Lee Davy brings you a full round up of week six of the greatest footballing league in the world including the end of Man City’s unbeaten run, another crazy display from Diego Costa and much more.
Week 6 of the Barclays Premier League was the week that saw Manchester City lose their 100% record. The club was denied the opportunity to beat Arsenal’s Premiership straight win record (14 in 2003/04) after West Ham halting that run at 11.
The Hammers delivered a nasty case of Blue Balls with a 2 v 1 away victory. It now means Slaven Bilic’s men has taken maximum points from their first three away games, against Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City. Forget blowing bubbles. The Hammers are dreamwalking. It’s the first time they have won their first three away games of the season since 2007.
City hadn’t even conceded a single goal until Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho gave Joe Hart’s back a few spasms. £54m January signing Kevin De Bruyne scoring a consolation goal for a City side that was the most expensive ever assembled in Premier League history.
The title race is back on!
City’s defeat leaves Leicester City as the only side left in the Premiership left to taste defeat. They won’t be tasting any pizza either. The Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri promised his side free pizza if they kept a clean sheet away to Stoke. It took just 13-minutes for the tomato plants to be left untouched. Bojan scoring on his return after eight months out with injury.
The industrious Jonathan Walters put Stoke two goals ahead in the 20th minute. That would have been more than enough to beat Leicester this time last season, but they are made of sterner stuff these days. For the second time in successive weeks, City came back from two goals down – Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy taking a point back to the King Power Stadium. It was Vardy’s third goal of the season; Mahrez has had a hand in eight of the 13 goals that has pushed Leicester into an early Champions League spot.
The biggest game of the weekend was Arsenal v Chelsea. Normally, this game would be maximum points for Chelsea, but the Gunners recent Community Shield victory over Chelsea, coupled with Mourinho’s men’s poor start to this campaign gave the Arsene Wenger’s men renewed hope. It was a match with controversy written all over it. It didn’t disappoint.
The game revolved around the Chelsea striker Diego Costa. After the match, BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand called him a ‘petulant baby’ and I have to say, he is bang on the money.
Costa is a dirty player, not in the physical tackling sense, but in a sly irritable sense. He is more likely to snap your child’s wax crayons than an opponent’s legs will derive joy from inhaling the dust of the dead and will flick cigarette ash down your wife’s cleavage.
Arsene Wenger demanded that the FA observe video footage of his tussle with Laurent Koscielny and then ban him. I doubt that will happen, but what I don’t doubt is that sometime this year, in a crucial game, the petulant baby will get sent off in a crucial Chelsea game. Costa won’t receive a ban, but Gabriel Paulista will after reacting to Costa’s provocation with a Beckhamesque petulant kick leading to his sending off.
Arsenal lost the game by two goals to nil, and ended with nine men after Santi Cazorla was sent off after receiving two justifiable yellow cards. Afterwards Mourinho told the press that Wenger was always complaining in defeat and should handle them in the same way that he does…which is rather strange given Mourinho’s tendency to…well…complain.
Arsenal wasn’t the only club to end a Week 6 Premier League clash with fewer than 11-players on the pitch. Sunderland captain Younes Kaboul received his marching orders in another woeful performance by Sunderland. Their two-nil defeat away to Bournemouth means the Black Cats are rooted to the foot of the table. I can’t see them ever leaving there.
Callum Wilson scored the opening goal for Bournemouth prompting Eddie Howe to suggest he is not that far away from an England call-up. Wilson is currently the Premier League’s joint top goalscorer with five goals (Mahrez of Leicester also has five).
It was Bournemouth’s first top flight home victory in the club’s history. It was sealed by one of the greatest goals in the club’s history. Matt Ritchie controlling the ball on his chest, before firing the ball into the corner of the net with a volley flung from the edge of the box.
Joining Sunderland at the bottom of the table are their fiercest rivals Newcastle. It’s usually a shame to see a local derby broken up when one club is relegated, so it’s nice to know that the chances are high that both Newcastle and Sunderland may end up in the Championship next year.
Former Newcastle boss, and Match of the Day pundit, Alan Shearer, murdered his former team on Saturday night. It was a scathing attack borne out of frustration for his love for the club. Earlier he vented that frustration at the clubs manager Steve McClaren when he tweeted: “Even I won one in six.”
