Adel Taarabt is never usually too far away from controversy. QPR fans have to watch his fleeting moments of sheer brilliance sprinkled amid a lot of frustrating and baffling displays. But he can rarely have been quite as frustrating is in the closing stages of yesterday's 1-1 draw with relegation rivals Wigan.
The one thing missing from the Seattle Sounders' arsenal this year has been the ability to score
a come-from-behind victory. Thanks to a pair of goals from Eddie Johnson, that's no longer an
issue.
Johnson scored a brace, with the game-winner coming on a 89th minute header from a Fredy Montero
assist, as the Sounders beat Chivas USA 2-1 on Saturday.
I thought coming into this week, we would be talking a little more about how the NASL playoff
picture would be a little clearer. Of course, every team did everything possible to not move away
from each other. Well, thats a bit of an over statement, as the bottom of the table became a little
clearer, but that doesn't help many people.
Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo struck within eight first half minutes to guide Spanish
champions Real Madrid to a famous Super Cup win on away goals.
Copa Del Rey holders Barcelona came into Wednesday's second leg holding a 3-2 advantage from the
first leg at Camp Nou, but their lead quickly turned into deficit at the Bernabeu.
Sporting Kansas City remained on top of the Eastern Conference with a 1-1 draw against the New
York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer on August 26, 2012.
It was a similar fate for Sporting KC who dominated most of the match but had to settle for a
draw. The home side started out quickly with a fourth minute Kei Kamara goal.
Lee Nguyen came on as a second half substitute to score the Revolution third goal of the game in
the 81st minute. (Photo: Kari Heistad/CapturedImages.biz)
It turns out that the best defense isn't a good offense, after all.
After mounting an early-two goal lead, the Revolution defense conceded a season-high four goals
en route to a frenzied 4-3 defeat to the Crew on Saturday.
Juventus blanked Parma at home and Fiorentina came from behind to defeat Udinese in the Italian
Serie A on August 25, 2012.
Fiorentina 2-1 Udinese
Fiorentina needed a second half brace from Stevan Jovetic to get the victory in their Italian
Serie A season opener. Udinese had a 1-0 lead at halftime thanks to a Maicosuel goal in the 28th
minute.
So far Arsenal have failed to score in only two thirds of our Premier League games this
season.
That would be wrist-slitting form if it was now late November but it's less alarming when you
take into account that we have played only three games and that we remain unbeaten.
Nevertheless, after scoreless draws against Sunderland and Stoke the media weren't the only ones
asking whether finding the back of the net would be our biggest challenge this year.
Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has warned nobody at the club can afford to lose faith as they seek
to turn around a worst start to the season in half a century.
Defeats to West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal have sandwiched a draw against Manchester City to leave
the 18-time champions of England with just one point in the Premier League.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski can emulate legendary
duo Thierry Henry and Robert Pires at the club, despite starting off slowly at the Emirates
Stadium.
Henry and Pires also took their time to make an impact with the Gunners but ultimately went on
to enjoy stardom together, particularly in the 2003-04 Premier League winning campaign as 'The
Invincibles'.
Reports from China indicate Didier Drogba and his former Chelsea team mate, Nicholas Anelka
could leave Shanghai Shenhua because the club is unable to meet its wage commitments because of an
escalating shareholder row. Both Drogba and Anelka earn a mind boggling £300,000 per week to play
for 10th placed Shenhua.
Stats from Arsenal's game vs Stoke So this weekend we played Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
Just like last week, we dominated possession, created opportunities but we once again failed to
find the back of the net in a 0-0 draw. So here are the statistics from Sunday's game supplied by
eplindex.
Arsene Wenger has leapt to the defence of Olivier Giroud and
Lukas Podolski, and has assured Arsenal fans that his misfiring
attackers will soon start scoring goals.
180+ minutes of football into the season and we have yet to see our Gunners put one in the back
of the net. At the same time all you "glass half fullers" out there can say we haven't conceded a
goal in that same period of play. We pretty much dominated the entire run of play today against
Stoke and yet only come away with a 0-0 draw and one point.
Arsenal and Stoke City played to a scoreless draw in the English Premier League on Sunday,
August 26, 2012. It's the second draw of the season for both clubs and the Gunners have yet to
score or concede a goal this season.
Overall, Arsenal were the stronger side and dominated large stretches of the match but couldn't
finish in the final third.
Argentina knew that a win would put them in the driver's seat in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying
for Brazil 2014, and they took care of business with a relatively easy win over Paraguay on
Friday.
Jozy Altidore may be finding the back of the net more frequently than ever and may be playing
some of the best soccer in his career, but that is not to say the recent success has come easy for
the young American striker.
The penultimate week of this season's USL Pro action is about to get underway, and only two
teams will be left standing when Friday comes to a close.
The USL Pro semifinals will kick off on Friday night, and the four teams involved will be in
do-or-die situations as only one match is played before determining who punches their ticket to the
final on Sept.
The Wilmington Hammerheads got off to a slow start in their first round playoff match against
the Richmond Kickers, but an improved second half saw them find the back of the net three times en
route to pulling off an upset on the road.
Tom Parratt found the back of the net in stoppage time to score the winner in Wilmington's 3-2
victory over Richmond on Saturday in a game that was a roller coaster of emotions for both
sides.
If ending a season on a penalty shootout loss is tough to swallow, the UConn Huskies were surely
more than demoralized last year. After all, their penalty kick defeat to Charlotte in the
quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament marked the third straight season in which UConn had their
hopes of winning a national championship dashed in such a manner.
Under former head coach Peter Nowak, and Sporting Director Diego Gutierrez, Colombia was a
source of talent for a Philadelphia Union team that needed an influx of it during an offseason. Now
Colombia has become a place of departure for exiting Union players.
