A late goal from Mario Gomez gives Bayern Munich a slight advantage going into the second leg. The Allianz Arena was the venue for the last time before the final and hosts Munich took the on 17-minutes when Franck Ribery managed to squeeze a shot into the bottom corner. Real Madrid have secured an away goal as Mesut Ozil equalised eight minutes into the second half on his return to his homeland. But Gomez won the game for Munich with three minutes remaining to give them something to protect in the Bernabeu.
Chelsea will also be heading to Spain with an advantage. They became only the fifth team this season to prevent Barcelona from scoring and a first half injury time goal from Didier Drogba gave the Chelsea the vital victory. Alexis Sanchez did hit the crossbar early on in the first half before Pedro hit the post in the dying seconds, but a great all-round defensive display from Chelsea earns their 1-0 aggregate lead going to Camp Nou.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Monday, 16 April 2012
Pl Round-Up 14-16/4/12
Norwich 1-6 Manchester City: Carlos Tevez smashed a returning hat-trick to temporarily put City two points behind Manchester United. He opened the scoring after 17-minutes before Sergio Aguero made it 2-0 nine minutes later. Norwich did pull themselves back into the game when Andrew Surman netted five minutes into the second half. But any comeback hopes were diminished when Tevez and Aguero made it 4-0 with two goals in two minutes (72 & 74). Tevez would then have his hat-trick five minutes later and celebrated with a golf swing, Adam Johnson finished the rout off in injury time.
Sunderland 0-0 Wolves: The point really wasn't enough for Wolves as they still remain eight points from safety with only twelve points available. The curtain has almost come down for Wolves with Terry Connor still searching for his first managerial victory.
Swansea 3-0 Blackburn: Blackburn also remain in the relegation zone after this result, three points stands between them and safety. Gylfi Sigurdsson netted for the seventh time this season on 36-minutes with Nathan Dyer doubling the advantage three minutes before half-time. The points were wrapped up when Sigurdsson's shot came off the post and was rebounded into his own net by Scott Dann two minutes after the hour mark.
West Brom 1-0 QPR: QPR remain just points ahead of the relegation with Bolton having two games in hand. The only goal of the game came on 21-minutes courtesy of Graham Dorrans.
Manchester United 4-0 Aston Villa: United managed to sustain their five point advantage with win over Villa. The opening goal of the game came when Ciaran Clark tripped Ashley Young in the box. Young was in hot water over his dive against QPR and looked to go down very theatrically once again here. Wayne Rooney stepped up and made no mistake after just six minutes. Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time with Rooney virtually sealing the points with his second on 72-minutes. The icing on the cake came via substitute Nani who made it 4-0 in injury time. Villa are still six points from safety and look fairly certain to survive.
Arsenal 1-2 Wigan: Two shocks in the space of five days sees Wigan move five points clear of the drop zone. Franco Di Santo finished off a counter attack after just six minutes before Jordi Gomez took full advantage of weak keeping a minute later to leave Arsenal stunned. Thomas Vermaelen headed Arsenal back into the game on 20-minutes but couldn't prevent Wigan from securing another surprise victory.
Sunderland 0-0 Wolves: The point really wasn't enough for Wolves as they still remain eight points from safety with only twelve points available. The curtain has almost come down for Wolves with Terry Connor still searching for his first managerial victory.
Swansea 3-0 Blackburn: Blackburn also remain in the relegation zone after this result, three points stands between them and safety. Gylfi Sigurdsson netted for the seventh time this season on 36-minutes with Nathan Dyer doubling the advantage three minutes before half-time. The points were wrapped up when Sigurdsson's shot came off the post and was rebounded into his own net by Scott Dann two minutes after the hour mark.
West Brom 1-0 QPR: QPR remain just points ahead of the relegation with Bolton having two games in hand. The only goal of the game came on 21-minutes courtesy of Graham Dorrans.
Manchester United 4-0 Aston Villa: United managed to sustain their five point advantage with win over Villa. The opening goal of the game came when Ciaran Clark tripped Ashley Young in the box. Young was in hot water over his dive against QPR and looked to go down very theatrically once again here. Wayne Rooney stepped up and made no mistake after just six minutes. Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time with Rooney virtually sealing the points with his second on 72-minutes. The icing on the cake came via substitute Nani who made it 4-0 in injury time. Villa are still six points from safety and look fairly certain to survive.
