Victor Obinna scored a belated first Premier League goal at the weekend in the 3-1 win over Wigan and last night used his newfound confidence to tear into a fledgling United defence. The on-loan Nigerian provided 3 assists in a stunning 4-0 Carling Cup win and was a menace to the shell-shocked back four all evening.
Elsewhere, the Gunners had a far more routine passage to the Carling Cup last four, disposes of Wigan by a two goal margin at the Emirates…
Avram Grant was forced into a significant change in the West Ham midfield with Scott Parker missing out with further complications with his chest infection that almost saw him miss Saturday’s game. Jonathan Spector came into an unfamiliar midfield role and duly claimed two goals against his former club. Julien Faubert and Tal Ben Haim replaced the cup-tied Lars Jacobsen and Danny Gabbidon in the full-back roles. Radoslav Kovac and Luis Boa Morte came in for Valon Behrami and Junior Stanislas in midfield, while Carlton Cole was given the nod ahead of the rested Frederic Piquionne.
Avram Grant admitted after the game that Parker will come back into his eleven for the trip to Sunderland with last night’s hero Spector likely to make way. Up front Grant has a headache however, with Carlton Cole impressing alongside Obinna with his own brace of goals. Grant had this to say on Cole’s performance…
“He was brilliant today. From the first moment he worked very hard, caused a lot of problems and scored goals…It was the first time he did that for us and he was hungry to show he can do better. Every player sometimes has bad times but we have to wait and judge at the end of the season, not after 15 games.”
The Hammers will certainly go to the Stadium of Light with confidence following convincing back-to-back wins and, although they face three away games in four (sun MCY bla ful), their low-to-mid price assets may well be worth consideration off the back of this marked improvement. A front three of Cole, Piquionne and Obinna looks likely and that trio will take form and confidence into a game against an injury-hit Sunderland back four who conceded three goals to Wolves last time out. Interesting.
United meanwhile will be looking to forget last night’s showing. Alex Ferguson made no less than ten changes to the lineup that demolished Blackburn Rovers – only Anderson kept his starting role in a midfield that also boasted Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher, making returns from recent injuries. They provided the experience in an otherwise youthful United side which were simply brushed aside by a more physical and organised West Ham outfit on the night.
Ferguson was quick to point to defensive frailties for the reason behind the defeat..
“The goals we conceded were poor, and some of our players were too young to carry those mistakes and still win the match.”
Few of the United starting lineup seem likely to threaten the teamsheet for the trip to Blackpool – the midfield trio of Anderson, Giggs and Fletcher will all be pushing for inclusion but it would seem that Carrick and Scholes (if fit), along with Park and Nani will be the likely four given the nod.
Arsenal’s routine 2-0 victory over Wigan in the other tie saw Nicklas Bendtner stake his claim with a strike to seal the win following an Antolin Alcaraz own goal. Despite that statement from Bendtner, it was Robin Van Persie’s return to a starting role that drew the headlines. He began up front in a side that showed a total of nine changes in all – only Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny kept their starts from the victory at Villa Park.
Van Persie completed 70 minutes before being subbed and, despite the run-out, Wenger was still adamant that the Dutchman remained short of his full match sharpness in his post-match debrief…
“He has shown class. He still needs games, he was out for a long time but it’s already positive that he could play 70 minutes tonight. Let’s hope he has no reaction then he will become stronger and stronger.”
Van Persie is set to resume bench duty at home to Fulham this weekend then and perhaps only Koscielny and Wilshere will get near the starting XI for that match. The likes of Theo Walcott, Denilson and Bendtner seem set to find themselves kept in reserve once again.
Wigan’s defeat was compounded by the loss of the lively Victor Moses to a dislocated shoulder, with boss Roberto Martinez confirming the injury in his post-match comments…
“Victor fell very awkwardly and straightaway you could see that he had dislocated his shoulder.We sent him straight to hospital, and we’ll continue to assess him. Unfortunately we are looking at anything between four to six weeks.”
Mauro Boselli also picked up a knock according to Martinez – he’ll now be a doubt for the weekend. A bitter blow for Fantasy Managers far and wide.
