After the offensive explosion that has been the Gunners the last couple weeks, I don't think anyone saw this coming at the Emirates.

The Geovanni equalizer was other-worldly, then a Daniel Cousin header won it, 2-1.

Drops Arsenal from 1st to 4th, one point ahead of Hull.

Everton 0-2 Liverpool -- Fernando Torres nets a brace to lead the Reds. Click to continue reading...

Salomon Kalou for preserving Chelsea's home unbeaten run. And for bailing out Nicolas "I have no business being here" Anelka and Joe "I don't pass" Cole.

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But Park is starting. Swings and roundabouts.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Obi, Joe Cole, Deco Ballack, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka. Subs: Cudicini, Drogba, Ballack, Bridge, Kalou, Alex, Belletti.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Scholes, Park, Berbatov, Rooney.

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The French redeemed themselves and bought Raymond Domenech some extra time to stay on as manager. Thierry Henry and Nicholas Anelka scored 2 second half goals to lead the way before Serbia pulled one back through Branislav Ivanovic.
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Having a look around the French press today, these two are getting the rave reviews. Lots of headlines about Anelka changing the game when he came on and Gourcuff having a great game on his full debut. Not as much ink for Henry and his sublime opener, but he's had Click to continue reading...

The 4-2-3-1 from France Manager Raymond Domenech was really a breath of fresh air, with Bordeaux's Yoann Gourcuff featuring in the Zidane spot, and Thierry Henry playing wide left. France had a great shape and looked like a healthy side, even in the first half that finished 0-0.

Benzema - Had a quiet first half, which is the polar opposite of how he played when he broke into the France team in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. Click to continue reading...

Ortega, Anelka, Kezman derken bir yıldızın daha İstanbul'daki hikayesi mutsuz sonla bitti. Fenerbahçe 8 milyon avro bonservisle aldığı Appiah'ı bedava kaptırıyor. Üstelik aldığı takıma, üstelik en sorunlu bölgesi tam da Ganalı'nın bölgesi iken. Bu oyuncuları getirmek bir yönetim başarısıdır. Click to continue reading...

Galatasaray'ın kötü futbolu, Fenerbahçe'nin Antep'te sıfır çekmesiyle medyada homurtular yükselmeye başladı. Elbette Aragones'in son Avrupa Şampiyonası sonrası kredisi Skibbe'den biraz daha fazla. Skibbe ile olmaz diyen medya, şimdilik Aragones için temkinli. Ancak satır aralarındaki homurtuyu Sağır Sultan bile duyuyor. Click to continue reading...

You might be forgiven for thinking that the Blues have enough attacking options, especially when Didier Drogba recovers from injury. Along with Anelka, Shevchenko and Kalou, Chelsea have a formidable set of forwards, while the likes of Deco, Lampard, Ballack and Cole all 'know where the goal is'. However, the . Click to continue reading...

After season of ultimately being in the shadow of Manchester United both domestically and on the continent, Chelsea sent a warning to the defending champions that they intend to see the Premiership return to Stamford Bridge. Luiz Felipe Scolari's first match in charge saw a rampant Chelsea overcome FA Cup Winners Portsmouth 4-0 in a game which saw them showcase Lampard, Deco and Ballack in the same midfield. Click to continue reading...

The 2007-08 season was an unprecedented one for Chelsea Football Club. The Blues reached their first-ever Champions League final. They also amassed an impressive 85 points in Premiership play. Regardless, Chelsea failed to acquire any hardware for the first time in three seasons. The Blues finished runners-up in three competitions Premiership, Champions League and Carling Cup their EPL tally of 85 points the most for a second-place team ever.

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"Further to media reports, Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have made an offer to Real Madrid today (Thursday, August 7) for the transfer of Robinho."

Says a statement on the official Chelsea FC website. Short and sweet, eh? This ordeal, however, is certain to be anything but.

So we finally lodged a bid for the pint-sized Brazilian so true to Uncle Phil's heart.

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Conceding five goals is rough, real rough. Whiffing on the ball that winds up as the sitter for the third is downright brutal, particularly when the game was televised for our enjoyment. But it's the death knell when you've dropped this little nugget to the press just days earlier: "Concerning the role of the keeper, I [. Click to continue reading...

Red Rom's lads dish out a whooping with Nicky Anelka running rampant in this third place playoff for the Russian Railway Cup. Don't ask, I don't know. Milan's keeper had an absolute stinker too. Look for big things from Le Sulk this season assuming Scolari gets him and Droggy sorted out from a tactical standpoint. Click to continue reading...

Mortgage prices are dropping, the credit crunch is hitting us all, and it seems the only things in life that are getting more expensive is food, petrol and footballers. The amount of money spent on individual players these days is ridiculous. Is Cristiano Ronaldo really worth 75 million? If we actually look at what Real Madrid would be getting for their money, it's a name basically. Click to continue reading...

