European Football

[taz]

FT: Real Zaragoza 0-6 Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick as Real Madrid outclassed Real Zaragoza at La Romareda. Real Madrid domianted the game from the start with Mesut Ozil and Karim Benzema being denied by Roberto. However, halfway through the first half, Real took the lead. Mesut Ozil slotted a superb through ball for Ronaldo to latch onto and dispatch the ball past Roberto. A couple of minutes later, Marcelo made it 2. A great team move resulted in Sergio Ramos dinking the ball towards the penalty spot where Marcelo was on hand to fire the ball into the bottom corner. Roberto denied Ronaldo thrice more before half time. Paulo da Silva had the chance to pull a goal back just before half time but his back post header went wide. 10 minutes into the second half, Angel Di Maria fired a shot wide and Karim Benzema took control of Paulo da Silva's poor backpass but he was denied by Roberto. Xabi Alonso made it 3 halfway through the 2nd half with a fine drive from 25 yards finding the bottom corner. Ronaldo made it 4 with 20 minutes to go after a quick coutner saw Ronaldo tap the ball into the net. Kaka made it 5 with less than 10 minutes to go with a powerful effort from inside the box finding the top corner. Ronald completed his hat trick with 2 minutes to go as he slotted the ball into the empty net following Roberto blocking Kaka's cross shot.

[taz]

FT: Lille 3-2 Marseille

Defending champions Lille defeated runners up Marseille in a tight affair which leaves Marseille without a victory 4 games into the season. Marseille started off well with Benoit Cheyrou and Andre Ayew testing Mickael Landreau. However, 15 minutes in, Lille scored with their first attack. Franck Beria found space down the left and his low cross was poked home by Moussa Sow defeating Steve Mandanda in the process. In the 2nd half, Marseille were pushing for an equaliser and Loic Remy went close with his deflected effort coming back off the post. However, 15 minutes into the 2nd half, Marseille equalised when Mathieu Valbuena's long range strike took a deflection off Aurelien Chedjou and looped over Mickael Landreau to find the net. Couple of minutes later, Benoit Cheyrou's well struck freekick was blocked by the feet of Landreau but Valbuena lashed home the rebound which Landreau got two hands to but could not keep out. Lille equalised 5 minutes later when Dimitri Payet found Chedjou to stroke the ball past Mandanda. Lille scored the winner 15 minutes from time when Rod Fanni brought down Eden Hazard gifting Lille a penalty which Moussa Sow converted.

Matchday 4 Results

Saturday 27 August

Auxerre 4-1 Ajaccio
Evian 0-1 Dijon
Lorient 2-1 Nancy
Nice 0-0 Brest
Valenciennes 1-2 Bordeaux
Lyon 2-1 Montpellier

Sunday 28 August

Rennes 3-2 Caen
Sochaux 2-1 St Etienne
Toulouse 1-3 Paris St Germain
Lille 3-2 Marseille

[taz]

FT: Sevilla 2-1 Malaga

Sevilla started the campaign off with an impressive win over big spenders Malaga. Sevilla took the lead inside two minutes. Jesus Navas sent in a perfect cross from the right for Alvaro Negredo to nod the ball past Willy Caballero. Alvaro Negredo was ripping the Malaga defence apart and had a precise volley from the edge of the box jsut about kept out by Caballero. Negredo made it two with 26 minutes on the clock when Diego Perotti found Negredo in the box and Negredo turned and directed the ball into the bottom far corner to make it 2. Alvaro Negredo could have got his hat trick in the 2nd half but when unmarked, he somehow fired wide from 6 yards. Malaga did pull a goal back in the final 5 minutes when Santi Cazorla scored a superb freekick from 20 yards leaving Javi Varas with no chance. Malaga pushed forward but Sevilla held on for the victory.

[taz]

FT: Barcelona 5-0 Villarreal

Barcelona started the season off with a bang as they demolished Villarreal at Camp Nou. Alexis Sanchez and Lionel Messi went close in the opening stages but were denied by Diego Lopez. Sergio Busquets then had his header rebound off the bar. Barca took the lead 25 minutes in when Thiago Alcantara was given the freedom to make his way forward and and fire the ball past Diego Lopez. Giuseppe Rossi went close twice for Villarreal before Barca doubled their lead on the stroke of half time. Lionel Messi played a great thrugh ball for Cesc Fabregas to latch onto and slot the ball past Diego Lopez. 2 minutes into the 2nd half, Alexis Sanchez made it 3 when he latched onto THiago's through ball and placed the ball past Diego Lopez. It was 4 minutes later when ANdres Iniesta played the ball to Lionel Messi to round Lopez and slot the ball into the empty net. Messi made it 5 with 15 minutes to go when he lashed the ball home after a nice 1-2 with Thiago.

