This weekend saw some of the big giants tumble in the Premier League, justifying the immense popularity that this league has in the world. It never ceases to surprise, even when we think that surely this or that cannot happen. So, with that said, let’s take a look at some of the results from this weekend and hope to at least make sense of a few of them.
Stoke City beat Manchester City in the early clash on Saturday, beating them 2-0 at the Britannia Stadium. The Shaqiri-Arnautovic combo proved to be the deadliest of the Potter’s weapons, with Bojan and Afellay also putting in performances that understate their transfer fee when they switched from Barcelona. Honestly, Stoke has a side good enough to compete for the top six, and to go there and expect a win, for Man City’s part, is just foolish, even more so due to the fact that they are missing some key players in Aguero and Kompany.
Since we began with Man City, it would, I guess, only be natural for us to evaluate Man Utd’s performance next. They hosted West Ham in what was a dull 0-0 draw from my perspective. I only say it was dull because there seems to be a lack of effort from Man Utd when it comes to passing and build-up play, not that their defense was any good on the day either. They were very lucky that West Ham weren’t in the mood, otherwise it could’ve been a very different story. I’m sure Mauro Zarate was the recipient of a few angry words from his team-mates after the game, with him squandering the glorious opportunity that he had to put the three points in the bag.
Let’s talk Leicester City next because they are flying under Claudio Ranieri. Vardy can’t seem to stop scoring goals, and in the rare case in which he does, Riyad Mahrez takes over, like he did this weekend against the Swans. Mahrez scored three to get a superb hat-trick and take his tally for the season to the 10th goal mark. Meanwhile, in the late afternoon game on Saturday, Chelsea wished they had a goalscorer like a Vardy or Mahrez in their team as they failed to take their chances against newly promoted Bournemouth. Of course, what makes the 1-0 defeat against the former Championship side even more distasteful is that they were without their star striker Callum Wilson, as well as a major number of other important members, which meant that they were playing with a squad that’s one of the thinnest in the league. And with that, to go to the stadium of the defending champions and beat them, salute, man.
On Sunday, Liverpool visited St. James Park to play a lacklustre Newcastle, and on the back of a 6-1 thumping of Southampton midweek nonetheless. Surprise, surprise, as they failed to enforce any sort of dominance in the game and were duly punished by a team that would’ve been flying had it not been for a few mysterious reasons and a ginger-headed manager. Newcastle truly needs to get rid of this manager even though they won this game 2-0, due to the fact that McClaren doesn’t seem to be able to understand and sympathize with the team and motivate them week in and week out. Those factors have resulted in a team that at times looks unspeakably brilliant while in others, utterly ridiculous. They need someone who’s going to keep their results consistent, even though it’s been in short supply even at some of the biggest clubs this season.
