Celtic 2-1 Barcelona

United Struggled in the Beginning But Won in the End

Manchester United were able to gain the 3 points they needed when they faced S.C. Braga in an away match of the UEFA Champions League tournament. It was the optimum efforts of Wayne Rooney, Robbie Van Persie and Javier Hernandez which stopped the Portuguese home team from snatching a win: Brazilian midfielder Alan’s 49th minute goal was not decisive.

Braga 1-3 Manchester United

Related articles

• Braga 1 Manchester United 3 – as it happened (guardian.co.uk)
• Sporting Braga 1 Manchester United 3: match report (telegraph.co.uk)
• Manchester United’s Chris Smalling ready to make return at Braga (guardian.co.uk)
• You: Braga vs. Manchester United: Complete Live Stream and Viewing Info for UCL Clash (bleacherreport.com)
• VIDEO: Barcelona loses, Chelsea wait ’til late (3news.co.nz)
• Manchester United v Braga: live (telegraph.co.uk)
• Neil Lennon salutes Celtic’s ‘heroes’ after Champions League victory over Barcelona (telegraph.co.uk)
• Celtic 2-1 Barcelona | Champions League Group G match report (guardian.co.uk)
• FC Barcelona: Late Jordi Alba Goal Breaks Celtic Hearts (Video) (bleacherreport.com)
• Barcelona stars wary of Champions League upset at Celtic Park (dailyrecord.co.uk)

Although Chelsea appear to be on top of the league table, the standings could change soon especially when Arsenal thumps them during the arising weekend. It is possible that Arsenal may take 3 points from their 6th game but Tottenham Hotspur, even though they thrashed Carlisle United by three goals in their last encounter, may not be able to handle the offensive tactics of Sir Alex Ferguson‘s side. With pro soccer star Wayne Rooney looking good and free from injury, it may not be easy for Tottenham to avoid losing on Saturday. Rooney played in the League Cup match which matched his team against Newcastle United so the Tottenham defenders (Jan Vertonghen, Michael Dawson, Steven Caulker, Adam Smith) will have to mark him for 90 minutes in Saturday’s EPL session. Experienced center back Rio Ferdinand‘s missing out will not stop Man Utd.

Prediction — Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Related articles

• Jan Vertonghen loving life at Tottenham Hotspur since move to Premier League from Ajax (telegraph.co.uk)
• Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs fear month absence for full-back (clubcall.com)
• Chelsea to face Manchester United in Capital One Cup fourth round (guardian.co.uk)
• Sunderland sign Louis Saha on free transfer following release from Tottenham Hotspur (telegraph.co.uk)
• Tottenham keeper Brad Friedel furious at Fabien Barthez blast (telegraph.co.uk)
• Tottenham Hotspur missed out on Porto’s Joao Moutinho by minutes (telegraph.co.uk)
• Tottenham Hotspur: AVB wants value for Modric exit (clubcall.com)
• Tottenham Hotspur partners with EA Sports for FIFA 13 (vg247.com)
• Wayne me up, when September ends: Rooney hoping for return before month is out (mirror.co.uk)
• Tottenham Hotspur completes Adebayor transfer from Manchester City (footballgalleria.com)

Manchester United, although they had played both pro soccer stars Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck up front in their opening game, were unable to score a single goal to save them from the damage Fellaini‘s well-executed header caused them.

Fellaini had looked dangerous during the 1st-half when he smashed the woodwork which was being guarded by goalkeeper David De Gea with a clever shot. A few minutes after that event arose on the field, Welbeck  had a chance to score from inside the box but he sent the ball to the wrong direction when Everton’s defenders put serious pressure on him.

Although former Arsenal marksman Robbie Van Persie had been brought in the game to replace Welbeck, the midfield of United failed to deliver the ball to him on numerous occasions. Probably, if Nani had not kept joking with the game and had gotten serious, the away team could have broken the deadlock first to maybe hang on to a win or draw.

Hopefully, Manchester United will bounce back from their sad defeat. The 2012/2013 Barclays Premier League is still not over and the big teams will get dangerous as the season progresses. Chelsea F.C. will be playing Reading next but it is expected that the game will be won by the former although the latter could come up with a shock win.

