The Blues were a well-oiled machine in midfield, while the spotlight’s on Suarez again. All smiles for Arsenal, City, and United, who win courtesy of a mirror image, and QPR stay bottom despite…
by Andrew Discenza
Chelsea displayed impressive midfield strength in their 4-1 steamrolling at Norwich. Juan Mata, Frank Lampard, Eden Hazard, and Oscar oozed quality throughout the match, as Chelsea look worthy of their first place status. Veteran Lampard fired in a vintage volley from the edge of the area, while Mata showed a bit of Spanish class to thread the ball through for Hazard to coolly tuck in. A resounding message to the rest of the league.
Love him or hate him, Luis Suarez is one of the foremost entertainers in the Premier League. The Uruguayan was the only player truly worth watching as Liverpool drew 0-0 with Stoke, but he was involved in two contrasting unsavory incidents. First he was the recipient of a nasty stamp by Robert Huth, who got away with leaving the imprint of his studs in Suarez’s chest. The feisty striker then wormed his way into the area, but went down with a theatrical flop that displayed what is far from his most sympathetic side.
Santi Cazorla produced the goal of the weekend to cap off a dominant performance from Arsenal. Olivier Giroud opened his league account before Theo Walcott finished clinically to just about seal the points at West Ham. But the Spanish wizard popped up with seven minutes left, unleashing a stunning drive that was destined for the top corner from the moment the ball left his boot.
Aleksander Kolarov was the unexpected hero in Manchester City’s 3-0 win at Sunderland. The Serbian showed his dead ball abilities with a sensational free kick that he bent inside the very top corner. He then ran down the left and delivered a telling pass for Sergio Aguero to send City on their way to victory.
No, you weren’t seeing double. Manchester United scored two carbon copy goals in their comfortable 3-0 win at Newcastle. Two “R” strikers, RVP and Rooney, delivered corners to defensive “E’s,” Evans and Evra, who attacked the ball with eerily similar headers that did the job for Sir Alex.
Striker duo Arouna Kone and Franco Di Santo could save Wigan from relegation on the evidence of their 2-2 draw against Everton. The visitors needed a late penalty to equalize after being absolutely terrorized by the Ivory Coast import from Levante, who nodded in sharply at the near post on 10 minutes. Kone then picked out Di Santo with an aware pull-back, and the Argentine finished emphatically into the roof of the net.
Spectacular goals could do nothing to lift QPR from the bottom of the table. Adel Taarabt controlled with his chest and lashed in a volley before the ball hit the ground, while Esteban Granero curled a delicate beauty into the top corner, but it was mere consolation for Mark Hughes’ floundering Rangers.
Discenza Predicts (after the international break):
Tottenham 1 – 2 Chelsea. A hard-fought match for the London rivals, but give the high-flying Blues an edge.
Liverpool 3 – 0 Reading, as the best of Liverpool and Suarez emerge.
Manchester United 1 – 0 Stoke, RVP getting the winner.
Norwich City 0 – 2 Arsenal, an easy win for the defensively sound Gunners.
How I did last week: 4 for 4. United did score three in a win at Newcastle, Chelsea dominated Norwich, City got all three points (albeit not due to Tevez), and Giroud broke his duck to help Arsenal to victory at West Ham.
