Soccer Fan Pro

Real Madrid defeated a 10-man Villarreal today 2-0 after Javier Gonzalo was ejected after his 2nd yellow card offense in the 35th minute.
The first goal was scored by none other than CR9 who, in what seems like a tradition he’s trying to start, scored in the first minute of play.
The second goal, however, did not arrive until the 73rd minute when Kaka put a well-placed penalty kick past the hands of Diego Lopez. By and large that means that Villarreal either played exceptionally well with 10 players to keep Real from scoring save for a penalty kick, or Real was very unlucky.
Since Ronaldo was able to net his first shot on goal, I’m going to say Villarreal really played their hearts out. When you are a player down, playing against a machine like Real Madrid, there is only so much you can do, but I have to applaud Villarreal for such a fete. I wish I could have seen the game to offer better analysis, but alas, I had class.
Now for something really cool. Before yesterday, Barcelona was in 2nd place in the standings by goal difference- now they have drawn ahead of Real because they’ve scored more goals overall. But the above picture is a screen shot of the standings as of right now, according to espnsoccernet.com. Click on the picture to open it in a new window and get a closer look.
Look at how close the two teams are! If this continues, El Clasico in December is going to be one of the most unforgettable games in history.

Barcelona continued on their reign of terror today, tearing apart Racing Santander 4-1 at Racing’s home stadium.
Los cules scored three times in seven minutes during the first half, then once again in the second before a response from Racing 18 minutes before full time.
The lineup for the teams was as suchBarcelonaGoalie: Victor ValdesDefenders: Abidal, Puyol, Pique (Rafa Marquez 57), Dani AlvesMidfielders: Keita, Busquets, XaviStrikers: Henry, Messi (Iniesta 64) Ibrahimovic (Pedro 53)
RacingGoalie: TonoDefenders: Pinillos, Henrique, Morris, SepsiMidfielders: Arana, Diop (Colsa 57), Lacen, SerranoStrikers: Geijo (Xisco 57), Munitis (Luis Garcia 70)
Goals1-0: Ibrahimovic, min 202-0: Messi, min 243-0: Pique, min 274-0: Messi, min 634-1: Serrano, min 72
All in all, Barcelona played beautifully. They worked the ball around the field, rarely losing it to Racing. In fact, halfway through the first half the breakdown of possession was Barcelona 70%, Racing 30%. They were calm, cool, and collected throughout. Ibrahimovic’s goal was totally the creation of Messi, who played the ball across perfectly so that the Swedish giant could head it in back-post. Both Messi and Ibrahimovic had amazing games, being active in almost every one of Barcelona’s goals.
Goal number two was a combination of beautiful and sheer skill on Messi’s part. A series of passes inside the 18-yd-box between Messi, Ibra, and Xavi set the Argentinian up for a quick fake to the left and then a low strike to the far post out of the reach of Tono. Watching in on my computer I had no idea how he snuck the ball between the two defenders, but he’s skilled enough that he made it happen. The goal was an exhibition of teamwork and individual skill all in one.
Pique’s goal came from a very well-place back pass from Ibra, who was facing pressure in the box. Pique, who had just entered the field after having his head bandaged (he was tripped and the cleat of a player for Racing clipped him in the back of the head, resulting in a small gash that had to be treated) neatly settled the back pass and put it in the back of the net for number three.
Messi’s second goal of the night showcased what he does best: cutting in from the right and ripping off a shot with his left foot. Messi received the ball and cut almost halfway across the 18, weaving through several players before firing a shot, a beautiful upper left corner shot.
The response from Racing was, in my opinion, Barcelona getting sloppy. After the fourth goal and the replacement of Ibra and Messi, Racing started getting more shots on goal, possessing the ball a bit more. Serrano was able to nutmeg Marquez right before his goal, and the pressure on him generally wasn’t that hard, even in Barca’s defensive third. Thankfully the goal was a small jolt for them, and Barcelona conceded no more goals.
Ibrahimovic will be out for one to two weeks with a sprained ankle he sustained during the first half of the game, and Eric Abidal continues to be my least favorite player on the team. He gave Racing no less than THREE direct kicks in Barcelona’s defensive third in the first half alone. He is unnecessarily physical and obviously stupid since he’s fouling players in a dangerous area of the field.

