French Touch Gives Newcastle Fifth Straight Win

Both Yoan Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko scored to give Newcastle a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the Barclays Premier League. Newcastle United is now in fifth place, while WBA  drops to the 12th.

It is starting to become a habit to see French players shine at St James Park. With five French players on the pitch at kick-off, Newcastle resembles more and more the Arsenal FC of the 2000's. Three of the five Frenchies where involved in the offense with Gouffran and Sissoko flanking Loic Remy on top, with Ameobi. Yohann Cabaye played in midfield while Matthieu Debuchy was positioned as a right-back as usual.

Newcastle did not have an easy game against a good WBA's side. Newcastle had the control of the ball at home, but had to wait the 34th minute to find the net by Gouffran. The Frenchie scored his fifth goal of the season.

It seemed that the break woke up WBA! Indeed, shortly after the second half kicked-off, Brunt equalized for the visitors (53rd minute). However, Newcastle fans did not have time to worry as their team took the lead once more only four minutes later.

At the 57th minute, Sissoko launched a missile in the upper-ninety of WBA's goal! An unbelievable goal by the French midfielder. Simply unstoppable. It was Sissoko's second goal this season.

The last 30 minutes of the game were mostly dominated by WBA which tried to tie the game. Newcastle built a wall in front of their goal and waited for the visitors to crash into it. The famous Bristish kick and rush was in display as WBA was kicking the ball high in the air into Newcastle's box hoping to get a shot on goal.

However, Newcastle held tight and almost scored a third goal on a counter attack, led by Sissoko and Cabaye, whose shot was deflected by a defender's hand. The referee did not award a penalty and whistled the end of the game instead.

Newcastle got there its fourth win in a row in the league and proved that this group has what it takes to play a major role in the Barclays.

      

Cardiff City-Arsenal FC: An Easy Task For The Gunners?

Game Day 15th of the Barclays Premier League features a tide between Cardiff City, 16th, and Arsenal FC, leader of the league, on Saturday, November 30.

What could look like an easy game for the Gunners could turn out to be much harder as the Welsh side is getting better and better each game. Indeed, Cardiff earned a well-deserved draw, 2-2, against last year's champions Manchester United, only conceding the second goal in injury time.

Arsenal, who easily defeated Marseille this week in Champions League, will come in Wales confident and ready to bring the three points back to London. In their luggages, the Gunners should arrive in Cardiff with Aaron Ramsey. The 22 year-old Welsh returns to Cardiff for the first time in two years.

Ramsey played 16 times for Cardiff before joining Arsenal in 2008. He played again for Cardiff while on loan from Arsenal in 2011. He will undoubtedly be one of the keys of the game for the Gunners as he is in great form since the beginning of the season.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger knows that his midfielder can make the difference. Wenger has praised Ramsey's performances this season.

"Aaron has first a fantastic engine. I believe his defensive awareness has improved, his defensive qualities have improved and his defensive score is very strong now," the technician said.

Statistically, Ramsey is the player who made the most tackles in the Premier League this season (57). And in addition to his defensive skills, Ramsey scores goals and that is something new for him. Ramsey has scored six goals in 12 appearances so far and looks to keep his scoring going.

Cardiff City will have a tough game against Arsenal, but the Welsh club has weapons to deliver and grab a win. Among players which could help Cardiff tomorrow are Peter Odemwingie. The Cardiff striker has scored two times in the last three games against Arsenal and would love to put his name on the scoreboard once more.

On the other end of the field, Cardiff goalkeeper is also in form. David Marshall is the league's top shot stopper, having made 54 saves in 11 matches. A statistic that has a lot to do with another one, more crucial for Cardiff. The team has allowed more shots on target than any other teams (75).    

Finally, Arsenal is undefeated in the last 11 games in all competitions against Cardiff, winning six and drawing fives. The Gunners could also count on Jack Wilshere, who scored twice against Marseille, to push his teammates for the win.

Tomorrow's game will surely be interesting, first to see if Cardiff can offer themselves a second season in the top league, and if Arsenal has what it takes to reach the title for the first time since 2004!  

Spurs Win And Save AVB's Head

© BBC

Tottenham Hot Spurs earned a 2-0 win over Tromso on the road for Game Day 5 of the UEFA Europa League, tonight, Thursday, November 28. This win should give Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas some time as he was under pressure of being sacked after losing two games in a row with a major blow-out against Manchester City (0-6).

AVB's players did the job tonight in Norway against a fairly poor team but on a snowy field and under a freezing temperature.

However, Tottenham had trouble to score and wasted many opportunities. Just another clue that the team is not in form and struggles to find the net. Indeed, Tottenham took the lead after an own goal by Norvegian defender Causevic at the 63rd minute. Only ten minutes later, the very good and promising Spurs striker Moussa Dembele found the net and lifted some pressure of his boss' shoulder.

