Wednesday 31 October 2012

Capital One Cup 4th Round Results Part 1:

This year's Capital One Cup is at the latter stages - in the 4th Round. The winners of the matches progress through to the Quarter-Finals.


Hello and welcome to my LATEST blog post installment of this year's Capital One Cup.
Today and tomorrow we take a break from the English Premier League to continue with the 4th Round Matches of this year's Capital One Cup.
 
Yesterday's Results:

Reading 5 Arsenal 7 AET

A truly fascinating and exciting match at The Madjeski Stadium, as EPL sides Reading and Arsenal did battle.

Arsenal fielded a weak, younger, inexperienced squad and it was clearly evident after only 37 MINUTES as they were down by 4 goals to NIL.   

1-0 to The Royals: Striker Jason Roberts wheels away to celebrate his goal past Damian Martinez.
Stunner: Jason Roberts celebrates his opener at The Madjeski Stadium after 12 minutes.
Shock: Reading midfielder Leigertwood gives them a comfortable 3-0 lead over Arsenal - after only 20 MINUTES.
A thrashing: Reading defender Noel Hunt heads his side into a 4-0 lead at home against Arsenal after 37 minutes.
Delicate chip: Arsenal winger Theo Walcott gives his side faint hope just before half-time to make the score 4-1.
Back in it: Arsenal striker and substitute Olivier Giroud scores for The Gunners to make it 4-2 in the 64th minute.
Rather late than never: Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny scores at the right end to make it 4-3 in the 89th minute after scoring an own goal.
In-front: Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh hits a great strike to make it 5-4 during extra time.
Not for long: Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak celebrates his headed goal against Arsenal to make it 5-5 in extra time.


Leeds United 3 Southampton 0

Sunderland 0 Middlesbrough 1

Swindon Town 2 Aston Villa 3

Wigan 0 Bradford City 0 AET (2-4 on pens) 
  
(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)


Sunday 28 October 2012

EPL Super Sunday LIVE Coverage:



Hello everyone, and welcome to my LIVE Coverage of 4 EPL matches today, including the Merseyside derby between Liverpool vs Everton and the top of the table clash between Chelsea and Manchester United.

Here is the full list of matches being played today:

Everton host derby rivals Liverpool at Goodison Park. Who will win this derby if either?

Everton vs Liverpool: LIVE at 13:30pm

Everton host Liverpool at Goodison Park, with Everton having the slight advantage over their rivals for the first time in a long time.
They have been consistent this season, and have only lost 1 match this season. 

Liverpool beat Reading last week, and Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in the Europa League on Thursday 1-0, so will be hoping to keep their form up. 

Not very often: Liverpol winger Stewart Downing scores in the 53rd minute against Anzhi on Thursday night.
Keep it up: Downing celebrates against Anzhi with his team-mates. They hope they can continue today against Everton.
 


Interesting: Newcastle host West Brom in a mid-table clash at St. James Park. Both have lost twice this season.

Newcastle vs West Bromwich Albion: LIVE at 15:00pm

This match will be played at St. James Park, as 11th placed Newcastle host 8th placed West Brom.
This will be an interesting match as both sides have played consistently this season. 

Newcastle played against Club Brugges on Thursday night and beat them 1-0 in the Europa League. They will be happy with another win against West Brom today.


On-form: Newcastle winger Gabriel Obertan scores against Club Brugge.


Underdogs: 19th placed Southampton are the underdogs at home against 7th placed Tottenham.

Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur: LIVE at 15:00pm 

Southampton have been very unlucky in matches this season, and find themselves in 19th place in their first season back in the EPL.

Unfortunately, they suffered two unlucky 3-2 losses to both Manchester clubs in their first three matches before losses to Wigan, a 6-1 thrashing against Arsenal, Everton and West Ham see them stuck in the relegation places.

Tottenham on the other hand have had a mixed season so far. They have drawn all three of their Europa League matches so far, and a famous 3-2 win over Manchester United will probably be their highlight of the season so far.

