Reds salute Owen

Source: www.manutd.com

Derby winner Michael Owen was the toast of the United dressing room after his last-gasp strike overcame Manchester City’s resistance at Old Trafford.

The arch poacher, on as a substitute, popped up in injury-time to swing a seven-goal thriller United’s way with a clinical finish; the type which prompted Sir Alex Ferguson's summer swoop.

“I always felt the game was going to be played in their penalty box, and there’s no-one better at taking these kind of chances,” Sir Alex told MUTV. "His positional play and finish were absolutely magnificent - world class.

“He was only on for 17 minutes. I just felt with that long to go, with the game being played in their penalty box, there’s no-one better than Michael Owen.”

Patrice Evra echoed his manager’s sentiments, and took Owen’s goal as further proof of United’s squad depth.

“That's why United bought him,” said the Frenchman. “He's the kind of player who can score winners, and he did it very well today. This is United. It's not about 11 players, it's about the squad. When players come in, they have the right attitude.”

Man Utd 4-3 Man City (20th Sept 2009)

Source: www.espnstar.com

Michael Owen stole the show in a derby for the ages as Manchester United defeated Manchester City 4-3 and demonstrated why the team from Old Trafford remain the city's dominant force.

We came wondering about Carlos Tevez, we prepared to sing the praises of Darren Fletcher, then a City draw and United's shocking defensive errors. In the end, we were talking about Owen.

In the fifth minute of stoppage-time, when England's fourth highest scorer had been shunted so far down the list of talking points he was not even worth a mention, the substitute strode onto Ryan Giggs' precise pass, looked up and calmly found the bottom right corner.

Sir Alex Ferguson danced, Mark Hughes looked punch drunk. One of the most eagerly awaited Manchester derbies had become one of the most dramatic.

Hughes was sick, angrily asking how referee Martin Atkinson had managed to come up with so much additional time. He, more than anyone, knows what United can do with it.

It left the rest rather superfluous.

For the record, United led three times but on each occasion were pegged back thanks to their own idiotic mistakes. Carlos Tevez left the field laughing. But only because Anderson was winding him up.

Sir Alex Ferguson has put forward a rather disparaging assessment of Tevez's time at Old Trafford, highlighting why he did not feel the Argentina star was worth the #25million United eventually offered to pay.

Yet the Scot's assessment centred around Tevez's goals output.

No-one could ever quibble at his work-rate. It was one of the reasons that made him such a hero among the Old Trafford faithful and why the City fans were so quick to acknowledge talent beyond the obvious humour of signing a player Ferguson was urged time and again last season to sign up.

That knowledge left Ben Foster with no excuse for the truly abysmal error of judgement that gifted City their equaliser.

Even Joleon Lescott turned away in disappointment as his long pass bounced into no man's land. Foster clearly felt it would eventually run into the area, which was a debatable point in itself.

Eventually, Foster realised more urgent action was required as Tevez stormed in, just as he should have expected.

Any chance of redemption disappeared as Tevez nicked the ball away from Foster's grasp as he tried to reach the safety of his area, and slipped a pass to Gareth Barry which the England midfielder gleefully swept home.

The mistake was made worse by the knowledge Foster had already received one warning, when he got his wires crossed with Nemanja Vidic and allowed Tevez to half-block a long punt downfield.

Foster might have genuine hopes of becoming United's number one goalkeeper and going to the World Cup. In one moment of madness, he might have blown them.

An errant Wayne Rooney backheel might not have been of the same magnitude but its consequences were almost equally dire for United.

Kolo Toure strode onto the loose ball and fed Tevez for the opportunity to score a goal that would have left Ferguson distraught and humiliated in equal measure.

Tevez thought his shot was going in. To his frustration - and Ferguson's relief, it bounced to safety off the post.

It had all looked so different 43 minutes earlier.

United made a bright start, with Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov looking particularly threatening, when Shaun Wright-Phillips let Patrice Evra run free at a quickly-taken Ryan Giggs throw-in.

Evra fed Rooney, who had the strength to wriggle past Toure and Nigel de Jong before prodding home from close range.

At that point, the noise was deafening. If anything, the volume had gone even further up the scale at the end of a awesome first seven minutes of the second half as United got their noses in front, only to be pegged back once more.

