What a weekend of football!
I only got to watch the Manchester United game in it's entirety - as I was busy with other things all weekend. I did, however, catch some highlights of the other games. So other than the United game, the following will not be in-depth analysis:
Manchester City, surprisingly dropped points against Sunderland. I had predicted that City would win this one but only managed a 3-3 draw. City fans will be disappointed with the final result but should be pleased with the fact that their side came back from 3-1 down. Balotelli scored a blinder (although his performance was marred by an on-field argument with his team mate, Kolarov). Kolarov, himself, scored an excellent goal to tie the game up. Sunderland fans will be thrilled by their team's performance. This was not one of the games that I expected City to slip up in, and I think that that might be it for the premier league race...
Chelsea beat Villa 4-2 with Torres being involved in all the goals. However, the big talking point was the news that Villa's captain Stilyan Petrov (who I had predicted would have a big impact on this game) was diagnosed with leukemia. My best wishes go out to 'Stan' as he seems to be a stand up dude and definitely a very talented player. This season has been tough for football players - Abidal, Muamba, Petrov and Bryan robson have all dealt with serious health concerns and the legendary Gary Speed unfortunately took his own life. Here's to hoping Petrov gets better soon.
Liverpool lost to Sunderland 2-0. Liverpool are slowly turning into a laughing stock, I'm afraid. With Carroll's diving and Reina's red card, luckily Daglish had to answer more about those silly events than his team's abject performance. Liverpool had a strong shout for a handball, but cannot claim that they deserved any points from this game. Here's to hoping that they can finish out the season strongly and win the FA cup.
Tottenham beat Swansea City and, in my opinion, are back on track for that 3rd place finish I predicted.
Arsenal lost to QPR. This was the most surprising result of the weekend. Not surprising, however, was that Adel Taraabt was involved. Taraabt is one of the most naturally gifted footballers in the premier league. His attitude and work ethic leave a lot to be desired, however. I'm guessing he'll be moving away from QPR this summer as I still believe that they will get relegated - and, frankly, they deserve it after the way they treated Warnock.
Manchester United beat Blackburn 2-0. At one point, United had 81% of the possession but had only one shot on target. That is how resolute the Blackburn team was - until the 80th minute. They stacked up two banks of four and gave United tons of time on the ball. However, as soon as the ball was played anywhere near the penalty box, it was clear that the Blackburn players were ready to throw their bodies on the line. When Valencia finally scored (with a shot/cross) that took Robinson by surprise, Blackburn lost their resolve and let in another well-placed goal by Ashley Young. David de Gea, United's goalkeeper, yet again turned out a man-of-the-match performance as he made three brilliant saves to keep United in the game. United are now 5 points clear of City and might be as many as 8 clear by the time City play Arsenal this Sunday. Squeeky bum time. It was interesting to see how United lined up - they played a 4-3-3 consisting of the expected back 4 - Rafael, Evans, Rio and Evra, a midfield trio of Carrick, Scholes and the unexpected Jones, and a forward line of Chicha with Valencia and Rooney shunted to support from the inside forward position.
The reason United played three in the middle was so that Jones could challenge Yakubu in the air; that ploy worked well, especially as the Yak had dominated United in the fixture at Old Trafford. However, as Rooney was played out left, United lost some of their creative edge and definitely lacked the width. poor Evra was playing as an auxiliary left winger for most of the game. Valencia was undoubtedly the greatest threat in the entire game and whipped in cross after cross that nobody could get to. Left backs must have nightmares of coming up against Antonio - he is simply the best winger in the league. Finally, Fergie threw on Welbeck, Giggs and Young and it restored the balance and threat of 4-4-2 that United seemed to prefer. Chicharito's performance was marred by terrible first touches and some erratic passing. Both Welbeck and Chicha are having disappointing ends to their season and Fergie might be ruing his decision of banishing Dimitar Berbatov.
Next up - preview of week 32.
