Premier League Round-up

 Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Premier league, Southampton, Sunderland, Tottenham, West Ham  1 Response »
Oct 182015
 

premier leagueA lot was expected as all the leagues returned to action following the long international break but the Premier League just had so much going on for it. Chelsea were expected to have gotten the break needed to get them back to winning ways, Liverpool fans couldn’t wait to see the effects of their new coach, Arsenal longed to see their good run continue and Manchester United just wanted to be over their heavy lose at the Emirates.

Chelsea seemed to have found their rhythm in the absence of their main talisman Eden Hazard as they capitalised on Aston Villa’s defensive errors to win the game by 2 goals to nil. Manchester City were on fire, thrashing AC Bournemouth 5-1 with Raheem Sterling scoring three of those goals. Meanwhile United got the better of the game at Goodison park by winning 3-0, captain Wayne Rooney rounded off the scoring when he picked up a superb pass from Ander Herrera and lifted the ball over the on rushing keeper. Liverpool played harder, faster and with more enthusiasm but ended up sharing the spoils at White Hart Lane.

Southampton gave away a two goal lead as Vardy lead Leicester City to a great comeback to draw level with the second goal coming-in in the 90th minute. Late goals from Lazzini and Payet helped West Ham secure a vital win over Crystal Palace. Hot sensation Alexis Sanchez lead the rout as Arsenal came in strong in the second half to win newly promoted side Watford. Berahino was the man to burst Sunderland’s bubble as faced West Bromwich later in the day.

Earlier today, Wijnaldum scored a staggering four goals as Newcastle trashed Norwich City at St James Park. The Netherlands international scored twice in both halves of the game. And that leaves us with the last match of this round, which is Swansea vs Stoke City and that would be played tomorrow night.

Arsene Wenger: I thought Anthony Martial was a winger

 Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Premier league  No Responses »
Sep 252015
 

On the last day of the transfer market, we saw Manchester United roll out a massive 36 million pounds to sign a certain young Monaco striker who has been dubbed to be the next Thierry Henry. A lot was said about why United was willing to shell out such an amount for potential and not experience but I guess we have all seen why on the pitch. Anthony Martial just arrived United and already has four goals to his name. His composure in front of goal just shows how good a marksman he is.

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger has now claimed that he has known and followed Martial since he was a child but decided not to sign him because he thought he was a winger. Questions about his preferred role are behind everyone as Old Trafford has already recognized him as one of their goal heroes. The 19 years old agent, Philippe Lamboley has said that he doesn’t think Wenger comments is justifiable for a coach who has watched the player closely, adding that in football, there are people who just follow players and people who sign them.

This is not the first time Wenger is missing out on a Manchester United player, he also missed out on the opportunity to sign Angel Di Maria for free when the Argentine was just 17 years old. He also missed on great players such as Xabi Alonso, Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Lionel Messi and even former United player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Whether Anthony Martial would become one of the great players Wenger nearly signed is still unknown but I guess we would have an answer to that statement at the end of the season.

Diego Costa and Gabriel Paulista to face FA charges

 Arsenal, Chelsea, Premier league  No Responses »
Sep 222015
 

Chelsea striker, Diego Costa and Arsenal defender, Gabriel Paulista have been charged by the English FA for their violent conduct during the match between the two teams on Saturday.  The Chelsea striker was involved in an incident earlier in the game with Laurent Koscielny in the first half of the game. While Diego Costa is charged with violent conduct, Gabriel is charged with improper conduct. Video footage shows that the Chelsea man had earlier showed his hands in the arsenal defenders face before flailing his left arm which also made contact with the defender. The referee at the time did not see all this but saw when Gabriel Paulista tried to kick the Chelsea strike which made him award a second yellow card that resulted to his sending off. Given the circumstances surrounding the incident, it could be said that the referee viewed Gabriel’s kick as retaliation for an earlier confrontation between the two players.

The situation with Gabriel is a bit complicated as the club has already filed an appeal for wrongful dismissal and even if it is accepted, the player would still be guilty to improper conduct for refusing to leave the pitch after he was sent off. It took the intervention of some players and a security agent to finally get him off. His fellow Arsenal man, Santi Carzola who was sent off following his tackle on Cesc Fabregas got off with a warning from the FA.

Following the charges, Diego Costa could face a three match ban for his actions while Gabriel could see his initial ban for his red card extended from three games to a higher number. A panel of judges would refer to the video footage of the match to determine the punishment that both players deserve for their actions and the decision of the panel must be congruent. The two clubs have also been charged by the FA for failing to conduct their players during the match which would go down to be one of the most heated encounters between the teams and they both have until Thursday to respond to the charges.

Chelsea back to winning ways as they see off 9-man arsenal team.

 Arsenal, Chelsea, Premier league  1 Response »
Sep 202015
 

Chelsea got their second win of the season in a fierce two goals victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Zouma in the 53rd minute and playmaker Eden Hazard secured all three points for the blues. But it took the sending off of two arsenal players for the blues to break down the Wenger’s men as Gabriel Paulista became the latest player to fall for Diego Costa’s dirty tactics. The arsenal man had received an initial booking earlier in the game before being sent off after his role with Spain international Diego Costa just before half-time. It took Chelsea just eight minutes to capitalize on this advantage as Kurt Zouma rose high to nod home a Cesc Fabregas free kick past new arsenal recruit Petr Cech on his return to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea got in the driving seat after the opener and didn’t look like they were ready to give up their lead with Santi Cazorla’s second yellow card following his challenge on fellow country man Cesc Fabregas ending the hopes of any Arsenal revival. Eden Hazard then found the back of the net in the closing stages of the game to twist the knife in Arsenal’s loss.

Captain John Terry was left on the bench for this one, while Branislav Ivanovic was being constantly tested by Alex Sanchez down the left flank. Cesc Fabregas came close to opening the lead for Chelsea as they dominated the opening 15 minutes of the game. Costa and summer signing Pedro also had their chances which they couldn’t convert in the first half. The game changer for Mourinho’s men was the dismissal of Gabriel Paulista. Although Arsene Wenger did try to shore up the defense by introducing Calum Chambers but the match was already Chelsea’s game as they made sure their one man advantage counted. Zouma nodded in the opener to open his premier league account and then Hazard’s goal sealed all three points for the blues.

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