Cristiano Ronaldo’s 195 points put him at the
top and Didier Drogba accumulated 176 points to make him the number one
striker.
Now that the season is over it’s time to reflect on your performance?
Log onto www.pilkington.co.uk/fantasyfootball to check your team’s
final placing and plan for next season. With no international football
to distract us, it’s going to be a long summer.
Man
Utd Win Crown, Charlton Go Down
The
title race finally came to an end this weekend as Man Utd clinched the
Premiership trophy with two games left to play, while at the other end
Charlton were relegated.
Man
Utd kicked off against arch rivals Man City at midday on Saturday knowing
that a win would virtually secure them the title by virtue of their massive
goal difference compared to that of their closest challenger Chelsea.
A penalty won and converted by Cristiano Ronaldo was enough for a victory
but there was a scare as City got a penalty of their own. Fortunately
though for the Red Devils, Darius Vassel missed and United had all but
won the league.
Chelsea went into their game against Arsenal on Sunday knowing that only
a win was good enough to keep their thin title hopes alive, but they couldn’t
manage it.
They weren’t helped by Khalid Boulharouz managing to concede a penalty
and get himself sent off in the process. Gilberto scored from the spot
for the gunners and Chelsea went in 1-0 down at half time. A second half
comeback and goal from Essien wasn’t enough for the blues and United
fans throughout the land had the strange experience of toasting Arsenal
as their ninth Premiership title was sealed.
Wigan’s calls for West Ham to be docked points instead of money will
have increased after they fell in to the relegation zone. Mark Viduka’s
goal for Middlesbrough was enough to beat Paul Jewell’s men, and
that result combined with West Ham’s 3-1 win over Bolton meant that
Wigan dropped to 18th in place of the hammers. All of which will have
been made even worse for Wigan as it was Carlos Tevez, the player at the
centre of the row, who inspired West Ham to victory with two goals.
Everton put themselves in pole position for a UEFA Cup place as they beat
Portsmouth 3-0 with second half goals from Arteta, Yobo and Naysmith.
Michael Owen’s return to action with Newcastle continued but he couldn’t
stop them losing 2-0 against Blackburn with goals from McCarthy and Roberts.
Aston Villa made sure that Sheff Utd were not certain of safety as they
beat the blades 3-0 thanks to strikes from Agbonlahor, Young and Berger.
Efforts from Shittu and King gave Watford a 2-0 win over Reading rather
too late in the season. Liverpool continued to rest players in preparation
for their upcoming Champions League final, as a result they lost 1-0 to
Fulham and a Clint Dempsey goal.
And finally on Monday night, Charlton’s stay in the Premiership ended
as they lost 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Dimitar Berbatov and Jermain Defoe
sealed the Addicks’ fate.
In the Pilkington Fantasy Football League Premier Allstars lead the way
with 1653 points, just behind are My Griffins on1636 and Pyro Athletic
on 1606. Players from North London clubs top the form charts with Robbie
Keane, Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto Silva on top. At the wrong end of the
form table the bottom three are John Filan, Ben Thatcher and Ivan Campo.
How is your team coping with the final run in? Don’t forget that
the season’s not over yet and there are still points up for grabs,
so log on to www.pilkington.co.uk/fantasyfootball
to make the most of the closing stages.
Allardyce
Quits, Neville Mishits, Man U Win, Chelsea Give In
It
was a weekend full of twists and turns in the Premiership, as Man Utd
managed to extend their lead at the top of the table to five points, West
Ham received a record fine but escaped a points deduction and Sam Allardyce
quit Bolton.
On
Saturday the top two kicked off simultaneously against teams with European
aspirations; United travelled to Everton and Chelsea welcomed Bolton.
The Trotters had just found out that their manager of eight years, Sam
Allardyce, planned to quit at the end of the season. The surprise didn’t
stop them going ahead though, as debut boy Lubomir Michalik scored. Kalou
equalised for Chelsea soon after, and when Jaaskelainen scored an own
goal, the Blues fans were in raptures as news had filtered through from
Goodison Park: Alan Stubbs’ deflected strike had put Man Utd behind.
So at half time the top two were level on points, only goal difference
kept Chelsea in second.
The second half got even worse for Ferguson’s men as a cracking drive
from Manuel Fernandes put Everton two in front but minutes later at Stamford
Bridge, Kevin Davies equalised for Bolton to slightly dampen Chelsea’s
spirits. Back at Goodison, It took a huge error from Everton’s rookie
goalkeeper Iain Turner to get Man Utd back into the game. Unchallenged,
he dropped an easy catch and O’Shea pounced to set a comeback in
motion. Soon after, a scramble in the box saw former United man Phil Neville
score an own goal and it was 2-2 in both games.
