The Champions League is back and the road to the Allianz Arena, Munich began yesterday as the 'blue' groups (television purposes) played their opening group fixtures. Half of which ended in draws:
Group E: Chelsea kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkuesen at Stamford Bridge. David Luiz started his first game of the season after an injury and scored the opener after 67 minutes. Juan Mata played in last year's campaign with Valencia and kicked off his European career at Chelsea with the second goal in injury time. Genk drew 0-0 at home to Valencia.
Group F: Arsenal's stuttering start to the season continued as they could manage a draw away to the German champions Borussia Dortmund. Robin Van Persie gave Arsenal the lead three minutes before half-time but it was cancelled out by a fantastic free-kick by substitute Ivan Perisic two minutes from the end. Arsenal gave Arteta, Mertesacker and Benayoun their European debuts whereas fellow new signing Andre Santos made an appearance later on in the game.
Olympique Marseille kicked their campaign off with a win away at Olympiacos. Lucho Gonzalez scored the only goal of the game six minutes into the second half. Rod Fanni only lasted eight minutes as the Marseille substitute was shown a straight red in injury time.
Group G: The shock of the night came from Cyprus as Apoel Nicosia beat Zenit St. Petersburg in their G S Pancypria stadium. Konstantin Zyryanov actually gave Zenit the lead three minutes after the hour mark. Apoel equalised through Jorge Manduca after 73 minutes before Ailton made it 2-1 just two minutes later. Zenit were the reduced to ten men with fourteen minutes remaining when Dani Alves was shown a second yellow card.
Europa League Champions, Porto, started their Champions League campaign by beating nine men Shakhtar Donetsk. Adriano had given Donetsk the lead after thirteen minutes but Hulk equalised for Porto after 28 minutes. Then Yaroslav Rakitskiy became the first player to be sent off in this year's tournament five minutes before half-time. Porto took full advantage with Pinheiro Kleber making it 2-1 for Porto six minutes into the second half. Donetsk were reduced to nine when Dmytro Chygrynskiy received a second yellow card ten minutes before the end.
Group H: This group had the both the most alluring tie and the poorest sounding tie of the night. Defending Champions Barcelona hosted AC Milan in the most alluring tie of the night. Alexandre Pato gave Milan the lead inside the first minute but Barca regained composure before Pedro equalised nine minutes before half-time. David Villa then gave Barcelona the lead five minutes after the restart leaving Milan the require a last minute equaliser from Thiago Silva to rescue the point.
The poorest sounding tie of the night saw Viktoria Plzen take on BATE Borisov in Czech Republic. Plzen took the lead through Marek Bakos in first half injury time. BATE equalised through Renan Bressan after 69 minutes to earn a point against the Champions League debutantes, plus it will be the only time both Plzen and BATE can say they've earned as many points as Barcelona and AC Milan in European competition.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
WBA Earn First Win, Draw at the Cottage and Barton Gets a Warm Reception
Super Sunday returned this weekend as West Brom faced Norwich and Fulham hosted Blackburn. There was also Monday Night Football as Joey Barton returned to St. James' Park with his new side QPR. The match at Carrow Road was decided after just three minutes when a defensive mistake allowed Peter Odemwingie to score after just three minutes. It was a tight affair and Norwich battled to hard to try and find an equaliser. But West Brom could have wrapped it up when Steve Morison was adjudged to have fouled Steven Reid, Odemwingie stepped up to convert the penalty but it was a poor one and Declan Rudd saved it. The flash point in the match came in stoppage time when Gabriel Tamas elbowed Norwich substitute James Vaughan in the box, the referee clearly didn't see it and play continued while Vaughan had to be treated for blood. Tamas has been given a three match ban by the FA for violent conduct but West Brom still take their first win of the season.
Fulham met Blackburn in the second installment of Super Sunday. With Blackburn yet to earn a point this season, they really needed to get a result here. They started off well and took the lead through Ruben Rochina after thirty-two minutes. This was cancelled out though six minutes later when Bobby Zamora equalised to give Fulham a point. Neither team was won a match in the league so far this season which isn't a good sign for either of the two clubs.
