The league games this weekend were played to a backdrop of sombre silence (or was it peals of laughter?) as Sam Allardyce lost his job after just one game in charge of the England national team. While these whirlpools of entrapment and idiocy provided entertainment off the pitch, on-pitch entertainment was not far behind.
Chelsea returned to winning ways after two consecutive losses in the league with a convincing 2-0 win over Hull City, while Liverpool were able to overcome Swansea in the second half courtesy of a composed penalty from makeshift left-back James Milner.
Elsewhere, it was also a good weekend for Christian Benteke, who continued his goal scoring form for Crystal Palace with a superb header against Everton at Goodison Park. However, it was West Ham’s mercurial Frenchman Dimitri Payet who arguably provided the moment of the weekend with a solo goal for the ages. TheHardTackle looks at five takeaways from the weekend’s games.
1. Bentekkers uses his head to set pulses racing
As much as we pretend to be football purists, voraciously consuming the quick-pass, on-the-ground orchestra symphony that the league’s top teams churn out, there’s something viscerally pleasing about a great header. It sets the pulse racing like few tiki-taka moves can, the passion of the act overcoming any apparent dissonance with the name of the sport.
A great header is so much tougher to execute than a shot: the jump has to be timed, power has to be generated by muscles that aren’t intended or designed for power, and guidance and navigation have to be provided by the lump on your shoulders instead of the sleek, aerodynamic machine extending from your knee. In a game of cover drives, the header is the helicopter shot. And boy did Benteke ride that copter.
When Everton took the lead against Crystal Palace via a sumptuous Romelu Lukaku free kick, the away team didn’t look flustered at all. Palace are on a good run and Benteke has been a major reason for that. But when a hopeful cross was floated into the box, the most anyone expected from Benteke was to hold the ball up and bring others into play. Instead, he outjumped Coleman, met the ball with oodles of power and a hint of swerve, and sent it nestling into the net past the keeper. A curling shot from that distance would have been a good goal, a header was marvellous.
Were it not for a questionable refereeing decision, Palace could have even won the game. As things stand, they carry on their march up the Premier League table. With Benteke’s salmon-leap at their helm, it wouldn’t be surprising if the rise continued.
2. Payet rekindles last season’s form, West Ham don’t
This was a weekend of great solo efforts. West Ham have endured a horrible start to the season in their shiny but still soulless Olympic Stadium. They took a two goal lead, showboated, and were punished with a four goal riposte against Watford in their previous home game. Middlesbrough took the lead off a corner and were comfortably holding off West Ham attacks in this home game. And that’s when Payet stepped up.
Receiving the ball on the left wing, Payet left his marker in knots with a quickfire turn before slaloming into the box. He twisted, he jinked, he left defenders for dead — he had Middlesbrough players sliding in futility and tasting dust. He then pulled the trigger, sliding a reverse shot past the keeper and into the net to draw West Ham level. This was Payet at his most mesmeric, pulling out a salsa from the stars when his team most needed it.
Payet’s magic wasn’t mirrored by his team, however. West Ham couldn’t get the second goal, and are still searching for their first league win at home since narrowly beating Bournemouth 1-0. The pressure is building on Bilic and co. with each game, and Payet’s whistling release may not be enough to salvage the situation.
3. Liverpool overcome Swansea stutter with Super James
There’s a hackneyed truism in football: if your team plays badly and still wins, it’s a champion-like mentality that needs to be cherished. Whether Liverpool’s eked out victory over Swansea was forged from the spirit of champions or nipped from the altar of luck remains to be seen, but Klopp will be very pleased to see his team professionally overcoming tricky opposition without needing to blow them away.
Klopp’s side were often on one of two modes last season: full-throttle flair or disjointed cacophony. They were the latter more than the former against Swansea, a poor first half display typified by the sloppy defending that allowed Leroy Fer to give the hosts the lead. But Liverpool eventually found their pressing discipline and the goals to go with it. Firmino levelled the scores with a deft header before Milner stepped up and buried a crunch penalty.
When Klopp guest starred on Monday Night Football recently, the one message he kept repeating was that players didn’t have set positions in his system. James Milner epitomises this thought process more than any other player.
The midfielder kept Liverpool’s game ticking last season from the middle of the park, his goals and assists a big part of their journeys to the cup final. This season, the league’s best everyman is enjoying life as a full-back, pressing the opposition with mandated fury and burying penalties like there’s no tomorrow.
Klopp said after the game that he wouldn’t mind if Milner ended up the league’s top scorer purely through penalties. He won’t mind if Liverpool continue winning games without putting teams to the sword either.
4. Conte drops Ivanovic, Moses drops the mic
While the managerial merry-go-round has been in full swing at Stamford Bridge, Branislav Ivanovic has been one of Chelsea’s de facto selections over the years. Managers have persisted with him through periods of good and bad form, and at his best, the steely Serb gives strength, experience, and organisation to the backline. But after a litany of underwhelming performances, Conte did the unthinkable and dropped Ivanovic for Chelsea’s game against Hull City.
Hindsight is kind, but the move paid off. Chelsea played with a back three of Daivd Luiz, Gary Cahill, and Cesar Azpilicueta, with new signing Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses fulfilling wingback duties. Moses, who last started a league game in 2013, took this sliver of an opportunity with both hands and put up a strong, tireless showing. He was unfortunate not to earn a first half penalty on being upended in the box.
While Willian and Diego Costa will earn the headlines with two fine curled finishes, Moses is the underrated winner and will hope this performance reignites his Chelsea career.
5. The jury’s still out on Wilshere’s loan move
Transfer deadline day elicited a collective gasp around London Colney as Arsene Wenger sanctioned a one-year loan deal to send Jack Wilshere to Bournemouth. Wilshere, who was once the heartbeat of the side and the heartthrob of the fans, has seen his career stall over recent years due to injury, loss of form, and the surfeit of midfield options available to the Arsenal manager.
Three games into his Bournemouth sojourn, Wilshere has both positives and negatives to chew on. He has featured in all three games, playing 246 minutes in total and in the process, already surpassing his game time for Arsenal since May 2015. If the chief reason to send him to Bournemouth was to rack up the minutes and reintroduce the familiarity of playing, the move is already a success.
But Wilshere has been substituted in all of his Bournemouth matches so far. He hasn’t completed 90 minutes in over two years. While his performance against Watford was busy and inventive, he twice spurned the opportunity to give his team the lead, the second occasion a glaring miss that will haunt him still. If the chief reason to send him to Bournemouth was to reinject confidence and have him dictate the game for the Cherries, the move leaves a lot to be desired for now.
