Aston Villa vs. Hull City
The only game of the three not on a main broadcast, I admit I only saw the last 15 minutes or so of this one. Gabriel Agbonlahor opened the scoring for Villa in the 14th minute, and Andreas Weiman doubled it in the 36th. Hull got one back courtesy of Nikica Jelavic in the 74th, but that was all they could muster. Villa had a few good chances towards the end of the match, notably a quick flick from Fabian Delph from close range to the left of the net that was batted out of play. Brad Guzan, the US international keeper (who may now take over the starting job after Tim Howard announced his leave of absence from the national team) played well, making two saves. Something to note is that Delph recently got a call up to play for the English national team in an upcoming duo of friendlies with Norway and Switzerland.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool FC
Liverpool came into White Hart Lane needing a win over top place Spurs in new striker Mario Balotelli's debut for the Reds, and they took care of business. Raheem Sterling started the day off right with a left footed finish after a nice pass from Jordan Henderson across the goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris. Right after the half, Tottenham's Eric Dier made contact with Joe Allen in the box, and Allen went down (rather easily, but still enough there to call a penalty). Captain Steven Gerrard converted from the spot, ensuring he would continue to take the penalties instead of Balotelli. 22 seconds after a double substitution by Spurs, new defender Alberto Moreno finished off a brilliant solo effort to finish off the deed to the tune of 3-nil. Lloris made an excellent save on Daniel Sturridge after a no look flick from Balotelli, and Tottenham should have gotten a chance at a penalty after an obvious foul on Emmanuel Adebayor in the box, but the ref let them play on. Balotelli was impressive in his re-debut in the Premier League, playing with strength. He was brought down form behind at one point, and did not react in typical Mario fashion, a refreshing and relieving sight. By the end of the match all you could here form the stands was Liverpool's famous anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Leicester City vs. Arsenal FC
Arsenal came into this match fresh off a Champions League qualifying win over Besiktas, and they came out roaring. Santi Cazorla played a nice ball to Yaya Sanogo (starting in place of the injured Olivier Giroud) who had his shot blocked, but the ball fell to Alexis Sanchez, and the Chilean international put it home to give the Gunners the 1-0 lead. Leicester answered right back, as Leonardo Ulloa headed home a cross from Jeffrey Schlupp. Laurent Koscielny, arguable Arsenal's best defender, collided with Schlupp earlier in the match and needed a bit of medical treatment, going down the tunnel for repairs. He returned with a heavily bandaged head, but ended up needing to come off, with Calum Chambers, another young, recent England call up, coming on for him. After that, the play was rather even, but Leicester had a few of the better chances. Wojciech Szczesny took care of that. Leicester had a chance in the second half to pull a shocker, but Ulloa could not finish his second of the day, pulling it to the side of the open net. Horrible, horrible miss, lucky break. They traded chances during a fast paced second half, and Szczesny made sure the game stayed level with a superb save late in the match. Alas, neither team could pull ahead, and they ended with a 1-1 draw.
Yaya Sanogo did not look good out there starting up top. He had trouble with runs and gave a few balls away, and overall just did not look as good as he did in a few games he played this preseason. Joel Campbell may get the nod in the Gunners next game, September 13th against Manchester City. Manager Arsene Wenger said Campbell will get his chance to prove himself, and he even denied all loan attempts for the Costa Rican striker. Luckily, if Arsenal has anything it would be depth. In the match with Leicester, Jack Wilshere, Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlein, Campbell and Tomas Rosicky all on the bench. That bench could beat some of the teams in the Premier League this year. Theo Walcott is also returning to fitness and should play this season. While Arsenal let Loic Remy slip through their fingers (and into the hands of those bastards Chelsea no less) any concerns at striker can be addressed internally and during the January transfer window.
At the end of this third weekend of EPL action, here are the standings.
No comments:
Post a Comment