Links for 09/01/11

With other distractions consuming my attention over the Christmas and New Year period, it has been a while since the last Pele Confidential reading list. As a result, I will bring you an extended selection of articles, from the holiday period as well as the last week.

David Beckham signing for LA Galaxy in 2007 (photo: Jeremy Ryan)

LA Galaxy deserve better than Beckham by me at Footy Matters – Would fans of English clubs stand for the way the former Manchester United man has treated his MLS club?

Why Aston Villa would be the perfect fit for Omar Cummings by me at Footy Matters – A look at how the Jamaican forward would fit into the set-up of the club where he is currently on trial

Major League Soccer should welcome Guille Franco with open arms by me at Footy Matters – An examination of what the Mexican has to offer to the league

Chris Wondolowski: The Carlos Tevez of the MLS? by me at Footy Matters – An assessment of whether the deep-lying forward could replicate his club form to provide the United States with a new avenue of attack

Teal Bunbury will gain a lot from Stoke City rejection by me at Footy Matters – A look at how young talents pften have more to gain from not getting a big move before they are ready

Togo's national team at the 2006 World Cup (photo: the weaver)

In Togolese memoriam by Gary Al-Smith at In Bed With Maradona – an emotional look at the Africa Cup of Nations one year after the tragic attack on the Togo team bus in Cabinda

 

Sir Alex, El Tel and Barca: What If? by Alex Dimond at In Bed With Maradona – a thought-provoking assessment of one managerial decision on the whole spectrum of European football over the last 23 years.

Has transsexuality in football turned a corner? by Chris Ledger at In Bed With Maradona – a revealing analysis of an issue which perhaps has been given insufficient coverage in the past

The revolution must be televised by Juliet Jacques at In Bed With Maradona – an rallying call for the English broadcast media

The saddest thing in football by Domm Norris at In Bed With Maradona – a sensitive approach to the agony felt by fans of Russian club FC Saturn Moscow Oblast

Former Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved (photo: Mike Brown)

Juventus – Team of the Decade by Liam Apicella at Footy Matters – The best eleven players to have graced the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin

Why David Beckham to Spurs makes sense by Andrew Fitchett at Footy Matters – What the North London club would have to gain from the introduction of the former England captain

Stevenage have come a long way since they last met Newcastle by Joe Tyler at Footy Matters – An assessment of the progress made by the League 2 club in the decade-or-so since they took yesterday’s Premier League opponents to a famous FA Cup replay

Break-ups to make-ups: On Rooney, Tevez, and letting go by Greg Theoharis at Just Football – The impact on fans of their favourite players moving to pastures new

Why write about football? by Dominic Pollard at Polly’s Pause for Sport – the title says it all, really. A must-read for any budding football writer.

 

 

http://www.footymatters.com/articles/world-leagues/mls/major-league-soccer-should-welcome-guille-franco-with-open-arms/C

Premier League Round-Up 14/12/10

Manchester United opened up an ominous-looking three-point gap at the top of the table, after they beat Arsenal and Chelsea could only draw at Tottenham.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side could develop a real gap between themselves and the chasing pack with victory at Stamford Bridge next week, and have a game in hand against Blackpool to boot.

Park Ji-Sung’s first-half header was enough to see off the challenge of Arsenal, who failed to hit their stride on a pitch described by Arsene Wenger as ‘very poor.’

Meanwhile, at White Hart Lane it looked as though hosts Spurs would be made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal as Didier Drogba’s shot beat Heurelho Gomes and the Brazilian keeper then felled Ramires in stoppage time to give away a penalty.

But Gomes made his name stopping spot-kicks, as Lyon found out to their chagrin in the 2005 Champions League, and he stopped Drogba’s effort to keep Tottenham in touch with the top four.

The fixture list provided a great opportunity for Manchester City to put themselves forward as genuine title contenders, and with their rivals facing off against each other Roberto Mancini’s side ended the weekend in third place.

Their lofty position comes courtesy of a comfortable 3-1 win at West Ham, with Yaya Toure continuing to slowly prove his worth in the North-West.

West Ham, meanwhile, remain bottom after that defeat and manager Avram Grant must surely feel his time is nearly up.

If the Hammers are to replace Grant, one man who might come in is Sam Allardyce. The Blackburn manager was the latest victim of a shock sacking as the club’s Indian owners felt defeat against 10-man Bolton was one loss too many.

Owen Coyle’s Trotters continue to hold their own in the top six, with the team making light of Mark Davies’ dismissal to see off their opponents 2-1.

Fabrice Muamba and Stuart Holden scored the goals, either side of a Mame Biram Diouf effort, to leave Coyle’s side five points and seven places ahead of their managerless victims.

Speaking of managerial changes, this week’s incumbent of the St James’ Park hot seat – Alan Pardew – earned himself a stay of execution (only joking) with victory over Liverpool in his first game as Newcastle manager.

