Sunday, August 30, 2009

Kano Pillars Top Al-Hilal; Scoreless In Zambia

Matchday #4 in the CAF Champions League's group stage concluded Sunday with two games in Group A.

At Lusaka, Zambia:

Despite holding hosts ZESCO United FC to a 0-0 stalemate, Al-Merreikh are on the verge of elimination from the tournament.

At Kano, Nigeria:

Kano Pillars FC moved into a first-place tie on points as they defeated visiting Al-Hilal 2-1, thanks to goals from Gambo Mohammed (45'+) and Moses Ogaga (73').

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Al-Hilal (GP: 4; GD: +2; PTS: 7)
2. Kano Pillars FC (GP: 4; GD: +1; PTS: 7)
3. ZESCO United FC (GP: 4; GD: 0; PTS: 5)
4. Al-Merreikh (GP: 4; GD: -3; PTS: 2)

Rapids and Red Bulls Rack Up 1-0 Home Wins

Two games were played in Major League Soccer on Sunday.

At Commerce City, Colorado:

Julien Baudet scored the only goal of the match at 55 minutes as the Colorado Rapids knocked off the visiting Houston Dynamo 1-0.

At East Rutherford, New Jersey:

The New York Red Bulls, with Dane Richards' goal at 63 minutes, upset the visiting Columbus Crew 1-0.

MLS STANDINGS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

1. Columbus (GP: 23; GD: +9; PTS: 39
2. Chicago (GP: 24; GD: +5; PTS: 38)
3. New England (GP: 21; GD: +0; PTS: 33)
4. DC United (GP: 23; GD: +1; PTS: 32)
5. Toronto FC (GP: 23; GD: -3; PTS: 31)
6. Kansas City (GP: 21; GD: -9; PTS: 21)
7. New York (GP: 24; GD: -21; PTS: 16)

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

1. Houston (GP: 25; GD: +9; PTS: 40)
2. Los Angeles (GP: 24; GD: +5; PTS: 38)
3. Seattle (GP: 24; GD: +6; PTS: 34)
4. Real Salt Lake (GP: 24; GD: +8; PTS: 33)
5. Colorado (GP: 22; GD: +8; PTS: 33)
6. Chivas USA (GP: 22; GD: -1; PTS: 33)
7. FC Dallas (GP: 22; GD: -4; PTS: 23)
8. San Jose (GP: 22; GD: -13; PTS: 20)

AS Monaco Lose On Road To Sochaux

At Montbeliard, France:

A successful penalty kick from Vaclav Sverkos at 20 minutes provided all the scoring as FC Sochaux blanked visiting AS Monaco 1-0 in Ligue 1 action on Saturday.

Espanyol Drop Season Opener

At Bilbao, Spain:

Gaizka Toquero scored the only goal of the match at 78 minutes as Athletic Bilbao blanked visiting Espanyol 1-0 in the La Liga season opener for both clubs.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

DC United Top Fire In Chicago, Again; Becks' Goal Powers Galaxy Over Goats; RSL Also Win On Road; Revs Win; Scoreless In Seattle

Five games were contested Saturday in Major League Soccer.

At Seattle:

Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC battled to a 0-0 deadlock. The Sounders have gone three straight home games and 314 minutes at home without scoring a goal.

At Foxborough, Massachusetts:

Goals scored in the second half by Steve Ralston (68') and Wells Thompson (74') enabled the New England Revolution to hold off the visiting San Jose Earthquakes 2-1.

At Bridgeview, Illinois:

Bryan Namoff scored the only goal of the match (11') as DC United defeated the Chicago Fire. DCU have picked up three wins and one draw in their last four league meetings at Chicago.

At Kansas City, Kansas:

Real Salt Lake, with Pablo Campus scoring at 18 minutes, defeated the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 on the road.

At Carson, California:

The Los Angeles Galaxy (as the designated home team) took on stadiummates Chivas USA in the third installment of this year's Los Angeles Derby and defeated the Goats 1-0, thanks to David Beckham's goal, his first since rejoining the Galaxy on July 16 at 80 minutes.

TP Mazembe Win On Road; Heartland and Etoile du Sahel Draw In Tunisia

Group stage play in the CAF Champions League resumed with two games in Group B on Saturday.

At Harare, Zimbabwe:

Dioko Kaliyutuka (8') and Given Singuluma (90') provided the goalpower that lifted TP Mazembe to a 2-0 road win over Monomotapa United FC.

At Sousse, Tunisia:

Heartland held hosts Etoile du Sahel to a 0-0 stalemate.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. TP Mazembe (GP: 4; GD: +8; PTS: 9)
2. Heatland FC (GP: 4; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
3. Etoile du Sahel (GP: 4; GD: -3; PTS: 4)
4. Monomotapa United FC (GP: 4; GD: -6; PTS: 3)


'Spose That Rossoneri Miss Kaka?

At Milan, Italy:

In Serie A action on Saturday, Thiago Motta (29'), Alberto Diego Milito
(PK-36'), Maicon (45'), and Dejan Stankovic (67') each provided a goal as Inter Milan ripped apart AC Milan 4-0 in the local Milan Derby.

Bayern Blast Wolfsburg 3-0

At Munich, Germany:

Goals from Mario Gomez (27') and Arjen Robben (67', 80') helped power Bayern Munich to their first German Bundesliga win of the regular season, a 3-0 home beatdown of defending champs VfL Wolfsburg.

