A poll this Monday in The Times showed that 21.54 percent of readers voted Manchester United as their title favorites. It’s an unexpected twist – David Moyes looked so incompetent during his first month in charge of the reigning champions that the return of Sir Alex Ferguson was widely discussed. But after the latest step in the Red Devils’ resurgence saw them beat Arsenal 1-0 last weekend, with Robin Van Persie scoring the only goal, they now find themselves only five points off the league leaders.
Robin Van Persie scored the only goal against former club Arsenal
Has this Man United really come back on track? They beat the Gunners through a corner, but failed to cast any real danger in open play – a problem we have seen time and time again this season. That said, their defence was superb and is an area David Moyes is renowned for as his old Everton side built their relative success on solid defence and counter attack. But we really don’t want to watch United going down this path. People have noted how they swept Fulham aside the week before as evidence of their attacking prowess, but the truth is Fulham look anything but a Premier League side at the moment with their manager Martin Jol on his way out. Unfortunately the current Man United side still hasn’t displayed the determined and fearful methods Ferguson’s team used to exhibit.
Pellegrini: how to cure Manchester City’s travel sickness?
There were lots of twist and surprises in the other matches last weekend as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City suffered shock defeats against weaker sides. Loïc Rémy’s seventh goal this season and the incredible performance from their goalkeeper Tim Krul brought victory to Newcastle United against Tottenham. The Magpies continue to defy the doubters with consecutive wins over Chelsea and Tottenham. And Manchester City’s travel sickness continues with their loss to Sunderland, their fourth defeat at the Stadium of Light in a row! Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet has brought an instant change to the team with the Black Cats having won three times from their last four matches under him.
Chelsea drew 2-2 against West Brom thanks to a controversial penalty in the last minute of the game. Steve Clarke’s side missed another chance of releasing a celebration DVD – just like what they did after their famous victory at Old Trafford early in the season.
So after a weekend full of entertainment and dramatic twists, we now wait another two weeks before the Premier League hits the road again with the playoffs of the World Cup qualifiers to be played during this period. Sweden v Portugal is the clash everyone is interested in – will it be Cristiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimović heading to Brazil in 2014? That is quite a question!
