Super Sunday

Super Sunday is a day that every football fan has pencilled into their diary.  Two great matches between some of the top teams in the country going head to head against each other for 90 minutes. Today saw Liverpool take on Manchester United at Anfield whilst the champions, Manchester City, played host to Arsenal at the Ethiad Stadium.

Sir Bobby Charlton and Ian Rush

It was an emotional start to the day as Liverpool vs Manchester United was the first match scheduled just days after the enquiry findings that Liverpool fans were not to blame for the  Hillsborough disaster twenty three years ago. Both sets of fans paid tribute to the 96 that lost their lives that day as 96 red balloons were released into the air by Steven Gerrard and Ryan Giggs. United legend Sir Bobby Charlton also presented Liverpool’s all-time leading goal scorer Ian Rush with a bouquet of flowers before the game.  

A great show of respect from the Anfield crowd

There was no trouble during the pre-match handshake as Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra both shook hands and there was no repercussion of last year’s antics. Suraez refused to shake the Frenchman’s hand last season at Old Trafford after being found guilty of racially abusing the United full back.

Once the game got underway, Liverpool were soon in total control and the Kop faithful let out a mighty roar in support of their team. Liverpool’s captain and talisman Steven Gerrard came close to opening the score in the first half with a shot narrowly going wide of the post from a corner kick.

Five minutes before half time, Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey made a careless tackle on the Manchester United centre half Johnny Evans and referee Mark Halsey had no option but to issue the midfielder a red card.

Shelvey receiving his red card.

Liverpool began the second half with an early goal from Steven Gerrard after some great play from the Liverpool substitute Suso out wide. Gerrard received the ball unmarked in the Manchester United penalty box and slotted the ball past Anders Lindegaard. The ten men of Liverpool fully deserved their lead.

Gerrard scores against Manchester United

Liverpool’s lead was cut short to five minutes after a curling effort shot past Pepe Reina by United’s young Brazilian full back Rafael.

Rafael celebrates his goal with Van Persie

Van Persie finished off the scoring after a late penalty was conceded by Glen Johnson. Valencia stole the ball on the halfway line after a coming together between the defensive partnership of Johnson and Agger. Johnson did well to catch up with Valencia but it was a tackle from behind inside his own box that brought down Valencia that lead to the Manchester United winner.

Manchester City were held to a one all draw at home to Arsenal after a late equaliser from Laurent Koscielny. Jolean Lescott put the champions ahead just on half time after losing his marker from a corner kick. It was an exciting game and Arsenal maintain their unbeaten run.      

Arsenal celebrate their late equaliser

Also some Breaking News has just been announced that former England Captain John Terry has retired from International duty.

John Terry on England duty

The Return of the Champions League

This week European football returned to our screens and I don't know about you, but it made me one very happy person. 32 of the top European teams battling it out for one prize at the end of May.......The Champions League Trophy!


The Champions League Trophy

Tuesday kicked off with a host of fixtures with some fascinating results as you can see below. But the main game that grabbed everyone's attention was Real Madrid vs Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu.

AC Milan 0-0 Anderlecht
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Ajax
Din Zagreb 0-2 FC Porto
Malaga 3-0 Zenit St Psg
Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal
Olympiakos 1-2 Schalke 04 
Paris SG 4-1 Dynamo Kiev 
Real Madrid 3-2 Man City

The game was never going to disappoint and it lived up to its expectation. Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed the headlines once again on and off the pitch.

It was a goalless first 45 minutes. As expected, Madrid controlled the game from the start. With only five minutes into the game, Ronaldo tested Joe Hart for the first time with a low curling shot heading straight for the bottom corner. The England number one made a fine save to parry the ball away for a corner kick. That was a warning to Manchester City.

That set the tone for the rest of the half. Maicon was having a tough time marking Ronaldo just as he did when Gareth Bale gave him a run around two years ago when he played for Inter Milan against Tottenham.  

Hart had to come to City's rescue on countless occasions during the first half, pulling off two great saves from Madrid's Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuin. Madrid were completely dominant at this point. Two missed chances from Higuin and Sami Khedria ended the half goalless. City hung on by the thread of a needle.

The first opening ten minutes of the second half began like the first with Madrid in total control of the game. It was deep into the second half when City caught Real Madrid on a counter attack with a surging run from Yaya Toure. He placed a neat ball through to Edin Dzeko, who composed himself and found the net. City had somehow taken the lead!

Mourinho, beginning to panic on the touch line, brought on his reinforcements, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema. Shortly after these changes, Marcelo, the Brazilian full back equalised for Real Madrid. It was his third time lucky as two similar shots from just outside the box sailed over the bar. This one took a slight deflection off City new boy Javi Garcia to see it sail past Joe Hart.

But Roberto Mancini's men were not beaten yet. A curling free kick from Alexandre Kolorov 25 yards out restored City's lead.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating his last minute goal

This lead however lasted only for two and a half minutes. Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid substitute, turned inside Matija Nastasic before finding the bottom corner to make it 2-2.

City went from being the team in control to hanging on for their dear lives. The script had been written. It was the former Manchester United hit man Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the limelight once again. With 90 minutes on the clock, he cut inside from the left flank and his shot brushed past Kompany and cruelly found its way past Joe Hart.

Wednesday's fixtures featured 3 other teams from Britain. Celtic could only manage a 0-0 draw against Benfica while Chelsea threw away a two goal lead to Juventus at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United scrapped through with a 1-0 victory at home to Galatasaray.

Wednesday's Results

 Barcelona 3-2 Spartak Moscow
 Bayern Munich 2-1 Valencia
 Braga 0 - 2 CFR Cluj - Napoca
 Celtic 0 - 0 Benfica
 Chelsea 2 - 2 Juventus

Jermain Defoe and AVB discussing tactics

 Lille 1 - 3 Bate Borisov
 Man Utd 1 0 Galatasaray
 Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 FC Nordsjaelland

Liverpool and Tottenham were in Europa League action last night. Liverpool beat the Swiss side Young Boys 5-3 at the Wankdorf Stadium, Switzerland. But Tottenham could only manage a 0-0 draw with Italian side Lazio.