Wolves Salvage Home Draw With Tigers

At Wolverhampton, England:

In Saturday play in the English Premier League, Richard Stearman's goal at 46 minutes enabled Wolverhampton Wanderers to salvage a 1-1 home deadlock with Hull City, whose goal came from Marcio Giovanni at 3 minutes.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Catalans Capture UEFA Super Cup


At Monaco:

Pedro Rodriguez scored the only goal of the match in overtime (115', he's shown here celebrating) as Barcelona defeated Shakhtar Donetsk to win the UEFA Super Cup 1-0 on Friday.

Photo © Getty Images

Europa League Group Stage Draw Results

Here are the results from Friday's draw for the group stage of the 2009-10 UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) that took place in Monaco:

Group A:

Ajax Amsterdam
RSC Anderlecht
Dinamo Zagreb
FC Timisoara

Group B:

Valencia
LOSC Lille Metropole
Slavia Prague
Genoa

Group C:

Hamburg
Celtic
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC
Rapid Vienna

Group D:

Sporting
SC Heerenveen
Hertha Berlin
FK Ventspils

Group E:

AS Roma
FC Basel 1893
Fulham
CSKA Sofia

Group F:

Panathinaikos
Galatasaray
Dinamo Bucharest
Sturm Graz

Group G:

Villarreal
Lazio
Levski Sofia
Red Bull Salzburg

Group H:

Steaua Bucharest
Fenerbahce
FC Twente
FC Sheriff

Group I:

SL Benfica
Everton
AEK Athens
BATE Borisov

Group J:

Shakhtar Donetsk
Club Brugge
Partizan Belgrade
Toulouse

Group K:

PSV Eindhoven
FC Copenhagen
Sparta Prague
CFR 1907 Cluj

Group L:

Werder Bremen
Austria Vienna
Athletic Bilbao
CD Nacional

The action begins on September 17. Each team will play two games against each of the other three clubs in its group (one home, one away). The top two teams in each group would advance to the knockout stage, beginning with the round of 32, where they would be joined by the third-place finishers from each of the eight groups in the UEFA Champions League.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Communicaciones and Pumas Rack Up Road Wins

Matchday #2 in the CONCACAF Champions League's group stage concluded Thursday with two games in Group D.

At Marabella, Trinidad and Tobago:

Goals from Transito Montepeque (31') and Rolando Fonseca (PK-80) lifted Communicaciones to a 2-1 road win over W Connection.

At San Pedro Sula, Honduras:

A hat trick from Davey Lopez (63', 67', 82') allowed UNAM Pumas to break open a close game and rack up a 5-1 road win over Real Espana.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. UNAM Pumas (GP: 2; GD: +5; PTS: 6)
2. Communicaciones (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
3. Real Espana (GP: 2; GD: -3; PTS: 3)
4. W Connection (GP: 2; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Champions League Group Stage Draw

Here are the results from Thursday's draw for the group stage of the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League that took place in Monaco.

Group A:

Bayern Munich
Juventus
Bordeaux
Maccabi Haifa FC


Group B:

Manchester United
CSKA Moscow
Besiktas
VfL Wolfsburg


Group C:

AC Milan
Real Madrid
Marseille
FC Zurich

Group D:

Chelsea
FC Porto
Atletico Madrid
APOEL FC


Group E:

Liverpool
Lyon
Fiorentina
Debreceni VSC


Group F:

Barcelona
Inter Milan
Dynamo Kiev
FC Rubin Kazan

Group G:

Sevilla
Rangers
VfB Stuttgart
Unirea Urziceni


Group H:

Arsenal
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiacos
Standard de Liege

In each group, each team would play each of the other teams twice, once at home, once on the road. The top two teams in each group would advance to the knockout stage, beginning with the round of 16.

The third-place clubs in each group would move on to the round of 32 in the Europa League.

Group stage play will begin on September 15 and 16.

Europa League: Playoff Round Concludes

Thursday marked the conclusion of the Playoff Round for group stage berths in the 2009-10 Europa League.

The host clubs for the Thursday second matches in the two-game total-goals series will be listed first, with the series winners used as links to stats on the individual contests. The 38 playoff round winners will be joined in the group stage by the ten clubs that lost their UEFA Champions League playoff round two-game sets.

There will be a draw on Friday for the Europa League group stage in Monaco.

Here are the Thursday results:

FK Aktobe 0-2 Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen won 8-3 on aggregate.

FK Amkar Perm 1-0 Fulham
Fulham won 2-1 on aggregate.

FK Qarabag 0-0 FC Twente
FC Twente won 3-1 on aggregate.

Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC 1-1 FK Teplice
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC won 3-2 on aggregate.

Dinamo Moscow 1-2 CSKA Sofia
CSKA Sofia won 2-1 on aggregate.

SK Sigma Olomouc 1-1 Everton
Everton won on aggregate, 5-1.

Hertha Berlin 3-1 Brondby IF
Hertha Berlin won 4-3 on aggregate.

SK Slovan Bratislava 1-2 Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax won 7-1 on aggregate.

Zenit Saint Petersburg 1-1 CD Nacional
CD Nacional won 4-3 on aggregate.

CFR 1907 Cluj 2-1 FK Sarajevo
CFR 1907 Cluj won 3-2 on aggregate.

SC Heerenveen 0-0 PAOK FC
SC Heerenveen won due to the away goals rule.
Series was 1-1 on aggregate.

LOSC Lille Metropole 4-2 KRC Genk
Lille won 6-3 on aggregate.

IF Elfsborg 1-0 Lazio
Lazio won 3-1 on aggregate.

Tromso IL 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao won 4-3 on aggregate.

FC Metalist Kharkiv 0-1 SK Sturm Graz
Sturm Graz won 2-1 on aggregate.

FK Austria Vienna 2-2 FC Metalluhr Donetsk
That was the score after regulation time in the
second match. The two-match series went into
overtime, where Emin Sulimani scored the
series winner 25 minutes into overtime.
Austria Vienna won the series 5-4 after overtime.

