Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Arsenal week has been a bad one, not only have they seen their talisman Robin Van Persie leave for bitter rivals Manchester United but they've also bee dragged into a transfer saga regarding their defender Alex Song who is a wanted in Barcelona. Despite this Arsenal have signed a number of highly regarded players themselves which are expected to turn Arsenal back into a title contending team. The Gunners started their campaign against Sunderland who's key signing in the transfer window was experienced Spanish defender Carlos Cuellar whilst they lost Asomoah Gyan.
From the off Arsenal looked the more dangerous team with new signing Santi Cazorla pulling the strings and looking like a real class act for the Gunners. Sadly despite looking dangerous Arsenal couldn't convert any of their numerous chances due to real issues with accuracy. As well as Arsenal's problems with aiming Sunderland refused to give space and time and were working hard for a point and their manager.
As much as Arsenal tried to score a winner they simply couldn't get the goal they needed and despite dominating the game they had to settle for a point. Despite only getting a point it's fair to say that Arsenal have signed some excellent players in Carzola, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud and the three really have potential to turn Arsenal into a very serious title threat. The team will gel well and has a lot of flair with real goal scoring threats. Write Arsenal off at your own peril.
Whilst Sunderland were out played for vast chunks of the game they played hard and played for their manager who appears to have the team doing what he wants them to. Whilst it's fair to say they were negative they knew they'd be out gunned if they tried to go toe-to-toe with Arsenal. If I was a Sunderland fan this year I'd have to say I'd be pretty relaxed with the knowledge that, at worst I'd be supporting a solid, mid table team with an excellent manager. Whilst it's true Sunderland haven't spent much they have a solid team there and I'd imagine O'Neill will be looking to bring in at least 1 more player, probably an attacker before the window closes just to strengthen his team.
Showing posts with label Opening day result. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opening day result. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up West Brom v Liverpool
West Brom 3-0 Liverpool
Having sacked Kenny Dalglish at the end of last season and brought in Brendon Rodgers expectations were high at Liverpool for this season, though as we all know things are never the way they should be for Liverpool where stunningly upset today in their league opener by West Brom.
Liverpool started well with the controversial Luis Suarez having a number of chances including an excellent headed chance to put Liverpool in the lead, though couldn't finish any of them. Instead of Suarez it was returning Zoltán Gera that opened the scoring with an excellent strike in the 43rd minute that may well be an early contender for goal of the season. The Hungarian let loose with a thunderbolt from outside the penalty area that gave Reina no chance.
In the second half West Brom had a fantastic chance to double their lead as Daniel Agger fouled Shane Long in the penalty area. Whilst Agger was given a straight red Long couldn't convert the penalty. It didn't take long however for West Brom to be given a second penalty after Martin Škrtel lost track of both the ball and Long. This time Peter Odemwinge stepped up to the spot and he didn't make the same mistake as his team smashing the ball into the bottom corner. The match was finally sealed around 15 minutes from time as Romelu Lukaku headed in a 3rd for West Brom.
Brendon Rodgers was expected to have a midas touch though signings Joe Allen and Fabio Borini both looked completely out of place on the pitch with the pair looking like 2 very expensive accessories. The combined £26 million spent on the two men is looking like a seriously bad move for Rodgers who will almost certainly get the fans on his back if he cannot turn things around quickly.
For West Brom's new manager Steve Clarke this must have been a dream start. Not only did he manage to defeat the team that got rid of him last year but he managed to make a real statement about his team, who will likely be expected to match last season's 10th place finish. The return of Gera (who had been out for 8 months) is a major positive for the Baggies and Lukaku is an excellent loan signing who will seriously give West Brom a threat up front. Don't be surprised if West Brom manage a number of upsets this year.
Having sacked Kenny Dalglish at the end of last season and brought in Brendon Rodgers expectations were high at Liverpool for this season, though as we all know things are never the way they should be for Liverpool where stunningly upset today in their league opener by West Brom.
Liverpool started well with the controversial Luis Suarez having a number of chances including an excellent headed chance to put Liverpool in the lead, though couldn't finish any of them. Instead of Suarez it was returning Zoltán Gera that opened the scoring with an excellent strike in the 43rd minute that may well be an early contender for goal of the season. The Hungarian let loose with a thunderbolt from outside the penalty area that gave Reina no chance.
In the second half West Brom had a fantastic chance to double their lead as Daniel Agger fouled Shane Long in the penalty area. Whilst Agger was given a straight red Long couldn't convert the penalty. It didn't take long however for West Brom to be given a second penalty after Martin Škrtel lost track of both the ball and Long. This time Peter Odemwinge stepped up to the spot and he didn't make the same mistake as his team smashing the ball into the bottom corner. The match was finally sealed around 15 minutes from time as Romelu Lukaku headed in a 3rd for West Brom.
Brendon Rodgers was expected to have a midas touch though signings Joe Allen and Fabio Borini both looked completely out of place on the pitch with the pair looking like 2 very expensive accessories. The combined £26 million spent on the two men is looking like a seriously bad move for Rodgers who will almost certainly get the fans on his back if he cannot turn things around quickly.
For West Brom's new manager Steve Clarke this must have been a dream start. Not only did he manage to defeat the team that got rid of him last year but he managed to make a real statement about his team, who will likely be expected to match last season's 10th place finish. The return of Gera (who had been out for 8 months) is a major positive for the Baggies and Lukaku is an excellent loan signing who will seriously give West Brom a threat up front. Don't be surprised if West Brom manage a number of upsets this year.
