Weekend Wrap-up: Europe, the Big Five
Leave it to Italy to take the big build-up I gave it last Friday and give us no goals from the league's top three teams.
I'm not going to make the argument that soccer is only entertaining when goals are scored. For the record (please, don't keep a record), I have nothing against a lack of scoring. Nil-nils are not our enemies.
But you can't have a decisive moments without at least one goal, and with Milan's nil-nil at Roma and Internazionale's scoreless draw at home with Genoa, we got nothing decisive to talk about.
I was particularly confused by the team chosen by Roma's Claudio Rainieri. One choice in particularly, starting Luca Toni on the bench, seemed to hurt the team. Forcing Mirko Vucinic to play the role higher on the pitch takes away from the movement Roma gets at that second level of attack, where Vucinic, Simone Perrotta and Rodrigo Taddei's movement can give a back line so many problems. Against a suspect Milan defense, this movement could have been decisive. As is, Milan got a point and stayed in second place.
In the league's other notable match, Juventus got a second minute goal from Diego and added a second half tally from Fabio Grosso to record a 2-1 win in Florence over Fiorentina. Juve stays within two points for fourth place Palermo, who needed a late goal from captain Fabrizio Miccoli to get a 1-0 win over relegation-embattled.
The poll goes over the weekend's notable results, and after the jump, we go league-by-league.
England: The weekend was split between FA Cup action and Premier League fixtures. Chelsea and Portsmouth advance to Wembley with 2-0 results. Aston Villa got three goals in twelve minutes to open the second half, reverse a 2-0 deficit to Reading, and eventually win 4-2. They're through to the semifinals, where they'll face Chelsea. Tottenham and Fulham will replay on March 24 at White Hart Lane after their 0-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
In league, Manchester United's 1-0 win at Wolves vaulted them to first, two points ahead of Chelsea and an oncoming Arsenal, whose 3-1 win over Burnley vaulted them into a tie for second. (Click here for the Premier League review at Set Piece, and here for the FA Cup round-up)
Spain: It's strange looking at the table and not seeing Barcelona's name at the top, but after a tough 2-2 draw at Alméria, the Blaugrana opened the door for Real Madrid. An early goal against the run of play put the hosts ahead. Messi pulled Barça back. Alméria got a second half goal via Carles Puyol (OG). Messi pulled Barça back, though this time Barcelona was down a man, Zlatan Ibrahimovic getting a curious, straight red.
Whereas Barcelona was not able to complete their comeback, Real Madrid impressively came back from a two goal deficit (with an own goal of their own) to beat Sevilla 3-2. Thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Rafael van der Vaart - all coming the the match's last thirty minutes - los Blancos were able to vault Barcelona into first place in the Primera, their 62 points giving them the goal difference tiebreaker.
Germany: Bayer Leverkusen's first loss of the year came to an unexpected foe, losing 3-2 at relegation-battling Nürnberg. That allow Schalke to pass Bayer into second place, now with 51 points after their 4-1 win over Frankfurt. Meanwhile, league-leading Bayern München were surprisingly drawn at Koln, with former München forward Lukas Podolski scoring for the home team. München sits two points above Schalke.
France: The five top teams in France all drew allowing Auxerre - a team that is averaging less than one goal scored per match - to pull within four points of first, even with fifth place Lille. The headline match - first place Bordeaux against second place, even on points Montpelier - ended in a 1-1 draw with the Girondins playing most of the match a man down. Olympique Lyonnais could have drawn even but failed to get three points (or a goal) at 19th place Boulogne, while Olympique Marseille were drawn at home with Lorient (1-1).
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Diego's goal was class
Made Frey look completely stupid as he was flopping around on the ground.
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