One week ago Chelsea’s inability to mark anyone at set plays was going to cost them the title; while Liverpool’s campaign was going to be put to the sword by Benitez’s insistence on playing ‘the worst player in the world’ Lucas.

Seven days later Chelsea stuff a swine flu ridden Blackburn Rovers 5-0 and Lucas turns in a man of the match performance in a 2-0 win over Manchester United.

All of a sudden these two are in the box seat and the frailties of their title rivals are under the microscope.

Arsenal and Manchester City could not close out their two goal leads against West Ham and Fulham, both drawing two all. The clubs have played brilliant attacking football all season, yet everyone knew that they were lacking defensively and this inability to close out these matches could cost them dearly (fully expect this opinion to change in a week).

But while they may have problems at the back, at least they do not have Rio Ferdinand.

Ferdinand has been hindered by injuries for the past two seasons, barely playing six weeks before breaking down with another injury. These spells on the sidelines have meant he has been able to jump into bed with Ashley Cole to produce British gangster flick, ‘Dead Man Running’ starring Danny Dyer and 50 Cent (when asked if he was a Chelsea or United fan, Fiddy replied, “I got respect for both territories man.”).

Now he is back on the pitch, Rio looks like he has caught a stray bullet from Fiddy’s AK. This season he has been burned for pace by the injury prone Craig Bellamy and the half fit Fernando Torres, a cause for concern for both Alex Ferguson and Fabio Capello.

Oh to be a Portsmouth fan. This week they have found out that there new owner is not quite as wealthy as it was first thought, they have been hit by a transfer ban until their debts to other clubs have cleared, then to make matters worse, they made the 560 mile round trip to the north east to see the dullest match of football in history football, a nil-nil draw with Hull City.

Football League

While Portsmouth will be going into the Championship, coming back out will almost certainly be Newcastle United who continue to lead the division.

All the more impressive when you consider the disruptions off of the pitch. Owner Mike Ashley has given up on trying to sell the club and has permanently appointed Chris Hughton as manager. Some fans have welcomed the move, hailing the stability which it brings to the club; the majority hate every move Ashley makes and want him out.

The fans hatred for him does seem a little strange when you consider that he cleared the club’s debts, but when he announces plans to sell the naming rights of the stadiums, you cannot feel that this is a bit of a political own goal.

From one chairman to who can do no right, to a chairman who can do no wrong; Middlesbrough’s Steve Gibson.

Gibson has this week sacked Gareth Southgate, replacing him with Gordon Strachan. Most chairmen would be widely ridiculed for sacking a manager following a win and with the team sitting fourth in the league. Yet any decision Gibson makes cannot be criticised simply for the time and money he gives his managers.

Perhaps a more ruthless approach would have been beneficial in the turgid years of Bryan Robson, Terry Venables, Steve McClaren and Southgate as his managers continued to waste money on the likes of Alfonso Alves, Massimo Macarone and Mikkel Beck.

Despite all these faux pas, Gibson continued to stand by his managers, so when he wants to make a decision it is hard to be critical of him.

The only people he has more loyalty to is the fans. “I looked around and gates were down. We need to get the fans and the town back behind the club. We can’t afford the splinters we have.”

Elsewhere, Reading have sunk into the relegation zone and QPR are the division’s form team, winning their last three matches, scoring 12 in the process.

Also of note is that Southampton now have more points than Ipswich despite starting the season on minus ten points. Sure they’re not in the same division, but it is always fun to laugh at Roy Keane.

Another week and another victory for Braga, the 7^th in a row. Benfica and Porto maintain the pursue and Sporting fall behind.

Two second half goals assured Braga one more week at the top of the League and also an historic 100 per cent victorious start. In form striker Paulo César opened the score shortly after the break and former Valencia and Newcastle midfielder Hugo Viana ended Setúbal hopes in extra-time with his first of the season.

