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Tottenham v Chelsea 5 May 13

Tottenham v Chelsea 5 May 13

Gylfi Sigurdsson Tottenham’s captain got an amazing late 80^th minute equaliser to draw the game 2 – 2 with Chelsea on Wednesday 08/05/13.

Tottenham came twice from behind to draw the game, keeping England’s final two Champions League spots up for grabs.

Tottenham lost their control of finishing in top four, but they are still finishing in really good position which is fifth in the ladder just one point behind the fourth position Arsenal and Chelsea is coming third.

Sigurdsson 80^th minute goal flushed Ramires’ hard working 39^th minute goal down the drain. Which would have earned Chelsea 3 points and that would have certainly secured them a place in Europe’s top competition for an 11^th straight season.

 

Chelsea is leading Tottenham by 3 points, so one more win for Chelsea from the remaining 2 games against Aston Villa and Everton will secure the 3^rd position for them.

Chelsea had lots of chances to win this game and they did their best to do so, but Tottenham’s strikers wouldn’t give up without a fight and finally Tottenham drew the game with 2 all.

 Najibullah Saedi

  

 

 

 

John Tomic headbutting incident

Bernard Tomic's father, John Tomic has come under scrutiny again after he allegedly headbutted Bernard's practice partner, Thomas Drouet who is a French tennis player. Thomas Drouet sustained some facial injuries including a broken nose, fractured vertebrae and stitches, and has since wished Bernard the best of luck despite his father's behaviour. John Tomic, who was Bernard's coach has now been stood down and is banned from all ATP events until further notice. Todd Woodbridge, head of men's professional tennis in Australia has said that they will help Bernard out and provide coaching assistance until they find a possible long term coach. 

John Tomic denies the allegation saying he did it out of self defense and Bernard has since supported his father in his claims. John will likely face court today in Madrid, and is currently being held in custody at a Madrid hotel. Interestingly this incident comes just days after a Monte Carlo news outlet alleged that John Tomic had attacked his son Bernard previously. To add salt to the wounds, Bernard Tomic has subsequently lost his round 1 tennis match at the Madrid Masters to Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-2. 

By Kailaesh Raveendran

CHELSEA 2-2 TOTTENHAM: ALL SQUARE IN LONDON

CHELSEA 2-2 TOTTENHAM: ALL SQUARE IN LONDON

It took yet another late equalizer for Tottenham to rescue a point handing the initiative to Arsenal and Chelsea in the final two games of the season. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored an 80^th minute goal set up by a fantastic back heel by Emmanuel Adebayor. It was arguably Adebayor’s best performance this season as he scored a wonderful 25 yard strike and set up Sigurdsson for the goal.

Oscar's tap in header

The goals began early after Oscar scored an easy tap in header after Gary Cahill towered above the Tottenham defense to set up a goal for Chelsea on 11^th minutes from a corner. Adebayor’s strike cancelled out Chelsea’s early lead but it was not to last long. Quick passes and movement on the right wing by Chelsea led to a Ramires goal on 39 minutes. It looked like it was all over for Tottenham going into the 75^th minute. André Villas-Boas made two substitutes of Clint Dempsey and Sigurdsson, which proved to be the decider as Sigurdsson went on to score.

Adebayor's incredible top corner finish

This result puts a Top 4 finish and Champions league qualification out of Tottenham’s hands as they sit 1 point behind Arsenal in fourth and 3 points behind Chelsea in third with two games remaining. The remaining fixtures for Arsenal include Wigan and Newcastle both of whom sit in the bottom four of the league. Chelsea travel to Aston Villa on Saturday knowing a win will secure a top 4 finish next season. Tottenham head to Stoke City which could be a difficult fixture as recent history shows it is not an easy place to travel to especially in the mix of a relegation battle.  

Whatever happens in the final two games will surely be exciting and nerve-racking for the fans of these clubs. As a Tottenham fan it may be a bit disappointing to see Tottenham not make the Top 4, but it has definitely been a successful season for the manager and the club.   

By Riyaz

    

Waterhouse-Singleton Stoush

It has been a bout a week since the big race in the Group One All Aged Stakes at Randwick and the controversy still continues. John Singleton, the high profile millionaire owner of the horse More Joyous has accused bookmaker Tom Waterhouse that he had secretly given information about More Joyous to his friends, concerning an injury. Singleton's claims are that the horse's trainer, Gai Waterhouse revealed this information to her son Tom, who then allegedly passed this information onto his friends and colleagues. More Joyous, who was one of the favourites of the race ended up finishing second last due to the injury.

John Singleton, so far refuses to name any sources as to where he got his allegation from but has mentioned hearing things from friends, a former top jockey and "internationally known figures." Both Tom and Gai Waterhouse deny the allegations and Tom has said he is considering legal action. The spat between Singleton and Waterhouse continued throughout the week, with Gai calling Singleton "an old...drunk" and "an absolute sham." Gai has also sworn "on the bible" that she had not spoken to her son until after the race.

There are currently calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the alleged Waterhouse leaks and all those involved in the spat must attend. This includes rugby league legend Andrew Johns, who allegedly told a number of people More Joyous could not win the All Aged Stakes. Meanwhile Singleton has split from Gai Waterhouse and is taking horses from the trainer's stable and is keeping them in his private farm in North Sydney.

By Kailaesh Raveendran

Barclays Premier League - 7th May 2013

Chelsea move one step closer to a Top 4 finish

It was a massive 3 points for Chelsea who managed to grab a late goal against Manchester United in Sunday’s epic 0-1 match at Old Trafford. Juan Mata’s 87^th minute goal coming at a time when it looked like Chelsea was going to drop 2 points in the race for top 4 football and Champions league qualification. 