Fletcher did the damage for Ferguson's team, rising above Barry to power home a Giggs' curling cross.

Yet, just as the hosts looked set to take control, with Park Ji-sung and Giggs going close, Craig Bellamy thundered home an equaliser.

Bellamy had been buzzing around in his inimitable manner, but there was no doubting the stamp of class on his 20-yard strike as he collected Tevez's short pass, cut inside John O'Shea and drilled into the top right corner. This time Foster was blameless.

But there was so much drama still to come.

Fletcher thought he had won it as he powered home a second header, again from a Giggs cross, 10 minutes from time.

Yet the suicidal tendencies in United ranks had not gone away.

Rio Ferdinand attempted an idle chip a minute from time, but found Barry instead. Barry released Bellamy, who ran 60 yards before tucking past Foster.

It seemed City had come through their biggest test yet. Not on your life.

Everton 3-0 Blackburn (20th Sept 2009)

Source: www.espnstar.com

Everton picked up their second home win in four days this afternoon with a comprehensive Barclays Premier League victory over Blackburn.

Louis Saha scored after 22 and 54 minutes and then defender Joseph Yobo grabbed the third for the hosts, punishing poor defending at a corner after the impressive Paul Robinson had denied the France striker a hat-trick goal.

David Moyes' side had endured a slow start to the campaign, seemingly suffering a hangover from last season's FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea.

But the Toffees appear to be back on track after following Thursday's 4-0 Europa League rout of AEK Athens with another fine win and clean sheet at Goodison Park against a disappointing Rovers side who were looking to haul themselves out of the relegation zone.

While Moyes' worries look to be easing, Rovers boss Sam Allardyce must be seriously concerned now about his side, who have won just one league game all term and were feeble for much of this clash.

Everton made three changes from the side that beat AEK in midweek, with Dutch defender John Heitinga making his home debut.

Russia winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was out with a groin strain, while Jo and Dan Gosling dropped to the bench to allow Saha and Leon Osman into the starting line-up.

Blackburn gave Spanish defender Michel Salgado his full debut in an otherwise unchanged side from the one that achieved the club's first league win of the season against Wolves last time out.

This had been Everton's worse start to a league season since 2004, with only one win in their opening four games prior to this match.

Their intent to correct that unwanted statistic was evident from the outset. First Osman saw a shot on the turn deflected inches wide, and then Steven Pienaar's cross was headed onto the roof of the net by Saha.

But the game deteriorated into a scrappy affair with far too many stoppages and a general lack of ideas and invention.

Heitinga was booked by referee Lee Mason after a two-footed tackle that enraged the recipient David Dunn.

However, after 22 minutes, Everton were in front. Leighton Baines fired in a free-kick from the left and Saha arrived at the near post to turn the ball past Robinson.

Blackburn responded with a couple of headers from Christopher Samba and a twisting run and shot from Dunn which was held by Tim Howard.

Robinson saved well from Pienaar, and then watched a Marouane Fellaini drive fly wide after a quick Everton break.

Dunn was next into the book for a late tackle on Jack Rodwell.

Rovers sent on Ryan Nelsen for Gael Givet in the centre of defence at the break, with teenager David Hoilett replacing Morten Gamst Pedersen on the left after 50 minutes.

But it was Everton who extended their lead soon after. Fellaini's cross sailed in from the right and Saha got above Pascal Chimbonda with ease to send his header wide of Robinson's dive.

The former Tottenham goalkeeper t hen needed to save superbly to keep out an Osman drive, but Everton soon got their third.

Baines' corner from the right after 58 minutes hit Nelsen and fell invitingly for Yobo to fire in from a couple of yards out.

Allardyce opted to give Jason Roberts some support up front just after the hour, sending on Croatian striker Nicola Kalinic in place of Salgado.

There was some fight still left in the visitors, El-Hadji Diouf cautioned for a foul on Fellaini and Hoilett seeing a low drive blocked by Howard.

Howard was at last called into action to save from Dunn and Diouf, while Everton sent on Jo to replace Saha with 16 minutes left.

Next on was Tony Hibbert in place of Tim Cahill, with Heitinga moving into central midfield.

