Chelsea Tie Galatasaray In Champions League

 1-1 

Playing today in Istanbul, Chelsea faced Galatasaray in a Champions League match.  In this first-leg meeting, former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was featured in the Galatasaray offense, though his old club did well to keep him quiet throughout the match.  Fernando Torres got the start at striker for Chelsea and was more effective than his counterpart.

Chelsea took an early lead when leftback Azpilicueta was allowed to run all the way into the opposite box.  Galatasaray keeper Muslera came off his line to stop Azpilicueta, but the leftback played the ball square to Torres before he could reach him.  With the keeper way out of position, Torres scored easily on an empty net (9').

Galatasaray manager Roberto Mancini, formerly with Manchester City, decided the 4-4-2 was not working and made a change after only half an hour.  Izek Hajrovic was replaced by Yekta Kurtulus and Drogba was left as the lone striker.  The change was an improvement and Galatasaray stopped Chelsea from scoring any other goals.

In the second-half Galatasaray even managed to level the score on a set-piece.  Centerback Aurelien Chedjou came forward for a corner-kick delivered by Wesley Sneijder.  Chedjou was left unmarked on the play and scored an easy volley right in front of goal to equalize (64').

The match ended in a draw with Chelsea having a slight advantage going forward.  The away goal currently puts Chelsea ahead with the second leg yet to be played.  Galatasaray have to score in the replay in London if they want to have any chance to advance in Champions League.  Rather surprisingly Chelsea are the only club of the four English clubs in the Champions League to score in the first leg of their fixture.  Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United are all behind by two goals in their Champions League match-ups.

Manchester United Shutout By Olympiakos

 2-0 

Manchester United travelled to Greece for the first leg of a Champions League fixture against Olympiakos.  United have underperformed up to this point in the Premier League, but in the group stage of the Champions League the Red Devils were unbeaten.  Olympiakos on the other hand are well in control of their league race, but only narrowly escaped their Champions League group.  Today the home team had all the fight as the underdogs stuck it to the English giant.

Olympiakos scored in the first-half thanks to a bit of good fortune.  Giannis Maniatis took a shot from range that would have been saved by United keeper De Gea easily.  On the way towards goal though, Alejandro Domínguez managed to get a flick on the ball with his heel to put the keeper on the wrong foot and find the net (38').

Manchester United fell further behind following the half-time break.  On loan from Arsenal, Joel Campbell scored the second goal for Olympiakos with a well struck shot from outside the box.  With his left-foot Campbell curled the shot around defender Ferdinand then back inside the post to score (55').

United could not rally and get a goal back to put them, at least, in better shape for the replay.  The second leg at Old Trafford is scheduled for March 19th and United will need to get at least two goals to stay alive in the Champions League.

Liverpool Slip By Swansea, Sturridge and Henderson Net Two

 4-3 

Swansea City came into Anfield for a Premier League match with Liverpool today as the Reds looked to keep pace with the rest of the top clubs in the table.  Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City won matches yesterday putting the pressure on Liverpool to produce a positive result.

Liverpool came storming out of the gate and scored in the opening moments of the match.  Raheem Sterling was able to tackle the ball off Swansea rightback Angel Rangel to initiate a counter-attack.  Sterling saw the run of Sturridge and played a well weighted ball to beat the offsides trap.  Sturridge had to take a touch around the keeper coming off his line before finishing on an empty net for the opening goal of the game (3').

Liverpool extended the lead when Sturridge setup Jordan Henderson for a goal.  Sturridge came in across the egde of the box from the right and played a square-ball for Henderson who picked out the far corner for a second goal (20').

Swansea made a timely response and equalized in a matter of minutes.  From an almost mirrored image of the previous goal, Nathan Dyer drove across the egde of the box from the right and played a square-ball to Jonjo Shelvey.  Taking the shot first-time, Shelvey buried the ball into the near-post corner to get Swansea back in match (23').

