Like Song, Vermaelen will get to play in the middle now

For a short period of time, we turn our attention elsewhere. There will be no worries of long ball tactics or roughhouse treatment or any of those "they don't like it when we get in their faces" attitude. At least not in the next immediate game.

By Chris Wright

Real Madrid beat Levante 4-2 last night to extend their lead at the top of La Liga to a full ten points following Barcelona's 3-2 defeat to Osasuna the day before.

Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed yet another hat-trick his 13th since joining Los Blancos and his sixth this season in the space of 12 minutes, the third of which was notable for two reasons; a) it was an effortlessly peachy screamer, dipping over the Levante keeper from 25 yards, and b) it was the 4,000th league goal scored by Real at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium since it opened in December, 1947.

Aston Villa vs Manchester City 0-1 Highlights 2012 Joleon Lescott Goal Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Aston Villa vs Manchester City 0-1 Highlights 2012 Joleon Lescott Goal Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Aston Villa vs Manchester City 2012 ( Villa City Video Below) Final score and result:- Aston Villa vs Manchester City 0-1 ( Lescott) Villa Park, Birmingham- 12 February, 2012- Sunday- 16.

Demba Ba has given an interview in the Guardian, and he says some revealing things. Demba Ba after scoring his 16th league goal of the season yesterday The main thing he says is that he has no desire at all to leave Newcastle, and he is very happy at the club, and he thinks it's just great that Papiss Cisse [.

Newcastle beat Aston Villa 2-1 this afternoon at St. James' Park and it was Senegal strikers Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse - making his debut that both scored good opportunist goals to get Newcastle the win. It was after Tim Krul had made two good saves to keep Newcastle in the game, that Demba Ba scored his 16th league goal of the season after 30 [.

Sporting Kansas City's quest to repeat as Eastern Conference regular season champions began today with a 2-1 pre-season victory against the San Jose Earthquakes in the pre-season opener for both clubs.

Kansas City midfielder Konrad Warzycha delivered the game-winning goal, converting a free kick to break a 1-1 deadlock.

Arsene Wenger was allegedly seen loading briefcase after briefcase of unmarked bills into each of the Blackburn players' cars at precisely noon today in every time zone.

The 7-1 home exhibition match between Arsenal and Blackburn in the early kickoff Saturday contained everything anyone could ask for in a match.

For many people the low point of this season was the 8-2 at Old Trafford. And I get that completely. It was embarrassing but, you know, it was a freak. A one off. Something that's never likely to happen again and entirely down to the fact that the manager took off the Coq. Without him we had no penetration, no balls and as a team we went flaccid without him to keep us stiff in the middle of the park.

How bad was Wolves' 3-0 home loss to Liverpool on Tuesday? Andy Carroll scored the match's opening goal. That's how bad. It was his first league goal since October. Liverpool scored two more second half goals to leave Wolves with 18 points from 23 matches and slumped over at 19th in the table.

After a long barren spell in the premier league, Dirk Kuyt finally scored his 50th league goal for Liverpool last night. The Dutchman has been in and out of the team this season, but he's delivered at a time when the club really needed it, and he's confident that Liverpool can now push on and secure a coveted champions league place.

It was a quiet deadline day for Liverpool in the transfer market with no major first team comings or goings. But they have played well to record a 3-0 win against Wolves at the Molineux.

All three goals came in the second half. Carroll opened the scoring with a prod at the far post in the 52nd minute.

It was a quiet deadline day for Liverpool in the transfer market with no major first team comings or goings. But they have played well to record a 3-0 win against Wolves at the Molineux.

All three goals came in the second half. Carroll opened the scoring with a prod at the far post in the 52nd minute.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover ended their long winless run with a narrow win over Nurnberg while Fabian Johnson's first league goal for Hoffenheim was little consolation in their loss at Dortmund.

Van Persie Cuellar Video- Robin Van Persie elbows Carlos Cuellar FA Cup 2012 Arsenal Villa is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Van Persie Cuellar Video- Robin Van Persie elbows Carlos Cuellar FA Cup 2012 Arsenal Villa is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter This Van Persie elbow on Cuellar ( see video below) drew angry reactions from Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish after his side's 3-2 loss to Arsenal in the fourth [.

