Premier League Gameweek 28 - Featuring Harry Redknapps Red Face & Arsenal's Offside Trap

Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
Spurs’ lifelong dreams of finishing above Arsenal appear to finally be close to reality as they went seven points clear of their North London rivals with a deserved victory in the weekends big game. Arsenals shambolic defence surpassed itself by conceding two identical goals, which consisted of two identically pathetic attempts at playing an offside trap. Gareth Bale and Neil Lennon racing through the Arsenal backline to put Spurs two up at the break. Arsenal rallied in the second half and pulled a goal back through their tall German defender but at no point did it really look as if the gunners would pull it back to 2-2. For AVB and Tottenham the Champions League is very much on the horizon but for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal things can only get better.

Chelsea 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
Chelsea remain in the top four after a Ramires goal brought victory over West Brom but all the talk surrounding the game was about Rafael Benitez and the Chelsea supporters. The talk before hand was about Rafael Benitez being greeted by ferocious disapproval from the Chelsea supporters but much like Chelsea’s attempt at winning the title this season, it fell hilariously flat. Mr. Interim is safe from poorly made banners and chants with no rhythm for another week at least.

Southampton 1-2 Q.P.R
The big game at the bottom was won by Q.P.R as they kept their relegation hopes alive with a surprising victory at St Mary’s. Loic Remy, QPR’s only good signing of the past five years delivered the goods again to put the hoops in front before Gaston Ramirez levelled. Forgotten souls Park Ji Sung and Jay Bothroyd combined to score QPR’s winner as the Saints were dragged right back into the relegation mix.


Best of the Rest 
Shinji Kagawa gave Manchester United fans a possible glance into the future with a well taken hat-trick in their 4-0 win over Norwich. Manchester City kept their faint title hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over ‘destined for the drop’ Aston Villa in a game that featured two sides who didn’t really seem to want to be participating in Mondays match, perhaps having already accepted their seasons faith. Everton kept their Champions League hopes alive by easing past Reading, whilst Swansea suffered no Cup Final hangover with a 1-0 win over Newcastle. Liverpool continue to hammer the cannon fodder by somehow unconvincingly and convincingly beating Wigan 4-0. Sunderland and Fulham drew 2-2 in a game that probably only Sunderland and Fulham knew was taking place, and finally at the Britannia, two of the leagues finest footballing sides were on show as West Ham beat Stoke 1-0.

Too Good Too Bad

Harry Redknapp angry delight watch
As the final whistle at St. Mary’s blew on Saturday evening, ‘Arry Redknapp appeared to completely explode. It may just have been constipation but Harry Redknapp’s bulging angry/delighted red face and aggressive fist pumping will be an image forever remembered.

Incredibly rubbish defending watch
Wigan, Aston Villa and Arsenal took rubbish defending to major heights this weekend with outrageously poor marking, poorly executed offside traps and the old classic, two left feet syndrome. Ciaran Clark, Thomas Vermaelen and Gary Caldwell were the stars of this weeks incredibly rubbish defending.

Premier League Gameweek 25 - Featuring annoying Newcastle French Puns & 'Arry 'Deadline Day ' Redknapp

Game of the weekend

Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool
The blue half of Manchester’s hold on the title was further weakened this weekend as Liverpool came away from the Etihad with a 2-2 draw. Edin Dzeko had put City ahead before former blue Daniel Sturridge brought Liverpool level, thankfully Sturridge resisted the urge to inflict upon us one of his horribly embarrassing dances. A seemingly rejuvenated Steven Gerrard fired Liverpool in front only for Pepe Reina to produce one of his ‘rare mistakes’ and allow Serio Aguero to bring City level. Despite the goal there was no late show and City dropped more vital points in the title race. To quote Roberto Mancini “In this moment” it will be very difficult for Manchester City to end this season as Champions but a timely reminder of last season should keep them believing.

