Premier League Tops and Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

Another action-packed weekend saw no game without a goal, 35 goals in total, no draws, six home wins and four away - unpredictable and breathtaking:

Top game: Man City's home win against Arsenal left hardly any time or room to blink or breath. The result is harsh on the Gunners, the had plenty of chances, misfortunes and decisions that did not go their way, they probably feel, they should have gotten more out of it. Man City were hungry and intimidating, intense and gripping to watch.

Top team: Liverpool had it the easiest, Man City and United were the most ruthless, productive and worth-every-penny, whilst Chelsea looked the cheekiest and luckiest, leaving both their goals deep into injury time of both halves against Stoke.

Top player: Emmanuel Adebayor drew most of the attention onto him, without a doubt. He was on fire, which can quickly spread and escalate matters, especially facing his former side, making the tension over-exasperating between them. Wayne Rooney starred for United, omnipresent and with a great individual effort goal.

Top goal: Tottenham could not have wished for a better start against United when Jermain Defoe's right-foot overhead kick gave them the lead in the first minute. Rooney's individual effort, nutmegging Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, finished off a great United break from their own half, the Scouser only having eyes for the back of the net. Great to see, especially after his side went down to ten men.

Top manager: Roy Hodgson's half time talk and changes were decisive in Fulham's turnaround of the game against Everton. Alex Ferguson's changes also kept United ahead eventhough they were down to ten men. He took Dimitar Berbatov off for Michael Carrick, keeping his side tight and compact, leaving no gaps for Tottenham to capitalise on. Genius - as usual.

Flop game: Wigan's win against West Ham needed a goal to wake the game, teams and crowd up, but the referee did not even give that when he blew the half time whistle and left Carlton Cole frustrated and with a sarcastic smile having netted the ball a split-second later. Cruel.

Flop team: Portsmouth have lost five out of five now after giving away the game to Bolton with a fragile defence and some embarrassing misses.

Flop player: Adebayor could not have acted more idiotic or shambolic, when he kicked his former team mate Robin van Persie in the face and then, to make things worse, running to the Arsenal end of the ground after he scored, causing all sorts of havoc. Consciously or not, both actions were unprofessional and should be punished. The referee Mark Clattenburg dealt with the latter situation professionally and brilliantly, further actions still pending.

Flop goal: Hull City defender Craig Fagan's clumsy handball cried for a penalty and conceded a goal. Kamil Zayatte gave away two more to Sunderland to thrash them, one own goal and letting off Darrent Bent unchallenged as if he had no care in the world. It proves that nightmares can come true.

Flop referee: As mentioned above, the half time whistle went at the same moment Carlton Cole scored for West Ham - how cruel can you be?! Especially when you regard how much the game needed a goal to brighten things up...

My Predictions - Actual Results

Blackburn 1:1 Wolves - 3:1

Liverpool 2:0 Burnley - 4:0

Man City 1:3 Arsenal - 4:2

Portsmouth 0:1 Bolton - 2:3

Stoke 1:2 Chelsea - 1:2

Sunderland 1:1 Hull City - 4:1

Tottenham 2:2 Man Utd - 1:3

Wigan 0:2 West Ham - 1:0

Birmingham 1:2 Aston Villa - 0:1

Fulham 0:2 Everton - 2:1

England slump to series defeat against Australia

Sports - Cricket - NatWest Series - 4th ODI

Australia outbowled and -played England at Lord's, reaching the below-par target of 221 runs with seven wickets and over six overs to spare, to win the fourth consecutive one-day match and take the series 4-0.

Andrew Strauss won the toss for the fourth time in a row and put his side out to bat first for the third time. They made a confident start, the skipper once again impressing with a solid half century, the only one in the England batting lineup of the day.

The home side could not recover after losing their talisman captain and lost their last five wickets for only 20 runs in 21 balls, Brett Lee achieving a world-class five-wicket haul. Australia replied confidently and comfortably with half centuries by Tim Paine, his maiden, and Michael Clarke, unbeaten on 62, leading the Aussies to a series win and England into disarray.

Run of Play: Advantage to...

England:59 for 1 after 10 overs: England - Joe Denley opened with Andrew Strauss, replacing a rested Paul Collingwood. They looked in good touch together before the debutant was comfortably caught at first slip for 11, neatly taken by Shane Watson in the fifth over.

