The Mid-week Review
by Danny Wright
Derby and Newcastle kicked off a busy week of mid-week football on Monday night as the Rams lifted themselves off the foot of the table with a 1-0 win at Pride Park. Kenny Miller marked his debut with the winning goal as the visitors were denied two stonewall penalties by referee Peter Walton. The win lifts Derby to the heady heights of 19th, Sammy Lee’s beleaguered Bolton propping up the rest of the pack.
The Champions League group stages kicked off on Tuesday, but it wasn’t the rosy start the British clubs had hoped for. Chelsea were held to a frustrating 1-1 by Norwegian side Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge. The visitors took a shock lead when Miika Koppinen turned in a free-kick; however under-fire Andriy Shevchenko leveled things up with a header eight minutes into the second-half. Salmon Kalou hit a post late on, but a paltry 24,973 crowed witnessed little other action in a poor game.
Liverpool were the pick of the bunch in the Tuesday games as they picked up a useful point at Porto. The Reds went behind when Pepe Reina clumsily felled an onrushing Porto striker with Lucho Gonzalez tucking away the spot-kick. Dirk Kuyt equalized with a bullet close range header however the night ended on a sour note as Jermaine Pennant saw red for picking up a second yellow card.
Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Scottish hopefuls Celtic 2-0 in Ukraine with two early goals as the Bhoys crumbled to defeat, but SPL rivals Rangers faired much better as they came from a goal down to beat VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at Ibrox, Charlie Adam and Jean Claude Darcheville the heroes in Glasgow.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on the return to his old club as Manchester United opened their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 over Sporting Lisbon. The wing wizard converted Wes Brown’s low cross on the hour to give United the win after receiving a warm reception by the home faithful. United had keeper Edwin van der Saar to thank for his part in the win, as he foiled Liedson and Tonel with splendid saves.
Arsenal cruised to victory over Seville at the Emirates with an impressive 3-0 win. Julien Escude deflected Cesc Fabregas’ effort into the net to get things rolling after twenty minutes; meanwhile Robin van Persie and Eduardo completed the rout to give Arsene Wenger’s men a dream start to their group campaign. Jens Lehmann will be pleased to hear current number one Manuel Almunia kept a deserved clean sheet.
In the Championship, Hull picked up an impressive win as they beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux – veteran striker Dean Windass notching the winner. Burnley piled the misery on Sheffield Wednesday, winning 2-0 at Hillsborough to leave the Owls bottom with no wins and no points after six matches. Darius Henderson’s brace put Watford top of the pile as they beat Cardiff 2-1 at Ninian Park. Blackpool’s Paul Rachubka had a night to forget as his howler handed Sheffield United a point at Bloomfield Road, the Tangerines leading just two minutes earlier thanks to Ben Burgess’ effort before the former Huddersfield man let James Beattie’s speculative effort creep in.
The Champions League group stages kicked off on Tuesday, but it wasn’t the rosy start the British clubs had hoped for. Chelsea were held to a frustrating 1-1 by Norwegian side Rosenborg at Stamford Bridge. The visitors took a shock lead when Miika Koppinen turned in a free-kick; however under-fire Andriy Shevchenko leveled things up with a header eight minutes into the second-half. Salmon Kalou hit a post late on, but a paltry 24,973 crowed witnessed little other action in a poor game.
Liverpool were the pick of the bunch in the Tuesday games as they picked up a useful point at Porto. The Reds went behind when Pepe Reina clumsily felled an onrushing Porto striker with Lucho Gonzalez tucking away the spot-kick. Dirk Kuyt equalized with a bullet close range header however the night ended on a sour note as Jermaine Pennant saw red for picking up a second yellow card.
Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Scottish hopefuls Celtic 2-0 in Ukraine with two early goals as the Bhoys crumbled to defeat, but SPL rivals Rangers faired much better as they came from a goal down to beat VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at Ibrox, Charlie Adam and Jean Claude Darcheville the heroes in Glasgow.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on the return to his old club as Manchester United opened their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 over Sporting Lisbon. The wing wizard converted Wes Brown’s low cross on the hour to give United the win after receiving a warm reception by the home faithful. United had keeper Edwin van der Saar to thank for his part in the win, as he foiled Liedson and Tonel with splendid saves.
Arsenal cruised to victory over Seville at the Emirates with an impressive 3-0 win. Julien Escude deflected Cesc Fabregas’ effort into the net to get things rolling after twenty minutes; meanwhile Robin van Persie and Eduardo completed the rout to give Arsene Wenger’s men a dream start to their group campaign. Jens Lehmann will be pleased to hear current number one Manuel Almunia kept a deserved clean sheet.
In the Championship, Hull picked up an impressive win as they beat Wolves 1-0 at Molineux – veteran striker Dean Windass notching the winner. Burnley piled the misery on Sheffield Wednesday, winning 2-0 at Hillsborough to leave the Owls bottom with no wins and no points after six matches. Darius Henderson’s brace put Watford top of the pile as they beat Cardiff 2-1 at Ninian Park. Blackpool’s Paul Rachubka had a night to forget as his howler handed Sheffield United a point at Bloomfield Road, the Tangerines leading just two minutes earlier thanks to Ben Burgess’ effort before the former Huddersfield man let James Beattie’s speculative effort creep in.
Nottingham Forest and Leicester replayed their abandoned Carling Cup tie, with Forest gifted a ‘free goal’ following the previous ties 1-0 lead Forest possessed before Leicester’s Clive Clarke collapsed with heart failure that resulted in the cancellation. Keeper Paul Smith tucked away the goal after 23 seconds, but it didn’t prove enough as Leicester went onto win 3-2 at the second attempt. The result does however seem unimportant regarding the near-fatal events of the previous tie, the sporting gesture putting the significance of football into perspective.images - bbc.co.uk/sport
posted by Danny @ 10:53 pm
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