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 08-16-2007, 02:16 AM | #61 (permalink) | ||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Late drama in opening weekend games
Late goals and significant contributions by newcomers to the Barclays Premier League mark the new season. Spectators were richly entertained in the opening round of matches as spectacular goals and late twists of fate meant no one could take their eyes off any of the games until the final whistles blew up and down the country. Newly promoted Sunderland scored the first goal of the season - pulling off a shock result against big-spending Tottenham. New £5million signing Michael Chopra came off the substitutes bench to hit the decisive strike with practically the last kick of the game. Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson made his Barclays Premier League debut as Manchester City manager at Upton Park where his expensively assembled, multi-national side got off to the perfect start with an impressive win against West Ham United. Both City's goals came from new signings - Rolando Bianchi in the first half after impressive work by Elano, before Geovanni put the result beyond doubt in the 87th minute. After the game Eriksson commented: "We played some really good football - not for 90 minutes because we suffered as well but we started well and the last 15 minutes we did very well again." spectacular own goal Liverpool's talismanic captain Steven Gerrard was another late scorer as his superb 87th minute free kick proved the winner against Aston Villa. Liverpool had gone ahead in the 31st minute when the luckless Martin Laursen hit a spectacular own goal, deflecting Dirk Kuyt's cross past keeper Stuart Taylor. Elsewhere other teams widely expected to be challenging for the top of the table did not have it all their own way. Chelsea were made to work hard for three points in a five-goal thriller against Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge. And Arsenal were given a fright after just 52 seconds when a horrendous mistake from goalkeeper Jens Lehman gifted Fulham debutant David Healy an easy goal. The Cottagers' keeper Tony Warner, on as a late substitute for Anti Niemi who was injured in the warm-up, pulled off a string of fine saves before a Robin van Persie penalty in the 94th minute brought matters level ahead of a dramatic last minute winner from Alexander Hleb - securing the points for the Gunners. But perhaps the biggest shock came at Old Trafford where last season's champions Manchester United were held in the weekend's only goalless draw by Reading who made the Red Devil's work hard against resolute man-for-man marking. Reading's Dave Kitson earned himself the unwanted statistic of being the season's first sending-off - lasting just 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute - a high tackle on Patrice Evra bringing out referee Rob Styles' red card. long range strike Newcastle United manager - Sam Allardyce - went back to former club Bolton Wanderers and looked on proudly as his new charges raced into a 3-0 half time lead. Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins led the way with two goals, the first a stunning overhead kick followed by a deflected long range strike. Bolton rallied in the second half with a goal from Nicolas Anelka but the Newcastle defence held firm for the rest of the game. Afterwards Allardyce was full of praise for his players: "The application by the players was terrific and I think that the quality of the finishing was the difference between the two teams. I'm not sure what level these players are at yet but they are starting to hit a standard I don't want them to drop." Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Riverside. New signing Roque Santa Cruz scored within minutes of coming off the bench to equalise before another substitute - England Under-21 star Matt Derbyshire - scored a spectacular goal with just his third touch. unstoppable header Barclays Premier League newcomers Derby County shared the points in a four-goal thriller with Portsmouth at Pride Park as they got their campaign off to a creditable start. Pompey had countered the Rams early goal with two of their own before another debut man Andy Todd - son of former Derby player and manager Colin - powered an unstoppable header into the top of the net in the 84th minute. In the remaining match of the weekend Everton built up a two-nil lead over Wigan Athletic before an 80th minute goal from yet another debutant - Antoine Sibierski - made it a nervous last ten minutes for the Toffees. | ||
| 08-16-2007, 02:17 AM | #62 (permalink) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Barclays Premier League 
Full Table | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 08-16-2007, 02:17 AM | #63 (permalink) |