BEST GOAL AVERAGE IN YEARS

This year’s championship is well above later edition in goal scoring terms. Porto and Benfica are scoring way more than in previous seasons with two man in the top of their game: Falcao and Cardozo. The Porto striker, former River Plate star, was the man of the match against Olhanense, adding two more goals to his already impressive tally. The Dragons dominated a team that has no less than 3 first eleven players on loan from Porto. and a manager who is a former captain from the national champions (Jorge Costa). All things connected it was an easy trip to South and a 3-0 victory, with Bruno Alves scoring is first of the season. On the other half of the country, Benfica had a traditionally difficult journey to Paços de Ferreira, Cup finalists last year, but this time Jorge Jesus team was once more too strong for the humble opposition. Paços started the game in a sleepy mood and the Eagles entered the pitch as if they were already on killing mode, scoring the first on the 3rd minute through a David Luiz header. Pablo Aimar replacement Carlos Martins also manage to get his name on the scoresheet and Cardozo reclaimed his leadership at the top scorers table (8 goals) ahead of fellow South American Radamel Falcao. The second half was worth a nap…and the only thing the home team could do was scoring the consolation goal at the 68th minute by Maykon. 3-1 to Benfica and the League is more alive than ever.

SPORTING POOR RUN CONTINUES

Despite a mid week victory over Hertha Berlin, Sporting can’t seem to improve the relationship with the supporters. After whistling the team on Thursday, the week-en was even worse for Paulo Bento’s team and the manager life at club can well be shortened even if the board is trying hard to turn Bento into a Portuguese version of Sir Alex Ferguson. The game against Belenenses was a shame for the home team that ended in a boring 0-0 with both clubs putting an incredible effort to irritate the half empty stands. At the end more whistles for both players and manager…Alvalade welcomes the International Fixture period like it did before.

MVP – FALCAO (PORTO)

7 goals in the League and one amazing participation in the Champions League which resulted in a crucial victory over Atletico de Madrid, are more than enough reasons to make the Colombian striker the most in form player of the week. Excellent when asked to shot from inside and outside the box, and a natural talent to finish with his head (like I haven’t seen since Mario Jardel) turn Falcao in a strong candidate to signing of the season.

RESULTS – ROUND 7

Académica – Marítimo 2-4 / Naval – Rio Ave 3-2 / Braga – Setúbal 2-0

Leixões – União de Leiria 3-2 / Sporting – Belenenses 0-0 / Olhanense – Porto 0-3

Nacional – Vitória Guimarães 2-0 / Paços de Ferreira – Benfica 1-3

TABLE

1. Braga 21

2. Benfica 19

3. Porto 16

4. Sporting 11

(…)

15. Setúbal 4

16. Académica 3

With a mix of South American and young Portuguese talents, Braga keeps surprising as the League goes on. Domingos Paciência team is playing well and full of confidence and their last victim was First Division newcomers Olhanense.

The Algarve side saw goalkeeper Ventura (on loan from Porto) leaving the pitch for an early bath after fouling Alan in the box, but Meyong wasted the penalty taking the game with a boring 0-0 to the dressing room.

The second half was dominated by Braga but without clear and present danger in the other goal. When everybody was ready to leave, a late effort by Allan took the ball past the Olhanense keeper and allowed Braga to stay one more week at the top of the table.

FALCAO SHOT THE LIONS

In the first classic of the season an early goal by former River Plate favorite Falcao gave Porto 3 precious points. Sporting tried to even the game but was betrayed by Anderson Polga’s actions. The defender fouled Falcao inside the box giving Porto a penalty (wasted by the Colombian striker) and later was sent-off after seeing the second yellow.

The first classic of the season was emotional but lacked in football quality, most of all due to the players commitment in fouling each other rather than playing the game.

ANOTHER HANDFUL OF GOALS FOR BENFICA

Benfica’s incredible offensive production went on as the “eagles” trashed Leixões last Saturday. Jorge Jesus team has been amazing, with Pablo Aimar, who was called by Maradona to the Argentinian side, leading the way.

But is fair to say that the Reds task was eased by the lack of discipline and the excessive violence brought on the pitch by Leixões players.

