In a week where pundit Steve McManaman said on BT Sport “I know Arsenal are on a 20 match unbeaten run but I’m not sure they’re consistent enough”, there has been no shortage of drama in the Premier League.
Buoyed by their victory over North London rivals Spurs, Arsenal went into the game at Old Trafford oozing confidence. What the game lacked in quality was made up in the enjoyable utter gash that ensued instead. It finished 2-2, and all four goals were pish. Not that any of that was Romelu Lukaku’s fault. He was on the pitch for 34 minutes that night and completed one pass.
Cardiff’s first visit to West Ham’s London Athletics Stadium ended with a demoralising 3-0 defeat. Midfielder Joe Ralls missed a penalty in the first half, which pretty much summed up his own season – rubbish. The Bluebirds began with three CB’s, one LB, four CM’s, one winger, and an RB as a striker. They then finished with three CB’s, one LB, three CM’s and three wingers. How are Cardiff not bottom of the league?
Mark Hughes was rightfully sacked by Southampton after their humiliating 2-2 draw with Manchester United last weekend. If you can’t even beat them, the board is given no choice. Anyway, up next for Southampton was a trip to Wembley to take on Spurs.
The way the media have been talking about Spurs, you’d think they were in United’s position. Yet despite their new stadium woes, no squad investment, a derby loss, and injury problems, they sit 3rd. Crisis? What crisis? The home team won 3-1 on the night, with Charlie Austin grabbing the visitors’ consolation goal.
Wolves have had a funny season. They’ve picked up points against the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal. However, they’ve also found themselves losing to the likes of Huddersfield and Cardiff. So perhaps it wasn’t overly surprising to see them defeat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday night. In truth, Chelsea probably should have wrapped the game up by half-time. You get what you deserve when you start Willian and Alvaro Morata.
We love away days. And Newcastle does too. The Toon are clearly better on the road than they are at home, as results prove. Rafa returned to Merseyside in midweek, to take on Everton’s Barcelona wannabees. Big Salomon Rondon put the visitors in front before Richarlison equalised soon after. Another priceless point away from the bottom three for Newcastle.
Liverpool beat Burnley 3-1 on the road, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. The home side battled on until the very end until a sumptuous break on the counter from a Burnley corner was finished in emphatic style by Xherdan Shaqiri. Remember, Shaqiri played for Stoke once upon a time.
Aah, Shane Duffy. Now that’s one player who will always hold a special place in my heart. His performance at Cardiff two years ago still feels like yesterday. That warm, summers night in August, he not only scored an own goal, he also picked up two yellow cards. He was back to his old, charming self on Tuesday too. For some strange reason, he decided to headbutt Patrick Van Aanholt in the M23 derby. Fortuitously for him and Brighton, it never affected the result as it finished 3-1 to the Seagulls.
Now, what can I say about Manchester City? They’re quite good, aren’t they? The 2-1 victory at Watford proved to be arguably their toughest game of the season. Once again, it never told the whole story. Because they could have scored 5 or 6 if it weren’t for the fantastic resilience of Ben Foster.
Have a great weekend everyone.
