Chelsea
Vs Liverpool: The Akloppalyse rules and Jose is out of ideas
now..............
What a match. If you were anything but a Chelsea fan you were loving
this one. End to end stuff on the pitch, seething melodrama off it.
It was the best way to kick off a weekend of football. Klopp came to
Stanford Bridge with a squad that boasted only one half-fit striker
as youngster Origi did not even make the trip to London. Countinho
picked one hell of a match to burst back into life. He was a constant
threat and menace alongside Lallana who, while he doesn't have the
finishing of his Brazilian team-mate, matched his work-rate and gave
the Chelsea back-line a torrid time. Chelsea, in response, had
nothing to give. They give off a vibe of a team without even a shred
of confidence in their own abilities to do even the basics right.
Their downfall today was sitting back after they'd taken the
advantage and allowing Liverpool to grow into the game. By the time
they realised they actually had to start playing again, it was far
too late. Near the end of the game the camera cut to Mourinho on the
sideline, standing there looking disconsolate. He simply had no
answers.
That
they started the match by far the better will be cruelly over-looked,
or perhaps even used to beat them even further. Giving the
ultra-pressing of this new Liverpool, Chelsea aimed to be more
precise with their attacks rather than expend huge amounts of energy
chasing the ball. And it worked, for a time. Their goal came after
only four minutes when the Liverpool pressing game broke down and
Chelsea overloaded the left flank. Hazard released Azpilicueta down
the byline and his cross was met by a firm header from Ramires.
Mignolet and the defence, Moreno in particular, were guilty of
ball-watching and were unable to prevent the goal. From then, for
some reason, Chelsea completely sat back and let Liverpool play their
way back into contention maybe figuring that, without a striker,
Liverpool would be unable to hurt them. Liverpool pressed and got the
equaliser their play deserved when Coutinho picked up the ball form
Firmino on the edge of the box jinked past Ramires' despairing lunge
and curved a sweet shot just inside the near corner. The seond half
saw the baffling decision to take Hazard off for a 19 year old Kenedy
and the expected introduction of Benteke. Benteke would then go on to
set up Coutinho to take the lead on the 74th
minute. Again he was left to work his magic on the edge of the box
while defenders dived in front of him, and again, he swerved the ball
top corner. Chelsea still tried to get back into it but found that
this Liverpool is a completely different beast from the one that
started the game and were out-played. The third goal was inevitable.
Ibe picked the ball up on the right flank and runs straight down the
line, his low ball in was dummied by Lallana and it rolled to Benteke
who jinked past a number of lunges to finish across the goal to make
it 3-1 and complete the rout. Chelsea look like a team with no ideas
and Stoke will be looking to reap the rewards next week, Liverpool
will be riding the crest of the wave of this victory to Crystal
Palace next week.
Crystal
Palace Vs Man United: Zzzzzzzzz......the Van Gaal sleeper express
trundles on.....
Plunging the depths of boredom seems to United's thing this season.
You can tell how badly they're playing by reading articles about
their games and counting up how many references to the actual game
are made. This peculiar brand of anti-football is so bad it defies
not only analysis but satire too. This match ended with them having
only one shot on target, a free-kick. None from open play. Free-kick
aside, Hennessey may well have taken the day off. Three straight 0-0
draws in a row would be testing to any fan and the ones packing the
stadium out could actually be heard screaming “attack, attack,
attack”. However, unlike the last two 0-0 results, this result was
flattering to United. Palace had three gilt-edged chance to score in
the game and had to rely on De Gea, once again, to bail them out.
When United lose him come the summer, they're really going to be in
trouble.
His
first contribution was an incredible fingertip save when the ball was
worked to the right from a Cabaye free-kick and Bolasie absolutely
lashed it. De Gea managed to only brush it with his fingertips but it
was enough to get to bounce out off the crossbar rather than bounce
in. United briefly threatened when Martial fed a great through-ball
for Rooney who really showed how poor his form is by failing horribly
to get to it. Even a year ago he'd have had put that away in a
heartbeat. The biggest chance of the match arrived on the 72nd
minute when Palace sent a long ball up and United failed to deal with
it. Gayle fed it out wide for Ward to sent a fine cross in to find
Cabaye totally un-marked in the box about five yards out. His scuffed
attempt was feeble and his horrified reaction afterwards said it all.
A few minutes after that Cabaye sent in a corner that Dann headed
narrowly wide with the keeper well beaten. The match petered out into
a series of petty arguments and niggly fouls. United had clearly gone
out to target Cabaye and fouled him virtually every chance they got.
