Manchester United March On After A Convincing Victory Over Wigan

By Mark Hirst

Man Utd showed their championship winning composure to take a vital three points against Wigan this weekend. The Reds went down to an early free-kick scored by the emerging Leighton Baines but fought back valiantly to ensure that the pressure was maintained on last years champions Chelsea. The main talking point for the game was the performance of Wayne Rooney, who has suffered from a lack of confidence of late.

Rooney took the game by the scruff of the neck in the. He expressed a determination that seemed to galvanise a team intent on winning the premiership for the first time since 2001. Being a goal down so early seemed to frustrate Man Utd who for the first 45 minutes could not find a reply. Their 4-3-3 formation seemed to lack width much to the delight of the home team.
After the break Ferguson introduced Giggs who has been out with a hamstring injury. The Scot decided to revert back to the classic 4-4-2 formation that seemed to suit the team much more. Rooney instantly made an impact in a more central role. It was as though he was back where he belonged and it wasn’t long before he was menacing the Wigan defence.

The breakthrough came for Manchester United in the 65th minute. A corner from Ryan Giggs gave Vidic a free header and it was 1-1. Manchester United seemed full of confidence and it wasn’t long before United were 2-1 up. A sublime cross from Rooney and an unbelievable touch from Saha ensured the game was all but over.

In injury time Rooney’s flick to Solskjaer ensured he would score his 5th goal in 8 games. All in all it was a confident performance and demonstrated that this year the premiership will not be a one horse race.

Mark Hirst is a regular contributor to the Man Utd Blog. Visit his site for all the latest Man Utd News

There Are No Friendly Football Matches Between Brazil and Argentina

There Are No Friendly Football Matches Between Brazil and ArgentinaBy David Carter
On Sunday September 3rd the two teams met at Arsenal's magnificent new Emirate's stadium in London before a sell-out 60,000 crowd in a match billed as a friendly. The two teams had never met in London before.

Both teams disappointed in the 2006 World Cup and were anxious to put that right, and both teams took the field under new coaches too, the former Brazilian captain Dunga, and Basile for Argentina.

The big crowd were disappointed to find that Ronaldhino had not recovered from a dead leg sustained in the Super Cup final, his replacement Elano promptly made his mark by opening the scoring for Brazil in the third minute.

The match kicked off in warm sunshine and with good support in the stadium for both teams the players must have felt right at home. Also crammed in the stadium were many West Ham United fans, anxious to get their first sight of their two amazing signings, Tevez and Mascherano. Hammers' fans can't wait to see these exciting young players sporting the famous claret and blue at Upton Park.

Cicinho made another impressive run almost the length of the field before shooting wide. Brazil always looked dangerous on the break, Robinho looked lively, while Messi and Tevez promised better things for Argentina.

Half Time Brazil 1 Argentina 0

Messi missed a headed chance in the first minute of the second half, then Riquelme, who had been disappointing, was booked for kicking an opponent. Argentina started the second half much the better, gradually pushing Brazil back. They missed another great chance to equalise when the ball whistled across the face of the goal. Kaka replaced Carvalho in the 59th minute for Brazil, but it was still all Argentina as they strove to level the score.

The unusually named Fred fired over a great volley for Brazil in the 66th minute and almost immediately afterwards, and against the run of play, Elano scored his second goal, tucking the ball neatly into the corner of the net. Then in the 82nd minute Robinho fired fiercely over and Brazil had now weathered the Argentinian pressure.

But the best goal of the match came from Kaka in the 89th minute when he picked the ball up half way in his own half and raced the length of the pitch to score a fabulous goal and seal victory for Brazil.

Brazil won this game because their attacks always carried more potency. Argentina lacked any cutting edge and certainly missed the absent Crespo. A friendly match it wasn't, an exciting match it was. Over £2 million was matched on the game at the London Betting Exchange Betfair. You can still qualify for a free $30 bet on betfair.com if you enter the code 6CHE3VPWJ where required.

So it's back to the drawing board for Argentina, while any Brazilian lack of confidence after their disappointments in Germany will have been well and truly banished.

Final Score: Brazil 3 Argentina 0

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UEFA Cup

By WagerWeb.com and Ecobika Sports Betting

Defending champion Sevilla was given a very doable task as it finds itself drawn into Group C
of the group stages of the UEFA Cup.

Joining the Spaniards in the group are Dutch club AZ Alkmaar, Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic, Swiss side Grasshoppers and Braga of Portugal.

"We simply have to win. AZ Alkmaar were in theory one of the teams we didn't really want in our group, but we can't complain," Sevilla coach Juande Ramos said.

The five-team group was one of eight drawn Tuesday in Nyon.

The top three in each group will go through to the final 32, where they will be joined by eight teams from the Champions League.

Perhaps the toughest group is Group B, where former winners Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur are joined by Belgians Club Brugge, Besiktas Istanbul of Turkey and Romania side Dinamo 1948 Bucharest.

"Obviously this is one of the toughest groups. But we will play and fight until the end. Football always offers surprises, even if all four opponents are so good and have massive experience at
the European level," said Mircea Rednic, coach of heavy underdog Bucharest.

Group E is also wide open as two-time winner Feyenoord from Holland was joined by English side Blackburn Rovers, Nancy-Lorraine of France as well as Swiss Basel 1893 and Wisla
Krakow of Poland.

"Overall it's not a bad draw, it could have been worse," Nancy defender Frederic Biancalani admitted, quite upbeat. "Before the last round (where Nancy beat Germans Schalke) no one believed in us. We'll enter the group stage with that spirit and a will to go further in the competition."

Some of the other group highlights have Newcastle drawn into Group H with Celta de Vigo, upstart Italians Palermo, Germans Eintracht Frankfurt and Turks Fenerbahce.

Palermo coach Francesco Guidolin knows he has plenty of work ahead of him in a top draw like this: "We have not been lucky with draws this season. We had to face a strong side like West
Ham United in the first round and now we are in a very difficult group. There are no weak sides. We will have to play our best football if we want to go through."

In Group G, Czech side Mlada Boleslav got a tough test with French giant Paris St. Germain as reward for beating Olympique de Marseille to reach the group stages.

"We have French opponents for the second time in a row and after eliminating Marseille, I am sure we can defeat Paris St. Germain," Boleslav coach Dusan Uhrin said quite confidently for
an underdog among the likes of Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucharest and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

"They are not playing well in their league but are probably the strongest side in our group," he said. "So I believe in our chances. Group H definitely would have been more difficult."

One more highlight is Group F, where Ajax Amsterdam will face Sparta Prague, Espanyol, Austria Vienna and Zulte Waregem of Belgium.

"Ajax are the clear favorites and Espanyol are also a very strong side," Sparta Prague coach Michel Bilek said. "We can play well-balanced games with the two other opponents and
advance. It's a very attractive group for the fans."

Even though the biggest names of European soccer are not yet in the UEFA Cup, the group stage definitely promises some excellent play -- and plenty of surprises.

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Even though the biggest names of European soccer are not yet in the UEFA Cup, the group stage definitely promises some excellent play -- and plenty of surprises.

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