Rapids Pickens Shuts It Down For Season

Colorado's Matt Pickens suffered a groin injury vs San Jose (Getty Images/2010)

Bad news this week for the Colorado Rapids, but in the end I guess it could have been worse.  Goalkeeper Matt Pickens suffered a groin injury during the second half of the Rapids loss to San Jose last weekend and left the match, handing Stew Ceus his MLS debut.

With the Rapids out of MLS playoff contention, manager Oscar Pareja has said that he does not intend to risk further injury to Pickens and will withhold him for the final two matches of the season.  This is a huge deal in the statistical sense.  He had started the previous 75 matches for Colorado, that's a team record and is the longest active streak in the league.

Pickens is the Rapids all time leader in wins and clean sheets.  He has 107 saves this season, a personal best and Rapids record.  He's currently third in MLS.

I've always thought Pickens is at least one of the top ten 'keepers in MLS, and the Puddle wishes him a speedy recovery. 

Chelsea Top Norwich in Brilliant Fashion

Eden Hazard scored his first non-PK league goal for Chelsea (Chelsea FC)

Norwich had the first eleven minutes today at Stamford Bridge.  The other 79 belonged firmly to Chelsea.  The Blues overcame a bit of a shaky start, especially on the defensive end, to blow out Norwich and keep hold of first place heading into the FIFA international break,

Chelsea looked a little ragged in their own penalty box in the early minutes, and Norwich's Grant Holt, ever the hard worker, was able to to take advantage.  In the 11th minute Leon Barnett headed a ball down into the path of Holt, who had way more space than he should have been given.  The Norwich forward rifled a shot past Petr Cech and into the bottom corner of the goal to make it 0-1 to the Canaries.

That was all the wake up Chelsea needed though.

Just three minutes later Branislav Ivanovic crossed a ball into the Norwich area where it found the head of Fernando Torres.  El Nino calmly deposited it into the back of the net to tie the match at 1-1.  It's his 6th goal of the year for the Blues across all competitions.  Just two minutes later Eden Hazard nearly put the Blues in front with an excellent volley chance, but he just mishit it and it trickled rather easily into the hands of John Ruddy.

However in the 22nd minute The Blues finally did grab the lead for good.  Torres tried a nice overhead kick in the area, but Ruddy managed to parry the shot away.   Unfortunately for him, the ball fell to Frank Lampard who volleyed home a cannon shot to make it 2-1 to Chelsea.  The Blues would get one more before halftime, as Juan Mata found Hazard with a seeing eye through ball in the 31st minute.  Hazard expertly one touched the ball inside the far post to give Chelsea the 3-1 lead going into the break.

Chelsea handled the Canaries pretty easily in the second half as well, though Grant Holt did get a decent look at a header in the 47th minute, only to see it glance a couple yards wide of the post.  Ruddy made a a couple of fantastic stops in 1v1 situations.  He snuffed out a nice run by Mata in the 58th, and then saved a sure goal from Torres in the 75th.

It was just one minute after that save on Torres that the Blues put the icing on the cake.  In the 76th minute Mata flipped a centering ball over the Norwich defense to Ivanovic who volleyed home the final goal of the match to make it 4-1 to Chelsea.  After that last strike, Norwich pretty much conceded, subbing out goal scorer Holt, and didn't trouble the Blues at all during the last 14 minutes.

The win keeps Chelsea in 1st place going into the break, regardless of  results on Sunday.  Norwich is still looking for their first win of the new season, and they remain in the bottom three.

Hyundai A-League Returns For New Campaign

The Hyundai A-League is the top flight domestic league in Australia

Last night football returned to Australia as the Hyundai A-League began it's new season.  The league kicked off last night with the Melbourne Derby, in which the Melbourne Heart held off the Melbourne Victory for a 1-2 win, much to this writer's dismay.

My American readers might not be familiar with the A-League and it's clubs, but I'm hoping to change that this year.  If you're an MLS fan, there's really no reason why you shouldn't look into the the A-League, as their league and ours have several things in common.  The A-League is a young league, going into it's 8th season I believe, and has had a lot of the same growing pains that MLS has gone through.  They've struggled with league and FA vs owners issues, they've lost franchises and started new ones.  Still, after a couple of years following the league myself, I actually believe the quality of the football is actually a little bit better than where MLS was at that stage of it's development.  It's not the Premier League or La Liga, but it's quality professional football and I'm almost always entertained.