It helped to stem some of the Palace creativity but, in the end, even
the most rabid United fan will know they got incredibly lucky today.
A midweek Champs league match to CSKA on Tuesday, hilariously the
first fixture between the two was the last time United scored a goal
in any
competition,
will give their ailing attack (now five hours without a goal)
something to go for. And they'll need it as it's unlikely their next
league game against a defensively solid West Brom will yield too many
goals. Palace will hope their profligacy is done as they'll need
goals next to overcome a buzzing Liverpool team.
Man
City Vs Norwich: Canaries self-destruct to hand the Money team the
win......
Prior to this game, much was made of the 18 goals City had banged in
in their last four home games. Norwich, with a back five, came
prepared to get compact and not allow City the space they thrive on.
In fairness, they probably just lined up to not get tonked like most
other teams. Offering little going forward, other than lumping up to
Jerome, City were never really in any danger bar a few nervy moments
where Hart saved well. Other than that it was Bony's lack of
sharpness that was one of the highlights of the match. His movement
was good, and his first touch got him so much space but his
insistence on absolutely plastering the ball the instant he had a
clear line on goal was baffling. City played with a reticence that
was unbecoming of them and it may have something to do with their
midweek game against Sevilla or it may be with their players needing
a break. Neither De Bruyne nor Toure looked to grab this game by the
neck and impose themselves and the game trickled to half-time 0-0
despite City having almost 75% possession.
The
second half started off much like the first, drab and uninspiring,
and for the attacking flair players that was on offer, it was a
defender that opened the scoring on the 67th. De Bruyne, with his
last kick before being hauled off, slung in a corner and Otamendi
leapt into the air and thumped his header home. A fine header but he
really should not have been able to get to the cross un-marked at the
penalty spot. It was these basic error which played a huge part in
the match from then on. City looked to control the game in the same
manner they had done since the start. Norwich came out of their
shells a little, committing more men forward before Hart had his
howler. It's been a, thankfully, error-free season for Hart. He's
been barracked in the past for his propensity for goofs and it's
something he seems to have gotten out of his system. Mostly. In the
83rd
minute, Brady sent a cross over from the right that could be classed
as “catching practice”. Hart jumped, claimed and then, as he
brought the ball down, seemed to misjudge the spring in his own feet
as he landed. This caused the ball to just pop out of his hands and
the closest player to him was Jerome who couldn't believe his luck.
He put the ball in and wheeled away, convinced a point was assured.
Then, the match kicked into gear, going from dull to breakneck in an
instant. The last ten minutes saw a flurry of activity and it was yet
another goalkeeper error that settled the game. Ruddy rushed out to
claim a Navas cross and he succeeded only in flapping it away. Seeing
the ball head towards a bunch of poised City players, he rushed
forward despite having no hope of getting to the ball. He cleared out
Bony and the ball bobbled to Sterling who fired home only to see
Martin dive to save it with his arm. A red card and a penalty
followed and Toure made no mistake from the spot on the 89th
minute. Yet the game refused to die down when Olsson forced a great
save from Hart and then a clearly knackered Brady cleaved down
Sterling in the box on the 93rd
minute. Kolorov stood up to take the last kick of the game and merely
added to the narrative by shanking it wide. City will have a much
easier task in Villa next week, if they're not as tired, and if Villa
are still as shit. Norwich will have to stem the tide of losses
against Swansea.
Newcastle
Vs Stoke: Stalemate benefits both sides as Butland puts on a
masterclass......
For all that's said about the massive unpredictability of this
season, it's nice to know that some things can be predicted with
relative ease. This game had 0-0 not so much as written all over but
carved in stone. With both teams looking to avoid losing more so than
looking to win due to their results in previous games; Newcastle went
from stuffing Bournemouth 6-2 to losing 3-0 to Sunderland, one of the
few teams in an even bigger mess than them. Stoke lost 2-0 to Watford
and have yet to see the pool of talent they've assembled coalesce
into a team that plays with a joint purpose. A loss here would put
both teams back a step and would really ramp up the pressure on their
managers. McClaren will be under some pressure anyway given the
situation with his goalkeepers always being injured at the same time;
they've three goalkeepers now currently injured and McClaren's only
two options are to start his promising youth keeper, who is an
England international or go for an emergency loan deal for some
unwanted. Valdes, languishing at United, may be happy to get a call
in that case.
