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

Today, I admit, I was kind of a nervous wreck! After all, my two favorite teams- Real Madrid and Manchester City – not only played today, but they played against each other!

I wasn’t the only one anxious to see this game. For weeks, this was the most talked about match. It’s like only Madrid and City were playing today. All other matches seemed to take a back seat to this one. City and Madrid are part of the “Group of Death” or you can also call it the “Group of Champions”.  This group contains four champions of their respective countries- Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), and Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands).

The first half of the Madrid-City game was a little boring, to be honest. Madrid was unlucky not to score, but I’m gonna give City credit for that too. Joe Hart made 9 saves in this match alone! Iker Casillas, on the other hand, only had to make 1 save.  It looked like it was going to end scoreless when Edin Dzeko scored first to give City the lead. A small part of me was happy for him, but since I was rooting for Madrid in this match, I was disappointed. There was still 20 minutes to go though, so I just tried to keep calm.

Less than 10 minutes later, Marcelo equalized! Imagine that, of all the people to score for Madrid, it had to be  a defender. The last 5 minutes of the game were the most exciting. Aleksandar Kolorav put City ahead again, then Karim Benzema equalized for Madrid. In the 90th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the game winner and everyone on my TL went crazy! Yes, including me. This was definitely the match of the day, in my opinion. I was happy for Madrid, but gutted for Hart. He had an amazing game and should be proud of himself. If they play like this next time, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t get the 3 points.

Here are all the Champions League scores

Group A

Dinamo Zagreb 0-2 FC Porto

Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 Dynamo Kiev

Group B

Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal

Olympiakos 1-2 Schalke 04

Group C

AC Milan 0-0 Anderlecht

Malaga 3-0 Zenit St. Petersburg

Group D

Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Ajax Amsterdam

Real Madrid 3-2 Manchester City

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”

Manchester City won 3-1 against Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in their first home match of the season. However, this was not one of City’s best performances. Had they been playing a team of higher quality, like Chelsea or Spurs, the result would’ve been completely different. There was a positive in the game, not for City though, but for QPR. Their newest signing- Spaniard Esteban Granero- impressed in his EPL debut.

If you’re a Real Madrid fan, then you know who Esteban Granero is, aka ”Pirata”. He’s a Real Madrid canterano (someone who came up through Madrid’s youth teams). Granero spent 14 years with Real Madrid before joining QPR last week. In Real Madrid, he had a lot of competition. After all Real Madrid has a lot of talented midfielders. In QPR, he will get more playing time. In fact, the QPR manager had so much faith in him, that he started Granero in his first EPL match, only two days after signing him. He is a great addition to QPR, although I personally think the club is too small for him, having someone like him on the team will only improve QPR.

Although I was hoping to see Granero do well in his debut, I knew Manchester City would be a tough test. QPR was only able to prevent City from scoring for about 15 minutes.  After that, Yaya Toure scored City’s first goal of the match. It would take City much more time to score their second goal. The game was 1-0 City at HT. In the 59th minute, QPR was able to equalize. QPR players and supporters didn’t have much time to celebrate though, Edin Dzeko scored another goal and City was ahead once again. QPR came close to equalizing a few times, however, Carlos Tevez scored in stoppage time and City won 3-1.

QPR is lucky to not have conceded more goals. David Silva had a few chances to score for City, but wasn’t able to put the ball in the net. QPR’s best player was Granero. He created many chances and his free kicks/corner kicks were very precise and if QPR had better players, they could’ve scored more than one goal.

Thanks to international break, Manchester City’s next game will be Sept. 15. They will play Stoke City. At the moment, City is in fourth place- behind Chelsea, Swansea City, and West Bromwich Albion- in the EPL table.

You wouldn’t think a coach would be concerned about which car his players drive–but then, most coaches aren’t the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.  Find out about his latest move to keep his youngest players grounded in today’s Daily Kick Around!

EPL

Manchester United has signed Chevrolet as their new shirt sponsor for the 2014-2015 season.  This is obviously a hugely beneficial marketing move for Chevy, but the United players also have reason to be happy–Chevrolet has offered each of them a free top-end car of their choice.

However, not all players will get to fully enjoy the fruits of this deal; Sir Alex Ferguson has forbidden players under the age of 23 to choose a sports car model, supposedly to ensure their egos are kept in check.  Instead, their car selection must be approved by Fergie himself.  Although he is known for running a tight ship, some suggest this may be a bit overboard.

Arsenal could lose yet another star to Manchester–this time to Manchester City.  Apparently City is considering a last-minute manoeuvre to try to snatch Theo Walcott up before the transfer deadline.  And at least one well-known Arsenal fan–and City hater–is not too happy about it.

