Premier League Picks Of The Week 6

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 6

The 6th week of the Premier League action saw:

29 goals - most by Man City = 5
232 shots - most by Man City = 25
82 on target - most by Man City = 9
91 corners - most for Southampton = 9
209 fouls - most by Tottenham = 20
46 yellow cards - most for West Ham, Man United & West Brom = 4 each
1 red card - Serge Aurier for Tottenham
2 penalties - 1 scored (Jamie Vardy denied by Simon Mignolet, Alexandre Lacazette netted for Arsenal)

What a match! It was goals and action galore in the opening match of the weekend! After all the hard work by West Ham to keep Tottenham at bay, the visitors took over at the London Stadium. And it had to be, Dele Alli from the right, headed in by Harry Kane to break the deadlock. Not even a couple of minutes later, the star striker doubled the score, netting the rebound of Joe Hart's save against Alli, his 11th goals in the last five away matches. Hard life for the Hammers, after a strong start, everything went downhill for Slaven Bilić's men when Michail Antonio had to come off injured and be replaced by Andy Carroll with just under half an hour gone. The home side's control fell to bits from then on, the substitute's stupid mistakes and giveaways costing them dearly. Christian Eriksen made it three after the break, Kane hit the woodwork twice before Javier Hernández pulled one back for the home side. It got more interesting after Serge Aurier saw red though, booked a second time for his silly and clumsy challenges, Spurs' first sending off in 84 league games. Cheikhou Kouyaté made it 2-3 with three minutes plus stoppage time to go, setting up a nail-biting finish, including chances, bust-ups, pure drama! But it ended with Spurs on top! A full-on derby that has seen 21 goals in the last 6 meetings! Wow! ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️

What a team! Everton were in bits! There was nothing and no one giving them anything, not even straws to clutch on! Joshua King got a free run and nice free hit to give Bournemouth the lead at Goodison Park. It was over a decade since the Toffees lost four consecutive league matches without scoring (last miserable run like that was August to October 2005). I couldn't see Ronald Koeman survive much longer! So much money! So many players! So little goals, results and points! But Oumar Niasse's late double turned the game on it's head and put all those pressures on hold. For now. What a let-off! What a turnaround! Talk about super-sub! The saviour for both club and boss?!?!?! More to their luck (or lack of) below... 💩👊🏻🙈👎🏻💩
Watford also left it late late late, Richarlison striking in the 90th minute to counter Swansea's fightback and beat them 1-2 at the Liberty Stadium. Both goals by the visitors were defensive howlers, giveaways, backing the impressive, stubborn, consistent form by Marco Silva's men. First for both: The Swans losing the opening three home matches, the Hornets winning the first three away games. Boo(m)! 👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻

What a man! It took Romelu Lukaku  not even 20 minutes to smash in a rebound from close range to give Manchester United the lead at Southampton, making it six goals in the six opening league games for the Red Devil, equalling Louis Saha's record. The Belgian striker became the first to score for three different teams at St Mary's. José Mourinho's men were under pressure, the Saints on top for most of the second period, but made it through the storm, holding on to the three points to continue their top run. 16 points from the opening six games is United's best start to the Premier League since 2011-2. Chelsea downed Stoke 0-4 at the Bet365 Stadium, Alvaro Morata with a hat-trick, his second and Chelsea's third was a lovely run and finish, making it six in six PL games for the Spaniard. In form. ⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️
Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet went from zero to hero, conceding a goal and then a spot kick against Jamie Vardy within a couple of minutes, before denying the Leicester striker an equaliser from the spot. The Belgian stopper has saved eight of the 15 PL penalties he has faced for LFC, more than any other keeper, securing the Reds their first win in nearly a month! 👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻

What a goal! Manchester City's opener against Crystal Palace shortly before the interval was a nicely worked goal. Leroy Sané's short free-kick found David Silva, who clipped it over the defence for Sané to stab it in at the near post. It changed the dynamic of the game, Raheem Sterling adding a couple to make it 3-0. Sergio Agüero with his 176th and Fabian Delph into the top corner sealed it with a fourth and fifth respectively. Th-r-ash. Pep Guardiola's side have become the first PL side to score five or more goals in three consecutive games! Wow! Cannot say anyone was surprised. It's been over 10 hours since Palace scored in the league (last one was on 14 May). In that time City have scored 29. The aggregate score of their last six meetings is 21-1, the last home defeat for the Sky Blues against the Eagles was in 1990. Worlds apart! ⚽️🙈⚽️🙈⚽️
Tomer Hemed's hooked finish gave Brighton their second Premier League win in the only Super Sunday game. A top-quality goal, followed by some brilliant defending by the Seagulls, putting everything and everybody on the line, denied Newcastle a comeback, leaving Rafa visibly frustrated. 👊🏻⚽️👊🏻⚽️👊🏻

