Arsenal won at Middlesborough by the narrowest of possible margins. A solitary second-half goal by Robert Pires was enough to give the Gunners 3 points and secure their second place in the English Premier League. Midfielder Frederik Ljungberg was out injured and hence Pires' countryman Fabregas replaced him on the right side of the pitch. Pires himself was actually out of form in this match and hardly contributed at all in the match. But a lucky deflection of a Boro defender came onto Pires and he made certain that his team would walk away the winner. Unless city rivals Chelsea FC slip up hugely, which does not seem to be likely, Arsenal have a good chance to finish the season as runners-ups and win an automatic selection to the 32 team Champions League next season.



Meanwhile league leaders Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at their home ground Stamford Bridge against Birmingham city. Uruguan striker Walter Pandiani scored for the visitors only to have Didier Drogba equalise in the last 10 minutes, to deny Birmingham City what would have been a shock upset win. At Carrow Road however, struggling Norwich stunned Manchester United 2-0 to end United's bid for the league championships. They most likely will have to be content with third place and having to qualify for the Champions League proper. And at Manchester, United's town rivals City beat Liverpool by a superb volley by Kiki Musampa. The loss dampens Liverpool's chances of replacing Everton in the fourth place & the last CL spot. Last night I was also able to catch the Basque derby in Spain which was won 2-0 by Athletico Bilbao. Their neighbours Real Sociedad were ineffective in creating chances for the lone striker Darko Kovacevic, who clearly missed his partner Nihat.



Having seen three of Barry Pepper's movies (61, 25th Hour & Green Mile - all of which I have seen before) & also saw him featured as a marine in a music video (I fogot whose) in the last week I am reminded just how good and versatile this actor is. There are a couple of movies of his which I am really keen to watch - The Snow Walker & The Dale Earnhardt Story. Barry came into prominence with his small but vital role as a Bible quoting soldier in Saving Private Ryan. I also liked him in John Travolta's commercial flop Battlefield Earth in which he plays a futuristic slave.



From Barry's native Vancouver, British Columbia, is rockers Theory of a Deadman. Although I feel that their name would have sounded much cooler if they had chosen Deadman's Theory, we shall forgive them for that. I really like their songs and hope to get their second album soon. Oh and unlike in the picture above, guitarist/vocalist Tyler Conolly has shaved his hombre mustache.

Song for the day - "Make Up Your Mind" - THEORY OF A DEADMAN