QPR made a statement on this week's Monday Night Football by instantly giving new boy Joey Barton the captain's armband against his former employers. It didn't really do enough to stoke the fire as the Newcastle fans applauded their one-time hero throughout the match. The game petered out into a 0-0 scoreline. This means that QPR are yet to score after their first two away games, whereas Newcastle have earned eight points from their first four games.
Fulham met Blackburn in the second installment of Super Sunday. With Blackburn yet to earn a point this season, they really needed to get a result here. They started off well and took the lead through Ruben Rochina after thirty-two minutes. This was cancelled out though six minutes later when Bobby Zamora equalised to give Fulham a point. Neither team was won a match in the league so far this season which isn't a good sign for either of the two clubs.
QPR made a statement on this week's Monday Night Football by instantly giving new boy Joey Barton the captain's armband against his former employers. It didn't really do enough to stoke the fire as the Newcastle fans applauded their one-time hero throughout the match. The game petered out into a 0-0 scoreline. This means that QPR are yet to score after their first two away games, whereas Newcastle have earned eight points from their first four games.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Hancock Has It
Greg 'Herbie' Hancock is now just one round away from securing the Speedway GP Championship after winning round nine in Vojens, Denmark. Hancock won six of his seven rides, including the final, to earn another twenty-two points, taking his tally to 139 which is thirty-one points ahead of second placed Jaroslaw Hampel.
Jason Crump and Andreas Jonsson both move ahead of Thomasz Gollob in the overall standings after the reigning Champion once again looked to have given up for this season, accumulating a mere five points. Crump came second in the final with fellow Australian, Holder, in third and Freddie Lindgren fourth.
Hancock won his semi-final with Holder second ahead of third placed Nicky Pedersen and fourth placed Emil Sayfutdinov. The other semi-final was won by Crump with Lindgren second, Kenneth Bjerre finished third and the biggest shock saw Laguta progress to the semis but finished fourth. Laguta's highest points tally in one meeting was seven before Vojens, his second highest was two, but he showed us why he qualified for this year's GP series and accumulated nine points.
There was drama in the opening heat of the night when Holta hit the floor, he was able to get back up and move off the track to allow the heat to continue. Linback won the heat ahead of Jonsson and Gollob. Hancock won his opening heat after a restart due to Nicky Pedersen causing the wildcard Bjarne Pedersen to fall and was subsequently disqualified. Kenneth Bjerre was impressive during the heats and won heat three ahead of Hampel, Laguta and Harris. Holder took heat four ahead of Lindgren, Crump and Kolodziej.
Hancock made it two heats from two in the fifth heat with Gollob bringing up the rear. Andreas Jonsson won heat six with Sayfutdinov making it back to back second places. Nicky Pedersen came back from his disqualification to win heat seven and Hampel kept the pace with Hancock by winning heat eight ahead of Crump.
Bjerre won his second heat of the night in heat nine with Gollob again finishing fourth, Crump finished second for the second consecutive heat. Hampel made it to wins in a row with Hancock finishing third, meaning Hampel lead Hancock in the meeting at this stage. Laguta continued to impress in this meeting and won heat eleven. Nicky Pedersen also made it two wins in a row by winning heat twelve.
Gollob looked to have turned his night around with a win in heat thirteen, Hampel finished fourth to leave the door wide open for Hancock. Bjerre won his third heat of the night in heat fourteen and Hancock followed suite in heat fifteen to move ahead of Hampel on the night. Lindgren took heat sixteen with Laguta in second.
Chris Harris had had a miserable night taking just two points from his first four rides, but he ended the night on a high with a win in heat seventeen, Gollob ended the night third to end his miserable outing. Crump won his only heat of the night after originally false starting, causing a restart and Laguta finished second. Sayfutdinov won his only heat of the night in heat nineteen to book his place in the semis, Hampel finished fourth to fail to qualify for the semis and virtually give the title to Hancock. The American made all the more certain by winning the twentieth heat.
Hancock won the meeting and took the most points, Crump came second with seventeen points. Despite not making the final, Bjerre earned thirteen points as did Lindgren. Holder finished with eleven points with Nicky Pedersen on ten and Laguta and Sayfutdinov both picked up nine points. Gollob ended the night with five points and Hampel had eight.
