Advantage Chelsea as Liverpool mess it up

Liverpool let it go from their grasp and now face an uphill task at Stamford bridge. The Reds must score away to stand any chance of progressing to the finals. It was looking like another successful day in the office for Rafa in Champions League till the last few seconds.

The Blues took on the Reds at Anfield and had Lampard back in their lineup. Ferreira started in the right back position while Drogba was leading the attack which had Malouda and Cole on the wings. Liverpool started with a more settled team and Carragher partnered Skrtel in the central defence. Chelsea started off brightly in the opening few minutes and had more intensity in their play. Liverpool took time to settle and were under pressure from Chelsea. Liverpool then found their rhythm and started to move the ball better, Cole had an half chance while Kuyt could not control Alonso's ball to the box which was cleared. There were not many openings on either ends.

Gerrard was involved in a slick play with Torres and put the Spanish star through on goal but Cech saved the shot well. It was the first real chance of the game. Kuyt was lively and showed more desire and his hard work was rewarded when he dispossessed Lampard and he got into the box and shot past Cech to give Liverpool the lead just at the stroke of half time. It was a mistake from Lampard that cost Chelsea the goal and they needed to come out attacking in the second half.

In the second half Chelsea were more urgent but Liverpool were controlling the game with the lead on their side and Ferreira was having a horrible time against Babel whose runs were creating all sorts of problems for the Chelsea defence. Chelsea had a reprieve when Ballack appeared to have handled the ball in the box. And on 60minutes Aurelio was injured and replaced by Risse. Chelsea were pressing for the elusive away goal while Liverpool looked for the second that would give them a huge advantage going into the second leg. Lampard had a chance but Carragher's timely intervention denied him. Kalou and Anelka came on for Chelsea while Benayoun replaced Babel. Time was running out for Chelsea and in the injury time Cech again stopped a shot from Torres. And in the final minute Kalou crossed the ball into the box and Risse who was under pressure from Anelka headed the ball into his own net trying to clear it, the whole of Anfield went quiet but for the travelling fans.

Chelsea take a huge advantage going into the second leg. And Liverpool will feel unlucky as they played a good match. Rafa has a task on his hands considering the matches between these teams don't produce lots of goals. Advantage Chelsea.......

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1-0 Kuyt

1-1 Risse(Own Goal)

Torres one on one

First half Highlights

Second half Highlights

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Title favourites

Manchester United and Real Madrid took a step closer towards retaining their titles. Tevez scored a crucial late equaliser at Ewood park to keep the champions 3 points adrift of Chelsea prior to their clash at Stamford Bridge this weekend. Real Madrid continued their march beating Europe chasing Racing Santander. Captain Raul scored his 17th league goal of the season while Higuain sealed the win in stoppage time. Realmadrid now lead second placed Villarreal by 10 points and Barcelona are in third spot 11 points behind The Whites. Real have one hand on the trophy and could win the title the coming week.


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BLACKBURN ROVERS - MANCHESTER UNITED


1-0 Santa Cruz


1-1 Tevez

Highlights


RACING SANTANDER - REAL MADRID

0-1 Raul

0-2 Higuain

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Manchester United march towards the title as the Gunners challenge ends

Manchester United took a giant leap towards retaining their title with a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams. Manchester United knew it was a match that they couldn't afford to slip up while it was a must win game for Arsenal and even a draw would damage their lone title chance of the season. United brought back Ronaldo, Rooney and Scholes to the starting line up while Park was given a place in the 11 for his good show over the last few matches. Rio partnered Pique in the central defence with Brown and Evra as fullbacks. Arsenal had Song in the central defence and Gilberto on for injured Flamini. And Lehman replaced the Almunia.

Arsenal started the match strongly and put United on the back foot. Adebayor had some very good chances to give them the lead but the strikers poor run of late continued as he kept missing the chances he got. United's passing was left a lot to be desired with none of them able to pass the ball that well they had been doing all season. Arsenal were winning the second balls and threatened but Van Der Sar was there to deny them. Rooney had a one on one with Lehman but his shot was saved by Lehman. Hleb was running the show for the gunners with his pace troubling both Pique and Ferdinand. Ronaldo was involved a lot in the first half which clearly belonged to Arsenal.

In the second half Arsenal started as they did in the first half and they got the deserved lead when Van Persie crossed the ball from the left and Adebayor was there to head it in. Ferdinand was there but he left it to keeper who in turn thought the ball would be cleared. There was a doubt over the goal as it appeared the ball had brushed Adebayor's hand on it way. It would have interesting to see Sir Alex's reaction had United not won. And Arsenal pushed on and nearly got their second when Ferdinand's attempt to clear the ball nearly went in but Van Der Sar came to the rescue. And United hit back immediately when the got a penalty for a handball by Gallas. Ronaldo dispatched the penalty which was taken twice to bring United back into the game.

