Sunday 27 February 2011

Birmingham take extraordinary late cup glory

The first piece of silverware in the English football calendar was contested on Sunday afternoon as Arsenal faced Birmingham at Wembley. The Gunners were the favourites to claim their first trophy in six years, despite missing captain Cesc Fabregas through injury. 

They were lucky to escape conceding a penalty in the opening couple of minutes as Lee Bowyer was incorrectly-ruled offside before being brought down by Arsenal’s goalkeeper. 

Birmingham did take the lead later when Nikola Zigic flicked in a corner. The Londoners equalised before half-time through a quality finish from Robin Van Persie. 

It was an entertaining match which became more open in the second half as both teams looked capable of winning. Then, with only a minute to go, defensive confusion in Arsenal’s penalty area presented Obafemi Martins with a simple tap-in which, amazingly, gave Birmingham the trophy with a 2 – 1 victory and left Arsenal yet again yearning for success.


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England earn incredible tie against India

There was plenty of talk and build-up before Sunday’s match in the 2011 cricket world cup in Bangalore, with England’s players stating their determination to upset the mighty Indian side. 

And the match itself lived up to its billing. India batted first and raced out of the blocks after powerful play by Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir and Yuvraj put them in a very strong position in the first thirty overs. 

Centurian Tendulkar (120) in particular scored at will, and England could not stop the runs flowing as India amassed 338 all out. 

It was a huge target to chase but the pitch proved very favourable for batsmen, even though Keven Pietersen and Jonathan Trott were out early on. Captain Andrew Strauss hit an extraordinary 158 which anchored the English effort, but he was dismissed near the end. 

Despite that, the rest of the order pieced together enough runs for Grahame Swann to secure a tie with the final ball – England finishing on 338 – 8 and splitting the points with the hosts.


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Sunday 20 February 2011

Violence escalates in Libya

Sunday afternoon saw reports flooding in of over two-hundred confirmed deaths in Libya after security forces took a brutal approach to containing campaigners. 

The fatalities occurred in the city of Benghazi, where police opened fire on a large group of unarmed protestors. The latest figures are of at least two-hundred dead, with nine-hundred injured. 

These recent horrific scenes have seen the number of deaths soar since protests began on Wednesday, and there seems to be no sign of a resolution. 

Unrest is also increasing in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, but it is Libya, under the rule of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, where the most bloody of the revolutions could be spiralling out of control.


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Saturday 19 February 2011

Crossbar denies Crawley fairy tale

Crawley Town hit the crossbar in injury-time as they narrowly missed out on earning a result at Old Trafford against Manchester United in the FA Cup. 

The non-league side were expected to be on the wrong end of a hammering as they faced the trip to the English league leaders, but Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a second-string team which failed to perform as might have been hoped. 

The visitors in fact had much of the play but went behind when Wes Brown flicked in a cross in the first-half. Despite the vast gulf between the status of the opponents, the game continued to be fairly even, and Crawley even had some chances to equalise before the end, including when they hit the bar from a corner in the last few minutes, but it finished 1 – 0. 

Earlier, Everton did produce somewhat of a shock as they beat Chelsea on penalties at Stamford Bridge after Leighton Baines hit a stunning free-kick to level in the last minute of extra-time.


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Protestors die in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen

Following recent events in Tunisia and Egypt, anti-government protests have gained support in other Arab countries such as Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, with reports of deaths occurring as police look to maintain control. 

Bahrain saw crowds gather for the funerals of four men who were killed during Thursday’s action, and mourners made no attempt to hide their fury at the authorities responsible. 

The Yemeni capital also saw at least four people lose their lives on Friday as gunfire opened up to keep the masses under control during the largest day of campaigning so far. 

Even more tragic scenes were found in Libya where twenty-four fatalities were reported. Reinforcements of troops were sent in the hope of subduing the people’s outrage. 

Hopefully the continuing protests will not result in further bloodshed, although the strength of feeling of the people in these countries may push them on through anything until they achieve the outcomes they are so determined to reach.


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Thursday 17 February 2011

Pressure grows on Berlusconi

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under increasing pressure following allegations of the latest sex scandal, despite his control over much of the country’s media. He owns three of the major television channels. 

A trial is scheduled for April, and this time the outcome might not be quite so favourable for Berlusconi as it will be expedited, so the status of innocence will not be completely-assumed at the beginning. The charge is that he had sex with a seventeen year-old prostitute - a minor. The affair is known as the “Ruby case”. 

Recent events in Italy have seen a protest by women to express their disgust at the conduct of the Prime Minister, with many other citizens also stating their shame at having such a leader, but it remains unlikely that the charges against him can be proved.


