Domestic action and more! 8/14/2011.

Well in Scotland we had 1 match today but it was full of goals! Kilmarnock struck 1st, in the 3rd minute through Paul Heffernan before Hibernian equalized 10 minutes later thanks to Garry O'Connor, but the fun was just beginning for Kilmarnock. In the 41st minute, an own goal from Hibs' Paul Hanlon was a step in the wrong direction. James Dayton struck Kilmarnock further into the lead in the 65th while Heffernan scored once more, in the 71st, to set the result in stone: 4-1 for the home side! Over in Sweden league leaders Helsingborg marched over Trelleborg 1-3 thanks to 2 goals from Rasmus Jonsson in the 1st half and Jorgen Skjelvik's 81st minute goal. Kristian Haynes' 90th minute goal for the home side was only a consolation prize really. GAIS edged Kalmar 1-0 thanks to Wanderson's 10th minute goal in an otherwise uneventful game. Last but not least we had Djurgarden v.s. Orebro. In this match we had 2 1st half goals from Paulinho and Valdet Rama respectively to thank for Orebro's 0-2 victory. Down south in Germany we had Kasiserslautern's 1-1 draw with Augsburg and Leverkusen's 1-0 win over Werder Bremen. In the 1st match, Augsburg actually got an early lead through Sascha Molders which held through the 1st half and much of the 2nd. Then, in the 80th minute Itay Shechter somewhat saved the day for the Red Devils. In Leverkusen's match, victory was claimed from the jaws of death by the home side through Michal Kadlec 4 minutes before the end. In Holland Ajax destroyed Heerenveen 5-1 with goals from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (9th minute), Toby Alderweireld (42nd minute), Derk Boerrigter (51st minute), Miralem Sulejmani (75th), and Gregory Van der Wiel (93rd minute). Bas Dost's 39th minute goal for Heerenveen did just about nothing for a harshly welcomed away team. Groningen defeated Den Haag 4-2 thanks in large part to a hat-trick from Tim Matavz. Heracles were able to edge NAC despite going down in the 32nd minute to a Matthew Amoah goal. Willy Overtoom equalized for the home side in the 66th from the penalty spot while Everton got the winner for Heracles in the 77th. Utrecht tied 2-2 with De Graafschap thanks to 2 late goals from Jacob Mulenga saved them an embarrassing 0-2 home loss. Back up to England now, where 2 big names played, to very unimpressive results. Stoke were able to hold the fort against Chelsea, conceding nothing while not bothering to score either. West Brom on the other hand were only bested by themselves in their match against Manchester United as they lost due to a fluke of an own goal from Steven Reid in the 81st. Deep down in Iberia now, Spain witnessed a fantastic clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid with the result at the end 2-2. It really was a thrilling 1st leg to the Spanish Supercopa with no skirmishes or blatantly late tackles. Rather, it was the site of a good deal of football! Real Madrid actually played more fluid, controlled football while Barcelona did have their moments. Mesut Ozil delivered the 1st goal of the match, for Real Madrid, before David Villa equalized. Lionel Messi then made it 1-2 for the visitors before Xabi Alonso grabbed the equalizer to save everyone's pride. To conclude this post I'd like to look at the conclusion of the U-20 World Cup Quarter-Finals. First of all Brazil and Spain played out a thrilling 2-2 draw at the end of regulation and extra-time in Pereira. Brazil's Willian opened the scoring in the 35th only to have Spain's Rodrigo equalize in the 57th. The period of regulation play ended as such despite chances for both sides. (total shots in the game were 43 with 26 of them coming from Spain). Brazil's midfielder Dudu gave his side the lead once more, this time in the 100th minute. Spain wouldn't take it lying down though, and they equalized 2 minutes later to save themselves for a bit longer. So, to penalties. Spain's Amat got his shot saved by Brazil's capable goalie Gabriel while Casemiro converted for Brazil. 1-0 Brazil. Sergei Roberto converted for Spain, but Danilo struck for Brazil to make it 2-1 for the South Americans. Bartra converted for Spain though, keeping them in the game until Brazil's Henrique made his shot. You could tell when Alvaro Vasquez's shot was saved by the keeper that Spain were out. Dudu's 4th conversion just set the result in stone: Spain are out, Brazil are a force to be reckoned with. In France v.s. Nigeria, we had another spectacular occasion with plenty of shots, plenty of goals, and tons of drama. France took the lead in the 2nd half through the exciting substitute Alexandre Lacazette which left the Africans of Nigeria in desperate need of an equalizer. They somehow managed to find a goal, scoring with seconds remaining through Maduabuchi Ejike to keep their dreams alive into extra-time. France started extra-time on fire, scoring through captain Gueida Fofana before Lacazette grabbed a 2nd to make it 3-1 in favor of the French. Ejike scored a second for Nigeria to keep all the pulses pounding but the Nigerians simply couldn't equalize again. So, they go home having done themselves and their country proud. France, meanwhile, face Portugal in the next round. Brazil v.s. Mexico is the other Semi-final fixture. Enjoy!