The travails of our fantasy football team of capital-born players. Read previous entries here
Last week's European action left us wishing Champions League or (soon to be renamed) Uefa Cup goals counted in the Prem. Chelsea's binge on Bordeaux saw Londonist United's Frank Lampard and Joe Cole on the scoresheet, while elsewhere Portsmouth's away win involved the inevitable Jermain Defoe goal and a clean sheet for Sol Campbell.
There may have been a Euro hangover for the latter two, as their side were rocked by six goals to nil as Manchester City continued to up expectation levels at Eastlands. Chelsea, meanwhile, faced their toughest test of the season as they hosted Manchester United, and kept alive their remarkable streak at home - they last lost at the Bridge to a Thierry Henry-powered Arsenal in early 2004. A late equaliser for the Blues robbed Rio Ferdinand of a defensive bonus - ditto John Terry, while clubmates Cole and Lampard were muted.
All in all it was a weekend to forget for LU, with the sole bright spot coming courtesy of Carlton Cole with an assist in his West Ham's side win over neglected Newcastle. That victory that meant a welcome London return for new Irons boss, ex-Chelsea favourite Gianfranco Zola, but Michael Owen robbed Robert Green of a deserved clean sheet with an expertly finished strike. Watching the highlights of Arsenal's emphatic win over Bolton made us regret further the lack of Londoners in Arsene Wenger's sublime team; still, the Frenchman himself can almost be styled a Londoner, having resided here for twelve years now.
Remarkably, despite the paucity of points in the bag, Londonist United did succeed in moving off the bottom of our league table by a single place, into 29th overall. Onwards and upwards, perhaps, but our Smoke-raised superstars had better kick it up a gear next week if they really wish to challenge.
Image from chris-beaumont.com's Flickrstream via the Londonist pool. Check out the original, large-scale version - very nice indeed.
