England Football Blog

Blackburn 3-1 Wigan

Roque Santa Cruz took his tally against Wigan to five for the season as Rovers eased to victory at Ewood Park.The Paraguayan opened the scoring with a simple header after Chris Kirkland could only parry a David Bentley drive.

Marlon King levelled from the spot after Christopher Samba had been sent off for a tug on Emile Heskey.

But Jason Roberts restored the lead before Santa Cruz headed the third against a Wigan side who had Wilson Palacios dismissed for two bookings.

Before either the game or crowd had warmed up, Wigan suffered an early scare as Kirkland fell heavily in taking a cross.

The Latics keeper was able to continue after lengthy treatment, but his troubles clearly persuaded Blackburn and Bentley in particular to adopt a shoot-on-sight policy.

The England winger had his first effort on eight minutes, shooting from 35 yards and forcing a low, laboured save from Kirkland.

Three minutes later he fired in another from long range and with Kirkland only able to parry, Santa Cruz reacted first to head home his 17th of the season and fourth against Wigan.

Wigan, who had not conceded in their four previous matches, did not manage their first shot until the 15th minute - Palacios volleying at Brad Friedel from 30 yards - yet two minutes later they were level.

Samba allowed Heskey to get the wrong side of him and his tug on the striker as he closed in on goal was deemed worthy of both a penalty and red card, according to referee Mike Dean.

King opened his Wigan account with a penalty that Friedel could get a hand to, but could not quite keep out.

With no shortage of chances, King saw a 20-yard curled shot well saved before Kirkland made a smart save at the other end from a Santa Cruz drive from 10 yards.

The impressive Bentley nearly restored Blackburn’s lead on 37 minutes, but his 25 yard free-kick came back off the post.

Moments later, Roberts was denied by a superb Erik Edman block, the Swedish defender Jarring his leg in the challenge and going off to be replaced by Ryan Taylor.

Blackburn regained the advantage in the 45th minute, Roberts latching onto his strike partner’s flick, turning Emerson Boyce and finishing calmly past Kirkland against his former club.

Both sides had ambitious penalty shouts turned away in the second half before Santa Cruz wasted a glorious opportunity to extend Rovers’ lead on the hour mark.

Morten Gamst Pedersen found the space to send in a low left wing cross, but the striker sliced horribly wide.

No matter, three minutes later Bentley went on his own run down the left flank and sent over a perfect cross that Santa Cruz headed powerfully home from 10 yards.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce responded by sending on Marcus Bent who, like Santa Cruz, fired a hat-trick when the Latics beat Blackburn 5-3 earlier in the season.

However, their fate was all but sealed when Palacios received his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card for a foul on David Dunn.

With Wigan devoid of ideas, Blackburn were even afforded the luxury of taking Santa Cruz off early to a well-deserved standing ovation.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes:
“I thought we were excellent, a lot of big performances today.”It was really important we won and I said beforehand the players had to understand the significance of the game and as a consequence we got a really good performance.”

Of Christopher Samba’s dismissal, he said: “In the circumstances you usually expect a penalty to be given and that was the case.

“But the punishment did not fit the crime; they scored the penalty, it is 1-0 and you are down to 10 men.”

Wigan manager Steve Bruce
“For the standards we have set both individually and collectively we never got started.”Everything went against us. We got a lifeline with the penalty, sticking that away, and I expected us to kick on, but we didn’t.”

Of injured Erik Edman, he added: “It looks like a ruptured anterior ligament. If that is the case he is going to be out (until) September or October.”

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Blackburn: Friedel, Ooijer, Samba, Khizanishvili, Warnock, Bentley, Reid, Dunn (Mokoena 84), Pedersen, Santa Cruz (McCarthy 89), Roberts (Kerimoglu 78).
Subs Not Used: Brown, Derbyshire.

Goals: Santa Cruz 12, Roberts 45, Santa Cruz 63.

Sent Off: Samba (16). Booked: Bentley.

Wigan: Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Edman (Taylor 41), Valencia, Brown, Palacios, Kilbane, King (Bent 64), Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Aghahowa, Bramble.

Goal: King 17 pen.

Sent Off Palacios (69).

Booked: Palacios, Brown, Melchiot.

Att: 23,541

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).

