Top 25 Facebook Apps for Sports Fanatics

Virginia Hensley presents Top 25 Facebook Apps for Sports Fanatics posted at Splinters from the Press Box.

City win again while Liverpool continue to stumble

Manchester City toiled to another victory over Blackpool as they inched closer to the summit of the English Premier League. The Citizens' 3-2 away victory at Blackpool moves them to second place, only 1 point shy of leaders Chelsea. It was a hard match but goals from Carlos Tevez and David Silva sealed the game for City while Marlon Harewood and Gary Taylor Fletcher scored for the Seasiders.

It was a tale of two halves as the home team completely controlled the pace throughout the first half but failed to find the first goal. DJ Campbell had the best chance of the half when he was put through but in a one on one situation with Joe Hart, the forward balked and missed his shot. After the interval, Blackpool continued to dominate but the introduction of David Silva changed the tempo of the match. Tevez scored not long after that and added a second just after Marlon Harewood had equalized for Blackpool. Silva scored City's third in the 85 minuted before Fletcher's late consolation.

Over at Goodison Park, Roy Hodgson tenure at Liverpool suffered a new low when his side was beaten in the Merseyside derby. The 2-0 loss to Everton condemned Liverpool to second from bottom, having only taken 2 points from a possible 15. Goals in each half by Tim Cahill and Mikael Arteta settled this leg of the Merseyside derby.

It was a thoroughly deserved victory for Everton as they showed more passion and determination to win the game. Liverpool's stars like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres worked their socks off but was largely let down by uninspiring performances from Joe Cole, Maxi Rodriguez and Raul Meirelles. In the stands were the new owners of Liverpool who must be wondering if they have made the right decision in purchasing the club.

My pick for Upset Of The Week: Blackpool vs Manchester City

In the last outing at Anfield, Blackpool claimed the biggest scalp of their club’s history with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool.  Ian Holloway’s team, everybody’s favourite to go straight down this season, have given a good account of themselves in their first season in the Premiership. Although they were thumped 6-0 by Arsenal and 4-0 by Chelsea, they also have a 1-0 victory over Newcastle and the impressive win at Anfield to show after 7 matches. More surprisingly, Blackpool in now sitting in 8^th place in the league and the manager will be hoping for the fairytale to continue.

Luke Varney who was Man of the Match against Liverpool and scored the second goal will be looking to continue his good form against Manchester City.

For all the riches that Manchester City possesses, they have not shown the form that everybody expected them to. However, Roberto Mancini’s side seems to have turned the corner after a poor start to the season with back to back victories in the last two matches. The 1-0 victory over champions Chelsea was followed with a 2-1 win against Newcastle. The Citizens are now up to second place in the league, only three points behind Chelsea.

The injury setbacks that City suffered earlier in the season seems to have passed with players like Jerome Boateng and Joleon Lescott back in defense although Alexander Kolarov is still out. Nigel de Jong who has been at the criticized heavily for this tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa in the last match is expected to keep his place in the squad while Adam Johnson will probably start in place of James Milner after scoring the winning goal against Newcastle

This being Blackpool’s first season in the Premiership, both teams have not met each other in the first tier of English club football. It would take another mighty effort from Ian Holloway’s boys to come out with a result in this match but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do.