Arsenal vs Aston Villa 3-2 Highlights FA Cup Goals 2012 Video Van Persie Dunne Bent Walcott is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Arsenal vs Aston Villa 3-2 Highlights FA Cup Goals 2012 Video Van Persie Dunne Bent Walcott is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Arsenal vs Aston Villa 2012 ( Arsenal Villa Video below) Final score and result: Arsenal vs Aston Villa 3-2 ( Van Persie*2, Walcott/ Dunne, Bent) Emirates Stadium, London- [.

Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt has spent lots of time on the substitutes bench this season, and given the fact he hasn't scored a league goal in eight months now, it is, perhaps, easy to understand why. Having said that, Anfield Legend Mark Lawrenson doesn't believe that continually benching the Dutchman is the best solution.

Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt has spent lots of time on the substitutes bench this season, and given the fact he hasn't scored a league goal in eight months now, it is, perhaps, easy to understand why. Having said that, Anfield Legend Mark Lawrenson doesn't believe that continually benching the Dutchman is the best solution.

Messi scores another hat trick in victory over Malaga (Photo: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)

An inspired three-goal performance from Lionel Messi saw Barcelona defeat Malaga 4-1 at La Rosaleda, keeping the Catalans within striking distance of Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga title.

Clint Dempsey hit a second-half hat-trick to lead his Fulham side to an unlikely 5-2 victory over Newcastle United at Craven Cottage in one of the most eye-catching football scores of the day.
It was a typical case of a game of two halves as Fulham wrestled the initiative from Newcastle after a one-sided first half.

Come on everybody, channel your inner Piers Morgan. Throw your hands up in the air, aim for the hills and run with abandon. Just don't forget to unlock your wrists, so that the sprint for the horizon seems that much more fueled by pure terror. And remember to shrill.

Wayne Rooney, his sidekick hair transplant and his nefarious Mancunian buddies traveled to the Emirates on Sunday.

Wigan vs Manchester City 2012 Highlights 0-1 Edin Dzeko goal video header is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Wigan vs Manchester City 2012 Highlights 0-1 Edin Dzeko goal video header is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Wigan vs Manchester City 2012 ( Wigan Man City video below) Final score and result:- Wigan vs Man City 0-1 ( Edin Dzeko) DW Stadium, 16th January, 2012- 20.

* It's worth remembering that we started well. Arshavin, for all the criticism he's received today, threaded a lovely ball through to RvP who finished with aplomb. Funnily enough, the goal worried me slightly - scoring early can be a bit of a double-edged sword with a team that is struggling defensively as much as we are at present, as it encourages the opposing side to attack from an early stage.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish failed to come up with the winning formula at Anfield as his side were held to a goalless draw against Stoke.
An unfamiliar line-up to combat the visitors' obvious physical strengths initially appeared to cause more problems for the Reds than it did their opponents.

By Alan Duffy

Manchester United 3-0 Bolton Wanderers Premier League 14th January 2012

Starting for the first time since his surprise emergence from retirement, Paul Scholes made it 18 Premier League seasons (out of 18) in which he's scored after netting the opener against Bolton, with the goal coming just before the break.

Swansea

Position 12th, 5-8-7 (23 points, -3 goal differential)

Home Record: 4-5-1, + 8 goal differential

Recent Form: DLDDW

Last Meeting: Arsenal 1 Swansea 0 (September 10, 2011)

Back in action tomorrow in a "European" tie as we travel all the way to Wales to take on Swansea.

by Adam Bate

Jordan Rhodes has certainly got the Premier League's attention. As many as eight top flight clubs were represented at Huddersfield Town's game against Wycombe Wanderers last week. And they are likely to have been impressed – the striker bagged five goals in a remarkable display.

Football resumed in Spain after the short winter break, and it did not take long for the first upset of 2012 to occur, as a late equalizer from Espanyol in the Barcelona derby dented Barca's title hopes.

Real Madrid started off 2012 like they ended 2011, scoring goals. This week Madrid beat Granada 5-1 with Karim Benzema scoring twice and Cristiano Ronaldo hitting his 21st league goal of the season.

