EPL Double Bill Reaction + Review:

Hello and welcome to my latest blog post, where I give LIVE reaction to 2 EPL matches that were being played earlier on today, as Aston Villa hosted West Ham and Everton took a trip to 1st placed Manchester United who could move 12 points clear at the top of the table with a win at home today - after City's 3-1 loss to Southampton in the evening match yesterday.

Aston Villa 2 West Ham United 1:

This match was played at Villa Park, as 18th placed Aston Villa hosted 11th placed West Ham in a must-win match for Paul Lambert and his side if they were to move out of the relegation zone today. 

The match was tense for the both sides until the 74th minute, when Belgian striker Christian Benteke slotted the ball past Jussi Jaaskelainen into the net, after winger Charles N'Zogbia showed quick feet and good skill before being brought down inside the box. 

Quick footwork: N'Zogbia got past two West Ham defenders before being brought down inside the penalty area.

Boost: Christian Benteke slots the ball into the net from the penalty spot to give the hosts the lead.

Clinical: Benteke wheels away to celebrate scoring his 11th EPL goal this season to put Villa 1-0 ahead.

N'Zogbia doubled the lead in the 79th minute, to cap off a fine performance from him and the hosts and even though West Ham pulled a goal back in the 88th minute thanks to an own goal from young defender Ashley Westwood, it proved to be only a consolation for Sam Allardyce's men as they travel back to East London without any points. 

Nicely done: Aston Villa winger Charles N'Zogbia caps off a good performance with a goal from a free-kick.

Superman: N'Zogbia celebrates his goal with Benteke and the home fans.

This result means that Aston Villa move into 17th place, at the expense of Reading who lost 2-1 at Stoke yesterday.

Manchester United 2 Everton 0: 

This match was a potential title-decider at Old Trafford, as United hosted a tough Everton side who had previously beat them 1-0 at Goodison Park in the first fixture of the season. 

This was also a test for United, as it was their last match of the season before "the big one" - the Last 16 Champions League 1st Leg match against Spainish giants Real Madrid. 

Watching his opponents: Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho faces United on Wednesday...

They went ahead after 13 minutes, thanks to a low, powerful strike from Welsh winger Ryan Giggs after some good build-up play by Valencia and van Persie saw the ball flicked on to him inside the box.

Landmark: Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs breaks the deadlock after 13 minutes at Old Trafford.

FACT: Ryan Giggs has now scored in 23 consecutive seasons for Manchester United.

Robin van Persie scored his 19th goal of the season just on the stroke of half-time after beating the Everton offside trap and going around U.S.A goalkeeper Tim Howard before slotting the ball into an empty net despite the advances of Holland  team-mate and defender Johnny Heitinga. 

Around the goalkeeper: van Persie doubled United's lead just before half-time to make it 2-0.

On top of the world: Robin van Persie celebrates his 19th EPL goal this season against Everton.

Despite Everton's pressing in the second half, United stayed firm and kept a clean sheet in the process. 

United are now 12 points clear at the top of the table, capitalizing on local rivals Manchester City's mistake when they lost 3-1 to Southampton yesterday evening. 

Healthy lead: Manchester United celebrate moving 12 points clear at the top of the table - and closing in on their 20th EPL title.

Nigeria play against Burkina Faso in the African Cup of Nations Final tonight - LIVE

African Cup of Nations Final: Nigeria vs Burkina Faso - LIVE Commentary: 

Team Line-ups:

Nigeria: Enyeama, Echiejile, Omeruo, Oboabona, Ambrose, Onanzi, Mikel, Mba, Uche, Moses, Ideye.

Burkina Faso: Diakite, Koffi, Kone, Koulibaly, Panandetiguiri, Kone, Kabore, Rouamba, Nakoulma, Bance, Pitroipa.   

Pre-show: Nigeria and Burkina Faso play in the Final tonight, having put on a great pre-show. 

20:

20 minutes gone in the African Cup of Nations final between the Super Eagles (Nigeria) and The Stallions (Burkina Faso), and it is currently 0-0 with Nigeria the more attacking side so far.

Chelsea forward Victor Moses is pressuring the Burkina Faso backline with his blistering pace and trickery. 

27: Dangerous free-kick for Burkina Faso from 20 yards out... but striker Bance hits the shot low and hard off target and does not test goalkeeper Victor Enyeama.   

28: Fouls:
Nigeria - 4, Burkina Faso - 5.

33: The first yellow card of the match goes to Burkina Faso's defensive midfielder Florent Rouamba. He cannot complain, as he fouled Chelsea forward Victor Moses harshly moments earlier. 

