BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE 2010/11
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Monday, August 10, 2009

Ballack admits he "blocked" Evra at Wembley

Michael Ballack will face no further action for his off-the-ball challenge on Patrice Evra during Sunday's Community Shield at Wembley.

Patrice Evra

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Ballack should have been sent off for using an elbow to send Evra flying.

The incident provoked even more controversy because Chelsea took advantage of Evra's injury by racing to the other end of the field and scoring through Frank Lampard.

Referee Chris Foy was immediately besieged by angry United players, who pointed out the official had stopped the game a couple of minutes earlier when Ballack went down in similar circumstances.

As Foy did not intervene, it left the way open for the FA to take action. However, Foy has confirmed he saw the incident clearly and acted as he saw fit, leaving the FA to declare the matter closed.

Earlier, Ballack admitted he "blocked'' Evra and added he was "happy'' Foy did not blow for a foul.

Ballack declared: "I have to be happy that the referee didn't blow because maybe I blocked him a little bit. If the referee gives a foul it would have been okay as well, but he decided not to. It was a bit unlucky after that because they conceded the goal.

"I kept on playing but then I didn't have the ball so I couldn't see how injured he was.''

Ferguson also claimed Foy should have stopped play when Evra went down as the referee had done when Ballack was injured moments earlier, but Lampard said Chelsea had no case to answer.

Chelsea eventually won the game 4-1 on penalties after it finished 2-2 in normal time.

Lampard's strike put Chelsea 2-1 ahead in the 70th minute and when asked if he felt he should have kicked the ball out rather than trying to score, the England midfielder said: "I don't think any player would, you're entitled to shoot.

"That's what United did in the first half, but the referee stopped them and when Ballack went down in the second half they were complaining that they couldn't carry on.''

Source: ESPN Soccernet, August 10, 2009

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2010/2011 English Premiership TableDecember 27, 2010
RK TEAMPWDLGSGAPts
1 Manchester United 17 10 7 0 38 16 37
2 Arsenal 18 11 2 5 37 20 35
3 Manchester City 19 10 5 4 28 16 35
4 Chelsea 18 9 4 5 32 15 31
5 Tottenham Hotspur 18 8 6 4 27 23 30
6 Bolton Wanderers 19 7 8 4 32 25 29
7 Sunderland 19 6 9 4 21 20 27
8 Stoke City 18 7 3 8 23 22 24
9 Newcastle United 18 6 4 8 28 29 22
10 Liverpool 17 6 4 7 21 22 22
11 Blackpool 16 6 4 6 24 29 22
12 West Bromwich Albion 18 6 4 8 24 31 22
13 Blackburn Rovers 19 6 4 9 23 30 22
14 Everton 18 4 9 5 20 21 21
15 Aston Villa 18 5 5 8 20 30 20
16 Wigan Athletic 18 4 7 7 15 29 19
17 Birmingham 17 3 9 5 17 20 18
18 Fulham 18 2 10 6 17 23 16
19 West Ham United 19 3 7 9 19 32 16
20 Wolverhampton Wanderers 18 4 3 11 19 32 15