There was nothing in between this weekend: the games either made you want to pull your hair out in suspense or sit back and relax as one team or another was run into the ground.
Blow Outs Arsenal 4-0 Wigan Athletic Thomas Vermaelen(25, 49), Emmanuel Eboue (59), and Cesc Fabregas (90) all aided the Gunners in their thrashing of Wigan, putting them in 7th place behind a 3-way tie for 4th place between Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Manchester City.Real Madrid 5-0 Xerez It almost looked like Real Madrid was going to secure the win with only one goal under their belt (Ronaldo, 1) but then in the span of seven minutes the Spanish giants netted three goals, scored by Ronaldo (75), Guti (78), and Karim Benzema (82) before Ruud Van Nistelrooy sealed the deal in the 89th minute. They are now tied with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for first place. Barcelona 5-2 Atletico Madrid A score by Ibrahimovic in the first minute sealed the deal for Barcelona and set the tone for the rest of the game. They were up 4-0 by halftime (Messi 16, Dani Alves 30, Seydou Keita 41). Atletico made an attempted comeback when Kun Aguero (45) and Diego Forlan (84) got a goal a piece, but in the 90th minute Messi put a stop to that, netting his second of the game. The Catalan superteam is in the three- way tie for 1st place with Real and Atletico.
Nail BitersManchester United 4-3 Manchester City Michael Owen was dubbed the hero of this game, allowing United to scrape by with a win in the same minute that Craig Bellamy of City leveled with the former European champions. It was literally a game of seesaw throughout. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring early in the 2nd minute before Gareth Barry leveled in the 16th. In the 2nd half Darren Fletcher hit back twice (49, 80) and was twice answered by City’s Craig Bellamy (52, 90). Owen, as previously stated, was the saving grace. He entered as a sub for Dimitar Berbatov in the 78th minute, who still isn’t quite living up to expectations. Liverpool 3-2 West Ham United As usual, Fernando Torres scores two goals when I’m not watching the game! The Spanish international opened the scoring in the 20th minute, which was quickly answered by a penalty kick by Alessandro Diamanti of West Ham in min. 29. Dirk Kuyt pulled the Reds ahead, but three minutes later the score was again leveled by West Ham’s Carlton Cole. After 30 minutes of tense play Torres struck again in the 75th minute. Liverpool was able to hold the lead for the remainder of the game.

Kun Aguero of Atletico Madrid ended Victor Valdes’ hopes of extending the personal record he shattered during the first half of Barcelona’s game against Atletico today.
As the 17th minute of the game passed, Valdes had officially gone 542 consecutive minutes of play without allowing a goal. His new personal best is now 570 minutes, after failing to stop a goal by Aguero in the 45th minute.
The goals allowed by today by Valdes are the only ones Barcelona have allowed this season, including European Supercup and Champions League games
Congrats, Valdes.

Should Barcelona goalie Victor Valdes refuse Atletico Madrid a goal for the first 17 minutes of their game this weekend, he will have broken his own personal record of minutes without allowing any goals.
Valdes has produced multiple consecutive shutouts, against Shakhtar Donetsk (European Supercup), Getafe (Liga) and Sporting Gijon (Liga), as well as several from the end of last season.
So far the keeper has racked up an amazing 524 minutes of shutout time. His personal record of 542 was set during his ‘05-06 season, and he is coming dangerously close to breaking that.
I certainly do not want to jinx Valdes, but Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan have been giving sad performances for Atletico. They failed to score in their Champions League game last weekend, and have had a less that impressive run in La Liga so far. This could very well be the game where Valdes continues his personal record (knock on wood).
The record in the Spanish Premier League for most minutes played by a goalie without allowing any goals is 1,257 minutes. If you do the math that’s roughly 13 shutout games! That is quite impressive. The record holder’s name is Abel Resino, who, ironically, played for Atletico Madrid at the time he set the record.
However, the world record for most shutout minutes goes to a Brazilian by the name of Mazaropi, who played for Vasco de Gama in Brazil. His record is 1,816 minutes. This guy went from May 18, 1977 to September 8, 1978 without conceding a single goal! Wow.