FC Slovan Liberec 0-3 Dinamo Bucharest*
*FC Slovan Liberec on Tuesday were awarded
a 3-0 first-game win on the road due to that
pitch invasion that took place last week in Bucharest.

After regulation time of game two, with the total aggregate
scored deadlocked at 3-3 with the
Romanian club outscoring their hosts 3-0, and thirty scoreless
overtime minutes, Dinamo Bucharest won the penalty
kick shootout 9-8 and advanced to the Europa
League's group stage.

MSK Zilina 0-2 Partizan Belgrade
Partizan Belgrade won 3-1 on aggregate.


FC Basel 1893 5-1 FK Baki
FC Basel won 8-2 on aggregate.


AEK Athens 3-0 SC Vaslui
AEK Athens won 4-2 on aggregate.


FC Levadia Tallinn 1-1 Galatasaray
Galatasaray won 6-1 on aggregate.


PFC Litex Lovech 0-1 BATE Borisov
That was the score after regulation time
of game two, tying the two-match series at
1-1 on aggregate, forcing two overtime periods, where
BATE Borisov scored three times (Vitali Rodionov at 5
minutes into overtime, Sergei Sosnovski at 9 minutes into
extra time, and Maksim Shavysh at 28 minutes into
overtime ,enabling the Belorussian club to take the series 4-1 after
overtime.


Sparta Prague 1-0 NK Maribor
Sparta Prague won 3-0 on aggregate.


Villarreal 6-1 NAC Breda
Villarreal won 9-2 on aggregate.


Club Brugge 1-0 KKS Lech Poznan
After regulation time of game two, the series was
deadlocked 1-1. After thirty scoreless overtime minutes,
Club Brugge won the penalty-kick shootout 4-3 to advance
to the Europa League's group stage.

Red Star Belgrade 2-1 Slavia Prague
Slavia Prague won 4-2 on aggregate.


Hamburg 3-1 EA Guingamp
Hamburg won 8-2 on aggregate.


Fenerbahce 2-2 FC Sion
Fenerbahce on 4-2 on aggregate.

Odensk BK 1-1 Genoa
Genoa won 4-2 on aggregate.


Hearts 2-0 Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb won 4-2 on aggregate.


AS Roma 7-1 MFK Kosice
AS Roma won 10-4 on aggregate.

PSV Eindhoven 1-0 Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC
PSV won 2-0 on aggregate.


FC Vorskla Poltava 2-1 SL Benfica
Benfica won 5-2 on aggregate.

Saint Patrick's Athletic 1-2 Steaua Bucharest
Steaua Bucharest won 5-1 on aggregate.


Aston Villa 2-1 SK Rapid Vienna
Rapid Vienna won on away goals (2-2 on aggregate).

Toulouse 0-1 Trabzonspor
Toulouse won 3-2 on aggregate.

Valencia 4-1 Stabaek IF
Valencia won 7-1 on aggregate.








Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Say Hello To...

The new Italian Premier League?

Dynamo Gain Road Draw; DC United and Crew Smothered

Matchday #2 in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League continued on Wednesday.

Group A:

At Panama City, Panama:

Orlando Rodriguez scored the equalizer at 90 minutes to enable Arabe Unido to salvage a 1-1 home draw with the Houston Dynamo. Kei Kamara put the Dynamo on the scoreboard at 69 minutes.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Arabe Unido (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 4)
2. Houston Dynamo (GP: 2; GD: +1; PTS: 4)
3. Pachuca (GP: 2; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
4. Isidro Metapan (GP: 2; GD: -6; PTS: 0)

Group B:

At Washington:

Goals courtesy of Vladimir Marin (5') and Hector Mancilla (79', 86') paced Toluca to a 3-1 road win over DC United.

At San Pedro Sula, Honduras:

Goals from Mario Berrios (10'), Mauricio Sabillon (86'), and Walter Martinez (90') guided Club Deportivo Marathon to a 3-1 home win over San Juan Jabloteh.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. CD Marathon (GP: 2; GD: +4; PTS: 6)
2. Toluca (GP: 2; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
3. San Juan Jabloteh (GP: 2; GD: -3; PTS: 0)
4. DC United (GP: 2; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

Group C:

At Mexico City:

Jaime Lozano's hat trick (3', PK-81', 87') helped power Cruz Azul to a 5-0 frontier-styled home fistbeating of the Columbus Crew.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Cruz Azul (GP: 2; GD: +7; PTS: 6)
2. Saprissa (GP: 2; GD: 0; PTS: 3)
3. Columbus Crew (GP: 2; GD: -3; PTS: 3)
4. Puerto Rico Islanders (GP: 2; GD: -4; PTS: 0)

RSL Flatten Goats

At Sandy, Utah:

In Wednesday's lone Major League Soccer match, Robbie Findley scored twice (85', 90') and Pablo Campos (43') and Fabian Espindola (75') each tallied once as Real Salt Lake smothered visiting Chivas USA 4-0.

Olympiacos, APOEL, Gunners, Stuttgart, and Fiorentina Reach Champions League Group Stage

The playoff round for group stage berths in the UEFA Champions League concluded Wednesday.

Champions Path:

At Athens:

Kostas Mitroglou scored the only goal of the match at 82 minutes as Olympiacos defeated FC Sheriff 1-0 at home in game two of their two-match home-and-away series and took the two-match set 3-0 on aggregate to return to the Champions League group stage.

At Nicosia, Cypryus:

APOEL FC overturned last week's 1-0 road loss with a 3-1 home triumph in game two to eliminate FC Copenhagen 3-2 on aggregate. Kamil Kosowski (2') and Chrysostomos Michail (PK-18', 41') provided the goals that placed the Cypriot club in the group stage for the first time.

