With the start to the 2009 MLS season only a short time away, here’s a number of the top news stories from around the league.

Bobby Convey returns to MLS-making his pro debut at 16 in the MLS, Bobby Convey was without a doubt one of the best talents in USA soccer.  However after a 4 1/2 year stint in England, Convey is poised to return to the MLS, signing with San Jose.   Having helped Reading to a record season, recording 106 points in the League Championship (tier 2), Convey was forced to sit out a it part of last season due to a knee injury.  While losing his spot due to the problem, the American has since decided to jump start his career back home.

Seattle to face Chelsea- As if we haven’t seen enough of EPL teams this side of the Atlantic, Chelsea will fly all the way to Seattle to face new boys Sounders FC in a friendly on July 18 at Qwest Field and featured on ESPN 2.  Chelsea’s chief exec Peter Kenyon noted, “We are delighted to be opening our preseason preparations in Seattle. It is a fantastic city, and we have great memories of our time there in the summer of 2004, which went on to be a great season for us. The Sounders FC will provide us with a real test, and we are happy that a sporting city like Seattle now has its own new soccer franchise as it is important for the development of the game in the United States. We will be bringing a full-strength squad so it should be a great game.”

Ángel stays in NYC- New York Red Bulls designated player Juan Pablo Ángel has resigned with the club formerly known as the NY/NJ Metrostars.  The former Colombian international has registered 35 goals in 49 games with the Metropolis club and was signed in 2007 from EPL side Aston Villa where he spent 6 years.  Of the deal, he noted, “I’m very excited to extend my contract with the Red Bulls.  As I have said in the past, I think that the league is very competitive and is growing every year. Red Bull has shown me that they are dedicated to improving the club and the quality of the sport year after year and I am looking forward to be a part of it as we move into a brand new stadium next season.”

United Look for new Digs- DC United have announced their desire to move into their very own soccer specific stadium.  The club said that they are working with Prince George’s County to explore space for a potential 24,000 seat arena that should be ready by 2011 or 2012.  United hopes to have groun broken within the next few months with a site to be chosen by mid March.

Peter Herrnreiter

Though the world transfer market for the winter break has closed, a number of superstars have voiced their desire to leave their respective clubs to play elsewhere.  While some of these deals have been long in the works and very public, a few surprises loom in the future.  Here’s a quick look at what the transfer rumormill is spitting out around the world.

Juve Interested in Cassano- Some have called highflying Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano a “crackpot” or even “insane”, though it would seem that since his loan move back to Italy rom Real Madrid, the 26 year old had been making waves once again with his 16 goals in 42 matches for the Blucerchiati.  The oddly numbered 99, once tauted as the new face of Italian soccer is known for his onfield antics which in large part have led to his onfield decline in form.  Though it would seem that his latest run of form is making even the largest of heads turn.

Ribery out of Bavaria- Speculation as to the future of French midfielder FranckRibery has recently been called into question while many sources from Italy and Spain claim that the 25 year old might leave Bayern Munich to achieve success elsewhere.  Since signing for the Bavarian champions, Ribery has made a direct impact in the Bundesliga, quickly becoming the leagues best player.  Sources say that both Juventus and Real madrid are more than interested in his services, however until the sumer window opens, these rumors can only stay as such.

A Oneway Ticket for Diego- Anotherone of the Bundesliga’s best is set to pack his bags from greener pastures- that being Bremen’s midfield wiz Diego.  The young Brazilian has been followed closely by giants Manchester City, Juventus and Real madrid (surprise surprise).  As to not upset his current manager, fans and club, Diego has yet to revel his intentions for the future, however since his arrival, many have said that the one time FC Porto star was destined to play in Serie A or La Liga, especially after having been named by Pele as the next “great one”.

Galaxy Lose Two Stars- Eventhough the David Beckham saga has yet to be finalized, it is highly expected that AC Milan will sign the English midfielder to a long term deal soon.  AC Milan’s technical director even was sent to Los Angeles to hammer out a deal with the galaxy.  Though it is know that both the MLS and Milan want a deal finalized by Friday, its not yet certai which way it will go.  The other of LA’s top players, Landon Donovan, is set to continue his time at Bayern after a number of appearances from the bench.  Unlike Beckham, Donovan is expected to leave Munich and play with the Galaxy by the start of the 2009 season.