This means that with two meetings left, Hancock has that thirty-one point lead over Hampel and can secure the Championship in the penultimate meeting in Croatia. Hampel has 108 points with Jonsson also hitting the century mark in third. Crump is on 96 while Gollob has slipped to fifth on 93. Holder and Sayftudinov are on 88 with Bjerre on 85 all looking to qualify for next year's GP series.
Jason Crump and Andreas Jonsson both move ahead of Thomasz Gollob in the overall standings after the reigning Champion once again looked to have given up for this season, accumulating a mere five points. Crump came second in the final with fellow Australian, Holder, in third and Freddie Lindgren fourth.
Hancock won his semi-final with Holder second ahead of third placed Nicky Pedersen and fourth placed Emil Sayfutdinov. The other semi-final was won by Crump with Lindgren second, Kenneth Bjerre finished third and the biggest shock saw Laguta progress to the semis but finished fourth. Laguta's highest points tally in one meeting was seven before Vojens, his second highest was two, but he showed us why he qualified for this year's GP series and accumulated nine points.
There was drama in the opening heat of the night when Holta hit the floor, he was able to get back up and move off the track to allow the heat to continue. Linback won the heat ahead of Jonsson and Gollob. Hancock won his opening heat after a restart due to Nicky Pedersen causing the wildcard Bjarne Pedersen to fall and was subsequently disqualified. Kenneth Bjerre was impressive during the heats and won heat three ahead of Hampel, Laguta and Harris. Holder took heat four ahead of Lindgren, Crump and Kolodziej.
Hancock made it two heats from two in the fifth heat with Gollob bringing up the rear. Andreas Jonsson won heat six with Sayfutdinov making it back to back second places. Nicky Pedersen came back from his disqualification to win heat seven and Hampel kept the pace with Hancock by winning heat eight ahead of Crump.
Bjerre won his second heat of the night in heat nine with Gollob again finishing fourth, Crump finished second for the second consecutive heat. Hampel made it to wins in a row with Hancock finishing third, meaning Hampel lead Hancock in the meeting at this stage. Laguta continued to impress in this meeting and won heat eleven. Nicky Pedersen also made it two wins in a row by winning heat twelve.
Gollob looked to have turned his night around with a win in heat thirteen, Hampel finished fourth to leave the door wide open for Hancock. Bjerre won his third heat of the night in heat fourteen and Hancock followed suite in heat fifteen to move ahead of Hampel on the night. Lindgren took heat sixteen with Laguta in second.
Chris Harris had had a miserable night taking just two points from his first four rides, but he ended the night on a high with a win in heat seventeen, Gollob ended the night third to end his miserable outing. Crump won his only heat of the night after originally false starting, causing a restart and Laguta finished second. Sayfutdinov won his only heat of the night in heat nineteen to book his place in the semis, Hampel finished fourth to fail to qualify for the semis and virtually give the title to Hancock. The American made all the more certain by winning the twentieth heat.
Hancock won the meeting and took the most points, Crump came second with seventeen points. Despite not making the final, Bjerre earned thirteen points as did Lindgren. Holder finished with eleven points with Nicky Pedersen on ten and Laguta and Sayfutdinov both picked up nine points. Gollob ended the night with five points and Hampel had eight.
This means that with two meetings left, Hancock has that thirty-one point lead over Hampel and can secure the Championship in the penultimate meeting in Croatia. Hampel has 108 points with Jonsson also hitting the century mark in third. Crump is on 96 while Gollob has slipped to fifth on 93. Holder and Sayftudinov are on 88 with Bjerre on 85 all looking to qualify for next year's GP series.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Forget Vettel, The Rest Is Exhilarating
Did Sebastian Vettel win today's Monza Grand Prix? Yes. Has Sebastian Vettel won the driver's championship? More than likely. Is Formula One still worth watching this season? Absolutely. Why? Because the rest of the field produced an entertaining race full of incident and battles.
The start was unbelievable enough, Daniel Ricciardo had stalled on the starting grid but was somehow allowed to continue the race numerous laps later. Alonso also overtook Vettel to take the lead going into the first corner and Michael Schumacher had moved up to third. But the big drama came in the shape of Hispania's Liuzzi who ended up going onto the grass during the starting straight and span sideways into Petrov, Rosberg, D'Ambrosio and Barrichello. All but Barrichello were out of the race and Kobayashi had also suffered damage to his front wing in another incident before the Safety Car was released.
