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)

Welcome back Premier League, we missed you

Last week I brought you a round-up of the opening weekend’s of the football league, but many fans will have seen that action as nothing more than a warm-up for the big one: the Premier League kick-off.

Almost every club has been busy in the transfer market, and supporters have been eager to see how their side’s new recruits coped with the demands of top-flight football. But it was an uncharacteristically familiar Chelsea side who took the plaudits after an exciting start to the season up and down the country.

Drogba: hat-trick

Carlo Ancelotti has only made two senior signings this summer, and with neither Ramires or Yossi Benayoun ready to start it was left to Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda to fire a warning shot to the rest of the league. Hat-trick hero Drogba looks to be on worryingly good form already, and the champions are in no danger of stumbling out of the starting blocks

But it would take more than that 6-0 demolition of West Brom to take the shine of the performance of Premier League newcomers Blackpool. The Seasiders coasted (pun intended) to victory at Wigan, with the 4-0 scoreline putting them second in the table, their inexperienced side showing no signs of stagefright.

‘Pool manager Ian Holloway has had limited success in the transfer market so far, but in French under-21 international Elliot Grandin he seems to have found a bargain. The former Marseille and CSKA Sofia youngster ripped the Wigan defence to shreds, creating the third goal for Marlon Harewood when his shot was saved, and could provide the creativity Holloway’s team will need if they are to continue surprising their opponents.

Albrighton: unplayable

Another future star of the game announced himself at Villa Park. Marc Albrighton may be called upon more frequently if James Milner moves to Manchester, but on the kind of form he showed against West Ham there are many who would argue he deserves to start ahead of the England utility man. The young winger created two goals and ran the Hammers’ full-backs ragged as he switched wings with Ashley Young over the 90 minutes.

Avram Grant’s side, like fellow bottom-three residents West Brom and Wigan, were worryingly toothless, demonstrating that an unbeaten pre-season counts for nothing. The return of Manuel da Costa and Thomas Hitzlsperger will help, but Grant may need to bring in more new faces.

Elsewhere, several goalkeepers hit the headlines, none more than Manchester City’s Joe Hart. After an accomplished if unremarkable performance at Wembley on Wednesday, Hart was a one-man barrier between Spurs and the City goal after his back four decided to take the day off. At least half a dozen top-class saves meant the score stayed 0-0, and Hart’s form may well see Shay Given decide he needs to find a new club.

That club could be Arsenal, for whom Manuel Almunia faltered once again. Beaten at his near post by David N’Gog, Almunia’s days at Arsenal must surely be numbered. With his every move under close scrutiny, the Spaniard could not afford to make any mistakes.

Reina: howler

At the opposite end of the Anfield pitch, Pepe Reina looked to be enjoying a more fruitful 90 minutes, with a world-class stop from Tomas Rosicky set to round off a stirring performance. That was until, just minutes after flapping at a cross to nearly let Theo Walcott in for a late equaliser, Reina somehow contrived to scoop the ball into his own net in the last minute of normal time.

With Rob Green and Ben Foster doing little to enhance their international prospects this weekend, Fulham’s David Stockdale staked his claim for inclusion in Fabio Capello’s next squad. Called upon as an eleventh-hour replacement for Mark Schwarzer, Stockdale denied Bolton victory with a number of impressive saves. The Trotters already look more of an attacking force under Owen Coyle than they ever did during Gary Megson’s tenure, with even Johan Elmander starting to find some form.

Cattermole: predictable

At the Stadium of Light, Lee Cattermole surprised no one by becoming the first player to be sent off this season. Failing to recognise the line between reasonable aggression and persistent fouling, the Sunderland captain picked up two yellow cards before the half-time interval. Opposite number Stephen Carr attempted to match Cattermole in the embarrassment stakes with a comical own goal, but he was ultimately bailed out by his team-mates, with two scrappy goals seeing the Blues overturn a two-goal deficit.

The remaining two games both – perhaps surprisingly – ended in home victories. Wolves eased past Stoke after scoring twice in the same game for the first time this century* while yet another goalkeeping howler (this time from Tim Howard) saw Blackburn’s Nikola Kalinic score the only goal against Everton.

Mick McCarthy’s Wolves side have made the necessary improvements to their squad this season, and know they will need to turn Molineux into a fortress if they are to prolong their stay in the top flight. And they can do far worse than look at Blackburn for inspiration, the Ewood Park side picking up 36 of their 50 points last season on home soil.

*statistic may or may not be exaggerrated for comic effect

Team of the week (4-5-1):

Hart (Man City); Onuoha (Sunderland), Samba (Blackburn), Dunne (Aston Villa), Agger (Liverpool); Albrighton (Aston Villa), Jones (Wolves), Grandin (Blackpool), Huddlestone (Tottenham), Malouda (Chelsea); Drogba (Chelsea)