Agger Takes Milan Physical- Hoping to add more depth to their back four, AC Milan look poised to sign Danish defender Daniel Agger from Liverpool at the end of the season.  Having been a bit of an outcast at the Mersyside club, the 24 year old is keen to move abroad and it seems as if Milan have beated out the likes of both city rivls Inter and Juve.  Agger, who is signed with the Reds until 2010 will get a chance to redeem himself as Milan have also signed Thiago Silva.  It is thought the pair will help to rebuild the backbone of the Milan squad.

Peter Herrnreiter

Quick Review

Started:

Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, Jay DeMerit, Zak Whitbread, Jemal Johnson, Luis Robles, David Yelldell, Michael Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Jose Francisco Torres

Subbed in:

Clint Dempsey, Mike Grella, Landon Donovan

Made the bench but did not play:

Brad Guzan, Jonathan Spector, Ian Joyce, Maurice Edu, Gregg Berhalter, Steve Cherundolo, Danny Szetela

Did not make the bench:

DaMarcus Beasley, Grover Gibson, Matt Taylor, Freddy Adu, Jesus Padilla, Daniel Hernandez, Marco Vidal

Injured:

Frank Simek, Michael Orozco, Sal Zizzo

In English FA Cup action…

G Tim Howard, Everton: started and played 90 minutes in Everton’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
G Brad Friedel, Aston Villa: started and played 90 minutes in Villa’s 3-1 loss to Everton.
G Brad Guzan, Aston Villa: made the bench but did not play against Everton.
M Clint Dempsey, Fulham: made the bench and played 30 minutes for Fulham in their 1-1 tie against Swansea City.
D Jonathan Spector, West Ham United: made the bench but did not see any action in West Ham’s 1-1 tie with Middlesbrough.
D Jay DeMerit, Watford: started and played 90 minutes in Watford’s 3-1 loss to Chelsea.

In English League One action…
D Zak Whitbread, Millwall: started and played 90 minutes in Millwall’s 2-2 draw with Stockport County.

S Mike Grella, Leeds United: made the bench and played 16 minutes for Leeds in their 1-0 loss to Huddersfield Town.
M Jemal Johnson, Milton Keynes Dons: started and played 90 minutes for the Dons’ in their 3-1 win over Hartlepool United.
G Ian Joyce, Southend United: made the bench but did not play in Southend’s 2-1 win over Tranmere Rovers.

In Scottish Premier League action…
M DaMarcus Beasley, Rangers: did not make the bench for Rangers’ 0-0 draw with Celtic.
M Maurice Edu, Rangers: made the bench but did not play for Rangers in their 0-0 draw with Celtic.

In Bundesliga action…
M Michael Bradley, Borussia Monchengladbach: started and played 90 minutes in ‘Gladbach’s 1-1 tie with Werder Bremen. He received a yellow card and scored a goal!
S Landon Donovan, Bayern Munich: made the bench and played 55 minutes in Bayern’s 2-1 loss to Hertha Berlin. He replaced the injured Luca Toni.
D Steve Cherundolo, Hannover 96: made the bench but did not play in Hannover’s 3-3 tie with Stuttgart.

In Bundesliga 2 action…

G Luis Robles, Kaiserslautern: started and played 90 minutes in Kaiserslautern’s 2-0 win against FC Ingolstadt 04.
D Gregg Berhalter, 1860 Munich: made the bench but did not play in 1860’s 2-0 win over Ahlen.
S Matt Taylor, TuS Koblenz: did not make the bench for Koblenz’s 3-1 win over SV Wehen.
G David Yelldell, TuS Koblenz: started and played 90 minutes in Koblenz’s 3-1 win over SV Wehen.
M Grover Gibson, Ahlen: did not make the bench for Ahlen’s 2-0 loss to 1860 Munich.

In Italian Serie B action…
M Danny Szetela, Brescia: made the bench but did not play in Brescia’s 1-0 loss to Ascoli.

In French Ligue 1 action…
D Carlos Bocanegra, Rennes: started and played 90 minutes in Rennes’ 1-1 draw with AS Nancy.
M Freddy Adu, Monaco: did not make the bench for Monaco’s 1-0 loss to Marseille.

In Belgian Jupiler League action…
D Oguchi Onyewu, Standard Liege: started and played 67 minutes in Standard’s 4-0 win over AFC Tubize.
M Jared Jeffrey, Club Brugge: did not play for Brugge against Racing Genk.