The Safety Car came in on lap four and a lap later Vettel had virtually won the race after overtaking Alonso. Webber clashed with Massa on the same lap, causing the Red Bull to lose the front wing. Unfortunately for Webber, the front wing was stuck underneath the car which caused the front wheels to lock and the car contacted the barrier, becoming the fifth retiree in just six laps. Adrian Sutil was the next to retire on lap eleven.
One of the best battles of the day was between Hamilton and Schumacher in a great duel of minds. The McLaren Mercedes had the DRS when in the activation zones but the Mercedes engine was set up for ultimate down force speeds, making Schumacher faster on every straight. The battle was nearly cut prematurely when Hamilton looked to have overtaken Schumacher on lap thirteen but the speed of the Mercedes allowed Schumacher to reverse it and remain third.
Jenson Button played the silent assassin during this battle in fifth place. Hamilton tried another overtaking move but ended up slightly on the grass on lap sixteen. This allowed to Button to sneak in and pass his teammate before then overtaking Schumacher with the minimum of fuss. Schumacher pitted that lap, leaving the McLarens to gain some ground. Button pitted a lap later and suffered no ill effects but Hamilton pitted another lap later and found himself behind Schumacher yet again, allowing the intriguing battle to head into round two.
Lap twenty-four saw Kobayashi retire due to a gearbox failure and his teammate Perez suffered the same problem ten laps later. The battle between Hamilton and Schuamcher lasted for another nine laps before Hamilton finally over-took Schumacher on lap twenty-eight to earn fourth place. The other action at the top saw Button overtake Alonso for second but there were still plenty of battles in the middle order; Maldonado and Alguersuari had a battle for seventh at one stage whereas Senna and Buemi nealry contacted during their battle for ninth and tenth. Just a couple of reasons why, despite Vettel's obvious championship win, Formula One is still a sport to be watching with intent. Race result:
1.Vettel (Red Bull), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Alonso (Ferrari), 4.Hamilton (McLaren), 5.Schumacher (Mercedes), 6.Massa (Ferrari), 7.Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 8.Di Resta (Force India), 9.Senna (Renault), 10.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 11.Maldonado (Williams), 12.Barrichello (Williams), 13.Kovalainen (Lotus), 14.Trulli (Lotus), 15.Glock (Virgin) Not Classified: Ricciardo (Hispania) DNF: Liuzzi (Hispania), Petrov (Renault), Rosberg (Mercedes), D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Webber (Red Bull), Sutil (Force India), Kobayashi (Sauber) Perez (Sauber)
The start was unbelievable enough, Daniel Ricciardo had stalled on the starting grid but was somehow allowed to continue the race numerous laps later. Alonso also overtook Vettel to take the lead going into the first corner and Michael Schumacher had moved up to third. But the big drama came in the shape of Hispania's Liuzzi who ended up going onto the grass during the starting straight and span sideways into Petrov, Rosberg, D'Ambrosio and Barrichello. All but Barrichello were out of the race and Kobayashi had also suffered damage to his front wing in another incident before the Safety Car was released.
The Safety Car came in on lap four and a lap later Vettel had virtually won the race after overtaking Alonso. Webber clashed with Massa on the same lap, causing the Red Bull to lose the front wing. Unfortunately for Webber, the front wing was stuck underneath the car which caused the front wheels to lock and the car contacted the barrier, becoming the fifth retiree in just six laps. Adrian Sutil was the next to retire on lap eleven.
One of the best battles of the day was between Hamilton and Schumacher in a great duel of minds. The McLaren Mercedes had the DRS when in the activation zones but the Mercedes engine was set up for ultimate down force speeds, making Schumacher faster on every straight. The battle was nearly cut prematurely when Hamilton looked to have overtaken Schumacher on lap thirteen but the speed of the Mercedes allowed Schumacher to reverse it and remain third.
