Another 12 months of Premier League football came to an end this weekend but as we head into 2013, the Premier League gave us a reminder of why 2012 has been so great with a barrage of brilliant matches
Good Week For:- Wigan Athletic (Emphatic win in a crucial match against Aston Villa), Reading (Grabbed their second win of the season), Manchester City (Deserved away win at Norwich despite playing with 10 men for 45 minutes)
Bad Week For:- Aston Villa (Mere weeks after a great win at Anfield, Villa look to be in disarray), Newcastle United (Collapsed from a good position against Arsenal to lose 7-3), QPR (Comprehensively beaten at home by Liverpool)
If there was ever any doubt as to why Arsenal are so desperate to keep Theo Walcott then this weekend the 23 year-old winger-come-striker silenced every critic. With no less than the great Thierry Henry watching from the stands, Walcott took centre stage in Arsenal’s clash against Newcastle. An expertly taken hat-trick and an involvement in all of Arsenal’s best chances saw Walcott lead Arsenal to an emphatic 7-3 victory over Alan Pardew’s men.
Manchester City and Stoke City were both also involved in thrilling clashes too against Norwich City and Southampton respectively. The Champions were involved in a seven-goal thriller at Carrow Road and came out on top with a 4-3 win despite playing 45 minutes without the dismissed Samir Nasri. Whilst Dzeko and Aguero combined extremely well, the star of the show was Yaya Toure who put in another instrumental performance for Manchester City, combining fantastically with the forwards – how they will cope when he leaves for the African Cup of Nations must surely be on City’s mind.
Stoke saw their astounding unbeaten home record flash before their eyes as Southampton, through a combination of hard work and good fortune, found themselves 3-1 up. However a goal from rare starter, Matthew Upson, saw Stoke set up a tense finale where Cameron Jerome was able to seal the draw and a preserve Stoke’s home record in spectacular fashion with a belting half-volley from 30 yards out.
Everton were not so fortunate as they blotched their home record with a loss to Chelsea. Rafael Benitez has been pestered in recent weeks about the future of Frank Lampard and the general consensus around Chelsea seems to be that the Englishman will leave at the end of the season when his contract expires. Today Lampard gave Chelsea a reason to think twice about this apparent decision as he saved his side from defeat at Goodison Park. A goal either side of halftime saw Lampard cancel out Steven Pienaar’s opener but Everton had their chances to win the game and will be disappointed they didn’t take any of them.
Manchester United, on the other hand, found chances at a premium in their home clash with West Bromwich Albion. Sir Alex Ferguson made five changes from the Swansea game and rested star-forwards, Robin Van Persie and Javier Hernandez, who’s presence they really missed up front. United took the lead early on but never took control of the game as West Brom were menacing in their pursuit of the ball. Van Persie came on to settle affairs late on as he scored to lead United a 2-0 win but such an unconvincing victory could be a worry for Ferguson’s side as such a tough few fixtures approach.
Tottenham Hotspur, however, were very good value for money in their win at Sunderland. Andre Villas-Boas’ side had the upper-hand throughout and with Gareth Bale in typically brilliant form, it wasn’t a surprise to see Spurs canter to a 2-1 win. A one goal margin sounds close but in all honesty Spurs could have had six or seven had they taken their chances.
A side known for their failings in front of goal are Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool but they faced no such worries on their outing at QPR. Despite having their manager struck down by illness, Liverpool made mincemeat of the QPR defence as Luis Suarez in particular wreaked havoc and condemned QPR to end 2012 at the bottom of the table with a dismal 10 points from 20 games.
This loss ensured that Reading stayed three points clear of QPR in 19th place after they secured a 1-0 win over a toothless West Ham side at the Madjeski Stadium. A lapse in the defence by James Collins allowed Pavel Pogrebnyak in to snatch the lead for Reading and they never looked back as they held onto their lead and their second win of the season.
Wigan’s fifth win of the season came in stylish fashion as they ran out 3-0 victors away at Aston Villa. Ex-Villa star, Shaun Maloney, was instrumental for Wigan as they made worryingly easy work of Paul Lambert’s young Villa side. Villa have now conceded 15 goals in their last three matches and it’s a terrifying turnaround from the team that was beating Liverpool at Anfield not so long ago.
Swansea have already beaten last season’s points total for games away from home and continued that success against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Top-scorer, Michu, didn’t feature for the away side but that mattered little as the away side dominated the first half and found themselves 2-0 up with just over 50 minutes gone. Brian Ruiz led a fightback for Fulham but it was in vain as Fulham couldn’t quite snatch an equaliser, going on to lose 2-1.
Results:-
Arsenal 7 – 3 Newcastle United
Norwich City 3 – 4 Manchester City
Stoke City 3 – 3 Southampton
Everton 1 – 2 Chelsea
Manchester United 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion
Sunderland 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
Queens Park Rangers 0 – 3 Liverpool
Reading 1 – 0 West Ham United
Aston Villa 0 – 3 Wigan Athletic
Fulham 1 – 2 Swansea City