Karl Henry | Pele Confidential

Premier League Round-Up 04/10/10

If fans were surprised by the top of the Premier League table in recent weeks, that is nothing compared to the sight of Liverpool in the bottom three after seven games of the season.

Roy Hodgson’s side lost their unbeaten home record to newly-promoted Blackpool thanks to goals from Charlie Adam and Luke Varney, and will also be without frontman Fernando Torres for some time after the Spaniard was forced off through injury.

Charlie Adam

The visitors were deserving of the victory, and are more than holding their own in the top flight after being tipped for relegation at the start of the campaign. A consolation from Sotirios Kyrgiakos was not enough to dampen their spirits and now it is Hodgson – rather than opposite number Ian Holloway – who is left with plenty of thinking to do.

To add insult to injury, local rivals Everton climbed out of the drop-zone with their first win of the season at the hands of Birmingham City.

Tim Cahill sealed the victory after a Roger Johnson own goal had given the Toffees the lead, and the result brings an end to Birmingham’s 18-game unbeaten home run in the league.

The other two spaces in the bottom three are filled by Wolves – who lost 2-0 at Wigan – and West Ham, who were held at home by Fulham.

Wolves were given an upward task as soon as captain Karl Henry saw red for an indefensible foul on Jordi Gomez which was so bad it even left Mick McCarthy unable to defend his player.

Karl Henry

Gomez recovered to open the scoring with a 65^th-minute free-kick, before Hugo Rodallega deflected a Christophe Berra clearance beyond Marcus Hahnemann with five minutes to go.

West Ham had to come from behind to extend their unbeaten run, after Clint Dempsey was left unmarked 10 yards out to open the scoring before half-time.

Frederic Piquionne scored his third goal in as many games to level the scores, but the game lost all sense of rhythm thanks to a questionable performance from whistle-happy referee Andre Marriner.

At the top of the table, Chelsea extended their lead to four points after seeing off a wasteful Arsenal side at Stamford Bridge.

Didier Drogba and Alex got the goals with fine finishes, but the visitors will live to regret their profligacy in front of goal, with Laurent Koscielny the main culprit.

Second place is now occupied by Manchester City after Adam Johnson’s winner earned them a third successive league win.

Adam Johnson

But the game will be remembered for the broken leg suffered by Newcastle’s Hatem ben Arfa, just the latest in a worryingly-long line of Premier League players to suffer serious injuries in the season’s early weeks.

Carlos Tevez’s penalty and Jonas Gutierrez’s equaliser are mere footnotes in a match which reignited debates about dangerous tackling in the top flight.

City’s rise to 2^nd is at the expense of Manchester rivals United, who have now drawn all four of their away games in the league.

Their game at Sunderland was one of few chances, and those which did come fell to the hosts. Steed Malbranque fired the best opening straight at Edwin van der Sar, while Bolo Zenden struck the outside of his fellow countryman’s post.

Another Dutchman hitting the headlines was Rafael van der Vaart, who scored both goals as Tottenham came from behind to beat Aston Villa.

Marc Albrighton had opened the scoring for Gerard Houllier’s men before van der Vaart capitalised on two Peter Crouch knockdowns to beat Brad Friedel either side of the break.

Hot on Tottenham’s heels are surprise package West Brom, who followed up last week’s win at Arsenal with a rather more subdued draw at home to Bolton.

They also had to come from behind after Johan Elmander lashed home a first-half strike, but after James Morrison’s equaliser the Baggies could have easily snatched all three points.

The final match of the weekend saw Stoke City climb into the top half of the table for the first time this season thanks to a hard-fought triumph over Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn.

Jon Walters scored the only goal of the game against the club where he started his career, tucking home from a Matty Etherington through-ball to add to his Carling Cup strike against Shrewsbury in August.

