Hello and welcome to my first real post on this blog and today I'm going to look back on a pivital weekend of Premier League football, pick a goal of the weekend and see the biggest stories from the Championship, League 1 and League 2.
The only place to start is at St.Mary's on Saturday and Old Trafford on Sunday. Manchester United wishing that City would slip up against Southampton on Saturday so they could take advantage against Everton on Sunday. Their wishes came true. The unbelievable, unthinkable and for City, unacceptable happened as they had an 'off' day, losing to Southampton 3-1, which was, in the end, a fair result. As a United fan, I couldn't believe it as I watched it on Match of the Day. City had more than double Southampton's points tally so I expected them to hand out a footballing lesson, maybe winning 4 or 5 nil. It was the other way around. Southampton showed Mancini's men not to get ahead of themselves and think that the game is won before it has even started. Jason Puncheon, who I think that along with Rickie Lambert and Morgan Schneiderlin, has been one of the Saints best players this season opened the scoring with 7 minutes played. Unfortunately, they'll probably turn it around I thought. But no. Within 15 minutes it was 2-0, Davis scoring his first goal since the opening day, also against City. Dzeko pulled one back for the visitors, but ultimately a Gareth Barry own goal sealed their fate. Yaya Toure had a surprisingly bad game after coming back from the Africa Cup of Nations (which I must say well done to Nigeria for winning yesterday!) and his performance summed up City's afternoon.
The next day, full of determination and hoping to gain a 12 point lead, Manchester United faced Everton at Old Trafford. They were beaten by their opponents on the opeing day but that was before they played Robin Van Persie, who scored the 2nd goal in United's 2-0 win this time around. Without his goals, the Red Devils would not be where they are now. The first goal of the game was also special for Ryan Giggs, keeping up his incredible record of scoring in every Premier League season. I had thought that this might be the season that that run ended, but the Welsh wonder proved me wrong. He is an outstanding player and role model, even if he doesn't play as often as he used to. Giggs has been there, seen it, done it.
Week-end round up
- Swansea got a great 4-1 win against QPR at the Liberty, meaning over the two games between the two sides this season, Swansea won 9-1. If QPR do stay up, the Swans won't be top of their list to play next season!
- Also getting a 4-1 win were Chelsea, who looked nervy at times against Wigan but eventually securing a comfortable win in the last 10 minutes, Marko Marin scoring his first for the club with a diving header.
- Gareth Bale was again the star of the show for Spurs against Newcastle, scoring 2 with plenty of chances for a hatrick, one especially Fernando Torres-esque right at the death.
- Arsenal are only 4 points behind their North London rivals, keeping up the pace with a 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, but it was certainly not comfortable, with Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson among the many who tried but failed for the Black Cats
- Reading lost their first game since New Year's Day, as they failed to get any points at the Britanna Stadium against Stoke, 2-1 the final score.
- After seeing all their relegation rivals lose the day before, Aston Villa claimed 3 vital points against West Ham yesterday as they moved out of the drop zone, winning 2-1, a Charles N'Zogbia free-kick the winner.
- Norwich and Fulham played out a dire 0-0 draw, completely the opposite to when the two sides last met when Fulham won 5-0.
Gareth Bale 1st vs Newcastle
A superb free-kick from 25 yards out that dipped past Tim Krul after Clint Dempsey had been fouled by Fabricio Coloccini.
Lower League Headlines
- Championship: After beating Nottingham Forest, Bristol City are off the bottom of the table. It was Forest Boss Billy Davies' first game back in charge of the club.
- League 1: Carlisle striker Rory Loy scored against Stevenage on Saturday as well as last week against Tranmere. He had been out for 12 months with a broken leg beforehand.
- League 2: Former West Brom and Swansea striker Craig Beattie has signed for strugglers Barnet to try and boost their survival hopes.
Please feel free to comment your views on the topics I've discussed on today's blog.
Olly Allen
Follow me on twitter: @OllyAllen1998
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