Sorry about yesterday. I got a little caught up with homework, but I did watch a couple games (kind of messed up priorities, right?). Still, what I saw was very promising for this season.
On Thursday, Espanyol faced Getafe and managed a 1-0 victory thanks to a very late goal in the 90th minute by Walter Pandiani. The three points moved Espanyol to 10th in the La Liga tables and put Getafe in 19th with only 1 point for the season. At this rate, Getafe will almost certainly face relegation at the end of the season.
Siena managed a 1-1 tie with AS Roma after a late equaliser by Roberto Vitello. Roma took the lead in the 25th minute thanks to a great goal by Osvaldo, but would later be silenced by Vitello's goal in the 88th. It should have been Roma's game, but they forfeited too many great chances to pull ahead in both halves.
Then Real Betis pulled a close 4-3 win over Real Zaragoza. Betis had a comfortable 2-0 lead early in the first half, but Zaragoza struck back in the 36th minute to put the score at 2-1 at half time. Shortly after the half, Betis won a penalty due to a foolish challenge by Zaragoza defender Paulo Da Silva. And then Roque Santa Cruz put in his second to put Betis ahead by 4-1. All looked lost for Zaragoza until the substitution of Juan Carlos for Pablo Barrera. Carlos made an instant impact, putting away two almost identical volleys for Zaragoza and leaving the score at 4-3 by the 79th minute. Betis moved to an all-out defence and Zaragoza was unable to break through again. This gave Betis their 4th win, putting the newly promoted team at the top of the La Liga table and continuing their perfect season.
And Friday, VfB Stuttgart fell 1-2 to Hamburg SV and gave Hamburg their first win of the season. Of course, this comes right after Hamburg fired manager Michael Oenning, so it's great to see some result, though I'm not sure if it can be attributed to the change in personnel. Still, it at least gives Hamburg hopes of not seeing relegation from the Bundesliga.
This weekend, as always there will be a host of games to see. Unfortunately, I'm at home this weekend and my internet connection is less than reliable (or fast), so I will only be able to see the one game being shown on ESPN2 which is Manchester City v. Everton at 7:45 AM eastern time. I'll be watching live commentary on some of the games and as always I will watch highlights and pick through the games. I won't be reporting tomorrow, but I'll be back Sunday with a recap of the weekend. And for a complete schedule of tomorrow's games and their scores, you can visit this link at ESPN Soccernet.
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