Premier League Round-Up 22/11/10

When summing up this week’s Premier League programme there is only one place to start.

Not that long ago it looked as though Arsenal had banished the fragility which has plagued them in previous seasons, but their capitulation at home to Spurs suggested nothing has really changed.

Credit to Harry Redknapp for inspiring the second-half comeback which earned Spurs a first win at the home of their fiercest rivals in 17 years, but the game was really about Arsenal snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

They should have been home and dry by half-time but – in scenes reminiscent of their visit to Wigan’s DW Stadium last season – once the fightback begun there was no sign of the Gunners arresting their slide towards defeat.

One team without such fragility issues is Bolton, and Owen Coyle’s side continued their march up the table with a crushing 5-1 win over Newcastle.

Neither Johan Elmander nor Kevin Davies has been particularly prolific while ploughing a lone furrow at the Reebok, yet by bringing the duo together Coyle has formed one of the most dangerous strike partnerships in the league.

Both struck twice on Saturday, with Chung-Yong Lee – one of the most underrated players in the top-flight – getting the other goal for the Trotters. Andy Carroll’s eighth of the season gave the visitors a glimmer of hope but ultimately proved academic.

Just as impressive was Manchester City’s 4-1 win at Fulham. Roberto Mancini’s side have received their fair share of criticism for negative displays but attack was the order of the day, with even the much-maligned Yaya Toure breaking forward to get on the scoresheet.

Mark Hughes’ side, on the other hand, will be nervously looking over their shoulders after the early-season unbeaten run is now starting to look like, well, just loads of draws.

Fulham are now just one place above the relegation zone, thanks in no small part to Birmingham’s surprise win over Chelsea.

While Lee Bowyer scored the goal, taking advantage of a centre-back in Alex whose pain-killing injection seemingly had side-effects of drowsiness, the star of the show was Ben Foster.

After his unconvincing display for England on Wednesday, Foster proved he is still a viable contender for the national side by keeping out everything Chelsea threw at him and earning his sixth clean sheet of the campaign.

As Birmingham are on the up, their west midlands neighbours are all heading in the opposite direction after defeats this weekend.

Aston Villa, missing several key players, were nonetheless outclassed by a Blackburn side comfortable from the moment Morten Gamst Pedersen put them into a first-half lead on Sunday.

The spirit remained from last week’s draw against Manchester United, but Gerard Houllier’s side lacked a cutting edge in the absence of Marc Albrighton.

That result leaves Villa a point ahead of West Brom, who are in freefall with one point from four games.

Stoke were the beneficiaries of some generous defending this time around, Jon Walters adding to Matty Etherington’s penalty with a second-half brace in the Potters’ biggest away win since their return to the Premier League.

But the situation remains far from desperate for the Baggies, which is more than can be said for local rivals Wolves.

A fourth successive defeat leaves them on a paltry nine points, although any side would have been hard-pressed to respond to the opening goal from Blackpool’s Luke Varney.

Varney’s effort, a volley from way out which arced over a helpless Marcus Hahnemann, conjured up memories of Hugo Rodallega’s goal of the season contender last year.

On the subject of Rodallega, the Colombian striker did not enjoy quite as fruitful an afternoon at Old Trafford on Saturday.

A two-footed lunge saw him sent off, after team-mate Antolin Alcaraz had seen red just minutes earlier, and Manchester United’s margin of victory could have been far greater than 2-0.

Defeat for Wigan saw them slip into the bottom three, where they have Wolves and West Ham for company.

Saturday’s defeat at Anfield was comfortably the Hammers’ worst performance of the season, which is really saying something given their record of seven defeats and just one win in their opening 14 games.

Liverpool barely needed to break a sweat, racing into a three-goal lead before half-time, and one gets the feeling they could have not turned up for the second half and still scored a couple more without reply, had they so wished.

Monday night’s game was one of the most exciting since Richard Keys returned to out screens on a weeknight, Everton and Sunderland sharing the spoils in a pulsating 2-2 draw.

Danny Welbeck made up for the absence of Asamoah Gyan by scoring both goals for the Black Cats, sandwiched between efforts from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta.

But both sides missed golden chances to win the game in stoppage time: first Welbeck snatched at his shot when well-placed, then Everton substitute Jermaine Beckford prodded wastefully over after being put clean through on goal.

Team of the week (4-4-2): Foster (Birmingham); Eardley (Blackpool), Gallas (Tottenham), Johnson (Birmingham), Evra (Man Utd); Holden (Bolton), Meireles (Liverpool), Pedersen (Blackburn), Silva (Man City); Tevez (Man City), Elmander (Bolton)

Premier League round-up 23/08/2010

Last week I talked about champions Chelsea being frustrated by one of the minnows of the Premier League before emerging with an inconceivable 6-0 win. I didn’t in my wildest dreams believe I’d be repeating myself this week.