Joey Barton almost managed not to rise to fairly blatant Liverpool attempts to wind him up, and actually let his football do the talking, while Andy Carroll’s clinching goal in the 3-1 win will be the kind of thing he falls back on in a few years when his career inevitably goes the way of former North-East darling Michael Bridges.

Another boss who remains under pressure – if reports are to be believed – is Aston Villa’s Gerard Houllier, and that will make his side’s victory over West Brom on Saturday all the more important.

The 2-1 triumph came courtesy of goals from Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey, while Paul Scharner’s consolation did little apart from costing me a handful of fantasy league points.

Albion’s Black Country rivals Wolves secured a priceless victory in the second Midlands derby of the weekend, with Stephen Hunt’s second goal in black and gold (the black and gold of Wolves, that is, rather than the black and gold of previous club Hull) enough to see off a painfully disappointing Birmingham outfit.

The only other goal of the weekend came at the Britannia Stadium, where Blackpool continued to confound their doubters with victory over Stoke.

DJ Campbell was the hero for Ian Holloway’s Seasiders, as he has been many times in the past, although the visitors had the woodwork to thank for keeping out Stoke on multiple occasions.

Few could have predicted ‘Pool sitting four points ahead of Everton at this stage in the campaign, but that is exactly where they are after the Toffees failed to break the deadlock at home to Wigan.

David Moyes side missed the creative energy of Mikel Arteta, and fans will hope American international Landon Donovan returns in January for a second loan spell after impressing last season.

The final game of the week was played at Craven Cottage, and involved Fulham and Sunderland.

That’s about as much as I can tell you: I was at the game, and nothing actually happened over the course of the 90 minutes. The ‘highlight’ (if it can be called that) was Ahmed Elmohamady curling into a foetal position after a football-in-the-groin moment which puts Hans Moleman to shame.

Team of the week (4-2-3-1) Foster (Birmingham); Ricketts (Bolton), Vidic (Man Utd), Cuellar (Aston Villa), Ward (Wolves); Yaya Toure (Man City), Barton (Newcastle); Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Vaughan (Blackpool), Holden (Bolton); Campbell (Blackpool)

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 16/11/2010

The Premier League threw up yet more surprise results this week, none more shocking than Sunderland’s 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge. The Black Cats had lost their last 11 games against Chelsea, but looked far more up for the game than their depleted opponents.

A fine individual effort from Nedum Onuoha was followed by second-half goals for Asamoah Gyan and the splendid Danny Welbeck, boosting Steve Bruce’s confidence in his side after the midweek draw with Tottenham but raising concerns for Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti.

Title rivals Manchester United remain unbeaten in the league thanks to a late comeback against Aston Villa, but their seventh draw in 13 games means Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are three points adrift of Chelsea in third.

The points looked to be going the way of Gerard Houllier’s Villa after Ashley Young and Marc Albrighton found the net, but the hosts were made to pay for a hatful of missed chances as Federico Macheda halved the deficit and Nemanja Vidic headed home a late leveller.

Houllier can still be proud of his charges, though, with Stewart Downing marshalling a relatively-inexperienced midfield and almost earning his side a win.

Arsenal provide the meat in the United-Chelsea sandwich at the top after a 2-1 win away at Everton on Sunday.

Tim Cahill missed a glorious chance to give the Toffees the lead, and when he did finally find the net his team were trailing to strikes from Bacary Sagna and Cesc Fabregas.

Back-to-back wins provide a welcome relief to Arsene Wenger, after defeats against Shakhtar and Newcastle threatened to derail their season following a promising start.

An interesting dynamic was created at Eastlands as Manchester City and Birmingham played out a drab goalless draw.

The hosts will be disappointed with the draw despite it leaving them in the top four, while the visitors might see it as a point gained despite dropping into the bottom three as a result.

One of the main talking points will be Roberto Mancini’s decision to withdraw Carlos Tevez and introduce Gareth Barry, but in truth his side created some of their best chances after the Argentinian left the field.

Bolton are the latest team to step into the revolving door of fifth place, and proved how deserving they are of the position with a stunning attacking peformance for three quarters of their game at Molineux.

Johan Elmander’s fine solo effort was book-ended by a Richard Stearman own goal and Stuart Holden’s first goal in English football, although Owen Coyle may be disappointed with the lax defending which let in Kevin Foley and Steven Fletcher to narrow the deficit late on.

Defeat for Wolves in that game leaves them 19th in the table, five points from safety and only above West Ham on goal difference.

The Hammers missed a glorious chance to make up ground on their relegation rivals when they failed to convert any of their 17 shots on goal in a goalless draw at home to Blackpool.

It could have been even worse as former Upton Park favourite Marlon Harewood had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, but the home faithful will point to the denial of an early penalty appeal when Pablo Barrera was chopped down by Stephen Crainey.

Wigan climbed out of the bottom three with a win against West Brom, who themselves are sliding in the wrong direction after one point from four games.

Victor Moses scored the only goal of the game after unselfish work from Charles N’Zogbia, and Albion failed to find an equaliser despite ending the game with three strikers on the field.

