MATCH REPORT: Arsenal vs Manchester City

There was quite a bit at stake for both teams in this match as both needed the points to close the gap between themselves and Leicester City, who occupy top spot for Christmas. If Arsenal won the match it would give them some breathing space in second spot above their opponents, whereas if Manchester City won the game, it would allow them to leapfrog Arsenal into second place. Sergio Aguero was back for the away side and thrown straight back into the mix, and his team needed him as they hadn't exactly been the luckiest in front of goal when not at the Etihad and it's been three months since their last away goal. It could prove to be a big match for Petr Cech who needed only one more clean sheet to break David James' record. 

It was the away side who created a lot of the early chances in the match as well; obviously keen to make a quick start to avoid a repeat of previous results against the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. They had two very similar chances within the opening 10 minutes, one falling to David Silva and the other to Fernandinho in a similar position. Both players had the same idea and hit the ball with some power but the ball sailed high over the crossbar and didn't prove much of a threat to Cech.

After a couple of half chances for both sides, Kevin De Bruyne carved out a his first of two chances when he shifted the ball to his stronger foot to fire the shot towards the bottom corner of the goal, but Cech did well to get down to save the shot. Minutes later in the game, De Bruyne was left in a lot of space down the right wing and he used this to almost expose the Arsenal defenders. He did have the option of Silva in the middle of the box, but he decided to take on the shot himself and the ball ended up fizzing just wide of the far post. 

He would feel like he should have done a lot better with his chance, especially after Arsenal did exploit the weaknesses in City's defence seconds later with their first chance of the game. Laurent Koscielny moved his team forward with a great lofted ball to Mesut Ozil who simply touched it onto Theo Walcott at the edge of the City box. He brought it back inside and created some space between him and his defender before firing his shot around Joe Hart and into the bottom of the net.

The goal knocked City back a bit, but they suffered an even bigger setback in the game with the last kick of the first half. Eliaquim Mangala tried to play out from the back but his pass into the midfield was very slack allowing Arsenal to move forward with the ball. It was Ozil again who played in Olivier Giroud this time, and he timed his run perfectly to stay onside before slotting the ball under Hart and into the far bottom corner of the City net to add to his brilliant run of scoring. 

Olivier Giroud getting the better of Joe Hart to double Arsenal's lead
Image from: http://www.emirates247.com/sports/football/walcott-giroud-fire-arsenal-to-win-over-city-2015-12-21-1.614633

City had to endure a hard second half as well as Arsenal threw everything they had at their opponent's to try and finish the game off, and they had the perfect chance very early on. Nacho Monreal got the ball on the left side and crossed the ball low into the centre of the six yard box. Nicolas Otamendi looked like he would clear the ball easily, but badly misjudged his clearance and Joel Campbell, running onto the ball, sliced the ball high over the crossbar instead of converting the chance. 

It didn't end there though, with Arsenal having even more turns on Hart's goal to try and steal a third goal. Campbell had another good chance minutes later when he was left in acres of space on the right side and with no flag pulling him back, he raced into the box and toe-poked the ball on target, but Hart did well to turn the shot away with his foot. 

Aaron Ramsey followed this up with two chances that should have put Arsenal out of sight as well. The first followed another good piece of play from Arsenal which finished with Campbell touching the ball on for Ramsey who was left one-on-one with Hart in the centre of the goal and the keeper did well to spread himself to turn the shot away. The second one was created from a brilliant ball from Giroud which found Ramsey on the edge of the box, and if he had been able to bring it down then it could easily have been a goal. Instead he had to improvise to stop the defenders around him from nicking the ball away and when he finally got the shot away, it sailed high over the crossbar.

City did eventually get their first real chance of the second half around the 80 minute mark. Jesus Navas found himself with the ball in lots of space on the right side and was allowed to run straight at the box without much threat from the Arsenal defence who struggled to catch him. When he was left in front of goal with a perfect opportunity, he tried to square the ball across the box to another City player instead of going for goal himself. By this point, the Arsenal defence were back in numbers and the ball was cleared before a City player could get anywhere near it.  

The away side did manage to steal a goal back though. Yaya Toure played a one-two before finding himself in the perfect position to threaten Cech's goal. The ball was played back to him and with his first touch he lazily side-footed the ball towards the goal and it rose to land in the top-right corner out of Cech's reach. None of the Arsenal team really reacted as Toure took on the shot, and Cech didn't move from his starting position, and this goal means that Cech will have to wait before he can break James' record. 

Both sides did get another chance a piece, but neither could finish them off with another goal. Ramsey was found at the other end of the pitch moments after the goal and he had a brilliant chance to give Arsenal their two goal cushion back, but his shot finished just wide of the far post. It was Toure with the last City chance as he played another one-two with De Bruyne on the edge of the box, but isn't balanced as he takes the shot and the ball finishes wide of the post without troubling Cech. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hector Bellerin and Olivier Giroud celebrating their win at the end of the match
Image from: http://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2015/dec/21/premier-league-arsenal-v-manchester-city-in-pictures

For Arsenal this was another big step to proving that maybe this year could be their year to win the Premier League trophy for the first time since the season of 'the invincibles'. They closed the gap between themselves and Leicester to only two points going into the busy Christmas period. For City, it means that they may have quite a hard task ahead as they face these coming matches without their captain Vincent Kompany who they are missing greatly as was proved again in this match. Either way, if this game did prove anything, it's that Arsenal don't look to be letting up any time soon. Ozil added another two assists to his tally along with Giroud adding another goal and if they carry on performing the way they are, they will prove to be a big force to be reckoned with. 

The Special One: Sacked

There you have it. The breaking news of today. I must admit, even though it has been one of the most talked about things this season I didn't actually see it coming. Chelsea had decided to sack Jose Mourinho after the beginning to a season that has been one of the worst in their history. The team currently sit 16th in the Premier League, only three points above the relegation zone and have endured a dismal run of nine defeats in 16 games. 

After reading statistics like that, it may come as no surprise that Mourinho has been sacked. However, he did lead his team to the success of his third Premier League trophy only last season, which he won with an 8-point margin over Manchester City in May. His team last year soared to the top of the League and every team feared the date on their fixture list when they read the name 'Chelsea' next to it. So what changed?

I think that is still a question that a lot of people, including the Chelsea fans and the owner, are trying to figure out the answer to. Only a few changes were made to the squad that did so well last year, like the signing of Pedro from Barcelona. Many people asked why they weren't making more changes, but why would they need to? The squad was already strong and had proved that the season before and they would be expected to perform exactly the same way to get the same results, just like any other team that wins the Premier League. 

Jose Mourinho watching his side draw with Tottenham
Image from: skysports.com (http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15116/10102525/jose-mourinho-where-next-now-hes-left-chelsea-a-second-time)

However, football is a game where the results matter. No matter how badly the players are doing, the burden always falls onto the manager's shoulders as they should be the person that can change everything and get the right results again at the end of a bad spell. In some ways, Mourinho did manage to do this. He turned the tables and led his team to a place in the knock-out stages of the Champions League as winners in their group. In the League, this has been a little more than just a bad spell for Chelsea though. 

They never really kicked off their season. It started with a draw and since the opening day, they have only managed to scrape together 4 wins, hence why they are at the bottom of the Premier League table. They're poor run isn't just the lack of wins though, because Chelsea have lost to big rivals Manchester City and Liverpool already this season and have lost to Stoke, West Ham and newly promoted Bournemouth. The final straw for Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, seems to have been the 2-1 loss on Monday to League leaders Leicester City as talks about Mourinho's future followed on from this game. 

So, what's next for Chelsea? They have a game against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon and the news is that the owners have sent Mourinho on his way with a new manager in mind to take over. Who is this man though? Many names will circulate in the next few days, but it will be interesting to see if they bring in another former manager of if they bring in someone completely new to try and put their own spin on the team. Either way, the person that steps up will have a big task ahead of them and it will be interesting to see if they can get Chelsea out of the tight spot they find themselves in at the moment. 

