FA Barclays Premiership Report (16th - 17th April)

THE FA Cup semi-final action meant that Premiership fixtures were limited.  However, plenty of action took place that affected both ends of the table.  Three from six look likely to drop out of the league now, whilst a helping hand from Dirk might well have handed Manchester United another championship.

LAST: Kuyt's kick might well have finished Arsenal's challenge

    Arsenal’s latest slip up at home was against a well-drilled Liverpool outfit.  The amazing drama at the end of the game at the Emirates overshadowed the general lacklustre quality in this 1-1 draw.  During the match, Jamie Carragher was accidentally knocked out by young defender John Flanagan, which led to eight minutes of injury time.  In the seventh minute of these, Cesc Fabregas went down far too easily under Jay Spearing’s clumsy, but clean challenge.  Robin Van Persie coolly dispatched the penalty and it seemed to have kept the title race alive.  However, moments later, Emmanuel Eboue stupidly pushed Lucas in the back when Luis Suarez’s free-kick rebounded off the wall into the Gunners penalty area.  Eboue was distraught and Arsene Wenger left in complete disbelief.  Dirk Kuyt tucked away the spot kick with the last kick of the match to earn Liverpool a deserved point.  The contentious penalty decision led to some ill-feeling between Wenger and Kenny Dalglish, with the Sky Sports cameras picking up Dalglish telling Wenger to ‘P### off.’  Following Manchester United’s tame 0-0 stalemate at Newcastle last night, Arsenal now lie seven points adrift and almost out of the battle.  No more slip-ups can now be required from Wenger’s men.

     Blackpool slipped into the bottom three for the first time this season, after they were convincingly beaten 3-1 at home by relegation rivals Wigan Athletic.  The result means Wigan move out of the drop zone.  From the moment Craig Cathcart gave away possession sloppily from a free-kick, then slipped in the build-up to Hugo Rodallega’s second minute opener, the writing was on the wall for the Tangerines.  Yet again, Blackpool’s defending was absolutely atrocious as Wigan ran riot.  Charles N’Zogbia made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time and a deflected effort from Mohammed Diame sealed the dominating result, despite DJ Campbell’s late consolation.

     Wigan moved out of the bottom three, at West Ham’s expense.  In a full-blooded scrap at Upton Park, Aston Villa stole all three points in the dying stages.  Their 2-1 win all but seals their Premiership safety, but leaves Avram Grant’s side staring at the abyss.  Robbie Keane produced a splendid start for the Hammers, driving them infront inside of two minutes.  Having pushed Carlton Cole in the back when the striker was clean through, Richard Dunne could have counted himself lucky to stay on the pitch.  As the game wore on, Villa got stronger and stronger and ultimately, deserved the win.  Darren Bent headed in Luke Young’s cross before half-time, after Mark Noble had been caught in possession.  Noble’s doziness was akin to an amateur painting a garden fence for the first time!  At the death, with the match set to finish honours even, Ashley Young’s teasing cross was headed in by Gabby Agbonlahor.  Amazingly, that it Agbonlahor’s first Premiership goal of what has been a frustrating season for the front man.    

CASH: Sebastian Larsson pounced on horrific defending for Birmingham

     Meantime, the Wearside worry for Sunderland continues.  Steve Bruce had a unhappy return to St. Andrews on Saturday, witnessing his old side Birmingham City beat his Black Cats 2-0.  Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was at fault for both goals.  The first came following a calamitous mix-up in communication between the Belgian and Phil Bardsley.  Sebastian Larsson sneaked it to open the scoring.  Mignolet then failed to keep out Craig Gardner’s wicked shot, which frankly – a Sunday League goalkeeper could have kept out.  Having lost eight of their last nine games, Sunderland could now well go down and the agony on chairman Niall Quinn’s face in the stands really told its own story.

     If Sunderland have problems, Blackburn’s are just as bad.  Steve Kean has only managed to oversee three wins in fifteen games as manager and the last time he tasted success was a 2-0 win over West Brom on January 23.  Even Richard Keys and Andy Gray were just about with Sky Sports at the time!  The latest dire result for Rovers was a 2-0 loss at Everton, which leaves them just two points above the drop zone.  What will worry Kean more was the horrific performance at Goodison Park.  Everton could have fielded a team of under 10’s and still beaten the senior Blackburn side at the weekend.  Leon Osman produced the breakthrough ten minutes into the second half and Leighton Baines dispatched a penalty after Phil Jones made a rash challenge on Seamus Coleman.

     Chelsea may have nothing to fight for now this season, but their league form since February has been mightily impressive.  They ended Roy Hodgson’s unbeaten run as West Brom boss, overcoming the Albion 3-1 at the Hawthorns.  However, Fernando Torres had a goal disallowed after coming off the subs bench and it means, the wait continues for his first Chelsea goal.  Peter Odemwingie did put the home side ahead, but Didier Drogba cancelled the advantage out almost immediately, when goalkeeper Scott Carson made a basic mistake.  Another fumble from Carson just five minutes later allowed Salomon Kalou to drill Chelsea ahead and Frank Lampard completed the scoring just before the interval, as he moved into double figures for his injury-ravaged season.  The win is Chelsea seventh in their last eight Premiership games.

     The race for the title might be all but over now, but the fight to stay up continues to take twists and turns and attention will switch to this end of the table now over the last month of the 2010/11 Premiership campaign.

FA Barclays Premiership Report (2nd - 3rd April)

ANOTHER weekend of rollercoaster action in the Premiership, which saw the battle at the bottom tighten up even more and the championship head firmly into Manchester United’s control.