The equalizer then came following a favorable deflection inside the Liverpool penalty area.  A Swansea free-kick was played into the box and Wilfred Bony managed to get a flicked header on the cross.  The forward's header did not have much power behind it, but it deflected off the shoulder of Skrtel giving the keeper no chance at a save (27').

Liverpool then reestablished the lead with a second goal by Sturridge.  Luis Suarez found space to work on the left and put the ball right on Sturridge in front of goal.  Sturridge scored with a header finish to put Liverpool back ahead (36').

Shortly after the half-time break Liverpool defender Skrtel gave Swansea a chance to again level the score when he was called for a foul in the box.  Bony was pulled down by Skrtel according to the referee and Swansea were awarded a penalty.  Bony scored from the spot and the match was level once more (48').

Liverpool's defense was rather on edge for the remainder of the match after seeing their lead lost twice already.  Despite some nervous moments however, the defense held strong and the Reds produced a winning goal.  Suarez created space to shoot following a great chest-trap, but defender Williams was in place to block his shot.  The blocked shot fell right for Henderson though, who he scored the game winner from the loose ball (74').

Liverpool have proven once again that their offense is nearly unstoppable.  The defense, on the other hand, shows more signs of vulnerability as the goals continue to be conceded.  All focus in on the Premier League for Liverpool going forward with a road trip to Southampton is next.  Swansea are still alive in the Europa Cup and a match at Napoli midweek.

Manchester City Rebound in League Play, Top Stoke

 1-0 

Manchester City certainly needed a win following the truly disappointing loss to Barcelona in the Champions League midweek.  Today Man. City hosted Stoke City for a Premier League game that was favorable for Machester to bounce back.

Edin Dzeko and Álvaro Negredo started in the attack with David Silva and Nasri occupying the wings for Manchester.  Peter Crouch was the lone striker for Stoke with Charlie Adam and Peter Odemwingie as his main support.

Neither side scored in the first-half, though both were able to test the opposite keeper.  Manchester City had far and away the majority of possession (over seventy percent) and created more shots on target.  Stoke were forced to defend for most of the match and they fended off the home side's attack well for a long time.

Eventually the persistent attack from Manchester City paid off and the dead-lock was broken.  Rightback Aleksander Kolarov fired a low cross into the box that Yaya Toure was able to redirect towards goal.  Stoke keeper Begovic got a hand to the shot, but could not turn it away from his goal and the ball found the net (70').

Stoke City could not create an equalizer in the time remaining as Manchester held on for the win.  Though the margin of victory was slim today, the win was the right kind of response from Manchester City.  Chelsea and Arsenal also won league matches today meaning there was no change at the top of the table.

Arsenal Collapse Against Bayern Munich in Champs League

 0-2 

For the second straight day an English club was reduced to ten men and conceded two goals in a Champions League match.  Manchester City fell 0-2 to Barcelona yesterday, a similar result for Arsenal playing Bayern Munich today.

The intensity was high at the start of the match as both clubs looked primed to score.  Arjen Robben for Bayern and Yaya Sanogo for Arsenal made their presences felt early, however it was defensive mistakes that set the tone for the match.  Two penalties were given in the first-half, one for each team.

First Mesut Özil dribbled into the box and made a move on Jérôme Boateng that forced the defender to commit a foul.  Boateng was shown a yellow card and Arsenal won a penalty.  Özil got to take the shot from the spot and tried to sneak it down the middle.  Keeper Neuer wasn't fooled though and made the save to deny the penalty (9').

After half-an-hour Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs could not continue and had to be replaced by Nacho Monreal.  Things then got worse for Arsenal when their keeper missed a challenge on Robben and was shown a red card.  Robben was able to win a ball played over the top before keeper Szczesny could break up the play and was caught by the keeper coming off his line.  Along with the red card, a penalty was given and David Alaba was called up to take the shot.  Alaba missed wide left from the spot though, and the score remained level (40').

Playing the entire second-half down a man, Arsenal were forced to drop inside their penalty area and defend constantly.  Similar to Barcelona, Bayern were able to keep nearly all of possession and work a pair of goals against a depleted English side.

