Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea were back in action in Europe to take on Debrecen, Standard Liege, Besiktas and Porto respectively. Manchester United were already through and were going to field a lineup of youngsters at Old Trafford. Arsenal needed a draw to go through to the last 16. Chelsea were all but through and it was all about who finished top of the group between them and Porto. Liverpool on the other hand were in serious danger of going out of Europe’s elite competition as they not only had to win their remaining games but also depend upon Fiorentina to lose against Lyon.
Debrecen 0-1 Liverpool
(N’Gog)
Despite winning this boring and dull affair in Hungary, Liverpool failed to qualify. Fiorentina scored a single goal in Florence to ensure the Italians go through to the knockout stage rather than the team from the Merseyside. Liverpool have certainly missed the presence of Torres and Gerrard who despite playing in crucial games haven’t been totally fit to make any serious impact. That bit has not helped with the ever increasing list of injury casualties that keep creeping up for Rafa Benitez’s team. Ryan Babel has publicly voiced his intention to leave the club in the winter break if he’s not part of the Spaniards plans. Which considering how the clubs situation is, Benitez would really want his players to stay and stick around and vie for the fourth spot in the premier league. N’Gog managed to score the only goal but it didn’t prove to be enough. The casualty list was visible right from the start as Glen Johnson had a bandaged arm, Daniel Agger’s stitched cut being covered by a headband and the dodgy fitness levels of Aurelio and Gerrard. Overall, despite their horrible luck in terms of the long list of injuries, the club hasn’t done itself any good. Benitez has been short of funds to bring in any replacements over the summer and the situation looks bleak for the winter break too, that is when the players come at a higher price. Liverpool now placed third in the table would contest the Europa league.
Arsenal 2-0 Standard Liege
(Nasri , Denilson)
Arsenal had an easy and comfortable win through goals from Nasri and Denilson. Denilson scored a peach of a goal from 25 yards out with the ball swirling in the air and changing direction right at the end to beat the Liege goalkeeper. The Belgians offered little resistance and effort on the Arsenal goal with only one effort hitting the bar to bother Almunia’s clean sheet. However, the win came at a price as left back, Kieran Gibbs suffered a broken metatarsal and he looks likely to be out for around two months. The gunners had already been without Gael Clichy and now this injury has made life difficult for Arsene Wenger with their crucial game against Chelsea on the weekend. Another scare arrived in the form of a collision between William Gallas and Andrei Arshavin with both of them requiring treatment. Gallas was subbed off during the half time break to prevent any further damages and both of them are expected to start on Sunday.
Porto 0-1 Chelsea
(Anelka)
Both Porto and Chelsea had all but qualified for the knock out stages with third places Atletico Madrid and Apoel Nicosia faltering on fourth. It was only the matter of which team would finish first and second in the group table. Anelka scored the lone goal courtesy a low cross from Malouda which the Frenchman headed in from five yards out. Anelka has scored winning goals in three occasions for the Blues in the European competition. It was his first goal in eight games and makes sure that they would be one of the top seeds when the draw for the knockout stages is made. Carlo Ancelotti does look like the man who can finally deliver the elusive crown missing from the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet.
Manchester United 0-1 Besiktas
(Tello)
United had already qualified for the knock out stage with two games remaining and Sir Alex was going to field a mixture of youngsters with regulars for the game against the Turks at Old Trafford. Part of the starting XI were Ben Foster, Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Rafael De Silva, Gabriel Obertan, Darron Gibson, Anderson, Park Ji Sung, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck. The only goal came through Tello in the 20th minute. Chances for United came only during the latter stages of the game with the youngsters not really proving their worth to be included in the starting XI except Obertan who has made two substitute appearances in the league. This brings United’s fantastic four year record of no defeats at Old Trafford to a halt and marks the first time since Deportivo La Coruna defeated them in the “Theater of Dreams” defeated them in the group stages of 2001.
Wayne Rooney with Coleen and Kai
Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen gave birth to a baby boy who named Kai a few weeks back. Now the name is pretty weird and for that matter I thought Kai was a girls’ name at first! We’ve prepared a huge list of everything Kai Rooney from across the web.