If Everton fans could pick one player not to score against them, high
on the list would be Wayne Rooney, but their nightmares came true as the
former Everton boy slotted home to put United in front. Youngster Chris
Eagles rounded it off in injury time to make it 4-2 to United, five points
clear and the title within their grasp.
At the other end of the table Wigan hosted West Ham, whose pockets were
£5.5 million lighter following the FA’s record fine over the
Tevez and Mascherano transfers. The players seemed unaffected though and
beat Wigan 3-0 with goals from Boa Morte, Benayoun and Harewood. After
the match Wigan’s Paul Jewell expressed his anger that the FA didn’t
dock the Hammers any points - surely nothing to do with the fact that
now only goal difference separates Wigan in 17th and West Ham in 18th.
West Ham’s win meant that a victory for Charlton at Blackburn could
hoist them into safety. But the Addicks have only won one away game all
season, and they couldn’t change that depressing statistic as Blackburn
won 4-1. Sheffield United’s survival hopes were boosted against Watford
as a Chris Powell own goal moved the blades up to 15th place.
With the Champions League on his mind, Rafa Benitez rested so many players
against Portsmouth that even Robbie Fowler got a game. Benjani and Krancjar
put Portsmouth two up and in reply Sammi Hyppia, who is much like carpaccio
(he’s a rare starter) scored, although his goal was not enough to
get Liverpool back into the game.
As Arsenal entertained Fulham at Ashburton Grove the home fans must have
felt like it was déjà vu all over again with the score 1-1
going into the final ten minutes. Baptista had given the gunners an early
lead but former Spurs boy Simon Davies equalised in the 78th minute. Eventually
though, Adebayor and Silva came through for Arsenal, their strikes made
it 3-1 at the final whistle.
In the most pointless game of the weekend, Man City took on Aston Villa.
Tensions were high with absolutely nothing at stake, and John “Wrecking”
Carew and Sean Maloney gave Villa a 2-0 victory.
Tottenham held on to their chance of European football next season by
beating Middlesbrough 3-2. Strikes from Viduka and Pogatetz weren’t
enough for Boro and Robbie Keane’s brace plus a goal from Berbatov
secured a vital win for Spurs.
It couldn’t be closer at the top of the Pilkington Fantasy Football
league; My Griffins and Premier Allstars are both on 1578 points. Were
not from London uno on 1543 and Pyro Athletic on 1542 make up the top
four. The top three in form players are Robbie Keane, Emmanuel Adebayor
and Dirk Kuyt.
There are very few games left in the Premiership but managers in the Pilkington
Fantasy Football league can still make a difference to their teams’
fortunes. Log on to www.pilkington.co.uk/fantasyfootball
to make changes for the final run in.
Man
Utd Stumble, Then So Do Chelsea
Manchester
United blew the title race wide open by managing just a draw with Middlesbrough
this weekend, only for Chelsea to fail to take advantage.
Like
so often this season, Man Utd played before Chelsea, something that Jose
Mourinho has frequently complained about. But he would have been delighted
by Saturday evening after Mark Viduka’s header late in the first
half held United to a draw. It looked like it should have been a routine
victory for Fergie’s men as fans’ favourite Kieran Richardson
netted after just three minutes, but United couldn’t add to the tally.
Chelsea took the pitch on Sunday against Newcastle knowing that a win
would put them back in the Premiership driving seat. The Blues were unable
to continue their winning streak as the game finished goalless, but they
could hardly claim that their performance deserved more than a point.
In the North London derby a last minute goal from Jermaine Jenas didn’t
really make much difference to either team’s chances of qualifying
for Europe. Spurs had gone ahead through Keane in the first half but Arsenal
turned it around in the second period with goals from Toure and Adebayor.
The late goal from England star Jenas made it all square at the end.
Charlton played Sheffield Utd in what we are obliged to call a relegation
six pointer. El Karkouri had given the Addicks hope of escaping the bottom
three with a 59th minute deflected strike, but ten minutes later Jonathan
Stead equalised to keep the Blades just above the relegation zone and
Charlton just inside it.
Sixth played seventh as Reading travelled to face Bolton at the Reebok.
Nicky Shorey had kindly helped Bolton take the lead by scoring an own
goal, but his blushes were spared with a final six minute flurry from
the Royals. Kevin Doyle scored two and Hunt made it 3-1 in the 90th minute.
Zamora was the scorer as just the one goal was enough for the Hammers
to beat Everton, his strike keeps alive West Ham’s hopes of avoiding
the drop. Watford however, were consigned to the Championship this weekend,
Ben Foster’s mistake allowed Vassel to put Manchester City in front,
and Priskin’s equaliser wasn’t enough to delay the inevitable.