Many Spurs fans asked for AVB's head, but might have to wait a little bit longer to see their wish come true. Many fans believe that the coach won't make it all the way to Christmas and I do share their opinion.

It seems that the Spurs had lost their touch since the departure of Gareth Bale, showing that they might have been over dependent on the Welsh's talent. Despite a great group of young players (Dembele, Lamela) combined with experienced players (Vertonghen, Soldado, Friedel), AVB has trouble finding a way to make his team more consistent.

Surely, AVB's last chance will be the Spurs' next game. And it won't be an easy game as Tottenham will visit the Red Devils of Manchester United, which have been impressing this week in Champions League (5-0, over Leverkusen).

Can the Spurs pull out a great game and save, once again, their manager's head? I fairly doubt it...

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UCL: Both Manchesters Reach Round Of Sixteen After Scoring Spree

It was a prolific day for strikers in the UEFA Champions League as a total of 36 goals were scored in Wednesday's eight games.

Both Manchester United and Manchester City went on a scoring spree against Leverkusen and Viktoria Plzen, winning 5-0 and 4-2, respectively. Both Premier League teams needed a win to advance to the Round of 16 and they delivered greatly.

Manchester United had no trouble at all against a poor side of Leverkusen, despite playing on the road. The Red Devils scored many goals of set pieces in which the German defense seemed to be absolutely sleeping. The German fans can be comforted in knowing that they will play in the Europa League for the rest of the season, as Real Sociedad conceded a major loss against Chaktior Donetsk, 4-0 and is eliminated from the Champions League with only one point in five games.

As for Manchester City, it took a while for Pellegrini players to get rid of a tough Viktoria Plzen side. Both teams were tied 2-2 until the 80th minute and Negredo's goal to give the Citizens a 3-2 lead. Dzeko scored the fourth and final goal for City at the 89th minute.

Manchester City qualifies for the Round of 16 and finishes in second place behind Bayern Munich which defeated CSKA Moscow earlier today, 3-1. Plzen is kicked out of the Champions League and Moscow will join the Europa League.

In the thrilling game of the day, Juventus came through after an intense game against FC Copenhagen, 3-1. Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal struck three times (twice on PK) to give the Bianconnero the win. Copenhagen defender Mellberg scored off a corner kick, but it was not enough to stop Juventus.
Galatasaray, defeated by Real Madrid (4-1), will face Juventus for the final ticket to the next stage.

Finally, PSG scared himself, playing one man down for the entire second half as Verrati got the fifth red card of his career (second with Paris). Ibrahimovic had scored early in the game, but Olympiakos used his numeric superiority to tie the game by Manolas at the 80th minute! However, it is Paris who had the last word as Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani found the net in extra time (91').

Paris qualifies; Olympiakos and Benfica will battle out for the second place as Anderlecht is already out.

Next UEFA Champions League games will be played December 9th and 10th with an interesting Bayern Munich-Manchester City, a decisive Napoli-Arsenal, and an exciting Galatasaray-Juventus!

See you in two weeks!    

UCL: Juventus' Last Chance; Paris One Win Away

Juventus manager Antonio Conte is confident his players
will do the job against Copenhagen tonight

Today's UEFA Champions League games are going to be, once again, very entertaining with many teams under pressure to stay alive and some others to seal the deal and the qualification for next round.

Among the teams looking to survive and avoid elimination, Juventus is the main one. The Bianconerro, who are leading the SerieA, have the biggest difficulties in the Champions. They haven't won a single game so far, tying three times and losing once to Real Madrid in four games. Antonio Conte's team holds fourth place of Group B, but could take the second place with a win tonight over Copenhagen if Real Madrid defeats Galatasaray in the other match.

"We are going to play a very important and difficult game, but the only thing that matters is to win it," said Juventus manager Antonio Conte during the pre-game press conference. "if we want to keep playing in the Champions League this season, we MUST win."

The Italian side could count on Llorente and Tevez who both are in form offensively. Both players are getting better and better every game, their complicity on the field growing each game. Juventus also has one of the best defense, if not the best, in the Calcio and this could make a big difference against a fairly poor Copenhagen side.

As for the teams which could grab qualifications for next stage tonight, Paris St Germain is one point away from reaching next round in Group C. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's teammates know that the task won't be easy against a solid Olympiakos team, but they are ready for the challenge and it is hard to see how the Greeks are going to stop the scoring machine that is PSG (13 goals in four games so far).

In Group A, Manchester United visits Bayer Leverkusen and needs a win to qualify. In the same time, Chaktior Donetsk hosts Real Sociedad, already out. David Moyes' men know what they have to do and are up for the job.