Non-Champions Path:

At London:

Eduardo (PK-28'), Emmanuel Eboue (53'), and Andrei Arshvin (74') each contributed a goal as Arsenal took care of visiting Celtic 3-1 in game two and 5-1 on aggregate in the series. For the Gunners, it will be their 12th consecutive appearance in the Champions League's group stage.

At Stuttgart, Germany:

A 0-0 home draw with FC Timisoara in game two was good enough for VfB Stuttgart to take the two-match set 2-0 on aggregate and advance to the group stage for the second time in three years.

At Florence, Italy:

Stevan Jovetic scored the series-winning goal at 54 minutes as Fiorentina gained a 1-1 home draw with Sporting and took the series (3-3) due to the fact they outscored the Portuguese club 2-1 on the road.

The five teams that were eliminated from Champions League play will take part in the group stage of the Europa League.

The draw for the Champions League group stage will take place in Monaco on Thursday.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Another One From The "People Are No Damned Good" Department

And we all thought that English soccer hooliganism was dead.

Pachuca And Saprissa Rack Up Impressive Home Wins

Matchday #2 in group stage play in the CONCACAF Champions League commenced on Tuesday.

Group A:

At Pachuca, Mexico:

Doubles from Ulises Mendivil (21', 55') and Jose Torres (85', 90'+1) helped guide Pachuca to a 5-0 home featbeating of Isidro Metapan.

Group C:

At San Jose, Costa Rica:

Jairo Arrieta (34'), Walter Centeno (40'), and Armando Alonso (49') provided the scoring that lifted Deportivo Saprissa to a 3-1 home win over the Puerto Rico Islanders.

Shakhtar Donetsk Reach Europa League Group Stage

At Donetsk, Ukraine:

In the lone Tuesday contest in the playoff round for places in the group stage of the Europa League, Jadson (PK-21) and Luiz Adriano (PK-59') provided the successful penalty kicks that lifted Shakhtar Donetsk to a 2-0 win in game two over visiting Sivasspor and took out the Turkish club in the two-game set 5-0 on aggregate. Last year's UEFA Cup winners will play in the group stage of its' successor.

The 37 other playoff round series will conclude on Thursday.

Atletico, Lyon, Debreceni, Maccabi Haifa, FC Zurich Advance To Group Stage

Five clubs won their way to the UEFA Champions League's group stage on Tuesday.

Champions Path:

At Tel Aviv, Israel:

Goals from Vladimer Dvalishvili (31'), Eyal Golasa (57'), and Mohammad Ghadir (90') powered Maccabi Haifa FC to an easy 3-0 home thumping of FC Red Bull Salzburg in game two of their two-game series and a 5-1 aggregate win for the series, lifting the Israeli club into the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time since 2002-03.

At Budapest, Hungary:

Jozsef Varga (13') and Gergely Rudolf (35') each tallied once as Debreceni VSC blanked visiting PFC Levski Sofia 2-0 in game two to take the two-match set 4-1 on aggregate to become the first Hungarian club to reach the Champions League's group stage since Ferencvarosi TC in 1994-95.

At St. Gallen, Switzerland:

With goals courtesy of Johan Vonlanthen (6') and Almen Abdi (90'+2), FC Zurich defeated visiting FK Ventspils 2-1 in game two to take the two-game set 5-1 on aggregate. For the Swiss club, this marks their first-ever group stage appearance.

Non-Champions Path:

Lisandro's first-half hat trick (26', 32', 41') guided Lyon to a 3-1 game-two road win over RSC Anderlecht. The long-time French powerhouse finished off their Belgian opponents 8-2 on aggregate and will compete in the group stage for the tenth straight season.

At Madrid:

Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute as Atletico Madrid defeated visiting Panathinaikos 2-0 in game two to take their two-match series 5-2 on aggregate. They will agian compete in the group stage.

The five clubs that lost their two-match series today, as well as tomorrow's losers will still play in the group stage of the Europa League.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Red Bulls End Winless Streak; Kheli Dube Hat Trick Powers Revs; Fire Overcome 2-0 Home Deficit To Top Rapids; Sounders and Dynamo Draw In Houston

Four games in Major League Soccer were contested on Sunday.

At East Rutherford, New Jersey:

A Dane Richards goal (27') sandwiched between Juan Pablo Angel's double (4', 88') lifted the New York Red Bulls to a 3-2 home win over FC Dallas, ending the Red Bulls' 6-game losing and 13-match winless streaks. It marked the successful start to Richie Williams' second stint as New York's interim head coach.

At Foxborough, Massachusetts:

Kheli Dube's hat trick (9', 29', 67') guided the New England Revolution to a 3-1 home win over Real Salt Lake.

At Bridgeview, Illinois:

The Chicago Fire
, with goals courtesy of Cuauhtemoc Blanco (PK-72'), Mike Banner (85'), and Desan Robinson (90'), overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the visiting Colorado Rapids 3-2.

At Houston:

Nate Jaqua's equalizer at 70 minutes enabled Seattle Sounders FC to gain a 1-1 road draw with the Houston Dynamo. Geoff Cameron registered the lone Houston goal at 36 minutes.

