Saturday 30 August 2014

BLOG UPDATE:

Hello again everyone, today I have a blog update for you all. As you may or may not know, I am currently doing work for a site, called VAVEL as one of their official writers. 

My profile is here - http://www.vavel.com/Football365Mo/

I have been working with them for a few months, and am enjoying it. But, the content that I bring out on the site correlates with the work that I would normally publish on this blog - and I would like it to be as authentic as possible so there is no real point copying posts from either.

As a result of my work with the site currently, I have managed to get a lot of pageviews already; more than I normally would on average with the blog itself. 

So, I have taken the decision to reduce the amount of blog posts that I publish on my personal blog for now. It does not mean that I will stop publishing, or that I'm leaving. 

I'm still here online, and if you enjoy my content or want to read more then you are free to do so. 

I will have a few posts out each week, from transfer updates to opinions, analysis on players and my personal thoughts on a week's action in European football. 

My links are here - 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mosope.ominiyi
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Football365Mo
VAVEL page: http://www.vavel.com/Football365Mo/
VAVEL site: http://www.vavel.com/en/

Friday 22 August 2014

Bayern Munich 2 Wolfsburg 1 - Bundesliga OPENING NIGHT:


There was an exciting game on-show, as defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich played at home against VFL Wolfsburg on the opening night of the 2014-15 season. 

Before the game started, there was an "opening ceremony" type gathering for both teams - as Bayern's players were given an applause for their performance in the last campaign; as well as the fact that Germany had won the World Cup in Brazil earlier on in the summer.

German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was awarded with the "player of the season" award before kick-off, as the hosts were looking for an impressive performance in-front of their home support earlier on this Friday evening. 

Best goalkeeper in the world: Neuer was awarded with the player of the season award before kick-off
The game got off to a slow, gradual pace which quickened whenever Bayern got on the counter attack.

However, the match opened up as an interesting contest after Munich scored the opening goal, thanks to a strike in the 37th minute from German forward Thomas Muller, who was set up inside the area by the quick footwork of Robben on the flank to get past left-back Ricardo Rodriguez before passing towards his team-mate to break the deadlock.

Slotted into the net: Muller scored the first goal of the new season to give Bayern the lead
Then, a moment of magic ensured that Bayern doubled their lead within a minute of the restart from half-time, as a pass-and-move between Robben, Lewandowski and Muller combined well and the Dutch winger got his goal to make it 2-0.

Pace and agility: Robben waltzed past the Wolfsburg defence on the counter to make it 2-0
Wolfsburg were not going to lie down and let Bayern dominate them, despite all of their clear star quality. The German outfit grabbed a goal back less than 10 minutes later, thanks to former Bayern striker Ivica Olic who struck a curling strike past Neuer, who dived high to try and parry it - but wasn't able to keep it out. 

Wolfsburg were back in the game with the scoreline at 2-1, but they should have equalised thanks to substitute Junior Malanda who had an initial shot bounce off the crossbar before his second attempt was narrowly wide, DESPITE the fact that he had an open goal to shoot at with Neuer out of goal and struggling to get back in time. 

Unbelievable miss! Malanda should have scored from close range, when it was easier to miss
Somehow, they were unable to score from that - and Bayern's substitute midfielder Sebastian Rode had a low drilled shot from 20 yards out; which swerved low and hard out of reach for Wolfsburg's goalkeeper to stop, but after a dispute between the referee, Wolfsburg players and the linesman, the goal was wrongly disallowed for offside.

Muller jumped over the ball and impeded the sight of the goalkeeper, but the goal SHOULD have stood. 

In the end, the match finished 2-1 with the defending champions Bayern Munich edging out the game. They had dominated for sustained periods, and were denied on numerous occasions by Max Gruen. 

Wolfsburg made the game entertaining in the second-half, but should have taken their chances clinically and failed.

Saturday 16 August 2014

EPL OPENING DAY - LIVE COVERAGE:

Not according to the script: Ki celebrates his opener in the first half
Back in the game: Rooney celebrates his acrobatic effort from close range to make it 1-1.
Old Trafford: United supporters fill up outside the stadium ahead of kick-off against Swansea
Hello again everyone and welcome to my latest blog post, as the 2014-15 Premier League season gets underway today! 

7 matches being played today, 2 tomorrow and 1 on the Monday night; as the new campaign kicks off in style.