Here's a brief round up of some of the major story lines as the A-League kicks off the new season.

1. The arrival of high profile foreign players has begun.
Here's another concept MLS fans will be familiar with.  After going on for a few years, the league gained a higher profile and started to attract big name foreign players, albeit they were perhaps in the twilight of their career.  The same has happened in the A-League this year.  Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero turned down a few potential suitors, including Liverpool, to sign for the A-League's Sydney FC.  This is a big deal, think Beckham signing for the Galaxy.  It hasn't just been ADP though, as former England international Emile Heskey has signed for Newcastle Jets.

2. Expansion West Sydney Wanderers begin play.
The last time the A-League expanded a couple of years back, They opened up the Melbourne Heart franchise, creating an in-city derby with Melbourne Victory, one of the league's most successful clubs.  As mentioned earlier, they opened the season with this derby last night.  This time the league has followed the same course, starting up the West Sydney Wanderers franchise to rival Sydney FC, another one of the league's power clubs.  This has not been without some controversy as a dust up between the FFA, league and the former Gold Coast United franchise led to Gold Coast's expulsion and dissolution late last season.  Some felt more might have been done to save that existing franchise before adding the new expansion side.  Also some fan violence associated with West Sydney has been observed in the preseason, which has not gone over well.  The actual football begins now, and hopefully this derby will develop like the Melbourne clash.

3. Championship manager switches sides.
Unquestionably the best team in the A-League the last couple of years has been Brisbane Roar.  They've won the last two Grand Finals and at one point had a league record unbeaten run.  The manager who led the Roar to those titles, Ange Postecoglou,  left the club after last season and took over the manager's role at Melbourne Victory, one of the star franchises of the league that massively failed to live up to their reputation last year.  It remains to be seen whether the Roar can continue their winning ways without him, or if he can help return the Victory to prominence.  Personally, I wouldn't bet against either of those things happening.  The Roar are a superior side, and I'll have to see them beaten in the big game to believe it.

Those are the major stories going into league play, but not the only ones.  For folks wishing to check out the A-League, Fox Soccer plays at least one match every weekend, usually live.  Of course with the USA/Austrailia time difference, they're usually late at night/early in the morning.  Set your DVRs.  This weekend's featured match is a rematch of the Grand Final from last year, Perth Glory vs Brisbane Roar, and can be seen on Fox Soccer at 2 AM Eastern Sunday morning.

Of course, there are plenty of ways to keep up with league on the web and through social media.  You can check out the official league website at www.footballaustralia.com.au/aleague. The Clubs and the league have a twitter and Facebook presence as well.  Finally, check out a couple of my friends.  First, the folks over at VictoryBlog provide top notch news on the Melbourne Victory, and they have also launched a new podcast covering the whole league with The A-League Show.  Finally my buddy Troy (Twitter: @leaveforthecup) and friends are launching their own footy podcast, Girl's Don't Like Us, as well.  Right now it's only available on Soundcloud, but they're hoping to expand into other avenues shortly.  Follow them on twitter @GirlsDontLikeUs for updates.  They're quality, and hey, Troy is an RSL fan as well!

So, MLS fans and others, check out this growing league and help grow the beautiful game world wide.  I think you'll be glad you did.

Europa League: Udinese Downs Liverpool at Anfield

Giovanni Pasquale celebrates his goal for Udinese (Sporting Life)

Do you remember all those good feelings around Liverpool after they thumped Norwich last weekend?  Well, after yesterday's Europa League loss, neither do they.  The Reds held their own in the first half against Italian side Udinese, but a dismal performance in the second half doomed them to a loss that not even Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard could rescue them from.

Now to be fair, Udinese are obviously a much better side than Norwich, but one would still fancy Liverpool to do better at Anfield.  While Udinese generally looked better at the opening, both sides traded chances from set pieces in the first 15 minutes.  In the 8th minute Sebastian Coates headed a corner low toward the bottom of the Udinese goal, but Zeljko Brkic made a great save for the Italians.  Then in minute 14 Mehdi Benatia got his head to a free kick for Udinese, but like his counterpart, Pepe Reina was up to the task, parrying the ball the around the post to keep the match level.

