Champions League - The Knock-out Stage!
It's Day Two of the Knock-out Stage of the Champions League with these fine match-ups on tap:Bayern v. Fiorentina
FC Porto v. Arsenal
Join me for all the action!
posted by The Blue Devil @ 2:01 PM
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
It's Day Two of the Knock-out Stage of the Champions League with these fine match-ups on tap:Bayern v. Fiorentina
FC Porto v. Arsenal
Join me for all the action!
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
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116 Comments:
Sol Campbell and his walker will partner Vermaelen in the center of defense. He will be marking The Hull!
Team in Full
Fabianski
Vermaelen
Campbell
Clichy
Sagna
Denilson
Fab
Diaby
Nasri
Bendtner
Rosicky
I will be back later,
I am taking the boys sledding for little while
I'll be back!
Heya, Dave. I've got a great link up through VSS:
http://livevss.net/channel3.php
Kick-off!
An early scare for the Arse there.
Oooh, Fabregas was nearly in there. If he'd been more dishonest, he'd have flopped there. Cracking start to this one although the atmosphere could use something. It's a big barn of a stadium so you can't hear a thing from the stands.
Nasri has a poke at it but just finds the keeper.
Arsenal spreading the ball about nicely now. Good start from them.
Almost a delightful and telling interchange there between Nasri and Fab. Just didn't quite come off but promising.
Vermaelen went straight through the back of Falcao there. Rash. Free kick oppo for Porto now.
Alves takes and Fabianski collects easily. It was fairly obvious that Alves was going to try to hit the left corner there.
Hulk bursts through and falls over in the box. Ref's not impressed.
GOAL! Moraela gets the praise from his teammates but it's a howler from Fabianski. It was at best a cross shot and Fabianski bobbled it horribly into the net. I can't even figure out what happened there. Disaster for the Arse and more ammunition for the call for a new keeper at Arsenal in the summer.
1-0 Porto.
Sorry, the goalscorer was Varela.
Still a long way to go in this one and Arsenal looked lively in the first ten minutes. There could be loads of goals and drama in this one.
Nasri did well there on the left but couldn't find a teammate in the box. Corner....
Nothing challenge there from Sagna but the ref's given a free kick in a dangerous area.
Oooh, Bendtner hit one and it was wickedly deflected. Nearly flew in. Big let off for Porto.
GOAL! Sol Campbell, the old codger nods in the equalizer!
The Porto defense made a hash of the corner in, Vermaelen flicked on, Rosicky stuck it back in the mix and Campbell finished it with delight.
1-1!
And now Fabregas wins a crucial free kick in a dangerous area. We've seen him knock a few of these in for sure.
Fab hits the wall with the free kick and it sneaks through to Nasri who just can't get a shot off.
Rosicky weaves his way through the Porto defense now and hits a rocket that Elton just got fingertips to. Arsenal in full flow now.
Vermaelen hacks Falcao again and he's getting close to a yellow now.
Hulk over this free kick....
Hits it well wide.
I am back
SOL with the goal!!!
Fabianski did well there. Nice save from the Ruben Michael shot.
Welcome back, mate. It's a cracking match!
Is that his first goal since the Final?
No goals anywhere else in the CL, Prem or Championship
Varela gets hit late by Diaby. Nasty one there and it's earned him the first yellow card of the match.
I've got a Gillette Soccer going on Justin
Yeah - that's what they said. His last goal was in Paris!
Palace and Reading drawing. If Reading win, the Tractor Roys will be in the drop zone
I'm looking for a Wigan win today. I'd love to see Bolton go down finally.
The Toon have fallen behind at home against Coventry against the run of play
They were way ahead and now they are second and very close to third!
Did he leave the club after the Final?
Have you seen the Fabianski howler yet, Dave? It's pretty awful.
that was close for the Arse
Newcastle tie it up almost immediately.
Ooh, good save from Bendtner's header by Elton. A bit flash maybe but effective.
I will rewind it on my DVR
I think he did go to Pompey straight after that season, didn't he?
They'll no doubt show it at half time. One for the blooper reels for sure.
Pat Rice was animated after that last challenge on Fabregas.
YIKES!!!
I just saw... your bruv will not be happy!