What the hell?! Bournemouth were so lucky! Defender Simon Francis elbowed Wayne Rooney in the face, in the box, so, it should have been red and penalty. But the Everton man ended up red in the face, full of blood, fuming after being denied both by referee Martin Atkinson. Ridiculous. At least the Toffees finally got a win, that will have settled some Scouser nerves and tempers at least. Same for their Red neighbours after they finally banked three points at Leicester. But not without any hiccups, threats, flaps, fails and drama. The referee didn't make many Merseyside friends there either... Click here for my full match report. And how Jay Rodriguez didn't get a penalty for West Brom, but Aaron Ramsey did for Arsenal at the Emirates, only referee Robert Madley knows and can explain... Maybe... Hopefully... Consistency? None! The call settled Gunners' nerves as the Baggies were a constant threat to get something back, hitting the post and seeing Monreal clear off the line. The spot kick doubled the score and handed Arsène Wenger's men a much needed clearer lead and win, more than they deserved, Tony Pulis left fuming and wondering... 💩🙈😡🙈💩

My Predictions - Actual Results
West Ham 1:2 Tottenham - 2:3
Burnley 0:1 Huddersfield - 0:0
Everton 2:1 Bournemouth - 2:1
Man City 6:0 Crystal Palace - 5:0
Southampton 2:4 Man United - 0:1
Stoke City 1:2 Chelsea - 0:4
Swansea 0:1 Watford - 1:2
Leicester 2:1 Liverpool - 2:3 or my match report
Brighton 1:0 Newcastle - 1:0
Arsenal 3:0 West Brom - 2:0

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

All pictures, facts and stats are taken from the BBC match reports, MOTD, Twitter and SFR coverage.

Premier League Picks Of The Week 4

Sports - Football - Premier League- Week 4

The fourth week of the Premier League action saw:

294 shots - most by Chelsea = 28

34 goals - most by Liverpool, Tottenham and Watford = 4 each

206 fouls - most by Tottenham = 18

43 bookings - most by Southampton = 5

0 red cards

2 penalties - 2 scored

Stoke manager Mark Hughes seeing red and being honest about it

Happy birthday Laurent Koscielny! The fifth Arsenal player to score a PL goal on his anniversaire and what an acrobatic goal it was! 🎂😊🎂

Liverpool's first home game at revamped Anfield - fans happy with the result but very annoyed by the new camera angle

What a game! What a turnaround! Watford were nowhere when West Ham were 2-0 up thanks to Michael Antonio's double with just over half an hour gone. But Walter Mazzarri's side levelled the score before the break and turned the game on its head in the second half. Slaven Bilic was disgusted and rightly so. The Hammers were lost, nowhere, broken to bits and pieces, presenting the Hornets with their first win of the season in shocking style. Great for the neutral, mind blowing and worrying for the fans and teams concerned, depending which side you're on.

What a team! City v United, Guardiola v Mourinho, the derby of all derbies, the clash of all clashes. Well, that's what it's pitched and previewed as to make our mouths all watery and drooling, but it did not live up to it. The hosts outplayed the visitors in all aspects, the score could and should have been much worse. It's a reality check for the Special One whilst the Blue side of Manchester are in unbeaten heaven. The only nightmare headache for City goes to the debutant keeper and Joe Hart replacement Claudio Bravo. He's lucky the Red Devils weren't on the ball and couldn't take advantage of his nervous display and shaky performance.

What a man! Romelu Lukaku scored his first club goal for Everton since March - and made three of it, scoring a hat-trick in just 11 minutes with two headers and a low finish, downing Sunderland in style at the Stadium of Light. The win takes the Toffees into third place, unbeaten with ten points from the first four games, a strong start for new manager Ronald Koeman, much in contrast to the Black Cats' new boss David Moyes, seeing his side just make one point, second from bottom.

