EPL round 16 recap
by Paul O'Donnell
Top of the table Arsenal plays their game in hand in the mid-week at Newcastle and under fire manager Sam Allardyce. They follow that with a visit to The Riverside where Boro manager Gareth Southgate is the bookies choice for the next manager to get the axe. Neither of the home sides are likely to mount a substantial challenge to the in-form Gunners although if either do pull that off they could save their job in the process.
United entertains bottom side Derby County and their new manager Paul Jewell while Liverpool travels to the Madjeski to face the struggling Royals.
Chelsea’s Blues look to further extend their unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge against Roy Keane’s Black Cats. With Drogba facing knee surgery in addition to losing his services for the African Cup of Nations competition the Blues will be looking for Shevchenko to step up big time and earn his wage. Chelsea have not been scoring many goals with Drogba on the pitch and now they face two months or more without him in the lineup. Will Chelsea lose their claim to a top four spot to Everton, Blackburn Rovers or perhaps Aston Villa? With their difficulty in producing goals with Drogba on the pitch it does seem likely that without him they will slip down the table despite their array of world class players.
It was the broad shoulders of Drogba and Essien that carried this team last year and now without the services of both (Essien is suspended) we’ll find out who among that long list of quality players will actually earn their wages. Will Lampard shrug off that chip on his shoulder and start playing up to his potential? Will Terry step up and again lead his team after being made the team’s highest paid player? Will we see the return of Ballack (the forgotten man) or will he be sold back to a Bundesliga side in the winter window?
While out of sorts and Keane-less (red card suspension) Spurs entertain Sven’s punch less Man City--just what Spurs embattled defense needs at this stage? Or, will the mistake prone defense be just the right medicine for City’s anemic offense? Spurs spent big money for the young defender Michael Dawson but his faulty marking and poor decision making under pressure continues to cost his team. Will this be the match where we see Ledley King finally make it back for Spurs to bolster their central defense and take some of the pressure off Dawson? With King anchoring the central defense last season Dawson was a positive for Spurs. Without King, Dawson is costing his team games.
Aston Villa prepares for another pivotal match in their challenge to remain among the top six with a visit from Pompey. This is the type of match Villa must win to make their rise a reality. Villa produced a strong effort against top of the table Arsenal last time out but fell just short; they need another this week to remain in contention for a European place.
Newcastle 1:1 Arsenal (Dec 5)
Local hero Steven Taylor hit for the equalizer on the hour mark in front of a vocal and spirited St James’ Park crowd to complete their fight back and earn the draw with leaders Arsenal. The Gunners took the early lead via Adebayor (4) and looked to be headed for another dominant win on the road before Newcastle mounted their challenge and began to chip away at the Gunners possession game. The draw may have saved Big Sam from the axe and the rest of the league will be thanking him for stopping Arsenal from taking full advantage of their game in hand. The Gunners lead at the top now stands at 4 points.
Boro 2:1 Arsenal (Dec 9)
In a week when so many meaningful goals came from penalty kicks it was perhaps no surprise that the opener on Sunday came from the spot (4) for a dream start on Teeside on a foul on Toure. The successful spot kick was Stuart Downings first ever penalty kick goal in the EPL and the first surrendered by Arsenal on the season. Southgate learned from watching Newcastle in the midweek that the secret to defeating Arsenal’s possession and running game is to not concede space anywhere on the pitch; that only allows them to get in gear and they will slice you apart with their running off the ball and precise one-touch passes. Stop that before it starts and you have a chance of success; fail to stop it and you are doomed. After the early goal the only question became could Boro keep that in your face and up tempo game going for another 86 minutes. In the 50th minute a narrow miss by Tuncay left the question in mind would Boro rue that chance not taken. He answered that question in the 73rd with a drive to the top of the net off a rebound for Boro’s 2nd. Arsenal pulled one back in the 4th minute of the 3 minutes of added time from Rosicky. Now there are no unbeatens in the EPL and the Gunners advantage has been reduced to a single point over Man United.
Man United 4:1 Derby
A quality brace from Carlos Tevez (44 & 59) followed Ryan Giggs’ 100th goal for United (a tap in off a rebound of a Tevez drive) before Ronaldo added another from the spot (90) after Howard managed to pull one back for Derby (75). Jewell saw just how much work he has ahead of him if he is to rescue this Derby side from relegation. Mission impossible is a more likely description of the task at hand.
