Another Night of Mixed Soccer Fortunes

Liverpool 3 - Fulham 1
Aston Villa 1 - Arsenal 3

You win some, you lose some. At least one of my teams won last night.

It appeared that Liverpool dominated the match and deserved to win, which is a great relief after recent performances (struggling in the Carling Cup semis, despite eventually winning, was not good for morale). Morientes' headed goal was really great stuff; this is a truly class player, whom I suspect may be slightly "wasted" in English soccer. If Everton stumbles tonight, things may be looking up for Liverpool to get that final Champs League spot. It has to be said that they probably have left it too late; they will need Everton to go through a mini-collapse in the next 13/14 games and that is not likely.

As for Aston Villa, they lost fair and square to a team that entirely outclassed them in the first half. I can have no complaints as the gulf in quality in that first 45 minutes was rather embarassing. Some of those defensive lapses were abysmal, although I cut them some slack because of their recent run of injuries to first team players. You could tell that half the team yesterday were not prepared for first eleven soccer against a team like Arsenal. In the second half, they did redeem themselves somewhat, which is entirely to the players' and O-Leary's credit. After the match, the ESPN studio gang talked about how Villa is a big club which is demanding better results. As I have said before, this is a big club with a small club's budget. I think O'Leary needs to pick up the PR pace and send the message out there that ambitions may need to be adjusted while the finances are being sorted out.

Manchester City vs Chelsea tonight. Top of the table (who have already been crowned champs elect by Mourinho) vs the only team to have beaten them this season. Can Man City pull of the double? I think Chelsea's defence may be too strong for City to break down. Chelsea is without Robben, which may make a difference in their cutting edge up front. This will be an interesting match.