An exciting and quite shocking set of results offered many what could be viewed as one of the premiership’s more entertaining weekends this season. The first offering, whilst not a particularly entertaining game marked what could be a significant step forward in the evolution of Manchester City. Liverpool was their first high profile and utterly convincing win of the season, but Chelsea was a completely different scalp for City. Courtesy of Carlos Tevez they recorded a win against title favorites and Chelsea tasted defeat for the first time this season. A significant result for City, however will not set alarm bells ringing for Chelsea fans – the Blues still sit comfortably at the top of the table, meaning a loss against one of the league’s strongest squads away from home is not disastrous.
The 3pm fixtures were a mixed bag and provided neutrals with something to get excited about, with a few high scoring games and one – if not two – notable upsets. Wigan – Birmingham was the lowest scoring event of the day and finished 0 – 0 with a point for either side appearing to be a fair return for both. The only real major talking point of the game was Johnson being sent off for clashing with Hugo Rodallega, and possibly the abuse dished out to Charles N’Zogbia whose transfer to Birmingham collapsed on deadline day. Branded greedy by the Birmingham fans N’Zogbia, in his own typical style, responded by saying he enjoyed the abuse and just wanted to carry on playing his own game.
Over on the West Coast, Blackpool suffered defeat in their second home game of the season to a Blackburn side expertly organised by future Real boss Sam Allardyce. The Riversiders took the lead through a Charlie Adam own goal and having battled hard to get the equaliser, it was so unfortunate for Blackpool to be defeated by such a late winner from Brett Emerton in stoppage time. Ian Holloway contested this goal with referee Mike Dean in the tunnel, claiming it was offside and the result of a foul; he has since been charged by the FA for improper conduct. Despite the result, credit should be given to Blackpool. It was tenacious and positive to chase for the win, and if the Tangerines carry on playing their admiral brand of football, then with a little bit of luck they could well survive a campaign in this league – as well as win a whole host of admirers.
Moving South from Blackpool to Anfield there was increasing pressure on Liverpool to record what would be only their second win this season. Things looked decent for Roy Hodgson’s side in the first five minutes when Dirk Kuyt managed to score what has since been confirmed as a perfectly legitimate goal. Steve Bruce questioned the decision to allow it to stand, although having scored a goal thanks to a stray beach ball last season it is fair to say that Liverpool possibly deserved this one. Sunderland battled extremely well to get involved in the game and were it not for Steven Gerrard coming to the rescue then Liverpool would almost certainly have suffered defeat. On a plus side for Liverpool, they at least scored a couple of goals and a Torres assist may play some role in him rediscovering his form. Sunderland can be happy with gaining an away point in a ground most still regard intimidating, and it is this kind of result that should hopefully help the Black Cats establish themselves as a top 10 side. As for Liverpool, like in many fixtures this season, they looked pedestrian and toothless and a large number of their shots came from outside of the box. It is of course still early days for Hodgson’s side but a poor points return from the first few games are certainly a cause for concern. Panic is still a long way off but Liverpool need to start performing considerably better or else an improvement on last season’s position could be further away than expected.
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The three other three o’clock kicks offs took place in the capital and despite being lowscoring affairs were undeniably interesting in their own ways. West Ham gained their first win of the season thanks to a fairly early goal from Frederic Piquionne, West Ham dominated the early part of the game and most would agree that they were deserving of their victory. Cudicini aside (who had a marvelous game) Spurs looked shaky at the back, through no fault of their own they were forced to use Corluka as a centre half partnered with Sebastian Bassong, Hutton retained his place at right back and Bale was forced to left back thanks to an injury to Assou-Ekotto. Despite Spurs squad being stretched in a number of areas it would be unfair not to talk about what West Ham did right instead of what went wrong for Spurs, Piquionne was lively and took advantage of the unfamiliar pair of centre half and Victor Obinna gave Tottenham a hard time throughout the game until his substitution in the 89th minute. If West Ham can perform like this regularly throughout the season and act more clinically then a decent finish isn’t beyond the Irons. As far as Tottenham go they still look a good side but with the strain Champions League football will put on the squad and the firm objectives of Man City highlighted this weekend then another fourth place finish may just prove a step too far for Redknapps side.
Over to the Emirates next for a quick review of just how West Brom managed to beat an Arsenal side that many suggested could finally win the title this year and who managed to make a blunder in closing the ground on Chelsea who had just lost to Manchester City. Before mentioning how good West Brom were Arsenals frailties must be mentioned. Two late goals from Nasri cant hide just how much of a disaster Arsenal had and it is telling that a manager usually so defensive of his own players came out and said that there were question marks over many players performances, though refusing to indentify any individuals it is safe to say that one of these was surely Arsenals goalkeeper Manuel Almunia who quite simply had a nightmare. Often described as Arsenals major weak link his performance at West Brom must surely mark the end of his tenure as the Gunners number one but with Fabianski having stepped up midweek in the Champions league it is unsure as to how much reassurance this will give Arsenal fans. Question marks also ring firmly above his head as a top flight goalkeeper and January may offer more hope for supporters than just a mere change. Despite Arsenals obvious shortcomings across the pitch it is paramount to address how good West Brom were. Instead of opting for the ‘kick them’ approach heavily favored by many managers against Arsenal West Brom instead chose to continue with their admirable style of football. Odemwingie was tireless going forward as well as defensively when West Brom managed to go three goals up and at this stage already he is looking to be one of the transfer windows more special purchases. The back four of West Brom were pretty faultless and overall every Baggies player on the field should be proud of their performance. Arsenal fans will point to the superior obsession and shot advantage they had over the visitors but West Brom should be congratulated for acting efficiently and effectively against a more talented side many expected to roll over them.