Perhaps the most exciting game of the weekend came at White Hart Lane, where Gareth Bale produced another virtuoso display to help Tottenham to a 4-2 win over Blackburn.

Bale scored two and made another, before late strikes from Ryan Nelsen and Gael Givet made their own defensive shortcomings seem less embarrassing with a couple of late consolation goals.

In a battle between two sides rooted in mid-table, Stoke got the better of a dismal Liverpool outfit to leapfrog their opponents and move into the top half.

Ricardo Fuller and Kenwyne Jones netted as Liverpool looked a shadow of the side which beat Chelsea last week, and to add insult to injury they saw Lucas dismissed for two yellow cards.

The final game of the weekend will most likely be forgotten quickly by anyone who wasn’t at St James’ Park, and maybe even by some of those who were there.

Neither Newcastle nor Fulham lacked hunger, but both were lacking in the necessary spark to break the deadlock. Moussa Dembele came close when he hit the bar, but Fulham are missing the presence of Bobby Zamora up front as much as Newcastle missed Joey Barton’s midfield organisation.

Team of the week (4-4-2): Foster (Birmingham); Carr (Birmingham), Cathcart (Blackpool), Alcaraz (Wigan), Warnock (Aston Villa); Holden (Bolton), Fahey (Birmingham), Downing (Aston Villa), Bale (Tottenham); Welbeck (Sunderland), Fuller (Stoke)

Premier League Round-Up 02/11/10

It has reached that point in the season when the Premier League table starts to take shape, with those teams at the top eking out hard-fought victories over those at the bottom.

Nowhere was this more true than at Ewood Park, where Chelsea came from behind to snatch a 2-1 win through a late header from Branislav Ivanovic.

In the same fixture last season, Carlo Ancelotti’s side limped to an unconvincing 1-1 draw – seen then as a sign of their title aspirations fading – and the three points earned on Saturdaywill represent a huge morale boost for a team whose flying start to the campaign has been long forgotten.

The key to any title contender’s season is the way they perform without their best players. While Frank Lampard’s absence has triggered a slight downturn in form, the Blues have responding well to September’s defeat at Manchester City with three wins from four league games.

Alex Song

Arsenal also left it late to grab all three points at home to West Ham, in a game which was beginning to look very reminiscent of Arsene Wenger’s first league defeat at the Emirates Stadium three-and-a-half years ago.

Some resolute defending and an inspired performance from Rob Green almost earned West Ham their first away shut-out of the season, but Alex Song popped up to turn in a pinpoint Gael Clichy delivery two minutes from time.

These are not the games which will determine West Ham’s survival, but they are the games which will shape Arsenal’s title challenge, and Song’s winner could prove crucial in terms of momentum.

Manchester United remain third after seeing off the surprisingly-weak challenge of Tottenham at Old Trafford, although the clinching goal will be talked about for some time.

Mark Clattenburg has previous with Spurs, of course, but that in itself would have been no reason for him to disallow Nani’s effort. He simply made a hash of the initial decision and seemed almost afraid to admit the original error, even if in retrospect it seems like the only logical course of action.

At least Harry Redknapp can use that flashpoint to avoid a bigger problem – the complete lack of a cutting edge in the absence of Spurs’ attacking triumvirate of Crouch, Defoe and van der Vaart.

Manchester City have clung onto fourth spot despite slipping to a 2-1 defeat at an impressive Wolves side far removed from the negativity of last season.

Nenad Milijas

Nenad Milijas and Dave Edwards scored the goals after Emmanuel Adebayor had given City the lead from the penalty spot, but the hosts had plenty of other chances to score and could have really embarrassed their opponents had they been more clinical.

There has been talk this week of Antonio Cassano moving to City after his shock release by Sampdoria, but Roberto Mancini should be looking at solidifying his back four rather than bringing in another forward.

West Bromwich Albion missed the chance to leapfrog Mancini’s side on Monday night, giving themselves a mountain to climb by going down to nine men within half an hour against Blackpool.

As harsh as Pablo Ibanez’s 9th-minute dismissal was, Gonzalo Jara can have no excuses after leaping two-footed into a challenge with Luke Varney, and that should have been that.

But after Varney added to Charlie Adam’s early penalty, Blackpool almost let the visitors snatch an unlikely point. Youssuf Mulumbu’s sweet strike halved the deficit, and the game might have ended 2-2 had a late, late chance fallen to anyone but Steven Reid, but the Irishman failed to add to his 6 goals in over 100 Premier League games.

Newcastle are now a mere point behind the side they beat to the Championship title last season, courtesy of a crushing 5-1 victory over Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby.

After conceding only seven goals in their nine previous games, Steve Bruce could be forgiven for thinking his defence was doing a reasonable job, but the Black Cats’ back-line was conspicuous in its absence as Shola Ameobi netted twice and Kevin Nolan fired home his first Premier League hat-trick in more than 10 years of asking.

