It was another wild weekend in the Premiership. There were some big wins, a chippy(semi-violent) tie, and West Ham decided to cover up their bankrupt sponsors with numbers(don't they know that they already have a number on the front of their kit(jersey)?).Sunderland 2 - Middlesbrough 0: Sunderland got lucky in this one, and Keane will need his team to improve at home. Stewart Downing slammed a penalty over the bar, and it was obvious that Boro was missing Mido who picked up a knock(injury) in warmups. Michael Chopra came on as a sub and looked electric, scoring both goals. He's had some personal problems, but some times the pitch(field) can be a refuge for a player. He should be starting soon.
West Ham 3 - Newcastle 1: It is hard to imagine how Newcastle can turn this season around. They have some great players, but they just can't seem to make things work. Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke's influence was evident as they played a 4-3-3. They kept sending players forward, and Di Michele just cut Newcastle to pieces. There looks to be some exciting football(soccer) in East London.
Blackburn 1 - Fulham 0: This was as ugly as the score line looks. AJ had a couple chances, but Fulham couldn't produce much. Matt Derbyshire scored the winner at the end, and he should get some more chances in the Cup competitions and off the bench.
Liverpool 0 - Stoke 0: This game was so ugly fans should have been required to wear a paper bag to watch it. Steven Gerrard had an early goal disallowed for no reason. Keane and Torres continue to have problems. Stoke does deserve some credit for getting a point at Anfield.
Arsenal 3 - Bolton 1: At the start it looked like Bolton would win, or at least draw. Arsenal were intimidated by the physical play of Bolton, including a Kevin Davies challenge that bruised Gael Clichy's leg like a Tesco(A&P) peach. Eboue grabbed an offside goal, and Bendtner quickly added a second. It looked like Bolton might come back until Denilson put in the third. A big result for Arsenal as it takes them to top of the league.
Aston Villa 2 - WBA 1: The deadly triangle of Carew, Agbonlahor and Young were declared fit and played like it. Carew and Agbonlahor scored early goals to make this an uphill battle for West Brom. Morrison grabbed one back, and while they looked strong on the ball they couldn't find a second.
Chelsea 1 - Man U 1: A lot more intense than the score line suggests. Nearly the entire Man U team was yellow carded, and both Carvalho and Van Der Sar had to leave with injuries. Obi Mikel did a great job marking Berbatov, and Ronaldo struggled after he was introduced as a sub. Anelka missed a number of opportunities and there were some good saves before Kalou scored the equalizer.
Hull 2 - Everton 2: Cahill did score, but the bad Everton made an appearance. They went two goals down, but they climbed back in it. Saha had his first appearance coming off the bench, and Yakubu looked a handfull. They will have to figure out their back line if they want to start turning draws into wins.
Man City 6 - Portsmouth 0: Portsmouth's back line look dead and buried. They will need to make some serious changes if they want to have any shot of making it back into the UEFA Cup. City look incredible, and don't be surprised if they can put up half a dozen again this season.
Tottenham 0 - Wigan 0: Actually, this might have been the ugliest game of the week. If Juande Ramos wasn't Juande Ramos then he would be fired. It would be a shame if the banks foreclosed on his suits.
One Liners
- Inter to sign Maradona, could use some good handiwork
- Hull sign Stelios, had been keeping in shape by squeezing out olive oil with his bare hands
- Nigerian consortium look to buy Newcastle, plan to pay in barrels of oil
- Steven Taylor says he won't quit Newcastle, but shakes his head yes the entire interview
- Reading score phantom goal, makes Maradona's look legitimate
