03/02/2013 Match of the Day 2

Sergio Aguero has done it! absolute corker. Liverpool have won

the Champions League! Absolutely Oh what a goal! Hat trick for

Gareth Bale. Astonishing. He goes alone and scores. Welcome to Match

Of The Day 2, with Alan Shearer and Robbie Savage running their eye of

over two fixtures and all the goals from yesterday, but we'd like to

begin tonight by remembering our BBC Colleague, David Oates, who

passed away today. David was one of the good guys, liked by all, from

his friends and co-workers, to those who listened to his class

commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. Blackpool fans also tonight paying

tribute to the loss of a devoted fan. Our thoughts are with his wife

Charlotte, his girls and his family. We begin today at the Etithad, with

Oates and his family. He was a thoroughly decent man. How he would

have loved this occasion, as Manchester City start the post

Mario era, their strikers are under pressure to start scoring again.

way kicking from right to left. They were beaten here badly last

season 3-0. It was a fairly inept performance on the night. Of course,

they knocked Manchester City out of the League Cup. On the way to

victory in that competition. Jaime Ji Carragher was perhaps their best

player defensively in midweek at Arsenal, when they squandered a two

goal lead. Liverpool have Joe say good start. Pepe Reina's save

equalled the quality of the strike. Dipping alarmingly for the keeper.

That is why he made sure. It looks as though in the early stages both

it. Zabaleta rescued Manchester City there. Sturridge has started

the game in lively style. Joe Hart was left in no-man's land.

Manchester City have gone nine and a half hours without conceding a

late run. He went very fast, Sturridge and initially there was

no one up in support of him. Might have preferred to get a low cross

into the middle, but they arrived late. Having said that, Suarez held

his run so he got into a good position and there was no end

City. The first time either team has got in around the back and it's

the home team that takes the lead. The pressure is on the remaining

Manchester City strikers to score goals. And Edin Dzeko puts them

ahead. Agger played them onside and then he wasn't aware that Dzeko had

made the run. He was still appealing for the offside that

didn't come. He was never offside. And moment ago Liverpool had a

chance to put in a low cross from Sturridge. He had to pull it back.

They couldn't take their chance, aren't happy. Dzeko is still down.

Manchester City fans are booing, because they believe the ball

Manchester City will fume. He doesn't celebrate the goal. Back at

Manchester City. Where his professional career started.

Controversy reigns. Manchester City believe the game should have been

halted, because of the injury to Dzeko. But Dzeko is on his feet now.

Liverpool played on. It is up to the refee -- referee to stop it. It

is 1-1 and tempers are rising and Edin Dzeko has been cautioned. A

lovely finish by Sturridge. That is four goals in six games. We are

seeing replays, Dzeko could get sent off, because he has had an

altercation with Gerrard. He complained to the linesman having

got to his feet again once the goal was scored, very quickly. Having

staid down throughout the build up. up between the Manchester City

captain and goalkeeper. he has got a booking. That is a

booking for way he went down. That is a very disappointing end for

Sturridge after a fine performance so far. Confident enough to take on

Lesco, the tt. -- lescott. He went down belatedly. It is just not good

fabulous goal. Liverpool lead. 18 minutes to go. Manchester City 1,

Liverpool 2. It is a cracker from Stephen Gerrard. Joe Hart beaten

from range. But it was a splendid effort. Beaten by sheer power from

the distance. Perfectly positioned, Gerrard. Knew exactly where he was

going to hit it. Oh that's a great goal. This would be a fabulous win

for him at the end of a fairly miserable week. A great goal,

Stephen Gerrard. The big coat has Pepe Reina looks on astonished. He

can't believe it. What a marvellous finish! He has been full of running

throughout, Aguero. Reina went out, but got lost in no-man's land and

from the tightest of angles. The finish is breath-taking. How many

hours of practice must go into what? Wonderful! What a great shot

because his first touch was too heavy. He still got the shot away

cleanly. Manchester City 2, Liverpool 2. The real winners today,

Liverpool 2. The real winners today, Manchester United! Hue duesm about

the game, a controversial moment for the first Liverpool goal.

there was fault, probably a yellow card. Because usually when there is

a fault like this, against us, usually the referee get a red card.

For ten minutes he saw only for Liverpool. I don't know why they

didn't. The ref said to play on. The ref told us not to kick the

ball out. So we just play on. We abide by the ref what to do. If he

says play on, we play on and we played on and scored and the

Manchester City fans and staff won't be happy. But we just abide

by what we are told to do. didn't celebrate. Were you a man on

a mission today? Of course, I don't think the City fans realise why I

left the club. They think I left for money. But I didn't. They paved

my career and I can never disrespect this club. I will never

celebrate at this club. We played terrific and you come to the

champion and perform like that, score two wonderful goals,, we are

disappointed with the goals we conceded. But I can only give

credit to the players they were fantastic. What about their second

goal? Two great strikes. Stevie, we have seen it before, I didn't have

the best angle, but reminded me of the one against Germany. To beat

Hart from that distance it must be a good strike And the equaliser. He

had no right to score from there? No, from that angle, to put it in

there shows what ability he has got. A big yawning gap, but there was a

big gap last season. There was times last season we look like we

had it in the bag and then they looked like they had it in bag. All

was need to do is concentrate on our games and see where that takes

I thought Manchester City looked lethargic, they had to rely on a

piece of magic from Aguero to get them that point. Liverpool, from

start to finish, were fantastic, they passed it around with real

conviction. Gerrard scored a magnificent goal. But the man of

the match performance was from Sturridge. His centre forward

performance showed great maturity. Liverpool. Suez macro can -- Luis

Suarez can do that. That was a great first touch. Showing his pace

again. He gets into the situation, he has the awareness and vision to

realise there is no one in there, but he picked swearing out with a

great pass. Great play from him -- picked Suarez. The he had 15 yards

in front of him, he thought about that four seconds a go, and there

was no backlift, to get the power. I'm not sure why he doesn't

celebrate! If that was me, I would have celebrated.

He held the ball up really well. Biding his team a little bit of

time. A great pass into Henderson who was running on. Very similar...

His touch wasn't great. A little backlift. A really top performance

from a guy who looks comfortable in that position. He is doing really

well. I think today was all about him. What about Manchester City?

think the game plan was to press for the ball higher up the pitch.

We can see it here, from the kick off. Milner, Garcia, Barry, Aguero.

For Singapore. In the first minute, that is what happened. Barry,

shouting him down, pointing to Djeko. "come and help me." he is

shouting, "Press!" I think that was a foul. It went into Djeko.

Then, they got tired. The second half, they gave free kicks away.

They were running out of ideas. They were tired. That was

highlighted there. That was in the first 20 minutes, shutting down the

goal. They didn't go in, give Liverpool

credit, they kept passing. They ran a city racket at times. -- City

finish. I have to question that terrible decision-making from the

goalkeeper. Liverpool had more possession. Manchester City got

tired in the second half. You have to work so hard against that

passing. That died, you weren't saying it

was completely black or white -- dive. There is an element of doubt.

Joleon Lescott did touch him. Not enough to make him go down. We have

seen where players totally died -- dive. There was an element of doubt.

Where he had contact, and took that extra step, people will say he

could have got his foot to the floor. He realised he wasn't going

to get the ball. But he was touched by Joleon Lescott, going at that

pace. It is a tricky one. It is not blatant for me. If what did happen

in that game was at every goal was better than the one before.

Gerrard, what a performance today. More than 30 yards. Fantastic

technique. The way he cushioned the ball. 60 miles an hour, 30 yards!

That guy it is a legend in my eyes. How he gets in there. A mistake

from Reina. He was actually running away from the goal, he was off

balance. How he managed to get it in. It hit the net without bouncing,

the accuracy is staggering, a world-class finish.

Looking forward, Balotelli scored two for AC Milan, by the way. The

bigger picture now, nine points behind Manchester United. Is it

over? I won't declare it over but I do not think Manchester United will

throw it away as last year. Manchester City were behind by

eight points last year so you can never say never. I will say it, I

think Manchester United will win the league. Van Persie is not

scoring goals. Didn't you say the same in April last year? No, that

wasn't me. On now to the Hawthorns, and

highlights of a game that a certain West Brom striker might be seeing

for the first time. Spurs were the visitors.

A fixture which has given us some memorable goals down the years.

Albion showed their tough side dealing with Odemwingie. It was a

mistake. Steve Clarke will be looking for a similar resolve on

the pitch. His team are in freefall. Tottenham failed to land a new

striker. They are unbeaten in aid but too many have been a draw. They

Clarke, even without strikers driving to London and driving him

mad. They haven't won since Boxing Day. Spurs are asking serious

questions of faltering Chelsea and third place is almost been reached.

Steve Clarke has resisted the temptation to pick the Diwali and

through him to the Lions. Mulumbu is back, but injured. Tottenham are

unchanged from their starting 11 at Norwich. There striking options are

limited with Adebayor playing in the keeper came. Long couldn't find

the angle to get the shot away. A terrific header from Lukaku. Long

behind that, good goalkeeping from Lloris. Lukaku, if the charts is to

lightning-fast. Popov could not live with him there. Six wins away

Lloris, Brunt on the follow-up but it just would not sit down. He has

run into trouble. Tot honour -- but there was or had already gone.

It is a free kick. A poor challenge by Yacob. A good position for

Tottenham from the free kick. It might actually be too close.

Forster has almost no view of this from Gareth Bale. Who lifted it

over the bar. Look at Parker, he felt it. He has fallen at the

done anything. Watch his left ankle. His left foot came down and his

ankle gave way, it doesn't look good for Defoe. His odds of playing

for England in the week a very long fantastic, a very good save by

Forster, a great effort by Gareth get a goal kick. Now, he just spat

at Walker. And he is sent off, rightly so. Popov it is sent off

for spitting at Walker. He can protest or he likes, but he spat at

him. Look at that. The government Albion are down to ten men and they

did big you can defend Popov for one second. -- I don't think you

can defend. Are a good save. The Calling macro to clear the line. --

Now Bale's down. Mark Clattenburg stopped the game quickly. One or

two Albion fans weren't happy about a left-footed cracker and Tottenham

are in front. But West Brom are on the case of the referee's assistant.

Was Holtby offside? Was he offlite. I think that is level. Olsson seems

to be level with him. He got it right with his left. Thuch - 1-0.

Another great Bale strike. -- thump. It is going have been very

difficult for ten-man West Brom to come back from this. Well the

frustration relieved in an instant by a crack Gareth Bale goal -

a glove to it. A decent save this bit of encouragement for Shane Long

and West Brom. Very comfortable for Lloris in the end. After a

fantastic first half of the srnings it has been a tough 2013 for West

Brom. There is two moments, Defoe's injury. That was adapting the team.

And after with the sending off it made things easier. Still I think

it was a competitive game and a good three points for United us.

Are you angry with Goran? Of course I am. We make a big thing about

supporting each other and helping each other on the pitch and he

didn't do that today. He has let everyone down, his team, the

supporters his club. I thought we were the better team first half.

That is why it is so frustrating from a situation we could have got

something out of game we have ended up with nothing. It is

disappointing for players who put so much into the game. You have

played a lot of Champions League football and seen some of the

greatest players, where is Gareth Bale in that list? I don't know. I

think he is a top player of course. I want to say as usual he made the

difference today. Also the team work so for him. And he's young,

but he has a very great potential and he deserved to play at the top.

A cracking goal. I think it is the best season for Tottenham so far.

So things are going well for him individually and well for the team

collectively. And good for him. Another mass yir week for him and I

think he -- massive week for him We saw him playing behind the

centre forward. Exactly the same position again today. And it was

like the Gareth Bale showry time he got the ball, he -- show, every

time he got the ball he picked it up and caused them problems. When

democrat by a lay gets the ball before, he plays in Bale. But now

that is his new position. Hi wants to run at the defence. That is

great ability. They push him on his right side. He is on the edge of

his own box here. The determination and the skill to be able to run

with the ball at pace, what the defendsers do well, is they don't

let him cut inside on his left foot. They push him on to his right side,

where he is probably not as effective. They still can't catch

him. But he doesn't cut inside and have the shot as he did with this

one. Picks it up in the same position. He is running at people.

He wants to get it to the box, but this time, instead of sending him

down the right hand side, they make the mistake of letting him cut in.

It is an excellent shot and a decent save. But they don't learn

their lesson. The same thing happens again. Morrison closes him

down. Easier said than done, but instead of pushing him on to his

right side, he lets him cut inside on to his left and that is a deadly

finish. It is like an arrow. It is a great strike. He was the man of

the match. Every time he got the ball he was a threat and he

constantly in that little position and they couldn't handle him.

different for West Brom. Two wins in 13 in all competition and a

distracting week as well. Earlier in the season, I thought they were

doing very well. I think today the sending off hurt them badly. But

there was too many long balls. Back to front too many times. They went

4-4-2 with Lukaku and Long. But it was the sending off and inevitably

that forced them into it. This the second half hen they're down to ten

men. You have to decide are you going to press on. Again nobody

pick up the second banana but this again, it is Morrison out. As a

centre forward there, he is chasing lost causes. There is 30 yards

between him and his midfield. He may as well sit back, let tet Nam

come on to them and be hard to -- Tottenham come on to them and be

hard to beat. This is where they were the better team what. A pass

that is. That is what they can do when they flay ball on the ground,

which they were doing earlier in the season. That is why they're

struggling. An unsavery incidents. It is a disgusting incident. Popov.

