this week in

And more moves.

Shawn Wright-Phillips to Manchester City
Phillipe Senderos to AC Milan (on loan)
Louis Saha to Everton (subject to medical)

and congratulations to

Cristiano Ronaldo

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year

EPL Week 2, Day 1

Hull is starting to make rounds after promotion to the Premier League, this time, drawing Blackburn in a tight game. Jason Roberts smashed the offside trap, the only defensive error Hull made, and slotted the goal home. Richard Garcia, however, equalized after two minutes, giving Hull the draw and the point.

Fulham defender Brad Hangeland fixed Arsenal's first away loss in the season, after 21 minutes. Jimmy Bullard sent in a cross, and the defender poked the ball into the back of the net. Adebayor and Van Persie linked up in offense to no avail, with most shots sent careening wide. With Cesc Fabregas missing from midfield, the Gunners struggled, and it was evident they were unsettled, until the last minute.

Liverpool scraped the 3 points thanks to a late drive from Steven Gerrard. Mido, coming in as a substitute, gave Middlesborough the lead at 70, but Jamie Carragher equalized a few minutes later, with a shot just outside the box. It looked like the game was ending in a draw, until Xabi Alonso clipped the ball to Gerrard, who proceeded to volley the ball to the top corner.

Bolton saw a penalty saved against Newcastle, and paid the price for it. Kevin Nolan's shot went straight to Shay Given, who handled the ball safely. Michael Owen, coming in as a substitute, ended up giving the home side a win, heading in Geremi's cross. Though the game saw bouts of erratic defending and attacking, the home side fought hard to deserve the victory.

Stoke City hosted a dramatic game against Aston Villa, with the home side emerging victorious. Liam Lawrence scored from the spot after a Laursen foul on Delap. Carew, however, equalized after a well set-up play. Ricardo fuller finished neatly, but this again was pulled level by Laursen. Mamady Sidibe gave the ball a touch on the 90th after a throw , denying Villa the point.

Tottenham lost their home match against Sunderland, with the return of Djibril Cisse to the Premier League another success. Dimitar Berbatov was rested, which was a bad decision. Kieran Richardson sent home the ball in the 55th, but Jermaine Jenas equalized soon after. Djibril Cisse gave the visitors the win, after coming on as a substitute, after outmuscling the defenders and sending a powered header into the back of the net.

Everton overcame West Brom in the second half of the game, in which the home side controlled most of possession and chances. Leon Osman , played by Mikel Arteta, rifled a shot for the first, and Yakubu headed a second into a gaping net, defeating Carson to a bouncing ball. It was too late for Bednar's penalty to make a mark, giving the Blues a win.

Hull 1 - 1 Blackburn
Fulham 1 - 1 Arsenal
Liverpool 2 - 1 Middlesborough
Newcastle 1 - 0 Boltin
Stoke 3 - 2 Aston Villa
Tottenham 1 - 2 Sunderland
Everton 2 - 1 West Brom

Argentina Clinch Olympic Gold

An inspired Argentina side beat the Nigerians on Saturday, holding back the Africans in the blistering heat.

Lionel Messi terrorized the Nigerians, and linking up with Sergio Aguero, the defenses looked shaky. Although the Africans had deadly chances on goal, Argentina held most of the ball possession for much of the game.

The breakthrough came in the 58th minute, though, with Messi setting up a play for Di Maria, who sent an exquisite chip past the rushing goalie.

1-0

UEFA Club Football Awards

The nominees this year have been announced, and it'll be a few days till the winners will be revealed.

Defenders:
Jamie Carragher
Rio Ferdinand
Carles Puyol
John Terry
Nemanja Vidic

Midfielders
Michael Essien
Cesc Fabregas
Steven Gerrard
Frank Lampard
Paul Scholes

Strikers
Didier Drogba
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney
Fernando Torres

Goalkeepers
Manuel Almunia
Manuel Neuer
Petr Cech
Pepe Reina
Edwin Van Der Sar

EPL Week 1 Day 2

Liverpool started the season off with a late opener from Fernando Torres. Sunderland, who dominated most of the game, briefly had a lapse in defending and let loose a Xabi Alonso pass, leading to their defeat.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, set up an exciting 2nd half against Manchester City, with John Carew slotting in at the 47th. Elano converted his penalty, however, equalizing the game.
Then came Agbonlahor, scoring a hat trick in 7 minutes. It was too late for Corluka to salvage a win, with his 89th minute goal and in the end, Villa deserved the victory.