In Mexican Primera action…
M Jose Francisco Torres, Pachuca: started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca’s 3-2 win over UNAM Pumas.
S Jesus Padilla, Guadalajara: did not make the bench for Chivas’ 2-1 loss to Santos Laguna.
D Marco Vidal, Indios de Juarez: did not make the bench for Indios’ 1-0 loss to Toluca.
D Daniel Hernandez, Chiapas: did not make the bench for Jaguares’ 0-0 loss with America.

Far Post Yank of the Week: MICHAEL BRADLEY.

A goal with ‘Gladbach only a few days after a brace versus Mexico? Case-closed.

John Prust

The Friday night tournament is the flagship tournament of the WCWFC week. Without question it is one of the most popular tournaments with most available spots gone a week in advance. This edition of the tournament was full of contrasts as some players were transferred to different teams. The transfer deadline that expired at 6 pm on Friday saw four notable changes. Rich “The Duke” Hughes signed a deal with Red in an effort to restructure the defunct Team Olympiakos into a winner once again. His transfer fee included a two $29.00 bottles of champagne and a bottle of Pimm’s. Seij Takamura and the “Ginger Ninja” Kyle McTigue were transferred to the Limey Sherbert. Hillel “Little Ronaldo” Ehrman was transferred to the Strange Green Explosion. Shannon the “Super-Sub” went to Team Red, but since poor Shannon is on a different team every week this did not count.  While transfers abounded among all of the top four, it seems many players forgot to pack their skills along with their shin guards and soccer boots.

With the transfers, the tournament began with a competitive matchup between the Limey Orange Sherbert and Team Red. Team Red evolved this week from Team Olympiakos into Diane’s Red Heroes. Don’t get it twisted; this is not Diane’s ode to Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. It is a mean bunch of football mercenaries that have taken WCWFC by storm. Brandon, Adam, Gregorio (a.k.a “Il Napoli”), add to this mix “The Duke” and Shannon Rosine and you have an irresistible force of talent and diverse drinking abilities… 

As most opening matches go, both teams spent more time feeling each other out and identifying the opponents’ weakness than scoring goals. Josh Carter opened the scoring for the Sherbert after a bone crushing blast that beat the goalkeeper. The Sherbert hung tough for most of the match with a solid defensive effort from Mamello, Aaron Kanfer and Harry Patel.  Matt, Adam and “Il Napoli” came in waves and continuously threatened Sherbert’s area. Adam equalized towards the end of the game with a shot that he was able to get under the sliding goalkeeper. Final score Orange 1-Diane’s Red Heroes 1…

Green was seeking to maintain their Friday dominance with a team comprised of many regulars that included Hugo Navas, Svetlozar Nestorov Adam Sanders and Sebastian and Privithy. Green faced off against the Victory Lickers with their usual squad of Kristi “A Milli” Trezek, Johnny, Jairo Cali, and Captain Rafhael Moreno. The Lickers ranks were bolstered by the additions of Arvindh and Danut. The Lickers got off to an uncharacteristic poor start losing to the Strange Explosion by a score of 3-1. Goals for the Explosion were scored by Prithiv (x2) and Adam “460″ Sanders. A tense moment developed as Moreno had a brief spat with a Green Team member who had a curious ritual of jogging in place during a lull in the match. Both players questioned each other’s manhood by claiming each was a bitch, only to arrive at the conclusion that neither player was a bitch and play continued……

Orange secured an important victory during the second round by defeating Black 3-1. Orange surprised the Lickers through their aggressive offense that resulted in three goals from Aggie, Josh and Herrnreiter. Kristi proved to be the majority of the Lickers offense by scoring her second goal of the tournament. This match saw a variety of poor clearances and lackluster defense on both sides of the field. These miscues were highlighted by an absolutely horrid clearance by goal keeper Neil Cruz who instead of clearing the ball downfield tried to dribble the ball out of the corner only to nearly have it stolen. Cruz cleared the ball towards his own net and luckily his defender Seij Takamura was able to clear the ball from danger as two forwards rushed towards the net.

Red’s chances for achieving finals glory took a serious hit as they lost a tight match to the Explosion 2-0. Two goals from the reliable Prithiv were the difference in this match. In a very tight match up, the Explosion secured their third win with a 1-0 defeat of the Orange Sherbert. Ricardo’s flick over the goalkeeper and the Ginger Ninja was the difference maker in this match. Unfortunately the well played match was marred by “Little Ronaldo’s injury with five minutes remaining in the match. Lil H and Josh Carter were going after a loose ball when H lost his footing and went hard into the wall adjacent to his net. H was carried off the field and was unable to compete for the rest of the evening. All of us at WCWFC and the Far Post hope that he is recuperating and will rejoin us soon.

