Goodbye QPR and Reading. These two teams have been officially relegated from English Premier League this weekend. Reading was just promoted to EPL last season, while Queens Park Rangers barely avoided being relegated. Most people had a feeling that QPR would get relegated, even in the first half of the season. The team has many talented players, but for some reason, they just weren’t able to get the results to stay in England’s top league.

Who else will join QPR and Reading? The three clubs fighting to stay in EPL are Wigan Athletic, Sunderland and Newcastle United. Personally, I hope Newcastle stays in EPL for another season. They have a lot of talent on that team and they can play some great football.

What else happened this weekend? Well, Liverpool won against Newcastle 6-0. Yes, you read that right. Liverpool won 6-0. Newcastle had an off day. This was Liverpool’s first match without Luis Suarez, who will be banned for 10 matches after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic last weekend. Most people might have expected Liverpool to struggle, but that wasn’t the case.

While both Manchester clubs have qualified for Champions League next season, there are still two spots up for grabs. The three clubs fighting for those two spots are three London based clubs- Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. I would love to see Chelsea and Spurs qualify. Juan Mata, David Luiz, Ivanovic and Gareth Bale are some footballers that I think are very talented and would like to see them playing in Champions League. Spurs missed out this season, due to Chelsea winning Champions League.

This weekend, the one match everyone will be watching is Manchester United v. Chelsea. Don’t miss out; that match will be on May 5th at 11 a.m. EST.

It’s Fernando Torres’ 29th birthday today and while he isn’t in the Dirty 30 Club, it doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. So break out the sangria, tapas, and all your favorite foods from the Basque Country because we’re about to jump into all things Fernando.

Here is Fernando training with Chelsea FC…well, he’s not really training and mostly posing. We forgive him since you know it does take a lot for a genius to plan how he is going to attack the pitch.

Fernando is on his knees and likely someone is getting a red card for fouling him – because Fernando is never in the wrong…never!

He’s thinking deep thoughts about his bff, Sergio Ramos here…don’t worry, I do the same thing.

Presented without comment and mostly because I am not entirely prepared for the next photo in this set…

Here is Fernando in his Spain kit and more than likely fouled by someone – you know this is becoming a theme but I’m totally focused on this bit of ab showing at the waist. Seriously someone give me a one way ticket to Spain.

This is by far the best and frankly what we here are all about. In fact, if he chose to walk around like this all the time (even in the snow), I would not complain at all. Take all the time you need scoring goals, really. I have all the time in the world.

Don’t you wish Sergio Ramos was your BFF? Well, too bad, because this is his one and only bestie, Fernando Torres. I know that I’m sad but I won’t be the Yoko here.

And finally…here is Sergio in a twitter photo today as he put it, “I want to congratulate a great friend who is not here, missing him lots… Happy birthday!!”

If you feel like wishing Fernando Torres a very happy birthday, you still have time to tweet him @Torres (he hasn’t updated since October 2011 but it is the thought that counts!)

Follow the ladies of Aerys Soccer on Twitter at @AerysSoccer and check out our brand spankin’ new Facebook page! 

Frank Lampard handed Chelsea the 2-0 win over Everton with a double.

Frank Lampard took responsibility for Chelsea’s fourth win in a row by scoring twice to win 2-1 at Everton today.  The 34-year -old England midfielder has been with the club since 2001 and has yet to be offered an extension to his contract ending in June.

Today’s win helps to keep the Blues in contention for the Premier League title race and also might give some hope the club will hold onto the seasoned Lampard.

On Saturday, Manchester United took their seventh win in eight matches thanks to star striker Robin van Persie.  His 90-minute shot, his League-leading 14th goal of the season, made the score 2-0 over West Brom.  United now have a seven-point lead in the standings going into 2013.

Arsenal dominated Newcastle 7-3 with help from a Theo Walcott hat trick.  The England national has refused to re-sign with the Gunners and there is speculation he will be sold in January.  In an attempt to change his mind, for the last few games, Arsene Wenger has allowed the winger to start as center striker, his requested position for many years.  He has been very effective, but is it too little too late will remain to be seen.

Manchester City squeaked out a 4-3 win over Norwich Saturday no thanks to Samir Nasri’s first half send off.  The thrilling match was a fight to the finish, but Edin Dzeko replaced the ill Carlos Tevez up front to score two plus the usual quality from Sergio Aguero helped City hold on to the lead.