Captain Philipp Lahm was involved in both goals, producing the final pass each time.  First Lahm played a square-ball along the edge of the box that Toni Kroos struck first-time.  The shot from Kroos had just enough curl on it to bend around the reach of the keeper and slip back inside the near-post (54').

Then near the end of the match Lahm played a chipped ball into the box to pick out the run of Thomas Müller who came in late off the bench.  Müller was left unmarked and drove the header down to beat the keeper for Bayern's second and final goal of the match (88').

The German club now has a huge advantage going into the replay in Munich on March 11th.  Two away goals will need to be matched by Arsenal when they meet again, and the defense needs to be perfect to stop the dynamic Munich attack.

Barcelona Burn Manchester City in Champions League

 0-2 

The UEFA Champions League returned today with the first leg of the knock-rounds featuring a big match between English giants Manchester City hosting Spanish powerhouse Barcelona.  Naturally the visitors from La Liga had a strong Spanish presence, but City too fielded Spanish players David Silva, Álvaro Negredo, and Jesús Navas in their offense.

As Barcelona are prone to do, the possession was heavily in their favor which limited the chances from Manchester City.  At half-time there was no score with only three shots on target combined between the clubs.  City had defended the potent Barcelona attack well for the first forty-five minutes, but the second-half was rather disastrous.

Barcelona won a penalty when Messi was fouled by centerback Martín Demichelis in the box.  The referee determined the foul was an effort to deny a "goal scoring opportunity" and sent Demichelis off with a red card.  Messi then scored from the spot to put Barcelona ahead (54').

On the verge of stoppage-time Barcelona added a second goal from fullback Dani Alves.  Coming in late off the bench, Neymar played Alves in-on-goal and the fullback score with a nutmeg shot on keeper Joe Hart (90').

Manchester City had a tall task ahead trying to score one goal when they replay at Camp Nou, but the second goal may have just ended their Champions League hopes.  City will have several weeks to come up with a new game plan before heading to Spain for the second leg on March 12th.

Manchester City Eliminate Chelsea From FA Cup

 2-0 

The current top four clubs in the Premier League were paired off for the fifth round of the FA Cup with Manchester City hosting Chelsea today and Arsenal hosting Liverpool tomorrow.  Chelsea hold the top spot with Manchester City three points behind in third.  Today at the Etihad though Manchester City were far and away the superior team.

Manchester City had all the offense in the first-half and took the lead when starting forward Stevan Jovetić scored.  Edin Dzeko played the final ball that put Jovetić in-on-goal and the striker finished with a shot that just caught the inside of the post before finding the net (16').

After half-time Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho removed the ineffective Eto'o for Mohamed Salah.  Striker Torres also came in later looking to get something going offensively.  However neither were able to fuel the attack, and it was Manchester City's first substitute that made the biggest impact in the second-half.  Samir Nasri came on after an hour of play and scored a second goal for the home side.  A give-and-go with David Silva set him up for an easy finish from close range for the final goal of the match (67').

Obviously with today's win Manchester City eliminate Chelsea from the FA Cup and move on the quarterfinals.  The next match for Manchester City is another tournament game in the Champions League.  F.C. Barcelona come to the Etihad Stadium for the first of two meeting between the clubs.  Chelsea are also still alive in the Champions League and travel to Turkey for a match with Galatasaray.

Anichebe Saves West Bromwich From Defeat, Tie Chelsea

 1-1 

First-place Chelsea travelled to face West Bromwich Albion in a midweek Premier League match.  Samuel Eto'o started as striker for Chelsea while two new players, Saido Berahino and Thievy Bifouma, started for West Brom.

As expected Chelsea had the majority of possession and in the first-half alone earned seven corner-kicks.  It was on the final corner-kick of the first-half that Chelsea managed to score durring stoppage-time.  Willian delivered a low driven cross that David Luiz flicked-on.  The flicked ball came to Ivanovic waiting at the far-post for the easy finish (45 +3').