Today's fixtures (3pm unless stated) - 

Manchester United vs Swansea - LIVE
Leicester City vs Everton
QPR vs Hull City
Stoke vs Aston Villa
West Brom vs Sunderland
West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur 
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace - LIVE at 5.30pm

14:09 - Team line-ups have been confirmed for all of the 3pm kick-off's, and in the early afternoon match it is 1-1 between United and Swansea. 

14:10 - Goals from Ki Sung Yeung and Wayne Rooney either side of half-time have made the score what it is at the moment. 

14:11 - 20 minutes to play at Old Trafford, and United have dominated from the start of the second-half and deserve to be drawing after a lacklustre showing in the first period. 

14:12 - Swansea took their only real chance of the game and scored from it, thanks to a low drive by Ki past de Gea. 

14:13 - Young midfielder Jesse Lingard was subsituted for United after 23 minutes, having picked up a knock on the knee and being unable to continue after that. 

The new United number 11 came on, Adnan Januzaj. 


Unfortunate: Lingard was in considerable pain and had to be replaced, on his PL debut
14:14 - Team line-ups for the 5 3pm kick-off's after the match has finished.

14:17 - GOAL! Swansea go back ahead! And they take their chance on the counter attack; with Sigurdsson slotting home after a goalmouth scramble. 



14:18 - Manchester United left stunned again at home, having lost to Swansea last season in the FA Cup at Old Trafford aswell.

14:20 - Last substitution of the game for Swansea; last season's top goalscorer Wilfried Bony is replaced by Bafetimbi Gomis in a like-for-like change.

14:21 - Just under 10 minutes left for United to get back into the match, but Swansea are holding on for dear life now. 

14:27 - Two yellow cards in quick succession, first Ki from Swansea and then Blackett for United. 

14:30 - United trying to get players forward but to no avail as of yet. 

14:33 - The fourth official signals for 4 minutes of stoppage time to be added on, a tense finish ahead.

14:35 - Despite the result, you have to give credit to Swansea for their performance today. Looked good throughout and made United work for the ball.

14:38 - Referee waves play on after a penalty appeal in the area; Januzaj whips a cross into the area and it bounces off the arm of Rangel - nothing given!

14:40 - FULL-TIME! Swansea win away from home at Manchester United on the opening day of the season.

14:41 - Swansea with a superb showing away from home, manager Garry Monk will be pleased with what he's seen.

14:42 - Given the fact that this is his first match as permanent manager in the Premier League, it is a sign of things to come. 

14:45 - United meanwhile will be desperate for more signings, including the likes of Rojo, di Maria and Vidal who have all been heavily linked to the club in the past few weeks. 

14:50 - Full team line-ups for all of the 3pm kick-off's:


Leicester City vs Everton: 

Leicester: Schmeichel, De Laet, Moore, Morgan, Konchesky, Mahrez, King, Drinkwater, Knockaert, Nugent and Ulloa.

Subs: Hammond, Hamer, Schlupp, Hopper, Taylor-Fletcher, Wasilewski and Wood.

Everton: Howard, Stones, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, McGeady, Naismith, Pienaar and Lukaku. 

Subs: Robles, Mirallas, Besic, Atsu, Osman, Coleman and Alcaraz.


West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur:

West Ham: Adrian, O'Brien, Reid, Collins, Cresswell, Noble, Drampis, Vaz Te, Nolan, Downing and Cole.

Subs: Zarate, Demel, Diame, Jaaskelainen, Poyet, Valencia and Burke.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Naughton, Kaboul, Dier, Rose, Bentaleb, Capoue, Lennon, Lamela, Eriksen and Adebayor.

Subs: Soldado, Holtby, Townsend, Kane, Dawson, Friedel and Davies.


QPR vs Hull City:

QPR: Green, Caulker, Ferdinand, Dunne, Simpson, Faurlin, Mutch, Barton, Traore, Remy and Austin.

Subs: Hill, Phillips, Onuoha, Henry, Murphy, Hoilett and Zamora.

Hull: McGregor, Bruce, Chester, Davies, Elmohamady, Huddlestone, Livermore, Robertson, Snodgrass, Ince and Jelavic.

Subs: Figueroa, Meyler, Brady, McShane, Harper, Aluko and Quinn.


Stoke City vs Aston Villa:

Stoke: Begovic, Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Whelan, Nzonzi, Diouf, Ireland, Arnautovic and Bojan.

Subs: Huth, Muniesa, Adam, Walters, Sidwell, Crouch and Sorensen.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Vlaar, Senderos, Cissokho, N'Zogbia, Delph, Westwood, Richardson, Weimann and Agbonlahor.

