Sports World - Tantalising Opinions

   It was a day of cheering the rivals, as the English Premiership title race continued  on Saturday. Arsenal faced off against Manchester City in the City of Manchester Stadium in an early kick off, whereas Manchester United travelled to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur. It would have come as no surprise if supporters from both Arsenal and Man U were rooting for their local rivals in their respective matches.

   Emmanuel Adebayor continued his rich vein of form in the league, as he score twice in an emphatic 3-0 away win for the Gunners. Eduardo scored a stunning goal in between the Adebayor goals. Manchester City never looked like troubling the visitors, and Sven Goran Eriksson had very little positives to pick up from a game in which his side was clearly the second best.

   The double strike took Adebayor’s goal tally of the season to 21. After a thoroughly professional display in which Arsenal displayed their trademark style of football, full of deft passes and pace, all Arsene Wenger had to do was wait and watch the Manchester United match.

   Before the match, United had dominated over the spurs for six years.  The red devils had scored goals in abundance against the north London club; nine in the last season. Just last Sunday, they won 3-1 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round match. But the Spurs would have nothing of history, and decided that they would more than just make up the numbers.

   Throughout the entire game, it was clear, and surprising, that the home team looked the better of the two. Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring in the 20^th minute, albeit a little luckily, but there was no denying the fact that the Spurs deserved the lead. United never really came close to scoring , despite a spirited second half performance. Tottenham, in the meantime, caused loads of concern with the pace of Aaron Lennon and Steed Malbranque, coupled with the clinical touches of Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.

   Sir Alex Ferguson grew more and more desperate as time wore on, and made several tactical changes; one involving playing Rooney as a winger. But at the end of 90 minutes, the scoreline still read 1-0. It was only in the 93^rd minute that Carlos Tevez grabbed an equalizer, and with it, a solitary point for United. But the draw meant that United slipped to second spot in the standings.

   So, it now seems that the Spurs have done a huge favour to the Gunners, something the Blues could not replicate for the Red Devils. With a two point advantage, Arsenal will be hoping that their winning streak continues till the end of the season. Man U however, will have other plans, and they have enough quality to bounce back emphatically from defeat. The title race is on between two Champion teams, and both know that a draw at this stage is as good as defeat. Who will eventually be crowned champions? Time will tell. Sit back and enjoy the action.

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     Australia thrashed India by 9 wickets in the one-off T20 in Melbourne, and the harsher of the critics will have already started baying. But critic or not, that match has surely taught everyone one thing: that there is a very fine line between bravado and foolishness. Just before the game, in a press conference, M S Dhoni has said that his players would be treating it as a practice match. Looking at the result, it seems a lot more practice is in store for the entire team. (more…)

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