Fulham 0-1 Manchester United
Earlier in the weekend Manchester United had gone ten points clear with a hardworking victory away at Fulham, Wayne Rooney continuing his good run of form with a late winner. The game was more memorable however for the floodlights failing a few minutes before half time leading to ESPN pundit John Barnes asking the daftest question of the season….‘would there be ten minutes added on time?.

Olympique Newcastle (formerly known as Alan Pardew’s eight year deal) 3-2 Chelsea
Rafael Benitez continues to make friends and influence people at SW6 as Chelsea fell to another second half collapse. The French revolution at Newcastle the latest to torment Chelsea as they deservedly edged a five goal thriller. An eventful game burst into life when returning villain Demba Ba was struck in the face by Fabricio Coloccini, leaving the Senegalese forward with a broken nose. Jonas Gutierrez put Le Toon in front just before half time but despite two wonder goals from Juan Mata and Frank Lampard it was Newcastle who finished with the Je Ne Sais Quo as new signing Moussa Sissoko struck twice to give Ze Geordies the victory and leave a host of people irritatingly throwing around French puns.


Best of the Rest
Another stunning goal from Gareth Bale saw Tottenham close the gap on faltering Chelsea as they defeated West Brom 1-0 at the Hawthorns. Goran Popov was sent off for inadequately spitting at Kyle Walker as Spurs Top 4 finish gathered momentum. Arsenal kept up the pace with a 1-0 victory over Stoke, whilst Everton and Aston Villa shared a six goal thriller in a belter at Goodison Park.
Reading continued their Manchester United parody with another late show to see off Sunderland. QPR’s bus was held or rather held Norwich to a goalless draw whist Wigan and Southampton drew 2-2 in the other relegation six pointer. Finally West Ham eased their own relegation fears with a 1-0 home win over Swansea.


Too Good Too Bad

Transfer deadline day starring Harry Redknapp
Another deadline day, and once again good old ‘Arry managed to outdo Sky Sports presenter Jim White in the attention seeking stakes. The cheeky chappy first of all spent much of deadline day trying to buy players from former club Spurs that he deemed not good enough to play for Spurs. Bentley, Jenas, Townsend and Crouch are four players that Redknapp either sold or left in the reserves in his final two years at Spurs, yet on deadline day these players suddenly became crucial in his attempts to ensure QPR’s Premier League status. Despite the fact he had the entire month of January to sign players better than Bentley, Jenas, Crouch and Townsend.
He also spent a significant amount of time in January talking about not talking about other clubs players……by talking about other clubs players. For example “Mo Diame at West Ham is a triffic player, he’s got triffic tenacity but you know me Geoff, I don’t like to talk about other clubs players”.
His habits also rubbed off on one of the players he attempted to tap up during January - Peter Odemwingie, whom created history by becoming the first ever footballer to tap himself up. ‘Arry was so impressed he felt “sorry for the lad”.

Tony Pulis unfounded outrage watch
This week Tony Pulis hit new heights of unfounded outrage by complaining about Arsenal players rightfully protesting against a wrongly disallowed goal. The goal was subsequently given. Not only were there no Arsenal players offside as Lukas Podolski struck the free kick but the ball deflected off a Stoke City player, yet Tony Pulis manager of Stoke City, yes Stoke City, was outraged with the level of Arsenal protest. Unsurprisingly Pulis did not comment on Ryan Shawcross getting away with a horror challenge that should have resulted in a red card. Next week look out for Tony Pulis being outraged at Reading’s long ball and overly physical tactics.

Premier League Review - Gameweek 23

Game of the weekend

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal
A game of two halves at Stamford Bridge as Arsenal’s stuttering campaign suffered another setback. It could have been very different had they not completely forgotten how to play football for the entirety of the first half. It was a bit like watching a game of FIFA where one of individual’s playing doesn’t know what buttons to press on the controller. Chelsea raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to Juan Mata and Frank Lampard’s 150th penalty kick for the blues. Despite finding their feet in the second half and pulling a goal back through Theo Walcott, it was a disappointing day in a big game for Arsenal yet again.

Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United
How do you set up against a team you’ve been beaten by once in 24 games? How do you set up against a team you’ve finished above for the best part of two and a half decades? How do you set up against a team you’re clearly better than?
You set up by sticking ten men behind the ball, hoping for the best and by double marking a Cristiano Ronaldo tribute act. These were the tactics adopted by United for Sunday’s late game against Barcelo….sorry Tottenham. The unusual defensive approach did ‘work’ for the best part of 92 minutes after Robin Van Persie had headed United ahead in the first half. But after continually inviting pressure from the home side, a procession of errors eventually led to Clint Dempsey equalising for Spurs and earning them a thoroughly deserved point.

West Brom 2-2 Aston Villa
Arsenal weren’t the only side to spend an entire first half horribly playing football this weekend. In the Saturday evening game West Brom had set the bar fairly high with an inept first half display in the West Midlands Derby. Two terrific goals from Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor had put Villa 2-0 up at the break. West Brom Suddenly remembered how to play football in the second half, either that or they were reminded by Steve Clarke of how incredibly rubbish Aston Villa actually are. They pulled it back to 2-2 but will probably be disappointed that they weren’t able to find a winner.

Best of the Rest
Liverpool continued their run of victories over teams that aren’t very good with a 5-0 home win over Norwich. Manchester City closed the gap on United with an unpredictable 2-0 home win over Fulham.
Michael Owen scored for the first time since 2011 but it was in vein as Stoke were well beaten at Swansea. Alan Pardews Eight Year Deal sunk to new depths with a 2-1 home defeat to a team sponsored by Waitrose - Reading. Q.P.R’s bus continues to collect points as it held firm at West Ham as both teams shared the spoils. Sunderland won at Wigan whilst in the Monday night game Southampton and Everton wasted everybody’s time with a forgettable 0-0 draw. The only highlight being Jason Puncheon leaving the field to ‘relieve’ himself.

Too Good Too Bad

Bacary Valencia Antonio Sagna
That’s right, two of the most consistent performers in recent seasons have apparently morphed into one completely useless footballer. Taking turns in playing for Arsenal and Manchester United, Bacary Valencia Antonio Sagna is a player who plays with two left feet and is completely incapable of doing the very basic things expected of a Premier League footballer.

Sir Alex Ferguson attention diversion watch
After United’s 1-1 draw at Spurs on Sunday, the United manager spent the entirety of the post match interview……not talking about the match. Instead focusing on the officials whom he had less that kind words for. This diversion tactic appears to be deployed anytime United are unable to win a match. Should United drop points in their next home game with Southampton, look out for Sir Alex giving his views on Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece Django Unchained.

Arsene Wenger ‘lie’ watch
As Crystal Palace starlet Wilfred Zaha appeared to be closing in on a move to Manchester United, Arsene Wenger’s damage limitation exercise was to tell arguably the funniest lie of the season.
The Arsenal manager claimed Arsenal were ‘never in’ for Zaha, despite the fact he’d only minutes earlier stated that Arsenal had watched the player. There’s also the fact Steve Bould has been spotted at Selhurst Park this season but hey, perhaps he was there to cast an eye on Palace goal machine Glen Murray, who is likely to be a better option than Oliver ‘I bet I can miss this’ Giroud.

Gameweek 19 - Boxing Day Madness

Game of the Weekend

Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle United
Like most Manchester United games this season, defending was not an option, only a limitation. Manchester United defend so badly these days, that they posses the ability to make other teams defend badly, even teams who generally defend well. That’ll explain why Stoke City somehow let in four goals at Old Trafford and Manchester City let in three at home to United. Newcastle on a good day defend pretty badly, so it was no surprise to seem them outdo United in the bad defending stakes in this seven goal thriller.
An enthralling game at Old Trafford as Newcastle led three times thanks to several gifts from United players. United twice levelled thanks to goals from defenders refusing to do any defending, before van Persie and Hernandez sealed the points for the reds. In between all the gifts being handed out on the pitch, the sidelines offered no festive joy for the officials, as they took a verbal pasting from Sir Alex Ferguson, Alan Pardew and the entire Newcastle coaching team.

