The weekend in the Prem 10.29

Sheffield United 0-2 Chelsea: Sheffield United had the ideal chance to surprise Chelsea. After Didier Drogba brought down Claude Davis in the box, up stepped Danny Webber to take the penalty that would put Sheffield up 1-0 at home against the two-time defending champs. But the opportunity got the better of him, and Hilario easily saved the spot kick. Chelsea never looked back, with goals from Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack on either side of halftime. They remain joint leaders with Manchester United.

Arsenal 1-1 Everton: Everton stole an early lead through Tim Cahill’s scrambled goal from a corner (as they are wont to do), and defended furiously with 9 or 10 men behind the ball for the rest of the game. It looked as if they would be the first team to win away at the Emirates Stadium until Robin van Persie’s pretty free kick. Arsenal has been much improved recently (and it shows in the league table), but for most of the game it looked as if they had returned to some old habits, with the Gunners unable to convert their dominance into goals.

Portsmouth 3-1 Reading: Reading never really recovered from a 10th minute own goal, and despite missing a host of chances, Portsmouth easily took all three points. Reading’s strongest quality so far in the Premiership had been how well Steve Coppell had his team drilled; for the first two months they were tough to break down, both home and away. But in the last three games, Reading has let in four goals to Arsenal and three to both Liverpool and Portsmouth. Not a good sign.

Bolton 0-4 Manchester United: Uh-oh. Manchester United was already playing well, having earned 22 points in nine games. And then Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick, two who had actually underperformed so far, went and had their best games of the season. Rooney especially reminded us all what he’s capable of, as he was simply unstoppable, scoring a hat trick. Sam Allardyce couldn’t flatter Shrek enough in his post-match remarks, and that says something. It’s not as if Bolton’s in bad form either; they sit in 3rd place and no one had scored at the Reebok Stadium this season until yesterday.

Fulham 0-1 Wigan: Fulham had a chance to improve on a surprising top-10 place, but instead Wigan ended up collecting their first away win of the season. Neither team created a host of chances, with Wigan getting the better opportunities, and it looked as if Denny Landzaat’s missed penalty would ensure the game ending at 0-0. However, Henri Camara (who had a goal not given despite Wigan claims the ball crossed the line) earned Wigan a deserved win with a goal in the 84th minute.

Watford 0-0 Tottenham: It seems every week there’s at least one game where the main talking point is whether or not video replays should be implemented. The conversation starter in this match was Ashley Young’s effort for Watford, which was clearly wrongly ruled out for offside. Both sides had chances, with Watford looking the better outfit. They are still winless so far in the Premier League, but with six draws out of ten games, it will only take a little luck for them to get off the mark.

Newcastle 0-0 Charlton: Charlton delivered a much-improved defensive performance, and it led to their first away point of the season. Newcastle missed their fair share of chances though, Guiseppe Rossi hit the bar, and Damien Duff was twice kept out by Liverpool-loanee Scott Carson, who played his best game in an Addicks shirt. While Charlton looked more cohesive than they were in previous outings, which has to encourage Iain Dowie, it’s hard to tell whether their defense earned them a draw or Newcastle wasted an opportunity for all three points.

West Ham 2-1 Blackburn: This was the first game all season that this year’s West Ham played like last year’s version, and it’s no coincidence that the squad looked a lot like last season’s. George McCartney, making his debut in place of the suspended Paul Konchesky, was the only player who did not feature last year. Mascherano and Tevez were conspicuously omitted, with Carlitos not even on the bench. Teddy Sheringham, making his first start of the season, opened the scoring with a trademark header after nice work from Bobby Zamora and Yossi Benayoun. Benayoun has been far below his standard, but it was a picture-perfect cross into Sheringham, and his all-around game was much improved today. Hayden Mullins scored the second with 10 minutes to go before David Bentley scored a late consolation for Blackburn.

Manchester City hosts Middlesbrough tomorrow at 3pm eastern.

