Story written
by Patrick Kamanga
GAME OF THE WEEK:
GUNNERS AND MANCITY SHARE THE SPOILS IN GILT-EDGED AFFAIR!
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| "Battle of the Engineers", modern football's two leading minds |
In a
thrilling match played at the magnificent Emirates Stadium in North London that
saw end to end action for the entire 90 minutes, hosts Arsenal and the visiting
Manchester City alternated the lead then finally settled for a two all draw.
In a battle
pitting two of modern football’s top intellectual minds, with the 3-0 hiding handed
by his opposite number and fellow Mechanical Engineer, “Le Professeur” Arsene Wenger at the Community Shield in
August still fresh in mind, “El Ingeniero” (the Engineer) as Sky Blue’s manager
Manuel Pelligrini is otherwise known opted to approach the game with a little
bit of trepidation settling for a more defensive 4-2-3-1 formation. Wenger made
his intentions clear by setting his charges out with an ultra-offensive
4-1-4-1. Unlike last season when Pelligrini set out to overwhelm his opponents with
his team’s superior fire power, a free flowing style of play that regularly
threw caution to the wind, the few games played so far thus affirm a change of tact,
with the humble Engineer preferring caution and playing on the counter-attack.
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| Aguerro's sucker punch against the run of play drew first blood |
From a defensive
clearance by Captain Vincent Kompany in the 28th minute, in an
attempt to stop the advancing Sergio Aguerro at the center circle Matheu Flamini’s
sliding tackle only succeeded in playing the ball through to a flying Jesus
Navas on the right. With acres of space and left back Nacho Monreal nowhere in
sight, Navas made a solo run on the right then whipped hard a low cross that gave
Aguerro, who’d sneaked in between Flamini and Mertersacker, the easiest of tap-ins
for City’s opener which came against the run of play. The goal seemed to
galvanize the Sky Blues who shifted gear with Danny Silva guilty of two
consecutive near misses in as many minutes.
With Arsenal’s
midfielder exhibiting an improved performance compared to their two previous
games, Jack Wilshire in particular gave flashes of what he’s capable, dominating the midfield as he
single-handedly took on his bigger opponents (in Yaya Toure’s absence) often
rushing and bullying them off the ball or pressuring them into making mistakes.
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| Sublime finish, Jack Wilshire gave a virtuoso display |
To cap off a great performance, he scored a sublime equalizer then set up the
second. In the pedantic style innate to the Gunners, Wilshere played a
beautiful one-two with Ramsey in the 63rd minute which carved open the
resolute City defense, then shook off former teammate Gael Clichy and chipped an audacious dink
above the advancing Joe Hart. For Arsenal’s second goal, from a headed
clearance from Kompany, Wilshire headed the ball back into play that found
Sanchez clear on the top of the box, who’s right footed half volley found the roof
of the net to complete a comeback.
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| Sachez was a constant menace throughout |
New recruit
Danny Welbeck showed plenty of promise and almost opened his goal account with
a chip over Joe Hart similar to Wilshire’s that hit the right post early in the
first half. Welbeck made plenty of intelligent runs into space but was let down
by Ozil’s off colour display. What Arsenal lacked throughout was the precision
and intelligence of Santi Cazorla who was sorely missed.
Another plus
to Welbeck’s game was his physicality, a quality that has long been absent in
the Gunners’ game since the days of Viera and Gilberto. He gave Kompany and De
Michelis a few anxious moments hustling them off the ball on a few occasions,
and almost sneaked the ball beyond Joe Hart on one instance after wrestling the ball off Kompany.
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| De Michelis exposed Gunner's defensive frailties |
Arsenal’s
defensive frailties were to return to haunt them yet again for City’s second
goal. An 83rd minute corner kick found De Michelis with acres of
space and the luxury of time, who gratefully picked the top corner with a free
header beyond a diving Szczeny’s flailing reach with both Mertersaker and
Kolcieny both guilty of ball watching for City’s equalizer.
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| Debouchy's injury increased Arsenal's injury woes ahead of their trip to Dortmund |
Another
worrying development for Arsene Wenger was the injury to right back Mathieu
Debouchy who seemingly twisted an ankle and subsequently got stretchered off.
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| Chelsea's defense caught in no-man's land |
In a contest pitting the EPL’s two top of the table sides, a freakish show of power saw Chelsea come from behind to subdue a resilient Swansea side.
In a game of
two halves, Swansea took the lead against the run of play with a sucker punch
that caught the Blue’s defense napping. Theo Routledge dispossessed Nemanja Matic in the
middle of the park then teed the advancing Ki Sy who played Taylor on the left.
Taylor whipped a wicked cross that left Chelsea’s defense stranded in “no-man’s
land” with Captain John Terry helplessly planting the ball into his own net! The
Blue’s found it hard breaking down their opponents who sat back deep and played off the counter but
progressively clawed their way back into the game with their efforts finally
paying off at the stroke of half time via a powerful Diego Costa header from a
Fabregas corner to attain parity.
| Diego Costa seems unstoppable at the moment |
The second
half was a completely different affair with Chelsea coming out fired up and produced
an inspired performance!
Jose Mourinho made a half time substitution that made an instant impact when he brought in Ramirez for Andre Schurrle. With the Brazilian playing alongside Matic, Fabregas was freed to play further up the field, a change that provided more punch with Fabregas, Oscar, Hazard and Diego Costa linking up at will.
Jose Mourinho made a half time substitution that made an instant impact when he brought in Ramirez for Andre Schurrle. With the Brazilian playing alongside Matic, Fabregas was freed to play further up the field, a change that provided more punch with Fabregas, Oscar, Hazard and Diego Costa linking up at will.
With the positive
change, Chelsea played some free flowing, high voltage football not seen at the
Stamford Bridge since the days of Gianfranco Zola, Gus Poyet and company which
left Swansea living dangerously.
A one-touch ping pong move between Oscar and Hazard, set Fabregas on the left who easily picked Costa with a diagonal cut back to smash in Chelsea’s second. The “Diego Costa Show” continued when he netted a 67th minute brace that completed his first Premiership hat trick to the rapturous cheers of the home crowd that included Russian owner, Roman Abramovich who could not contain his delight at the carnage unfolding on the pitch. The score line actually belied Chelsea’s dominance with the Blues missing a host of chances and should have registered a bigger margin.
A one-touch ping pong move between Oscar and Hazard, set Fabregas on the left who easily picked Costa with a diagonal cut back to smash in Chelsea’s second. The “Diego Costa Show” continued when he netted a 67th minute brace that completed his first Premiership hat trick to the rapturous cheers of the home crowd that included Russian owner, Roman Abramovich who could not contain his delight at the carnage unfolding on the pitch. The score line actually belied Chelsea’s dominance with the Blues missing a host of chances and should have registered a bigger margin.
Diego Costa
exited the stage for new recruit Loic Remy who duly opened his account with a
first time volley ten minutes after coming on in the 81st minute.
Wilfred Bony came in for the misfiring Bafetimbi Gomis, a change that seemed to
energize Swansea who subsequently got their second late in the game as Chelsea
took their foot off the gas from a Bony
through pass that split the Blue’s defense and set Jonjo Shelvey free to slice
the ball home.
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