Manchester United avoided their first defeat since the final of last year's Champions League thanks to Ashley Young's last minute equaliser that salvaged a point for Sir Alex Ferguson's men at home to Swiss side Basel.
United looked to be recording their 21st consecutive home win in the Champions League at half time when they lead by two Danny Wellbeck goals at half time but had to come back in dramatic fashion thanks to a combination of terrible defending and a spirited performance from the Swiss champions.
On a night that saw Carlso Tevez refuse to take to the field in Munich two strikers would've dreamed for a run-out for United and would have had more reason to be upset about their absences than their former Argentinian team-mate. Michael Owen, on the back of a fine brace against Leeds last week in the Carling Cup, and Dimitar Berbatov, who has rarely featured for United this season, would have both been forgiven for thinking that they could have started for United last night. Instead Wellbeck was given the opportunity to do so and rewarded his manager's faith in him with two goals in the space of 19 minutes.
(Dear Mr. Tevez, note: The professionalism of Owen and Berbatov respectively)
Wellbeck's first goal came after just 17 minutes as his scuffed left-footed effort found the net via the post following Ryan Giggs' clever lay-off from Fabio's cross. Wellbeck had his, and United's, second of the night just 90 seconds thanks to another sublime assist from Ryan Giggs. Giggs' through ball may have had the intention of finding Ashley Young but the ball was left by the England winger and found Wellbeck just ten yards out who side-footed the ball, first time, past Yann Sommer in the Basel goal. United thoroughly deserved the 2-0 lead that they took into half-time and what was to follow shocked even the most positive of Basel fans.
Basel came out firing in the second half and pressed United in possession. They were rewarded for their pressure after 58 minutes with their first goal of the night. David De Gea's fine reaction save from Marco Strella's near post flick from Alexander Frei's corner fell to Frei's namesake Fabian who thumnped home off the post from inside the area.
Just as Wellbeck had done for United in the first half, the Freis then made it two goals in as many minutes with this time Fabian turning provider for Alex. Fabian's excellent ball from the right found Rio Ferdinand exposed and caught under the flight of the cross and nowhere near tight enough to his man, Alex Frei, who directed his free header back across goal, past De Gea and into the far corner to make it 2-2 and stun Old Trafford.
Basel where as dominant as United had been in the first half by now and a clumsy challenge from Antonio Valencia, filling in at right-back for the injured Fabio, on Marco Strellar gave Basel the chance to go in front for the first time of the night from the penalty spot. Alexander Frei completed the amazing turnaround by despatching his penalty into the top left corner of the net, sending De Gea the wrong way in the process and giving Basel a 3-2 lead with just 14 minutes left.
Up step A. Young man (waaaaayyyyyy) who has delighted United fans with his performances since his move from Aston Villa in the summer. Nani, on for the injured Fabio, crossed excellently from United's right and found Young who headed past Sommer at the near post. This concluded the inevitable United comeback with Fergie time to spare in which, Wellbeck nearly gave United all three points but his header flashed inches wide of the Basel goal and a very entertaining game finished 3-3.
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Wednesday 28 September 2011
Poor night for Mancini as Tevez infuriates the City, once again.
Manchester City's Champions League hopes were dealt a blow last night as they were completely outclassed in Munich by a Bayern side that recorded their tenth straight victory of the season in all competitions without conceding in any of those fixtures. The result, combined with Napoli's win that leaves Man City 3rd in Group A, was overshadowed by another example of Carlos Tevez's complete lack of professionalism with the Argentine reportedly refusing to take to the field with City 2-0 down and searching for a way back into the game.
Tevez has since denied Mancini's comments that he refused to warm up and then enter the field of play but the footage from television tells a different story on a night where Edin Dzeko had already stormed off of the pitch after being subbed for Nigel De Jong. It is believed that Tevez was incensed that he was not replacing Dzeko at the time and that the Dutch holding midfielder was preferred with City 2-0 down and in search of goals. This was a baffling substitution at the time but one that Mancini defended in front of the Sky cameras as one he had to make to ensure that City did not concede a 3rd. Mancini also stated that his idea was to hold the game at 2-0 and bring Tevez on shortly afterwards to try and get a way back into a game that was drifting away from them.
