Goals Galore...again

The only word I can think of right now is ‘wow’. United 4 Boro 1, 4 goals per game in 4 consecutive games. Quoting from a reliable source, this feat has equaled the record of the Bill Meredith days a century ago. I and Ah Law went to Suntech to watch the game, and it was not a restaurant or anything, just a TV outside the karaoke bar, so we had to stand and watch the game. As the game ended pretty late, we sat on the floor like small kids watching Barney or some cartoon, some people laughed at the sight of us sitting there and staring at the TV.

Back to the game, it started off very brightly for Man United. Nani got the ball from the half way line and took on the defenders himself. Cutting in from the left flank, he unleashed an unstoppable shot which flew over Schwarzer and into the net. The celebration was fitting with him doing the ‘death leap’. The time on the clock read 3 minutes, and it looked like United were going to cruise to another victory when United broke with Tevez. Unfortunately he only managed to find the goalkeeper’s arms with his chip. That miss proved costly when Aliadiere headed the ball from Tuncay’s cross into Van Der Sar’s goal. It has to be said that United were very sloppy in this game, judging by the number of times they gave the ball away. However it’s the result that matters, and at times their one touch play were simply breathtaking; it really was out of this world. Hargreaves was back in the reckoning again and boy was he good. Breaking up the play and feeding his teammates the ball all day, he had an almost perfect game, with the exception of some misjudged passes. Ron had a rather subdued game and was quiet throughout the match, but United were still very dangerous on the attack.

With the score at 1-1, Boro threatened to score with Downing narrowly heading the ball wide of Van Der Sar’s goal. Unluckily for Downing, it was his error that led to United taking the lead. Dwelling with the ball in his own penalty area, he allowed Nani to poke the ball to Rooney to smash home the 2nd goal past Schwarzer. Ron managed to miss 2 golden chances to score before halftime to put United further in front. Just 29 seconds after the restart, United nearly scored a 3rd with Rooney and Tevez combining well but the move ended with Rooney firing over the bar. Boro themselves had a chance to equalize when Cattermole let fly a stinging shot which tipped by Van Der Sar for a corner kick. Both United fullbacks weren’t having a good game as they were often distracted and sloppy. However United finally managed to get their goal after some nice work from Anderson, Tevez and Rooney. Anderson’s lifted pass to Tevez was flicked to the path of the incoming Rooney in the penalty area. With a defender by his side, Rooney incredibly back heeled the ball back to Tevez who coolly slid the ball past the diving Schwarzer. I really can’t understand why people would find it hard to believe that these two strikers can actually work well as partners upfront. It’s probably the best partnership of strikers the club has had for years.

3-1 up and looking comfortable. There was no stopping United this time. They were now sniffing for a fourth, and were doing everything to get that 4th goal. Keep on banging and the door will open, this proved to be the case when United broke with Ron and the moved ended with Tevez scoring his second of the game albeit a deflection off the arm of a Boro defender. The ball looped over and bounced into the net with Schwarzer dumbfounded. It was disappointing that United didn’t get their 5th, but it was a very good result. From scoring 1-0 wins, they’re now scoring 4 goals in all their games. Let me show you their goal scoring pattern: 4-0 versus Wigan (1st 4 goals); 4-1 versus Villa (2nd 4 goals); 4-2 versus Kiev (3rd 4 goals) and last but not least 4-1 versus Boro (4th 4 goals). Looks like Man United will be winning 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal next week if my prediction is correct, and I certainly hope it is. I also want to congratulate Chelsea over their thumping 6-0 against the uglier half of Manchester (in your face City fans).

Obviously the matched ended rather late, after our curfew, and the place was practically empty. It was quite spooky walking in an empty shopping mall with dim lights. By the time we got back to the hostel, it was already 12.20, an hour pass out curfew. I thought I could get away with it by not signing in. Walking back to the boys block, the guard shouted my name out; I guess I’m licked now. Anyway if anything does happen (maybe a confinement perhaps?) it’ll be worth it, Man United did win….

