Let’s Talk About Six Baby

Sports - Football - CL Final - THFC 0:2 LFC 

LFC Make It Six

XxXXxX 

A week to go till the UEFA Super Cup in good old Istanbul (oh yes, we LOVE Istanbul), I thought I would go through my notes to recap and relive the night we became European Champions for the SIXth time:

That Saturday night, Madrid turned red, the whole of Europe and the football world was covered in red, cheers, songs and fire works.

After last year’s heart break against Real Madrid in Kiev, Liverpool came to the Spanish capital to make sure it will all be rectified, by beating Tottenham 0-2.

It took just over 22 seconds for the Reds to get a breakthrough. Handball given against Moussa Sissoko, blocking Sadio Mané’s take, penalty! VAR confirmed the arm moved towards the ball after it bounced off the player’s chest.

Mohamed Salah banged the spot kick in, leaving Hugo Lloris uselessly blank, 0-1 (2’). 

Jürgen Klopp’s men were in control from then on, but had Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker to thank for keeping their cool and very solid on a handful of occasions.

Spurs dominated possession and chances, Christian Erikson’s late free kick was the top pick of the saves, full-stretch (85’). Gulp.

The more relieving and satisfying it was to see sub Divock Origi double the Reds’ lead (87’) and get the party started. Boom!

This encounter was maybe less thrilling, shocking, unbelievable than the semi-finals and THAT 2005 final  (the last time LFC won the CL in case you needed reminding, in Istanbul, I thought maybe just to mention), but still unforgettable. 

The stories leading up to the night, fans and players, of both sides, made this night oh so sweet! That's why we love football! :-D And that YNWA at the end, goosebumps! #YNWA

XxXXxX 

I enjoyed the night in a casino in the South-West of France, I was not the only Red full of joy (and my Gunner husband was happy as well).

The drive back up North was good fun, sharing the motorway with happy Red and not so happy Spurs vans and busses. Again, unforgettable.

I followed the victory parade on my phone, couldn't get the smile off my face and still can't. #LetsTalkAboutSixBaby

And what makes this even better, I am so sure it is just the start, the first, just the opening chapter of an even more glorious, joyous, and oh so happy story. #WalkOn #WithHopeInYourHeart #YNWA

Lots of fans are worried because of the lack of summer transfer activity at the club. WHY? Have you already forgotten what Klopp and co have done?! Why chop and change the record-breaking kings of Europe?! #WeAreTheChampions #WeWillKeepOnFighting

Click here for my last post.

All pictures, facts and stats were taken from the BBC live match and parade coverage and report.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 17

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 17

The 17th week of the Premier League action saw:

245 shots - most by Tottenham = 30!
23 goals - most by Southampton & Middlesbrough = 3 each
216 fouls - most by Chelsea = 15
45 bookings - most by Leicester = 5
1 red card - Vardy for Leicester
3 penalties - 3 scored (Krkic for Stoke, Negredo for Middlesbrough & Noble for West Ham)

What a game! It was a game of two halves at the Etihad. Theo Walcott had given the Gunners an early lead after just five minutes, in a dominant display by the visitors. But the second half saw that change and reversed by Manchester City. Leroy Sané levelled the score a couple of minutes after the break, off David Silva's pass, who looked offside, Arsène Wenger left furious. But instead of fighting back, Arsenal crumbled, the Sky Blues took over. Raheem Sterling scored the winner off Kevin de Bruyne's brilliant cross, condemning the Londoners to their second defeat in a row and widening the gap between them to nine points. ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a team! Yes, Chelsea won again thanks to Diego Costa, with a simple header, 1-0 at Crystal Palace this time (their 11th consecutive victory equalling club record from 2009)... But Tottenham were on fire at White Hart Lane! Mauricio Pocchetino's men had so many chances against Burnley! They had fallen behind to a ping pong goal, but Dele Alli boomed in a leveller six minutes later before Danny Rose completed the comeback scoring the winner later in the second half. Good goalkeeping and well-set defence meant the scoreline did not get out of hand as it could have with the flood of chances the home side threw at their visitors! ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a man! It seems like an auto-text every week, Chelsea win, Costa winner, as mentioned above. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on a roll too, his header and deflected goal seeing Manchester United win for the third time in a row, 0-2 at West Brom, taking the Swedish striker's run to 10 goals in nine games. And Jermain Defoe was provider this time, for Patrick van Aanholt to score the winner for Sunderland against Watford. I'm telling you, my phone is recognising and predicting certain names every week... ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a goal! On-loan striker Álvaro Negredo produced an excellent finish and a comfortable penalty before a ripper of a pass from Gastón Ramírez found Marten de Roon to make it 3-0. It was a boosting win for Middlesbrough against a sorry Swansea side who are slipping down more and more, now second from bottom with just 12 points. And Liverpool left it really really late in the Merseyside derby to win the scrappy affair deep into injury time thanks to Sadio Mané netting a rebound and keep up with Chelsea at the top!⚽️🙈⚽️🙈⚽️