Tevez, still in search of a move away from Manchester, may well have found his way out and it will be interesting to see how he is punished for his behaviour. After all, fining a player on more than £200,000 a week is no sort of punishment and terminating the contract of someone who obviously wants to leave the club will only be serving the player's selfishness. And, if Mancini decides to hold onto a player so happy to undermine his management, he will have a poisonous thorn amongst his squad. It may be time for City to cut their losses and get rid of Tevez but, with 3 months before the next transfer window, they do say that time's a healer.
Man City did start very brightly and could've had two penalties in the first half but Bayern's clinical finishing and superior movement in and around the box was far too much for Man City to deal with. Kolo Toure started in the place of Joleon Lescott and the Ivory Cost international looked every bit the player playing only his second competitive football match in 6 months following his ban for failing a drugs test. The same could be said of Gareth Barry who was again bypassed in City's central midfield but the former Aston Villa man has actually featured in eight of City's ten games in all competitions so far this season.
In amongst all the controversy, strange tactics and the brilliance of City's opposition you must spare a thought for Joe Hart who was excellent on the night and will be peeved that both Bayern goals resulted from great saves of his. The first goal of the night for Mario Gomez came after Franck Ribery cut inside from the left and was given too much space by Yaya Toure to get a shot away that Hart could only parry at the feet of Thomas Muller who will be wondering how he didn't open the scoring himself. Hart immediately dived further to his left to stop Muller's shot but couldn't deny Gomez at the first time of asking as the Bayern front line queued up to open the scoring for the German giants.
The second came in similar fashion just before half time as Toni Kroos swung in a free-kick from the left hand side. Daniel Van Buyten got ahead of Gareth Barry at the near post to send the ball towards the bottom corner, only for Hart to get down well and save. Gomez again pounced on the loose ball and stabbed the ball past Hart to give Bayern a two-goal lead before half-time. Numerous saves from Hart in the second half kept the score at 2-0 as Bayern showed their class and Manchester City rarely threatening.
Tevez has since denied Mancini's comments that he refused to warm up and then enter the field of play but the footage from television tells a different story on a night where Edin Dzeko had already stormed off of the pitch after being subbed for Nigel De Jong. It is believed that Tevez was incensed that he was not replacing Dzeko at the time and that the Dutch holding midfielder was preferred with City 2-0 down and in search of goals. This was a baffling substitution at the time but one that Mancini defended in front of the Sky cameras as one he had to make to ensure that City did not concede a 3rd. Mancini also stated that his idea was to hold the game at 2-0 and bring Tevez on shortly afterwards to try and get a way back into a game that was drifting away from them.
Tevez, still in search of a move away from Manchester, may well have found his way out and it will be interesting to see how he is punished for his behaviour. After all, fining a player on more than £200,000 a week is no sort of punishment and terminating the contract of someone who obviously wants to leave the club will only be serving the player's selfishness. And, if Mancini decides to hold onto a player so happy to undermine his management, he will have a poisonous thorn amongst his squad. It may be time for City to cut their losses and get rid of Tevez but, with 3 months before the next transfer window, they do say that time's a healer.
Man City did start very brightly and could've had two penalties in the first half but Bayern's clinical finishing and superior movement in and around the box was far too much for Man City to deal with. Kolo Toure started in the place of Joleon Lescott and the Ivory Cost international looked every bit the player playing only his second competitive football match in 6 months following his ban for failing a drugs test. The same could be said of Gareth Barry who was again bypassed in City's central midfield but the former Aston Villa man has actually featured in eight of City's ten games in all competitions so far this season.
In amongst all the controversy, strange tactics and the brilliance of City's opposition you must spare a thought for Joe Hart who was excellent on the night and will be peeved that both Bayern goals resulted from great saves of his. The first goal of the night for Mario Gomez came after Franck Ribery cut inside from the left and was given too much space by Yaya Toure to get a shot away that Hart could only parry at the feet of Thomas Muller who will be wondering how he didn't open the scoring himself. Hart immediately dived further to his left to stop Muller's shot but couldn't deny Gomez at the first time of asking as the Bayern front line queued up to open the scoring for the German giants.
