Premier League Round Six: The good, the bad and the ugly

The Good

Super Strike

Speaking of fantastic goals, Bournemouth’s Matt Ritchie sent a screaming volley past Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantillimon. September’s goal of the month contest more closely resembles a goals of the season highlight reel.

The ball is approaching Ritchie as it falls from the sky and he perfectly pops it up with his chest. After chesting the ball he sets his body up to smash it on the volley into the top corner of the net. This shot could not have been better placed than it was.

Have a look:

Bournemouth have scored in four straight Premier League matches and appear to be finding their footing offensively. They will find it difficult to score a better goal than this one – and so will anyone else in the Premier League for that matter – for the rest of the season.

AFC Bournemouth will look to pick up three more points when they visit bottom dwellers Stoke City on Saturday.

Giant Killers

Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC and Manchester City have all suffered defeat at the hands of West Ham United this season. In fact, they each have tasted a home defeat to The Hammers.

West Ham beat Arsenal FC away on the opening day of the season in convincing fashion. Which made it all the more surprising when they turned out bad performances in consecutive home defeats to Leicester City and Bournemouth immediately following their victory at the Emirates.

How did they respond? They responded by sending Liverpool’s season off the rails with a 3-0 away victory at Anfield.

Maybe the international break would stifle some of their mojo? Not a chance. They beat lowly Newcastle United 2-0 at Upton Park and then defeated Manchester City away by 2-1.

Not bad for a side that was eliminated in Europa League qualifying by Astra Giurgiu.

West Ham will look to keep the bubbles blowing at Upton Park Saturday against Norwich City.

Martial Law

Anthony Martial has made a world of difference for Manchester United’s attack this season. The 19-year old French striker came on as a substitute to score a marvelous goal against Liverpool during round five of the Premier League season.

For round six Martial did one better by scoring a brace to help Manchester United defeat Southampton 3-2 away from home.

While neither of his two goals were as impressive as the Liverpool goal, he showed great composure in finishing both chances.

His first goal drew Manchester United level with Southampton after Juan Mata found him in the box. Martial took a nice touch and slipped past his defender before calmly slotting the chance home.

Anthony Martial next goal came after Mya Yoshida misplayed a pass to his keeper. Martial’s positioning was spot on as he ran onto the ball and placed it in the far corner to give Manchester United a 2-1 lead.

Anthony Martial has quickly gone from being a “panic buy” to spearheading Manchester United’s attacking resurgence.

I always found it interesting, and quite a bit ironic, that Arsenal supporters were having the biggest laugh at Manchester United’s expense by saying they have never heard of Martial, when Martial was a key cog in the Monaco side which knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League last season.

Next: The Bad