The weekend in the Premiership

Wigan 4-0 Manchester City: The score says it all. City has had periods this season where they’ve been simply terrible, like this game, and this one was lost by the 5th minute. Emile Heskey (!!!) scored after about a minute, and in the 4th minute, City captain Richard Dunne headed the ball into his own net. Wigan added two more in the second half, City looks to be perilously close to a free fall, and Stuart Pearce has to fear for his job. After recent performances, changes obviously have to be made, but I really hope Pearce stays. It’s impossible not to like Psycho, we need more people who speak their mind and wear their heart on their sleeve in the league.

Everton 2-0 Sheffield United: Sheffield had little chance after Everton went up 2-0 around the 30th minute, and they went down to 10 men because of Claude Davis’ sending off. Nonetheless, it’s impressive Sheffield held Everton scoreless for the rest of the game while still looking to attack. Neil Warnock has molded them into a scrappy, fighting team, and if they begin to find the net on a consistent basis, they’ll be a threat to stay up.

Chelsea 2-1 Portsmouth: Honestly, this was much more one-sided than it appears. Calamity James made something like 12 saves; it was one of those games he pulls out of thin air every so often, which means we should be on the lookout for a howler next week. Pompey got a goal through Benjani Mwaruwari in the second half, but Chelsea easily earned their three points. Not thrilled to see Shevchenko and Ballack scoring, both players looked more in tune with the game than they have in previous outings.

Charlton 0-0 Watford: These two teams are currently propping up the bottom of the table, and this game was evidence why. Both teams squandered their opportunities, and both sides had periods in the game where they were on top and really should have gone ahead. Charlton has to be unhappier with the result. Less was expected of recently promoted Watford this season, while Charlton has been established in the Premier League, and was at home. They were booed off the field by their own fans, and Iain Dowie’s job has been rumored to be in jeopardy for a time now. Not a good time in the Valley.

Aston Villa 1-1 Fulham: Villa maintains the only unbeaten streak in the Premiership, and yet I doubt their fans went home happy from this one. Ridgewell, Angel, and Baros missed chances in the first half, and Villa ended up resorting to the long ball to try and break down Fulham in the second. Fulham, on the other hand, most certainly will be pleased. Last season, their away form was dreadful, while this season they’ve already picked up points at Aston Villa, Watford, Tottenham, and Newcastle.

Blackburn 0-1 Bolton: Blackburn versus Bolton is always going to be a low scoring affair, and the hero today was Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, who saved penalties from Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts in the last five minutes. Ivan Campo scored the winner in the 63rd minute, and Kevin Nolan was sent off late on after picking up two yellow cards.

Middlesbrough 1-0 Newcastle: Yakubu spared Boro’s blushes with a goal in the 85th minute and gave them their first back-to-back wins of the season. It was a pretty much standard Northeast derby, mostly a defensive game with few chances between the sides.

Tottenham 1-0 West Ham: Both teams continue to underperform, but both can take some positives out of the game. Tottenham was able to put the ball in the back of the net, with Mido providing the lone goal, and both Defoe and Keane also looked like threatening at times. Lennon’s return from injury, and fine form today, is also a good sign. While West Ham still disappoints, at least they showed fighting spirit today, and it's a start. Highlight of the game was probably the spat between Defoe and Mascherano with both men play-acting, leading to handbags between all 22 players.

Reading 0-4 Arsenal: Reading has not looked out of depth in the Premier League until today, and they've already gone up against both Manchester United and Chelsea. Arsenal put on an absolute clinic, the scoreline should have been even worse than 4-0. Unlike Liverpool, Arsenal look to have put their poor start to the season far behind them, and are going to be very dangerous as the young team starts to gel. Henry scored twice, bringing his total up to 5 for the league. If players like Fabregas, Hleb, van Persie and Walcott continue to develop while Henry's scoring at a clip like this, Arsenal will be up there with United and Chelsea.

Weekend in the Premiership

Wigan 1-3 Manchester United: Former Liverpool academy player Leighton Baines hammered a stunning free kick past Edwin Van der Sar, and Wigan went into the half up one-nil. And then United went and scored 3 in the second half, and Wayne Rooney played his best game in about seven months. Sometimes life is not fair.

Arsenal 3-0 Watford: Admittedly, it is home against Watford, but Arsenal, despite the injuries and early poor home form, look to be finding their stride. Thierry Henry in particular has been much improved in the last couple of games, but that was only a matter of time. Theo Walcott got playing time as well, and he certainly looks to be something. The English game needs creative young players like Walcott to succeed, and while I don’t wish Arsenal any luck, I hope to see Walcott achieve his potential, because he could be frighteningly good.

