Problems for Portugal, Hat-Trick for Müller

 4-0 

Everyone already knows Christiano Ronaldo is the best player on the Portugese team.  Many would go on to say that he is the best player in the world.  Today Portugal played their first match of the World Cup against Germany and before Ronaldo could make any kind of impact, the Protugese defense completely let them down.

First rightback João Periera pulled down Mario Götze in the box and a penalty was awarded for Germany.  Periera also saw a yellow card for the offense.  Thomas Müller elected to take the penalty kick and scored from the spot to take the lead (12').

Soon after falling behind Portugal were dealt another blow when starting center forward Hugo Almeida came out holding his hamstring and went straight to the bench.  Éder replaced him in the offense and had a few close chances to score with headers, though none found the net.

Germany then added a second goal on a set-piece.  Toni Kroos delivered the corner-kick into the box and centerback Mats Hummels won the header.  Hummels was able to jump right over defenders Pepe and Bruno Alzes to get the header, putting Germany further ahead (32').

Things only got worse for the Portugese defense when a brash move by Pepe led to his dismissal from the pitch.  Pepe caught Müller in the face with a raised hand and Müller went to the ground.  Pepe felt that Müller went down too easily and had some words for him while on the ground.  However he didn't just have words for Müller, he also head-butted the German forward and the ref sent him off with a straight red card.

Just before half-time Müller scored his second goal of the match when he took the ball off Bruno Alves in the box.  Bruno Alves was attempting to clear the ball from his box, but Müller got in the way and managed to fire a snap-shot to again beat the keeper (45 +1').

The match was essentially over at half-time with Portugal behind three goals and playing a man down.  Unfortunately for Portugal their troubles were not over.  Leftback Fabio Coentrão went down with a groin injury and had to be taken off on a stretcher.

Late in the game Müller scored a final goal to complete his hat-trick.  Substitue Andre Schurrle played a cross into the box that Portugese keeper Particio got a hand to.  Particio did not get any power on his attempted clearance though, and Müller easily scored the loose ball left in front of the net (78').

It is somewhat difficult to determine if Portugal was really that bad, or if Germany was just that good.  Portugal was already losing by two goals when Pepe was sent off, but perhaps they might have made some kind of comeback in the second-half if they still had eleven players.  Next for Portugal is the United States and I would expect one of two things to happen.  Either they use today's loss as an excuse to give up and play two more heartless matches, or come out with a chip on their shoulders and punish the United States.

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.

Özil, Deulofeu Score in Arsenal-Everton Draw

 1-1 

League leaders Arsenal were back at the Emirats Stadium today as Everton came for the last match in the fifteenth round of the Premier League.  The Gunners won their last three league matches while Everton have gone unbeaten since early October.

Shots were scarce in the first-half and fouls outnumbered the shots 13-8.  Possession was heavily in favor of Everton, but the better chances went to Arsenal.  Only two shots tested keeper Tim Howard and the first-half ended scoreless.

It was obvious Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was unhappy with his team as the second-half continued and he made all three changes at once replacing Cazorla, Ramsey, and Wilshere for Walcott, Rosicky, and Flamini with about twenty minutes remaining.

Everton boss Roberto Martínez also made changes to his squad, one proving to be an important change.  Just after Gerard Deulofeu entered the match Arsenal scored the first goal of the match.  Rosicky played a ball into the box that Walcott headed down for Giroud in front of goal.  Giroud completely whiffed his shot, but fortunately Mesut Özil was right behind him and finished from close range to break the dead-lock (80').

The late-goal was not a heart-breaker for Everton though, and the visitors responded moments later.  Substitute Deulofeu also benefited from a whiffed shot, Lukaku's attempted bike-kick, that set him up in front of goal.  Deulofeu did well to separate himself from defender Gibbs before scoring the equalizer (84').

The game ended in a 1-1 draw with each team earning one point.  Arsenal remain in first place and Everton stay just outside the top-four of the league standings.  Everton host Fulham next weekend while Arsenal travel to Italy for a Champions League match before a crucial league game at Manchester City.

Arsenal Keep Winning, Beat Southampton

 2-0 

The English Premier League returned this weekend after a week off for World Cup Qualifiers.  League leader Arsenal hosted a surprising third-place Southampton at the Emirates Stadium in London.  Earlier Liverpool and Everton ended the Merseyside Derby in a 3-3 draw giving Southampton a chance to take second place with a win.  However it was Arsenal that would take three points and stretch their lead in the table.

Southampton were pressing high up the pitch to pressure Arsenal's defense with their keeper often coming out to play sweeper.  On one occasion in the first-half keeper Artur Boruc was caught trying to do too much and had the ball stolen off him by Olivier Giroud.  Boruc had two chances to clear the ball, but instead he twice cut the ball back to his other foot and the Arsenal striker picked his pocket and scored easily (22').

Arsenal created more chances overall, but offsides were a problem for Giroud and Mesut Özil throughout the match.  Southampton struggled to create chances but saw good things from Jay Rodriguez and substitute Osvaldo, though the two could not find the equalizer.

Late in the match another mistake by the Southampton defense ensured Arsenal's victory.  José Fonte was caught pulling the jersey of Per Mertesacker during an Arsenal corner-kick.  Fonte was given a yellow card for the offense and a Penalty was awarded.  Giroud scored from the spot for his second goal of the match (86').

Arsenal remain the team to beat in the Premier League who sit on a four point cushion over Liverpool.  Up next the Gunners host Marseille in a Champions League matchup before playing Cardiff next weekend in Wales.  Southampton have another tough test ahead as they travel to Stanford Bridge to play Chelsea.

