Soccer Latest Highlights

Arsenal vs West Ham HIGHLIGHTS 2-0
Dec 5, 2009 4:00 PM GMT
Stadium: Emirates Stadium
Scorer: (Arsenal) 26' Arshavin A., 79' Ramsey A.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Top of the match: Ramsey A. (Arsenal)

Arsenal 2 VS. Stoke City in the Preimer League 09\10 - For more funny movies, click here

West Ham vs Manchester United HIGHLIGHTS 1-4
Dec 5, 2009 4:00 PM GMT
Stadium: Upton Park
Scorer: (Manchester United) 45+1' Scholes P., 61' Gibson D., 71' Valencia L., 72' Rooney W.
Top of the match: Valencia L. (Man Utd)

West Ham Vs Manchester United 0 4 Goals & Highlights 5 12 09 - Click here for this week’s top video clips

Manchester City vs Chelsea HIGHLIGHTS 2-1
Dec 5, 2009 6:30 PM GMT
Stadium: The City of Manchester
Scorer: (Manchester City) 37' Adebayor S., 56' Tevez C. (Chelsea) 8' Adebayor
Referee: Rocchi di Firenze
Top of the match: Given S. (Man City)

Argentine international defender Fernando Gago wants to leave Real Madrid because he has been little used this season but the Spanish giants do not want to let him go, sports daily Marca reported Friday.

The 23-year-old, who joined Real at the end of 2006 from Argentine side Boca Juniors, needs more time on the pitch to be be considered for Argentina’s 2010 World Cup squad and has asked his agent to negotiate his move to another club in the winter transfer window, it said.

But Real is counting on the player to make up for the absence of its midfielder and Mali captain Mahamadou Diarra who is scheduled to play for his national team during the 2010 African Cup of Nations between January 10-31.

Gago started for Real during all but two of the club’s 26 Spanish league matches in the 2008-09 season but his time on the pitch has been sharply reduced since Chile’s Manuel Pellegrini took over as coach in July 2009.

Italy’s AC Milan and Fiorentina have reportedly shown interest in signing the midfielder, who joined Real for 21 million euros (31.7 million dollars).
Argentina’s national coach Diego Maradona has described Gago as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and said that “he should never be left off an Argentina squad list”.

David Beckham will rejoin AC Milan in the January transfer window. It will of course be his second loan spell at the San Siro.

Good move for Beckham

His return to Europe is in aid of him making it into Fabio Capello’s England squad for next years World Cup in South Africa.

You can understand the logic in Beckham’s mind. Its a good move for the 34 year-old. Not only is he moving back to Europe, hes moving to a club that Fabio Capello will always have one eye on, having played for and managed the Rossoneri twice.

Still useful

The England midfielder is still a useful player with his vision and his ability to produce fantastic crosses. He is also a good leader and a good personality to have in the dressing room. He still has a quick thinking football brain, even if the legs are getting older. He is also incredibly fit for a player of his age.

American dream turned sour

Beckham’s move to America has turned a bit sour in recent months as the fans don’t seem to have forgiven him for joining Milan the first time around. Even one of his teammates at LA Galaxy Landon Donovan has had a pop at the former Madrid and United star, accusing Beckham of being unprofessional and not really caring about the Galaxy. Beckham has shrugged off the abuse and unhappiness of the Galaxy fans and has helped the franchise to the MLS Cup play-offs.

Fourth World Cup appearance?

Beckham has already been to three World Cups with England and will be hoping to be on the plane to South Africa next year. Its not a certainty that he will make it to his fourth World Cup with lots of competition for places on the right side of the England midfield. The likes of Aaron Lennon, Ashley Young, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Theo Walcott are all able to play that role and have youth on their side.

Advantage

However the former United star has the advantage of great experience both at international level and club level. He also has another advantage over the young wingers. He has the ability to produce the end product. His crossing ability is far superior to any of the aforementioned midfielders. Lennon’s crossing ability has slightly improved in recent months but all too often his crosses go astray.
If Lennon could perfect his crossing ability I think he would be undisputed first choice but at the moment its still up for debate. Beckham is a really good player to have on the bench to come on for Lennon with 15 or 20 minutes to go and create a goal.

Should he go to the World Cup?

This has been discussed and discussed in the English press and also by nearly every football fan in England. However there’s only one man who can decide if he goes or not and that’s England boss Fabio Capello. If he has a good few months in Milan and stays injury free I think he will go to South Africa.

Capello likes Beckham and hes a good player to have in your squad. I would take Beckham just because of his will to win for his country and his vital experience. If England are to win next years competition then we will need to use every asset we have at our disposal and Beckham to me is a good asset to have.

The win against Jerez marked Barca's best ever start to a league campaign. The team have taken 33 points, one more than last season's title wining treble winners.

As Pep Guardiola warned at the start of the season it 's going to be difficult to better last year's historic achievements, but the team have made a great start and won more points in the first 13 games than they managed last year.

The team had already equalled the record for the longest winning start to a season and they have maintained their great form in the last few games to break the record for the most points after 13 games, maintaining their unbeaten record by wining 10 games and drawing 3.

It's the first time Barca have gone 13 games undefeated at the start of a season since Bobby Robson's 1996/97 team, although they could only boast 9 wins, having drawn 4 times.

Arsène Wenger had mixed injury news to report when he spoke to Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon.