Middlesbrough 1-0 Derby

Middlesbrough eased their relegation fears with victory over rock-bottom Derby thanks to Tuncay’s cool finish.Tuncay ran on to George Boateng’s flick to shoot low into the corner and pile further misery on a Rams side who have won just one league game this season.

Boro had several good chances to double their lead after the break but the excellent Roy Carroll made fine saves to deny Jeremie Aliadiere and Boateng.

The visitors rallied late on and Rob Earnshaw almost headed an equaliser.

But the Welsh striker’s late effort apart, Derby never looked like ending their dreadful winless Premier League run which now stands at 25 games.

For half an hour they frustrated Gareth Southgate’s side and up until Tuncay’s strike, most of the action involved the respective physios.

Derby’s Mile Sterjovski was forced out of the action after failing to recover from a no-holds barred challenge from Lee Cattermole.

And Sterjovski’s replacement, Emanuel Villa, was lucky referee Martin Atkinson did not see his lunge on Gary O’Neil just before the break.

Robbie Savage, Andrew Taylor and O’Neil all required treatment in a stop-start opening period, but although the commitment could not be questioned, the quality certainly could.

Stewart Downing was the rare exception and provided the few moments of class.

His trickery saw him tease and torment Andy Todd and fire in a stinging low cross which Savage almost diverted into his own net.

David Wheater, called up by England earlier in the week, came closest to giving the home side the lead but the impressive Carroll reacted quickly to clear.

The pressure told when Boro went ahead on 32 minutes and it was no surprise that Downing was involved in the build-up.

The England winger found Boateng and the latter’s clever pass freed Tuncay, who cut in the from the left and fired home his sixth goal of the season

Derby’s only noteworthy chance saw Kenny Miller shoot 20 yards wide after a neat move.

Boro began the second half with much greater purpose and should have put the game out of sight.

Aliadiere twice went close, forcing a fine blocked save from Carroll and then heading narrowly wide.

Carroll then made the save of the match, a stunning one-handed stop to deny Boateng.

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But Boro were almost made to pay for their sloppy finishing as Derby made a game of it in the last quarter.

Substitute Hossam Ghaly showed glimpses of his undoubted talent and the Rams had two great chances to snatch a point in the dying moments.

First, Earnshaw headed wide after Ghaly’s fine crossfield pass caused havoc in the home defence.

And Miller then picked the wrong option and ended up shooting tamely at Mark Schwarzer following a swift counter-attack.

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Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate:
“We only got the one goal and then in the last 25 minutes of the game we subconsciously decided to sit on our lead.”We had a couple of chances to finish the game off but they kept plugging away and only being one goal ahead gave them the chance to get back into it.

“We didn’t really play in the second half. Had we got a second goal I think we would have ended up winning quite comfortably but we held on and it was an important win because we have some difficult games to come.”

Derby manager Paul Jewell:
“In the first half we were rubbish but in the second half we passed the ball well.”We controlled the last 25 minutes and could have snatched a point. We had two great chances and I think they were glad to hear the final whistle.

“We didn’t start the game well and didn’t play the conditions. Rob Earnshaw should have done better with the chance he had but I’ll never have a go at a player for missing chances.

“Hossam Ghaly ran the game when he came on. He was terrific and showed what a good player he is.”

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Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young (Shawky 65), Wheater, Pogatetz, Taylor, O’Neil, Cattermole, Boateng, Downing, Aliadiere (Alves 86), Sanli (Johnson 86).
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Grounds.

Booked: Cattermole, Sanli.

Goals: Sanli 32.

Derby: Carroll, Todd, Moore, Leacock, McEveley, Sterjovski (Villa 39), Savage (Ghaly 62), Jones (Pearson 62), Lewis, Earnshaw, Miller.
Subs Not Used: Price, Robert.

Booked: Savage.

Att: 25,649.

Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).

Bolton 0-0 Man City

Bolton ended their five-game Premier League losing streak but stayed in the relegation zone after being held at home by Manchester City.Gretar Steinsson headed against the post as Bolton started brightly.

City responded with a Stephen Ireland shot that Ricardo Gardner headed off the line but Bolton were dominant.

Only a superb clearance by Joey O’Brien denied City substitute Felipe Caicedo but the home side almost won it when Kevin Davies’ header was hacked clear.

Either side could have ended up with all three points but, given their current plight, Bolton will look back on the game with most regret.

