Chelsea scampered past Manchester United with a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, with Eden Hazard scoring the lone goal. In the La Liga, Barcelona maintained their 2 point lead at the top with a 2-0 win over Valencia while Real Madrid were on Barcelona’s tail with a 3-1 win against Malaga. Alexis Sanchez scored two vital goals including the winner in a FA Cup semifinal against Reading, to ensure that Arsenal were on course to defend their title.
Chelsea took their lead at the top of the table to 10 points with a crucial yet unconvincing win at home against a promising Manchester United outfit. The visitors dominated proceedings and David De Gea was sure his side had taken the lead when Luke Shaw’s cross was met brilliantly by Rooney but was inches wide. Jose Mourinho fielded a defensive squad, playing Kurt Zouma in a midfield role, mainly to thwart the threat of Fellaini. Hazard scored the decisive goal in the 38th minute when Oscar’s back-heel pass cut open the United defence and Hazard calmly finished past De Gea. Falcao, handed a rare start, came close to equalizing in the dying stages of the match, when he muscled past Zouma only to smash the ball against the post. Herrera was booked for diving in the last minute of added time in hope for a penalty but Mike Dean’s brilliant refereeing ensured that Chelsea were on track to the title. Manchester United were the better side, enjoying 70% of the possession but Chelsea’s defensive stability and discipline made matters tough for Louis van Gaal’s men, ending his side’s winning streak.
Lionel Messi scored his 400th Barcelona goal and assisted Luis Suarez in an easy 2-0 victory against Valencia. Suarez opened the scoring in the 1st minute after a swift counter-attack and the Uruguayan was served a pass on the right-flank by Messi and the former- Liverpool man smashed the ball past Diego Alves. But the visitors dominated the proceedings and the Catalans seemed tired after their triumph in Paris. Dani Parejo will rue his missed penalty in the 10th minute but that wasn’t the only chance of the first-half for Valencia. The hosts seemed off-color and the defending was nervy but after the break, Barcelona regained their composure and Messi scored his goal with the last kick of the match after a long ball saw him all clear on goal and after his attempt to chip the ball over Alves failed, the ball fell kindly to the Argentine to score in front of an empty net.
Angel Martinez
Real Madrid took Barcelona’s 5-point lead at the top to 2 points with a 3-1 win at home against Malaga. Real lost Bale early to injury and on-loan striker Javier Hernandez replaced the Welshman. Malaga threatened with quick counter-attacking play but Real were the better side and ‘keeper Kameni was forced to make a host of saves. In the 24th minute, Ronaldo cross-cum-shot from a blistering free-kick was met by Sergio Ramos at the far-post amidst, calls for offside by the visitors but the goal stood and Real took the lead. At the hour-mark, Modric was taken off as well due to injury and is reported to be out of action for at least a month. James Rodriguez was felled in the 65th minute by Samu Castillejo but Ronaldo missed the resulting penalty, hitting the left-post. Minutes later James made amends for Ronaldo’s missed chance with some beautiful play, playing one-twos with Isco and Ronaldo before curling the ball into the top-right with his left foot, doubling his side’s lead. Malaga equalized almost instantly after Juanmi was left unmarked in the box and firmly hit his header just past Casillas. Ronaldo got his goal in final minutes of the game after Hernandez selflessly crossed the ball to the unmarked Portuguese winger to score his 50th goal of the season.
ImageCourtesy: Reuters
Holders Arsenal defeated Reading in a tense encounter at Wembley to reach the FA Cup finals. Alexis Sanzhez opened the scoring after he was fed by Ozil with a lob over the Reading defence and the Chilean cut in to calmly give his side the lead. Gareth McCleary equalized in the 54th minute, volleying home Pavel Pogrebnyak’s cross from close range. Adam Federici made a host of crucial saves to keep his side in the hunt, denying the likes of Gabriel and Ramsey. But he was adjudged the villain in extra-time, after the Australian fluffed Alexis’s shot between his legs to hand Arsenal the lead.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich defeated Hoffenheim 2-0 away with a satisfactory performance after their shock defeat against Porto in the Champions League. Borussia Dortmund played their first game after Jurgen Klopp announced his departure at the end of the season winning 3-0 against Paderborn and the hosts could’ve scored plenty more hadn’t it been for some wasteful finishing in the first-half.
In France, PSG had a fine evening, thumping OGC Nice 3-1 with Javier Pastore scoring a brace, to top the Ligue 1 table. In the Serie A, Juventus recorded a 2-0 win over Lazio at maintain their good run of form after their win against Monaco in midweek.
Tags: Arsenal Barcelona Chelsea FA Cup Manchester United Real Madrid