Stoke 3-1 Liverpool
A Stoke City home game that doesn’t end 1-1 or 1-0 is about as rare as an Emile Heskey goal. And  though the score line came as a surprise, the manor and method of Stoke City’s goals certainly weren’t.
It took about thirty seconds for Stoke City players to begin their customary shirt pulling, Ryan Shawcross bringing down Luis Suarez in the area for an early Liverpool penalty, which was converted by Steven Gerrard. But from then on in, it was all Stoke- throw in, corner, throw in, flick on, lucky bounce, 3-1, game, set and match. In the middle of it all Luis Suarez attempted several nutmegs, Stewart Downing mis-controlled the ball and Robert Huth put someone in a headlock. Stoke City still unbeaten at home this season.


Sunderland 1-0 Manchester City
Remember at the start of the season when Manchester City sold Adam Johnson and signed Scott Sinclair and every man and his dog simultaneously uttered the words “well that’ll come back and bite them”.
Well, today was that day, a boxing day where City’s title challenge suffered a significant but by no means knockout blow, as Adam Johnson struck the winner against his former club. Scott Sinclair wasn’t present, he was most likely sitting at home, stuffing his face with Helen Flanaghan’s poorly cooked turkey breasts or something like that.


Best of the Rest
A bad week for Aston Villa as they somehow managed to perform as spinelessly and gutlessly during their 4-0 trouncing at home to Spurs as they did in their 8-0 trouncing at Chelsea just a few days earlier. Gareth Bale stealing the show with a hat trick and his silly heart celebration.
Harry Redknapp’s honeymoon period at Q.P.R is all but over after his side lost again, this time to West Brom, though Harry Redknapp’s excitement at the impeding January transfer window will put these defeats at the bottom of his Christmas to do list.
Everton 2-1 Away team (Wigan), like Stoke City and their familiar home game score line, Everton sealed their customary 2-1 home win thanks to goals from Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka. For Wigan, it’s getting to that point of the season where they appear to be completely hopeless and heading towards the relegation exit door, what they’re really doing is re-charging their batteries for their Barcelona like recovery in the middle of next Spring.
Juan Mata continued to outshine Eden Hazard as he struck the winner as Chelsea won at Norwich, Chelsea are entering that phase of the season where they win games they’re supposed to win and thus declare that they are ‘back’ and are once again in the title race. In reality, none of these things are of course true.
Finally, Fulham and Southampton drew 1-1 at Craven Cottage, whilst Reading held Swansea to a goalless draw.


Too Good Too Bad

Manchester United comebacks theory
I have a theory as to why Manchester United continue to deliberately fall behind in games before turning them around and winning.
It’s as if United are on a mission to win the league this year by doing what Manchester City did to Q.P.R….every single game.…. in order to make a point. A very risky mission it is, but so far it’s so good for Sir Alex Ferguson and his side.

Match of the Day Pundits Watch
We all have our opinions on the opinions of the Match of the Day pundits, like the fact Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson appear to be getting more and more tanned by the week. Or the fact with each passing week, an extra button is undone from their horrifically designed shirts. The general consensus is that the Match of the Day pundits say very basic things and generally have no opinions of their own. This week, this was taken to a new level. During the Boxing Day broadcast Mark Lawrenson stated that Wigan would be safe from relegation, he then turned to Alan Shearer to gauge an opinion but rather than wait to see what Mr. Shearer had to say, Mark Lawrenson simply said “say yes, agree with me” to which Shearer….did. Punditry at it’s finest.