MATCH REPORT: Tyne-Wear Derby

This Tyne-Wear derby felt like it had more riding on it than the ones in previous seasons. Sam Allardyce lead his new side into the derby yet to win a match and their opponents went into the match with a very convincing 6-2 win under their belt from their previous match. Both teams also sat in the bottom three going into this game, meaning that the winner of this would take an even bigger boost than they would normally. Not only would they get the derby win bragging rights, they would also lift themselves closer to the teams sitting nervously above the bottom two. It may only be early in the season, but both teams needed something magical to kick start their season for good. 

In the first half, it looked like the team that would go on to win it would be Newcastle. From the first whistle, the away side were pushing forward and trying to find the gaps in the Sunderland defence and had a very good chance early into the game. They won a free kick in a brilliant position and the delivery into the box was at the perfect height for Aleksander Mitrovic to flick on the ball to Fabricio Coloccini. The defender attempted an overhead kick from close range and forced Costel Pantilimon into a fine save to turn it away. 

Around the 15 minute mark, Newcastle saw a flurry of chances go to waste as the piled even more pressure on Sunderland. Mitrovic got his head to a cross and sent his shot just wide of the far post from the corner of the six-yard box. He then played a part in setting up a chance for Georginio Wijnaldum. The two played a one-two off each other, allowing Wijnaldum to gain some space to take on the low shot and forcing Pantilimon into another good save. Jack Colback had a good chance after some good Newcastle build-up play, and he fired his shot on target from just outside the box, but Mitrovic tried to get a touch to the ball and sent the shot wide of the far post instead. 

Colback had another chance to put his side ahead after Daryl Janmaat picked him out in the box and he made good contact with the ball, but a deflection from a Sunderland player saw the ball out of play. The corner that followed saw another shot sent marginally wide of the target from Mitrovic again and Ayoze Perez failed to make contact with a cross that came into the box minutes after Mitrovic's chance, so another chance went begging. The away supporters must have been starting to wonder whether they would come to rue all of these missed chances. Turns out, they would. 

As the half time whistle was approaching, Sunderland broke with the ball and it was a long ball forward to Steven Fletcher that caused all the problems. Coloccini was level with the Sunderland striker and looked like he would just beat him to the ball, but it appeared as though he shoulder barged Fletcher out of the way to prevent him from reaching the ball. The referee was instantly across to award the penalty and brandish his red card, deeming Coloccini to have been preventing a goal scoring opportunity and being the last defender. It was Adam Johnson who stepped up to the spot and he coolly slid the ball past the keeper and into the bottom right corner of the net - also making himself the joint top scorer for Sunderland in the derby. 

Johnson taking the penalty to score Sunderland's first goal
Image from: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-vs-newcastle-united-better-10342565

The faces of the Newcastle players and their manager looked extremely downcast as they walked into the tunnel at half time, with reason. They had been the dominant force in the game but hadn't managed to convert any of their chances, but being a man down for the second half didn't stop them from having a go at Sunderland. Mitrovic had an excellent opportunity 10 minutes into the half when the ball fell to his feet. He cut back to create some space from his defender, but his finishing shot was aimed straight down the centre of the goal at the keeper. Perez followed this up one minute later after making a charging run down the middle of the pitch and took on the shot when he reached the box, but again aimed his shot directly down the centre of the goal at Pantilimon. 

Sunderland did look more settled in the game as they reached their hour mark and were stretching the game when they pushed players forward. Jermain Lens put a beautiful inside ball through to Fletcher and he was allowed time on the ball to carve out a shot, which he tried to curl round the defender and into the top corner, but the shot was deflected and sent out of play for a corner. From the corner, Jermain Defoe controls the ball brilliantly to allow a clean shot at goal and Billy Jones gave it the touch that it needed to turn the ball over the line and past the crowd of defenders on the line. 

Sunderland players celebrate as Jones doubles their lead
Image from: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-vs-newcastle-united-better-10342565

Newcastle still didn't sit back though. Wijnaldum had a good chance to pull a goal back for the away side as he hit a powerful, low shot aiming towards the far bottom corner, but Pantilimon did extremely well to get down and palm the ball away from danger. They only had one other half-chance towards the end of the match which came from Florian Thauvin. Newcastle played in and around the Sunderland 18-yard box until Thauvin decided to hit the shot when it came to him, but the ball was well wide of the post. 

Johnson could easily have had a second goal in the game as well. He was a long way out, but he cut back inside onto his stronger left foot and powered his shot at goal and was only denied by the crossbar as Robert Elliot had been beaten by the shot. It wasn't over yet though as Sunderland still had one last attack left in them. The home side broke on the counter attack, carrying four of their players against two Newcastle defenders. The cross into the box from Younes Kaboul fell perfectly for Fletcher running into the box and he hit the shot first time on the volley with his left foot for a beautiful finish into the bottom corner to round off the game. 

Yann M'Vila celebrating the win with the home fans
Image from: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-vs-newcastle-united-better-10342565

This win for Sunderland means that their historic run of 8 consecutive wins in the derby continues and it should give them the confidence to climb up the table. Newcastle were very unlucky to not take the lead in the first half, or to score at all taking into account the number of attempts they had in the game, but it was Sunderland who were the most clinical in front of goal which allowed them to snatch the game away from their rivals. The red card at the end of the first half definitely affected the game and meant something was missing in the Newcastle performance second half. Either way, Steve McClaren needs to look at a way to get his side on a winning run before they get left behind as the competition in the Premier League heats up even more. 

The Fall of the Champions?

It happens every year (or so it seems). One team absolutely dominates the Premier League and wins the trophy with only a slight blip to their season in terms of results or performances. Last season, that was Chelsea. The season before that: Manchester City. And before that: Manchester United. There's definitely a pattern there. Then at the beginning of every new season, journalists and football pundits sit and they put forward their guess of who is going to win the league based on the previous campaign and their business in the transfer window. This season, there was an almost unanimous vote that Chelsea would go from strength to strength, as they had last season, and win the trophy again due to the sheer talent of their squad and the pure genius mind of Jose Mourinho. 

In no way am I saying that they won't win it. The Premier League can be extremely unpredictable at times and throw up shock results that could flip the table on its head at times. The way Chelsea have started the season though, especially in comparison to Manchester City, it doesn't look like they will be as highly rated to retain their title as we head towards winter. City have had a dominating start to the season, which came to an end on Saturday tea time, but before that they won 5 on the bounce and Joe Hart was still to concede a goal this season. Whereas, Chelsea didn't get off to a winning start and their back line, which was so tough to face last season, suddenly looked very shaky and looked a different 4 people to the ones that lined up last season. 

They have only managed two wins since the beginning of the campaign; an unconvincing performance against West Brom who almost managed to take something from the game after Chelsea had a man sent off, and last weekend against 9-man Arsenal. It isn't completely clear why they are struggling as much as they are. They made a few good signings in the summer which coupled with last season's squad could have been unstoppable, but instead of scoring goals for fun and putting on performances to draw out results that fans are used to, they just can't get it right. 

Like I said before though, this isn't the first time it has happened, and Chelsea certainly won't be the last to suffer because of it. There was the title defence of Manchester United the season after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, which was extremely poor and even saw the team drop out of the Champions League places. It was a big change for the team, but nobody could have predicted that their title defence would have been as poor as it was. The following season, Manchester City just couldn't keep up with the dominant force that was Chelsea. It's almost like the pressure of retaining the title is too much for a team no matter how much the manager tries to improve it. 