Premier League Week 1-Write up QPR v Swansea
QPR 0-5 Swansea
Last year QPR really struggled to stay up, it appears they will again be struggling to stay in the Premier League despite making a number of notable signings over summer. The talking point here however wasn't QPR, but instead Swansea, who under new manager Michael Laudrup looked sensational.
New signing Michu opened the scoring for the Swansea in just 8 minutes announcing his arrival with a shot that just appeared to roll away from the keeper. He doubled his personal account early in the second with an excellent finish to cap off a wonderful counter attack by Swansea as QPR chased an equalised.
The second Michu goal appeared to open the floodgates for Swansea who were in a mood to fill their boots and that appeared to be what they did with Nathan Dyer netting twice himself before late substitute Scott Sinclair added a fifth and final goal for the Swans.
Despite the rumour of Scott Sinclair leaving Swansea in the near future this was a promising performance by the whole team who, under Laudrup looked genuinely sensational, especially on the counter. The Danish manager has made several very shrewd buys, including the signing of Michu who may end up being the buy of the season.
Mark Hughes appears to have a pretty good squad on paper, though it could take a while for his players to gel, this could be the big problem with QPR, however the bigger problem appears to be their finishing. With over 20 shots today QPR only managed to hit half of them on target, with 0 goals from 11 shots on target you need to wonder whether they have the strike force which can keep them up. The fact Swansea found it so easy to rip them apart on the counter should also be a very worrying sign for the Loftus Road club. This isn't how you start a season.
Last year QPR really struggled to stay up, it appears they will again be struggling to stay in the Premier League despite making a number of notable signings over summer. The talking point here however wasn't QPR, but instead Swansea, who under new manager Michael Laudrup looked sensational.
New signing Michu opened the scoring for the Swansea in just 8 minutes announcing his arrival with a shot that just appeared to roll away from the keeper. He doubled his personal account early in the second with an excellent finish to cap off a wonderful counter attack by Swansea as QPR chased an equalised.
The second Michu goal appeared to open the floodgates for Swansea who were in a mood to fill their boots and that appeared to be what they did with Nathan Dyer netting twice himself before late substitute Scott Sinclair added a fifth and final goal for the Swans.
Despite the rumour of Scott Sinclair leaving Swansea in the near future this was a promising performance by the whole team who, under Laudrup looked genuinely sensational, especially on the counter. The Danish manager has made several very shrewd buys, including the signing of Michu who may end up being the buy of the season.
Mark Hughes appears to have a pretty good squad on paper, though it could take a while for his players to gel, this could be the big problem with QPR, however the bigger problem appears to be their finishing. With over 20 shots today QPR only managed to hit half of them on target, with 0 goals from 11 shots on target you need to wonder whether they have the strike force which can keep them up. The fact Swansea found it so easy to rip them apart on the counter should also be a very worrying sign for the Loftus Road club. This isn't how you start a season.
Premier League Week 1-Write up Fulham v Norwich
Fulham 5-0 Norwich
One of the stand out results of the day was the dominant performance by Fulham who truly dominated the Canaries banging in 5 unanswered goals. The match started well for Norwich who came close to opening the scoring via Surman though as soon as Damien Duff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute the wind was taken from the Norwich sails.
Fulham doubled their lead 4 minutes from the break with Mladen Petric scoring his first goal for the team from a Duff corner. The lead was further extended with a second goal for Petric early in the second half after a major deflection from Michael Turner took the ball over John Ruddy.
Alexander Kačaniklić scored his first goal for Fulham as he extended the lead to 4-0 in the 66th minute finishing off an excellent pass by Petric who made an excellent debut.
The scoring was finished with just minutes left as Hugo Rodellaga was taken down in the penalty area allow Sidwell to slot one in from the penalty sport.
Before kick off many tipped Fulham for the drop though on this performance they look like a very solid team, the signing of Petric has seriously improved Fulham, especially offensively. If anything this should really make Norwich fans worry, they were awful and completely out played managing only 2 shots on target (to Fulham's 9). Chris Hughton appears to have a lot of work on his hands if he intends to keep Norwich in the Premier League. Martin Jol however has proven, once again, that he's an excellent manager and really knows what he is doing.
One of the stand out results of the day was the dominant performance by Fulham who truly dominated the Canaries banging in 5 unanswered goals. The match started well for Norwich who came close to opening the scoring via Surman though as soon as Damien Duff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute the wind was taken from the Norwich sails.
Fulham doubled their lead 4 minutes from the break with Mladen Petric scoring his first goal for the team from a Duff corner. The lead was further extended with a second goal for Petric early in the second half after a major deflection from Michael Turner took the ball over John Ruddy.
Alexander Kačaniklić scored his first goal for Fulham as he extended the lead to 4-0 in the 66th minute finishing off an excellent pass by Petric who made an excellent debut.
The scoring was finished with just minutes left as Hugo Rodellaga was taken down in the penalty area allow Sidwell to slot one in from the penalty sport.
Before kick off many tipped Fulham for the drop though on this performance they look like a very solid team, the signing of Petric has seriously improved Fulham, especially offensively. If anything this should really make Norwich fans worry, they were awful and completely out played managing only 2 shots on target (to Fulham's 9). Chris Hughton appears to have a lot of work on his hands if he intends to keep Norwich in the Premier League. Martin Jol however has proven, once again, that he's an excellent manager and really knows what he is doing.
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