Red was officially eliminated from title contention with a 3-2 loss to the Lickers in the final round of play. Poor defense plagued Red who were playing quite aggressively but were unable to convert on several occasions. Defensive lapses allowed Johnny to score twice for Black and Kristi to add the finisher. Although Red came close with goals from Rosine and Matt it was too little too late as Black won their first match of the night…

A rematch quickly took place as Red and The Lickers fought for third place. An exhausted Black team had no response for a rejuvenated Red squad who with goals from Matt and “Il Napoli” secured third place for the evening. Honors do go toward Kristi Trezek who scored her fifth goal of the evening therefore giving her the honor of the Golden Boot for the evening. Diane did have a “Maradona-esque” moment as she took on three defenders and kept control of the ball only to be denied by the goalkeeper. The Duke, as always, implored his mates to push on and get back on defense but his pleas went unheard throughout the tournament. The Duke did have the “SKILLZ THAT PAY THE BILLZ” moment of the evening as he sliced through the Black defense and showed some nasty footwork that left his defender wondering if he should take up cricket rather that football.

In the final, Orange advanced on goal difference and Red’s loss to play the Strange Explosion again. There was little skill to be seen in this match rather both teams demonstrated more grit in what evolved to be a 2-2 draw as time came to a close. Green consistently threatened Orange for the first five to seven minutes of the match. Orange was unable to string together passes and create a solid scoring chance. Takamura prevented two goals from entering his teams net with very heads up defending. Green jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals from Nestorov and Ricardo. The Ginger Ninja came to life as his strike narrowed the score to 2-1. Tensions flared as Mo felt she was fouled and stared down a befuddled Nestorov after a questionable foul.

In a scene reminiscent of one week earlier, the football Gods looked kindly upon the Sherbert and a ball that was crossed too high by Herrnreiter, bounced off a wooden beam, over Hugo Navas’ grasp, and gave Orange the equalizer they so desperately needed. Final score Orange 2- Strange Explosion 2. Missed opportunities and sloppy passes could not overshadow the fact the Explosions dominance has been temporarily curtailed and that the Sherbert for once can share in Friday night glory.

Another great tournament and an even better after-party at Sully’s celebrating with the Winter League Champions Atletico Falco. See you all under the lights next week…

Neil V. Cruz

(Note to Readers:  Computer problems delayed my blog from Tuesday 2/10/09)

Another installment of the Tuesday Night Titans played itself out on Tuesday February 10, 2009 at the Rauner Family YMCA.  The tournament got off to a quick start with a reinforced Team Orange facing off against Kim’s Hired Guns. (Team Red) WCWFC regular Kim scoured the dregs of the football playing world and put together a Motley Crew of soccer mercenaries with only one goal in mind, score and score often. Kim’s traveling team included a variety of players with ties to WCWFC but also included long time member Tim.

Facing off against the Reds in the first match was Team Orange a combination of Tuesday and Friday Night competitors such as Seij Takamura, Glen Barrett, Chris, Tyler, David “St. Pauli” Hilkes, Pete Herrnreiter  and Neil Cruz. The first match of the evening would be a preview of the final as Red and Orange played to a 0-0 draw in the first match. Both teams had scoring chances but were unable to finish on each of their respective opportunities.

Depending on who is referring to them, Green has two alter egos. On some days Green can be the Strange Explosion but on this night, Green was Borussia Dortmund at the request of WCWFC regulars Stano, Yugo Arsenijevic, Marko Milosevic, and Jamie Halas.  Most of Dortmund’s players arrived late resulting in their first round match up against Orange having to be rescheduled. Dortmund was unable to show the dominance on Tuesday that they have shown during the Friday night tournaments. Part of their difficulty was when their leading scorer Arsenijevic arrived late but also many of their players who are normallys coring threats had to alternate as goalkeeper.

In their first match, Green was plagued by sloppy play and the inability of midfielder Marco Garcia to open up lanes for his forwards. Their opponent Skins on the other hand were supported by the reliable goalkeeping of Rafahel Moreno and the scoring of “El Flaco” Salgado.  In addition goals were scored by Shannon Rosine and the “Dream Crusher” Saher. While Arsenijevic was able to get Green on the board, it was too little too late as Skins took the first match 4-1.

