Week 5 of the round of fixtures of the Premier League saw a few surprises while raising some eyebrows. The Champions returned to form, while a few kept up their losing streak running.
Liverpool just painted London red
Jordan Henderson’s long-range effort curls past Thibaut Courtois. Photo: premierleague.com
It was like a blitz. Thirty-six minutes and the Reds were up 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. The stadium was in shock when Lovren was left unmarked at the far post and an easy tap in ensued. Chelsea tried their best with long range efforts (throughout the match) but Henderson then produced a ‘Goal of the Month’ (if not Goal of the Season) contender, dipping the ball from 25 yards out, beating Courtois; an absolute scorcher.
The Blues kept knocking on the door but Liverpool held a very tight defence, which was beaten unabashedly by Nemanja Matic after Hazard through ball. He dilly-dallied past a sliding Lovren and then toe poked it to Costa, 5 yards out from the line for an easy tap-in to make it 2-1.
The Blues tried their best to push for the equaliser but the Reds held on for it to finish 2-1 full time.
Klopp has now beaten both the London giants in Chelsea and Arsenal. Jurgen and his men are pushing for a Champions League spot this summer and it is all open in that bracket for atleast 4 teams.
Will the Real Man Utd please stand up?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Manchester United kicks the post in frustration. Photo: premierleague.com
Vicarage Road played host to a fairly entertaining game between Watford and MoUnited. The team sheet showed the will to win by both sides and the precedent was set by how Smalling and De Gea decided to moonwalk in reverse into each other leaving Ighalo an open goal which he magnificently missed. Everybody in that stadium, had their head in their hands.
Janmaat was absolutely electric on the right flank and produced another mesmerising cross only for Deeney’s power effort to be acrobatically saved by the Spanish No. 1. Watford kept on pressing and United were let down by rued half chances, the closest being Paul Pogba’s sublime dipping shot that beat Gomes but hit the bar. Martial then got robbed on the right and the cross had Capoue’s name all over it as he drove in a shot past De Gea to make it 1-0 before half time; Man United in disarray.
The second half saw the Red Devils going in harder and they finally capitalised when Ibra played a wonderful 1-2-1 with Marcus, setting him up for a header that was missed. But the rebound wasn’t. Rashford is putting the doubters (like me) to sleep with his recent performances. However, Zuniga played super sub to curt Pereyra’s pass past the keeper to make it 2-1. And then came the nail.
With time on the clock Fellaini produced the slowest reflex tackle of the season bringing down Zuniga for a penalty. The captain Tom Deeney did not let go off the ball till he put it down and smashed it past De Gea to give Watford an emphatic win it deserved .
MoUnited needs a good hard look in the mirror after the loss.
Manchester City is the team to beat
All eyes on Kevin De Bruyne as the sun sweeps over the Etihad Stadium. Photo: premierleague.com
Before I say anything, let’s just take a moment and recap our prediction for the season: Man City to win the title and Kevin De Bruyne to be the Player of the Season to Watch. And boy you really should watch him!
Bruyne is enjoying a magnificent start. The Belgian midfield maestro showcased a classic display of control and ingenuity as he opened the scoring for Man City against Bournemoth by sneaking the ball under the jumping wall, past the keeper Boruc and into the net.
Bruyne was the centre of attention again, wrapping up a lightning quick counterattack from a Bournemouth free kick in the Man City half. The Belgian picked out Sterling superbly with a weighted through pass and Sterling quite unselfishly squared it for Ihenacho in the middle who had to adjust his body in all sorts of ways to poke in to make it 2-0 Man City.
Breathtaking football!
Kolarov’s left foot made a nice cameo but Boruc was upto the mark then and against a dazzling run by Sterling that was capped off by a sidefoot straight into the Bournemouth keeper. Boruc kept the scoreline modest. The second half then quickly saw another amazing counterattack by the trio of Bruyne, Sterling and Ihenacho. Boruc was this time left wanting as Sterling tapped in a squared assist by the Nigerian.
Then commenced the Sterling Show as the pacy Englishman ran riot in the B’mouth half terrorising defenders with his runs. The cherry on top? Bruyne producing another ‘goalgasm’ for new boy Gundogan to place home his first goal for Man City.
We are running out of superlatives to describe this team, and it’s only September!
Hero of the Week
The KDB-Sterling-Ihenacho trio. Guys, we need a catchy name for this trio as well; suggestions are welcome.
Villain of the Week
Chris Smalling. Not resolute in either half attacking or defending. Bailly needs a better partner.