Anyway, back to Chelsea. Even though they beat Arsenal at the weekend, it was against a team who they had a 2 man advantage over, so some would say it was a much easier game than it could have been. Even though they did record a win over another top team in the league, people weren't left talking about the brilliant performance of the team, or how they did well to take advantage of the game like they would've last season. No, it was Diego Costa that found himself in the headlines again after the game. Unfortunately, once again it was for all the wrong reasons, and it all started through Arsene Wenger complaining about him not being sent off (which he should have been). Costa is an important player for Chelsea even if he isn't scoring goals for them, but has got a hot headed nature in many of the games he's played. So to have him banned after a retrospective investigation is a big loss to the team, especially when they are struggling so much to get the results that they so badly need. 

If you ask me, I think that Mourinho isn't handling the situation very well. He's always been calm in interviews, never loses his head in a bad situation and has a knack for saying exactly what his fans need to hear, but in recent weeks instead of reassuring the fans, he has looks like he has been trying to please everyone, or so it seems. He claimed that he wanted fans of other teams to enjoy his this period while his team are struggling because it was a rare thing to happen to him before tagging on the end that he would sort out the situation. You'd expect any other manager in his situation to put his own fans first, but then again, Mourinho isn't like the other managers. True to his words though, he has given the fans a lift with the win over Chelsea no matter how they got it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I can see Chelsea bouncing back and going on a strong run in the league. Everyone knows they aren't going to stay 15th and be sucked into a relegation battle (if they are, that is certainly one shock that nobody could have seen coming), but it might take them a while to get back into their stride. What looks like the toughest task for them at the moment will be trying to catch up to Man City who, even though they lost at the weekend, have been so strong that it is unlikely Chelsea would be able to catch them to retain their title. It has been said many times before though, it's a long season, and anything could happen.

MATCH REPORT: Manchester United vs Liverpool

Ah, the big rivalry of Manchester United and Liverpool is upon us once again. However, the usual hype that surrounds this game wasn't the same this time around. It was the stories off the pitch that made the headlines instead of what was going to happen on the pitch. Both teams were also without their usual captains in Wayne Rooney and Jordan Henderson respectively. The only question left was whether or not this would be a match as memorable as some of those in the past. None the less, for both sets of fans it is a fixture they look forward to from the moment the new fixture lists are released.

The first half was boring though. United were keeping a lot of possession throughout the half, meaning Liverpool didn't get a lot of time to create any chances. The game lacked the passion that people have enjoyed watching in the past. The passion that the likes of Steven Gerrard or Gary Neville, for example, carried into the game. The home team looked calm on the ball and were playing at a slow pace. The away team though, looked the opposite. At the beginning of the half, the defence and goalkeeper for Liverpool looked extremely nervy and made a couple of mistakes that they could maybe have been punished for. They did grow into the game more as the game went on, but it was extremely tight-knit and neither side had created any clear-cut chances when the whistle blew for half time. 

Both teams did have a half-chance each in the first 45 minutes though. In the 7th minute, Simon Mignolet came out and caught the ball from a cross and decided to try and calmly roll the ball to the defender in front of him. He didn't judge the roll properly though as the ball bounced off Juan Mata's heal and into the path of Marouane Fellaini who rushed his chance and looped the ball over the crossbar, much to the relief of Mignolet. Liverpool's first dangerous move forward came halfway through the half. The first ball into the box was cleared by Luke Shaw but only into the path of James Milner outside the box. He didn't get a clean contact though and could only direct the ball wide of the post with the outside of his boot. 

The second half was a completely different story. United kept a lot of the ball again in the opening moments of the half, but they were moving it with more pace than they had in the first half. Louis van Gaal brought on Ashley Young in place of Memphis Depay, and it was Young's first run towards the Liverpool box that caused the problems. Nathaniel Clyne gave away the free kick by blocking him off just outside of the box. Mata takes the free kick and squares it back across to the middle of the box where Daley Blind was waiting to fire his shot first time into the top corner of the net without any pressure from the Liverpool players. 

At the other end of the pitch 10 minutes, the other goalkeeper also made a mistake. David de Gea, who made his return to the team after signing a new four year deal, cleared the ball poorly and it landed at the feet of Lucas who played the ball neatly to Clyne before Roberto Firmino had the chance to cross the ball into the box, but United cleared it eventually after some messy defending. They had another chance not long after when Dejan Lovren played his header forward to Danny Ings on the edge of the six yard box. The forward didn't make great contact with the ball, but he still forced de Gea into making a great save to turn the ball out. 

After the goal, Liverpool threw a lot more into their attacking moves and they were agonisingly close just after the hour mark. Milner swung his corner in and Martin Skrtel got the first flick before Ings directed it towards the centre of the goal where Blind cleared the ball off the line and back into play. It was Firmino with the follow up chance from point-blank range and he looked like he might be able to put it into the back of the net but instead he puts it wide of the post he is stood next to. 

So, Liverpool didn't take their chances, but Ander Herrera certainly took his. Shortly after that chance for Liverpool, Michael Carrick played a forward ball to Herrera who made a run into the box when Joe Gomez goes to ground and takes Herrera with him to give away the penalty. After winning the spot kick, Herrera stepped up to take it and emphatically hits it into the roof of the net to double United's lead. Mignolet did go the right way, but there was nothing the keeper could have done to stop it. 

This really forced Liverpool to inject some pace into their game. Following the penalty, they had a lot more chances to try and make a comeback within the match. Milner set up the first chance after being left in a lot of space on the right wing to put in the cross and found Christian Benteke, who had a miserable beginning to the match, but he put his header wide. Jordan Ibe caused a few problems for Shaw down the right side and for his chance, came inside onto his left foot and curled the ball around to the far side of the goal, but de Gea pulled off a great save to turn it out for a corner. 

The corner was played across the pitch to Ibe on the right who instantly put a cross into the box. Blind got up and headed the ball, but couldn't get any distance on his clearance. It was that header that carried the ball into the path of Benteke on the edge of the six yard box and he twisted in the air to fire his overhead kick into the back of the net, giving the keeper no chance of saving it. Liverpool had looked dangerous in the moments leading up to the goal, so it looked like they might just be able to pull another goal back before the end of the match. 

This wasn't the case though. United's new signing, Anthony Martial was introduced to play midway through the second half but didn't see much of the ball at the beginning of his debut. Only minutes after Benteke's goal though, Young played him in around the halfway line and the teenager made a darting run into the Liverpool penalty area, weaved his way past three Liverpool defenders without any trouble and curled his side-footed shot under the keeper and into the far bottom corner of the net; effectively finishing the game off for the home side. 

At the beginning of the match, it was said that both managers were under some pressure, and if that is the case, then some more might have just been heaped onto Brendan Rodgers. He went to Old Trafford with a defensive set-up in mind, but when it came to his attacking tactics, they didn't look very strong. Unlike Liverpool sides of old, they didn't look like they were there to take the game by the scruff of the neck and going to win. However, the latter end of the second half might have been a slight positive to take from the game in an attacking sense. For United, it looks like they will see their new signing in the headlines in a positive light following the match after a lot of pressure had been put on Martial due to the price tag he carried. One thing is for sure though; he has already made his mark on the Premier League. 

Rooney in the Spotlight

Wayne Rooney is a name that has been spread across the back pages for around a month now and on the lips of everyone in the media when they talk about football. It hasn't exactly been good press either, most of the time with pundits and journalists wondering where his next goal is going to come from or whether he is actually good enough to play in a centre forward role anymore. He has, of course, scored goals for Manchester United in the Champions League but has come up short in the Premier League making these claims get louder by the week. 

When it came to the international break though, people were talking about him for a completely different reason. He has been so close to breaking the England goal-scoring record for quite a while now, so every time he pulls on an England shirt that is the only thing people can focus on. He's finally answered all the demands that were directed his way by not only equalling the record, but also by overtaking it to be the all-time record England goal scorer and the first man to ever score 50 goals for his country (congratulations to him).