in other news,

Chelsea put up a stunning performance in their league opener against Portsmouth. With an array of superior players, Scolari has his arsenal all set and the first game was just proving grounds to stabilize this assumption.
Following Claudio Pizarro's transfer to Werder Bremen just a few days ago, the squad seemed unfazed. 13 minutes in, Joe Cole slotted home, beating an offside trap, and earning Michael Ballack his first assist. Nicolas Anelka added a second with a thumping header, beating David James from Jose Bosingwa's cross. The Blues added insult to injury with a third, coming from the spot as Lampard (who will stay with Chelsea till kingdom come) smashed the ball into the net, following a handball from Sylvain Distin, and making sure the 151k/week paycheck isn't in vain.
The second half was dominated yet again by Chelsea, and with a slower pace and more passing, coolly handled the game. Deco added the 4th with minutes left, striking from beyond the box and sending the Portsmouth goalie reaching out in vain for a touch on the ball.
The game ended in a happy note, with not only Scolari grinning in delight, but with Roman Abramovich smiling with glee.

Liverpool 1 - 0 Sunderland
Chelsea 4 - 0 Portsmouth
Aston Villa 4 - 2 Man City

EPL Week 1

And the Premier League has started.

Arsenal capped off a lacklustre performance, riddled with chances, with a goal from debutant Samir Nasri at the 4th minute, leaving newly promoted West Brom goalless at the end of 90 minutes.

Bolton on the other hand gave an outstanding performance against Stoke. Steinsson, Davies, and Fuller sealed the victory for Gary Megson's side. Fuller grabbed a late consolation though, but it did nothing to affect the game's result.

Everton's first game as hosts ended in a dramatic conclusion after Blackburn salvaged an injury time goal. Dunn gave the visitors the lead at the 22nd minute, but Everton's Arteta found the equalizer at the 46th. The home side looked to have found inspiration in Yakubu's goal, but Roque Santa Cruz, however, equalized again after 2 minutes. It wasn't until the last minutes when Oojier grabbed a final goal for the visitors, and securing the 3 points.

In a shocking turn of events, first timers Hull (who have never played in the top flight before) came from behind and stunned Fulham, 2-1. Sol Ki-Hyeon gave the away side the lead at the 8th minutes, but Geovanni and Nolan goals sealed the deal for the home side.

Middlesborough hosted a scrappy game against Tottenham, with Mido leading his club against his former team. Goals from him and Wheater gave Boro a well-deserved win, marred only by an own goal at the 91st.

Last game of the night, West Ham hosted Wigan. Dean Ashton dominated the first few minutes, scoring a brace in a matter of 7 minutes. Wigan failed to come back after Zaki's 47th minute goal, and in the end, it was a winning start for Fabio Capello's season.

And The Season's Heating Up

I've been pretty busy for the past weeks, but updates will continue very very soon. :D

Tables will be posted, and yeah. Game results won't be missed.

But first, Champions League qualifying tables.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15273/index.html

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/index.html

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15275/index.html

Notable recently are the victories by Juventus, Barcelona, Arsenal, and the stalemate by Liverpool. Looks like this year will be heating up.


In contracts, meanwhile, Frank Lampard has signed a long term deal that seals his career with Chelsea. 5 years to go, and he says he'd end his playing days in the club that took him from West Ham a few years ago.


With the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, EPL, Spanish Primera, and a few more closing the transfer market in a few days, we'll finally see the new, updated squads that'll battle it out for silverware this year.


And outside this, Olympics. Brazil and Argentina have made it to the quarter-finals, along with African powerhouses Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Ivory Coast. European clubs saw it through in the likes of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy.

Man U Claim Community Shield

Portsmouth displayed an endearing performance, enduring Manchester United's offense. Their defense proved to be no match for the Red Devils, Pompey closing the match at a goalless draw.

United controlled most of the game, with Darren Fletcher failing chances with a near miss and a superb stop by David James. James kept out a lashing effort from Carlos Tevez as well, keeping the scoreline at a deadlock.

With Number 7 out because of an operation, and Wayne Rooney sick, the Manchester side showed an excellent performance, though, outmatching Pompey through Nani's exploits in the wing. Peter Crouch, signed from Liverpool, wasn't able to link up with Jermaine Defoe and both strikers ended with a dismal performance.

With regular and extra time expiring, the game went into penalties.

Lasanna Diarra blasted way off target, while Argentine Tevez converted from the spot. Defoe however equalized, but Ryan Giggs sent the ball to the back of the net.
Arnold Mvuemba's shot was saved, sending the Red's fans on the edge of their seat. Michael Carrick made sure the ball went past James, and the victory was sealed when Glen Johnson shot wide of the goal.

First set of silverware for last year's champions, but will this mean they'll haul more trophies for 2008-2009? We'll see in a few days.

Van der Vaart Joins Madrid

Another Dutchman joins the squad in the form of Hamburger SV playmaker, Rafael van der Vaart.

€13m reportedly exchanged hands between the two clubs. Van der Vaart partners with Arjen Robben, Royston Drenthe, and a few more players from the Oranje, including talismanic striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.