36: Nigeria are completely dominating the match, controlled the tempo and flow of the match to how they like it. Just cannot test the goalkeeper as of yet.

39: Nigeria midfielder Ogenyi Onanzi is shown a yellow card for a late challenge, but the resulting free-kick in Burkina Faso's favour goes wide thanks to a poor header from Kone. 
Better from Burkina Faso though.

40: GOAL! Nigeria have broken the deadlock! They make a dangerous counter attack work with Uche finding Moses on the edge of the box.
Moses's shot is blocked, before Sunday Mba picks the ball up with pace at his feet and beats a Burkina Faso defender before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner of the net. 

Jubilation: Sunday Mba is mobbed by his Nigerian team-mates after scoring the opening goal in the 40th minute.

45: The fourth official has signalled for 2 minutes of stoppage time to be added on. 

45+2: The referee has blown his whistle for half-time at Soccer City. 
The Super Eagles are 1-0 ahead at half-time, with Burkina Faso struggling to test the Nigerian goalkeeper enough to equalise as of yet.
They have 45 minutes to score and hopefully get back into the match.    

Nicely done by Mba.. 1-0 to the favourites, with 5 minutes left of the first-half. 

19:32: The second half has begun in Johannesburg.

45: Burkina Faso start the second half... and they have to start the second half quickly with some purpose or they will not win tonight...

50: Nigeria are still controlling the match now, despite having a great chance saved. 
Chelsea forward Victor Moses abused his after-burners on the wing before releasing a fast pass to Ideye who turned to shoot but Diakite denied him with a great save.  

54: Nigeria SUB:
Ikechukwu Uche OFF
Ahmed Musa ON  

62: Burkina Faso putting pressure on the Nigerin defence, with a free-kick taken, but Chelsea defensive midfielder John Obi Mikel heads the ball clear. 

64: Nigeria SUB:
Uwa Echiejile (injury) OFF
Juwan Oshaniwa ON

80: A tense last 10 minutes for The Super Eagles.... 1-0 ahead and it looks as though they are going to hang on for a famous victory!

90: The fourth official has signalled for 4 minutes of stoppage time to be added on....

90+4: The match has finished! Nigeria are crowned African Cup of Nations champions! 
 

Unbelievable: Nigeria cannot believe that they have won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years.

 
  

(MORE TO FOLLOW - AS THE NIGHT CONTINUES)

EPL Super Saturday LIVE Coverage:

Hello and welcome to my latest blog post, where I have LIVE coverage of 7 EPL matches being played today, including Sunderland vs Arsenal, Southampton vs Manchester City and Chelsea vs Wigan.  

Team Line-ups:

Sunderland vs Arsenal:

Sunderland: Mignolet, Gardner, Bramble, O'Shea, Rose, Sessegnon, Cattermole, N'Diaye, Colback, Johnson, Fletcher.

Subs: Westwood, Bardsley, Larsson, Graham, Vaughan, Mangane, Cuellar.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla, Giroud, Walcott.

Subs: Mannone, Diaby, Rosicky, Podolski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson, Miquel.  

Swansea City vs QPR:

Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Chico, Williams, Davies, Hernandez, De Guzman, Ki, Routledge, Dyer, Michu.
Subs: Tremmel, Bartley, Lamah, Shechter, Moore, Tiendalli, Agustien.

QPR: Julio Cesar, Onuoha, Samba, Hill, Traore, Townsend, Derry, M'Bia, Jenas, Taarabt, Mackie.
Subs: Green, Park, Wright-Phillips, Granero, Ben Haim, Zamora, Bothroyd. 

Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic:

Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole, Luiz, Ramires, Oscar, Lampard, Hazard, Torres. 
Subs: Turnbull, Mata, Ferreira, Marin, Ba, Benayoun, Bertrand.

Wigan: Al Habsi, Stam, Scharner, Caldwell, Figueroa, McCarthy, McArthur, Beausejour, Espinoza, Maloney, Di Santo.
Subs: Robles, Kone, Jones, Henriquez, Gomez, McManaman, Golobart. 

Norwich City vs Fulham:

Norwich: Bunn, Martin, Bassong, Turner, Garrido, Snodgrass, Tettey, Johnson, Elliot Bennett, Hoolahan, Becchio.

Subs: Camp, Whittaker, Howson, Jackson, Surman, Kamara, Tierney.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Manolev, Senderos, Hangeland, Riise, Sidwell, Frimpong, Duff, Ruiz, Berbatov, Rodallega.

Subs: Etheridge, Petric, Karagounis, Hughes, Dejagah, Emmanuelson, Kacaniklic.
 