A Tiring Day

The last day of school, Mediacorp celebrities (all gals, no guys) in my despo school, report card day…in other words it was a crazy day with picture taking with the celebs and teachers who may not be teaching us next year. We will also be having our O level Chinese this coming wednesday, sad huh? Thinking I’m straying off from football in this post? Think again. Just wanted to start off by giving you an idea about how life here goes about. The Office Manager (OM) of our hostel had wanted us to take part in this competition with another hostel, Anglo Chinese School
Institution (ACSI) or something like that. We thought we were going to play captain’s ball till the last minute, but were then told that we were going to play street soccer, so we weren’t mentally prepared but we really didn’t care. It was just another game which was supposed to be fun.

We had to walk to the place and got lost instead, but luckily we managed to get there fashionably late as always. For the first time ever, I would rather have been sleeping on my comfortable bed than playing football. We were already exhausted by the time we got there, but we got on with the stupid match. The ref was our OM who wanted to prove he was not bias towards us by favoring the opposition, or in my friend’s words, he just didn’t know how to ref a game, and to think he was ref for street soccer, basketball and captain’s ball. Anyway we got the game underway and I got to say that they dominated, but we were resilient. They even had a coach and tactics, quite amusing considering that our team was playing together for the first time. I expected myself to be rusty after not touching a football since the last term; I was proven wrong, I was worse than first expected. The space available was so little (imagine 14 guys playing street soccer on a basketball court) and the goal was a table not much bigger than the ball.

We conceded a penalty and they practically passed the ball into the goal as the ref said that no keeper was needed for the penalty. Losing by a score of 1-0 at half time, the ref decided to make it a 5 v 5 match instead. We swapped places quite often and I started the 2nd half at the back. Defending the goal, I slid a player and twisted my ankle in the process, that’s the fourth time this year on the same ankle, bad luck maybe? They were technically superior, but we played a more attacking game and were a constant threat to them. Then, 1 of their players was shielding the ball from me, so I body checked him and he fell. It was quite peculiar as he was a junior college guy who was much stronger built than me, it was quite impossible for me to exert that much force to hit him down. I tracked back and apologized to him, but he just got up and started pushing me in the chest asking me what that was. I reacted before I could think and shoved him back; luckily we didn’t come to blows as some guys pulled us apart. A guy from ASCI told me to chill, but it wasn’t my fault was it? I know I lost my head there and shouldn’t have reacted as I did, but it was an instinctive reaction, given the fact that I was apologizing to him at that time. The idiot then pretended to make peace with me by walking up and offered his hand for me to shake. I did just that, but the blood in my veins was already boiling. This is not a first, the incident I mean. I previously had 2 bust ups with other players, but nothing serious. I just don’t understand why people would want to pull us apart when we just argue about something. Yes, it was probably for prevention, but most of the time it’s unnecessary.

This may not make my case against the ACSI idiot, and yes it was partly my fault for reacting the way I did, but if you had seen the look on his face when he got up and walked towards me to start a shoving contest and then pretending that he was the good guy who was actually the victim, you would be disgusted. I really sucked during the match, but in the last minute, I had a chance to equalize. I threaded the ball towards the ‘goal’ after some good work by my team mates, and as the ball was nearing the table, I raised my hand, preparing to celebrate. Lady luck was not on my side; the defender managed to get a foot to the ball right at the death and hooked it away. My hand which was raised was place over my face, covering it in disbelief. The game ended with us losing 1-0, but all was not lost as our basketball team and captain’s ball team thrashed ASCI, totally annihilated them.

I treat people the same way they treat me, but reacting in such a way as I did was unacceptable. Keeping a cool head in a heated situation is never easy, but I guess I’ll just have to learn. A perfect example of a person losing his nerve just below, seen it before? Of course you have, it’s the most famous head butt in the world.Enjoy.....
Zidane sending a message to Materazzi...what happened to the old fashioned letters?

Goal Scoring Spree

Remember the time when Man Utd won six matches 1-0 on the trot? Those days are long gone. Man United have now scored 12 goals in their last 3 matches, yes you heard right, 270 minutes of football with a return of 12 goals, 4 goals a game. Not bad for a team with goal scoring problems eh? The latest victim of the resurgent Man United is Dynamo Kiev. Previously in the Premiership, Man United had already mauled 9 men Villa 4-1, coming back from a goal down to emerge as winners. Playing against Villa at Villa Park is not an easy task, Chelsea can tell you that (they managed to lose 2-0 to Villa in their last fixture). Anyway it was a gritty performance from Villa who still attacked even though they were 4-1 down and 2 men down, hats off to them. Rooney was unlucky not to get his hat trick with a missed penalty and a shot that came back off the crossbar. I forgot to mention that Ron was on the bench, rested for the game against Kiev.