Arsenal 1-2 Wigan: Two shocks in the space of five days sees Wigan move five points clear of the drop zone. Franco Di Santo finished off a counter attack after just six minutes before Jordi Gomez took full advantage of weak keeping a minute later to leave Arsenal stunned. Thomas Vermaelen headed Arsenal back into the game on 20-minutes but couldn't prevent Wigan from securing another surprise victory.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
2011/2012 FA Cup Semi-Finals
Late drama decided the first semi-final between Liverpool and Merseyside rivals Everton. Nikica Jelavic took full advantage of Jamie Carragher's mistake to give Everton the lead after 24-minutes. Sylvain Distin then returned the favour by playing a back-pass straight into the path of Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan made no mistake to equalise on 62-minutes. Liverpool then won the game three minutes from the end with Andy Carroll heading home a corner to set up the opportunity for domestic cup double.
In the second semi-final, it ended up not being too much of a contest as Chelsea put five past Tottenham. Didier Drogba opened the scoring two minutes before half-time with a curler into the top corner. Juan Mata made it 2-0 four minutes after the restart although replays showed that all the ball hadn't crossed the line by the time Benoit Assou-Ekotto had cleared. The goal stood to Tottenham's dismay and Gareth Bale had to pull one back on 56-minutes. It turned out to be a consolation as Ramires made it 3-1 on 77-minutes before Frank Lampard smashed a free-kick home four minutes later. The final nail in the coffin came in injury time with Florent Malouda finishing after being put through. Chelsea will meet Liverpool in the FA Cup on the same day they were due to meet in the Premiership.
In the second semi-final, it ended up not being too much of a contest as Chelsea put five past Tottenham. Didier Drogba opened the scoring two minutes before half-time with a curler into the top corner. Juan Mata made it 2-0 four minutes after the restart although replays showed that all the ball hadn't crossed the line by the time Benoit Assou-Ekotto had cleared. The goal stood to Tottenham's dismay and Gareth Bale had to pull one back on 56-minutes. It turned out to be a consolation as Ramires made it 3-1 on 77-minutes before Frank Lampard smashed a free-kick home four minutes later. The final nail in the coffin came in injury time with Florent Malouda finishing after being put through. Chelsea will meet Liverpool in the FA Cup on the same day they were due to meet in the Premiership.
First Win For Rosberg
Nico Rosberg led for the majority of the China Grand Prix to claim his first ever victory in Formula One. Jenson Button was catching the Mercedes but a botched pit-stop on lap 39 allowed the young German to get away. In a brilliant last eight laps, Kimi Raikkonen lost 12-places from second and Sebastian Vettel would also end up losing places to Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber to finish in fifth.
The news before the race saw Jean-Eric Vergne start from the pits in the Toro Rosso. From the start, Button had moved up to third with Hamilton up to fifth. Sergio Perez had managed to get up to sixth and Felipe Massa had moved two places up to tenth. The Red Bulls were the biggest losers from the start as Webber had dropped to eighth whereas Vettel slumped to 14th.
The pitting strategy played a huge part in the race and Webber was the first come in as early as lap seven. That was followed by Vettel and Kamui Kobayashi three laps later. Raikkonen and Hamilton came in on lap 11 and the McLaren managed to pass the Lotus and the Finn also ended up coming out behind Webber in tenth. The only retirement of the race came on lap 13 when Michael Schumacher's pit stop didn't go well, the right front tyre had failed to be put on properly and the Mercedes, who was sitting in second, had to pull out as Button overtook him. Vettel's early pit allowed him to overtake Sergio Perez in tenth after the Mexican pitted on lap 16.
Webber was again the first to pit on lap 22 but this time the McLaren's followed quickly to allow Hamilton to keep his place. Fernando Alonso came in on lap 28 but ended up finding himself behind the chasing pack before Raikkonen ended up behind the Ferrari from his stop a lap later. But Ferrari's favouritism seemed to show once again on lap 31 when Massa was told to let Alonso ahead of him into eighth.