West Bromwich did not offer much offensively, though Thievy Bifouma looked quite good when he did have the ball.  After half-time West Brom made the two wingers Chris Brunt and Morgan Amalfitano switched sides and the team was able to attack more effectively.  Also Victor Anichebe was brought in to give fresh legs up top, a move that saved the home team late in the match.  Anichebe scored with a header when Berahino picked him out with a cross (87').

Chelsea remain in first place for now, but by the end of tomorrow could find themselves in third place.  Arsenal and Manchester City could both leap Chelsea if they win tomorrow.  West Bromwich's next match is home to Fulham while Chelsea have a huge FA Cup match Manchester City this weekend

Fulham Force Draw Against Man. United

 2-2 

Manchester United hosted last-place Fulham today at Old Trafford.  United may not be in the position they would like to be, but Fulham are certainly in worse shape flirting with relegation.  Van Persie and Rooney got to start at forward for United and saw a lot of the ball as the Red Devils controlled more than seventy percent of possession for the match.

Although United maintained nearly all of the possession in the first-half, Fulham scored the only goal on one of their rare chances.  Steve Sidwell put Fulham in front when Lewis Holtby played him in-on-goal.  Sidwell made a run behind Darren Fletcher and Holtby picked him out with a chipped ball over the top which Sidwell finished with a first-touch volley (19').

The second-half began similar to the first with United getting all the possession and Fulham playing almost entirely in their own half.  United used all three substitutes in an effort to boost the offense, bringing in Januzaj, Hernandez, and Valencia with about twenty minutes left to play.  Although the subs did not directly affect the score, United were able to get a pair of back-to-back goals to steal the lead.

Juan Mata fired the ball across the face of goal, possibly looking to put a shot on goal.  Instead the ball came to Van Persie waiting at the back-post for an easy tap-in finish (78').  Right after the first goal from United, Michael Carrick scored another for the lead.  A poor clearance by Kieran Richardson sent the ball to Carrick who was able to step into the shot from outside the box (80').  The shot took a favorable deflection off Scott Parker giving keeper Stekelenburg no chance at a save.

Fulham appeared to be fighting a lost cause, down a goal and void of any offense, but they rallied late and produced the equalizer.  Coming in at half-time, substitute Darren Bent scored in stoppage-time for Fulham.  United keeper De Gea was forced to make a save on a shot from Richardson and the rebound was left in front of the net.  Bent was waiting with a header and finished for the final goal of the match (90 +4').

Despite the overwhelming possession, United were not particularly good today.  Time after time United tried to play the ball in from the wings and every time Fulham were able to clear.  Both clubs have tough games up next as Manchester United travel to play Arsenal and Fulham get the red-hot Liverpool at home.

Liverpool Crush Arsenal; Sturridge, Streling, Skrtel Score

 5-1 

Liverpool hosted Arsenal today for a wild Premier League match-up.  Arsenal came into the match at the top of the table with Liverpool eight points behind.  Playing at Anfield, Liverpool had a very danger attack and had the Gunners on their heels all day.

Liverpool could not have gotten off to a better start and scored in the first minute of the game.  An early set-piece allowed centerback Martin Skrtel to get forward.  Gerrard delivered the free-kick into the box and Skrtel was able to score with a volley off his shin (1').  The centerback scored again off a set-piece just minutes later.  This time from a corner-kick, Gerrard delivered the cross and Skrtel scored a well placed header floated to the back-post (10').

Liverpool then scored two more quick goals to stretch the lead.  Jordan Henderson tackled the ball off Özil in midfield and got the ball to Suarez pushing forward.  Suarez then played the ball across the face of goal for Raheem Sterling crashing the far-post.  Sterling finished with an easy tap-in to put Liverpool up three goals (17').

Daniel Sturridge scored the final goal of the first-half shortly after when Coutinho played him in-on-goal.  Coutinho's through-ball was weighted perfectly to allow Sturridge to split two defenders and beat the keeper with a first-touch finish (20').

