Manchester United 4-0 Wigan
With Champions League duty in just a few days time Manchester United fielded a slightly weakened team against Wigan however that didn't stop the Red Devils from claiming all 3 points with their most impressive performance of the season.
Within minutes of the kick off it appeared as if it was going to be a hard day for Wigan. Just minutes into the game Ali Al Habsi was judged to have brought Danny Wellbeck in the penalty area, however Javier Hernandez failed to bag the resulting penalty. This was the key moment of the first half as neither team managed to really create anything else of note in the first 45 minutes.
In the second half United turned up the pace and started playing like title challengers that they are expected to be. Just minutes into the second half they had taken the lead as Paul Scholes, who was making his 700th appearance for the club, broke the deadlock from close range. This goal seemed to quickly change the tempo of the game and just 10 minutes later Hernandez would tap in from close range after Alexander Buttner's shot appeared to be going wide.
It wouldn't take long for United to get their third of the day with Buttner this time getting his name on the score sheet completing an excellent debut for Dutch left back who was playing in place of the injured Patrice Evra. By now the result was clear and it was just a question as to whether or not United wanted to inflict further pain on Wigan, it appeared they did.
With less than 10 minutes left United youngster Nick Powell said hello to the Premier League with United's fourth of the day and clearly the best of the goals. Like Buttner, Powell was making his debut for the club and further shows just what class Ferguson brought in over the summer, aside from the big name signings of Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa.
For United the first half was really under-par, a second missed penalty in as many games and a real lack of a spark showed that they weren't at their best, the second half however showed just how good United could be as they were rampant. The fans and manager will have had to have been pleased by the debut of Buttner who took his chance for the injured Evra and really made a solid case of becoming a starter with excellent work at both ends of the pitch. With a game against Galatasaray on Wednesday, Ferguson will be looking for a repeat of this second half performance.
Roberto Martinez's team have taken 4 points from 4 games and whilst that's not great they certainly won't be too unhappy at their form so far. They look like they are missing a bit of class in the actual team though Ali Al Habsi was excellent and will take a big boost from saving yet another penalty (something he appears to be earning a reputation for) and Arouna Kone does look really promising for Wigan. They weren't expected to get anything here but for the first 45 minutes they more than held their own so they shouldn't be too disappointed with a loss, though the scoreline was really harsh in the end.
Showing posts with label Robert Martinez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Martinez. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Southampton v Wigan
Southampton 0-2 Wigan
Southampton started their season in midweek with a baptism of fire as they took on current Premier League champions Manchester City and lets be honest they surprised everyone putting up not only a good fight but actually took the lead. They looked too build on the good showing against City with a positive result against Wigan, sadly however they failed to get that result.
The Saints started brightly and came close to opening the scoring inside just 14 minutes as an Adam Lallana shot forced Ali Al Habsi to make an excellent save. Sadly however Southampton's bright start came to nothing as Al Habsi put on an excellent performance.
The deadlock was broken early in the second half as Franco Di Santo put the visitors in the lead finishing off an excellent move for the Latics who came into the match following their open game loss to Chelsea. Southampton tried to equalise and dominated much of the match after going behind but the closest they came was the cross bar with a little over 10 minutes remaining. With a little over a minute of normal time left Wigan doubled their lead and secured the points as Arouna Kone took the ball from Jose Fonte around the halfway line and drove past Kelvin Davis at his nearest post.
This isn't the result any Southampton fan would have wanted, especially not after their excellent performance against the reigning Champions. It was an awful way to mark their first home Premier League fixture in 7 years, however Nigel Adkins shouldn't be too dismayed really as Southampton were the better team even if they did lack a finish to the chances they created. In all honesty the least Southampton deserved was a point and they were unlucky not to get it. It's a lesson to the Southampton players that this league is about finishing your chances as you don't get many of them. Sadly however it'll be Jose Fonte's mistake losing the ball to Kone that will likely be the lasting memory of this match.
Wigan may have lost Victor Moses to Chelsea but with Kone and Di Santo they looked solid in attack and put away the chances that they had, something they have learned over the years. Roberto Martinez however will need to be thankful not to his strikers but to the excellent Al Habsi who's early save kept Wigan in the match, in fact it's fair to say that the keeper is one of the stand out Wigan players and is worth a few points every season due to his ability between the posts. Wigan will likely try to add to their squad with the money from the Moses transfer, and they probably do need it, though Martinez will be proud his men bounced back from last weeks loss against Chelsea and the loss of Moses himself.
Southampton started their season in midweek with a baptism of fire as they took on current Premier League champions Manchester City and lets be honest they surprised everyone putting up not only a good fight but actually took the lead. They looked too build on the good showing against City with a positive result against Wigan, sadly however they failed to get that result.
The Saints started brightly and came close to opening the scoring inside just 14 minutes as an Adam Lallana shot forced Ali Al Habsi to make an excellent save. Sadly however Southampton's bright start came to nothing as Al Habsi put on an excellent performance.
The deadlock was broken early in the second half as Franco Di Santo put the visitors in the lead finishing off an excellent move for the Latics who came into the match following their open game loss to Chelsea. Southampton tried to equalise and dominated much of the match after going behind but the closest they came was the cross bar with a little over 10 minutes remaining. With a little over a minute of normal time left Wigan doubled their lead and secured the points as Arouna Kone took the ball from Jose Fonte around the halfway line and drove past Kelvin Davis at his nearest post.
This isn't the result any Southampton fan would have wanted, especially not after their excellent performance against the reigning Champions. It was an awful way to mark their first home Premier League fixture in 7 years, however Nigel Adkins shouldn't be too dismayed really as Southampton were the better team even if they did lack a finish to the chances they created. In all honesty the least Southampton deserved was a point and they were unlucky not to get it. It's a lesson to the Southampton players that this league is about finishing your chances as you don't get many of them. Sadly however it'll be Jose Fonte's mistake losing the ball to Kone that will likely be the lasting memory of this match.