Yes, McClaren has failed to win any of his six games in charge, and there doesn’t appear to be a victory waiting for him on the horizon. His team looks docile and lost, and his reaction after the game was fitting of a man who believes he has inherited a bag of shite.
“We knew it was going to be tough when we came in. It has proven that way.” Said McClaren after the game.
Odion Ighalo netted a brace for Watford in a two-nil win.
If Sunderland and Newcastle looked destined for the drop after just six games, who looks likely to join them? On the early performances you have to put Aston Villa in that bracket. Take the FA Cup run out of last year’s equation and they have been one of the poorest teams in the past 18-months. It seems the lethargy that was created under the tutelage of Paul Lambert has endured under the tenure of Tim Sherwood.
Saido Berahino scored the only goal of the game in a one-nil win for West Brom; strange considering he tweeted that he would never play for the WBA chairman Jeremy Peace, after being denied a £25m transfer to Spurs.
“We have all made mistakes and I am sure he regrets the way he handled it.” Pulis said after the game.
I’m not so sure.
Man Utd stopped the two game rot with a hard earned victory over Southampton. It was a quality game, with United edging it 3-2. I have criticized United heavily for their inability to turn possession into goals, so it was nice to see the United players buzzing like bees in a 45-pass move that saw Juan Mata adding to two goals from Anthony Martial, to hand Utd a 3-1 lead. Graziano Pelle grabbed his second in the 86-min, but a world class display by David De Gea ensured United left the South Coast with three-points.
United are still not firing on all cylinders, but at least they are gathering the points. The same cannot be said for their archrivals Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers side faced a Norwich City side with a back four containing more holes than Swiss cheese. It didn’t matter. Woeful finishing, and some great goalkeeping ensured Liverpool would not capitalize.
Danny Ings came on for the second half to put Liverpool ahead, but the Norwich City captain, Russell Martin, drew Norwich level with a deft lob into the Liverpool goal after a six-yard scramble gone wrong. It was Martin’s third goal of the season – the best for a defender – and it came less than eight hours after his wife had given birth. Seriously, what is the matter with these guys? Their wife has a child and they go and play football.
Priorities man.
Priorities.
Two more games to catch up on and I will start at Spurs. Harry Kane can’t hit a barn door at six yards this year. Fortunately, Heung-Min Son can. The most expensive Asian footballer in the history of the game made it three goals in his last two appearances with the winner in a one-nil win. I still like the look of Palace though: Cabaye, Bolasie and Sakho are going to ensure Alan Pardew’s side grab their best ever finish in a Premier League season for me.
Finally, Swansea drew nil-nil with Everton. I don’t have much to say about it except that Kevin Mirallas was sent off after only being on the pitch for two minutes. That’s fast, but not as fast as the red card received by Kevin Pressman back in 2000 when he was sent off after just 13 seconds. Who else but Vinnie Jones holds the record for the fastest yellow card in Premier League history.
How long?
Five seconds.
Week 6 Results
Bournemouth 2 v Sunderland
Aston Villa 0 v 1 West Brom
Swansea 0 v 0 Everton
Southampton 2 v 3 Man United
Liverpool 1 v 1 Norwich
Spurs 1 v 0 Crystal Palace
Man City 1 v 2 West Ham
Chelsea 2 v 0 Arsenal
Newcastle 1 v 2 Watford
Stoke 2 v 2 Leicester City
Premier League Standings (After 6 Games)
1st. Man City – 15 pts.
2nd. Man Utd – 13 pts.
3rd. West Ham – 12 pts.
4th. Leicester – 12 pts.
5th. Arsenal – 10pts
6th. Everton – 9 pts.
7th. Swansea – 9 pts.
8th. Crystal Palace – 9pts
9th. Spurs – 9 pts.
10th. Watford – 9 pts.
11th. Norwich – 8 pts.
12th. West Brom – 8 pts.
13th. Liverpool – 8 pts.
14th. Bournemouth – 7 pts.
15th. Chelsea – 7 pts.
16th. Southampton – 6 pts.
17th. Aston Villa – 4 pts.
18th. Stoke – 3 pts.
19th. Newcastle – 2 pts.
20th. Sunderland – 2 pts.
