by GIANFRANCO PANIZO
Oguchi Onyewu has been a key contributor to Standard Liege's dominance in the Jupiler Pro League over the past 18 months. Today, Onyewu has a chance to carry those Belgian successes over to the UEFA Cup.
Onyewu and Standard Liege continue their UEFA Cup campaign this afternoon as they take on Braga. The Portuguese club's defense, like Standard Liege's, will be tough to break down, as they allowed only five goals in the group stage in a group that contained offensive powerhouses AC Milan and VfL Wolfsburg.
Onyewu won't be the only American participating in today's festivities either. Brad Friedel and Brad Guzan's Aston Villa play host to CSKA Moskow. And lets not forget the David Beckham-less Milan, as they play Werder Bremen of Germany in today's marquee match-up.
The return matches for these home-and-home series will be played next week.
Here is a complete list of the UEFA Cup action for today and tomorrow:
WEDNESDAY
- Dynamo Kiev vs. Valencia
- Zenit St. Petersburg vs. VfB Stuttgart
- Olympiakos vs. St Etienne
- Aston Villa vs. CSKA Moscow
- Werder Bremen vs. AC Milan
- Bordeaux vs. Galatasaray
- Sampdoria vs. FC Metalist Kharkiv
- Paris Saint-Germain vs. VfL Wolfsburg
- NEC Nijmegen vs. Hamburg SV
- Aalborg vs. Deportivo La Coruna
- Braga vs. Standard Liege
THURSDAY
- Lech Poznan vs. Udinese
- Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Tottenham Hotspur
- FC Copenhagen vs. Manchester City
- Fiorentina vs. Ajax
- Marseille vs. FC Twente
If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
so a question: I noticed that the European Top Twenty seems to have vanished (if there was an announcement, I missed it sorry) and I was wondering which order SBI would put the top two (assuming everyone can agree they are ManU and Barca?)
ManU has gone 21-2-6 since the start of November in four different competitions (EPL, FA, Carling CWC, UCL) conceding 19 goals in that span and notched 58. in league play they haven’t conceded a goal since the November 8 loss at the Emirates.
meanwhile, Barca is 19-1-4 in that span in three competitions (LaL, CdR, UCL) scoring 64 and conceding 22. the team hadn’t lost in league play since the first game.
so, besides hoping they meet in the UCL finals, anyone want to argue for a better team? Barca’s firepower or ManU’s stinginess?
Bad day for Oguchi Onyewu:
Braga look set for a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup after a comfortable first-leg victory over R. Standard de Liège.
Braga buoyant
The Portuguese side were two up within the first half-hour through goals from Renteria and Andre Leone. Chances were few and far between after the break but Luis Aguiar managed to make it 3-0 in the closing stages.
Ives did you forget Tracy plays for AAB? He was on the bench but didn’t get in. Aalborg won 3-0.
lets hope Beasley isn’t hurt. sounds like a rough tackle.
Blackburn Ties it. Nice one Samba!
Due for Due
Let’s just hope it’s not a serious injury.
Terrible tackel against beasley…..that certaintly deserved a red card.
manchester united v fulham
http://veetle.com/viewChannel.php?cid=4995e3662b978
2-0 at the half. dempsey got the start, but fulham has been playing very poorly with very little possession.
Full time, game ends 1-1.
89th minute- free kick from the right for Villa , great chance to send a cross in, but the ball is headed into the air by a Villa player and cleared out by CSKA.
I’m not arguing with you…but I’m wondering who criticizes him?
83rd minute- Ashley Young and John Carew have had a couple of good chances in the last couple of minutes.
Brad Guzan should get a loan to a top team in the Bundesliga or Spain. He has the skills. Sucks to see him a back up even to the Mighty Friedel. Want to see him with tons of PT.
Anytime he gets scored on in the FA Cup or Uefa Cup, he gets sharply criticized. Even though it might be his first game in months.
According the espn, Guzan made two good saves before the goal.
tevez kinda looks like the frontman for the Chili Peppers (Anthony Joseph Kiedis), lol.