Wigan may have lost Victor Moses to Chelsea but with Kone and Di Santo they looked solid in attack and put away the chances that they had, something they have learned over the years. Roberto Martinez however will need to be thankful not to his strikers but to the excellent Al Habsi who's early save kept Wigan in the match, in fact it's fair to say that the keeper is one of the stand out Wigan players and is worth a few points every season due to his ability between the posts. Wigan will likely try to add to their squad with the money from the Moses transfer, and they probably do need it, though Martinez will be proud his men bounced back from last weeks loss against Chelsea and the loss of Moses himself.
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up Wigan v Chelsea
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
The European Champions got their Premier League campaign off in Sunday's early kick off as they traveled up north to face Roberto Martinez's Wigan side. Despite the fact Wigan had survived last season they were relatively lucky and only missed the drop by 7 points whilst having one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League. Whilst Chelsea had "only" managed 64 goals last season it was expected they'd get off to a flying start with Fernando Torres looking to have regained his form with an excellent Euro 2012 (where he won the Golden Boot).
Things got off to a perfect start for Chelsea who need less than 2 minutes to open their scoring for the season as Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic linked together to break the dead lock with Ivanovic finishing the move. Just minutes later Chelsea doubled their lead through a Frank Lampard penalty and it appeared as if Chelsea were going to really tear Wigan a new one whilst filling their boots, in fact it appeared as if Robert Di Matteo's men could even claim top spot above Fulham and Swansea. Sadly for Chelsea, and football fans, the second goal effectively killed the game and Chelsea choose to just hold on to their lead rather than give Wigan the hammering that they appeared to be there for.
Whilst new signing Eden Hazard was the star man for Chelsea, setting up Ivanovic's goal and being fouled for the penalty he seems like the sort of player who, despite being talented won't like the physical part of the English game. The number of times he went down was alarming and whilst some were dives he was also given a hard time. I imagine defenders will be viewing him as a serious target on this showing. Hazard went off with around 30 minutes remaining and was replaced by fellow new boy Oscar who was close to adding a third for the Blues.
Wigan fans should be worried, they have struggled in recent seasons and the way they started this game they will be struggling again. They should however feel very fortunate that Chelsea didn't seem to want to add to their early goals or this could have ended up like a cricket score. Despite losing Wigan did fight back well and actually had more shots and more corners than the visitors with Victor Moses looking very threatening despite some awful service. Wigan fans should be worried, though their team does have some promise as long as Martinez can get them working well as as a team from the opening whistle to the final whistle.
Despite winning 2-0 Chelsea fans should be feeling very annoyed at their team in all honesty. Wigan were really there for the taking and should have been beaten out of sight, though Chelsea's change from offensive minded team in the first 10 minutes to a counter attacking team afterwards really was frustrating. The fans however have to be pleased by the fact Hazard was such a key player and appears to be the sort of player who will have a hand in everything going forward, be it scoring or providing, he did however look a bit lightweight and went down far too easily. The 3 points were the key and they managed to bag them, but they weren't hugely impressive aside from the opening 10 minutes.
The European Champions got their Premier League campaign off in Sunday's early kick off as they traveled up north to face Roberto Martinez's Wigan side. Despite the fact Wigan had survived last season they were relatively lucky and only missed the drop by 7 points whilst having one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League. Whilst Chelsea had "only" managed 64 goals last season it was expected they'd get off to a flying start with Fernando Torres looking to have regained his form with an excellent Euro 2012 (where he won the Golden Boot).
Things got off to a perfect start for Chelsea who need less than 2 minutes to open their scoring for the season as Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic linked together to break the dead lock with Ivanovic finishing the move. Just minutes later Chelsea doubled their lead through a Frank Lampard penalty and it appeared as if Chelsea were going to really tear Wigan a new one whilst filling their boots, in fact it appeared as if Robert Di Matteo's men could even claim top spot above Fulham and Swansea. Sadly for Chelsea, and football fans, the second goal effectively killed the game and Chelsea choose to just hold on to their lead rather than give Wigan the hammering that they appeared to be there for.
Whilst new signing Eden Hazard was the star man for Chelsea, setting up Ivanovic's goal and being fouled for the penalty he seems like the sort of player who, despite being talented won't like the physical part of the English game. The number of times he went down was alarming and whilst some were dives he was also given a hard time. I imagine defenders will be viewing him as a serious target on this showing. Hazard went off with around 30 minutes remaining and was replaced by fellow new boy Oscar who was close to adding a third for the Blues.
Wigan fans should be worried, they have struggled in recent seasons and the way they started this game they will be struggling again. They should however feel very fortunate that Chelsea didn't seem to want to add to their early goals or this could have ended up like a cricket score. Despite losing Wigan did fight back well and actually had more shots and more corners than the visitors with Victor Moses looking very threatening despite some awful service. Wigan fans should be worried, though their team does have some promise as long as Martinez can get them working well as as a team from the opening whistle to the final whistle.
Despite winning 2-0 Chelsea fans should be feeling very annoyed at their team in all honesty. Wigan were really there for the taking and should have been beaten out of sight, though Chelsea's change from offensive minded team in the first 10 minutes to a counter attacking team afterwards really was frustrating. The fans however have to be pleased by the fact Hazard was such a key player and appears to be the sort of player who will have a hand in everything going forward, be it scoring or providing, he did however look a bit lightweight and went down far too easily. The 3 points were the key and they managed to bag them, but they weren't hugely impressive aside from the opening 10 minutes.
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