City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all won to keep the top five looking pretty much the same as last week. There were some lopsided victories and goal fests in this round of games. Here is how the ten matches played out.
Newcastle 0-3 Chelsea
Chelsea came in reeling and the questions over the amount of pressure Andre Villas-Boas is under keep coming. He needed a strong performance from his team away at Newcastle, which is always tough. AVB got that performance with a nice three-goal victory. David Luiz maybe should’ve been sent off early, though, for a foul on Demba Ba, but that’s football. Frank Lampard also missed a penalty but Didier Drogba eventually gave Chelsea a first half lead with an excellent header from who else, Juan Mata. Tim Krul kept the Blues out and the woodwork kept Newcastle out until Fernando Torres laid on for Salomon Kalou to score the second. Danny Sturridge was fantastic in this match and he finally got his goal in stoppage time for Chelsea’s third.
Manchester City 5-1 Norwich
What more can you say about the force of this team? The depth is incredible, there are match winners everywhere on the pitch, and they get stronger as the game goes on. They suffocated Norwich and goals from Sergio Aguero (brilliant), Samir Nasri (weak goal), Yaya Toure (brilliant, again), Mario Balotelli (funny), and Adam Johnson (clinical) completely canceled out Steve Morrison’s header.
Blackburn 4-2 Swansea
A goal fest broke out when the lowly Blackburn hosted Swansea. Yakuba got the first for Blackburn on a rocket of a shot but Leroy Lita equalized on a header for the Swans. The Yak scored again, reacting first to a weird shot or cross, I couldn’t figure out which one it was, but nonetheless it was scored. Yakuba then completed the hat trick before Swansea trimmed the lead to one through Luke Moore. Joe Allen was then sent off for Swansea and two minutes later Blackburn got a penalty, which was obviously given to Yakuba for four.
QPR 1-1 West Brom
Yes, there is actual footage of this game. Sorry QPR and West Brom fans for the disrespect but goals from Heidar Helguson (QPR) and Shane Long (West Brom) made sure each team went home with a point.
Tottenham 3-0 Bolton
Three goals for Spurs is becoming routine. They dismantled Bolton starting with a Gareth Bale flick from a corner. Gary Cahill was then sent off for Bolton when he brought down Scott Parker, albeit from about 45 yards out. Aaron Lennon got a goal in the second to double, and then Jermaine Defoe tripled. Three more points for the men from North London.
Wigan 0-4 Arsenal
The Gunners traveled to Wigan to bounce back from a disappointing home draw with Fulham. Mikel Arteta scored the opener with a nice shot from distance. Thomas Vermaelen then headed in for 2-0 before Gervinho scored for 3-0. Of course Robin van Persie was going to score, and he did, to make it 4-0.
Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester United
This is the seventh league match in a row that United has scored just one goal. That one goal came from Phil Jones, his first for the club. Chicharito hurt his ankle early, which left an odd cloud over this win. This was not the most fun game to watch but it did the job for United.
Everton 0-1 Stoke
This was Stoke’s first win after a game in Europe the week before. A Robert Huth flick was enough as Everton was held at bay at home.
Wolves 2-1 Sunderland
After a scoreless first half, it was Sunderland, under new boss Martin O’Neill, who took the lead. The goal came on a swift counter attack that Keiran Richardson powered home. In the 72nd minute Sunderland looked to double the lead when Seb Larsson flamboyantly went down after barely being touched by Jody Craddock. Larsson then had his penalty shot saved and Wolves went down and Steven Fletcher headed in to level just seconds later. The momentum was with Wolves after that and sure enough it was Fletcher who would get the winning goal. This game was turned on its head in the space of ten minutes.
Fulham 1-0 Liverpool
England’s Monday Night Football featured a game of teams that could use a win for different reasons. Liverpool needed to maintain the pace of the clubs around them and Fulham needs to stay clear of the drop zone. Liverpool’s lack of finishing really hurt them in this one. There was chance after chance for the Reds but they couldn’t quite put it in. In the second half Jay Spearing was sent off, harshly, and the momentum was swung. Fulham pushed forward and eventually got their goal when Clint Dempsey scored to give the home side a huge win.
With almost all of the teams at the top winning, it was the club at the very top that is getting my team of the week award. Yes, it may be may be getting somewhat monotonous but Manchester City gets it again for their 5-1 thrashing of Norwich. The Welsh sprinter, Gareth Bale, wins player of the week for his outstanding play in Spurs’ 3-0 win over Bolton at the Lane.