Even after Sunderland beat Manchester City 1-0 last Wednesday, Tottenham managed a come-from-behind win over Sunderland in the 52nd minute thanks to a fine strike by England winger Aaron Lennon.

Other matches played over the weekend:

Stoke City 3 – 3 Southampton

Fulham 1 – 2 Swansea

Reading 1 – 0 West Ham United

Aston Villa 0 – 3 Wigan

QPR 0 – 3 Liverpool

He might not like being called a super sub, but Edin Dzeko helped Manchester City complete yet another comeback. This time against Tottenham Spurs. The visitors scored first in the 21st minute and the fact that City had more possession than Spurs didn’t really matter. Spurs had the lead until the 65th min when Kun Aguero equalized for City! Bot teams had chances to score, but it wasn’t until the 88th minute, when who else but Edin Dzeko, scored for Manchester City, completing their comeback. With this 2-1 win over Spurs, City is still undefeated in EPL. 

Some other matches this weekend included Chelsea v. Liverpool and Manchester United v. Aston Villa. Just like City, United also had to come back in order to win all 3 points. However, they came back from a two-goal deficit. Villa shocked the visitors (and everyone that was watching) by scoring seconds before half time. They doubled their lead just minutes into the second half. It looked like United was headed for a defeat, but they brought on Mexican forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez at the beginning of the second half and he helped United’s comeback. At first it looked like he had earned a hat trick, but the second goal was later ruled an own goal. Either way, United was able to come back yet again from an early goal deficit.

Chelsea players and fans will be disappointed that they weren’t able to get all 3 points  Sunday, especially when they had more chances and played better overall than Liverpool. Chelsea captain John Terry scored first for the home team in the 20th minute. His goal came off a corner kick, when he was left unmarked. He later collided with Luis Suarez of Liverpool and had to be stretchered off. Suarez equalized in the second half and with this draw, Chelsea and United’s gap at the top of the table widened a little bit more.

Here are the rest of the scores from EPL (Saturday and Sunday)

The biggest match of today by far was Spurs v. Chelsea. Not only because these two teams are huge rivals (both are from West London), but also because Spurs’ manager, Andre Villas-Boas, aka AVB, was the manager for Chelsea last season.  So of course, this was the perfect chance for him to get revenge. Only, that’s not exactly what happened.

Chelsea got off to a great start, they scored in the first 20 minutes. They kept the lead throughout the first half. During the beginning of the second half, Gallas equalized for Spurs. Spurs were ahead withing minutes but their lead didn’t last long because Spanish international Juan Mata scored a brace and Sturridge scored the fourth goal in extra time. With the win, Chelsea still sit at the top of the league. I’ma Manchester City fan, but I enjoy watching some of the other EPL teams, i.e. Spurs and Chelsea. However, in this match, I had been rooting for Spurs, not only because it would’ve been great to see AVB win against his old club, bu also because I LOVE Bale and Spurs have an American- Clint Dempsey.

It seems like Manchester City loves drama! They came back yet again, this time against West Brom. The first half had ended scoreless. The only major thing that happened was that James Milner got a red card and City had to play with 10 men for the rest of the match. West Brom scored first, in the 67th minute. It looked like City was going to lose this match. But Mancini decided to pit in Edin Dzeko, his “super sub”. Within a minute of being subbed in, Dzeko equalized for City. A point would’ve been good for City, after all, they had 10 players and had conceded first. In extra time, Dzeko scored YET AGAIN and City took all 3 points. I’m hoping their match on Wednesday, against Ajax in Champions League, isn’t as nerve wrecking!

In other news, Norwich City aka the “Canaries” upset Arsenal and won 1-0.  I watched most of the first half, but it was boring, like most Arsenal matches. Manchester United won 4-2 against Stoke City. The best moment of the game was when Wayne Rooney scored an own goal, they might’ve won, but at least that made me LOL.  Liverpool won their first home match of the season, 1-0 against Reading.

QPR-Everton and Sunderland-Newcastle play Sunday.

Here are all the scores:

Another round of Champions League matches took place today and the two things most people were talking about were Barcelona’s Carlos Puyol’s horrific injury and Bayern Munich’s surprising loss to BATE Borisov; I know many of you just said “Who’s that??”