Joe Hart ‘rare mistake’ Watch
After his howler at Sunderland gifted the Mackems all three points, Joe Hart’s mistake was described as being ‘rare‘. For anyone who’s watched Joe Hart this season without ‘Brave England player’ glasses on. It was hilariously incorrect to describe his mistake as ‘rare’. Since about September Joe Hart has averaged roughly one mistake a week, from shipping weak Champions League goals against Real Madrid and Ajax to clangers against Spurs and Arsenal, Sunderland on Wednesday was anything but ‘rare‘.

Premier League Review - Gameweek 16

Game of the weekend

Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United

Two years unbeaten at home - unbeaten all season - Sergio Aguero - ninety three minutes and twenty seconds - Q.P.R - final day. Months of Manchester City runs, months of repeats, reminders and torment for Manchester United, came to an end as they tasted revenge of the sweetest kind. 

Robin van Persie's injury time winner gave United a vital three points over neighbours City to put them six points clear at the top of the table.

United had raced into a two nil half time lead thanks to a brace from Wayne Rooney but City showed their mental strength again by pulling the game back to 2-2 with just five minutes to go. A wrongly disallowed third United goal and a possible penalty were insignificant as Robin van Persies 91st minute free kick deflected off a half arsed Samir Nasri to secure the points.

A pulsating Derby ended on a sour note as City fans raged in the stands. Coins pelted down as the United players celebrated their victory with Rio Ferdinand suffering a cut eye. For Manchester City it was very typical, throwing money at their problems once again. Problems which extend to being out of Europe and off the pace in the title race, but after recovering from an eight point lead with just five games to play last season, you'd be a fool to write them off just yet.

West Ham AKA England 'B'(more on this later) 2-3 Liverpool

The question of how Liverpool would cope without the loveable Luis Suarez was answered emphatically as they hit the net three times in another excellent game. Glen Johnson's stunning opener showed all his prowess going forward but he was exposed defensively again as West Ham turned things around before half time.

That was as good as it got for Big Sam's men though as Liverpool turned it around in the second half. Former footballer Joe Cole surprising everyone (including himself) by equalising, before a man named Jonjo forced James Collins into scoring an own goal. Liverpool have now won their last two games, the first time they've done this since the backpass rule was introduced. They also now find themselves just a few points off the Champions League places.

Everton 2-1 Tottenham

Tottenhams nack for bottling rared its ugly head again as they threw away a lead for the seventh time this season. American Gangster Clint Dempsey had put Spurs ahead with probably the worse goal you'll see all season but two injury time goals won it for Everton. The race for fourth continues to heat up but it appears to be a race that nobody actually wants to win.

Best of the Rest

Arsenal beat West Brom thanks to two suspicious penalties, unfortunately for Arsenal they're so far down the table that nobody actually cared, except for maybe West Brom. 

Fernando Torres kept up his run of scoring against terrible opposition as he struck twice during Chelsea's 3-1 away win at Sunderland.

Harry Redknapp has turned Q.P.R from the team that never win..... into the team that still never win, two goals a piece as they were held at Wigan. 

Aston Villa and Stoke took some throw ins in a stalemate at Villa Park, Norwich continued their very strange unbeaten run as they shared a seven goal thriller with Swansea, whilst Southampton beat Reading.

And finally on Monday Night Alan Pardew's eight year deal lost 2-1 at Fulham.

Too Good Too Bad

Manchester United Coin Throwing Watch

It appears a Manchester United player(s) scoring and celebrating a goal, is the signal for opposition fans to pelt them with coins. At Stamford Bridge Javier Hernandez suffered from the torrent of copper and at the Etihad on Sunday it was the whole United team.

Perhaps it's time Sir Alex had a word with his players for having the audacity to score and celebrate goals. If this disgusting behaviour continues from Fergie's boys, you'd hope the FA would step in and have some words.

West Ham England 'B'/ Big Sam job application

Still disillusioned with not getting the England job, Sam Allardyce is using West Ham as his personal experiment...this personal experiment?.... to finish in the top six of the Premier League by using English players - not good enough to play for England.

