Manchester United 2 Chelsea 1 (agg. 3-1) 2nd leg Champions League quarter final 12th April 2011

Champions League quarter final 12th April 2011 - Man Utd 2 Chelsea 1 Manchester United go through 3-1 on aggregate

Manchester United and Chelsea battled out this gripping quarter final Champions League match at Old Trafford with the home team enjoying a one goal cushion after beating the Blues at the 'Bridge. After an intriguing 43 minutes, Mexican goal poacher Javier Hernández turned in the opener from short range. Hernández in my opinion is a good bet for the Young Player of the Year and arguably the Player of the Year as for both accolades there is no blatant potential winner.

Wayne Rooney has peaked his form just at the right time for the Red Devils. Drifting deep gelling play all over the pitch, showing bullish strength on the ball and showing excellent vision in general. A class act.

I thought that Chelsea looked overall second best. In the second half Frank Lampard missed a half chance and Drogba had a great free kick stopped by Van der Saar. The visitors were stopped in their tracks in the 69th minute when Ramires was sent off.

Then all madness kicked. Drogba scored a sweet goal equalising in the 76th minute and then immediately from the next wave of Man Utd Park Ji-Sung scored with his left foot.

The home team then retained the ball excellently, displaying their European pedigree in the last 20 minutes.

Premier League news 09/04/2011

Premier League football review 9th April 2011

The sun is out, football fans across the land will be getting their bellies out at football matches this afternoon at 3pm. However, the football fixtures to some degree will be overshadowed to some degree by heinous amounts of sports betting on this year’s Grand National (also at 3pm) where the 40 horses will be battling it out on the toughest horse race of the year. Good luck everyone who is having a punt! Of course, don’t forget the US Masters golf and the Grand Prix too. I've found myself reverting back to a teenage hobby of checking out grid iron which is another fun one - American football betting makes you realise that a little knowledge isn't necessarily a bad thing when speculating to accumulate!

So back on to football, it is Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers that host the first match of the day with visitors Everton looking to push themselves into Europe League contention. For the home team, Adlene Guedioura is back after a long term injury however Molineaux favourite Stephen Hunt is out with a hernia injury making things tough for Mick McCarthy. For David Moyes, he is hoping to get back key men Cahill (Everton’s top scorer with 9 goals) and Rodwell.

West Ham United have a tricky away tie at the Reebok and time is running out for the Hammers as they languish in 18th position. Despite showing good form in the controversial game against Man Utd where they went 2 up they have lost their last 7 games and need to get something against Bolton Wanderers. Avram Grant has a full squad to pick from which is a lift for West Ham but Bolton are a tough nut to crack at their place. Recent England debutant Scott Parker has been nominated for the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Players' Player of the Year award which has to give the Hammers a confidence boost – they would hope to keep hold of Parker who has been a class act all season.

At the top of the Prem, Chelsea and Manchester United are both at home playing Wigan and Fulham respectively. You would expect these teams that meet on Wednesday in the Champions League to both win but I predict that Wigan will give Chelsea a good game as they are fighting for survival with a real threat of relegation.

Tottenham Hotspur are at home to Stoke and will be licking their wounds after a 4-0 battering against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. Spurs are favourites as Stoke have had a bad run of form, losing their last 6 matches.

Premier League fixtures 09/04/2011

Wolverhampton v Everton, 12:45pm - Molineaux

Blackburn v Birmingham, 15:00 - Ewood Park

Bolton v West Ham, 15:00 - Reebook

Chelsea v Wigan, 15:00 - The Bridge

Man Utd v Fulham, 15:00 - Old Trafford

Sunderland v West Brom, 15:00 - The stadium of Light

Tottenham v Stoke, 15:00 - White Hart Lane

Champions League quarter final - Real Madrid vs Tottenham

What a season for the Spurs as they have romantically knocked out Inter and AC Milan only to find themselves this evening at the glorious Bernabeu to play Real Madrid (and yes I am a Tottenham fan).

