Colchester 1 – 0 Ipswich Town

Considered a local derby although the sides have not faced each other in fifty years.

Colchester got an early goal (9^th minute) that managed to hold up as the lone goal of the match. Karl Duguld netted the goal off of a rebound by goal keeper Lewis Price.

Ipswich had a second half goal disallowed due to Jonathan Macken being ruled to have interfered with the goal keeper. It looked like a legitimate goal to me.

Ipswich came out after the break and played much better but just couldn’t get the equalizing goal.

~ Final Stats ~
Colchester 1 – 0 Ipswich
Shots (on goal): 12 (7) , 10 (5)
Fouls: 16 , 14
CKs: 4 , 4
Off-sides: 6 , 1
ToP: 53% , 47%
YC: 2 , 2
RC: 0 , 0
Saves: 9 , 11

Misc. Notes:
Colchester player Greg Halford’s throw-ins are loong, almost like corner kicks.

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday – 30 Sept 06

Bolton v Liverpool
Both sides have been playing well and are in sixth and seventh places in the table. After a few goalless games, Liverpool have netted five goals in the last two Premier League games.

Charlton v Arsenal
Athletic have lost three in a row and sit in the relegation zone. Arsenal, after a slow start, are playing better and have won two straight.

Chelsea v Aston Villa
Villa have yet to lose in the Premier League. Chelsea should test them, they have won four straight and sit atop the table.

Everton v Manchester City
City are coming off a win over West Ham. The Toffees have yet to lose but have drawn two straight.

Sheffield Utd v Middlesbrough
The Blades are at the bottom of the table and have yet to win this season. Boro have won just once this season and have not won in their last four matches.

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Sunday – 01 Oct 06

West Ham v Reading
The Hammers won their first game but have not won since. Newly promoted Reading sit in eigth place in the table and have not lost in their last three games (2 wins and a draw last week with Man Utd).

Blackburn v Wigan
The Rovers have won two straight. Wigan have drawn two straight.

Manchester Utd v Newcastle Utd
Man Utd started the season with four wins but have not won since (a loss and a draw). The Magpies have won just twice but have not won in their last two matches (also a loss and a draw).

Tottenham v Portsmouth
The Spurs sit just out of the relegation zone with just one win this season. Portsmouth were in first place until last week’s loss dropped them to third place in the table.

Inter Milan 0 – 2 Bayern Munich

Champions League, group phase
(match played Sept. 27, 2006)

A sloppy match that saw two Inter players sent off.

In the first half Luis Figo was really trying but he even looked awkward. Crespo had few touches. Adriano didn’t start.

Munich’s first goal came late – 81^st minute and it was sloppy as well. Play in front of goal saw players go to the ground (including GK Julio César for some reason) and Claudio Pizarro struck the ball off of his shin as he fell and it managed to find its way into the net.

The second goal came in stoppage time. Inter gave up ball in mid-field, the Munich player passed to Lukas Podolski who went in alone on Julio César who came out off his line and again went to ground early. Podolski then easily stepped around the goal keeper and put the ball in net.

Inter have lost their first two Champions League matches.

Sent Off for Inter
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, minute 58.
Fabio Grosso, minute 85.

Arsenal 2 – 0 FC Porto

Champions League, Group Phase
(Match played Sept. 26, 2006)

This wasn’t a game filled with a lot of quick counter attacks, it was more of a ball control game and the Gunners controlled the ball the most. At times Porto had possession for extended times but there were few serious threats to score.

Gunner Goals
38^th Minute – Thierry Henry header from Emmanuel Eboue who served the ball from the right hand wing. Henry was at the back post and headed a bouncer past the goal keeper.

48^th Minute – Alexander Hleb from William Gallas and Thierry Henry. This was a more typical Arsenal goal, the three of them were running down the field in a line. Gallas was on the left wing and he passed it square to Henry as they approached the penalty area, Henry then quickly passed it (also square) to Hleb who shot and scored.

Robin Van Persie had a good game but missed an open shot early in the game on a nice pass from Thierry Henry – you might say the Gunner misfired.

EPL: Weekend Results

Saturday – 23 Sept. 06

Liverpool 3 – 0 Tottenham
The Spurs are off to a bad start – just 2 goals scored in 6 games played.

Aston Villa 2 – 0 Charlton
Gabriel Agbonlahor and Luke Moore net goals for the Villains, who are perfect at home this season.

Arsenal 3 – 0 Sheffield Utd
The Gunner’s first win in their new stadium.

Fulham 0 – 2 Chelsea
Lampard brace gets the three points for the Blues.

Middlesbrough 0 – 1 Blackburn
Shabani Nonda scores the only goal of the match for the Rovers.

Manchester City 2 – 0 West Ham Utd
Georgios Samaras nets a brace for City.

Wigan 1 – 1 Watford
Newly promoted Watford draw Wigan who are in their second season in the Premier League.

Reading 1 – 1 Manchester Utd
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second half goal gets the draw for Man Utd against newly promoted Reading.

Sunday – 24 Sept. 06

Newcastle 1 – 1 Everton
Shola Ameobi netted a goal for the Magpies and Tim Cahill scored for the Toffees, both goals were in the first half. Six yellow cards and 2 red cards were handed out.

