Everton 2-2 Newcastle
At it's best live sport is the best form of drama and we saw exactly why in this game as Everton were controversially denied victory against Newcastle in one of the truly outstanding games of the season so far.
Everton started the match quickly and took charge of the match from the opening whistle. Just moments after the kick off Everton had the ball in the goal thanks to Nikica Jelavic, however, the linesman rightly spotted him in an offside position disallowing the goal, it was to be one of 5 times Everton were to have the ball in the net.
Despite having Jelavics' "goal" disallowed it wouldn't be long before Everton did take the lead through Leighton Baines who finished off an excellent move with Steven Pienaar. It seemed almost certain that Everton were going to extend their lead before the half time mark, and with their dominance they probably should have done, but Newcastle did well to keep the score at 1-0.
The second half started like a completely different game and Newcastle came out like a house on fire. With in moments of the restart they came close, soon afterwards they Demba Ba equalised and the game seemed like it was flipped on it's head. Everton, who had thoroughly dominated the first half struggled to get the ball and it looked almost certain that Newcastle were going to score next and take the win.
Despite looking shell shocked, Everton battled their way back into the game and appeared to have taken the lead as Marouane Fellaini put in from a pass by Pienaar. Sadly this was ruled as offside, though replays suggest that the Belgian was onside and should have been given the benefit of the doubt. This decision appeared to really frustrate Everton who should have taken the lead again after Victor Anichebe's header crossed the line only for it not to be seen by the linesman. Both of these decisions really cost Everton who should have been 3-1 up.
Everton would finally score their second goal as Anichebe managed to put the Toffees in the lead just minutes from the end, sadly however Everton were caught napping traight from the restart and Newcastle grabbed an equaliser just minutes later as the match finished 2-2, with a lot of people looking at the officiating.
David Moyes has every right to feel annoyed at the officiating however he needs to really look at his own team who conceded just minutes after taking a 2-1 lead an appearing to claim all 3 points. It was a lapse of concentration that cost them just as much as poor officiating. He will however be pleased by the fact that Steven Pienaar and Leighton Baines were both tremendous througout the game.
Whilst Newcastle were very lucky their manager has to be happy. Not only were they the better team in the second half, but they also showed real fighting spirit to come from behind twice. They refused to be beaten and it's a real quality that they will need to show time and time again if they are to eclipse last seasons final position.
Showing posts with label Alan Pardew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alan Pardew. Show all posts
Friday, 21 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Premier League Week 3-Write up Newcastle v Aston Villa
Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa
Going into this match it was clear that pressure was starting to build on Aston Villa and their new manager Paul Lambert. They had played two games losing both of them (1-0 to West Ham and 3-1 to Everton) and it seemed likely that a visit to St James' Park wasn't going to help them get off the bottom of the league table.
Surprisingly Villa made a great start to the game and didn't come out like a team who were low on confidence instead they bossed early sections of the match. It was whilst bossing the game that Villa took the lead via a Ciaran Clark header as he met Barry Bannan's excellent cross to break the deadlock. Villa had come very close just minutes earlier with Tim Krul forced to make a great save from Darren Bent and going into the half Villa certainly deserved their lead.
As we know from last season Newcastle are not an easy team to beat, especially at home (they lost just 3 of 19 matches there last year) and they showed their fighting spirit in the second half. With the likes of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse the home side really are a tough team to defend against and they each came close before the mercurial Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa equalised just quarter of an hour into the second half. Ben Arfa, a genuinely world class player showed why many rate him so highly as he made space outside the Villa penalty area and struck a thunderbolt past Brad Guzan in the Villa goal.
The match ended with a spate of yellow cards for Villa as Newcastle tried to secure 3 points and put the visitors under pressure with Eric Lichaj, Brad Guzan and Brett Holman all being shown yellows however the visitors managed to hold on for a point.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will have expected 3 points here against a struggling Villa however he will feel really relieved at actually getting a point, despite the late pressure by his team. Hatem Ban Arfa's goal again showed his class and the reason why so many in football rate the Frenchman so highly however Pardew may be concerned that his forwards haven't been managing to score so far with only 1 goal between Cisse and Ba in their first 3 Premier League games of the season.
Villa may have felt that their opening half display should have bagged them their first win of the season however they should be happy at not only picking up their first point of the season but doing it at a fortress like St James' Park. Though Paul Lambert still needs to be really concerned even though his team are finally off the mark. His attacking force looks really poor with Darren Bent yet to score this season they will struggle for goals until Bent finds his feet. At the back Villa were tough today but again they don't look solid and they will really struggle throughout the season.
