The EPL served up its usual dose of excitement following mid-week action of European football.
Manchester City continued their recent good form with a hard fought 1 nil win over relegation threatened Leicester. City once again ground out a result against a potentially tricky fixture. City are becoming masters of doing that lately. The win came at a cost though with City losing captain Kompany and Dzeko to injuries and the duo look set to miss out on the crucial holiday fixtures. City are now in the middle of an injury crisis and are set to face a real challenge with the busy run of fixtures coming up. With Aguero, Jovetic and now Dzeko out injured, 18year old Pozo is their only recognised striker. The 3 points were priceless in their pursuit of Chelsea. Lampard was once again the hero for City with his 175th goal in the premier league. I was sceptical when City signed Lampard but i have been really impressed by him. His professionalism and hunger even in the twilight of his career is an example to the younger players. 6 goals already from midfield and you start to understand why Pellegrini is keen on extending his loan spell. The real star of the show however was Nasri. The Frenchman seems to have rediscovered his form and has been in a rich vein of form. My man of the match against Roma in midweek, Nasri once again provided the creative spark for City in the absence of David Silva. He has been controlling play very well of late and was the creator for Lampard's goal. All in all, City got the job done in the end and will now head into the festive fixtures hoping to keep in touch with the league leaders.
Chelsea got past Hull in a match that will be remembered for the Blue's diving antics. Costa, Willian and Cahill all tried to fool the referee withblatant dives, the latter lucky to escape a second yellow card. A Tom Huddlestone red card and a Diego Costa goal were enough to make things comfortable for the Blues in the second half and help erase the memories of the previous weekend's loss to Newcastle. Chelsea were not at their fluid best but they still got the three points that mattered.
Arsenal returned to winning ways with a deserved 4-1 thumping of Newcastle. The Gunners were totally dominant and the performance was so good it made those agitating for Wenger's sacking eat their words. In what was a potentially difficult game on paper given the Magpies wonderful run of results, Arsenal came out on top and deservedly so. Giroud was deadly infront with a brace. He missed 3 months of the season but is only a goal behind Welbeck. Birthday boy Cazorla looks to be back to his best and i think Arsenal are a better side when he is playing. Arsenal's defence which has come under a lot of criticism especially following the defeat to Stoke played with better organization. Bellerin filled in at right back and gave a promising display providing good attacking threat down the right side. Oxlade Chamberlain also gave an assured display that reignited the Gunners charge back into the top four.
Manchester United v Liverpool was the highlight of the weekend. United ran out comfortable winners in the end as a lethargic Liverpool side continued their wretched run of poor form. Van Gaal once again went for a back 3 with Valencia and Young as wing backs. De Gea was in excellent form thwarting Liverpool and Sterling so many times, one lost count along the way. Carrick deserves special mention as he marshaled the defence well. There is a lot of talk about United winning without playing well but that might actually be a good thing. Six wins on the trot without playing well makes you wonder what would happen of they actually started playing well. With the injuries easing, United have every reason to feel confident heading into the festive period.
Team of the week
De Gea, Bellerin, Debuchy, Mangala, Clichy, Lampard, Cazorla, Rooney, Mata, Giroud, Hazard
Player of the week
De Gea
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