Filed under: Results | Tags: Arsenal, Cheslea, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Michael Owen, Nemanja Vidic, Rafa Benitez, Results, Sir Alex Ferguson, West Ham
Carlo Ancelotti’s laughing this morning. After losing at Villa last week he must have looked at the table and thought “Uh oh. One more defeat and we’re gonna be choking on United and Arsenal’s dust, maybe even City’s!” but a 4-0 victory in Europe coupled with a 5-0 victory over Blackburn on Saturday will have reaffirmed his faith. Still, both Arsenal and United were in positions to overthrow his side at the top of the Premier League (although Arsenal would have had to wait until their game in hand to do so) with games that on paper, looked like three points each.
Arsenal will hope their mediocre week of mediocrity can be left behind after surrendering a last minute equaliser against AZ in Europe on Tuesday they managed to go one better by surrendering a two goal lead at Upton Park yesterday. An absolute gift of a first goal from Robert Green was repaid in kind by Vito Mannone at the other end for West Ham’s first, while a lack of concentration from a harmless throw handed The Hammers the equaliser they didn’t look like getting for seventy minutes.
Carlton Cole was in fantastic form, playing the target man role as well as any I’ve seen in The Premier League, strong, quick feet, head-up, tidy, like Bobby Zamora with a shot at the end of it. He and Gallas went back and forth for ninety minutes and with Cole grabbing the first goal and winning the penalty for the second you’d have to say he got the better of it over the ninety minutes.
Robin van Persie’s failed header count almost reached double figures during the game when he flicked his neck into thin air as the ball threatened to mess-up his tidy quiff, a tame headed effort in the dying moments from a fantastic Sagna cross was blocked by Green guaranteeing West Ham the point. How they’re in the bottom three of the Premier League is anybodies guess. Yesterday’s result should give them the impetus to drive up the table.
It will take a few months for Sir Alex to erase the image of Rafa Benitez’s face at full-time yesterday from his memory. A satisfied, relieved, but ultimately reassured Benitez saw his side dominate United for 95% of the game. Only when Michael Owen was introduced with fifteen minutes to play did United really look like getting their first goal.
Berbatov’s lack of urgency frustrated and blunted United’s attack, rendering Wayne Rooney a spectator throughout, his passing was so wayward and his mind too far behind the play, Manc fans must be wondering how much longer they have to wait for Danny Wellbeck or Kiko Macheda to get a proper run in the team.
On the flip side, despite an awful refereeing display from start to finish, Lucas and Mascherano had fun in the gap that Darren Fletcher’s injury had left. Scholes and Giggs really struggled to match the energy and fight of Liverpool’s midfield. Yossi Benayoun seemed to have trouble connecting the final ball but Torres’ diving and niggling around Evra, Ferdinand and Vidic was bound to pay off as long as United weren’t offering anything at the other end (and they really weren’t).
Three straight victories for Liverpool over United then, is that the first time that’s happened since Fergie took over? It feels like it might be. Fuck researching it though.
As if my predictions for yesterday’s games couldn’t get any worse, Fulham came back to equalise against Manchester City and Everton managed to keep their European form going with a 3-2 defeat at The Reebok Stadium. How many predictions did I get right I hear you say? None? Yeah none. So what?
PREMIER LEAGUE
(predictions in brackets)
Bolton-3 Everton-2 (0-2)
Liverpool-2 Manchester United-0 (1-3)
Manchester City-2 Fulham-2 (2-1)
West Ham-2 Arsenal-2 (0-2)
