EPL Week 15: Manchester United Win Derby, Van Persie's Double Gives Arsenal Victory Over Chelsea
December 2nd 2008 03:58
Manchester City – Manchester United: 0-1
I think it's safe to say that everyone in the city of Manchester were awaiting this fixture. United wanted their revenge after losing both fixtures last year while City fans wanted to show that they were even better with Robinho in the line-up. But despite City's newfound wealth, the gap between both teams in terms of coaching and technical skill. Although United only scored one goal to win the game (Rooney with 100th goal in the United shirt), their slim lead wasn't threatened by their rival's attacks. Robinho was completely invisible, kept on a short leash by the Red Devils' midfield and defense. At the other end, Ferguson's squad took advantage of the fact that Robinho doesn't come back to defend by using fullback Rafael as an extra winger. Although it didn't really affect the course of the game, Rafael brought a nice option to United's attack especially since Cristiano Ronaldo was often marked by two, sometimes three, City players.
Of course, United's win and Rooney's 100th goal were overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo's red card after he played the ball with his hands. I don't really have any comment to say about that except the fact that he should stop thinking that the referee should be on his side every freakin' time. I mean, at some point, all he's doing is pissing referees off. Still, United came off with the three points and that's all that matters.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Park Ji-Sung (John O'Shea, 89th); Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (Ryan Giggs, 83rd).
Chelsea – Arsenal: 1-2
With two teams struggling to provide satisfactory results in the past couple of weeks, the match between Chelsea and Arsenal was bound to be an entertaining affair. Chelsea took control of the game early on, not letting the Gunners' midfielders reach out to the strikers. The Blues opened the scoring at the 29th minute when Bosingwa's cross was pushed into the net by defender Johan Djourou. The play was the result of a poor pass by Almunia who was trying to send his team in a counterattack after a Chelsea corner.
Surprisingly, Arsenal found the back of the net at the 58th minute via Robin Van Persie who was in an offside position on the play but the linesman didn't signal anything, leaving Peter Cech helpless in front of the striker. Just three minutes later, Arsenal took the lead with another goal by the Dutch striker who once again evaded Chelsea's marking. After that, it was Arsenal who took control of the midfield, limiting Chelsea's penetrating attacks to just a few chances. The substitution of Mikel only made matters worse. With no anchor in the midfield, Chelsea were leaving themselves vulnerable to Arsenal's quick-passing attacks.
In the end, the win allows Arsenal to live another day but I'm still not convinced. As for Chelsea, I think they need some help in front and their youngsters don't seem as talented as Arsenal and Manchester United's youngsters are. Having Ballack and Deco on the pitch at the same time is not the solution since they take up each other's space. Their recent play is not completely worrisome (they have to deal with several injuries) but the other teams are slowly catching up with them.
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Ashley Cole; John Obi Mikel (Florent Malouda, 69th), Deco (Miroslav Stoch, 80th), Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou; Nicolas Anelka.
Arsenal's line-up: Michael Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Johan Djourou, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Cesc Fabregas, Alexandre Song, Samir Nasri; Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor (Nicklas Bendtner, 83rd).
I think it's safe to say that everyone in the city of Manchester were awaiting this fixture. United wanted their revenge after losing both fixtures last year while City fans wanted to show that they were even better with Robinho in the line-up. But despite City's newfound wealth, the gap between both teams in terms of coaching and technical skill. Although United only scored one goal to win the game (Rooney with 100th goal in the United shirt), their slim lead wasn't threatened by their rival's attacks. Robinho was completely invisible, kept on a short leash by the Red Devils' midfield and defense. At the other end, Ferguson's squad took advantage of the fact that Robinho doesn't come back to defend by using fullback Rafael as an extra winger. Although it didn't really affect the course of the game, Rafael brought a nice option to United's attack especially since Cristiano Ronaldo was often marked by two, sometimes three, City players.
Of course, United's win and Rooney's 100th goal were overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo's red card after he played the ball with his hands. I don't really have any comment to say about that except the fact that he should stop thinking that the referee should be on his side every freakin' time. I mean, at some point, all he's doing is pissing referees off. Still, United came off with the three points and that's all that matters.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Park Ji-Sung (John O'Shea, 89th); Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (Ryan Giggs, 83rd).
Chelsea – Arsenal: 1-2
With two teams struggling to provide satisfactory results in the past couple of weeks, the match between Chelsea and Arsenal was bound to be an entertaining affair. Chelsea took control of the game early on, not letting the Gunners' midfielders reach out to the strikers. The Blues opened the scoring at the 29th minute when Bosingwa's cross was pushed into the net by defender Johan Djourou. The play was the result of a poor pass by Almunia who was trying to send his team in a counterattack after a Chelsea corner.
Surprisingly, Arsenal found the back of the net at the 58th minute via Robin Van Persie who was in an offside position on the play but the linesman didn't signal anything, leaving Peter Cech helpless in front of the striker. Just three minutes later, Arsenal took the lead with another goal by the Dutch striker who once again evaded Chelsea's marking. After that, it was Arsenal who took control of the midfield, limiting Chelsea's penetrating attacks to just a few chances. The substitution of Mikel only made matters worse. With no anchor in the midfield, Chelsea were leaving themselves vulnerable to Arsenal's quick-passing attacks.
In the end, the win allows Arsenal to live another day but I'm still not convinced. As for Chelsea, I think they need some help in front and their youngsters don't seem as talented as Arsenal and Manchester United's youngsters are. Having Ballack and Deco on the pitch at the same time is not the solution since they take up each other's space. Their recent play is not completely worrisome (they have to deal with several injuries) but the other teams are slowly catching up with them.
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Ashley Cole; John Obi Mikel (Florent Malouda, 69th), Deco (Miroslav Stoch, 80th), Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou; Nicolas Anelka.
Arsenal's line-up: Michael Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Johan Djourou, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Cesc Fabregas, Alexandre Song, Samir Nasri; Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor (Nicklas Bendtner, 83rd).
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