A round up of week two of Premier League action including 100% records for Manchester United, West Brom, and Huddersfield.
Swansea 0 v 4 Man Utd
The sight of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League used to be as ominous as tanks in Tiananmen Square.
It seems like a long time ago.
But they are back where United fans feel they belong, towering above the rest of the league, with eight goals scored, two clean sheets, and six maximum points after two faultless performances.
Once again, Nemanja Matic was the mortar like midfield maestro, breaking up the play, and firing passes to the likes of Henry Mkhitaryan, Paul Pogba, and Romelu Lukaku to pound the Swansea goal with their shell like shots.
Swansea’s back five looked solid despite United’s rampant intentions, holding out until first half injury time when Eric Bailly tucked the ball away after Lukasz Fabianski had tipped a bullet header from Paul Pogba onto the underside of the crossbar.
United’s dominance saw their possession peek over the 66% mark at times, but Swansea held on until a devastating four-minute spell, ten minutes from time.
With the United front like swarming forward like a scourge of mosquitos, they took the lead after Mkhitaryan found Lukaku free in the box, and the Belgian scored his third goal of the season in typically emphatic style.
Two minutes later and Mkhitaryan was at it again, putting Pogba through on goal to scoop a delightful chip over the onrushing Fabianski. The fourth goal came another two minutes later when substitute Anthony Martial bore down on goal, cut inside the penalty area, and finished smartly.
United finished 24 points behind Chelsea, last term, and the main reason was a lack of thought when it came to unlocking stubborn and stern defences like Swansea’s. It’s too early to suggest that they have found the keys, but Pogba is moving forward more freely, with Matic in the side, and Lukaku looks like a bull with the pitch his proverbial China shop.
And for Swansea?
Life without Sigurdsson will be tough. The Icelandic star had a hand in 21 goals last season, and without their leading man, they will find themselves in the basement once again.
Huddersfield 1 v 0 Newcastle
You don’t need to be Jamie Carragher or Gary Neville to know that Huddersfield and Newcastle will end up in the sewers at the end of the season, trying desperately, to find the manhole engraved Premier League Survival.
Every point matters, particularly against fellow sewer dwellers, and it’s for this reason that Huddersfield will be delighted with this victory, and Newcastle fans will already feel the pinch of impending doom.
The game consisted of a brilliant goal, an equally fandabydozy save, and two missed chances.
Let’s begin with the save.
Newcastle star Matt Ritchie ran onto a loose ball in the box and allowed the momentum of it to arrow perfectly into the bottom of the Huddersfield net until Jonas Lossl tipped the ball outside of the post.
That match winning save, was equalled with a match winning goal, as the industrious Aaron Mooy played a mazy one-two with Elias Kachunga, before curling a beautiful shot into the top of the Newcastle net with only five minutes played in the second half.
Newcastle, could, and should, have equalised when the ball from a corner fell to Ayoze Perez five yards from goal, but his pirouette and shot ballooned over the bar.
Only Man Utd sit higher than Huddersfield in the Premier League after two straight wins, but let’s not forget Hull were in a similar position last year and look what happened to them.
Fortunately, for Newcastle, they face a troubled West Ham at home, giving the Magpies the perfect opportunity to bag a morale boosting three points. If they lose that one, then the alarm bells will become deafening.
Burnley 0 v 1 West Brom
The most annoying, boring, and predictable side in the Premier League has a 100% record, without conceding a goal, after another irritating performance at Burnley.
West Brom arrived at Turfmoor with a game plan to stifle and to steal, and that’s what they did after Hal Robson-Kanu came off the bench to get on the end of a Matt Philipps flick before bulldozing his way through the Burnley defence and hammering the ball past Tom Heaton.
The Welshman doesn’t get many opportunities to please Pulis, and the rationing will continue after Robson-Kanu elbowed Matt Lowton in the mush, earning a red card, 12-minutes after being the darling of the team. It’s the first time West Brom has strung together two clean sheets on the bounce since October 2015 and bodes well for another run at a Top 10 finish.
Burnley will be bitterly disappointed to have fallen for the West Brom game plan, especially after the earthquake of an opener against Chelsea last week.
They had 20 shots on goal, but none of them was on target; in comparison, West Brom had eight, and Robson-Kanu’s strike was the only one that found its way between the sticks.
Last year, Burnley were the Titans of Turfmoor, but their latest defeat to the Baggies means they only have a single victory to show for in their past seven home league games.
Spurs 1 v 2 Chelsea
The tie of the weekend saw Chelsea put the misery of Burnley behind them with a performance worthy of champions at Wembley. It was Spurs first home defeat in 19 games, during which time they won 17 of those, but it’s the seventh loss out of ten at Wembley, and they have now lost four times on the spin to Chelsea in this majestic setting.
Chelsea should have gone ahead as early as the fifth minute when Alvaro Morata headed wide from six yards. The Spaniard was making his first start for the club and left the field in the 78th minute. The Premier League is a body crusher, and he will be feeling it for sure.
With one Spaniard struggling to acclimatise to the rough and tumble of the Premier League it was left to another to provide the goods. Marcos Alonso fired Chelsea ahead with one of his free kick wonders in the 24th minute and was on hand to score the winner, two minutes from time after a bizarre Michy Batshuayi own goal had levelled things as the match entered the 80th minute.
Spurs played well, enjoyed 68% of possession, but didn’t pepper the Chelsea goal enough. Harry Kane, had eight chances, the most he has had without finding the net in his Premier League career.
It was a vital win for Chelsea with Everton and Leicester waiting in the wings. Spurs get the chance to redeem themselves with a home tie against Burnley before a tough trip to Goodison to face the young guns of Everton.
Here are the rest of the weekend’s results:
Premier League Results
Swansea 0 v 4 Man Utd
Southampton 3 v 2 West Ham
Bournemouth 0 v 2 Watford
Liverpool 1 v 0 Crystal Palace
Leicester 2 v 0 Brighton
Burnley 0 v 1 West Brom
Stoke 1 v 0 Arsenal
Huddersfield 1 v 0 Newcastle
Spurs 1 v 2 Chelsea
To Play (Mon, 21 Aug)
Man City v Everton
Premier League Table
1. Man Utd – 6
2. Huddersfield – 6
3. West Brom – 6
4. Watford – 4
5. Liverpool – 4
6. Southampton – 4
7. Man City – 3
8. Leicester – 3
9. Spurs – 3
10. Everton – 3
11. Arsenal – 3
12. Chelsea – 3
13. Burnley – 3
14. Stoke – 3
15. Swansea – 1
16. Bournemouth – 0
17. Newcastle – 0
18. Brighton – 0
19. Crystal Palace – 0
20. West Ham – 0
