European Football

[taz]

FT: Ajax 4-1 Vitesse Arnhem

Ajax dominated Vitesse to go top of the table. Ajax domianted possession and 8 minutes in Derek Boeriggter whipped in a cross which Siem de Jong narrowly nodded over. Few minutes later, Boeriggter tested Marko Meerits with a low shot from the edge of the area. Christian Eriksen then had an effort blocked by Meerits but Boeriggter whakced the rebound off the post. Minutes before half time, Wilfried Bony went close for Vitesse when his header was hacked off the line by Toby Alderweireld. 7 minutes into the second half, Ajax broke the deadlock when Christian Eriksen curled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box. On the hour mark, Toby Alderweireld played a delightful pass for Boeriggter to latch onto and he slotted the ball past Meerits. A couple of minutes later, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson made it 3 when he slotted home Gregory van der Wiel's low cross. With 20 minutes to go, SIgthorsson made it 4 when he drove the ball home from 25 yards after a defensive lapse. Vitesse got a cnsolation goal just before full time through Alexander Buttner.

[taz]

FT: Kaiserslautern 0-3 Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich comfortably beat Kaiserslautern through a Mario Gomez hat trick. Mario Gomez went close to scoring 2 minutes in but his shot was blocked. A few minutes before half time, Rodnei handled the ball in the box and Mario Gomez converted the resultign penalty to break the deadlock. Bayern were awarded another penalty 10 minutes into the 2nd half but Gomez saw this penalty saved by Kevin Trapp but Gomez made no mistake slotting home the rebound. Then with 20 minutes to go, after some good work from Thomas Muller on the left his cut back was drove home by Mario Gomez. Kaiserslautern finished with 10 men when Ivo Ilicevic was sent off for hacking down Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.

[DavidP]

woah, blackburn.

i'm sorry, FI.

[forzaitalia]

[DavidP]

believe it or not, i completely understand.

[taz]

FT: Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Borussia Dortmund

Both teams finished with 10 men in a lively draw. Bayer Leverkusen had the chance to go infront 5 minutes in when Andre Schurrle was played through but he was denied by Roman Weidenfeller. There were also opportunities for Sidney Sam and Renato Augusto before half time. Borussia Dortmund improved after the break. Bernd Leno did well to deny Shinji Kagawa 15 minutes into the 2nd half. COuple of minutes later, Leverkusen were reduced to 10 when Michal Kadlec was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Mario Gotze. Bernd Leno then made a spectcaular save from Ivan Perisic's volley. Bernd Leno also denied Kagawa from a promising position. With 15 minutes to go, Dortmund were reduced to 10 when Mario Gotze was sent off for kicking out at Hanno Balitsch. There were no more opportunities after with the draw being a fair result.

[taz]

FT: Valencia 4-3 Racing Santander

Valencia recorded a dramatic victory over Racing with two late goals. Valencia took the lead inside two minutes when Pablo Hernandez's 20 yard drive was spilled by Tono and Roberto Soldado was on hand to slot home the loose ball. 5 minutes later, Soldado turned villain when he headed Kennedy Bakircioglu's corner into his own net. 15 minutes on the clock, Racing took the lead when Manuel Arana's low cross was diverted into the net by Lautaro Acosta. Valencia then pushed forward for an equaliser. Pablo Hernandez flashed a shot wide, Soldado fired the ball over, Pablo Piatti had a shot blocked by Tono and Adil Rami headed wide from a Pablo Hernandez freekick but Racing held on at half time. Adrian made it 3-1 10 minutes into the 2nd half when he slotted the ball past Vicente Guaita from 12 yards. However a minute later, Adil Rami headed home Pablo Hernandez's cross to pull it back to 2-3. Valencia had chances to equalise but Tono denied Roberto Soldado and Adil Rami. Jonas then struck the post with 15 minutes to go. With 2 minutes to go, Soldado latched onto Jonas' through ball and rolled the ball into the net beyond Tono. THen in the dying seconds, Soldado headed home Jordi Alba's cross to record a dramatic victory for Los Che.

[taz]

FT: Twente 4-1 VVV Venlo

Twente have returned to the top of the table after defeating VVV. 2 minutes in, Bryan Ruiz nodded home Ola John's cross. The defence was static. VVV Venlo equlised 25 minutes in through a fine solo goal from Ahmed Musa. He sprinted down the left, into the box rounded Nikolay Mihaylov and rolled the ball into the empty net. However, 2 minutes later, Marc Janko found Luuk De Jong who rolled the ball under Dennis Gentenaar to score. It was 3-1 half an hour in when Bryan Ruiz's through ball found Marc Janko who lobbed Dennis Gentenaar. 5 minutes into the second half, Ola John struck the post after a fine solo run but De Jong made it 4-1 with 25 minutes to go after Marc Janko's backheel found De Jong to slot the ball past Gentenaar.

[red]

[taz]

[taz]

FT: Lyon 2-1 Montpellier

Lyon ended Montpellier's 100% record at the Stade Gerland. Montpellier had the first chance of the game when Henri Bedimo's cross brought out a great save from Hugo Lloris to deny Olivier Giroud's overhead kick. Moments later, Kim Kallstrom whipped in a corner which was headed narrowly over by Bakary Kone. Giroud and Bafetimbi Gomis brought out great saves from Hugo Lloris and Laurent Pionnier respectively. Montpellier came close to breaking the deadlock before half time with Olivier Giroud firing wide and John Utaka curling the ball just over the bar. Lyon broke the deadlock 5 minutes into the 2nd half when Bafetimbi Gomis played Michel Bastos through down the right, Bastos crossed for Miralem Pjanic to sublimely volley the ball home. Montpellier then pushed for an equaliser with John utaka being denied by Lloris and Giroud hitting the woodwork. Younes Belhanda then had a shot hit the bar with 20 minutes to go but on the replays, it showed Hugo Lloris got a slight touch on the ball which made it a good save. Belhanda then turned villain when he got sent off for kicking Pjanic with 8 minutes to go. A minute later, Pjanic crossed the ball for Jeremy Pied to double the lead. In the final minutes, Montpellier scored what proved to be a consolation when Olivier Giroud played through Henri Bedimo to dispatch the ball past Hugo Lloris.