Stoke City vs Reading:

Stoke: Begovic, Shotton, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson, Kightly, Nzonzi, Whelan, Etherington, Walters, Crouch. 
Subs: Sorensen, Cameron, Jones, Owen, Adam, Whitehead, Jerome.

Reading: Federici, Kelly, Pearce, Mariappa, Harte, Kebe, Akpan, Leigertwood, McAnuff, Blackman, Pogrebnyak. 
Subs: Stuart Taylor, Shorey, Karacan, Le Fondre, Hunt, McCleary, Morrison.

15:00: All of the 6 EPL 3pm kick-off's have started.

15:48:

It is half-time in all of the 5 matches, and here are the scores so far:

Chelsea 1 Wigan 0:
Brazillian midfielder Ramires broke the deadlock for The Blues after a good pass from striker Fernando Torres in the 23rd minute. They are still 1-0 up at half-time. 
 
Norwich 0 Fulham 0:
Fulham have a few injury worries, with striker Dimitar Berbatov and Arsenal loanee midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong both having to recieve treatment. Still goal-less at Carrow Road though. 

Stoke City 0 Reading 0:
Stoke are pressing Reading for the opener at The Britannia... with Crouch and Shawcross both having shots saved by Adam Federici. 

Sunderland 0 Arsenal 1:
The Gunners pressed Sunderland's defence throughout the first half, and finally got their first goal of the match in the 35th minute after a great run by midfielder Jack Wilshere who fed forward Theo Walcott a great through ball. Walcott knocked the ball to midfielder Santi Cazorla whose deflected strike flew into the net. 

Ahead: Midfielder Santi Cazorla celebrates his goal against Sunderland to make it 1-0. 

5th placed Arsenal are 4 points off (AS IT STANDS) 4th placed rivals Tottenham and a win will increase their chances of a top 4 finish again this season. 
 
Swansea City 2 QPR 0:
Spainish forward Michu broke the deadlock in the 8th minute after Julio Cesar parried away Nathan Dyer's long range effort.  
Defender Angel Rangel doubled the lead for the hosts in the 18th minute with a rebounded shot after Cesar denied him the first time but was not able to stop the second shot.  

Back on the scoresheet: Michu uses his trademark celebration to cap off his 1st goal in 6 matches for Swansea.

16:03:
The second halves have all started. 

16:10:
Liberty Stadium,
Swansea vs QPR:

QPR have halved the deficit now! Adel Taarabt's shot is saved by Michel Vorm, before former Fulham striker Bobby Zamora taps home the rebound. 2-1.

16:11:
The Stadium of Light,
Sunderland vs Arsenal:

Injury worry for The Gunners, with young key midfielder Jack Wilshere limping off the pitch in pain. 
He is being replaced by French defensive midfielder Abou Diaby as a precautionary measure as they do not want to aggravate the injury. 

Tough time: Arsenal and England startlet Jack Wilshere has been given a tough time by Sunderland players today. 

Not too bad: Wilshere limps off the pitch, but the injury is not as bad as originally thought. 

16:13: 
Liberty Stadium,
Swansea vs QPR:

Spainish winger Pablo Hernandez has made it 3-1 to the hosts, with a squeezed shot past Julio Cesar. 

Narrow: Pablo Hernandez beats a QPR defender before squeezing the ball past Cesar into the net. 

16:14:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:

The Blues have doubled their lead after returning winger Eden Hazard converts right-back Cesar Azpilicueta's low cross. 2-0 to The Blues....

Guess who's back: Belgian winger Eden Hazard caps off his return to the first-team after serving his 3-match ban with a goal. 

Deserved: Hazard is mobbed by his team-mates after doubling the lead for Chelsea. 

16:16:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:

... Not anymore! Wigan striker Shaun Maloney has scored from an acute angle to give the away side hope. Could Chelsea let another 2 goal lead slip?!?!

16:20:
The Stadium Of Light,
Sunderland vs Arsenal:

Even though the away side are winning, today must feel like a loss for Arsene Wenger and his side. 

They have already lost Jack Wilshere due to an injury, but it gets worse as The Gunners are now down to 10 men after left-back Carl Jenkinson is sent off for a second yellow card after a late tackle  on Sunderland midfielder Stephane Sessegnon. 


16:26:
The Britannia Stadium,
Stoke vs Reading:

Stoke have knocked on the Reading door several times throughout this match, and defender Robert Huth has broken the deadlock for The Potters with a header at the back post following a Stoke corner. 
1-0 to the hosts, and they can "shut up shop" now, or go for the 2nd goal to kill off the match.

Heads I score: Stoke defender Robert Huth towers over the Reading defence to score for the hosts. 