Oscar Cardozo was the man of the match scoring twice, but young Braziliam midfielder Ramires keeps showing why he costed 7.5 million Euros, lasting the 90 minutes and scoring is 4^th of the season.

MVP – RAMIRES (BENFICA)

Talented with and without the ball, the Brazilian is Benfica’s golden boy alongside Argentinian Angel Di Maria. The 22 year old midfielder, knowned in is country as the “Quenian”, due to his stamina, is adapting very well to European football and is proving to be an excellent investment for the Eagles, which will surely profit in the future in another breathtaking summer transfer. He suits the Premier League like tomatoes suit pasta and shouldn’t stay in Portugal after the World Cup.

by Gonçalo Moreira

(Photo: Marca)

For the catalans, ‘Ibracadabra’ keeps scoring; five goals in five games in La Liga so far. Guardiola’s team was having a hard time in Málaga’s La Rosaleda when Thierry Henry got injured – luckily for Barça as Henry is miles away from last season’s form – and got substituted by the Swedish with Bosnian roots. Ibra came, saw and scored, opening the score for a final 0-2 win for his team. The archrivals from Madrid had a similar experience at their Santiago Bernabeu. The newly promoted side from Tenerife had a quite pleasant first half as Real was not able to create a lot of chances except some individual actions of Cristiano Ronaldo. At half-time chilean Real manager Pellegrini decided to put in Kaká and Guti, the two most creative players of his squad, for Ramos and Granero, while Lass Diarra – a real joker that playes well in every position – switched from central midfielder to right wing-back. However, the ‘royals’ are still far away from what their fans expect, but two goals of Benzema and one of Kaká ensured an 3-0 victory and first place on the table.

(Photo: Yahoo! Eurosport.es)

In the meantime Champions League participant Atlético Madrid and Europa League team FC Villarreal had their worst start into the season in years and are on relegation spots, 18th and 19th. Abel Resino’s side at least saved one point in Mestalla against Valencia, with argentinian captain Maxi scoring the equalizer in injury time. Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero had opened the score for the ‘colchoneros’ but Pablo Hernández and David Villa with two goals within three minutes gave the lead to the hometeam until Maxi’s late shocker for the homecrowd in the best game of the weekend. Villarreal’s bad streak – only two draws in five games – goes on as they were uncapable of getting something positive out of Riazor Stadium where brazilian Juca gave Deportivo La Coruña a 1-0 win. Still both coaches, Atlético’s Abel and Villarreal’s Valverde, are under pressure and could be the first coaches to get sacked. For the ‘rojiblancos’ of Madrid rumours of possible substitutes are already starting to come out and former Atlético-player Diego Simeone seems to be in the best position, but also the names of Luis Aragonés and Javier Irureta are handled.

Newcomer Xerez, that plays in the Primera División for the first time in its history, got his first point with a goal-less draw at Espanyol Barcelona’s new stadium. Almería and Racing Santander played 2-2 in a crazy game with a late goal of Nigerian Uche for the locals. Osasuna achieved an important 1-0 victory at his own Reyno de Navarra Stadium with a goal of iranian striker Neukonam. Zaragoza and Mallorca both got 3-0 home victories over Getafe and Valladolid and especially Gregorio Manzano’s team from the Balearic is being the biggest surprised, ranked 4th, of La Liga so far.

Results, Round 5:

Valencia – Atlético Madrid 2-2

Málaga – FC Barcelona 0-2

Athletic Bilbao – FC Sevilla 0-4

Real Madrid – Tenerife 3-0

Deportivo La Coruña – FC Villarreal 1-0

Zaragoza – Getafe 3-0

Mallorca – Valladolid 3-0

Espanyol – Xerez 0-0

Almería – Racing de Santander 2-2

Osasuna – Sporting Gijon 1-0

Table:

Pichichi (topscorers):

Villa 6

Messi 5

Cristiano Ronaldo 5

Ibrahimovic 5

Pandiani 3

Player of the week:

Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish striker is making those quiet who criticised his transfer. Five goals in five La Liga games, four of those to open the score. In addition his substitution in Málaga was crucial.

by Marcos García