What a goal! Arsenal are keeping their fans on their toes, that's for sure! After losing their first home game in spectacularly devastating fashion 3-4 against Liverpool on the opening day of the season, the Gunners were understandably worried and sour when they fell behind against the Saints thanks to Petr Cech's unfortunate own goal. But Laurent Koscielny's overhead beauty levelled the score and in the dying seconds, over 95 minutes gone, Santé Cazorla sealed the win from the spot for the home side.

What the hell?! Diego Costa AGAIN! It feels like I can tag his name under this category automatically every week before a ball is kicked or another word is written because he is always in the midst of it. The dives, the clashes, the antiques and he still gets away with it - to then score and settle the match for his side in controversial fashion. This time it was just a point for Chelsea at Swansea, the first points dropped this season for the Blues, but still. Lucky bugger(s)!!!

My predictions - Actual results
Man United 3:3 Man City - 1:2
Arsenal 2:1 Southampton - 2:1
Bournemouth 0:0 West Brom - 1:0
Burnley 0:2 Hull City - 1:1
Middlesbrough 2:1 Crystal Palace - 1:2
Stoke 1:2 Tottenham - 0:4
West Ham 2:0 Watford - 2:4
Liverpool 1:1 Leicester - 4:1 - click here for my match report
Swansea 1:4 Chelsea - 2:2
Sunderland 0:1 Everton - 0:3

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks

Images taken from BBC match reports and Google search

West Brom stun Anfield with two late goals

Sports - Football - Premier League - Liverpool 0:2 West Brom

West Brom snatched a remarkable win with two late goals at Anfield ending their sequence of six games without a win and leaving Liverpool and their chances and hopes of Champions League qualification reeling.

The result means Brendan Rodgers' men are still to beat a team currently in the top half of the Premier League table this season.

The visitors, managed by former Reds assistant boss Steve Clarke, kept the Reds at bay thanks to a top-notch performance by their keeper Ben Foster.

The former England keeper was on form and did his job, not last when he denied Steven Gerrard from the spot after Luis Suarez had gone down typically over-dramatic under Jonas Olsson's challenge.

This save hosts' 19th attempt on goal with Suarez, Gerrard, Stewart Downing and substitute Fabio Borini all denied.

Jonjo Shelvey, in place of injured striker Daniel Sturridge, had the ball in the net but saw his effort correctly disallowed for offside earlier on in the game before Steven Reid almost scored an own goal following Shelvey's cross.

But after all the pressure, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock thanks to Gareth McAuley heading in Chris Brunt's corner completely unmarked with just under ten minutes to go.

And substitute Romelu Lukaku heaped more misery onto Liverpool, breaking forward and past Daniel Agger, shooting the second goal and winner past Pepe Reina bang on 90 minutes.

This win takes West Brom up to eighth, one point ahead of the Reds in ninth, who will feel more than frustrated!

No discrediting West Brom, but this game was nearly comical! The home side had so many chances and could and should have been a couple of goals ahead and settled the game by half time!

West Brom Goals: 1.: 80:16 min Gareth Mc Auley (23); 2.: 90:00 min Romelu Lukaku (20).

Liverpool: 25 Reina; 3 Jose Enrique, 5 Agger, 23 Carragher, 2 Johnson; 8 Gerrard, 21 Lucas; 14 Henderson (31 Sterling - 60.), 33 Shelvey (29 Borini - 60.), 19 Downing (10 Coutinho - 78.); 7 Suarez (booked 94.). 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 1 Jones, 24 Allen, 37 Skrtel, 47 Wisdom.

West Brom: 1 Foster; 6 Ridgewell (bkd 69.), 3 Olsson, 23 McAuley, 2 Reid (bkd 42.)Mulumbu, 5 Yacob; 11 Brunt (bkd 73.), 7 Morrison 7(bkd 2.), 17 Dorrans (20 Lukaku - 74.); 9 Long (32 Fortune - 86.). 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 13 Myhill, 8 Rosenberg, 28 Jones, 30 Tamas, 14 Thomas.

Sky Stats: Liverpool-West Brom
Attempts: 25-5
On target: 7-3
Offsides: 4-1
Corners: 13-5
Free kicks: 11-10
Possession: 58.5%-41.5%
Tackles/Success: 19-24/63.2%-79.2%
Passes/Success: 529-377/81.7%-75.3%
Crosses/Success: 31-11/16.1%-18.2%

Referee: Jonathan Moss
Man of the match: Ben Foster

Week 22: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Weekend

SUPER SUNDAY!