Liverpool got the first goal of the match on 23 minutes, slightly against the run of play.  Stewart Downing sent a cross into the area that Jonjo Shelvey connected with on a late run.  The midfield man headed a nice shot down past Brkic to make it 1-0 to Liverpool.

After conceding the first goal, Udinese went into a little bit of a funk.  The closest they got to an equalizer in the first half was from a shot by Antonio Di Natale, who curled the ball just wide of the top corner of Reina's goal in the 29th minute.  However, despite the increase in possession, the Reds could not up their lead and the half ended on the 1-0 score line.

Udinese made them pay for that right off in the second half.  They made an attacking substitution at the interval, inserting Andrea Lazzari.  He paid divedends immediately, centering a ball to Di Natale in the 46th minute.  The striker calmly and clinically slotted past Reina to tie the match at 1-1.

Things got a little scrappy for awhile after the equalizer, but kicked back to life in the 71st minute, much to Liverpool's dismay.  Udinese sent a free kick into the Liverpool six, but Coates rose and headed the ball into his own net to give Udinese the 1-2 advantage.  It got worse for Liverpool just a minute later when Giovanni Pasquale scorched a shot from outside of the box into the bottom of the goal to make it 1-3.

Brendan Rodgers has made some important subs of his own, inserting Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard into the lineup for Liverpool, and Suarez seemed to start the Reds on the comeback trail in the 75th minute.  The Uruguayan banged a free a kick over the Udinese wall and into the top of the net to make it 2-3 with 15 minutes left.

In the end it would be too little too late for Liverpool, though not for lack of effort.  In the 77th minute Suarez sent in a bullet header from close range that was well saved by Brkic.  Suarez must have thought he had scored.  However, in the last 10 minutes Udinese's defense really solidified, blocking most of Liverpool's attempts and forcing them to to shoot from at least mid range.  It was pretty impressive, but they are an Italian side after all.  They were able to hold their advantage and pull out the three points with the 2-3 win.

Celtic's Forster Called Up For England.

Celtic GK Fraser Forster has been called in for England

I've been a fan of what Fraser Forster has been able to do in goal for Celtic, and I'm happy to hear the news that came down the pipe when the England squad was announced for the next World Cup Qualifiers.  Forster has been selected to represent the Three Lions, a relative rarity for a player in the SPL.

Certainly the fact that Jack Butland has been released to the U-21 side has helped in Forter's selection, but some folks in the England camp have been arguing that a more tried and experienced backup is needed for Joe Hart.  With Forster's and Celtic's appearance in the group stage of the UEFA Champion's League, Forester's stock and profile have risen.

Fraser himself had this to say about his new opportunity:

"I'm excited as well and just looking forward to meeting up with everyone really. It's a great opportunity and a great chance to test myself against some great players"

"I got a call from the gaffer yesterday to let me know he thought it was going to happen and then I found out for definite today so I'm thrilled" 

If capped, Forster would be the first player from the SPL to be capped by England since 2004, when Parkhead MF Alan Thompson played 60 minutes for England in a 1-0 loss to Sweden.  He was never called up again.

Late Surge Pushes Chelsea to UCL Road Win

Fernando Torres and the Blues blanked Nordsjaelland 4-0 (AP Images)

After an opening match draw at home vs Juventus Chelsea traveled to Denmark to take FC Nordsjaelland, the Danish champions.  The Danes pushed Chelsea hard for nearly 80 minutes before the Blues finally broke the match open and cruised over the finish line.

Chelsea fans were perhaps right to be nervous after the defending European champions gave up a two goal lead at home to Juve, but the Blues got off to a pretty good start in this one.  In the early minutes Oscar sent a cross into Danes' area, and a Nordsjaelland defender headed it off his own bar while trying to clear the ball away from a lurking Victor Moses.  Then in the 10th minute Juan Mata connected with Frank Lampard, but Lamps sent the Spaniard's cross just over the crossbar.   Fernando Torres forced a save out of the Nordsjaelland 'keeper in the 22nd minute, and the Danes looked to have successfully weathered the early storm.

