English Premier League Review – Week 4
Has there ever been a team hotter than Manchester United is now? Bolton faced their wrath in the feature game Saturday, and the week off did little to cool off United. The wanderers suffered a 5-0 thrashing despite not playing that badly. Javier Hernandez took all of five minutes to score in his first start of the season. Bolton put on some pressure shortly after, having a shot played off the line, then seeing David De Gea make a fine save. Then, the transcendent Wayne Rooney tallied the first goal of his second straight hat trick in the 20th minute. Just five minutes later, United newcomer Phil Jones made a wonderful run from midfield, dodging several defenders and delivering a blistering shot that was saved, but Rooney pounced on the rebound for his second. Shortly after the break Hernandez got his second, then after Nigel Reo-Coker hit the woodwork for Blackburn, Rooney completed the scoring with his third of the game in the 68th minute.
The only team that looks like they could belong on the same pitch as Man U is their neighbors, Manchester City. Despite sitting out four goal scorer Edin Dzeko, City put out a powerful lineup against Wigan. Carlos Tevez got his first start of the season but it was Sergio Aguero who continued his scintillating performance for City with a hat trick of his own in a 3-0 triumph. His first goal was set up by a slick pass from the unstoppable David Silva in the 13th minute, and City was awarded a penalty on a great Silva run five minutes later. Tevez’s penalty shot was feeble, easily saved by Ali Al Habsi. Aguero got his second on a glorious set up from Silva and substitute Samir Nasri in the 63rd minute and got his hat trick five minutes later on a fabulous pass from Silva. City not only dominates, but they do it with great flair. City now has 15 goals in four games.
Chelsea showed they are not willing to cede the top two spots to the teams from Manchester, as the Blues played their best game of the season by far in a wonderful 2-1 victory at Sunderland. John Terry scored the first goal from a very bad angle in the 18th minute and the Blues controlled the contest for large portions of time. Daniel Sturridge backheeled in an audacious goal in the 50th minute to give Chelsea a two goal lead. Ji Dong-Won scored his first EPL goal in stoppage time to prevent Chelsea from keeping a clean sheet. Strangely, Asamoah Gyan left Sunderland to play in the United Arab Emirates. Why anyone would do that makes no sense, except for one thing: money. Gyan must have received a bucket full of cash.
There are some games when no matter what a team does, there is no way they will ever score a goal. That was the case for Liverpool at Stoke. The lone goal of the game was scored by Jonathan Walters on a PK after a questionable call on Jamie Carragher. Two more grievous infractions against Stoke were ignored. There was one sequence early in the second half that typified Liverpool’s woes. In the space of 20 seconds, the Reds had no less than five legitimate scoring chances. Three were saved by an outstanding Asmir Begovic in net, and two were blocked by the defense. When Luis Suarez shot wide with an open net begging for him to score in stoppage time, Liverpool’s fate was sealed.
Tottenham welcomed new signings Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker into the starting lineup on the road against an improved Wolves side. After a scoreless first half, it was Parker who made a sweet run into the area and set up Adebayor for the first score of the game. A dozen minutes later, Jermaine Defoe doubled Spurs’ advantage, and they were never threatened thereafter.
Arsenal got a much needed win over promoted (and goalless) Swansea, though it was hardly a convincing triumph. It took a fluke goal by the Russian Andrei Arshavin to provide the Gunners with the only goal of the game, on what could only be described as a gift from Swansea keeper Michel Vorm, as he rolled a clearance pass off the heel off a defender right to Arshavin.
Hundreds of Everton fans rightfully protested the lack of spending by the team’s administration in the transfer window. Once they marched into Goodison Park, they were treated to a lively performance by their heroes, culminating in a Leon Osman goal in the 19th minute. Stillyan Petrov shocked Everton keeper Tim Howard from 30 yards out to tie the score in the second half. Five mintues later, Leighton Baines put Everton back ahead from the spot, a lead that Everton couldn’t hold. Gabriel Ablonahor gave Aston Villa a share of the points.
Sometimes there are matchups that don’t exactly arouse the imagination. One such encounter took place at Fulham Sunday, with the Cottagers entertaining Blackburn. Ruben Rochina hit a corker to give Blackburn the lead on 32 minutes, but Bobby Zamora gave Fulham a share of the points with his strike six minutes later. In the other Sunday game, Peter Odemwingie showed his quality six minutes into the game for West Brom, and that tally held up for a 1-0 victory over hapless Norwich. Monday, Newcastle and QPR played to a scoreless draw.
It was more of the same in the premier league this week with the Manchester teams proving dominant once again. I am looking forward to the Sunday schedule this week (on my Dad’s birthday) with Liverpool visiting White Hart Lane and Man United hosting Chelsea. Before we look forward, let’s finish with my choices for top performers this week:
* Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham) – Goal-scorers goal for a team desperately in need of one
** Sergio Aguero (Man City) – Hat-trick hero looking deadly up top for City
***Wayne Rooney (Man U) – 2nd straight week with a hat-trick, 7 goals in 3 games and it all looks too easy for the super-striker this year