English Premier League Run-In – Who Can Win the Title, Finish in Top Four and the Relegation Dogfight

Manchester United look on course to win the Barclays Premier League for a record 20^th time. The Red Devil’s capitalized on rivals Manchester City’s 2-0 loss away at Everton with a narrow 1-0 victory over Reading at the weekend to stretch their lead at the top to 15 points with only 9 games left.

United thus need only four wins out of the remaining 9 matches to wrestle the title back from their city rivals who nicked the championship in the last minute of the last game last season.

Man City’s loss also blew open the race for second place as Chelsea won 2-0 against West Ham to move within four points of the defending champions with Tottenham a further point behind.

Meanwhile Arsenal sashayed themselves into the top four mix with a resounding 2-0 win over Swansea as Tottenham slipped for the second game in a row. Spaniard Nacho Monreal and Ivorian Gervinho were both on target for the Gunners as they moved to within 4 points of Spurs and with a game in hand. Tottenham were beaten 1-0 by Fulham with former Spurs frontman Dimitar Berbatov scoring the goal

Liverpool’s hopes of getting back to Champions League however suffered a major setback after they lost 3-1 at St. Mary’s Stadium to Southampton. The Reds were clearly outclassed by the team fighting off relegation as Morgan Schneiderlin and Ricky Lambert handed them a 2-0 lead before Philipe Coutinho drew one back. But Jay Rodriguez restored Southampton’s 2-goal cushion in the 80^th minute to give them a vital win.

Meanwhile Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is setting the Latics for yet another dramatic relegation dogfight. Arouna Kone scored a crucial 90^th minute winner for the FA Cup semi-finalists as they beat Newcastle United 2-1 to move them within 3 points of safety.

Aston Villa also claimed a vital 3-2 win over bottom side Queens Park Rangers while Reading’s 1-0 loss to Manchester United further dented their chances of survival.

The Premier League takes a two-week break to give way for international matches.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!

Champions League Q/F Draw: Drogba Faces Former Boss as Ibrahimovic Makes Barca Return

Didier Drogba will face his former boss Jose Mourinho after Galatasaray were drawn against Real Madrid for their UEFA Champions League quarterfinals tie.

The Turkish side who knocked out German side Schalke 04 will travel to the Estadio Bernabeu for the first leg clash on April 3 before hosting the return leg a week later on the 9th.

Drogba is on a mission to claim his second Champions League medal for a second successive season after he scored the winning goal that gave Chelsea the title against Bayern Munich last season. Mourinho will face two other players he's coached before, Wesley Sneijder and Hamit Altintop.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will come face to face with his former employers in Barcelona after Paris Saint-Germain were paired against the Catalan giants who did a mission impossible by overturning a 2-0 deficit and overcoming AC Milan in the knockout stages. Ibrahimovic will miss the first leg in Paris but will be available for the Camp Nou return leg a week later.

Last season’s losing finalists Bayern Munich face a stern test against Serie A leaders Juventus. The Bavarians were lucky to escape an unlikely comeback from Arsenal in the last 16 while the Old Lady comfortably dismissed Scottish side Celtic.

The last of the four quarterfinal matches will see Borussia Dortmund travel to Spain for a first leg matchup against Malaga.

Bayern Munich v Juventus

Paris Saint-Germain v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Galatasaray

Malaga v Borussia Dortmund

Europa League Draw: 

Chelsea v Rubin Kazan

 Tottenham Hotspur v FC Basel

Fenerbache v Lazio

Benfica v Newcastle

And That's thesteifmastertake!!

CAF Confederations Cup - All You Need to Know about Gor Mahia’s Egyptian Opponents ENPPI

ENPPI's Mohamed Shabaan, right, in action

ENPPI is an abbreviation for Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries, an oil and gas company formed in 1978 and one of the largest engineering companies in Egypt, Middle East and North Africa for petroleum, gas, petrochemicals, power and other related industries

The football team, ENPPI club was formed in 1980 and played in the lower leagues of Egyptian football before they were promoted to the Egyptian Premier League in the 2002-2003 season.

The club is sponsored by its parent company ENPPI as well as Adidas and McDonald’s. 

They currently lead the Group 1 standings in the Egyptian league tied on 12 points with Al Ahly who beat them 2-1 in their most recent match last Sunday. ENPPI however have played 7 matches, one more than Al-Ahly. Zamalek lead Group 2 on 18 points, 3 ahead of second-placed Ismaily. The top two teams in each group will be involved in a championship playoff.

They are managed by 48-year-old Tarek El Ashry, a retired Egypt international who is widely credited as the man who introduced the 4-4-2 style of football in Egyptian football. He was appointed in May last year and his contract expires on June 30^th 2013.

The Cairo-based club play their home matches at the Petro Sport Stadium in New Cairo and average an attendance of 3,000 fans despite the stadium having an all-seated capacity of 25,000.

They have won two titles in their history. They won the 2005 Egyptian Cup after beating Al Ittihad El-lskandary by a solitary goal from Magdy Abdel Aate in extra time. They repeated the same feat in 2011 after a stunning 2-1 win over Zamalek at Cairo International Stadium.

Their best performance in the Egyptian Premier League was in the 2004-05 season when they finished runners-up to 36-time champions Al-Alhly. They trailed the champions by a massive 31 points!

They played in the 2006 CAF Champions League but were eliminated at the preliminary round by Saint George SA of Ethiopia.

This is their third appearance in the CAF Confederation Cup having featured in 2007 where they were eliminated in the first round and in 2009 where they were bundled out at the semifinals by Malian club and eventual champions Stade Malien.

The club is mostly made of local based players with the only outcasts being Mozambican defender Mano and Ivorian Vincent Die Foneye.

Some of the notable Egyptian footballers who have played for the club include current Hull City loanee Ahmed Elmohamady, Samir Sabry and 2-time Africa Nations Cup winner Amr Zaki who is still with the club and one man Gor Mahia would better keep an eye on.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!