Boring: Gylfi Sigurdsson celebrates his goal against Maribor with his team-mates, but this is their 5th draw of the season.
 
They have only lost twice this season against Chelsea and Newcastle, but for a team whose main target is a Champions League spot, they need to stop drawing matches... 


Exciting match: 1st placed Chelsea host 3rd placed Manchester United at Stamford Bridge this afternoon...


Chelsea vs Manchester United: LIVE at 16:00pm

This is the crunch match today, as EPL leaders Chelsea host 3rd placed Manchester United at Stamford Bridge at 4pm. 

Manchester United can go within a point of the league leaders with a win today, but Sir Alex Ferguson's men know that they will be in for a tricky challenge.

Chelsea have spent a LOT of money over the summer, and their midfield is looking very promising. The deadly three of Oscar, Eden Hazard and Juan Mata have been tearing defences up for fun, but today is their hardest challenge to date.

Chelsea need to get the 2-1 loss against Shakthar during midweek out of their heads, and concentrate on title rivals United. They know that anything other than a win today will be costly, as the start of the season is the most important to get points on the board. 

Shaky Chelsea: Fernandinho celebrates his goal against Chelsea to make it 2-0 to Shakthar on Tuesday night.

Manchester City are only 1 point off Chelsea, so no pressure there.

Plus Sir Alex Ferguson has put his traditional mind games up, saying that Chelsea are 'not as good as Mourinho's side', but Manchester United are not very strong either.... 

Today will be an interesting gauge of how far both clubs have come, and everyone is expecting an exciting match.   
 
13:05:

BREAKING NEWS:

Team Line-ups:

Everton vs Liverpool:

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Naismith, Neville, Osman, Mirallas, Fellaini, Jelavic. 

Subs: Mucha, Hibbert, Heitinga, Oviedo, Hitzlsperger, Gueye, Vellios.

Liverpool: Jones, Wisdom, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique, Gerrard, Allen,Suso, Suarez, Sterling.

Subs: Reina, Assaidi, Henderson, Coates, Downing, Carragher, Shelvey.

Everton are without the suspended midfielder Steven Pienaar who was given a controversial red card last week against QPR.
Fellaini returns to the side after missing the match against QPR.

Liverpool on the other hand keep goalkeeper Brad Jones in between the sticks as Pepe Reina is out with a hamstring injury, but on the bench as a precautionary measure.

Youngsters Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom and Suso all start for The Reds, while young midfielders Jonjo Shelvey, Oussama Assaidi and Henderson are all on the bench.

13:25: The players are walking out of the tunnel at Goodison Park.

13:29: Striker Steven Naismith starts for Everton today, in his first Merseyside derby.

The atmosphere is loud, and the fans are chanting and singing. 

13:30: This is the 219th Merseyside derby, and Everton kick off at home.

Everton vs Liverpool - LIVE Commentary:

0: Everton kick off, with Leighton Baines with an early corner. 

1: Liverpool young winger Raheem Sterling is furious with a cross by full-back Jose Enrique. Baines' cross was cleared away by defender Daniel Agger, before Liverpool had a dangerous counter attack.
Enrique's cross was poor.


5: Everton striker Steven Naismith's through ball to Nikica Jelavic is collected by Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones.

If only the ball was wide, Jelavic would have been able to test Jones.

8: Great feet by striker Kevin Mirallas to get past 4 Liverpol players, before his cross into the box was blocked out for a corner by defender Daniel Agger.

10: Corners:

Everton - 3, Liverpool - 2.

13: Drama.
Liverpool midfielder Suso plays a through ball to Jose Enrique and at the same time is fouled late by Steven Naismith.
Enrique crosses the ball into the box for Raheem Sterling. 
Sterling leaves it for Suarez, who hits the ball powerfully towards goal.... 
 
GOAL!!! Suarez scores and breaks the deadlock for Liverpool! 