The Gooner is not at all happy with the goalkeeping options at the club. He wants a big signing in the summertime.
Reading have taken the lead. Are Ipswich going down?
That was funny. Fabregas looked over at Bendtner after his errant ball as if to say, Come on - on me head!"
I fancy Posh, Plymouth and Palace - the three Ps to go down this season to L1. I reckon that Ipswich may just survive but they need to start picking up the points for sure.
How has Campbell done? Has he been found wanting?
Arsene's not happy about some of the tackles going in on his boy Cesc.
Half time and then there is some handbags going down the tunnel
Sol looks really slow on the turn when he's isolated one-on-one with the likes of Hulk and Varela but then he's ancient.
Some handbags there at the interval.
Bayern put the ball in the net but it has been disallowed
John Salaco has no idea what is going on but finally he twigs it that Bayern have a penalty. They do score
That's John Salaco for you, eh?
Porto get the second half underway the exact time that no score bore draw is going to half at Wigan
What's Steve's thought on Wilshire going to Bolton on loan?
The Arse getting some possession but not creating much. Terrible shot by Bendtner
Tony Cottee agrees with me about Bendtner's shot
Bayern have only lost ONCE after taking the lead to half.... when was the one time?
What is going on?????
Campbell makes a back pass. Fabianski picks it up!. Porto take a quick free kick and taps it in!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
Oh dear - I'm late coming back from the interval and Porto have just scored. Apparently Fabianski has made another tragic mistake from a quickly taken free kick. I didn't see it.
Fiorentina score the equalizer.
Salaco doesn't have a clue again what happened. He was watching the Arsenal match!
I don't know. An indirect free kick from a backpass picked up. I do think Arsene's got a point. The ref should hold up play until the defending side is set up. That makes no sense at all to just drop the ball and let someone poke it in. Farcical.
IT IS ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
The backpass was terrible, Fabianski was terrible that he picked it up. ALL the defenders stood and watched and Porto just slid it in
Newcastle take the lead
Yeah - but here's the thing. If one of the defenders stands in the way, the ref can book him. It's a no win situation!
Steve is going to be furious
I don't know why Arsene is complaining. The ref did nothing wrong. This is the same ref of the France Ireland match.
Fabianski had the ball in his hand. Dropped it and turned his back. Porto placed the ball down, passed it sideways and put in
What about a penalty. Can an attacker just run up and knock the ball in the net while the keeper is still knocking the mud off his boots? It makes no sense at all.
No, it was an indirect free kick. The bloke just placed it down. Knocked it sideways and a teammate came running in and passed it into the net.
The Arsenal players just stood there.
It was a perfectly good goal.... just TERRIBLE defending
Did you see the Patrick Viera foot to the groin tackle from the ground yesterday?
He has been charged by the FA
I know what you're saying but I do think that most referees don't understand the difference between a direct and indirect free kick. An indirect free kick is for minor offenses like obstruction and goalies picking up backpasses.
It used to be the case that referees called indirect free kicks all the time, but at this point they rarely do. Simple obstruction is often give a direct free kick or not called at all when the defender is, for example, shielding the ball out over the touchline.
The ref is supposed to raise his right arm straight up to indicate an indirect free kick and drop it and blow his whistle to indicate that the attacking side can take the kick.
I've just seen the incident. The ref none of those things - he just abdicated his responsibility to the Porto attacker by dropping the ball and letting him tap it to his partner to knock in. I'll bet that if the Porto striker had simply knocked it in himself, he'd have allowed that too! Terrible refereeing. For once, I agree with the Professor.
Tony Cottee said that Fabianski should have just held it in his hand or dropped it away from the where the kick was.
Really
Why can't Porto get the game started. Arsenal didn't try and make a wall.
You never answered my question from 3:52
Did you see the ref raised his hand after the bloke took the free kick!
Reading double their lead. Ipswich are in trouble
I know I would be annoyed with a goal like that scored against United but the every defender just stood around
Come on Arsenal... get a goal back!
Penalty to the Toon
Coventry are down to ten men for the guy who fouled got a second yellow
3-1
Where have you gone Bob?
