Right about now is a probably good time to start another serious discussion of finding a better way to determine a winner in a soccer match of enormous magnitude besides the dreaded PK shootout.
Someplace else.
Not that I'm a fan of the thing - far from it. It's just that the gut punch delivered to the Fire and their fans last night after 120 minutes of emotion, drama and desire seems worthy of something more than just another tedious discussion of the rules of the game. Click to continue reading...

During the halftime show during the Liverpool/Birmingham match, Danny Murphy basically said Liverpool weren't scaring their opponents these days. Unfortunately, he's too right.

Against Birmingham City, Liverpool enjoyed more possession than an NBA forward playing one-on-one with a five-year-old (sorry, I'm reading an enormous book on basketball right now and it's filtering into my football psyche).

Click to continue reading...

Liverpool failed to close the gap on Chelsea tonight as they could only manage a two all draw against Birmingham at Anfield.
David Ngog opened the scoring for the Reds with a thunderous volley into the roof of the net on 12mins.
However Birmingham were soon level when Christian Benitez Headed a goal from a free kick on 28mins. Click to continue reading...

Elizabeth Lambert. Plays of the University of New Mexico.
She's brutal. Worse than Cantona or Gattuso or Materazzi or anyone you can think of.
Check out the highlights from SportsCenter.
Then check out some links:

• MLS Defender of the Year: Chad Marshall.

Click to continue reading...

Olympique de Marseille emerged triumphant against FC Zurich on Matchday 3, and Matchday 4 was no different, as the Ligue 1 side comfortably eased past their opponents on home soil. Silvan Aegerter scored an own-goal to begin the proceedings, while Fabrice Abriel, Mamadou Niang, Hilton, Benoit Cheyrou, and Brandao added one each to showcase the dominance. Click to continue reading...

Bolton managed well in their match against Chelsea, until the dying minutes of the first half but Jlloyd Samuels challenge earned him a red card and a penalty for Chelsea and Lampard made no mistake converting it before the break. The Blues dominance continued with an extra player and pure quality all over and goals [. Click to continue reading...

A few times over the past few years I've noted the obvious word play, "The Roar purred." I guess it would have been used more if it was true more often, but even when they were really getting it together, like toward the end of last season, it didn't quite work as a metaphor.
Yesterday against Perth at Ballymore the Brisbane Roar Women purred. Click to continue reading...

Braga continued their dominance of the top Portuguese clubs with a hard fought 2-0 victory over Benfica to move back into top spot in the Portuguese Superliga. Hugo Viana opened the scoring for Braga in the first half on a penalty kick and Paulo Cesar scored in the second as Braga handed Benfica its first loss of the campaign and it was also the first time Benfica has been held off the Click to continue reading...

Sure we were playing against a third division side last night, but did anyone really think that we'd tear it up like we did against Zaragoza? The way we see it, 2-0 is a great achievement for a lineup of mostly substitutes and B-teamers. Because without those six starters who were rested, there goes most of the defensive strength, the midfield dominance and the attacking creativity. Click to continue reading...

Boro made hard work of it, but made it through safely to the 1st round proper of the FA Cup after beating Chelmsford City at Melbourne Park. Graham Westley named a strong side, knowing that the Blue Square South side would be no pushovers. Eddie Odhiambo came back into the side on the left wing while Yemi Odubade once again partnered the in form Charlie Griffin upfront.

Click to continue reading...

Don't forget to refresh the page!

Barnsley 0-1 Manchester United

29′ Home crowd starting to make some noise. Not much, but it's still noise. Bogdanovic and Macken have been superb so far. Another chance as I write. Anderson da Silva heads over.

Click to continue reading...

Phillippe Auclair has written a brilliant book on Eric Cantona which gives a really interesting look behind the scenes of our hero's career.

RoM gave away a copy of this book last month and previewed the book using part of one of the chapters over the weekend.

