On a night when Niklas Bendtner came up with a hattrick and Arsenal beat Porto 5 - 0 Samir Nasri came up with this goal...

A few days ago the bigwigs at FIFA turned their collective backs on video technology and put their heads back in the sand.Here now is a easier on the referees way of playing footer that they may indeed find acceptable because it really doesn't need video technology.It's also very human and the fans are bound to talk a lot.

Champions League last 16, second leg
Venue: The Emirates Date: Tuesday 9 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT

Fabregas aggravated the same hamstring that caused him to miss three weeks in January. The first time was in the Villa cameo on December 27th, a match in which he scored twice in a 3-0 rout.

During Cesc's absence Arsenal won against Portsmouth and drew Everton proving that Arsenal's attack was versatile and multi-pronged.

The Everton match was heading towards a loss when Tomas Rosicky scored an extra time goal.

Today, Rosicky, Nasri, and Arshavin should share the creative load.

Does Arsene go with a 4-2-3-1 with Abou Diaby and Alexander Song adding more protection at the back with Gallas gone? At some point Walcott's could be trotted out with his return to alacrity and goal scoring form. Wenger can also turn to Emmanuel Eboue to bring a zip down the right flank.

All we need is a win with one goal scored. Surely, even Nicklas Bendtner could manage that. Eboue could serve him on the plate.

Porto have never been successful on English soil and they suffered a 4-0 thumping last season at the Emirates. Lets hope their adverse record continues.

Go Gunners! Win one for Ramsey.

"Is that a drink ticket? I'll have two then"

Just when I thought that defenders were the new media generators what with their off field sexual peccadilloes, breaking legs, and getting injured all over the place. What happened to Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy, and Lee Bowyer? They seemed to have had off season pre-frontal lobotomies or are on downers or smoking sheeshas.

But Steven Gerrard gave us some hope. So on a day when Liverpool gets 5 yellow cards, Gerrard goes one better and makes what appears to be an offensive gesture to Andre Marriner, the referee. But it really was not so.

Liverpool came up with a strong statement that Gerrard was not really flipping the bird or trying to tear another orifice and it seems to have worked. The FA might be willing to overlook the matter since Marriner himself did not bring it up.

However, more disturbing is Gerrard's inability to manufacture goals. It has become a big factor in the regression model that might explain the reason for Liverpool's abysmal and chaotic season. Throw in and out Tom Hicks, Lucas Leiva, the blinkered use of Benayoun, the defensive let downs, and Rafa to explain the variance.

"Poor attitude, lack of character, limited intelligence" was how Rafa summed up the Reds effort against Wigan.

It all came undone with a Hugo Rodallega strike as the February push has turned into the Ides of March.

Rafa's statement maybe true but it does not hold for the one player who always gives them a chance- Yossi Benayoun.

On intelligence alone, the Israeli would find himself in the World's top XI. Yet, he is almost always rationed in Benitez's team selection, relegated to footnotes. It's too bad his team mates can't keep up. He was taken off with 20 minutes to go by Alberto Aquilani and the attack faded into a series of long balls.

In a midfield comprising Maxi Rodriguez, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt, and even Steven Gerrard - Benayoun comes across as a giant. Yet he logs almost 1000 minutes less playing time than Lucas who can be charitably described as barely adequate. Captain Fantastic is in the shadows of last year's prodigious contribution and when comparing goals to minutes played, Benayoun comes out streets ahead.

It is time to move to a club where Benayoun's midfield vision can be fully exploited. He is in his third year of a four year contract when he signed on for Liverpool in July 2007. Time to get the pen out.

The defender re-aggravates his calf injury which means he will not only be missing against Hull this weekend but could be out for up to a month. Earlier, he was ruled out of the Porto second leg today. In his place, Sol Campbell (whose return can be counted as a success story) will see more action with Thomas Vermaelen.

Wenger on Gallas:

"We were impatient with him and we pushed him and he wanted to get on as well, that is why maybe it has happened. But there is no obvious sign as to why it keeps coming back. He has no pain at all, then goes for a little jog and then it goes again."

This weekend Arsenal meets with Gallas to discuss his contract extension. It appears that the 12 month restriction for players over 30 might be lifted in his case.

Sepp Blatter and the FIFA Luddites have gotten their first serious challenge.

The FIGC chairman Giancarlo Abete came out against FIFA's decision to do away with goal line technology in the name of keeping it "human."

"That doesn't take away that experimenting can be possible. If we don't test, there is a mistake in the method."

The real agenda appears to be FIFA's controlling nature, to keep clubs and countries bickering with one another and slapping them with fines and suspensions. It's quite medieval.

The decision came on the day when the FA suspended goal line technology and the referees failed to spot Liam Ridgewell's clear goal. Talk about immediate proof.

More voices like Abete need to be heard. There has been a lot of teeth gnashing from pundits but the silence from national federations and leagues has been deafening.

SA will become the condom-nation during the World Cup.

In the fear that an estimated half a million tourists will sow their wild oats in the month long orgy and contribute to the AIDS epidemic, the SA government has requested for a billion condoms. Britain has responded by sending 42m condomns. 40,000 prostitutes are expected to partake in this social experiment.

Looking at these numbers one would imagine empty stadiums and a few players missing on match day.

However, Jacob Zuma is the poster child for prophylactics. He just fathered his 20th child from a friend's daughter. But when it is his personal plea to combat the scourge of AIDS, you realize the seriousness of the matter. It was Zuma not three years ago who had sex with an HIV positive woman without using a condom and then showered after " as this would minimise the risk of contracting the disease [HIV]."

Nigerian player Endurance Idahor of Sudanese club El Merriekh playing against Al Amal collapsed after a tackle from one of his club players left him on his back.

Attempts to revive him on the pitch failed and he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance but is said to have died on the way. He was just 25. Early reports indicate a possibility of a heart attack as two days before the match the player was complaining of chest pain.

Idahor played for Nigerian club Dolphins before El Merriekh signed him on and he left for the Sudanese league in 2006. He was loaned out to UAE outfit El Nasser for one season. After his return he became one of El Merriekh's leading goalscorers with 67 goals scored guiding them to their first CAF Confederation Cup final since 1989.

El Merriekh released a brief statement describing the player as "an example of a professional and committed individual and a symbol of loyalty" and added, "We will assure that justice takes place".

There could be a bit of a controversy as to where Idahor is buried. His widow appears open to the idea of him being buried in his adopted country.

When asked by journalists if she wouldn't mind burying her husband in his adopted country, she answered "I don't mind. Idahor loved Sudan and the Sudanese loved him," but added that she would like to consult the late player's family in Nigeria first before taking the final decision.

Another tragic death of a young player. One remembers Antonio Puerta, Dani Jarque, Mark Vivien Foe, Miklos Feher, Phil O'Donnell, and Antonio De Nigris in recent years. All from a undetected heart condition.

Liverpool redefined the word nadir for themselves - sinking to a new all time low....
Hugo Rodallega scored this goal for Wigan and all Liverpool managed was 5 bookings leading Benitez to question the intelligence of his team.