That all said it didn't pan out like a typical “Man united” 0-0
where both teams were content to knock the ball around in the hopes
that the opposition would slip into a narcoleptic coma. Newcastle
played with real verve and will count themselves unlucky to leave
with a point, even though most fans would've taken a 0-0 at the start
happily. They created the far better chances and had three times more
shots on target. Were it not for the excellence of Butland in goal,
they'd have almost certainly gotten all three points. Which is ironic
given the calamitous nature of the goalkeeping situation at Newcastle
and that McClaren once coached the keeper at Derby. Butland played a
blinder and got a hand to everything and, even when when he didn't
get to everything, made sure the ball stayed out one way or another.
One such fortunate scramble saw him dive past a Mitrovic header, only
to see it bounce off the post and hit his foot and roll around the
box as he hit the ground. His fumble to the ball managed to put the
ball out. Newcastle put on a good show afterwards with Wjinaldum
hitting the bar with a free-kick after Perez fired a shot just wide
of post. Sissoko, Wjinaldum and Perez were making mincemeat of the
Stoke defence and, right at the death, Butland was on to save
brilliantly again when Sissoko dummied in the box and sold the entire
defence before unleashing a shot clear on goal. Butland managed to
get it over the bar and the match ended shortly afterwards. Butland
can pat himself on the back for getting all three points pretty much
single-handedly and will hope Bournemouth next week are as
accommodating. Stoke will look to charge into the pile of wreckage
that is Chelsea and come away with something next.
Swansea
Vs Arsenal: Game of two halves as Gunners atone for last
season................
One
thing about injuries is that they can really make you consider your
options. Arsenal seem to have made a habit of benefiting from their
dismal injury record of late. It was through injury that they found
Coquelin, Bellerin and now Campbell. Although claims abound that it
was known that Campbell was good, it was only due to injuries to SIX
right-sided players that he got onto the pitch. Now having been
presented his chance, he then proceeded (much like the aforementioned
players) to grab it with both hands with a MOTM display. This result
also had a tinge of vengeance to it as Swansea were one the typical
Arsenal “Bogey” teams, losing to them twice last season in two
insipid displays that took the wind out of the Arsenal sails in both
halves of the year. It was imperative that Arsenal cement their title
credentials against this team coupled with the added drama of a
looming injury crisis. The start, however, could only have been
marginally worse. Arsenal were a step off the pace and a yard slower
at every turn in the first half.
Shelvey
was given far too much space and was able to completely bypass the
midfield and carve the defence at will. Ayew, while restrained, was
able to maraud around with his usual menace and were it not for the
mis-firing Gomis it really could've been a bad night for the Gunners.
He was put clean through by Shelvey with Koscielny five yards behind
him and Bellerin ten. Racing forward he ran straight towards Cech who
stood tall and large and held the striker up for long enough so that
his knocked ball could be cleared by Bellerin who must've made up
twenty yards in around four seconds. Later, a Siggurson free-kick in
his favourite area was cleared by Mertsacker only as far as Ayew who
slung in a cross that Shelvey headed over. Gomis also had a free
header but, while it was on target, it was straight at Cech. Arsenal
were fortunate going into the break not to be down a number of goals.
It was obvious a different Arsenal lined out for the second half and
four minutes in, they moved up a gear. A perfect Ozil corner led to
Giroud headed into the far corner, unmarked in the box. Twenty
minutes later Ozil, now out on the right flank, served in a cross
that Williams could only head straight up and behind him. Fabianski
jumped on top of Koscielny and caught the ball. On the way down
though he dropped practically onto the defenders feet and to screams
of “shoot!” by Giroud behind him he calmly ignored the paws of
the beached goalkeeper and slotted home, looking back at the ref for
the whistle. None came and the celebrations kicked off. Six minutes
later the game was put beyond doubt when Ozil and Alexis combined
wonderfully down the left to release Ozil into the box, he fired a
low cross across the box which evaded every Swansea defender and
arrived at the feet of Campbell. After a match of excellent hard work
he took his goal with some finesse, trapping the cross and firing
into the opposite side of the net with his left foot. Arsenal will be
delighted with their second half performance and it will buoy them
well into their mid-week game at Munich and into the fateful North
London derby next week against Spurs. Neither are matches they'll
want to lose. Swansea have to take heart from their first-half
performance and hope Gomis can re-discover his form when they take on
Norwich.
Watford
Vs West Ham: Hammers stutter to a shock loss as the hornets sting
twice in a row..
