Premier League weekend round up – Gameweek 6

Gameweek 6 means that each team has played six games, a possible total of 18 points. This can be considered the opening phase of the season, where losses are overlooked and wins are considered simply as wins and not as anything else. But two results this weekend could be highly defining as the title race, although too early to be determined, could make a difference with a tight finish being forecast.

Fulham versus Cardiff City wasn’t without its dose of drama as Fulham owner Shahid Khan listened closely to Cottagers’ fans clamoring for Martin Jol to be removed as his team suffered another late defeat. Steven Caulker put the visitors ahead by a Peter Whittingham corner unopposed as the home side suffered an injury blow to Scott Parker seven minutes into the game, who came off for Giorgos Karagounis.

Bryan Ruiz was able to pull back the game on level terms with a ball infield from Pajtim Kasami and sent it curling into the top corner, while David Marshall simply watched. But the Bluebirds would have been ahead soon with Jordan Mutch coming on for Kim Bo-Kyung and finding Frazier Campbell who fluffed the opportunity during the second half. It took a stoppage time goal to finally put the Prmeier League newcomers for the win when Mutch again got a long ball forward bouncing off Kieran Richardson and curled it into the top corner.

Hull City registered their second consecutive win as Robbie Brady, brought down in the box by a tame and unnecessary Joey O’Brien challenge, converted from the penalty spot sending Jussi Jaaskelainen the wrong way. Ahmed Elmohamady and Liam Rosenior were troubling the Hammers defence but weren’t able to get much shots in. West Ham’s lack of attack with Andy Carroll out because of injury became more glaring as Modibo Maiga and Mladen Petric were lacklustre and barely troubled the Scot goalkeeper, Allan McGregor.

The Saints’ fantastic league run continued as their club record signing from AS Roma, Pablo Osvaldo and England’s newest star, Rickie Lambert scored consecutively minutes after the second half began to give Southampton three points against Crystal Palace. The only notable mention of the first half was a Marouane Chamakh’s dive that deemed a yellow card for the Moroccan international.

The first goal, opening Osvaldo’s account at the club came because of a mistake by Eagles captain Mile Jedinak who lost the ball allowing the Italian international to juggle around Kagisho Dikgacoi and slot past Julian Speroni. The second goal was a landmark as Lambert curled in a perfect freekick courtesy of Dikgacoi’s foul on Osvaldo, bringing his goals tally to 200.

When the master and the apprentice meet after a gap, there can be no love lost. This is exactly what happened at White Hart Lane as the clash of the Portuguese ignited on and off the field with tensions at a high and refereeing decisions at the top of everything. Spurs got the breakthrough in the first half when promising midfielder Christian Eriksen pushed a ball to Roberto Soldado who nudged the ball onto Gylfi Sigurdsson’s path, beating Petr Cech.

The home fans promptly responded with a chant dedicated to Jose Mourinho, “You’re not Special Anymore”. It looked like Chelsea weren’t special when Andros Townsend found Soldado who was looking for Paulinho but ultimately the Serb, Branislav Ivanovic came to the rescue. Chelsea’s dismal play was too much for Mourinho who walked off before the half time whistle. With the second half came Juan Mata and a whole lot of drama.

Fernando Torres on target was denied by Jan Vertonghen but decided to show his disapproval by scratching the Belgian defender’s face which earned him a booking. The tempo of the game reached boiling point when Ivanovic and Vertonghen both were booked after the latter was involved in another spat with Torres and could have conceded a penalty when he brought down Ramires.

Instead it was a free kick where Mata sent in a curling ball to John Terry, who Vertonghen had lost and allowed to beat Hugo Lloris. Finally the game ended with Torres being sent off after apparent contact with Vertonghen again, replays not proving the decision. This only spurred the Spurs with Jermain Defoe and goalscorer Sigurdsson coming close. The fiery match ended with the apprentice acknowledging that he had finally beaten the master, despite their teams’ result.

The first significant result came when giant killers Aston Villa having begun the season beating Arsenal convincingly, again pulled off a stunning win beating Manchester City in remarkable fashion. City, buoyant with the win in the Manchester derby and an upcoming Champions League fixture looked to cruise past the home side when Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko scored putting the visitors forward on either side of a Karim El Ahmadi goal in the second half.

But while the Citizens didn’t look as threatening as they had looked last weekend, they didn’t do much to trouble Brad Guzan or the rest of Paul Lambert’s men. Goal scoring began in quick succession in the second half as a Samir Nasri corner allowed the powerful Ivorian to tap his sixth of the season from eight yards out before the first half ended. Joe Hart’s despair upped as Villa equalised six minutes into the second half when Leandro Bacuna cleverly tapped in a ball for El Ahmadi to slot past Hart, replays suggesting he was offside but the goal staying nonetheless.