First it was Faryd Mondragon returning to Deportivo Cali, the team he began his professional
soccer career with, and today it was Jorge Perlaza, heading to Millonarios after his rather
forgetful time with the Union.
The Portland Timbers controlled play for much of last night's 3-1 loss to the San Jose
Earthquakes in reserve league play but were unable to finish their chances despite out-shooting the
'Quakes 21 to 5 The game took place in a crowded Jeld-Wen Field as some beautiful weather and a
GroupOn deal on tickets brought families in droves to the game.
The current U.S. squad had two players find the back of the net for their club teams this weekend,
bringing a little extra zip in their step heading into training camp.
Jermaine Jones scored the game-winner for Schalke when he finished off a mazy run with a rifle to
the far post, the hosts running out 3-1 winners against Augsburg.
1. Southampton had lost their opening two games of the season but had taken the lead twice
against City at the Etihad, so they're not total mugs. They took the lead twice against us too but
this game was at their place. Despite an impressive opening ten minutes, with United playing some
great football, we just didn't get to grips with the game.
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie proved why he was worth every penny of his $38
million transfer from Arsenal, bagging a hat trick in the Red Devils' 3-2 victory over Premiership
new boys Southampton.
The Dutch international opened with a first-half strike before scoring two more goals in the
87th minute and second minute of second-half stoppage time to erase a 2-1 Southampton lead.
In a matchup of teams that seem destined for the top 4, if early indicators are to be believed,
Chelsea scored on an early pk by Hazard and then doubled the score as Torres put another one into
the back of the net. Chelsea win, 2-0. Video: myspace
Chelsea remained perfect in the 2012-13 English Premier League season with a 2-0 win over
Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge.
Eden Hazard had another impressive match and Fernando Torres scored for the second straight
match as the Blues are showing they could be title contenders this season.
The Portland Timbers put cross after cross into the box in the first half but no Timber was able
to get on the end of them. Then in the 45th minute Portland finally got on the end a cross as
Bright Dike put the ball in the back of the net. In the second half Portland fell back into bad
habits and sat back more than they should have but they were still able to see the game out for the
1-0 win.
Suarez pays tribute to an injured Lucas after scoring...
Image: sportpulse.netLiverpool secured their progress to the group stages of the Europa League
last night after a 1-1 draw with Hearts. The Reds were supposed to go through with ease but a
rather dire majority of the game was only livened up when Hearts found a goal late on, luckily for
Liverpool Luis Suarez managed to find a return.
Last night saw the first El Clasico of the season, with Barcelona triumphant 3-2 with a second
half that exploded with goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a bullet header, however the Madrid lead was
shortlived as virtually from the kick-off Pedro raced clear and hit a low shot to the back of the
net to level matters.
By now, almost everyone is aware that the USMNT lost to Jamaica on Friday 2-1. The loss means
that Tuesday's rematch against the Reggae Boyz is almost a must-win game. The Yanks will need to
perform much better in the return leg to get the result they need.
It wasn't all doom and gloom for the United States' teams this weekend.
The U.S. Under-20 women's national team is a game away from being on top of the world for a
record third time, but standing in its way is an opponent on a roll, and one that has already dealt
the Americans a setback during this year's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of
Philadelphia Union, MLS, and U.S. National team related news and notes...
The U.S. is in pain heading into World Cup qualifiers [Frank Isola, Goal.com] - "Injuries
and fitness have robbed the United States of most of its best midfield heading into a pair of
matches with Jamaica.
Off The Post is our name, but only because Off The Post And In Off The Keeper's Nose was a bit
wordy. But that was our first preference. So, naturally, we've got a bit of a soft spot for this
video in which a young keeper gets schooled about just how cruel the frame of [...]
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. Edmundo Juarez scored twice to lead Fall River Sports to a 4-0 win over a
short-handed East Providence Sports in Sunday's regular season finale at Riverside Recreation
Park.
Juarez, who scored in the 15th and 30th minutes, led the way while Lester Ramirez and Chris
Arruda scored in the 26th and 28th minutes, respectively.
After failing to shut out their opponents in their last fifteen league matches, a run that
started in May, last night the Timbers finally were able to keep their opponents off the board in a
herculean defensive effort. The Timbers didn't quite click on the offensive end of things but the
team were able to put together several moments of magic in the first half that let them keep the
pressure on Colorado and put one in the back of the net.
Well, at least it wasn't a loss. The game had some positives (like seeing Cruz getting more and
more involved), some negatives (like Cruz doing Pajoy impressions with his sky-shots), and some
"well, that's interesting"' (like Adu seeing so little time on the field).
There's little time to stew over it though as there is a quick turn-around with a Wednesday game
this week.
Hooray for the start of the Frauen Bundesliga season!
Pitch romps for all!I love German girls who do this, especially ones wearing a kit from the Frauen
Bundesliga (I like to pretend a goal hasn't been scored). Okay, I tend to notice German girls in
general, because they do amazing things with their tongues when they talk (the same thing goes
for the French, but since this isn't about the French, trust that I'll come to them later).
Greek football always seem to be in trouble for somethin' these days. This would be a lot of
trouble for Anastasios Kakos were the ball to have landed in the back of the net, though with his
career as a referee surely over, he could probably triple his wages by sitting in the hole spraying
balls around the pitch for a European-caliber domestic side.
Big spending Paris St. Germain looked set to make a splash in the world of football this season
after signing the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva. Les Parisiens were heavy
favorites to bring home the Ligue 1 title this season, but this weekend succumbed to a third
successive draw as the French league gathers pace.