Liverpool moved closer to cementing third place when Dirk Kuyt scored
in each half against Wigan for a regulation 2-0 win. Little was of interest
in Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw with Portsmouth apart from the fact that
David James broke David Seaman’s record of clean sheets with his
142nd shut out. Fulham and Blackburn ended level after Benni McCarthy
cancelled out Vincenzo Montella’s first half strike.
The weekend was rounded off with the PFA Awards where Ronaldo did the
double and scooped both Players’ and Players’ Young Player of
the Year Award. More importantly though, he’s the Pilkington Fantasy
League’s leading points scorer with 181. The top three in form players
are from Liverpool; Kuyt, Crouch and Gerrard. The most out of form players,
with minus points, are Filan, Campo, and Foster.
As the end of the season draws ever closer, My Griffins top the Pilkington
Fantasy Football League on 1570 points, Premier Allstars are second with
1561 and in third on 1530 are Were not from London uno.
Can your transfers make the difference to your team in the critical end
stage of the season? Log on to www.pilkington.co.uk/fantasyfootball
to track your team’s progress.
Man
Utd And Chelsea Set Up Dream First Wembley Final
This
weekend saw very few surprises in the FA Cup and much relief for the FA
as Manchester United and Chelsea duly did as they were expected and won
their respective semi finals to ensure the sponsors' ideal match for the
first final at the new national stadium.
Manchester
United were the first team to secure their place in the final with a 4-1
victory over Watford, taking the lead early after a Wayne Rooney bullet
from the edge of the box. The Hornets showed that they weren't just at
Villa Park for a sight seeing tour around Birmingham as they equalised
through Hameur Bouazza's acrobatic effort. Their joy didn't last long
though as 12 minutes later a run by Rooney down the right set up Ronaldo
for a simple tap in. United put the result beyond doubt in the second
half as Rooney added another and Kieran Richardson dinked home a fourth
to leave it 4-1 and send the Red Devils to Wembley.
Chelsea's semi final encounter with Blackburn was much less of a formality.
Despite Chelsea going ahead early through a Frank Lampard strike, they
couldn't increase their lead and were pegged back by Jason Roberts' second
half header. The game went into extra time and looked to be heading towards
penalties but Michael Ballack scored the winner with only 11 minutes to
go. The FA will be hoping that there won't be a repeat of the empty seats
at both Villa Park and Old Trafford when the league's top two meet at
Wembley in May.
In the Premiership and the race for third place, results went Arsenal's
way as they beat their bogey team Bolton 2-1 and rivals Liverpool only
managed a draw against Man City. Goals from Fabregas and Rosicky won the
game for the Gunners after former Arsenal man Anelka had put Bolton in
front. Liverpool's uninspiring no score draw at Eastlands means that Arsenal
are two points behind them in fourth place.
Fans were treated to a much more exciting draw at Wigan's JJB stadium
as they welcomed Tottenham Hotspur. Wigan went in front three times only
to concede equalisers within ten minutes on each occasion. Heskey, Baines
and Kilbane's efforts were cancelled out respectively by Berbatov and
then Keane twice.
In the battle at the bottom, Sheffield United dealt a hammer blow to West
Ham's survival hopes. Neil Warnock's men beat West Ham 3-0 with goals
from Tonge, Jagielka and Stead to send the Hammers perilously close to
the Championship. Fulham's first game under Lawrie Sanchez ended in disappointment
and failed to allay fans' fears about relegation. Fulham's 1-0 loss against
Reading put them in 16th place and they are still not safe from the drop.
Everton hindered Charlton's hopes of climbing out of the relegation zone
in a frantic final ten minutes at Goodison Park. Joleon Lescott gave Everton
the lead on 81 minutes and Darren Bent equalised in the 89th, but the
drama wasn't over as James McFadden scored in stoppage time to leave Charlton
pointless.
In the battle for mid table mediocrity, Aston Villa beat Middlesbrough
3-1 with goals from Gardner, Moore and Petrov, despite Middlesbrough going
ahead through Fabio Rochemback. Strikes from commentator's nightmare Benjani
Mwaruwari and Matt Taylor gave Portsmouth a 2-1 win against Newcastle,
Emre's penalty wasn't enough for the Magpies.
In the Pilkington Fantasy Football League Premier Allstars lead the way
with 1498 points, closely followed by My Griffins on 1493. Slightly further
back in third and fourth are Pyro Athletic on 1442 and Anstey All Stars
on 1425. The top three in form players are Sylvain Distin, Gabriel Agbonlahor
and Matthew Taylor. At the other end of the scale, the bottom three, with
negative points are Ivan Campo, Brad Friedel and Ben Foster.
What does the rest of your season hold? The battle for honours or the
battle at the bottom? Make sure you do all you can to gain as many points
as possible by logging on to www.pilkington.co.uk/fantasyfootball
to manage your team.
Crouch
Returns From Broken Nose To Give Arsenal Three Of The Best
The
Premiership returned to action with a bang this weekend as Peter Crouch
showed Steve McClaren exactly what England were missing against Israel
and Andorra.