Team of the week (4-3-2-1):

Gilks (Blackpool); Baird (Fulham), Bramble (Sunderland), Jagielka (Everton), Crainey (Blackpool); Mulumbu (West Brom), Reo-Coker (Aston Villa), Essien (Chelsea); van der Vaart (Tottenham), Etherington (Stoke); Elmander (Bolton)

October 4, 2010
Categories: Premier League . Tags: Adam Johnson, Alex, Andre Marriner, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham 0-2 Everton, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolo Zenden, Bolton, Bolton Wanderers, Boudewijn Zenden, Brad Friedel, Carling Cup, Carlos Tevez, Charlie Adam, Chelsea, Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal, Chris Baird, Christophe Berra, Clint Dempsey, Didier Drogba, Edwin van der Sar, Everton, Fernando Torres, Frederic Piquionne, Fulham, Gerard Houllier, Hatem ben Arfa, Hugo Rodallega, Ian Holloway, James Morrison, Johan Elmander, Jon Walters, Jonas Gutierrez, Jonathan Walters, Jordi Gomez, Karl Henry, Laurent Koscielny, Liverpool, Liverpool 1-2 Blackpool, Luke Varney, Man Utd, Manchester United, Marc Albrighton, Marcus Hahnemann, Matt Gilks, Matthew Etherington, Matthew Gilks, Matty Etherington, Michael Essien, Mick McCarthy, Nigel Reo-Coker, Peter Crouch, Phil Jagielka, Rafael van der Vaart, Roger Johnson, Roy Hodgson, Sam allardyce, Shrewsbury, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Spurs, Steed Malbranque, Stephen Crainey, Stoke 1-0 Blackburn, Stoke City, Sunderland, Sunderland 0-0 Man Utd, Tim Cahill, Titus Bramble, Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, WBA, West Brom, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, West Ham 1-1 Fulham, West Ham United, Wigan 2-0 Wolves, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wolves, Youssuf Mulumbu . Author: tomvictor . Comments: Leave a Comment

Premier League Round-up 13/09/2010

This weekend showed once again why the Premier League is so popular, with one of the most thrilling encounters of recent years being played out at Goodison Park.

Manchester United were without Wayne Rooney for the trip to Everton, but – whatever Henry Winter tells you – his absence did not lessen their capacity to win the game. Dimitar Berbatov led the line well and scored the third goal which seemingly clinched victory for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, but Leighton Baines’ crosses caused havoc in the United box, allowing the hosts to score two injury-time goals and salvage a remarkable 3-3 draw.

Ferguson – who later saw his son’s team Preston throw away a similar lead to lose 4-3 at Burnley – must be concerned at his side’s failure to close out games, and he might begin to question the concentration of stand-in defenders Gary Neville and Jonny Evans. While the two are at opposite ends of their respective careers, they are perhaps equidistant from the pinnacle of their abilities.

Michael Essien

United’s late collapse allowed Chelsea to move four points clear at the top of the table with a comfortable 3-1 win against West Ham. Early goals from Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou meant the champions barely had to break sweat, as they sat back and allowed their hosts plenty of possession.

It is difficult to judge Chelsea’s start to the season based on the opposition they have faced so far, but you can only beat what is placed in front of you – something Manchester United have failed to do twice now.

While their rivals continue to hog the headlines, Arsenal are going about their business quietly yet effectively. The odd defensive hiccup remained in their 4-1 victory over Bolton, but Arsene Wenger’s side adjusted well to the loss of Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie.

The scoreline was harsh on a Bolton side very much in the game until the laughable dismissal of Gary Cahill, but Owen Coyle’s side needed to capitalise more on their concerted spells of possession and take the chances presented to them. If you don’t do that, Arsenal will punish you.

The ‘big three’ were joined in the top four by Blackpool, who continued their fairytale start to the season with a surprisingly-comfortable 2-0 win at Newcastle’s St James Park.

Ian Holloway’s men were reliant on goalkeeper Matt Gilks to preserve the lead given to them by Charlie Adam’s first-half penalty, before DJ Campbell sealed the win in stoppage time. Toon Army manager Chris Hughton may be regretting his decision to leave new signing Hatem ben Arfa on the bench, with the midfield trio of Nolan, Smith and Barton failing to provide the necessary creative spark.