2 great managers, Joes Mourinho and Harry Redknapp will battle it out with their attacking football styles. We know the special one well but with Real they are suited better to extravagant attack than Chelsea were. Christiano Ronaldo isn't 100% but will start and his presence will frighten the visiting Spurs backline, no doubt they will show him how much they've missed him in the Prem with a kick or two in the first 5 mins.

For Spurs, they have demonstrated a marked improvement in discipline in away games. Having Sandros in these games has proved invaluable - he has looked more comfortable in the Champions League than in the Premiership. Peter Crouch has also been pivotal to the Tottenham success in Europe, allowing them to play the Christmas tree formation and actually look strong in defence as well as their traditional explosive counter attack.

For the mighty Spurs, Van der Vaart (signing of the season - fact) is key. It has to be said that Ronaldo will be key to the home team's chances but lets be honest - Real Madrid are favourites, especially in this home tie.

I will put it down so that I can never forget it, I will take a 2-1 loss tonight...hopefully nothing really bad happens. Either way, Redknapp has over achieved at Tottenham and it is no wonder people like Mourinho are now tipping him for the England job.

European Championship qualifying fixtures Saturday 26th March

So JT (John Terry - not Justin Timberlake...my little joke) is back in the captaincy position for the qualifying match today against Wales and there is speculation that Capello didn't speak to Rio Ferdinand about changing the leadership role. For England, Ferdinand and Gerrard will miss the match as both are carrying injuries.From Gary Speed's side of things he has to be gutted that the left wing welsh wizard Gareth Bale (OK...admittedly I am a biased Tottenham fan) won't be playing. However it will be great to see Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey back in a Wales strip after a long injury lay off. Ramsey will make history as Speed has given him the captaincy - at 20 years of age he will be the youngest Welsh captain.

Here are the Euro qualifiers for Saturday 26th March 2011:

Armenia v Russia, 3pm
Wales v England, 3pm
Bulgaria v Switzerland, 4.45pm
Georgia v Croatia, 5pm
Cyprus v Iceland, 6pm
Israel v Latvia, 6.05pm
Bosnia-Hercegovina v Romania, 6.15pm
Albania v Belarus, 7pm
Andorra v Slovakia, 7pm
Germany OFF Azerbaijan, 7pm
Germany v Kazakhstan, 7pm
Norway v Denmark, 7pm
Malta v Greece, 7pm
Rep of Ireland v FYR Macedonia, 7.45pm

Barclays Premier League results 20.03.2011

Barclays Premier League results 20th March 2011
Aston Villa 0-1 Wolverhampton attendance: 38,965 (Villa Park)
Blackburn 2-2 Blackpool attendance: 27,209 (Ewood Park)
Everton 2-1 Fulham attendance: 33,239 (Goodison Park)
Man Utd 1-0 Bolton attendance: 75,486 (Old Trafford)
Stoke 4-0 Newcastle attendance: 27,505 (Britannia stadium)
Tottenham 0-0 West Ham attendance: 36,010 (White Hart Lane)
West Brom 2-2 Arsenal attendance: 25,729 (Hawthorns)
Wigan 2-1 Birmingham attendance: 16,421 (DW stadium)

Barcelona 3 Arsenal 1 (agg. 4 - 3 ) Champions League

In the first half of this blockbuster of a Champions League tie at the Camp Nou, Barcelona put a cruel blow in against visitors Arsenal with a 47th minute Messi goal to level the teams seconds before the half time break.

Arsenal kept as close as they could to the globetrotters during the first 45 but it was reminiscent of the 1st leg where Wenger's top class midfield men were left chasing the ball as Barca stroked the ball about with consummate ease.

Robin Van Persie got booked minutes after showing his distaste at a bad tackle on team mate Jack Wilshire. This was a risky spell for the Dutch man as he visibly seemed to lose his composure that he normally doesn't struggle for.

The goal came when Barcelona born Fabregas got caught in possession trying to back heel the ball across the path of Iniesta. The ball was threaded through to the Argentinian wizard Messi who scooped the ball over Almunia and volleyed with finesse into the back of the Gunner's net.