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Late drama in opening weekend games Late drama in opening weekend games Late goals and significant contributions by newcomers to the Barclays Premier League mark the new season. Spectators were richly entertained in the opening round of matches as spectacular goals and late twists of fate meant no one could take their eyes off any of the games until the final whistles blew up and down the country. Newly promoted Sunderland scored the first goal of the season - pulling off a shock result against big-spending Tottenham. New £5million signing Michael Chopra came off the substitutes bench to hit the decisive strike with practically the last kick of the game. Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson made his Barclays Premier League debut as Manchester City manager at Upton Park where his expensively assembled, multi-national side got off to the perfect start with an impressive win against West Ham United. Both City's goals came from new signings - Rolando Bianchi in the first half after impressive work by Elano, before Geovanni put the result beyond doubt in the 87th minute. After the game Eriksson commented: "We played some really good football - not for 90 minutes because we suffered as well but we started well and the last 15 minutes we did very well again." spectacular own goal Liverpool's talismanic captain Steven Gerrard was another late scorer as his superb 87th minute free kick proved the winner against Aston Villa. Liverpool had gone ahead in the 31st minute when the luckless Martin Laursen hit a spectacular own goal, deflecting Dirk Kuyt's cross past keeper Stuart Taylor. Elsewhere other teams widely expected to be challenging for the top of the table did not have it all their own way. Chelsea were made to work hard for three points in a five-goal thriller against Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge. And Arsenal were given a fright after just 52 seconds when a horrendous mistake from goalkeeper Jens Lehman gifted Fulham debutant David Healy an easy goal. The Cottagers' keeper Tony Warner, on as a late substitute for Anti Niemi who was injured in the warm-up, pulled off a string of fine saves before a Robin van Persie penalty in the 94th minute brought matters level ahead of a dramatic last minute winner from Alexander Hleb - securing the points for the Gunners. But perhaps the biggest shock came at Old Trafford where last season's champions Manchester United were held in the weekend's only goalless draw by Reading who made the Red Devil's work hard against resolute man-for-man marking. Reading's Dave Kitson earned himself the unwanted statistic of being the season's first sending-off - lasting just 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute - a high tackle on Patrice Evra bringing out referee Rob Styles' red card. long range strike Newcastle United manager - Sam Allardyce - went back to former club Bolton Wanderers and looked on proudly as his new charges raced into a 3-0 half time lead. Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins led the way with two goals, the first a stunning overhead kick followed by a deflected long range strike. Bolton rallied in the second half with a goal from Nicolas Anelka but the Newcastle defence held firm for the rest of the game. Afterwards Allardyce was full of praise for his players: "The application by the players was terrific and I think that the quality of the finishing was the difference between the two teams. I'm not sure what level these players are at yet but they are starting to hit a standard I don't want them to drop." Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Riverside. New signing Roque Santa Cruz scored within minutes of coming off the bench to equalise before another substitute - England Under-21 star Matt Derbyshire - scored a spectacular goal with just his third touch. unstoppable header Barclays Premier League newcomers Derby County shared the points in a four-goal thriller with Portsmouth at Pride Park as they got their campaign off to a creditable start. Pompey had countered the Rams early goal with two of their own before another debut man Andy Todd - son of former Derby player and manager Colin - powered an unstoppable header into the top of the net in the 84th minute. In the remaining match of the weekend Everton built up a two-nil lead over Wigan Athletic before an 80th minute goal from yet another debutant - Antoine Sibierski - made it a nervous last ten minutes for the Toffees. |
| 08-16-2007, 02:19 AM | #64 (permalink) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Barclays Premier League 
Full Table | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 08-16-2007, 02:20 AM | #65 (permalink) |
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 2 Chelsea 3 Birmingham City 2 Claudio Pizarro and Michael Essien help Chelsea set an English record for unbeaten league matches at home. Under Claudio Ranieri and Jose Mourinho, Chelsea had not suffered a home defeat in the Premier League for 63 games, matching Liverpool's efforts in the top flight between 1978 and 1981. Former Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell had given the visitors an early lead before Claudio Pizarro and Florent Malouda marked their home debuts with goals for the hosts. With Mourinho's men looking comfortable, Olivier Kapo drifted in from the left and found the top corner with a spectacular strike nine minutes before the break, to see Birmingham City end the first half on level terms. Frank Lampard was named skipper in the absence of John Terry, while Birmingham's Liam Ridgewell, the summer signing from bitter rivals Aston Villa, was given the captain's armband in the absence of the injured Damien Johnson. Forssell was given a warm reception by home fans but almost upset them with a fifth-minute shot from the edge of the area that Petr Cech gathered at the second attempt. cleared the crossbar The first chance for the hosts came shortly after Forssell's effort, with the move started by Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross-field pass. Salomon Kalou held the ball up and fed Malouda, who cleared the crossbar with his sidefoot finish. Wright-Phillips was in the thick of the action, crossing for Pizarro to have a header saved by Colin Doyle. The England winger then won the ball off Ridgewell and fired wide after Pizarro played him through. The visitors, however, took the lead in the 15th minute