Rosberg came in again on lap 35 which allowed Button to take the lead, it was also the lap where Webber came in for his third stop. Four laps later, Button had pitted but the left rear wouldn't come off and the McLaren had to wait before finally coming out in sixth. Alonso would go off the track on lap 43 during an attempted overtake and that cost him as he subsequently fell to 11th.
On lap 49, Raikkonen was second, Vettel third, Button fourth, Hamilton fifth and Webber sixth. By the end of that lap, Raikkonen had hit the virtual wall for his tyres and was passed by his rivals. Three laps later and the Finn was way down in tenth but Button had managed to overtake Vettel and secure second place. On lap 55 Vettel was passed by Hamilton before Webber took fourth in final lap ahead of his teammate. Race result:
1.Rosberg (Mercedes), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Hamilton (McLaren), 4.Webber (Red Bull), 5.Vettel (Red Bull), 6.Grosjean (Lotus), 7.Senna (Williams), 8.Maldonado (Williams), 9.Alonso (Ferrari), 10.Kobayashi (Sauber), 11.Perez (Sauber), 12.Di Resta (Force India), 13.Massa (Ferrari), 14.Raikkonen (Lotus), 15.Hulkenberg (Force India), 16.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 17.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 18.Petrov (Caterham), 19.Glock (Marussia), 20.Pic (Marussia), 21.De La Rosa (HRT), 22.Karthikeyan (HRT), 23.Kovalainen (Caterham) DNF: Schumacher (Mercedes)
The news before the race saw Jean-Eric Vergne start from the pits in the Toro Rosso. From the start, Button had moved up to third with Hamilton up to fifth. Sergio Perez had managed to get up to sixth and Felipe Massa had moved two places up to tenth. The Red Bulls were the biggest losers from the start as Webber had dropped to eighth whereas Vettel slumped to 14th.
The pitting strategy played a huge part in the race and Webber was the first come in as early as lap seven. That was followed by Vettel and Kamui Kobayashi three laps later. Raikkonen and Hamilton came in on lap 11 and the McLaren managed to pass the Lotus and the Finn also ended up coming out behind Webber in tenth. The only retirement of the race came on lap 13 when Michael Schumacher's pit stop didn't go well, the right front tyre had failed to be put on properly and the Mercedes, who was sitting in second, had to pull out as Button overtook him. Vettel's early pit allowed him to overtake Sergio Perez in tenth after the Mexican pitted on lap 16.
Webber was again the first to pit on lap 22 but this time the McLaren's followed quickly to allow Hamilton to keep his place. Fernando Alonso came in on lap 28 but ended up finding himself behind the chasing pack before Raikkonen ended up behind the Ferrari from his stop a lap later. But Ferrari's favouritism seemed to show once again on lap 31 when Massa was told to let Alonso ahead of him into eighth.
Rosberg came in again on lap 35 which allowed Button to take the lead, it was also the lap where Webber came in for his third stop. Four laps later, Button had pitted but the left rear wouldn't come off and the McLaren had to wait before finally coming out in sixth. Alonso would go off the track on lap 43 during an attempted overtake and that cost him as he subsequently fell to 11th.
On lap 49, Raikkonen was second, Vettel third, Button fourth, Hamilton fifth and Webber sixth. By the end of that lap, Raikkonen had hit the virtual wall for his tyres and was passed by his rivals. Three laps later and the Finn was way down in tenth but Button had managed to overtake Vettel and secure second place. On lap 55 Vettel was passed by Hamilton before Webber took fourth in final lap ahead of his teammate. Race result:
1.Rosberg (Mercedes), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Hamilton (McLaren), 4.Webber (Red Bull), 5.Vettel (Red Bull), 6.Grosjean (Lotus), 7.Senna (Williams), 8.Maldonado (Williams), 9.Alonso (Ferrari), 10.Kobayashi (Sauber), 11.Perez (Sauber), 12.Di Resta (Force India), 13.Massa (Ferrari), 14.Raikkonen (Lotus), 15.Hulkenberg (Force India), 16.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 17.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 18.Petrov (Caterham), 19.Glock (Marussia), 20.Pic (Marussia), 21.De La Rosa (HRT), 22.Karthikeyan (HRT), 23.Kovalainen (Caterham) DNF: Schumacher (Mercedes)
Saturday, 14 April 2012
First Pole For Rosberg
Nico Rosberg will be on Pole position for the first time in his career with the 'perfect lap' in qualifying. It's the first Mercedes Pole since 1955 and Michael Schumacher makes it a one-two as Lewis Hamilton received a five place penalty for a gearbox change. That sees Hamilton in seventh with his team-mate, Jenson Button, in fifth. The surprise qualifier of the day was Kamui Kobayashi who will start third ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus. Mark Webber sits in between the two McLarens in sixth with Perez making it two Saubers in the top eight. Points leader, Fernando Alonso, will start in ninth with Romain Grosjean in tenth.