The second came in similar fashion just before half time as Toni Kroos swung in a free-kick from the left hand side. Daniel Van Buyten got ahead of Gareth Barry at the near post to send the ball towards the bottom corner, only for Hart to get down well and save. Gomez again pounced on the loose ball and stabbed the ball past Hart to give Bayern a two-goal lead before half-time. Numerous saves from Hart in the second half kept the score at 2-0 as Bayern showed their class and Manchester City rarely threatening.
Thursday 22 September 2011
Round of firsts breathes new life into League Cup
The past two nights of League Cup action have seen 24 players make their debuts for their clubs, 17 start for the first time, 13 score their first goals in new colours, 3 penalty shoot-outs, 2 go to extra-time and a number of big name players return to action after long absences from the game. There have been no less than 50 goals in the 16 ties of the round as managers across the divisions made changes to their starting line-ups as testing fixture schedules build early in the season.
The cup is seen as a perfect opportunity to blood youngsters into first-team football as well as giving players vital playing time as they regain match fitness or start to settle into life in English football after summer moves from abroad. This is often seen as a slant on the competition and teams are accused of not showing the League Cup much respect but this year's third round has seen some exciting football which owes much to the rotation policies of the clubs involved. Youngsters and big-money signings alike, as well as 'sicknotes' fighting for their squad number, have shown incredible desire to prove their worth and the result has been a round of ties that have averaged over 3 goals a game.
There were introductions to English football for the likes of Marcel Gecar and Orlando Sa at Fulham, Medhi Abeid for Newcastle, Costel Pantilimon and Luca Scapuzzi at Man City, Chu-Young Park and Oguzhan Ozyakup at Arsenal and Vicente who made his debut for Brighton at the Amex arena last night. The Spain international, with 8 caps, joined the Seagulls in the summer following his release from Valencia and is a sign of Brighton's continuing ambition under Gus Poyet.
Meanwhile, Karim Rekik and Luca Scapuzzi were given their first taste of senior football at Man City as was Ben Reeves at Southampton, Paul Pogba, Ezckiel Fryers and Larnell Cole for Man Utd, Aiden O'Brien at Millwall, Matt Edwards for Rochdale, Massimo Luongo at Spurs and James Spray for Wolves. Spray marked the occasion by netting his first senior goal, scoring Wolves' 4th of the 5-0 win over Millwall whilst Luongo had a night to forget, missing Spurs' 8th penalty of their shootout at Stoke which resulted in Spurs failing to progress to the next round.
There were welcome returns to the game for Steven Gerrard who played 16 minutes of Liverpool's win over Brighton after being out for 6 months with a groin injury and Hatem Ben Arfa who featured in Newcastle's 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest. It was Ben Arfa's first game for the club since breaking his leg against Man City last October. Stuart Holden, out since March with knee ligament damaged, started for Bolton who brushed aside Aston Villa thanks to Chris Eagles' first goal for the club and debutant Gael Kakuka's fine strike. Sandro and Dave Edwards returned to the Spurs and Wolves sides respectively after months away from the pitch and Kolo Toure played his first competitive game since he was banned for a failed drugs test in March.
Arsenal will be relieved following their win over Shrewsbury which owes to Keiran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yossi Benayoun goals, all their first for the club as Arsene Wenger's men came from a goal behind to see off Shrewsbury Town. The only real upset of the round came at The Ebb Stadium where League Two side Aldershot overcame Rochdale of League One to enter the fourth round for the, you've guessed it, first time in their history. Dean Holdsworth's men have already seen off West Ham and Carlisle in the competition and will prove a tricky opponent in the last 16 due to their unwavering spirit and fight.
Elsewhere in the round Man Utd overcame Leeds with Micael Owen marking his first start of the season with a fine brace. Ryan Giggs added to Owen's tally as United came away from Elland Road with a 3-0 win. Everton needed extra-time to beat West Brom as the blue half of Mersyside came from a goal down to beat the Baggies 2-1. Phil Neville's first League Cup goal in 17 years proved to be the winner and was well worth the wait as the Everton skipper was fed by Royston Drenthe, starting for the first time in and Everton shirt, on the right and Neville placed the ball in the top of the far corner to seal the victory.
