Fulham 3-0 West Brom
Whilst Fulham did start the Premier League season excellently destroying the hapless Norwich 5-0, they had struggled in their following 2 games losing to both Manchester United and West Ham in successive weeks. They bounced back well however to inflict their first Premier League defeat of the season on to an off colour West Brom.
Before the season many worried about Fulham's goal scoring threat though they added well to their team over the summer and appear to have signed up a number of threatening players, none more well known than Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov.
It was to be Berbatov who stole the headlines here, netting his first Fulham goal in the 32nd minute to finish off an excellent run by team mate Alex Kacaniklic. West Brom didn't look their usual selves and it showed as the usually mild mannered Peter Odemwingie was sent off for kicking out at Sascha Riether putting West Brom at an even bigger disadvantage. It didn't take long for Fulham to effectively finish off the game as Berbatov netted a second from the spot.
Despite being 2-0 up Fulham kept control of the match well with Berbatov showing just how good he really is as he held up the ball and acted as a focal point for all of the Fulham attacks sadly however he failed to complete his hat-trick. It didn't however stop Fulham from netting a 3rd with Steve Sidwell tapping in from close range late on to seal all 3 points.
Fulham boss Martin Jol will be really pleased by just how good his team looked here following their 2 losses in their past 2 matches. The ability, strength and size of the Berbatov really allows Fulham so many options up front and with the likes of Mladen Petric, Damien Duff and Alex Kacaniklic they are a genuinely threatening team up front with several different options. I'd be genuinely shocked if Fulham weren't a team challenging for a Europa League position by the end of the season.
Whilst the result certainly wasn't great for West Brom, it was perhaps a dose of reality for Steve Clark who had taken a remarkable 7 points from his first 3 Premier League games in charge. Odemwingie's sending off was a moment of sheer madness (and something he has apologised for) though it was the fact that the Baggies simply couldn't handle Kacaniklic and Berbatov that really made the difference. West Brom have a lot of promise and hopefully this match will have awoken their eyes to the fact they need to play well to continue to get results.
Showing posts with label Steve Clarke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Clarke. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Premier League Week 3-Write up West Brom v Everton
West Brom 2-0 Everton
Everton had started the Premier League campaign on fire with a huge upset win over Manchester United followed by a 3-1 drubbing over Villa, it was widely expected that they'd make it 3 from 3. Like Everton West Brom had also secured an upset in their first game of the season defeating Liverpool 3-0 before getting a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, this was a clash of unbeatens.
Despite both of these teams being early pace setters in the Premier League neither team really started fast though West Brom really should have been ahead before going in at half time level 0-0. The major talking point of the first half however wasn't a chance but instead the early substitution of Darron Gibson who only lasted around 20 minutes before Tony Hibbert replaced him.
Everton had a great chance around 20 minutes into the second half as the ball fell for Marouane Fellaini who hit his chance over the goal. The Baggies soon made the visitors pay for missing the opportunity with Shane Long scoring just minutes later as the home side broke the deadlock. Around 17 minutes later West Brom doubled their lead and sealed the well deserved 3 points thanks to Gareth McAuley's header with less than 10 minutes left.
West Brom manager Steve Clarke will be smiling from ear to ear having had West Brom's best ever start to a Premier League season bagging 7 points in his opening 3 games as manager and already securing wins over both Merseyside clubs. Steve Clarke's team are not only unbeaten but are also scoring relatively easily with 6 goals for and only 1 against, this is a team who are really looking well organised even if they do lack an out and out goal scorer.
David Moyes will not be best pleased at his team's performance as they looked a shadow of the side who won their opening 2 games. Their attack looked much, much poorer than it had looked in previous games and whilst Kevin Mirallas did make an impact he couldn't create a goal. It's fair to assume however that this will just be a blip and Moyes will not be too concerned with the loss against a Baggies side that did much worse to Liverpool.
Everton had started the Premier League campaign on fire with a huge upset win over Manchester United followed by a 3-1 drubbing over Villa, it was widely expected that they'd make it 3 from 3. Like Everton West Brom had also secured an upset in their first game of the season defeating Liverpool 3-0 before getting a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, this was a clash of unbeatens.
Despite both of these teams being early pace setters in the Premier League neither team really started fast though West Brom really should have been ahead before going in at half time level 0-0. The major talking point of the first half however wasn't a chance but instead the early substitution of Darron Gibson who only lasted around 20 minutes before Tony Hibbert replaced him.
Everton had a great chance around 20 minutes into the second half as the ball fell for Marouane Fellaini who hit his chance over the goal. The Baggies soon made the visitors pay for missing the opportunity with Shane Long scoring just minutes later as the home side broke the deadlock. Around 17 minutes later West Brom doubled their lead and sealed the well deserved 3 points thanks to Gareth McAuley's header with less than 10 minutes left.
West Brom manager Steve Clarke will be smiling from ear to ear having had West Brom's best ever start to a Premier League season bagging 7 points in his opening 3 games as manager and already securing wins over both Merseyside clubs. Steve Clarke's team are not only unbeaten but are also scoring relatively easily with 6 goals for and only 1 against, this is a team who are really looking well organised even if they do lack an out and out goal scorer.
David Moyes will not be best pleased at his team's performance as they looked a shadow of the side who won their opening 2 games. Their attack looked much, much poorer than it had looked in previous games and whilst Kevin Mirallas did make an impact he couldn't create a goal. It's fair to assume however that this will just be a blip and Moyes will not be too concerned with the loss against a Baggies side that did much worse to Liverpool.
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