Fragen und Antworten » Caps were fortunate the game did not progress

It started with an absolute clinic and it ended with an astounding howler. "What kind of a goalkeeper is the one who is not tormented by the goal he has allowed? He must be tormented! And if he is calm, that means the end. No matter what he had in the past, he has no future," once said arguably the greatest goalkeeper to ever play the game, Lev Yashin. On Saturday in the Premier League, Wojciech Szczesny, John Ruddy, Tim Howard and David De Gea all produced magnificent saves for their sides on the way to securing crucial points. All four goalkeepers stood tall during periods of the match that their teams struggled in. They were calm and ready when needed. On Sunday, with night falling on another weekend in the Premier League, the opposite happened when Manchester Citys Joe Hart rushed out of his goal, in the final minute of a 1-1 game at Chelsea, compromising defender Matija Nastasics options, and allowing Fernando Torres to score a dramatic late winner. It was another poor moment in a poor season for Hart. Many immediately took to twitter to question the position of Englands number one but the real question should be around whether he is now Manchester Citys number one. England do not play another game of significant importance for over seven months. Man City have less than seven days until their next league game. City are a magnificent football team that, in large parts of this season so far, have shown strong glimpses of the greatness they could achieve. Their fullbacks are disciplined but dangerous in attack, Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas have adapted well to their new surroundings, Yaya Toure, David Silva and Sergio Aguero are back to the world class standard they once played at earlier last season, and even Samir Nasri and Alex Kolarov are improving by each game. They are primed to take a serious run at the Premier League title. In order to do that, however, they need to solve two significant issues. Vincent Kompany is virtually irreplaceable at the heart of their defence and there is nothing wrong with that, after all he is one of the worlds finest defenders. However, any replacement they have inserted when he has been injured has so far let them down. Martin Demicheles was guilty of conceding the first goal to Chelsea on Sunday, much like Javi Garcia was in Russia on Wednesday. With this problem, there are, of course, expected solutions. Demicheles is a defender manager Manuel Pellegrini knows well and is likely to get better with more games under his belt and it is hopeful Kompany - who has missed 13 of their last 23 Premier League games since - will get fit soon. What arent predictable at all are the form and the mental state of the clubs goalkeeper. Earlier this season at Cardiff, City were in control of the match 1-0 but lost 3-2 after Hart was guilty of two poor errors, and against Bayern Munich in the Champions League earlier this month, he once again let in soft goals, which led to his manager considering dropping him for their next match against Everton. "He feels like he didnt do well against Bayern, I spoke a lot about this to him this week," said Pellegrini. "He is mentally strong and after talking to him, I decided he had the character to play (against Everton), it was a decision I made on Friday (the day before)." Following the loss to Bayern, Pellegrini obviously gave the prospect of dropping Hart a lot of thought. Hart, as his manager suggests, comes across as a confident man but even he will be rocked by his latest error. Costel Pantilimon is Harts backup but hasnt played a single Premier League minute since arriving at City in 2011. He is no long-term replacement, that is for sure. What he is, however, is the League Cup goalkeeper and City play Newcastle in that competition on Wednesday. What he could also be is a band-aid to stop the bleeding from a wound that is sucking the life out of an otherwise lively and legitimate title contender. The game is full of goalkeepers who benefited from moments such as this when a supposed superior goalkeeper struggled and the Romanian deserves his chance. On an outstanding team like City, the goalkeeper is rarely there to win them matches. At the moment, their current one is, far too often, losing them matches and on Sunday, handed two precious points to one of their main challengers in the league. The idea of goalkeepers winning matches used to be equally rare across Manchester, for rivals United. Until this season. Three weeks ago, United were trailing 1-0 at Sunderland when Emanuele Giaccherinis powerful header look set for the top corner to put the home side up 2-0. Spaniard De Gea reacted brilliantly, leaping to his right to fingertip the ball away. It was a magnificent save and one that prompted Uniteds legend Peter Schmeichel to call it one of the best Ive seen. Two second half Adnan Januzaj goals gave United a much-needed three points. On Saturday against Stoke, United again started slowly and found themselves down 1-0. Much like Sunderland, it should have been 2-0 when Jon Walters got into the box and volleyed the ball towards goal, only for De Gea to react brilliantly once again to keep him out. United would go on to win 3-2. "We needed our goalkeeper to make an extraordinary save again in the first half but thats what hes in the team for," stated manager David Moyes. Through nine games this season, almost a quarter of the campaign, De Gea has been Uniteds most important player. United were booed off at half-time and cheered off at full-time at Old Trafford but it is when the crowd, and the team, are not at their finest that De Gea needs to be. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) In their last three home matches, United have allowed much more shots and attacks than they did against the same teams last season. Against West Brom, they lost 2-1 but De Gea produced a brilliant stop with his feet to deny Saido Berahino and an ever better save, finger-tipping Morgan Amalfitanos effort heading for the top corner. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) Hosting Southampton, they drew 1-1 but it could have been worse, De Gea standing tall to deny Danny Osvaldo on a one-on-one breakaway that the inconsistent defence in front of him allowed. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) Being goalkeeper of Manchester United is not easy. Schmeichel was absolutely brilliant at it and the dozen goalkeepers between the Dane and Edwin van der Sar were abysmal. When De Gea replaced the Dutchman at 20 years-old, many were quick to turn on him. Evaluating goalkeepers is not easy. There is no specific statistic that tells you the complete story, while analysts in England preferred highlight shows, such as the iconic Match of the Day, which is never a true test of a goalkeepers worth. For example, last season at home to Fulham, De Geas spill led to an early goal by the visitors and, subsequently, more criticism that night on television but for the rest of the match, he was spectacular. Uniteds disjointed midfield and frequent poor defending this season has pushed De Gea back into the spotlight and this time, he has done nothing but shine. Hart may be keeping City from the top of the table in Manchester but De Gea is the only reason United fans still think that is a possibility for them this season. Cheap Ozzie Guillen Jersey . Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the Houston Texans No. 1 pick in the draft, was on the field Tuesday for the first time with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J. Cheap Chicago White Sox Jerseys . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. http://www.cheapwhitesoxjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-frank-thomas-jersey . Or take a relaxing vacation somewhere warm. Brayden Schenn and Scott Hartnell scored, Ray Emery stopped 32 shots and the Flyers beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. Cheap Robin Ventura Jersey . Got Jacks? Pulling off a comeback for the ages, feisty Stephen F. Austin became the latest No. 12 seed to pull off an upset, tying the game on Desmond Haymons did-that-just-happen four-point play with 3. Cheap Name Jersey . -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep.Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Braden Holtby recorded his 15th career shutout and the Washington Capitals clipped the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, at Verizon Center. Holtby, who authored a contentious 7-0 whitewash against Wednesdays opponent back on Nov. 1, 2013, enjoyed a calmer decision this time around, stopping all 21 shots he faced to record his fourth clean sheet this season. Jason Chimera supplied the necessary offense early in the first period for the Capitals, who improved to 6-0-1 in the month of January. Its ramped up a little bit higher when the Flyers are in town. We havent played a lot of our Metro Division -- the Rangers, the Flyers -- so we could tell how there was a different energy in the building, said Caps head coach Barry Trotz. Rob Zepp made 25 saves but suffered his first NHL defeat in his third career start for the Flyers, who were coming off a 3-1-0 homestand including a 7-3 win over Tampa Bay on Monday. The Flyers went with an extra skater for the games final 1:23, and the Caps were fortunate the game did not progress beyond regulation. Holtby received some luck as Vincent Lecavalier was unable to push a Brayden Schenn rebound into an open net from the right side of the crease with just over a minute left. Joel Ward missed his chance to hit the vacant cage with 40 seconds to play and Flyers captain Claude Giroux flubbed a one-timer from the left circle on the visitors next trip into the offensive zone. We played well, but we dont deserve a point. We missed some opportunities offensively, said Flyers head coach Craig Berube. It was almost an empty net there (on Lecavaliers chance), but weve got to bear down and put those in. The Caps opened the scoring at 3:13 of the first period. Chimera was caught behind the Philadelphiia net as the puck approached the blue line, but Matt Niskanen kept it in and Chimera managed to redirect his shot between his legs and past a sliding Zepp.dddddddddddd With the fire power we have in here, its hard to think that you get one goal and win out. Just shows you signs that we win different ways, Chimera noted. Zepp did his part to keep his club in the game, moving from left to right to deny Alex Ovechkin from the right side before the six-minute mark. Holtby stayed stationary to make two quick saves on Wayne Simmonds and then swallow up a Giroux break-in less than 4 1/2 minutes into the second. Zepp later came up with a game preserving stop. His line of vision was obscured by traffic in front, yet he was able to flash his right pad to deny Eric Fehr in close with 52 seconds left in the middle frame. I had to fight through some traffic to see [the shot], but I did see him pull it, Zepp related. I saw him cut to the middle, so I just tried to use my feet to get me there. I got a good push and was able to get there. Game Notes Holtbys 1-0 decision was the first for the Capitals against the Flyers since Clint Malarchuk was in net at the Spectrum on Jan. 26, 1989 ... Washington last recorded a 1-0 win against Philadelphia at home on Jan. 31, 1988, when Kelly Miller netted the game winner with 1:33 left in overtime ... Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo returned to the Philly lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last 26 games ... He had replaced Braydon Coburn who is out for a month after blocking a shot off his left instep on Monday night ... Flyers forward Scott Laughton left the game and did not return after absorbing a hard open-ice hit from Niskanen late in the second period. 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