Cardiff overcame Leicester 7-6 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 at the final whistle and Crystal Palace inflicted Middlesbrough's first defeat of the season winning 2-1 in the all Championship ties. Southampton saw off a spirited Preston challenge thanks to Jos Hoiveld's first goal for the club and Adam Lallana's winner, Blackburn beat Leyton Orient 3-2 with Simon Vukcevic netting his first goal for the Ewood Park club and there was a first goal for Andre Amougou the player formerly known as Bikey who's overhead kick made it 2-1 to Burnley at home to MK Dons in the dying minutes of the game to ensure victory for Eddie Howe's men. Chelsea handed first starts to Romeu Lukaku and Oriel Romeu as well as a first start for Ryan Bertrand as they beat Fulham 4-3 on penalties after the game ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of football. Alex was sent-off for Chelsea for the first time in his Stamford Bridge career after 47 minutes when he brought down Fulham's Frei in the box. Kasami hit the resulting penalty against the bar and Fulham, literally, paid the penalty for not making the most of their man advantage.
The round, however, will surely belong to the man who, not only playing his first game for the side whom he joined from their bitter rivals, but also, making his first competitive appearance in nearly a year, scored a stunning goal to send his side through to the fourth round of the competition. Owen Hargreaves would have been delighted to have just lasted 30 minutes unscathed let alone the 55 that he managed and scoring the opening goal of the game is just rewards for a player who has been marred with injuries ever since starring for England in the 2006 World Cup. Eyebrows were raised when Hargreaves was signed in the summer by Roberto Mancini, following his release from Manchester United, but if he can remain fit (and that's a big 'if') he will be a valuable member of City's squad this season. Mario Balotelli's first goal of the season made sure that City saw of Birmingham 2-0 to advance to the next round.
Monday 19 September 2011
Man Utd see off Chelsea to extend 100% record.
Manchester United went 2 points clear at the top of the Premier League after beating Chelsea 3-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday. The game was a lively encounter that Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas, who suffered his first league defeat since April 2010 when with Academica, rightly described as "chaotic".
The game was a spectacle to be admired by the neutral and fans of either side will be dismayed and pleased in equal measure with both sides' performances. The final whistle made sure that United earned their 18th sucessive victory at Old Trafford, beating a record held by the club since their 1904/05 campaign, giving Sir Alex Ferguson his best start to a Premiership season as manager in the process.
Chelsea should not be too disheartened by their performance, maybe even the result, as they had plenty of chances to take something from the game and came up against a Utd side that is purring with confidence at present as they continue to demolish anything in their path.
Chelsea started brightly but it was Man Utd that took the lead after eight minutes thanks to Chris Smalling heading home from Ashley Young's free kick. Smalling looked to be offside when Young swung the ball into Chelsea's penalty box with Jonny Evans unmarked and onside behind him to head home if Smalling failed to do so.
Chelsea were undeterred by the deficit as Juan Mata and Fernando Torres worried the home side's defence and Ramires should have equalised for Chelsea but David De Gea saved his tame shot on 25 minutes. The game continued to excite for the remainder of the first half and Nani made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break with an incredible strike from just outside the area. Nani, picking the ball up just inside Chelsea's half, was given far too much space to run at the Chelsea defence before his blistering strike left Petr Cech helpless as the ball soared past him into the far corner.
United made it 3-0 on the brink of half time as Wayne Rooney scored his 9th goal of the season, pouncing on John Terry's rebounded clearance. Rooney, as opportunistic as ever, was not picked up by any Chelsea defender as he ran free to tap in from 8 yards.
Villas-Boas replaced Frank Lampard with Nicolas Anelka at half time and the manager's decision was vindicated within the first minute of the second half as Fernando Torres scored only his second goal for the club in 24 appearances. Anelka's superb pass found Torres' magnificent run and the Spanish striker finished with aplomb as he flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot past the approaching De Gea.
The score remained the same for the rest of the second half and a lot of the reasoning behind this can be put down to farce. Firstly, Utd had the chance to make it 4-1 as Nani was brought down by Bosingwa in the penalty area and Rooney was given the chance to make it 10 goals in 5 Premier League games. The England striker stepped up to take the penalty but slipped at the vital moment, putting the ball horribly wide.
If you were embarrassed for Rooney at the time you were unaware of what was to come from Torres. With just eight minutes left the striker, whose movement was excellent all afternoon, was sent clear by Ramires, delightfully passed De Gea but could only put wide with nothing but an empty net to aim at. This ended Chelsea's hopes of a comeback and the neutral's chance of a grandstand finish and probably left Torres with a feeling of "one step forward, two steps back".
