The Best…..

Francesco Totti was the architect of Roma’s much needed win over Fiorentina.  He scored from the spot to give Roma the lead and then added to the lead after the ball broke to him after a corner kick. He then help to set up De Rossi with a header from the edge of the penalty box and Claudio Ranieri’s side went in with a 3-0 half time lead and from there on a Roam win was never in doubt.

In two seasons at Portsmouth David Nugent managed just three goals. For a striker who had edged his way into the English squad it was a meager return. Just as the transfer window was closing earlier this month Burnley was able to secure his services from Pompey on a six month loan.

Nugent spent little time repaying Owen Coyle’s faith when he scored a double on his home debut against Sunderland. The first, a goal that restored Burnley’s lead, was a terrific header and the capper was even better.

It was some four days for Arsenal centre back Thomas Vermaelen. He grabbed a controversial equalizer against Standard Liege in the Champions League and followed it with a double against Wigan on Saturday. The first was a powerful header from a corner, the second a cracking shot from just outside of the penalty box after he played a one-two with Emmanuel Eboue.

The West Ham - Liverpool was a cracking match and although Liverpool took all three points the first half performance of Zavon Hines will give Hammers fans confidence that they have a great talent on their hands. In the end, however, it was one of today’s greats that swung the game Liverpool’s way. Two goals from Fernando Torres was the difference.

Wolfsburg’s Brazilian striker Grafite definitely fits the profile of a late developer. His midweek hat trick against CSKA Moscow was the sixth by a player making his Champions League debut.

Use whatever adjectives you like but the Manchester derby will go down as a memorable match. In normal circumstances doubles for either side from Darren Fletcher and Craig Bellamy would have been worthy of man-of-the-match awards but Ryan Giggs stole the show.

Didier Drogba played the role of provider and scorer for Chelsea. The set-up for Ashley Cole’s opener was the archetype of a perfect delivery into the penalty area.  His goal showed his strength, speed and ability to finish decisively.  

Honorable mentions

Half way through the first half of Sunday’s PSG-Lyon match the visitors contrived the most amazing save and goal line clearance. Lyon keeper Lloris started it all off when he did remarkably well to tip a Ceara free kick on to the cross bar.

The rebound was then headed goalwards only for Cissokho to clear the ball while facing the open goal and finding himself right on the line. An astonishing double save.

Veterans Pippo Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf engineered Milan’s away win to Marseille. Seedorf’s vision set up the chances and Inzaghi’s predatory instinct did the rest.  

I don’t think you could say that Rangers’ Madjid Bougherra and Jerome Rothen exchanged passes in the lead up to Rangers equalizer against Stuttgart. Bougherra played the play to Rothen and then took the ball off his toe as he followed his initial pass. The centre back’s instincts were spot on as he completed his run with a powerful shot that eluded Jens Lehmann in the Stuttgart goal.

Dynamo Kiev put in a stirring last twenty minutes to come from 1-0 down to beat Rubin Kazan 3-1 in the Champions League.

Four games into Serie A and newly-promoted Bari is still unbeaten. They started with draws against Inter, Bologna and Palermo and collected their first win on Sunday with an emphatic 4-1 win against Atalanta.

Best forgotten…..

Mathieu Flamini of Milan was fortunate to stay on the park after an atrocious “tackle” against Marseille. Flamini’s two-footed lunge on Stephane Mbia could have caused serious injury.

We were all looking forward to it but the Inter-Barcelona turned out to be as engrossing as some of Chelsea v Liverpool games of a few seasons ago.

It is not the most horrific of starts but even so Roberto Donadoni must be treading on thin ice at Napoli. A scoreless home draw means that his side has only one win (against promoted Livorno) in four games and of their next seven Serie A games they have Inter, Roma, Fiorentina, Milan and Juventus.

Another coach who must be mighty nervous is Atletico Madrid’s Abel Resino. The fans were restless going into match against Barcelona at the Nou Camp and a 5-2 pasting will not have eased their discontent.

Rio Ferdinand and Ben Foster can thank mental lapses by Manchester City for getting them off the hook. Foster was responsible for City’s first goal and then only he will know what he was trying to do when Bellamy took advantage of a Ferdinand howler to equalize late in the match.

However, City didn’t just make one mistake in allowing United to score a winner deep in to added time. First of all Tevez gave away an unnecessary foul, and when the United free kick was cleared, he then gave the ball away needlessly.

But there was more to come. Micah Richards and three others were caught in the centre while Michael Owens went unmarked at the edge of the penalty box while no City player felt the need to apply pressure to Ryan Giggs as he had time to look up and pick out Owen.

Stat facts…..

After losing 2-0 to Aston Villa Portsmouth became the first Premier League side to lose their opening six games of the season. It is the worst start by a top-flight team in England since Leicester City 26 years ago.

Sunderland’s 3-1 loss was their first to Burnley in fifteen meetings between the sides.

Livorno lost 2-0 to Juventus and have not beaten the Turin side in Serie A since the 1941/42 season.

The New England Revolution failed to beat the Red Bulls but the 1-1 draw on Friday extended their unbeaten streak against the New York side to thirteen games.

Manchester United fans must have felt confident when Darren Fletcher scored against City. United have never lost a Premier League game in which Fletcher has scored and that now encompasses fourteen games – 12 wins and 2 draws.

What's more United have only lost one league game over the last two seasons that Fletcher has started – 30 starts, 24 wins, 5 draws and the single loss came away to Fulham.

Wolves led Fulham 1-0 at half time on their way to a 2-1 win. The score line after 45 minutes would not have come as a surprise to either side. Between the two sides they played 11 Premier League games so far and all have been 1-0 at the half.  

Circle your calendars - November 29th at the Nou Camp Barcelona plays Real Madrid.

What was said….

Patrick Barclay takes us back to a time when Manchester was home to the best two sides in England.

French fans are trying to make sure that national team manager Raymond Domenech gets their messages loud and clear.

An article on Liverpool joint-owner Tom Hicks’ other sporting interests.

Theo Walcott discusses the first time he saw Gianfranco Zola’s bum.

The last career goal scored by Denis Law got more than a few mentions during the lead up to the Manchester derby. Many referenced it as the goal that relegated Manchester United but that was not the case. United would have been relegated whether Law had scored or not.

Something else that is often overlooked is that Law was a Manchester City player well before his time at Old Trafford. The fact that Law is revered by both sets of supporters says much about the man. However, if Bill Shankly had had his way Law would have been a Liverpool player. Law’s first club was Huddersfield Town and when Shanks left to take over at Anfield he wanted to take a 19-year-old Law with him. But the funds were not available at what was then an impoverished Liverpool.

Peter Lowry scored a couple of goals for the Chicago Fire against the Columbus Crew. However, there is something a bit fishy about his Wikipedia entry!


Coming up this week…..

The Carling Cup and the CIS Cup

There are also CONCACAF Champions League matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a full slate of games in Serie A and Liga. In Italy the feature matches include Fiorentina v Sampdoria; Inter v Napoli; Palermo v Roma; Udinese v Milan all on Wednesday and Genoa v Juventus on Thursday.

Liga feature games include Racing Santander v Barcelona and Villarreal v Real Madrid both on Wednesday.

The second round of the German Cup is scheduled as is the round of 32 in the French League Cup.

There is an important game in MLS with San Jose Earthquakes away to play-off chasing Colorado Rapids on Wednesday evening.