Teenager Gosling took over from Osman with nine minutes left, by which time Everton were well on their way to a comfortable three points.

Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur (20th Sept 2009)

Source: www.espnstar.com

Chelsea remained top of the Barclays Premier League after a demolition of London rivals Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

Ashley Cole put the Blues on the way to a comfortable victory with a first-half header and Michael Ballack made it two in the 57th minute.

Didier Drogba finished Spurs off with a third in the 62nd minute to make it six straight wins for the Blues and leave them three points clear of Manchester United at the summit.

To make matters worse for Spurs they lost both Ledley King and Sebastien Bassong through injury to leave Harry Redknapp with a defensive crisis.

There was bad news for Chelasea, too, as Drogba exited seven minutes from time with a calf problem.

Chelsea almost went ahead in the seventh minute when an angled drive from Jose Bosingwa cannoned off the crossbar.

But the Blues had Petr Cech to thank in the 11th minute when Jermain Defoe sprinted clear of the Chelsea defence only to see the Chelsea keeper stick out a leg to deny him.

Tottenham were now enjoying the majority of the possession and Jermaine Jenas was inches wide with a 20-yard drive that had Cech beaten.

It was enough to encourage Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti off his seat and into the technical area.

His presence almost had an immediate effect as Frank Lampard headed just wide from a cross by Nicolas Anelka in the 17th minute.

In the 22nd minute Anelka sent a powerful volley into the side netting after a cross from Florent Malouda had made its way across the six-yard box without attention from the Spurs defenders.

Chelsea felt they should have had a penalty in the 31st minute when Ballack collided with Vedran Corluka but referee Howard Webb rejected their appeals.

But his decision was of little consequence when Chelsea went ahead a minute later.

Drogba turned supplier with a superb cross into the middle of the Spurs penalty area and Cole got in front of Corluka to put a diving header into the net beyond former Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini.

The game had erupted into life at last and it was now a full-blooded derby with tackles flying in from both sides.

Drogba was the target for some rough stuff from the Spurs players as the temperature began to rise.

Chelsea won a free-kick in a central position some 25 yards out when Tom Huddlestone jumped into Ballack two minutes before the interval.

But Drogba hit the free-kick straight at Tottenham's defensive wall.

Chelsea should have gone two in front in the 46th minute but Lampard drove wide after Drogba had found him with a low cross.

In the build-up to Lampard's chance, Spurs defender King sustained a knock that forced his retirement from the action.

Alan Hutton replaced the stricken King with Corluka moving from right-back into the centre of defence alongside Bassong.

Spurs were furious in the 54th minute when Robbie Keane went down under a challenge from Ricardo Carvalho.

Referee Webb rejected Tottenham's appeals but TV replays appeared to show that the Chelsea defender had clipped the Spurs striker's heels.

The debate continued to rage on the pitch with Keane protesting to both Carvalho and Webb that is should have been a spot-kick.

Chelsea made Spurs pay moments later when Ballack made it 2-0.

Drogba's 57th-minute shot was well saved by Cudicini but Lampard followed up to roll the ball back into the six-yard box where Ballack was waiting to poke it home from point-blank range.

Chelsea were at their fluid best with a two-goal cushion and Bosingwa forced Cudicini into another save with a left-foot drive from 20-yards.

Not surprisingly the Blues went three in front in the 62nd minute when Drogba fired home from six yards for his fifth goal of the season.

Cudicini almost gifted Chelsea a fourth in the 73rd minute when he allowed a shot by substitute John Obi Mikel to creep under his body.

But the Italian keeper was alert enough to recover the ball before it could cross the goal line.

It got worse for Spurs when centre-half Bassong fell awkwardly on his shoulder and had to be carried off after lengthy treatment. He was replaced by Niko Kranjcar.

But Chelsea also lost striker Drogba with a calf injury in the 83rd minute which will give coach Ancelotti real cause for concern if he is out for any length of time.

2009 Season Kicks off!!

Hey all,

I know I've been very irregular with the latest updates from the world of the English Premiership but I promise you that this 2009 season is going to be different. You can all look forward to the latest updates and all the buzz from every premiership weekend