Manchester United held on to their 2-1 lead against bitter rivals Liverpool in the early match at Old Trafford, the win keeping Sir Alex Ferguson's men ten points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table. Liverpool showed much more spirit in the second half after a disappointing start to the game. Robin van Persie put the home side ahead comfortably after 19 minutes and the game looked all over when Patrice Evra's header off RVP's free kick deflected in off Nemanja Vidic thanks to some sloppy defending to make it 2-0 early on in the second half.
But Brendan Rodgers' changes soon payed off when a couple of minutes later Steven Gerrard saw his shot saved by David De Gea for Daniel Sturridge to net the rebound, scoring his first Premier League goal on his league debut for the Merseysiders to start the fight back for Liverpool at 2-1. Sturridge and Luis Suarez created much more of a threat together with some fine one-twos and close shaves, the prior hitting one chance into the side-netting, the latter heading another into De Gea's gloves, but it stayed 2-1.
This was the seventh defeat of the season for Liverpool and saw them stay in eighth place, two points behind West Brom in seventh and nine points behind Tottenham in fourth, the last Champions League qualification spot. United will be chuffed to bits after doing the double over their rivals and staying way ahead of their local rivals in the process too.

The afternoon kick-off was a blast at the Emirates. With just ten minutes gone, Laurent Koscielny was sent off for wrapping himself around Edin Dzeko, but the penalty was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, the ball coming off the post, rolling along the line and back into the goalkeeper's gloves! Lucky so-and-so! But a nice finish by James Milner eventually opened the score for City, 0-1, Arsenal caught sleeping, still feeling sorry for themselves. A tap-in by Dzeko off the keeper doubled the lead for the visitors. Silly Thomas Vermaelen then got booked for a stupid fowl just before half time, it was just a dreadful half for Arsenal, and they were in danger of going down to nine. It looked like a training game for City at that point.
But the home crowd saw a spirited response from Arsenal at the start of the second half. Most of the second half actually, the Gunners held up and kept on pressing and going strongly. Vincent Kompany then saw red for a two-footed challenge on Jack Wilshere. The dismissal looked harsh as he won the ball, but both teams were reduced to ten. Arsenal kept the pressure up, Joleon Lescott coming to the rescue late on for City clearing Theo Walcott's shot. But all came to nothing in the end for the Gunners. Arsene Wenger should be pleased, even though his side did not get a result in the end. Arsenal stayed stuck at the task, giving City a game-and-a-half in the second half.

WOW!

It was an mazing turnaround at the Madejski stadium! One sensational performance by West Brom's Romelu Lukaku was nullified by a revolutionary comeback from Reading and Pavel Pogrebnyak's late winner! Lukaku netted James Morrison's pass, knowing exactly where he wanted that and what he was doing, lethal, 0-1. The same duo were at it in again in the second half, Lukaku having a goal disallowed for offside. Lukaku then saw more chances coming and going, one off the post and another off the cross bar after pressure by Reading was blocked. He could easily have had a hat-trick! Reading pressure was repelled again before Lukaku got his second goal. It was a great counter, left footer into the near corner of the net, 0-2. Jimmy Kebe then started the comeback with a header in to make it 1-2. After Jonas Olsson's challenge on Kebe was penalised, Adam Le Fondre sent the keeper the wrong way with a cool kick to level the score, 2-2. And then Pogrebnyak made it 3-2 to complete the perfect comeback. The home side looked dead and buried! But three goals/eight minutes later, they had turned the game on its head! Awesome to watch!

OMG!

Everton had so many misses against Swansea, it was unbelievable. David Moyes' boys have only lost three in 31 games and are only four points behind Chelsea in third. It was all Everton at Goodison Park, Swans keeper Michel Vorm spared his side from defeat more then once, joined by Miguel Michu and Ashley Williams off the line! Michu hit the bar too, thanks to Tim Howard's touch, but that was the first and only real chance for the visitors! Even Phil Neville had a chance Vorms had to save! Leighton Baines produced some great corners but Everton kept on missing! It was more two points lost than one point gained for the Blues, but Moyes can be more than happy with his side's form, display and position. 

TOP!

