Of the top teams in action on Saturday, Arsenal faced arguably the sternest challenge. Away at Blackburn, with Sam Allardyce’s teams becoming something of a stumbling block for Arsene Wenger in recent years, this could have well be a taster of the season to come for North London’s much maligned football purists.
Wenger faced something of a three-pronged assault in the build up to the match with Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, and Big Sam all putting in their pennies worth as to Arsenal’s failings and their manager’s foibles.
So it will have been a great relief for the Frenchman that his Arsenal side saw off a Blackburn team 2–1 that displayed not only the customary strength, pace and physicality, especially at set pieces, but also a fluid and precise counter attack that was so effective for their equalizing goal.
All in all, Arsenal looked good for their money, despite a few grisly moments in defense, particularly in the last 10 minutes when attempting to pass their way out of Blackburn’s last ditch efforts to achieve a second goal.
Theo Walcott again was excellent, scoring a superb opener to add to his three against Blackpool last weekend. Cesc Fabregas showed glimpses of his immense talent and vision, and Robin Van Persie looked incisive before being withdrawn in the first half after tweaking his ankle.
Blackburn were worthy opposition, and made for a riveting game. Their equalizing goal was excellent with Chris Samba striding out of defense with purpose and conviction, releasing El-Hadji Diouf, who showed great strength and pace to outstrip Laurent Koscielny to then square the ball perfectly through the tightest of angles for Mame Diouf to finish with aplomb.
But it was Arsenal who came up with the goods, Andrey Arshavin striking the goal which sealed the victory and brought three precious away points at a tough North-Western side.
Spurs Slip
The same sort of accolades could not be granted to Tottenham Hotspur, who slipped up at home to Wigan Athletic. Wigan had conceded 10 goals in their opening two games, including shipping four at home to Blackpool on the opening day.
Spurs were fresh from their mid-week victory which saw them qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.
However, it was Roberto Martinez’s side that looked the sharper throughout the match, and were deserving of their 1–0 victory. Wigan had three chances inside two minutes at one point in the second half.
Hugo Rodallega put in two superb crosses from the right hand flank. On the first one, Antolin Alcaraz missed an open net, and on the second, Jordi Gomez could have scored.
On the third chance Rodallega scored himself, a decent enough shot, which Carlo Cudicini should have saved.
This is the first time Wigan has won at White Hart Lane, and is an early indicator of the difficulties of sustaining competitive domestic and European campaigns.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said after the match, “We started the game sloppily and never got out of it. Credit to Wigan, they worked hard and pressed us and closed us down. We ran out of ideas about how to break them down. It was a rare bad day for us.”
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Wayne Rooney Ends Goal Drought
England fans and Man U supporters alike will be delighted that Wayne Rooney has finally overcome the longest barren spell of his career, scoring Manchester United’s first from the penalty spot in a 3–0 home victory over West Ham United.
Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes continue to defy age and all expectations, again running the show, especially in the first half. A magnificent Scholes pass found Giggs on the left, who controlled impeccably, showed great individual skill in dribbling into the box, and forcing the foul which gave Rooney his penalty.
A peach of a goal from Luis Nani gave the Red Devils their second. Scholes moved the ball forward, Rooney’s first time pass found Nani, who displayed great ball control in forging the opening, and drilled home for his first goal of the season.
An acrobatic volley from Dimitar Berbatov after a precise Nani chip put the gloss on a comfortable afternoon for last season’s runners up.
“This was a very good team performance. Everyone wanted the ball, they were looking to pass, looking to move, a good collective performance,” said Sir Alex Ferguson.
Chelsea Still Perfect
Chelsea continued their 100 percent start to the season with a 2–0 win at home to Stoke City. Although not reaching the heights of their consecutive 6–0 victories in the last two weeks, there were still chances aplenty for the reigning champions. It is hard to see them slipping up against any of the weaker sides.
They have quality across the pitch, as highlighted by the beautiful pass from central defender John Terry to create the opening goal. Striding out from defense, the ex-England captain used the outside of this right foot to thread the ball through to Florent Malouda, who crashed home emphatically with a first time shot.
Frank Lampard had missed an earlier penalty for Chelsea, but Didier Drogba made no mistake with the second, leaving Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with no chance.
Ashley Cole looked in particularly good form, working tirelessly up and down the left flank, and striking the cross bar with a scintillating swivel volley.
Stoke also hit the bar with a dramatic long range effort, and to their credit gave Chelsea a reasonable game.
“We had our moments but overall Chelsea were the better team. They have some great players and had numerous opportunities but I give credit to our lads for the effort they put in,” said Stoke manager Tony Pulis.
Elsewhere, Blackpool achieved a commendable 2–2 draw with Fulham in their first home game in the Premier league, and Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United shared the spoils 1–1 at Molineux.