At one stage on Sunday West Ham's team included SIX English players - Noble, Nolan, Jarvis, Taylor, Cole and Tomkins.

Players who've either a) been mistakenly capped or called up by England, or b) mistakenly mentioned for possible England call ups. Gary O'Neil and the unplayable Andy Carroll both missed Sundays match but fall into the above categories.

Rafael Benitez non celebration

Last week against West Ham, Chelsea's first goal under Benitez was greeted by the return of his famous non celebration.

This famous non celebration involves Rafael Benitez refusing to smile or show any emotion or joy in response to the fact his team has just scored a goal. Instead it involves Benitez making several obnoxious tactical hand gestures, as if he's just single handedly crafted the goal himself.

Premier League Review - Gameweek 13

Game of the weekend

Chelsea 0-0 Manchester City

What do you get when the two most expensive line ups in the country go head to head?……………..
You get nothing. Ninety minutes of mind numbingly dull, negative and uninspiring football. The days of big clubs playing out dull goalless affairs was a thing of the past.
However, with the return of one of its founder members in Rafael Benitez, back it came as Chelsea and Manchester City fired blanks at Stamford Bridge. It was just like the old days with Chelsea (under Mourinho) and Liverpool (under Benitez).
The most interesting incidents took place in the crowd as Chelsea fans made their feelings towards this weeks managerial changes, abundantly clear. Rafael Benitez is not a popular man in South-West London but perhaps Chelsea fans should direct their anger not towards Benitez but towards the man who hired him.
Will Chelsea stand up against Roman and his unpopular decisions? The likelihood is no, because this is the price Chelsea fans paid the day they welcomed Romans money with open arms. Chelsea fans no longer have a say, they no longer have a voice. To act outraged when managers gets the chop, only to then bask in the glory of success that Roman has paid for, leaves very little room for sympathy for the ‘unhappy’ voices at Chelsea.

Swansea 0-0 Liverpool
A far more entertaining goalless draw in South-Wales, as Brendan Rodgers’ return to Swansea ended in a stalemate. For Liverpool it was business as usual, a week after a rare victory over Wigan it was back to the drawing board, literally. Liverpool are yet to understand the objective of football is to actually win games.

Same old, same old for Manchester United as they deliberately sent out an unbalanced side against winless QPR. This lead to United deliberately playing poorly. This was followed by United deliberately falling behind, before deliberately bringing on players who should have started and then deliberately turning the game around and winning 3-1.
The big news though, came from the stands, as Harry Redknapp watched his new QPR side for the very first time. Mark Hughes sacked on Friday and not given the opportunity to fail to win yet another Premier League game.

Last week, I may have done Aston Villa a disservice, in fact, the last two weeks. Despite Arsenal being a long way from their best, Aston Villa put up a fantastic effort to take a point from the misfiring Gooners. Not only that but the Villa Park crowd found their voice again and it’s looking like things can get better for Paul Lambert’s side.

Best of the Rest
There are three things certain at the start of every Premier League season. ONE - Stoke City will somehow eclipse the horrendous football they played the previous season. TWO - Arsenal will sell and sign several midfielders and THREE - Jermaine Defoe will score against West Ham. The Hammers arch tormenter was on target twice as Tottenham bounced back from their 5-2 defeat to Arsenal to secure three points against his old club.
Alan Pardew’s eight year deal continues to look good business as Newcastle lost for a third league game in a row, this time to former club Southampton. Wigan won the relegation six pointer with Reading, whilst West Brom’s march continued with a win at Martin O’Neills woeful Sunderland. Everton continued their winless run with a draw at home to Norwich and finally Stoke beat Fulham 1-0 in a game that may or may not have taken place (I’ll get to that later).


