{Underneath the Stars.

Monday, December 15, 2008

English Premier League GameWeek 17

4:19 PM

This week's premier league action left me dumbfounded.

Yes, dumbfounded.

Arsenal - Middlesbrough was the early match kick off.

Caught the match live, and was not at all impressed by Arsenal young guns

Adebayor's early goal was not very mouth watering, and Middlesbrough were let down by slack defending in the corner which resulted in Arsenal's first goal.

Then came Arsenal defence to be caught sleeping, and Tuncay's superb cross was met by Arsenal's former schoolboy Aliadiere's glancing header.

Then, it ended 1-1 after full time.

Then, it seemed to me that Arsenal were going to definitely fall out of the top 4 by the time Aston Villa win, becuase there was no question as to whether they would beat bolton.

Then came a series of matches, and I caught Liverpool - Hull

Hull have been phenomenal this season, and looking at Liverpool's poor home form of late, where they have drawn to weaker oppositions in the past few games, led me to believe Hull were going to get something here today

Well, they surprised me though with their quick dominance, as Hull stormed 2-0 ahead by the 22 minute

McShane's 12 minute header was nice. Sensational in fact.

And Carragher 22 minute own-goal was quite what Hull deserved considering how Mendy of Hull made Dossena of Liverpool look stupid

It made Carragher even more stupid because with the ball fully covered by him, He seemed to lose his first touch and turned the ball into his own empty net

That made me smile, but Gerrard's 2 goals in 10 minutes drew the game level, and made me sitting at the edge of my seat, hopping for Hull to hold on tight

They did, and it was the second draw for a Big 4 team

Arsenal and Liverpool were held

At the same time, Aston Villa were having a ball of a time at Villa Park

Agbonlahor and Young are the reason for Villa's fourth spot going into the Festive Season

And they thoroughly deserve it

Young has definietly caught my eye, and should start for England ahead of Joe Cole, Stewart Downing or any other left wingers

He and Walcott should be England's future

The assist he offered, and the goal he scored which Agbonlahor so nicely laid off for him, is my goal of the week

watch the goal here:

BPL - Aston Villa 4 Bolton 2

As a die-hard Manchester United fan, i'm wondering what would it be like if he is in our line up. Could be so much of a difference o.O

Then next up was Tottenham VS my beloved Manchested United

The prematch views were that a resurgent Tottenham under Redknapp would prevent Manchester United from profiting from the draws of Liverpool and Arsenal

But this Manchester side were relaly hoping and in need of a win befor ethey go off for CWC, effectively losing time on their greatest rivals

How it ended a stalemate, I don't know

Didnt catch the match as it was late kick off, but the highlights should me the answer

Van Der Sar was impressive and we deserved our clean sheet

Gomes was better, and Tottenham deserved a point

A loss for either side would be cruel

so I guess I wouldn't complain much except that maybe ronaldo should have scored had the ball not hit his arm unfortunately. It would bring back memories of his cheeky goal agaisnt Aston Villa last season

Saturday's matches left 3 of England's Big 4 with draws

Would Chelsea profit and take the lead at the top of the table?

It seemed like they would

Totally dominant in the opening exchanges, West Ham stood firm

And agaisnt the run of play, West Ham got the lead with a great goal

Bellamy shot was awesome, and Bosingwa was poor in defending the build up

He should not have let Noble run past him on the byline even if he felt it was a handball.

Play to the referee.

And then Anelka brought Chelsea back on terms in the second half after great build up by Drogba - Lampard - Anelka.

At the end of this gameweek, the lead at the top of the table stays the same

The teams at the top changed as Arsenal slip out of Top 4

By the end of Gameweek 18 next week, the table could potentially look like this (Assuming maximum points for Top 5 clubs playing):

Liverpool 41
Chelsea 40

Villa 34

Arsenal 33

Manchester United 32

With United having 2 games in hand.

Ever since I watched EPl since 2000, I have never seen a tighter race than this

And it looks to be getting more exciting day by day

Gameweek 18, here we comeee

Labels: Gameweek 17