But, for all their long spells of pressure, Gary Megson’s side ultimately lacked the spark they needed to break City down.

Wanderers did have their moments, however, notably with a flurry of chances in the opening minutes.

El Hadji Diouf tested Joe Hart with a rasping shot and, soon after, he sent in a wicked low cross that just eluded Matthew Taylor and Danny Guthrie and was cleared by Vedran Corluka.

From the ensuing corner, which was taken by Senegal star Diouf, Steinsson was first to the ball and sent his header crashing against the post.

But City survived the early storm and threatened themselves when Petrov’s corner was cleared as far as Ireland, who fired in a rasping shot that was headed off the line by Gardner.

Bolton continued to push forward after the break but they were struggling to turn their possession into chances.

And it was City who had the next golden opportunity when Benjani ran clear but he dithered on the ball and, although Elano eventually got a shot away, the opening was wasted.

Only in the final half-hour did the game truly open up and several chances went begging at both ends.

Steinsson’s header was blocked by the impressive Richard Dunne before a last-ditch tackle by Elano denied Davies.

Another Steinsson effort was deflected clear and Hart produced a fine save to keep out Diouf’s shot from a tight angle.

City were threatening too and Elano’s drilled 30-yard shot was pushed away by Ali Ab Habsi before O’Brien’s heroic block kept out Caicedo’s goalbound effort.

Bolton could still have had the final word when Davies rose to head towards the bottom corner but Petrov was in the right place to clear and ensure his side earned a point.

Bolton’s Ricardo Gardner will have an X-ray on a rib injury after being carried off on a stretcher late in the first half. The Jamaica midfielder landed awkwardly under a challenge from Darius Vassell.

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Bolton boss Gary Megson:
“We have drawn a game we maybe should have won but not through a lack of effort.”We gave their goalkeeper a lot to do and we certainly could not have tried any harder.

“We had a lot of efforts on goal so there is a lot to be positive about but at this stage of the season it is all about getting the three points.”

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson:
“Bolton are fighting for their lives. You have to cope with the way they play and defensively we did okay.”Richard Dunne was extremely important to us in dealing with the amount of long balls and crosses they put in.

“We dealt with them well but we hit too many long balls ourselves and in the future we have to play more football.”

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Bolton: Al Habsi, Steinsson, Cahill, Andrew O’Brien, Gardner (Joey O’Brien 46), Diouf, Nolan, Campo (McCann 63), Guthrie, Taylor (Giannakopoulos 83), Davies.
Subs Not Used: Walker, Rasiak.

Booked: Nolan.

Man City: Hart, Corluka, Onuoha, Dunne, Garrido, Ireland (Elano 58), Gelson, Johnson, Petrov, Vassell (Caicedo 58), Mwaruwari.
Subs Not Used: Isaksson, Jihai, Castillo.

Att: 22,633

Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).

Rangers 2-1 Hibernian

SPL leaders Rangers overcame Hibs at Ibrox thanks to goals from Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo. After a sluggish start, Darcheville smashed an impressive shot high into the far corner of the net from an acute angle on 40 minutes.

Substitute Nacho Novo later capitalised on a Chris Hogg mistake to drill in a sharp finish from 14 yards.

Hibs lacked a cutting edge in attack until Dean Shiels found the net after his initial effort had hit the bar.

Home manager Walter Smith made five changes from the Scottish Cup draw against Partick Thistle, with Barry Ferguson, David Weir, Sasa Papac, Lee McCulloch and Darcheville returning.

Hibs made two changes following last week’s win over Kilmarnock. Out went Paul Hanlon and Merouane Zemmama to be replaced by the more robust duo of Ian Murray and Abdel Zarabi.

The cagey early stages saw both sides strive to keep possession, with Hibs enjoying more success with some neat interplay and crisp passing.

However, it was some slack play from Rangers which presented the visitors with their first sight of goal.

An errant delivery found its way to Filipe Morias, who lifted a neat pass towards Colin Nish, but the big striker misjudged the bounce of the ball as he bore down on keeper Allan McGregor and a great chance was gone.

Rangers’ first meaningful effort on goal came on 18 minutes when Papac thundered a long range shot narrowly wide of the target.

Hibs striker Steven Fletcher dragged a shot wide from 20 yards as as both goalkeepers looked on without getting their gloves dirty.