Subs: Baker, Clark, Bacuna, El Ahmadi, Bent, Given and Grealish.


West Brom vs Sunderland:

West Brom: Foster, Wisdom, Dawson, Olsson, Pocognoli, Dorrans, Gardner, Mulumbu, Brunt, Berahino and 
Anichebe.

Subs: Baird, Yacob, Ideye, Myhill, Davidson, O'Neil and Sessegnon.

Sunderland: Mannone, Roberge, Brown, O'Shea, Van Aanholt, Larsson, Cattermole, Rodwell, Johnson, Wickham and Fletcher. 

Subs: Pantilimon, Bridcutt, Gomez, Altidore, Mavrias, Graham and Buckley.

15:00 - Just a quick notice as the matches get underway. 

15:01 - I will not be posting any live updates from the 3pm kick-off's on the blog, instead I will be watching the Leicester vs Everton game and I am aiming to have a match report from that match after it has finished, it will be posted on VAVEL and I will post a link that redirects you to my page and the homepage itself so you can all have a look.

15:02 - Secondly, I will be posting any live updates from the game here: 

https://twitter.com/Football365Mo - so follow me for football updates!

15:03 - And thirdly, because of technical problems I was unable to commentate on the United vs Swansea game in full, so to make up for that I will attempt to have a round-up of all of the weekend's games on this blog and on VAVEL. 

15:05 - 

Here are the links - 

http://www.vavel.com/Football365Mo/ - my page for my content
http://www.vavel.com/en/ - the VAVEL homepage for more

Tuesday 12 August 2014

UEFA SUPER CUP: Real Madrid vs Sevilla, LIVE COMMENTARY -


Hello again everyone and welcome to my latest blog post, another LIVE Commentary as UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid play against fellow Spanish side Sevilla, who won the UEFA Europa League last season. 

Here are the team line-ups for tonight's game: 

Real Madrid: Casillas, Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Fabio Coentrao, Kroos, Rodriguez, Modric, Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.

Subs: Navas, Varane, Marcelo, Arbeloa, Di Maria, Isco, Illarramendi.

Sevilla: Beto, Coke, Pareja, Fazio, Fernando Navarro, Alex Vidal, Krychowiak, Carrico, Vitolo, Suarez, Bacca.

Subs: Barbosa, Diogo Figueiras, Reyes, Jairo, Iborra, Aspas, Luismi.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (from England)

19:45 - The referee Mark Clattenburg blows his whistle, as the UEFA Super Cup has begun!

1: It will be interesting to see how both teams fare tonight, Real Madrid have gone from strength to strength after completing big money-moves for James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos from AS Monaco and Bayern Munich respectively.


Star signing: James took the World Cup by storm, and earned a £60million dream move to Real
2:  Sevilla meanwhile will feel disappointed as they have lost some of their key players, Rakitic joined Barcelona earlier on in the summer, M'Bia is now a free agent and young full-back Alberto Moreno is set to join Liverpool after a reported transfer fee of £12million pounds was agreed earlier today, so he will not play any part tonight. 

3: This match is being played at the Cardiff City Stadium, in Wales, where Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale grew up as a child - so this match will mean a lot to him back in his home country today.

5: Liga BBVA season begins in a few weeks, so this match will be a good test for both teams tonight, both with their separate goals for the campaign ahead.

15: It's been all Real Madrid so far in this match, but it's nothing more than you would expect in fairness. if Sevilla get the ball and go on the counter attack, they could expose the defence which does look shaky at times to be honest.

16: Clattenburg halts play as Sevilla get forward and Carvajal commits a foul, an inswinging free-kick to be taken from 40 yards out.

17: Good block by Sevilla's loanee signing Denis Suarez (Barcelona youth talent) to clear the danger away after a great lofted through ball pass by Rodriguez is fed into the path of Bale; he shifts his body quickly and connects with the ball but he is denied by the tracking run from the Spaniard.

18: Real keep hold of possession, trying to get forward with pace.

20: Sevilla corner, after Casillas does well to parry away a half-chance strike by Vitolo from the near post. 

23: Sevilla defending very well at the moment, but not getting forward quickly enough as of yet. They are pressing though, which forces Real into passing the ball into space.

26: GOOD SAVE! Cristiano Ronaldo almost makes it 1-0 to Real, but for a good low stop from Beto who gets down quickly and parries away Ronaldo's effort in a crucial one-on-one duel. 