It's
been a good two weeks for Watford. Their high-intensity style looked
promising to begin with and they can claim to have won far more than
they've lost, which is more than most can say. A dismal run of
results, which culminated with a 3-0 thrashing by Arsenal, was ended
when they handily beat Stoke 2-0 last week and they racked up the
same scoreline and the same assured performance this week against a
much more dangerous West Ham. Much has been made of West Hams' away
record, with its' many prized scalps, and they added a solid home win
over Chelsea last week to really put the shine on their season. It
came as no surprise that they went into this fixture as heavy
favourites.
However
they faced a Waford team that is as dogged in defence as they are in
atack. After ten minutes, Ake stunned a header in the box that Adrian
could only paw straight back to him. The ball was bouncy however and
thankfully the Hammers defence reacted and the ball was scuffed out
only as far as Deeney who fired off Carroll, who knew nothing about
it. Watford's appeals for a handball went unheeded. On the 39th
minute Ake managed to head a free kick, to the right side of the box,
almost straight up in the air. As there were two Hammers underneath
the ball he didn't even bother contesting it. Both players air-kicked
theatrically and the ball rolled back where Carroll stopped it and,
incredibly, attempted a Cruyff turn near the edge of his own six yard
box. Needless to say it didn't come off right and Ake, watching the
calamity unfold in front of him, nipped in to steal the ball and sent
across the face of goal. Ighalo was wise to what was going on too and
beat the defence to tap in from around four inches out. Watford hung
on till the end of the half and doubled their lead two minutes into
the second. Deeney releasing Anya down the right before tamely
crossing in for Ighalo. Tomkins actually got to the cross first but
let it squirm through his legs and Ighalo took his shot first-time
and belted it into the top left corner. Ighalo was sent clear again a
minute later and only a fine save from Adrian prevented it from being
3-0. The Hammers shambolic game was typified by the miss from
Valencia, gifted a free run on goal due to the most idiotic back-pass
ever by Cathcart, smacking his shot on an open goal off the post. The
re-bound made it to Carroll who bungled his feet again and was
dispossessed. The dreary game was then compounded by Collins getting
a straight red card for scything through the back of Ighalo's legs.
West Ham now have Everton to look forward to and Watford will be
looking to make it three-in-a-row against Leicester.
West
Brom Vs Leicester: The comeback kings do it again..........
Leicester
seem to be a team comprised almost entirely of great feats. Coming
back from being down six times in eleven games and Vardy's
marksmanship. It was thought that a defensively sound and
well-drilled Brommie would be the first team to keep Vardy from
scoring this season but his ridiculous scoring run continued and has
already placed him into the record books, he's a goal in the next two
games away from equalling the league record. Not bad for a former
non-league striker. West Brom have enjoyed their own fair share of
plaudits too. Pulis has got his team playing solid tactical, if not
eye-catching, football and his record signing, Rondon, is starting to
grow into his role alongside Berahino. Restricting a high-flying
pacey attacking team like Leicester was always going to be difficult,
but it was thought that if anyone could do it, it would be Pulis.
They were wrong and while Brommie could've won this game it was
through attacking, not defending, that they could've done it.
In
the opening stages of the match, both teams looked to get the first
goal and Leicester came close when Albrighton fed a great
through-ball the inside right for Vardy. Vardy smoked the defence,
latched onto the ball, and fired near post. Only a lunging fingertip
save from Myhill was enough to put the ball onto the post and see it
cannon across the face of the goal and out wide. Brommie took the
lead on the half hour mark, however, when a Sessegnon corner was
turned in at the near post by Rondon. West Brom then sat off,
although not fully, their opponenets and it was only a matter of time
before Leicester got back into the game. The lead lasted until the
57th
minute when Albrighton picked up the ball on the right and was given
all the time in the world to pick out his cross. The ball looped into
the box and straight onto the rushing foot of Mahrez and he whacked
home. Seven minutes later Leicester took the lead, Mahrez again
scoring although he was a yard offside. 12 minutes later West Brom
failed to press and Vardy latched onto a Drinkwater through-ball and
fired home to notch up yet another goal. The game was set up for a
nail-biter in the 84th
minute when, after having two certain penalties turned down, Kante
sliced down McManaman in the box and the ref pointed to the spot.
Lambert stepped up and scored his first for the club. The match ended
3-2 and Leicester roll on their unbeaten away form. They'll hope to
rack up three more points when Watford come to visit next week. West
Brom will travel to Old Trafford next week, hoping to prolong
United's goal drought and maybe nick a goal or two themselves....