Steve Brucs

Everton continued their good form of late with a 1-0 win against Stoke, Yakubu scoring the only goal when he reacted quickest after Tim Cahill struck the post.

It was a timely strike for the forward, who has struggled for goals after a poor World Cup with Nigeria, but another shot-shy frontman felt he should also have put his name on the scoresheet.

Stoke’s Turkish frontman Tuncay found the net again one week after his stunner against Manchester United, but referee Lee Probert harshly ruled it out for a push.

The defeat at Goodison Park left Stoke 16th, two points behind Fulham after the Cottagers cruised to a 2-0 win against a lacklustre Wigan outfit.

Clint Dempsey scored both goals for the hosts, doubling his tally for the season, as Fulham opened up a gap between themselves and the bottom three.

They are one of five teams currently on 12 points, and Liverpool joined that group with a scrappy 1-0 win at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.

Maxi Rodriguez

Maxi Rodriguez scored the only goal of the game to ease some of the pressure on Reds boss Roy Hodgson, but it will take more than the odd 1-0 win for him to win over the Anfield faithful.

The final game of the weekend was a surprisingly-tame second-city derby between Birmingham and Aston Villa.

An uneventful goalless draw hardly provided the best advert for the upcoming Carling Cup quarter-final between the two sides, with the stop-start nature of the game ensuring neither side could get a real rhythm going. Maybe the cup tie will be different.

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

Green (West Ham); Ivanovic (Chelsea), Hughes (Fulham) Stearman (Wolves), Salcido (Fulham); Heitinga (Everton), Clark (Aston Villa); Nolan (Newcastle), Edwards (Wolves), Dempsey (Fulham); Benjani (Blackburn)

Premier League Round-Up 25/10/10

West Ham and Wolves are starting to see a gap develop between themselves and the rest of the Premier League after defeats this weekend.

The Irons failed to build on a solid first-half performance against Newcastle, woeful defending letting in Andy Carroll to head in the winner unchallenged from six yards.

With Matthew Upson unable to complete the 90 minutes and Manuel da Costa perhaps distracted by off-field events, Avram Grant will need to act fast to shore up a back-line which has leaked 17 goals in the first eight games of the season.

Kalou and Malouda

Wolves can be more pleased with their performance, giving Chelsea a run for their money before slipping to a 2-0 defeat thanks to goals from Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou.

They tested Petr Cech on a number of occasions, and things are looking up after Stephen Hunt played 45 minutes on his return from injury.

The other team in the bottom three, Liverpool, started what they hope will be a speedy ascent of the table with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos has now doubled his goalscoring tally from last season, and while his opener was quickly cancelled out by a Jamie Carragher own goal, Fernando Torres restored the Anfield club’s lead and earned them their second win of the season.

Liverpool’s only other victory was against West Brom, who kept up their strong recent form by coming from behind to beat Fulham.

Mark Hughes’ side opened the scoring through a Scott Carson own goal, but Youssuf Mulumbu drew the scores level with his first goal of the season and Marc-Antoine Fortune ignored Fulham’s offside appeals to slot home the winner and take Albion fourth on Saturday night.

On Sunday, however, wins for Manchester United and Arsenal saw them leapfrog Roberto di Matteo’s men and move back into the Champions League places.

Dedryck Boyata

Arsenal’s victory was the more impressive, although the 3-0 scoreline against Man City was helped somewhat by opposing defender Dedryck Boyata receiving a red card after just five minutes.

The Gunners made the most of their man advantage, with Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings, and the Spaniard could even afford to miss a penalty.

United, meanwhile, left it late to make sure of all three points at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium. Chicharito opened the scoring with a brilliantly-improvised header, only for Tuncay to draw Stoke level with a finish right out of the top drawer.

But Mexican striker Chicharito had the last word, diverting Patrice Evra’s wayward shot beyond Thomas Sorensen with four minutes to play.

Tottenham slipped out of the top four after being held to a 1-1 draw by an Everton side now unbeaten in four games.

Leighton Baines’ early free-kick was cancelled out by a close-range Rafael van der Vaart strike, but neither team could find the crucial second goal.

1-1 was also the final score at the DW Stadium, with Johan Elmander rescuing a point for Bolton against Wigan.

Hugo Rodallega opened the scoring for the Latics after being played through by Franco di Santo, but Elmander reacted quickest in a goalmouth scramble to poke home the leveller.

Liam Ridgewell

The remaining Lancashire club, Blackpool, slipped to a demoralising 2-0 defeat against an often shot-shy Birmingham outfit at St Andrews.

Ian Holloway admitted to being out-thought by opposing number Alex McLeish as goals from Liam Ridgewell and Nikola Zigic condemned ‘Pool to their fifth reverse of the campaign.

The final game of the weekend saw Sunderland preserve their unbeaten home record with a narrow win over Aston Villa.

An own goal from Richard Dunne was all that separated the sides, a Premier League record eighth for the Irish centre-back.