Ashley Cole's terrible tackle on Javier Hernandez was a sour note on a terrific afternoon with the England full back lucky to only receive a booking with the referee's decision to award a card and no penalty a bemusing one befitting of the day's game.
The game was a spectacle to be admired by the neutral and fans of either side will be dismayed and pleased in equal measure with both sides' performances. The final whistle made sure that United earned their 18th sucessive victory at Old Trafford, beating a record held by the club since their 1904/05 campaign, giving Sir Alex Ferguson his best start to a Premiership season as manager in the process.
Chelsea should not be too disheartened by their performance, maybe even the result, as they had plenty of chances to take something from the game and came up against a Utd side that is purring with confidence at present as they continue to demolish anything in their path.
Chelsea started brightly but it was Man Utd that took the lead after eight minutes thanks to Chris Smalling heading home from Ashley Young's free kick. Smalling looked to be offside when Young swung the ball into Chelsea's penalty box with Jonny Evans unmarked and onside behind him to head home if Smalling failed to do so.
Chelsea were undeterred by the deficit as Juan Mata and Fernando Torres worried the home side's defence and Ramires should have equalised for Chelsea but David De Gea saved his tame shot on 25 minutes. The game continued to excite for the remainder of the first half and Nani made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break with an incredible strike from just outside the area. Nani, picking the ball up just inside Chelsea's half, was given far too much space to run at the Chelsea defence before his blistering strike left Petr Cech helpless as the ball soared past him into the far corner.
United made it 3-0 on the brink of half time as Wayne Rooney scored his 9th goal of the season, pouncing on John Terry's rebounded clearance. Rooney, as opportunistic as ever, was not picked up by any Chelsea defender as he ran free to tap in from 8 yards.
Villas-Boas replaced Frank Lampard with Nicolas Anelka at half time and the manager's decision was vindicated within the first minute of the second half as Fernando Torres scored only his second goal for the club in 24 appearances. Anelka's superb pass found Torres' magnificent run and the Spanish striker finished with aplomb as he flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot past the approaching De Gea.
The score remained the same for the rest of the second half and a lot of the reasoning behind this can be put down to farce. Firstly, Utd had the chance to make it 4-1 as Nani was brought down by Bosingwa in the penalty area and Rooney was given the chance to make it 10 goals in 5 Premier League games. The England striker stepped up to take the penalty but slipped at the vital moment, putting the ball horribly wide.
If you were embarrassed for Rooney at the time you were unaware of what was to come from Torres. With just eight minutes left the striker, whose movement was excellent all afternoon, was sent clear by Ramires, delightfully passed De Gea but could only put wide with nothing but an empty net to aim at. This ended Chelsea's hopes of a comeback and the neutral's chance of a grandstand finish and probably left Torres with a feeling of "one step forward, two steps back".
Ashley Cole's terrible tackle on Javier Hernandez was a sour note on a terrific afternoon with the England full back lucky to only receive a booking with the referee's decision to award a card and no penalty a bemusing one befitting of the day's game.
Saturday 17 September 2011
Chelsea looking to end United's perfect start.
Premier League leaders Manchester United welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford this Sunday in what is likely to be United's toughest test of the season so far.
United have started the season brilliantly with Sir Alex Ferguson's men picking up all possible points from their four games thus far, scoring eighteen goals in the process to set a new Premier League record. Their ruthless streak in front of goal has been highlighted by Wayne Rooney's incredible form which has seen the England striker find the back of the net eight times already including consecutive hat-tricks in his last two league outings.
Chelsea, under new boss Andre Villas-Boas, have also started brightly, albeit in less extraordinary circumstances than their counterparts on Sunday, taking ten points from a possible twelve with an opening day draw at Stoke the only blemish on their record. Since that draw at The Britannia Chelsea have gone on to gain four consecutive wins in all competitions and have added Raul Meireles and Juan Mata to their squad as well as highly-rated Belgian youngster Romelu Lukaku. In the absence of Didier Drogba, Villas-Boas now needs to get Fernando Torres back to the form that he showed three years ago when he helped Liverpool to a 4-1 victory over United where he destroyed one of the best centre-backs in the world, Nemaja Vidic.
