Match Day 14 of the Barclays Premier League would not seem exciting to the eye of most Football supporters, but they would be sorely mistaken. A grand total of thirty-two goals were scored with many high tempo and excited matches being played out across the UK. The gem of the day was always going to be Manchester United hosting Everton as David Moyes was set to welcome his old side Everton, who before today sat three places above the Old Trafford outfit. Here is a complete run-down of today’s matches – quick reviews for all matches with a longer Match of the Day review for our pick of the litter; United v Everton.
Arsenal (1) v Hull City (10)
A consummate performance from league leaders Arsenal would see them dispatch visiting Hull City 2-0 at The Emirates. A quick fire goal from outcast Nicklas Bendtner in the second minute would end up being enough to insure the three points. Mesut Ozil would add a second early on in the second half as the Gunners coasted through the match with relative ease as they enter a very trying period in the fixture list. Arsenal will next entertain Everton with Hull City travel to Swansea City. Arsenal remains top of the BPL while Hull City drop to twelfth.
Liverpool (4) v Norwich City (14)
A sublime individual performance from talisman Luis Suarez would see the Uruguayan score four goals as Liverpool ran riot over visiting Norwich with a 5-1 smashing of the Canaries. Liverpool came in winless in their last two matches looked to get back on track and it would be Suarez who would respond with a master class performance, including a 40yard stunner. The result sees Liverpool remain in fourth while Norwich drop to sixteenth. Liverpool host West Ham next while Norwich travel to West Bromwich.
Southampton (7) v Aston Villa (11)
Southampton were looking to get back on track after losing their last two matches when they welcome Aston Villa to St. Mary’s. After 90 minutes it would be Villa who took away three points on their travels, as they would go on to win 3-2. Goals from Gabby Agbonlahor, Libor Kozak and Fabian Delph would sandwich strikes from Jay Rodriguez and Pablo Osvaldo. Villa would move back into the top half of the table into tenth while Soton dropped one spot to eighth. Next on the fixture list is a home encounter with Manchester City for Southampton while Villa travel to Fulham.
Stoke City (16) v Cardiff City (17)
In probably the least cared about match of the round, Stoke City and Cardiff City would play out to a 0-0 draw. It would not be without effort, as both teams combined for a total of 31 shots but only 5 total would find the target through 90 minutes and it must be seen as dropped points for Stoke as they look to improve their form. The result would however see both teams jump up two places to fourteenth and fifteenth in the tables. Stoke next have the difficult task of hosting Chelsea while Cardiff travel to Crystal Palace.
Sunderland (20) v Chelsea (2)
In a back and forth high-octane affair that many would not have predicted, Sunderland nearly edged out a result at home against Chelsea but would eventually lose 4-3. Goals from Eden hazard (2), Frank Lampard and a Philip Bardsley own goal would see Chelsea take away all the points, despite strikes from American Jozy Altidore, John O’Shea and Philip Bardsley (this time in the right goal). The result means Sunderland remain bottom of the table while Chelsea keep hold of second with Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton breathing down their neck. Chelsea will travel to Stoke next while Sunderland host Spurs.
Swansea City (13) v Newcastle United (6)
Newcastle United traveled to Wales for a visit to Swansea City on the back of a run of form that has seen them take all the points in their last four matches. Swansea however would have the last laugh as they dispatched the Magpies 3-0 behind goals from Nathan Dyer, an own goal by Mathieu Debuchy and a Jonjo Shelvey strike in a match where the big Englishman was instrumental. Swansea has been disappointing and inconsistent so far but the result will see them move up to eleventh while Newcastle drop to seventh. Swansea entertain Hull next while Newcastle face a trip to Old Trafford as they visit Manchester United.
Fulham (18) v Tottenham Hotspur (9)
New Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen almost got a decent result in his first match in charge as Fulham narrowly missed out against Spurs in a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage. New Boy Vlad Chiriches and German youngster Lewis Holtby would grab the goals for Spurs after Ashkan Dejagah put Fulham 1-0 up not long after the break. Fulham are now unexpectedly nineteenth in the table and play host to Villa next. Spurs now move up to sixth and will travel to Sunderland next.
West Bromwich (12) v Manchester City (3)
West Brom would leave it late to make the match interesting, as they would fall 3-2 to high-powered Manchester City at The Hawthornes. A brace from Yaya Toure and a strike from Sergio Aguero saw City up 3-0 with fifteen minutes left but a Costel Pantilimon own goal along with a Victor Anichebe goal saw Brom make it interesting on the score sheet. City remain third and next travel to Southampton while West Brom will play host again, this time to Norwich.
Crystal Palace (19) v West Ham United (15)
A rare goal from Marouane Chamakh gave Crystal Palace a much needed three points and a 1-0 win over West Ham yesterday. It was a much needed boost in moral to the former Gunners striker which would help Palace move up to eighteenth and only three points away from climbing out of the cellar. With their unfruitful travels, West Ham dropped to seventeenth and next face a difficult trip to Anfield. Palace will host Cardiff next in a match that could see them win two on the trot.
Match Day Pick of the Litter: Manchester United (8) v Everton (5)
There were plenty of implications on the table for this crucial December fixture as old versus new would take center stage. New Manchester United boss David Moyes has been under pressure all campaign, one that see’s United sitting in eighth before the match began. Fortunes for Everton are the exact opposite, as their fortunes under new manager Roberto Martinez has been nothing but smiles for the Liverpool based side as they began the night in fifth an just three points out of second place.