However in the 33rd minute the Danes turned the ball over to disastrous effect.  Torres took the ball off Enoch Adu and dished to Lampard.  Lamps hit Mata in the center of the area and he was able to slot the ball into the goal to give the Blues the 0-1 lead.

Early in the second half Torres had a chance to but the Blues up another goal, but the Nordsjaelland 'keeper barely beat him to another nice ball from Oscar.  Then in the 53rd minute The Danes dodged another bullet as Moses scored, but his goal was correctly ruled out for a foul.

Nordsjaelland fought well though, and their efforts nearly paid off with an equalizer late on.  In the 73rd minute Joshua John sent a low shot in on Petr Cech's goal, and Chelsea 'keeper just barely managed to save the ball, parrying it off the near post and away from danger.

The Blues finally put some distance between themselves and the home side on 79 minutes.  Torres earned a free kick just outside of the area when he was fouled by Michael Parkhurst.  David Luiz stepped up over the free kick and smacked a gorgeous right footed kick in off the left post to make it 0-2.  Then just three minutes later Mata got his second of the match after he drilled home a ball that deflected off of a defender.  Finally in the 89th minute Oscar dropped a little ball off to Ramires, who tapped home Chelsea's final goal of the night to make it 0-4.

The three points put Chelsea top of the group after Juve drew with Shaktar in the other Group E match from today.

Sabo & Espindola Help RSL Torch Chivas USA

RSL celebrate Alvaro Saborio's third goal of the night (Getty Images)

RSL fans got what they wanted Saturday night as the Claret and Cobalt thrashed Chivas USA 0-4 at the Home Depot Center.  Alvaro Saborio netted his second hat-trick of the season, Paulo Jr. scored a goal, Fabian Espindola recorded three assists, and Nick Rimando posted yet another clean sheet as RSL moved into sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.

It seems like it was a long time ago that Chivas USA bounced RSL 0-1 at the Riot.  At that early point in the season it looked like Robin Fraser's Chivas side might be heading in the right direction as they pieced together a run of outstanding defensive performances.  Unfortunately for the Goats, it hasn't worked out that way, or anywhere near that way.

It didn't take RSL long to get things started either.  In the 8th minute Fabi sent a cross into the box that Javier Morales flicked on toward the post.  Saborio was waiting in the wings to deposit the ball past Dan Kennedy to give the Claret and Cobalt the 0-1 advantage.

Chivas didn't get much time to breathe either, as the next RSL goal came on just 11 minutes.  This time the Claret and Cobalt were helped by an uncharacteristic error from Chivas 'keeper Dan Kennedy.  He tried to roll the ball out to Ante Jazic, but Fabi sniffed it out and picked off the ball.    Espindola then dished to Sabo, who got just enough of the ball to dribble it over the line and give RSL the 0-2 lead.

Morales nearly scored for RSL in the 56th minute when he torched Chivas's defense and beat Dan Kennedy, only to have his shot cleared off the line by John Valenica.  Sabo followed that up by icing his hat-trick in outstanding fashion in the 65th minute.  Kennedy stopped a shot from Will Johnson, but gave up a rebound to Sabo.  The Costa Rican executed a deft turn and floated the ball in off the bottom of the crossbar to give RSL the 0-3 lead.  Paulo Jr. would add a goal of his own in the 81st minute to make the full time result 0-4.

Obviously pretty much everything went right for RSL in this one.  It wasn't luck either.  It was our players working hard, being where they were supposed to be, and doing what they were supposed to do on the pitch.  Chivas never really had an answer for the offense, and Nick Rimando was more than up to the task when Chivas did try to score.  The defense did well despite the absence of Jamison Olave to yellow card suspension.  Chris Schuler made the start and looked good.  Knowing that we also have Kwame-Watson Siriboe is a nice luxury and gives RSL much needed depth on the back line.

Let's temper the expectations just a little bit though.  Yes, RSL has gotten the results they needed in recent weeks.  However, Portland and Chivas are bottom of the pack in the West, so they'll need at least that kind of an effort going forward.  Their last three games are at LA, at Seattle, and at home vs Vancouver, all playoff teams at least at the moment.  The last match of the season could be interesting especially if Vancouver needs three points to clinch a playoff spot.