Following on from last weekend’s fixtures and those that were played on Boxing Day, all but four of the Premier League sides have now completed exactly half of their matches for the season (the exceptions being due to Southampton vs Chelsea, which was rearranged due to the latter’s participation in the Club World Cup at the beginning of December; and Wednesday’s encounter between Arsenal and West Ham that was prematurely called off due to the threat of a strike by London Underground staff).  Half way through last year’s campaign, the two Manchester clubs were tied on 45 points at the top of the league, but this time around there is seven points between them, as City have struggled in the defence of their title.  United extended their lead during the week, despite being held to a draw in South Wales by Swansea on Sunday, as the Spanish striker Michu scored his tenth of the season to cancel out Patrice Evra’s earlier goal.  Mancini’s men had temporarily closed the gap to three points with a controversial 1-0 win over Reading the day before, which came from a Gareth Barry header in the third minute of stoppage time, but the midfielder was climbing on the back of Nicky Shorey when he connected with David Silva’s cross; and the visitors were also denied a penalty by referee Mike Dean when Jay Tabb appeared to be fouled in the box by debutant, Karim Rekik.

City had no such luck on Boxing Day, as they lost 1-0 at Sunderland for the third consecutive season, with the winning strike coming

from one of their former players, Adam Johnson, whose near post effort squirmed into the net under Joe Hart.  At the same time as the blue half of Manchester was dropping three points, United pulled out a 4-3 win against Newcastle which had looked highly unlikely for most of the encounter.  Alan Pardew’s side took the lead three times, only for the Red Devils to pull themselves level on each occasion, before they finally went ahead for the first time in the match in the 90th minute, when Javier Hernandez connected with Michael Carrick’s inch-perfect pass into the box.  Sir Alex Ferguson had been an animated figure on the touch-line and had been giving the officials a piece of his mind over some of the decisions he disagreed with – most notably the visitor’s second goal, which was allowed by Mike Dean despite his assistant having flagged Papa Cisse offside in the move that led to Jonny Evans putting the ball into his own net.  Ferguson was lucky not to have been sent to the stands for his protestations, but in the end he will have been delighted to see his team show the type of resolve and willingness to fight for a win right up until the final whistle that has led them to 12 titles in the last 20 years.

Chelsea are closing in on Manchester City in the table, as they followed up an 8-0 thumping of Aston Villa last Sunday, with an almost equally impressive 1-0 away win against Norwich, who had won their previous five home league games.  Villa’s form did not improve much either, as they were thrashed 4-0 by Tottenham on the day after Christmas and they were fortunate that it took the visitors so long to open the scoring, otherwise it could have been many more.  After Jermain Defoe had broken the deadlock in the second half with a clinical finish from Kyle Naughton’s clever through ball, Gareth Bale took over and recorded his first Premiership hat-trick, just as the January transfer window is about to open and thus reviving speculation that the Welsh winger could be a target for the richest clubs in Europe.  The previous Saturday, Spurs had been held to a goalless draw at White Hart Lane by a stubborn Stoke side, who themselves had an impressive 3-1 victory over Liverpool on Boxing Day. Continue reading →

The most widely anticipated date since January 1st 2000 – when Y2K was expected to make airplanes fall out of the sky and nuclear weapons be launched, though that might have happened had it not been for the excellent work of Peter Gibbons and the Bill Lumbergh’s team at Initech – occurs on Friday, as December 21st 2012 is said to mark the end of the Mayan long-count calendar, with people suggesting this means that the apocalypse is coming and, with it, the end of humanity. For a civilisation that disappeared suddenly and without warning, the Mayans receive a lot of credibility for their predictions* and so, if the end is nigh, the big question is – how would each Premiership club’s supporters feel about their team and the onset of Armageddon? Here’s a look at each in turn, in the order of current league standings:

*Which are not actually predictions, rather the modern world’s projections of what a date on a stone actually meant, but let’s go with it anyway.

1. Manchester United – Finishing on top of the pile would be an appropriate end for Manchester United, given the sustained success they have enjoyed over the last 20 years; but fans and – most of all – Sir Alex Ferguson would be devastated at missing out on the opportunity of taking the title back away from Manchester City. Supporters would also be disappointed to not get to see a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo, as United were drawn against Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Result in potentially their last ever fixture: 3-1 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford – goals from Robin Van Persie, Tom Cleverly and Wayne Rooney ensured United maintained their six point advantage at the top of the Premiership, heading into the festive period.

If the Mayans were wrong: The Red Devils travel to South Wales to face Swansea on Sunday lunch time.

2. Manchester City – For so long “typical City” had been short hand to describe the continuous failings of the blue half of Manchester, whose supporters had to endure an extended trophy drought and demotion to the third tier of English football, while United were winning it everything in sight. However, May’s Premiership title changed all of that and City have now usurped their neighbours to be champions. Fans might feel that they have nothing left to gain – although given the manner in which the Etihad empties out long before the final whistle if things are not going their way, many Citizens would miss the Mayan Apocalypse and just hear about it on the radio as they head home.

Result in potentially their last ever fixture: Relatively routine 3-1 victory away at Newcastle, with goals from Sergio Aguero, Javi Garcia and YaYa Toure – even better, the fans kept their coins in their pockets this week and, for once, City did not just throw money at a situation.

If the Mayans were wrong: Mancini’s men host bottom-of-the-table Reading on Saturday.

