Whhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaatttt 94th minute Fulham goal! There goes my ESPN Streak

Good.

WBA 1 -  Chelsea 1.  

The door's open for the Gunners to reclaim the lead if they can regroup and beat ManU at the Emirates tomorrow night.

ETA:  Guess not.

Oh, you Blues, you make me crazy.  A last gasp victory.  Another draw - at home, no less - could have been fatal to your title hopes.

Suarez goal and assist.

Damn Suarez is dangerous

Newcastle United fine manager Alan Pardew £100,000 and give him a formal warning for headbutting Hull midfielder David Meyler.

that little stunt just cost him US$167,000 from his own club -- and the FA punishment is coming next, probably with a 10 match ban.

ar-jedi

Fucking stupid

Did this guy coach at Ohio State?

10 games to overcome a four point defecit...

We can do it just by winning the games we are supposed to win instead of losing or drawing against relegation level teams.  YNWA!

7 games.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26422989


ar-jedi

Zigger Zagger

Wow -  incredible last minute of stoppage time goal for Everton.

Villa 1 Chelsea 0

Willian, Ramires and Mourinho all sent off.  The race will tighten right back up if Liverpool and Arsenal can win today.

So......

First soccer game I have actually seen blood during.  Two goals and a flying elbow that drew blood for Gerrard.

Yeah




Still gotta watch the replay after work

COYS

How many Gunners we got in here?

COYG

Good result today.

yeah, but...  

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/football/moyes-being-man-utd-manager-is-harder-than-i-ever-imagined.1395053812?utm_source=www.heraldscotland.com&utm_medium=RSS%20Feed&utm_campaign=Scottish%20Premier%20League%20News



ar-jedi

about a year ago i was watching ManCity v Arsenal, and City left back Pablo Zabaleta got caught in a defensive corner kick melee.  by the time he sat up and the cameras were on him, the blood was streaming over his eye, down his cheek and off his chin, originating from the deep 1" long gash over his eye socket.  the team doctor came over, looked at the opening, pressed a cloth to his head, and spoke into the radio.  they took him straight down the tunnel for some stiches/staples, leaving City without a left fullback for the 10 minutes remaining before halftime.

aside, handsomely paid City striker Mario Ballotelli was having his usual sulk of a game, generally pissed off at the referee, the linesmen, his teammates, his opponents, the grass, the rain, etc, and having nothing to show for it.  his body language said everything you ever needed to know about him.  

meanwhile, City captain Yaya Toure, recognizing the immediate problem with the one-man-short defensive unit, points a finger at right midfielder James Milner and then points to Zabaleta's left fullback position.  Milner gives his skipper an assured "thumbs up" with a nod and trudges over the other side of the field, where speedy/tricky Arsenal forward Theo Walcott is awaiting restart after the injury to Zabaleta.  at the time i was thinking that Milner was thinking, "this is just great, this is just fucking great, now i have to deal with this guy..."

the game restarts and just moments later there's a 50/50 ball between Milner and Walcott, and Milner goes "all in" -- a true defender's tackle meant to send a message along with clearing the ball into row F.  after that, all business, no fuss, no muss, Milner looked like he would sign up for the job that Toure temporarily gave him any day of the week, to simply be on the field.  no complaints, and instead a "let's just get on with it" type mentality.

the half ends without any more scoring despite Arsenal's man advantage.  

after the break Zabaleta reappears back on the pitch, sporting a half dozen stitches and a head bandage, and Milner reacquaints himself with his usual right midfield duties.  Ballotelli has been substituted and is now busy sulking on the end of bench instead of the field.

as play resumed i realized, as did everyone else, that utilitarian James Milner was more important to the club than mega-priced Mario Ballotelli .  

poof, months later...

ar-jedi

Can't believe the season is nearing the end.....

Oh well. we do have the World Cup to keep us company this summer.

Blue is the color...

Lol at the Gooners

Damn. Chelsea had their way with Arsenal.

Cardiff City was missing in action after half time, just like a Boeing 777  

And Cardiff even scored three goals and were ahead twice.

Had their way in a Ghengis Khan kind of way...That was fun to watch.

it is beyond comprehension how Wenger can make the same mistake twice in one month.  first, he visits Anfield without starting a true holding midfielder, Arsenal get annihilated by Liverpool 5:1, and then he visits Stamford Bridge weeks later and MAKES EXACTLY THE SAME MISTAKE and Arsenal get bludgeoned by Chelsea 6:0.  

hey, Arsene, i'm just some guy on the internet but when you play against teams that attack up the middle (City, Liverpool, Chelski, etc) you are going to have to do better than leave the back four exposed all the time, without any DM cover.  and by that i really mean the two centerbacks, because 2 v 2 at this level is very much welcomed by the offense.  it doesn't matter whether it's Sturridge and Suarez, or Hazard and Shurrle, no matter what the pairing at the back you are going to come out of on the wrong end of it.  

"i'll bring Flamini on at halftime after we are down 0:4, that will fix things" -- signed, A. Wenger.

NEWS FLASH: Arteta is not a holding midfielder.

i know that Arsenal would like to play a clever. up-tempo, offensive passing game -- this is The Way for the last 10 years.  but, when you show up at Anfield or Stamford Bridge, where the home teams haven't exactly lost a lot of games (in the case of the Blues it has been like 75 or so) and have scored a shedload of goals, you might want to think about a plan B.  and that plan B has to involve a dedicated defensive midfielder AND revolve around not giving the ball away in the middle of the field.  that just creates a race to your goal, and you can see how that worked out today.  

ar-jedi

City have a 6 pt deficit, three games in hand, and a +10 GD over Chelsea if City were to slip up against either United or Liverpool. Away games remaining at United, Arsenal, and Liverpool.

Yes it is.  My memory might be off because I'm less interested when Liverpool isn't in the mix, but I can't remember the last time it's been this close with this many teams still in the race so late in the season.

Not that it made a particle of difference in the result, but it was pretty weird when the refs sent off Gibbs instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain for the hand ball.  You'd think at that level that mistake wouldn't be made.  They do have numbers on their shirts.

Do all black guys look alike to Andre Marriner - "Let's see, Sagna has the golden cornrows, but those other two, which is which?"

I think the Assistant Ref has some culpability here also.  It appears he either called the infraction or was confirming it for the center and should have made sure of the number/name of the offending party.  I never did see if the AR signaled an offence with a flag wave.

Verify ball out of play in your peripherial vision, focus on player who committed fouls while on ground, get number for center and report.  Come on pitch if you have to.

Overall, right call, wrong player sent off, and a crew who will spend a week or two down in the Championship as a result.

It will be interestig to see what kind of reception Andre Marriner gets the next time he is at the Emeriates.

OK which of you is also a writer for the BBC?  stealing my stuff, eh?  

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26705642   <<<-----  23 March 2014


ar-jedi  

That was annoying as Hell!

On leave this week.


I'll get to watch the game while the kiddo is in school

A much slower game than I was expecting

this is what happens when you have one eye on the weekend (Spurs), and the other eye on the following-following weekend (City).

and Gerrard on 9 yellows.  grrrr.  

as it stands, if he gets carded against Spurs or West Ham he could miss one or both (!) of the Chelsea/City games.  

there was a good case for taking a "tactical" yellow during the Sunderland game, and missing Tot'num and West Ham, but guaranteeing Chelsea and City.

that opportunity is gone now.  it's a big risk.  

as the defensive "shield" in front of Liverpool's back four (wait, they have a back four?) he has picked up more cards this year.

ar-jedi

That Chelsea game....