Everton
Vs Sunderland: Fucking hell...................
Didn't
expect that. Everton go into this on the back two bad losses to the
bigger teams they had hoped to tussle more defiantly with this
season. Despite the dismal run of form Sunderland have on record, the
change in manager seemed to have sparked something in this team.
Their 3-0 trouncing of Newcastle had revitalised them to some degree
and they were hoping to take that energy into this match and take the
game to Everton. They did just that at the start when Defoe fired a
powerful shot at Howard who could only parry it as far as Johnson
whose bobbling shot hit the base of the post. On the stroke of the
19th
minute Deulofeu scored his first by putting his shot underneath
Pantillimon after the defence dithered in closing him down on the
edge of the box. Everton ran forward straight afterwards when
Deulofeu ran down the right channel and crossed too early for Lukaku.
He did well to keep the ball in play but Kone was too late and Coates
cleared. Kone would get his goal on the 31st
minute when he played an excellent one-two with Lukaku to leave him
dead centre of the goal with just the keeper to beat. He rifled his
shot into the roof of the net. Sunderland did get back into it
literally with the last kick before half-time when a long-ball from
Coates saw Defoe ghost past Stones to fire into the net.
The
second half started lively enough when Fletcher put Sunderland level
after five minutes. Van Aarholt ran forward to support Defoe and he
crossed into the box and Fletcher got there first with a powerful
header that left Howard no chance. They were level for only five
minutes when Deulofeu (after being booked for the most shameful dive
in history, it was practically Ashley Young-like) slung in a cross
for Lukaku and Coates got his foot there first. Unfortunately he
wound up putting the ball into the exact same place as Lukaku was
planning. Five minutes later he did get his second when Deulofeu
played a fantastic through ball from his own half and Lukaku simply
out-muscled the two poor saps chosen to mark him and slotted calmly
past Howard to make it 4-2. Two minutes later it was 5-2 when
McCarthy slid a clever little ball through to Kone just right of the
goal and he lobbed the ball across into the net. The humiliation was
complete when Kone finished his Hat-trick when Lukaku put across,
quite possibly, cross of the season so far with the outside of his
right foot to give Kone the perfect header. Kone has come a long way
from the permanently injured player who was actually booed onto the
pitch at the start of the season by his own fans. He'll be hoping
(and Everton too) to continue his form when they take on Stoke next
week and Sunderland will be hoping to plug up whatever defensive
holes they've got for the visit of Southampton.
Southampton
Vs Bournemouth: Saints dominate local rivals to keep up the top table
chase..
For
all the supposed “Rivalry” here that the media were desperate to
stir up we were treated to a nice, lively match. But for all the
effort that Bournemouth put into the match they were never really in
with a shot of winning this. Southampton set out to do what they
intended to do at Leicester and went two up and stamped their control
on the game. It's now blindingly obvious that Bournemouth are rapidly
running out of options and, up front, they barely have any. Murray is
just not at the level they need him to be at and the defence is
sorely lacking a “bedrock” style player. One who can tie the
headless chicken act they've got going on there together. Southampton
are trying to ghost into the top four this season, having fallen
afoul of the huge surprise act they were last season which meant
everyone got out the knives and hid the silverware whenever they
showed up. It'll also prevent the usual pillaging of their player
that usually occurs whenever they do anything good.
The
match started well for Southampton and the first half was pretty much
just one-way traffic for most of it. Bournemouth were being carved
open at will and it was quite an achievement to have made it as far
as the 31st
minute without conceding. The movement for the first goal was
sublime, Pelle backheeling a ball into the path of Bertrand who slung
in a low centre that Davis thumped home. Five minutes later they
added when Mane and Tadic combined wonderfully to allow Tadic to
float a ball across the box. Pelle hung in the air for what seemed
like an age and cracked his header into the net. They could've added
more before half time but last ditch deflections saw the shots out.
Despite the dominance of Southampton in the first half it was obvious
that they're not yet up to the task of keeping up that level of play
for a full 90. They waned off badly in the second half but
Bournemouth were so cowed by this point that it would've taken
something truly special to rouse them out of it and try to take the
game back. The only real highlight moment was Wanyama's idiotic
second yellow and his subsequent sending off. That's the second time
Southampton have had to finish with ten men and it's something Koeman
will notice. In any case Wanyama will not be missed much as
Southampton take on Sunderland next whereas Bournemouth will be
hoping the Newcastle that showed up today do so again next week.
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