It’s that time again. Soccerblog’s edition of the heroes and villains of this weekend’s action. The sides that soared, the ones that crashed and burned. So without further ado. Adu? He’s with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
The knights:
Callum Wilson: Scoring goals in the Championship doesn’t translate to profligacy in the Premier League. Ask Marlon King, Danny Graham, or Glenn Murray. But Wilson might be different. His 20 goals for the Cherries was invaluable to their promotion. And he might be their ticket to avoiding relegation if his hat trick of goals against the Hammers is anything to go by. The first of the season and Bournemouth’s historic win in their new league.
Riyad Mahrez: Red hot Mahrez. 4 goals in 3 matches. Spurs were heading for a late win through Dele Alli’s goal and the celebrations were still on when Mahrez made them pay with a net seeking missile past Hugo Lloris. The draw preserved the Foxes unbeaten record and their second place. It’s not just the number of goals scored, it’s the way he scores. It’s called the zone.
Pedro: What an impact. A new country, a new league, first appearance at a difficult time. Yes, hard to say this but Chelsea stuck in a mire so early in the season needed a crucial response. West Brom were not obliging opponents till Pedro struck the way he knows how to; finding inches and pulling the trigger for his first league goal. Minutes later, a bullet of a cross swept in by Diego Costa to give Chelsea a vital lead.
Special mention:
Petr Cech: He was our knave in the first week. But those saves against Christian Benteke and Phillipe Coutinho were things of beauty. Arsenal were at sea with a new look defensive pairing forced on them. The full backs were bombing ahead. Arsenal were ripe for the picking but Liverpool not capitalize because of Cech’s goalkeeping exploits.
The knaves:
Aaron Cresswell: The full back was a bag of nerves and it showed in his shoddy, clueless defending. Pushed aside like a rag doll by Simon Francis for the cross which came fizzing in for Calum Wilson to score Bournemouth’s first Premier League goal. An errant back pass under no pressure pounced on by Wilson for his second goal. West Ham could should have just put up cardboard cutouts for a better job.
Carl Jenkinson: Creswell’s partner in the comedy of errors. Giving the ball up which led to Wilson’s second goal. A desperate lunge did not make up for getting caught out of position by Marc Pugh for the Cherries second goal. Then the dawdling full back was caught by Max Gradel who blew past him and was brought down for a penalty and a red card to complete the Blair Witch project.
Etienne Capoue: The most expensive signing in Watford history, $10m Etienne Capoue had about the clearest chance to score Watford’s winner. A nicely gaping goal and all the former Spurs midfielder had to do was head Troy Deeney’s flick in from about 2 yards out. But the ball hit his shoulder and impotently ballooned over the crossbar.
Special Mention:
Olivier Giroud: The Arsenal striker had 5 attempts at goal but infuriatingly from a fan’s standpoint was his lack of interest in getting himself into better scoring positions. Always a few inches short of making a proper connection. The problem with Giroud is he’s such an intricate part of Arsenal’s passing game he’s difficulty separating himself as a target when it comes to scoring. Then that tongue comes out.
Best team:
Manchester City: Three weekends in a row. This is becoming boring but it’s true. David Silva again had a brilliant game. For the first time, we saw clear evidence of Raheem Sterling’s worth to the Citizens. Waiting for Aleksandr Kolarov to overlap and then letting the wingback in for that first goal. Yaya Toure’s magnificent reverse pass setting up Samir Nasri’s stellar finish. Romelu Lukaku’s weekend bombast of destroying opponents sounds premature given Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala put up such a dominant display.
Special mention:
Newcastle: Well, well, well. What have we here. The Toons getting a special mention for a splendid defensive performance led by Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Chancel Mbemba, Massadio Haidara, and Tim Krul in goal which stopped Man Utd from getting on the scoresheet despite such a dominant performance especially in the second half. Eight saves, 20 interceptions, 25 blocks, 35 clearances. And to think Newcastle could have snatched victory right at the end with Florian Thauvin failing to connect with Papiss Cisse’s cross by a whisker.
Worst team:
Southampton: Not much happened to change that perception against Watford. The Saints looked laboured, slow, short of ideas. Except for a few sporadic attempts by Graziano Pelle and without the sparky Sadio Mane nursing a hip injury they looked toothless going forward. The club is gearing for more poaching attempts with Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane on the transfer block.
Special mention:
Watford: Three draws in three matches might be a good return for Quique Flores but the football is not pretty. He has eleven new signings to bed in this season and Matej Vydra has not even arrived. Twelve, if you count Nathan Ake’s loan signing. Seven of them got playing minutes but it was Ikechi Anya catching the eye. But that was about it. Till Capoue’s super letdown.
A new category: This one deals with the duality of man. We can be both knave and knight. Sometimes in the same match. Sometimes at the same time. It can leave fans dazed and confused. Beer sales go up.
James Morrison: The very least one could do after fighting regular set piece taker Chris Brunt was to score from the spot but Morrison thought he would lace it straight at Thibaut Courtois. Foolish man. However, Morrison made up for it by lashing into goal a well struck volley almost from the same spot and then scored West Brom’s second goal with a no look flick off his head from a cross. Too bad he missed that penalty and a golden chance to make Jose cry.