The final fixture of Saturday to mention was the one that heaped further misery on Merseyside. Everton are still the only side this season who haven’t notched up a win and even though slow starts being fairly traditional under David Moyes this one is slower than ever. To question Moyes however much I would like to would be a shocking thing to do as the man is a clearly capable and talented manager. Instead the question marks lie over the belief the squad has in one another and in fairness to Everton just that little bit of luck that sides need to get the ball rolling. The Blues had the better of Fulham and managed to get 5 shots on target and have a 55% share of ball obsession, Hughes claimed after the match that Everton were in a ‘false position’ and most would share this view also. Everton it seems have too much quality to go down and eventually one would assume that their talent and squad belief will come together, it is still early days this season and though obviously disappointed with their worse than usual slow start alarm bells wont be ringing just yet for David Moyes or chairman Bill Kenwright. Fulham continued to be solid if not spectacular under Hughes and it can be safely said that maybe if they had a few more striking options on Saturday they could have gave Evertons backline a tougher job. The good news for Hughes is that summer signings Dembele is set to return in the next fortnight and despite it still being early days for the former Eredivisie striker he looks already to be quite a smart piece of business. Zamora is hardly worth mentioning as his return is still a long way off but at least forgotten man Andy Johnson is apparently returning to training this week and could offer a welcome boost for the Cottagers…
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On to Sunday where the early kick off was at the Reebok stadium with Owen Coyle’s men gearing up to face Manchester United. The game was possibly the most exciting of the weekend with underdogs Bolton taking the lead twice during the game thanks to a close range goal from Zat Knight and a great move from Bolton that despite resulting in an unfortunate deflection for both Fletcher and United was still fairly deserving of a goal. United equalized first from a magnificent solo effort from Nani and finally a header from Michael Owen. Talking points of this game include Uniteds shaky defence this season and just how much better Bolton now look under Owen Coyle. Rooney continued to lumber through the season and if United are to improve then as well as their defence having to buck their ideas up Wayne also needs to rediscover some of his form from last season. Not to take anything away from Bolton of course, despite suffering a small share of the percentage they looked committed when going forward and managed 8 shots inside Uniteds penalty box.
The second game on Sunday was to be Houlliers first in charge of Aston Villa. Despite the scoreline Wolves just edged Villa in this match and a draw could have been a more fair scoreline. Wolves goal was certainly an interesting one as it managed to bounce past Brad Friedel who was seemingly distracted by the site of Dave Edwards sliding into the box. Houllier recorded his first win as Villa boss but it is early days for the side and over the coming weeks or months Villa will probably begin to evolve and we will see them playing Gerard’s own brand of football. Whether this will involve big Emile Heskey as his main frontman remains to be seen but despite good early signs from the former England frontman that he may enjoy some success under Houllier few would back him to continue scoring at a regular rate.
The final game of Sunday was up at St James Park where the Toon army were set to take on glamorous footballing side Stoke City. The game got off to a dreary start and it is a good thing that a penalty was awarded for a silly challenge on Andy Carroll by Robert Huth to open up a mildly entertaining second half. Despite the loss for the Toon Newcastle still look prepared enough to try and avoid relegation and at this stage in the season seven points from six games is a good return for the Magpies. In regards to Stoke it was them in particular who brought the most to this game, if not with good football then certainly in belief and battle. The Sky commentators hilariously remarked that there must have been a teleporting device between Stoke and Sunderland but the fact is that Stoke are a very solid team to play against who have a great deal of courage and resilience, if relegation goes down to the wire this year which it looks already set to do then this kind of squad morale and belief in one another could prove essential to Stoke surviving the drop. Kenywne Jones is going through a good period in his career and is starting to look the player that many Sunderland fans once thought he was – quick, strong and powerful. If Jones can stay injury free this season then he looks a good bet to get at least 12 – 15 goals which would be a magnificent return for a player Steve Bruce so readily discarded from the Stadium of Light.
Next week again looks to be a decent weekend for the league, Wigan play Wolves in the first game of the weekend and it will be interesting to see which way this game goes, for a scrap between two of the leagues bottom half sides there will be a surprising amount of attractive football on display in this fixture and it will hopefully prove to be an enjoyable game. Everton will be looking to get their first win of the season against an intimidating Birmingham side at St. Andrews at 3PM as well as Stoke – Blackburn, certainly a one for the purists, Sunderland – United which is arguably a big test for both sides, Tottenham – Villa, definitely a tougher match for Houllier’s new side, West Brom – Bolton, a potential relegation battle with both teams riding high on the back of good results and finally West Ham – Fulham where both sides will be itching for wins. On Sunday Newcastle head to the Eastlands for a hard away fixture, this is followed by Liverpool – Blackpool – surely a game Hodgson will be eyeing up to maybe get the ball rolling for Liverpool and the final clash of the weekend takes place at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea and Arsenal will be desperate to get back to winning ways following the weekend results.
