Premier League Saturday Week 14 a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
December 5, 2016
1,839 Views
- Yes it may be somewhat late but I have the day off from my day job, so I thought it can wait until Today
- Chelsea managed to pull ever so slightly further clear of the chasing pack of teams in the race for the title on Saturday Lunchtime. You can read a full run down of that game in the link below
- http://realfootballman.com/football/manchester-city-vs-chelsea-quick-thoughts-2/
- They now have a two point gap over Arsenal who steamrolled over cross town rivals West Ham on Saturday evening
- Alexis Sanchez was in simply imperious form as his hat-trick of wonderful strikes put Arsenal well on their way to victory
- The Chilean international had a hand in Arsenal’s first after sloppy work from West Ham at the back allowed Sanchez to lay the ball on a plate to Mesut Ozil
- It may have taken late for Arsenal to secure the win but once they had they crucified West Ham and ran out easy 5-1 winners
- For Slaven Bilic the manner of that result and more importantly the collapse will be a huge cause for concern for the former Croatia defender
- A team lacking desire mixed with a terrible run of injuries is not good mixture for any club and Bilic will have to turn things around quickly as their Christmas set of fixtures now look like being all important relegation 6 pointers
- Tottenham returned to winning ways in the Premier League as the hit Swansea with a 5 star performance
- Their was a huge amount of fortune for their first goal of the game. Dele Alli dived in the box but managed John Moss into awarding a penalty
- Spurs did outclass Swansea throughout the game so it’s hard to say how much bearing that penalty decision would have had on the game but as they say the first goal is all important
- That win for Mauricio Pochettino keeps them just on the fringes of the top four and they will hope that victory on Saturday will allow to build some momentum
- Next up for is Manchester United next Sunday, a win there would almost guarantee a Top 5 finish such is the gap they have over The Red Devils already
- Not only that but a win there would allow them to keep on the outside of the race for the Champions League places
- For Swansea, that is now 9 goals conceded in the last two league matches. The bizarre win against Crystal Palace is now long since forgotten and it’s once again back to the grind for Bob Bradley and his men
- Next up is a huge 6 pointer against Sunderland on Saturday
- And Sunderland are now longer bottom but in the heady heights of 18th place thanks to a win over Leicester
- That being a third in four matches and there season has finally started in earnest
- Sunderland were on top early on but would have been frustrated at the fact that they failed to score before the break
- But their patience was rewarded when Robert Huth deflected Jan Kirchoff’s header into his own net
- Soon after their lead would be doubled when their talisman Jermaine Defoe was on hand to score another all important goal
- It may have been a nervy ending when Shinji Okazaki pulled one back later on and Jordan Pickford had to make a crucial save to deny Leicester an unlikely equaliser in the last minute of injury time
- A crucial win for Sunderland and they will have their tails up when they travel to The Liberty Stadium next week
- For Leicester though that defeat sees them slip further down the table and Claudio Ranieri will have to rally his troops or it could be a very long winter
- They are playing nowhere near the level of last season and Jamie Vardy’s goals that were so key last season have dried up
- It’s turning out to be the worst defence of a Premier League title it could get even worse if they drop into the bottom three soon
- Crystal Palace managed to put some distance between themselves and the bottom three with a vital win at home to Southampton
- It was a dogged performance from Alan Pardew’s men and one that it is fair to say keeps Pardew in a job for the forseeable future
- They had a huge stroke of luck when Fraser Forster’s kick was shanked straight into the path of Christian Benteke
- But perhaps they needed a reversal of fortune, that opener put them well on their way and they could breathe easier once James Tomkins added his second in two game
- It was job done when Benteke added his second of the game but what will undoubtedly be pleasing is the fact that Palace kept a clean sheet
- For Southampton it was a bringing back down earth after EFL Cup success in Midweek
- Once again a lack of consistency is going against them but they will be safe enough in mid table this season
- West Brom finished Saturday in 6th place thanks to their impressive win over Watford
- Matty Phillips was at the heart of everything positive that The Baggies produced and the Scottish international’s contribution led West Brom on their 4th successive game unbeaten with 10 points being taken from a possible 12
- For Watford it’s a second straight defeat and more importantly a seventh straight league game in which Troy Deeney
- They’ve been lucky in that the goals have been spread more evenly among the squad but the fact that Deeney is in the middle of a goal drought will be a concern for Watford boss Walter Mazzari
- That successful partnership of Deeney and Ighalo last season are now just a distant memory
- Deeney can’t find the net and Igahlo can’t even find the first team
- In hindsight perhaps they should have taken that big money offer from China for Igahlo. Then again hindsight is such a wonderful thing
- And wonderful is how you would describe Jonathan Walters’ opener for Stoke against Burnley
- His well taken finish put Stoke ahead as they continue their surge up the table thanks to a 2-0 win over Sean Dyche’s men
- Marc Muniesa first goal for the club made sure of the win and it means that they have now won 5 of their last 7 matches to all but erase the memory of such a slow start to the season
- For Burnley though it’s a third straight defeat as they slip to 14th in the table
- With only 3 points separating 13th to 19th they really cannot afford for that run of losses to continue
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