Heartbreak was the order of the weekend for many Scandinavians and it came in different forms. From last minute goals to gut wrenching injuries, another exciting weekend of football gripped the imagination of all involved.
Whatever must John Carew be feeling. The Norwegian levelled matters for Aston Villa as they visited Chelsea. At 1-1 it was hard to see who would go on and win the game. However Carew will be surprised as most are after a Frank Lampard inspired Chelsea went on and thumped the Villans 7-1. Nonetheless his goal took the former Valencia hitman to 9 goals in his last 8 games.
John Arne Riise played his part as Roma stormed to a 2-1 win over current Serie A leders Inter Milan. The win moves the Giallorossi to within one point of Jose Mourinho`s men.
Gylfi Sigurdsson starred as Reading seemed set to beat West Brom for the second time in recent weeks. The Icelandic star put the home side ahead early on and they seemed destined to hang on. But that changed four minutes from time when Swede Jonas Olsson was on hand to crash his effort for the Baggies off the crossbar, fortunately for Roberto Di Matteo`s men Gabriel Tamas prodded home the rebound. Sigurdsson was lucky to stay on the pitch at the end of the match.
Herman Hreidarsson faces an agonising wait to see if he will make Portsmouth`s FA Cup semi final date with Spurs, after he was hauled off injured in the corresponding league fixture. Pompey fear the star has snapped his ankle which will certainly rule him out of the cup tie however manager Avram Grant was quick to heap praise upon a visibly distraught Hreidarsson “Herman is a great, great guy, one of the best professionals i have ever known .He is an example to everyone” . As if things couldn’t get any worse, Portsmouth`s pending relegation from the Premier League may well be confirmed next weekend.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic smashed home his third strike of the week as Barcelona laboured to a 1-0 away win at Real Mallorca. Pep Guardiola was delighted with the win that moved Barca clear of Real Madrid on Saturday night “The Team was fantastic in the second half. We won at a ground that has been very difficult to visit this year. We were aggressive and very intense. If we weren`t we couldn’t have won”. Unfortunately for the Catalan side a win for Real Madrid over arch rivals Athletico moved them back to the summit on Sunday.
Martin Olsson was the culprit of the weekend as his theatrics earned Blackburn Rovers a penalty in a tense Lancashire derby with Burnley. David Dunn slotted home the undeserved spot kick as Rovers grinded out a 1-0 win to push their rivals further towards the relegation trap door. Swede Olsson also had an effort chalked off for offside prior to the controversy. After the match Clarets manager Brian Laws pointed out his frustration at the referees decision “Olsson`s took a dive. He`s conned the referee . The referee wasn’t in a great position and he`s given the penalty. It was very harsh on us and left us with a mountain to climb”.
Ajax blitzed Go Ahead Eagles 6-0 on Thursday night to advance to the final of the Dutch Cup. Danish duo Christian Eriksen and Dennis Rommedahl were among the scorers for Martin Jol`s rampant side. Eriksen`s strike was his first of a great debut season and his joy continued as his side stormed to a 3-0 home win over Groningen in the Eredivisie on Sunday.
Mads Junker bagged a first half brace as Roda cruised to a 4-2 win over Heerenveen. Finn Mika Vayrynen struck home Heerenveen`s second at the death but it was only a mere consolation.
Michael Silberbauer was another Dane who got his name onto the scoresheet in Holland as his Utrecht side beat RKC Waalwijk 2-0. The 14 time capped midfielder struck had all the time in the world and made no mistake in finishing as he cooly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner past despairing goalkeeper Ohad Levita.
Sami Hyypia`s Bayer Leverkusen lost for the second game in succession as did Bayern Munich. Leverkusen`s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Schalke was enough to send their opponents top. Norwegian defender Tore Reginiussen didn’t feature for the victorious Gelsenkirchen side .Munich have also lost their last two league games and the former Tromso man will be hoping his side can manintain their recent form as they chase the Bundesliga title .
Mon, Mar 29, 2010
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden