Baggies grateful for a point after Rangers goal is wrongly chalked off

Posted: December 4, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: English Premier League, Hearts, Queens Park Rangers, Scottish Premier League, St Johnstone, West Bromwich Albion | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Queens Park Rangers’ half time lead helped create an entertaining second 45 minutes against West Bromwich Albion in West London yesterday afternoon.

The fact the home side enjoyed more chances after the break summed up their campaign thus far – difficult to predict. Easier to predict was Rangers’ 20th minute goalscorer. Heidar Helguson though maybe ought to have added to his sixth goal of the campaign during the second half.

The visitors who started without Zoltan Gera (ruled out for the rest of the season) and Peter Odemwingie (on the bench) were helped by an incorrect decision from one of the referee’s assistants, which might otherwise have put the game out of their reach before the interval. As it turned out Shane Long’s equaliser came 15 minutes after Odemingie’s introduction, from a cross by the substitute.

Roy Hodgson afterwards described the draw as a good start to a month in which they will head north to Blackburn and Newcastle before Christmas. Next week bottom of the table Wigan go the Hawthorns when the Baggies will simply need to be better than they showed here.

Just when it had looked like Hearts had put a difficult month behind them with three points at Tynecastle last week, they suffered a fourth reverse in six games with this 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone.

Scoring has been a significant problem for Hearts since mid-October. Trailing 1-0 at half time boss Paulo Sergio replaced centre back Andy Webster and added firepower. But it was two penalties awarded within 15 second half minutes which determined the final outcome. The home side missed their opportunity to level when Peter Enckelman denied them from the spot, before Saints made the most of their own opportunity from the penalty spot to double their advantage, before a late goal provided a small dose of consolation for those of the 12,000 or so Jambos in attendance who stayed that long.

“We are creating chances, that is good – we should put them in the net,” the Portuguese said. “But we are giving chances to our opponents without them having to do too much to deserve it.”

Fourth take on fifth north and south of the border

Posted: December 3, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Hearts, Scottish Premier League, St Johnstone | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

St Johnstone can maintain their grasp on the coat tails of the SPL’s leading three when they go to Hearts this afternoon.

Paulo Sergio and Steve Lomas, two of three SPL bosses who have arrived to make their managerial debuts in Scotland since the current campaign got underway in the summer, will both be serving touchline bans at Tynecastle. Lomas, the Saints successor to Derek McInnes (now at Bristol City) is unbeaten in his first two games, which has included a goalless draw at Rangers a couple of weeks ago. The side from Perth have so far been unaffected by McInnes’ departure to the English Championship, losing only one of their last five outings.

As for Hearts, a 2-1 win at home against bottom of the table Inverness last weekend ended their recent slump in form after four games without scoring a single goal. The Edinburgh club’s home form before that run had been excellent, beating Hibernian, St Mirren and Celtic all by 2-0 scorelines.

But given how only league leaders Rangers have conceded fewer than St Johnstone on the road so far, I’m predicting a low scoring draw, or possibly even a seventh defeat of the campaign for Hearts following Francisco Sandaza’s return to goalscoring form.

Dundee United to expect a frustrating afternoon in Lanarkshire

Posted: November 25, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Dundee United, Motherwell, Scottish Premier League | Tags: | Leave a comment

With the pre-split, halfway point of the season fast approaching in the Scottish Premier League (the campaign north of the border kicked off in July, over a month before the summer tranfer window shut), I thought it was about time the league got a first mention on here.

And the one club that surely deserves a mention most is Motherwell, who as well as proposing the idea of a community ownership scheme, are currently third in the SPL table after 15 games. Stuart McCall’s team host Dundee United tomorrow looking to make it ten SPL wins this season. But so far they have gathered maximum points on twice as many occasions away from home, including a comfortable 3-1 win at United’s Tannadice Stadium eight weeks ago. Meanwhile, Hearts and Aberdeen have both been on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline at Well’s Fir Park, when the home side waited to break the deadlock until after half-time in both of those.

Dundee United’s form has improved in recent weeks (despite First Division Falkirk knocking them out of the League Cup at home on penalties), yet it would seem unlikely that the Tangerines will even take away a point let alone make it back to back league wins for the first time this season. Hearts, the side United beat last weekend, still maintain an advantage over them in mid-table.