MLS

Sporting Kansas City’s Teal Bunbury suffered a knee injury during Sunday’s game against New York.  The club announced yesterday that he will be out for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL.  He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday.

Rumor has it that Akron and US Olympic coach Caleb Porter has been offered the position of head coach for the Portland Timbers.  Currently he is signed by Akron through the 2020 season, and a hefty fee would be required if he were to break that contract.

Image courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk

What a disappointing match from Manchester City.

After coming back to win 3-2 in their last match against Southhampton, City settled for a 2-2 draw with Liverpool today. Although, to be fair, City was missing their two best players. Sergio Aguero was injured in their last match and will be out for a month. David Silva, who many people have said wasn’t in form in the last match, sat out the first half.

Last week, Manchester City was able to get 3 points in a difficult match for them. Liverpool on the other hand, lost 3-0 to West Brom. Coming  into this match, City were the favorites of course. In fact, I even predicted City would win 3-1.

Looks like I was wrong.

Although City had been slightly better in the first half, it was Liverpool who scored first. They went into half time leading 1-0.

In the second half, City started playing much better. They were able to equalize thanks to Yaya Toure. The City players and supporters didn’t have much time to celebrate though. Luis Suarez would notch a goal in City’s net, and Liverpool was ahead yet again. It looked as though City would lose this match until Carlos Tevez scored his second goal of the season.

The game ended 2-2 and City will be happy to take that point, considering how they played for most of the match. For Liverpool, this was a disappointment. They led twice in the game, only to give up goals and 2 points.

Dropping 2 points isn’t the worst thing for City, but this was a match they had been expected to win. With less than five days until the transfer window closes, many are expecting Mancini to add a few players to the City roster.

Image courtesy of sportinglife.com

Another weekend, another full slate of matches to look forward to! Serie A and the Bundesliga are back in action, Premier League continues with Manchester United looking for one of their many strikers to put the ball in the net, and a huge MLS clash awaits Sunday night between Eastern Conference leaders Sporting KC and New York Red Bulls. Today’s DKA focuses on many of the top match previews, and as always at this time of year, more transfer news within EPL.

Serie A

Serie A kicks off a new season today, and Juventus are the clear favorites to repeat as champions. But will they be the same without Alessandro Del Piero? And what other clubs are condenters? Soccer by Ives offers a comprehensive preview of the season ahead.

English Premier League

Manchester United will look to get back to their winning ways against a Dempsey-less Fulham today, but don’t expect it to be “a walkover” for United, writes ESPN’s Mark Payne.

Liverpool meets Manchester City on Sunday and all eyes are on new signing Fabio Borini as Liverpool faces another tough test after their defeat at West Brom last week.

Chelsea signed two new players on Friday, Wigan striker Victor Moses and Marseille full back Cesar Azpilicueta.

Is Scott Sinclair’s switch from Swansea to Manchester City the right move for the young striker? SI’s Georgina Turner looks at his growth from bit player at Chelsea to everyday starter at Swansea and how this move could help him take the next step in his game.

 Major League Soccer

In a match nobody will be telling their grandkids about, Salt Lake and Philly finished with a scoreless draw last night as Real continued to struggle on the road, even with their new 4-1-4-1 formation.

Ignore the first five months. The time is now for F.C. Dallas, who now has hope of grabbing a postseason spot, thanks in large part to the return of  2010 MVP David Ferreira.

Ryan Meara’s season is over, after the rookie Red Bulls goalkeeper had arthroscopic surgery on his left hip yesterday.

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ digital media department has taken the rivalry of the Cascadia Cup clash with Portland to new heights in this video dubbed “Battle of the Hearts.” A must-watch for any MLS fan.

The top two teams in the Eastern Conference meet tomorrow night, with Sporting KC looking to hold their narrow lead atop the standings and extend their three game winning streak. The Red Bulls, who will be without captain and new dad Thierry Henry, look to extend their 2-game streak and return to the top of the conference.

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for more of today’s top news and reactions to the weekend’s matches!

Hey guys!! Need a footy fix on your Friday night? Never fear! We’ve got today’s headlines all ready for you! Check out your Friday Daily Kick Around!

EPL

It looked like Nuri Sahin was set to join Arsenal, but there are reports that he might now join Liverpool instead.

Another EPL transfer going down  is Adam Johnson. He will be transferring from Manchester City to Sunderland. 

 CONCACAF Champions League

Yesterday, LA Galaxy played their first match of the CONCACAF Champions League. David Beckham scored an olimpico, a goal that’s scored straight from the corner kick. Here’s a video in case you missed it.  LA went on to win 5-2.

