Tuesday 18 December 2012

Week 17: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

Manchester City players celebrate Javi Garcia's goal at NewcastleAfter their derby defeat last weekend, Manchester City made a great comeback against Newcastle at St James' Park. The two sides could have had a dozen goals between them. In the end though, the dream combination of Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Pablo Zabaleta payed off and produced a convincing 1-3 away win.

James McArthur (l) and Grant HoltBarcelona are the only side in Europe on a longer unbeaten run than Norwich! The Canaries continued that run against Wigan to make it five straight home wins and nine games unbeaten for Chris Hughton's side. It was a 50%-50% performance for the Latics, with a top comeback but flop defence, this inconsistency costing them dearly in the end. Anthony Pilkington's class downed and beat the visitors in the end, seeing his side up to eighth position in the league table.

OMG!

Jan Vertonghen celebrates scoring his goalSwansea's impressive forward Miguel Michu was knocked down and out cold by Tottenham's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris' arm on the follow-through and caused unrest between the players. Even the sub got on the pitch to add his part to the fight! Tempers were flaring at the end of a competitive encounter which tested patience and resistance till the end! Spurs ended on top after dominating the game and if games ended after 80 minutes, they would be top of the league! This win saw them back into the top four, two points ahead of local rivals Arsenal

TOP!

Aston Villa striker Christian BentekeAston Villa's second goal at Anfield was a breathtaker! Christian Benteke's back-heeler was inch-perfect and Andreas Weimann's hit to finish it off was confident. And to top things off, the Congolese striker made it 0-3 after riding and finishing the move all on his own, top-class! It was a splendid win and some terrific football from Villa and the first time the travelling fans saw their side win two consecutive away games. Villa were organised and clinical. They just got on with it. Not bad for the youngest side in the Premier League! Something Liverpool should learn from!

FLOP!

Tom Cleverley scores for Manchester United against SunderlandIt was a very frustrating, disappointing and shocking game and day for Liverpool. Stats of the game show they dominated and threw everything at Villa, but were just not focused and clinical enough, as mentioned above.
Sunderland's performance against United was an improvement for them but they were nowhere near the high-flying, top-quality league leaders. It just showed the big gap between the top and bottom half of the table = light-years!
And West Brom's goalless draw against West Ham was no surprise and summarised both side's form: longest run without a win since 2010 v losing four out of last five before kick-off. The game did not change this at all.

HERO!

Adel TaarabtAdel Taarabt was very special for QPR against Fulham, the key player for Harry Redknapp in his fourth game and first win for Rangers. It took 17 attempts but the two goals  by the Moroccan midfielder were very special and deserved the win. The home side took the lead thanks to Taarabt's tap-shot which deflected off Brede Hangeland and past wrong-footed Mark Schwarzer. Taarabt then doubled the lead with a wonderful tap-in, right-sidefooter, casually between four Fulham defender, out of Schwarzer's reach. There were nervous moments after Mladen Petric's marvelous left-footer past Rob Green to make it 2-1 but in the end the home side hung on to the win and three points which took them off the bottom of the table for the first time in nearly six weeks.

ZERO!

Marouane FellainiMarouane Fellaini's head butt on Stoke's Ryan Shawcross was disgraceful!!! The Belgian midfielder added his elbow and arms to his challenges on Shawcross later on in the match, but all remained unseen by the referee! The Evertonian was riding his luck or just trying to book himself an early holiday! What a let-down for David Moyes and his boys! At least he was honest in his post-match apology late and I hope and think he will receive a lengthy ban for that from the FA!

My Predictions => Actual Results:
Newcastle 1-2 Man City => 1-3
Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa => 1-3
Man United 3-0 Sunderland => 3-1
Norwich 1-0 Wigan => 2-1
QPR 1-1 Fulham => 2-1
Stoke 2-1 Everton => 1-1
Tottenham 2-1 Swansea => 1-0
West Brom 3-2 West Ham => 0-0
Reading 2-2 Arsenal => 2-5

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