Chelsea’s second-half performance at the DW Stadium was by all accounts a procession, but they had been more than matched in chances and commitment by a determined Wigan side keen to erase the memory of an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to Blackpool on the opening weekend.

Roberto Martinez has a lot of thinking to do

Unfortunately for Roberto Martinez’s side they collapsed after falling a couple of goals behind, a situation all-too-familiar to the Spaniard. Indeed you only have to go back to the end of last season to find an example of a Latics capitulation at the hands of the same opponents who defeated them on Saturday.

Amazingly, this was not the only case of a team racing to a flattering 6-0 win in a game they might have drawn or even lost. Aston Villa looked to be cruising against Newcastle in the early stages, but John Carew’s penalty miss (not the first or last of the weekend, but more on that later) seemed to provide a catalyst for the Toon Army to wake up and run away with the tie.

Chris Hughton’s side displayed a flair and counter-attacking verve completely absent in their relegation campaign two seasons ago, and if the 3-0 scoreline at half-time was generous, they never looked in danger of relinquishing their lead. The manner in which Newcastle cruised through the second half suggests they will have few concerns come May, and in Andy Carroll they have a striker capable of tucking away the chances squandered by the likes of Shola Ameobi in the past.

There was, believe it or not, a third 6-0 game this weekend. The only difference as far as Arsenal’s triumph over Blackpool is concerned is that the hosts were fully deserving of the crushing victory. Of course things may have been different if Ian Evatt had not scythed down Marouane Chamakh before the break, but the Tangerines already knew they were going to be in for a long afternoon.

How costly will Carlton Cole's penalty miss prove to be?

It was, it seems, a week of missed penalties. Of the six awarded only two were converted, by Mark Noble and Andrei Arshavin. And Noble’s goal came only after West Ham team-mate Carlton Cole had sent a feeble effort into the hands of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. In a classic game of two halves, the Finn’s save ensured the Trotters ended a West Ham-dominated first period on level terms before outplaying their opponents after the break to emerge with a 3-1 victory.

Just as costly a penalty miss was Nani’s for Manchester United against Fulham. With four minutes left on the clock he had the opportunity to make the game safe, but David Stockdale pulled off an impressive save and Brede Hangeland’s late header allowed Mark Hughes’ side to escape with a 2-2 draw.

What is it with English goalkeepers and penalty saves? The day before Stockdale’s heroics, former United number one Ben Foster tipped Morten Gamst Pedersen’s spot-kick onto the woodwork, paving the way for his Birmingham side to edge past Blackburn 2-1. The hero at the other end was Craig Gardner, a young man enjoying his football after making the move across England’s second city from rivals Villa.

If English goalkeepers provided one of the main talking points this summer, another was provided by the argument for or against goal-line technology. It would of course only be a matter of time until that particular debate reared its ugly head once more, and the Britannia Stadium was the setting for the source of pub debates across the country.

Did Jonathan Walters’ late effort cross the line? Probably. Would sensors or cameras have confirmed whether a goal should have been awarded? Possibly. With a clear view of the incident, should Chris Foy have made a decision himself rather than delegating to an unsighted linesman? Definitely.

Ebanks-Blake might finally be finding his feet in the Premier League

While Stoke may have lost their opening two games, they still look like an established Premier League team, and Mick McCarthy’s Wolves are looking to follow their example. While many (myself included) tipped Wolves to struggle, they already seem a more solid outfit than they did last season, as demonstrated by a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park. One of their problems last campaign was their strikers’ lack of confidence in front of goal, so Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s equaliser will have done him a world of good at this early stage.

Speaking of strikers looking to benefit from an early-season pick-me-up, Peter Odemwingie got his West Bromwich Albion career off to the perfect start, netting the winner against Sunderland. Perhaps just as important for Baggies boss Roberto di Matteo was the clean sheet, erasing the memories of the opening-day defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Finally, one of the advantages of writing my round-up on a Monday night is that I can comment on the final match in this round of fixtures. Manchester City’s victory over Liverpool was as comfortable as they come, and a perfect present for watching owner Sheikh Mansour. With Carlos Tevez getting into his goalscoring stride and James Milner slotting into the first-team as if he had been at Eastlands for years, City look capable of a top-four finish if not better.

Team of the week (4-3-2-1):

Jaaskelainen (Bolton); Richards (Man City), Roger Johnson (Birmingham), Williamson (Newcastle), Cole (Chelsea); Scholes (Man Utd), Henry (Wolves), Gardner (Birmingham); Walcott (Arsenal), Adam Johnson (Man City); Carroll (Newcastle)