Too Good Too Bad

Arsene Wenger Big Massive Coat Watch
Every week Arsene Wenger can be spotted on the touchline in a comical and ridiculously large coat. This week it looked as if Arsene Wenger just went ahead and wore himself a sleeping bag. Sooner rather than later expect Arsene Wenger to completely disappear into his coat, leaving Arsenal with no other option than to appoint Pierce Morgan as their new Manager.

Stoke City Home Game Dejavu 

Ever noticed how every single Stoke City home game ends in a 1-1 draw or 1-0 home win with Stoke scoring the exact same goal each and every time? (you know the goal, a big tall player takes a throw, another big tall player heads it on, then another big tall player drags an opposition player to the ground whilst simultaneously bundling the ball into the net) Well it’s because Stoke City haven’t actually played a home game since August 2010. After the 2009/2010 season, Premier League clubs became so disillusioned by facing Stoke at the Brittania that they all refused to further fulfil the fixture.
Therefore, for the past three seasons Stoke City haven’t actually played any home games, TV cameras have simply replayed fixtures from the 2009/2010 season. This is why every Stoke City home game is exactly the same. To not arouse suspicion, TV cameras occasionally, through CGI, crop in random goals. This explains why Peter Crouch was seen scoring a volley from 30 yards against Manchester City last season. This goal did not actually take place.

Joey Barton French Accent Watch 

Following in the footsteps of Schteve McLaren, Scouse bad boy Joey Barton took to a French interview this week….by speaking in a weird Scouse/French accent. As if the Scouse accent isn’t excruciating enough, Saint Joey decided to add some ‘je ne sais quoi’, if you haven’t heard it yet I suggest you go and do so. Next week look out for David Beckham ‘tawking like a hillbilly’.

Premier League Review - Gameweek 12

Game of the weekend

Only one place to begin - the North London Derby as Arsenal hosted Tottenham in the early Saturday kick off.
As customary with these two clubs, self destruct was on red alert and it took just 19 minutes for self destruct to strike again. Emmanuel Adebayor the sinner, as after scoring a goal and doing a weird dance, then attempted to decapitate Santi Cazorla. This decapitation attempt failed, Adebayor was sent off and Santi Cazorla inspired Arsenal to a comeback. Arsenal being Arsenal attempted to throw it all away. Firstly, by allowing Cristiano Ronaldo impressionist - Gareth Bale to score a Cristiano Ronaldo like goal. This was then followed by some dreadful defending which should have resulted in Jermaine Defoe scoring a tap in from a Bale cross. However Gareth Bale, continuing in his Cristiano Ronaldo impressionist mode, instead went for the glory, took a shot and dragged the ball wide.
Despite some odd time wasting from Wojciech Szczesny and a few more glaring misses by Oliver Giroud, Theo Walcott eventually settled the nerves by scoring his 100th career goal against Spurs.
The real Aston Villa returned this week, just seven days after impersonating a half decent side, they were back to their woeful best as they were beaten 5-0 by Manchester City. The game however, will be mostly remembered for one of the strangest things to ever happen during a football match. 
At 1-0 to Manchester City with 50 minutes gone, assistant referee - Adrian Holmes, randomly brought the game to a halt and seemingly awarded Manchester City a penalty for no apparent reason. When asked about why he had awarded the penalty, Adrian Holmes simply replied “Was bored and I needed fantasy football points for Aguero”. The lack of media hysteria in light of such a decision can be attributed to the fact it didn’t involve Manchester United.

Moving onto the red half of Manchester, United suffered their third league defeat of the campaign as they went down to Norwich at Carrow Road. 
In truth neither side deserved to win what was an incredibly poor game, of course Norwich will take plaudits as the underdog but their win consisted largely of just ‘trying really hard’. A simple tactic, that seems to be the key to beating a modern day United side, a side which nowadays think by merely walking onto the field, the three points will automatically present themselves. 
This however does not apply when United face either Chelsea or Arsenal or fall 2-0 behind, when either of these three things happen United suddenly remember to start playing again.