Jenson Button played the silent assassin during this battle in fifth place. Hamilton tried another overtaking move but ended up slightly on the grass on lap sixteen. This allowed to Button to sneak in and pass his teammate before then overtaking Schumacher with the minimum of fuss. Schumacher pitted that lap, leaving the McLarens to gain some ground. Button pitted a lap later and suffered no ill effects but Hamilton pitted another lap later and found himself behind Schumacher yet again, allowing the intriguing battle to head into round two.
Lap twenty-four saw Kobayashi retire due to a gearbox failure and his teammate Perez suffered the same problem ten laps later. The battle between Hamilton and Schuamcher lasted for another nine laps before Hamilton finally over-took Schumacher on lap twenty-eight to earn fourth place. The other action at the top saw Button overtake Alonso for second but there were still plenty of battles in the middle order; Maldonado and Alguersuari had a battle for seventh at one stage whereas Senna and Buemi nealry contacted during their battle for ninth and tenth. Just a couple of reasons why, despite Vettel's obvious championship win, Formula One is still a sport to be watching with intent. Race result:
1.Vettel (Red Bull), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Alonso (Ferrari), 4.Hamilton (McLaren), 5.Schumacher (Mercedes), 6.Massa (Ferrari), 7.Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 8.Di Resta (Force India), 9.Senna (Renault), 10.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 11.Maldonado (Williams), 12.Barrichello (Williams), 13.Kovalainen (Lotus), 14.Trulli (Lotus), 15.Glock (Virgin) Not Classified: Ricciardo (Hispania) DNF: Liuzzi (Hispania), Petrov (Renault), Rosberg (Mercedes), D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Webber (Red Bull), Sutil (Force India), Kobayashi (Sauber) Perez (Sauber)
PL Round-Up 10/09/11
Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea: Chelsea remain unbeaten despite not looking at their sharpest. Torres started on the bench and with Drogba out, Sturridge was able to make his first start of the season. Chelsea took the lead after eighteen minutes when a corner wasn't cleared, it fell to Terry who smashed it home, with a little help from a Sunderland defender. Sturridge then made it 2-0 six minutes into the second half with an audacious touch past Mignolet and Brown couldn't prevent it from trickling into the net. Sunderland did pull one back through debutante Ji Dong-Won in injury time but Chelsea go to ten points from four games.
Arsenal 1-0 Swansea: Arsenal secured their first win of the season after some good business on transfer deadline day. But it was one of Arsenal's senior players who scored the winner in fortunate circumstances. Swansea keeper Vorm had hold of the ball and ran to throw it to a defender, instead the throw hit the legs of the nearest defender in calamitous fashion before falling to Arshavin and the Russian tapped home five minutes before half-time. Swansea had chances to equalise but they are still yet to score in the Premiership.
Manchester City 3-0 Wigan: Man City went top of the table for a couple of hours with another convincing win, this time over Wigan. Dzeko had scored six goals so far this season but somehow started on the bench as Tevez was brought back into the squad. But it was Aguero who grabbed the headlines with a hat-trick, his first coming on thirteen minutes. City were then given a penalty when Lopez fouled Silva but Tevez produced a simply awful penalty which Al-Habsi easily saved. Nasri came on for Tevez in the second half and made immediate impact as he set up Aguero for his second after sixty-three minutes. Aguero scored his third just five minutes later after a Silva run created the path for Aguero to score.
Stoke 1-0 Liverpool: Stoke remain unbeaten after a hard fought victory against Liverpool. The only goal of the game came from the penalty spot when Walters threw himself to the ground, but he was being held by Carragher. Walters took the penalty and slotted home after twenty-one minutes. Liverpool had numerous chances to equalise including Suarez missing a open target. They did have a penalty shout twice turned down, the first one came in the first half when the ball struck Delap's hand. His hand was out but it was too close for him to move it, although it was still a dangerous thing to do. The second came in second half injury time when Suarez hit the arm of the sliding Upson and again the defender couldn't get out of the way and the penalty was correctly not given.
Wolves 0-2 Tottenham: Tottenham secured their first win of the season with both Parker and Adebayor making their debuts. The two debutantes linked up with Adebayor putting Spurs ahead after sixty-eight minutes. Defoe wrapped the game up ten minutes from time to stop Wolves' decent start to the season.