[taz]

FT: Granada 0-1 Real Betis

The battle of the two promoted clubs ended up in a late victory for the Beticos. After an even first half where Betis should have had a penalty after Noe Pamarot's challenge on Edu Bedia. In the second half, Betis were the ones that were carving out the chances and hitting the bar in the process. The goal came 2 minutes from time when the sub Jonathan Pereira took advantage of a slip in the Granada backline, advanced down the left, chipped the ball up for Ruben Castro to head the ball into the net. Granada have not kept much of the team that brought them up and the way they defended was awful. Granada are my pick to go straight back down.

[taz]

FT: Zenit St Petersburg 5-0 Krasnodar

Zenit St Petersburg dominated Krasnodar to go top of the table ahead of the Moscow derby between Spartak and CSKA. ALexander Kerzhakov opened the scoring when Danny crossed the ball for Kerzhakov to dive ahead of the centre back and direct a header into the net. Kerzhakov made it 2 before half time after a quick counter saw Danko Lazovic play a defence splitting pass for Danny who inturn squared the ball for Kerzhakov to tap the ball home. Midway through the second half, Zenit were awarded a penalty which Kerzhakov converted to complete his hat trick. Shirokov made it 4 when Igor Denisov played a delightful ball over the top for Roman Shirokov to volley into the bottom corner. In stoppage time, Danny made it 5 with a delightful lob.

[taz]

FT: Spartak Moscow 2-2 CSKA Moscow

Spartak and CSKA shared the spoils in the Moscow derby. This result means Zenit have leapfrogged CSKA into 1st by virtue of goal difference. Spartak took the lead on the stroke of half time through talisman Welliton. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Seydou Doumbia equalised to get his 13th goal of the season. With 25 minutes to go, Zoran Tosic put CSKA ahead but with 15 minutes to go, summer signing Emmanuel Emenike equalised for Spartak.

[DavidP]

ouch, taz. picked the wrong games to watch? I think either of the manchester games, or even the psg one would have been a better game to watch.

[forzaitalia]

^ I concur! Both the Manc games for me.

[taz]

[taz]

FT: PSV Eindhoven 6-1 Excelsior

PSV impressed with this victory over Excelsior. Dries Mertens opened the scoring half hour in when he whipped in a freekick which evaded everyone and found the net. Excelsior equalised 5 minutes before the break when Leon Van Steensel crossed the ball which found the unmarked Mitchell Te Vrede to slt the ball home from close range. 2 minutes into the second half, Ola Toivonen headed home Kevin Strootman's cross to make it 2-1. 2 minutes later, Dries Mertens slotted the ball home when Baan Smith failed to clear a Jeremain Lens Cross. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, it was 4-1 when Kevin Strootman whipped in a cross which Mertens controlled and found the bottom corner to complete his hat trick. With 20 minutes to go, Jeremain Lens made it 5 and with 10 minutes to go, Ola Toivonen made it 6 from a Dries Mertens cutback. Dries Mertens was just brilliant.

[taz]

FT: Hannover 1-1 Mainz

Hannover remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga as they came from behind to draw with Mainz. Sami Allagui opened the scoring after 2 minutes for Mainz after Marcel Risse's through ball. Mohammed Abdellaoue equalised when he met Konstantin Rausch' cross. Hannover looked tired after their draw with Seville on Thursday but improved after the break with Christian Schulz, Rausch and Lars Stindl went close. Mainz had the best chance when Sami Allagui only had to tap the ball into the empty net but Marcel Risse's pass was too strong to control. Hannover and Mainz move upto 4th and 7th respectively.

[taz]

FT: Schalke 1-0 Borussia Monchengladbach

Raul scored the only goal of the game as Schalke moved upto second and in the process inflicted the first defeat of the season for Borussia Monchengladbach. The first chance of the game came inside 10 minutes for Gladbach when Marco Reus found Juan Arango in the box and his shot was blocked by Ralf Fahrmann. A couple of minutes later, Joel Matip had a header cleared off the line by Marco Reus following a Jefferson Farfan corner. Mike Hanke went close for Gladbach before half time but his 20 yard drive just whistled wide of the post. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Jefferson Farfan found Raul but his shot was blocked by Tony Jantschke. However, Raul would score on 64 minutes after Jefferson Farfan's cross was headed on by Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Klaas Jan Huntelaar for Raul to pounce onto the ball and score at the third time of asking after magnificent point blank saves from Marc Andre Ter Stegen at the first and second time of asking but he could not keep out the third.Gladbach pushed forward for an equaliser with Ralf Fahrmann and Atsuto Uchida denying Marco Reus. Ciprian Marica had the chance to seal the victory in the closing but he fired his shot way over from a promising position.

Matchday 4 Results

Friday 26 August

Hertha Berlin 1-0 Stuttgart

Saturday 27 August

Hamburg 3-4 Cologne
Nuremberg 1-0 Augsburg
Freiburg 3-0 Wolfsburg
Kaiserslautern 0-3 Bayern Munich
Hoffenheim 1-2 Werder Bremen
Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Borussia Dortmund

Sunday 28 August

Hannover 1-1 Mainz
Schalke 1-0 Borussia Monchengladbach