So what happened today in Champions League? In Group E, Chelsea had a convincing 4-0 win over  FC Nordsjaelland. David Luiz scored along with Juan Mata (2) and Ramires. In the other match, Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk played in a 1-1 draw.

In Group F, Valencia won 2-0 over Lille, but it was the Bayern-BATE match that got more attention. After all, most people had never heard of BATE, yet here they were beating Bayern 3-1 despite only having 34% possession.  They are currently at the top of their group with 6 points. Valencia and Bayern are in second place with 3 points each.

Group G, Celtic won their match 3-2 and Barcelona won 2-0 over Benfica. However, despite getting the 3 points, Barcelona players and fans aren’t very happy with today’s match. After all, Sergio Busquets was sent off with a straight red card, which most people said was given unfairly, and Puyol fell awkwardly on his arm and is ruled off for the upcomin Clasico against their rivals Real Madrid.

Group H, both Manchester United and Braga won their respective matches. United defeated Cluj 2-1 and Braga defeated Galatasaray 2-0.

Here’s today’s Champions League goal of the day. It comes from Chelsea defender, David Luiz. Enjoy!

Two of the weekend’s biggest matches were Arsenal-Chelsea and Manchester United-Spurs. Neither of which involved my team, but I’ve got your recaps for you anyway.

First up, Arsenal v. Chelsea. I know there were a lot of people (Gunners mostly) who woke up early to watch this match. Since I’m not a Gunner or a Chelsea supporter, there was no way I was waking up at 4:45 a.m. to watch the match. Besides, the last time I woke up early to watch, Arsenal won and I didn’t really want to see that again. Then again, that was back when they had Robin Van Persie.

Anyway, this match was at home for Arsenal, most people probably thought Arsenal would win because Chelsea hadn’t been scoring as much as they should be. Well, that didn’t seem to be the case today. Fernando Torres scored first for Chelsea, but Arsenal was allowed to equalized just minutes before half time.

Yesterday, I had been talking to someone about the game and they asked me who I was rooting for. I told them Chelsea and I also said that it was because of Juan Mata. Who was it that scored the game winner for Chelsea? That’s right, none other than Mata! Of course I was happy; after all, both Chelsea goal scorers were Spanish and many of you know how I feel about Spanish footballers ( I love them). So the match ended 2-1 Chelsea and Arsenal’s unbeaten streak was finally broken.

Speaking of streaks being broken, Spurs also broke a streak of their own. They had a losing streak against Manchester United at Old Trafford. In fact, the last time they won was way back in 1989. Today, the Spurs got off to a great start. In less than 5 minutes, they managed to scored against United. My fave Spurs player – Gareth Bale – then doubled Spurs lead before half time. However, this is United we’re talking about; they weren’t going to go away without a fight.

Nani was able to cut the lead in half, but Clint Dempsey came along and scored Spurs’ third goal of the match and his first for his new club. But, a minute later United scored again. Even with “Fergie” time, though, it wasn’t enough. Dempsey’s first goal for Spurs would be the game winner. It was a great match (and victory) not only for Spurs, but also for AVB. I’ve always said that possession isn’t the most important thing in a match. Manchester United had 74-percent possession and they still couldn’t pull off a win.

In another match today, Fulham surprised Manchester City and their fans when they took the lead early on. They were awarded what many people thought shouldn’t have been a penalty, but the ref thought otherwise. Fulham scored and for most of the first half, led the match 1-0. Lucky for us City fans, Sergio Aguero was able to equalize before half time. Both teams kept trying to get another goal, but it looked like it was going to end in a 1-1 draw. However, Mancini out in Edin Dzeko and in less than a minute, he scored City’s second and winning goal.

Liverpool also took to the pitch today and won 5-2 against Norwich. No, that’s not a typo or a joke, that really happened! Sure, some might say it’s “only” Norwich, but it’s Liverpool’s first win of the season. Luis Suarez had a hat trick in this match, former Real Madrid player Nuri Sahin scored, and so did Liverpool’s captain, Steven Gerrard.   Not only that, but they have been playing much better this past week. If they continue playing like this, who knows, they might just end up in the top 6 this season.

