Chelsea can’t stop grinding
It’s not hard to see why Chelsea are most people’s tip for the title this year. Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard have been rightly praised for a series of wonderful performances, while Diego Costa’s scoring spree shows no sign of slowing down.
But Chelsea are a frustratingly dull club for the neutral. Just like we saw against Man City, Chelsea looked satisfied to hold onto to what they had against Arsenal, despite having the time – and of course, the resources – to put their underwhelming opponents to the sword.
If Chelsea weren’t already sat back enough in the second half, Jose Mourinho swapped André Schürrle for John Obi Mikel with 20 minutes still left on the clock to entrench their lead and grind out a 2-0 win in a cagey, niggly game – both on the pitch and off – that could’ve been a classic.
As if by magic, David Silva appears
Three players tried to stake their claims as Premier League MVPs this weekend, with Eden Hazard, Angel di Maria and David Silva all excelling to bring victory to their clubs. Silva’s masterclass against Aston Villa was the pick of the bunch, not only because it was the most dazzling, but because Silva needed a game like that to remind the Premier League how lucky it is to have him.
When he’s in flow full – as he was on Saturday evening – Silva makes his talent look effortless; his touch was magnificent, he drifted into space time and time again to pick up the ball in dangerous areas and threaded in enough through-balls for City to at least double their lead.
After the match, Paul Lambert remarked that his defenders were too exhausted to close down Yaya Toure and prevent him for scoring the vital goal of the game. Clearly, there’s only so much energy you can preserve after being run ragged by a mercurial Spaniard for 80 minutes.
Steven Naismith is Everton’s everyman hero
Steven Naismith could’ve been the star man on Sunday afternoon had it not been for David de Gea’s superhuman shot-stopping abilities. He scored his fourth goal in his sixth start for Everton, but it in the end, it didn’t matter.
The importance of the goal, however, is that it proves what a lethal asset he’s become for Everton. The balding 28-year-old might look like he’d be more at home draining pints of Tennent’s in a paint-splattered sweatshirt, but he’s the kind of everyman that gives hope to all football fans.
It’s unlikely that Naismith would’ve seen as much game time this season had it not been for Ross Barkley’s injury, but the industrious Scotsman may have done enough to earn a regular start regardless.
Gylfi Sigurdsson finds his mojo
Gylfi Sigurdsson added his fifth and sixth assists of the season for a Swansea side that have looked like a whole new proposition since Gary Monk ditched his gilet and started wearing a suit.
Sigurddson was arguably Swansea’s brightest talent in his first spell for the club – regularly banging in pile-drivers from the edge of the penalty box – but he had a slow start at Spurs, and when he finally started to earn plaudits, it was for his tenacity, rather than his creativity.
Having returned to Swansea, he looks rejuvenated, pulling the strings for the majority of the side’s attacking movements and re-opening his account with a goal against Man Utd.
Buffoon of the Week: Robbie Savage and Alan Shearer
This week’s ‘Buffoon of the Week’ award is shared by Robbie Savage and Alan Shearer, who brought their comedy double act to Saturday night’s ‘Match of the Day.’
Shearer made two major blunders: he firstly gave Man City a grilling, claiming their dominant 2-0 win over was “full of errors,” without even mentioning Silva’s sublime performance, and then criticised Newcastle for selling Loic Remy when the club never actually owned the player (he was only there on loan).
With his ridiculous new quiff, Savage was even more irritating, derailing his train of thought after the Swansea vs Newcastle game to pointlessly troll Spurs fans. “I’m not saying Spurs are a big club,” he sniggered. “There are bigger.” Predictably, enough people took the bait and Savage was soon trending on Twitter, which must’ve delighted the show’s producers.
Alex Andrews
Filed under: Sport