30: GOAL! Real Madrid ahead! A great counter attacking move, finished off by Ronaldo after a superb cross by Gareth Bale.


Sliding in at the far post: Ronaldo broke the deadlock after a super cross from Bale
1-0 up: Ronaldo celebrates his finish with his team-mates, as Real go a goal ahead
31: A quick switch of the play, Ronaldo sprints past his marker and Bale spots him with a 40-yard cross across goal for him to slide and slot past Beto, as Sevilla are caught on the break.

33: Good save by Casillas who reacts quickly to deny Carrico after a poor clearance from Rodriguez, Ramos and Pepe struggle to deal with it and the defender has a one-on-one that he should really be scoring in truth. 

34: Carrico has his head in his hands, because he knows that he should have scored there. 

38: Real get forward again, but Sevilla stay strong at the back and force an early cross from Rodriguez; he hits a cross into the box and Beto comes forward to collect in his hands and clear. 

41: First yellow card of the game is given to Sevilla's Vitolo - after he lunges forward at Ronaldo and accidentally catches his foot. Ronaldo goes down, clutching his foot and wins a free-kick.

42: Kroos with the delivery into the box, Bacca inadvertently heads the ball backwards and it almost falls to the path of Rodriguez who chases the ball and lets it go out for a corner-kick.

43: The corner comes of nothing as Ramos lifts his hands and the ball bounces off him - Clattenburg spots this and blows his whistle for a foul.  

45: The fourth official signals for just one minute of stoppage time to be added on, after Carvajal is booked for a late sliding challenge on the flank.

45+1: HALF-TIME: 

Real Madrid 1 Sevilla 0 - 

Real lead their Spanish counterparts at half-time, and it's deserved as they have dominated chances and possession. Sevilla need to trouble the Madrid defence more if they want to score sooner or later, because Real's defence isn't as good as it is perceived to be. 

(Follow the LIVE action - this page auto-updates every 45 seconds)

20:48 - The second-half has begun, with no substitutes as of yet. 

48: GOAL! Real are 2-0 up, thanks to another goal from Cristiano Ronaldo who smashes the ball past Beto who can only parry into the net after a good flick-on pass by Benzema on the turn.


Ronaldo celebrates his goal with new Colombian team-mate Rodriguez, after he makes it 2-0
49: Upon reflection, Beto probably should have done better with the shot but Ronaldo's effort was way too powerful to stop properly there.

50: 2-0 to Madrid, and unless Sevilla turn the tables quickly they have the game as good as won now. 

51: That's Ronaldo's 18th goal against Sevilla, who he has come up against 11 times. 

53: Kroos is the second player to be booked after a late sliding tackle on Sevilla midfielder Krychowiak. 

58: Sevilla have struggled in truth today, not in terms of defending but in terms of having any real chances or shots on goal.

59: I'm pretty sure that Casillas has only had to make one or two saves during the game so far, which isn't good enough when you are playing against a team of Real's calibre.

60: It's obvious to see that they miss Croatian playmaker Ivan Rakitic, who would have taken this game by storm with his passing abilities. 

61: He can create a half-chance out of nothing, just burst forward with the ball at his feet and feed Bacca or Suarez, both who need service but are having to go into midfield and try to win possession.

62: Bale steps towards a free-kick, he will have a strike towards goal from around 35 yards out. 

62: And his effort is tame as he tries to curl it around the wall, but it hits the free-kick wall and goes out for a throw-in.

65: Good stop by Beto again, this time from Benzema's effort on-goal; he dives to his right to parry away before the linesman flags for an offside as Coentrao sprints towards the ball.

66: Sevilla SUB - 
Alex Vidal OFF
Iago Aspas ON

67: Yet another good save by Beto, this time from a well-struck effort from James Rodriguez, 25 yards out. 

68: Rodriguez does well to hit the strike sweetly, Beto reacts quickly to parry it away with one hand acrobatically. 

70: Nice 1-2 play between Benzema and Modric on the edge of the area, but the Frenchman's effort is well wide and high of the goal in the end.

71: Real Madrid SUB - 
James Rodriguez OFF
Isco ON

76: Real corner is delayed by the referee after some tussles in the area, between Ramos and Krychowiak before Pepe gets involved (as per usual).

78: Sevilla SUB - 
Denis Suarez OFF
Jose Antonio Reyes ON

79: The referee blows his whistle and the match is restarted after Ramos was receiving medical attention for the apparent knock to the head.