Tevez and Anderson came on for Scholes and Park and United were looking for their second and Arsenal were under pressure after losing their lead. Evra made forays into the box and Rooney had his shot saved. And on 72 minutes United won a free kick in a dangerous area for a foul on Evra. And it was lined up by Hargreaves and Ronaldo. As everyone was Ronaldo to take it Hargreaves stepped up and curled an Inch Perfect free kick into the back of the net. The keeper could only stand and watch as the kick was unstoppable.

The crowd was roaring and so were the players and United looked more organised after the second goal with their passing back to its best and Anderson was doing a fine job in covering the whole pitch. Evra had the measure of Walcott and he was not allowed any space. Bendtner came on and had a few good chances but it was Van Der Sar again who held fort. And in the final minutes United brought in Giggs for Hargreaves. United kept the ball very well in the last few minutes to deny any attacks by Arsenal and closed out the match.

Overall it was a good football match and United were much better in the second half while Arsenal would rue the chances missed in to first. The Red Devils are in a commanding position with a six point lead over Chelsea who play later today. And with only 4 games to go Manchester United look the favourites to retain their crown.

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0-1 Adebayor

1-1 Ronaldo(pen)

2-1 Hargreaves

Highlights

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Real move closer to the title as Villareal slip up

Realmadrid inched closer towards retaining the La Liga title with a 1-0 win over Murcia at the Bernebeu. Realmadrid were relaxed after seeing Barca fall further off the pace drawing 2-2 against Recreativo. So all the needed was a win to put real daylight between them and the chasing pack. Realmadrid rested Cannavaro with Pepe coming back to the starting line up and Robinho replaced Higuain while Torres came in for the suspended Sergio Ramos.

Murcia coach Clemente had earlier said that he would be parking a bus in front of the goal and just try to prevent Real from scoring. And Realmadrid started the match with lots of possession but there was no zip in their play. They lacked ideas and could not create any concrete chances. And Real suffered a setback when Torres was sent off for a tackle from behind. The decision to send the player was a dubious one as there was not enough in it to deserve a straight red card.Schuster did not change the strategy even when they were playing with 10 men. Though they were a player more Murcia still were not willing to go forward and Real kept looking for the elusive goal. Murcia had a great chance from a counter attack where they were 3 players against 2 Real defenders but Sneijder ran back 60 yards to make a great tackle and clear the danger. First half ended with the crowd clearly not happy with the referee who was showering cards.


The second half also had similar pattern of play with Murcia sitting back and defending while Real pressed forward and there were some chances for Robinho but he missed them. And after 58 minutes Murcia made a change while Real were taking a throw and Robben made a throw into the box and the ball was not properly cleared and Sneijder latched on to it and curled into the top corner to give Real the lead. The player who was substituted was the one marking Sneijder and before his replacement could get hold of him Sneijder smashed the ball into the net. Real then brought on Salgado for Robinho to stabilize their back four and Real then held on to their lead to secure a vital win. And their night was made sweeter as Villareal lost 1-0 to Almeria.

Realmadrid now have a commanding 9 point lead over Barcelona and with only six games remaining in the league they look the odds on favourites to win the Title.

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1-0 Sneijder

Redcard Torres

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Advantage Real as Barca draw

Barcelona took on Recreativo knowing that only a win would help them keep their title hopes alive and close the gap on leaders Realmadrid to 4 points. Barca were on a high as they had qualified for the Champions League semifinals. Recreativo is by no means an easy place to go as the home team has the habit of playing well against the top teams.

Barcelona welcomed back the influential Messi and they were hoping for a turn around in their La Liga fortunes. They got off to a dream start as Barca, from defending got the ball rolling forward and Eto'o headed them into lead after just 62 seconds on the clock. But the home side was level in a controversial fashion, Ruben headed the ball in which was collected by Valdes and the assistant referee adjudged that it had crossed the line. But the ball did not cross the line completely so it had to go down as a poor decision.

Eto'o then scored a scorcher in the second half to give the lead back to Barca while Messi came on as a substitute and looked lively. The hosts were fighting and they got their equaliser through Ruben who headed in his second goal of the game to earn a point. Barca once again failed to put any pressure on Realmadrid. They also would rue the fact that they couldn't win as they are chased by Villareal and may find themselves trailing the Yellow Submarines at the end of Sunday.

