Match Of The Day a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
January 22, 2017
2,437 Views
- 7 matches yesterday but with that there was still a lot of talking points
- You can read a more in depth of Liverpool vs Swansea here
- http://realfootballman.com/football/liverpool-swansea-few-quick-thoughts/
- While you can read a very in depth review of Manchester City vs Tottenham here
- http://realfootballman.com/match-reviews/manchester-city-vs-tottenham-quick-thoughts/
- That leaves us with 4 more games to work our way through and we will start at The Bet365 Stadium
- Wayne Rooney finally got the goal that sees him have the Manchester United goalscoring record for himself and what a goal it was
- A sumptuous freekick in the 93rd minute was worthy of any record breaking goal but it was only enough to earn a point against Stoke
- Stoke were somewhat fortunate to go ahead after Juan Mata diverted Erik Pieters effort past David De Gea
- And once ahead they had to withhold a United onslaught as they looked for an equaliser
- Paul Pogba stun the fingertips of Lee Grant but at the break United were behind
- The second half was more of the same as United had wave after wave of attack only to be foiled by a combination of the woodwork and some resolute defending
- They may have had grounds for a penalty when Ryan Shawcross seemed to trap the ball between his arms and knees in a mid air jump
- Luckily for Stoke it was not awarded but it would be there in which there luck would run out
- As with final roll of the dice they were awarded a free kick after a clumsy foul by Joe Allen
- Enter Rooney, his fantastic curled effort from the wide left position gave Lee Grant no chance and it meant United did not undeservedly go home empty handed
- But in the grand scheme on things it is still likely to be two points dropped to league leaders Chelsea
- The only positive will be that all the other clubs around them yesterday failed to win
- Everton travelled to Selhurst Park and off the back of their impressive victory over Manchester City last Sunday and left it late to dispose of Crystal Palace
- Seamus Coleman’s 87th minute winner meant it’s now 5 wins from their last 7 matches as they continue to close the gap on Manchester United in 6th
- There was some controversy as Jeffrey Schlupp had gone down with cramp, but had done so off the pitch
- This meant that Everton were not obliged to stop play and subsequently with a man short Palace were finally undone
- An unfortunate way for them to lose, especially so late in the game but it means that Sam Allardyce is still looking for his first league win since taking charge with just that solitary point from his opening game away at Watford to his name
- That’s 4 defeats in a row and more importantly they slip into the bottom three after Swansea’s heroics earlier on
- The situation is no better for Sunderland as a threadbare side traveled to The Hawthorns and came away empty handed after West Brom ran out 2-0 winners
- Two well taken goals from Darren Fletcher and Chris Brunt meant The Baggies solidify their impressive 8th place in the table
- Nacer Chadli will have to thanks Brunt for sparring his blushes though, Chadli somehow hitting the bar with an open goal only for Brunt to then volley home the rebound from 25 yards
- As if to say ‘That’s how you do it’
- Sunderland sit bottom of the table, although just a win from safety.
- Not the biggest task but with the players at their disposal you wonder where that win will come from
- It’s not wins that are the problem for Middlesbrough but goals
- The league’s lowest scorers did find the net yesterday but unfortunately West Ham found it three times as many
- It’s Dimitri Payet who? right now for the East London club after back to back wins since this off the field saga
- Not only that it’s 5 wins from 7 and a 10th place for Slaven Bilic’s men they have pulled themselves well clear of the drop zone after that December mauling from Arsenal
- As for ‘Boro they may have purchased Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford to identify the problem, now they have to rectify it
- If they keep scoring at this rate, then they will have only scored 31 all season and that is surely a stat built for relegation
- Finally the battle of the ‘Second Syndrome Clubs’ saw Bournemouth and Watford play out a 2-2 draw
- A point that Eddie Howe will welcome because it means that his side have tightened up slightly after shipping 3 goals in each of their last three matches prior to yesterday
- While for Watford it’s successive draws but no win now in their last 7 matches
- They sunk like a stone after Christmas last season, it looks like the same could be happening again
- The question though is whether Walter Mazzari will be given the whole campaign to make sure The Hornets stay in the top flight.
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