through Forssell. Gary McSheffrey's curling free-kick was flicked on by Ridgewell, with Forssell's header wrong-footing Cech. The lead lasted just two minutes, with Pizarro levelling matters. Malouda had set Wright-Phillips away down the right and his low pull-back was met crisply by the Peru striker, although Doyle should have kept the effort out. unstoppable drive Chelsea were ahead on the half-hour mark. Lampard was fed on the edge of the area, with his flick finding Kalou who scooped the ball through for Malouda to sidefoot home. However, Chelsea were stunned in the 36th minute when Kapo drifted in from the left, bundled his way past Glen Johnson and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the top corner. Chelsea regained the lead in the 50th minute, with Wright-Phillips finding Michael Essien on the edge of the area and the Ghana midfielder finding the top corner, with Doyle getting a hand to his curling effort. Chelsea could have extended their lead when Kalou had an effort saved at point-blank range by Doyle. And Drogba almost caught Doyle off his line with a volley from the halfway line but the ambitious effort drifted wide. Salomon Kalou had the ball in the net in the fourth minute of injury-time - but he had long since been penalised for straying offside - and soon after the match was over. |
| 08-16-2007, 02:21 AM | #66 (permalink) |
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Late drama in opening weekend games Late drama in opening weekend games Late goals and significant contributions by newcomers to the Barclays Premier League mark the new season. Spectators were richly entertained in the opening round of matches as spectacular goals and late twists of fate meant no one could take their eyes off any of the games until the final whistles blew up and down the country. Newly promoted Sunderland scored the first goal of the season - pulling off a shock result against big-spending Tottenham. New £5million signing Michael Chopra came off the substitutes bench to hit the decisive strike with practically the last kick of the game. Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson made his Barclays Premier League debut as Manchester City manager at Upton Park where his expensively assembled, multi-national side got off to the perfect start with an impressive win against West Ham United. Both City's goals came from new signings - Rolando Bianchi in the first half after impressive work by Elano, before Geovanni put the result beyond doubt in the 87th minute. After the game Eriksson commented: "We played some really good football - not for 90 minutes because we suffered as well but we started well and the last 15 minutes we did very well again." spectacular own goal Liverpool's talismanic captain Steven Gerrard was another late scorer as his superb 87th minute free kick proved the winner against Aston Villa. Liverpool had gone ahead in the 31st minute when the luckless Martin Laursen hit a spectacular own goal, deflecting Dirk Kuyt's cross past keeper Stuart Taylor. Elsewhere other teams widely expected to be challenging for the top of the table did not have it all their own way. Chelsea were made to work hard for three points in a five-goal thriller against Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge. And Arsenal were given a fright after just 52 seconds when a horrendous mistake from goalkeeper Jens Lehman gifted Fulham debutant David Healy an easy goal. The Cottagers' keeper Tony Warner, on as a late substitute for Anti Niemi who was injured in the warm-up, pulled off a string of fine saves before a Robin van Persie penalty in the 94th minute brought matters level ahead of a dramatic last minute winner from Alexander Hleb - securing the points for the Gunners. But perhaps the biggest shock came at Old Trafford where last season's champions Manchester United were held in the weekend's only goalless draw by Reading who made the Red Devil's work hard against resolute man-for-man marking. Reading's Dave Kitson earned himself the unwanted statistic of being the season's first sending-off - lasting just 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute - a high tackle on Patrice Evra bringing out referee Rob Styles' red card. long range strike Newcastle United manager - Sam Allardyce - went back to former club Bolton Wanderers and looked on proudly as his new charges raced into a 3-0 half time lead. Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins led the way with two goals, the first a stunning overhead kick followed by a deflected long range strike. Bolton rallied in the second half with a goal from Nicolas Anelka but the Newcastle defence held firm for the rest of the game. Afterwards Allardyce was full of praise for his players: "The application by the players was terrific and I think that the quality of the finishing was the difference between the two teams. I'm not sure what level these players are at yet but they are starting to hit a standard I don't want them to drop." Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Riverside. New signing Roque Santa Cruz scored within minutes of coming off the bench to equalise before another substitute - England Under-21 star Matt Derbyshire - scored a spectacular goal with just his third touch. unstoppable header Barclays Premier League newcomers Derby County shared the points in a four-goal thriller with Portsmouth at Pride Park as they got their campaign off to a creditable start. Pompey had countered the Rams early goal with two of their own before another debut man Andy Todd - son of former Derby player and manager Colin - powered an unstoppable header into the top of the net in the 84th minute. In the remaining match of the weekend Everton built up a two-nil lead over Wigan Athletic before an 80th minute goal from yet another debutant - Antoine Sibierski - made it a nervous last ten minutes for the Toffees. |