Everton 2-2 Aston Villa: Everton fans protested before this match about the lack of funds going into the club after their minimal appearance in the transfer window. But it was Everton who took the lead via Osman after nineteen minutes. Petrov equalised after sixty-three minutes with a screamer into the bottom corner. But Everton again took the lead six minutes later when Delph stupidly climbed over Osman and conceded a penalty, Baines stepped up and converted. Villa equalised again seven minutes from time with Agbonlahor retaining Villa's unbeaten run.
Arsenal 1-0 Swansea: Arsenal secured their first win of the season after some good business on transfer deadline day. But it was one of Arsenal's senior players who scored the winner in fortunate circumstances. Swansea keeper Vorm had hold of the ball and ran to throw it to a defender, instead the throw hit the legs of the nearest defender in calamitous fashion before falling to Arshavin and the Russian tapped home five minutes before half-time. Swansea had chances to equalise but they are still yet to score in the Premiership.
Manchester City 3-0 Wigan: Man City went top of the table for a couple of hours with another convincing win, this time over Wigan. Dzeko had scored six goals so far this season but somehow started on the bench as Tevez was brought back into the squad. But it was Aguero who grabbed the headlines with a hat-trick, his first coming on thirteen minutes. City were then given a penalty when Lopez fouled Silva but Tevez produced a simply awful penalty which Al-Habsi easily saved. Nasri came on for Tevez in the second half and made immediate impact as he set up Aguero for his second after sixty-three minutes. Aguero scored his third just five minutes later after a Silva run created the path for Aguero to score.
Stoke 1-0 Liverpool: Stoke remain unbeaten after a hard fought victory against Liverpool. The only goal of the game came from the penalty spot when Walters threw himself to the ground, but he was being held by Carragher. Walters took the penalty and slotted home after twenty-one minutes. Liverpool had numerous chances to equalise including Suarez missing a open target. They did have a penalty shout twice turned down, the first one came in the first half when the ball struck Delap's hand. His hand was out but it was too close for him to move it, although it was still a dangerous thing to do. The second came in second half injury time when Suarez hit the arm of the sliding Upson and again the defender couldn't get out of the way and the penalty was correctly not given.
Wolves 0-2 Tottenham: Tottenham secured their first win of the season with both Parker and Adebayor making their debuts. The two debutantes linked up with Adebayor putting Spurs ahead after sixty-eight minutes. Defoe wrapped the game up ten minutes from time to stop Wolves' decent start to the season.
Everton 2-2 Aston Villa: Everton fans protested before this match about the lack of funds going into the club after their minimal appearance in the transfer window. But it was Everton who took the lead via Osman after nineteen minutes. Petrov equalised after sixty-three minutes with a screamer into the bottom corner. But Everton again took the lead six minutes later when Delph stupidly climbed over Osman and conceded a penalty, Baines stepped up and converted. Villa equalised again seven minutes from time with Agbonlahor retaining Villa's unbeaten run.
Two Hat-Tricks In A Roo
Bolton line-up: Jaaskelainen, Robinson, Boyata, Knight, Cahill, Reo-Coker, Eagles (Pratley, 60'), M.Davies, K.Davies (c) (Ngog, 65'), Klasnic (Tuncay, 74'), Petrov
Manchester United line-up: De Gea, Jones, Ferdinand, Evans (Smalling, 60'), Evra (c), Nani, Anderson, Cleverley (Carrick, 5'), Young (Giggs, 6'), Rooney, Hernandez
Bolton's physicality was no match for Manchester United's flamboyancy and United keep up their 100% start to the season. Bolton's tactics was clear before the game as Kevin Davies publicly told everyone he was going to target the vulnerable De Gea. This turned into Bolton trying to kick United off the pitch with Petrov sliding in late on Jones and Kevin Davies catching Cleverley, both within five minutes. Unfortunately it left Cleverley with a broken foot and had to substituted immediately. But it didn't deter United and they took the lead with ten men, Cleverley hadn't been replaced yet, Nani produced the cross and the returning Hernandez used some great movement to tap it past Jaaskelainen. Kevin Davies did then go into the book on thirteen minutes for another heavy this time on Ashley Young and was possibly lucky to still be on the pitch. It was soon two yellow cards as Mark Davies slid in on Nani when a counter attack looked on, Davies took one for the team. United then went two ahead on twenty minutes when Rooney toe-poked another cross into the net. Phil Jones then made a fantastic run into the box and when his shot was parried, Rooney was on hand to make it three-nil after just twenty-four minutes and some of the Bolton fans were already leaving the ground. It was nearly four when Hernandez again tapped home a Nani cross but it was rightly disallowed for offside but Bolton just couldn't find any stimulus for attack. The only real chance Bolton had was a Klasnic shot that De Gea acrobatically punched away. There was a little worry for United when Jones jumped for the same ball as Nani and the defender caught the winger, there was a blood injury but Nani was able to get patched up and continue.
