Premier League weekend roundup– Gameweek 9

Laurent Koscielny (R) and Bacary Sagna celebrate after their team’s second goal is scored during the match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park

First up were minnows Crystal Palace versus the big Gunners of London, Arsenal who were reeling from a Robert Lewandowski inflicted Champions League defeat at home against Dortmund in the mid-week. What cheered them up was a start for both Mathieu Flamini and Santi Cazorla, who were both injured for a while now. The Eagles were going through their own troubles with the enigmatic Ian Holloway stepping down after the horrific loss last weekend to Fulham, and caretaker Keith Millen bringing in Marouane Chamakh to lead the attack against his former club along with Kagisho Dikgacoi, Barry Bannan, Jerome Thomas and Adlene Guedioura. Palace didn’t look to trouble Arsenal much in the opening 15 minutes when Thomas found Bannan with a cross. But the German contingent at Arsenal soon found space as Serge Gnabry, brought in early for Flamini, found Mesut Ozil who went wide. There was a chance of a penalty for the visitors as Gnabry was brought down at the edge the box by Damien Delaney but instead a free kick was given. The visitors didn’t wait long as a clear penalty was signaled, again won by Gnabry on the other side of half time, as Guedioura cut down the young German to give captain Mikel Arteta the chance to step up to the spot and give Arsenal the lead. But five minutes later they found themselves with ten men on the pitch, as Arteta apparently intentionally blocked his former teammate Chamakh’s run which the referee judged as a clear goalscoring opportunity and brandished the red card. Palace didn’t take advantage of the lack of the holding midfielder while Arsene Wenger brought in Jack Wilshere for Gnabry, while Nacho Monreal came on for his compatriot Cazorla. In the dying minutes of the game, Olivier Giroud finished off a win and three points secured when Aaron Ramsey, whose shot was blocked point blank by Julian Speroni earlier, sent a delayed chipped pass to the Frenchman who arrived in time to put the header on cue past Speroni. Wojciech Szczesny will be happy as he earned a clean sheet with some brilliant saves to deny Palace an equaliser.

It was the battle of the Belgians at Villa Park as Aston Villa took on the ever dangerous Everton in front of peering eyes of England manager Roy Hodgson and FA Chairman Greg Dyke. Villa with their Belgian talisman Christian Benteke back in the side after hip trouble was awarded a penalty ten minutes into the game when Seamus Coleman clipped his heels as he tried to put into the net an Andreas Weimann pass. This was the second penalty miss by Benteke as Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard astutely judged the angle and produced an extraordinary one hand save. The oddly quiet Leighton Baines spotted Leon Osman who saw Romelu Lukaku in the box and clipped a cross in which the Belgian slotted in clinically to give the visitors the lead. Villa rued their missed first half chances from Benteke and Leandro Bacuna when Gareth Barry held the ball up to allow Osman to get inside the box before the Evertonian shot it past Brad Guzan for all three points. The scoreline definitely did not reflect the American goalkeeper’s lack of maintaining a clean sheet, while Everton now have five wins out of their last six games.

It was business as usual for the Reds as they looked to stifle the giant killers West Brom in their indomitable fortress known as Anfield. With a win at Old Trafford and a draw versus Arsenal, the Baggies were fancying their chances at a point being taken away from the Merseyside but it was the Luis Suarez party through and through. Suarez scored first in the 12th minute after a tussle with Billy Jones which prompted Baggies captain Jonas Olsson to have a few words with him. But it was the Swedish centre back, who was left gaping as a piece of single mindedness allowed the inform Uruguayan striker to waltz past Claudio Yacob with supreme ease before nutmegging Olsson and beating Boaz Myhill with an angled shot. His second came five minutes later when he met on-loan Valencia defender Aly Cissokho first-time cross and converted it into a bullet header which surprised the former Ajax striker the most. West Brom were simply spectators to the Suarez show as they got their first real shot in added time before the interval when Youssuf Mulumbu’s ball met former Reds striker Nicolas Anelka to head it in past Simon Mignolet only for Martin Skrtel to jump into rescue the Kop and prevent the ball from crossing the line. The visitors pulled back one when James Morrison found the net from a 25-yard free kick after Cissokho fouled Jones, but not before Daniel Sturridge’s free kick was saved by Myhill only for the rebound to find Suarez to complete his fourth hattrick in Liverpool colors. The game was put to bed when Sturridge pushed a perfect chip to add to his goal tally.

