It was indeed a great weekend for scoring. . .but the shocking thing is that of the four games I watched and the fifteen goals that were scored in them, three of the games were CLEAN SHEETS! So that was a lot of scoring by one team in each game. Let's start with all the good stuff. . .United!!!! (Thanks for all the pictures ESPN.COM.)
The UNITED Front
United 2-0 Chelsea
Well, I was a little worried about the match between ManU-Chelsea being a little dull with the departure of Mourinho and for the most part it was. Chelsea still have the quality and it made United a little slow. But it goes both ways. ManU and Chelsea, at least last year, cancel each other out. But today's game, in which United won 2-0, was a rather dirty game. Chelsea looked desperate and their tackling was absolutely menacing. But ManU didn't fall down and dirty play went down on both ends. For Chelsea, Joe Cole was the worst committing two horrendous, possibly injury causing tackles. He got lucky because one was in the box with no call. The sentenced player was John Obi Mikel whose red card turned the tide for United.
Wayne Rooney was United's aggressor. He kneed Makelele in the face and simply beat the hell out of Ashley Cole. Actually United as a whole beat Ashley Cole senselessly but it's Ashley Cole so its not really a big deal. In the end, the play was dirty but United pulled through. Was I dissapointed in the match? No. . .United finally have beaten Chelsea twice in a row. But some of the charm was gone. But three points is three points and ManU move to second in the table just ahead of Man City and just behind Arsenal.
The Games I Watched
Arsenal 5-0 Derby County
Speaking of Arsenal, it was Derby time and Arsenal looked to beat Liverpool's 6-0 destruction of the newly promoted (and soon to be demoted) team. And though they could only pull out five (Only. . .I mean. . .come on!) Arsenal continued the form that United had last year. Now that United is second it could be a two horse race for the title. But, as a mate of mine pointed out, if Fabregas or Adebayor get injured (both combined for four goals in this game) then Arsenal may be out of options.
Fulham 3-3 Man City
This was a great game for two reasons: there were four lead changes and I can now hate someone with a passion! Regarding the game, Man City were flimsy and not up to the same form they have been showing (even in losses). Fulham have been consistenly shotty at defense but amazingly adept at offense which is keeping them afloat. But it was the loss of control of Micah Richards that cost City two precious points. After being beaten in the air THREE times by a much smaller Clint Dempsey (and by beat in the air I mean out jumped and knocked to the ground) Richards decided to get revenge and push Dempsey. The he snarled in his face for a few minutes before being pulled off by teammates. Richards is on my shit list now. Once you mess with my favorite Yank you are FINISHED!
To add insult to injury, about six minutes later Richards gets beat badly by Murphy in the box and Fulham equalize. Ouch. . .bad day for my new enemy!
Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
I have watched four Villa games this year and Villa lost two, tied one, and won this one. They have amazing depth but are wishy-washy on the pitch. Today was their second best game they've played all season behind their 2-0 win over Chelsea. Last year's Gameball winner on this blog, Ashley Young, played superb but it was Gabriel Agbonlahor who was the man today. I'd give some Villa love to the Gameball category for the second time in a row if not for Agbonlahor's quite shocking verbal fight with a fellow teammate. As the whistle blew Agbonlahor continued to go on a tirade. Phil Neville of Everton had to break them up. . .a great team but do I smell a meltdown from the dressing room?
YANK of the WEEK
Benny Feilhaber. Granted, a weird choice considering his team, Derby, conceded five goals. But Feilhaber, who was a late substitute for Derby, came out with an intensity. He showed that, even in a 5/nil disaster, he wanted to earn a place. My kudos to him for showing amazing effort in a dismal situation.
GENERAL THOUGHTS/AWARDS
My gameball nominees for the week were Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal, Martin Petrov for Man City, Louis Saha for Man United, and Gabriel Agbonlahor for Aston Villa.
My shameball nominees for the week were Stephen Bywater for Derby, Micah Richards for Man City, Joe Cole for Chelsea, and Martin Laursen for Aston Villa (he actually played well but since Everton and Villa didn't field any bad players I chose Laursen as a default because he is horrid most of the time).
The winner for gameball is Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal. Sure, the opposition was Derby but a hat trick is a hat trick.
The winner for shameball is Micah Richards. His attitude was shameful and it cost City two points.
'Til next time. . .
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