Better never than late..... It was back to Premier League business after the International break as several managers put forward their claims to be the first sacking of the season (did you know that aside from Arsene Wenger no other current Premier League manager has achieved 3 years in his job), Ashley Young made a bid for the British 10 metre board Olympic squad and Jonjo Shelvey was man of the match for both teams at the Liberty Stadium. Manchester United got their title defence back on track after defeat at Anfield with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. Although still not convincing in their performance United were comfortable throughout with Palace not managing a single shot on target. Robin Van Persie came close with a typically brilliant chest-down from a Wayne Rooney through ball but his volley hit the bar. Ashley Young was rightly booked for simulation as he attempted to con the referee by initiating contact with defender Kagisho Dikgacoi but a minute into first half injury time the two clashed again with the decision going Young’s way and Dikgacoi receiving a red card. Van Persie put the penalty away but victory wasn’t completed until ten minutes from time when Rooney (looking like a poor man’s LeBron James with a bizarre headband protecting his recently stitched head) struck home a magnificent free kick. Perhaps tellingly, David Moyes did not display any emotion at the goal and one wonders whether Rooney is still on the outer with his manager. Or perhaps Moyes was more concerned by the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson in the director’s box. Their magnificent 3-1 win at Arsenal must seem a life-time away for Aston Villa as they lost their 3rd game in a row going down 2-1 at home to Newcastle United. United put in arguably their best performance of the season with Hatem Ben Arfa once again the stand-out performer scoring his side’s first goal and being prominent throughout. Villa wasted several chances to equalise, including a sitter by Gabriel Agbonlahor before Christian Bentecke pulled them level with a header. The game was settled when Villa keeper Brad Guzan could only palm away a Ben Arfa shot which was put away by substitute Yoan Gouffran. Gouffran has been impressive off the bench and could soon take the lacklustre Papiss Cisse’s place in the starting line-up. For Villa manager Paul Lambert it will be a week hoping not to get ‘the full support of the board’. It was even-stevens at Craven Cottage where a Gareth MacAuley goal late into injury time earned West Bromwich Albion a 1-1 draw with Fulham. Fulham took the lead through Steve Sidwell and had could have put the game out of reach when Dimitar Berbatov twice put the ball into the back of the net before being ruled offside. It was not to be and West Brom’s first goal of the season earned them a point. Neither manager would be satisfied with their team’s performance and although Steve Clarke would be the happier of the two he is also the more likely to feel the managerial sword of Damacles fall upon his neck. The battle between two of the promoted sides saw Cardiff City come from behind to secure a 1-1 draw at Hull City. Curtis Davies put the home side ahead in the first half only for Peter Whittingham to equalise for Cardiff. Hull manager Steve Bruce will be frustrated with his side’s failure to hold on to their lead as they would have certainly viewed this as a fixture they should win. Nevertheless any point is a valuable one when you have just been up-graded from the lower echelons of football and Hull may well look back at the end of the season and see this as the game that kept them up. Title contenders Manchester City continued to look anything but as they scraped a 0-0 at Stoke City. Both sides created equal opportunities but arguably the better fell to the home side. Kenwyne Jones went close and Jon Walters did what he does best, missing a golden opportunity with a header than went wide. City may have had one eye on Europe as they made 6 changes but with the depth of their squad that is hardly an excuse. If they perform like this in Champions League they will be lucky to finish high enough in their group to get a Europa League spot. Arsenal continued their impressive run with a convincing 3-1 win at Sunderland which saw them temporarily go top of the Premier League whilst condemning their hosts to the other end of the spectrum. Mesut Ozil made a debut that will have Gunners fans salivating at what is to come, setting up the first goal for Olivier Giroud and creating several opportunities for his team-mates. Theo Walcott was the beneficiary of a couple of those chances but spurned them in what Arsenal fans may consider typical fashion. Sunderland did equalise through a Craig Gardner penalty before Aaron Ramsey put the Gunners back in front. There was then a moment of controversy when Jozy Altidore appeared to have equalised for the home team before referee Martin Atkinson called play back for a foul on Altidore outside the area. This lit the very short fuse of Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio who lost all control after Ramsey’s second put Arsenal 2 up and resulted in the Italian being banished from the side-line in injury time. Many more results like this and his banishment from the Sunderland side-line may be permanent. Arsenal on the other hand have every reason to be happy. Giroud has found his scoring touch, Ramsey is growing every week and if this display was anything to go by, Ozil’s price tag of 42 million quid could be the bargain of the season. For once they didn’t have to rely on a penalty as a double from Gylfi Sigurdson ensured Tottenham Hotspur saw off Norwich City’s challenge 2-0 at White Hart Lane. It was a disappointing return to his old stomping ground for Norwich manager and Spurs Old Boy Chris Hughton and frankly it could have been a lot worse. Norwich managed only 1 shot in the 90 minutes as Spurs dominated the game. New signing Christian Eriksen was the star and had a hand in both goals. The win saw Spurs temporarily go second in the table behind bitter rivals Arsenal and put them in good heart for this week’s Europa League challenge. It may also help their fans forget the name of that Welsh guy who left them to go to Spain. It was 4th time lucky for Everton as they picked up their first win of the season following 3 draws. A Steven Naismith header in first half injury time gave them a 1-0 win over Chelsea. The visitors will be disappointed they didn’t make their possession count and will be concerned that they failed to convert any of the multiple chances they created. New signing Samuel Eto’o looked a shadow of his former self and Chelsea may well find themselves spending on some new firepower come January and you wonder whether Jose Mourinho is already regretting loaning Romelu Lukaku to the Toffees. Everton were inspired by their new signing Gareth Barry who put in a commanding performance in midfield and showed that his experience and ability will be a great asset when the going gets tough. West Ham’s defence continued to carry the team as they kept their 3rd clean sheet of the season at Southampton securing themselves a point in a 0-0 draw. The home side had the better of the game but when they finally managed to get past the central defensive pair of James Collins and Winston Reid, they found goalkeeper Jussi Jaskelaainen in superb form. The Hammers continued their form from last season which saw them finish with the worst away goal scoring record in any of the 4 divisions. They seemed to lack urgency and cohesion when going forward and whatever the problem is I can assure you the answer is not Modibo Maiga. Southampton will have better days when the opposition keeper does not dominate but West Ham will be desperate for injured striker Andy Carroll to return as they failed to score for the 3rd game on the trot. Probably the game of the round at the Liberty Stadium as Swansea City and Liverpool battled out an entertaining 2-2 draw. In what may be a unique occurrence, Jonjo Shelvey was man of the match for both sides. The Liverpool old boy put his new side ahead in the second minute only to gift the Reds an equaliser when his back pass went straight to Daniel Sturridge who calmly stroked it first time into the back of the Swansea net. Liverpool went on to have the better of the first half and took the lead when Shelvey, presumably still thinking he was playing for the team wearing red, passed the ball to Victor Moses who strode forward purposefully before placing the ball in the left hand corner. To Swansea’s and Shelvey’s credit they didn’t drop their heads and dominated the second half. Michu levelled from a deft headed flick-on from Shelvey and it was backs to the wall for Liverpool till the final whistle. Swansea will be pleased with their continued improvement whilst Liverpool, although losing their 100% record, will be rightly delighted with a point that keeps them top of the Premier League. (This is the point where I normally give Liverpool and their fans some stick but some of them have been crying about me being mean so for the next 2 weeks I will give their tender wounds time to heal before getting stuck in again.)
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 05:02:30 +0000
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