Now back to Man United VS Kiev. The match was entertaining to say the least. Kiev played attacking football; they had to considering that they had lost their first 2 matches against Roma and Sporting. The moment they chose to play this brand of football, the match was Man United’s to lose. Man United are arguably the best counter attacking team in the world, even Jose Mourinho a.k.a The Special One admitted it during his reign at Chelsea.

By the way, Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 7-0. It’s worth mentioning although I don’t really like them as this was a breathtaking victory for the Gunners, it was truly a mesmerizing game of football. Both Man United and Arsenal’s victory in the Champs League came after a series of disappointing events for the British sporting world with the England national team losing to Russia in the Euro Qualifiers, England losing in the Rugby world cup final against South Africa, and F1 rookie Louis Hamilton shockingly losing out to Kimi Raikonnen for the champion’s title (I supported Kimi by the way). Anyway Britain managed to salvage some pride through Man United and Arsenal’s win over their respective opponents.





Man United lost Scholesy and Evra to injury right before the kick off, and O’ Shea had to switch from central midfield position to left back with Fletcher brought in to partner Anderson in midfield. The game started brightly for United, and Ron in particular looked very lively. He won the free kick which led to United scoring the first through Ferdinand, yes, Rio Ferdinand. Ryan Giggs’ cross was met with a powerful header by Rio. United one nil inside 10 minutes and things were only going to get better. Few minutes later, Brown intercepted the ball and passed it to Ron who took the ball to the edge of the penalty box before passing it back to Brown who hit a first time cross for Rooney to score one of the easiest goals of his career with a tap in.

The time and space available for United was laughable, almost unbelievable. Complacency crept in and United conceded a goal through a corner kick after some nice defending by Anderson who played a pivotal role in the win. Diogo Rincon got a free header and Van Der Sar couldn’t get to the ball on time. However the status quo was restored in no time. A Giggs run and cross then led to the 3rd goal from Ronaldo with a header. It was magnificent considering Ron had to back track a couple of yards to get his head to the ball. The half ended 3-1 in favor to United. United’s defending were a little shaky, but it was probably because of the recent return from injuries of Van Der Sar, Vidic and Brown. The absence of Evra may also have contributed to the defensive problems. Kiev were denied a clear penalty when

Vidic who was the last man back dragged a Kiev player down. However the ref gave United the free kick instead. O’ Shea, Rooney, Ron and Tevez to name a few, were guilty of missing golden opportunities when they failed to convert their chances after carving out the Kiev defense. Anyway Tevez won a penalty when his cross hit the hands of a Kiev defender. The ref himself was not sure whether to award the penalty and had to consult his linesman before giving it. Ron stood up and took responsibility for the kick. The result not surprisingly, was a goal. Kiev managed to drag a goal back but it was to no avail. Final score, Man United 4 Kiev 2, and United are still top of the group and are looking as formidable as ever.


On the whole, it was a perfect week. Kimi and Ferrari won the Drivers and Constructors title respectively, Man United going on a goal scoring spree, the Tevez-Rooney partnership seems to be flourishing (in your face critics). It could have been better if Liverpool had lost the Merseyside derby against Everton, but all’s well as Liverpool fell to Besiktas in the Champs League and are now languishing at the bottom of the group behind the likes of Porto, Marseilles and Besiktas with just a single point from a possible 9. Looks like the former European champions are staring at an early exit from Europe’s elite competition, and they’re not even assured of a place in the UEFA Cup. One more thing before I end this, and this has nothing to do with my post at all. I wanna ask the con who scammed me and my friend of our fries a question, was it nice?

