By DAN KARELL
On a wet and windy evening in North London, the soccer on the field wasn’t much better than the conditions above.
Though Chelsea hit the post and Arsenal came close in the second half if not for a quick save from Petr Cech, both teams settled for a scoreless draw at the Emirates Stadium, lifting Arsenal into a tie in first place in the English Premier League and Chelsea into fourth place. At the same time, the draw extends Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten run over Arsene Wenger to 10 games.
Despite dominating possession, Arsenal found it difficult to break down the central defensive duo of John Terry and Gary Cahill, and only managed two shots on goal to Chelsea’s four. Probably the closest there was to a goal was in the 32nd minute when Frank Lampard hit the crossbar.
Here are some more stories from around the world of soccer:
SHERWOOD GIVEN CONTRACT THROUGH 2015
Tottenham on Monday decided to hand the managerial reigns of the club to an Englishman. It just wasn’t the one that people had expected.
Former reserves manager and recent interim boss Tim Sherwood has accepted a contract that will keep him as the club’s manager through the end of the 2014/2015 season, taking over the the deposed Andre Villas-Boas. Sherwood lead Tottenham to a 3-2 victory at Southampton last Saturday and a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United in the League Cup last Wednesday.
The decision is a controversial one as Sherwood has no prior head coaching experience and he’ll certainly have a difficult job at hand in guiding the expensive side into a top-four place and a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
PIRLO MAKING PROGRESS, SHOULD RETURN FOR ROMA MATCH
Juventus entered their winter break with a five-point lead in Serie A, and they received another holiday blessing today.
The defending champions learned that star midfielder Andrea Pirlo will return to training with the team on the Dec. 29 and will be ready to feature in the side’s crucial mid-season match up against AS Roma on Jan. 5. Pirlo suffered a grade two MCL sprain and originally it had been feared that he would be out until mid-January.
The 34-year-old Italian National Team player has played 18 times for Juventus so far this season in all competitions, scoring three goals and adding an assist.
QUICK KICKS
Jose Mourinho is interested in bringing David Lopez to Stamford Bridge as the eventual replacement for Petr Cech. (REPORT)
Paolo Di Canio has taken his name out of the hat of potential candidates to take over at Lazio with rumors swirling over current manager Vladimir Petković. (REPORT)
Leighton Baines is set for a return to the Everton starting lineup on Boxing Day against Sunderland. (REPORT)
Singaporean investor Peter Lim has made an offer to buy Valencia, wipe out it’s debts, and spend €50-60 million on transfers to bring the side back into the top four in Spain. (REPORT)
Former Real Betis head coach Pepe Mel is negotiating with West Bromwich Albion over the vacant managerial position. (REPORT)
——–
What do you think of this news? Did you expect Arsenal to defeat Chelsea at home? Think Sherwood can lead Tottenham into a Champions League place? Glad to hear Pirlo is recovering ahead of schedule?
Share your thoughts below.