On target: Liverpool striker Luis Suarez scores aganst Everton in the 13th minute, to kick-start the Merseyside derby.

15: And Suarez celebrates his goal by doing a diving celebration straight in front of Everton manager David Moyes, who has blasted him for his diving antics in matches. 

18: Midfielder Leon Osman is booked for a soft challenge on winger Raheem Sterling.
They were both sprinting for the ball, and Osman caught the back of Sterling's leg before they both went down. 

19: Liverpol midfielder Steven Gerrard whips the ball into the box from the free-kick...
Luis Suarez is unmarked and jumps to head the ball...

GOAL!!!! Suarez makes Everton pay with his 2nd goal in 5 minutes!

2 for me: Luis Suarez celebrates his second against Everton in 5 minutes with team-mate Martin Skrtel.

Tim Howard was never saving that....

22: An Everton corner is whipped into the box, but goalkeeper Brad Jones clears the ball away by punching the ball clear.

The ball falls to midfielder Leon Osman on the edge of the 18-yard box.... he hits the ball towards goal powerfully with swerve... GOAL!!!!!

Unstoppable shot by Osman, drilled into the far corner out of Brad Jones' reach. 2-1, and Everton are back in the match.

29: Raheem Sterling is harshly booked for a trip on Leighton Baines.
He has to be carefulm with his challenges now.

32: Sterling deliberately trips Baines again, after losing out to him for pace to win the ball. The referee Andre Marriner blows the whistle to give Everton a free-kick, knowing that he has already booked Sterling... He gives Sterling a final warning after some words with captain Steven Gerrard to calm him down.

35: Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini has a low cross across goal... towards striker Steven Naismith who taps the ball straight past Brad Jones inside the 6 yard box to equalise. 

2-2, and Everton have made a great comeback, after trailing 2-0 thanks to Suarez.

38: Everton winger Kevin Mirallas uses trickery and pace to skin full-back Andre Wisdom, before having a shot from an awkward angle parried away for a corner by Brad Jones.

40: Kevin Mirallas skins Suarez, before getting fouled by Suarez. A free-kick is given, and Baines whips the ball into the box, but the linesman flags for offside.

43: Mirallas skins Wisdom again, before having a shot blocked by Skrtel.

He limps off the pitch, clutching his ankle after a late tackle by Suarez a few minutes earlier. He is now receiving treatment from the Everton physio.

44: Everton full-back Seamus Coleman has a half-volley from 25 yards out, but the shot JUST goes over the bar.

Well-struck shot, unlucky from the youngster.

45: Mirallas is back on the field of play, while the fourth offical signals for 3 minutes of stoppage time to be added on.

45+2: Everton captain Phil Neville is booked for apparently diving, after going down from a push by Agger... Wow.

45+3: The referee blows the whistle to end the first half at Goodison Park.

A four goal thriller, and the match is not even over yet. What will happen in the second half remains to be seen, but if it is as good as the first half, it will be a contender for the best match of the season!

Everton have the upper hand, after a great 2 goal comeback. Can Fellaini, Naismith, Jelavic and co take all three points at home to cliam a famous derby victory? Can Suarez save Liverpool?

14:34:

45: The referee blows the whistle to start the second half at Goodison Park, with both teams making substitutions.

Everton SUB:
Kevin Mirallas OFF
Magaye Gueye ON

Liverpool SUBS:
Nuri Sahin OFF
Suso OFF
Sebastien Coates ON  
Jonjo Shelvey ON 

Team Line-ups:

Newcastle United vs West Brom:


Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Santon, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba, Shola Ameobi.
Subs: Harper, Anita, Cisse, Obertan, Steven Taylor, Sammy Ameobi, Ferguson.

West Brom: Foster, Tamas, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Morrison, Gera, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Odemwingie, Lukaku.
Subs: Luke Daniels, Popov, Rosenberg, Long, El Ghanassy, Jara Reyes, Fortune.

Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur:
  
Southampton: Boruc, Clyne, Yoshida, Fonte, Fox, Puncheon, Schneiderlin, Steven Davis, Lallana, Lambert, Rodriguez.
Subs: Kelvin Davis, Hooiveld, Ward-Prowse, Do Prado, Mayuka, Chaplow, Reeves.

Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Caulker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Sandro, Huddlestone, Lennon, Dempsey, Bale, Defoe.
Subs: Lloris, Naughton, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Falque, Livermore, Townsend.

52: Everton have started the second half, with precise passing.
They want to win here, but need to test Jones more as he lacks self confidence.

53: Good challenge by Leon Osman, as he sees the Liverpool counter attack, and tackles Steven Gerrard well just as he is about to play a through ball to Luis Suarez on the wing.

Suarez is protesting a free-kick but Andre Marriner is having none of it..  

55: Suarez keeps the ball in play, before running down the wing and beating Everton defender Phil Jagielka by passing the ball onto his body and running past him.
He has a shot, but the shot is blocked well and cleared away. 

56: Raheem Sterling is ready to burst and catch a through over the top ball by Jonjo Shelvey, but Jagielka catches him and trips him to ensure that he does not reach the ball.

Andre Marriner gives Jagielka a yellow card for blocking play and tripping Sterling.

FACT: Jagielka has been given the fourth yellow card of the match.  
  
57: Liverpool captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard has a free-kick, and takes it with a curling low shot towards goal....
PARRIED away by Tim Howard. Close, and was a good, powerful shot on goal.

60: Everton are pressing for another goal, after Fellaini's header towards goal is just wide, and a lovely piece of 1-2 play by Everton just needs the finishing touch after Coleman's low cross into the box is cleared away by Wisdom.

62: 
Shots:

Everton - 12, Liverpool - 6

66: Everton free-kick, with Leighton Baines standing over it...

He whips the ball into the box, and Jelavic jumps higher than defender Martin Skrtel before heading the ball towards goal.. WIDE!!

He should at least get the shot on target... Another chance, not taken by Everton. You wonder whether they will begin to regret not taking another of their chances.

67: Ouch. The Everton fans are chanting, 'You know what you are, you know what you are, Luis Suarez, you know what you are'.

68: Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini shoulder barges Liverpool defender Daniel Agger in an attempt to shield him from the ball.

Agger grabs the ball in mid-air in anger at the challenge, and is given a yellow card for decent... Unlucky.

69: 
Liverpool make their last subsitution of the match;

Andre Wisdom OFF
Jordan Henderson ON 

70: Luis Suarez is given a yellow card, after studs up, and stepping on Everton defender Distin's achilles heel. Looks painful, and Distin is recieving treatment from the physio.

71: The two 3pm kick-offs have both started;

Southampton vs Tottenham and Newcastle vs West Brom  

76: Young midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has a shot from 25 yards out, but it is wide, and was not a good decision, as he had Sterling to his left.

85: Everton SUB:
Steven Naismith OFF
Bryan Oviedo ON

15:15 - GOAL UPDATE:

Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur,
St. Mary's Stadium:

15 minutes gone, and Totenham have broken the deadlock, thanks to the winger who did NOT last week in the London derby against Chelsea last week, due to the birth of his first child.
Young winger Gareth Bale has made it 1-0.   

90: The fourth official has signalled for 4 minutes to be added on at Goodison Park.

90+2: A Liverpool free-kick is whipped into the box, and the ball falls to Luis Suarez.... GOAL!!!

The linesman has his flag up though, and the goal is DISALLOWED.

90+4: The referee blows the whistle to end the second half, and the match at Goodison Park

Everton will breath a sign of relief, after a late goal was disallowed.
They will regret the fact that they missed a lot of chances, and could have won the game by more than 2 goals.

They got back into the game surprisingly quickly after Liverpool were 2-0 up, but in the second half did NOT take their chances.  