We don't often see it, but it is vile, it's horrible. Mark

Clattenburg sees it and gets it right. And you know, what I would

love the FA to ban him for six games. Because that is just

disgusting. There is no place for that at all. Steve Clarke

criticised him after the game and rightly so. It is horrible.

there's a fridge just behind the camera in front of me with a pot of

chilli in it, ready for the greatest show on earth. Hello and

welcome to the Superdome in New Orleans. It is the Baltimore Ravens

and San Francisco. It has so many plot lines. Including the fact the

two head coachs are brothers. Join us from 11. The game kicks off at

11.30. With New Orleans waiting, we're a little shorter tonight so

let's blast through all eight games chance to welcome the shiny new

players who have been signed to save their seasons. No pressure

then on big Chris Samba at QPR, Nacho Monreal at Arsenal or

Sunderland's Geordie, Danny Graham. Just produce the goods on the pitch

and you'll be OK, better than that you'll be a hero. Like Newcastle's

Coloccini back and Ba is just only wide. And I mean only just. He has

got hurt in the process of trying to put that in. Boot raised high by

Fabricio Coloccini. He is not going to get any sympathy from the black

into the lead. Lampard with a good shot. Oh, what a goal. What a goal

from Frank Lampard! He just keeps Juan Mata. A Mag niv sently

finished goal. Two goals in six parry and Sissoko scores. Debut

skol for Moussa Sissoko and won the game for Newcastle! Moussa

deflection. Stoke City were appealing for offside when the free

kick was taken. Shotton for Stoke. Owen didn't like that challenge

from Arteta. And Michael Owen reacted there. There was the

challenge. Arteta got the ball. Owen didn't like that and had a bit

of a swing and Arteta responded and a penalty. Pogrebnyak, what was he

doing? And Sunderland, who have hardly been in this game, have the

chance to get themselves level from 12 yards. 1-1. A very good penalty

by Gardner. Up goes Graham! Oh, how close was it to a debut goal for

Danny Graham. Kebe! 2-1 Reading. Five minutes to play and Jimmy Kebe

keeper came out. It is a yellow card only for Mark Bunn. The left

knee caught Mackie. That is why the penalty was given, but nor yimp

will see it as being soft. --ioric will see it as being soft. Bunn

redeems himself. Bunn the offender, Bunn, the hero. A golden

opportunity squandered by the home side. If May is squeaky bum time,

February is roll your sleeves up time in the Premier League. Teams

The strength and the awareness and a finish at the end. Agbonlahor!

plenty of time now, Everton. Fellaini brings them back into it.

The third minute of six of anded time. Pushing and shoving and

Fellaini with the herd and Aston Villa hearts are broken! Delight

for Fellaini. Utter dispair for far corner, isn't that typical

Wayne Rooney and typical Manchester United, he positioned that

Carroll! Finally, West Ham had the break through. Carroll, starting

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 50 seconds

for the first time since December, Schneiderlin, a brilliant, counter-

the 89 this macro minute. The Southampton fans who are

celebrating at the other end of the ground have now gone a stony

Petr Cech should have done better. Right place, a right time. You very

rarely see someone running past Ashley Cole like that. A big,

strong, committed player. He started that move, on the edge of

the box. A great strike. Instant hero. A quick tackle you want to

point out from yesterday. I think the referee called it spot on. Both

going to ground very early. I think Before we go, tomorrow's headlines,

tonight. Wonder goals from supermen at the

Etihad, as Man City and Liverpool serve up a 2-2 treat. But maybe

United were the real winners. Tottenham, within spitting distance

of Champions League football, as West Brom lost their head, and

Spurs get "baled" out by Gareth. That draw means Manchester City are

nine points off the top, while Liverpool are now nine points away

Tottenham strengthen their grip on fourth, and are a point behind

Chelsea. The bottom seven all picked up

points. But Reading's victory has given them a two-point cushion.

Four successive draws have left QPR A tenuous Superbowl theme here.

Interceptions could be crucial in New Orleans tonight, so here's how

Premier League clubs ranks when it Fulham lead the table, ahead of

Tottenham, who have two of the top three players for individual

interceptions: Sandro and Vertonghen, in case you were

wondering. Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin tops that list with 84,

helping Saints to third place. West Brom and West Ham prop up the rest.

They're the only sides with fewer than 300. Chelsea, City and United

are also well down the list. Although that might just be because

they tend to enjoy plenty of So, the football continues now on

BBC Two, with Superbowl 47. With the main difference being that the