Chief executive Peter Kenyon has insisted Chelsea will do little, if
any, business when the window opens next month but Scolari has his
eyes on some much-needed firepower in attack.
Rosicky missed the European Championships for his country, with the
nature of the problem requiring multiple operations. He is due to
report back to Arsenal later this month but manager Arsene Wenger
admits it will be some time before the 27-year-old will be ready to
play again.
77 out of 96 top journalists voted Ronaldo as their number one player
this year and every one placed him in their top five after he scored
42 goals in United's trophy-laden season. He polled an impressive 446
points from a maximum 480, finishing comfortably ahead of
second-placed Messi (281) and third-placed Torres (179).
The 23-year-old becomes the third Portuguese player to lift the famous
trophy, after legendary pair Eusebio and Luis Figo. Beside being the
first Premier League player since Michael Owen in 2001 to land the
award, Ronaldo also becomes the fourth Red Devil to take the gong
after Denis Law (1964), Bobby Charlton (1966) and George Best (1968).
The Lancashire club also had to thank goalkeeper Brian Jensen, who
made a string of fine saves to keep his side in front. Arsenal almost
took the lead when Fran Merida released Nicklas Bendtner. However
Jensen stayed alert and diverted the striker's effort to safety.
McDonald scored either side of half-time in the match that was locally
billed as `Capital Punishment III'. Chelsea and Fulham were also put
to the sword in previous rounds
Chelsea have refused to comment on the reports, as has Drogba, but now
Thierno Seydi has stated that no meeting took place. Seydi insists
that Drogba is fully committed to the Chelsea cause.
Manager Arsene Wenger was left with little choice but to replace
Gallas after last month's outburst in which the defender branded his
team-mates ''not brave enough'' and accused an unnamed 25-year-old of
undermining the squad with his behaviour. However, 25-year-old Van
Persie, who scored both goals in Arsenal's impressive 2-1 win over
Chelsea at the weekend, is confident he is not the target of Gallas'
criticism.
However, with the club leading the way 15 games into the current
campaign, there is a growing sense of optimism on Merseyside that this
may be the year that barren spell comes to an end. Influential club
captain Gerrard is certainly hoping that proves to be the case, with
the England international desperate to give the Anfield faithful
something to shout about.
The homeside started well with more posessions but striker Robbie
Keane and Dirk Kuyt just couldn't find the net. Former Liverpool
player, Craig Bellamy also showed that he is still dangerous in West
Ham colours. Ryan Babel was brought in after 78th minutes, but failed
to produce the goal for the league leader. West Ham Robert Green was
outstanding to deny a series of Liverpool's goal attemps. Despite the
draw, Reds are now leading the Premier League with 1 point over
Chelsea.
But Van Persie equalised on 59 minutes when smashing a right-footed
effort into the top corner from the edge of the box, although replays
showed he was offside. He then added a second three minutes later to
stun Stamford Bridge when latching onto a fine header down by Emmanuel
Adebayor and hitting a great left-footed effort on the turn into the
bottom right-hand corner past the despairing dive of Petr Cech.
The visitors dominated possession from the off, creating the better of
the chances and forcing City onto the back foot. Rooney, Ronaldo and
Dimitar Berbatov all went close, with Joe Hart enduring a difficult
afternoon in the City goal.
It appeared that neither side would be able to force a breakthrough
before the interval, only for Hart to then parry a low Michael Carrick
effort straight to the feet of Rooney on 42 minutes. The Blues' cause
was then handed a timely boost on 68 minutes when Ronaldo was shown a
second yellow card following a bizarre handball incident, but they
were unable to restore parity.
