Week 17: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

WOW!

After 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.

Barcelona 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!

Swansea'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'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!

It 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 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 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

Week 1: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

And it's finally back! The new Premier League season has kicked off and it started in style! This weekend we saw 27 goals, six home wins, two away wins, two draws, two red cards, seven penalties awarded, five of the spot kicks netted, five set piece goals, 17 open play goals and three headed goals. Oh, and a couple of surprises too! Here are my picks of the week:

OMG!

The three results that gob-smacked me most were Fulham's and Swansea's five-star thrashings of Norwich and QPR respectively and Liverpool's 3-0 defeat at West Brom. All three games were filled with defensive shambles and cringes as well as offensive flourishes and attacking blasts and shine. This was the first time since August 1958 we have seen two top-flight teams score five goals in the opening fixtures! Lucky number five!

WOW!

Southampton's performance against Champions Manchester City more than impressed. The newly promoted side from the South coast was given no chance, in this fixture and league. But Nigel Adkins' men showed what they are made of and gave City a good run for their money. And it was only the eighth time in Premier League history when three subsitutes  have scored in the same game (=> Steve Davis, Rickie Lambert and Edin Dzeko). Super subs ahoy!

TOP!

Zoltan Gera's smacker against Liverpool gave West Brom a well deserved lead against Brendan Rodgers' men and warned the Merseysiders of what was ahead. Pepe Reina had no chance to stop this breathtaking strike from the edge of the box! Ben Foster made some great stops and saves frustrating Luis Suarez who seemed not quite on the ball missing a handful of chances. An all-too familiar sound to the Reds who will be looking to add more names onto their team sheet before the summer transfer window closes at the end of August.

FLOP!

Daniel Agger's sending off obviously did not help Liverpool's case after the Danish defender pushed and brought down Shane Long in the box. The Irish striker's resulting spot kick could not have been softer though and was an easy stop for Pepe! It was a let off as far as Liverpool were concerned, otherwise it could have ended up being an even more embarrassing thrashing result!

Stoke's opener against newly promoted Reading was more than embarrasing for keeper Adam Federici when he let Michael Kightly's soft shot slip through his arms. The more relieved he could be when his side equalised with a last-minute penalty kick by Adam Le Fondre after Reading sub Garath McClearly was brought down in the box by Dean Whitehead who received his marching orders for his second bookable offence.

HERO!

Marouane Fellaini's unstoppable bullet header gave Everton a deserved lead and home win against Manchester United. The six-foot-four-and-a-half-inch Belgium striker was the star of the show as Toffees dominated play both at the front and the back at Goodison Park. New United signing Robin van Persie's debut was less impressive. Brought on in the 68th minute, it looked like the Dutchman could be the saviour the Red Devils needed but nothing Sir Alex Ferguson's men threw at the home side could break them. They kept strong and solid and more than deserved the three points.

ZZZERO...

Arsenal's goalless draw against Sunderland was disappointing to watch. It was a frustrating opening to the season for the Gunners, new signings German striker Lukas Podolski and Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla impressing and enjoying much of the possession but missing the killer instinct in the final third, firing loads of blanks, giving keeper Simon Mignolet not much to do. C'est la vie sans RVP, Monsieur Wenger! Pas bon!

My Predictions => Actual Results

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland => 0-0
Fulham 2-1 Norwich => 5-0
QPR 2-0 Swansea => 0-5
Reading 1-0 Stoke => 1-1
West Brom 0-2 Liverpool => 3-0
West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa => 1-0
Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham => 2-1
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea => 0-2
Man City 4-0 Southampton => 3-2
Everton 0-2 Man United => 1-0
Chelsea 3-1 Reading => 4-2