Eden Hazard's strike was a scorcher, 25-30 yards from goal, a beautiful left-foot hit, to make it 0-4 to Chelsea and game over for Stoke!
Sebastian Larsson's left-footed curl-opener for Sunderland against West Ham was a screamer! The Swede's side went on to make the most of the Hammers' poor defending, taking three goals and points against the Londoners.
Giorgos Karagounis took the lead for Fulham against Wigan with a sweet diagonal strike off the post and into the back of the net, 1-0. Franco Di Santo missed a chance on the stretch, right in front of goal, it was Wigan's best chance in the first half. Shaun Maloney's effort found Mark Schwarzer's finger tips, a great save over the top. Di Santo followed a quickly taken free kick with a piece of magic, cutting across, dropping the shoulder and drilling the ball into the back of the net. It was a fantastic finish, sweet equaliser, just what Wigan needed, 1-1. Di Santo then took on Brede Hangeland and won with a shot but Schwarzer saved it. Maynor Figueroa saved his team late on, off the line, winning the point for Wigan! Two brilliant goals made the game and result, controversial in the build-up, where they came from, but not how! It was a fair result in the end.

FLOP!

QPR's Harry Redknapp faced his former employers Tottenham for the first time after beating Chelsea, where Andre Villas-Boas took over, winning nine of the last 11. It was not nice to watch, but productive play by QPR, Redknapp finally getting something out of his boys. Shaun Wright-Phillips put loads of chances wide, skipping through Spurs. Spurs dominated seeing Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe denied by Soares Julio Cesar, but QPR kept solid and ground out a good result and point for them in the end.
Norwich went into their game against Newcastle following four successive defeats over the festive period, whilst the visitors were still looking for their first away win. The goalless result reflected both side's form and the game. There was not much to write about, it was a poor game allround.

HERO!

It's 31 out of 31 penalty kicks for Rickie Lambert, what a Saint! It was a controversial penalty for Southampton at Villa Park though, which looked more like a Jay Rodriguez dive as replays showed no contact was made. But Villa's goalkeeper Bradley Guzan to escape a booking when he made his save clashing into another Saint player. Lambert sent Guzan the wrong way, 0-1, controversial. Enda Stevens saw his shot saved, Villa's late onslaught coming to nothing in the end. It was not Villa's but Lambert's day. 


ZERO!

It was not Jonathan Walters' day! The Stoke man should have known what day it was going to be after kicking the ball into his own face and out of play early on in the match against Chelsea! The Ireland striker went on to score two own goals and miss a penalty, seeing the Potters thrashed and sunk 4-0. Asmir Begovic made one great save after another, but saw all his good work undone when Frank Lampard won Chelsea a throw-in and Walters eventually turned the ball into his own once and then again off a Chelsea corner to make it 0-2 and mar his 100th Premier League appearance. Lampard then netted the spot kick conceded by Ryan Shawcross for sliding in on Juan Mata, taking him onto 194 goals and Chelsea 0-3 up. It took the Chelsea number 8 up to number two on the Blues' all-time scorers list. Begovic denied Lampard again, one-on-one, leaving him waiting for his 195th! Without Begovic this game would have been 0-10! Stoke then won a soft penalty for John Terry's challenge on Walters, but Walters went on to hit the cross bar. Stoke's unbeaten home record was long out the window by then and Walters' day with it. 


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

Week 21: Premier League Tops & Flops

Sports - Football - Premier League - Picks of the Week

WOW!

It was only the second time this season Liverpool have won two games on the trot with their 3-0 home win against Sunderland. Raheem Sterling got things going with a nice finish off Luis Suarez, lobbing the ball over Simon Mignolet with loads of time and space, 1-0. Suarez doubled the score after advantage was played well from the right, the Uruguayan with a diagonal shot in, 2-0. Steven Gerrard then picked up Suarez with a peach of a pass, the Red number seven finishing off with one touch, two touch, into the back of the Sunderland net, 3-0. Gerrard saw his shot deflected off Glen Johnson and well saved by Mignolet, it could have easily been four! Suarez and Joe Allen saw their shots blocked too and Stewart Downing had his goal disallowed for offside. Poor Allen, no first goal for him! It could and should have been a much worse thrashing for Sunderland. Suarez scored more goals this season already than all of last season! Gerrard was magnificent, Jordan Henderson also impressed with some great awareness and a brilliant game!
Newcastle had SO many chances, but Everton took theirs alright! Demba Ba was a very noticeable absentee at St James' Park. The home side took the lead though after Tim Krul's kick was headed in by Papiss Cisse after one bounce, looping the ball over Tim Howard, I'm sure David Moyes was furious! Leighton Baines was denied a couple of times by a stubborn Krul, but the Toons were the more rampant! James Perch saw his header come off the post before Steven Pienaar was denied by Krul. Baines then levelled the score 1-1 with a smacker, like a rocket, a blast from over 30 yards out! After Shola Ameobi saw his chip go wide, Nikica Jelavic set up Victor Anichebe to give Moyes' Men the lead, a crucial change for Everton to make it 1-2. Both goalkeepers were kept busy till the end. Gabriel Obertan's shot was brilliantly saved by Howard on his near post. It was a crunch of a match!

