United near to title cup

This post is extracted from 4thegame.com ...

What The Fak said : MU become the most favorite to win the EPL Title this season. With the strong win 4-0 to Aston Villa, Sir Alex Ferguson's team must focus until the big match at Stamford Bridge. Let see who can survive..

In a game dominated by the three Rs - Ronaldo, Rooney and the rain - Manchester United chalked up their 700th win under manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Torrential rain poured down from the heavens for much of the match and Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and the rest of United's stars made it sheer hell for Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa side.

This was the Red Devils' 14th straight League and Cup win over Villa and it was executed by current champions who look odds-on favourites to retain their title.

It looked ominous for Villa as early as the 11th minute when Ronaldo's sprint across the edge of the box ended with his shot being turned behind for a corner by goalkeeper Scott Carson.

Six minutes later, their Portuguese star pulled another gem from his mine of outstanding goals.

Ryan Giggs' corner into the heart of the Villa box spun off Wilfred Bouma to Ronaldo, ten yards out, and he scored with the most audacious of right-foot back-flicks - the ball going through Martin Laursen's legs on its way into the net.

United made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute from a glorious move.

It was started and finished by Carlos Tevez when he found Paul Scholes in the centre.

Scholes blasted his pass to Ronaldo coming up on the right side of the Villa penalty area and his pinpoint cross to the far post saw the flying Tevez score with a free header from six yards.

If the first half had been good in atrocious conditions the second proved magnificent with the weather deteriorating rapidly.

United's third goal came eight minutes after the restart.

It followed another United chance when Ronaldo's close-range effort had been turned over via the bar by Carson's legs.

Villa never really recovered with Giggs' pass being brilliantly flicked into Rooney's path by Ronaldo and the England man turned home his left-foot shot from ten yards out.

Rooney hit the Villa post in the 68th minute when another incisive United move involving Giggs and Tevez created the opening for the United striker.

But, two minutes later, it was 4-0 as Giggs found Anderson, who turned the ball onto Ronaldo and his pass to Rooney, on the left-side of the box, was side-footed home right-footed by the England man from 12 yards.

Villa's last chance of the game came in the 56th minute when Shaun Maloney's rasping drive from the left side of the United penalty area was turned onto the bar and over by goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: "The title doesn't feel that close for us, but there is great confidence in the way the team is playing and that's always great at this time of the year.

"The players reached a peak last week and we continued that today. They realise now it's a race to the line, we need consistency and real focus and we showed fantastic energy, which is a very pleasing aspect considering some of them have been away for internationals."

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill added: "If you could ever try to set the benchmark, that's it.

"We came up against a team on top of their game and we have to admit they were splendid.

"There were things there to give us heart. The scoreline was pretty strong, but we had one or two chances that could have made it more respectable."

Gunners suffer Sagna setback

This post is extracted from 4thegame.com ...

Arsenal's French international right-back Bacary Sagna will be sidelined for around a month due to an ankle injury sustained in last weekend's defeat at Chelsea.

The 25-year-old has been a big hit in his first season with the Gunners, but will now miss several weeks of the crucial title run-in.

Manager Arsene Wenger confirmed: "He has an ankle injury and the first news that we have is that he could be out for quite a while.

"I don't know exactly how long he will be out, but I feel it will be three weeks at least. Five is the worst-case scenario.

"I have seen the injury again on tape. He wanted to kick the ball out and he twisted his ankle, that made it a bad injury.

"It is a big blow because he has been a revelation for us, a fantastic player."

Meanwhile, Wenger has backed his side to recover from a run of five games without a win which has seen their title hopes fade dramatically.

He added: "What we want to do is perform well as a team again and we know we can do that.

"Recently what punished us a lot is that defensively we have made big mistakes.

"We are going through a bad patch, but we want to come back and win the games again that we can win."

Chelsea - Chealsea's Asian Summer ( Tour to Malaysia )

This news is bring to you by Chelseafc.com

p/s : It is good when some of EPL club visit and play some football in Malaysia. Last year, Manchester United's visit was cancelled by the AFC makes me so dissapointed. So, here we go this summer, Chelsea vs ( orang2 Malaysia ) :) and also not to be forgotten.. Austria-Switz EURO 2008.

Chelsea Football Club has announced a tour to Asia this summer in preparation for next season.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon confirmed the Samsung-Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier today (Thursday).


Chelsea will take on a Malaysian Selection, an all-star team of the best players from the Malaysian Super League, in a game currently scheduled for July 29 in Kuala Lumpur (pictured).

The venue for an earlier match, which will be in another Asian country, will be announced tomorrow.

Kenyon said: 'I am delighted that we are coming to Asia where we have a lot of support and now we can give our fans in this region the opportunity to see us play.