What does Kai mean?
- In Hawaiian it means ocean and is not gender specific.
- It could also come from Welsh form of “Calius” meaning “the keeper of the keys”
- Scandinavian Origin of Kai : rejoice
- Kai is said to be of Persian origin and is a word in the ancient Farsi language meaning “Great King”.
The name’s popularity has reduced in comparison to 2007 as its dropped six places on the popularity chart for baby names.
(Source : Baby Chums)
As per news reports on another site, Wayne wants to celebrate the birth of his first child by getting Kai tattoed on his body. The Sun claims he already has a monicker of Coleen on his left arm. Prospectively the area of the artwork would be his lower back claims the source.
Wayne wants to celebrate by getting a new bit of artwork.
He’s been designing what it will look like. At the moment he would like it on his lower back.
He can’t wait to get to the tattoo parlour and knowing Wayne he’ll want something special – the bigger the better.
I’m sure he’ll be back to pay tribute to his son.
(Source : Track In)
The name Kai has been used in other places as well despite its uniqueness (and absurdness!). Some of those places are :
- The bass player in British Indie music band “Hard-Fi” is called Kai Stephens.
- Until 1998, Hong Kong’s international airport was called Kai Tak airport from its two separate owners.
- A shaolin monk character in Mortal Kombat (video game) was called Kai.
- There is a female footballer in the United States who plays for Sky Blues FC/National team called Natasha Kai.
- There is a blue power ranger called Kai.
- A certain breed of Japanese dogs is called Kai Ken. It has very little number even in Japan.
(Source : Mirror)
There are three superb Twitter accounts of Kai Rooney (fake ofcourse, whoever thought it would be real!) created even before he turned three hours old. You can follow him here, here and here.
Even the bookmakers haven’t stayed away from “celebrating” his birth. According to William Hill Media, no one predicted the name Kia (SHOCKING!) as the betting over the name had gone on for three months before the child birth. However, newer odds have emerged which would put pressure on the kid to become “something”. Let’s see the odds over his future.
- 100/1 to play Premiership Football like daddy!
- 125/1 to play for Manchester United
- 150/1 to earn a full England cap.
- 500/1 to play cricket for England.
- 1000/1 to become Prime Minister of UK (Watch out the future prime ministerial candidates!)
(Source : William Hill Media)
Is there anything that you would like to add to the list? I missed something somewhere? Let me know via comments. 
Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie has been voted as the player of the month for October.
The Dutchman in the month scored five goals and two assists to ensure Gunners complete the month without losing a game.
His goals came against Blackburn, Birmingham City, West Ham United and a double against Spurs. He also created chance for Gallas to score against West Ham. This takes his goals tally to seven in the season.
Roy Hodsgon has been named as manager of the month of October.
Fulham’s fixture list for the month read : West Ham (away) , Hull City (home) , Manchester City (away) and Liverpool (home). A tricky four weeks for the Londoners.
Fulham were unlucky to concede a late goal to draw 2-2 with Hammers, had a comfortable 2-0 win over Hull, got back to level terms with Manchester City despite being 2-0 down and to top it all off a fabulous performance 3-1 win against Liverpool.
For a change let’s switch from mens football to womens football. We know how terribly dangerous, aggressive and violent the game can be as was made clear by my Top 10 Dirtiest Players post. There are plenty of names in that list which are still not included. Those challenges, tackles, lunges deserve severe punishment. Honestly, I didn’t imagine these despicable things happened in the womens game too. I mean off all the games that I’ve seen they have been very slow, chances have been rued badly and passing been woeful but the following video displays how wrong I can be!
Our today’s VoTD comes from America with MLS’s goal of the year nominees. There are some fantastic beauties in here so do make sure to view the whole video.
Also, one superb goal is missing from the list which should have been part of the nominees, FC Dallas’s Cooper.
[Source : 3rd Degree]
 |
VS |  |
| V. Persie 42′ | ||
| Fabregas 43′ | ||
| V.Persie 60′ |
- Van Persie is highly underrated. He can score in and around the box, create chances for others and score off free kicks and yet isn’t labeled as a deadly striker.
