Premier League Weekend Review: Arsenal March On

As always it was a big big weekend in the Premier League as this season continues to be as unpredictable as ever.

Probably the biggest game of the weekend saw Liverpool travel to the Emirates to take on league leaders Arsenal. You’d have got pretty decent odds at the start of the season if you would have said that at this stage this game would have represented a top of the table clash but that’s exactly what it was. But in the end what promised to be a tight game turned into a comfortable victory for the Gunners as they dominated the opening hour and ran out 2-0 winners, Aaron Ramsey scored another brilliant goal; you should really check it out if you haven’t already. The result not only kept Arsenal top of the table but moved them 5 points clear… does this mean that despite the limitations of their squad they are serious title contenders?

Arsenal’s cause at the top of the table was aided by the shock of the weekend, when in the early kick off on Saturday Chelsea went down 2-0 away at Newcastle. The Magpies get to keep their title as the most unpredictable team in the league as they put in a brilliant performance to see off a very under par Chelsea side. But the real big question to emerge from this game is that if the real Fernando Torres was back last week does this poor performance mean that he has gone again?

As Saturday afternoon turned into Saturday evening both Manchester clubs simultaneously landed big right hands to put Chris Hughton and Martin Jol on the managerial ropes. Manchester City were supreme in hitting 7 past a hapless Norwich. Obviously the 7-0 score line will be a huge concern for Norwich manager Hughton but not as much of a worry as seeing the playing down tools as they went 2 down. Meanwhile over at Craven Cottage Manchester United were putting Fulham to the sword to a soundtrack of ‘Out, Out, Out’ from Fulham fans venting their frustration at their manager. 3 goals in 13 1^st half minutes did for Fulham and although they did rally in the 2^nd half the natives are getting very restless.

However the strangest moment of the weekend was reserved for the Stoke v Southampton game where Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic scored after 13 seconds. He hammered a long clearance into the Autumnal sky and the wind did the rest taking it deep into the Southampton half and causing the ball to bounce over a stranded Artur Boruc in the Saints goal. This game eventually ended 1-1 but the opening goal only served to give the world an insight into the problems in this Stoke team, upon scoring that goal Begovic has become the Potters joint leading scorer in the league… Oh dear.

Elsewhere this weekend Spurs and Everton played out a goalless draw, and despite the lack of goals and the stick the manager is getting from some Spurs fans this was a good result and they remain in the top 4 and will only improve as the season goes on. The big talking point though was the stupid decision from the Spurs medial and coaching staff to allow Hugo Lloris to continue after he had been knocked out. He could have sustained some serious damage and been seriously injured and was needlessly put at risk by those at Spurs. Ridiculous.

The 1^st ever Welsh derby in the top flight went off without a hitch as in one of the most boring games all season Steven Caulker’s header ensured Cardiff walked away with the bragging rights. West Brom did what pretty much everyone else has done this season and beat Crystal Palace, and West Ham and Aston Villa played a depressingly boring 0-0 draw.

Right that’s all for me for now but I’ll be back with more keyboard wizardry very soon.