Football Dispatch

Monday Football
29 September 2008
by Jerrad Peters

Most compelling viewing

Werder Bremen 5-4 TSG Hoffenheim

Werder Bremen won a nine-goal thriller, Saturday, and dislodged Hoffenheim from the European places. Now sixth in the Bundesliga, the bubble looks to have burst for Hoffenheim after a superb start which saw the tiny club surge to the top of the standings. Bremen, meanwhile, have scored 12 goals in their past three outings – including a 5-2 drubbing of Bayern Munich in Bavaria. Mesut Ozil won the game by completing a brace in the 81st minute.

Notable results

Hannover 96 1-0 Bayern Munich

The champions are winless in two after falling 1-0 to Hannover at AWD-Arena on Saturday. Hungarian international Szabolcs Huszti scored the only goal of the contest after 23 minutes as Bayern Munich dominated possession but earned a mere two chances at goal on the night. The win vaults Hannover to 12th place in the table while Bayern, with two wins, two losses, and two draws are in ninth and just one point ahead of Die Roten.

Lyon 2-1 Nancy

Olympique Lyon’s march to an eighth consecutive title has already become something of a stroll. Through seven rounds, the champions have already established a comfortable five-point cushion above second-place Toulouse and earned a fifth win on the bounce when they beat Nancy 2-1 at Stade Gerland on Saturday. All three goals came within less than seven minutes. Karim Benzema opened the scoring just after the half-hour and Fred doubled the scoreline in the 36th minute. A minute later, Pascal Berenquer pulled one back for the guests. It was too little, too late, however, as Nancy extended their winless streak to three matches.

Valencia 4-2 Deportivo la Coruna

After a pitiful campaign in which they amassed a mere 50 points and finished at 10th place in La Liga, Valencia had nowhere to go but up. That said, no one could foresee them sitting pretty atop the table after five rounds of the new season. But after handing resilient Deportivo La Coruna a 4-2 loss on Sunday at the Mestalla, that’s exactly where they are. David Villa scored twice for Los Che – boosting his total to six – and the enigmatic Joachin was instrumental in the win as well. The hosts peppered Daniel Aranzubia with 24 attempts as the play move swiftly from one end to the other. It might have been 4-1 but for a confusing Lafita goal after the referee had overrule the linesman’s offside decision.

AC Milan 1-0 Inter Milan

Nobody saw this coming. As the first Milan derby of the season approached, the city’s football clubs were headed in entirely opposite directions. Inter, buoyed by a Champions’ League win away to Panathinaikos, had returned to Italy and compiled successive wins over Torino and Lecce. Milan, conversely, opened the Serie A campaign with back-to-back losses against Bologna and Genoa. Nevertheless, the Rossoneri fully deserved all three points at the San Siro. Ronaldinho finally showed flashes of the player who was twice proclaimed the FIFA World Player of the Year. And, most encouragingly, he combined fantastically well with fellow attacking midfielder Kaka. Inter had no reply to the two of them.

Arsenal 1-2 Hull

This was the shock result of the weekend. After 50 frustrating minutes, Arsenal finally went ahead after Paul McShane turned the ball into his own goal under the influence of Cesc Fabregas. That should have been the end of it. After all, Arsenal are all but unbeatable at Emirates Stadium. Full credit to Hull, however, who made a match of it and did not lower their heads after falling a goal behind. Quite the contrary, as it turned out. Just twelve minutes later, Geovanni danced around Theo Walcott before unleashing a thunderbolt from 30 yards. Moments later, Daniel Cousin turned Andy Dawson’s corner into a goal after beating William Gallas in the air. With 11 points from six matches, Hull are sixth in the table and just a point adrift of fourth-place Arsenal.

Key contributors

Ronaldinho

His goal in the 37th minute – a powerful header from a lovely Kaka chip – was the difference in the Milan derby. Rossoneri manager Carlo Ancelotti will be pleased as punch that Ronaldinho and Kaka, having stepped all over one another’s toes at the 2006 World Cup, played exceptionally well together on Sunday.

Fernando Torres

The 24-year-old scored his 35th and 36th goals for Liverpool in a space of three minutes, Saturday. After opening the scoring against local rivals Everton in the 59th minute, Torres completed the brace in the 62nd as Liverpool topped the Premier League for the first time in more than a year.

David Villa

Europe’s in-form goalscorer was at it again on Sunday. His pair of goals, in the 49th and 82nd minutes, helped Valencia to a 4-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna and kept Los Che atop the standings in La Liga. Villa now has six goals in five league encounters and seven goals in all competitions.

Anthony Mounier

Claude Puel gave the 21-year-old a rare opportunity on the left wing against Nancy on Saturday. And the Lyon manager did not regret his decision. Mounier made both goals for Les Gones – the first after passing the ball to Benzema following a blazing, 40 yard run.

Man of the weekend

Mesut Ozil

The 19-year-old has cemented his place on the left side of Bremen’s midfield. And given his recent string of performances, he may do the same at the international level before long. Ozil scored twice against Hoffenheim at the weekend – including the 81st minute match-winner. Both goals came from his left foot, on the left side of the 18-yard box, and were carbon copies of the one he scored against Bayern Munich the week before. After failing to make an impression at Schalke last season, Ozil is quickly becoming on of the more dangerous midfielders in the Bundesliga.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.