MLS STANDINGS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

1. Columbus (GP: 22; GD: +10; PTS: 39)
2. Chicago (GP: 23; GD: +6; PTS: 38)
3. New England (GP: 20; GD: -1; PTS: 30)
4. Toronto FC (GP: 22; GD: -3; PTS: 30)
5. DC United (GP: 22; GD: 0; PTS: 29)
6. Kansas City (GP: 20; GD: -8; PTS: 21)
7. New York (GP: 23; GD: -22; PTS: 13)

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
1. Houston (GP: 24; GD: +10; PTS: 40)
2. Los Angeles (GP: 23; GD: +4; PTS: 35)
3. Seattle (GP: 23; GD: +6; PTS: 33)
4. Chivas USA (GP: 20; GD: +4; PTS: 33)
5. Colorado (GP: 21; GD: +7; PTS 30)
6. Real Salt Lake (GP: 22; GD: +3; PTS: 27)
7. FC Dallas (GP: 22; GD: -4; PTS: 23)
8. San Jose (GP: 21; GD: -12; PTS: 20)

Sky Blue FC Capture WPS Crown

At Carson, California:

Heather O'Reilly scored the only goal of the match (16') as New Jersey-based Sky Blue FC knocked off the Los Angeles Sol 1-0 to win the Women's Professional Soccer inaugural championship game on Saturday.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Galaxy And DC United: Scoreless In Nation's Capital; Goats and Quakes Register Home Shutout Wins

Three games took place Saturday in Major League Soccer.

At Washington:

The Los Angeles Galaxy and DC United battled to a 0-0 stalemate.

At Santa Clara, California:

Chris Wondolowski scored the only goal of the match (90'+3) as the San Jose Earthquakes knocked off the visiting Kanasa City Wizards 1-0.

At Carson, California:

Sacha Kljestan scored both goals (32', 51') as Chivas USA downed visiting Toronto FC 2-0.

AS Monaco Back On Winning Track

At Monaco:

Goals from Frederic Nimani (22') and Anderson Luiz de Carvalho Nene (33') guided AS Monaco to a 2-0 home shutout win over Lorient Saturday in Ligue 1 action.

Pato Double Lifts Rossoneri

At Siena, Italy:

Alexandre Pato's double (29', 48') lifted AC Milan to a 2-1 road win over AC Siena Saturday in the Serie A season opener for both clubs.

Mainz Stun Bayern

At Mainz, Germany:

Goals from Andreas Ivanschitz (25') and Aristide Bance (38') lifted FSV Mainz 05, a club promoted at the end of last season from the second division to a shocking 2-1 home win over Bayern Munich in German Bundesliga action on Saturday.

Citizens Hold Off Wolves

At Manchester, England:

Emmanuel Adebayor's goal at 17 minutes held up as Manchester City held off Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 in Premiership play on Saturday.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Bulls Coach Quits

It figures that I he hadn't resigned, he likely would have gotten the boot.


For his interim replacement, or as they say in the soccer biz, caretaker manager, this is his second crack.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Rough Night For Trinidadian Clubs

Matchday #1 of group stage play in the CONCACAF Champions League concluded Thursday.

Group B:

A Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago:

Raul Nava scored the only goal of the match (9') as Mexican club Toluca defeated San Juan Jaboleh 1-0 on the road.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. CD Marathon (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Toluca (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. San Juan Jaboleh (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. DC United (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)

Group D:

At San Pedro Sula, Honduras:

Thanks to the game's lone goal, scored by Henry Martinez , Real Espana defeated visiting W Connection 1-0.

GROUP D STANDINGS:

1. UNAM Pumas (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
2. Real Espana (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. W Connection (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)
4. Communicaciones (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS: 0)

Revs Blank Sounders In Seattle

At Seattle:

Shalrie Joseph scored the only goal of the match (21') as the New England Revolution knocked off Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 Thursday night on the road in Major League Soccer action. The Sounders' Fredy Montero missed his penalty kick attempt at 45 minutes.

Europa League Playoff Round Starts

The playoff round for group stage places in the 2009-10 Europa League commenced on Thursday as the 38 two-match sets got started. The games will be listed with the host clubs listed first. There will be links to stats on the individual games where the winners (as well as the visiting clubs in non-scoreless draws, due to the away goals rules). In the case of a scoreless draw, a link will placed on that score.

Kosice 3-3 AS Roma

Baki 1-3 FC Basel 1893

Teplice 1-2 Hapoel Tel-Aviv

FC BATE Borisov 0-1 PFC Litex Lovech

Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC 0-1 PSV Eindhoven

Trabzonspor 1-3 Toulouse FC

EA Guingamp 1-5 Hamburg

PFC CSKA Sofia 0-0 FC Dinamo Moscow

NAC Breda 1-3 Villarreal CF

PAOK FC 1-1 SC Heerenveen

FC Metalluhr Donetsk 2-2 FK Austria Vienna

SK Sturm Graz 1-1 FC Metalist Kharkiv

SK Rapid Vienna 1-0 Aston Villa

Steaua Bucharest 3-0 Saint Patrick's Athletic

Dinamo Bucharest vs. FC Slovan Liberec:
Match abandoned at Bucharest, Romania with the visiting club from the Czech Republic leading 2-0.

Personal note: This is another episode from the "People Are No Damned Good" Department.



Slavia Prague 3-0 Red Star Belgrade

Sivasspor 3-0 Shakhtar Donetsk

FC Twente 3-1 FK Qarabag

SC Vaslui 2-1 AEK Athens

Partizan Belgrade 1-1 MSK Zilina

FK Sarajevo 1-1 CFR 1907 Cluj

FC Sion 2-0 Fenerbahce

Brondby IF 2-1 Hertha Berlin

KKS Lech Poznan 1-0 Club Brugge

Lazio 3-0 IF Elfsborg

KRC Genk 1-2 Lille

Ajax Amsterdam 5-0 SK Slovan Bratislava

NK Maribor 0-2 Sparta Prague

SL Benfica 4-0 FC Vorskla Poltava

Galatasaray 5-0 FC Levadia Tallinn

Genoa 3-1 Odensk BK

Fulham 3-1 FC Amkar Perm

NK Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 Hearts

Werder Bremen 6-3 FK Aktobe

Everton 4-0 SK Sigma Olomouc

Staebek IF 0-3 Valencia

CD Nacional 4-3 Zenit Saint Petersburg

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Tromso IL

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Houston Dynamo, Cruz Azul, and Arabe Unido Rack Up Wins

Group stage play in the CONCACAF Champions League continued Wednesday.

