Premier League 2012-13: Opening weekend review

This week we had some staffing/technical issues so this weekend review is a little late, but just as good for a memory jog before you tweak you fantasy teams and make your predictions for this weekend’s fixtures.

It’s also the first by our now regular columnist @J_Wattsy who we’d like to give a warm welcome to. Do leave him your comments, suggestions for future columns and let us know what you think. 

Man City v Southampton

Southampton returned from a seven year exile from the Premier League with a mighty display as they almost stunned the defending champions Manchester City at the Etihad, yet were cruelly defeated 3-2.

Saints fans were given an early fright after just 15 minutes, when Carlos Tevez was clumsily bundled over in the box and a spot-kick awarded. Thankfully, ‘keeper Kelvin Davis guessed correct and produced a miraculous reflex save from the sweetly struck David Silva penalty… I jest… it was a terrible effort from the Spaniard; I would have even expected Rob Green to keep it out.

The talismanic Rickie Lambert was introduced just before the hour and he invigorated Southampton; he cancelled out Carlos Tevez’s opener with a sublime slotted finish and then witnessed a decisive strike from fellow substitute Steven Davis which propelled Southampton in to a 2-1 lead.

City responded in typical fashion and fired a double tap to the hearts of Saints fans as first Dzeko equalised and then the excellent Samir Nasri capitalised on a tame Danny Fox defensive header. 

As the season progresses, Southampton will become increasingly concerned if when they play well, they don’t win any points – but even a Portsmouth fan would have to admit that the first impressions Southampton have created are certainly encouraging.

 

West Brom v Liverpool

The competition for the worst penalty kick of the weekend was intense as Shane Long did his level best to win the title. West Brom’s front-man shimmied up to the spot like a man a little unsure of where he was going to put it. High or low? Right or left? Instead, he selected none of the afore-mentioned and dribbled the most comfortable of back-passes to the patient and grateful hands of Pepe Reina.  

Ultimately, it had little bearing on the result as West Brom thrashed Liverpool 3-0 at the Hawthorns, thanks principally to a magnificent goal from Zoltan Gera whose 25 yard rocket gave the Baggies the advantage. Unsurprisingly, Long was dismissed from his penalty taking duties and after Martin Skrtel was pick-pocketed by the Irishman in his own area and then bundled him to the ground, it was Peter Odemwingie who strode up to ball and successfully converted from the spot. The powerful Romelu Lukaku bagged a confidence boosting goal from close range to open his account since joining on loan from Chelsea.  

Admittedly, it could have been a different story for Liverpool if Luis Suarez had laced his shooting boots; the Uruguayan missed a succession of glorious opportunities and if the Reds are going to seriously compete with the top four clubs in England – they’ll need Suarez to score significantly more than the 11 league goals he notched last year.

 

Everton v Manchester United

Marouane Fellaini produced one of the finest performances the Premier League has seen as Everton silenced Manchester United 1-0 at Goodison Park.

The giant Belgian dominated the game from the start and capped off his performance with the only goal in the game. Darron Gibson sent the corner in to Fellaini’s territory area and he rose up above his marker, launched that big nest towards the ball and fired his header past De Gea and in to the net.

David Moyes has his team incredibly well drilled and Manchester United found it extremely difficult to break them down. The chances for the Red Devils were scarce, Cleverly’s close range shot was heroically blocked on the line by the imperious Jagielka but other than that, they failed to threaten Tim Howard’s goal. 

The result shouldn’t come as any great surprise – Everton are a very good football team, especially at home. Not many teams will travel to Goodison Park and come away with the points.

 

Fulham v Norwich City

Norwich could have done with Delia Smith’s war cry against Fulham – they delivered a miserable display as they were obliterated 5-0.

It was a little more than a training exercise for Martin Jol’s men as they simply cruised through the contest. The mercurial Damien Duff poked home the first, followed by a smart brace from Mladen Petric who did his best to fill the void left by Clint Dempsey. The nearly unpronounceable Kacaniklic netted the fourth and Steve Sidwell thumped home a penalty to complete the rout.