Phillippe has given an exclusive interview with me which explores his understanding of Eric's relationship with the fans, his feelings on that incident at Selhurst Park and how he sees Eric as an untamed man.

Click to continue reading...

Let's make no pretence about this: we were beaten fair and square by Liverpool. We can talk all we want about refereeing incompetence; true there were a few errors but the crucial ones were offset on the other side too. Nothing however disguises the fact that yesterday was a defeat that was fully deserved.

Click to continue reading...

I've posted previously about a changing mentality in this City side, whereby if we are to make a genuine attempt at a top six (or higher) position there needs to be an expectation of achieving victory heading into games - in that the three points become a formality rather than something hoped for.
A home game versus Fulham has to be such a game. Click to continue reading...

The 30 name shortlist for the 2009 Ballon d'Or nominees has been announced, a formality they may well have dispensed with as we all know Lionel Messi will walk away with the trophy. I did note however, one glaring fact when scrolling down the list of the largely usual suspects – not a single Italian is to be found.

Click to continue reading...

Bryan Robson has been here a week already and he is really loving it. The reception by the fans has been magnificent and he says he can feel a real genuine love of football here at all levels of The Game.
His aim is of course to watch as many players as possible and he enjoyed The Game Muanthong v BEC on Sunday and the BEC v Port Thai Cup finals is the next task. Click to continue reading...

Bayern were busy exercising control and dominance. Leverkusen were busy defending. Hamburg were busy passing the ball around. Creativity, inspiration and excitement were busy waiting for a date that would never show up. Not this weekend.

Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars. VfB Stuttgart will host Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday and then head off to Hannover for, what is now, a relegation six-pointer.

Click to continue reading...

Gophers defeated by Buckeyes 1-0

The Minnesota Golden Gophers lost their second game of the weekend on Sunday falling to the number 19 nationally ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

The game opened with few good chances for either side but Ohio State certainly had the better of play and possession at midfield.

Click to continue reading...

A nervy encounter which Manchester United got through in the end, but early dominance and chances were not converted into goals, but this win against Bolton Wanderers does mean that United are top after Chelsea had lost 2-1 at the hands of Aston Villa.

It was good to see some very good performances from Michael Owen, taking advantage of Rooney's injury, and Ryan Giggs in particular.

Click to continue reading...

The ratings barely matter. The game in a nutshell: Wide-open start, five minutes of awful defense, U.S. dominance thereafter.
GK Tim Howard 5: Not at fault on the goals; little else to do.
D Steve Cherundolo 5: Not in the vicinity on first goal. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool youngster Jay Spearing is too young to remember the last time the Kop tasted league title success and he admits Manchester United's dominance of the Premier League has been a painful experience to bear for the Merseyside local.
The Wirral born midfielder also claims this season is the most important of his career, suggesting he has to show Rafa Benitez what he is capable of. Click to continue reading...

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has become the latest Barcelona star to egotistically pronounce the treble winning club's's dominance over their global rivals. Following Sweden's bitter loss to Denmark this weekend, where the spotlight was stolen away from him thanks to Nicklas Bendtner's scintillating performance for the Danes, Ibrahimovic has taken his frustrations out on former club Inter Milan.

Click to continue reading...

Last season Sporting Club de Braga's manager Jorge Jesus stated that the only way they would ever win the league would be on a Playstation. They had just been beaten by Benfica in Estadio da Luz 1-0 to an offside goal and had been denied two clear penalties.

It was a bodyblow that Braga would not recover from and they ended up finishing 5th but  gaining their sixth consecutive appearance in Europe, a feat few clubs in Portugal have equalled.

Click to continue reading...

Patience is a virtue, and for two of the Premier League's best players, that patience has finally paid off. The crazy thing about it all? These two players are on the same team! And the lucky team is Sunderland.

It was just last season that Sunderland were in the heat of the relegation battle.

Click to continue reading...

Polish keeper is the best Van der Sar replacement around.