Aston Villa 1-1 Tottenham: Bad day for Juan Pablo Angel. He missed a penalty after Gabriel Agbonlahor was brought down by Calum Davenport (who was sent off) in the area, and three minutes later headed Jermaine Jenas’ cross into his own net. Good day for Gareth Barry however, who scored an absolutely beautiful goal five minutes after that. While they have drawn five times, Aston Villa continues to be undefeated.

Manchester City 0-0 Sheffield United: Manchester City let Sheffield United get away with all the chances they missed, and I really do hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them at the end of the season. They have been so inconsistent this season that you have to worry about a relegation fight, and a team must get maximum points against fellow strugglers at home.

Middlesbrough 2-1 Everton: Everton’s winning streak comes to an end. And it’s not really a surprise it comes against a side as inconsistent as Boro, as it just summarizes Everton for me. So far, Middlesbrough’s only wins are against previously unbeaten Everton and Chelsea, while they’ve lost to two out of the three recently-promoted teams. That’s pretty much the definition of inconsistency.

Portsmouth 2-0 West Ham: Alan Pardew’s got to start fearing for his job. Which is a pity, as he did such an excellent job last season, and West Ham is awful for so many reasons aside from the manager this season. I don’t mean to diminish Portsmouth, they continue to play very well to start the season, and for the first time since they were promoted, surely look likely to avoid a relegation battle. But it is just so much more astonishing to see West Ham flounder, despite the players they have.

Reading 0-1 Chelsea: Tough day to be a goalkeeper. Petr Cech was stretchered off in the first minute, and his replacement lasted eighty-something minutes longer before succumbing to the same fate. Cudicini’s looked worse (it reminded me of the reverse of the Battiston incident, without the malice), but it turns out that Cech’s injury is far more severe. He’s still in hospital having had surgery on a depressed skull. It’s hard to tell, and I won’t make any judgment, but it appears Steven Hunt lowered his knee into Cech. Oh yeah, and there was a game. Reading played quiet well, but as usual, despite being the weaker side, the evil empire held on for three points.

Newcastle 1-2 Bolton: Newcastle bossed around the first half, scored a penalty after Abdoulaye Faye appeared to have handled the ball, and looked to have Bolton on the ropes. A second goal seemed to be assured. And then Nicolas Anelka woke up and beautifully put Diouf through on goal. Less than 10 minutes later Diouf scored again, and Bolton is leaving Tyneside with 3 points. I find it amazing how Allardyce can make players like Diouf into something worthwhile. He’s still a creep though.

Charlton travels across London for a derby against Fulham on Monday. As usual with these games, it’s on FSC at 3pm.

This weekend in the Premiership

Charlton 1-2 Arsenal: Of course Darren Bent scores the week after I take him out of my fantasy team because he’s frustrating me. But of course, it’s not enough, and Robin van Persie pretty much single-handedly won Arsenal the game. Charlton hasn’t beaten Arsenal since 2001.

Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa: Aston Villa again makes this post look intelligent. Martin O’Neill has worked serious wonders for that team. Chelsea got an early goal, which is usually enough to make lesser teams roll over, but it catalyzed Villa. They went searching for, and got, an equalizer, and Chelsea were unable to break them down for the rest of the game. Villa look to be serious contenders for a European place.

Everton 1-1 Manchester City: Andy Johnson scored his sixth goal of the season to continue as top scorer in the Prem, Micah Richards equalized in the last minute of injury time, and Joey Barton mooned the Everton fans after the final whistle. This game would have killed Joe Buck. Too bad he wasn’t announcing it.

Sheffield United 2-1 Middlebrough: I realize Gareth Southgate is a “project” as managers go, but if results don’t improve, Boro’s going to end this experiment sooner rather than later. As a Liverpool fan, I know Sheffield’s difficult to break down at home, but it looks as if Boro’s win over Chelsea in the second week is going to be the high point of their season.