Matchday 2 Results

Saturday 27 August

Sporting Gijon 1-2 Real Sociedad
Valencia 4-3 Racing Santander
Granada 0-1 Real Betis

Sunday 28 August

Atletico Madrid 0-0 Osasuna
Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Rayo Vallecano
Mallorca 1-0 Espanyol
Getafe 1-1 Levante
Real Zaragoza 0-6 Real Madrid
Sevilla 2-1 Malaga

Monday 29 August

Barcelona 5-0 Villarreal

[DavidP]

this tiago kid is fucking on fire, it seems.

[taz]

FT: Milan 2-2 Lazio

What an entertaining match at the San Siro as defending champions Milan and Lazio played out a draw. A few minutes into the match, Alberto Aquilani broke into the box and had the opportuity to score but his strike was straight at Albano Bizzarri. However, on 12 minutes, Stefano Mauri's cross was took down well by Miroslav Klose. turned Alessandro Nesta before slotting the ball past Christian Abbiati to give Lazio the lead. Klose could have made it 2 minutes later after a mix up between Gennaro Gattuso and Nesta allowed Djibril Cisse to take a shot which was fumbled by Abbiati but Klose put the rebound wide. On 21 minutes, Stefano Mauri whipped in a cross which Djibril Cisse headed past Abbiati to make it 2. Poor start for Milan. On the half hour mark, Alberto Aquilani played a nice ball for Antonio Cassano to latch onto beating the offside trap in the process and he rolled the ball across for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to score from a couple of yards. A few minutes later, Kevin Prince Boateng had shot blocked by Bizzarri, However, the resulting corner whipped in by Aquilani was headed home by Antonio Cassano for Milan to equalise. Hernanes had the chance to put Lazio ahead a couple of minutes later but he wasted his shot from aroundn 6 yards. The 2nd half was a quiet affair with Cassano going close when his shot rebounding off the outside of the post midway through the second half. The other notable chances of the half saw Boateng testing Bizzarri and Nesta having to scramble back to clear the ball way when Djibril Cisse nudged the ball past Abbiati. A draw in the end was a fair result imo.

[forzaitalia]

Is that in the right thread, Taz?

[taz]

[taz]

FT: CSKA Moscow 0-4 Dinamo Moscow

Well, this result was not expected. DInamo thumping CSKA. Dinamo took the lead after 36 minutes when a long ball over the static CSKA defence found Andriy Voronin who then advanced on goal and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper. Kevin Kuranyi made it 2 3 minutes later when Igor Semshov found Kuranyi who then cut inside and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper. Leandro Fernandez made it 3 with 20 minutes to go when he headed home Andrei Samedov's corner. In the final minute, Aleksandr Kokorin got himself on the scoresheet. CSKA have lost key players such as Keisuke Honda and Igor Akinfeev to injury which hampered them today but take nothing away from Dinamo. They were fantastic.

[taz]

FT: Lokomotiv Moscow 4-2 Zenit St Petersburg

What a match at the Lokomotiv Stadium. Zenit were 2-0 up at half time after goals from Danko Lazovic and Aleksandr Bukharov. However, Lokomotiv turned the game around in the 2nd half with Victor Obinna and Felipe Caicedo scoring to put Lokomotiv back on level terms and with 15 minutes to go, Manuel da Costa was on hand to head home to put Lokomotiv ahead and Da Costa scored again with 2 minutes to go. After today's results, Zenit and CSKA remain 1st and 2nd with 46 points each but Dinamo are closing in though in 3rd with 44 points.

[taz]

FT: Real Sociedad 2-2 Barcelona

Barcelona were pulled back from two goals up after Real Sociedad were able to snatch a draw at Anoeta. The opening goal came after 10 minutes after Cesc Fabregas' chipped pass sent Xavi and Alexis Sanchez through with Sanchez squaring the ball for Xavi to score. A minute later, Xavi lofted a ball over for Fabregas who squared the ball for Pedro btu his shot was blcoked by Claudio Bravo but Fabregas was on hand to lash the rebound home. The bad news started for Barca on the half hour mark when Sanchez had to be stretchered off. Before the break, Asier Illarramendi headed over an Antoine Griezmann freekick while Pedro's lob was cleared away by Ivan de la Bella. In the opening moments of the 2nd half, Pedro and David Villa spurned a couple of decent opportunities. Real Sociedad pulled a goal back on 59 minutes when Imanol Agirretxe headed home a Xabi Prieto cross. A minute later, Real Sociedad equalised. David Villa sent a horrendous pass backwards which put Agirretxe through on goal, rounded Victor Valdes but his shot was knocked onto the crossbar by the hands of Sergi Busquets but Antoine Griezmann was on hand to head the ball into the empty net. Barca then sent men forward with Messi and Pedro testing Claudio Bravo. Real Sociedad had some chances in the closing stages with Igor Martinez seeign his goalbound header blocked by Andreu Fontas.