Team of the week (4-5-1)

Fabianski (Arsenal); Bosingwa (Chelsea), Tamas (West Brom), Kyrgiakos (Liverpool), Baines (Everton); Morrison (West Brom), Tiote (Newcastle), Fabregas (Arsenal), Mulumbu (West Brom), Hleb (Birmingham); Hernandez (Man Utd)

Premier League Round-Up 18/10/10

This week we had to wait until Sunday for the pick of the games, with Manchester City’s 3-2 win at Blackpool one of the early highlights of an at-times-underwhelming season.

The game was already exciting enough by the time a seemingly-offside Carlos Tevez flicked past Matt Gilks in the ‘Pool goal, but after that it really began to catch fire.

Marlon Harewood glanced in an equaliser before a fortunate deflection helped Tevez get his second, and David Silva’s curler sealed the points before a late consolation from Gary Taylor-Fletcher.

Roberto Mancini will be happy with his side’s attacking intent after switching to a 4-4-2 formation, but the centre-back pairing of Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott looked suspect as the hosts created plenty of presentable chances.

City’s local rivals Manchester United squandered a comfortable lead for the umpteenth time this season after Javier Hernandez and Nani had put them 2-0 up at home to West Brom before half time.

Somen Tchoyi

First Chris Brunt’s free-kick went through a paper-thin wall and deflected in of Patrice Evra, and then a howler from Edwin van der Sar allowed Somen Tchoyi to grab his first goal in Baggies colours.

While the draw was the result of individual errors, the United of old would not have surrendered leads on so many occasions.

Both United and City will be thankful that Chelsea failed to extend their lead at the top, although it was not for want of trying.

Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka both hit the woodwork as Carlo Ancelotti’s side knocked at the Aston Villa door to no avail.

At the other end the Blues were grateful for some profligacy in front of goal from Gerard Houllier’s men, with Stephen Ireland and Nigel Reo-Coker failing to test Petr Cech when given a good sight of goal.

After their recent struggles, Arsenal got back to winning ways at home to Birmingham, although the visitors made it difficult for them.

Nikola Zigic gave the Blues a first-half lead after Alex McLeish’s men rode an early Arsenal storm, although a disputed penalty – converted by Samir Nasri – brought the hosts level.

Marouane Chamakh, the man felled by Scott Dann for the penalty in question, finally made the breakthrough just after the break, and they had chances to extend their lead before a red card for Jack Wilshere meant the game ended on a sour note.

Another player who saw red late on was Bolton’s Ivan Klasnic, who followed his late winner for Bolton against Stoke with two even later bookings.

Rory Delap

Lee Chung-Yong’s classy opener was cancelled out by a rare goal from Rory Delap before Klasnic’s volley on the turn earned Bolton all three points.

Tottenham remained in touch with the top four after a contentious winner helped them see off the spirited challenge of Fulham.

Diomansy Kamara gave Fulham an early lead, but the Senegalese striker also missed a host of chances and Spurs were allowed back into the game when Roman Pavlyuchenko tapped home after Rafael van der Vaart’s deft chip came back off the bar.

Tom Huddlestone’s low 20-yard strike clinched victory for Tottenham, with Fulham claiming William Gallas was offside despite the Frenchman making no contact with the shot.

The four sides occupying the bottom four places faced off this weekend, but Everton are the only ones who can be completely happy with their afternoon’s work.

David Moyes’ men saw off a tame Liverpool side with surprisingly little resistance, Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta with the goals in the Toffees’ most comfortable game this season.

Even with Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole in the starting line-up, Liverpool barely posed a threat in attack as they slipped to 19^th in the table.

The only side below them are West Ham, who will blame referee Mark Clattenburg for wrongly disallowing what should have been a late winner from Frederic Piquionne.

Mark Noble earlier cancelled out Matt Jarvis’ opener from the penalty spot, before Piquionne was wrongly adjudged to have handled en route to slotting past Marcus Hahnemann.

Fabricio Coloccini

Fabricio Coloccini’s first ever Premier League goal helped Newcastle come from behind to draw with Wigan, in a game where Charles N’Zogbia came back to wreak revenge on his former club.

The French winger put the Latics 2-0 up inside the first 25 minutes with a couple of well-taken goals, but Shola Ameobi bundled the ball in to give Newcastle hope with 18 minutes remaining.

Then, deep into stoppage time, Andy Carroll headed a Jonas Gutierrez goalwards and Coloccini stooped to nod past Ali Al-Habsi and level the scores.

The Monday night game between Blackburn and Sunderland was a drab affair, perhaps made even less of a spectacle by a red card for Christopher Samba right on half-time.

Blackburn’s Congolese centre-back saw red for a professional foul on Danny Welbeck, but a tired-looking Sunderland side failed to capitalise on their one-man advantage.

The best chances of the game fell to Darren Bent, rushed back after injury kept him out of England’s draw with Montenegro and still looking short of fitness.