Related articles

• Manchester United falls to Everton in van Persie’s debut (japantimes.co.jp)
• Everton 1 Manchester United 0: match report (telegraph.co.uk)
• Why I snubbed Arsenal: Bench phobia pushed Mirallas into Everton move (mirror.co.uk)
• Everton vs. Manchester United: Premier League Live Score, Highlights and Recap (bleacherreport.com)
• Everton sign Kevin Mirallas from Olympiakos (telegraph.co.uk)
• Wide Van man: RvP must stay off the wing and in the box says United legend (mirror.co.uk)
• Howard, Everton open season by blanking Manchester United (soccerbyives.net)
• Everton Stun Manchester United in League Opener (nytimes.com)
• Steven Pienaar says Everton are out to upset Manchester United once again (thesun.co.uk)
• The Everton column: Phil Neville is a model skipper but could he also be the Toffees’ next boss? (mirror.co.uk)

It is not surprising that a full-back as Ashley Cole will go to extreme lengths to defend a possible racist as John Terry. Although Ashley Cole looks like he is a black man, he certainly does not understand how serious John Terry’s awful behavior is. Racism is unacceptable in modern football.

And if Ashley Cole understood the seriousness of the actions of the former England captain, he would have refrained from showing support for John Terry, a player, who also shamefully slept with Wayne Bridge‘s ex-girlfriend awhile ago. Possibly, John Terry is an immoral footballer who must stop acting like a kid and start behaving like a grown man. Some of the Chelsea players probably know John Terry is not speaking the truth in the pending case but will not come out and publicly support the suffering victim.

Chelsea defender and others intervene in John Terry’s trial

Related articles

• Ashley Cole says Terry race trial is a travesty (thetimes.co.uk)
• Uk News: Ashley Cole Defends John Terry Over Race Charge (madnewsuk.com)
• Ashley Cole: John Terry should not have been taken to court over alleged racist comments (itv.com)
• Ashley Cole defends John Terry over racism charge (independent.co.uk)
• John Terry should not have faced racism trial, says Ashley Cole (guardian.co.uk)
• Ashley Cole defends John Terry, Arsenal fans at trial (sports.yahoo.com)
• John Terry racism trial: Ashley Cole defends his team mate (soccerblog.com)
• John Terry racism trial day three: I wanted to speak to police – I had nothing to hide, says Chelsea captain (mirror.co.uk)
• Chelsea’s Cole defends Terry over racism row (morningstaronline.co.uk)
• Teammate defends Chelsea’s John Terry during racism trial (cbc.ca)
• Ashley Cole defends John Terry over race charge (independent.co.uk)

Spain, a big side, won FIFA’s South Africa 2010 by fielding pro soccer star players (David Villa, Xavi Hernandez, FC Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta) who all manhandled Holland in the finals of the competition. Before Euro 2012 even started, fans around the world had predicted that Spain would lift the cup. The ones who predicted right, got their predictions to come to pass but the ones who failed to act as good predictors probably chose England to take the cup to any of the streets of the United Kingdom. Spain had the best midfield—and controlled the possession rates of almost all games they played in the competition—so their lifting of the trophy was not something that could be found as unexpected. Obviously, a team that fields the best midfielders in competitions and wins them undoubtedly deserves to be praised by true fans of the game.

Spain take the cup home

Related articles

• England rise to No4 in the world … despite last reaching a semi in 1996 (guardian.co.uk)
• Iniesta named Euro’s best player (iol.co.za)
• Euro stars picture special: 10 Spain players named alongside Steven Gerrard in UEFA’s players of the tournament squad (mirror.co.uk)
• Spain, Italy Rematch in Historic Euro 2012 Final (abcnews.go.com)

It  appears that the 1st-half of the match may not yield any goals. However, the 2nd-half may produce some goals and Chelsea  F.C. may have to remain solid at the back if they plan to remain triumph next Saturday.

ProSoccerStars.com Prediction: Bayern Munich 2-1 Chelsea

Read more: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=1789583.html

The match between Arsenal and Manchester City did not go well for the away side when Arteta scored for the former 3 minutes before stoppage time arrived. A fateful event then followed when Mario Balotelli received a red card for performing an unneeded activity on the field during the 90th minute.

Incredibly, the Red Devils on the other hand had a successful home match when they thumped Queens Park Rangers by 2 goals. Both pro soccer stars Wayne Rooney and aging Paul Scholes registered their names on the scoring sheet in that encounter.

Now, it does not appear that Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini will be able to guide his team to win the 2011/2012 Barclays Premier League cup. Most United fans can sense that their team will probably prevent Arsenal and Manchester City from staying on top of the EPL league table in the upcoming weeks.

Swedish defender Jonas Olsson was unlucky during the 66th minute of the match as he was sent off. Wayne Rooney had converted a penalty kick during the 71st minute after netting a goal for the Red Devils during the 1st half of the match. The performance of the Red Devils placed the team 1 point above rivals Manchester City.

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations competition took place in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea but the two teams hosting it have not been able to enter its  semi-finals although they put up brilliant performances. The four teams left in the competition are known to be some of Africa’s finest and may make it to the FIFA’s Brazil 2014 World Cup due to start in the upcoming years.

Read more: Ghana punish Tunisia to enter the semi-finals

                                   GOALS SCORED BELOW