Going into this match it was clear that pressure was starting to build on Aston Villa and their new manager Paul Lambert. They had played two games losing both of them (1-0 to West Ham and 3-1 to Everton) and it seemed likely that a visit to St James' Park wasn't going to help them get off the bottom of the league table.
Surprisingly Villa made a great start to the game and didn't come out like a team who were low on confidence instead they bossed early sections of the match. It was whilst bossing the game that Villa took the lead via a Ciaran Clark header as he met Barry Bannan's excellent cross to break the deadlock. Villa had come very close just minutes earlier with Tim Krul forced to make a great save from Darren Bent and going into the half Villa certainly deserved their lead.
As we know from last season Newcastle are not an easy team to beat, especially at home (they lost just 3 of 19 matches there last year) and they showed their fighting spirit in the second half. With the likes of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse the home side really are a tough team to defend against and they each came close before the mercurial Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa equalised just quarter of an hour into the second half. Ben Arfa, a genuinely world class player showed why many rate him so highly as he made space outside the Villa penalty area and struck a thunderbolt past Brad Guzan in the Villa goal.
The match ended with a spate of yellow cards for Villa as Newcastle tried to secure 3 points and put the visitors under pressure with Eric Lichaj, Brad Guzan and Brett Holman all being shown yellows however the visitors managed to hold on for a point.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will have expected 3 points here against a struggling Villa however he will feel really relieved at actually getting a point, despite the late pressure by his team. Hatem Ban Arfa's goal again showed his class and the reason why so many in football rate the Frenchman so highly however Pardew may be concerned that his forwards haven't been managing to score so far with only 1 goal between Cisse and Ba in their first 3 Premier League games of the season.
Villa may have felt that their opening half display should have bagged them their first win of the season however they should be happy at not only picking up their first point of the season but doing it at a fortress like St James' Park. Though Paul Lambert still needs to be really concerned even though his team are finally off the mark. His attacking force looks really poor with Darren Bent yet to score this season they will struggle for goals until Bent finds his feet. At the back Villa were tough today but again they don't look solid and they will really struggle throughout the season.
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Week 3-Predictions (Sunday)
Liverpool v Arsenal (13:30)
This match sees two managers who desperately need a win after disappointing starts. Whilst Liverpool were excellent against Manchester City last weekend defensive mistakes cost them 2 points despite the fact they bossed large portions of the game, they showed a lot of promise. If Brendon Rodgers is frustrated Arsene Wenger is downright furious, his team are the only Premier League team yet to score. Whilst Arsenal are unbeaten they'd have expected more from their first two games.
Prediction 1-1
Newcastle v Aston Villa (16:00)
Alan Pardew's Newcastle haven't had an easy start to the Premier League season with matches against Tottenham and Chelsea already this season, now it's fair however to say they have an easy one against a faltering Villa who have genuinely been awful so far. Paul Lambert will know that he needs points on the board and a loss isn't an option, however it is rather likely as Newcastle attempt to put their loss to Chelsea behind them.
Prediction 2-1
Southampton v Manchester United (16:00)
Southampton may once have been Manchester United's bogey team back in the 1990's (anyone remember them nasty grey shirts?) but those days are a distant memory and since then Southampton have had serious issues of their own-though issues include a start to the Premier League season that has seen them lose their opening 2 league fixtures. United will look to heap further damage on Nigel Adkin's men as they attempt to kick start their own season.
Prediction 0-2
This match sees two managers who desperately need a win after disappointing starts. Whilst Liverpool were excellent against Manchester City last weekend defensive mistakes cost them 2 points despite the fact they bossed large portions of the game, they showed a lot of promise. If Brendon Rodgers is frustrated Arsene Wenger is downright furious, his team are the only Premier League team yet to score. Whilst Arsenal are unbeaten they'd have expected more from their first two games.
Prediction 1-1
Newcastle v Aston Villa (16:00)
Alan Pardew's Newcastle haven't had an easy start to the Premier League season with matches against Tottenham and Chelsea already this season, now it's fair however to say they have an easy one against a faltering Villa who have genuinely been awful so far. Paul Lambert will know that he needs points on the board and a loss isn't an option, however it is rather likely as Newcastle attempt to put their loss to Chelsea behind them.