West Ham 0-1 Reading: What happened to West Ham? They underperformed to start the season, signed the two Argentineans, and completely went to hell. No one’s scoring, Benayoun and Reo-Coker have been nowhere near as influential as last season, and nothing is going their way. This is their fifth straight loss. Meanwhile, Reading’s up to seventh, and continues to look to be this season’s Wigan.

Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle: United ran riot over Newcastle; only goalkeeper Harper kept the score as close as it was. Putting five men in midfield did nothing to hinder Manchester’s attack, and it prevented Newcastle from going forward themselves, allowing United to besiege them. Newcastle looked about as potent as they did in their 2-0 loss to Liverpool, United goes back to top of the league.

Blackburn 2-1 Wigan: Surprisingly an exciting back-and-forth game between two usually dour mid-table sides. Emile Heskey (!) scored in the 2nd minute, but Blackburn substitute keeper Jason Brown saved a penalty and they scored through David Bentley and Benni McCarthy.

Tottenham 2-1 Portsmouth: Pompey will go home unhappy, with the difference in the game the penalty given to Tottenham for Zokora’s dive in the box. Portsmouth deserved a draw out of the game; not only were they shafted with the penalty call, but they pressed Spurs the entire second half. Tottenham will be happy with the three points and two goals though, their first goals in the league since August 22nd.

Watford hosts Fulham tomorrow. It’s on FSC at 3pm.

This weekend in the EPL...

Aston Villa 2-0 Charlton: Aston Villa continues their good run of form, although admittedly against a Charlton side that’s been dreadful and are quickly becoming relegation favorites. Both Agbonlahor and Luke Moore had excellent games for Villa; aside from installing a team spirit, Martin O’Neill has done an excellent job bringing the young players along, these two especially. You saw flashes of brilliance last season from both, but this year they’ve become consistent starters, are contributing goals and assists, and are keeping a now-fit Milan Baros out of the team.

Man City 2-0 West Ham: Bit of a surprising result here. But you knew City would play better this week after the abomination that was the midweek Carling Cup tie. I’m sure Stuart Pearce screamed the paint off the wall both after Wednesday’s game and before Saturday’s, and the players responded. West Ham still hasn’t adapted with the new Argentinean boys; they haven’t settled yet (granted, it’s still really early), and they’ve made a cohesive dressing room far less stable. And it certainly doesn’t help that Yossi Benayoun has been a shadow of the player he was last season.

Arsenal 3-0 Sheffield United: A vastly improved second half against Sheffield helps Arsenal build on the victory over United last Sunday. Arsenal looked to have the same problems as earlier in the season, with a large amount of possession and shots leading to no goals, but much like Liverpool, they put in three in the final half-hour. Henry looked handy returning from injury, involved in the build-up to Gallas’s goal, whipping in the cross for the own-goal, and scoring a header late on.

Middlesbrough 0-1 Blackburn: And Boro wonders why the fail to draw crowds at half of their games, this one sounds as if it was visual Valium. Boro failed to create any real chances, and they left the field at halftime to a chorus of boos. Which is guess is better than last year when a fan stormed the field and ripped up his season ticket in front of then-manager Steve McClaren.

Fulham 0-2 Chelsea: Pity for Fulham. Papa Bouba Diop (it’s even more fun to say than it is to write) should have scored for Fulham, and Chelsea followed up with a Fat Frank penalty and a second from Lampard on the counter-attack. Fulham’s been a bogey team in the past for Chelski, and they again looked vulnerable. And yet, Chelsea’s top of the table with this win.

Wigan 1-1 Watford: Henri Camara (Wigan) and Hamuer Bouazza (Watford) scored. Evidently it was a fairly entertaining match. Both will still end up being relegation candidates, and will rue that neither got three points from this game. I expected Wigan would fall into a sophomore slump, but they should be beating Watford at home, no matter the enjoyable soccer Watford’s played so far.

Reading 1-1 Manchester United: I guess United deserved their equalizer through Cristiano Ronaldo, but Reading had done an excellent job keeping them at bay after scoring. It was a dubious penalty, Gary Neville knew little about that ball hitting his arm, but Reading continues to impress, and looks the mostly likely of the promoted teams to stay up. Still, damn you Ronaldo.

