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English Premier League Report - 2009-10 Season/Week 1

by Jack Greene

WEEK-DAY RESULTS

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

·         Sunderland 1 (Darren Bent 18), Chelsea 3 (Michael Ballack 52, Frank Lampard 61, Deco 70 pen)

·         Wigan 0, Wolverhampton 1 (Andrew Keogh 6)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

·         Birmingham 1 (James McFadden 90 pen), Portsmouth 0

·         Hull City 1 (Stephen Hunt 25), Tottenham 5 (Jermaine Defoe 10, 45, 90; Wilson Palacios 14; Robbie Keane 78)

·         Burnley 1 (Robbie Blake 19), Manchester United 0

·         Liverpool 4 (Fernando Torres 4, Glen Johnson 45, Dirk Kuyt 78, David N’Gog 90), Stoke City 0

FEATURED MATCHES

Wigan v. Manchester United

Sitting on the couch this day I began thinking what to do in regards to watching the two matches available to me. I finally decided to tape this match and watch it after City’s match. And I’m glad I did. The first half was a very nice start for Wigan . They looked as if they were the same team that had played Aston Villa last week, and not the one that faced Wolves during the week. Well, they didn’t get the ball in the back of the net and neither did United during that first half. And you can only imagine what three halfs of scorless football would make Sir Alex Ferguson say to his side. I don’t know what he said, but he told them something that worked. United comes out of the break and drops a so-called “nickel” on Wigan in the second half with 5 quality goals. Rooney got himself over the century mark with the first of two goals in the 58^th minute. His other came in the 65^th. Dimitar Berbatov scored in between with a calm dink over the keeper and then a volley past Titus Bramble. Michael Owen came on and scored a beauty on the run with left foot and the traveling fans went absolutely crazy- and Owen did too. Nani scored the last in stoppage time with a brilliant free-kick that Kirkland didn’t even move for. United are in no depression and everyone had better take notice. To beat United you’re going to have to have a huge drive and a great gameplan. And Wigan just didn’t have one on this day So, how would City respond?

Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney

Honorable Mention: Jordi Gomez

Manchester City v. Wolverhampton

OK, this was the one that I was most excited about. I won’t even try to lie to you about it. I couldn’t wait to see just how good City were/could be. And to tell you the truth- I was very impressed with two things. The attack for City was great. City’s players seem to have really gelled with one another and this is great for Mark Hughes’ side. Tevez, Robinho, and Adebayor passed well. And Ireland , Barry, and Wright-Phillips did as well. Another positive for City was the man in goal, Shay Given. The Irish goalkeeper may very well be the top keeper in the Premier League. And it’s a great thing that City have him. The one thing that held/is going to hold City back is the defence. And it was proven for the second week in a row. This defence has two huge holes. Richard Dunne is a hardworker- but he’s not built for the Champions League at all. And he’s going downhill, too. This is really the problem. Toure and Richards are pretty solid footballers and should be fine. Bridge is pretty good, but City should look at bringing on another left-back. But let’s get to the game more specifically. City came out flying much like last week. They didn’t get a goal in the first 5, but they had chances to do so. They would score through Emmanuel Adebayor in the 17^th after a brilliant piece of play. City went on attacking for a while. Then Wolves would hold them in and I was just thinking how in the world that it could happen. City were in real trouble for the rest of the match and really counter-attacked (good counter-attacking, too) the rest of the match. But they did not score another. Given came up with a huge save twice and it was a good thing, too. Toward the end Wolves were dominating, but they had just ran out of time. So, what does City need? One more defender and a little better atttitude. You can’t counter attack all day against teams like United and Chelsea unless you have a top-notch defence. You just can’t do in this day and age.

Man of the Match: Emmanuel Adebayor

Honorable Mention: Wayne Hennessey

Liverpool v. Aston Villa

Well, this one didn’t go as planned for the men in red. Liverpool had seemingly turned around their play from last weekend, but that was all because of a sorry Stoke side. On this day, Liverpool did not look very good and Aston Villa really took advantage. The first goal for Villa came in the 34^th minute off of a good, driven free-kick. Liverpool ’s Lucas deflected the ball into his own net and the Villans had taken the lead. Just seconds before half-time Villa’s Curtis Davies gave them the 2-0 lead. They wouldn’t let go for very long. Liverpool came out determined in the second half, but they still fell short. Torres scored a volley in the 72^nd and cut the lead in half. But three minutes later Steven Gerrard brought down Nigel Reo-Coker and gave up a penalty that saw Ashley Young finish in style. Liverpool had no chance after this. Last week, I said that Aston Villa needed to bring in new players. Well, this week I must say that Liverpool need something fresh. Liverpool played pretty well with Gerrard coming back. I think a decently big-name striker could do well with Liverpoool. Of course, they would have to go 4-4-2 . Who knows at this juncture?

Man of the Match: Ashley Young

Honorable Mention: Brad Friedel

OTHER SCORES

·         Arsenal 4 (Abou Diaby 18,21; William Gallas 51, Aaron Ramsey 68), Portsmouth 1 (Younes Kaboul 37)

·         Birmingham 0, Stoke City 0

·         Hull City 1 (Kamel Ghilas 61 {assist from Jozy Altidore- USA }), Bolton 0

·         Sunderland 2 (Kenwyne Jones 32, 53), Blackburn 1 (Gael Givet 21)

·         West Ham 1( Carlton Cole 49), Tottenham 2 (Jermain Defoe 54, Aaron Lennon 79)

·         Burnley 1 (Wade Elliott 34), Everton 0

·         Fulham 0, Chelsea 2 (Didier Drogba 39, Nicolas Anelka 76)

AWARDS

·         Goal of the Week: Robbie Blake ( Burnley v. Manchester United)

·         Save of the Week: Shay Given ( Manchester City v. Wolverhampton )

·         Player of the Week: Jermain Defoe

GOLDEN BOOT AWARD UPDATE

NEXT WEEK’S FIXTURES

Saturday, August 29, 2009

·         Chelsea v. Burnley ( 7:45 A.M. EST )

·         Tottenham v. Birmingham ( 10:00 A.M. EST )

·         Blackburn v. West Ham ( 10:00 A.M. EST )

·         Bolton v. Liverpool ( 10:00 A.M. EST )

·         Stoke City v. Sunderland ( 10:00 A.M. EST )

·         Wolverhampton v. Hull City ( 10:00 A.M. EST )

·         Manchester United v. Arsenal ( 12:15 P.M. EST )

Sunday, August 30, 2009

·         Portsmouth v. Manchetser City ( 8:30 A.M. EST )

·         Everton v. Wigan ( 10:00 A.M. EST )

·         Aston Villa v. Fulham ( 11:00 A.M. EST )

Submitted 8/28/09

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