Finally in Group D, both Bayern Munich and Manchester City are qualified before this game, so there is no real challenge there except for the first place of the group. Bayern with 12 points needs one more win to ensure their first place.

All games kick-off at 8:45 p.m. GMT.

Dortmund Survives And Still Dreams Of Qualification

Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
celebrates after scoring the third goal for Dortmund.
The Germans defeated Napoli 3-1.

It was the game of the day! Dortmund, Champions League's finalist last season, hosted Napoli in a crucial game. Dortmund needed a win to stay alive and not be one of the few teams to be knocked out after being a finalist the previous year.

And the Germans surely did the job winning 3-1 against a great Neapolitan side. Dortmund quickly took the lead when Reus converted a penalty kick after Fernandez held onto Lewandowski's jersey in the box (10'). Napoli tried to react and obliged Weidenfeller to stop many shots on target. Weidenfeller who had to work with a remodeled defense since three of the key players (Hummels, Schmeltzer, and Subotic) are injured. On the other side, Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina made multiple saves to help his team stay in the game.

Both teams showed great football in a very entertaining and intense game. The first half was a succession of opportunities on both ends of the field with the play rarely stopping. After the break, Napoli pushed harder to come back and Dortmund brilliantly used the ball on counter attack. It's during one of those phases that Dortmund found the net for the second time. After winning the ball back, Reus received the ball on the left side. His speed let the defense behind and created space for Blaszcikowski to join the attack. Reus found him after fixing the last defender and the Polish finished the job by a nice inside of the right foot shot to beat Reina (60'). The yellow wall went wild in the Signal Iduna Park!

Napoli had to react quickly and only 10 minutes after the second goal, Higuain found Insigne, who had just came off the bench, in the box. Insigne's shot was perfect to beat the German keeper and give hope to all Neapolitan fans (71').

The last quarter of the game was as intense as the rest of it, as Napoli was pressuring high on the field, trying to find a breach through an impressive German defense. Finally, Dortmund got the ball back and, once again, exploded quickly forward using the speed of Reus, Lewandowski and Aubameyang, who replaced Blaszcikowski a few minutes before. Aubameyang, after winning the ball from Armero, found Lewandowski at the entrance of the box and overlapped him. The striker found him back and Aubameyang scored on a beautiful chip over Reina who came to block him (90').

This final goal was the deliverance for the fans and the players as the German sealed the deal! The stadium cheered louder as ever before when the final whistle blew.

Borussia Dortmund did the job this Tuesday and hopefully for them, this win could bring more confidence for the future. As for Napoli, the club loses his third game in a row after two defeats in Serie A.

For the final game, Dortmund will play Marseille, last of the group with zero point, on the road to ensure the qualification, while Napoli will face Arsenal, easy winner of Marseille tonight. However, Arsenal will only need a tie to qualify, so Napoli will have the hard task at the Emirates.      

Dortmund-Napoli: The Most Important Game Of The Season

Tomorrow's UEFA Champions League game day could be one of the most important games of this year for many teams. But the biggest games will be happening within Group F as Arsenal F.C could qualify with a win over fourth place Marseille at home and Dortmund faces elimination if defeated by Napoli on their home field!

With only two wins in four games, Borrusia Dortmund needs a win to stay alive in the competition, while Napoli, which is three points ahead of the Germans (9), can grab a seat for the knock-out stage with a win. A tie in the Dortmund-Napoli game would ensure Arsemal's qualification as long as the Gunners clutch victory over Olympique de Marseille.

Dortmund has lost three games in a row, once in the UCL against Arsenal (0-1), and twice in Bundesliga ( Wolfsburg, 1-2, and Bayern Munich, 0-3). Evidently, the Germans are not in form prior to what could be the most important game of the season for them. After losing to Bayern this weekend, they almost gave away all chances to win the German league, so they would want to stay in the Champions League.

However, Dortmund would have to play without many of their key players. Defensively, three starters are injured. Neven Subotic, Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmeltzer are absents. In addition, playmaker and defensive midfield leader Ilkay Gundogan will also miss the game.

Therefore, the task would not be easy for the Yellows. Dortmund also hopes that striker Robert Lewandowski breaks a five-match goal draught with club and country.

Napoli, on the other side, lost its previous two games in the Serie A and will have to do without playmaker Marek Hamsik who injured himself this weekend against Parma. He surely will be greatly missed. Striker Gonzalo Higuain will also have to find the net to help his teammates as the Argentine has been unable to score in the last few weeks.

This game is surely the game to watch as both teams will give everything they need, one to survive (Dortmund) and one to qualify. Notice that all three teams could be tie with nine points if Marseille beats Arsenal and Napoli loses to Dortmund. That would give us a great sixth and final match in December!