Mata's 87th minute goal against Manchester United

Chelsea now sits rather comfortably in third place three points above Tottenham Hotspurs in fifth and a point off Arsenal in forth, yet with Chelsea only having played 35 games to Arsenal’s 36 games; Wednesday’s clash against Tottenham becomes ever so important to both teams. A win could seal a top 4 place for Chelsea as Tottenham have a significantly lower goal difference than the Blues (Chelsea).  Manager Rafael Benitez was pleased with the result and had this to say "we are in the driving seat now, if we can win (against Tottenham), we can be there (in the Champions League)".  

Gareth Bale shot from outside the box against Southampton

Cheslea’s London rivals Tottenham managed a late 1-0 win against Southampton who outplayed Tottenham for most of the game. It came down to a wonder strike from none other than Gareth Bale on 85 minutes to seal a victory for Spurs(Tottenham). Arsenal played an already relegated Queens Park Rangers side that has nothing to lose. The Gunners(Arsenal) scored an incredible goal within 14 second of the game by Theo Walcott. The win sees Arsenal extend their unbeaten streak up to 8 games at the most important time of the season.   

With all three teams winning this weekend and games running out, it adds further pressure to Wednesdays clash between Tottenham and Chelsea. Both teams know this is essentially a final and a win for either one could boost their top 4 challenge significantly with two games remaining.    

Thursday, 9th May 2013 - 4:45 am (AEST)

By Riyaz

NBA Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets

In one of the latest games in the NBA, it was Oklahoma City Thunder against the Houston Rockets, which Oklahoma City triumphed in, with a score of 104-93.



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Ok, so a recap of the game.

 

The two top scorers for the Thunders were Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin who scored 27 points and 25 points respectively. After trailling in the game to the Rockets, Oklahoma City opened up the fourth quarter strongly with a big run to take the lead and win the game.

Kevin Martin was able to give the Thunder someone to take scoring pressure off Durant for the first time since All-Star Russell Westbrook had season-ending knee surgery. He had 21 points by halftime and Westbrook's replacement, Reggie Jackson had also helped out by scoring 17 points. In the fourth quarter Derek Fisher and Durant both hit 3-pointers in that stretch. Houston missed six shots, including two layups, and had two turnovers as the Thunder built the lead. Harden made a 3-pointer after that, but the ball was stolen from him on the next possession and Durant took it down and finished with an exclamation point dunk, and Houston didn't threaten after that





 

This match was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,357 and this win for Oklahoma City sends them to the second round playoffs for a third season straight.

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Matthew Lee

Diving in football?

Diving in football?

The term “diving” or simulation as it is referred to by FIFA, refers to the act of falsifying an injury in order to deceive the referee into gaining an unfair advantage for your team. The advantage could be a free kick or most commonly a penalty in the box. The increasing presence of diving in today’s game has led to controversial decisions which have seen teams eliminated from major competitions and seen players receive severe punishment for their actions. Most notably Australia’s 2006 World Cup exit to Italy in the Round of 16, where Fabio Grosso dove in the penalty box after Lucas Neil tackled for the ball. Replays have shown there was no contact on Grosso yet he fell to the ground, thus leading to a penalty for Italy in the 90^th minute of the game, and eventually Australia’s exit. Italy went on to win the World Cup with Grosso.   

Lucas Neil and Fabio Grosso- the penalty incident    

This unsporting behavior leads to yellow/red cards and fines. Recently the A-League and MLS football leagues introduced severe punishment for players caught diving such as long term suspensions. Players and coaches alike know the consequences of an obvious dive yet continue to do it. Not only is it unethical but it creates another problem, the problem of telling whether or not a player is feigning an injury or not. This can have serious consequences as, if a player is really injured and the referee does not call a foul, medics cannot get to the injured player. This makes it even more difficult for the referees to get the right call in determining a genuine injury and call a foul.    

According to FIFA Law 12- Fouls and Misconduct, if the referee believes a player was in the act of simulation he can then banish a yellow card as a caution. On the spot referees are under intense pressure to make a decision and therefore do not always get it right. Let’s not forget a referee has only one view of an incident with no replays whereas we have several. The man with the whistle is also influenced by the surrounding players and environment within the stadium. Yet even with all these pressures referees mostly make the right decisions.

Diving can never be eradicated from the game; however it is down to the players and coaching staff to set an example and promote fair play. Even though diving sometimes looks genuine, in some circumstances it’s blatantly obvious and humorous.  

Just take a look at these dives and judge for yourself.

By Riyaz

Australian Champions Trophy squad announced

Just over a month away from the start of the ODI champions trophy in England and Wales, Australia have announced their 15 man squad. The squad involves a few new faces in Mitchell Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Faulkner. While James Faulkner did play in some limited over matches earlier in the year, Mitchell Marsh hasn’t played one day cricket for Australia since late 2011 as a 19 year old. Additionally Nathan Coulter-Nile is yet to debut for Australia in one day cricket, and his selection was the result of very good domestic season for Western Australia.

Interestingly George Bailey was promoted as vice captain to skipper Michael Clarke after Shane Watson’s resignation as vice captain. This decision was expected as George Bailey is the twenty20 captain and has had some good captaincy experience in the one day format earlier this year when Michael Clarke was injured. George Bailey was preferred over the other potential vice captain, Matthew Wade due to his experience. Some notable players who missed out on selection were James Pattinson, Ryan Harris, Steven Smith and Aaron Finch, some of whom will be in England anyway preparing for the Ashes with an Australia A tour.

Champions Trophy squad Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey (vice-capt), David Warner, Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Coulter-Nile.

By Kailaesh Raveendran