West Brom 1-0 Chelsea. As it goes with every single Chelsea season. Chelsea start the campaign with ten straight victories, these victories largely consist of 4-0 home wins over Reading , Wigan and Accrington Stanley. This then leads to every bookmaker in the country declaring Chelsea as Champions. Around mid-October when Chelsea suddenly start facing the half decent teams, poor results follow and thus begins a slide down the table. This is followed by the realisation that Chelsea will in actual fact, not end the season as Champions. That being said, credit to Steve Clarke and West Brom who continued their terrific start to the season. 

El Sackico
Q.P.R have developed a terrific habit of never winning, so as expected - failed to win this weekends relegation crunch match. Southampton took the three points and Nigel Adkins pulled clear of Mark Hughes in the Premier League sack race. 
On the final day of last season Q.P.R failed to maintain the dignity of the Premier League by surrendering two injury time goals to Manchester City, which led to City winning the league title. This failure to maintain dignity can be attributed to the fact QPR had found out they were safe from relegation, just moments before they’d lay down for Manchester City. What followed was Mark Hughes declaring that Q.P.R would “never be in that situation under him again”. With zero wins from twelve games and a trip to Old Trafford next weekend, Mark Hughes’s curtain call may come in the most ironic manner.


Best of the rest
Luis Suarez was in the goals again as Liverpool won for only the fourth time at home in 2012. A welcomed victory over Wigan for a side who’ve managed to go seven league games unbeaten yet somehow remain in the exact same league position.
Reading got their first win of the season as they surprised everyone, including themselves, with a 2-1 win over Everton.
Newcastle’s slide continued as they were beaten at home by Swansea, whilst Sunderland scored more than a goal in a game for the first time this century as they beat Fulham 3-1. West Ham and Stoke played out a passing exhibition on Monday night. Not really of course, what really happened was that someone took a throw in, someone headed it on and someone really tall, tapped the ball in. The game ended 1-1.

Too Good Too Bad

Mikel Arteta Invincibility watch
At some point in August after selling Alex Song the holding midfielder, Arsene Wenger decided the perfect replacement for Song, would be a player (Mikel Arteta) incapable of playing as a holding midfielder. Mikel Arteta lacks the required abilities to efficiently play in the role and what has followed is three months of invincible Mikel Arteta performances. 
This has led to a bizarre case where most people now watch an Arsenal game forgetting Arteta plays for Arsenal...whilst he’s playing for Arsenal. They then spend the rest of the week remembering Arteta plays for Arsenal...whilst not watching him play for Arsenal.
This however did change last week, when Arteta took a break from his invincibility by attempting and successfully sabotaging Arsenal in their home game with Fulham.

Luis Suarez
It seems that when taking time out from diving, cheating, and being racist, Luis Suarez is  quite unplayable and almost, I said almost, likeable. When I say unplayable, I don’t mean Andy Carroll-win headers- hold up ball- not score any goals - unplayable. I mean unplayable as in -score lots of goals-show off lots of skills-win games for your team - unplayable. He’s also taken a month off from furiously appealing for penalties. For those unaware of this phenomenon, back in the old days, Luis Suarez would appeal for a penalty by furiously using his right hand to slap his left forearm in reference to an imaginary handball that the opposition had committed in their penalty area.

The Undroppable
Ashley Young has developed a special power, this special power is known as Undroppable. This power largely consists of continually putting in poor performances for both club and country, yet miraculously still being picked by both club and country. I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for anyone whose allegiances lie with both England and Manchester United.

Pointless International friendlies watch
On Wednesday night England and Sweden played out their yearly pointless friendly fixture, the game will be remembered for a sensational Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal. What has followed however (judging by the all round hysterical reaction) is a world where Zlatan Ibrahimovic in actual fact not only scored four against England but also scored several Champions League Final winning goals.
According to many Zlatan is now a big game player, should win the Ballon d’Or and will most likely cure cancer.