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

Cech (Chelsea); Coleman (Everton), Cahill (Bolton), Distin (Everton), Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham); Stilyan Petrov (Aston Villa), Barton (Newcastle) van der Vaart (Tottenham), N’Zogbia (Wigan), Holden (Bolton); Zigic (Birmingham)

Premier League Round-Up 04/10/10

If fans were surprised by the top of the Premier League table in recent weeks, that is nothing compared to the sight of Liverpool in the bottom three after seven games of the season.

Roy Hodgson’s side lost their unbeaten home record to newly-promoted Blackpool thanks to goals from Charlie Adam and Luke Varney, and will also be without frontman Fernando Torres for some time after the Spaniard was forced off through injury.

Charlie Adam

The visitors were deserving of the victory, and are more than holding their own in the top flight after being tipped for relegation at the start of the campaign. A consolation from Sotirios Kyrgiakos was not enough to dampen their spirits and now it is Hodgson – rather than opposite number Ian Holloway – who is left with plenty of thinking to do.

To add insult to injury, local rivals Everton climbed out of the drop-zone with their first win of the season at the hands of Birmingham City.

Tim Cahill sealed the victory after a Roger Johnson own goal had given the Toffees the lead, and the result brings an end to Birmingham’s 18-game unbeaten home run in the league.

The other two spaces in the bottom three are filled by Wolves – who lost 2-0 at Wigan – and West Ham, who were held at home by Fulham.

Wolves were given an upward task as soon as captain Karl Henry saw red for an indefensible foul on Jordi Gomez which was so bad it even left Mick McCarthy unable to defend his player.

Karl Henry

Gomez recovered to open the scoring with a 65^th-minute free-kick, before Hugo Rodallega deflected a Christophe Berra clearance beyond Marcus Hahnemann with five minutes to go.

West Ham had to come from behind to extend their unbeaten run, after Clint Dempsey was left unmarked 10 yards out to open the scoring before half-time.

Frederic Piquionne scored his third goal in as many games to level the scores, but the game lost all sense of rhythm thanks to a questionable performance from whistle-happy referee Andre Marriner.

At the top of the table, Chelsea extended their lead to four points after seeing off a wasteful Arsenal side at Stamford Bridge.

Didier Drogba and Alex got the goals with fine finishes, but the visitors will live to regret their profligacy in front of goal, with Laurent Koscielny the main culprit.

Second place is now occupied by Manchester City after Adam Johnson’s winner earned them a third successive league win.

Adam Johnson

But the game will be remembered for the broken leg suffered by Newcastle’s Hatem ben Arfa, just the latest in a worryingly-long line of Premier League players to suffer serious injuries in the season’s early weeks.

Carlos Tevez’s penalty and Jonas Gutierrez’s equaliser are mere footnotes in a match which reignited debates about dangerous tackling in the top flight.

City’s rise to 2^nd is at the expense of Manchester rivals United, who have now drawn all four of their away games in the league.

Their game at Sunderland was one of few chances, and those which did come fell to the hosts. Steed Malbranque fired the best opening straight at Edwin van der Sar, while Bolo Zenden struck the outside of his fellow countryman’s post.

Another Dutchman hitting the headlines was Rafael van der Vaart, who scored both goals as Tottenham came from behind to beat Aston Villa.

Marc Albrighton had opened the scoring for Gerard Houllier’s men before van der Vaart capitalised on two Peter Crouch knockdowns to beat Brad Friedel either side of the break.

Hot on Tottenham’s heels are surprise package West Brom, who followed up last week’s win at Arsenal with a rather more subdued draw at home to Bolton.

They also had to come from behind after Johan Elmander lashed home a first-half strike, but after James Morrison’s equaliser the Baggies could have easily snatched all three points.

The final match of the weekend saw Stoke City climb into the top half of the table for the first time this season thanks to a hard-fought triumph over Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn.

Jon Walters scored the only goal of the game against the club where he started his career, tucking home from a Matty Etherington through-ball to add to his Carling Cup strike against Shrewsbury in August.

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

Gilks (Blackpool); Baird (Fulham), Bramble (Sunderland), Jagielka (Everton), Crainey (Blackpool); Mulumbu (West Brom), Reo-Coker (Aston Villa), Essien (Chelsea); van der Vaart (Tottenham), Etherington (Stoke); Elmander (Bolton)

Premier League Round-up 27/09/2010

In a week of Premier League shocks, none were bigger than West Brom’s 3-2 triumph at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Even more surprising than the result was the fact that the visitors were good value for the three points, turning over the hosts with a stirring second-half performance.

They could even afford to miss a penalty, with Chris Brunt firing his first-half effort too close to Manuel Almunia, before goals from Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara and former Gunners man Jerome Thomas sealed victory.

Gonzalo Jara

Two late Samir Nasri strikes not enough to rescue a point for Arsenal, who will be concerned by their lack of fight in the absence of Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Vermaelen and Robin van Persie (among others). The trio will still be missing for tomorrow’s trip to Belgrade to face Partizan, as will Almunia, and Arsene Wenger will expect big performances from some of his fringe players.