The shock in Q2 saw Sebastian Vettel only manage to qualify eleventh with the struggling Felipe Massa in twelfth. The two Williams Cars will be side by side with Pastor Maldonado just ahead of Bruno Senna in in 13th. The two Force Indias do the same with Paul Di Resta out-qualifying Nico Hulkenberg. Daniel Ricciardo was the final man to make it out of Q1 and will start in 17th.
It was the usual six plus one in Q1 but maybe it was no surprise to see a Toro Rosso as the 'plus one'. Jean-Eric Vergne will start behind his team-mate in 18th. Heikki Kovalainen once again out-qualified his Caterham team-mate Vitaly Petrov in places 19 and 20. Timo Glock showed his experience once more, beating Charles Pic in the battle on the penultimate row. The HRTs will again be propping up the pack with Pedro De La Rosa beating Narain Karthikeyan.
The shock in Q2 saw Sebastian Vettel only manage to qualify eleventh with the struggling Felipe Massa in twelfth. The two Williams Cars will be side by side with Pastor Maldonado just ahead of Bruno Senna in in 13th. The two Force Indias do the same with Paul Di Resta out-qualifying Nico Hulkenberg. Daniel Ricciardo was the final man to make it out of Q1 and will start in 17th.
It was the usual six plus one in Q1 but maybe it was no surprise to see a Toro Rosso as the 'plus one'. Jean-Eric Vergne will start behind his team-mate in 18th. Heikki Kovalainen once again out-qualified his Caterham team-mate Vitaly Petrov in places 19 and 20. Timo Glock showed his experience once more, beating Charles Pic in the battle on the penultimate row. The HRTs will again be propping up the pack with Pedro De La Rosa beating Narain Karthikeyan.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
2012 Premier League Darts: Week Ten
Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield. The venue for the tenth week of the Premier League Darts, a fixture where Adrian Lewis takes a week off and Gary Anderson fulfils his required matches. The Scot was up first and met James Wade who needed to contain himself after last week's controversy. The two met in week three in Belfast where the reigning champ won the match 8-5. The first break of throw came in the fourth leg when Wade made it 3-1 with his third double top of the match, but Anderson broke straight back before finding himself 4-2 down at the break. Wade then broke the throw once again in the eighth leg to all but seal the victory, yet again finishing on double top. Anderson missed three darts to pull it back to 7-4 and Wade's relentlessness at double top finished the match off at 8-3, taking the Machine into double figures for the tournament.
That was the same scoreline when Simon Whitlock met Kevin Painter back in Belfast. Painter was in stellar form that night and instantly broke the throw tonight. The Australian fought back to 2-2 before both players then broke the throw to make it 3-3 going into the break. Perhaps the most crucial break of throw came in the eighth leg when Whitlock took a 5-3 lead, the first time he was in the lead in the match. Painter found a 119-checkout to make it 6-4 before Whitlock secured a point with an 11-dart leg. Whitlock then secured the match at 8-5 to keep himself second in the table.
It was no surprise to see that Phil Taylor had beaten Raymond Van Barneveld in the third week, 8-4. But since then, Taylor has secured his place in the semi-finals and Barneveld posted his highest average last week to give him some momentum going into this match. Taylor kicked the night off with a ton check-out before instantly breaking the throw. Taylor eclipsed that by making a 124-check-out to take a lead of 4-1before the Dutchman pulled a leg back going into the break. Barney broke the Taylor throw straight from the interval but missed darts allowed Taylor to make it 5-3 and retake the throw. That soon transpired to 7-3 with Taylor then holding his throw to add a further two points to his tally this season.
