Porto defeated Arsenal in a controversial match

Arsenal started the match as clear favourites as Porto has a poor record against English clubs recently. Arsenal replaced injured Galls with Sol Campbell. Their defence was tested early by Porto. Arsenal goal keeper Fabianski who replaced injured  Almunia, pushed the cross from Varela into his own net in the 11^th minute.

Arsenal is finding it difficult to run their offense without Andre Arshavin and Robin van Persie. Bendtner was denied twice. Cesc Fabregas was closely marked to prevent him much time on ball.  He was frustrated with so many fouls against him. Rosicky was the man who caused Porto trouble. Arsenal was soon level when Rosicky’s header found Campbell who headed into the net from close range. Rosicky’s shot was brilliantly saved by Porto goal keeper and the Arsenal was not awarded a penalty when he was brought down in the penalty area.

Fabianski made two saves and two horrendous mistakes in this game. The second mistake was childish as he caught a back pass from Sol Campbell inside the penalty box. It seems that controversies are part of referee Hansson as he allowed Porto players to take a quick free kick from the penalty area. It was him who refereed the controversial world cup qualifying match between France and Republic of Ireland. Arsenal showed school boy stuff defence as no defenders were in front of the ball as the free kick was taken. Fabianski did not even see it being taken and the through ball was connected by Falcao from an offside position to score Porto’s second goal.

Later the game became dull as Arsenal could not find any opening in Porto’s defence and Porto was interested only in counter attacking. Arsene Wenger was furious at referee’s decision to allow the free kick taken quickly and said it was an easier way to score than a penalty.  Wenger’s trouble with his goal keepers is continuing and he will have to come up with a solution soon. Wenger will be hoping that some of his injured players will return before the second leg at the Emirates stadium.

India retains their no.1 ranking

India wins the second test by 57 runs and an innings to level the series. This win helps India retain their no.1 ranking in test cricket. The game finished with only 15 minutes for the end of match. It was a match displaying the beauty of test cricket and credit must be given to the curator for preparing such a wonderful track.

South Africa will be blaming themselves for letting the match slip after dominating the first two sessions. Indians bowled well after the second session and were helped by some loose shots from South African batsmen. Seamers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma bowled their heart out. Amla and Petersen were the pick of their batsmen in the first innings as they both scored hundreds.

India was superb in their batting department. Four batsmen Sehwag, Sachin, Laxman and Dhoni scored centuries. These centuries virtually took the match away from South Africa. India declared with a lead of 353 runs.

South Africa needed to draw the test to become the no.1 test ranked nation. Things went their way as Zaheer Khan got injured and not much play took place in the fourth day due to bad light and rain. But Indians bowled superbly with Harbhajan taking 5 wickets. Indians were under pressure as the last wicket partnership batted over 20 overs and was just 15 minutes away from denying India a victory.

Amla stood unbeaten with yet another century. He stood between India and victory and had almost done it. He was in tremendous form throughout the series. Indians were only able to dismiss him once in the entire series. With extreme application and concentration he scored one double century and two centuries. No one was in doubt that he will be adjudged man of the match and man of the series. Indians will have to find a plan to get rid of him as the ODI series starts on February 21.

NBA Trade deadline closing in

AS NBA deadline is February 18, title contenders are looking for players to add to their arsenal whereas rest of the teams are trying to save salary cap space.
In one of the trades Washington Wizards traded Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and De Shawn Stevenson to Dallas Mavericks. They got Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross in return.
In the latest trade Marcus Camby moved from LA Clippers to Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake and cash considerations.
In the trade rumours those involving Amare Stoudemire and Tracy McGrady are catching attention.

Manchester United wins the crucial away match

AC Milan was defeated by Manchester United in their first leg encounter in the Champions league round of 16 at San Siro. Manchester United now has the advantage of 3 away goals. It is their first win at San Siro in the last three years. The match will be remembered by the good attacking play presented by both teams and for poor refereeing.

It only took 3 minutes for AC Milan to score their opening goal. Ronaldinho’s volley with the help of a slight deflection beat van der Sar. Both team’s players shot wide in the subsequent minutes. United’s first goal came in the 36^th minute. Paul Scholes swinged at a cross with his right foot but the ball hit his left leg before going into the net.

In the first half AC Milan was clearly in control. They had 54% possession.

I do not know what Ferguson is doing to players at half time that they always come up with tremendous form. Rooney scored two goals with his head during the second half. Valencia and Fletcher were the providers. Valencia’s first action in the match was the cross that resulted in his team’s second goal. Rooney showed that he is now a complete striker by showing his heading abilities.