100 for 2 after 20 overs: England - After another shaky start, Ravi Bopara showed much less tentativeness with some lovely boundary shots. But he disappointed again in the end, sweeping to an off spinner, ending up out lbw. Strauss led by example as always with another half century.

138 for 3 after 30 overs: Australia - With Strauss out on 63, after his top edge was caught by Nathan Bracken in the 25th over, England's batsmen Matt Prior and Owais Shah were kept clamped down by Australia's bowlers, going 11 overs without any boundaries.

176 for 5 after 40 overs: Australia - Quality shots had become a rarity, England had nothing to get excited about but two beauty wickets: Prior was bowled by a perfect swinging yorker first ball back for Brett Lee and Eoin Morgan was stumped, a breathtaking move by wicketkeeper Tim Paine.

220 all out after 46.3 overs: Australia - Lee blew away the middle order after some promising whacks, pounces and shots of Shah and Luke Wright. Wright and Stuart Broad fell victim to Lee's missile-yorkers, Shah was caught mid-wicket off a Watson full toss. Adil Rashid was Lee's fifth and final victim and Mitchell Johnson finished the home side off bowling Ryan Sidebottom. To quote and agree with Pranav Soneji: England were "folded like an amateur poker player".

Australia:

51 for 1 after 10 overs: Australia - It all looked too easy for the Aussies openers, hitting, smashing, wallopping and bashing one boundary after another. Watson eventually got trapped in front lbw by Tim Bresnan, but the threat did not last long.

110 for 2 after 20 overs: Australia - Paine and Ricky Ponting continued the knock-about, England unable to capitalise off the first wicket. Paine eventually fell, a needless sweep caught behind after his least convincing shot brought up his half century three balls earlier.

159 for 2 after 30 overs: Australia - More comfortable runs, no threat whatsoever for Australia.

198 for 3 after 40 overs: Australia - Out of nowhere, Ponting went for a big shot but drilled the drive straight to Bopara at short cover, causing great cheers around the ground. At least some joy for the crowd.

221 for 3 after 43.4 overs: Australia - The cheers did not last long for the English crowd, the Aussies winning with comfortable and solid runs. Michael Clarke's nice fluent innings was rewarded, an intelligent half century of him and obvious win for Australia, worries for England.

Five-star England outclass Croatia

Sports - Football - World Cup Qualifier

England 5-1 Croatia

England erased bitter Euro 2008 memories by outclassing a poor Croatian side, beating them comprehensively 5-1 at Wembley to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, for the first time ever with two games to spare.

From kick-off, Croatia were not able to cope with all the pressure England put them under, especially at the back. The guests gave away a penalty just six minutes into the match when vice-captain Josip Simunic brought down Aaron Lennon in the box with a clumsy tackle. Frank Lampard converted the spot-kick confidently and comfortably as always.

A slow and afray-looking Croatian side struggled with all the England players in the box for most of the first half. Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney and Lennon all had their share of misses and saved chances. Steven Gerrard's long-range header from the far post in the 18th minute was the only other conversion of the first half, to make it 2-0 to the home side at half time, but it could have been six or more.

The second half did not see much change. Lampard and Gerrard both netted within the first 20 minutes: The prior converted a Glen Johnson headed cross from the right outiside the box into the centre of the goal, the latter heading in a rumbled Rooney cross cleverly over the goalkeeper.

With just under 20 minutes left, the Croats saw their first real chance and were rewarded for all their sweat and torment. Eduardo put in the second rebound, leaving Robert Green unhappy after his hard work and saves and Fabio Capello cursing his side for the first time and despite their strong performance and dominance they had enjoyed so far.

But that was the only breather Croatia got. Rooney topped the show off with his ninth goal for England in the qualifiers, making him the top scorer. He was slightly embarrassed by the manner he achieved that record:

He was handed the chance by the Croatian goalkeeper Vedran Runje who slipped the ball off his left foot through to Rooney, served on a silver plate, right in front of the goal. He left celebrating with an embarrassed smile. It summed up the night-to-forget for the Croats and brought a smile even onto Capello's face.

Man of the match: Aaron Lennon

England Green; Johnson, Upson, Terry, Cole; Lennon (80 Beckham), Barry, Lampard, Gerrard (81 Milner); Rooney, Heskey (60 Defoe). Subs not used Foster, Brown, Bridge, Crouch. Bookings 85 Terry.

Croatia Runje; Srna, Krizanac, Simunic, Pranjic; Mandzukic, Vukojevic, Pokrivac (HT Rakitic), Kranjcar, Eduardo (73 Klasnic); Olic (HT Petric). Subs not used Subasic, Drpic, Calo, Leka. Bookings 44 Simunic.

Sky Sports Stats:

England - Croatia
Goals: 5-1
Attempts: 12-9
On target: 9-5
Blocked shots: 0-2
Offsides: 8-3
Corners: 2-3
Free kicks: 9-16
Bookings: 1-1

White's first century beats sorry England

Sports - Cricket - NatWest Series - 3rd ODI

Australia beat England comfortably by six wickets at the Rose Bowl to go 3-0 up in the series. Cameron White starred with his first one-day-international century and Michael Clarke (53) joined in to build an exemplary partnership of 143 runs. It was a crucial but simple factor England could not muster: A standing partnership with strength and stamina to hold the team.

Captain Andrew Strauss was the only light in England's poor batting display with 63 off 72 after he won the toss for the third time in a row and chose to put the Aussies out to field. Wickets fell too regulary and softly, tamely and clumsy, leaving the last powerplay and main task with the tailenders to put on a respectable, competitive and defendable total. Australia's batsmen in contrast, completed their job with quality, class and dominance to cruise to another win and leave England in a muddle.

Run of Play: Advantage to...

England:

50 for 2 after 10 overs: England - Ravi Bopara and Matt Prior both got caught out in consecutive overs, for 10 and 0 respectively, leaving it up to captain Andrew Strauss to keep the runs flowing and looking for someone to back him up and establish a partnership with.

87 for 3 after 20 overs: Australia - Paul Collingwood survived longer than his team mates to help his skipper after Owais Shah fell lbw to Mitchell Johnson for just eight runs, leaving England weak and struggling at 62 for 3. Runs were made hard to come by, England looking desperate.

127 for 4 after 30 overs: Australia - Finally Australia got who they wanted, Strauss caught at mid-wicket by Nathan Hauritz trying to get things going for England, but ended up out for 63. The run rate remained low, England are urged for an established partnership.

172 for 6 after 40 overs: Australia - England threw away a couple of wickets, Collingwood's tame chip was caught at mid-on by Nathan Bracken, out for 28, and Luke Wright slashed one right to the sub fielder Adam Voges in the covers, out for 9. England are crumbling.

228 for 9 after 50 overs: England - And it is the lower order that saves England from total embarrassment. The last wicket stand was the best of the day, 40 runs between Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom. See if the bowlers can do what the batsmen have failed to - get the Aussies worried!

Australia:

29 for 1 after 10 overs: England - Australia started slowly and lost Shane Watson early on, trapped plumb lbw by James Anderson for 7. Tim Paine got a better start, but England will be the happier wiht their start, keeping the batsmen at bay - for now.

79 for 2 after 20 overs: Australia - Cameron White and Michael Clarke are hammering in the runs and boundaries. If England continue letting these two loose, this partnership will flourish and hurt the home side.

115 for 2 after 30 overs: Australia - White and Clarke continued their blast as feared, Australia are thriving, something England have been unable to do. White gets rewarded with only his second one-day half-century.

163 for 2 after 40 overs: Australia - Too many easy runs for the Aussies, not discrediting the 100-run partnership; White on 70, Clarke on 41 and both on a roll.

230 for 4 after 48.3 overs: Australia - England got couple of consolation wickets, Clarke bowled by Graeme Swann (52) and White caught by Sidebottom at extra cover off Wright after completing a wonderful and fully-deserved century. It left Callum Ferguson and Michael Hussey to finish England off, but it is out of question, the decisive difference between the two sides have been the big batting partnerships that built the main part of the team's consistency and threat.