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0-1 Eto'o

1-1 Ruben

1-2 Eto'o

2-2 Ruben

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Super Sunday

Manchester United take on Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday knowing that a victory over their bitter rivals would put them a step closer to retaining the Premier League crown. Arsenal on the other hand have only the league title to fight for after crashing out of the Champions League earlier this week. The Red Devils were safely through to the semifinals of the Champions League after seeing off Roma at OT.

Coming into this match few injury concerns hamper both the sides, Arsenal sufferring more on the injury front. They already have Equardo out for at least an year, Rosicky has been ruled out for the season, Flamini and Sagna have joined the latest injury Bandwagon for the gunners who have seen their title hopes shaken up due to these injuries. Manchester United have their first choice central defensive pair struggling. Vidic is out of the game but Ferdinand is expected to start after completing the full game against Roma. And the good news for the Champions is that their captain Gary Neville is back after a 13 month lay off. Silvestre is also back and thus it increases the options in defence for Sir Alex. And it should be noted that "It was the defence that suffered the most due to injuries at the very same stage of the last season and United didn't have that many options then". And Sir Alex will be happy with the fact that he has lots of options now.

And the problem with the Gunners is that they were playing attractive football and were getting results in the earlier stages of this season, but once the players were injured those who came to replace them were not as good as them and they failed to get results which has been the reason for their slide. Their starting eleven is strong but their squad is not strong enough to cope with the lost players and couldn't get results with the alternative teams put out. Their striker Equardo's injury hit them badly. It was playing on every Arsenal players minds for quite sometime and they dropped points, losing the pole position.

Manchester United have a strong squad and they got results irrespective of the team put out. Its true that the team was rotated but none complained as results were coming unlike Rafa who got the stick for rotating players. That was because the players were not able to rise up to the challenge. United kept Ronaldo and Scholes under the wraps in the match against Roma and Rooney played only in the last 15min, so everyone is fresh for Sunday. It promises to be an cracker...........

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Barcelona - Manchester United Classic awaits us in Semifinals

Manchester United went into the second leg match against Roma with the Sunday's match against Arsenal on the back of their mind so Ronaldo, Rooney and Scholes were kept on the bench. Park, Tevez and Hargreaves took their places. United knew Roma had to do something to go through and the Italians were playing three upfront which opened up space in the wings for the Reds to go forward. Ferdinand started at CB with Pique partnering him. Silvestre was making his first appearance since injuring his ankle in the match against Everton earlier in the season.

Roma tried to get off the blocks as soon as possible and they had the first shot and after few minutes United were all over Roma, Hargreaves was simply uncatchable. He made all sorts of runs and none of the Rome defenders were able to pick him and he had two clear shots on goal, Doni had to be there to keep his team in the tie and Brown had a header going just above. So United had three genuine chances in the first 18minutes. Hargreaves was simply in sublime form after being given the license to go forward his crosses from the right were Pin perfect but what lacked was the finishing touch on it. Park, Tevez and Hargreaves were working really well with Carrick operating as holding player and Anderson in front of him. And just when one thought United would control the game, Brown gave away a penalty. Mancini was brought down inside the box, the replays showed the ball had been won clearly but Mancini's delayed dive earned him the spot kick. De Rossi stepped in and blasted it over, much to the relief of OT. Justice had been done as it was never a penalty. Roma started to dominate after that till the end of first half. United had a scare as Ferdinand was struggling with injury.

In the second half Rio started the match, much to the relief of Manutd fans. He needed three stitches to get him going and he never showed any sign of discomfort in the second half. Roma hit the field up and running in the second half and had some good chances. Juan had a header saved by Van Der Sar and Sliverstre came in blocked a shot by Taddei. United were threatening with Hargreaves again but the goal that could seal the tie never came. Cassetti was injured and had to be substituted with Tonetto. And just when all thought it could be one of those days for United were the ball just wouldn't go in, Hargreaves once again drove forward and crossed a ball that asked to be headed in. Tevez did just that bending low to head it across Doni to seal a place in Semifinals for the Reds.

And with 15minutes left to play O'shea and Rooney came on for Carrick and Giggs. And a thunderous reception awaited the club captain Gary Neville who was making his 99th appearance in Champions League. He had missed 63 Manutd matches in the 13 months he was injured. Every touch of his was cheered by the crowd, who clearly have missed him. United won 1-0 set up a dream clash with Barcelona, who beat Schalke 2-0 on aggregate. Neville and Scholes are set to make their 100th Champions League game at the Nou Camp. Its fitting for Scholes that he would be making his century at the very place he had missed the final 9 years ago due to suspension. A classic awaits us in the semifinals.

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1-0 - Tevez

Missed Penalty - De Rossi

Highlights

First Half

Second Half

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