Skins stayed on the field to play a rejuvenated Clockwork Orange. Orange dictated the tempo of this match by scoring early and jumping to a 2-0 lead. El Flaco brought Skins back by two impressive goals one that hit the lower corner of the net and a header over the goalkeeper. Orange recovered for two quick strikes by Herrnreiter and Chris. Shannon Rosine took a vicious cross from El Flaco and re-directed it into the oppositions net as it bounced off her leg… Two late defensive lapses by the Skins and the quick thinking of Herrnreiter to kick a misplayed ball out of Moreno’s reach gave Orange a valuable win.

The final was decided during the third round as Red played an entertaining match against Borussia Dortmund that resulted in a 1-1 draw. Green could have written their ticket to the final against Orange but thanks to an aggressive defense, Orange pulled out a surprising victory. Dortmund did have opportunities as Arsenijevic was denied on two occasions and Stano hit the crossbar. Marco Garcia equalized after Neil Cruz was unable to keep his hands on a difficult shot. Orange went on top with less than two minutes remaining in the match after a goal from Takamura.

The last finalist would be decided in the match between Red and Skins. A goalkeeper change between Rafahel and Chris took place at the start of the match. Chris who had a definite height advantage provided Skins the opportunity to move the sure footed Moreno up as a forward. In Reds final game before the final, all players began working more cohesively after Kim told her mates to not “go easy on these guys anymore.” As if Kim took on the persona of Helen of Troy, Kim’s Greek warriors were unleashed and overwhelmed Skins by a score of 4-2. Goals from Red were scored by Tim (x2), Walter and Carlos.

Third place glory would be played between Borussia Dortmund and the shell shocked Skins team. Both teams played to a 1-1 draw for most of the fifteen minutes. Once again Arsenijevic came to the rescue for Dortmund as he scored the equalizer. Saher provided a lift for Skins and a moral victory with a late goal that left Milosevic unable to react quickly enough. Dortmund’s lack of a goalkeeper was a deciding factor as Milosevic looked out of place as he was not playing his traditional position of attacking forward. Midfielders Marco Garcia and Jamie Halas were frustrated at their team’s lack of communication and inability to get open.

The final match would be a rematch of the 0-0 draw that began the tournament. Team Red found life in the third round and was playing with a renewed vigor. The game evolved into a midfield struggle as both goalkeepers would exchange long goal kicks that were brought down in the midfield and kicked out of bounds. Five minutes into the match disaster struck as Tyler in making an attempt to clear the ball deflected the ball into his own net. The match stayed 1-0 for close to next six minutes as Carlos was able to sneak a low shot pass the goalkeeper and bounce it off the right goalpost for the definitive 2-0 victory. Kim also had a chance to score, as she went spikes up on the goalkeeper towards the end of the game, but decided not to injure the keeper in the interest of fair play..

The defensive struggle in the midfield led to a brief tit for tat between “Il Napoli” Gregorio and Herrnreiter. Both players were going hard for the ball until tempers got the best of both players. This would lead to a confrontation where both players needed to be separated from one another by their teammates. Once again the dreaded 30 minute layover between games led to the demise of Team Orange. Remember everyone, if your team is going to the finals you must keep in mind the importance of keeping warm on the sidelines. Overall another great night and the 2-0 score did not do justice to what was actually an entertaining and competitive final. Congratulations to Team Red and see everyone again on Tuesday Night..

Neil V. Cruz

In an effort to curb on field violence and punishable behavior, FIFA has announced a joint project with the Irish FA to test a system of “penalty boxes”, not unlike that in hockey.

Typically in ice hockey and some forms of indoor soccer and rugby, a player is issued a penalty after having broken a rule or rules during the course of the game.  In hockey for example, a player may be punished for 2, 5 or even 10 minute penalties or a combination of any of them.  In soccer however, as many are aware, players are awarded free kicks for a foul committed against them while the offending player could be given a yellow or red card.

Irish FA president Raymond Kennedy noted, “”The idea is that when someone gets a card from the referee they would be sent to a sin-bin for a period of time, as they are in rugby. If their team is stupid enough to get another during that period they would be down to nine men. It would certainly have a marked improvement on discipline on the field, and we believe there is a certain amount of merit in it.”

The belief is that this system will stem the tide of players taking advantage of suspensions through an accumulation of yellow cards.  Former French international and Juve star Michael Platini is said to have pushed the idea through FIFA before.