Manchester United’s Belgium midfielder Adnan Januzaj (R) vies with Stoke City’s Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios (L) during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Stoke City at Old Trafford

It was the echoes of the nervy late comebacks for Manchester United as they were staring down the barrel of a fourth defeat in nine games. With a rather unconvincing win at home against Real Sociedad as the result of an own goal, United looked to come back stronger against a Stoke team that hadn’t done much in their opening fixtures except concede many goals. But the Old Trafford singing section was silenced when the lanky Peter Crouch pounced on a ball crossed by left back Erik Pieters who was unmarked, sending it past Chris Smalling and then the former Liverpool man sending it into the net. In true United fashion, the defense was exposed once more leaving most of the work up to David De Gea which the Spaniard happily accepted producing some sublime saves and proving his worth as United’s no.1. The hosts pulled back with two minutes to half time as Nani, who had been rubbish all match, crossed into the box to allow Wayne Rooney to head the ball straight into Asmir Begovic’s hand but failed to control the rebound which allowed the ever waiting Robin van Persie to slot home the equaliser. This celebration was short-lived as Marko Arnautovic smashed home an almost perfect free kick, fouled by Phil Jones, from 30 yards out that required some help from De Gea. The hosts, behind once again, controlled most of the possession in the second half but barely were able to get any shots past the resilient Stoke City defence who were happy with the scoreline. But it’s never over until the whistle blows and the Potters experienced this when a flurry of corners allowed Rooney to apply the slightest of touches to a van Persie corner to equalise. David Moyes, criticized for his choice of subs at the Saints game, brought on Adnan Januzaj, who won a handful of freekicks for his team, Antonio Valencia, who injected some pace into the scared home team and the super-sub Javier Hernandez. Chicharito, being booked two minutes after coming on, showed his new boss why he is known as United’s saviour, when he struck a powerful header from Patrice Evra’s cross to give immense relief to fans, players and manager alike!

While in last weekend’s match, David Marshall was unfairly dispossessed by Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o to award the Blues the win, this weekend he was the star of the show at Carrow Road as he denied the Canaries any chance and piled more pressure on Norwich City boss Chris Hughton as they are above only Sunderland and Crystal Palace in the table currently. The game was brought to a stalemate not because of lack of chances thereof but because of the antics of both goalkeepers. While Marshall remained attentive to deny Canaries strikers Gary Hooper and Ricky van Wolfswinkel numerous chances. A penalty shout against Steven Caulker for a handball frustrated the home fans further as chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ rang through Carrow Road when Hughton substituted Hooper for Johan Elmander, while Nathan Redmond was brought on for Anthony Pilkington who had also come close to scoring. The Bluebirds brought on Craig Bellamy with another Norwich connection besides their goalkeeper Marshall. John Ruddy also had his hands full with Frazier Campbell, Aron Gunnarsson and Peter Odemwingie being denied while a superb save from a Jordan Mutch strike point-blank. The Canaries were unfortunate to having being denied that earlier penalty, while also another goal being cancelled when a van Wolfswinkel throw-in found Leroy Fer only to shoot it in past Marshall after shoving which prompted the referee to cancel the strike and leave each team with one point.

Southampton’s Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino

Southampton registered their best ever start in a top flight season as they raced to third place on Saturday after soundly beating Fulham who were on course to regain their winning ways. The Saints kept pushing the Cottagers’ defense and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who was credited with keeping Fulham in the game, barely, before the opener was scored at the 20th minute. James Ward-Prowse’s corner was flicked on the right by Jay Rodriguez which found Rickie Lambert who headed it in powerfully to give Saints the lead. But the home side weren’t finished as numerous shots by Lambert, Victor Wanyama and captain Adam Lallana went wide or were saved. But with three minutes to half time, Saints sealed the Whites’ fate as Lallana’s cross found Lambert who headed the ball to Rodriguez to finish the game off before the first half was completed. The only real shot created by the visitors was when Steve Sidwell attempted to carry off an acrobatic effort of his own, but other influential names like Pajtim Kasami, Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent were unable to create the magic that was evident in last weekend’s thumping win at Selhurst Park.