Portsmouth Vs Manchester United Tickets Still Available!
Watch Ukraine Vs England Live Online!

One problem for Ferguson is that yesterday's puzzling takeover of Portsmouth by a man rich enough to be able to buy a much better club than Portsmouth may complicate Ferguson's cunning plan to sign David James in January.

Click to continue reading...

So Saturday was a bit of a surprise wasn't it? Bolton played the best they have in a long while, and arguably outplayed Spurs, who have been a quality side so far this season. If you read my match preview, I wasn't very optimistic for this match, I said we might sneak away with a draw. However it was Tottenham who were lucky to get a point.

Click to continue reading...

In the past Bayern's traditional visit of Munich's Oktoberfest was a way of celebrating humorless league dominance with one Maß after the other. In recent years it has been more about putting a good face on matters and drowning your sorrow in alcohol. At least the players now know, what it feels like signing for 1860 Munich.

Click to continue reading...

The good news for Liverpool fans this morning is they do have a team capable of winning the Premier League. The bad news however is, their that team and their best chance may have already been and gone last season.

Im not pressing the panic button just because of one defeat to Chelsea, but it was the manner of their defeat both to the Blues on Sunday and Fiorentina last week, that asks serious questions of Rafa Benitez's men and their title credentials this campaign.

Click to continue reading...

Are there more nerve-jangling games than against Liverpool? Whether the tightly-contested, tactical games of the Mourinho era or the goal-fests under Hiddink, games against Liverpool in the last few years have had that little something extra. Before heading to the game yesterday, I was surprised to learn however that not only have Liverpool failed to score at Stamford Bridge in the league over the last five years (aside from last year's winner, an own goal), Chelsea hadn't managed a win over the reds at home in three years.

Click to continue reading...

Are there more nerve-jangling games than against Liverpool? Whether the tightly-contested, tactical games of the Mourinho era or the goal-fests under Hiddink, games against Liverpool in the last few years have had that little something extra. Before heading to the game yesterday, I was surprised to learn however that not only have Liverpool failed to score at Stamford Bridge in the league over the last five years (aside from last year's winner, an own goal), Chelsea hadn't managed a win over the reds at home in three years.

Click to continue reading...

In England, Liverpool is beaten 2-0 by a powerful Chelsea side which moves to the top of the Premiership.
In Italy, Italian champions Inter Milan move to the top of the Serie A beating Udinese 2-1 with a late winner by Sneijder in stoppage time.
In Spain, Real Madrid is taken down by Sevilla 2-1, while Barcelona struggle with Almeira winning 1-0 with Pedro scoring. Click to continue reading...

Guingamp suffered another disappointing defeat last night at the hands of Nimes.

EAG have failed to win in the league since late August and worse still have only managed 1 goal in the 5 games previous to last nights game.

Guingamp enjoyed large spells of dominance over Nimes but the teams inability to score goals means the club travel back home empty handed.

Click to continue reading...

I'm absolutely sick and tired of hearing about the EPL. Totally sick of it. I'm sick of hearing about how England has the strongest clubs in the world, even though Barca completely proved that wrong and Inter, Juve, and Madrid beg to differ. I'm sick of hearing about how England is that standard for football nowadays, whereas the real beauty is in the tactics of Serie A and the style of La Liga.

Click to continue reading...

The important ACC match between UNC and Maryland came down to the wire on Friday. No. 2 UNC saw their unbeaten start to the season come to an end with less than two minutes left. Fifth-year senior Kevin Tangney, who had made two comebacks from knee surgery, grabbed the game's lone goal just when overtime seemed imminent.

Click to continue reading...

The important ACC match between UNC and Maryland came down to the wire on Friday. No. 2 UNC saw their unbeaten start to the season come to an end with less than two minutes left. Fifth-year senior Kevin Tangney, who had made two comebacks from knee surgery, grabbed the game's lone goal just when overtime seemed imminent.

Click to continue reading...