After all the negative press surrounding him in recent weeks, it's refreshing to hear his name in a positive light. I think everyone expected him to score in the game against San Marino, which he did, but then people also expected him to get more than the one in the game. It was clear after the match that when Roy Hodgson decided to substitute him, people were questioning why he hadn't been allowed to finish the match and break the record in that game. It needs to be said as well that by equalling the record in the San Marino game, it means that he did it in as many games as Sir Bobby Charlton, which is another great achievement in itself. 

He couldn't have chosen a better stage to break the record though. Switzerland were tough opponents and it took England until midway through the first half to break the deadlock through Harry Kane. It was 6 minutes from the end when the moment everyone was waiting for came though. Raheem Sterling made a run into the penalty area and got taken down and the referee awarded a penalty almost instantly. As soon as he pointed to the spot, you could tell there was a change in the air around Wembley Stadium. For the first time as far as I can remember Rooney actually looked nervous as he stepped back in preparation for the spot kick, but the second he saw it hit the back of the net, you could see the pride and the emotion on his face. I'm pretty sure he got a standing ovation as well (a well deserved one if you ask me). 

It wasn't even just the one record that Rooney broke yesterday. He became the first England player to score in 7 consecutive competitive international games (a post-war record) and the penalty took him to his 300th goal for club and country combined. He's also been tipped by his fellow England team mates and the manager to get even more goals and has been named the talisman - all of this happened after the match. Since Saturday, the media have been raving about how Rooney is such a great goal scorer, when a week before they were complaining about some of his poorer performances at the beginning of the season.

My point is, whenever Rooney has a bad game, people are quick to jump on the bandwagon and pile more and more pressure onto him. They count down the minutes since he last got a goal, pick apart every performance he's ever done and then when he doesn't perform well in the next match, they question why. I don't think Rooney ever lets the opinions of others affect him personally, but what if he did? It would certainly explain why he struggled sometimes on the pitch. Then when he puts in a good performance one match and maybe has an off-game the next, suddenly his good performance becomes the 'one-off'. In this day and age, people are too quick to judge the players on the pitch. I'm not saying fans only call out Rooney, because that isn't true, but piling pressure onto players, young or experienced, can't be good if it gets inside their heads. Personally, I think the fans should show their support for the player instead of slating him and then making a 180 during the next match. Then again, I have a feeling that won't be happening any time soon.

So, if everything carries on as normal, and Rooney doesn't score against Liverpool at the weekend, I guess his performance and achievements over the last 5 days will soon be forgotten, and we will be back to hearing how he's losing his touch as a centre forward. If that is the case, it was nice while it lasted...

Transfer Overload?

So, as the transfer window in Britain came to a close yesterday, a few big stories made their way onto the back pages. There was of course, the carry-ons of the big stories that have been circulating around the footballing world for the past two or three months, and then some surprises that the fans weren't expecting. The fans were expecting something from their clubs on this day though as they always are. 

The biggest transfer story over Monday and Tuesday was the collapse of a deal between Manchester United and Real Madrid. This is a deal that has been in the news since about January, sometimes in glaringly obvious articles and other times just subtle hints as people guessed what would happen on the market. This was one of the deals that everyone expected to happen, including the United fans who genuinely thought they would see their keeper leave in this window. If that was the case, it seems to be a mystery that Real didn't make a bid that would make United happy earlier in the window instead of leaving it so late. By Monday night, it looked like people would be waking up to see David de Gea standing in Madrid with his new shirt in hand telling everyone how happy he is to see the deal happen. Only that wasn't the case. Both clubs are pointing the finger at each other when asked who was late with the paper work, so it doesn't look like there will be actual answers any time soon. To add to all of this, it is now said he is thinking about signing a contract extension and will be reintegrated into the team. I don't think you'll ever see an opinion change as quickly as that for a long time again...

Then of course there was the constantly rejected bids from both Chelsea and Tottenham for John Stones and Saido Berahino respectively. Everton dealt really well with the advances from Chelsea and turned down all of the bids with seemingly easy decisions. There was some confusion at one point when Stones handed in a transfer request that wasn't a transfer request, but the news quickly blew over and he still seems to be an important player for him team as they move forward. 

Berahino was another story. Now, I've been told that we shouldn't judge him too harshly due to a rough childhood and that he should be better protected by his agent instead of being allowed free reign when it comes to social media and the press. He obviously isn't happy at West Brom, as he has made clear in the not so distant past, and he wants to move onto "bigger things". However, there is probably a right way to do it, and many people would agree that it is not by sending out a rash tweet while you're angry stating you never wants to play for them again. He's been given time off (most likely to think about what he's said and cool down a little bit) but it'll be interesting to see what comes of him in the next few weeks. 

There obviously were deals that actually happened that got the fans excited, and not just sat staring at their phones and TV screens to see how the drama played out. Watford had a lot of new players come into the squad (15!), not big name signings, but players that show a lot of potential to shine for their team if they can get them to gel properly. Stoke was another team to add a lot of names to their squad list, including the good signing of Xherdan Shaqiri who got his first game for them recently. Again, if they can get the team to gel, they look like they might be in with a good chance of pushing for a top table finish. 

Then, there was the big spenders at Manchester City. Over the recent seasons, they have been known to splash their cash on some great quality players, and this season looks to be no different. Raheem Sterling was another well talked about transfer in the lead up to the window, and City pulled together the deal really quickly so they would have him ready for their pre-season. He seems to have settled in really well, and got his first goal for the club recently, and has already forged a partnership with David Silva that looks very dangerous. Then there was the other big money signing of Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg a couple of days before deadline day. He was another player with a lot of speculation surrounding him, and it seems the club pulled through. On top of that, they managed to snatch the deal of Nicolas Otamendi who looked on his way to their city rivals and Fabian Delph. After an already sparkling start to the season and a strong intake of players, it looks like City could be on their way to another brilliant season. 

Speaking of Fabian Delph, in some ways it looked like Aston Villa might struggle after some of the players they lost. Delph was the captain last season and they also lost Christian Benteke to Liverpool; two of their best players leaving early on in the window. However, Tim Sherwood did some good business to rest his fans at ease. He strengthened the defence, firstly by bringing in Micah Richards at the beginning of the window and on deadline day, adding Joleon Lescott as well. It was a signing up front though that proved to be worth it. Rudy Gestede coming in from Blackburn looks like he might just be able to fit into the space that Benteke vacated. On his debut, he managed to lead Villa to a win, and if he stays fit and can find a constant rhythm in his form, it looks like he will be in for a good season. 

Swansea were another team that made a great signing when it came to the forward position. Andre Ayew, a free transfer, has already scored in three of his first four appearances which isn't a particularly easy thing to do, but it proves to be even more impressive when you realise that two of those appearances were against Manchester United and last season's champions Chelsea. There are of course other players brought in by Gary Monk, but Ayew has certainly got that star quality that not a lot of people would have expected from him. So far though, he has been brilliant and if he pulls more performances like that one out of the bag, then a lot of football fans will be clamouring to watch him. 

As last season's champions, a lot of people expected Chelsea to bring in some reinforcements for an already brilliant squad. Last season they looked almost unstoppable, and although many fans expected them to start right where they left off, it doesn't seem to have quite happened like that. A stand out from his debut for them was Pedro who they brought in from Barcelona, and having scored on his debut in a match that Chelsea won (not as comfortably as they thought they would in the end though), it looked like they might have just found another quality player to help them with the goals this season. They also brought in Radamel Falcao, who scored his first goal for them at the weekend, so their attacking options are looking particularly strong. They maybe could have done with another defender being brought in. Even though they were solid last season, it doesn't look to be the same this time out. They tried and failed to secure Stones, but maybe with the power and confidence of their forward players, their defence will get back up to the expected heights. 

