Chelsea once again failed to convince their critics of their title credentials.
With losses against Arsenal and Liverpool in the past, another defeat at Liverpool would have been a kick in the teeth and that is what they got. A remarkable performance from Liverpool with two late Fernando Torres goals coupled with the controversial sending-off of Frank Lampard brought Liverpool within two points of leaders Manchester United. Chelsea, on the other hand, will have to dig much deeper to mount any serious threat to the defending champions. Manchester United continue their march forward in style with a 5-0 thumping of West Brom in mid-week followed by a tight 1-0 victory against Everton.
In Italy, Inter Milan failed to capitalize on Juventus’ 2-3 defeat against Cagliari on Saturday. A 1-1 draw against Torino puts some daylight between them and Juventus but it is now their derby rivals AC Milan who have climbed into the second spot with a convincing 3-0 victory away at Lazio. Genoa continue to impress the pundits with a late 1-0 home win that keeps them in the final Champions League spot. The Spanish Primera Liga witnessed a memorable night for the Real Madrid faithful when Raul netted the opening goal against Numanica in the 48th minute, thus tying him with the former legend Di Stefano as the leading goal scorer for Madrid. A special night for Raul and Madrid as the defending champions won comfortably 2-0 closing the gap on leaders Barcelona, though only temporarily. The Catalan giants staged yet another comeback on Sunday against Santander with a 2-1 win thanks to a brace from Messi, but also witnessed two late red cards for Barcelona defenders, Pique and Marquez. Barcelona however continue to maintain their stunning 12 point lead at the top and have now won their last 9 games in a row.
In Germany, Hoffenheim have a 2 point lead at the top but the top 5 teams in the Bundesliga are within 5 points of each other leaving no room for errors for anyone. In France, the league is even tighter with the top 6 points separated by just 5 points, though Lyon maintain a single point lead over Bordeaux despite a 1-1 draw at home against St Etienne. No room to breathe around! In the Scottish League, a draw for Celtic has brought Rangers within two points of the Champions with Dundee United a distant third, 17 points behind the leaders.
And finally much more drama off the field to catch up with. In a sensational move, Robbie Keane seems to be making a comeback at Spurs after his 20.3 million pound move in the transfer to Liverpool seems to have totally backfired, both for the club and the player. In another highly anticipated transfer, Russian playmaker Ashravin seems to be in the final stages of talks with Arsenal. Much more saga could unfold as the final hour approaches. Wait and watch!
Games of the weekend:
Numanica 0 – 2 Real Madrid
Lazio 0 – 3 AC Milan
Liverpool 2 – 0 Chelsea
With losses against Arsenal and Liverpool in the past, another defeat at Liverpool would have been a kick in the teeth and that is what they got. A remarkable performance from Liverpool with two late Fernando Torres goals coupled with the controversial sending-off of Frank Lampard brought Liverpool within two points of leaders Manchester United. Chelsea, on the other hand, will have to dig much deeper to mount any serious threat to the defending champions. Manchester United continue their march forward in style with a 5-0 thumping of West Brom in mid-week followed by a tight 1-0 victory against Everton.In Italy, Inter Milan failed to capitalize on Juventus’ 2-3 defeat against Cagliari on Saturday. A 1-1 draw against Torino puts some daylight between them and Juventus but it is now their derby rivals AC Milan who have climbed into the second spot with a convincing 3-0 victory away at Lazio. Genoa continue to impress the pundits with a late 1-0 home win that keeps them in the final Champions League spot. The Spanish Primera Liga witnessed a memorable night for the Real Madrid faithful when Raul netted the opening goal against Numanica in the 48th minute, thus tying him with the former legend Di Stefano as the leading goal scorer for Madrid. A special night for Raul and Madrid as the defending champions won comfortably 2-0 closing the gap on leaders Barcelona, though only temporarily. The Catalan giants staged yet another comeback on Sunday against Santander with a 2-1 win thanks to a brace from Messi, but also witnessed two late red cards for Barcelona defenders, Pique and Marquez. Barcelona however continue to maintain their stunning 12 point lead at the top and have now won their last 9 games in a row.
In Germany, Hoffenheim have a 2 point lead at the top but the top 5 teams in the Bundesliga are within 5 points of each other leaving no room for errors for anyone. In France, the league is even tighter with the top 6 points separated by just 5 points, though Lyon maintain a single point lead over Bordeaux despite a 1-1 draw at home against St Etienne. No room to breathe around! In the Scottish League, a draw for Celtic has brought Rangers within two points of the Champions with Dundee United a distant third, 17 points behind the leaders.
And finally much more drama off the field to catch up with. In a sensational move, Robbie Keane seems to be making a comeback at Spurs after his 20.3 million pound move in the transfer to Liverpool seems to have totally backfired, both for the club and the player. In another highly anticipated transfer, Russian playmaker Ashravin seems to be in the final stages of talks with Arsenal. Much more saga could unfold as the final hour approaches. Wait and watch!
Games of the weekend:
Numanica 0 – 2 Real Madrid
Lazio 0 – 3 AC Milan
Liverpool 2 – 0 Chelsea
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