I only got to watch the Manchester United game in it's entirety - as I was busy with other things all weekend. I did, however, catch some highlights of the other games. So other than the United game, the following will not be in-depth analysis:
Manchester City, surprisingly dropped points against Sunderland. I had predicted that City would win this one but only managed a 3-3 draw. City fans will be disappointed with the final result but should be pleased with the fact that their side came back from 3-1 down. Balotelli scored a blinder (although his performance was marred by an on-field argument with his team mate, Kolarov). Kolarov, himself, scored an excellent goal to tie the game up. Sunderland fans will be thrilled by their team's performance. This was not one of the games that I expected City to slip up in, and I think that that might be it for the premier league race...
Chelsea beat Villa 4-2 with Torres being involved in all the goals. However, the big talking point was the news that Villa's captain Stilyan Petrov (who I had predicted would have a big impact on this game) was diagnosed with leukemia. My best wishes go out to 'Stan' as he seems to be a stand up dude and definitely a very talented player. This season has been tough for football players - Abidal, Muamba, Petrov and Bryan robson have all dealt with serious health concerns and the legendary Gary Speed unfortunately took his own life. Here's to hoping Petrov gets better soon.
Liverpool lost to Sunderland 2-0. Liverpool are slowly turning into a laughing stock, I'm afraid. With Carroll's diving and Reina's red card, luckily Daglish had to answer more about those silly events than his team's abject performance. Liverpool had a strong shout for a handball, but cannot claim that they deserved any points from this game. Here's to hoping that they can finish out the season strongly and win the FA cup.
Tottenham beat Swansea City and, in my opinion, are back on track for that 3rd place finish I predicted.
Arsenal lost to QPR. This was the most surprising result of the weekend. Not surprising, however, was that Adel Taraabt was involved. Taraabt is one of the most naturally gifted footballers in the premier league. His attitude and work ethic leave a lot to be desired, however. I'm guessing he'll be moving away from QPR this summer as I still believe that they will get relegated - and, frankly, they deserve it after the way they treated Warnock.
Manchester United beat Blackburn 2-0. At one point, United had 81% of the possession but had only one shot on target. That is how resolute the Blackburn team was - until the 80th minute. They stacked up two banks of four and gave United tons of time on the ball. However, as soon as the ball was played anywhere near the penalty box, it was clear that the Blackburn players were ready to throw their bodies on the line. When Valencia finally scored (with a shot/cross) that took Robinson by surprise, Blackburn lost their resolve and let in another well-placed goal by Ashley Young. David de Gea, United's goalkeeper, yet again turned out a man-of-the-match performance as he made three brilliant saves to keep United in the game. United are now 5 points clear of City and might be as many as 8 clear by the time City play Arsenal this Sunday. Squeeky bum time. It was interesting to see how United lined up - they played a 4-3-3 consisting of the expected back 4 - Rafael, Evans, Rio and Evra, a midfield trio of Carrick, Scholes and the unexpected Jones, and a forward line of Chicha with Valencia and Rooney shunted to support from the inside forward position.
The reason United played three in the middle was so that Jones could challenge Yakubu in the air; that ploy worked well, especially as the Yak had dominated United in the fixture at Old Trafford. However, as Rooney was played out left, United lost some of their creative edge and definitely lacked the width. poor Evra was playing as an auxiliary left winger for most of the game. Valencia was undoubtedly the greatest threat in the entire game and whipped in cross after cross that nobody could get to. Left backs must have nightmares of coming up against Antonio - he is simply the best winger in the league. Finally, Fergie threw on Welbeck, Giggs and Young and it restored the balance and threat of 4-4-2 that United seemed to prefer. Chicharito's performance was marred by terrible first touches and some erratic passing. Both Welbeck and Chicha are having disappointing ends to their season and Fergie might be ruing his decision of banishing Dimitar Berbatov.
Next up - preview of week 32.
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