Pirlo’s free kick which was heading for the goal was saved brilliantly by van der Sar. AC Milan players kept van der Sar busy. Ronaldinho was the main threat he forced two saves from the United goal keeper. It was from his brilliant pass that Seedorf who came as a substitute for David Beckham scored their second goal with a close range shot. Ronaldinho was in tremendous form as he created two more chances. His passes only required a good finish but that was missing.

Carrick was shown his second yellow card in the final minutes. He will be missing the second leg at Old Trafford. AC Milan players will be kicking themselves for their missed chances as they will be waiting for the second leg.

Dwayne Wade the 2010 All-Star MVP

The 2010 all-star game was won by Eastern conference 141-139, in what was a thrilling game. Dwight Howard’s 3 point was the highlight of the game. Chris Bosh and the Carmelo Anthony were the effective players at the beginning of the game.
Dwayne Wade won the MVP award with a strong second half in front of a record 108,713 spectators. He finished with 28 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. LeBron James and Chris Bosh were inspirational for Eastern conference. LeBron finished with stats; 25 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Bosh scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
At the end of the last quarter 6 free throws were given of which 4 were awarded for Eastern conference. All of these nervous free throws were converted giving 2 point lead for Eastern conference. Eastern all-star, Carmelo Anthony cannot convert his last attempt for 3 points which was the last action of the game. He had a team high 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Most of the trade rumours are concentrated around Amare Stoudemire and Tracy McGrady. Amare is linked with Cleveland Cavaliers. As the trade deadline is nearing up things are sure to heat up.

India, Test Cricket No.1?

Let me tell you something; team India is sheer talent, nothing more nothing less.

About the coach and supporting staff, Indians always like a coach who likes to be behind the scenes. We all know what happened when Greg Chappell took some initiatives of his own. Indians do not like the idea of coach being the one who call the shots. We all know that coach is the ultimate power in other sports like basketball and football. Imagine the effort put by the supporting staff when we hear something like “Australians are coaching tail-enders to improve their batting skills”.

Indians are proud about our Sachin. What is his secret? As he always tells, it is his passion for the game. Unfortunately his younger generation is lacking passion and hard work. That is why we are not able to find a replacement for Sachin and Dravid.

We have to rethink our selection strategy especially those of youngsters. In the normal case the average age of a player who will be selected into Australian team is 24. By this time he would have played enough first class matches and will be matured. Do not wonder when most of them have a good debut match. But on the other hand Indian players are selected into the team when they are between the age of 20 and 22. Some youngsters are even selected based on their under 19 performances. Our youngsters will find it difficult to manage the fame and lots of money they are getting. This will affect their game. They should be given proper orientation.

Indians are clearly lacking professionalism. Look at what Harbhajan said about Chappell’s coaching methods. He said that they played under the fear of being dropped if they could not perform well. According to him this affected his game. One thing is clear, to him playing in the team is more important than India is playing with best eleven.

Indians always play with one bowler short. This is not a good strategy for a champion side which is expected to win most of the matches. This may work is the subcontinent but not in other places.

Indians always approach a series with a lack of intensity. Look at what happened in Bangladesh. Indians were shocked by them in the first innings. In the current series also things are no different.

Indians do not plan well before a series. They plan if they are constantly troubled by some opposition player. Gone are the days when players come and play. Now a lot of work is to be done at the minute level. Let us hope for that. So I will consider India a champion side based on their performances against South Africa and Australia.

Spurs end their losing streak

George Hill stepped in and helped San Antonio Spurs to defeat Denver Nuggets 111-92 on Thursday night. Spurs were always in the lead from the starting of the game.
George Hill started in the place of Tony Parker who was injured. Hill added 17 points. The penetration of San Antonio guards always caused problems for the Nuggets.
Carmelo Anthony is not in his touch yet. He only made 6 from his 17 attempts. Chauncey Billups could not get his 3 point game going. Nuggets struggled in moving the ball. Nene has game high 20 points and nine rebounds.
On the other hand Spurs will take several positives from this game. Today team’s transition defence was good. Richard Jefferson who was struggling, played a better game here. Ginobili was showing signs of improvements. Seven guys in the Spurs line-up scored in double digits. Dejuan Blair from bench scored 17 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
Gregg Popovich will have to think a lot about his team. His trinity are struggling with injuries. These aging stars haven’t played lot of games together. Their numbers are decreasing each year. Let’s hope Popovich will find right solutions after this all-star weekend.