Lokomotiv Moscow 1, Chelsea 1 (Lokomotiv 5-4 on penalties)

Moscow was a nightmare once again for the Blues. So, too, were penalty shoots for one Andriy Shevchenko. Sheva's penalty miss cost us the match, one we largely dominated. Michael Essien continued his strong preseason, handing us the lead in the 27th minute.

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(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

It was the third place play-off of the Russian Railways Cup.Anelka hit four out of the 5 goals and the other one came from a Lampard free kick.It helped that AC Milan were missing key players such as Kaka, Pato, Inzaghi and Borriello.They went into half time 3 goals down and stayed down.Is this enough to make Kaka change his mind and move to Chelsea.

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Quick which one? Or both?

As per Chelsea, two days ago it was Robinho that was supposed to alight on Stamford Bridge on a bid of £40m. Today it is Kaka for double the price. How about importing the whole Brazilian and Portugese team and rendering the Premiership moot? Having Big Phil makes these pipe dreams possible.

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This year saw the birth of Indian Premier League cricket. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, it's a shortened version of the regular game played by the best cricket players in the world with all the glitz and glamour you would never have associated with cricket ten years ago. In essence it [. Click to continue reading...

By: Chris C
Soccer City FC

It's not an uncommon sight at all for the Bolton Faithful to be waiting and wondering what's going to happen next during the summer transfer window. With the transfer funds seemingly in a perpetual void and the better players being linked with moves to teams that have the cash to splash, most Trotters' fans typically spend their summers wondering who we'll lose next, or what virtually unknown player will be suiting up in the White Hot colours next year. Click to continue reading...

There's no doubting that both clubs could do with some extra firepower ahead of next season, but which one will win the 'race' to sign this talented forward? Johan Elmander played pretty pretty well for Sweden during Euro 2008, despite being stuck out on the right-wing to allow Larsson and Ibrahimovic to have a final [. Click to continue reading...

Reader Doumé has come up with the ultimate solution to all of France's problems in this tournament. "Just one thing: for corner kicks, get somebody else than Malou to cover the likely target. Instead, let's put big Pat Vieira on him, and if he's not available, oh, heck......Chabal !!!" I'm not so Click to continue reading...

David Villa has been one of the best strikers in Europe during the last few seasons, and after Valencia's disastrous season in La Liga he is very much on the market. In the shop-window or not, his performances so far at the Euros have caught the attention of a fair few prospective buyers.

Crucially, he seems to quite like us. Click to continue reading...

If you're currently standing, find somewhere to sit down because this news will knock you off your feet. Domenech - our dear, stubborn, complex, somewhat irrational manager - is considering making four changes to his lineup for Friday. That's right. FOUR. According to Domenech, he doesn't want to destabilize his defense Click to continue reading...

Euro 2008 is off to a rousing start. Rousing? Well, at least Greece lost. The first round of games have been completed, so let's take a look at how Chelsea players have faired thus far in Austria and Switzerland.

Jose Bosingwa
Our newest signing was undoubtedly our best performer through round 1.

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France blogger Laurie said after the match that, "France usually plays pretty while being unable to score. This was 90 minutes of ugly." That's quite a good synopsis. I'll add some of my post-game thoughts, most of which appeared a bit earlier on WickedDeflection.com. I thought that Malouda, Anelka, Click to continue reading...

He could be the Blues best forward.

Drogba? Shevchenko? Anelka? Psh!

Seen over at Who Ate All the Pies? Click to continue reading...

I ran this poll once before, but that was before we had our final four strikers, and before we'd seen what they could do in the friendlies. So lets see if your answers have changed in this time. Assuming 4-4-2, which looks probable, which two strikers would you like to Click to continue reading...

Goodness me, this would be a coup for one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League. United and Chelsea have been involved in a recent title race, as well as going toe-to-toe in an attempt to win the Champions League. According to Setanta, they could well be clashing horns by having a bidding war [. Click to continue reading...

We still don't have a manager. So we really don't know which megalomaniacs will be staying, leaving or coming to the club. However, that doesn't mean we can't speculate on who will be earning 100K somewhere else next season. Really, these are the guys who should be gone. Immediately. Bye.

Didier Drogba
The Ivorian schizophrenic has no clue what he wants, where he would like to be or who to slap next.

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I think I'll do a somewhat half-hearted liveblog here, so keep hitting refresh to see major action points -- at the very least scores, cards and substitutions. Starting lineup, from l'Equipe: Le onze de départ : Frey ou Mandanda - Sagnol, Thuram, Escudé, Abidal - L. Diarra, A. Diarra ou Click to continue reading...

You can always rely on Jose Mourinho to open his big mouth at the drop of a hat. He failed to steer Chelsea to a Champions League final during his three seasons at the club, something that clearly still rankles with the Portuguese fool. Why else would he jump on the anti-Avram Grant bandwagon as [... Click to continue reading...

We asked yesterday whether there was a bottler or two in the Chelsea camp when it came to taking penalties and the answer appears in today's Daily Mail. Nicolas Anelka may well have stepped up to take a spot-kick for the Blues, but he was actually on the original list of five takers, only for [...] Click to continue reading...