Match Centre

By Darshan Joshi, writing in Sydney

It may be stretching the truth a little had I begun this by saying that there was only one team on the field, but it wouldn’t be a lie either. There was one moment during the match when it seemed as though Liverpool weren’t in grotesquely severe control of the match – Dimitar Berbatov lashed a half-volley, so curvaceous it may have made this month’s Playboy centrefold, beyond Pepe Reina, but, alas! All it did was shake the frame of the Spaniard’s goalmouth. And then there was a silence. Liverpool’s defensive third remained untouched for a long, long period, like a virgin resolutely set on prolonging its spell of abstinence. The picture is painted clearer than a van Gogh masterpiece when you notice the possession statistics: the Devils with 58% of the ball, yet, this very ball remained in United’s half for the majority of the match. And when United did get their goal, oh, if only there wasn’t a period of ninety minutes before then!

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By Tom Flatt, writing from Chelmsford, England. Tom is a new recruit for AFR and will be focussing his work on Chelsea. He can also be found on twitter under the name:@ZolasBackHeeel

Petr Čech was the hero of Craven Cottage, for Chelsea fans at least, rescuing a point after saving an injury time penalty. Clint Dempsey won and took the spot kick after being clumsily fouled by Chelsea’s new boy David Luiz, who otherwise impressed in his first start for the club. The 0-0 result has tarnished Chelsea’s title campaign as they now sit in 5th place trailing Manchester United by 12 points.

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By Ainsley Jacobs, London

Liverpool would have stepped out onto the Stamford Bridge pitch with something to prove today. A point or two to prove to against the doubters who expected their recent winning streak to come to an end but also a point to prove to a certain former striker who decided to swap Merseyside for London. As Chelsea fans unveiled their El Nino banners which incidentally looked remarkably like the old Liverpool ones, the men in red were out to prove that there is life after Torres and on the evidence of this performance, their once Spanish matador will be quickly forgotten.

In a bold move, Carlo Ancelotti decided to employ all three of his strikers from the start, with Anelka playing behind the front two meaning Florent Malouda missed out. In contrast, Liverpool continued with the three centre backs that served them well against Stoke with Jamie Carragher returning from injury to replace Kyrgiakos. This system allowed both Kelly and Johnson to play to their strengths by getting forward and giving Liverpool much needed width with only three in midfield and Kuyt playing as a lone striker.

After a cagey opening it was Chelsea who had the first opportunity when Rodriguez inexplicably passed the ball to Torres. Chelsea supporters held their breath, only for the Spaniard to balloon his effort over the bar. Liverpool then began to take control of the game with a passing fluidity that has marked their recent performance under Dalglish. They managed to survive a major scare midway through the first half when Drogba’s throughball let Torres through on goal only for the excellent Jamie Carragher to block his effort. However, Bosingwa’s increasing forward forays were leaving Chelsea exposed on the left hand side and Liverpool began to exploit this more and more as the half went on. After good work from Johnson and Gerrard on the left, the Liverpool captain’s ball across the box evaded the Chelsea back line, falling to Rodriguez only for the Argentine to miraculously hit the crossbar from five yards out. Liverpool fans must have been wondering whether they would pay for that miss yet their organised team play and tireless work rate meant Chelsea found it increasingly difficult to break them down. Torres was beginning to show the same poor body language that he displayed at Liverpool but that was in no small part to a resolute defensive display from the reds not afraid to show a bit of brute force when necessary with an Agger forearm to Torres’s throat, much to the delight of the travelling reds supporters.

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By Ainsley Jacobs, writing from England

Revenge would have been on the minds of the Liverpool players as they headed down on the coach to Molineux this morning. Just 26 days ago, Stephen Ward scored the only goal in the reverse fixture at Anfield and in doing so hammered another nail into Roy Hodgson’s coffin. That performance was one of the worst ever witnessed at Anfield but a month on and a with a new coaching team at the helm the fans may have seen Liverpool turn a long overdue corner.

Liverpool mostly dominated the first half treating the away supporters to some pass and move football so rarely seen this season. At the heart of this was the excellent Raul Meireles and it was his vision that created the first real chance of the game with a beautiful long range pass to Fernando Torres. Sadly the Spaniard’s attempt to curve the ball around Wayne Hennessey was well read by the keeper but Liverpool served warning to Wolves about their attacking intent. The first goal of the game followed not long after with again good work from Meireles slicing through Wolves pathetic attempt of an offside trap to then cooly pick out Torres for an easy side foot finish. Torres looks like a striker reborn under Dalglish who has galvanised his star number 9. With fire in his belly and steely determination, he was a constant thorn in Wolves side.