The poor lad was so famished that he had to grab our food...how pathetic

Breaking the Curse

Curses can present itself in many forms, and one of the worse and painful curse has finally been broken.....'The Curse Of The One-Nil wins'. Its football again ain't it? Damn right it is. It may not be as bad as the 'We Lost Our Manager Therefore We Stink' curse currently sticking to a certain team in the EPL, but who in their right minds would like to hear people chanting "one-nil to United" everytime Man Utd play, we're not the old Arsenal or Chelsea for goodness sake. Results may be the most important thing in football, but achieving it without the style and flair really takes the gist out of it. I'm glad to say that Man Utd are back in business and finally look like the team who strolled to the Premiership title last season (something Liverpool have not been able to achieve since...how long was it again? Since the Premiership was established I think, and it was even before i was born).

The match between Man Utd and Wigan wasn't the classic Premiership encounter that would make us drool, but it's Man Utd, that speaks for itself. On the back of 6 '1-0' wins in their past 8 games, it looked as if Man Utd's fortune wasn't going to turn around. Things weren't going well in the first half when Vidic and O'Shea was lost to injury along with Louis 'I got injured again' Saha who miraculously injured himself during warm up prior to the match. Vidic being the warrior he is wanted to continue the match although he suffered a mild concussion, but was eventually taken off by Fergie. Anderson and Danny Simpson got the nod to replace them, and they were unbelievable, along with Pique who started the match due to Wes Brown's injury.

With Foster, Ji Sung, Hargreaves and Silvestre already booking seats on the treatment table, further injuries only made things worse than they already are. Things changed as soon as they took to the field in the 2nd half. The goal still didn't come even though Man Utd had the lions share of possesion, and to make matters worse the ref, Mr. Riley looked incapable of even judging a kick about between 3 year olds. He waved away protests for a penalty when Ron when down under a challenge from a Wigan player, probably forgot to put your contacts on, eh ref? Anyway the righteous always prevails. Tevez opened the scoring with a cool taken finish after brushing off a challenge from a Wigan player, cutting inside another defender, dummying the goalie before taking his time to slot the ball into the net. Not even a lunging defender could keep the ball out where it belongs.

One-nil to United, but not for long. Along with the lead the goal gave, it also provided the team with confidence...the rest as they say is history. Ron scored a 2nd with an easy point blank header, and added a 3rd soon after by converting a low Rooney cross from the left flank. Rooney rounded up the goal scoring spree with a bullet header following a beautiful cross from debutant Simpson's who was playing his first Premiership game for Man Utd. It could have been more if not for Wigans goalie who was having a hard time facing shots from every angle.

Although Tevez got the honour for being the Man of The Match, my true MOTM was Anderson. I've never really admired Anderson since his move from Porto, but then today he proved himself to be a player worthy of his price tag. With enthusiasm and a willingness to impress, he gave the opposition a torrid time by creating chances for the United forwards to score, and as if that wasn't enough, he even performed a defensive midfielder's duty by closing down opponents and breaking up play of the opposition. Simpson had a good game, and so did Pique and Kuszczak who were the unsung heroes of the game.

Sorry to those who have no or little interest in football for wasting your time by giving my 'game analysis', but it was truly a breathtaking match, not in the 7-1 annihilation of Roma way though, but good enough. Anyway let me leave you guys a quote by a scouser legend (although i do hate Liverpool, I have full of respect for their legends, seriously...) Bill Shankly who famously said "football is not about life and death, it's more than that". This statement may be questionable, but I'll leave it to yourself to figure it out. Cheers...

New Kid On The Block

The final year exams (or so called mastery review) has finally ended...ok, not really, but its just 1 more paper, so all's well. I really don't know what to write now, obviously this being my first time, so I'll just start off by saying that I'm a football fanatic, and most of my posts in the future would probably be about football (if I have the time) and I totally hate Liverpool. Chelsea aren't that bad, but I don't like'em much either, but I can't help feeling a little sorry for Chelsea fans, with their most successful manager parting ways with the club, losing to Man Utd in what was their new manager's (who is virtually an unknown in the footballing world) first match in charge, and the list goes on and on. Want to hear my take on why Jose left Chelsea? Maybe it was because he realized that the team wasn't good enough to challenge the mighthier Man Utd and thus left in search of a new mission. He would return to England in the future, and he would most probably sign for Man Utd. It may seem a little far-fetched, but nothing is impossible. To further prove my point here's a picture you never thought you would see in your entire life. Enjoy....

How the mighty Roman Army have fallen....