‘Never a dull moment’; a phrase that springs to mind when thinking of the begin to most Premier League season – this year though that statement seems to have taken it’s fair share of performance enhancing drugs as the changes in proceedings throughout the league table have been relentless.
Manchester United’s season so far has been a tale of the two 4-1’s as they kicked off the campaign on the right side of that score-line but have recently found themselves on the wrong one. However after grafting to a win over Liverpool in the week’s cup action, fans may have thought things were looking up – West Bromwich Albion had other ideas. However, whilst the result wasn’t quite as amazing as the 5-5 draw at the end of last season, it was a shocker. Aside from Wayne Rooney’s input and the occasional flash of class from Nani and Kagawa, United looked extremely ordinary and very out of sorts whereas West Brom looked like trouble anytime they ventured into the Champions’ half. Amalfitano epitomised Manchester United’s fragility in the second half as he danced around the Old Trafford rearguard, particularly a lacklustre Rio Ferdinand, before finishing excellently past De Gea for the lead. Wayne Rooney equalised for the Champions from a soft free-kick before another direct run at United’s defence led to West Brom’s taking of the lead once again as Berahino capitalised on slow reactions from the United defence to belt past De Gea from range. United were denied a penalty but when you’re league champions playing at home you shouldn’t be relying on refereeing decisions to help you win games; United now lie 12th in the table and are going to need a herculean effort over the coming weeks to get themselves back in the title hunt.
Manchester City didn’t fare much better at Villa Park as they fell to a very impressive Aston Villa. The home side didn’t start very impressively though as City spurned chance after chance after chance to take the lead. The resurgent Samir Nasri was the focal point of City’s creativity with Yaya Toure pulling the strings at the crucial moments, giving Pellegrini’s side the lead just before half-time with his sixth of the season. El Ahmadi equalised at the start of the second half for Villa before Nasri combined with Edin Dzeko from a corner to give City the lead again in rather unusual circumstances as the cross went in off Dzeko’s back; a goal very much like Javier Hernandez’ at Stoke a few years ago. Leandro Bacuna levelled the scoring once again for Villa with a beautiful free-kick from the edge of the area that left Joe Hart rooted to the spot before Andreas Weimann gave Villa the lead with a little help from a woeful Manchester City defensive effort. City should have had the game won in the first half but their lack of sharpness at the crucial moments killed off their chances of victory.
The master and the apprentice took each other on at White Hart Lane in a very tactical battle as Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea visited former Protégé Andre Villas Boas’ Tottenham side. Christian Eriksen was the focal point of Spurs’ attack early on and a delightful touch to pass Lampard early on kicked off what would be a goal-scoring move for the impressive Gylfi Sigurrdson. Spurs had countless other chances throughout the half as Chelsea looked toothless; however Mourinho acted quickly to bring on Juan Mata who tipped the balance of the game grimly in Chelsea’s favour before the build-up of pressure culminated in a very well worked set-piece goal with a trademark header from John Terry. The drama didn’t finish there though as a hotly-contested battle throughout the game between Fernando Torres and Jan Vertonghen saw the former sent off for two altercations with the latter; the second of which was debatable however it didn’t cost Chelsea too much as they were able to hold on to the draw.
All of this meant that Arsenal had the opportunity to go two points clear at the top if they could beat Michael Laudrup’s Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium; not an easy task you might think, but Arsenal certainly made it look that way! And whilst all the talk regarding Arsenal has been about one German, their dominance was asserted by another, an 18-year old one at that. Serge Gnabry added some more pace to an already viciously quick Arsenal side and his youthful exuberance saw him grab the lead for the Gunners before the duty fell to a Welshman to put the game to bed. Aaron Ramsey capped off a beautiful footballing move that entailed two backheels and countless cute passes to bury the ball in the top corner. Full-back, Ben Davies, got a goal back for the Swans but it was no more than a consolation as the Gunners climbed to the lofty heights that Gunners fans have been craving for so long now.
Elsewhere in the league, this season’s promoted sides had varying degrees of success. Cardiff won away against a floundering Fulham side but it wasn’t without it’s drama as a game that looked set for a draw was snatched by Cardiff late on thanks to a Jordon Mutch wonder goal allowing them to snatch their first away win in the Premier League.
Robbie Brady gifted Hull a 1-0 win over West Ham as he converted an early penalty to send Steve Bruce’s side on their way to 7th place in the Premier League.
Crystal Palace can only dream of 7th place right now as they fell 2-0 to Southampton at Saint Mary’s. Pablo Osvaldo and Rickie Lambert sent Mauricio Pochettino’s side on their way to their first Premier League home win of the season. Cries from the Southampton gaffer for Lambert to start replicating his England form for his club don’t seem to have fallen on deaf ears after a determined performance from the Englishman carried the Saints to victory.
Join us again tomorrow for a roundup of Liverpool’s trip to Sunderland and Stoke’s clash with Norwich City!
Results:
Manchester United 1 – 2 West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa 3 – 2 Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 1 Chelsea
Swansea City 1 – 2 Arsenal
Fulham 1 – 2 Cardiff City
Hull City 1 – 0 West Ham United
Southampton 2 – 0 Crystal Palace