The fixture against West Brom had represented a chance for Arsenal to make up ground on league leaders Chelsea, who fell to a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City earlier on Saturday.

Carlos Tevez may have grabbed the headlines with his superb solo goal, but the plaudits should belong to City’s midfield duo Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure. The pair bossed proceedings against Chelsea’s not-insubstantial pairing of Mikel and Essien, keeping the champions’ chances to a minimum and freeing space for their forwards to flourish on the break.

Despite his recent goalscoring run, Essien has been looking less of an asset since recovering from the knee problem which kept him out of the World Cup. Carlo Ancelotti will hope the return of Frank Lampard next month spurs the Ghanaian star into action in time for a testing run of fixtures.

With their rivals faltering, the stage seemed set for Manchester United to spring back into life against Bolton, but in truth the 2-2 scoreline at the Reebok Stadium flattered the visitors.

Michael Owen

There are positives to take from the game, though, not least Michael Owen’s return to goalscoring form. The England man, plagued by injuries last season, managed to build on a midweek double against Scunthorpe by deftly placing a header into the far corner of Jussi Jaaskelainen’s net, cancelling out Martin Petrov’s deflected strike within minutes.

2-2 was also the final score at the Stadium of Light, in a game which will be remembered more for one mystifying refereeing decision than for the hard-fought battle between Sunderland and Liverpool.

After ruling that Sunderland had taken a free-kick from the wrong place, Stuart Attwell somehow convinced himself Michael Turner backheeling the ball to the correct spot constituted the taking of the kick. In a scenario not dissimilar to Marc Overmars’ goal for Arsenal against Sheffield United a few years ago, Dirk Kuyt scored the opener with Black Cats ‘keeper Simon Mignolet static and bemused.

With all this controversy hogging the headlines, it is easy to ignore a well-taken brace from the impressive Darren Bent, or even the headed equaliser from Steven Gerrard (a strike which I refuse to dub a ‘captain’s goal’), but 2-2 it ended and Liverpool remain at the wrong end of the Premier League table.

Hot on the heels of Roy Hodgson’s side are West Ham, who moved off the bottom of the table with a surprise 1-0 victory over Tottenham at Upton Park.

Frederic Piquionne scored the only goal, but the hosts owe the three points to a rare display of defensive solidity, epitomised by Robert Green’s world-class save from Luka Modric.

Robert Green

The Irons will hope to build on that result next week when they face Fulham, one of two sides still unbeaten in the league this season.

Mark Hughes’ men ensured their fifth draw in six games after holding basement side Everton to a stalemate at Craven Cottage. Again the goalkeepers were the stars, with Fulham’s Australian stopper Mark Schwarzer edging Everton’s American ‘keeper Tim Howard in the performance stakes.

That was not the only goalless draw of the weekend, with Birmingham and Wigan also cancelling each other out in a game of few clear-cut chances at St Andrew’s.

Tempers began to flare in the first half, Hugo Rodallega tangling with Roger Johnson, and things finally boiled over in stoppage time when Craig Gardner was dismissed for a nasty challenge which left Wigan sub Franco di Santo requiring treatment.

The final game on Saturday was also far from the prettiest, but Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce will not be complaining. Brett Emerton’s stoppage-time strike saw off a spirited Blackpool side, who looked to have salvaged a point when debutant Matt Phillips found a way past Paul Robinson.

Emerton’s goal was his first in the league since November 2007, and the Australian international will be looking to use it as a springboard to reignite his career at Ewood Park after losing his starting place to Michel Salgado.

Brett Emerton

The award for comedy own-goal of the week was a close-call, with Blackpool’s Charlie Adam just pipped by Newcastle right-back James Perch. The former Nottingham Forest man powered a diving header beyond Tim Krul to gift opponents Stoke all three points at St James’ Park.

It was a game which Newcastle should have won, given their visitors’ apparent decision not to start playing until the second half, but a one-goal advantage was not enough once Rory Delap and his missile of a throw-in entered the fray, and a Kenwyne Jones header drew Stoke level before Perch’s aberration.

The final game of the weekend saw something almost as rare as a Brett Emerton goal: a second in successive games for Emile Heskey.

The Aston Villa striker, seemingly enjoying a new lease of life under former mentor Gerard Houllier, headed in Stephen Warnock’s 88^th-minute cross to see off Wolves, just four days after equalising in the Carling Cup win over Blackburn.

Wolves will be disappointed to lose the derby game, especially considering Warnock was lucky to still be on the pitch when he delivered the match-winning cross, but they will be more concerned with the broken leg suffered by young midfielder Adlene Guedioura.