Other EPL scores

Everton 3- Southhampton 1

Reading 2 – Newcastle United 2

Sunderland 1 – Wigan

Stoke City 2- Swansea City 0

On Sunday, West Brom will visit Aston Villa, while on Monday, Esteban Granero’s QPR will take on West Ham. That match will be on ESPN 2 at 3 p.m. EST.

The biggest soccer game of the day was televised early in the US at 7:45am.  I was eager and happy to wake up for such an anticipated battle.

Chelsea made the short trip across town to the North London side to play Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.  Both teams went into this game undefeated for the season.  This match was said to be a true test to see if Arsenal’s excellent form of late would be good enough to consider them a title contender.

From the start, Chelsea was on the attack with a very quick pace and retained control and possession most of the  match.  Arsenal’s defending was tested often but the Gunners kept damages to a minimum, closing the half with a score of 1-1.  Goals by both Fernando Torres and an equalizer by Arsenal winger Gervinho made it a nail biter for those up early enough to watch it live.

The second Chelsea goal was scored on a free kick by David Luiz.  The ball took a deflection off Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny just outside the net.  Goalkeeper Vito Mannone misjudged the ball and allowed the go-ahead goal around the 60th minute.

Arsenal kept up the pressure, clearly believing and wanting an equalizer, but Chelsea’s defending was just too good.

Chelsea finished sixth in the league last year, but I predict they won’t repeat that again.  Manager Roberto Di Matteo has inherited a talented and threatening team.  With the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and a very in-form Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s front line will give the Manchester sides a run for their money, pun intended.  Overall, a solid game for Chelsea and they wholeheartedly deserved the win.

If this was a test for the Gunners, they obviously failed, but they didn’t look completely weak or dominated by Chelsea.  As an Arsenal fan, I still believe my team can compete for the title but we have work to do.  It’s still early in the season and many new players have yet to live up to their potential.  Both teams will certainly be exciting to watch as the season unfolds.  COYG!

The two biggest EPL games were both on Sunday- Liverpool v Manchester United and Manchester City v Arsenal.

I guess I can write about City-Arsenal game first. As a City fan, it was a disappointing game. It ended 1-1 and I’m sure Arsenal fans will be very happy with that 1 point. After the 3-2 loss in Champions League against Real Madrid, I was hoping City would turn things around and win their next match. This should’ve been an easy match for them; it was at home and they finally had Sergio “Kun” Aguero back in the starting line up.

City went ahead when they scored just minutes before HT.  Joleon Lescott scored in the 40th minute after a corner kick. Unfortunately, City wasn’t able to hold on to their lead and Arsenal equalized with less than 10 minutes to go. City hasn’t had such a problem scoring, what they need to work on is their defense. They let in 3 goals against Madrid and 1 today against Arsenal.

The other match, Liverpool-United, ended 2-1 in United’s favor. However, most people are saying Liverpool was very unlucky and that united shouldn’t have been awarded the penalty (which turned out to be the game winner).

Sunday’s matches and scores

Saturday’s matches and scores

MCFC wallpaper design via scometix.com.

Very disappointing from the defending champions. They played against Stoke City today and drew 1-1. The lone goal came from City’s newest player, and former Real Madrid player, Javi Garcia. Many people might be wondering, should Stoke’s goal have counted? Of course not! Peter Crouch used his hand to help control the ball and score the goal. Unfortunately the referee missed that.

Maybe other people would be happy with that (I’m sure Stoke City players and fans were happy) but us City fans expect more from our team. Okay, so City didn’t start with David Silva today and they didn’t have Sergio Aguero, ever since he was injured in City’s first game of the season. But that’s no excuse! City should be able to play well even without these two,they should be out there scoring goals and getting as many points as possible, not drawing with teams like Stoke. I mean, what’s going to happen when we play a big team like Chelsea? Playing like this, City will most likely lose. City needs to step it up big time if they want to repeat last season.

I mentioned Chelsea as a big club earlier. Well they also had a disappointing game today, against their London neighbors, Queen Parks Rangers.  It ended in a scoreless draw. This is the first time this season that Chelsea dropped points. Of course, most people weren’t talking about what happened during the game, but what happened before. Most people have heard about Anton Ferdinand accusing John Terry of racial abuse. Everyone was wondering if these two would shake hands, but Ferdinand went out of his way to snub both Terry and Ashley Cole and refused to shake hands with them. » Continue reading “Manchester City and Chelsea Held to Disappointing Draws”