It was the lesser team who prevailed in the Tyne-Wear derby when bottom place Sunderland grabbed their first win of the season and their second against their more successful neighbours Newcastle United, who looked spirited in last weekend’s encounter with Liverpool, but lacked that fight and cohesion to stifle their struggling arch rivals. The Black Cats were quick to pounce on their first chance when Adam Johnson played a pass into Sebastian Larsson who found Steven Fletcher to smash the ball in past Paul Dummett and Tim Krul. Earlier Fletcher along with his American striker partner Jozy Altidore were creating all sorts of problems for Dummett and his defensive partner Mike Williamson. The Magpies struggled with a proper centre half pairing which had Magpies boss Alan Pardew stumped. Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor both weren’t able to fill the gap that suspended Mapou Yanga Mbiwa left. This put more pressure on Dummett who was left stranded. But the Magpies equalised when Hatem Ben Arfa received Yohan Cabaye’s pass to set up Mathieu Debauchy for goal. Keiren Westwood had no chance but was barely troubled after that as Fabio Borini collected Altidore’s lay-off to smash in a stunner past the Dutchman Krul to grab the three points in the dying minutes of the game.

An interesting but goalless encounter between hosts Swansea City and West Ham United in Wales showcased various faults of both teams. The Swans looked weak and unsettled defending set pieces, while the Hammers’ boss Sam Allardyce played without a main striker preferring Ravel Morrison and Ricardo Vaz Te as his two men upfront. Jussi Jaaskelanien produced two point blank saves to deny Chico Flores and Wilfried Bony any chance at goal. Michel Vorm produced some good saves himself to stop West Ham from scoring. The only talking point was a potential penalty for a handball by Joe Cole on a Nathan Dyer cross that referee Phil Dowd denied for the Swans and to give a point each to the teams.

It was another goal from penalty spot, again scored by Roberto Soldado to give Spurs the three points in what can only be described as a raggedy match. Steve Bruce sent in Yannick Sagbo, a lone striker and put in five defenders to contain the speed and accuracy of Spurs wingers Andros Townsend and Aaron Lennon. The first half produced a save from France captain Hugo Lloris off a Tom Huddlestone shot, while Soldado went down in the penalty box when Paul McShane was trying to apply pressure on the former Valencia man. Referee Michael Oliver was not impressed but later awarded a penalty for Ahmed Elmohamady handling the ball off a Jan Vertonghen cross, after Andre Villas-Boas had sent in Christian Eriksen and Jermain Defoe to create more chances. Soldado converted his third penalty of the season to allow Spurs to see off Hull City’s spirited play.

It was the battle of the two richest clubs in the Premier League as Russian owned Chelsea beat Emirati owned Manchester City in a thrilling display of attack and defense that went down to the final minute at Stamford Bridge. In true fashion, Fernando Torres was the man of the match by missing a clear cut shot at goal, then assisting the opener for Andre Schurrle and then grabbing the opportunity to maintain the Blues’ undefeated opening home record while extending Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten Premier League home run to 65 games. The first chance for the home side came when Ramires provided the cross for Torres to coolly slot it in past a listless Joe Hart. Unfortunately, the Spaniard blasted it over the bar. He quickly made up for it when Branislav Ivanovic sent the ball long from a goal kick for Torres to beat Gael Clichy and rush to the byline, where Schurrle received the ball for the opener. Five minutes after the second half began, Sergio Aguero equalised, when Samir Nasri’s through ball caught Gary Cahill off guard to allow the Argentine to ghost past him and beat the Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech with a powerful shot in the top corner. It took another Torres touch to finish the game off and allow Mourinho to breathe easy when the substitute Brazilian Willian attempted put in a lofted pass which landed Matija Nastasic and the troubled England goalkeeper Hart into each other allowing Torres to slot in his second league goal in 2013 after the winner at Everton on the last day of last season. This game was so important that the winning manager jumped into the crowd to celebrate with the fans, while the losing manager Manuel Pellegrini walked off into the tunnel without shaking hands with his counterpart.

Indeed a world of thrilling action during this weekend!