Been off this blog for a while as I did not have internet access these few days. After the match with Watford, we had three matches to play for in the recently ended festive period. We went to Ewood Park and seemed to be controlling the match throughout with Crouchy guilty of at least three gilt-edge chances. Sometimes, Peter Crouch bemuses me because his ability with his feet seem to outclass his aerial prowess although he is of 6'7" frame. His timing on his jumps could be improved and if he does just that, he will score more goals from his head. The misses by the Reds proved crucial as we slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Ewood Park. With 6 defeats already in the season, I would guess realistically our chance of claiming the Holy Grail which is the Premiership should be gone and dusted by now.
After the slump in Ewood Park, a tougher match on paper would be a trip to White Hart Lane where Spurs were in top form and proved to be a tough nut to crack at home. It was one of those days where whoever scores the first goal would eventually win the game. On the stroke of half time, a blunder by the Ivorian enforcer, Didier Zakora paved the way for King Luis to stroke the ball home from close range after solid running by Captain Stevie. When Berbatov was introduced at the start of the 2nd half, Spurs looked an entirely different team and Carra and Agger were brilliant in thwarting the increasingly confident Spurs attack line. We held on in the end with Stevie Finnan nearly scoring an own goal which richochet off the crossbar. Three vital points in the fight for third place.
The 3rd vs 4th clash was scheduled yesterday and it seemed that Bolton kept us at bay for a good 60 minutes with their infamous tactics. Former Kopite, El-Hadji Diouf showed to the world why he is an ex-Liverpool player with his disgraceful antics. True Liverpool players do not dive! As the match entered the crucial period, then came Crouchy with his now trademark bicycle kick. It was a beauty to say the least. The joy on his face showed it all and he certainly made up for all the misses in the defeat to Blackburn. Less than 2 minutes after, Stevie G volleyed home a sweet shot and left the Bolton keeper stranded. We could have been ahead by a few more if not for the in-form Finnish stopper. Dirk Kuyt showed his class with a superb exhibition of pure power and finesse with a brilliant finish to make the scoreline 3-0.
We are right where we wanted to be at the moment. Consolidating third place although we would have loved to be a few points closer to Man Utd. As it stands at the moment, we are
Man Utd P22 +34 54pts
Chelsea P21 +20 47pts
Liverpool P22 +16 40pts
Bolton P22 +6 39pts
Arsenal P21 +18 36pts
Pompey P22 +11 36pts
Chelsea and Arsenal will be completing their festive fixtures tonight. Let's hope that they slip up and give us a chance to catch Chelsea and keep a comfortable distance from the Gunners.
Guess what? We have two back to back clashes with Arsenal at Anfield in the FA Cup and Carling Cup. I am looking forward to it. Perhaps a Cup Treble will be in the cards this season. With the Champions League this time of course. :)
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1 comment:
really should have beaten blackburn if we could just do what Man U has been doing, convert chnaces into goals.
Pennant was impressive against Bolton and I hope he can curb his inconsistency.
btw heard bout the rumour linking Crouch to Juve? He has indeed come a long way.
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