Impressive City Scores Six Past Spurs

Manchester City winger Jesus Navas celebrates after his goal.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

It did not take long for Manchester City to take the lead over Tottenham Hotspurs in the big game of the week in the Barclays Premier League this Sunday. The Citizens scored after only 14 seconds in the game and ended putting five more goals in the net, earning an easy 6-0 win.

The Spanish winger found the net after a save by Hugo Lloris on a 25-yard attempt by Aguero. Before this goal, the Spurs were the best defense of the league, conceding only six goals in 11 games. Unfortunately for them, that goal was just the first of a long list on Sunday afternoon as the Citizens were simply on fire.

Even though Tottenham reacted and created a few opportunity, especially by Erik Lamela, City took control of the game with an impressive Sergio Aguero and a good Samir Nasri, involved in many offensive opportunities. Indeed, at the 35th minute both players were involved in the second goal. With the ball on the right side, Nasri found Aguero who lost his face to face with Lloris. Negredo got the rebound and his shot, deflected by Sandro, found the net. This was an own goal by the Spurs midfielder.

Only two minutes later, Aguero found the net, giving a three goal lead to City. The Spurs were happy to get to the half with only a three-goal difference. City perfectly played in the back of the Spurs' defense with their fast and technical players like Aguero, Nasri and Navas.

It seemed that Andre Villas-Boas' speech at the break did not wake up the Spurs! After five minutes in the second half, Aguero scored again after a brilliant rush by Yaya Toure. The Spurs almost conceded a fourth goal two minutes later, but Nasri found the crossbar on a great shot that let Lloris on his feet.

But the Citizens were unstoppable and at the 55th minute, striker Alvaro Negredo, who played a great game, found the net with a great shot after beating his defender. Unstoppable for Lloris!

The Spurs did try to react with Adebayor, who entered the game at halftime and played there his first minutes this season, and with Lamela who kept dribbling on his right side and creating opportunities. But it was not enough as Tottenham was poor defensively today, and conceded a sixth goal of the foot of Jesus Navas in added time (92').

The Spurs, best defense of the Barclays before this game, gave up six goals in 90 minutes when they had only conceded six in the 11 previous games.

City showed once again its finishing power. The Citizens scored 13 goals in the past two games. They might keep this scoring spree as they will face Vitoria Pizen during the match day 5 of the Champions League.

The Spurs are still stuck in ninth place and Manchester City gets back in the top four (4th).  

Bayern Gives The Lesson To Dortmund

This was an intense game at the Sigmund Arena Park of Dortmund Saturday night as Borrusia was hosting Bundesliga leaders and last year's champions Bayern Munich.

The big story of the day was Mario Gotze's return to his former club. Fans showed their anger and reserveda very special welcoming to the young german star. That did not seem to bother him.

Gotze started on the bench as the visitors started off the game on the right foot, putting a lot of pressure on the Yellows. However, the absence of Ballon d'Or contender Franck Ribery on the left side hurt Bayern a lot as they had trouble finding their way offensively, despite Robben, Muller and Mandzukic efforts.

After a few minutes, the hosts quickly took back the control of the game and created a lot of opportunity. Without the lack of composure of Reus, Lewandowski or Blaszczykowski, the Borrusia could have taken the lead before half-time.

The second half was the same as the first one with Dortmund controlling the ball and forcing Bayern to defend and commit many fouls. 

Bayern manager Pep Guardiola decided then to make a sub. This tactical move changed the game. Mario Gotze's appearance on the field, as a substitute for Mandzukic, was followed by a loud booing from the home crowd. Dortmund's fans seemed to still not have accepted the young player's transfer in favor of their archenemy. The booing could be heard every time Gotze touched the ball. But the young promising player shut down the crowd at the 65th minute. 

Served by Lahm on the right side, Muller controlled the ball and played a perfect cross in the box. Gotze controlled it and shot with the outside of his right foot to find the net. Weidenfeller could not do anything to stop the shot. This is Gotze's second goal this season.

Dortmund kept dominating the game and Lewandowski missed another opportunity to equalize. And when the strikers put the ball on frame, Neuer was there to save Bayern, just like when Reus found a way to the goal and the keeper realized an unbelievable save and deflected the ball over his crossbar. 

Nothing could beat that Bayern side today. They showed a strong defensive spirit and all worked together to stop Dortmund. The other key was their capacity to use the ball well on the rare occasions they had it.

Dortmund kept trying, but this was Bayern that sealed the deal! 

First, Robben found the net with only five minutes left in the game to give Bayern a 2-0 lead! And then, only one minute later, Thomas Muller finished the job with a third goal! 

Bayern Munich showed his superiority in the defensive and the finishing aspects of the game. Despite a strong domination, Dortmund never found the solution and could not do anything against a great Neuer in goal. 

Bayern keeps the lead in Bundesliga with seven points ahead of Dortmund.