 

West Ham United v Aston Villa

Aston Villa were always going to struggle for goals after the departure of Emile Heskey – and so it proved against a resolute West Ham side, who delivered a Sam Allardyce special: a 1-0 victory, courtesy of Kevin Nolan and some beady-eyed refereeing.

As a free-kick was delivered deep in to the Villa penalty area and flicked on to Ricardo Vaz Te, the linesman on the far side thrust his flag in the air, tall and proud like it was a birthday present, to wave for offside – only to be overturned by Mike Dean. Dean had spotted that the ball came off a defender; therefore the attacking player in the second phase wasn’t actually offside even though he was beyond the opposition’s last man. Vaz Te squared the ball to Nolan who made no mistake from a few yards and wheeled away doing his trademark ‘chicken dance’, a celebration that we could see a few times this campaign.

You can read @gwoffer’s thougths on the match here.

Reading v Stoke City

Stoke debutant Michael Kightly, the most loyal of servants to the Wolverhampton Wanderers’ treatment table, opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw against freshly promoted Reading. The scantily haired winger notched with the grubbiest of scuffs, aided by some calamitous goalkeeping from Adam Federici; who morphed in to a human hoop and allowed the ball to slip through his arms without even touching the sides.

Stoke’s hopes of three points were dashed in the final minute however when Dean Whitehead catastrophically conceded a penalty, picked up a second yellow card and was dismissed. Adam Le Fondre seized the opportunity and coolly converted from 12 yards to level the score and pick up a point.

 

Queens Park Rangers v Swansea City

Michael Laudrup’s career as Swansea manager got off to a blistering start as his team destroyed Queens Park Rangers 5-0 at Loftus Road.

Robert Green did little to prevent the opening of the floodgates as he waved through Michu’s slotted effort which found its way to the back of the net. The Spaniard then added a second, followed by a sharp brace from Nathan Dyer and then Scott Sinclair rounded off the scoring with a comfortable finish.

As good as Swansea were, QPR were simply woeful. Mark Hughes has a hefty job on his hands to rectify the glaring defensive errors and with the stacks of cash the club continues to spend; the pressure for results is going to be immense.

 

Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur

After two weeks of heart-warming Olympian sportsmanship, it was little short of a disgrace to see Newcastle boss Alan Pardew scrapping with an innocent assistant referee over a throw in. Granted it was petty and the contact was minimal – but what on earth was he thinking? A truly shameful act and despite his best efforts to brush off the incident and lightly apologize after the game, that was damaging for the sport.

Aside from the touchline scuffle, Newcastle continued their excellent form from last season with a valuable 2-1 win and are a very difficult team to fault. Demba Ba scored a superb first for the home team before Jermain Defoe levelled the scores with an instinctive poach. Hatem Ben Arfa has been a revelation for Newcastle since he recovered from a leg injury and he earned and converted a penalty ten minutes before the end which decided the destination of the points.

 

Wigan Athletic v Chelsea

Wigan began their 2012-13 campaign as they do every other – woefully, as they found themselves 2-0 down after just seven minutes against the champions of Europe.

Ivanovic netted the first and a trademark Lampard penalty provided the two goal advantage, both goals coming as a result of clever play from Eden Hazard, who made a taking debut. 

Despite being beaten, Wigan actually delivered a performance full of credit. They created problems on either flank, particularly the marauding Emmerson Boyce who created a series of dangerous crossing opportunities. It’s far too early on in the season to decide who will stay up and who will be relegated – but on Sunday’s evidence, it’d be a surprise if there were not one or two lesser teams than Wigan.

 

Arsenal v Sunderland

Life without Robin Van Persie promises to be frustrating, at least in the short term for Arsenal and it didn’t begin well as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home against Sunderland. Martin O’Neill’s side will be thrilled with a very creditable point but for Arsenal, the gap between them and the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea has undoubtedly grown and it’s difficult to envisage the Gunners being good enough to mount a strong challenge for the title.