Anderson was back on the oche for the final match as he took on Andy Hamilton. Anderson thrashed the Hammer 8-2 back in week two in Aberdeen and needed that sort of form in response to his earlier disappointment. The Scot broke the throw in the opening leg and then took out 101 to start that much needed response. Hamilton's riposte came in the form of a 124-checkout to level the match at 2-2 before then having a 4-2 lead at the interval, courtesy of Anderson missing three darts at the double. Anderson was able to break the throw following the intermission and then subsequently levelled the match. The Scot then broke the throw again with a 121-check-out via the bull to retake the lead before making it four legs on the bounce. Hamilton kept himself in the match by breaking the throw to make it 7-5 and then forced the deciding leg. The Hammer finished the match in style with a 102-checkout to assure himself of a point when it looked like Anderson would take the two.
That was the same scoreline when Simon Whitlock met Kevin Painter back in Belfast. Painter was in stellar form that night and instantly broke the throw tonight. The Australian fought back to 2-2 before both players then broke the throw to make it 3-3 going into the break. Perhaps the most crucial break of throw came in the eighth leg when Whitlock took a 5-3 lead, the first time he was in the lead in the match. Painter found a 119-checkout to make it 6-4 before Whitlock secured a point with an 11-dart leg. Whitlock then secured the match at 8-5 to keep himself second in the table.
It was no surprise to see that Phil Taylor had beaten Raymond Van Barneveld in the third week, 8-4. But since then, Taylor has secured his place in the semi-finals and Barneveld posted his highest average last week to give him some momentum going into this match. Taylor kicked the night off with a ton check-out before instantly breaking the throw. Taylor eclipsed that by making a 124-check-out to take a lead of 4-1before the Dutchman pulled a leg back going into the break. Barney broke the Taylor throw straight from the interval but missed darts allowed Taylor to make it 5-3 and retake the throw. That soon transpired to 7-3 with Taylor then holding his throw to add a further two points to his tally this season.
Anderson was back on the oche for the final match as he took on Andy Hamilton. Anderson thrashed the Hammer 8-2 back in week two in Aberdeen and needed that sort of form in response to his earlier disappointment. The Scot broke the throw in the opening leg and then took out 101 to start that much needed response. Hamilton's riposte came in the form of a 124-checkout to level the match at 2-2 before then having a 4-2 lead at the interval, courtesy of Anderson missing three darts at the double. Anderson was able to break the throw following the intermission and then subsequently levelled the match. The Scot then broke the throw again with a 121-check-out via the bull to retake the lead before making it four legs on the bounce. Hamilton kept himself in the match by breaking the throw to make it 7-5 and then forced the deciding leg. The Hammer finished the match in style with a 102-checkout to assure himself of a point when it looked like Anderson would take the two.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
PL Round-Up 10-11/4/12
Wigan 1-0 Manchester United: Wigan beat Manchester United for the first time ever in the Premiership as they move two points clear of relegation. Wigan thought they had took the lead in the first half when Victor Moses headed a corner home, but it was ruled out as Gary Caldwell was adjudged to have impeded David De Gea. But they did eventually take a deserved lead when Shaun Maloney benefited from a short corner and curled a shot into the far corner five minutes after the restart, although there are questions over whether it was a corner in the first place. United should have had a second half penalty when Maynor Figueroa handballed a cross, but it wasn't given and Wigan's refereeing decisions may have evened themselves out.
Manchester City 4-0 West Brom: Manchester City close the gap to five points in stunning fashion. Sergio Aguero fired City into the lead after just six minutes with a great long-range effort into the bottom corner. Aguero then made it 2-0, sliding a through ball past Ben Foster nine minutes into the second half. The points were wrapped up when Carlos Tevez scored from an Aguero pull back just after the hour mark to truly announce his return. David Silva added the fourth with a cheeky chip three minutes later.
QPR 3-0 Swansea: QPR are now also two points clear of the bottom three with this crucial victory over Swansea. The returning Joey Barton took full advantage of a non-cleared free-kick just before half-time to give QPR the lead. Jamie Mackie then doubled their advantage via a deflected shot, although Mackie did appear to be in a slight offside position when he received the ball ten minutes into the second half. Akos Buszaky added a magnificent third from outside the box to seal the points on 67-minutes.
