Best of… Saturday, February 20th, 2010
1. Everton 3-1 Manchester United. Despite an incredible mid-week victory over Milan at the San Siro, the truth was that traveling to Goodison Park proved more difficult than the highly-touted match in Italy. Everton are a force to be reckoned with at the moment, as they defeated Chelsea in their last league outing by the score of 2-1. Dimitar Berbatov actually gave the Red Devils an early lead in the 16th minute with an instinctive finish from 10 yards out. But from then on the Toffees put on a show for the blue side of Merseyside. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov grabbed an equalizer with a stunning strike just 3 minutes after United broke the deadlock, and then it was David Moyes’ youthful super-subs Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell who scored in the 76th and the 90th minute, respectively. Since joining Everton, Landon Donovan has helped his side earn 16 points in a mere 7 Premier League games. He was great against United today, and David Moyes is starting to forget about his side’s awful start to the season (21 points in 19 games).
2. Chelsea and Arsenal defeated Wolves and Sunderland, respectively as they both notched 2-0 victories to take advantage of United’s loss. Didier Drogba has been right up there with Wayne Rooney as the best striker in the world, as the Ivorian grabbed both goals for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Wolves played well and were unlucky not to get on the scoreboard. Arsenal beat Sunderland thanks to goals from Bendtner and Cesc Fabregas, but in truth the Gunners should have scored at least three or four more. Their lack of a traditional striker was again a major problem.
3. We all found out last weekend that Barcelona are not invincible, but they’re still the best team in the world as they absolutely demolished Racing Santander at Camp Nou by the scoreline of 4-0. Andrés Iniesta put Barça on top early with a left-footed strike in the 7th minute. From there it was total football from the Catalan club as Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, and Thiago all gave the 75,000 Blaugrana supporters reason to celebrate. Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Stuttgart for the Champions League, and hopefully the Germans weren’t scouting Barcelona on this occasion because they’ll be absolutely filled with despair.
4. Speaking of despair, you have to feel for Pompey. Avram Grant’s side came out in exuberant fashion, taking the lead in the first half thanks to Frederic Piquionne’s 35th minute goal against a deceivingly strong Stoke City side. The Portsmouth faithful were bursting out of their lungs the entire match, despite the fact that Robert Huth equalized for Stoke in the 50th minute with a straight-forward header from a corner kick. However, the truly valiant effort from the South Coast club in financial ruin was met with further turmoil as Ricardo Fuller made a spectacular run in injury time to set up Salif Diao, who gave 10-man Stoke the 2-1 match winner.
5. Inter 0 - 0 Sampdoria. I know what you’re thinking, how is a nil-nil draw featured in the best matches of the day? Well, this one will be remembered for a lack of discipline. It was a wild affair as Inter went down to nine men in just the 38th minute thanks to Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba red cards. Sampdoria, currently sitting in 5th place in the Serie A league table and on a four-game winning streak, could not make the most out of their unbelievable advantage as Jose Mourinho masterfully handled the situation to tactically frustrate the away side. As a result, Giampaolo Pazzini was received his marching orders with fifteen minutes to go in the second half, and Inter looked more likely to take the three points as the game came to a close. Nevertheless, it’s not an ideal performance at home considering that Inter will be hosting Chelsea on Wednesday in the Champions League.
Highlights will be embedded after the jump when they become available. What were your thoughts on today’s action in the world of football?
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