Match Day 7 of the English Premier League is a distant memory after Burnley beat Cardiff in God’s country, and Bournemouth secured their fourth win of the season, defeating Crystal Palace at the Vitality Stadium.
There are surgeons, meteorologists, nightclub owners, tube train drivers, Mississippi steamboat cocktail waitresses, glassblowers, dildo makers, and someone responsible for choosing which Premier League games should be shown live on TV.
I think it’s time someone gave that particular person the boot (or pull the plug if it’s an algorithm).
Only 450,000 people tuned into Sky Sports to watch Cardiff v Burnley – on a not very ‘super’ Sunday. I mean, come one, not even Cardiff fans want to watch their side play Burnley, as evidenced by the empty seats in the stadium, and I expect Burnley followers felt the same. Why would a neutral tune in to watch that garbage?
Or perhaps the live TV fixture list chooser is a genius and had the foresight to realise that this weekend would clash with the closing action of the Ryder Cup and decided to shove the worst possible match on the box knowing most people would have preferred to watch Brooks Koepka firing missiles into the crowd in France.
Who knows?
But I do know this.
Cardiff was unfortunate to lose a match they really, really, really needed to win.
“We can’t play much better than that without winning a game,” Neil Warnock told the press after the match.
I have to agree with him.
But you don’t get anything for performances in the cutthroat business of the Premier League. Points mean prizes, nothing else.
Cardiff had all of the early chances with Josh Murphy striking the foot of the post after some silky skills on the left-hand side of the box, Callum Paterson should have done better with a header from four-yards, and he was unlucky not have been awarded a penalty after his scissor-kick struck the hand of a Burnley defender.
But they didn’t score, and Burnley did.
Six minutes into the second half, and moments after Sam Vokes saw a decent shout for a penalty turned down, Johann Berg Gudmundsson headed home at the far post to score against the run of play.
Burnley, who came into this tie on a high after thrashing Bournemouth 4-0 at home, kept the lead for only nine minutes. Josh Murphy found space in the box and fired home a stunning low shot to equalise, his first for the club since signing from Norwich in the summer.
Murphy nearly gave Cardiff the lead when his right foot curler looked destined for the top corner until Joe Hart pulled back the years to tip it over the crossbar.
And then Burnley hit them with a smash and grab after a cross came in from the left and Sam Volkes stooped low to head the ball into the bottom corner for his first Premier League goal of the season, on his 100th appearance in the top flight.
And that’s how it ended.
2-1 to Burnley.
Three shots, two goals.
The defeat was Cardiff’s fourth on the tamp, and they have not won a top-flight game for 11 fixtures making it their worst run since 1964-65. Only Huddersfield have scored fewer goals than Cardiff’s tally of four, and the South Wales side have the joint worst defensive outfit in the league, conceding 16 goals.
Don’t worry, Neil. Next up, Spurs
Bournemouth 2 v 1 Crystal Palace
You can do it, Cardiff.
There are no excuses.
Clubs don’t come much smaller than Bournemouth, and yet Eddie Howe has turned a once relegation dead-cert into a Premier League regular. The Cherries beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to bank their fourth win in seven outings, moving up to seventh in the league. It’s their best start to a top-flight campaign.
The home side took the lead in the fifth minute when David Brooks smashed a first time effort into the net off the underside of the crossbar for his first goal for the club. Palace equalised with a stunner of their own, ten minutes after the interval when Patrick van Aanholt combined with Wilfried Zaha to bring the game onto an even keel. Then, with three minutes on the clock, Mamadou Sakho stuck his elbow into the face of Jefferson Lerma while standing in the penalty area, and substitute, Junior Stanislas, took the ensuing penalty, driving the ball down the middle to bag the win for Bournemouth.
Here are the fixtures in full.
Fixtures in Full
West Ham 3 v 1 Man Utd
Huddersfield 0 v 2 Spurs
Arsenal 2 v 0 Watford
Wolves 2 v 0 Southampton
Newcastle 0 v 2 Leicester
Man City 2 v 0 Brighton
Everton 3 v 0 Fulham
Chelsea 1 v 1 Liverpool
Cardiff 1 v 2 Burnley
Bournemouth 2 v 1 Crystal Palace
Premier League Table
1. Man City – 19
2. Liverpool – 19
3. Chelsea – 17
4. Spurs – 15
5. Arsenal – 15
6. Watford – 13
7. Bournemouth – 13
8. Leicester – 12
9. Wolves – 12
10. Man Utd – 10
11. Everton – 9
12. Burnley – 7
13. Crystal Palace – 7
14. West Ham – 7
15. Brighton – 5
16. Southampton – 5
17. Fulham – 5
18. Newcastle – 2
19. Cardiff – 2
20. Huddersfield – 2
Premier League Winner Odds
Man City 8/11
Liverpool 2/1
Chelsea 10/1
Spurs 33/1
Arsenal 66/1
Man Utd 100/1
Premier League Relegation Odds
Cardiff 2/9
Huddersfield 2/7
Burnley 9/4
Newcastle 9/4
Fulham 5/2