Group A:

At Houston:

Brian Ching scored the only goal of the match (68') as the Houston Dynamo defeated visiting AD Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) 1-0.

At Panama City, Panama:

Goals from Orlando Rodriguez (24'), Victor Mendieta (45'), Manuel Mosquera (72'), and Reynaldo Lewis (88') powered Club Deportivo Arabe Unido to a 4-1 beating of visiting Pachuca.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. CD Arabe Unido (GP: 1; GD: +3; PTS: 3)
2. Houston Dynamo (GP: 1; GD: +1; PTS: 3)
3. AD Isidro Metapan (GP: 1; GD: -1; PTS 0)
4. Pachuca (GP: 1; GD: -3; PTS: 0)

Group C:

At Mexico City:

Cristian Riveros (14') and Joel Huiqui (36') each contributed a goal in the first half as Cruz Azul blanked visiting Saprissa 2-0.

GROUP C STANDINGS:

1. Columbus Crew (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
2. Cruz Azul (GP: 1; GD: +2; PTS: 3)
3. Saprissa (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)
4. Puerto Rico Islanders (GP: 1; GD: -2; PTS: 0)


No David Beckham? No Problem For Galaxy

At Bridgeview, Illinois:

With David Beckham suspended due to his red card ejection during last Saturday's home loss to Seattle, the Los Angeles Galaxy still defeated the Chicago Fire 2-0 on the road in Wednesday's lone Major League Soccer contest. Mike Magee (23') and Landon Donovan (54') provided the scoring for the Galaxy.

Road Clubs Take Four Of Five

Action in the playoff round for UEFA Champions League group stage berths continued Wednesday.

Champions Path:

At Salzburg, Austria:

Goals from Mohammad Ghadir (22') and Shlomi Arbeitman (84') lifted Maccabi Haifa FC to a 2-1 road win in game one of their two-match series with FC Red Bull Salzburg.

At Riga, Latvia:

Johan Vonlanthen (12'), Silvan Aegerter (55'), and Dusan Djuric (75') provided the goalpower that lifted FC Zurich to an overpowering 3-0 road win in game one over FK Ventspils.

At Sofia, Bulgaria:

Debreceni VSC are on the brink of becoming the first Hungarian club to reach the Champions League's group stage in fourteen years (Ferencvarosi TC in 1995-96) after their 2-1 game one road win over Levski Sofia. Laszlo Bodnar (12') and Peter Czvitkovics (76') provided the goalpower for the guests.

Non-Champions Path:

At Lyon, France:

Lyon posted Wednesday's only win by a road team, smothering visiting RSC Anderlecht 5-1 in game one. Miralem Pjanic (10'), Lisandro (PK-15'), Michel Bastos (39'), and Bafetimbi Gomis (42', 63') provided the goals for the hosts.

At Athens, Greece:

Maxi Rodriguez (36'), Diego Forlan (63'), and Sergio Aguero (70') each tallied once as Atletico Madrid took their series opener, 3-2, on the road over Panathinaikos.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Wolves Top Lactics For First-Ever Premiership Road Win

At Wigan, England:

Andrew Keogh's goal at 6 minutes held up as Wolverhampton Wanderers racked up their first-ever Premiership victory away from home, 1-0 over Wigan.

Crew, Marathon, Pumas Capture Group Openers

Group stage play commenced Tuesday in the 2009-20 CONCACAF Champions League.

Group B:

At San Pedro Sula, Honduras:

Goals courtesy of Walter Martinez (23'), Jerry Palacios (83'), and Mario Berrios (PK-88') guided CD Marathon to a 3-1 home win over DC United.

Group C:

Steven Lenhart (58') and Robbie Rogers (79') provided the goalpower as the Columbus Crew blanked the visiting Puerto Rico Islanders 2-0.

Group D:

At Mexico City:

Luis Fuentes scored the only goal of the match (71') as UNAM Pumas defeated visiting CSD Communicaciones (Guatemala) 1-0.

Gunners, Olympiacos, Stuttgart Gain 2-0 Road Wins; Fiorentina Gain 2-2 Draw On Road; FC Copenhagen Pick Up Lone Home Win

The playoff round for the right to advance to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League commenced on Tuesday.

Champions Path:

At Tiraspol, Moldova:

Second-half goals from Dudu (46') and Kostas Mitroglou (81') carried Olympiacos to a 2-0 road win in game one of their two-match series with FC Sheriff.

At Copenhagen, Denmark:

Zdenek Pospech scored the only goal of the match at 54 minutes as FC Copenhagen blanked visiting APOEL FC in match one of their two-game set.

Non-Champions Path:

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Helped by William Gallas goal at 43 minutes and Gary Caldwell's own goal at 71 minutes, Arsenal took game one with Celtic 2-0 on the road.

At Timisoara, Romania:

VfB Stuttgart, thanks to goals from Timo Gebhart (PK-28') and Aleksandr Hleb (30') downed FC Timisoara 2-0 on the road in the opening match of their two-game series.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Goals from Juan Manuel Vargas (6') and Alberto Gilardino (79') enabled Fiorentina to gain a 2-2 road draw in game one with Sporting. The Lions got goals from Simon Vukcevic (58') and Miguel Veloso (66').