Bacary Sagna has recovered from his ankle injury and should be fit for the visit of Stoke on Saturday. However, Theo Walcott has a collected a short-term hamstring problem and will miss out.

Alex Song is suspended after receiving his fifth booking of the season on Wednesday at Manchester City. But, on the upside, the manager revealed that Robin Van Persie (ankle) and Kieran Gibbs (foot) are both recovering well from recent surgery.

"We had Sagna out injured [before] but, normally, he will be available," said Wenger.

"However, Theo Walcott will not be available. He has a hamstring injury.

"As for the other players we had injured, the long-term ones I do not even speak about. But the players who looked to be shorter - like Clichy, Diaby and Bendtner - will not be available. And, of course, Song is suspended for the weekend."

Gibbs and Van Persie are in the longer-term bracket but thankfully both are on the mend after surgery.

"Kieran is doing very well," said Wenger. "I had him on the phone and it looked to be completely fine. I have not talked to Robin yet but there again the news I got from the surgery was it went very, very well. There was a lot of disturbance on our side recently [about his injury] but the surgery went well."

Darron Gibson fired holders Manchester United through to the last four of the English League Cup on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford that ended Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of a third successive final. United, who beat Spurs on penalties in last season’s Wembley final, were joined in the semi-finals by Aston Villa after the five-time winners beat Premier League stragglers Portsmouth 4-2 at Fratton Park.

Big-spending Manchester City welcomed Arsenal while league leaders Chelsea travelled to Blackburn Rovers for yesterday’s quarter-finals.

With the rain sweeping down, young Irish midfielder Gibson opened the scoring for United against the run of play in the 16th minute and doubled his tally 22 minutes later with a powerful shot to the top corner from 18 metres.

The scoreline flattered United’s youthful-looking team, however, with Tottenham playing the better football for much of the first half as they sought their first win at Old Trafford in 20 years.

“We’ve scored against the run of play, Tottenham were I thought dominating the first 30 minutes of the match anyway,” United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports television. “They could have been in front by two or three opportunities.

“The second half, in fairness, we were much better. We are two games away from Wembley, so that’s good…we will enjoy the semi-final and these lads will play again.”

Jermain Defoe tested United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak in the seventh minute and had a great chance in the 21st when he found space at the back post only to be denied by the rock-steady Nemanja Vidic in defence.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was stunned by his side’s lack of passion.

“We were never going to get a better opportunity than we had tonight,” he said. “The first half really, they (United) had two shots on goal and scored twice. There was no atmosphere, it was like a practice match.

“It was played at a lethargic pace, we didn’t make a tackle in the first half. I’ve never been to Old Trafford and sensed there was no atmosphere. The thing never really got going, there was nothing happening.”

Villa made a woeful start at Portsmouth, going behind in the 10th minute when Stilian Petrov tried to clear at the near post but sliced the ball into his own net.

Portsmouth, who lost 4-1 to United at the weekend, had little time to enjoy their lead with Emile Heskey equalising two minutes later. Villa made it 2-1 in the 27th through James Milner and went 3-1 ahead in the 74th when England winger Stewart Downing headed in at the far post to score on his first start for the club.

Kanu pulled a goal back with a low shot in the 87th but Ashley Young restored Villa’s lead two minutes later with a deflected shot high into the net.

“It was the sort of start that we didn’t want,” said Villa manager Martin O’Neill.

"We were hoping that we could come out strongly and conceding an early goal was not part of the plan. But, if anything, it got us going.”

Arsenal ace striker Robin van Persie has had successful surgery to the ankle injury, however, that will keep him off the fields for a minimum of four months, confirms coach Arsene Wenger.

Van Persie suffered the injury while on international duty during a friendly with Italy and his absence has proved a major setback for the Gunners, with two back to back defeats with no goal in the Premier league clash against Chelsea and League Cup clash against Manchester City.

Wenger was furious with the Dutch FA after discovering that the Van Persie who was injured in a friendly international with Italy, had suffered more extensive damage than first diagnosed.

Van Persie was initially sent for controversial horse placenta treatment in Serbia after the misdiagnosis, which the North London club said they would have managed differently had they known the full extent of the injury.

However, the Wenger annonced on the club’s official website that the surgery was a complete success and said; “I have not talked to Robin yet but there again the news I got from the surgery was it went very, very well.

“There was a lot of disturbance on our side recently (about his injury) but the surgery went well.”

The Hammers youngster will get his chance on Saturday due to the injury of fellow front man Carlton Cole who faces a number of weeks on the sidelines with a knee ligament injury.

Cole suffered the knee problem in last weekend's 5-3 win over Burnley but fortunately he will not require surgery.

It will give Cole's understudy an opportunity to show his worth to manager Gianfranco Zola and the England U21 star cannot wait.

"I would love to score against Manchester United," he said. "It's a big game, when Arsenal came here we were all up for it. Every time I come on I feel happy to be honest because not a lot of people are in my position. Obviously I work hard and work on being more confident and trying to play my best for the team."

The 20-year-old has played 14 times in his breakthrough season with West Ham, scoring a winning goal against Aston Villa, and is always looking to improve his game.

"It's good learning from Carlton and Mark Noble, obviously they're different in a lot of ways but they're both good at what they do," he said. "Learning more from them obviously helps my game and helps me get better."