[taz]

FT: Real Madrid 4-2 Getafe

Real Madrid continued their 100% start to the season after an entertaining victory over Getafe. Real Madrid were fast out of the blocks. Angel Di Maria was denied 5 minutes in after his shot frm a few yards was blocked by Miguel Angel Moya. 10 minutes in, Di Maria whipped in a cross which Cristiano Ronaldo headed goalwards but Moya was able to tip the ball over the bar. Miku then broke clear for Getafe a couple of minutes later but he took to long to shoot which allowed Sergio Ramos to clear. On 14 mintues, Real Madrid broke the deadlock. A sweet team move resulted in Mesut Ozil setting up Karim Benzema to slot the ball into the top corner.Fabio Coentrao had the chance to double the lead 10 minutes before the break but he put his shot wide. Marcelo then nearly scored an own goal when his looping header left Iker Casillas rooted but the ball rebounded off the woodwork. Mikeu equalised 5 minutes before the break when Medhi Lacen played a sweet ball through for Miku to latch onto and he calmly dispatched the ball past Iker Casillas. 10 minutes into the second half, Cristiano Ronaldo's attempted overhead kick resulted in the ball rebounding off the post which only required Coentrao to slot the ball into the epmty net but he put his shot into the side netting. A couple of minutes later, Miku tested Casillas from range. Real Madrid were awarded a questionable penalty on the hour mark. Cata Diaz was deemed to have brought down Cristiano Ronaldo but any contact seemed to occur outside the box. Ronaldo then duly converted the penalty. Karim Benzema made it 3-1 with 20 minutes to go when he slotted home Ronaldo's crossfield pass. Getafe pegged Madrid back when Dani Guiza's shot was not held by Casillas and Miku was able to slot home the rebound. With 2 minutes to go, Gonzalo Higuain got the better of Miguel Torres and Juan Valera and he then drove the ball from 20 yards past Moya into the bottom corner.

[taz]

FT: Valencia 1-0 Atletico Madrid

Valencia made it two wins out of two after a slender victory over Atletico Madrid. Roberto Soldado had the first opportunity of the game but he dragged his shot wide. Jeremy Mathieu wa given all the time to advance into the Atletico Madrid box but he sent his shot over the crossbar. Soldado was then able to beat the offside trap but his shot was blocked by Thibaut Courtois. Atleti's notable chance of the first half came through Radamel Falcao but his shot was saved by Vicente Guaita. The deadlock was broken on 53 minutes when Miguel's cross was headed into the top corner by Roberto Soldado. Atletico had a great chance to equalise when Arda Turan was through on goal but his shot from a tight angle was denied by a fine save from Guaita.

[taz]

FT: Cesena 1-3 Napoli

Napoli made a great start to the season with victory over Cesena at the Dino Manuzzi. Cesena nearly took the lead 2 minutes in when Yohan Benalouane flashed a header just past the far post. However, a minute later Ezequiel Lavezzi opened the scoring for Napoli when Hugo Campagnaro was able to send a long throw in towards the unmarked Lavezzi who beat Nicola Ravaglia at his near post. Cesena equalised on 25 minutes when Roberto Guana was able to get in front of Paolo Cannavaro and diverted Eder;s cross past Morgan De Sanctis into the net. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Yohan Benalouane was shown a second yellow when he handled Hugo Campagnaro's through ball for Edinson Cavani reducing Cesena to 10. With 25 minutes to go, Paolo Cannavaro's header was cleared on the goal line by Antonio Candreva. The resulting corner led to Blerim Dzemaili delivering a low cross which resulted in Campagnaro sliding to divert the ball into the net at the far post. Goran Pandev is an early candidate for miss of the season when he hit the crossbar from a few yards out with an open goal to aim at. However, with 3 minutes to, it didnt matter when Marek Hamsik witha powerful drive from just inside the 18 yard box.

[taz]

FT: Werder Bremen 2-0 Hamburg

Werder Bremen moved joint top with Bayern Munich after victory over Hamburg in the North Germany derby. There was not much to report from the first half but 7 minutes into the 2nd half, Werder broke the deadlock. Marko Marin's freekick hit the post but Claudio Pizarro was on hand to nod the rebound home. With 12 minutes left, Pizarro git his second when he chested Marin's cross and sent an unstoppable volley past Jaroslav Drobny. Fantastic goal. To make the day even better for the Werder faithful was the long awaited return of Naldo as he came on in the closing stages.