Arsenal need to keep Porto out. A 2-1 loss is pretty good
Good news for Keano
Palace get a goal back
Fiorentina are down to ten men
Robben goes down like he was shot!!
I still think Arse can get back to 2-2.
You're back... I thought you buggered off
I'm back after setting up my class. I'll be here for the run-in unless a pesky student comes by.
I'm still ignoring your question about Bayern since they should have lost to us in 1975.
Be back in a tic
Have to pick up the boys
There's only seven minutes left!
The ref really should be stricken off the FIFA rolls for that clanger alone. I cannot believe that we're going to have to suffer his incompetence this summer.
I can't believe he is on the list after the France Ireland match
WHY DOESN"T DIABY SHOOT
Bayern Munich take a late lead
It is over
Not a bad result really
I agree, mate. 2-1 really isn't that bad under the circumstances. I can definitely see them turning that around, especially with having the away goal. Fortress Emirates!
Hope they do!
It's Klose with that late Bayern goal that wins it there. Interesting. Both 2-1 results.
0-0 between Wigan and Bolton. Doesn't help either really.
Will you be around for the Europa League matches tomorrow?
I still don't think anything was wrong with the goal
The commentators didn't think anything was wrong with it. Either does Tony Cottee
Steve, what do you think?
Still going in Wigan
I will be around unless I am doing work around the house
Rangers score a late winner in the Cup against St. Mirren.
Bayern win 2-1
You're going to Tony Cottee for footie scholarship?
looking at the goal again. The ref did ask for the ball from Fabianski. That is why he didn't keep it but where was everyone else
Reading are 3-1 up
Seems like Cesc is throwing Fabianski under the bus. "Schoolboy goals." Ouch!
Good point
Yeah - Fabianski was hanging onto the ball, he then tossed it to the ref when he was asked for it. Fab then turned his back thinking that the ref was going to hang onto the ball until the wall was set up. And that's what the ref should have done. The ref only raised his arm up after the ball was in the net.
That's a complete balls-up. Referee was completely wrong. The goal should have been called back. That's not even a hard decision.
From the Beeb
Five live say... a comedy of errors
Porto goal: A quite unbelievable series of events. Sol Campbell touches the ball back to Lukasz Fabianski, who - for reasons known only to himself - picks it up. Another howler by the Gunners keeper. Indirect free-kick inside the box for Porto, and with Arsenal still disputing the free-kick, Ruben Micael takes it quickly, taps it to Falcao, who rolls the ball into the empty net. Arsene Wenger is FUMING
Cesc Fabregas on whether Porto's goal should have stood: "I don't know. I have no idea. Maybe as a player I would have done the same, take a quick free-kick. To be honest, I don't know. I was like 30 metres away."
I totally disagree with Andy Townshend there. He doesn't know the rules of the game.
At least Cesc is honest - he honestly doesn't know the rules. But that's what the bloody ref is there for.
Andy Townshend does make one interesting observation - the ref was also impeding Sol Campbell from getting back to the ball. How is that fair?
I can see why Porto did what they did. I would have tried it
Yeah - of course players are going to try it but that's what the ref is there to correct.
Anyway, I'm off to referee a class now. Catch up with you later, mate.
Five Live are blaming the Arsenal defense.
Take care mate
Wigan 0 Bolton 0
THRILLER!
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on Porto's second goal:First, I believe it was an accidental backpass. Sol touched it accidentally. The ref should have given us time to build the wall, because otherwise you can never defend a free-kick. It was a double mistake -
Well, I don't agree with his first point. It was a backpass and Fabianski panicked. But he's right on his second point.
Chelski Lad's take on the 'goal'
He makes sense
Watched the football last night . I thought Arsenal played some good stuff from time to time .
The goalkeeper had a nightmare though . As for the goal , it was just about legal though morally
wrong . The keeper tried to keep hold of the ball when the opposition tried to get it . The ref then
demanded the ball and the keeper gave it to him and turned away to go back to goal . The ref gave
the ball to the opposition immediately even though he knew the keeper was going back to goal . NO
COMMON SENSE . He knew it would cause problems . (he was the Henry handball ref). Had the
keeper not given him the ball he would have been booked . What a stupid situation .
Totally agree, Tony. It made a farce of the game.
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