Well, last weekend’s Premier League action was fun.
Man City had a scare in what should have been a routine win over Newcastle. An early Raheem Sterling goal had the Geordies fearing goalkeeper constantly picking up the ball from his own net. It wasn’t to be, with DeAndre Yedlin equalising for Newcastle before Kyle Walker’s rocket sealed the win for the champions.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for West Ham since their move to the soulless London Stadium. The latest game played at the ground saw Wolves beat the Hammers through substitute Adama Traore’s stoppage-time winner in front of the watching ex-WWE wrestler Dave Bautista. They better turn things around quickly. The Times have reported that they will be forced to pay boss Manuel Pellegrini £15m if they decide to sack him.
Super Sunday provided us with a couple of games that would have proved staying in whilst your other half does the shopping the right decision. First up was plucky Cardiff’s 3-2 defeat at home to Arsenal. As a Cardiff fan myself, I cannot express how proud I was with our (and Granit Xhaka’s) performance. Unfortunately, two strikers with a combined fee of £102.5 million in transfer fees alone would prove to be the difference between the two teams. I’m talking about Arsenal’s Aubameyang and Lacazette of course.
Maverick Troy Deeney embodies everything Watford supporters want to see from their players. His three main qualities Passion, work ethic, and a never say die attitude seemed to rub off onto all his teammates as they swept aside Tottenham 2-1 to extend their unbeaten start to the season. Guess Spurs were missing some cojones.
So far, Brazilian goalkeeper Allison has proved to be just another goalkeeper who performs very well at his job. All that was brought to a humiliating stop during Liverpool’s fortunate 2-1 win at Leicester City when his attempt to evade Kelechi Iheanacho backfired, then Iheanacho proceeded to set up Rachid Ghezzal to pull one goal back for Leicester.
Allison has now well and truly announced himself as a modern-day Liverpool goalkeeper, instead of the classic Liverpool goalkeeper in the vain of Neville Southall.
Crystal Palace without Wilfred Zaha is like Argentina without Lionel Messi or a Sunday dinner without gravy. Absolutely awful. So it came to nobody’s shock to see them lose yet another game without their talisman, losing 2-0 at home to Southampton. Ivory Coast international Zaha is one of those blokes who you haven’t got a bad word to say about.
It was revealed this week that not only does he donate a chunk of his wages (10% equating to £13,000) to charity, he has now decided to donate money to help Palace Ladies. As for the game itself, loanee Danny Ings scored his another goal for the club he loves, while Pierre-Emile Hojberg settled it during a breakaway in the final minute.
There are three things that are certain in life: Death, taxes and Glenn Murray scoring goals. The 34-year-old scored a brace to rescue a 2-2 draw against Fulham. However, it was a game which really belonged to Aleksandr Mitrovic, who bagged the away side’s second goal, only to present a penalty to Brighton after his handball.
Following ten man Man United’s 2-0 victory at Burnley courtesy of Romelu Lukaku, Jose Mourinho will have a bit of time off to recharge his batteries to prepare for the media’s next onslaught. He’ll obviously welcome the international break, unlike England fans. However, the win never stopped speculation over Paul Pogba’s future grabbing the headline. Speaking to the German press, he has said that he is tired of transfer rumours linking him with a move away from Old Trafford. Us too, Paul. Us too.
Nations League history
Wales are officially the highest scorers in the short history of the new Nations League. On Thursday night, an army of photographers scattered around the technical area for Ryan Giggs’s first competitive game in charge of God’s country against the Republic of Ireland. And for the 25,000 in attendance and the Welsh watching on TV, rarely have we ever witnessed such enthralling football.
While the usual suspects (Bale, Allen and Ramsey) were in top form, it was a 17-year-old who ran the show. Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu has only played 8 minutes of Premier League football, and he completely bossed Ireland’s midfield. If you’re Welsh and feeling a bit down, just remember that Ethan Ampadu plays for Wales and you’ll be fine.
For anybody who doesn’t quite understand what the Nations League is yet, it basically provides the rubbish teams with a better chance of qualifying. A more detailed article explaining how it all works can be found here.
Robbie Williams fanatic Toni Kroos would be well advised to keep quiet when exhorted by the media to give his thoughts on current affairs. Having publicly dismissed Mesut Ozil’s claims of discrimination within the German FA, this time he has given teammate Leroy Sane a ‘wake up call’. Critical of Sane’s body language, he feels the Man City winger “doesn’t care if we win or lose” and “needs to be told what to do”.
Nice Toni, you salad. Despite slating his teammates to the press, you could guarantee he still has more mates than me. Although, it’s not too difficult.
In Group A4, England kick off their Nations League campaign against Spain at Wembley. Meanwhile Northern Ireland will be hoping to see off Edin Dzeko and co. with their home game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group B3.
And finally, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman has decided to step down from his role as national team coach after 6 years and 2 World Cup appearances. I’m sure you’ll all raise a toast immediately for the man who played a part in England’s run to the World Cup semi-final.
Have a great weekend everyone.