Chelsea 2:0 Sunderland
Shevchenko produced a quality performance and actually scored a goal (23) on a powerful header off a delightful cross to the back post from Kalou and Lampard added one from the spot (79) from a soft penalty call to seal the fate of the Black Cats.
Reading 3:1 Liverpool
A spot kick from Hunt opened the scoring (16) and Liverpool’s one quality move on the day got them level via Gerrard (27) but it was the high pressure from the Royals that won the day at the Madjeski. When the Reds are reduced to shouts about penalty calls (made and not made) Steve Coppell can be assured his team earned the points and they did. A quality flick from Doyle (59) and the Reds defense allowing Harper to run free (66) as the Royals earned their victory. We now see why I suggested a few weeks ago that Benitez should focus on the league and forget about the near impossibility of qualifying for the knockout round of the Champions League. By hanging on to the thin thread of hope for a place in the knockout round he has fielded less than his best 11 in several league games making any hope of a challenge for the title wishful thinking.
The big money reward for taking that step has now made any possibility for a league title little more than a pipe dream for Liverpool. Recall his promise before league play even began back in August when he said his goal was the EPL title and such a promise becomes the sham that it was then and is today. Truth is, that reward is so great that the much more difficult goal of the league title has become secondary to the big money bag that comes with making the last 16 in the Champions League and that is the real truth for the other sides too, not just Liverpool. Winning the title in the world’s best pro league is secondary for all of the "big four" to making the knockout round.
Tottenham 2:1 Man City
Chimbonda (45) fired the opener for a Spurs side clearly missing the leadership of Keane and Bianchi (61) got City even on the day in a match that looked to the entire world like a draw. A concerted effort by Tottenham would change that late as Jermain DeFoe (83) drilled home a rebound that had come off the post for the match winner.
Aston Villa 1:3 Portsmouth
Aston Villa looked to be in the ascendancy but now two consecutive losses on their home ground will have Martyn O’Neill burning the midnight oil searching for an answer. A Gardner OG (9) and two blistering strikes from distance by Muntari (39 & 60) buried the Villains before yet another Gareth Barry penalty (71) provided little solace for the open wounds inflicted by Pompey’s thorough and complete victory.
Blackburn 0:1 West Ham
Half time substitute Dean Ashton got the only goal of the game (51) to defeat stubborn Rovers at Ewood Park, their 3rd loss at home of the campaign and the Hammers 4th win on the road and their 4th consecutive victory over Blackburn. Rovers are sure to be among those hunting for offensive help in the winter window as their big summer signing Roque Santa Cruz has not scored in his last ten appearances.
Everton 3:0 Fulham
Yakubu produced a hat trick, with all 3 goals coming in the second half (50, 60 & 78) and the Toffees rise into the upper tier of the EPL looks assured. With Andy Johnson’s lack of production Moyes really needed to see the investment in Yakubu pay dividends and now it has making him look like a bit of a genius. With Liverpool’s slide a real possibility the boys from the blue side of Mersey look poised to take their place in the top four. The injection of spirit and determination with the return of Tim Cahill, the rise to prominence of Yakubu needs only the return of the goal scoring form of Johnson to solidify the Toffees challenge to a place among the elite. While Liverpool looks to the deep pockets of its owners to fund their continued existence among the top four David Moyes and the Everton faithful are looking to earn their place the old fashioned way.
Newcastle 2:1 Birmingham
Big Sam’s boys didn’t make it easy but they did recover from Cameron Jerome’s early strike (8) with Martins penalty (36) and the late match winner from Beye (89) gave the Toon Army a big lift. If there is one team in the EPL that needs to be shopping for quality during the winter window it is Big Sam’s Newcastle. His attempt to rebuild this team with local talent might win him a game or two over the course of a season but that approach may also get you relegated.
Bolton 4:1 Wigan
Wigan faced another uphill battle from the start in this one as a Scharner OG (3) staked Bolton to the lead which they leveled in the 14th minute via Landzaat. Kevin Nolan put Wanderers back out front (37) and Davies doubled their advantage in the 70th before Anelka’s late strike (89) closed the door securely.
The six games on Saturday produced 21 goals; 5 of them from the penalty spot and Rafa Benitez was screaming for more as his Liverpool team couldn’t produce any real quality chances from the run of play. It seems as if Gareth Barry can’t score except from the spot with all of his goals coming on penalty kicks. The world’s best pro league needs to do better.
And speaking of the world’s best, the Club World Cup kicked off in Japan. The big question is will the South American’s win it again?