Against the run of play Busquets scored an own goal to put Arsenal in the lead 2-3 on aggregate.

Hwoever, then the plot thickened. 2 minutes later (55 mins) Van Persie was annoyingly yellow carded and therefore sent off for hitting a shot after the whistle had blew for offside. This seemed remarkably harsh especially with the huge 99,000 capacity stadium where Van Persie claimed that he had not heard the whistle.

It really was one way traffic after this sending off. Xavi scored in the 69th minute as the home team carved through the heart of the Arsenal backbone leaving Almunia with no chance.

In the next minute, Arsenal conceded a penalty that even Arsene the philosopher would have to agree was a fair and correct decision. Messi stepped up and executed a perfectly placed penalty kick past Almunia to make it 4-3 on aggregate.

In 73rd minute Andrei Arshavin came on for Thomas Rosicky but playing against Barca is tricky enough, let alone against 10 men. The Gunners showed brave determination but couldn't penetrate the home team. Fabregas went off after a quiet game in the 77th minute for Nickolas Bendtner as Wenger desperately tried to create some pressure against the almighty Barcelona.

Barcelona started to play the possession game in the 80th minute, one touch or two touch - they managed to string the passes together that would be exhausting 10 men Arsenal.

In the 81st minute, David Villa came off as Afellay got a run out down the left wing. He instantly got a chance showing pace and strength but sliced his shot too much as it went past Almunia and past the left hand post.

If anything Arsenal did well to keep the damage to 4-3. Almunia made numerous good shot stops and the forwards chipped in with defence as the home team dominated every single blade of grass with a real lesson to the youngsters out there looking to progress their soccer skills.

In the 86th minute, England new boy Jack Wilshire set up a great chance for Bendtner whose first touch let him down massively and the chance was squandered.

In the 90th minute, Barca swapped Adriano for fellow Brazilian Maxell as the home team went into defensive mode as they counted down the seconds.

As the fourth official's sign went up with 4 mins of injury time and Arsenal were held deep in their own half Wenger went on the pitch showing his frustration.

Arsenal exited tonight against a well polished, classy team that many suggest is the best football team ever. To make Arsenal look as ordinary as they did over the two legs, I think this could well be the truth.

In a post match interview Van Persie labelled the referee's decision as a 'total joke' and Wenger had a bust up with the ref in the tunnel. Cruel that there was one second between the ref blowing for offside and Van Persie hitting his shot - really bad decision.

I would say that Arsenal were unlucky with the sending off but that Barcelona were way to strong and could have gone through without the visitors going down to 10 men.

Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1

Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1

Was Ashley packing or did Rooney wear boxing gloves for this Tuesday evening heavyweight Premier League affair?

Chelsea showed the Premier League that they are still very much a force with a superb second half display, coming back after trailing 1 nil to Manchester United at half time to win 2-1 at the Bridge.

It was England striker Wayne Rooney that got the visitors off to a great start after 29 minutes, as Ferguson lined up his side with his ultra effective counter attacking style. Rooney thumped a great shot in, almost Shearer-esque. The pace and urgency made this evening kick off match more like a cup tie, with both sides putting in good chances. Torres still looking sharp, Vidic kept his focus and minimised any major problems quite well with what is normally a fascinating head to head in the world of big time footballers.

In the second half, it was the home team that hunted for the openings playing an attacking 4-4-2 formation - and they came. Essien and Lampard kept working hard in the engine room and Torres managed to get the ball to stick upfront for supporting runners.

Chelsea kept on pushing with the addition of Didier Drogba who demonstrated his usual freakish physical strength and presence. David Luiz (54 mins) equalised with a technically perfect volley and shortly after it was a well struck Frank Lampard penalty (78 mins) that got the winner.

Chelsea kept on the front foot and could have made it 3 but Chelsea got the 2-1 win to reduce the gap to 12 points between themselves and Manchester United.