Prediction 2-1
Southampton v Manchester United (16:00)
Southampton may once have been Manchester United's bogey team back in the 1990's (anyone remember them nasty grey shirts?) but those days are a distant memory and since then Southampton have had serious issues of their own-though issues include a start to the Premier League season that has seen them lose their opening 2 league fixtures. United will look to heap further damage on Nigel Adkin's men as they attempt to kick start their own season.
Prediction 0-2
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Chelsea v Newcastle
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
In the late kick off of the day Chelsea tried to reclaim their position at the top of the Premier League table and win a 3rd Premier League match inside a week. To do that however they'd have to defeat a Newcastle side that had beaten them in the same fixture last season.
The match started slowly with very little to talk about in the first 15 minutes or so as both teams battled it out in the middle of the park and limited each other to decent shooting opportunities. In fact many of the early shots from both teams blazed over the bar as neither team could fathom a decent half between them.
The came alive around the midway point of the first half with Newcastle launching an attack that earned them a corner, the first corner of the match. The corner it's self did little for Newcastle and Chelsea broke quickly before Fernando Torres was brought down in the penalty area by Vernun Anita. It was to be Chelsea's 3rd penalty in as many games, though with normal penalty taker Frank Lampard being rested the duty fell to Eden Hazard who calmly slotted in the spot kick and scored his first goal for Chelsea.
The opening goal saw the game open up slightly and gave the likes of Hazard and Torres more time on the ball. After being booked in the 39th minute for a dive Torres appeared to get angry and played like a man possessed. The Spaniard gave the Newcastle defenders a real headache before scoring a beautifully crafted goal as Hazard linked with him just before half time as the Blues doubled their lead.
In the second half Chelsea crafted yet more chances as Torres and Hazard ran the Newcastle defense ragged with the two men linking together time and time again, though Chelsea couldn't add to their lead.
Roberto Di Matteo will be a very happy man. Chelsea are sitting happy atop the Premier League table with a maximum of 9 points, they are looking like an ever improving team and looked genuinely sensational at times today. Fernando Torres looked like a man on a mission to prove that he was worth the astronomical transfer fee that Chelsea payed for him and his link up play with Eden Hazard was genuinely sensation as they two men seem to be able to read each others mind now. Hazard, for the 3rd game in a row looked great, he looks like he's getting better, though really it was the return of the Torres of old that stood out as he looked like he was having real fun out there. It's scary to think just how fun Chelsea will be to watch when the whole team is settled together.
Newcastle will need to lick their wounds here and admit they were simply beaten by a much better team. Whilst they did have the odd chance here and their they didn't deserve to take anything from this game as they were always second best. Pardew will know his team were out played and although he may blame the trip to Greece on Thursday he knows his team, at their best, would still have struggled with the side Chelsea put out. Despite the loss Hatem Ben Arfa was once outstanding and appears to be playing with confidence, a scary thought for the rest of the Premier League.
In the late kick off of the day Chelsea tried to reclaim their position at the top of the Premier League table and win a 3rd Premier League match inside a week. To do that however they'd have to defeat a Newcastle side that had beaten them in the same fixture last season.
The match started slowly with very little to talk about in the first 15 minutes or so as both teams battled it out in the middle of the park and limited each other to decent shooting opportunities. In fact many of the early shots from both teams blazed over the bar as neither team could fathom a decent half between them.
The came alive around the midway point of the first half with Newcastle launching an attack that earned them a corner, the first corner of the match. The corner it's self did little for Newcastle and Chelsea broke quickly before Fernando Torres was brought down in the penalty area by Vernun Anita. It was to be Chelsea's 3rd penalty in as many games, though with normal penalty taker Frank Lampard being rested the duty fell to Eden Hazard who calmly slotted in the spot kick and scored his first goal for Chelsea.
The opening goal saw the game open up slightly and gave the likes of Hazard and Torres more time on the ball. After being booked in the 39th minute for a dive Torres appeared to get angry and played like a man possessed. The Spaniard gave the Newcastle defenders a real headache before scoring a beautifully crafted goal as Hazard linked with him just before half time as the Blues doubled their lead.
In the second half Chelsea crafted yet more chances as Torres and Hazard ran the Newcastle defense ragged with the two men linking together time and time again, though Chelsea couldn't add to their lead.
