European Round Up
The heartbreak Nick
EPL: Nicklas Bendtner struck in stoppage time as Arsenal kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the league with a 2-1 victory over Hull City at the KC Stadium.
Wayne Rooney took his tally of goals to 32 with another double to take United back to the top of the League. United ran out 3-0 winners over Fulham. Chelsea were comfortable 4-1 winners over West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Alex opened the scoring before Scott Parker equalized only for Drogba to score twice and Malouda add another.
Birmingham and Everton played to a 2-2 draw while Tottenham eased pass Blackburn 3-1 with the in-form Pavlyuchenko grabbing a double. Bolton thrashed lowly Wigan 4-0 and in the battle of the relegation rivals, Wolves defeated Burnley by two goals to one. Stoke City and Aston Villa ended in a scoreless draw while Adam Johnson’s last-gasp effort earned a point for Manchester City as their game with Sunderland ended 1-1.
Majestic Messi
La Liga: Lionel Messi scored a stunning hat-trick to dismantle ten-man Valencia at the Camp Nou. Messi scored in the 56th, 81st and 83rd minutes to round off a fine performance and dent Valencia’s Champions League hopes. Getafe eased past Mallorca by a similar 3-0 margin.
Sporting Gijon played to 0-0 draw with Athletic Bilbao as did Racing Santander and Zaragoza. Sevilla could only manage a 1-1 draw against Deportivo while Almeria edged Malaga 1-0.
Villarreal enjoyed total domination over Xerez and won 2-0. Tenerife put a run of heavy defeats behind them by thumping Espanyol 4-1. Real Madrid fresh from their Champions League exit in mid-week defeated Valladolid 4-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain.
How come?
Serie A: Juventus were steam rolling Siena racing to a 3-0 after 10 minutes only to see their opponents mount the unlikeliest of comebacks to draw the game 3-3. Alex Del Piero scored a brace within the opening seven minutes but Siena fought to leave with a point.
AS Roma also succumbed to a 3-3 draw as they were held by Livorno. Luca Toni was on hand for Roma but a hat-trick for Cristiano Lucarelli secured a draw. Fiorentina came from a goal down to beat Champions League hopefuls Napoli 3-1 thanks to a double from Alberto Gilardino. In a high scoring encounter, Genoa beat Cagliari 5-3 while Udinese outscored Palermo 3-2.
Lazio’s relegation hopes were dealt a blow as they were defeated 2-0 by Bari. Inter put in a woeful performance and were beaten 3-1 by Catania. Clarence Seedorf scored a stoppage time winner against Chievo Verona to put AC Milan within one point of Inter.
Leverkusen back in race
Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen are back in the Bundesliga title race after they beat Hamburg 4-2 on Sunday. Stefan Keissling bagged a brace for the winners. Werder Bremen meanwhile picked up a vital win at Hoffenheim thanks a Claudio Pizarro strike. The game ended 1-0. Cologne also won by a similar margin over Mainz. Hannover, Nuremburg and Bayern Munich all had 2-1 wins over Frankfurt, Hertha and Freiburg respectively.
Arjen Robben bagged a brace to keep Bayern at the summit of the Bundesliga standings. Schalke 04 remained on the heels of Bayern thanks to a 2-1 win over VfB Stuggart. Goals from Edu and Kevin Kuranyi did the job for Schalke. VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund earned 4-0 and 4-1 victories respectively over Borussia Monchengladbach and Bochum respectively. Defending champions Wolfsburg were powered to the score line by a Edin Dzeko double.
Champions League Review/Preview
Unstoppable Rooney
CL: Highly touted Player of the Year candidate Wayne Rooney of Manchester United continued to pile on the goals as his double helped Man U to crush Italian powerhouse AC Milan 4-0. Man U have progressed to the next round 7-2 on aggregate. Arsenal moved forward with a 6-2 aggregate score line after a Niklas Bendtner hat-trick helped them to 5-0 win over FC Porto.
Real Madrid were eliminated from the competition as they failed to overturn the 1-0 defeat the suffered in France. A 1-1 draw saw Lyon progressing 2-1. A late goal from Arjen Robben allowed Bayern Munich to progress on the away-goal rule after losing 3-2 in Italy to Fiorentina. The aggregate score line was 4-4.
Chelsea will be hoping to make light work of Inter Milan and avenge the 2-1 defeat they suffered at the San Siro. Bordeaux will be hoping that a one goal advantage can help them to advance over Olympiacos while CSKA Moscow and Sevilla will be battling it out after their 1-1 stalemate.
Barcelona are in danger of dropping out of the competition and nothing but a win can secure their spot after a 1-1 against VfB Stuggart.