As Ives Galarcep wrote, “Today is arguably the best day of club soccer action of the year and I have decided to try and take it all in.” I might quibble a tad but hard to argue with the lineup I watched today, in chronological order:
- Manchester United 2-1 Everton: The Red Devils played well but were very fortunate to get a last minute penalty kick for the win after a tired Stephen Pienaar leg-whipped Ryan Giggs with the referee standing feet away.
- Inter Milan 2-1 AC Milan: This San Siro derby was a classic example of Italian club football with crunching tackles up and down the field with the yellow-clad ref showing yellow throughout. Inter kept their Serie A record unblemished when Milan keeper Dida blew a whopper in the 63rd minute to gift Esteban Cambiasso with the second goal, while the newly-crowned World Club Cup champions fell 25 points off the pace at the halfway point.
- Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea: Avram Grant’s crew came to Ewood Park needing the three points to stay in touch with Man U and Arsenal at the top of the Premiership table and overcame a stellar effort by former USA goalie Brad Friedel with a sweet first touch smash by Joe Cole off a very smart long pass from Salomon Kalou to get the necessary goal. Chelsea who, other than all the mishegas over the departure of Mourinho, are having a very quiet yet strong season, will have to worry about the condition of Peter Cech’s hip after he injured it early in the second half and had to call for a substitute. The Blues’ only healthy keeper is their #3 Hilario.
- Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid: This was a fabulous matchup of the two best teams in Spain in recent years with the only score an absolutely beautiful one touch sequence give and return between Julio Baptista and Ruud van Nistlerooy that Victor Valdez had no chance of stopping. The game was brutal too though only Real defender Sergio Ramos left from an injury and that nearly at the end, but I think the hosts really missed Lionel Messi as Samuel Etoo did not have the skills and pace to manage playing as a lone striker.
The plus of the title was yesterday’s sweet 4-1 demolition of Portsmouth by my boys at Anfield. Israeli international Yossi Benayoun opened in the 13th minute from the finally healthy Harry Kewell’s sweet long cross, quickly followed by a Sylvain Distin careless own goal. Benjani (who’s on my fantasy team) got on back in the second half but $50 million man Fernando Torres cleaned up with two further scores to seal it. Torres was also responsible for the own goal gift as he was the one backing into Pompey’s other central defender trying to turn with the ball towards goal when Distin got too close as the ball bounced off his shin and past David James.
The English teams are on a quick turnaround as the traditional Boxing Day matches Wednesday will have Liverpool visiting bottom-sitters Derby, Manchester United traveling to meet their old captain’s side at Sunderland, Chelsea hosting eigth place Aston Villa and leaders Arsenal going to Liverpool’s victims, who still sit seventh despite the loss. The Reds also play at Manchester City and host Wigan in the final two holiday weeks matches.
BillSaysThis 