Manchester United team sheet:
Starting XI: De Gea; Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra; Fellaini, Giggs; Valencia, Kagawa, Welbeck; Rooney.
Bench: Lindegaard, Evans, Cleverly, Young, Nani, Januzaj, Hernandez
Everton team sheet:
Starting XI: Howard; Coleman, Distin, Jagielka, Oviedo; Barry, McCarthy; Pienaar, Barkley, Mirallas; Lukaku
Bench: Robles, Heitinga, Stones, Osman, Deulofeu, Naismith, Jelavic
Talking points for United before kick off would be Fellaini getting the nod in midfield against his former employers, while Kagawa was trusted to be the number 10 behind Rooney for the evening. Martinez would continue to have on-loan Belgian hit-man Romelu Lukaku lead the line on the back of eight goals in nine appearances. He would also start young English midfielder Ross Barkley who has only started once in the previous four fixtures.
Everton started the night confidently and in charge of the opening exchanges. Controlling the play while being very positive going forward, it would seem that Everton was the home side rather than United. The midfield tandem of Barry and McCarthy played their anchor roles perfectly as the controlled the middle of the park, allowing Everton constantly win back possession (when United actually maintained it for more than ten seconds) and hit them on the break quickly through Barkley, Pienaar and Mirallas. It was Everton’s tactics on the night early on that would consign United to playing long balls into space. In the 20th minute, Shinji Kagawa was somehow not ruled offside and was through on goal but a strong save from Tim Howard after he closed the angle down well denied the Japanese international the chance to put United 1-0 up. Everton would carve chances of their own and nearly scored when Lukaku did well to muscle past Smalling on the right side touch line – his eventual low driven cross was dealt with but Everton would earn their third corner before the thirty minute mark. A deflected Wayne Rooney effort nearly beat Howard on his left hand post and would bounce in the bath of Ryan Giggs, but the American keeper did well to hastily scramble and cover before Giggs could tap it home. United was now wrestling control of the match away from the Toffees after Everton did well to control matters early on. Missed chances by Lukaku and a move that broke down after Ross Barkley played a poor ball to the big Belgian would see the score line read 0-0 going into the half but it was Everton that created far more chances and looked more likely to crack the match open.
The second half began and right away Patrice Evra stung the hands of Howard with a howitzer from outside the box which the dealt with calmly. The match began to open up more and more as each minute passes as both sides were increasingly becoming more positive in their approach, with both Moyes and Martinez looking to have their sides open the scoring. Moyes would be the first to adjust his personnel as he introduced Nani in the 57th minute at the expense of Kagawa who once again failed to produce when given the opportunity. Young star Adnan Januzaj was also unleashed with Rafael being withdrawn – Valencia would drop to right back and Nani would slot into the right channel. A clumsy challenge by Steven Pienaar on Januzaj should have given United a fantastic free-kick position at the edge of the area, but no foul was called. United still had control of the match, despite it being completely open now and Martinez would respond to the situation by bringing on young Spanish starlet Gerard Deulofeu for Barkley – a very positive change that hopefully would stretch United at the back…and it did. Deulofeu now gave the United back-four a different scenario to address and a minute after his introduction he was released down the right side only for his effort to go straight at De Gea. United would break immediately and Januzaj would test Howard with a steamer, which forced him to turn his effort over the bar. On the resulting corner, Evra forced a fantastic save from Howard after he rose above Pienaar to put his head through Rooney’s cross – the rebound was headed off the bar by Danny Welbeck as United carved out two of the best chances of the night in one quick swoop. The introduction of Januzaj into the match seemingly brought United to life as they once again took complete control of the match, this time for much longer spells and with far more threatening moves going forward. Martinez looked for stability in his side and brought on Everton stalwart Leon Osman for Pienaar, a move that would be countered by Moyes with Javier Hernandez being brought on to replace Welbeck. In the 85th minute, it would be Everton to break the game open – Kevin Mirallas nearly converted his 20+ yard free kick but it would strike De Gea’s right hand post, however Everton would quickly regain possession in United’s end and they found Lukaku at the edge of the area. His shot ironically would deflect off Marouane Fellaini and slid across the face of goal right to young left back Bryan Oviedo (replacing the injured Leighton Baines) who slotted home to make it 1-0 for Everton.
The rest of the match would see United frantically yet unsuccessfully try to level matters at the Theatre of Dreams but the match would end 1-0. It would be Everton’s first win at United’s ground since August 19th, 1992 and Roberto Martinez would earn his first win against United as Everton boss – something that Moyes struggled to achieve during his tenure.
Everton have continued to perform far beyond expectations this season and the result would see them remain 5th in the BPL and still just three points behind 2nd place Chelsea. United’s disappointing campaign under Moyes continues as they would drop down one more place to 9th in the tables and a full 12 points behind league leaders Arsenal. Questions will remain and even grow further over whether Moyes was the right successor to the Sir Alex throne while Martinez has seemingly won over the hearts and minds of the Toffees faithful. Everton look forward to a trip to Arsenal in their next fixture, while United remain in the hunt for domestic consistency as they host Newcastle United.