Showing posts with label Boudewijn Zenden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boudewijn Zenden. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

15 March 2009 - The City Of Fights (Again)

On 15 March 2009, Marseille ended PSG's seven-game unbeaten streak and cost them the top spot. And that wasn't the worst of it.

PSG had won six of their previous seven matches to climb from sixth to second in the table. A victory over Marseille would have sent them into first over Lyon. But despite having won 2-4 at Marseille back in October, the rematch proved to be more difficult.

Playing before a crowd of almost 45,000 at the Parc des Princes, the visitors had a couple of close chances in the first five minutes and finally went ahead in the 24th minute with a goal from their Dutch midfielder Bolo Zenden (pictured). PSG's Ludovic Giuly equalized two minutes before the break, but the second half belonged to Marseille.

Shortly after the restart, PSG went down to ten men after Zoumana Camara was ejected for a challenge on Zenden, then Marseille extended their lead with goals from Bakari Kone (55') and Lorik Cana (61') to claim the 1-3 win. The real excitement came after the match, however, as clashes between the two supporters groups resulted in 22 arrests. It was the latest in a series of incidents in the rivalry dating back to April 1995, when 146 were arrested after a Coupe de France semifinal.

The loss dropped PSG back into sixth and sent Marseille up to second, which is where the teams finished the season.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

29 February 2004 - Boro Does The Job

On 29 February 2004, two quick goals lifted Middlesbrough to their first major honor, beating Bolton in the League Cup final.

Founded in 1876, Boro had come close to a trophy a few years earlier, reaching both the FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1997, then returning to the League Cup final in 1998. In their first League Cup final, they led Leicester City 1-0 deep into extra time, but conceded a goal in the 118th minute to force a replay which Leicester won, 1-0.

Bolton, meanwhile, had won a slew of FA Cups (1923, 1926, 1929, 1958), but had reached the League Cup final only once before, losing 2-1 to Liverpool in 1995.

The teams met at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium, where many of the official 72,634 attendees missed the opening goal. In just the second minute, while they were still making their way to their seats, Boro midfielder Boudewijn Zenden fired a ball across the goal. It was met by his teammate, forward Joseph-Désiré Job (pictured, left), who turned it into the net to put Boro up 1-0.

Five minutes later, Zenden doubled the lead with a penalty kick after Bolton center back Emerson Thome fouled Job in the box. Even though Bolton pulled one back with a strike from Kevin Davies in the 21st minute, they could not get an equalizer past Middlesbrough keeper Marl Schwarzer and the match ended as a 1-2 Boro victory.

At the time, Job's goal was the quickest in League Cup history, but that record was later beaten by John Arne Riise, who netted for Liverpool in the first minute the next year.