RANT: Wayne Rooney's moment of madness infront of the cameras

     Manchester United put in a championship winning performance in the second half at Upton Park.  They turned around a 2-0 half-time deficit at West Ham, to win 4-2.  However, their comeback didn’t dominate the headlines.  Instead, it was the disgraceful behaviour of Wayne Rooney, which left him with a two-match ban and condemnation from many within the game.  Rooney scored a tremendous hat-trick, with the third coming from the penalty spot.  However, he then proceeded to swear into the Sky Sports TV camera, with a rant that can’t be broadcasted on this site in case young children are reading.  It was disgusting, uncalled for and the ban is fully justified, because it is about time that footballers were punished for their foul-mouthed actions.  If Rooney is a role model for football, the game has got some serious questioning to do.  On the funny side, at least the TV camera highlighted his basic language limitations!

     Aside from Rooney’s rant, it was a satisfying weekend for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, as he could sit back and watch his closest challengers drop points.  Chelsea’s slim mathematical hopes died at the Britannia Stadium, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by gritty Stoke City.  A brilliant early solo goal from Jonathan Walters extinguished Chelsea’s faint dreams of a title miracle, despite a classic equaliser from Didier Drogba.  The result marked Stoke’s first Premiership point against Chelsea, at the sixth attempt of asking.  On a painful day at the Emirates, two more priceless points were dropped by Arsenal.  They were lacklustre against Blackburn Rovers, who deserved their hard-fought 0-0 stalemate.  Arsenal did have chances, but they were scarce to say the least.  The flashpoint of the match was a reckless lunge on Laurent Koscieny, which led to Steven N’Zonzi being sent off.  Arsenal now languish seven points behind, with a game in hand.  It isn’t over yet, but the Fat Lady is starting to clear her throat ready for the celebrations at Old Trafford.

ROUT: Yaya Toure completes Manchester City's demolition of Sunderland

     At the bottom of the table, results tightened up so much, that only seven points cover the entire bottom half.  Sunderland’s freefall continued, as they slipped to a horrifying 5-0 loss at a rampant Manchester City.  The Black Cats have now lost six of their last seven matches.  City were emphatic, and easily put in their best performance of the Premiership season on Sunday, tightening their grip on a Champions League qualification berth for next season.  Adam Johnson returned to the team for the first time since January and an excellent finish gave Simon Mignolet no chance in the 9^th minute.  From then on, the result was in little doubt.  Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure added their names to the scoresheet, despite Mignolet’s best efforts.  The young Belgian had a good game actually and couldn’t stop any of the goals.  Perhaps Sunderland’s iffy defending needs to be looked at extensively in training this week.  One win in 11 matches has also left Blackpool perilously close to the drop zone.  Ian Holloway’s side have now been installed as bookies favourites to be relegated after a 3-0 loss at Fulham.  Two goals from Bobby Zamora and a tap-in by the Nigerian Dickson Etuhu moved Fulham into the top half of the table and almost Premiership safety.  Blackpool looked a beaten team at Craven Cottage from the outset, which must concern Holloway, as the belief seems to have been sucked out of his team.     

RESPECT: All smiles before kick-off, but Hodgson got the better of Dalglish

     Revenge is the best dish served for Roy Hodgson, as he put one over his former employers Liverpool at the Hawthorns.  West Brom’s 2-1 win gives them some breathing space and moves the Baggies closer to mid-table than the bottom three.  There were plenty of chances in this match, before Martin Skrtel headed Liverpool infront.  Two Chris Brunt penalties, one in the 87^th minute took WBA away from safety and all but buried Liverpool’s chances of playing in European competition next season.  There were thrills and spills aplenty in a four goal cracker on Merseyside between Everton and Aston Villa.  The 2-2 draw keeps Villa in the thick of the relegation scrap.  Leon Osman gave Everton a half-time lead, but Darren Bent scored twice to have the visitors infront.  This came either side of a Jermaine Beckford shot, which hit the crossbar, crossed the line and wasn’t given.  Where the goal-line technology?  Oh wait, FIFA decided to ban snoods instead!  Seven minutes from time and a questionable foul on Phil Jagielka gave Leighton Baines the chance to make it 2-2 from the penalty spot.

     Birmingham climbed out of the relegation zone, as they made up for their FA Cup quarter-final exit last month against Bolton.  Kevin Phillips made a rare start and scored the opener in the 2-1 win; Birmingham’s first triumph since their Carling Cup success at the end of February.  Craig Gardner doubled the lead and Alex McLeish had Ben Foster to thank for keeping his side infront.  Foster was in great form again, producing a series of fantastic saves, which limited Bolton to a sole consolation, courtesy of Johan Elmander.  At St. James Park, Newcastle all but secured Premiership football next season, as they tore apart Wolves, winning 4-1.  Kevin Nolan, Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands and Jonas Gutierrez were on target for the Magpies.  Finally, a lacklustre game at the DW Stadium saw Wigan and Tottenham play out a 0-0 draw.  It is a vital point for Wigan in their fight against the drop, but more points dropped by Tottenham, who are starting to feel the pace of a long season in Europe and the Premiership.  It will take a mighty effort for Harry Redknapp’s men to be in the Champions League again next season.

     With no more international interruptions, the Premiership is now running till the end on a week-to-week basis.  Whilst it is too close to call to predict who will stay up and who won’t, don’t be surprised to see the bookies begin to pay out on another title success for Manchester United.