EPL After 1, All is Good, Not so for TFC

The rest of the "Big 4" played Sunday, and compounded with a Liverpool win from Saturday, I'm pretty pleased.

Chelsea and Arsenal both got 3 points at home, but both struggled against 2 lower-end squads. Chelsea was tied at half with newly promoted Birmingham City, got a Michael Essien goal early in the 2nd, then held on for the W. Bad news for the Blues (and my fantasy squad)...Essien limped off later with an injury, and his status for Wed's match at Reading is uncertain. Good news for the Blues...they did get Didier Drogba back from injury, and new signings Claudio Pizarro and Florent Malouda both found the net.

Arsenal and GK Jens Lehmann escaped embarrassment with 2 late goals, the 2nd from Alexander Hleb in the 89th minute, to give the Gunners a 2-1 victory. Lehmann basically did his best Garo Yepremium impersonation on a botched clearing attempt, and gave Birmingham a 1-Nil lead 52 seconds in.


The Mancs weren't as fortunate. A Nil-Nil draw at home against Reading?!?!? Sorry, Jess (I lie...I'm NOT SORRY!!!) Kudos to Reading's GK Marcus Hahnemann. He was an absolute beast. Worse yet for Man Utd...Wayne Rooney broke a foot and will be our @ 2 months. Carlos Tevez...time to see if you were worth all the hassle.

So Chelsea and Man U will both be back in EPL action Wednesday, with road games at Reading and Portsmouth, respectively. Arsenal and Liverpool will both play in Champions League qualifiers. I'm real interested to see how Rafa plays this one against French side, Toulouse. Next week's match back at Anfield is EVERYTHING. At least for now...

Toronto FC. That's another story. A 3-nil loss to New York, and I can't remember the last time we scored a goal. I'm sad to say, I'm officially conceding any hopes for a playoff run.

Essential Football Viewing For the Upcoming Week:

Wed 8/15 - Chelsea vs. Reading - 3:00pm FSC

Sat 8/18 - Newcastle vs. Aston Villa - Noon FSC

Sat 8/18 - Steelers at Washington - NFL Preseason

Sun 8/19 - Manchester City vs. Manchester United - 8:30am - PIPER'S PUB!!!!!

Sun 8/19 - Chelsea vs. Liverpool - 11:00am - PIPER'S PUB!!!!!

Sun 8/19 - Argentine League - River Plate vs. San Lorenzo - 5:00pm

Also, on Sunday, and I've got no clue as to where / or if I can watch it...the Italian Super Cup kicks off, with my beloved Inter Milan vs. AS Roma. Appears GolTV no longer covers Italian Soccer, so this is gonna suck.