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By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino

The first round of 2011 Serie A action came with a couple of surprises.

First and foremost, Juventus.

The bianconeri lost 4-1 at home against Parma, and this is a big surprise not only because Juve closed 2010 in good shape and with the will of doing something more in the upcoming year, but also because it is a defeat that can mean more. They lost their best striker this campaign, Fabio Quagliarella, just after the kick-off. Knee problems for him, the injury looked like a serious one. We’ll see in the next few days how long he will be out, but the feeling is it could be a long time.

Then we have Felipe Melo. He has been playing so well this season some have difficulty believing he is the same player he was last year. He started well also today, but then he was sent off for kicking Parma’s Paci in the face while on the ground. No doubts about the red card. No doubts he will be out at least for 3 games, starting from the next one in Naples, not exactly an easy trip these days.

Finally, Amauri. He came on the pitch for the injuried Quagliarella and did simply nothing. His touch was far too poor for the quality of Serie A. With only Del Piero (champion, but he’s now 36) in decent shape, Amauri so so, Quagliarella and Iaquinta out, Juventus has to go out and buy a striker, and not an average one. They do need a prolific striker, able to secure 12/15 goals until the end of the season. Otherwise, they will compete for the 4th place, nothing more.

Second, AC Milan.

As expected, they struggled with Cagliari in Sant’Elia in order to secure three points from the away game. The goal came only with 5 minutes to go, and it was scored by Strasser (yes, Strasser) who was able to finish a nice play by Robinho and Cassano (just 15 minutes for him on the pitch, but quality ones) at the edge of the box.

Cagliari played well and had their chances to score first, but these are games you may win if the season looks like it is yours. And the feeling you have on AC Milan is just this: it is their season, even without Zlatan Ibrahimovic they were able to win (bit lucky, but luck  goes into the recipe of a Scudetto-winner) and put distance between them and the runner ups.

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By Saheli RC, writing from Singapore

In Spain there is a curious tradition that this writer cannot wrap her head around: whenever there is a dispute between two parties, it usually ends with one of them threatening to bring the other to court. Whether the argument eventually devolves into a messy court affair remains uncertain, but it is the metaphorical ‘putting a fist down by threatening with a court date’ that counts.

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By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

As Florent Malouda rushed to the Chelsea bench after scoring what would be the winner for the Blues as they defeated the ever-resilient Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, there was nothing but a hint of desperation in the air. Well, there was a hint of offside on the goal, but mostly desperation. The win was unconvincing, but looking at Manchester United’s 1-1 draw to Birmingham City yesterday, Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Wigan courtesy of a Squillaci own goal, and of course Liverpool’s loss at Anfield to (then) bottom of the league Wolves, there’s every reason to smile.

Chelsea, in truth, should always be beating Bolton at home. However, Owen Coyle’s brilliant leadership in addition to near perfect performances from Stuart Holden and Zat Knight produced a match that was very much in the balance. Chelsea fans can be happy John Terry didn’t concede a penalty when Stu’s shot on target clearly hit JT’s hand. Ashley Cole continued to have a shocker until about the 80th minute when he finally gained some confidence, while Didier Drogba looked frustrated throughout the match, hitting the inside of the post minutes before Malouda made it 1-nil. Chelsea finish 2010 in 4th after 19 matches played with 34 points, 2 points behind Arsenal (19 games played), 4 points behind Man City (20 games played), and 4 points behind Manchester United (18 games played).

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By Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Montreal

Arsenal ended on Monday night their calamitous recent record against the Blues with a significant 3-1 win at the Emirates. Arsene Wenger’s players had to overcome the psychological pressure of having won only two of their last 18 matches against Chelsea in all competitions. Goals at either end of half-time from Song, Fabregas and Walcott allowed the Gunners to do just that and keep the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the Premier League. It was however important team changes from Wenger that led to a rather unusually inspired defensive performance by Arsenal to stop the likes of Didier Drogba, previously with 13 goals in 13 appearances against the North London club. 

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Image via El Mundo Deportivo

By Saheli RC, writing from Singapore

Another week, another manita and Christmas is almost here. The final round of La Liga in 2010 ended the same way it had begun – with Barcelona and Real Madrid engaged in a Vader vs. Luke Skywalker-esque duel at the top, while the rest of the lot are sinking into an existential crisis, wondering if they’d ever see the silvery gleams of the La Liga trophy in their living memory. A trivia most culés will enjoy: according to Opta Stats, Barça are the first team to amass a total of 43 points before Christmas. There goes another record.

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