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Arsenal stun Barcelona

Arsenal had the unenviable task of facing Barcelona in the first knockout stage of this season’s Champions League, playing the home leg on Wednesday night at the Emirates. The Spanish giants are widely-recognised as one of the best football sides in history, although Arsenal did at least have the boost of a fit Samir Nasri to aid their cause. 

The game started as openly as was hoped, with both teams looking to have the skill to score at any moment, and the first goal came after twenty-six minutes as David Villa finished to put the Spaniards ahead. 

Arsenal improved but seemed unable to fight back until a remarkable spell with ten minutes left. Firstly, Robin Van Persie fired in from a tight angle after some dodgy goalkeeping from Victor Valdes, and shortly after Andrey Arshavin scored from a superb Arsenal counterattack to give the Londoners a spectacular 2 – 1 win. 

Spurs provided further cheer for English football fans on Tuesday as they earned a 0 – 1 win in the San Siro against highly-fancied AC Milan, thanks to Peter Crouch’s late strike.


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Sunday 13 February 2011

Rooney keeps United clear

Saturday lunchtime hosted possibly the most high-profile Manchester derby of recent times as the two clubs went head-to-head with both positioned as potential champions in this season’s English Premier League.

Manchester United started with the advantage – as league leaders and as the home side at Old Trafford. Even so, City began the brighter, and David Silva poked wide after only three minutes.

The breakthrough came just before half-time for the hosts, when Nani was put through and kept his cool to give United the lead. City equalised in the second period with a rather fortunate finish by Silva.

It was left to Wayne Rooney to provide the deciding moment, executing a spectacular overhead finish to a cross with ten minutes left which gave United a 2 – 1 victory.

That sees them remain four points clear at the top ahead of Arsenal, who beat Wolves later on, 2- 0. City stay in third, probably too far behind to stay as realistic challengers.

Saturday 12 February 2011

Algeria prepares

Reports on Saturday morning suggested that Algerian security forces were having to move swiftly in the attempt to stop a public democracy uprising similar to those which have proved successful in Tunisia and, very recently, Egypt. 

Friday saw the armed forces struggling to subdue widespread celebrations at news of the fall or Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak. 

An anti-government rally is planned in the centre of Algiers, the capital of Algeria, although riot police will be there to prevent any attempts at a revolution.


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Egypt celebrates Mubarak exit

Saturday saw celebrations all over Egypt, and even in some other Arab countries such as Yemen, the day after public demonstrations forced the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. 

Protesters finally got what they wanted on Friday when the President stepped down, despite earlier stating his intention to stay. This sparked scenes of rejoicing among the masses which had gathered to demand his departure, and similar images could be found in other Arab countries which were following the events, particularly Algeria, where it seems that the people have now been inspired into starting similar campaigns against their own government. 

After Tunisia, the story in Egypt is another extraordinary story unfolding in northern Africa, with the possibility of more to follow.


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Saturday 5 February 2011

Hungry Wolves overcome “invincible” United

Bottom side Wolves defeated unbeaten Premier League leaders Manchester United on Saturday evening at the end of an extraordinary day of football. 

United took the lead early on through Nani, but Wolves equalised quickly and Kevin Doyle flicked in the winner before the break and, with the opposition unable to create any clear openings, they went down to their first league defeat of the season, 2 – 1. 

In an even more remarkable game earlier, Newcastle came back from 0 – 4 down at home to Arsenal to draw 4 – 4, with two penalties from Joey Barton and a stunning late equaliser from Tiote. 

Tottenham Hotspur grabbed a late winner against Bolton to take the points in a 2 – 1 win at White Hart Lane. 

Manchester City enjoyed a comfortable 3 – 0 victory at home over West Brom, with a first-half hat-trick from Carlos Tevez. 

Everton beat Blackpool 5 – 3 and Stoke overcame Sunderland 3 – 2 during the record-breaking Saturday fixtures.


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Tuesday 1 February 2011

Deadline day drama

It was mayhem in the football transfer market on Monday as the January window closed. Liverpool and Chelsea were the main protagonists as both clubs looked to rush through big-money signings at the last moment. 

When the dust settled, the biggest news of all was that Fernando Torres had finally made his move from Anfield to Stamford Bridge for the sum of around £50 million. The Blues also confirmed the late purchase of centre-back David Luiz. 

Liverpool tried to make up for the loss of the Spaniard by bringing in Uruguay’s Luis Suarez for £23 million, and English youngster Andy Carroll from Newcastle for £35 million. 

Those transfers generated plenty of interest and attention, but there was a surprising lack of action from the other big clubs in England, who did not make any significant buys between them.



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