Monday, August 17, 2009

One Win And One Loss In First Two Games For AS Monaco

While I'm at it, since I have decided to blog news on matches with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Espanyol, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich, I decided to add AS Monaco to my lineup of European clubs to watch out for this season.

Back on August 8, Anderson Luiz de Carvalho scored the only goal (45') of Monaco's 1-0 season-opening win over Toulouse.

This past Saturday though, the club from the Principality got spanked 4-0 on the road by AS Nancy Lorraine. Paul Alo'o Efoulou scored twice in the second half (50', 80') for the hosts.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Fire Blank Wizards In Kansas

At Kansas City, Kansas:

In Sunday's lone Major League Soccer contest, Chris Rolfe (13') and Mike Banner (89') provided the goalpower that carried the Chicago Fire to a 2-0 road win over the Kansas City Wizards.

MLS STANDINGS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

1. Columbus (GP: 22; GD: +10; PTS: 39)
2. Chicago (GP: 21; GD: +7; PTS: 35)
3. Toronto FC (GP: 21; GD: -1; PTS: 30)
4. DC United (GP: 21; GD: 0; PTS: 28)
5. New England (GP: 18; GD: -4; PTS: 24)
6. Kansas City (GP: 19; GD: -7; PTS: 21)
7. New York (GP: 22; GD: -23; PTS: 10)

WESTERN CONFERENCE :

1. Houston (GP: 23; GD: +10; PTS: 39)
2. Seattle (GP: 21; GD: +7; PTS: 32)
3. Los Angeles (GP: 21; GD: +2; PTS: 31)
4. Colorado (GP: 20; GD: +8; PTS: 30)
5. Chivas USA (GP: 19; GD: +2; PTS: 30)
6. Real Salt Lake (GP: 21; GD: +5; PTS: 27)
7. FC Dallas (GP: 21; GD: -3; PTS: 23)
8. San Jose (GP: 20; GD: -13; PTS: 17)

CAF Champions League: Group Stage Play, Matchday #3 Concludes

Group stage play in the CAF Champions League reached the midway point on Sunday.

Group B:

At Owerri, Nigeria:

Ikechukwu Ibenegbu (30'), Joshua Obaje (42'), and Okey Nwabike (77') each contributed a goal as Heartland FC overpowered visiting Etoile Sportive du Sahel 3-0.

GROUP B STANDINGS:

1. TP Mazembe (GP; 3; GD: +6; PTS: 6)
2. Heartland FC (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 6)
3. Etoile du Sahel (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 3)
4. Monomotapa United FC (GP: 3; GD: -6; PTS: 3)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

ZESCO United Gain Road Win; TP Mazembe Smash Monomotapa United

Group stage play in the CAF Champions League continued on Saturday.

Group A:

At Omdurman, Sudan:

ZESCO United, thanks to Jonas Sakuwaha's hat trick (5', 15', PK-34'), knocked off Al-Merreikh 3-2 on the road.

GROUP A STANDINGS:

1. Al-Hilal (GP: 3; GD: +3; PTS: 7)
2. Kano Pillars FC (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 4)
3. ZESCO United FC (GP: 3; GD: 0; PTS: 4)
4. Al-Merreikh (GP: 3; GD: -3; PTS: 1)

Group B:

At Lubumbashi, DRC:

Dioko Kaliyutuka's hat trick (45', 71', 79') helped TP Mazembe pistolwhip visiting Monomotapa United FC 5-0.

TFC, Goats, Crew, Sounders Post 2-0 Wins; Goose Eggs For RSL and Dynamo

Four of Saturday's five Major League Soccer matches ended in 2-0 decisions.

At Toronto:

Dwayne De Rosario (30') and O'Brian White (66') provided the scoring as Toronto FC blanked visiting DC United 2-0.

At East Rutherford, New Jersey:

With Maykel Galindo (14') and Eduardo Lillingston (90') each scoring a goal, Chivas USA extended the New York Red Bulls' winless streak to 14 with a 2-0 road win.

At Columbus, Ohio:

The Columbus Crew registered their fifth straight win, 2-0 at home over FC Dallas. Chad Marshall (10') and Eddie Gaven (87') each scored once for the defending champions.

At Carson, California:

Steve Zakuani (22') and Fredy Montero (54') each contributed a goal as Seattle Sounders FC knocked off the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 on the road.

At Sandy, Utah:

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad saved six shots as the Houston Dynamo held homestanding Real Salt Lake to a 0-0 stalemate.

Another Draw For Bayern

At Munich, Germany:

Mario Gomez scored the equalizer at 72 minutes, enabling Bayern Munich to salvage a 1-1 home draw with Werder Bremen Saturday in German Bundesliga play. This took place a week after Bayern were deadlocked 1-1 at TSG Hoffenheim in the clubs' season opener.

Wolves Drop Season Opener

At Wolverhampton, England:

Goals from Mark Noble (22') and Matthew Upson (69') paced West Ham United to a 2-0 road win over Wolverhampton Wanderers Saturday on the opening day of the English Premier League, ruining the hosts first Premiership contest since 2004.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Al-Hilal Top Kano Pillars

One game was played in Group A in the CAF Champions League on Friday.

At Omdurman, Sudan:

Goals from Muhannad Eltahir (PK-55') and Hamouda Ahmed Elbasheer (68') lifted Al-Hilal to a 2-0 home win over Kano Pillars and all but locked up a semifinal round berth for the Sudanese club.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Comeback Win For El Tri Over Team USA

Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup from the CONCACAF region resumed on Wednesday.

At Mexico City:

Goals from Israel Macias Castro (19') and Miguel Sabah (82') enabled Mexico to overcome an early one-goal deficit to overcome the visiting United States 2-1. Charles Davis put the Americans on the scoreboard at 8 minutes.

At Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago:

Cornell Glen's goal at 6 minutes held up as Trinidad and Tobago blanked visiting El Salvador 1-0.

At San Pedro Sula, Honduras:

Carlos Costly's brace (30', 90') helped guide Honduras to a 4-0 home fistbeating of Costa Rica.

STANDINGS:

1. Costa Rica (GP: 6; GD: 0; PTS: 12)
2. Honduras (GP: 6; GD: +4; PTS: 10)
3. United States (GP: 6; GD: +3; PTS: 10)
4. Mexico (GP: 6; GD: -1; PTS: 9)
5. El Salvador (GP: 6; GD: -2; PTS: 5)
6. Trinidad and Tobago (GP: 6; GD: -4; PTS: 5)

Monday, August 10, 2009

Galacticos Too Strong For DC United

At Landover, Maryland:

Before 72, 368 fans at FedEx Field, goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Arjen Robben helped guide Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over DC United at an exhibition match on Sunday.

Dynamo Top Fire

At Houston:

In Sunday's lone Major League Soccer contest, Kei Kamara (21'), Ricardo Clark (38'), and Stuart Holden (PK-84', game-winner) provided the scoring punch that enabled the Houston Dynamo to edge the visiting Chicago Fire 3-2.

MLS STANDINGS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

1. Columbus (GP: 21; GD: +8; PTS: 36)
2. Chicago (GP: 20; GD: +5; PTS: 32)
3. DC United (GP: 20; GD: +2; PTS: 28)
4. Toronto FC (GP: 20; GD: -3; PTS: 27)
5. New England (GP: 18; GD: -4; PTS: 24)
6. Kansas City (GP: 18; GD: -5; PTS: 21)
7. New York (GP: 21; GD: -21; PTS: 10)

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
1. Houston (GP: 22; GD: +10; PTS: 38)
2. Los Angeles (GP: 20; GD: +4; PTS: 31)
3. Colorado (GP: 20; GD: +8; PTS: 30)
4. Seattle (GP: 20; GD: +5; PTS: 29)
5. Chivas USA (GP: 18; GD: 0; PTS: 27)
6. Real Salt Lake (GP: 20; GD: +5; PTS: 26)
7. FC Dallas (GP: 20; GD: -1; PTS: 23)
8. San Jose (GP: 20; GD: -13; PTS: 17)

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Galaxy Knock Off Revs In Opener; Crew, RSL, Rapids Register Shutout Wins

Four games were contested Saturday in Major League Soccer.

At Foxborough, Massachusetts:

Goals from Landon Donovan (21') and Jovan Kirovski (52') paced the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 2-1 road win over the New England Revolution.

At San Francisco:

Second half tallies through the courtesy of Alejandro Moreno (69'), Robbie Rogers (73'), and Adam Moffat (86') busted open a scoreless deadlock as the Columbus Crew stretched their winning streak to four games with a 3-0 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes.

At Sandy, Utah:

Robbie Findley provided the only goal of the match (62') as Real Salt Lake blanked Seattle Sounders FC 1-0 at home.

At Commerce City, Colorado:

Conor Casey's first-half hat trick (4', 23', 45'+2) plus Pablo Mastroeni's opening goal at 1 minute marked an opening-half scoring barrage as the Colorado Rapids handed Chivas USA their fifth straight defeat, 4-0 at home.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Galacticos Too Much For TFC

At Toronto:

Raul scored twice as Real Madrid made short work of Toronto FC 5-1 Friday night in an exhibition match.

Europa League Playoff Round Draw

Here are the results of the draw that took place Friday for the playoff round for group stage berths in the Europa League. The winners of these two-game series will be joined in the group stage by the losers of the playoff round series for UEFA Champions League group stages.

All opening matches will take place on August 20 with the return contests on August 27.

The home clubs of the opening contests are listed first.

Sivasspor vs. FC Shakhtar Donetsk

Brondy IF vs. Hertha Berlin

Athletic Bilbao vs. Tromso IL

FK Sarajevo vs. CFR 1907 Cluj

SK Rapid Vienna vs. Aston Villa

Steaua Bucharest vs. St. Patrick's Athletic FC

NK Maribor vs. Sparta Prague

Zenit Saint Petersburg vs. CD Nacional

Genoa vs. Odensk BK

Dinamo Bucharest vs. FC Slovan Liberec

EA Guingamp vs. Hamburg

FC Sion vs. Fenerbahce

SK Sturm Graz vs. FC Metalist Kharkiv

Slavia Prague vs. Red Star Belgrade

SL Benfica vs. FC Vorskla Poltava

FC Vaslui vs. AEK Athens

Staebek IF vs. Valencia

PAOK FC vs. SC Heerenveen

Dinamo Zagreb vs. Heart of Midlothian FC

Werden Bremen vs. FK Aktobe

Everton vs. SK Sigma Olomouc

FC Bate Borisov vs. PFC Litex Lovech

NAC Breda vs. Villarreal

KKS Lech Poznan vs. Club Brugge KV

Fulham vs. FC Amkar Perm

Galatasaray vs. FC Levadia Tallinn

FK Teplice vs. Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC

FC Metalluhr Donetsk vs. FK Austria Vienna

FC Twente vs. FK Qarabag

MFK Kosice vs. AS Roma

Dinamo Moscow vs. CSKA Sofia

KRC Genk vs. LOSC Lille Metropole

Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC vs. PSV Eindhoven

Lazio vs. IF Elfsborg

Trabzonspor vs. Toulouse

Partizan Belgrade vs. MSK Zilina

FK Baki vs. FC Basel 1893

Ajax Amsterdam vs. SK Slovan Bratislava