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

Green (West Ham); Jara (West Brom), Cuellar (Aston Villa), Da Costa (West Ham), Givet (Blackburn); De Jong (Man City), Yaya Toure (Man City); El-Hadji Diouf (Blackburn) Petrov (Bolton), Nani (Man Utd); Jones (Stoke)

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Premier League Round-up 20/09/2010

For the second weekend running, Manchester United contrived to throw away a two-goal lead against opponents from Merseyside, but this time they had the resolve to snatch a late victory over Liverpool.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side looked to be cruising before Dimitar Berbatov netted an early contender for goal of the season, but Steven Gerrard then proceeded to punish needless fouls with two quickfire dead-ball goals to draw the visitors level.

Dimitar Berbatov

While the timing of recent equalisers for Fulham and Everton had given United little time to respond, on this occasion they had more than 20 minutes to find a winner. And Berbatov was the man to provide the crucial goal, completing his first hat-trick in United colours.

The three points kept the Red Devils third in the table, now level on points with an Arsenal side who threw away an almost-certain victory against Sunderland.

While Cesc Fabregas’ opener was a little lucky, there was nothing fortuitous about the marvellous display of possession football displayed by the visitors at the Stadium of Light.

Even when Alex Song’s dismissal reduced Arsenal to 10 men, they continued to play like they were the side with the one-man advantage, running their opponents ragged and creating more than enough chances to win the game.

But Tomas Rosicky spurned the best of those chances when he fired a penalty high over Simon Mignolet’s crossbar, and Arsenal only had themselves to blame when Darren Bent fired home a stoppage-time equaliser.

Carlo Ancelotti

The result at the Stadium of Light allowed Chelsea to extend their lead at the top of the table to four points. Their 4-0 win over Blackpool also brings their goal difference to a remarkable +20 after just five games.

The tie at Stamford Bridge was over by half-time, allowing Carlo Ancelotti to rest some of his stars ahead of next week’s visit to the City of Manchester Stadium, and Nicolas Anelka will be eager to feature against his former club after being deemed surplus to requirements for Sunday’s encounter.

Next week’s opponents Manchester City will go into the game on the back of a much-needed away victory at Wigan, during which Carlos Tevez returned to goalscoring ways.

City’s captain has been guilty of the odd embarrassing miss this season, but the Argentinian’s confidence seemed unaffected as he brilliantly chipped over Ali Al-Habsi to open the scoring.

Yaya Toure

Roberto Mancini will also be happy to see Yaya Toure notch his first goal for the club – City look to have firepower all the way through their squad, with Toure the ninth different player to find the net for them this season.

Wigan now find themselves in the unenviable position of looking up at all three promoted teams, after impressive wins for West Brom and Newcastle on Saturday took the duo up to seven points.

While both will be delighted with the weekend’s travails, the Baggies’ win is even sweeter for having come against local rivals Birmingham.

A stirring second-half comeback helped Roberto Di Matteo’s side emerge with all three points, after netting three in a Premier League game for the first time since May 2009.

Meanwhile, Newcastle saw off an Everton side still yet to win a league game this season, thanks to a stunning strike from Hatem Ben Arfa on his full debut for the club.

Everton, missing the injured Tim Cahill, will need to pick up the pace soon to avoid being drawn into a relegation scrap.

Two sides with similar ambitions, Stoke and West Ham, played out a 1-1 draw in a game with more attacking verve than one might expect from two teams struggling at the wrong end of the table.

The Hammers led through Scott Parker’s scrambled goal before another Rob Green error allowed Kenwyne Jones to equalise, but both sides had chances to win what proved to be a very open game.

West Ham’s next game is at home to Tottenham, who banished talk of a Champions League hangover by displaying great stamina to see off bogey side Wolves.

Steven Fletcher

Despite the 3-1 defeat, Mick McCarthy will be buoyed by the goalscoring return of record signing Steven Fletcher, who could well ensure a comfortable season for the midlanders if he continues in this vein of form.

Fulham could certainly do with a goalscorer of Fletcher’s ability, especially with Bobby Zamora ruled out for several months. But Mark Hughes’ men kept up their unbeaten record with a 1-1 draw at Ewood Park.

Hosts Blackburn, whose manager Sam Allardyce was hoping to demonstrate his credentials for Europe’s top jobs, will need to concentrate on holding on to a lead – they have now scored first in four of their five Premier League games, but only have five points to show for their efforts.

In the weekend’s remaining game, Aston Villa hosted Bolton in a match full of players looking to stake their claim for a place in Fabio Capello’s next England squad.

Ashley Young, who impressed in August’s friendly against Hungary, showed his class with a cracking free-kick, while Kevin Davies, who has all-but admitted defeat in his quest for a call-up, might be thinking of revising that statement after firing home his first goal of the season at Villa Park. With Jermain Defoe injured and Carlton Cole low on confidence and form, now might be the time for Davies to earn that long-awaited England cap.

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

Friedel (Aston Villa); Jacobsen (West Ham), Ivanovic (Chelsea), Squillaci (Arsenal), Zabaleta (Man City); Yaya Toure (Man City), van der Vaart (Tottenham); Pennant (Stoke), Jarvis (Wolves), Malouda (Chelsea); Berbatov (Man Utd)

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