Yesterday's late game in the Premier League involved 2 good sides who have had very different season so far, Spurs and Everton. Everton's form has been bizarre at best and awful at worst, and they went into the game just 2 points clear of the relegation zone. We all know that they have had some seriously bad luck with injuries and you can bet that David Moyes was looking with admiration at the Tottenham bench yesterday. 'I wish my squad was strong enough to leave Keane and Bentley on the bench,' in a Scottish accent, obviously. The first half was a bit of nothing but it'll kicked off shortly after the break after a great ball from Lennon (that England place getting closer and closer) and a tidy finish from Defoe (that England place getting more and more secure). They added a second through a good old fashioned diving header from Dawson, and Crouch and Defoe might have made the game safe. Their failure to put Everton away came back to bite them though, Super Saha coming off the bench to score and look very good, and then a strange goal from Tim Cahill brought the Toffees level with 5 to go. As Moyes said post-match Everton were looking the only team to go and win the game but all of a sudden Spurs get a pen thanks to a clumsy foul from Tony Hibbert on Palacios. The big man was down for several minutes getting stretchered off (broken rib I'm hearing) which obviously felt like a long time to Defoe who proceeded to scuff the ball down the middle straight at Tim Howard. All in all then a great game and finale in particular, a good result for Arsenal and a decent one for Everton. 'Arry will be disappointed that his team chucked away 2 points but despite their lowly league position Everton are always a tough side to beat, especially at home.
In the game's marginally earlier kick off Fulham beat Sunderland 1-0 thanks to an angry Bobby Zamora header. From the highlights it looked like Sunderland were still coming down the M6 during the first half and that Fulham were on their way down the Kings Road in the second, so a draw might have been a fair result but fair play to Fulham who continue to impress at home. Hodgson has been calling for Zamora to get a chance in the England team, but with only 4 goals this season and some memorable misses to boot, he'd need an almighty injury crisis to get near that plane. Right now I'd be taking Rooney, Heskey, Crouch and Defoe. There's been talk of maybe 5 strikers should go, but with the rest of my squad you would have options like Gerrard, Walcott and Joe Cole to play in supporting positions or wide berths.
You thought I might have left my French hat in yesterday's blog but oh no, there was a cracking game last night in France where Lille beat Lyon 4-3. Lyon were 2-0 and 3-1 up and chucked both leads away, a stoppage time penalty from Gervihno given the Nord side the win. Lyon have struggled the last couple of years in the league, they had won 7 in a row mind but have this season lost Benzema and Junihno which has hit them bad. It'll be interesting to see who gets them in the Champions League where they have done pretty well, taking 4 points from Liverpool in the process. Roma won the Roman derby against Lazio 1-0 last night, I managed to catch a bit of the game thanks to ESPN HD and it was a typical 'kick the opponents in air' kind of game, settled by a late goal from Cassetti.
Finally, congratulations go to Flamengo who won the 'Brasileirao' (title) last night with a 2-1 win, which won them the league by 2 points. I'm not going to pretend to know a shit load about Brazillian league football, but I do know that Adriano plays for these lot and finished as top scorer with 19 goals. The bull of a frontman seems a lot happier over there than he did in Europe and has possibly put himself back in the frame for a World Cup place. Take her easy.
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