Arsenal win at home against Sunderland; Chelsea slump at home against Bournemouth
Reuters/Phil Noble
Two brilliantly crafted goals did the trick for the Potters against Manchester City, as the home side deservingly won all three points against a lifeless Manchester City. Chants of ‘Attack, Attack, Attack’ reverberated throughout Old Trafford, as Manchester United played out yet another goalless draw, this time against away specialists West Ham. An injury-ravaged Arsenal side climbed to second spot in the table, having sealed all three points against a stubborn Sunderland outfit. Chelsea dismal run of form continued, as the reigning champions suffered an embarrassing loss, albeit under controversial circumstances, in what is arguably the greatest triumph in Bournemouth history.
Manchester City have begun the busy December period in an unfavourable fashion as Manuel Pellegrini’s men were completely outplayed and dominated on a windy day at Stoke. The Britannia Stadium, over the years, has proved to be one of the toughest places to visit and City were left licking wounds quite early in this tricky encounter. Despite the absence of Yaya Toure and Sergio Kun Aguero through injuries, David Silva made a return to the starting line-up after a lengthy lay-off.
Reuters/Phil Noble
Stoke City were on the front foot from the very first minute, showing a real statement of intent and fearlessness in their game and took the lead in the 7th minute when former Liverpool man, Glen Johnson played the ball to Xherdan Shaqiri on the wing, who dribbled it past Aleksandar Kolarov and sent in an inviting cross it in to Marko Arnautovic to buried it into the back of the net. Mark Hughes’ men doubled their lead when Xherdan Shaqiri, aptly nicknamed the Alpine Messi, left Fernando for the dead with an exquisite shimmy and slipped in a defence-splitting pass to Arnautovic, who sprinted in from the left-flank and finished with ease past Joe Hart. Arnautovic could’ve scored a first-half hattrick when another Shaqiri ball through the heart of the City defence saw the Austrian clear on goal but the former Werder Bremen man slipped while taking his shot, as the ball struck the post.
It just wasn’t City’s day as the Potters could have easily won the game by 4-5 goals had their shooting boots been as sharp as they were in the first half. Manuel Pellegrini’s men lacked creativity and failed to keep a clean sheet yet again in the absence of Vincent Kompany.
The home supporters at Old Trafford were left frustrated and disappointed after yet another goalless draw, squandering a chance of going on top of the league following their neighbor’s slump at Stoke.
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The Hammers almost took the lead when Daley Blind’s pass was intercepted by West Ham captain Mark Noble who released Victor Moses but the Nigerian was denied by the strong feet of David de Gea.
West Ham created another opportunity when, David de Gea wasn’t able to catch Aaron Creswell’s low cross, and the loose ball fell to Chris Smalling whose clearance struck the woodwork, much to the relief for the United faithful. Marouane Fellaini came closest to scoring but his effort was saved by Adrian.
A host of chances were created either end of the pitch but there were no goals to show for it. It was another defensively sound display but the real problem lies at the other end of the pitch, as the Red Devils managed only one shot on target out of a staggering 21 attempts and van Gaal’s men were booed off at full time by the frustrated home support.
Arsenal had a long list of injuries and were missing Alexis Sanchez, who departed to Chile for this rehabilitation and will return only after the new year, while Santi Cazorla is out till March, after suffering a knee injury against Norwich last week. The North Londoners took the lead when German craftsman, Mesut Ozil played in a mouth watering pass through the Sunderland defence to Joel Campbell, who finished coolly past ‘keeper Pantilimon .
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Sunderland restored parity at the stroke of half-time, when Olivier Giroud turned the ball into his own from Yann M’Vila’s free-kick. Arsene Winger’s men regained their advantage as Olivier Giroud made amends for his mistake, when he thumped in a header off Aaron Ramsey’s cross in trademark fashion. Arsenal scored a late goal which virtually sealed the three points as Aaron Ramsey received a low cross by Callum Chambers which was deflected along the way, and the Welshman made no mistake from close range. Petr Cech made a host of saves to deny the Black Cats and under new manager Sam Allardyce, Sunderland look a rejuvenated side.
This victory means that Arsenal, sub-par for long periods of the match, move into second place in the table, a point to ahead of Man City and trailing by two to league leaders Leicester.
Chelsea’s faltering campaign hit a new low, as the Blues fell to a shock loss against new boys Bournemouth. Artur Boruc made a string of impressive saves to deny the likes of Eden Hazard and Pedro in the first-half. Diego Costa, who was left on the bench once again by Jose Mourinho, was brought on after half-time but was unable to make an impact on the proceedings. Although the Spaniard kept the opposition centre-backs busy, he failed find the back of the net and missed a couple of golden opportunities. The Chelsea should have won a penalty, when Diego Costa’s attempted pass back into the 6-yard box was handled by Simon Francis, who came sliding in to block the cross but the referee MikeJones waved play on.
The Cherries snatched the lead late on as an in swinging corner was punched away half heartedly by Thibaut Courtois and Steve Cook hooked it back into a dangerous area and Glenn Murray picked up the pieces as he slotted it home into an empty net. Some would argue that the flag should have been raised for offside but the assistant on the far side let the goal stand.
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The Jamie Vardy show finally came to an end but it was Riyadh Mahrez who stole the spotlight, as the Algerian scored a hat-trick against Swansea to send Leicester to the summit of the table with 32 points. Oriol Romeu rescued a point for Southampton, after Joleon Lescott had scored the opener, to deny Remi Garde his first win as Aston Villa manager.
Watford’s attacking duo of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo each scored and assisted a goal, as the Hornets secured a comfortable win over Norwich. Dele Alli, who is enjoying a rich vein of form, volleyed home the opener away at West Brom but James McClean made matters level as the Baggies held Tottenham Hotspur at the Hawthorns.
After being disqualified from the Copa Del Rey for fielding an ineligible player who was supposed to be facing a suspension, Real Madrid thumped Granada 4-1 at the Bernabeu as the trio of BBC scored all goals. Karim Benzema, who is embroiled in sex-tape blackmail case and has been banished from the French national squad, scored a brace, while Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal apiece.
A wasteful Barcelona were left to rue their missed chances, as Santi Mina’s late goal cancelled out Luis Suarez’s opener. The unlikely Gary Neville has been named Valencia boss but wasn’t at the sidelines during his side’s draw against the league leaders and will take over only after Sunday.
Bayern Munich fell to their first league defeat of the season against Borussia Monchengladbach, despite Franck Ribery scoring on his return to the first-team squad after 9 months out. Oscar Wendt, Lars Strindl and Fabian Johnson scored three second-half goals in quick succession before Ribery got his goal in the 81st minute.
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