Manchester United saw a host of new players come into the club, but it was the long list of players that left the club that had people talking about that as much as the de Gea saga. The British record transfer signing Angel di Maria had insisted that he would be staying at the club instead of leaving after a relatively lacklustre first season at the club. However, it all seems to have been an empty promise as he left for Paris Saint Germain pretty early on in the transfer market. The United fans also saw two of their strikers leave in Robin van Persie for Fenerbache and fan favourite Javier Hernandez for Bayer Leverkusen. It seems that Hernandez especially struggled to earn a place under Louis van Gaal after he was also loaned out to Real Madrid last season. Van Gaal also chose to send Adnan Januzaj out on loan to Borussia Dortmund after assuring fans he wouldn't be leaving the club, but he will be back next summer as there is no option to buy at the end of the deal. So, van Gaal is clearly marking United as his own as he works to building his perfect side that could win the title. The list of departing players is more than likely to carry on growing though as time goes on. 

Arsenal always seem to leave their big money signings until the last minute, leaving their fans guessing up until the dying moments. Sometimes it looks like there might be nothing happening before the news filters through that a big name player or one with a lot of potential has turned up at their training ground or is heading to his medical; kind of like the deals of Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck. This year though, something felt different. They brought in Petr Cech very early in the season, who is a great keeper and looked like he would give the solidarity at the back (first match aside that is). While Arsenal fans waited as the minutes counted down to the deadline, nothing else was happening and when it closed, they only had one new name on their team sheet. There was of course rumours about Karim Benzema and Edison Cavani possibly putting pen to paper, but the rumours fizzled out pretty quickly. Arsene Wenger is clearly happy with the squad he has though, and it will be good to see if his belief in them truly pays off. 

I feel like there is so much here that I haven't had chance to comment on, but the amount of players moving between clubs is too much to keep up with, coupled with the amount of rumours flying around. It looks like some fans are still unhappy with the signings not made at their clubs though, depending on whether or not that marquee signing did or didn't show up at their training ground. And with another record breaking spending (£870million!) it looks like the transfer market is growing ever bigger as the years go back. Now though, the stress is over and the fans can relax and finally enjoy the football with the knowledge that their favourite player is still going to be wearing that team's kit as the weeks go by. 

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal vs Liverpool

It was another Premier League weekend that was marked with a clash between two of the heavy weights in the league. Liverpool sit the highest of the two in the table at the beginning of the night and would be looking to record their third consecutive win to maintain their 100% start to the campaign and sitting level with Manchester City with 9 points at the top of the table. Arsenal would be looking to build on last weekend's win and register their first home win of the season after a horrible start to the League against West Ham on the opening weekend. However, both teams were forced into making changes that affected their normal set ups, so the game was nicely poised between the two.

Liverpool certainly saw the better of the chances in the first half and looked increasingly dangerous as the half went on. In the early moments of the game, Emre Can set up Christian Benteke on the edge of Arsenal's 18 yard box, but his shot was narrowly wide of the near post. Only a minute later, the team was presented with another golden opportunity and this time it was Benteke who set up the chance. Philippe Coutinho took on the shot with his first touch and swerved it around, aiming for the far netting, but instead saw it bounce off the post before rebounding into play and getting cleared by Arsenal. 

Arsenal did get a couple of chances in front of goal, but they were wasteful. Nacho Monreal put a great cross in from the left to the far post where Alexis Sanchez tries to turn his header towards the goal, but he sent it just wide of the post. His second chance came within minutes after Liverpool failed to clear their lines. Martin Skrtel and James Milner both had their chances and it almost came back to them, but Sanchez missed the first attempt and was swiftly judged offside. It was another offside decision that stopped Arsenal from taking the lead as well. Santi Cazorla played a brilliant through ball to Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the 6 yard box who then slipped the ball under the keeper just before the flag went up. However, he was wrongly judged offside, and Arsenal fans weren't too happy about that decision. 

Arsenal's defence looked extremely shaky throughout the rest of the first half without Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny. 15 minutes in, Calum Chamber gave the ball away inside his own penalty area instead of clearing the ball, but Francis Coquelin made a good tackle which prevented the shot being taken. None of the Arsenal defenders were closing down the ball either which allowed Milner to make a run into the box where Coutinho played him in after being gifted the ball. Milner's first attempt at a square ball to his team-mate was cut out but he got a second chance but saw it turned off the near post by Petr Cech.

Benteke had another good chance as the half came to a close as well. Roberto Firmino, in his first start for the club, squared the ball across the box in a dangerous position that prevented the Arsenal defender from a sliding clearance at the risk of an own goal, and Benteke came onto the ball at the far post and almost got the better of Cech, but the keeper did well to get down and turn the ball away. Coutinho pulled off some fancy footwork to work his way into space and took on the shot from close range, but for the second time in the half saw the woodwork come to Arsenal's rescue after a fingertips save from Cech.

It was Arsenal who saw the best of the second half though. Their defensive frailties seemed to have been left behind, and they looked a lot brighter, and it looked as though they might just be able to steal this came out from underneath Liverpool. Something that certainly seemed to have changed was the speed of Arsenal's play as they pushed the Liverpool defence back. Olivier Giroud alone had a lot of good chances. The first of these was only a half chance though, as the ball came across to the forward, but Skrtel had matched him and beat him to stop the danger and the second was an attempted first touch finish that ended wide of the far post.

On the hour mark, Sanchez had a great chance following a set-up from Mesut Ozil, and he took the shot from a very close, tight angle which almost came off for him, but instead the woodwork of the goal got in the way of yet another chance and the danger passed. Giroud racked up another chance after this when he was left in a lot of space in the Liverpool area after the defenders had been led away. He slipped as he took on the shot, but still managed to poke it towards the goal, but Mignolet's brilliant reaction save prevented him from getting his goal. 

Ramsey also got a couple of chances towards the end of the half, and he was desperate to score after having his earlier effort ruled out. His first shot was a curled effort around the defender (the initial pass to play him in was from Giroud), but Mignolet was left with a comfortable save in the end. His second chance did cause the Liverpool keeper some problems though. Ramsey carried the ball through a good run, and took on the long-range shot which was low. Mignolet needed two attempts, but managed to hold onto it before any of the Arsenal players could collect the rebound. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain proved to be a handful for Joe Gomez when he came onto the pitch, and one of his first contributions was a whipped cross into the box which Skrtel got his boot to in a clearance, and although he cleared it, it was almost at the expense of an own goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain also had a long-range shot that curled round towards the far post turned away by Mignolet deep into added time which marked the end of the match.

In the end, a draw probably served as the right result between the two teams. Both had their own dominant half in the game, and although there definitely should have been more goals if either team had taken their chances, it was a strong display overall, especially defensively from Liverpool's points of view. This means the away side continue their unbeaten run at the beginning of the season, not quite level with Man City's record, but they are still sitting pretty at the top of the table for the time being. However, Arsenal's home form might be a slight worry for Arsene Wenger, but this early on in the season, there is still a lot of time for things to improve.

MATCH REPORT: Man City vs Chelsea

It's the first big battle between two of the heavy weights in the Premier League as the last season's runners-up welcome the Champions. Chelsea didn't have a great run out last week after losing their goalkeeper and dropping 2 points, while Manchester City certainly started with style. They dominated their opening game and came out with a 3-0 to show for it. It will still be an interesting game judging by these games last season which showed off both team's attacking and defensive qualities. In a game like this though, anything could happen.

It was City who came out of the blocks flying and they certainly took the game by the scruff of the neck within the opening minutes of the game. Sergio Aguero, especially, proved to be a big threat to the visitors from the very beginning. Within the first minute, David Silva had slipped a ball through to him, and he got in between the two defenders before forcing Asmir Begovic to make himself big to stop him from scoring. Shortly after, Aleksander Kolarov swings his free kick round to the near post where Aguero almost managed to get his boot to it, but Begovic was placed well to catch the ball anyway. 

