EPL Week 8: Chelsea Dominate Middlesbrough, Arsenal Pull Through Against Everton, Rooney On Fire
October 20th 2008 03:56
Chelsea – Middlesbrough: 5-0
Who can stop Scolari's men? Chelsea are simply bulldozing their way through the Premiership without much opposition. Against Middlesbrough, the Blues had all the time and space in the world to dictate the pace of the game. The first half ended with the score 1-0, the goal coming from Kalou. After that though, Chelsea ran a football clinic for their visitors who were overwhelmed by the home side's superiority. To play illustrates this dominance other than Belletti's goal at the 52nd minute. The versatile player received a pass a good distance away from Boro's goal, but the time and space given to him by the opposing defenders allowed to calmly control the ball and deliver a rocket of a shot that went top-corner. Two minutes later, Kalou would score his second, putting the game beyond doubt.
Those positive performances are great news for Chelsea who aspire to the big honors this season. Without both Deco and Ballack, they managed to shine in a way that had the fans chanting “We want six!!” when they were leading 5-0 with twenty minutes left. Heck, even Malouda scored – that tells you something. Chelsea mean business.
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa, John Terry, Alex, Wayne Bridge (Paulo Ferreira, 65th); John Obi Mikel, Juliano Belletti, Frank Lampard (Deco, 72nd), Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda; Nicolas Anelka (Scott Sinclair, 78th).
Arsenal – Everton: 3-1
Don't let the scoreline deceive you. Arsenal had to huff and puff to get the three points out of this encouter. Everton surprised everyone by getting the opening goal at the 8th minute. They almost got a second thirty minutes later, but Clichy's presence of mind to stay on the goal line after a corner kick saved the Gunners. Once again, Arsenal's weakness in the center of defense was clearly exposed by Everton's strikers while the offense couldn't get anything going in the first.
All that changed in the second half as Samir Nasri scored the equalizer with a beautiful shot that found its way to the net in a forest of legs. After that, it was all one-way traffic with Arsenal attacking and Everton doing its best to defend. A minor scuffle erupted around the hour-mark as Clichy tangled up with Hibbert after the latter had tackled Denilson from behind. Finally, the Gunners took th lead at the 69th minute when Van Persie headed Fabregas' shot rebound in the wide open net. Walcott provided the insurance goal with one minute left to go.
Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure (Theo Walcott, h-t), Mikael Silvestre, Gael Clichy; Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Alexandre Song, Samir Nasri (Abou Diaby, 82nd); Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor.
Manchester United – West Bromwich Albion: 4-0
Back at Old Trafford, it was Rooney leading the show with one goal and two assists. Although West Brom ended the first half on the score of 0-0, everyone agreed that it was only a matter of time before the dam burst open. Manchester United had all the possession and only lacked a finishing touch to their attacks. Ten minutes into the second half, Rooney would score the first, and the rest was history.
At the 68th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo was sent in alone thanks to a superb pass by the English striker. The winger didn't miss his chance to give his team a two-goal lead. Two minutes later, Berbatov scored his first goal at OT, a reflex move after a corner kick was deflected, and finally Nani concluded the faboulous display with a goal of his own after a nice pass from Rooney.
West Brom did well in the first half, but you could tell that they were tired halfway through the second. Van der Sar had nothing to do all night long as West Brom got their first and only corner at the last minute of the game – United's counterattack from that corner produced Nani's goal. Ferguson's substitution of Park for Nani at the 69th minute was a stroke of genius as he replaced energy with speed, taking advantage of the visitors' tired legs. Even Neville was able to keep up with the flow when he came on. With that win, the defending champions move into fifth place, two points behind Arsenal which are sitting in fourth.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Rafael da Silva (Gary Neville, 65th), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra (John O'Shea, 35th); Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Park Ji-Sung (Nani, 69th), Ryan Giggs; Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney.
Who can stop Scolari's men? Chelsea are simply bulldozing their way through the Premiership without much opposition. Against Middlesbrough, the Blues had all the time and space in the world to dictate the pace of the game. The first half ended with the score 1-0, the goal coming from Kalou. After that though, Chelsea ran a football clinic for their visitors who were overwhelmed by the home side's superiority. To play illustrates this dominance other than Belletti's goal at the 52nd minute. The versatile player received a pass a good distance away from Boro's goal, but the time and space given to him by the opposing defenders allowed to calmly control the ball and deliver a rocket of a shot that went top-corner. Two minutes later, Kalou would score his second, putting the game beyond doubt.
Those positive performances are great news for Chelsea who aspire to the big honors this season. Without both Deco and Ballack, they managed to shine in a way that had the fans chanting “We want six!!” when they were leading 5-0 with twenty minutes left. Heck, even Malouda scored – that tells you something. Chelsea mean business.
Chelsea's line-up: Peter Cech; Jose Bosingwa, John Terry, Alex, Wayne Bridge (Paulo Ferreira, 65th); John Obi Mikel, Juliano Belletti, Frank Lampard (Deco, 72nd), Salomon Kalou, Florent Malouda; Nicolas Anelka (Scott Sinclair, 78th).
Arsenal – Everton: 3-1
Don't let the scoreline deceive you. Arsenal had to huff and puff to get the three points out of this encouter. Everton surprised everyone by getting the opening goal at the 8th minute. They almost got a second thirty minutes later, but Clichy's presence of mind to stay on the goal line after a corner kick saved the Gunners. Once again, Arsenal's weakness in the center of defense was clearly exposed by Everton's strikers while the offense couldn't get anything going in the first.
All that changed in the second half as Samir Nasri scored the equalizer with a beautiful shot that found its way to the net in a forest of legs. After that, it was all one-way traffic with Arsenal attacking and Everton doing its best to defend. A minor scuffle erupted around the hour-mark as Clichy tangled up with Hibbert after the latter had tackled Denilson from behind. Finally, the Gunners took th lead at the 69th minute when Van Persie headed Fabregas' shot rebound in the wide open net. Walcott provided the insurance goal with one minute left to go.
Arsenal's line-up: Manuel Almunia; Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure (Theo Walcott, h-t), Mikael Silvestre, Gael Clichy; Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Alexandre Song, Samir Nasri (Abou Diaby, 82nd); Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor.
Manchester United – West Bromwich Albion: 4-0
Back at Old Trafford, it was Rooney leading the show with one goal and two assists. Although West Brom ended the first half on the score of 0-0, everyone agreed that it was only a matter of time before the dam burst open. Manchester United had all the possession and only lacked a finishing touch to their attacks. Ten minutes into the second half, Rooney would score the first, and the rest was history.
At the 68th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo was sent in alone thanks to a superb pass by the English striker. The winger didn't miss his chance to give his team a two-goal lead. Two minutes later, Berbatov scored his first goal at OT, a reflex move after a corner kick was deflected, and finally Nani concluded the faboulous display with a goal of his own after a nice pass from Rooney.
West Brom did well in the first half, but you could tell that they were tired halfway through the second. Van der Sar had nothing to do all night long as West Brom got their first and only corner at the last minute of the game – United's counterattack from that corner produced Nani's goal. Ferguson's substitution of Park for Nani at the 69th minute was a stroke of genius as he replaced energy with speed, taking advantage of the visitors' tired legs. Even Neville was able to keep up with the flow when he came on. With that win, the defending champions move into fifth place, two points behind Arsenal which are sitting in fourth.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Rafael da Silva (Gary Neville, 65th), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra (John O'Shea, 35th); Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Park Ji-Sung (Nani, 69th), Ryan Giggs; Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney.
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