Elsewhere Fulham saw off a spirited but indisciplined Wolves outfit at Craven Cottage, in a game which will be remembered for a distressing injury suffered by Bobby Zamora. The England man’s leg snapped under a challenge from Karl Henry, bringing back memories of former Arsenal striker Eduardo’s horrific break in January 2008.

Moussa Dembele

But unlike Arsenal on that fateful day, Fulham were spurred on to record a hard-fought win, Moussa Dembele’s double placating Mark Hughes’ misery somewhat. His opposite number Mick McCarthy, meanwhile, will be concerned that Christophe Berra’s late red card is one of three which could have realistically been awarded against his side.

Another player to see red on Saturday was Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole, who did not even last half an hour against former club Wigan. Two yellow cards in the space of five minutes brought an early end to the combative midfielder’s afternoon for the second time this season.

£13m man Asamoah Gyan still came close to securing an unlikely three points for the 10 men of Sunderland, but his well-taken volley was cancelled out by an instinctive finish from Antolin Alcaraz, who turned in Tom Cleverley’s wayward shot for his first goal in Wigan colours.

1-1 seemed to be the scoreline of the weekend, with Manchester City’s tie against Blackburn and Tottenham’s trip to West Brom both ending in the same scoreline.

City will rue defensive errors and attacking complacency, as they made a meal of coming back into the game after Joe Hart gifted the opener to Nikola Kalinic. Roberto Mancini’s men had 20 shots on goal to Blackburn’s 4, but could not find a way past a determined Rovers back-line.

Chris Brunt

And Spurs were similarly guilty of gifting a goal to their opponents, with a static defence failing to respond when Marc-Antoine Fortune’s shot looped up and spun towards the back post, allowing Chris Brunt to equalise with a rare headed goal from all of a yard out.

Sunday’s televised game was not one for the purists, with Birmingham and Liverpool playing out a dull goalless draw. The hosts had the better chances, but Pepe Reina was equal to everything thrown at him by the Blues, while at the other end an uncharacteristically-negative selection from Roy Hodgson left Fernando Torres feeding off scraps for the most part.

Team of the week (4-2-3-1)*:

Reina (Liverpool); Kaboul (Tottenham), Jones (Blackburn), Dann (Birmingham), Cole (Chelsea); Song (Arsenal), Scharner (West Brom); Arteta (Everton), Fabregas (Arsenal), Adam (Blackpool); Berbatov (Man Utd)