Vidic, Manchester United's captain, will again miss Sunday as he continues to recover from injury, as does Danny Wellbeck, Tom Cleverley and Brazilian full-back Rafael. Rio Ferdinand, however, may be welcomed back into the team after sitting out Wednesday's draw against Benfica in Portugal. Experienced duo Frank Lampard and John Terry will both come back into the visitor's side after missing the Blues' Champions League victory over Leverkusen on Tuesday.
Kick-off: 1600
Coverage: Sky Sports, BBC Radio 5 Live, MOTD 2 (highlights 2200)
United have started the season brilliantly with Sir Alex Ferguson's men picking up all possible points from their four games thus far, scoring eighteen goals in the process to set a new Premier League record. Their ruthless streak in front of goal has been highlighted by Wayne Rooney's incredible form which has seen the England striker find the back of the net eight times already including consecutive hat-tricks in his last two league outings.
Chelsea, under new boss Andre Villas-Boas, have also started brightly, albeit in less extraordinary circumstances than their counterparts on Sunday, taking ten points from a possible twelve with an opening day draw at Stoke the only blemish on their record. Since that draw at The Britannia Chelsea have gone on to gain four consecutive wins in all competitions and have added Raul Meireles and Juan Mata to their squad as well as highly-rated Belgian youngster Romelu Lukaku. In the absence of Didier Drogba, Villas-Boas now needs to get Fernando Torres back to the form that he showed three years ago when he helped Liverpool to a 4-1 victory over United where he destroyed one of the best centre-backs in the world, Nemaja Vidic.
Vidic, Manchester United's captain, will again miss Sunday as he continues to recover from injury, as does Danny Wellbeck, Tom Cleverley and Brazilian full-back Rafael. Rio Ferdinand, however, may be welcomed back into the team after sitting out Wednesday's draw against Benfica in Portugal. Experienced duo Frank Lampard and John Terry will both come back into the visitor's side after missing the Blues' Champions League victory over Leverkusen on Tuesday.
Kick-off: 1600
Coverage: Sky Sports, BBC Radio 5 Live, MOTD 2 (highlights 2200)
Friday 16 September 2011
England look to end summer unbeaten against deflated India.
Alastair Cook leads his side out at Cardiff today looking to ensure England end the summer unbeaten against an Indian side that has failed to impress in any format of the game. MS Dhoni's men will, surely, look to end their tour with a positive result after being brushed aside in the ODIs so far, losing the series 2-0 already after Sunday's tie, and being completely dominated by a rampant England side 4-0 in the tests.
With experienced men, such as, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbajhan Singh all at home due to injuries this Indian side has not been at full strength and their bowling has looked particularly light. Parthiv Patel and Rahane have ably stepped in at the top of the order for the Indians and Rahul Dravid has continued his good summer form but no Indian bowler has troubled England like Anderson, Finn, Swann, Broad and Bresnan have Dhoni's side.
Broad will miss the game at the Swalec stadium due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the last game and is likely to be replaced by Jade Dernbach. Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow and Somerset's Jos Buttler come into the squad as cover for Ben Stokes. There are no other injury worries so England should remain unchanged with Ravi Bopara looking to build on his excellent 96 last time out as he looks to regain a place in the England set-up.
In what will prove to be Rahul Dravid's last ODI appearance for his country, after 344 matches, 10,820 runs, including 12 hundreds and 82 fifties at an average of 39.06, the Indian side owe him a performance. Throughout the summer Dravid has been the only batsman to stand up and be counted and much of the same will be expected today when he wears the blue colours of India for the last time.
Start time: 1400
Coverage: Sky Sports, BBC Radio 4 and Channel 5 (Highlights)
With experienced men, such as, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbajhan Singh all at home due to injuries this Indian side has not been at full strength and their bowling has looked particularly light. Parthiv Patel and Rahane have ably stepped in at the top of the order for the Indians and Rahul Dravid has continued his good summer form but no Indian bowler has troubled England like Anderson, Finn, Swann, Broad and Bresnan have Dhoni's side.
Broad will miss the game at the Swalec stadium due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the last game and is likely to be replaced by Jade Dernbach. Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow and Somerset's Jos Buttler come into the squad as cover for Ben Stokes. There are no other injury worries so England should remain unchanged with Ravi Bopara looking to build on his excellent 96 last time out as he looks to regain a place in the England set-up.