What the hell?! There were once again questionable refereeing decisions, both Moussa Sissoko and Ross Barkley lucky to stay on the pitch for Spurs and Everton with dangerous tackles that could have ended the careers of Burnley's Stephen Ward and Liverpool's Jordan Henderson respectively. It is just ridiculous that replays cannot be used - I write that every week! Hull City can sing a song of that too, once again unlucky conceding a penalty and losing against West Ham after Mark Noble made no mistake of the spot kick this time. ⚽️🙈⚽️🙈⚽️

My Predictions - Actual Results
Crystal Palace 1:2 Chelsea - 0:1
Middlesbrough 0:0 Swansea - 3:0
Stoke 1:1 Leicester - 2:2
Sunderland 3:1 Watford - 1:0
West Ham 2:1 Hull - 1:0
West Brom 2:2 Man United - 0:2
Bournemouth 2:1 Southampton - 1:3
Man City 1:1 Arsenal - 2:1
Tottenham 2:0 Burnley - 2:1
Everton 1:1 Liverpool - 0:1

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports.

Week 25: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

Comeback kings Reading's Premier League run of 13 points out of the last 15 takes them out and two points clear of the relegation zone. It's the first time since the opening month of the season they have been out of the drop zone for consecutive weeks. This win came thanks to Jimmy Kebe's fantastic double, at Sunderland's cost. Eight of Reading's last nine Premier League goals have been scored in the last 20 minutes. Six have been netted in the 82nd minute or later, including Kebe's winner after his seventh minute opener.

OMG! 

What was Pepe Reina thinking leaving his goal unguarded for Sergio Aguero to net a brilliant equaliser from the tightest of tight angles at the Etihad?! Liverpool were on top for most of the game, Daniel Sturridge scoring the opener after City claimed a fowl was comitted on Edin Dzeko in the buildup. Steven Gerrard restored the guests' lead with a smacker later on in the second half after Dzeko had tapped in an easy equaliser earlier in the first half. But Brendan Rodgers ended up ruing the dropped points after Aguero's strike minutes later.

TOP!

Moussa Sissoko's double in Newcastle's entertaining, enthralling win against Chelsea showed and proved his worth. The former Toulouse man signed a six-and-a-half-year deal with the Tyneside club just over a week beforehand. The Frenchman's debut double sank the Blues to eight Premier League points out of the last 18, only one point ahead of Tottenham in fourth, the last Champions League qualification spot, leaving interim boss Rafael Benitez ruing the missed chances, unfair decisions and dropped points, rather than conceding defeat!

FLOP!

QPR's goalless draw against Norwich was more two points dropped than one point gained in their battle to avoid the drop. The penalty was the golden chance, missed by Adel Taarabt, keeper Mark Bunn making a fine diving save. Taarabt went close a couple of times with long-range strikes. But home keeper Soares Julio Cesar had to make a couple of top-draw saves too to win his side a point. Harry Redknapp has stretched QPR's unbeaten league run to five games, but the visitors will be much happier with the result as it lifted them seven points away from the relegation zone.

HERO!
Marouane Fellaini's double and last minute equaliser saved a point for Everton against struggling Aston Villa, producing a perfect comeback for the home side from 3-1 down and denying Villa their first win in 2013. It was a breathless encounter at Goodison Park, Christian Benteke's double and Gabriel Agbonlahor's header looking to have dismissed Victor Anichebe's equaliser and sealed the win for Paul Lambert's side. But Fellaini had a different idea and turned despair into delight, and vice versa, depending which side.

ZERO!

Goran Popov's sending off handed the advantage and eventually the game and points to Tottenham, stupid, stupid spitter! There was not much between the two sides in the first half, West Brom creating the better chances before the dismissal. England defender Kyle Walker was Popov's target after a mundane challenge. The bizarre and gormless action and reaction cost West Brom dearly, Spurs taking over the game fromt there and Gareth Bale ensuring their win with a stunning strike, taking them within one point of third-placed Chelsea.

My Predictions => Actual Results:
QPR 2-1 Norwich => 0-0
Arsenal 3-0 Stoke => 1-0
Everton 2-2 Aston Villa => 3-3
Newcastle 1-3 Chelsea => 3-2
Reading 3-2 Sunderland => 2-1
West Ham 1-0 Swansea => 1-0
Wigan 0-1 Southampton => 2-2
Fulham 2-4 Man United => 0-1
West Brom 1-1 Tottenham => 0-1
Man City 3-1 Liverpool => 2-2