The handshake between Rafa Benitez and Mark Hughes at the end of today's 2-2 draw spoke volumes.
Although a pulsating second half had rescued what looked to be a turgid scoreless draw provided plenty of the attacking threat both sides possess, their frustrated expressions bore the knowledge of all too familiar frailties and failings that continue to cost their respctive sides. Click to continue reading...

My head! My head!

My good friend's wedding is tomorrow so this will be a very early match preview of our trip to Sunderland. As it has been known for the past few days, RVP and Gibbs both will miss the game after yet another injury return for an Arsenal player from an international break.

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It has been all about Thierry Henry and his "Hand of God" this past 24 hours. Articles, comments, they are everywhere, lambasting the striker for his role in the controversial equaliser. I am a Gooner, and Henry scored the goal which mesmerized me into pledging my allegiance to Arsenal.

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Arsenal defender William Gallas insists he did not see France teammate Thierry Henry handle the ball ahead of him poking home France's equaliser against the Republic of Ireland.
Barcelona striker Henry clearly handled the ball before setting up his former Arsenal team-mate William Gallas to head Les Bleus into the finals in South Africa next summer. Click to continue reading...

Argentina were thoroughly outclassed by the European champions on Saturday night in the Vicente Calderón, losing 2-1. Xabi Alonso scored twice for the home side, the second a late penalty, whilst Lionel Messi got a temporary equaliser also from the spot after just over an hour. I wasn't in the best shape last night, hence [. Click to continue reading...

The first legs of the European World Cup play-offs took place yesterday (Saturday) and Russia, Portugal and France all take slender advantages into their second legs.

Portugal managed to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in Lisbon in their first leg. With Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out of the tie through injury the Portuguese had to rely on the likes of Simao Sabrosa, Liedson and Deco for their creative spark but all three were guilt of below-par performances.

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Boro continued their fantastic unbeaten home run after a 5-3 victory over Gateshead this afternoon. In wet and windy conditions both teams struggled to really get hold of the game and kicking against the wind certainly seemed to affect Boro at times during the first half.

It was a rare opportunity for Graham Westley to name the same team as last Saturday after an impressive performance against Port Vale.

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Plenty of people have mourned the departure of Xabi Alonso.
He was a great player but hopefully Alberto Aquilani having made his home debut now will start to fill that gap.
But the two players I think we should have kept are Sami Hyypia and Alvaro Arbeloa.
Ok, it's possibly with hindsight but we're missing a dominant centre half – as evidenced by Birmingham's equaliser – and Sami is I'm told playing his socks off for Bayer Leverkusen, who are top of the Bundesliga. Click to continue reading...

If Week 14 of the 2009/10 Ligue 1 season took a little while to warm up in terms of 'goals scored', it was well and truly ablaze by the time it ended.
And end it did with the most dramatic game seen in the French top flight for many a long year. Lyon and Marseille faced each other having gained important UEFA Champions League results last week (a 1-1 draw for Lyon over Liverpool and a 6-0 thrashing by Marseille over FC Zurich) while looking to keep pace with Bordeaux at the top of the Ligue 1 table. Click to continue reading...

Define Irony : A bunch of football players missing Internationals for an injury they got introduced in the previous Internationals.

So finally we get to watch some International action. And boy, don't I love it. England versus Brazil yeah. Does it get better than this.

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Albert Riera admits Liverpool FC are suffering from a mental block as they struggle to overcome their poor run of form and a crippling injury list.
The 2-2 draw with Birmingham City on Monday means the Anfield outfit has won only one of their last nine games to fall 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool full-back Emiliano Insua claims the Reds can still be crowned Premier League champions this season, but results must improve soon if that aspiration is to be fulfilled.
Despite dominating for large parts of the game, Liverpool could only manage a 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at Anfield on Monday night, a result that leaves Rafael Benitez's side sitting outside the top four and a full 11 points behind leaders Chelsea. Click to continue reading...

Steven Gerrard's hotly-disputed second-half penalty rescued a point for Liverpool but did little to lift the pressure on boss Rafael Benitez.
It is just one win now in nine matches for the Reds and they must be grateful for the two-week international break which will allow the dust to settle on their faltering season. Click to continue reading...

The second batch of Major League Soccer playoff games saw some tense football, great goals and short tempers. At the end of it, four teams progressed to the two conference finals. But did David Beckham and Cuauhtemoc Blanco make it?
On the 5th November, the King was dead. Columbus Crew were behind 1-0 on aggregate against Real Salt Lake and, despite quickly setting about overturning the deficit, the champions were ejected from the playoffs at the first hurdle. Click to continue reading...

So it feels like only a day ago I was previewing this round and then it was all over. Oh that's right, because I did only preview it on Saturday. But anyway, it might have been one short-sharp round with all the games over in a matter of hours - but what a round. Goals everywhere - and not just from one team as in last week's game - and interesting results for the top-six. Click to continue reading...

SO Wellington Phoenix haven't lost at home in 13 games, they have won their last two games there with nine goals scored - so after Perth Glory came away with a draw yesterday, is that a good result?
Of course it is.
It was the sort of match where a couple of moments of brilliance were need to notch a goal on the board. Click to continue reading...

