Premier League Goal of the Weekend

A busy weekend in England's top flight provided fans with plenty of entertainment, and no shortage of top class goals.

Fernando Torres was clinical against Swansea City after a sublime pass from Juan Mata, and across London at the Emirates Stadium Alex Song finished off a comfortable Arsenal victory over Bolton with a well taken goal on his right foot.


But, goal of the weekend goes to the twinkle-toed Portugese winger Nani.  The Manchester United star has started the season in sensational fashion, and he followed up last week's (4K3F6T1F) thunderous drive against Chelsea with an expertly taken goal, on his less favored left foot, against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.


After pausing on the ball midway into the opponent's half, Nani played a neat one two with team mate Darren Fletcher, before ghosting between a couple of Stoke defenders, and finally finishing off a well worked move with a decisive left foot drive into the bottom corner of the net.


Another top class goal from one of the Premier League's most impressive players so far this season.

GOAL OF THE WEEKEND: Nani (Manchester United) vs Stoke City

By Laurie Dunsire

Premier League Round-Up

An eventful weekend in the Barclays Premier League saw plenty of red cards as well as goals, in addition to this Manchester City moved back on level terms with Manchester United after Alex Ferguson's men dropped their first points of the season.

The first game of the weekend came at the Etihad stadium, as unbeaten City hosted Everton – who had won all of their last four away fixtures against the club. Roberto Mancini's expensive squad had to show a degree of patience against a well organised Everton side, but eventually managed to claim the win that their overall play merited, with goals coming from Mario Balotelli and James Milner. The win proved to be very important, as the late afternoon kick off at the Britannia Stadium saw Manchester United held 1-1 against a Stoke side who performed fantastically well, and were deserving of their point. Explosive Portugese winger Nani fired the Red Devils in front with a typically brilliant goal, before towering striker Peter Crouch headed the Potters level during the second half.

Earlier in the day Fernando Torres once again found the net, this time against Swansea City, before undoing his good work with a sending off for an ill advised two footed challenge. Chelsea still managed to win the match 4-1, with Brazilian midfielder Ramires scoring a rare double, before Ashley Williams pulled a goal back for the Welsh side. Experienced striker Didier Drogba came off the bench to finish the scoring deep into stoppage time. Across the capital at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal bounced back from last week's disappointing (970623JM) defeat to Blackburn with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Bolton. Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie was the hero, as he scored twice, taking his overall tally for the Gunners to an impressive 100 goals. Alex Song added the icing to the cake with a well taken late third goal for Arsene Wenger's under pressure side.

Another team who bounced back from disappointment in their last league outing was Liverpool, who were thumped 4-0 by Spurs last week in North London. Wolves were the visitors to Anfield this weekend, and although a second half goal from Steven Fletcher ensured a nervous finish for the Reds, two goals in the first period through a Roger Johnson own goal and an emphatic left foot finish from Luis Suarez were enough to earn them a 2-1 win.

Newcastle United continued their unbeaten start to the Premier League season as they defeated struggling Blackburn Rovers 3-1, with new signing Demba Ba grabbing an impressive hattrick. Rovers' reply came from the highly rated Junior Hoilett.

West Bromich Albion played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw at home to Martin Jol's Fulham, and Spurs continued their recent resurgence with a hard fought 2-1 away victory against Wigan.  Goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale appeared to have Tottenham on easy street at half time, but a Diame goal early in (757719QX) the second half made it more of a contest, as he reduced the two goal deficit to just one. A red card for Wigan's Gohouri may have dampened their hopes, but they still created chances to level the scores, but could not capitalise on them and the match ended 2-1 to Harry Redknapp's men.

The final game of the weekend took place on Sunday as newly promoted Queens Park Rangers drew 1-1 with Aston Villa at Loftus Road. A second half penalty from Scottish international Barry Bannan looked set to give Villa a vital away win, but an unfortunate injury time own goal from Richard Dunne handed the home side a share of the spoils.


By Laurie Dunsire




Premier League Table

1	Man Utd	6	17	16
2	Man City	6	14	16
3	Chelsea	6	5	13
4	Newcastle	6	4	12
5	Liverpool	6	0	10
6	Tottenham	5	0	9
7	Stoke	6	-2	9
8	Aston Villa	6	2	8
9	QPR	6	-2	8
10	Everton	5	0	7
11	Wolves	6	-3	7
12	Arsenal	6	-5	7
13	Sunderland	5	2	5
14	Norwich	5	-2	5
15	Wigan	6	-4	5
16	Swansea	6	-5	5
17	Fulham	6	-3	4
18	Blackburn	6	-5	4
19	West Brom	6	-5	4
20	Bolton	6	-8	3

Weekend World Football round up: Gunners backfire in North-West as United breeze past Chelsea. Barcelona, Bayern & Napoli all record wins.

Arsenal's problems in defence were highlighted again this weekend at Ewood Park as the former Highbury Club went down 4-3 at the hands of Blackburn Rovers. Two own goals from Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny plus a Yakubu brace left the Gunners reeling as they slipped to 17^th place in the Barclay’s Premier League.