[taz]

FT: Marseille 0-1 Rennes

Marseille's poor start to the season continued after a miserable home defeat to Rennes. Rennes move upto 4th in the process. Marseille started the stronger of the two with Loic Remy volleying Mathieu Valbuena's cross towards goal but it was blocked by Abdulrazak Boukari. 15 minutes in. Loic Remy beat Kader Mangane but his shot was blocked by Benoit Costil and Valbuena put the rebound wide. Boukari and Victor Hugo Montano also went close for Rennes in the closingstages of the first half. In the 2nd half, Remy again tested Costil but the keeper produced a great save to stop Alou Diarra's header finding the top corner. Andre-Pierre Gignac's overhead kick beat Costil but Yann M'Vila was on hand to clear the ball away. However, Rennes took the lead against the run of play with 15 minutes to go. A cross into the box was not cleared by Rod Fanni which allowed Jires Kembo-Ekoko to control and drive the ball past Steve Mandanda. Marseille pushed forward with the notable chance being Benoit Cheyrou bringing out a fine save from Benoit Costil.

[taz]

FT: Roda 2-1Twente

Twente's 100% start to the season was ended when Roda came from behind to win. Roda got their first win since the opening day win over Groningen. Twente started the stronger of the two with Marc Janko testing Pawl Kieszcek. 10 minutes before the break, Willem Janssen's shot was not saved by Kieszcek enabling Janko to slot the ball home from close range. A minute later, Mitchell Donald played a great through ball for Ruud Vormer who then slotted the ball past Nikolay Mihaylov to equalise.On the stroke of half time, Marc Janko headed Leroy Fer's cross onto the post. Two minutes into the second half, Roda took the lead when Mitchell Donald fired Jimmy Hempte's cross into the bottom corner. Roda had the chance to extend their lead when Hempte's cross found Mads Junker but he spurned the ball over the bar. With 20 minutes to go, Twente nearly equalised when Janssen's header was tipped onto the post by Kieszcek. Roda nearly went two goals ahead when Junker's header was cleared off the line by Douglas.

[taz]

FT: Heracles Almelo 2-3 Ajax

Ajax went top of the table with this close win over Heracles Almelo. Ajax started the stronger with Kolbeinn Sigthorsson testing Remko Pasveer 3 minutes in. Derk Boerrigter's shot from range was clawed away by Pasveer minutes later. On the half hour mark however, Heracles took the lead. Willy Overtoom volleyed home Marko Vejinovic's corner from the edge of the box. On the stroke of half time, Siem de Jong latched onto a Miralem Sulejmani cross and de Jong slipped the ball under Pasveer to equalise. Pasveer made a fine save to deny Eriksen with half hour to go but minutes later Ajax made it 2-1. Boerrigter's drive was not held by Pasveer which allowed de Jong to get his second of the game from close range. Sulejmani made it 3-1 with 10 minutes to go with a powerful shot. Glynor Plet pulled a goal back with 2 minutes to go with a low drive. There were nervous moments for Ajax when Lorenzo Ebicilio was sent off but Ajax held on for the 3 points.

[taz]

FT: Juventus 4-1 Parma

Juventus thumped Parma 4-1 in the first Serie A game played at the new stadium. Juve opened the scoring 16 minutes in when Andrea Pirlo lifted the ball over the Parma defence into the path of Stephan Lichtsteiner who with his first touch took the ball past the Antonio Mirante and slotted the ball into the net. Before the break, Alessandro Matri had a goal disallowed. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Alessandro Matri was through on goal with his shot coming off the inside of the post and trickled along the goal line coming out. On 58 minutes, Alessandro The Waterboy picked out Simone Pepe on the right who drilled a shot past Antonio Mirante into the far bottom corner to make it 2-0. Arturo Vidal made it 3 with 15 minutes to go with a nice volley from 20 yards. Man of the match Andrea Pirlo then delivered a chipped pass over the defence for Claudio Marchisio to lob the ball on the volley over Mirante. In stoppage time, Paolo De Ceglie hacked down Sebastian Giovinco who was through on goal conceding a penalty. De Ceglie was sent off with Giovinco converting the penalty. Fantastic start to the season for the bianconeri.

[taz]

FT: Cologne 1-2 Nuremberg

Nuremberg earned an away victory at Cologne. Nuremerg started brightly with Tomas Pekhart hitting the bar. Nuremberg were awarded a penalty on the half hour mark when Pedro Geromel fouled Markus Feulner. Timmy Simons converted the resulting penalty. 5 minutes later, Pedro Geromel upended Pekhart conceding another penalty. Simons converted his 2nd penalty of the match. A couple of minutes later, Alexnader Stephan didnt hold onto Lukas Podolski's shot allowing Adil Chihi to poke the loose ball home. 3 mintues before the break, Nuremberg were reduced to 10 men when Tomas Pekhart was shown a second yellow card. The 2nd half was controlled by Nuremberg with Christian Eigler and Alezander Esswein testing Michael Rensing. Cologne were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes to go when Miso Brecko was shown a straight red for a challenge on Feulner. On secnd viewing, i think it should have been a yellow. Cologne were looking for an equaliser but their best chance came through Christian Clemens who dragged his shot wide.