| 08-16-2007, 02:22 AM | #67 (permalink) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Barclays Premier League
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| 08-16-2007, 02:23 AM | #68 (permalink) |
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Late drama in opening weekend games Late drama in opening weekend games Late goals and significant contributions by newcomers to the Barclays Premier League mark the new season. Spectators were richly entertained in the opening round of matches as spectacular goals and late twists of fate meant no one could take their eyes off any of the games until the final whistles blew up and down the country. Newly promoted Sunderland scored the first goal of the season - pulling off a shock result against big-spending Tottenham. New £5million signing Michael Chopra came off the substitutes bench to hit the decisive strike with practically the last kick of the game. Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson made his Barclays Premier League debut as Manchester City manager at Upton Park where his expensively assembled, multi-national side got off to the perfect start with an impressive win against West Ham United. Both City's goals came from new signings - Rolando Bianchi in the first half after impressive work by Elano, before Geovanni put the result beyond doubt in the 87th minute. After the game Eriksson commented: "We played some really good football - not for 90 minutes because we suffered as well but we started well and the last 15 minutes we did very well again." spectacular own goal Liverpool's talismanic captain Steven Gerrard was another late scorer as his superb 87th minute free kick proved the winner against Aston Villa. Liverpool had gone ahead in the 31st minute when the luckless Martin Laursen hit a spectacular own goal, deflecting Dirk Kuyt's cross past keeper Stuart Taylor. Elsewhere other teams widely expected to be challenging for the top of the table did not have it all their own way. Chelsea were made to work hard for three points in a five-goal thriller against Birmingham City at Stamford Bridge. And Arsenal were given a fright after just 52 seconds when a horrendous mistake from goalkeeper Jens Lehman gifted Fulham debutant David Healy an easy goal. The Cottagers' keeper Tony Warner, on as a late substitute for Anti Niemi who was injured in the warm-up, pulled off a string of fine saves before a Robin van Persie penalty in the 94th minute brought matters level ahead of a dramatic last minute winner from Alexander Hleb - securing the points for the Gunners. But perhaps the biggest shock came at Old Trafford where last season's champions Manchester United were held in the weekend's only goalless draw by Reading who made the Red Devil's work hard against resolute man-for-man marking. Reading's Dave Kitson earned himself the unwanted statistic of being the season's first sending-off - lasting just 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute - a high tackle on Patrice Evra bringing out referee Rob Styles' red card. long range strike Newcastle United manager - Sam Allardyce - went back to former club Bolton Wanderers and looked on proudly as his new charges raced into a 3-0 half time lead. Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins led the way with two goals, the first a stunning overhead kick followed by a deflected long range strike. Bolton rallied in the second half with a goal from Nicolas Anelka but the Newcastle defence held firm for the rest of the game. Afterwards Allardyce was full of praise for his players: "The application by the players was terrific and I think that the quality of the finishing was the difference between the two teams. I'm not sure what level these players are at yet but they are starting to hit a standard I don't want them to drop." Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Riverside. New signing Roque Santa Cruz scored within minutes of coming off the bench to equalise before another substitute - England Under-21 star Matt Derbyshire - scored a spectacular goal with just his third touch. unstoppable header Barclays Premier League newcomers Derby County shared the points in a four-goal thriller with Portsmouth at Pride Park as they got their campaign off to a creditable start. Pompey had countered the Rams early goal with two of their own before another debut man Andy Todd - son of former Derby player and manager Colin - powered an unstoppable header into the top of the net in the 84th minute. In the remaining match of the weekend Everton built up a two-nil lead over Wigan Athletic before an 80th minute goal from yet another debutant - Antoine Sibierski - made it a nervous last ten minutes for the Toffees. |
| 08-16-2007, 02:27 AM | #69 (permalink) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Barclays Premier League
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| 08-16-2007, 02:27 AM | #70 (permalink) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Barclays Premier League
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| 08-16-2007, 02:27 AM | #71 (permalink) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fredua Koranteng Adu Offline Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Estados Unidos Posts: 256,709 vCash: 20158194 Rep Points: 916 | Barclays Premier League
Full Table | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
