There’s some food for thought to be found amongst Friday’s friendlies as Elamander fires a brace on his Bolton debut and Bentley taps home for a goal on his first appearance in Spurs colours. Meanwhile, over in Moscow, Essien’s goal earns a draw for Chelsea as he’s employed out on the right wing by Scolari. Interesting stuff.
Here’s the notes on another six games…
Celtic 0 Tottenham 2
Bentley got a debut goal as Spurs comfortably saw off Celtic’s challenge in the first match of the 4-team Jubileum Tournament in Rotterdam.
Bentley tapped home Tottenham’s second goal after Berbatov dummied Bale’s cross from the left. Bent had earlier given Spurs the lead, rounding the Celtic keeper after a short back pass from Hartley.
That was Bent’s eigth goal of the pre-season and not surprisingly, he looked lively and confident on the night. Bale also caught the eye after appearing in the second half and taking up a left midfield position. Bentley was also a second half sub, replacing Lennon on the right. Aside from the goal, he showed glimpses of his potential, providing half a dozen decent crosses in his 45 minutes.
Ramos started with a 4-4-2 with Berbatov up front with Bent. Zokora at right back and Assou-Ekotto at left back. Huddlestone started in midfield but shifted to centre back after Woodgate’s withdrawl at half-time.
Spurs take on Borussia Dortmund on Sunday in their second game of the tournament.
Tottenham vs Celtic:
Gomes; Zokora (Gunter, 83), Dawson, Woodgate (Bale, 45), Assou-Ekotto; Lennon (Bentley, 45), Huddlestone (King, 62), Jenas, Modric (O’Hara, 83); Berbatov, Bent
Hereford 1 West Brom 2
The Baggies came from behind to beat Hereford as Mowbray gave opportunities to some of his younger and second-string players. Craig Beattie got both the Albion goals.
Mowbray will have been saving his senior players for tomorrow’s game wiith Swansea.
West Brom vs Hereford:
Danek; Hodgkiss, Pele, Baker, Tininho; Worrall, Labadie, Dorrans; Elford-Alliyu; Beattie, Slusarski.
Newcastle 0 Hertha Berlin 1
The Magpies slipped to a dissapointing defeat in the first match of the Mallorca Summer Cup. The goal came 10 minutes from time in what was a dull affair.
Keegan handed a debut to new signing Gutierrez who looked lively, particularly in the first half. He lined up on the right of midfield alongside Butt, Guthrie and Milner. That meant that N’Zogbia and Geremi shifted to left and right back respectively. Smith partnered Ameobi up front with Owen, Martins and Viduka all sidelined.
Newcastle will face Real Mallorca on Sunday.
Newcastle vs Hertha Berlin:
Harper (Krul 62), Geremi, Cacapa, Taylor, N’Zogbia, Milner, Gutierrez (Enrique 629, Guthrie, Butt, Smith, Ameobi (Duff 59).
Doncaster 0 Bolton 5
Megson’s Bolton swept past the Championship newboys with both of Bolton’s major summer signings – Elmander and Muamba on the scoresheet.
Kevin Davies, a player subject to a bid from Hull earlier today, nodded Bolton in front from a Samuel cross after just 6 minutes. Elmander then grabbed his first of two goals to put Bolton two up with just 11 minutes on the clock.
Muamba’s spectacular 30-yard effort put Bolon well and truly in command before Joey O’Brien netted the fourth. It was left to Elmander to wrap things up with his second goal, sweeping home Steinsson’s cross.
The Bolton lineup was very strong, in fact, Nolan aside, it could well be very very close to Megson’s starting lineup on August 16. He employed a familiar formation of 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 with Taylor and Davies plaing either side of Elmander the lone strier.
The Swede’s debut brace will doubtless raise his profile with fantasy managers and it’s certainly worth monitoring how he performs in Bolton’s remaining friendlies. Elmander already looks a decent mid-price bet up front, particularly with Bolton’s kind start to the season fixture-wise.
Megson’s side leave for Greece on Sunday and will take on Aris Thessaloniki on Monday.
Bolton vs Doncaster:
Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Samuel, Nolan, Cahill, Andy O’Brien, Taylor, Joey O’Brien, Elmander, Davies, Muamba.
Lokomotiv Moscow 1 Chelsea 1
(Chlese lost 5-4 on penalties)
Chelsea lost thier 100% pre-season record, losing on penalities in the Railways Cup to Lokomotiv after drawing 1-1 with the Russian side after 90 minutes.
Essien gave Chelea the lead, rifling home a left-foot shot from Anelka’s knock down. Chelsea dominated the game but couldn’t turn possession into goals, handing Lokomotiv the opportunity to draw level which they eventually with a late strike from a free-kick. That was the first goal conceded by the Chelsea defence in pre-season.
The major talking point from this game has got to be the new role assigned to Essien tonight. Scolari opted to play him as part of a front 3, flanking Anelka on the right with Joe Cole on the left. That could be hugely significant. Essien is surely one of the untouchables in the Chelsea lineup and while it was thoght that he’d slot into the defensive midfield role vacated by Makelele, this role appears to have been put aside for Mikel. He has started the last three games in that position.
In the absence of Bosignwa, Essien had taken the right back spot last time out. However, with Ferreira starting tonight, Scolari tried something new with Essien, at least for the first half. With Bosingwa fit, it could well be that Essien is played in this role again – certainly Mikel, Lampard and Deco look to the first choice central midfield three. Essien is a mid price option in midfield across the fantasy games and this new role would greatly increase his potential.
We’ll wait and see what Scolari does against Milan in the third-fourth playoff match on Sunday.
Chelsea vs Lokomotiv Moscow:
Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Deco, Mikel (Wright-Phillips 45), Lampard, Essien, J Cole (Malouda 45), Anelka (Shevchenko 75).
Southampton 2 West Ham 2
The Hammers came back from two behind to claim a draw against Championship Southampton.
Davenport began the comeback, heading home Faubert’s corner. Then 19-year-old Zavon Hines snatched the equaliser for Curbishley’s men, firing home on 75 minutes.
It was a strong West Ham side with Behrami once again at right-back, pushing skipper Lucas Neill to the left. Mullins earned a recall to the midfield with Noble missing out. Bellamy was once again up front with Cole.
Curbishley takes his team to Ipswich on Monday night.
West Ham vs Southampton:
Stech, Behrami, Davenport, Upson (Ferdinand 65), Neill, Faubert (Stokes 62), Mullins, Parker (Collison 62), Reid (Widdowson 65), Cole (Hines 65), Bellamy (Noble 45).