Bolton started better in the second half and began playing some decent football. Their end shots didn't really trouble De Gea but did force him into action to prevent a Bolton consolation. Hernandez should have made it four when De Gea's long kick forced Jaaskelainen to control it outside the box, Hernandez tackled him but took too long to shoot and it was cleared for a corner. The resulting corner went short and Nani made a burst into the box before theatrically hitting the floor, the ball fell to Carrick whose shot deflected into the path of the unmarked Hernandez and this time he did make it four after fifty-eight minutes. Bolton almost got their consolation a minute later when Reo-Coker hit the bar but that was the closest Bolton would get to scoring. It was then five-nil after sixty-seven minutes when another Nani run down the wing allowed him to cut back the ball to where Rooney was waiting to score his second successive hat-trick. There were chances for United to score a sixth but Bolton refused access as United remain on top of the league with twelve points from twelve and a goal difference of plus fifteen.
No Surprises At Monza
Qualifying at Monza yesterday didn't throw up any surprises, but we still should be in for a fantastic race on arguably the quickest circuit. Vettel again took Pole but the McLarens were both close behind, Hamilton second and Button third. The likes of Fabio Capello and the Ferrari chief executive were there and managed to see Alonso sneak into fourth after poor performances during the practice sessions. Webber decided to keep his old engine whereas his rivals have all opted for the new engine, it seems that Webber may suffer for this decision as he starts fifth with Massa sixth. Petrov will start seventh with the two Mercedes' side by side, Schumacher ahead of Rosberg. Bruno Senna will be driving with Renault for the rest of the season and he will start tenth after not posting a time in Q3.
Paul Di Resta was eliminated in Q2 in the final seconds for the second time in a row and will start eleventh ahead of Sutil in twelfth. The two Williams' also line up alongside each other with Barrichello out qualifying Maldonado, Maldonado looked like he was going to miss out after he crashed in Q1. But with ten and a half minutes remaining, Maldonado was able to post a time to make it to Q2. Buemi sits sixteenth in a Sauber sandwich with Perez ahead of him and Kobayashi behind.
It was the usual six plus one to leave qualifying in Q1, although it wasn't a surprising plus one. Not for the first time, Alguersuari failed to make the grade and will start eighteenth. But, so far this season, those who have started down there tend to score points which Alguersuari has done before. Trulli managed to out-qualify Kovalainen into nineteenth, Glock again out-qualified D'Ambrosio into twenty-first and Ricciardo out-qualified Liuzzi for the first time into twenty-third.
Paul Di Resta was eliminated in Q2 in the final seconds for the second time in a row and will start eleventh ahead of Sutil in twelfth. The two Williams' also line up alongside each other with Barrichello out qualifying Maldonado, Maldonado looked like he was going to miss out after he crashed in Q1. But with ten and a half minutes remaining, Maldonado was able to post a time to make it to Q2. Buemi sits sixteenth in a Sauber sandwich with Perez ahead of him and Kobayashi behind.
It was the usual six plus one to leave qualifying in Q1, although it wasn't a surprising plus one. Not for the first time, Alguersuari failed to make the grade and will start eighteenth. But, so far this season, those who have started down there tend to score points which Alguersuari has done before. Trulli managed to out-qualify Kovalainen into nineteenth, Glock again out-qualified D'Ambrosio into twenty-first and Ricciardo out-qualified Liuzzi for the first time into twenty-third.
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