- Fabregas’ goal was simply superb. Made it 2-0. [Watch both the goals here]
- Bentley can still make an impact and deserves more chances. Even if it is in the Carling Cup.
- Arsenal complete a decade of dominance over their London rivals. Spurs haven’t beaten the “Big four” in the last 65 away games. Top four for them? Nothing to show of it.
- BIG London derby? Eh, not so much.
Think I missed something noteworthy? Add to the comments!
First up, Happy Halloween to everyone across the world. Enjoy putting on that scary mask, looking for candy, watching scary movies and doing all you can to make yourself become ugly Tevez, fat Ronaldo! Ofcourse it would be hard to achieve both but if you do happen to achieve both somehow, then send in your picture so we can mock you and laugh. 
The holiday festivities would be enhanced with the superb football that English Premier league brings to you every weekend. This weekend would be no other as Saturday is packed with as many as 9 games and the remaining 1 taking place on Sunday. So which all games should you keep your eyes on and be sure not to miss?
Arsenal v Spurs – The Emirates at 12.45 GMT
Weekend begins with a bang! Nothing beats a good ol’ London derby and to pit two iconic football managers such as Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger. The game last season finished a superb 4-4 with two late goals by Spurs (which includes one beauty by David Bentley, who is speculated to start tomorrow!). Arsenal would be eager to get within two points of leaders Chelsea before they and Manchester United both play later in the day. Spurs on the other hand would want to bounce back from a rather surprising loss to Stoke at home last week.
Burnley v Hull – Turf Moor at 15.00 GMT
Wouldn’t recommend this game for pretty football but for the sheer hunger of survival and to salvage as many points as you can. Its a crucial game for Phil Brown who could (finally!) lose his job if this doesn’t turn out into the favour of the Tigers. Burnley would want to get their home record back in tact after 3-1 loss to Wigan last time around.
Everton v Aston Villa – Goodison Park at 15.00 GMT
Everton haven’t been having a good time with the thumping they received in the Europa league and then the loss to Bolton away last week. Villa on the other hand would like to avenge their loss to Everton in the FA Cup. Important game for Everton who are six points behind Villans.
Fulham v Liverpool – Craven Cottage at 15.00 GMT
Last season, Liverpool moved top of the table when they won at Craven Cottage through a late Benayoun strike. Now, circumstances are very different. Liverpool are eager to make a comeback following a 2-0 win against Manchester United and a disappointing 2-1 loss in the Carling Cup. Fulham came back from 2-0 down last week at Manchester City to end the game at 2-2.
Other fixtures are :
Bolton Wanderers v Chelsea (15.00GMT)
Portsmouth v Wigan (15.00GMT)
Stoke City v Wolverhamption (15.00GMT)
Sunderland v West Ham United (15.00GMT)
Manchester United v Blackburn Rovers (17.30 GMT)
Birmingham City v Manchester City (16.00 GMT, Sunday)
You would be aware of the video game “Guitar Hero” where you use several guitars and play notes to rock songs that are played. A certain rhythm needs to be maintained by jamming on to the controls specifically marked by a respective colour. This keeps the virtual audience enthralled and you earn points based upon your accuracy level. How about the same thing be done with footballs involved rather than guitars? Here is what Engadget describes of the scenario (I couldn’t get a thing so I’m quoting).
An Arduino acts as the conduit between the contact sensors and a PC running the freeware Frets on Fire.
Enjoy this pure brilliant video. Would love to give it a go myself.
Championship side Barnsley lost 2-0 to champions Manchester United yesterday in the Carling Cup tie where Welbeck and Owen were on the score sheet for the reds. Barnsley barely had any opportunity to bother United’s goal but their fans tried to change that as two intruders came on to the pitch to score the goal. Look at the first guy who tries score and slips. That is a sign how scoring a goal is not that easy, even with no one to beat. Maybe Zamora would agree.
Gary Neville gets sent off for a high challenge on a Barnsley player reducing United for nearly 30 minutes. (Catch the video after the jump)
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