Fergie’s Chewing Gum - April 8
Everton surging into UCL contention... (PA via Telegraph UK)
England
We’re at the stage now where nearly every game has something riding on it, be it a factor in the title race, European spots, or the constant threat of relegation in the bottom half of the table. Meaning there’s a bit to cover here. The early game on Saturday night/Sunday morning saw Manchester City take on Southampton. The Saints got off to a poor start, with a slightly controversial, but mostly just stupid tackle giving City an early penalty. Yaya was money. 1-0. But an even better penalty taker is Ricky Lambert, who has never missed one in the Premier League, and he was every bit as clinical after Southampton drew a spot kick of their own. Jay Rodriguez was stretchered off with a brutal injury in the opening half – brutal because the 6 month recovery time puts an end to any chance he had of making the World Cup squad. Sad news for a player who’s come on fantastically this season. City struck a hammer blow with a pair of goals just before half time (although David Silva was clearly offside in setting up one of them). The result was confirmed when after a number of close shaves, City finally bagged a fourth, after a beautifully placed cross found Jovetic. 4-1 final score.
Cardiff’s chances of survival seem slim, after they were pummelled by Crystal Palace at home. That Palace win was huge in moving them clear of relegation (up to 14th). Hull City had a crucial win over Swansea also, leaving the Welsh side in more trouble than they ought to have been in, while West Brom dealt a crushing blow to Norwich with a 1-0 win. That was the final straw for the Norwich bosses, and Chris Houghton was sacked as manager the next morning. Fulham are clinging to hope having ridden a late Hugo Rodallega goal for a 2-1 win over Aston Villa, moving them ahead of Cardiff. Results didn’t quite go their way elsewhere, but 4 points off safety is better than they were at this time last week. Manchester United also had themselves a good game, against Newcastle. Resting a few players for the Champions League on Thursday morning, they had few troubles in dispatching a disinterested Toon side. Ashley Young had to go off early with a hand injury, and Rooney was injured, not that it bothered the Red Devils. Juan Mata scored two and gloriously set one up (along with a Chicarito goal) for a 4-0 away win. Man Utd, believe it or not, have the best away record in the League. If only they could do something about that home form… Anyway, they moved temporarily up to 6th place. Chelsea playing the late game had zero issues overcoming Stoke, and they ended the day on top of the league. Frank Lampard scored his 171st EPL goal – tied with Rooney for 4th all time.
Then on the Monday morning games, we had a couple of big results. Liverpool held off a very conservative (naturally) West Ham side, who did everything in their nature to make things tough for Liverpool, including messing with the heat in their hotel rooms and forcing their team bus to park a mile away from Upton Park. A pair of Stevie G penalties (he has 10 goals from the spot this year) sealed a 2-1 win. Liverpool’s ninth in a row, but their first in the EPL all season in which neither Suarez nor Sturridge scored. The blue half of Merseyside is on a roll too, though. If you hadn’t realised before, you have now after they picked apart Arsenal for a 3-0 win, inspired by Romelu Lukaku. Arsenal are now in big danger of losing fourth spot to the Toffees after competing for the title for so much of this year. Their run of poor form is coming at the worst possible time. It’s now 4 games without a win for the Gunners, while Everton have won 6 in a row. Only 1 point separates the two teams, and Everton have a game in hand. It might not be too late to count out Spurs either. They surged back into 6th with a 5-1 demolition of Sunderland, who, without a win in 7 games, appear relegation bound. Christian Eriksen inspired the result for Tottenham, continuing on his recent form, with a goal and a pair of assists. With two points between them, there’s a late season dogfight emerging between Man United and Spurs for 6th place – which will likely be the last Europa League spot. The two are the only teams never to have lost from a winning position this season.
Spain
All three big boys had wins this week, keeping things just as close at the summit. Atletico Madrid made it 6 wins in a row and remain clear first with 79 points after a hard fought 1-0 win at home to Villareal. Raul Garcia scored early in this game, and they were able to grind it out from there. Atletico may not have the same level of individual creative brilliance as Barca or Real, but they have the best defence in La Liga, having conceded just 22 goals in 32 games. With this result, Atletico can finish no lower than third.
