Translated material
Synchronized destruction
Chelsea and Manchester United achieved big home victories
The English Premier League has gradually crossed the “equator”. The 25th round has already been played, and the finish line is not far away. The next game day did not bring any big changes, and there couldn’t have been any. Leader Manchester United and main catcher Chelsea played matches at home against opponents who were clearly inferior in class and should have won. And so it happened. Both Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge recorded major victories for the home team. The six-point gap remained.Watford, which already had nothing to catch in Manchester, played without its strongest players. Ashley Young was sold to Aston Villa and has already scored in the match for the new club. England goalkeeper Ben Foster belongs to Manchester United and therefore, according to the terms of his contract, could only watch the progress of the fight from the bench. The Hornets had to make do with the services of reservist Robert Lee. However, Manchester United also responded with a similar courtesy. Main goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar sat down on the bench, and the goal was entrusted to Tomas Kuszczak.
Lee held on until the 20th minute, when Jay De Merit took out Wayne Rooney in his area. Cristiano Ronaldo walked up to the ball and shot flawlessly from the point - his 14th goal in the championship. A very impressive result for a winger. One can only sympathize with the young Watford coach Adrian Bothroyd, because even his own players pose a threat to the goal. After Richardson's cross, Lloyd Daly made it easier for his opponent and took the shot himself. Lee could only shrug his shoulders. In the 70th minute there was a new outbreak of activity from the Red Devils. Henrik Larsson and Wayne Rooney doubled the lead within 30 seconds of each other. If Larsson continues in the same spirit, then Manchester is unlikely to want to release the 35-year-old Swede to his Helsingborg team at the end of his loan period. Let us remind you that the best player in Sweden over the past 50 years is on loan until March 31. Having watched the defeat of Watford, Alex Ferguson, who had yawned throughout the match, left the battlefield in a great mood. Good dreams were guaranteed for the Manchester United coach.
But his main opponent, Jose Mourinho, could dream of the injured Ashley Cole at night. In the 52nd minute of the meeting with Blackburn, the England defender injured his knee. There are suspicions that Ashley has problems with her ligaments, which is very sad news for the English champions. And more than one fly in the ointment has been added to the ointment obtained after the victory over strong Blackburn with a score of 3:0.
Didier Drogba seemed to have a presentiment that his closest pursuer in the list of top scorers of the tournament, Cristiano Ronaldo, would certainly score against Watford, so he scored his 15th goal in advance - already in the 6th minute. The Ivorian received the ball from Lampard, easily moved away from Stéphane Hanchot, as if he were not a qualified defender, but an inanimate object, and fired at goal. The most experienced Brad Friedel had to take the ball out of the net.
From the first minutes, Mourinho put on the field the young Frenchman Lassane Diarra, nicknamed Mini-Mac, and he was not mistaken. Makelele's copy played no worse than the original. Andrei Shevchenko also tried hard, but Friedel, apparently, made a vow not to concede a single goal from the Ukrainian. The “wanderers” goalkeeper survived against Shevchenko, but he couldn’t do anything about Lampard’s shot from 25 meters. It has been rightly noted that one of the Premier League's most accomplished goalkeepers is simply afraid of the Chelsea midfielder.
Shevchenko again failed to score and gave up his place on the field to Salomon Kalu, who managed to score a goal. The final score shows that with the recovery of Peter Cech, Chelsea began to recover as well. So the fight for the championship is not over yet.
Liverpool, who played against West Ham with three forwards, took three points from London. Arsenal did not take part in the tour; the Gunners had no less important matters - a showdown with Tottenham in the semi-finals of the League Cup. The first meeting ended in a draw - 2:2. The main time of the return match did not reveal the winner - 1:1. We had to run around for another half hour, during which the Gunners' reservists scored two goals against the quite fighting Spurs squad. More precisely, not two, but one, because one of the balls ended up in the Tottenham goal as a result of an own goal. Arsenal have reached the League Cup final, where they will compete with Chelsea on February 25.
The winter transfer market closed on January 31, but some summer transfers can already be predicted. Everything is heading towards the possibility that Cristiano Ronaldo may leave Manchester. The Portuguese himself swears allegiance to the “Red Devils”, the strict Alex Ferguson does not skimp on compliments to the number seven, but this is all lyrics. And physics is such that two seasoned predators - Real Madrid and Barcelona - suddenly decided that they extremely needed Ronaldo. The “royal” club is ready to start bidding at a price of 50 million euros, and Barça was going to give its pupil Chavi to the Mancunians, having learned that Ferguson dreams of having the Catalan at home. Chavi doesn’t want to leave his home team yet. The fight for Ronaldo becomes a matter of honor for the two Pyrenean giants. Madrid has not forgotten how Barca outwitted Real with the purchase of Ronaldinho, and they are thirsty for revenge. So far, Ronaldo is having his best season at Manchester United, helping the Red Devils reap a harvest of trophies, and at the same time increasing his salary for his future job. If, of course, this happens.
Results. English Championship. 25th round. "West Ham" - "Liverpool" - 1:2, "Reading" - "Wigan" - 3:2, "Sheffield United" - "Fulham" - 2:0, "Portsmouth" - " Middlesbrough - 0:0, Chelsea - Blackburn - 3:0, Bolton - Charlton - 1:1, Manchester United - Watford - 4:0 , Newcastle - Aston Villa - 3:1. Leading: Manchester United - 60 points, Chelsea - 54, Liverpool - 49.