Australia capitalise on England's mediocre batting

Sports - Cricket - NatWest Series - 2nd ODI

England lost the second one-dayer at Lord's to go 2-0 down in the seven-match series against Australia. They started strong at 74-0 from 14 overs as they chased 250 runs to win. They let mistakes cost them dearly, lost four wickets for just 23 runs and finally crumbled to 210 all out.

The Aussies were put out to bat by England who served a decent performance on field and with the ball, keeping the opposition restrained, but eventually threw any advantage away with a weak batting display.

Run of Play: Advantage to...

Australia:

43 for 0 after 10 overs: Australia - The guests looked comfortable and unthreatened eventhough the run rate was low for the first powerplay. England's seem attack was not strong enough and James Anderson looked like he was struggling.

75 for 3 after 20 overs: England - The medium pacers got the breakthrough and turned the game around for England, showing better bowling and fielding all round. Tim Bresnan got the first wicket having Shane Watson caught by Luke Wright at short extra-cover for 34. Wright got the other two, Tim Paine and Michael Clarke both caught for 26 and 4 respectively.

127 for 3 after 30 overs: Australia - Australia's strong batting partnership between Callum Ferguson and Cameron White turns the game back to their advantage with some powerful boundaries. Australia finally got it going and look much more straight forward.

169 for 5 after 40 overs: England - Ravi Bopara served his reputation as the partnership breaker having White caught behind for 42 off 66. Michael Hussey fell shortly afterwards, bowled by Graeme Swann for just 8. A crucial breakthrough for England and they have to continue putting the pressure on the Aussies if they want to stay in the match with a chance.

249 for 8 after 50 overs: Australia - Some amazing boundaries marked Mitchell Johnson's best score for Australia. His contribution was crucial after Australia lost James Hopes lbw by Swann for 11, Ferguson bowled by Anderson for 55 off 58, and Brett Lee for a duck. It is not the highest total, but higher than estimated looking back at the low run rate at the start and the wickets Australia lost in the process of the last powerplay.

England:

42 for 0 after 10 overs: England - Andrew Strauss started strong and confident for England. Ravi Bopara showed a shakey start with no runs off the first nine balls, but got a fine grip in the latter overs. Brett Lee started best for the Aussies, only conceding a few singles off his first overs.

97 for 4 after 20 overs: Australia - What a collapse by England! Shane Watson gets Bopara out lbw for 27 off 44 and Matt Prior caught behind only the fifth ball he faced. Owais Shah got off to a sparkling start but saw his skipper bowled and caught by Nathan Hauritz for 47 off 53 and then stupidly ignored Paul Collingwood's call to get himself run out. Stupid stupid stupid.

147 for 5 after 30 overs: England - Finally England get runs on the board with Collingwood passing his 4,000 one-day-runs-mark and Luke Wright showing strength with the bottom hand. Eoin Morgan was the only one who fell lbw to Johnson's fast and straight line. Hopefully England can build something out of this...

184 for 7 after 40 overs: Australia - Collingwood is still in on 41, joined by Swann on 8 after Wright was caught behind off Lee for 20 off 19 and Bresnan beaten by Johnson's pace and caught out for 5 off 13. England need 66 off 10 overs but need to keep their wickets in tact for that, which I cannot see happening if the trend of the day does not change.

210 all out after 46.1 overs: Australia - As feared, England fell well short of the target, losing Swann, bowled by Nathan Bracken for 14 off 22, when it just looked they were getting on top of things. Ryan Sidebottom fell for a duck and Brett Lee finished things off bowling Collingwood with a yorker. A comfortable win for the Aussies against a shattered and battered England side.

ITV v Sky: How different a match can be

Sports - Football - International Friendly - News Coverage

England's 2-1 win against Slovenia at Wembley yesterday:

The ITV highlights showed chance after chance for the home side, indicating persistance and dominance from England. The host and guest of the highlights show were full of praise and optimism, too.

Sky Sports News framed the summary of the match showing England's weaknesses, pointing out how lucky they were to win the penalty and "scrape through" to a win.

The online reports and summaries of the match turned out more similar, neutral and optimistic:

Sky Sports:

"Three Lions warm up with win"
"Lampard and Defoe secure friendly victory for Capello's men"

"England defeated Slovenia 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley to boost their preparations for crucial World Cup qualifying."