Newcastle 1-1 Everton: I’m sure David Moyes is a very unhappy man right now. Newcastle’s goal should have never stood, Ameobi was clearly offside, but I certainly enjoyed seeing it. Yet I couldn’t complain when Everton tied the match, they deserved the draw if not the win. They look a far better side with Andy Johnson, who continued to play well even without scoring. Steve Bennett did his best to make the game unwatchable, with 6 yellows and 2 red cards in a game that wasn’t ill-tempered, but it was a back and forth match, especially when both sides went down to 10 men.

Tomorrow Bolton travels to Portsmouth, with the game on at 3pm EST on Fox Soccer Channel.

The weekend in the Premiership

Charlton 0-1 Portsmouth - Pompey continues it’s run of unbeaten games while keeping clean sheets. I know it’s five games in, and against weak opposition, but Harry Redknapp has this team playing very good soccer. The fact that a back line of Glen Johnson – Linvoy Primus – Sol Campbell – Dejan Stefanovic has kept five straight clean sheets is mindboggling.

Bolton 0-0 Middlesbrough – Surprise, surprise. The sad thing is, this is the game that Fox Soccer Channel decided to show in the States in this timeslot. This was going to be a 0-0 draw since the FA made the fixture list. Bolton is Bolton, rough and rugged, then hit and hope and frankly, Middlesbrough just about out-Boltoned Bolton . One would hope that Nicolas Anelka would change this, but it’s becoming obvious he’s going to have to adapt to their system, instead of vice versa.

Everton 2-2 Wigan – Your guess is as good as mine as how Everton can wallop Liverpool 3-0 one week and then give up two equalizers to Paul Scharner the next. Either Everton is inconsistent as usual, Wigan has more fight than I give them credit for, or Liverpool is more impotent in front of goal than I’d imagined. Let’s not consider the possibilities.

Sheffield United 1-2 Reading – Reading still looks to be the one promoted team that could avoid relegation. Sheffield and Watford will continue to be tough to beat at home, but Reading looks like they will be able to surprise people and take points where they shouldn’t. Leroy Lita is a Premiership class striker, and hopefully his recent arrest won’t impact his current run of good form. Not to mention Bobby Convey, Steve Sidwell, Kevin Doyle, or Dave Kitson.

Watford 0-0 Aston Villa – Villa again looked good, but once again Watford proved they will be a tough team to beat. I’m really starting to respect Aidy Boothroyd and the spirit he’s put into his team, and Marlon King will score goals at this level. Villa should have done better. They had chances, and Moore, Petrov, and Agbonlahor played well, but Watford’s offside trap was on, and both goalkeepers played a blinder.

Blackburn 4-2 Manchester City – Surprisingly, a goal fest. It sounds like comical defending led to a boatload of chances. Blackburn has been unimpressive so far this season and both they and Man City will have to improve on current form to make the top 10.

Tottenham 0-0 Fulham – Either Fulham is playing far better away from home this season, or Tottenham is really off-form. Or both. I understand Berbatov is injured, but a front line of Defoe, Mido, and Keane really should be able to put at least one goal past Fulham at home. Once again, Fulham displays the spine that Chris Coleman has imbued in this squad.
I firmly believe he's a manager that should get more respect.

West Ham 0-2 Newcastle – Surprising result here. Obafemi Martins opens his account for Newcastle and West Ham is shocking defensively at home. Other than a free kick, Tevez disappoints, and Mascherano keeps Benayoun, who has consistently been West Ham’s best player, on the bench. This experiment is going to be interesting. It’s still early, but I’m going to suggest they might have been a better team before having to wedge the Argentinean boys into the squad.

Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal – The result of the weekend. Not an impressive performance at all until Adebayor broke the deadlock, but a fun game to watch. It was a correctly given penalty, but a very weak shot by Gilberto Silva and was an easy save for Kuszczak. And for the next 80 minutes, not a very remarkable game. As with other games this season, Arsenal was wasteful with their final ball after slowly building up possession, and today United’s stars (Rooney, Ronaldo, Saha) had quiet games. Fantastic result for Arsenal though; after disappointing for the first few games, they beat the league leaders and one of their biggest rivals, without Thierry Henry to boot. And it keeps United from getting farther away from the rest of the league, which is fantastic in and of itself.