In the 15th minute, Aguero had another chance in front of goal. His shot was powerful and was heading towards the bottom left corner before Begovic got down to block the shot with his arm. Not even a minute later, Aguero had a similar chance. This time he was on the left corner of the six-yard box and hit the shot with just as much power and Begovic pulled off a similar save to deny him again. Five minutes after this one, Aguero had his fifth chance of the first half after John Terry couldn't deal with a cross into the box at the risk of him scoring an own goal. Aguero failed to sort his feet out quick enough though and the scuffed shot went wide of the post as Begovic closed him down. Aguero even applauded the keeper for his many successful saves against him. 

Somewhere between Aguero's quick hat-trick of chances, Chelsea managed to find a foothold in the game. They finally had their first big chance of the game following a Cesc Fabregas free kick which on its first go didn't cause any problems, but City couldn't close the Chelsea players down quick enough. Eden Hazard eventually managed to chip the ball towards Nemanja Matic at the near post, but the midfielder could only direct his header wide of the post. They also had a few long range efforts from outside the box, but it looked like they were finally going to prove a threat to their opposition. 

However, even though they had started to look good when moving forward. It was a different story when they came to defending. It took until just after the half hour mark for Aguero to finally get the better of the Chelsea defence. No pressure was put on him from the Chelsea defenders until it was too late, and even then he managed to turn three of the defenders before he calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left of the goal. The goal certainly unsettled Chelsea and they almost came unstuck again just before half time when Kolarov put a brilliant free kick into the box which Eliaquim Mangala got his head to. He chose to just glance the ball onto the target though, not putting enough power behind it, meaning the ball ended wide of the post. 

Chelsea did come out for the second half looking like a more confident team. Ramires had an early goal wrongly disallowed after some good build-up play from Chelsea that finally took them past the City defence. Hazard switched the play from right to left before coming in to the centre of the field to slip the ball through to Ramires in the middle of the 18 yard box. He lifted the ball past Hart, but it was quickly disallowed to keep City in the lead. Chelsea had another chance to pull a goal back on the counter attack after City committed too many men forward. Diego Costa lead the attack and almost lost the ball before he pulled it back to Hazard who hit the ball hard, but straight at the keeper and Joe Hart pulls off a great save to prevent the goal. 

10 minutes later, the City captain made Chelsea rue the chances that they missed. Silva floated a corner into the near post where Vincent Kompany got the better of Branislav Ivanovic and headed the ball against the inside of the far post to help the ball into the back of the net. It was another poor goal for Chelsea to let in, especially as this goal was extremely similar to the one he scored in his last game. Yaya Toure followed this up a few minutes later with a shot from the edge of the box that curved round as he sent it towards the goal, but Begovic was in the right place to turn the ball away.

Minutes after this, Chelsea defence was given the run around once again as Fernandinho finished off the game for City. It was a City counter attack led by Samir Nasri that started it, but the initial cross into the box was turned away by Juan Cuadrado, who had drifted into the left back position. After a few half chances, the ball landed to Fernandinho outside the box and he hit the ball sweetly and the power of the shot carried it into the bottom left corner of the net. The goal might have been prevented though if Cuadrado had stayed in his defensive position instead of drifting off, and Chelsea fans would argue that Fernandinho was lucky to still be on the pitch after he only saw a yellow card for an elbow on Costa at the end of the first half. 

The game ended with Chelsea attacking the City goal in the hopes of simply getting a consolation goal. Costa had his go first but could only direct his shot against the near post, and Radamel Falcao followed this up, but Hart came out of his goal quickly to smother the shot and keep his clean sheet. 

So, the defending champions new title challenge has gotten off to a pretty dismal start, and Jose Mourinho will need to think about improving his side's defence if they want to catch up to City in the coming matches. However, it is looking good for City as they challenge for the title this time out after moving 5 points ahead of Chelsea and recording two very convincing, consecutive 3-0 wins. It is still early on though, and anything could happen over the course of the season knowing the Premier League...

Premier League: Opening Weekend

The new Premier League season was kicked off with a big fixture as Manchester United faced off against Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs were particularly dominant in the opening exchanges of the match, and had two chances from Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane to prove this. However, they didn't make the most of this period and they came to regret it after a sloppy piece of play by Nabil Bentaleb which gave the ball to Juan Mata. He played the ball across to Matteo Darmian on the right, and he put a brilliant cross into Wayne Rooney in the six yard box. He hesitated to take the chance, and Kyle Walker tried to clear the ball out from behind, but instead saw the ball nestle neatly into the corner of his own net. United grew in confidence following this, but didn't create any more clear cut chances until the second half. Spurs did have the chance to possibly snatch a late goal, but their pressure came too late, and United secured all three points thanks to debutant goalkeeper, Sergio Romero. 

Leicester seemed to pick up exactly where they left off. Even though Sunderland had the better chances early on, it was the home side that recorded the first goal through Jamie Vardy after he flicked the ball in off the inside of the post from a free kick. Riyad Mahrez followed this with two goals in quite quick succession. The first was a header flicked into the side netting from a Marc Albrighton cross and the second was from the spot after Lee Cattermole gave away the penalty kick. He sent the keeper the wrong way and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner. Sunderland had a reply though; Adam Johnson slipped the ball into the box where Jermain Defoe was in place to slot the ball under the keeper. Leicester weren't done yet though. After a number of failed attempts, Albrighton eventually managed to deflect his shot off Younes Kaboul which took it past the keeper. Steven Fletcher added another goal for Sunderland, but it came too late for them to mount a successful comeback.

Another team to pick up where they left off was Crystal Palace. Early in the first half, Wilfried Zaha had already put his team ahead. Jason Puncheon came down the right and put a brilliant cross into the box, which missed all the other players and landed to Zaha, in space, who turned the ball into the goal off the keeper. Damien Delaney followed this up from a Palace corner. Pape Souare made a last second run into the box, so wasn't picked up and headed it to Delaney on the post who calmly nudged it over the line. Norwich had a lot of chances in the game, but they didn't take any of them until the second half. Nathan Redmond managed to create something out of nothing as he took on the shot from outside the box and caught the keeper of guard as it hit the net. Cameron Jerome also had a great volleyed goal wrongly disallowed, as the referee pulled play back for a high boot. Yohan Cabaye rounded it all off for Palace though as he timed his run perfectly before he tucked the ball under the keeper.

On paper, it looked like new boys Watford would have a tough game against Everton as their first, but they made quick work of the match. They settled into Premier League life relatively quickly, and looked confident on the ball. Miguel Layun was in the right place on the penalty spot to lift the ball up and over the keeper to settle in the goal when Everton failed to clear their lines. Everton didn't have many good chances until midway through the second half. Seamus Coleman crossed the ball into Arouna Kone on the edge of the box, who had his back to goal, so he teed up Ross Barkley who put some power behind his shot and watched it pinball through the players before it flew over the keeper. Watford took the lead again though when Odion Ighalo took the ball past John Stones and curled the ball around the defender and the keeper. However, it was Kone who had the last say in the match when he converted his late goal from a tight angle on the right side of the box. 

Bournemouth also looked comfortable in their first half against Aston Villa, and they created a lot of chances that would have allowed them to take a foothold in the game. Villa did well to defend against these chances though and came out for the second half looking like a different team. It was new boy Rudy Gestede who proved to be the difference between the two sides. From a Villa corner, he rose above everyone else in the box and powered his header past the keeper and into the back of the net. Bournemouth just couldn't get past the defence though, and they learnt the hard way that they need to take their chances to go further in the Premier League. 

The defending champions faced off against Swansea as they mounted their challenge to retain their trophy. Swansea came closest to scoring at the beginning of the match, but it was Oscar who put his name on the score-sheet. A free kick taken from outside the left side of the box was whipped across the front of the crowd of players and settled into the side netting. Swansea had a reply for this shortly after though. Swansea had a number of chances before Andre Ayew eventually slotted the ball under Thibaut Courtois following this. They weren't level for long however, after Willian went up the other end and crossed the ball into the box, but it looped off Federico Fernandez and over his keeper. However, the game was flipped on its head when Courtois saw red and gave away a penalty for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity. Gomis sent the keeper the wrong way and the goal gave Swansea a new sense of confidence. Chelsea did rally towards the end, but it was too late to get anything. 