Ashley Young hit a cross from the left that went all the way to the right wing, and Gardner slid the ball to Carew, whose shot from near the top of the penalty area managed to beat the keeper!!
1-1.
66th minute- A CSKA player was in the penalty area with a shot on goal. Fortunately for Villa, it was a defender, Berezutsky, who hesitated and the defense forced him to shoot wide.
69th minute- GOAL VILLA!!!!!!!
Goal Villa! Carew from about 12 yards out.
65th minute- Ashley Young hits another cross from the left, just missing an Aston Villa player who ended up jumping past it.
1-0 Rangers Goal by Papac 8th minute.
60th minute- Ashley Young sends in another really good cross, Agbonlahor is left completely wide open, the keeper doesn’t come out to challenge the cross, and he JUST misses getting onto that cross! If he connects, its more than likely 1-1.
57th minute- Ashley Young created space for a cross on the left, which was headed on goal but blocked by a CSKA defender. There was an appeal for a handball, but the defender’s arms were against his body. they were never going to get that call.
55th minute- Villa caught a break as Vagner Love was called for offsides, though he was even with the last defender. He would’ve been alone on goal with Guzan, and Guzan actually proceeded to take down Love in the box.
53rd minute- Gardner hits the post! He got his head onto a corner played to the far post, but his header grazed the top of the crossbar and went out of play.
Thanks, kent. Let’s hope he gets the chance to redeem himself. I’d rather be watching any of these games than sitting at my desk right now . . .
Beasley and Edu starting today for Rangers in there cup game… its critical for beas to have a good game and get back into favor with the coach
Aaron,
The Villa defense let Vagner Love slip through and Guzan was left with a 1 v 1 situation in which Vagner Love had about 20 yards of space to run.
Guzan wasn’t at fault, but he was a little bit tentative coming off his line.
I’m watching the NEC-Hamburg match, and the dutch side is sporting a black sleeved top with the body being vertically cut in half between red and green. They look odd.
Was Guzan to blame for that goal? Anyone see it?
Beasley and Edu starting for Rangers tonight against a 3rd division side in the Scottish FA cup
Guzan just got scored on…not very good defending by Villa either.
Zenit 2-1 Stuttgart
FT
Decent result for Zenit given that they’re still in their pre-season.
Here is the line from Espnsoccernet: “However, consolation comes with the news David Beckham is fit after overcoming a minor hamstring injury.” Looks like he is available.
Valencia 1 – Dynamo Kiev 1
midway through second half
Kiev playing a man down
33 degrees and snowing
Immediately following a DK goal, a horrible 2nd yellow by the ref to the goal scorer (Milevsky) for diving.
DK – Valencia 1:1
Goal by DK after a free kick.
Tymoschuk with a fabulous goal. WOW.
Zenit 2-1 Stuttgart
Stuttgart putting on the pressure in St. Petersburg.
Standard Liege are going to win the league again this year. Gooch is going to PSG or Marseille this summer.
Valencia 1 – Dynamo Kiev 0
43′
Marcus Tracy is on the bench for Aalborg!
Gooooo Gooch 😀 I can see Standard Liege realistically making it to the QF’s of the UEFA Cup. It’s why they kept him.
Hopefully Guzan can start for AV and be a GOD in goal.
Zenit 1-1 Stuttgart
15′
Very entertaining thus far. Make no mistake, soccer played in freezing weather is a lot more entertaining than soccer played in the heat and humidity.
Looks COLD in St. Petersburg.
For those at work who want to watch online, the following games are on ESPN360:
Wed, Feb 18 2:00PM UEFA Cup UEFA Cup: Aston Villa vs. CSKA Moscow
Wed, Feb 18 2:45PM UEFA Cup UEFA Cup: Nec vs. Hamburger Sv
Times are Eastern.
Why no Beckham? I thought he recovered from his hamstring knock?
Hopefully Beckham will score a goal today so they’ll be more inclined to up the transfer fee a bit.