Wolves 0-3 Arsenal: Wolves' time in the Premier League is looking ever shorter now as they slip nine points from safety at the foot of the table. Wolves' problems started after just eight minutes when Sebastian Bassong brought Theo Walcott down in the box. The defender received a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity and Robin Van Persie chipped in the subsequent penalty. Walcott then added the second after just a minute later when was put through on goal for his 11th of the season. The final nail in Wolves' Premiership coffin was hammered home by Yossi Benayoun from Alex Song's pull back on 69-minutes.
Blackburn 2-3 Liverpool: Tuesday's action saw a last minute winner place Blackburn three points from safety. The visitors took the lead on 13-minutes when Maxi Rodriguez finished off a counter attack from a Craig Bellamy cross. The Argentine then doubled the advantage three minutes later, scoring a rebound from an Andy Carroll attempt. Liverpool's goalkeeping problems worsened on 25-minutes when Alex Doni brought Junior Hoilett down in the box and had to be sent off. Yakubu stepped up, but provided an awful attempt that third-choice keeper, Brad Jones, easily saved with his first touch of the game on his Liverpool debut. But Yakubu made amends, heading a David Dunn cross home nine minutes before half-time to make it 2-1. Jones, who will now play in the FA Cup, almost missed out when he pushed Yakubu in the box and was lucky to only receive a yellow card. This time Yakubu finished the penalty to make it 2-2 just after the hour mark. But Andy Carroll prevented Blackburn from the point with a header in the 91st minute to give them momentum going into that Merseyside semi-final derby on Saturday.
Manchester City 4-0 West Brom: Manchester City close the gap to five points in stunning fashion. Sergio Aguero fired City into the lead after just six minutes with a great long-range effort into the bottom corner. Aguero then made it 2-0, sliding a through ball past Ben Foster nine minutes into the second half. The points were wrapped up when Carlos Tevez scored from an Aguero pull back just after the hour mark to truly announce his return. David Silva added the fourth with a cheeky chip three minutes later.
QPR 3-0 Swansea: QPR are now also two points clear of the bottom three with this crucial victory over Swansea. The returning Joey Barton took full advantage of a non-cleared free-kick just before half-time to give QPR the lead. Jamie Mackie then doubled their advantage via a deflected shot, although Mackie did appear to be in a slight offside position when he received the ball ten minutes into the second half. Akos Buszaky added a magnificent third from outside the box to seal the points on 67-minutes.
Wolves 0-3 Arsenal: Wolves' time in the Premier League is looking ever shorter now as they slip nine points from safety at the foot of the table. Wolves' problems started after just eight minutes when Sebastian Bassong brought Theo Walcott down in the box. The defender received a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity and Robin Van Persie chipped in the subsequent penalty. Walcott then added the second after just a minute later when was put through on goal for his 11th of the season. The final nail in Wolves' Premiership coffin was hammered home by Yossi Benayoun from Alex Song's pull back on 69-minutes.
Blackburn 2-3 Liverpool: Tuesday's action saw a last minute winner place Blackburn three points from safety. The visitors took the lead on 13-minutes when Maxi Rodriguez finished off a counter attack from a Craig Bellamy cross. The Argentine then doubled the advantage three minutes later, scoring a rebound from an Andy Carroll attempt. Liverpool's goalkeeping problems worsened on 25-minutes when Alex Doni brought Junior Hoilett down in the box and had to be sent off. Yakubu stepped up, but provided an awful attempt that third-choice keeper, Brad Jones, easily saved with his first touch of the game on his Liverpool debut. But Yakubu made amends, heading a David Dunn cross home nine minutes before half-time to make it 2-1. Jones, who will now play in the FA Cup, almost missed out when he pushed Yakubu in the box and was lucky to only receive a yellow card. This time Yakubu finished the penalty to make it 2-2 just after the hour mark. But Andy Carroll prevented Blackburn from the point with a header in the 91st minute to give them momentum going into that Merseyside semi-final derby on Saturday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)