You'll notice that the sports updates on here have been few and far between...haven't been making it to the match much recently for one reason or another and to be honest there's just nothing to inspire a post. The premiership in general is pretty dull and Everton are as uninspiring as they've been in ages.

szólj hozzá: Man Utd v Blackburn 2:3 MOTD

David De Gea's horrendous flapping at a corner led to Grant Hanley following up on his header by bulling through to the ball again for Blackburn's winner and his debut Premier League goal. It was a shocking win for the cellar dwellers and it completely knocked the sails off the celebratory mood enveloping Old Trafford before the game on the occasion of Sir Alex's 70th birthday.

Photo tribute to Fernando Torres' THREE Chelsea goals in 2011

A chronological timeline of photos from Torres' first 12 months at Stamford Bridge, including league goal tally!

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2012-01-01 09:45:00 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Manchester United missed out on the chance to begin the new year on top of the Premier League after suffering a shock 3-2 defeat at home against Blackburn Rovers.

Sir Alex Ferguson turned 70 today but it was a birthday the United manager will want to forget after witnessing his side rally from 2-0 down only to lose to Grant Hanley's late winner.

The holiday schedule always throws up upsets and today was no exception as both Manchester United and Chelsea lost at home.

United was maybe the biggest surprise of the season as they lost 3-2 at home to Blackburn Rovers, on what was Sir Alex Ferguson turned 70th birthday.

United missed a great chance to go top of the league and Blackburn fully deserved the win.

To be honest I never understood what all the fuss was about Dimitar Berbatov leaving Manchester United on a Bosman at the end of the season. United has an option to extend his contract by 12-months as was there any doubt that they would not exercise it?

So it was not a surprise today when Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed today that Manchester United will be exercising the option

"We'll be exercising (the option to renew]," said the United boss.

With just a point separating the two sides, Liverpool take on Newcastle United at Anfield on Friday, knowing the importance of a win.
After six games without victory, Newcastle beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium on Monday.
Alan Pardew's men had only taken two points from their previous six games, before Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba scored in the second half to topple Bolton and get within a point of sixth-placed Liverpool on the English Premier League table.

Clint Dempsey's scoring run for Fulham remains white hot, the U.S. midfielder potting his fourth goal in six matches as he helped his side to a 1-1 draw at Chelsea.
Dempsey muscled his way in front of the goal in the 56th minute, scoring his ninth league goal of the campaign. He increased his record for goals scored by a U.

Manchester United took a big step towards their 20th league title by moving level on points with leaders Manchester City, who were held 0-0 at West Brom, following a 5-0 victory against Wigan.

United, who thrashed Fulham 5-0 five days ago and Wigan suffered the same fate with the help of Dimitar Berbatov's hat-trick (41, 58, 78).

You all know the words. Fulham's Clint Dempsey converted from close range near the hour to give the visitors a 1-1 share at arch nemesis Chelsea. Since we've taken to running numbers on Deuce this year, let's break down the tally:It was his first ever at Stamford Bridge, his second in five career Boxing Day derbies, his sixth league goal of the season (marking the fifth straight season he's done

Celtic vs Kilmarnock 2-1 Highlights Goals Samaras Racchi December 24 2011 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Celtic vs Kilmarnock 2-1 Highlights Goals Samaras Racchi December 24 2011 is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Celtic v Kilmarnock 2011 ( Celtic Kilmarnock video below) Final score and result:- Celtic vs Kilmarnock 2-1 ( Giorgios Samaras*2/ Racchi) Celtic Park, Glasgow- 24 December, 2011 Greek forward Samaras scores a brace [.

1. It was a great night for goals. There were some stunning efforts from Wayne Rooney, Adam Johnson, Demba Ba and Paul Scharner can all take a bow for starters. 2. Adam Johnson must have thought twice before firing in his long-range effort against Stoke though. He usually gets a rollicking from Manchester City boss [.

Marc Albrighton scores 20,000th Premier League goal

Aston Villa winger Marc Albrighton pounced to score the 20,000th goal in Premier League history on Wednesday night. Albrighton scored the landmark goal against Arsenal at Villa Park.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-12-22 01:54:33 from: The Mail

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.