Barclays Premier League
It was a quiet weekend for London clubs as only two teams, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, secured wins in the Barclays Premier League. The most notable defeat in the capital was that of Chelsea’s at Upton Park. After going ahead through Spaniard Juan Mata in the first half they failed to hold on in the second as goals from Carlton Cole, Mohamed Diame and Modibo Maiga resulted in a 3-1 loss for Rafa Benitez. The game left Chelsea without a win in seven league games and level on points in third position with Tottenham and West Brom. In North London Arsenal fared no better as they were defeated by two late Michu goals as the former Rayo Vallecano man joined Demba Ba, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.
It was a defeat which would have pleased their North London rivals, Tottenham who surged five points clear of The Gunners and made their way into fourth position. Spurs made light work of Fulham as Mousa Dembele and Clint Dempsey returned to Craven Cottage for the first time since the duo swapped West London for the North. A rare goal from Brazillian midfielder Sandro was followed up by two more from goal veteran Jermain Defoe who scored his twelfth goal of the campaign.
A mad 26 minutes at the Madejski Stadium saw seven goals scored and handed Manchester United a 4-3 away win over struggling promoted side Reading. A brace from goal shy Wayne Rooney will please Sir Alex Ferguson who had called on his star man to add to a disappointing goal tally of only two in ten appearances league appearances. Reading are now four points off of escape from the doom and gloom of the relegation zone after a third consecutive league defeat.
Another draw for Harry Redknapp’s QPR side did little to bolster their chances of Premier League survival while Aston Villa continue to linger just above the drop zone after the 1-1 stalemate at Loftus Road.
The same result between Manchester City and Everton at the Etihad will be looked upon more fondly by The Toffees than Roberto Mancini’s side who fall further behind their Manchester rivals at the top of the table.
Merseyside rivals Liverpool secured a 1-0 win against Southampton which could well have been much more for Brendan Rodgers side had more of their many chances been converted. Such chances may prove to be much harder to come by for Liverpool in their next match however after Suarez was handed a one match suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the season.
Mesut Ozil celebrates after scoring Real’s second goal as Atletico fail to beat their rivals, again
La Liga
The Madrid derby was last weekend’s main showpiece in Spain as Real and Atletico met at the Santiago Bernabeu with Atletico unusually ahead of Real in the La Liga table. The game started early for Jose Mourinho as he came out of the dressing room 40 minutes prior to kick-off in order to address the boos that he received in the midweek Copa Del Rey win over minnows Alcoyano. The Portuguese manager received a favourable early welcome against Atletico though as speculation continues to surround his future with Los Blancos. On the pitch Real Madrid dominated from start to finish in a game where their city rivals simply did not show up. Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post twice but the second really was something to marvel at. Ronaldo was all the way back in his own penalty box when he begun a 96 metre sprint to receive the ball just outside the Atletico penalty box and strike the crossbar. The most amazing aspect of this though is that he sprinted those 96 metres after 77 minutes of play and still did it in only 10.8 seconds, a true athletic triumph. The 2-0 defeat stretches Atletico’s winless run against Real to 24 games. The last time Atletico were victorious over Real was all the way back in the 1999-2000 season – a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink brace set Atletico on their way to a 3-1 win.
Barcelona meanwhile thrashed Atletico Bilbao 5-1 at the Camp Nou to retain their 11 point lead over Real Madrid. Bilbao’s attempt to man mark Barcelona’s speedy players simply didn’t work as a Lionel Messi brace could well have been a hat-trick if not for a shot which just kept itself out of the goal after ricocheting off of the crossbar. The two goals put the Argentine magician only one more off of equalling Gerd Muller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year which has stood for 50 years. The game did however break one record; Barcelona’s amazing start of 40 points in just 14 league games is a new La Liga record.
No records were broken at the Mestalla however as manager and former player Mauricio Pellegrino was axed after only seven months in the job. The game started well for Valencia with a Roberto Soldado goal after only 2 minutes minutes of play against Real Sociedad but a red card in the 40th minute for Valencia’s Jonas changed the game in Sociedad’s favour as they romped to a 5-2 victory over Valencia in their own backyard. New manager Ernesto Valverde, who guided Espanyol to the UEFA Cup Final in 2007, has some work to do with Valencia sitting in 12th position and some way off a desired top four finish.
Unlikely high-flyers Real Betis continued their brilliant start to the season with a 3-2 away win over relegation strugglers Deportivo. Ruben Castro will take most of the plaudits after scoring a brace which sees him advance to fourth spot in the race for the La Liga golden boot only behind the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Falcao. However some credit msut be given to on loan Arsenal striker Joel Campbell who scored a world class curling shot from outside of the box to win the game for Betis.
Another player from outside of Spain who is adapting well to La Liga is former German under-21 winger Patrick Ebert. He scored his third goal of the campaign in only 65 seconds to put Real Valladolid 1-0 up against struggling Sevilla. Ebert then assisted Oscar 10 minutes later to give Valladolid a comfortable lead going into the break. The two goal advantage was made slightly less comfortable early on in the second half when former Manchester United striker Manucho put the ball through his own net to give some hope to Sevilla. Any chance of a dramatic comeback was then soon put to bed by Sevilla’s Gary Medel with a second yellow card giving him his 4th early bath in only 18 games. The result leaves Sevilla with three defeats in their last four league games and level on points with Valencia in a disappointing eleventh position.
Hello & thanks for reading my blog =) If you haven’t already please check out my last blog: http://wp.me/p2PRXL-3H Please leave any suggestions or opinions in the comments below or via Twitter (@ScottishLFCFan).
The Cultured Left Foot 