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Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the Premiership to six point over their neighbours, after they defeated City 3-2 at the Etihad last Sunday.  Sir Alex Ferguson’s men started the game on the back foot, but two first-half goals from Wayne Rooney gave them a comfortable lead at the break, before strikes from YaYa Toure and Pablo Zabaleta pulled the home side level heading into the final minute.  United then won a free-kick in perfect territory for Robin Van Persie’s left foot and the Dutch striker found the net, though he was aided by a deflection off his former Arsenal teammate, Samir Nasri, who had turned away from the shot.  Sadly, the goal was followed by ugly scenes, as Rio Ferdinand was struck just above the eye by a missile thrown by the crowd, while Joe Hart had to block one of his own team’s supporters, who had invaded the pitch in an apparent attempt to attack members of the visiting side.  The scoreline matched the Red Devils success in the FA Cup on that ground last season, but it was the first home defeat in the league for City since December 2010, an unbeaten run that had stretched 37 games.

Both Fernando Torres and his club, Chelsea, were able to turn around their poor league form with a 3-1 victory away at Sunderland, with the Spanish striker netting twice, including a first-half penalty.  It was a timely win for the Blues, who are now in Japan competing in the Club World Cup, in which they progressed to the final today with a 3-1 defeat of the Mexican side, Monterrey, with Torres once again on the score sheet.  On Sunday they face Corinthians of Brazil, with Chelsea’s new boss, Rafa Benitez, getting an opportunity to repeat the feat he achieved at Internazionale in 2010 – winning this trophy after taking over from the manager who had guided the team to European Cup success (Jose Mourinho at Inter, Roberto DiMatteo with the Londoners).  The league defeat had sent Sunderland into the bottom three, but they were able to climb out of the relegation zone on Tuesday by beating Reading 3-0 at the Stadium of Light, another defeat for the Royals, who also lost 1-0 at Southampton last Saturday.

Tottenham underlined the reason that none of their supporters will ever accept that a game will end happily until after the final whistle, as they once again managed to lose a match they had appeared destined to win, this time against Everton.  The Toffees had been slightly the better team over the 90 minutes, but trailed to a deflected shot from Clint Dempsey in the 75th minute.  However, Spurs chose to sit back on their lead and withdrew Jermain Defoe and when the equaliser came for the home side, it inevitably came from Steven Pienaar – who could not establish himself in the team during a brief spell at Tottenham.  Even though that goal was scored in injury time, Everton still found the time to win it through Nikica Jelavic and leapfrogged Andre Villas-Boas’s men into fourth in the table, at the same time confirming the worst fears of all of us pessimistic Spurs fans.  If matches lasted just 80 minutes rather than 90, then Tottenham would currently sit top of the Premiership and such is the regularity they throw away strong positions in both individual encounters and seasons as a whole, you can forget the 21st of December of Mayan long count calendars, if the Lilywhites ever have an unassailable lead at the top of the league, that will be the clear sign that the End Times are fast approaching. Continue reading →

As was the case last year, this season’s battle for the Premier League title is shaping up to be between the two Manchester clubs, with City and United meeting on Sunday for the first time this campaign.   Sir Alex Ferguson’s side head across town to the Etihad currently sitting top of the table, but their defensive frailties will be giving their manager much cause for concern.  That vulnerability at the back was particularly evident last Saturday against Reading in a crazy encounter at the Madejski Stadium, which United won despite giving up three goals in the opening 23 minutes.  For the 10th time in their 15 Premiership fixtures thus far, the Red Devils conceded the opening goal, this time to a Robson-Kanu volley, after Jonny Evans had failed to adequately clear a Reading cross; but a quality strike from Anderson, followed by a Wayne Rooney penalty gave United a 2-1 advantage after just sixteen minutes.

That was far from the end of the scoring, as the home side re-took the lead with two headers from Nicky Shorey corners, converted by Adam Le Fondre and Sean Morrison, but a smart finish from Rooney and a well taken goal by Robin Van Persie – who should have had a second before half-time, but his shot was incorrectly adjudged not to have crossed the line, providing further evidence of the need for goal-line technology – put Ferguson’s men ahead for good.  While seven goals in a single half ties a Premiership record, as a final tally it was nothing compared to other encounters in Reading’s recent history – in October they lost 7-5 to Arsenal in the League Cup, having led 4-0 at the interval; and in the 2007/8 season, the Royals lost 7-4 and 6-4 to Portsmouth and Tottenham respectively.

The United manager will be anxious to see his team improve their defensive display in time for the grudge match against City, especially from corners as it was from one such set-piece that Joleon Lescott scored the only goal of the game in this fixture last season – a win that ultimately helped the blue half of Manchester secure their first title since 1968.  Although Roberto Mancini’s team remain unbeaten in the league this campaign, they trail their neighbours because they have been held to draws on six occasions already, meaning they have shared the points more times than they did in all of their championship winning 2011/12 season.  Last weekend, Manchester City were forced to come from behind to earn a point against Everton, who opened the scoring through Marouane Fellaini; but the Belgian then gave away a penalty shortly before the break, which Carlos Tevez converted.  While there will still be 22 fixtures remaining after Sunday’s encounter, a win or draw for United would put them in the driving seat in the title race, heading into the crucial Christmas period.

Below the dueling Manchester clubs, the fight for Champions League clubs looks likely to once again be London centric, with Chelsea and Tottenham currently sitting in third and fourth, both having gained 26 points thus far.  Spurs had been 7 points behind the Blues before three wins inside six days propelled Andre Villas-Boas’s men up the table, with the latest success coming at Craven Cottage, as they beat Fulham 3-0, thanks to two goals from Jermain Defoe and a long-range effort from Sandro.  The victory did come at a cost, as Tottenham’s talisman, Gareth Bale, was forced off with a hamstring injury after sixty minutes and the Welshman had earlier picked up his fourth yellow card of the season for simulation (although this time he did appear to be tripped, he only has himself to blame for earning a reputation for diving).  The loss marked the seventh game in a row for Martin Jol’s team without a victory, but that run of fixtures has included impressive draws at both the Emirates and Stamford Bridge. Continue reading →