English Premier League Standings

Top Five

1. Chelsea, 15 pts.
2. Portsmouth, 13 pts.
3. Manchester United, 13 pts.
4. Everton, 12 pts.
5. Aston Villa, 12 pts.

Bottom Five

16. Middlesbrough, 5 pts.
17. Tottenham, 4 pts.
18. Watford, 3 pts.
19. Charlton, 3 pts.
20. Sheffield United, 2 pts.

Match This Week

Portsmouth v Bolton
Monday Sept. 25, 2006.

Liverpool 3 – 0 Tottenham

The first half was largely boring, the second half was all Liverpool.

The Reds picked up their play in the later stages of the first half. In the 35^th minute a corner kick was struck off the post (by Kuyt?) and then Mohamed Sissoko shot the ball wide of the goal. Then for a short time the Reds maintained some pressure with a bit of controversy as Craig Bellamy went down in the Spurs’ penalty area. However the half ended without any goals being netted.

During the first 15 minutes or so of the second half, Liverpool slowly gained control of the match. The Spurs only threat was a cross from Edgar Davids to Jermaine Jenas whose right-footed shot went just wide of the goal post. Shortly afterwards in the 63^rd minute Mark Gonzalez scored for the Reds after a Craig Bellamy shot rebounded off the post. Roughly ten minutes later Dirk Kuyt added to Liverpool’s lead with a right-footed shot from just inside the right side of the penalty area. John Arne Riise would really put the game away in the 89^th minute with a goal from 35 yards out.

This was Tottenham’s biggest loss at Anfield in nine years (so the commentators said).

Technorati Profile

Fulham 0 – 2 Chelsea

A brace by Frank Lampard in the second half earns Chelsea the three points.

The first half didn’t start out well for Lampard who was off target on a free kick in the 6^th minute. The remainder of the half was characterized by little quality play with no real sustained pressure either by side.

The second half opened up with the same up-and-down the field action but with more pace than in the first half. After ten minutes or so play became better. Chelsea player Didier Drogba had a header off of a corner kick that Antti Niemi handled, and Fulham player Papa Bouba Diop also had a good header opportunity off a free kick (his poor footing ruined it).

Lampard’s Brace
73′ Penalty Kick (Leroy Rosenior handball).
80′ from the D.

EPL: Weekend Match-ups

Saturday – 23 Sept. 06

Liverpool v Tottenham
Neither side has played well of late, but the Reds did beat Newcastle mid-week.

Aston Villa v Charlton
Villa on 2 straight draws, Charlton on 2 straight losses.

Arsenal v Sheffield Utd
Newly promoted Sheffield travel to the Gunner’s new stadium. Henry and Van Persie likely to return.

Fulham v Chelsea
The Cottagers face a London club for the second straight week (last week was a draw with Spurs). Chelsea have won three straight.

Middlesbrough v Blackburn
The Rovers won their first game last week, Boro have drawn two straight.

Manchester City v West Ham Utd
Both sides have just one win each and are coming off a loss.

Wigan v Watford
Watford have yet to win, Wigan’s only win was over newly promoted Reading.

Reading v Manchester Utd
The Royals have won three matches so far but this will be a real test for the newly promoted side. Man Utd are coming off their first loss of the season (to Arsenal).

Sunday – 24 Sept. 06

Newcastle v Everton
Everton sit in forth place in the table and the Magpies are mid-table with 2 wins and 3 losses.

Liverpool 2 – 0 Newcastle Utd

(match played Wed. Sept. 20, 2006)

This match was basically one that only a Liverpool fan could like. The Reds weren’t ever in much danger of losing yet they couldn’t really put the game away.

Everyone is talking about Xabi Alonso’s late goal (80^th minute) from mid-field (the goal keeper stumbled) – chicks dig the long ball. It’s kind of a shame because it is over shadowing Dirk Kuyt’s goal in the 29^th minute, which was a team goal (Xabi Alonso and Steve Finnan passes set it up) not a show-boat goal (his own coach says he should have passed the ball instead of shooting).

Sanz Luis Garcia had a good match for Liverpool, he spread the ball around well and had a few shots of his own.

On the Magpies side, Duff and Martins created few scoring chances.

Carling Cup – Round 2

19 & 20 September 2006

Upsets
Fulham 1-2 Wycombe
Middlesbrough 0-1 Notts County
Chesterfield 2-1 Manchester City
Crewe Alex 2-0 Wigan
- note: Wigan were finalists last season.
Port Vale 3-2 QPR
Barnsley 1-2 MK Dons

Premier League Winners
Charlton 1-0 Carlisle Utd
Mansfield 1-2 Portsmouth
Peterborough 1-2 Everton
Reading 3-3 Darlington
- Reading won 4-2 on pens
Sheffield Utd 1-0 Bury
Watford 0-0 Accrington Stanley
- Watford won 6-5 on penalties
Scunthorpe 1-2 Aston Villa

As Expected
Leeds Utd 3-1 Barnet
Birmingham 4-0 Wrexham
Millwall 0-4 Southampton
Hereford Utd 1-3 Leicester
Hull City 0-0 Hartlepool Utd
- Hull won 3-2 on pens
Brentford 0-3 Luton Town