Liverpool will be disappointed having lead 2-0, and that they were not given a late goal, as Luis Suarez was not offside and was denied his hat-trick.

My Man Of The Match: Luis Suarez

He scored twice, got himself into good positions all of the match and was given Everton trouble throughout.    
  
Team Line-ups:

Chelsea vs Manchester United:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cahill, Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Torres. 

Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Moses, Marin, Sturridge, Azpilicueta, Bertrand.

Chelsea name the same side that they played against Tottenham last season. Sturridge, Moses, Azpilicueta and Bertrand are all on the bench fo The Blues.

They look dangerous in attack, but are shaky in defence, so expect a lot of GOALS and drama in this match.


Man Utd: De Gea, Da Silva, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Young, Rooney, van Persie. 

Subs: Lindegaard, Anderson, Giggs, Hernandez, Nani, Welbeck, Scholes.
 
Ashley Young makes his first start for Manchester United after suffering an injury, while Rooney and van Persie start in attack. 
Javier Hernandez, Welbeck and Paul Scholes are all on the bench.

15:50:

HALF-TIME SCORES:

Southampton 0 Tottenham 2

Clint Dempsey made it 2-0 to Tottenham, after Gareth Bale broke the deadlock against his former club. 2-0 at half-time to the visitors.

Newcastle 1 West Brom 0

Striker Demba Ba has scored his 7th goal of the season to put the hosts Newcastle in-front against West Brom after 35 minutes. Half-time. 

16:00: The match has started at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester United.

16:10:

10 minutes gone at Stamford Bridge, and the home side are trailing by 1 goal to nil thanks to a 4th minute goal by Robin van Persie.

Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia's cross into the box found van Persie whose shot hit the post before hitting David Luiz and going into the net.

14: Valencia runs down the wing, before drilling a cross into the box for Robin van Persie. He hits the ball low towards goal... GOAL!!

Manchester United lead by 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, and the league leaders trail.

GOAL UPDATE: 

Newcastle vs West Brom,
St James Park:

Striker Romelu Lukaku has equalised for West Brom at St. James Park. 1-1, with 55 minutes played.

23: Defender David Luiz has a free-kick from 30 yards out, and decides to have a shot at goal.
The shot is powerful, but David De Gea saves the ball from going past him, by using his legs.

GOAL UPDATE -

Southampton vs Tottenham,
St. Mary's Stadium:

Striker Jay Rodriguez has given Southampton hope of getting back into the match at home. 25 minutes to go, and they are trailing by 2 goals to 1.

30: Whenever Manchester United break, Chelsea are getting split open, especially when winger Antonio Valencia has the ball.

36: Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel's cross deflects off Manchester United defender Jonny Evans onto the post! Corner for Chelsea.

42: Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic forces a corner from Manchester United winger Ashley Young.

Chelsea are piling on the pressure now...

Mata whips in a cross straight to striker Fernando Torres... he heads the ball towards goal... GREAT SAVE!! by David De Gea.

That was almost a certain goal until De Gea stepped in.

44: Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has the ball at his feet, and is brought down by striker Wayne Rooney just outside the box.
Free-kick for Chelsea, in a dangerous position....

45: Juan Mata stands over the free-kick, and hits the ball from 25 yards out... GOAL!!

What a strike from Juan Mata, and Chelsea are back in the match!

45+2: The referee has blown his whistle to end the first half at Stamford Bridge, with Manchester United leading by 2 goals to 1. 

HALF-TIME:

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 1

If Chelsea can continue with the pressure that they showed at the end of the first half, they can equalise with ease, and maybe even win the match.

Manchester United on the other hand need to ensure that they do not stand back and let Chelsea play.

FULL-TIME:

Southampton 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Tottenham's win pushes them up to 4th place, 5 points off the league leaders Chelsea, who are currently losing to Manchester United.

Clint Dempsey and Gareth Bale were the scorers for the away side, before Jay Rodriguez scored for Southampton, but it proved to be a consolation goal.