16:29:
Liberty Stadium,
Swansea vs QPR:

QPR have suddenly fallen apart, despite starting the second half brightly. 
Spainish forward Michu beats QPR's record signing defender Christopher Samba before slotting the ball easily past Cesar into the net. 4-1 to the hosts, and it is becoming a rout. 
QPR's talisman-like goalkeeper Julio Cesar however is not to blame..  

16:38: 

The Britannia Stadium,
Stoke City vs Reading:

Striker Cameron Jerome has all but sealed the 3 points for The Potters with a blistering strike past Adam Federici into the net. 2-0 with 15 minutes to play. 

Nicely done: Stoke striker Cameron Jerome hits a great strike to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. 

Encouraging: Jerome celebrates scoring his 4th goal of the season to make it 2-0. 

16:41:
The Britannia Stadium,
Stoke City vs Reading:

Reading are suddenly back into the match, after defender Adrian Mariappa heads in an Ian Harte corner. Surely not an equaliser?!

Back in it: Defender Mariappa heads the ball into the net from a corner to make it 2-1. 

16:44:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic:

Legendary midfielder Frank Lampard scores his 198th Chelsea goal to put The Blues 3-1 up with a stunning 20-yard strike!

Legend: Frank Lampard celebrates his goal to give Chelsea a 3-1 lead with Azpilicueta. 

16:50:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic:

Winger Marko Marin has come off the subs bench to score his first goal for Chelsea since moving from German club Werder Bremen in the Summer transfer window for £7million pounds.  

Off the mark: Marko Marin has FINALLY scored his first goal for Chelsea after his £7m move from Bremen. 

16:56:

FULL-TIME SCORES:

Chelsea 4 Wigan 1

Swansea 4 QPR 1

Sunderland 0 Arsenal 1

Norwich 0 Fulham 0 

Stoke City 2 Reading 1

Southampton vs Manchester City - LIVE at 5:30pm

Southampton vs Manchester City:

Southampton: Boruc, Clyne, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Fox, Cork, Schneiderlin, Steven Davis, Puncheon, Rodriguez, Lambert. Subs: Kelvin Davis, Forren, Ward-Prowse, Lee, Lallana, Richardson, Chaplow.

Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Lescott, Javi Garcia, Clichy, Nasri, Toure, Barry, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko.

Subs: Pantilimon, Maicon, Milner, Sinclair, Kolarov, Rodwell, Toure.

I will have analysis and coverage of this evening match tomorrow, along with the 2 other matches being played on Sunday;

Aston Villa vs West Ham United - LIVE at 1.30pm 

Manchester United vs Everton - LIVE at 4pm

 

The last few days in football:

Hello and welcome to my latest blog post, where I talk about all of the goings on in the last few days from the world of football (surrounding the EPL, and players from it), after some interesting International friendlies were played on Wednesday. 

One of which was England vs Brazil at Wembley, to mark the FA's 150th anniversary. There was a lot of hype over this match, with many football fans all over the world speculating on the performances of Santos wonderkid Neymar, Chelsea midfielder Oscar, Former Barcelona legend Ronaldinho and England's very own Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole, where the match would mark his 100th cap for his country. 

Landmark: Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole had "100th Cap" embroidered on his England shirt on Wednesday.

Opening up: Brazil manager Luis Filipe Scolari has admitted that he regrets not taking the England job.

The match started off badly for England, when Brazil were given a penalty in the 19th minute after Ronaldinho's cross bounced off midfielder Jack Wilshere's hand inside the box.

Ronaldinho stepped up to take the penalty, but Joe Hart denied him twice with two super saves to ensure the score was still 0-0 at Wembley. 

Access denied: Ronaldinho has a penalty against England saved in the 19th minute by Joe Hart.

England had many chances to open the scoring, and some lovely 1-2 play between Arsenal's young pair of Wilshere and Walcott saw the latter have a shot well parried away by QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar, before the ball fell out to Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney who powerfully lashed at the ball from 14 yards out to strike into an empty net and break the deadlock.

Picking up the pieces: Rooney shoots from 14 yards out into an open goal to give England a 1-0 lead.

There we go: Wayne Rooney jumps for joy as he celebrates his goal for England alongside Jack Wilshere.

Brazil had a great chance to equalise.. with Chelsea midfielder Oscar taking advantage of some poor England defending to split the box with a great cross into the box for Neymar to just tap into the net to equalise for the Brazillians.

This however was not the case, as Neymar's shot inside the box went over the bar and Brazil struggled to equalise for the rest of the first-half.   