82: Great last-ditch tackle by Krychowiak who does well to get between Ronaldo and the ball on the edge of the area, to slide and win the ball.

83: Ronaldo goes down and is in some considerable pain.

84: Real Madrid SUB - 
Fabio Coentrao OFF
Marcelo ON 

84: Sevilla SUB - 
Coke OFF
Diogo Figueiras ON

86: Real Madrid SUB -
Luka Modric OFF 
Asier Illaramendi ON

89: Sevilla 2-0 down, with a minute to go - but if you'd just turned on you'd thinking they are winning. Nice to see.

90: The fourth official signals for 3 minutes of stoppage time to be added on.

90+3: A last-gasp stop from Beto denies Bale from getting a goal on his return to his home country, before Mark Clattenburg blows the whistle for the final time tonight. 

FULL-TIME:

Real Madrid 2 Sevilla 0 - 

It's only a friendly, but Real have really put down a marker for their competition next season. A brace from Cristiano Ronaldo have given Real their first trophy of the season, the UEFA Super Cup.

21:40 - I'll have the trophy presentation, and then that will be the end of this LIVE Commentary tonight. I will be back in the next few days with either a transfer update, or another LIVE Commentary perhaps.

21:41 - the Premier League starts on Saturday, just 4 days remaining! Many people cannot wait, I will be having a lot of LIVE Commentaries, match reports, reviews and analysis throughout the season in all of the European big leagues. 

21:42 - Sevilla get a round of applause as they walk up the steps to get their runners-up medals for tonight's match, looking glum. 

21:43 - Real Madrid deserved to win tonight, but no-one really thought that Sevilla would challenge them in this match to be honest. 

21:44 - Pictures show Sevilla's young full-back Alberto Moreno in tears as he picks up his runners-up medal for tonight's game, in which he was NOT involved. 

21:45 - This suggests, that tonight's game may be Moreno's last as a Sevilla player, or representing the club. Liverpool have had a £12million pound bid for him accepted in the past few hours today. 

21:46 - The Real Madrid players come up with huge smiles on their faces as they walk up to get their winners medals. 

21:48 - The only players I can see who look upset or glum are Alonso and Khedira. Both players did not play a part tonight.

21:49 - Ramos steps up and lifts the UEFA Super Cup trophy aloft, to big cheers from the crowd in the stadium!

Real Madrid win the UEFA Super Cup, and they will be hoping for more success this season. 

21:50 - That's goodbye from me tonight, I hope you enjoyed today's LIVE Commentary of the match. I will be back soon with more footballing content, until then I will speak to you later!

Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Football365Mo
And, have a read of my articles on VAVEL here - http://www.vavel.com/Football365Mo/

Sunday 10 August 2014

COMMUNITY SHIELD, Arsenal vs Manchester City - LIVE COMMENTARY:




Hello again everyone and welcome to my latest blog post - where I have a LIVE Commentary of the match between Arsenal and Manchester City, in an official curtain raiser before the season begins next week Saturday. 

Both teams will be eager for the win to see them win the first piece of silverware ahead of the new campaign, and it will be intriguing to see how both sides perform under pressure at Wembley later today. 

13:51 - I will have official confirmation of the team news and starting line-ups for today's game when it is released, the match is set to kick off in just over an hour's time.

13:52 - Both teams will not be at full strength today, because Pellegrini and Wenger are both resting some of their key players who were playing in the World Cup back in June and July. 

13:53 - Arsenal have been unusually busy in this summer transfer market, and their business is not even done yet according to Wenger! 


Thursday 7 August 2014

Latest transfer news, football updates and rumours:

Hello again everyone and welcome to my latest blog post, where I have the latest transfer news, football updates and rumours across Europe as the month of August has begun.

Less than 1 month away from the end of the transfer window, many clubs are in talks with other teams for players as they are all looking to bolster their squads ahead of the new season. 


Sunday 3 August 2014

PRE-SEASON ACTION: LIVE COMMENTARY -


Hello again everyone and welcome to my latest blog post, where I have a LIVE Commentary of the pre-season action involving Premier League sides today.

Arsenal are up against Ligue 1 runners-up Monaco in the Emirates Cup, while Everton play FC Porto and Chelsea have a tough test on their hands against German side Werder Bremen.


Saturday 2 August 2014

EPL: 6 reasons to be excited for 2014-15!


Hello again everyone, and welcome to my latest blog post - today I will be presenting 6 reasons as to why you should all be excited about the 2014-15 season in the Premier League, and what it means for the future.