Smith’s side had been out-of-sorts but took the lead five minutes before the interval thanks to the sharpness of Darcheville and sloppy defending from Hibs.

Full-back Martin Canning was caught napping when Papac threaded a simple pass through to his team-mate and the striker cut in from the left flank before slamming a shot beyond Yves Makalambay from a tight angle.

Early in the second half, Darcheville broke clear of the Hibs defence but Makalambay used his large frame to block the Frenchman’s shot from 18 yards.

The striker again raced into a dangerous position but was thwarted by the keeper, who was quick to leave his area and kick clear.

Hibs continued to knock the ball around confidently but lacked any punch up front and the home side increased their lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Hogg made a mess of dealing with a long ball from Kirk Broadfoot and Novo was hand to spin on the defender’s weak header and shoot low past Makalambay.

Shiels added some trickery for the visitors and McGregor had to make a good save to tip away his shot.

The substitute grabbed a late consolation for Hibs when he latched on to a pass from Nish and followed up his clever chip which hit the crossbar to drill the ball home.

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Rangers: McGregor, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, Dailly, Thomson, Davis, Ferguson, McCulloch (Whittaker 81), Darcheville (Novo 67). Subs Not Used: Alexander, Boyd, Naismith, Emslie, Furman.

Goals: Darcheville 40, Novo 79.

Hibernian: Ma-Kalambay, Canning, Hogg, Jones, Zarabi, Morais (Shiels 58), Chisholm (Zemmama 58), Rankin, Murray, Nish, Fletcher (Benjelloun 75). Subs Not Used: McNeil, McCann, O’Brien, Stevenson.

Booked: Fletcher, Zarabi, Jones.

Goal: Shiels 90.

Att: 50,117

Ref: S Conroy

Stoke 1-1 Blackpool

Leon Cort’s second-half goal earned Championship leaders Stoke a point. After a traffic accident caused the kick-off to be delayed by 30 minutes, Stoke started well and Mamady Sidibe headed against the Blackpool post.

But Ben Burgess dispatched a 20-yard drive which appeared to take a slight deflection off Cort on the way past Stoke goalkeeper Carlo Nash.

Stoke equalised when Paul Gallacher’s corner was headed on by Chris Riggott and Cort applied the finish.

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Stoke boss Tony Pulis on referee Mike Pike after his late arrival forced kick-off to be delayed by 30 minutes:
“It’s a serious lack of professionalism by the referee.”I am amazed. He chose to travel down the busiest road in the country on the day of the game during a holiday period. It is astonishing.”I had to drag my players in from the warm up, we were all sitting around for half an hour, and then I had to send them out again.”

Blackpool boss Simon Grayson on the disruption caused by their late arrival:
“I can understand Stoke’s frustration but we started off from Blackpool at 10am for a 75 minute journey and it took over four hours.”I told the players I wouldn’t accept our problems as an excuse for a poor performance - they rallied to the call.”It was a very good point and we could have got all three.”

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Stoke: Nash, Griffin, Cort (Zakuani 55), Riggott, Pugh, Delap, Whelan, Diao (Wilkinson 8 (Bothroyd 65)), Gallagher, Cresswell, Sidibe.
Subs Not Used: Simonsen, Parkin.Goal: Cort 47.

Blackpool: Rachubka, Crainey, Gorkss, Evatt, Barker, Hoolahan, Flynn, Jorgensen, Taylor-Fletcher (Holt 86), Burgess, McPhee.
Subs Not Used: Coid, Morrell, Fox, Welsh.

Goal: Burgess 36.

Booked: Jorgensen 40.

Att: 20,019

Referee: Mike Pike (Cumbria)

Fulham 0-3 Manchester United

Barclays Premier League

Craven Cottage, Saturday 1st March 2008

Fulham vs. Manchester United

Goals:

ManUtd.: Owen Hargreaves 15′ ; Park Ji-Sung 44′ ; Simon Davies (og) 72′

Check out the Highlights:

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Westham 0-4 Chelsea

Barclays Premier League Round 28

West Ham vs Chelsea

Saturday March 1st, 2008 , 15 GMT
Upton Park

Goals:

Chelsea: Lampard from a PK 16′ ; Joe Cole 19′ ; Ballack 24′ ; Ashly Cole 63

Check out the Highlights:

credit: futvolgoles