*Team selected ahead of Monday night game between Aston Villa and Stoke

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September 13, 2010
Categories: Premier League . Tags: Adam, Alan Smith, Alcaraz, Alex, Alex Song, Alexandre Song, Antolin, Antolin Alcaraz, Arsenal, Arsenal 4-1 Bolton, Arsene, Arsene Wenger, Asamoah, Asamoah Gyan, Ashley Cole, Baines, Barton, ben Arfa, Berbatov, Berra, Birmingham 0-0 Liverpool, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bobby, Bobby Zamora, Bobby Zamora injury, Bolton, Brunt, Burnley, Cahill, Campbell, Cattermole, Cesc Fabregas, Charlie, Charlie Adam, Chelsea, Chris, Chris Brunt, Chris Hughton, Christophe, Christophe Berra, Cleverley, Coyle, Dembele, Dimitar, Dimitar Berbatov, DJ, DJ Campbell, Eduardo, Essien, Evans, Everton 3-3 Man Utd, Ferguson, Fernando, Fernando Torres, Fortune, Fulham, Fulham 2-1 Wolves, Gary, Gary Cahill, Gary Neville, Gilks, Goodison Park, Gyan, Ham, Hart, Hatem, Hatem ben Arfa, Henry, Henry Winter, Hodgson, Holloway, Hotspur, Hughes, Hughton, Ian, Ian Holloway, Joe, Joe Hart, Joey Barton, Jonny, Jonny Evans, Kalinic, Kalou, Karl, Karl Henry, Kevin Nolan, Lee, Lee Cattermole, Leighton, Leighton Baines, Liverpool, Man City, Man City 1-1 Blackburn, Man Utd, Manchester City, Manchester United, Mancini, Marc-Antoine, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Mark, Mark Hughes, Matt, Matt Gilks, McCarthy. Mick McCarthy, Michael, Michael Essien, Mick, Mikel Arteta, Moussa, Moussa Dembele, Neville, Newcastle, Newcastle 0-2 Blackpool, Nikola, Nikola Kalinic, Nolan, Owen, Owen Coyle, Paul Scharner, Pepe, Pepe Reina, Phil Jones, Preston, Reina, Roberto, Roberto Mancini, Robin, Robin van Persie, Rooney, Roy, Roy Hodgson, Salomon, Salomon Kalou, Scott Dann, Sir, Sir Alex Ferguson, Smith, Spurs, Sunderland, Theo, Theo Walcott, Tom, Tom Cleverley, Toon Army, Torres, Tottenham, van Persie, Walcott, Wanderers, Wayne, Wayne Rooney, WBA, Wenger, West, West Brom, West Brom 1-1 Tottenham, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham 1-3 Chelsea, Wigan, Wigan 1-1 Sunderland, Winter, Wolverhampton, Wolves, Younes Kaboul, Zamora . Author: tomvictor . Comments: Leave a Comment

Premier League round-up 23/08/2010

Last week I talked about champions Chelsea being frustrated by one of the minnows of the Premier League before emerging with an inconceivable 6-0 win. I didn’t in my wildest dreams believe I’d be repeating myself this week.

Chelsea’s second-half performance at the DW Stadium was by all accounts a procession, but they had been more than matched in chances and commitment by a determined Wigan side keen to erase the memory of an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to Blackpool on the opening weekend.

Roberto Martinez has a lot of thinking to do

Unfortunately for Roberto Martinez’s side they collapsed after falling a couple of goals behind, a situation all-too-familiar to the Spaniard. Indeed you only have to go back to the end of last season to find an example of a Latics capitulation at the hands of the same opponents who defeated them on Saturday.

Amazingly, this was not the only case of a team racing to a flattering 6-0 win in a game they might have drawn or even lost. Aston Villa looked to be cruising against Newcastle in the early stages, but John Carew’s penalty miss (not the first or last of the weekend, but more on that later) seemed to provide a catalyst for the Toon Army to wake up and run away with the tie.

Chris Hughton’s side displayed a flair and counter-attacking verve completely absent in their relegation campaign two seasons ago, and if the 3-0 scoreline at half-time was generous, they never looked in danger of relinquishing their lead. The manner in which Newcastle cruised through the second half suggests they will have few concerns come May, and in Andy Carroll they have a striker capable of tucking away the chances squandered by the likes of Shola Ameobi in the past.

There was, believe it or not, a third 6-0 game this weekend. The only difference as far as Arsenal’s triumph over Blackpool is concerned is that the hosts were fully deserving of the crushing victory. Of course things may have been different if Ian Evatt had not scythed down Marouane Chamakh before the break, but the Tangerines already knew they were going to be in for a long afternoon.

How costly will Carlton Cole's penalty miss prove to be?

It was, it seems, a week of missed penalties. Of the six awarded only two were converted, by Mark Noble and Andrei Arshavin. And Noble’s goal came only after West Ham team-mate Carlton Cole had sent a feeble effort into the hands of Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. In a classic game of two halves, the Finn’s save ensured the Trotters ended a West Ham-dominated first period on level terms before outplaying their opponents after the break to emerge with a 3-1 victory.

