English Premier League Review – Week 9
The game of the year at Old Trafford was a stunner. Few people would have predicted a final score of 6-1, and fewer still would have predicted Manchester City would be the winners. The way Manchester United simply gave up in the final few minutes was disgraceful – there can be no other way to describe it. It was the worst home loss for United in EPL history and the first time they’ve given up six goals at home in 81 years. Certainly the sending off of Johnny Evans just one minute into the second half was a factor, but ManU was still in the game when Darren Fletcher’s lovely strike cut the City lead to 3-1 with ten minutes left. City soon put an end to any thoughts ManU had of a comeback. Substitute Edin Dzeko tallied twice and David Silva scored another in the final five minutes, as United seemingly laid down. Mario Balotelli had an outstanding day for City, scoring twice, and a typical beautiful passing display led to Sergio Aguero’s goal that made it 3-0 midway through the second half. Man City is now five points clear of United at the top of the table. The question must be asked – has the torch been passed?
It is a difficult task for any team to play a man down on the road. Playing two men down is next to impossible. That was the task facing Chelsea at Loftus Road against Queens Park Rangers. They lost Jose Bosingwa in the 33rd minute and Didier Drogba eight minutes later. All this was after Chelsea conceded a penalty that Heidar Helguson converted after ten minutes. The Blues were awarded seven yellow cards in addition to the two reds. Given all that, Chelsea played a spirited second half and was the more likely team to score.
Rafael van der Vaart scored a brace at Ewood Park and Blackburn Rovers remained in the relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat to the Spurs. Luka Modric was the best player on the pitch, leading Spurs attack. Tottenham moved up to fifth place in the table with a game in hand.
Arsene Wenger decided to give Robert Van Persie a rest at the start of their game at the Emirates against Stoke City. Wisely, he brought Van Persie into a 1-1 match (Gervinho with the goal for Arsenal, Peter Crouch the equalizer for Stoke) midway through the second half, and Van Persie again showed his class, scoring twice to provide the Gunners with a 3-1 victory.
Bolton remarkably has now lost all five of its home games this season. The latest was Saturday when Sunderland scored two late goals for a deserved 2-0 victory. No wonder the Wanderers are stuck in the relegation zone, with the worst goal difference in the league at minus 12. Stephane Sessegnon scored in the 82nd minute and Nicolas Bendtner added the clincher deep in stoppage time to move Sunderland up to 12th in the table. An indication of how much Steve Bruce’s squad dominated was corner kicks – Sunderland had 11 to only 2 for Bolton.
Plucky underdog Norwich held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at Anfield. The Canaries spent a large part of the day carving up a suspect Liverpool defense and were rewarded on the hour mark when substitute Grant Holt scored only three minutes after entering the game. That score offset a Craig Bellamy goal just before the stroke of halftime. It was Bellamy’s first start for the Reds since May of 2007. Norwich was one of many former teams for Bellamy, who has played for more teams than I can count. In all fairness, Liverpool did smack the post three times with nothing to show for it, Andy Carroll sent a header inches wide near the end, and Luis Suarez was denied on a great save by John Ruddy deep into stoppage time.
At halftime of Wolverhampton’s game at Molineux against Swansea, the home fans booed the Wolves and manager Mick McCarthy off the pitch. Swansea was up 2-0, thanks to goals by Danny Graham and Joe Allen, and the Wolves offered little resistance. Not much changed for most of the second half, and many fans started to leave with ten minutes left. Some stopped in the aisle when Kevin Doyle scored to make it 2-1 in the 84th minute, and they were back at their seats roaring in approval when Jamie O’Hara tied it two minutes later. The attitude in the stands and on the pitch had completely turned, and the Wolves were unlucky not to escape with all three points. The result could have saved McCarthy his job.
After losing their first three matches, West Bromwich Albion has taken 11 points from their last six games. Their solid play continued with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa. The key to the match was a very questionable red card given to Chris Herd of Villa on 35 minutes. At the time, Villa led 1-0 on a Darren Bent penalty. Chris Brunt smashed the ensuing PK wide, but West Brom tied the score just before halftime on a Jonas Olssen strike, then won it in the second half when Paul Scharner scored.
Newcastle ran their unbeaten streak to 11 in all competitions with a 1-0 triumph over lowly Wigan at St. James’ Park. Yohan Cabaye scored his first goal for Newcastle since his transfer from Lille in the 81st minute to decide a sloppy and uninspired contest. Wigan slumped to its sixth straight defeat.
Lastly, Fulham muddled through another defeat, this time falling to Everton at Craven Cottage. Royston Drenthe stunned Fulham with a thunderous blast from 25 yards out only three minutes into the game. Substitute Bryan Ruiz scored his first goal for Fulham midway through the second half, and it looked like the contest would end in a draw. Then Bobby Zamora deked Everton keeper Tim Howard and had an open net, but blasted high and wide with only two minutes left in the contest. Louis Saha made him pay with a goal at the other end only seconds later, and Jack Rodwell sealed the deal deep into stoppage time for a 3-1 Everton win.
This was an interesting week in the Premier League as the top of the table got a jolt. The big news came out of Manchester, but there was a lot of action throughout London. The stars of the league continue to shine for the big clubs, while the promoted teams are still hanging in the middle of the pack. We are now a quarter of the way through the season and it has been an exciting ride thus far. The big game in the upcoming week takes place in London with Arsenal traveling to Stamford bridge to take on the Blues. Before we look forward, lets’ have a look back at the top performers for the week:
*Luka Modric/Rafael van der Vaart – One was the architect and the other the finisher
**Robin van Persie – second half brace for the captain substitute secured victory for the Gunners
***Manchester City’s attack – 6 goals and beautiful interplay once they went up a man makes it tough to single one out