Talking Points of the EPL Weekend
Chelsea’s defeat to City in the El Cashico throws the race for third place wide open
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 24: Carlos Tevez of Manchester City celebrates after scoring the second goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Chelsea
In what was one of the most crucial matches in this gameweek, Manchester City defeated Chelsea as two excellent second half strikes from Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez helped the Eastlands outfit open up a 7-point gap over the London side. In the process, they cut Manchester United‘s lead to 12 points at the top of the table and set up an intriguing scenario with Chelsea’s hold on the 3rd position under serious threat. A Gareth Bale inspired Tottenham side leapfrogged them with a pulsating win over West Ham on Monday. With Arsenal picking up all three points on offer this week, we are set for an explosive run to the finish with only 4 points separating the 3rd, 4th and 5th placed teams.
Are the Latics embarking on their customary late season run?
A spirited display saw Wigan Athletic move out of the relegation zone with a thumping 3-0 victory away at Reading. Arouna Kone struck a brace and Maynor Figueroa hit the back of the net as the Latics leapfrogged their hosts in what was billed as a ‘relegation six pointer’. Though it is too early to predict anything, the dominant display from Roberto Martinez’s men is strangely reminiscent of the back end of the 2011/12 season where they beat Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool on their way to securing their Premier League status for yet another year. Wigan had also amassed 11 out of their last 18 points as they survived by the skin of their teeth in the 2010/11 season. Looks like it will take a brave man to bet against the Latics not playing their ninth consecutive season in the top flight.
Champions League dream seems to be over for Moyes
NORWICH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 23: David Moyes of Everton looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Norwich City and Everton
A damning 2-1 defeat to Norwich City at Carrow Road means Everton have won only two of their last eight matches in the Premier League. The Toffees were riding high in 4th place in the league table as recently as in the 19th gameweek and the Everton faithful could be forgiven for thinking that with a bit of reinforcements coming in the January transfer window, they could hold on to the final Champions League spot. They never came and Everton have seen their position rapidly slipping in the league table. Star striker Nikica Jelavic has hit a dry patch in front of the goal and Marouane Fellaini has never looked the same when he came back from his three match suspension. The Toffees were leading against the Canaries before late goals from Kamara and Holt left them closer to the ninth place that to the fourth place in the Premier League table.
Harry Redknapp: Fast running out of excuses
A Rafael rocket and a Giggs trademark finish was all that the runaway leaders needed to see off Harry Redknapp’s listless Queens Park Rangers side. The victory saw the Red Devils open up a temporary 15-point lead at the top of the table, a victory that was marred by a freak injury to Robin Van Persie who collided with a photographer on the touchline in the buildup to United’s opener. Having invested considerably in the January transfer window, Redknapp is fast running out of excuses to account for the shambolic tally of 13 points out of a possible 45 while in charge. With QPR still rooted to the bottom of the league table and 6 points adrift of the 19th place side, it increasingly looks like it will take the intervention of the other Harry – the one with the magic wand who attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to prevent the Loftus Road outfit from plying their trade in the Championship next season.
Romelu Lukaku: Fernando Torres’s alter ego
WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 23: Romelu Lukaku of West Bromwich Albion celebrates scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland
While Chelsea are looking far and wide for the solution to their woes in the final third of the football pitch, one feels that they need not look and further than their on-loan Belgian powerhouse. While the Spaniard has hit new lows with the Blues having not found the back of the goal in his last ten league appearances, Lukaku has gone on to score seven goals in the corresponding time frame. The Belgian struck twice this weekend to hand the Baggies their first home win of 2013, a 2-1 victory over Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland. This season the Belgian has looked exactly like what El Nino hasn’t – strong, explosive, dominant and blessed with a prolific ability to coax the ball into the net. If he continues his rich vein of form, Lukaku, who arrived at Chelsea for a hefty transfer fee in the summer of 2011, may well find himself plying his trade at Stamford Bridge in place of the much maligned Spanish striker.
Moussa Sissoko – the signing of the January transfer window?
“Who needs Ba when we’ve got mighty Moussa” proclaimed Alan Pardew on the eve of their match against Southampton. The French midfielder certainly did not let his manager down as he struck the equaliser for his side and spurred on the Magpies to come back from behind to claim a 4-2 victory. The former Toulouse star, who moved to St. James Park in the winter transfer window this year for a paltry fee of £2.2m, is increasingly looking like a steal as he has made a seamless transition from Ligue 1 to the English Premier League. So much so that he has already become an integral part of Pardew’s French Revolution having scored or assisted in each of his first four matches for the Magpies. A natural No. 10, he seems to have perfectly adjusted to his role in linking the attack and the midfield, a more than capable ally to Papiss Cisse as Newcastle draw away from the bottom of the table where they were briefly flirting with the relegation zone having found themselves in the 16th position for a couple of weeks.