Roberto Di Matteo will be a very happy man. Chelsea are sitting happy atop the Premier League table with a maximum of 9 points, they are looking like an ever improving team and looked genuinely sensational at times today. Fernando Torres looked like a man on a mission to prove that he was worth the astronomical transfer fee that Chelsea payed for him and his link up play with Eden Hazard was genuinely sensation as they two men seem to be able to read each others mind now. Hazard, for the 3rd game in a row looked great, he looks like he's getting better, though really it was the return of the Torres of old that stood out as he looked like he was having real fun out there. It's scary to think just how fun Chelsea will be to watch when the whole team is settled together.
Newcastle will need to lick their wounds here and admit they were simply beaten by a much better team. Whilst they did have the odd chance here and their they didn't deserve to take anything from this game as they were always second best. Pardew will know his team were out played and although he may blame the trip to Greece on Thursday he knows his team, at their best, would still have struggled with the side Chelsea put out. Despite the loss Hatem Ben Arfa was once outstanding and appears to be playing with confidence, a scary thought for the rest of the Premier League.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up Newcastle v Tottenham Hotspur
Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
The late kick off of the opening day saw last year's 5th placed team hosting the 4th placed team in a match that on paper looked the best of the first days match ups. Sadly however the match took a while to really get going with the first 20 or so minutes being very stop start as Martin Atkinson booked 3 players in the space of 5 minutes in the opening half. Despite the poor nature of the half Spurs seemed the team more likely to scoring hitting the wood work twice with the only real attempts of note.
Despite being a slow burner the match came alive in the second half after Demba Ba scored his first goal for the club after a lengthy dry spell. It wasn't long however until Jermain Defoe equalised for Spurs after a poachers finish. Spurs sadly fell asleep almost immediately after equalising and as Hatem Ben Arfa was in the penalty area he was stupidly fouled by Dutchman Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who gave away a penalty that Ben Arfa put away himself (after a small argument with Ba about who was going to take the penalty).
Also during the match Alan Pardew was sent to the stands after pushing one of the linesmen who made a decision that Pardew didn't agree with. I imagine that Pardew will have to suffer a touchline ban though hopefully what he takes from the match out weighs the penalty. His team didn't look as good as they did at times last season, though Ba's goal will hopefully help him get back to the form that saw him making a name for himself as one of Newcastle's key players. Whilst they didn't look great it is a very valuable 3 points over a serious rival and this is the sort of thing Newcastle need, wins over other top teams.
Andre Villas-Boas first competitive fixture in charge of Spurs after taking over from Harry Redknapp sadly didn't see Spurs playing to their best. A number of injuries left their front line very weak with only Jermain Defoe and teenager Harry Kane fit enough to play and this certainly didn't help. Though the loss falls squarely on the heads of Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who had no reason to foul Ben Arfa in the penalty. Hopefully Spurs will be able to get their game faces on for their next fixture.
The late kick off of the opening day saw last year's 5th placed team hosting the 4th placed team in a match that on paper looked the best of the first days match ups. Sadly however the match took a while to really get going with the first 20 or so minutes being very stop start as Martin Atkinson booked 3 players in the space of 5 minutes in the opening half. Despite the poor nature of the half Spurs seemed the team more likely to scoring hitting the wood work twice with the only real attempts of note.
Despite being a slow burner the match came alive in the second half after Demba Ba scored his first goal for the club after a lengthy dry spell. It wasn't long however until Jermain Defoe equalised for Spurs after a poachers finish. Spurs sadly fell asleep almost immediately after equalising and as Hatem Ben Arfa was in the penalty area he was stupidly fouled by Dutchman Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who gave away a penalty that Ben Arfa put away himself (after a small argument with Ba about who was going to take the penalty).
Also during the match Alan Pardew was sent to the stands after pushing one of the linesmen who made a decision that Pardew didn't agree with. I imagine that Pardew will have to suffer a touchline ban though hopefully what he takes from the match out weighs the penalty. His team didn't look as good as they did at times last season, though Ba's goal will hopefully help him get back to the form that saw him making a name for himself as one of Newcastle's key players. Whilst they didn't look great it is a very valuable 3 points over a serious rival and this is the sort of thing Newcastle need, wins over other top teams.
Andre Villas-Boas first competitive fixture in charge of Spurs after taking over from Harry Redknapp sadly didn't see Spurs playing to their best. A number of injuries left their front line very weak with only Jermain Defoe and teenager Harry Kane fit enough to play and this certainly didn't help. Though the loss falls squarely on the heads of Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who had no reason to foul Ben Arfa in the penalty. Hopefully Spurs will be able to get their game faces on for their next fixture.
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