In
the battle for third place, Arsenal went to Anfield full of confidence,
having knocked Liverpool out of both domestic cups on their own turf but
Liverpool had other ideas - stopping Peter Crouch was too tall a task
for the Gunners defence, as he scored his first club hat-trick, helping
his side cruise to a 4-1 victory.
Man United went behind against Blackburn but Paul Scholes inspired his
team to victory, slotting home after a jinking run past three players.
That goal sparked a revival from United, to the relief the of the Old
Trafford faithful, who had to wait till the second half for United to
really get into gear. They needn’t have worried much though, further
goals from Park, Carrick and Solskjaer saw Fergie’s boys run out
4-1 winners.
The Premiership title was nearly wrapped up at the weekend with Chelsea
almost dropping two points at Watford. Although Chelsea had two thirds
of the possession, Watford were unlucky to lose 1-0 after some heroic
defending from Jay DeMerit in particular.
Paul Robinson kept his first clean sheet in 21 games as Spurs played Reading
in an end to end encounter that somehow finished just 1-0 to Tottenham.
The single goal came courtesy of a dubious penalty for a handball, and
although Robbie Keane converted the spot kick, his usual celebration was
lacking - has the Irish striker realised he looks a bit silly? Spurs went
on to miss a whole host of chances and had a second “goal” wrongly
disallowed for offside.
Carlos Tevez led West Ham to victory against Middlesbrough to give Hammers
fans yet more false hope of avoiding the drop. Zamora opened the scoring
early on after some good work by Tevez, who then got on the scoresheet
himself. In comparison, Gareth Southgate’s exciting Boro side managed
one shot on target in the entire game.
Elsewhere, free transfer signing Emile Mpenza proved he was worth every
penny when he found the net late to make it 1-0 against Newcastle at St
James’s Park and stretch Man City’s winning run to, er, two
games. A Kevin Davies strike gave Bolton a 1-0 win against Sheffield Utd
to maintain the Trotters’ hopes of a European place. Portsmouth were
1-0 up against Fulham for 85 minutes thanks to a fantastic 25 yard strike
from Niko Krancjar until Ian Pearce took a leaf out of Frank Lampard’s
book by scoring in extra time thanks to two deflections, to equalise for
the Londoners.
Now to where it really matters, the Pilkington Fantasy Football League,
where the top three in-form players are all from Chelsea. Peter Cech,
Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard top the form charts with the most points
from the last four games. At the other end of the scale Paddy Kenny and
Ivan Campo are severely struggling for form.
In the best midfielders league, Ronaldo and Lampard are way out in front
with their total points tallies at 174 and 170 respectively. Didier Drogba
(159) and Wayne Rooney (143) lead the best strikers charts.
The league looks set to be contested between My Griffins and Premier Allstars,
but anything could happen at the business end of the season.
Don’t forget you now have five new transfers at your disposal as
we have entered April. Use them wisely as we approach the end of the season,
as there’s only two months left. Log on for all your wheeling and
dealing.
England
Flop In The Heat Of Tel Aviv
It
seems that some players took the break of Premiership football too seriously
at the weekend, and none of the England team decided to turn up in Israel.
Tel Aviv turned into Hell Aviv after the national side failed to score
yet again, leaving them a mountain to climb to qualify for Euro 2008.
If they carry on at this rate they may as well book their summer holidays
now.
Or
they should just call up members of the under 21s who at least can find
the back of the net. Their 3-3 thrilling draw with Italy was an excellent
way to christen Wembley, and David Bentley became the first England player
to score at the new ground. Steve McClaren would be foolish to ignore
Bentley much longer - in fact he probably still thinks the Blackburn man
is in fact a make of a car.
The rest of the home nations fared slightly better with Scotland winning
2-1 against the mighty Georgia, Ireland beating the Welsh 1-0 and Northern
Ireland coming away 4-1 winners against Liechtenstein. Will they embarrass
the England team further by all qualifying for the tournament?
There are more mid-week internationals to keep an eye on, so make sure
none of your Pilkington Fantasy Football players get injured, otherwise
you may have to make some transfers before the Premiership starts up again
at the weekend.
Five Chelsea players are currently the top in-form footballers of the
moment, not surprising considering they've got John Terry back in the
side. Petr Cech, Salomon Kalou, Ricardo Carvaho, Frank Lampard and Ashley
Cole are all picking up points left, right and centre, while Bolton duo
Jussi Jaaskelainen and Ramos Ivan Campo are all in negative figures at
the moment.
In the Pilkington Fantasy Football League My Griffins are currently leading
the way with 1381 points, while Premier Allstars are on 1366. Can you
catch the top two or are you currently battling it out with those at the
bottom of the table?