OMG!

It was a happy New Year for QPR indeed! You just never know what's around the corner! Rafael Benitez's first home defeat at Chelsea was a surprise-and-a-half! The Rangers definitely showed they learnt from Sunday's defeat against Liverpool! It was like their New Year's Revolution was complete when Shaun Wright-Phillips beat second-choice keeper Ross Turnbull from range, taking advantage of massive gap with a good finish off Adel Taarabt, 0-1 after all the Chelsea pressure and chances! Marko Marin was very lucky just to see yellow for his high kick! And Ryan Bertrand looked like a fool falling over his own feet! QPR kept out Chelsea and Frank Lampard had his record goal chalked off eventhough he looked nowhere near offside! It was just not Chelsea's day and it was Harry Redknapp who ended up a very happy man.

TOP!

It could have been a four/five goal thrash after all of Tottenham's dominance! But Reading held solid and worked Andre Villas-Boas' side hard! Gareth Bale was suspended. Pavel Pogrebnyak tested Spurs defence, hitting the bar after winning a free kick, then heading in the rebound to make it 0-1. It was the earliest goal Spurs have conceded this season. Defender Michael Dawson headed in a corner at the near post, to level the score bang, 1-1 after nine minutes! Mousa Dembele wide and Jermain Defoe saw their chances go wide! Sandro's shot from outside the box, was deflected and saved by Adam Federici. Aaron Lennon banged the ball in from right creating nice cross for Emmanuel Adebayor to head it in to take the lead, 2-1. Lennon had another shot deflected and Jermain Defoe saw one go wide. After a fine run by Pogrebnyak, the Russian forward saw his shot saved and the header off the rebound went just wide. Jimmy Kebe created a fine break going wide. The following corner was cleared eventually, but the Spurs third-choice keeper Hugo Lloris was in trouble there! The game ended 3-1 thanks to a deflected shot by Clint Dempsey saw the ball fly over the keeper and in. This win takes Tottenham up to third, so, so far so good for AVB!

FLOP!

Saints 1-1 draw against Arsenal felt like a League Two game! Both sides produced and showed chaotic play, no coordination or organisation, just misses, slips and bloopers. Artur Boruc had a very disappointing game with slippery gloves! The Polish KEEPER did not seem to know he has to KEEP the ball! He is the Saints' 6th keeper this season! Gaston Ramirez took advantage of Arsenal's defensive mess to open the scoring, 1-0, after they were unable to clear the ball! Arsenal then saw their free kick netted by Guly do Prado, an own goal to level the score 1-1. Saints have only taken two points in nine games, but this was a fair result for a shambles of a game in the end! Saints should have been given the second goal which was disallowed for offside and/or a fowl, both looked rather dodgy! The Gunners were very disappointing after last week's 11 goal thrash against Newcastle! But the Saints can be more than happy and chuffed with their performance, the result and point.

TOP & FLOP!