Liverpool added one more goal in the second-half when Sterling scored his second of the match.  A long ball from the back by Cissokho put Sterling behind the Arsenal defense.  His first shot was stopped by keeper Szczesny, but the rebound came right back to him and Sterling finished with the extra chance (52').

After an hour of play, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger made all three substitutions at once, likely to save some players for the midweek match against United coming up.  The five goal deficit was obviously too much to overcome, but Arsenal did manage to get one back.  Gerrard missed his tackle on Oxlade-Chamberlain in the box to give Arsenal a penalty.  Mikel Arteta scored from the spot for the last goal of the match (69').  Aside from winning the penalty, Oxlade-Chamberlain was essentially non-existant though.  Fellow winger Santi Cazorla was also not a factor today in one of Arsenal's worst performances all year.

Today's win could be the most important match all season for Liverpool who still have a chance at the league title.  If they can continue to score goals at the current rate, very few teams will be able to keep up.  Arsenal are starting to show signs of slowing down and will look to bounce back against Manchester United on Wednesday.  Liverpool travel to Fulham next as the battle at the top of the table heats up.

Manchester City Shutout At Home, Chelsea Win Again

 0-1 

The biggest match-up this week was the Monday feature of Manchester City hosting Chelsea.  Manchester City held the first-place position in the table prior to Arsenal's win on Saturday, but could reclaim the top spot with a win today.  Chelsea, in third-place, aimed to upset the home side and become level with City in points.

Manchester City have been perfect at home this season winning all eleven previous league matches at the Etihad.  However, Chelsea won the first meeting at Stamford Bridge 2-1 and today they were again able to get the better of City.  Branislav Ivanovic scored for Chelsea following a blocked shot in the first-half.  Ramires fired a shot inside the box that was blocked and the rebound came out to Ivanovic.  The rightback stepped into his shot and picked out the far corner to give Chelsea the lead (32').

Ivanovic's goal was the only goal of the match as City were unable to respond.  Though Chelsea only scored the one goal, they created better chances than City throughout the match.  Thrice Chelsea were denied by the woodwork to the relief of keeper Joe Hart.  City had a few shots on target, but could not find the quality to get the equalizer.

Taking the big road-win, Chelsea are now level with Manchester City with 53 points in the league table.  City still maintain a huge goal-differential advatage, but getting shutout at home is cause for concern.  Up next City travel to Norwich and Chelsea host Newcastle.

Stoke City Beat Struggling Manchester United

 2-1 

It was a wet and windy day at the Britannia Stadium as Manchester United came in to play Stoke City.  United have not been up to standard and Stoke were keen to take advantage of that slump.  Manchester United had a dreadful first-half and by the end of it the Red Devils were down a goal and down both centerbacks.

After only ten minutes Jonny Evans was forced to come out with a lower leg injury and Rafael entered the match.  Starting rightback Chris Smalling moved inside next to Phil Jones to make room for Rafael. Before United could settle into this new formation Stoke scored to take the lead.  Charlie Adam scored from a long free-kick shot that took a lucky deflection off Michael Carrick (38').

Then, near the end of the first-half, Phil Jones came down hard trying to win a header.  Jones hit his head as he came down and a stretcher was required to get him to the sideline.  Manager David Moyes made an interesting decision with his next substitution and brought on Welbeck in place of the defender.  This forced Carrick to drop into centerback and Rooney to drop into midfield asWelbeck took the other forward position next to Van Persie.

Half-time seemed like a blessing for United as they made adjustments to their shuffled line-up.  As the second-half started United showed signes of improvement and Van Persie helped level the score.  Juan Mata played the striker in-on-goal and Van Persie scored with a half-volley to equalize (47').

However, moments later Stoke regained the lead when Adam scored a second goal following some more good luck.  Winger Marco Arnautović misfired on his shot attempt and the ball rolled right in front of Adam who smashed it home (52').

Manchester fought to get a second goal with Rooney, Van Persie, Welbeck, and Hernandez all getting action today.  Stoke held on though to get a rare win against the Red Devils.  Next week Stoke travel to Southampton and United host Fulham in Premier League play.