Football got back to normalities today after the hectic day that was Deadline Day yesterday. Transfers done and until January the managers have to work with what they have got. There were six premier league games today featuring newly-promoted West Ham and current champions Manchester City. There were registered wins for West Ham, West Brom and Man City over Fulham, Everton and QPR respectively. The other three games were played out to draws.
First we go to White Hart Lane. Tottenham manager, Andre Villas-Boas was a very busy man yesterday after making two deadline day signings and sealing the departure of three players, but his new look team couldn’t overcome Chris Houghton’s Norwich City as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. This is Tottenham’s second consecuvtive home draw against lower opposition. Tottenham took the lead in the second half thanks to new-boy, Moussa Dembele, but his goal was cancelled out when Robert Snodgrass equalised late on for the canaries. Things went from bad to worse for Villas-Boas’ men when want-away midfielder, Tom Huddlestone, got himself sent off for a mis-timed tackle. A good point for Chris Houghton’s men, but points dropped for sure for Villas-Boas and Tottenham.
In the early kick off, newly-promoted, West Ham had a bit of a London derby when they entertained Fulham. New loan signing, Andy Carroll, got a start, but new-boy for Fulham, Dimitar Berbatov could only get a place on the bench. Sam Allardyce couldn’t have wished for a better start for his men as Kevin Nolan gave them the lead after just one minute. Two other goals in the first half from Winston Reid and Matt Taylor wrapped up a convincing 3-0 win for West Ham as Martin Jol’s men suffered their second defeat of the season.
Manchester City vs QPR will always be a remembered game after the last minute excitement that took place at the end of last season, but today it was a bit more convincing for Mancini’s men as they carried on their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win. Goals from Yaya Toure, Eden Dzeko and Carlos Tevez gave Man City a comfortable win which didn’t look likey after Bobby Zamora equalised for QPR after 60 minutes. Mark Hughes will be hoping his 12 new summer signings will help QPR from their slow start to the season.
Elswhere, Swansea and Sunderland couldn’t be separated as they drew 2-2 at the Liberty Stadium, the highlight of the game being another goal for new boy Michu, who looks like he is adapting to premier league life pretty easily. Steve Clarke’s West Brom carried on their impressive start with a great home win over high-flyers Everton. Shane Long and Gareth McAuley scored the goals in a comfortable 2-0 win for the baggies. The last game was at the DW stadium where Wigan and Stoke battled to a 2-2 draw, both teams having a helping hand from the referee after he gave a penalty to each team.
So another busy day in the Premiership which I am sure will be matched in tomorrow’s matches which see Liverpool take on Arsenal, Newcastle take on Aston Villa and Southampton face Manchester United.
Alex William Batt
