Premier League Recap (September 10-12)

With the transfer window now closed and the international break over, the Premier League came back in full force this past weekend with every team in action. There were no real marquee games this weekend but many players were making their debuts for their new clubs after deadline day deals like, bnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnbbbbbbn Raul Meireles for Chelsea, Per Mertesacker for Arsenal, and Niklas Bendtner for Sunderland (formerly of Arsenal). And we all know Arsenal is a team full of talking points at the moment as they really needed to respond well after their 8-2 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United last week. Here is how their match went along with the nine others.

Arsenal 1-0 Swansea

Three points is what they got but there is definitely still something missing from this Arsenal side. The lone goal came after a big mistake by Swansea keeper Michel Vorm, a guy who I have praised on this blog. He rolled the ball out straight into the back of a defender and Andrei Arshavin was right there to finish. Arsenal did create more chances this game but still almost gave up the lead as Swansea pushed hard late in the match.  

Everton 2-2 Aston Villa

Everton led 1-0 at the break in an attacking game. Leon Osman got the first for the home side before Stilyan Petrov leveled on a wonder strike. The Blues again took the lead on a Leighton Baines penalty after Fabian Delph foolishly took down Phil Jagielka. Gabby Agbonlahor nabbed an away point for Villa thanks to a perfect Marc Albrighton cross.

Sunderland 1-2 Chelsea

In this week’s game of “which striker should I start”, AVB chose the young Danny Sturridge over Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba. That move turned out to be a masterstroke as Sturridge got the goal, on a nice backheeled shot, to double Chelsea’s lead over the Black Cats. John Terry got the first for the Blues whereas Dong-Won Ji got a consolation goal late for Sunderland. It would finish 2-1 and Chelsea seemed like they may have been looking ahead to the Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Manchester City 3-0 Wigan

The City train kept on rolling with another three points and another three goals. Sergio Aguero scored the opener and Carlos Tevez had a chance to make his mark but he saw his penalty saved. Then David Silva, Samir Nasri, and Aguero linked up for the Argentine’s second goal. Aguero would add even a third as he and City continued to trounce their opponents.

Stoke 1-0 Liverpool

Liverpool’s first loss of the season came on Saturday at Stoke thanks to poor finishing, a thunderous penalty from Jon Walters, and bad refereeing decisions (according to Kenny Dalglish). Suarez and co. could not score at the Brittania and Stoke goalie, Asmir Begovich, had a fantastic match.

Wolves 0-2 Tottenham

Bottom of the table Tottenham faced top five Wolves on Saturday and the form guide proved wrong in this case. Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor made their debuts for Spurs and those two hooked up for the opening goal with the former assisting on the latter’s goal. Jermaine Defoe would add another as Tottenham got their first points of the season.

Bolton 0-5 Manchester United

Look all you really need to know about United right now is that they are passing the ball brilliantly, finishing clinically, and looking like they just want Barcelona right now. Wayne Rooney and Javier Harnandez seem like they are right on the same page and those two combined for all five goals. Rooney with a hat trick and Chicharito with two, sorry Bolton.

Norwich City 0-1 West Brom

Peter Odemwingie got the only goal in this one as West Brom claimed the away win despite a penalty miss from the Nigerian.

Fulham 1-1 Blackburn

This wasn’t a classic match-up by any means but each club’s goals were definitely of note. Blackburn opened the scoring with a Ruben Rochina left footed strike but Bobby Zamora equalized with a lefty of his own. The match would stay this way and each team left with a point.

QPR 0-0 Newcastle

In a pretty dull to average Monday evening game, QPR and Newcastle played to a 0-0 draw and each claimed a point. Joey Barton, coincidentally, made his debut for QPR against his old club.

The Manchester clubs just keep on rolling. Now we will see how Man City handles a Champions League week with their game against Napoli on Wednesday. My team of the week has to go to Manchester United this week and their “anything you can do I can do better” performance. Mr. Wayne Rooney gets this week’s top player spot.