In what will prove to be Rahul Dravid's last ODI appearance for his country, after 344 matches, 10,820 runs, including 12 hundreds and 82 fifties at an average of 39.06, the Indian side owe him a performance. Throughout the summer Dravid has been the only batsman to stand up and be counted and much of the same will be expected today when he wears the blue colours of India for the last time.
Start time: 1400
Coverage: Sky Sports, BBC Radio 4 and Channel 5 (Highlights)
Thursday 15 September 2011
Stoke denied historic win by late Kiev equaliser.
Stoke City will return from Ukraine with just the single point after drawing with Dynamo Kiev tonight thanks to Ognan Vukovejic's 89th minute equaliser.
Kiev, second in Ukraine's top flight after nine games, winning 7 and drawing 2, were clear favourites for the match and looked the part in a first-half that they controlled. Stoke, also enjoying a fine start to this season's Premier League, unbeaten in 5th after 4 games, and on the back of Saturday's win against Liverpool, were just as resilient as you'd expect Tony Pulis' side to be and restricted Kiev to very few chances.
Stoke kept the men from Ukraine at arm's length for must of the first half, happy to sit on the edge of their 18-yard box and for Kiev to shoot from range. The Potters didn't offer much going forward in the first period and were lucky to go into the second half level after Andriy Iarmelenko spurned a great opportunity from about 8-yards out. Iamerlenko was presented with the chance after Thomas Sorensen could only palm Goran Popov's shot straight into the path of the forward to could only put the ball wide.
As the second half got underway Stoke kept to their solid banks of two with five at the back and three in midfield with Andy Wilkinson and Ryan Shotton working hard in the full-back positions. Stoke remained resolute, strong and determined and stunned the home side in the 55th minute when Cameron Jerome was found well by Shotton before calmly controlling the ball and smashing it past Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in the Kiev goal from 8-yards out.
Stoke then seemed certain to see the game out as they continued to defend resolutely and remained committed in every tackle until Vukojevic's goal which broke Stoke City fans' hearts. Iamerlenko, largely disappointing for most of the night, made the telling pass across goal after finding space in the Stoke box and Vukojevic was unmarked to tap home at the back post.
It may be seen as two points lost as Stoke were only minutes away from a fantastic start to their Europa League group stage but plenty can be taken from this game and they picked up a valuable away point in the process.
Stoke must now prepare for Sunday's trip to Sunderland before hosting Turkish side Besiktas at the Britannia in two weeks time.
Kiev, second in Ukraine's top flight after nine games, winning 7 and drawing 2, were clear favourites for the match and looked the part in a first-half that they controlled. Stoke, also enjoying a fine start to this season's Premier League, unbeaten in 5th after 4 games, and on the back of Saturday's win against Liverpool, were just as resilient as you'd expect Tony Pulis' side to be and restricted Kiev to very few chances.
Stoke kept the men from Ukraine at arm's length for must of the first half, happy to sit on the edge of their 18-yard box and for Kiev to shoot from range. The Potters didn't offer much going forward in the first period and were lucky to go into the second half level after Andriy Iarmelenko spurned a great opportunity from about 8-yards out. Iamerlenko was presented with the chance after Thomas Sorensen could only palm Goran Popov's shot straight into the path of the forward to could only put the ball wide.
As the second half got underway Stoke kept to their solid banks of two with five at the back and three in midfield with Andy Wilkinson and Ryan Shotton working hard in the full-back positions. Stoke remained resolute, strong and determined and stunned the home side in the 55th minute when Cameron Jerome was found well by Shotton before calmly controlling the ball and smashing it past Oleksandr Shovkovskiy in the Kiev goal from 8-yards out.
Stoke then seemed certain to see the game out as they continued to defend resolutely and remained committed in every tackle until Vukojevic's goal which broke Stoke City fans' hearts. Iamerlenko, largely disappointing for most of the night, made the telling pass across goal after finding space in the Stoke box and Vukojevic was unmarked to tap home at the back post.
It may be seen as two points lost as Stoke were only minutes away from a fantastic start to their Europa League group stage but plenty can be taken from this game and they picked up a valuable away point in the process.
Stoke must now prepare for Sunday's trip to Sunderland before hosting Turkish side Besiktas at the Britannia in two weeks time.
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