Archive for April 23rd, 2009

Manchester United accomplished what it needed on Wednesday with a less than convincing win 2-0 win over Portsmouth.

 Manchester United is now three points clear of second place Liverpool.

 Man U has five matches left while Liverpool has four.

 Wayne Rooney put The Red Devils on the books first with a beautiful right-footed shot from dead center in the box in the ninth minute.

Michael Carrick added the insurance goal in the 88th minute.

Manchester United’s win coupled with the Liverpool tie on Tuesday may have conceded The EPL Crown to Manchester United.

Manchester United according to The Associated Press and Rivals DM suffered two key injuries in Wednesday’s match with Portsmouth. Both Gary Neville and John O’Shea will be out for a few weeks due to foot injuries. This could really hurt Man U’s quest for a three peat in The EPL.

So, stay turned for As The EPL Turns.

 But hold on to your horses for it’s not settled quite yet with five matches remaining.

The fat lady is warming up and she is getting ready to sing, “ Turn out the lights. The party’s over.”

Everton and Chelsea kissed their sister with a one all draw on Wednesday as well too.

 Both teams had many scoring opportunities but neither found the back of the net.

Chelsea really needed a win to keep on life support their chance to win The EPL. Not on this day.

 Chelsea still has a lot to play for. The Blues are three points behind second place Liverpool.

Chelsea only has a six point cushion between them and fourth place Arsenal. With four matches left for both Arsenal and Chelsea it is conceivable that The Gunners can over take Chelsea for third place.

The top two teams in The EPL get an automatic bid to The Champions League.

The third and fourth place teams earn the right to play in The Champions league qualifying third round.

Chelsea can still overtake Liverpool for second place in The EPL.

Here is a quick look at the standings.

1. Manchester United 74 points 32 games

2. Liverpool 71 points 33 Games

3. Chelsea 68 points 33 games

4. Arsenal 62 points 33 games

The bottom feeders look like this

20. West Brom 25 points 33 games

19 Newcastle 30 points 33 games

18 Middlesbrough 31 points 33 games

17 Blackburn 34 points 33 games

16 Hull City 34 points 33 games

15 Sunderland 35 points 33 games

 Places 20- 18 get the heave hoe to the Championship.

With four matches left it looks like West Brom is a lock to get eight sixth out. Newcastle and Middlesbrough have a chance to move past Sunderland, Blackburn, and Hull City.

 The race is on for 19th thru 15th spots in The EPL table.

In the Copa Libertadores Sao Paulo is really stinking the joint out at home in Morumbi.

Sao Paulo is sorely missing keeper Rogerio Ceni. Ceni broke his ankle last week in practice.

Sao Paulo is not the same club.

Columbia’s America de Cali scored when Sao Paulo keeper Bosco came out net to stop Cali striker Wilmer Parra. Sao Paulo keeper Bosco got his hand on the ball but the shot bounced off of his hand and found the back of the net. Ceni would have stopped the shot.

It’s 1-0 at halftime.

It doesn’t matter if Sao Paulo wins or not, for they are on to the next round.

If Sao Paulo can’t shore up their defense they won’t make it past the next round.

Sao Paulo scored twice in the second half to defeat America de Cali 2-1.

 Sao Paulo ratcheted up the pressure on Cali.

The first goal was beautiful. Sao Paulo toyed with the Cali defense in front of the box with precision passing until they found Midfielder Dagoberto open in front of the net. Dagoberto tapped home the easy winner.

The second goal was totally crazy. Cali had the ball near their own box when the defender passed the ball back to the keeper. The Cali keeper attempted to get the ball out of his own end when Sao Paulo’s Dagoberto jumped in front of the kick and the ball ricocheted off his butt into the net.

You can say way to use your butt Dagoberto. 

 Argentina club Estudiantes and Brasil’s Sport-Recife both advance to the next round of The Copa Libertatores.