By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
On the busiest
Saturday of the season so far, goals were once again at a premium in the
Barclays Premier League. There were just
17 goals in eight matches, at an average of two goals per game. There were some interesting results though,
and some major talking points from some of the top flight encounters.
Arsenal’s new
record signing Mesut Ozil made the headlines before the match with Sunderland,
and the German international shook off an illness 24 hours earlier to
show his cracking quality. Ozil took
just 10 minutes to highlight why he cost £43m, when he played in Olivier Giroud
to score his fourth goal in four Premier League matches. Aaron Ramsey (pictured) added another two goals to his
tally, but the Gunners’ 3-1 victory at the Stadium of Light was dominated by a controversial moment with 20 minutes to go.
With the
scoreline at 2-1, Jozy Altidore won a feisty battle with Bacary Sagna, escaped
his man and beat Wojciech Szczesny to as he thought make the scores level
again. Referee Martin Atkinson thought
differently though, as he had already blown his whistle and brought play back
for a free-kick against Sagna. He then
booked the Frenchman, despite him clearly being the last defender when Altidore
got the better of him. It was a huge
slice of luck for the visitors and angered Paolo di Canio so much, he got
himself sent to the stands in the closing stages. Arsenal went top while Sunderland sunk to the
bottom of the Premier League.
Chelsea
missed their chance to go top as they wasted several opportunities away to
Everton in the Saturday evening match.
The Blues had 21 attempts, but some great defending and poor finishing
cost them dearly in the 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park. The only goal arrived right on the stroke of
half-time, as Ross Barkley’s whipped cross was headed back across the face of
goal by Nikica Jelavic and finished from close range by birthday boy Steven
Naismith. It is the worst start to a
season for Chelsea during the Roman Abramovich era, and they still are looking
for their first goal on their Premier League travels this season.
Tottenham
climbed into second place above Liverpool who are not playing until Monday
night against Swansea. Glyfi Sigurdsson
staked his claim for regular football at White Hart Lane as he scored both
goals in the home side’s comfortable 2-0 triumph over a disappointing Norwich
in north London. Danish midfielder
Christian Eriksen was involved in both goals on his debut, and looks to be a
very exciting prospect to replace Gareth Bale, who by the way scored on his La
Liga debut in Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw with Villarreal on Saturday night.
It was
another frustrating day for Manchester City supporters who saw their side,
limp to a 0-0 stalemate at Stoke. Jon
Walters squandered several opportunities, and the home side should have won the
game with the chances they had. The
Citizens haven’t won at the Britannia Stadium since a match in the third tier
of English football way back in 1999.
Manchester
United did notch up three points at home to Crystal Palace. A stunning free-kick from the returning Wayne
Rooney helped David Moyes to his first Premier League win at Old Trafford in a
2-0 win. The game also saw Sir Alex
Ferguson’s first appearance at the Theatre of Dreams since his retirement as
manager in May. Moyes went on to
criticise Ashley Young for being booked cheaply for a blatant dive in the first
half, while Palace had to play 45 minutes with 10 men after Kagisho Dikagcoi
was sent off for bringing down Young, leading to Robin van Persie’s penalty.
In other
games in the Premier League, Newcastle recorded a very impressive 2-1 success
away to Aston Villa, with Hatem Ben Arfa finding the target once again for the Magpies. Hull and Cardiff shared the spoils in a 1-1
draw, as did Fulham and West Brom at Craven Cottage. Gareth McAuley rescued a point for the
Baggies with a header in the 91st minute to end Albion’s four-hour
scoring drought at the start of the Premier League season.
Blackpool and
QPR continue to set the pace in the Sky Bet Championship. The Tangerines recorded a tremendous 2-1 away
win at Bournemouth despite having to play with 10 men for the last half an
hour, after Liverpool loanee Jack Robinson was sent off for two yellow cards. QPR made it five successive wins with another
1-0 win, this time at home to struggling Birmingham City. Charlie Austin got the only goal three
minutes into the second half. Nottingham
Forest moved into third spot, as Darius Henderson’s late header saw them edge
out Barnsley 3-2 in a thrilling encounter at the City Ground.
At the wrong
end of the table, things got even worse for Steve Lomas at Millwall. He witnessed his side crash to a shambolic
5-1 home defeat to Derby County with Craig Bryson scoring Derby’s first
hat-trick in a league game since 1989.
Millwall had Shane Lowry sent off for already the fifth time in his
professional career, and fans attacked both visiting defender Adam Smith and
manager Nigel Clough leaving a bitter taste with many afterwards. Lomas looks on borrowed time, and so does
Dougie Freedman after Bolton chalked up a fourth successive defeat. This time they were overpowered by Leeds
United and lost 1-0 at home to a seventh minute strike from Luke Varney. The only consolation for Freedman was
Millwall’s heavy loss saw them replace Bolton at the foot of the Championship
table. Sheffield Wednesday are the only
other side still yet to register a win in the division as they were held to a 1-1
home draw by 10-man Yeovil Town.
Leyton Orient
continue to be the only side in the Football League to hold a 100 per cent
record, as Kevin Lisbie struck again in an entertaining 3-2 triumph over Port
Vale. Peterborough and Wolves maintained
the pace with victories against Bristol City and Swindon Town
respectively. Peterborough’s 3-0 win at
Ashton Gate dropped Sean O’Driscoll’s men into the bottom four. Carlisle United ended a difficult week with a
morale boosting 1-0 win over fellow stragglers Sheffield United. After the match, caretaker Graham Kavanagh
hinted that he would like to take the job full-time if offered following the
dismissal of Greg Abbott last Monday.
Chesterfield
increased their advantage at the top of League Two to four points with a 2-0
victory against an in-form AFC Wimbledon side.
Gary Roberts made one and scored the other goal for the Spireites, who
hold an unbeaten record still in the division.
Oxford stayed in second spot, but lost ground on the leaders as they
drew 2-2 away at Cheltenham Town. It was a day to forget for Tom Naylor of Newport County.
He had the unfortunate act of scoring two own goals and then conceding a
penalty as his side went down 3-2 to Morecambe.
I hope someone gave Naylor a stiff drink on Saturday night after his
tough day!
It was away
wins galore in the Scottish Premiership, with six games and six wins for the
travellers. Inverness held onto their
three-point lead as they notched up a 2-1 victory against struggling
Kilmarnock. Billy McKay was once again
on target. Celtic won 3-1 in the
lunchtime kick-off over Hearts, while Aberdeen were impressive in their 3-0
stroll away at Partick Thistle.
See below for
a classified check of all of Saturday’s results.
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