The Soccer Thread (IV)

Round 1 of the Manc derby goes to the City, 2-1, courtesy of two Tevez goals, one the result of a softish penalty decision, the other the result of some shoddy United marking at a corner.

He celebrated with, uh, some gusto, as well, including running to the halfway line and cupping his hands to his ears after the second.

 

Excellent.

He'll be back to disappear for 89 minutes, and spend the other 60 seconds producing moments of brilliance that could lead to the game-deciding goal.

 

I guess you're one of those people who thinks the U.S. team is better without Clint Dempsey. Sucky news for you, I suppose.

Me, I'll be happy that one of the few guys on our national team who can make a difference on a big stage looks like he'll be available, and hopefully, in form, for the World Cup.

 

Blackburn surged into a 2-0 lead at Villa in the League Cup semifinal, since which point Villa have leveled the tie on aggregate, then won and scored a penalty (with a sending-off) to get to 2-2 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate. Fun stuff.

 

Villa now up 5-2 in this one (6-2 agg)...and as I typed that, Blackburn just scored. It's 5-3 in the 64th minute.

 

5-4 now, 6-4 on aggregate. Horrifyingly poor defending on some of these goals.

 

6-4, 7-4. Incredible.

Meanwhile, Arsenal needed a two-goal win against Bolton to go top of the Premier League, so they naturally went 2-0 behind in the first half. They're now 4-2 up.

 

Six.

 

LOL at Villa fans running onto the pitch to celebrate. It's the Carling Cup, guys.

You just reached the Carling Cup final! What are you going to do next?

I'm going to Hershey Park!

 

Boy, do Spurs miss Aaron Lennon today. Liverpool 1-0 Spurs, 79th minute

 

Huge win for Liverpool.

 

So that's three games involving Premier League teams, and 18 goals. Yep, soccer's totally low-scoring and boring.