Higuaín Scores Winner For Argentina, Belgium Done

 1-0 

Argentina faced Belgium today for the third quarter-final of the World Cup.  Both teams won in extra-time by a one goal margin; Argentina beating Switzerland 1-0 and Belgium beating the United States 2-1.  Against the United States Belgium were able to control possession and fire a birage of shots throughout the match.  However today against Argentina, Belgium struggled to get the offense clicking and only produced one shot on target.

Argentina scored early in the match thanks in part to some good fortune.  Di María intended to play a pass to Zabaleta making an overlap run, but the ball came off Vertonghen and deflected conveniently for Higuaín.  Taking the shot first-time out of the air, Higuaín scored the only goal of the first-half (8').

Argentina took a blow later in the half when Di María came out with an injury.  He took a shot that was blocked and came away holding his thigh.  He received some treatment and tried to continue, but quickly realized he was not fit.  Enzo Perez replaced Di María and Argentina's offense definitely lost a dimension.

Belgium made changes as the match went on and brought in Romelu Lukaku who was a positive substitute against the United States.  Argentina's defense held strong though and did not allow and clear chances for Belgium late in the game.

The Netherlands and Costa Rica play later today to determine who Argentina face in the semi-finals.  Costa Rica are the under-dogs, but teams from the Americas have been good this World Cup.

Messi Scores Two, Argentina Sweep Group F

 2-3 

Argentina were already guaranteed to advance out of group play having won their first two matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran.  Nigeria had a good chance to advance as well, needing a draw or some help by Bosnia-Herzegovina in the other match.

Messi was quick out of the gate today and scored in the opening minutes of the match.  A shot on goal by Angel Di Maria forced Nigerian keeper Enyeama to make a save and he got just enough on the ball to send the shot off the post.  The rebound off the post bounced in front of the net and Messi blasted the loose ball into the net (3').

Nigeria wasted no time in finding the equalizer and scored on the following kick-off.  Ahmed Musa found space in the Argentina box and curled a shot around defender Zabaleta and keeper Romero to pull even (4').

Just before half-time Argentina retook the lead on a free-kick by Messi.  Messi had one free-kick attempt earlier that was saved by the keeper, but he got a second chance from nearly the same spot.  With his second attempt, Messi successfully lifted the shot over the wall and got the dip on the shot to bring the ball back down under the crossbar (45 +1').

A goal right before half-time is often a morale killer, but Nigeria were not discouraged and quickly got another equalizer after the break.  Playing a give-and-go with Emmanuel Emenike, Musa again got in behind the Argentina defense and fired a shot to beat the keeper near-post (47').

Nigeria fell behind once more though during a set-piece for Argentina.  A corner-kick was sent into the box, but no one for Nigeria could clear the cross off the line.  This gave leftback Marcos Rojo the opportunity to attack the cross and he scored with a shot off his knee (50').

Nigeria could not come up with a third equalizer and Argentina claim their third win in three matches.  Fortunately for Nigeria today's loss does not hurt them.  Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Iran in the other Group F match meaning Nigeria still have enough points to reach the knock-out round.

Manchester City Breeze By West Bromwich

 3-1 

Manchester City hosted West Bromwich Albion today in a relatively easy fixture for the home team.  West Bromwich are floating around the relegation zone while City are trying to work back into the top spot in the Premier League table.  City came into the match in third place with two fewer games played than Liverpool and Chelsea, the first and second place teams respectively.  

Manchester City got on the board very quickly today when fullback Zabaleta pushed forward and benefited from a free shot by Agüero.  West Bromwich keeper Ben Foster blocked the initial shot by Agüero, but the rebound setup Zabaleta who scored with a diving header to take an early lead (3').

Soon after Agüero scored one on his own to extend the lead for City.  The West Bromwich defense could not close down the striker and Agüero was able to fire a shot from outside the penalty box into the far corner of the net (10').

West Bromwich got one goal back moments later on a well executed counter-attack.  Zabaleta lost possession to Liam Ridgewell who then play the ball forward to Sessegnon making a break.  Sessegnon picked out forward Vydra, then a final pass to Graham Dorrans led to the goal.  Dorrans did well to avoid Clichy inside the box and scored the only goal for West Brom against the scrambling City defense (16').

