Sports - Football - Premier League - Weeks 9&10
It's been a while since my last football blog and I need to catch up, with my 500th blog as I just spotted. A lot has been going on and happening over the last few weeks, at home and at work, and in the footballing world. These last two weekends have put everything into perspective, for me personally and professionally, and all football fans. Honestly, without football and sports in general, I would not be here, where and who I am!!! Thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved and if you don't have a clue what has been going on, here's a quick recap/summary of the last couple of weeks, Premier League Weeks 9 &10:
PL W9 & W10
26 & 26 goals - most by Man City = 5 & Liverpool & Chelsea = 4 each
260 & 261 shots - most by Newcastle = 27 & Wolves = 26
71 & 86 on target - most by Man City = 10 & Man United = 10
116 & 91 corners - most by Man City, Newcastle, West Ham & Everton = 10 each & Wolves = 10
247 & 216 fouls - most by Wolves = 23 & Leicester = 17
38 & 28 yellow cards - most by Man United = 5 & Burnley = 4
0 & 2 red cards - McDonald for Fulham & Noble for West Ham
0 & 5 penalties - 0 & 4 scored (Wilson for Bournemouth, Milivojević x2 for Crystal Palace, Sigurdsson for Everton)
What a game! (W9) Chelsea's late leveler against Manchester United led to plenty of bust ups and drama, more to that below. Cardiff's first league win of the season was a belter, 4-2 against Fulham, lifting the Welsh side off the bottom and out of the drop zone, whilst the London side slid into the relegation places having conceded 12 goals in their last three games.
(W10) Luka Milivojević scored twice from the spot to earn Crystal Palace a point in a dramatic draw against Arsenal at Selhurst Park, ending the Gunners' 11-game winning run. The Red Devils edged past Everton, boss José Mourinho unusually quiet, sitting most of the match, away from the sideline, keeping himself out of the limelight much in contrast to last week. More to that below.
What a team! (W9) Newcastle's struggle continued after losing at home against Brighton despite having 27 shots on goal, with six of them on target, even out-shooting the league leaders! (It says a lot when manager Rafael Benítez was happy with just a point at Southampton the week after, see W10 results below!) Liverpool kept going and winning thanks to Mohamed Salah's 50th goal in English football, the Reds not impressive but narrowly victorious at Huddersfield.
(W10) Fulham fell to their fourth consecutive defeat with 15 goals conceded, slammed 0-3 at home by Bournemouth with Kevin McDonald sent off for a second bookable offence to add to the Cottagers misery. Defense was just non-existent, falling, crumbling, failing at every turn, take and try for the only side to have conceded in every game this season. No discrediting Eddie Howe's men who stay sixth and have closed the gap above them just to one point.
What a man! (W9) Joe Hart made his first return to the Etihad after ending his 12-year stay at the club in the summer, bagging five goals against his former side. Manchester City outplayed and -scored Burnley convincingly and spectacularly, 24-5 shots, 10-0 on target! Much in contrast to that, Tottenham had their stopper Hugo Lloris to thank for their win after the France keeper made some outstanding saves in their 0-1 win at West Ham. And last but definitely not least, Mesut Özil was the star man for Arsenal in their 10th successive win in all competitions, starting the Gunners' comeback from behind to beat Leicester 3-1 at the Emirates.
(W10) Glenn Murray won the game for Brighton 1-0 against Wolves with his 100th goal for the club after being a doubt for the game with the concussion he suffered last weekend (W9). It was the only shot on target for the home side, the visitors left empty after throwing everything at them! Ross Barkley scored one and set up two as Chelsea thrashed Burnley 0-4 on Sunday. The win made Maurizio Sarri the first Blues boss unbeaten in the first ten Premier League matches in charge of the club. No Hazard? No problem.
What a goal! (W9) Barkley's 96th minute equaliser mentioned above, that grabbed a point for Chelsea against United and rescued the Blues' unbeaten record, was the latest the Red Devils have conceded a goal in the league since October 2009. André Schürrle's spectacular effort for Fulham was for nothing in the end, his side's defense leaking too much and many at Cardiff, as mentioned above. And Watford ended their five-match winless run with two goals in 58 seconds at Wolves. It was a rocket of a shot by Étienne Capoue (20') and a nice slick finish by Roberto Pereyra (21') that ended the hosts' six-game unbeaten run.
(W10) Liverpool conceded at home for the first time in yonks (918 PL minutes to be exact), Callum Paterson denying the Reds a tenth consecutive Premier League clean sheet at Anfield. But the Reds still smashed Cardiff in the end, thanks to Salah (10'), Sadio Mané's brace (66', 87') and sub Xherdan Shaqiri (84') who made a big difference after coming on. And the Hornets secured their best start to the top-flight season thanks to two fantastic individual goals by Pereyra again (10') and Gerard Deulofeu (19') sealing their 3-0 win against miserable Huddersfield. Great running, playing and finishing, something David Wagner's side is missing very dearly and desperately, failing and falling to the bottom of the table.
What the hell?! (W9) I do not know what game Mourinho was watching talking about an unfair result at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea scored a late leveller against United, as mentioned above. It all boiled over with the bust up between the Portuguese and a Blues assistant coach, so I was very surprised to see José say it was all sorted and not making a meal of it after the match. Credit to Sarri, he dealt with the situation very professionally, apologising and sorting it straight away, his counter part could and should learn a lot from the Italian!
(W10) The pitch at Wembley on Monday night was ridiculous, making the game very difficult to play and watch. So many mess ups and misses though, fitting to Tottenham's new stadium plan... Spurs struggling, City just about winning it 0-1 thanks to Riyad Mahrez - who put his hands up to the sky in memory of his former team's owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha who passed away with four others when his helicopter crashed after the Foxes' match on Saturday. Wilfred Ndidi's late equaliser grabbed a point for Leicester against West Ham (89'), but what followed after the match was just devastating... I was and still am lost for words... We all loved that season where the underdogs, black horses, new guys became the champions. Thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. #RIP XxXxX #YNWA
And it's great to hear Tottenham and England legend Glenn Hoddle is doing better after being taken ill on Saturday, suffering a heart attack. At least some good news in all the goosebumps of the weekend. #WalkOn #WithHope #InYourHeart
My Predictions - Actual Results:
Week 9:
Chelsea 2:1 Man United - 2:2
Bournemouth 2:0 Southampton - 0:0
Man City 2:0 Burnley - 5:0
Newcastle 1:0 Brighton - 0:1
West Ham 1:2 Tottenham - 0:1
Huddersfield 0:3 Liverpool - 0:1
Everton 1:2 Crystal Palace - 2:0
Arsenal 2:1 Leicester - 3:1
Week 10:
Brighton 1:1 Wolves - 1:0
Fulham 1:3 Bournemouth - 0:3
Liverpool 3:1 Cardiff - 4:1
Southampton 2:0 Newcastle - 0:0
Watford 2:1 Huddersfield - 3:0
Leicester 1:1 West Ham - 1:1
Burnley 1:2 Chelsea - 0:4
Crystal Palace 0:2 Arsenal - 2:2
Man United 2:1 Everton - 2:1
What a game! (W9) Chelsea's late leveler against Manchester United led to plenty of bust ups and drama, more to that below. Cardiff's first league win of the season was a belter, 4-2 against Fulham, lifting the Welsh side off the bottom and out of the drop zone, whilst the London side slid into the relegation places having conceded 12 goals in their last three games.
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