It's a sad and sorry looking Liverpool side that play host to Birmingham City on Monday night as round 12 of the Premier League draws to a close.
The Reds' 3-1 reverse at Fulham last weekend took their tally to five losses in 11 league games this season - an alarming figure, considering that they suffered just two defeats in the entirety of the previous campaign. Click to continue reading...

West Ham finally got their second win of the season with a last minute Zavon Hines' equaliser. It was a match that Villa lost rather than West Ham winning it. Nevertheless, the spirit and determination of Zola's men cannot be faulted and definitely this must spur the Hammers to climb up the Premiership table. Click to continue reading...

The Republic of Ireland will take on France in the World Cup play-offs which commence next weekend in what will be an intriguing clash between the shrewd Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni and the much-maligned French national team coach Raymond Domenech.

Trapattoni's record speaks for itself with successful spells almost everywhere he coached yet his most notable job prior to taking over Ireland ended in miserable failure with the Azzurri.

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Devastated is the word that Steven Gerrard used to describe how he felt when Xabi Alonso left Liverpool. It is a strong word. "Gutted" is trotted out routinely by footballers, but "devastated" cuts far deeper, revealing the kind of pain that has been all too apparent in the turbulent five-week spell that has turned Liverpool's season into something already approaching a write-off. Click to continue reading...

I'm not quite sure where this week has gone. It's absolutely motored past. However, I suspect I drifted along, basking a bit too much in derby delight, and before I could whistle, the Champions League game had been and gone, and Stan Kroenke had hoovered up yet more shares.

We continued our fine form, albeit against what turned out to be the limited AZ.

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West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola was over the moon after Zavon Hines' last-gasp strike earned his Hammers their first win since the opening day of the season. England Under-21 striker Hines was the toast of Upton Park after he netted the winner in the fourth minute of injury time.

Zola said:

"This could be the turning point for us.

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Goalkeeper Pepe Reina has branded Liverpool's Champions League performances this season 'disgraceful'.
The Spain international was left fuming after conceding a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw in Lyon on Wednesday night which has left the Reds' qualification from the group stages in the hands of rival teams. Click to continue reading...

Three points, two injuries, one hero: this was a mixed night for West Ham United that ended in pure joy. When injuries to Carlton Cole and Hérita Ilunga were followed by a freakish equaliser for Aston Villa, the scene seemed set for yet another promising performance to end in another disappointing result. Click to continue reading...

They are left needing a miracle to qualify after a late late Lyon equaliser.
OLLIVERPOOL - The funniest bloopers are right here

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Liverpool's hearts were broken by a cruel last-minute equaliser that has all but ended their Champions League dreams for a traumatic season.
The much-maligned Ryan Babel had scored a wonderful goal with just seven minutes left and if Liverpool could have hung on to that lead they would still have had a realistic chance of reaching the last 16. Click to continue reading...

Bad luck continues to follow Rafael Benitez. When the much-criticised Ryan Babel scored a brilliant goal with just seven minutes of game time left, on most days in most seasons, the Pools probably would have taken 3 points at Anfield against Lyon. However, with the Pools experiencing a long streak of bad luck, it came as no surprise when Lisandro Lopez struck an equaliser in the final seconds Click to continue reading...

Before yesterday's game, all Man United needed to do to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League was to win or draw. Last night there was a six-goal thriller at Old Trafford where things didn't go the way they were supposed to.
CSKA had got off to the better start but United were starting to control the game, when the visitors took the lead. Click to continue reading...

There aren't many things worse than what's happened to our club over the past week or so, and I was hoping that it wouldn't have too much of an impact on the NUFC players. Fortunately (and rather fortuitously), they battled to a hard fought victory over Sheffield United.

The Blades made the Newcastle players work hard for this victory, which on another day, could so easily have gone against us.

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Sorry it has been a while, leaves on the line or something. This isn't a proper match report as I only watched on the TV, but I can safely say that this was a cracking match that I think made a decent advertisement for football at this level. The stoppage-time equaliser by Lewis McGugan will [...] Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer's playoff hopefuls went into the season finale with a whole host of possibilities ahead of them. And without wishing to put too fine a point on it, they all crapped the bed. Here's what happened in a spectacular, surprising and decisive Week 32, the final week of the MLS regular season for 2009. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool suffered a disastrous defeat to Roy Hodgson's Fulham at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
Without Skrtel and Agger due to a virus, Rafa chose to field an emergency line-up with Deggen and Kyrgiakos in defence and Voronin upfront alongside Torres.
Liverpool started brightly attacking Fulham in waves. Click to continue reading...

With Almunia frozen out, and Mannone beginning to show understandable signs of being a little out of his depth in the first team at this early stage of his career, the stage seemed set for Fabianski to return to the fray against Spurs this afternoon, especially after a decent showing against Liverpool in midweek.

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With a history of recent slip ups to lower league opposition, there is a tendancy to view fixtures such as last nights with a degree of trepidation, and when we gifted Scunthorpe an equaliser after going ahead so early, there could well have been a sense of foreboding around the stadium.
This season though there has been the first suggestions that the old mentality is being cast aside and rather than Scunthorpe's goal spelling disaster, the exact opposite was true as we went on the front foot and sealed our progression through to the quarter-finals in convincing fashion. Click to continue reading...