City managed to score one more goal in the first-half from a corner-kick to reestablish a two goal lead.  Nasri delivered the cross into the box and Kompany managed to get just a piece of the ball with a header to flick the ball on to Demichelis at the far-post.  Demichelis was left unmarked and scored an easy tap in for the final goal of the match (36').

The second-half was less eventful than the first as neither team were able to change the score.  The most crucial moment in the second-half came from an injury sustained by David Silva.  The midfielder came away from a challenge holding his ankle and had to be taken off on a stretcher.  We will have to wait and see how serious the injury is, but it could mean the end of the season for the Spanish international.  

Bayern Munich Bust, Manchester City Prevail

 2-3 

The final round of the group stage in the Champions League started today with Manchester City playing Bayern Munich in Germany.  Both clubs earned enough points to advance out of the group stage coming into today's match, with Bayern Munich winning the last five including the meeting with City back in October.  Manchester City won every other match played in the Group D and had a chance to take the top stop away from Bayern.

Two early goals for Bayern Munich gave the home side a huge advantage and set the game up for a total blow-out.  Thomas Müller scored the first goal when defender Dante played him behind City's back line with a long diagonal pass.  Müller brought the ball down with a great chest-trap before beating keeper Joe Hart (5').  Mario Götze then added a second goal minutes later when a deflected shot fell for him.  Replay showed he may have been just offsides, but the flag stayed down and he was able to finish from close-range (12').

Manchester City's fortunes got worse before they get better.  Starting right-back Micah Richards had an issue with his hamstring and had to be replaced by Zabalete after only fifteen minutes.  Zabaleta is usually preferred in the starting eleven, but manager Manuel Pellegrini had intended to save him for the big Premier League game with Arsenal.  In any case, Zabaleta was an improvement, and City took over the match.

The come-back started when David Silva was left unmarked on a late run into the box.  Jesus Navas initiated the play with a cross to James Milner at the back-post.  Milner could only head the ball back to middle, and Silva came running in late to score for City (28').

The visitors took the momentum into the second-half and out-played Bayern for the rest of the match.  Milner won a Penalty for Manchester City when Dante missed his tackle and took down the winger in the box.  Aleksandar Kolarov stepped up to take the Penalty and scored from the spot to tie the game (59').

Then moments later a terrible mistake by Bayern defender Jerome Boateng opened the door for City to take the lead.  A cross by Navas was rolled into the box and Boateng was in good position to clear the ball off the line.  However he completely whiffed on his attempt and the ball kept rolling right to Milner at the back-post.  Milner finished with a well struck curling shot to pull ahead and silence the home fans (62').

Bayern Munich could not muster a response equalizer and end a ten game Champions League winning streak.  The German club still win the group by goal-differential, but Manchester City get the payback.  Manchester United also qualified for the knockout stage today while Chelsea and Arsenal will play tomorrow to earn their spots.

Super Goal By Osvaldo Saves Southampton

 1-1

Manchester City had a three game winning streak going, while Southampton lost their last three Premier League matches.  Today Southampton hosted Man. City and did not look like a team that was on such a cold streak.  Their offense was dynamic and had a lot of touches in City's box all game.

Manchester City scored the early goal though, when Sergio Agüero found space in the penalty area.  Fullback Aleksander Kolarov got forward and rolled a cross into the box that the Southampton defense could not quite clear. Agüero was waiting and scored with a one-touch finish (10').

Southampton were aggressive and did not let the deficit  discourage their game plan.  Late in the first-half Pablo Daniel Osvaldo leveled the score with a superb individual effort.  All alone up front, Osvaldo beat Kompany then Zabaleta on the dribble before hitting a perfect curling shot to the upper-ninety (42').

In the second-half the match was wide open and by the end Southampton created more chances than Manchester City.  Neither side could score, however, and both teams take one point.  All-in-all both teams can be happy with the result as Southampton snap a losing streak and City get one point on the road.