Just as costly a penalty miss was Nani’s for Manchester United against Fulham. With four minutes left on the clock he had the opportunity to make the game safe, but David Stockdale pulled off an impressive save and Brede Hangeland’s late header allowed Mark Hughes’ side to escape with a 2-2 draw.

What is it with English goalkeepers and penalty saves? The day before Stockdale’s heroics, former United number one Ben Foster tipped Morten Gamst Pedersen’s spot-kick onto the woodwork, paving the way for his Birmingham side to edge past Blackburn 2-1. The hero at the other end was Craig Gardner, a young man enjoying his football after making the move across England’s second city from rivals Villa.

If English goalkeepers provided one of the main talking points this summer, another was provided by the argument for or against goal-line technology. It would of course only be a matter of time until that particular debate reared its ugly head once more, and the Britannia Stadium was the setting for the source of pub debates across the country.

Did Jonathan Walters’ late effort cross the line? Probably. Would sensors or cameras have confirmed whether a goal should have been awarded? Possibly. With a clear view of the incident, should Chris Foy have made a decision himself rather than delegating to an unsighted linesman? Definitely.

Ebanks-Blake might finally be finding his feet in the Premier League

While Stoke may have lost their opening two games, they still look like an established Premier League team, and Mick McCarthy’s Wolves are looking to follow their example. While many (myself included) tipped Wolves to struggle, they already seem a more solid outfit than they did last season, as demonstrated by a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park. One of their problems last campaign was their strikers’ lack of confidence in front of goal, so Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s equaliser will have done him a world of good at this early stage.

Speaking of strikers looking to benefit from an early-season pick-me-up, Peter Odemwingie got his West Bromwich Albion career off to the perfect start, netting the winner against Sunderland. Perhaps just as important for Baggies boss Roberto di Matteo was the clean sheet, erasing the memories of the opening-day defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Finally, one of the advantages of writing my round-up on a Monday night is that I can comment on the final match in this round of fixtures. Manchester City’s victory over Liverpool was as comfortable as they come, and a perfect present for watching owner Sheikh Mansour. With Carlos Tevez getting into his goalscoring stride and James Milner slotting into the first-team as if he had been at Eastlands for years, City look capable of a top-four finish if not better.

Team of the week (4-3-2-1):

Jaaskelainen (Bolton); Richards (Man City), Roger Johnson (Birmingham), Williamson (Newcastle), Cole (Chelsea); Scholes (Man Utd), Henry (Wolves), Gardner (Birmingham); Walcott (Arsenal), Adam Johnson (Man City); Carroll (Newcastle)

August 23, 2010
Categories: Premier League . Tags: Adam Johnson, Andrei Arshavin, Andy Carroll, Arsenal, Arsenal 6-0 Blackpool, Ashley Cole, Aston Villa, Ben Foster, Birmingham 2-1 Blackburn, Birmingham City, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Brede Hangeland, Britannia Stadium, Carlos Tevez, Carlton Cole, Chelsea, Chris Foy, Chris Hughton, Craig Gardner, David Stockdale, DW Stadium, Everton, Everton 1-1 Wolves, Fulham, Fulham 2-2 Man Utd, Gamst, goal-line technology, Ian Evatt, James Milner, John Carew, Jon Walters, Jonathan Walters, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Karl Henry, Liverpool, Man City 3-0 Liverpool, Man Utd, Manchester City, Manchester United, Mark Hughes, Mark Noble, Marouane Chamakh, Micah Richards, Mick McCarthy, Mike Williamson, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Nani, Newcastle, Newcastle 6-0 Aston Villa, Paul Scholes, Peter Odemwingie, Roberto di Matteo, Roberto Martinez, Roger Johnson, Sheikh Mansour, Shola Ameobi, Stoke 1-2 Tottenham, Stoke City, Sunderland, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Theo Walcott, Tottenham Hotspur, West Brom, West Brom 1-0 Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, West Ham 1-3 Bolton, Wigan, Wigan 0-6 Chelsea, Wolves . Author: tomvictor . Comments: Leave a Comment

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