It has also been revealed that FIFA would like to once again experiment with 2 extra referee assistants behind the net to determine the legitimacy of goals scored.  Sepp Blatter had noted that this was largely due to the mistakes made in past World Cup tournaments.  It was also announced back in 2002 that FIFA would try such an experiment in its Under-17 and Under-20 tournament games with little added success.

Also noted was a possible extension of the half time break from 15 to 20 minutes.

Peter Herrnreiter

The Uruguayan Apetura championship was decided over the weekend as Club Nacional de Football defeated rivals Danubio 2-1 at the Centenario in Montevideo.

Originally designed to keep players from leaving the Uruguayan lead for Europe, the national league was structured around the European season starting in 2005, playing from boreal summer to summer in the Northerns Hemisphere.  However after seeing little or no change in the way players were leaving their home clubs to play abroad, the 2008-09 season was the last to play in such a format.  This being the case, the Torneo Apertura- or opening tournament, was decided between two of the naiton’s biggest clubs.

Taking the lead at 36 minutes, Danubio found a glimmer of hope as Sergio Rodriguez finished from close range.  The club with Bulgarian roots again were given a massive chance as Adrian Romero was sent from the pitch on 51 minutes after a rough tackle form behind.

Though the scoreline was sooon level through Alvaro Fernandez and it was only in the 77th that Santigao Garcia gave the ten man Nacional an astounding lead through a well placed chance past Esteban Conde.

The final mintues were to be heavily contested, however the momentum clearly on the side of Nacional, who were declared champions in front of a crowd of over 60,000.  The win was the clubs 8th Apetura title.

Peter Herrnreiter

The 270th edition of the Derby della Madonnia, or Milan Derby, between bitter city rivals Inter and AC took place yesterday as Inter was ablie to capitalize with a very contentious Adriano goal to see of AC 2-1.

With a commanding 6 point lead in the Serie A table, The Rossoneri were truly the side under pressure to see off their city rivals and close the cap atop the table.  The away side looked as if the three points might just be secured even in the early goings on, as Pato and Ronaldinho played brilliantly together to create a number of chances, however none of them were capitalized upon.

An amazing shot on 18 minutes by Stankovic gave Inter their early chance, however the attempt was sent wide.  The same could not be said for INter keeper Julio Cesar, who was on his game, parrying away Pato’s best chances as a number of crosses found their targets, but the followup shots floundered.

Inter took the games first lead on 29, though Adriano, though calls for a handball were unheaded by the referee.  The Nerrazzuri soon doubled their lead as Milan looked sluggish as Sully Muntari fed a free kick into the area and found massive Swedeish striker Zlatan Ibrahimvoic.

Trying desperately to widdle down their lead, Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti took David Beckham from the match in place of Filippo Inzaghi as a third striker.  Milan soon capitalied on the switch as Pato cut the lead in half on 71 minutes, however it was too little too late as Inter now take a 9 point lead atop the table.

Peter Herrnreiter

Though he was snubbed by the French press as rival Cristiano Ronaldo won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award, Brazilian superstar Ricardo Kaka was voted best Brazilian in Europe by Sambafoot.com.

The trophy, which was awarded to him over the weekend in Milan, was a combination of votes from coaches, players and fans.  Kaka, winning the first ever trophy took home 25% of the votes.

Peter Herrnreiter

A surging Chelsea side was a bit too much for Championship side Watford, as the Blues cruised to a 3-1 FA Cup win via three Anelka goals to see them through to the quarter finals.

The French interational would have to wait until the 75th minute to even score his first, as the Hornets took a late lead on 69 through Tamas Priskin strike. 

On 75, Frank Lampard took a corner for the Blues which found the foot of Anelka at close range to bring the Premier League side level.   The strike would end up being all the luck the Blues would need, as just two minutes later, Anelka once again found the back of the net as Ashley Cole struck a well placed cross right to the Anelka who expertly headed it for the 2-1.

The 3-1 was only made after Watford missed a golden opprotunity to equalize though Jobi McAnuff, however a fine save by Petr Cech allowed for a quick counter attack which solidified the final scoreline at 3-1 as Nicolas Anelka hit with his left foot the matches final blow.

With the win, Chelsea will have to wait for the winner of a Blackburn v. Coventry reply as the two sides drew 2-2 in fron of more than 15,000 at Ewood Park.

Peter Herrnreiter