A hat trick for Newcastle, Arsenal finally performs, Manchester United doesn’t win, and Fernando Torres continues to dominate headlines. It’s time for English Breakfast.
Manchester United saw their unblemished start to the season end, drawing away to Stoke 1-1. Like United’s past game against Chelsea, both teams squandered numerous opportunities to put more in the back of the net. Ryan Giggs could and should have won it for the Red Devils late on, but sliced an open shot. A draw was fair however, because of the handy work of David de Gea to keep United in the game. The young Spaniard produced stunning saves off shots from Andy Wilkinson and Jonathan Walters. De Gea would also deny Peter Crouch late in the game. Nani produced a sublime finish to opening the scoring and Matthew Etherington produced an equally adept corner for Crouch to head home. A draw justified both teams performances.
United fans should worry about a defense, albeit with Antonio Valencia as a stand-in right back, that has allowed a plethora of chances in their recent matches, but not panic. Stoke is always difficult away and have drastically improved their squad this season with the signings of Wilson Palacios, Cameron Jerome, and Crouch. Stoke fans can forget about their putrid performance against Sunderland a week ago. All in all it was an entertaining weekend in the English Premier League. Some drama, the flaring of some tempers, and plenty of goals. Lets get to it.
Five Talking Points
1. Oh hello Arsenal- Look who finally decided to start their domestic season. Albeit they decided to wait a half, but the Gunners finally put together a performance worthy of their history and their manager. They had Wojciech Szczesny to thank for it being 0-0 at the half, but took control after. Robin van Persie continues to be tremendous and Arsenal can only pray he stays healthy. Van Persie opened the scoring with a nice finish, although the keeper seemed a tad slow to get to it. However there was no discrediting his second, a cheeky back-heel flick that left Bolton out of the match. It was van Persie’s 100th goal for Arsenal. Alex Song would put one in late. Arsenal are out of the relegation zone (even though its early its still weird to say). Now how will they perform away to Tottenham?
2. Chelsea/Tottenham on track- Chelsea thrashed Swansea 4-1 and Tottenham was the only EPL team to win on the road this weekend, beating Wigan 2-1. Tottenham’s win was good enough to push them back into the top half of the table after a slow start. Emmanuel Adebayor continues to be a key signing, setting up Rafael van der Vaart’s opener. Gareth Bale would head in a corner and Tottenham would hold on, with help from a sending off. Tottenham looks a much better side with Adebayor in it. Chelsea finally recorded a thrashing and did it despite Fernando Torres being sent off. Torres also scored the opener, but his performance- good and bad- was overshadowed by Ramires, who scored in each half. Chelsea look much more like themselves of late. They were a bit unlucky with the result against Man United last weekend, but made no mistakes in front of goal this go around. They sent the message to United and Man City that it is not yet a two-team race.
3. Fernando Torres woes continue- This guy simply cannot put together a full 90 in a Blue shirt. The performance against Swansea bore striking similarities to the one at Old Trafford. There was a moment of brilliance- a nice finish off a good lob put Chelsea up 1-0, but then there was the moment that made you forget the good. Absolutely idiotic. Up 2-0 the only chance Swansea had of getting back in the watch was if Chelsea went down a man. Torres provided the opportunity on a challenge that never needed to be made at the first place. You are starting to see the glimpses of the old, Liverpool version of Torres, but he continues to give home fans a reason to question his inclusion and opponents reason to jeer.
4. Manchester United’s injuries- This is a really, really deep team, no questions asked. But the injury crisis at Old Trafford is growing to the point where it is going to play a factor. Already minus Nemanja Vidic, Tom Cleverly, Rafael, and Danny Welbeck, and with Rio Ferdinand in and out with knocks, Sir Alex Ferguson lost Wayne Rooney to a training-ground injury and Jonny Evans to a pre-game injury. Then to compound it, Javier Hernandez was injured ten minutes into the match against Stoke after having just recovered. United only has so many defenders and strikers and won’t want to play Valencia at right back against Manchester City. Fortunately many of the knocks are relatively minor, but with Champions League and Carling Cup play congesting the mid-week schedule, don’t be shocked to see United drop a few more points in the coming weeks.
5. Is Newcastle for real?- Did we flash back to the past, before Newcastle was relegated? No, because that Magpie side scored and didn’t defend. This team is the opposite. They have allowed a league-low three goals in six games, but have scored just seven. There are signs of offensive life, Demba Ba netted a hat trick as Newcastle saw off a poor Blackburn side. After six games it is Newcastle, not Arsenal, Tottenham, or Liverpool, that sits behind the Manchester’s and Chelsea. It is unlikely the run will hold up over a season, Newcastle has only faced Arsenal at home of the big sides, but this is a team no one will want to face this season.
Honorable Mention- Whats up with Frank Lampard? Lampard reportedly quit the Chelsea bench after he was not used as a sub during the Blues 4-1 win over Swansea. Lampard has not started in three of the last four matches, but had always subbed in until Saturday. Is Lampard on his way out? Chelsea does not need another headache.
Team of the Week GK David de Gea, Manchester United. DEF Laurent Koscielny, Arsenal. DEF Ashley Cole, Chelsea. DEF Brede Hangeland, Fulham. DEF Micah Richards, Manchester City. MID Ramires, Chelsea. MID Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal. MID Nani, Manchester United. MID Gareth Bale, Tottenham. FWD Demba Ba, Newcastle. FWD Robin van Persie, Arsenal. Sub- Mario Balotelli, Manchester City.
Brewing This Week
Liverpool at Everton- This is always a fun one because of the intense rivalry. Neither team or their fans would really care too much if the other just stopped living. It helps that both teams are off to decent starts. Liverpool put paid to a two-game losing streak with a win over Wolves and sits in 5th on 10 points. Everton saw a three-game unbeaten run end at Man City, but will be ready to rebound. With Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill for Everton and Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, and Jordan Henderson for Liverpool this game won’t lack goals. Steven Gerrard could make his first start back from injury as well. Prediction: 2-2.
Arsenal at Tottenham- Both teams started slow. Both teams have picked it up some. Arsenal is coming off a 3-0 win, Tottenham has strung a few good results together. It is an early contest between two of the three sides figured to battle for the final Champions League spot. A win for Arsenal would signify they are finally right and will relieve the pressure on Arsene Wegner. A loss, they may be out of the running for the top four very early on. Tottenham simply wants to keep climbing the ladder. Prediction: 2-1 Tottenham.
Other fixtures: Q.P.R. at Fulham, Chelsea at Bolton, Norwich at Manchester United, Wigan at Aston Villa, Manchester City at Blackburn, West Brom at Sunderland, Stoke at Swansea, Newcastle at Wolverhampton.
Champions League Play- Arsenal hosts Olympiakos after drawing Borussia Dortmund 1-1. Chelsea visits Valencia after defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0. Manchester United hosts FC Basel after drawing 1-1 at Benfica. Manchester City visits Bayern Munich after drawing 1-1 with Napoli.
Next week’s edition will include a goal of the week and we begin power rankings after week 8. Thanks for reading, see you next Monday.
