Gameweek 31 Report
March 25, 2008
G'day again,
Happy Easter everyone! Hope you've all had a safe and relaxing break. Now, straight into the business at hand:
Premier League Match Reports
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Portsmouth Substitute Darren Bent changed the game when he came on late for the Spurs, helping his team to a 2-0 victory over Pompey on Saturday. Bent scored the first goal 10 minutes from full time, then set up Jamie O'Hara for a second just minutes later. Bent's goal was the 100th scored at Spurs' ground this season. Portsmouth were missing their key striker, Jermain Defoe, who couldn't play against his former side due to transfer rules.
Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Wigan Athletic Ten-man Blackburn Rovers completed an impressive 3-1 victory over a struggling Wigan Athletic at Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon. Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz scored a double, while Jason Roberts scored the other Blackburn goal and Marlon King netted an equaliser for the Latics on the stroke of half-time. Rovers lost Christopher Samba to a 17th-minute red card for bringing down Emile Heskey in the incident which led to King's penalty but that only seemed to spur the Rovers on. Victory lifted Rovers to within a point of sixth-placed Aston Villa while the end of a four-match unbeaten streak will have the Latics looking anxiously at the bottom of the table.
Aston Villa 0-1 Sunderland A home advantage wasn't enough for Aston Villa to deny Sunderland their first away win of the season. The winning goal of the game was struck by Michael Chopra with just seven minutes remaining. Villa have now collected only two points from the last four matches.
Middlesbrough 1-0 Derby County Derby continued their disastrous form with their 10th loss for the season. Boro's Tuncay Sanli scored the solitary goal in the 32nd minute, though the team failed to capitalise on a host of other opportunities. Boro were almost made to pay when Derby's Robert Earnshaw headed a chance wide five minutes from time.
Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Manchester City Struggling Bolton Wanderers were forced to settle for a point after Manchester City refused to bow to pressure at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton played an aggressive game but failed to find the net against the strong defenses of Man City. The Wanderers are still in relegation zone, though just one point behind Birmingham.
Reading 2-1 Birmingham City Andre Bikey struck twice to secure Reading three crucial points from their Barclays Premier League relegation tussle with Birmingham City at the Madejski Stadium. Birmingham were missing front-line firepower with the absence of James McFadden due to knee surgery. His replacement, Mauro Zarate, managed to convert a cross from Mikael Forssell, but it wasn't enough to save his team from defeat.
Newcastle United 2-0 Fulham Fulham's relegation fears worsened after a 2-0 battering by Newcastle at St. James' Park on Saturday. Mark Viduka opened Newcastle's account with just six minutes gone but had a nervous wait until the 83rd minute for the sealer. That goal was the result of a Michael Owen header. The loss extended Fulham's wait for an away league win to 32 matches.
Everton 1-1 West Ham United Ayegbeni Yakubu scored his 19th goal of the season early in the game, but Everton failed to come away with full points from the match. The second half was largely dominated by the Hammers, with Dean Ashton heading in a Lucas Neill's cross. It could have been worse for Everton though, as Hammers teenager Freddie Sears hit the post in the dying minutes.
Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool Manchester United strengthened their grip at the top of the league with a 3-0 defeat of Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday. Wes Brown had headed United ahead after 34 minutes before Liverpool were reduced to 10 men when Javier Mascherano, booked earlier, was sent off for dissent just before half-time. After the break, Cristiano Ronaldo and then Nani both scored to complete the win and show why their team currently sits at the top of the table.
Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal An impressive double from Didier Drogba helped Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal to the second place of the Barclays Premier League ladder. Drogba scored two goals in eight minutes after Bacary Sagna had put the Gunners in front. Drogba's goals stretched Chelsea's unbeaten home league record to 78 matches, but more importantly meant they are now just 5 points behind Manchester United at the top of the table with seven matches remaining.
Harold League Reports
STATS:
Highest Gameweek scores: Howard United (74), West Penno Lions (70), The Fockers (66)
Lowest Gameweek scores: Know Idea (27), figo's army (28), wasted (30)
Biggest Ladder Climbs: Ballarat FC (+4), West Penno Lions (+3)
Biggest Ladder Falls: Broken Hill United (-4), Team Larry 08, The Overpaid Poseurs (-2)
A gameweek of lower all-round scores, but none-the-less a bit of movement on the Harold League ladder. The average score this round was just 47.6 (our lowest for 5 gameweeks). With the season coming to a close there are a few teams scrambling for last minute climbs, but there's doubt in my mind that anyone will have what it takes to catch Psycho Chickens, who are still 87 points clear of their closest rival. The only gap in the ladder larger than this is between Know idea at the bottom of the table, and second last place. Hate to tell you Brett, there's no prize for last place. Sorry.
As much as it pains me to do so, I have to give credit where credit is due. West Penno Lions are in the midst of an impressive (albeit very late) end-of-season run. They have climbed 10 places on the Harold ladder in the last 5 gameweeks alone, including chalking up the third highest gameweek score for the season. They have outscored every other team in Harold League by a minimum of 28 points during March. Bummer too, as I was looking forward to having beaten you for the first season since we've been playing, Ross. But well done.
Until next week,
R.
The thoughts ofRyan Minster at 1:41 PM
Labels: Reports