Heads we score: Gareth Bale heads Tottenham into a 1-0 lead at St. Mary's Stadium.



Tottenham midfielder Gareth Bale celebrates as he scores against his old club Southampton.


Newcastle 2 West Brom 1

Striker Papiss Cisse scored in the 90th minute to give Newcastle all three points at home to in-form West Brom.
Demba Ba scored his 7th of the season before Lukaku levelled the scoring at 1-1 after 55 minutes.




45: The referee has blown the whistle to start the second half at Stamford Bridge.
United lead by 2 goals to 1, but Chelsea are getting back into the match.

53: Chelsea winger Ramires equalises for The Blues at home! A header ended up past De Gea.

54: Chelsea winger Eden Hazard has a low shot towards goal saved by Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea with his feet!
Good save, as the shot was creeping in at the near post..

63: Manchester United winger Ashley Young has the ball at his feet... he runs towards goal before being tugged back by Branislav Ivanovic....
The referee points for a free-kick, and surely Ivanovic will get a card aswell...?
The referee pulls a card out of his pocket... IT'S RED!!!

Ivanovic is off! 
Chelsea are down to ten men now!

65: Manchester United SUB:

Tom Cleverley OFF
Javier Hernandez ON

An attacking minded substitution for United, as the pacy goal-poacher comes on after scoring twice during midweek.

66: Chelsea SUB:

Oscar OFF
Cesar Azpilicueta ON

Defensive change by Roberto Di Matteo, seeing as he is down to ten men, he must get as many players back as possible, but at the same time look for a winner.

69: 
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres on the ball. He knocks the ball past Evans before diving after a lunge by Evans...

The referee blows the whistle for a United free-kick and gives Torres a yellow card for diving... which is his second of the afternoon. RED CARD!!!!!!!! Chelsea are now down to 9 MEN.

72: Chelsea SUB:
Juan Mata OFF
Ryan Bertrand ON

Chelsea going ultra defensive now, because they are just looking for a draw now.

74: Manchester United SUB:
Wayne Rooney OFF
Ryan Giggs ON

75: 
Robin van Persie has a shot towards goal.. PARRIED away by Petr Cech! The ball hits the post and comes back out to Rafael, who's shot was turned into a pass straight to Hernandez. Hernandez shoots.... GOAL!!!!!!!!!

Manchester United lead again, thanks to super sub Javier Hernandez.

76: Replays show that Hernandez was in an offside position, but United do not care. 
Chelsea on the other hand are livid with the referee and linesman.
Midfielder John Obi Mikel is given a yellow card for dissent after arguing with the referee.  

82: Chelsea SUB:
Eden Hazard OFF
Daniel Sturridge ON

86: Chelsea are desperately looking for a late equaliser, but United are holding on for a 3-2 win.

90: The fourth official has signalled for 5 minutes of stoppage time to be added on, after two red cards from Chelsea.

90+2: Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia has been booked for diving.

90+3: Valencia has a shot one-on-one with Cech, but mis-hits his shot and it is well wide of the goal.

90+5: The referee blows the whistle to end the match at Stamford Bridge.

FULL-TIME SCORE:

Chelsea 2 Manchester United 3

United lead 2-1 at half-time. Ramires equalised, before a controversial goal from Hernandez gave United three points at Stamford Bridge.


What an end to a memorable day in the English Premier League.


Recap:

Liverpool lose a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against local rivals Everton.
Newcastle leave it late to beat West Brom 2-1.
Tottenham beat Southampton 2-1 thanks to Clint Dempsey and Gareth Bale.
9-men Chelsea lose at home to Manchester United, and slip up in the early title race.


Thank you for reading my EPL Blog.
I appreciate all of the daily views and my followers.
If you have not already, please follow and view this blog for more football coverage. 
I will speak to you all next week, where I will have LIVE Coverage of the Capital One Cup 4th Round Matches on Tuesday and Wednesday.