Ironically, all three promoted BPL sides enjoyed fantastic victories over WBA, Wolves and Bolton Wanderers.

Queen’s Park Rangers arguably had the most successful Saturday afternoon as they stormed to an exceptional 3-0 win away at Molineux. Goals from Joey Barton, Alejandro Faurlin and DJ Campbell handed the Hoops a notable three points.

Manchester United made headway over Manchester City after a convincing win at Old Trafford. The Red Devils strolled effortlessly past Chelsea and into a two point lead at the top of the BPL. Fernando Torres scored the Blue's solitary goal but also missed an extraordinary chance in the 82^nd minute that could have handed his Team a much needed life-line.

Liverpool sank to their second consecutive defeat in North London. The Merseysider’s drowned in front of their traveling supporters after a wonderful strike from Luka Modric inside the 20th minute. Jermain Defoe added to Tottenham’s lead with a sublime finish and new boy Adebayor struck twice in a 
4-0 win.

In Spain, Real Madrid slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat away at modest Levante on Sunday whilst rivals Barcelona didn’t endure the same problems as they dismantled Osasuna finding the net a gigantic 8 times.

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Bayern Munich recorded a 2-0 win against Schalke which catapulted them into first place in the German Bundesliga on Sunday, while champions Borussia Dortmund were subjected to a second straight defeat as they lost 2-1 at Hanover.

In Italy, Edinson Cavani bagged a hat trick to help Napoli beat defending champions AC Milan 3-1 on Sunday. Alberto Aquilani gave Milan the lead in the 11th minute but the lead was short-lived with Napoli replying with impressive strikes in the 13th, 36th and 51st minute at the San Paolo stadium.

After losing their last three games, Zeta scored three against Lovćen in Montenegro’s 1st League.

Umm Salal couldn’t find a way past Al Rayyan; both Teams drew 1-1 in the Stars League, Qatar.

And finally… in Romania, Astra Ploieşti saw off Gaz Metan Medias with a brilliant performance that leaves them in 6^th place - one position behind Universitatea Cluj in LIGA I.

Adam Partington

Chu-young on the verge of signing for Arsenal

South Korean front man Park Chu-Young is set to complete a dream move to Premier League side Arsenal.

Chu-Young was on the brink of signing on the dotted line for French side Lille with them expecting Park to attend a second Medical for them on Saturday but the Striker didn’t turn up and will now travel to the Emirates Stadium for a Medical. The 26 year old was once a target for Premier League rivals Fulham.

AFC U-19 Championship winner Park made 69 appearances and scored  23 times for FC Seoul between 2005 & 2008

During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Park scored an own goal in a 4-1 defeat by Argentina. However, in South Korea's next match he scored a crucial free-kick in a 2-2 draw with Nigeria, which intern helped South Korea through to the last 16 of the tournament.

Adam Partington

EPL SEASON PREVIEW

The highly anticipated English Premier League kick off is almost upon us, and this season's campaign promises to be just as exciting and dramatic as the last.

Champions Manchester United have already won the first silverware of the season by beating rivals Manchester City in the Community Shield, but their main focus will still be maintaining their grip on the coveted League trophy.

City themselves have spent big once again, with Argentine striker Sergio Aguero joining for the best part of £40m from Athletico Madrid.  Chelsea have a new manager in the young  André Villas-Boas, and the pressure will be on the Portugese to emulate the success that a certain fellow countryman enjoyed at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal look likely to lose Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, and a lack of big name signings will certainly have Gunners fans concerned that a top four place may begin to slip away from Arsene Wenger's men, let alone a potential title challenge.

Play-off fate decided for European hopefuls

Nyon, Switzerland saw the draws for the play-off stage of Champions League and Europa League qualifying. The winners of these ties will move on to compete in the group stages of each competition.

In the Champions League draw, London giants Arsenal were paired with Italian side Udinese, in what is arguably the tie of the round.  The Gunners lost out on an automatic route to the group stage when they allowed Manchester City to overtake them in the Premier League last season, with City capturing third place, leaving Arsene Wenger's men lying in fourth.  The financial reward for reaching the group stages is something that Arsenal will not want to miss out on.

Road to Brazil decided in Rio

On July 30th 1930, at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, tournament hosts Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 to claim the very first World Cup trophy. On the same day in 2011, over eight decades later, the spotlight was once again on South America for the World Cup qualifying draw. Brazil is the destination for the 2014 competition, and it was in sunny Rio de Janeiro that the draw took place, deciding the qualifying fate of 166 countries around the world.

The only side not involved in the qualifiers will be the Brazilian hosts, who are the most successful team when it comes to the World Cup – with five trophies to their name so far, the latest triumph coming in 2002. The top scorer that year was Brazilian legend Ronaldo, and the former striker was present in Rio to assist FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke with the draw, in addition to a handful of other Brazilian greats.