Aaron Ramsey and Arsenal Top Borussia Dortmund

 0-1 

Premier League leader Arsenal F.C. travelled to Germany for a Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund this evening.  The two clubs were at the top of their table, each with six points, heading into the match.  Dortmund won the previous meeting in London giving Arsenal the motivation for payback.

Through the first-half Dortmund were more threatening than the visitors with Neven Subotić and Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming the closest to scoring.  After half-time Dortmund turned up the pressure and had Arsenal scrambling to stop the constant attacks.

But just when it looked like Dortmund would score at any moment, Arsenal stole all the momentum with an unexpected goal.  Mesut Özil played a chipped cross to Olivier Giroud at the back-post and he kept the play alive by heading the ball back in front of goal.  Aaron Ramsey was in place and finished with a header to give Arsenal the lead (62').

Borussia Dortmund were stunned by the goal conceded and were less threatening as the match played out.  A number of costly offsides against Dortmund killed promising attacks and the substitutes brought into the match were ineffective.

Arsenal are now at the top their Champions League group as well as the Premier League table.  Two more matches remain in group play and Arsenal should be able to reach the knockout stage.  Borussia Dortmund have some catching up to do in the remaining group matches if they wish to return to the final for a second year in a row.

Arsenal Stretch League Lead, Beat Liverpool

 2-0 

First place Arsenal hosted second place Liverpool today with the latter looking to take over the top spot.  Liverpool came into the match two points behind Arsenal with a chance to overtake the Gunner if they could come away with a win.  It was not to be for the Reds, however, as the league leaders proved they deserve to be in first.

Santi Cazorla got Arsenal started with a header that came off the post.  The rebound fell right for him though, to give him a second chance.  Liverpool keeper Mignolet laid out trying to stop the initial header and when the follow-up volley from Cazorla again came his way, he could do nothing from the ground to stop the goal (19').

Following the goal, Arsenal had all the momentum and put pressure on the Liverpool back three.  Liverpool were not completely out of it, but Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge were slow to really get into the match.  After half-time Liverpool abandoned the 3-5-2 for the more common 4-4-2, and brought Philippe Coutinho into the match, but the changes did not slow down Arsenal.

Aaron Ramsey scored a second goal for Arsenal with a well struck half-volley.  Using one touch to settle the ball, Ramsey set himself up for a clean shot outside the 18 yard box (59').  Coutinho and Suarez came alive late in the match, but could not create the spark to get Liverpool back in the game.  Instead Arsenal, for the most part, continued to control possession and forced keeper Mignolet to stay active.

With the win Arsenal extend their lead in first place.  Chelsea also lost today 2-0 against Newcastle giving Arsenal a solid five point buffer over the Blues and the Reds in the Premier League standings.  Next weekend Arsenal will travel to Manchester for a game against United while Liverpool host Fulham.

Chelsea Knock Out Arsenal From Football League Cup

 0-2 

Cross-town English giants Arsenal and Chelsea squared off in a Capital One Football League Cup match today, the latter coming off a win against Manchester City just two days ago.  Not surprisingly Chelsea manager José Mourinho rested everyone used in the weekend match except defender Gary Cahill.  Similarly Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger sat all but three players from the weekend match.  The changes to Arsenal's line-up proved to be more costly than Chelsea's as the defense was not always on the same page.

For the second game in a row, Chelsea scored as a result of a bad header by an opposing defender to their keeper.  Chelsea defended an Arsenal corner-kick successfully and managed to break out on a counter-attack.  Carl Jenkinson attempted to play a header back to his keeper, but he did not get enough power on the ball and César Azpilicueta was ready to poke the ball in for Chelsea (25').

Mesut Özil and Olivier Giroud were inserted into Arsenal's line-up in the second-half, but could not produce a goal.  Instead Chelsea extended their lead thanks to Juan Mata.  With his first touch Mata settled the ball before ripping a shot from just outside the penalty box to beat the keeper (66').

This fourth round meeting knocks Arsenal out of the tournament.  The clubs have two Premier League meetings with both still serious contenders for league champions.  There is also still a chance Arsenal and Chelsea meet in the Champions League and you can bet Arsenal would love to return the favor.

Arsenal Two-Nil Over Napoli, Top Group

2-0

Arsenal had a convincing win against Swansea City over the weekend and the Gunners took that momentum into the Champions League match against Napoli.  The Italian club finished second in Serie A last season with Juventus winning the league.  Today Napoli travelled to London and were sporting interesting black and gray camouflage uniforms.

Arsenal got off to a hot start and scored twice in the first fifteen minutes.  Olivier Giroud helped Aaron Ramsey get forward with an overlap pass on the right side.  Ramsey then found Mesut Özil making a trailing run into the box.  Özil hit the shot first-time running on to the ball for the first early goal (8).

Özil then got behind the Napoli defense and setup Giroud in the box.  The pass came back across the goal from the end-line for Giroud who finished easily from close range (15').

Napoli prevented Arsenal from scoring further, but never found the quality on the attacking side.  Possession was heavily in Arsenal's favor and keeper Szczesny was only forced to make one save.  Arsenal's attack wasn't as threatening in the second-half either, but the two goal lead was more than enough for the home side.

Arsenal are on top of the Premier League and following today's win sit on top of their Champions League group.  It has been a great start for the Gunners, but there can be no slowing down if they hope to win either competition.