MLS

As many of might’ve heard, Thierry Henry has a new member in his family. He just had a baby and will be missing the game against Kansas City.

The transfer window is almost closed, here are a few more transfer that we might see happen by the end of the month. 

Want to know what games to watch and where you can watch them? Check this out. 

Controversy! Scandal! Accusations! We just love digging up some saucy headlines for you and today’s have their fair share. From Fernando Torres’s controversial game-winning goal against Reading to Juventus coach Antonio Conte’s suspension, and an accusation of San Jose playing dirty, we’ve got a wide range of hot topics today.

Serie A

Juventus coach Antonio Conte tried to appeal his 10-month ban by the Italian Football Federation for match-fixing, but yesterday the ban was upheld by an Italian soccer court:

Conte’s implication in the scandal involved match-fixing charges in two Serie B matches that took place in the 2010-11 season.

“It was decided to acquit Conte for his role in the Novara-Siena game, but the 10-month disqualification stands as a disciplinary commission sanction concerning Albinoleffe-Siena,” the statement said.

Ever wonder what music pumps your favorite players up before a game? AS Roma’s digital business division has extended its relationship with Apple by launching iTunes playlists curated by the club’s players:

Pablo Osvaldo is the first to let the world know his music tastes, as Roma update the music page on a weekly basis. Osvaldo’s musical tastes include everything from Leonard Cohen up to Metallica. Music has always been a huge part of the beautiful game - with terrace chants and anthems ever popular. Furthermore, in recent years the image of footballers equipped with headphones as part of their pre-match ritual has become standard.

English Premier League 

Chelsea didn’t have an easy time of it today against Reading, but managed to pull out a 4-2 win after trailing at the half, thanks to late heroics from – you guessed it, Fernando Torres. But should Torres’s 81st minute game-winner have counted? Reading head coach Brian McDermott was livid after the play, in which he thought Torres was clearly offside.

Chelsea now sits atop the EPL table with six points but are they good enough to challenge the Manchester duo?

Manchester United may have added a key veteran up top in Robin van Persie, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t relying on the team’s home-grown youth going forward. Young striker Danny Welbeck, a lifelong Red Devils fan, just signed new contract to keep him with the club through 2016, and Sir Alex Ferguson has high hopes for his future with the club:

“He has become an important player at international level as well, as the maturity of his performances at the European Championships showed.

“This year is another important one for him. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

Good news for Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, who suffered a knee injury last weekend against Southampton. ESPN is reporting that Aguero could be back within a month, after an initial fear that the injury could be much worse and sideline him for a greater part of the season.

La Liga

The first clash of the La Liga titans will be upon us this weekend, and ESPN’s Graham Hunter reflects on the recent history, the magic and the importance of the Clasico, matches he described as “the most explosive, most technically brilliant, most consistently entertaining and most rewarding anywhere in the world.”

Major League Soccer

San Jose has impressed this season with late comebacks and a rise to the top of the MLS standings, but are they playing dirty to get there? Quakes coach Frank Yallop embraces their physical style of play, but was “mystified” by the red card on Steven Lenhart in last Saturday’s match against Montreal.

“Does [Lenhart] get into people’s heads? Sure,” Yallop said. “Is he a nightmare to play against? Yes. But he’s not elbowed, punched or head butted anybody. And he got that all Saturday night, and he got red-carded as well.”

There’s no question with Lenhart and Alan Gordon as a pair of target men to use up top, San Jose plays a physical brand of soccer. To Yallop, however, there’s an important difference between being hard-nosed and crossing the line into dirty.

Today we have lots of news coming from jolly old England, which is fitting as this is the first week of Premier League action.  Find out who is going (and not going!) where.  That and more in Tuesday’s Daily Kick Around!

EPL

Tottenham Hotspur announced today that they have completed the transfer of Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City.  Ade had been on loan with Spurs during the past season and finished as their top goalscorer.

Swansea, on the other hand, has confirmed that they are in the process of preparing to sell winger Scott Sinclair to Man City.

Despite also being linked with City, Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi has made it clear that he will not be leaving Roma any time soon.

Alright, enough about Manchester City!  Let’s talk about United already!  Billionaire George Soros has taken a piece of the pie, disclosing Monday that he owns 7.85 percent of Manchester United’s Class A shares.  Not sure exactly what that means, but I am pretty sure it’s worth quite a chunk of change!

Finally, who can forget the somewhat comical shoving of the assistant referee by Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew during Saturday’s match against Tottenham?  Clearly the FA was not entertained, charging him with misconduct for his actions.  To his credit, he admitted that what he had done was “absolutely ridiculous.”

Image courtesy of TheOriginalWinger.com