BBC:

"England 2-1 Slovenia"

"England warmed up for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday with victory over Slovenia at Wembley."

ITV:

"England achieved a 2-1 victory against Slovenia at Wembley with the opener from a [controversial Lampard penalty]."

It proves, you have to see the match for yourself to be able to make your own picture of it, to get your own impression of the teams, players and their display. Take the reports and comments with a pinch of salt, according to and depending on the source.

I felt, and agree with Sky Sports News, England were lucky to win the penalty as Wayne Rooney was more the offender himself than the victim. But England hit the woodwork on a couple of occasions, had many chances, dominated the possession and opposition and it would have been unfair and undeserved and would not have reflected the match if Slovenia would have gotten anything out of it.

They showed defensive weaknesses, which led to the late goal and panic. No question, there is room for improvement. But that is what friendlies are there for, to prepare and improve the side for competitive matches.

Jermain Defoe's impressive, impossible looking goal, he squeezed and deflected between two defenders from a blind-looking, difficult angle, summed it up: England had the edge - hopefully Fabio Capello saw the same and can keep the edge and players for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia next Wednesday.

England fall short and hand first win to Australia

Sports - Cricket - NatWest Series - 1st ODI

Australia took a 1-0 lead in the seven-match series against England with a tense win at the Oval. After losing the toss, being put out to bat and a restricted start against some strong England bowling, Callum Ferguson's spectacular 71 helped his side to establish a respectable score of 260 for 5. The home side's batting in reply was a let-down. England scored slowly and left the lower order with too much to do, falling four runs short in the chase.

Run of Play: Advantage to...

Australia:

41 for 1 after 10 overs: England - The home side held back the Aussies nicely, Tim Paine foolishly running himself out for a duck.

94 for 2 after 20 overs: Australia - After building up a good foundation to make a fine partnership and progress, Shane Watson gave away an easy return catch, a present to Paul Collingwood, out for 46. But that was all England had to cheer about really.

134 for 3 after 30 overs: England - Michael Clarke and Cameron White both reached their half centuries, the latter was run out for 53 soon after. The scoreboard ticked at a very slow rate, leaving the Aussies frustrated and England hoping...

178 for 3 after 40 overs: Australia - Callum Ferguson and Clarke both made fine contributions, looking comfortable.

260 for 5 after 50 overs: Australia - What a blast at the end, Ferguson reached his fourth one-day half-century in the process, using the batting powerplay well, producing over 40 runs. Clarke's miscue went straight to Owais Shah at cover seeing him out for 45 shortly before and Michael Hussey fell at the end of the powerplay, bowled by Ryan Sidebottom for 20. They made over 20 more runs from the last couple of overs to reach a fine, defendable total. The Aussies will definitely be the happier with their finish.

England:

45 for 1 after 10 overs: Australia - The Aussies have done their homework on Matt Prior, keeping him restrained and under pressure after skipper Andrew Strauss fell riding his luck and placing a big heave straight to White at slip after hitting a similar ball for four the previous delivery.

83 for 1 after 20 overs: Australia - And they keep bowling wide, frustrating England. There have been only few boundary cuts, nothing else worth mentioning.

126 for 3 after 30 overs: Australia - The control stays on the bowling side. Prior was caught out for 38 with a bizarre reverse sweep that sailed straight to Mitchell Johnson at short third-man. Ravi Bopara was stumped by Paine for 49 as he could not slide back in time to make it to his half-century, very frustrating for him.

168 for 5 after 40 overs: Australia - Johnson beat Owais Shah with pure speed sending him back onto his own stumps, out for 40. Collingwood followed him to the stands soon after, beaten by a stunning catch in the air by Watson as England need boundaries desperately!

256 for 8 after 50 overs: England - At least the lower order made a fight of it! Adil Rashid and Luke Wright were bashing it in after Stuart Broad spooned a catch to Clarke at backward point and fell for just two runs. After some brilliant boundaries, powerful and with speed, Wright (38) fell at the end of the last powerplay trying another paddle at a no ball, which ended up rolling onto his stumps. Graeme Swann followed soon after caught behind for just four. England ran out of batsmen in the end, leaving the rush of runs too late and missing out by five runs. But at least made a bit of a match and nailbiter of it at the bitter end.