Week 8: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

This weekend saw ten matches, three derbies, 30 goals, three own goals, 152 shots on target, 118 attempts off the mark, 106 corners, 36 bookings, three red cards and a penalty. Chelsea had the most chances on target with 16, followed by Manchester City with 14. City and Newcastle were the dirtiest with four yellow cards and one red each. Arsenal enjoyed most possession and corners of all sides with 62% and ten respectively. But these are just the stats! The action and reactions tell and count so much more and there was plenty to talk about! Here are my picks of the weekend:

OMG!

It was a Super Sunday indeed with the Tyneside derby and QPR entertaining Everton, both encounters highly entertaining. Both games saw just two goals, but plenty of bookings and controversy including an own goal and sending off each! Newcastle took the lead after three minutes thanks to Yohan Cabaye but were down to ten men after 25 thanks to Cheik Tiote's reckless challenge on Steven Fletcher. The ten-man Toons fought on hard and it looked like they would hold onto to the three points until Demba Ba's own goal spared Sunderland from defeat and rescued them a point.

At Loftus Road, the home side took the lead after three minutes thanks to David Hoilett's fine run and deflected shot in past Tim Howard. Half an hour later, Sylvain Distin's header came off the back of goalkeeper Julio Cesar and into the net to make it 1-1. Steven Pienaar then saw his second yellow in the second half, much to David Moyes' grievance, giving QPR another boost to push and finally get their first home win of the season. But it was not ment to be and Mark Hughes' men were forced to settle for the point.

WOW!

The London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham was a cracker of a game! Eventhough Andre Villas-Boas' return to his former side did not turn out victorious, the young Portuguese manager can draw strength and confidence from his side's performance. Spurs were on top for long periods of the match, not bad at all to say they were missing five key players! The Blues will obviously be the happier after getting the winning result, especially in their first game without their skipper John Terry who served his first game of suspension after the racism row.

TOP!

Comebacks are what champions are made of and what both United and City are renowned for. And they did produce just that against Stoke and West Brom respectively. It looked like they were both going to slip up, but then Wayne Rooney, RVP and Edin Dzeko's finally turned up the heat and the game on its head!

Emmerson Boyce's back-foot flicker to pull one back for Wigan against Swansea to make it 2-1 was sublime and a little bit cheeky! Wigan were then denied a late equaliser after Arouna Kone was denied a goal harshly disallowed as offside. It was the first win in five for the Swans, the two goals in a couple minutes from Pablo Hernandez and Miguel Michu were enough to grab the win in the end. It just showed how quick a game can change within a couple of minutes!

FLOP!

Arsenal were dreadful!!! Norwich thoroughly deserved their first win of the season and the scoreline could have been so much more embarrassing for the Gunners! Grant Holt tapped in the winner off a rebound after Vito Mannone failed to deal with Canaries number 27 Alexander Tettey's shot from far but wasted a good opportunity after breaking clear following Thomas Vermaelen's slip and clipping the ball straight into the goalkeeper's gloves. Arsenal dominated possession and shots but that was it, they did not form much of a challenge to the home side and the closest they got to a goal was when John Ruddy nearly did the same as Mannone, but the giveaway was cleared this time. This game showes how far off the Gunners are shooting from a top four finish this season!

HERO!

If he likes it or not, Dzeko was the super-sub for City, his header and counter-attack finish turning the game around for the defending champions. It was a great comeback after everything looked against them. West Brom put up a fight-and-a-half, but in the end City were too fast and clinical for them.

Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata deserved a hat-trick for his display, he was just awesome! The Spaniard's double made it six goals in five games for him and he was also provider for Daniel Sturridge. The former Valencia man's speed, awareness and lethal touch beat Tottenham.

ZERO!

Southampton's Jose Fonte punched West Ham's Andy Carroll into the back of the head and handled the ball whilst he was at it. What the hell was he thinking? That was a penalty-and-a-half! And the Portuguese defender was very lucky to stay on! With his act of foolishness the full-back saw all the pressure the Saints had built up to make a comeback undone and West Ham back in a comfortable lead! Idiot!

My Predictions => Actual Results
Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea => 2-4
Fulham 0-0 Aston Villa => 1-0
Liverpool 3-1 Reading => 1-0
Man United 3-0 Stoke => 4-2
Swansea 0-0 Wigan => 2-1
West Brom 0-3 Man City => 1-2
West Ham 2-1 Southampton => 4-1
Norwich 2-3 Arsenal => 1-0
Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle => 1-1
QPR 0-2 Everton => 1-1