It was a weekend of superb left leg strikes! Almost all matches ended with a result except for the relegation rubber between Blackburn and Birmingham. The following is a summary of the eye-catching moments of the weekend in the highest tier of English Football.
The Champions trod on – Schwarzer gets a bout of Almunia
United got the better of Fulham at home, scoring two goals which proved to be just enough for the evening. The first one started with a brilliant move by Nani, who dribbled past half the Fulham side to pass it to Berbatov. Television replays clearly showed that the Bulgarian’s little finger was clearly ahead of the last Fulham defender. Lucky escape!
The second one happened when Mark Schwarzer had a sudden bout of Almunia, as he left his penalty box to meet his relatives in the stand; Nani meanwhile went past the Australian and assisted Antonio Valencia for a simple header-tap-in. United are now seven points clear at the top of the table.
Carroll brace for Liverpool- I won’t do a Shevchenko!
Andy Carroll clearly made a point or two about his price tag, being the costliest English player in England; coming up with two fantastic goals as Liverpool got the better of Manchester City, who are now struggling to keep their fourth place in the league. The first one was a left leg stunner from outside the box which was even beyond Joe ‘The Mighty’ Hart, making it one of the contenders for the goal of the weekend. The second one was a neat glancing header from a Meireles cross. Both the new Liverpool strikers are now competing against each other for a starting berth.
Pepe Reina made a stunning save from a Yaya Toure scorcher from 30 yards out in the 80th minute, that was unfortunately the only piece of entertainment provided by the traveling men from Manchester.
Clever Scrappy Win – Chelsea manage to get past Wigan
Malouda found a way through six Wigan players to score for Chelsea in a crazy goal-mouth scramble. They could have scored many more but they didn’t, keeping the goals intact for their reverse Champions League fixture at Old Trafford. Brilliant Strategy!
Move of the Weekend (1) –
Benayoun to Torres. Torres shoots, keeper blocks. A fantastic work by the returning Israeli skipper as he tricked past a defender while sliding the ball to the Spaniard whose shot was blocked by the in-form keeper.
On a side note, the 50 Million striker has now played 648 minutes for Chelsea and scored exactly the number of goals his mom scored this season – None!
The Title Race still ON – Gunners win after 38 days!
Arsenal traveled to Bloomfield road after 41 years, and recorded a victory after 38 days without winning a game of football in all competitions. The match was voted as the most colorful one in the history of the game with teams sporting yellow and orange colors and Jens Lehmann starting for Arsenal in his second stint with the club.
Move of the Weekend (2) –
The move started with a fantastic tackle by Squillaci as the ball fell to Abou Diaby, who recollected his childhood days when he used to get tortured by Youth Club coaches for retaining the ball so long, and did just that before crossing it to the path of the Arsenal Skipper. Cesc’s brilliant one-touch pass found Walcott in space and pace, as he ‘sprinted’ into the opponent’s goal, passing it to van Persie. The Dutchman calmly finished the move, recording his 12th goal of the season.
Match of the Weekend – Spurs 3 – 2 Stoke
Peter Crouchey played for redemption after the tomfoolery in the midweek costed Spurs a sure-shot place in the Champions League final, or so they believed. Two superb headed goals, one in which he jumped almost 15 feet into the air, breaking his former strike partner Heskey’s high jump record in the Premier League though the latter had jumped to score an own goal. Modric also scored for Spurs after some nifty footwork inside the penalty box.
Meanwhile, Etherington scored a fantastic solo goal, running down the left flank in traditional Grass-Monkey style making that goal our contender for the Goal of the Weekend. Stoke had more up their sleeves as Kenwyne James scored a left legged scorcher when he stole the ball from Grass Monkey and went ahead to finish it in style to give Stoke some hope in the game. Gomez made a blinder of a save in the dying minutes of the match from a stunning long-distant shot from Jones again.
Bolton win 3-0 – Sturridge replicates Jack’s work last season
Daniel Sturridge has done exactly what Torres hasn’t done for Chelsea. He has scored a lot of goals on his loan spell at Bolton, one of them being a beautiful left footed curler from the right-hand side of the box. Last season, Jack Wilshere had spent a loan spell at Bolton which did wonders for the Englishman, Sturridge seems to be going the right direction!
Goal of the Weekend Winner
Phil Bardsley – A stunning free kick from well outside the box, earned from a neat dive from As a Moah Gyan.
Catch the goal here @101greatgoals.
Team of the Weekend
Run for the Golden Boot
- Dimitar Berbatov – 21 (+1)
- Carlos Tevez – 19
- Darren Bent – 13
- Kevin Nolan – 12
- Robin van Persie – 12 (+1)
Top Assists in the league
- Luis Nani – 18 (+2)
- Andrey Arshavin – 11
- Leighton Baines – 11
- Chris Brunt – 11
- Wayne Rooney – 11
Weekend Results
Liverpool 3 – 0 Man City
Blackpool 1 – 3 Arsenal
Aston Villa 1 – 0 Newcastle
Wolverhampton 0 – 3 Everton
Man Utd 2 – 0 Fulham
Sunderland 2 – 3 West Brom
Blackburn 1 – 1 Birmingham
Chelsea 1 – 0 Wigan
Tottenham 3 – 2 Stoke
Bolton 3 – 0 West Ham
Total Goals scored this weekend – 29 (Previous Weekend stats)