Another exciting weekend of EPL action.
Chelsea finally got beaten as their 23 match unbeaten run was brought to a sudden halt by hard working Newcastle. It is evidence to the unpredictable nature of the league this season. The Magpies started the season in terrible fashion with Pardew almost losing his job amid pressure from the fans, a run of five successive wins turned the tide and not many would have predicted them to end Chelsea's long unbeaten run.
The Blues were missing suspended Nemanja Matic in midfield but the rest of the team was the usual Mourinho first 11.
Chelsea did not work the Newcastle keeper a whole lot. Newcastle's game plan of hurrying Chelsea and hitting them on the counter worked perfectly. In Cisse, Newcastle have a striker on top of his game and he took his chances well after he came on as a second half sub. Mourinho was left mourning about Newcastle's tactics but in truth the Magpies were thoroughly deserving of the win. It will be important to see how Chelsea respond to this set back. A few days ago they were looking like near certainties to win the league, now they are only 3 points ahead of Manchetser City. All of a sudden the title race is back on and Chelsea will face a real battle to stay ahead of the pack.
Manchester City ensured they took advantage of Chelsea's earlier slip up by scrapping a win against Everton courtesy of a dubious penalty. City had Hart to thank for a late save to deny Lukaku. The win came at a cost though as their talisman Aguero looks set for a spell on the sidelines. The Argentine has been by a distance City's standout performer this season and it will be a big challenge for City, especially during the busy holiday period, to cope without him. City did what they had to do and the gap to Chelsea is now just three points. As long as they keep within touching distance, City will be confident of retaining their title. The interesting bit is City's recent run of good form has been achieved without their creative magician David Silva and Kompany has been struggling with injuries. The two alongside Hart, Toure and Aguero form the spine of the team. The feeling is that City are yet to really hit top form and when they do, the rest of the premiership will be left struggling to catch up.
Arsenal put in a woeful performance at Stoke. Traditionally the Potters away is always a tough fixture for Arsenal but the manner of their collapse was baffling. 3-0 down at half time and lucky not to go 4 nil down in the second half. The Gunners did manage to salvage some degree of respect to the scoreline but this was a disappointing performance. The biggest disappointment however will be that having been 3 nil down Arsenal came back to within a goal of levelling the scores with over 20 minutes still to play, yet they couldn't find that all important goal. Arsenal's defense was all over the place and the ease with which Stoke were able to score is worrying for Arsenal. Wenger started with Mertesacker and Bellerin in defence and that gave Stoke confidence that they could bully the pair. I think it's about time Wenger started pairing Koscielny and Mertesacker. The former has just returned from injury but the urgency with which Arsenal need that pairing back together is huge. Chambers had a torrid day and got himself sent off. Arsenal need to look at this result as a one off since they were on a good run anyway. They need to dust themselves up, forget about Stoke and focus on the next game.
Manchester United made it 5 wins on the trot with a hard fought, and rather fortuitous win over Southampton. The Red Devils are on a really good run and are up to third on the table without really playing well. van Persie scored a brace and looks to have rediscovered his scoring touch with 3 goals in 2 games. United's problems still lie in defense where once again they looked very vulnerable. Van Gaal resorted to a 3 man central defense system. I can understand his thinking since the two wing backs are really not defenders and needed support against a tough side away from home. The problem in defense was not the system but rather the personnel. Mcnair was looking like a disaster in the waiting and Smalling's injury made matters worse. Evans who came on as a sub is hardly a figure of reassurance in such a system and Carrick is not a defender. So under the circumstances, this was a massive win. United next face Liverpool and they will be hoping to have a few defenders back. In the meantime, they can bask in the glory of rising to third in the standings.
Liverpool were booed off by their own fans after playing out a dull goalless draw with Crystal Palace. In truth Palace should have won and left Anfield disappointed. They totally dominated and a combination of wayward finishing and the Reds keeper kept the scoreline goalless. Liverpool lacked bite and quality and it is sad to see how low they have fallen this season. It's hard to pin point exactly where the problem is. Brendan Rodgers is under real pressure and you get the feeling should they go out of the the Champion's League, the fans will apply even more pressure. What Liverpool need to do is start winning games by whichever means. And what a time it would be to start that winning run. Their next match is against Manchester United.
Team of the week,
Green, Jenkinson, Collocini, OShea, Clichy, Colback, Bojan, Sissoko, Bolasie, Cisse, Caroll
Player of the Week,
Collocini
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