Arsenal were looking confident at the beginning of their match after last week's Community Shield win over Chelsea. They had a particularly good spell at the beginning of the half, one in which they didn't take their chances, which allowed West Ham to really come into the game. Both teams had half chances in the lead up to half time, but this was when West Ham found their breakthrough. A free kick is looped into the box and Petr Cech came flying out of his goal to punch the ball away, but Cheikhou Kouyate beat him to it and powered his header into the empty net. Arsenal looked clumsy and laboured after this goal, and it carried on into the second half. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain couldn't clear his lines and was dispossessed by Mauro Zarate on the edge of the box. He turned and fired the shot into the bottom corner past a wrong-footed Cech. Although Arsenal had more chances towards the edge of the game, West Ham did well to defend their lead. 

Newcastle under their new manager in this game looked a completely different side to the one that finished last season. They made a bright start to the match and confidence flowed through them as they registered the better chances of the two teams. Against the run of play though, it was Graziano Pelle that put the visitors ahead. Cedric Soares put a brilliant ball into the box and Pelle got up well and had no trouble powering his header past the defenders and Tim Krul. Just before half time, Newcastle fought back. Massadio Haidara's cross looped up off Sadio Mane and Papisse Cisse simply had to chest the ball over the line from close range. Newcastle took the lead through a counter-attacking goal when Gabriel Obertan whipped his cross into the box where Georginio Wijnaldum guided the ball into the net past the stranded keeper. Shane Long finished the game off with another perfectly placed header when he beat his defender to the ball at the far post.

Fans had high hopes for the match between Stoke City and Liverpool after Stoke recorded a 6-1 thrashing over their visitors. This match couldn't have been more of an opposite from that one though. The beginning of the game was extremely cagey and very lacklustre compared to that game when Stoke were 5-0 ahead by half time. The home team did have the better of the first half chances though, the best of which came from ex-Liverpool defender Glen Johnson when he hit the ball over the crossbar. The second half saw Liverpool grow into the game though, but Stoke were still managing to contain them and turn away the chances. Late in the game, Liverpool picked the ball up midway through the Stoke half and Philippe Coutinho turned past Steve Sidwell and sent his long-range strike into the top of the net and over Jack Butland. Stoke had a few late chances, but were ultimately unlucky not to get anything out of the game. 

The opening weekend ended at the Hawthorns with a first half that was dominated by City, and although Tony Pulis set his team up in a defensive set-up, it just didn't work. Yaya Toure got two goals within a short period in the first half. His first is a slight doubt between him and David Silva. Toure scuffed his initial shot and it took a deflection off Silva and Craig Dawson before nestling into the bottom of the net. The second certainly had no doubt over it though. From the edge of the box, he found the top of the net with a brilliantly struck shot that just cemented City's dominance in the game. West Brom were a lot better at the beginning of the second half, and managed to create a few chances which the City defence turned away. It was all over from a Silva corner though. Vincent Kompany made a run towards the near post and ended up turning the ball into the net using a mixture of his head and his shoulder. Even though it seemed like the visitor eased off after their third goal, West Brom just couldn't get past their defence to get their goal. 

MATCH REPORT: FA Community Shield

Less than a week before the new season truly begins, last season's Champions face off against the FA Cup winners of last season. This time out in the FA Community Shield, Chelsea faced off against Arsenal, who listed this Shield a year ago. Chelsea were without Diego Costa in this game due to injury and Petr Cech faced off against his old team after leaving them earlier in the summer, but would he get the better of his old team so early into the season? If the stats were anything to go by, it looked unlikely as Arsene Wenger had never been able to beat Jose Mourinho before.

Arsenal came out of the blocks extremely quickly in the game. Within the first minute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had crossed the ball into a dangerous position from the right, but Thibaut Courtois came out of his goal to get to the ball before Theo Walcott could cause any problems. Both teams were pushing forward when they got the chance with the ball meaning that there was a quick pace to the game in the opening minutes. Chelsea put together their first good opportunity on the 11th minute when Willian forced his way through the Arsenal midfield and passed the ball to Cesar Azpilicueta down the left wing. He put in a good cross, trying to find Loic Remy, but Hector Bellerin got across well to put the ball out for a corner. 

It was Arsenal who looked the more dangerous of the two teams in the first half though. The Chelsea defence did well to deal with the quick pace of the Arsenal front players and the short passes that they tried to play in between the defenders. Arsenal had a good chance from a free kick which was whipped into the box. Walcott got his head to the ball and flicked it on towards goal, but Courtois was in place to easily catch the ball and prevent the goal. Only a minute later though, Courtois had no chance of preventing what happened. Walcott got the ball in the middle of the field and passed the ball onto Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right. He was left one-on-one with Azpilicueta and got around him to create enough room to curl his shot around the defender and into the top corner with his left foot. 

Chelsea seemed to come to their senses following the goal and began to press forward with more intent. Just after the half hour mark, they almost got the better of Arsenal as the ball was slipped into Willian, who didn't have any players around him, on the left wing and his cross was put into a crowd of players in the middle of the box, but Arsenal cleared it. Ramires also had two good chances not long after this. For his first, he got past the 4 Arsenal defenders around him and tried to curl his shot around them, but it ended up wide of the far post. The second came from a Cesc Fabregas cross which Ramires got his head to, but again, he couldn't direct his shot on target. 

It was Arsenal who finished the half with good chances. Aaron Ramsey hit the side netting from close range, but it was close enough to the goal that it forced Courtois to dive low if he needed to prevent a goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain set up another chance as well after getting around two Chelsea defenders. It looked for a second as though he might have taken the ball too far, but he cut it back as Courtois came out to him. Good defending by Branislav Ivanovic meant that the danger was cleared after he put his head on the line. 

Chelsea started the second half brightly and looked like they may be able to get a goal back. However, even though they created some half chances, none of them looked like they were causing too much trouble for the Arsenal defence until the hour mark. First, a long ball over the top of the Arsenal defence caught them out, but Radamel Falcao couldn't get his boot to the ball. This was shortly followed by Fabregas putting a great ball into Eden Hazard on the edge of the box. He had a free run into the box, but he just couldn't make the most of the chance as the ball went wide of the target.

The introduction of Olivier Giroud was good for Arsenal, as the momentum swung back their way when he came onto the field. Another good cross from Oxlade-Chamberlain aimed towards the near post where Giroud had pulled away from Ivanovic, and he stretched his left leg out, but could only direct the shot over the crossbar. Not long after, Santi Cazorla wriggled himself away from his defender on the right of the six yard box and cut the ball back to Giroud, who again couldn't keep the ball down. 

Chelsea weren't finished yet though. From a free kick, Fabregas put the ball into a good area of the box where Kurt Zouma got up above his defender to direct his header. It was aimed towards the centre of the goal and Cech made a straightforward catch to prevent the goal. Another free kick minutes later was whipped in behind the defence was met by Ivanovic, who didn't get picked up for being offside, but he couldn't direct his header onto the target. 

In the last minute of added time, Kieran Gibbs had the chance to double Arsenal's lead and double Chelsea's misery. The ball was slipped through the defence and the defenders didn't stick to Gibbs as he tried to poke the goal towards goal. Courtois did really well to get down and smother the shot.

The result of this match means that Arsenal won the Community Shield for the second time in a row, and Wenger has finally gotten the better of Mourinho on the football field. Arsenal are certainly looking a strong and confident side on the pitch, and will be feeling confident going into the new season, especially with a win like this under their belt. Chelsea will also be feeling confident though as they await the return of Costa in the near future and they are, of course, the defending Champions and favourites to retain their trophy. It's going to be a very interesting season...

