The 2015/2016 EPL Weekend-Round 2

Manchester United as was the case last week got the weekend rolling with their Friday night away trip to Aston Villa. United once again ran out 1-nil winners after an unconvincing showing against a Villa side with a poor record in this fixture. United are yet to really get going especially in terms of attacking football. Chances are few a far between and a return of only three attempts on target over 180 minutes of football is not what you would expect from a side boasting the likes of Depay, Rooney, Mata, Young, Januzaj et al. In deed Rooney has been a pale shadow of his former self in the opening two fixtures often struggling to adjust to his lone striker role. His contribution and especially as the club captain has been lacking and if ever Van Gaal needed proof that he needs to buy another striker, all the evidence is there. Rooney's place in the team would have come under scrutiny had he not been captain but Van Gaal needs to have the courage to substitute him when things are not working. The common feeling is that Rooney seems to flourish when he plays off a main striker.
Januzaj on the other hand was handed a rare start and took advantage of the opportunity to score the game's only goal with a neat finish from a clever Juan Mata pass. The Belgian needs game time and Van Gaal will need to find a way of playing him regularly as he looks a good prospect.
The one side of United's game that has been impressive is the defence. Talk of a marquee defender coming to old trafford have been cooled off largely thanks to Chris Smalling's performances. Together with Blind they did a good job snuffing out any potential danger caused by Villa. For the time being the Ramos, Hummels, Otamendi rumors will be forgotten. United next shift their focus to Europe and a home game against Club Brugge is up next.  For the time being, the fans will be reasonably pleased with the teams progress and more-so the statistics, 6 points, 2 clean sheets.

Manchester City were totally flawless against Chelsea in the weekend's big game. Few would have expected the Blues to capitulate in such a manner against a City side that finished 8 points behind them last season. That Chelsea's best player was their stand in keeper Begovic points towards a totally one sided affair. Mourinho's assertion that the result was "fake" and that Chelsea were the better side in the second half borders on absolute madness. In what had already been a bad week for Chelsea and Mourinho in the never ending saga involving the teams medics, the nightmare unfolded in a manner that shocked all of us. Chelsea were outclassed in all departments. Aguero would have scored 5 goals had it not been for Begovic who thwarted Aguero at least 3 times before the Argentine finally gave City a fully deserved lead. Mourinho's withdrawal of Terry at half-time for Zouma provided another talking point with the Portuguese confirming the substitution was tactical and not due to injury. Could this be the beginning of the end for Terry.
City were totally efficient. Mangala for once is starting to justify his hefty price tag and his solid partnership with Kompany provided the foundation for a successful afternoon for City. Fernandinho had one of his best performances in a City shirt protecting the back four and providing Yaya Toure with a licence to foray into Chelsea's box time and again. David Silva was once again totally dominant in midfield and he together with Toure totally dominated Fabregas and Matic. Chelsea's defence duo of Terry and Cahill were exposed in the first half with little help coming from midfield. Diego Costa lacked service and the few times he go onto the ball, he was more concerned with causing infringements rather than finding the back of the net. 1 point out of a possible 6 means Chelsea already trail City and United by 5 points and although it's early days, they cannot afford for the gap to widen. Chelsea's transfer business looked done but now it seems they may have to go back and bring reinforcements. Chelsea have already acquired a left back in Rahman and the need for a striker cannot be overstated. I have always said that this City side has the solutions from within. Last season the only reason they lost the title was that key players such as Toure, Silva and Kompany did not perform to their standards. If they can do that, and there is plenty of evidence so far to suggest that they are up to the task, then City will be very difficult to beat.

Arsenal got back to winning ways in a tough away game at Palace. The game could actually have gone either way had Palace been a bit more clinical towards the end when chances presented themselves. Overall though Arsenal dominated and should have put the game to rest early on. Ozil in particular was back to his best and created a lot of goal scoring chances for the Gunners. Monreal had a good game at left back and him together with Bellerin nullified the threat posed by the pacy Palace wingers, Zaha and Bolasie. This was a potential banana skin and although not Arsenal's best display by their standards, the 3 points gained were very valuable.

Liverpool scraped to another fortuitous 1 nil win against a Bornemouth side that deserved more from this game. Christian Benteke's controversial goal should have been ruled out as offside since Coutinho a few meters off Benteke was clearly offside. To add salt to injury Bournemouth themselves had a goal ruled out wrongly. Liverpool won't care much as like Man Utd they have 6 points on the board and are yet to concede. Their next match however presents a sterner test as they face a resurgent Arsenal side this coming weekend. This will provide a clearer picture of Brendan Rogers' teams ability to seriously challenge for honors this season. One bright spot for Liverpool was Jordan Henderson who continues to thrive since taking over from Steven Gerard as club captain.
Have a sporty week!


Team of the week
Begovic
Kompany
Smalling
Monreal
Whittaker
Barkley
Toure
Ozil
Montero
Ireland
Lukaku

Player of the week
Lukaku