Good afternoon folks. It was a wonderful Sunday of soccer and while I'll get more in detail about this weekend's action tomorrow, I figured all the action today deserved a post and a place for you to discuss.
Arsenal downed Chelsea, Manchester United held off Liverpool and AC Milan thrashed Boca Juniors in the Club World Cup. Three great games, some intense and beautiful soccer that made it easy for some of us, including yours truly, to forget there were NFL games to watch.
Arsenal earned a deserved three points by beating a Chelsea squad that didn't have much in the way of attacking ideas. This one could have wound up a draw but Manuel Almunia made some qualty saves and the Gunners held on, reclaiming the top spot in the EPL in the process.
Man U stayed on Arsenal's tail by escaping Anfield with three points after being outplayed by a Liverpool squad that controlled play but couldn't find the finishing touch. Kudos to Man U's defense for holding firm even as Edwin Van Der Sar had some uncharacteristic hiccups.
And then there was Milan, led by the masterful Kaka, who shredded Boca Juniors for a goal and two assists. Yes, it is clear that Milan is one of the best teams in the world. Now, if only they could win some league games.
For those of you interested, the NCAA College Cup Final will kick off at 3pm, with Wake Forest facing Ohio State. There are about a half-dozen legit MLS prospects in this match so you might want to check it out.
Share your thoughts on today's European (And Club World Cup) action below.
I thought the ref was extremely tight calling back both Arsenal goals. While Cech committed a complete howler leading to the goal, the game could justly have been 2, 3 even 4 zip.
Posted by: Tony in Quakeland | December 16, 2007 at 03:12 PM
The ref in the arsenal game was amazing. I've seen prison movies which featured less violence. More of a blood sport than the beautiful game. Arsenal certainly played convincingly better than chelsea and deserved to win.
Milan's dominance of Boca was also something to behold. As a fan of the Italian national team, I really regret that Riquelme couldn't play. He would be plagued by nightmares and would surely fear facing an Italian side come the world cup.
Roma was sadly revealed to be a bit of a gutless team in their incredibly lucky draw against an unimpressive torino. Very very poor.
I didn't see it, but it sounds like barca was playing at a phenomenal level, too.
Posted by: tito | December 16, 2007 at 03:27 PM
Please explain what is NFL. Ha, ha! Arsenal!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Miguel | December 16, 2007 at 03:48 PM
Sorry, I thought the early wave of NFL games this afternoon was a lot more fun than staying up for the CWC. And I don't really care what goes on in Europe anyways.
College Cup final was fun, though.
Posted by: Roehl | December 16, 2007 at 05:42 PM
Ives,how could you not mention Urawa and Etoile's performances last night?
Posted by: Ed | December 16, 2007 at 06:46 PM
How about Julian Valentin of Wake Forest getting a boot to the face during the NCAA final? The shot of him bleeding and grinning while holding the trophy was fantastic.
Posted by: Derek (Brooklyn) | December 16, 2007 at 07:50 PM
I don't think it's fair to say United were outplayed. Both teams squandered chances and Liverpool's finishing was awful.
If anything both teams "deserved" a draw and played equally well/poor, and the one team that finished a chance got the three points.
Posted by: kpugs | December 16, 2007 at 07:57 PM
What a great day of soccer. All three were great games; also enjoyed College Cup as well.
Posted by: Tim F. | December 16, 2007 at 07:59 PM
Ives, how could you not include Barca-Valencia in your list of weekend games to watch?
Anyway, Etoo was a beast today!
Posted by: Jon G | December 16, 2007 at 08:34 PM
Tony, with all due respect 3-0 or 4-0 would have been very harsh on Chelsea, who I thought played well enough to merit a point. Alas, it was not to be. The only positives I can take from it are that we played with a lot of grit and determination, with key pieces of our team missing, and that all of the hardest away games are now behind us. Still a very long way to go and Chelsea are just 6 points off the top of the table. That's not insurmountable.
Posted by: Matt | December 16, 2007 at 09:41 PM
Barcelona played very well and Etoo was great. The injury to Messi was a blight but hopefully the other players step up. Real won today but were not convincing. Oh and yay for Milan
Posted by: Cindy | December 16, 2007 at 09:45 PM
Pugs, you know I'm not anti-Man U. I just think Liverpool had more of the ball and more of the chances. That's not a knock, seeing as how they were at home you had to figure that on some level. Credit to Man U for pulling out the three points. They didn't play terribly and deserved the win.
And Jonny, I did have Barcelona-Valencia in my Soccer on TV this weekend. I didn't mention it in this post because this post was about the three biggest games of the weekend.
Posted by: Ives | December 16, 2007 at 09:48 PM
Matt:
Take off your blue-tinted glasses ;-)
Two very tight decisions cost them two goals. The Gunners also had a load of chances that stunningly did not go in. A point to Chelsea out of that game would have been ridiculously unjust. 2-0 Arsenal would have been about right. A little luck and it would have been worse.
Posted by: Tony in Quakeland | December 16, 2007 at 09:53 PM
As a neutral observer, I have no idea how anyone could watch Arsenal-Chelsea and think Chelsea deserved anything...
Posted by: Dannyc58 | December 16, 2007 at 11:24 PM
Tony, a little luck on our side and it could have been a draw - SWP finishing, Sheva's free kick at the end. As it happens Arsenal got the goal and Chelsea didn't, and the Gunners deserved the three points. But don't try to make it sound like some dominant performance, because it wasn't.
Posted by: Matt | December 16, 2007 at 11:35 PM
Matt
It wasn't a dominant performance by the Gunners. It was a very poor one by Chelsea. The tactics were negative. Other than SWP on a few counters, they had no offensive game plan. Right now, Chelsea doesn't look very good.
Posted by: Tony in Quakeland | December 17, 2007 at 12:11 AM
I don't think Tony was watching the same Arsenal-Chelsea game I was. Chelsea played well enough for a draw - they certainly had the better of play than did Arsenal. Arsenal got very, very lucky to score, on a ball that Cech would normally play easily. I cannot remember Cech missing a ball like that - ever.
As for the Arsenal chances at the end - they were not close calls at all. But, moreover, if not for the Cech howler, Arsenal would never had had the opportunities.
Arsenal deserved the win. But only because Cech made one poor play, which is very unlike him.
Posted by: A.S. | December 17, 2007 at 10:35 AM