'Asia is a very important region for world football. The development of football here is making great progress and a strong Asia can only be good for the game globally.

'I would like to thank the Asian Football Confederation and the Malaysian FA for their invitation to play here in Kuala Lumpur and we were obviously very happy to accept. Together with our sponsors Samsung and adidas we will be working hard to put on a great show for the fans and also continue our efforts to help promote Asian football from top level to grass roots.'

Chelsea has built a number of significant relationships in the region recently.
Last year we became the first major club to sign a partnership with the Asian Football Confederation as the Official Football Development Partner of the confederation's Vision China grass roots project, a key part of the larger Vision Asia programme.

So far Chelsea has helped launch four of the planned 10 Vision China city leagues, in Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan and Qingdao and another is coming soon in Zibo.

We have also agreed to be the exclusive football club partner of a grass roots talent search in southern China.

The Super Soccer Star television show will be broadcast in the province of Guangdong in April with the four finalists destined to visit our world renowned Academy and Stamford Bridge later in the summer.

The club is also a sponsor of the International Football Arena Beijing, the leading independent forum for debate amongst the game's leading figures and has also had preliminary discussions with All India Football Federation about exploring ways of working together.

The tour will be the first time Chelsea has played in Asia since May 2005 when the opponents were the Suwon Bluewings, the K League team owned by sponsors Samsung.
We also took part in the FA Premier League Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in the summer of 2003.

Manchester United - Anderson aiming high

This interview extracted from Manchester United Official Site.

Brazilian midfielder Anderson could already lay claim to an unforgettable debut season. But, as he told United Review, there's more he can do to make it even better...

How would you sum up your first season at Old Trafford?

I feel I’ve improved my performances both in matches and in training. At first, it took me time to get used to the way things work at United, but from then on I’ve just tried to improve step-by-step and give my best for the team. I’m very happy with everything about my life at Old Trafford.

Which do you feel has been your best performance so far?
If I had to pick one I’d say the 4-0 win over Wigan [in October]. It was only my fifth appearance for the club and I came on after [Nemanja] Vidic got injured. It was a great win for the team and I felt I was the best player on the pitch that day [laughs]!

You’re a big favourite with the fans already, does that mean a lot to you?
I love it – we all sing each other’s songs in the dressing room when we’re joking around. I find it difficult to describe how it feels to hear the fans sing my name – it’s amazing. It gives me extra strength on the pitch and makes me want to do my best to repay the fans for the fantastic support they have shown me since I joined. They’ve all made me feel very welcome.

The words of the song describe you as a midfield magician and we’ve seen you play in a number of midfield positions – where do you feel your best position is?
I don’t have a preference, to be honest. I just want to play in as many games as possible. Even if I have to play in goal, I’ll do it! I’ve enjoyed every match I’ve been involved in this season and the different positions I’ve taken up. In the long term, I’m sure the manager will play me wherever he feels I will be most effective.

Are you pleased to have avoided Liverpool in the Champions League draw and how much are you looking forward to facing Roma again?
To be honest I didn’t really have a preference as to who we were drawn with in the quarter-finals because at this stage of the competition every game is a tough one, no matter who you play. It’ll be a little strange to play Roma again so soon after the group matches, but I’m really looking forward to the tie. We all want to win the trophy and we know we’ll have to fight very hard to do that. But we have a great chance.

Aside from helping the team win trophies, presumably you’re looking to add goals to your game sometime soon…
I’m literally praying for goals [laughs]! I’m hopeful that when I start scoring I will score some important goals in important games. I’ve certainly got some good celebrations planned!

The fixture schedule is going to be very busy between now and the end of the season – are you looking forward to the challenge?
It’s a beautiful thing to be involved in a finale to a season such as this one. We’re in a good position in the Premier League and the Champions League and we are focused on winning both trophies. Do I get nervous? [Puts on his sunglasses and reclines in his chair, grinning] No, never. I’m always happy! And I hope I will be even happier come the end of the season.

Incoming Football Review Site...

Helo there...

Its been a tough and bz day to write the first post for this blog.. Although it is just a football talk, but still need to take my sweet time to mumble something here..

Because I really love football, but I always missed to catch the matches live on TV.. so, I always find the highlights every week all over the internet.. Sometimes I found it, but it makes me thinking about sharing it to the others. So, here I am to give you preview and highlights for every matches every week ( i'll do my best :) ) . I will also provide you the latest updates from the expensense, transfer rumors, crisis, injury, draws and many more.

So, let's get it started :D .. Btw, for now i will cover EPL ( Barclays English Premier League ) and UEFA Champions League Cup.

Hope you will enjoy. Thanx..
Peace..