Barcelona were also made to work for their points, winning 3-1 over Real Betis, their three goals coming from a Messi penalty (of course), and own goal and a Messi tap in after a missed Messi penalty. Pretty Messi all round, really. Barca are still getting the points they need, though are having trouble scoring from open play at the moment. With 78 points and now 4 league wins in a row, they are hot on the heels of Atletico, whom they play midweek in the second leg (at Atletico) of their Champions League quarter final. The first leg was a 1-1 draw.
And let us not forget about Real Madrid, who after losing the Clasico and then to Sevilla, have been playing catch up since. They did the business away to Real Sociedad, not at all seeming to miss the absent Cristiano Ronaldo. 4-0 was the final score and Real remain 3 points off first. With 6 games to play for all teams, La Liga may well come down to the May 19th clash between Atletico and Barcelona in the final round of fixtures.
Off the field, there was massive news with Barcelona being slapped a two-transfer-window ban on all incoming signings after being found guilty of illegal academy recruitment. That they would be cheating in that way isn’t really surprising. The fact that FIFA would come down so hard on them is. With keeper Victor Valdes and captain Carles Puyol both leaving at the end of the season, Barcelona were primed to go on a defender buying binge after the season. Instead they’re gonna have to stick with what they’ve got until 14 months’ time.
Italy
Well it looks like Juventus have wrapped up the Scudetto with a 2-0 win over Livorno. They were always likely to win this match with Livorno struggling at the bottom of the table but Juventus were clinical nonetheless. Carlos Tevez returned for Juve but it was the work of fellow striker Fernando Llorente which sealed the deal as he bagged a double. Juve are a team to watch out for despite being knocked out of the Champions League as they have one of the hardest working midfields (and the magical Andrea Pirlo) going around and with Carlos Tevez leading their attack they could maintain a spot at the top of Italy for a few years.
Juve dominating possession and building from the back (whoscored.com)
The rest of the Serie A has little relevance now but AS Roma managed to take care of Parma 4-2 which will see them finish in second place. Third placed Napoli couldn't quite get the bickies against Parma losing 1-0. This is a season to savour for Juve who have battled through some tough times with the match fixing scandal and have worked their way back to the top so props to thee.
France
The French Ligue 1 is still up in the air with Monaco keeping their slim title hopes alive beating Nantes 3-1. They are still 13 points back in second place and with PSG travelling the way they are it's hard to see them dropping any points any time soon. PSG managed a 3-0 win over Reims without Zlatan Ibrahimovic but it was Edison Cavani who stepped up in to the void scoring the opening goal before Reims defender Aissa Mandi then bagged a double... yup two own goals. Congratulations goes to that man.
Germany
An unusual feeling for the Bayern lads on the weekend,..
Are those pigs flying over there? Quick, somebody check the temperature in hell, because Bayern Munich lost this week! After already wrapping up the Bundesliga title, the champs fielded a weakened lineup (No Ribery, no Robben, no Lahm) and were promptly beaten 1-0 by Augsburg. The injection of Gotze, Muller and Alaba off the bench couldn’t even inspire a goal. It had been 53 games since Bayern last lost in the Bundesliga. October 2012 was their last league defeat. Pep Guardiola is catching some heat in the German media for writing this game off, but he and the players insist that the Champions League return leg against Manchester United has to be the focus. The Bundesliga trophy is already in the cabinet, after all. Bayern are three games without a win in all comps now, and Manchester United enjoying back to back games with 4 goals scored for the first time this season in the EPL.
Elsewhere, Dortmund took advantage of a Schalke draw to extend the gap between second and third to 3 points – Dortmund came from behind to beat Wolfsburg 2-1. Bayer Leverkusen lost a hold of fourth spot after losing to Hamburger SV (fourth is the final UCL qualifying spot), being overtaken on goal difference by Borussia M.Gladbach who have put together back to back Bundesliga wins. Braunschweig had a valuable win to eat back some of the distance between them and safety, while Nurnberg continue to struggle and drop into an automatic relegation spot.
Professor Fergie
Fergie at Harvard (Anita Elberse/HBS via Telegraph UK)
This columns namesake (or at least the chewer of this columns namesake) made his way back into the news recently by announcing that he will take up a permanent role as a lecuter at Harvard University. Sir Alex has guest lectured there before, and will teach in a course entitled: ‘The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports’. So, if any footy fans are tossing up which Ivy League school to go to, this may be your deal-maker.