It was all Machester United at Wigan. After Patrice Evra saw his shot saved, Javier Hernandez netted the rebound, 0-1. Robin van Persie's right-foot curl doubled the score, 0-2. It was all too easy for the visitors. Arouane Kone had a goal disallowed offside, JUST, before Hernandez headed another chance over the bar. After Rafael was caught by Gary Caldwell, RVP took the resulting free kick and after a double-deflection, Hernandez banged the ball into the back of the net, 0-3. RVP put another chance just over the top of the bar. When Kone was brought down by Chris Smalling, it looked like he was the last man but referee Andrew Marriner only pulled a yellow and the free kick by Jordi Gomez ended up just wide. Danny Welbeck found RVP who added another gift of a goal thanks to a defensive mess, 0-4, the 19th goal for the Dutchman, netting one goal after the other, bagging one win after another for United, still seven points clear of City at the top. 
Swansea were on top early on at home against Aston Villa and took the lead thanks to Wayne Routledge's fine run and right-foot shot. Miguel Michu saw his shot come off the right post. After Pablo Hernandez's fine run and cross, Danny Graham's shot somehow ended up off target. Michu saw another chance comeoff the post again and Hernandez put one wide. Villa's equaliser came against the run of play, Christian Benteke with the through-ball to put Andreas Weimann in. Joe Bennett was caught out with with handball and it should have been a penalty, but nothing was given! Villa were finally pushing more, Weimann on the attack again. Villa were awarded a penalty for a tangle/fowl on Weimann by Nathan Dyer. It looked soft but those kind of fowls have been given in the past. Benteke netted the spot kick, 1-2. But only six minutes later, Graham smashed in the rebound after some ping pong in the box, a superb equaliser with the right foot, somehow found its way trough the crowded box. Poor defending cost Villa in the end, dropping two points and keeping them only one point away from the relegation zone.
  

HERO!

Sergio Aguero produced chance after chance, miss after miss, save after save for Manchester City against Stoke. In the end it was Pablo Zabaleta who opened the scoring with an easy tap-in after Asmir Begovic's short clearance, 1-0. Edin Dzeko put one chance high before the Bosnian saw Aguero's shot come out of Begovic's gloves and caught the Stoke defence napping to tap the ball in, too easy, 2-0, his tenth of the season, making him the top scorer for City. Jonathan Walters put Stoke's high before Steven Nzonzi fowled David Silva on the edge of the box. It was very much a scene of a drama queen by the Spaniard, but a penalty was given and the game ended 3-0 thanks to Aguero's spot kick. James Milner hit the post before Aguero had to go off injured with a hamstring. City will hope the injury won't keep the Argentine out for too long, because he has been the top performer for City in their chase against their local rivals United for the top spot. Stoke were stubborn and City had to be patient, but it was a comfortable win in the end.

ZERO!

Decisions went against Norwich but West Ham dominated the game. It was definitely not a good game for Mark Clattenburg! After a penalty was given against Norwich defender Ryan Bennett on Winston Reid, Mark Noble netted the spot kick for West Ham sending the keeper Mark Bunn the wrong way, 1-0. Robert Snodgrass saw his free kick come off the post before handball appeals by Norwich against Reid were completely ignored by Clattenburg. Bunn created a brilliant save against Jack Collison, a terrific reflex save from close range. Joey O'Brien doubled the score then though after a fine move by Noble. Norwich were not happy as their midfielder Alexander Tettey was off the pitch thanks to a head wound inflicted by Carlton Cole. The Weat Ham number nine missed a golden chance before Norwich had another penalty appeal after Harry Kane was brought down on the shoulder of James Tomkins, but Clattenburg gave nothing again. Ricardo Vaz Te headed one chance wide for the Hammers before Russell Martin pulled one back for the Canaries with a right-footer into the right corner to make it 1-2 after a patient buildup. All the controversial decisions aside, the Hammers deserved the win with all their dominance seeing them up to eleventh place in the table, three points behind Stoke in tenth.

HERO & ZERO!

Romelu Lukaku's top performance for West Brom was all to no avail in the end! The Belgian striker was on Fulham's case constantly. Dimitar Berbatov on the other hand wasted chance after chance, but created a fine one-two with Ashkan Dejagha to net the ball bang in the middle, 0-1. The leveller looked offside when Billy Jones crossed the ball from the right to Lukaku who found the bottom right-hand corner from close range, 1-1. Fulham just couldn't handle Lukaku and he hit the post shortly after the equaliser. West Brom were much better after the break, seeing chances saved, one hit the bar and another lastly blocked out. It was an onslaught, before Fulham came back out of nothing! Alexander Kacaniklic produced Fulham's second with a fine touch, turn and then pass under the goalkeeper Ben Foster with just over half an hour to go! Lukaku put another header wide before Berbatov missed one too, yet again! Eventhough he was on the scoreboard, I feel Berbatov's attitude keeps letting him down!

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