Premier League Review: Top 5

Tottenham Hotspur - 5th (64 points)
This was just another season of transition in a line of many for Spurs after hiring Mauricio Pochettino as their third manager inside a year during the summer. It wasn't exactly a bright season for the team, minus some new talents coming through from the academy. Pochettino was still left with a lot of work to get the squad working well together. 

They made a winning start to the season after a 1-0 win over West Ham, which they then followed up with an emphatic 4-0 win over QPR. This was followed by a run of 4 games without a win though, which pretty much summed up Spurs' season. They would earn a really good win one week, but then follow it up with a number of weeks without a win. 

By November, Harry Kane had made a name for himself after being brought in from the youth team and became the first-choice striker for the club. This seemed to boost the morale of the team, and their form was slightly more consistent than earlier in the season. The festive period especially proved to be a good period for Spurs. They went unbeaten in these games, and it was topped by a brilliant 5-3 win over eventual champions Chelsea on New Year's Day. 

Although they made an early exit out of the FA Cup, they did make it to the final of the Capital One Cup, but went on to lose in the final 2-0 to Chelsea. Despite this, it did look like they were going to enjoy a much better second half to the season and possibly push on to challenge for a top four spot. 

Again though, their consistency proved to be a big problem as they dropped many points in games they would be expected to win. They recorded good wins over local rivals Arsenal, as well as the likes of Leicester and Newcastle, but ultimately, it seemed they had started their challenge for Champions League too late. They finished the season on a positive note after two consecutive wins which secured their fifth place finish and Europa League place.

Manchester United - 4th (70 points)
It was a second new start for United in as many season as Louis van Gaal took charge of the club. Even though they had a near perfect pre-season in terms of results, coupled with the array of new names brought in, van Gaal just couldn't get his team going when the time came. 

Before the first international break of the season, United struggled to win. In their first 10 games of the season they only managed to record 3 wins. During this spell, they also lost 5-3 to Leicester, and were held to draws by Burnley, West Brom and Sunderland. Along with this came the embarrassing 4-0 Capital One Cup defeat to League One's MK Dons. This sequence of results was brought to an end on their 1-0 derby defeat to Manchester City.

A 1-0 win over Crystal Palace marked the start of better times for the club. Following this, United went on a 10 game unbeaten streak which saw them through from November to January. They registered good wins against Arsenal, Southampton and Liverpool in this time before Southampton beat them in the reverse fixture 1-0. However, United still weren't convincing in the manner that they won these games, but it seemed to help in boosting their confidence during the second half of the season. 

At the quarter final stage of the FA Cup, after a relatively easy run in the competition compared to their opponents, United old boy Danny Welbeck - a player van Gaal judged to be an unneeded asset to his team - sealed their fate after scoring the winning goal for Arsenal. 

They did have a brilliant run of performances and results from mid-March to mid-April after the convincingly dispatched of Spurs, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Man City. However, their form for the majority of the season was inconsistent, which was proven as they lost 3-0 to Everton not long after this run. Van Gaal will also be hoping he can get the best out of his record signing Angel di Maria as he pushes for a higher league finish next time out. 

Arsenal - 3rd (75 points)

It was a very up and down season for Arsenal. They suffered their worst start to a season since 1982 which saw a lot of pressure piled onto Arsene Wenger once again, but after Christmas, they were the in-form team which had the fans dreaming of a title success. 

Their opening games didn't include any losses, but it did include a lot of needlessly dropped points in their collective draws. One of the biggest problems for Arsenal seemed to when they faced off against the big teams. In the beginning of the season, they managed to rack up a couple of points, but they struggled to beat them in the early stages. 

Their Champions League campaign also didn't start great as they lost to Borussia Dortmund, but they qualified the group stages with ease with only one other slip up. It also looked like they would reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010 after they drew Monaco, but they threw this chance away after a terrible result in the home tie. Although they won the return leg, it just wasn't enough to take them through. 

They did improve dramatically after Christmas which saw them rocket up the table to sit snugly in the top four, very close to the top and to the leaders Chelsea. They went on a long unbeaten streak and secured good wins against Manchester City and Liverpool, as well as good draws against Chelsea and Manchester United. They did endure some frustrating games and losses to the likes of Swansea towards the end of the season, but they still finished the season on a high. 

After their final weekend win against West Brom, they faced Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final. Last season, Arsenal didn't start quickly enough and needed an extra time goal to seal their win. This season, it seemed they had learnt their lesson. With a few brilliant goals, they sealed their trophy win in style, while overtaking all other teams to become the one with the most FA Cup wins. 

Manchester City- 2nd (79 points)
Man City started the season as the defending champions and added two additional players to the squad in the hopes of retaining their trophy. However, just like the last time they were in this situation, they struggled to maintain performance levels in order to challenge Chelsea throughout the campaign. 

They had a particularly good first half to the season. In this period, they suffered only two losses - to Stoke and West Ham - but also dropped a lot of points through draws in games they would normally be expected to win. During the previous season, Yaya Toure proved to be a star player by helping to push his team to the title by scoring 20 goals, but his 2 goals by late November definitely didn't reflect this, and results for City also showed this. 

Their Champions League group stage wasn't the brightest, but they put together enough good performances at the end of it to see their name in the draw for the last 16. This included a brilliant performance to earn a 3-2 win over Bayern Munich. They went out to the eventual champions Barcelona at this stage after a 3-1 aggregate defeat, which could have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for keeper Joe Hart. 

In the Premier League, there was no separating City and Chelsea at the top of the table on New Year's Day, but they were unable to keep their momentum. After this, they went 4 games without a win, which included a lucky last-minute draw with Hull. It was their consistency that let them down during the second half of the season. After losing two consecutive games to Crystal Palace and Manchester United at the beginning of April, they managed to turn it around. 

The season ended with City rediscovering their form from the beginning of the season. They finished in style by recording 6 consecutive wins, including a very good performance to beat QPR 6-0. Even though they had such a strong finish to the season, by not winning a trophy this term, their under-achievements were highlighted as this is the first time this has happened since the season that Mark Hughes started at the helm. 

Chelsea - 1st (87 points)

The summer signings that Jose Mourinho brought in at the beginning of the season proved to be the best business by a mile. Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas proved their worth instantly. Costa scored 7 goals in his first 4 appearances alone and the latter easily earned the title of top play maker. Along with bringing Thibaut Courtois back to the club and installing him as the number 1, he created a team that was pretty much unstoppable. 

They hit the top spot on the Monday night after beating Burnley and became the dominant team from then onwards. They picked up 36 points in their first 14 games which included some magnificent performances. They put 6 past Everton, beat Liverpool at Anfield and eased past Arsenal. They also earned two good draws against both Manchester teams. 

They did suffer a few blips along the way, but they only suffered three losses in the league to Newcastle, West Brom and Spurs. The last of the three was quite a heavy defeat, but it was a reality check for them. After this match they went 16 Premier League games unbeaten which left them extremely well off as they hit the home straight before they claimed their trophy. 

They did wrap up the title with three games to go. A lot of people mocked the performances of Mourinho's team in the latter stages of the season, but it still proved to be effective for them which is why Mourinho defended his tactics so relentlessly. 

The Premier League wasn't the only trophy they picked up this season. They beat Spurs 2-1 to lift the Capital One Cup at Wembley, and although many fans thought they could go on to win the quadruple, they were proved wrong. 

The FA Cup and the Champions League were the only major disappointments for them. Chelsea breezed past Watford in the third round of the FA Cup, but came unstuck after a brilliant comeback from Bradford in the next. They also looked pretty comfortable after the group stages of the Champions League. They got the ever important away goal in the first leg, and after scoring a penalty in extra time of the second, it looked good for them, only for a late goal from PSG which sealed their fate. This leaves Mourinho room to improve for next season though as they are once again going in as favourites.