Brazil and England both made substitutions at the start of the second half, and Brazil striker Fred made an instant impact with a powerful strike into the top corner of the net past Joe Hart in the 49th minute to equalise.

Instant impact: Brazil striker Fred scores a nicely placed strike into the top corner to equalise for the away side at Wembley.

The Weekend's EPL Fixtures:  

Saturday (3pm kick-off unless stated):

Tottenham Hotspur vs Newcastle United - LIVE at 12:45pm 

Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic

Norwich City vs Fulham

Stoke City vs Reading  
Sunderland vs Arsenal
Swansea City vs QPR

Southampton vs Manchester City - LIVE at 17:30pm 

Sunday:

Aston Villa vs West Ham - LIVE at 13:30pm

Manchester United vs Everton - LIVE at 16:00pm

Q&A - All things, Manchester United:

Experiment: This is my first Q&A on my blog, where I question a selected person.

This is just an experiment, because I was curious and I wanted to know what everyone's opinions on the EPL and their club in general was. 

This Q&A is with one of my school friends about his beloved Manchester United team, but I am unsure whether or not it will continue due to the lack of people available for me to question them about football. Maybe, maybe not.. 

Q: Do you think Manchester United will win the EPL this season?

A: In my honest opinion, I do believe that if United keep up their form then they can win the title. Even though they are 7 points ahead at the moment, you just have to look at what happened last season to know that it is all still to play for. 
Plus, they have a huge Champions League match coming up against Real Madrid, so if their confidence levels rise/fall, that may be the key for the rest of the season.

Q: How do you feel about Wilfried Zaha joining United, and do you think you should have signed more players in the January transfer window? 

A: Hmm.... No I do not believe that Ferguson should have bought any more players to be honest, we may have some defensive frailties at the back but we have depth. 
I am excited to see what Zaha brings to the team, but it is important that he gets playing time, and I am sure that he will turn out to be a great football player. 

Q: Who do you think will win the Champions League this season, and why?

A: I think that it is obviously going to be Barcelona this season, because they seem unstoppable in every competition and just to make matters worse the likes of Iniesta, Xavi and Messi would rip teams apart. 

Q: Who is your favourite player and why?

A: I do not have a favourite player, because nowadays there are so many great players. The standout players for me are Radamel Falcao, Julian Draxler and Wayne Rooney.

Clinical: Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao has scored 18 goals this season.

Under-rated: Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler is one of the best young midfielders in the world.

Better: Wayne Rooney has played much better for United after his change of attacking position this season.

Falcao because even though I do not like him, you simply cannot deny his ability to score goals.
Draxler is a young and under-rated midfielder who could go onto becoming one of the best in the world, especially as a German and since Rooney's change of position, he has done quite well. 

Q: Who is the best player in the current United squad and why?

It's a no contest really in my opinion.. it has to be Robin van Persie because ever since he joined the club in the summer, he has made an immedate impact to the team and has saved us on more than one occasion. Definitely worth the £24million. 

Q: Messi or Ronaldo?

Q: Who will get relegated this season, and why?

In my honest opinion, I think that Aston Villa, QPR and Wigan will all go down because at the moment, not 1 of these teams has shown why they deserve to be in the best league in the world. QPR have so much money, yet they are in the bottom three. Aston Villa keep putting their trust in inexperienced young players, and Wigan will regret selling Victor Moses to Chelsea, seeming as he was their talisman and now he hardly plays for them. 

Q: Who is your ideal manager to replace Sir Alex Ferguson?

There is only one person in my mind who can replace Alex Ferguson, and that man is Pep Guardiola. I say this because he is one of the only managers who has the same work ethics as Ferguson, "you either do what I say or go somewhere else."
Plus, he has proved to be one of the most successful managers in world football, despite being one of the youngest aswell. 

Q: Who will finish in the top 4 this season, excluding the Manchester clubs? 

In my opinion, I think that Tottenham will come 3rd, and Everton will come 4th in the table because due to current form, they both seem to be really good contenders and at the moment, Chelsea are not on the same level as them. They are not as consistent, and keep dropping points against sides that you would expect them to beat. 

Q: Who do you want United to sign in the summer and why?

I want Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, because he is consistent, and has proven to be a strong force when it comes to shot-stopping. 
Also, I would love Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo.
I know that it is a little far fetched, but I enjoyed and loved every minute of him playing for United, and I would be more than happy to see him in a United shirt again.. 

Impressive: Asmir Begovic is wanted by many clubs all over the world after his consistent display for Stoke.

Second spell? Ronaldo is wanted back at Manchester United for a second spell in the summer.

 
If you want to be involved in the next Q&A, just email me at football365247mo@gmail.com