But City responded five minutes later when Nasri’s cross met Dzeko’s head to smash it in past Guzan. But while City controlled possession, they turned off their pace and allowed Andi Weimann to run rampant at their defence, forcing Matija Nastasic to concede a free kick which Bacuna obliged with a curling ball to equalise. Two minutes later when Guzan casually kicked the ball towards Weimann, the Austrian was able to control the ball and tuck it past the England goalkeeper who came forward to meet him. It was the first goalkeeper assist of the season.

Another crushing victory and possible defining moment came when the Baggies won their first game since 1978 at Old Trafford amidst boos and some empty seats as Manchester United recorded their worst ever Premier League start in forever. Compared to the ten goal thriller at the Hawthorns that was a fitting swansong for Sir Alex Ferguson, this match was something that David Moyes would rather forget. The first half saw possession being held by United and West Brom continuously threatening with good tackles.

The second half saw the United defence fall apart as Morgan Amalfitano run unchallenged to bring David De Gea to his knees thus allowing the ball to go over his head and hit the net. Moyes responded with Robin van Persie’s introduction but not before Wayne Rooney’s third free kick of the season finding the net. With Adnan Januzaj and the other United Belgian, Marouane Fellaini also being introduced, the Red Devils looked to shrug off the first goal as expected. Nani brilliantly slotted in a low cross which Fellaini tapped in for what seemed to be his first club goal but was denied offside.

United soon looked like they wouldn’t be able to pull off one of their famous comebacks as Amalfitano assisted for the second goal as the ball allowed the early substitute for Scott Sinclair, Saido Berahino to slot it in past De Gea. Rooney’s free kick shot wide and a couple of Januzaj shots on target were desperate last minute attempts and United slumped to their third league defeat.

The last game on Saturday saw the Gunners notch up an impressive tenth straight away win that began at the Allianz Arena and their ninth straight win of the 2013-14 season in all competitions on Arsene Wenger’s 17th anniversary of being in charge of the club. With similar attacking styles, both teams had almost equal possession and hardly any shots on target in the first half.

Come the second half and Serge Gnabry, the young German, initiated the goal spree as he received a beautiful pass from in form Welshman Aaron Ramsey, who was subject to boos from the Welsh crowd being a former Cardiff City man himself. They would have been 2-0 up with Ramsey finding an unmarked Mesut Ozil but Michel Vorm denied the German international his first club goal.

The scoreline changed to 2-0 when Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere created a good round of passing and trickery to give Ramsey another chance at goal and he succeeded, notching his eighth of the season. The Swans did pull back one when Wilfried Bony and Ben Davies confused a relatively strong Arsenal defence to allow the left back to slot past a rattled Wojciech Szczesny but in the end Arsenal were granted three points.

Super Sunday saw two fixtures, the first being Stoke City versus Norwich City where the Canaries were awarded three points as Jonny Howson took advantage of some sloppy Stoke defense and slot the ball home past the Potters goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, Anthony Pilkington stealing the ball away. Stoke dropped down to 15th having seven points from six games, with Mark Hughes’ men having no one but themselves to blame as the game was riddled with sloppy defense and inability to get their shots on target despite having more possession.

Luis Suarez marked his Premier League return in style as he teamed up with an inform Daniel Sturridge to secure all three points for the Reds at the Stadium of Light. A Steven Gerrard corner and an alleged handball that referee Howard Webb failed to miss allowed Sturridge to put Liverpool forward. Whatever the drama of the first goal, the play of the second goal was a message to all who doubted the Uruguayan’s talent. Gerrard picked out Sturridge with a long range pass who watched the striker run past Carlos Cuellar before slotting it in past Kieren Westwood.

The hosts, who were without a manager, found some relief as Emanuele Giaccherini finding Ki Sung-Yueng’s long range pass and beating the former Black Cats goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet. But Suarez, having being denied a second with Cuellar preventing Jose Enrique’s cross, caught Sturridge’s 89th minute pass to seal the victory for the Merseysiders.

Monday Night Football saw the other Merseyside club roar to victory as their on loan signing from Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku fired them to victory with a brace as Everton conceded their 1st clean sheet of the season while remaining the only team unbeaten this season. The Belgian’s growing partnership with Ross Barkley at the back proved fruitful as both were goal scorers for the night.

The Toons were forewarned about Lukaku’s influence and were witness to a late dramatic winner against the Hammers as Lukaku proved to be a game changer again. It didn’t matter that they had conceded their first goal in nearly 12 hours as surprise retainee Yohan Cabaye and loanee from Queens Park Rangers Loic Remy tried to salvage what will thus remain an unsuccessful fixture for the Magpies.

Two upsets and the same table leader from last weekend – has the tone for the League been set?