Didier Drogba’s tame penalty denies Chelsea three points at the Lane. Andy Carroll welcomes the Pardew era by dismantling an inconsistent Liverpool at St James’ Park. Stuart Holden strides through “a bunch of old women” to strike 10-man Bolton’s winner against Rovers. Roberto Mancini’s City cope without Carlos to go level on points at the top. They might have to get used to it – the absence of Tevez that is.
Here’s some notes on the weekend action…
Frank Lampard’s return to the Chelsea picture was covered in the Knee Jerk yesterday evening of course but today, all the talk is on the Didier Drogba penalty miss. Carlo Ancelotti has reaffirmed Lampard as his first-choice taker but did offer some explanation as to why Drogba stepped up…
“The first player for penalties is Lampard and after that it is Drogba…Lampard was not able to take it because he did not have a lot of confidence because he was out for a long time. So Drogba took it.”
Lampard looks certain to start against United next time out and will surely be back on spot-kick duties from now on.
Stuart Holden returned from injury to reclaim his role in the cenre of Bolton’s midfield, capping yet another strong performance with a well taken volley at the death to win the local derby with Blackburn. Holden also picked up a deserved 3 Bonus Points for his efforts. Interestingly, Holden’s return began a new midfield rotation, with Mark Davies continuing to start after multiple strong games and Fabrice Muamba being relegated to the bench. But when Mark Davies saw red for a second yellow, Muamba came on to shore up the middle and promptly responded with his first goal of the season for the opener.
Kevin Davies turned in another solid performance, earning the assist for the deciding goal and clearing Chris Samba’s goal bound effort, but most were surprised to see Bolton’s goals coming from Muamba and Holden, with Davies and Johan Elmander failing to figure on the scoresheet. Chung-Yong Lee continued to show creativity on the right side, but got the early hook to allow the tactical change after the Mark Davies red card. On the left side, Martin Petrov had several threatening runs as well as a goal called back due to a phantom call, but his role remains under pressure from Matthew Taylor, especially after Petrov threw yet another tantrum when he was pulled with roughly 15 minutes to play.
Although Kevin Davies gathered an assist, Sunday’s game was the first time this season that he’s failed to gather FPL Bonus Points in a Bolton victory. Up until Sunday, Bolton had won 5 league games in which Davies had earned a total of 13 Bonus Points.
Since his 15 point haul in Gameweek 14, Johan Elmander has drawn three consecutive Fantasy blanks. With three away games in four ahead of him, including trips to Sunderland, Chelsea and Liverpool – arguably three of the top defences in the league – owners of the Swede must surely now be taking stock and considering options. Having said that, 6 of his 8 goals and 4 of his 5 assists have come away from home.
Gerard Houllier rang the changes following Aston Villa’s defeat at Anfield on Monday as Aston Villa held off a late West Brom revival to win their Midlands derby. Richard Dunne was benched, Emile Heskey led the line as Gabriel Agbonlahor missed out with a chest infection, with Ashley Young supporting the lone frontman. Stewart Downing continued as the home side’s main FPL performer, grabbing his fifth league goal of the season. Young and Marc Albrighton picked up an assist each, as Heskey celebrated his first appearance in seven with the home side’s second and the 3 Bonus Points.
West Brom came crashing back down to earth following emphatic wins in their two previous games. Peter Odemwingie failed to make the clash with a groin injury, though Chris Brunt showed his incredible consistency by notching his tenth assist of the season, the same number as Nani. Considering his price (£5.6m) and performances, it’s surprising he has just 5.5% Fantasy Ownership.
Despite battering the Wigan goal for much of the match, Everton failed to find a way past a defiant Wigan, thanks mainly to the Latics keeper Ali Al Habsi. Leighton Baines supplied cross after cross in a performance that saw him awarded 3 Bonus Points, but the home side just could not convert. Everton have now failed to win in seven games,with their home form cause for concern; they have scored only one goal in each of their last four at Goodison.
Wigan recorded just their second clean sheet in ten games due to Al Habsi’s eight saves (which helped him pick up 2 Bonus Points) against David Moyes’ side. Hugo Rodallega returned after a three game suspension as Mauro Boselli dropped out, but he failed to improve upon a scoring record which has seen Roberto Martinez’s side score a mere five goals on the road this season so far. Martinez will lose two players to suspension next weekend – both Maynor Figeuroa and Hendry Thomas picked up their fifth bookings at Goodison.
With Carlos Tevez suspended for Man City’s clash with West Ham, Roberto Mancini perhaps had reason to worry; the Argentine has notched ten of City’s 21 goals prior to the Upton Park match. However, a 13 point FPL performance (1 goal, 1 assist and 3 Bonus Points) from Yaya Toure helped City continue their great away form with an easy 3-1 win over Avram Grant’s side. City have now scored double the number of goals on the road than they have at home, netting sixteen times compared to just eight at Eastlands, though, somewhat surprisingly, they have recorded just one clean sheet in their last six away games. Unbeaten in eight games, the win took them to second in the table, only on goal difference.
Mario Balotelli again showed his petulance; having been booked for persistent dissent, he was subbed by Mancini on the hour mark and showed his feelings by storming down the tunnel and ignoring his manager. With the Tevez saga flair up on Sunday, Mancini has plenty of off-field concerns to distract from his side’s ascent up the league table. Mancini will also be without Nigel de Jong against Everton next weekend – he picked up his fifth booking of the season at Upton Park.
West Ham went into the game with City having lost only one of their last six home league games but were easily brushed aside by their visitors. Avram Grant made four changes from last week’s defeat at Sunderland, re-instating joint-top-scorer Frederic Piquionne at the expense of Carlton Cole. Continued rotation in the Hammers front line puts doubt over the wisdom of any gamble on the likes of Cole and Piquionne.
Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton returned to the Newcastle starting lineup and took very little time to demonstrate their worth to the Magpies. It was Barton’s precise free-kick that found Andy Carroll’s nod down which was duly converted by Nolan. That was the midfielder’s first goal in 5 starts but his eighth of the season. He is currently valued at 6.1 in the FPL with a 14% ownership. Barton then followed suit by poking home Newcastle’s second.
Andy Carroll’s assist for Nolan’s goal and his stunning late strike means that the Newcastle number nine has notched a goal or an assist in 9 of his last 10 starts for the Magpies – an incredible level of consistency from a striker who was initially valued at just 5.0 in the FPL.
Charlie Adam moved to 22 Bonus Points for the season with another maximum haul in Blackpool’s fine 1-0 win at Stoke at the Britannia. Significantly the Scot has mustered just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 8 league starts but gathered 13 Bonus Points in that spell – underlining just how prominent Adam is in Blackpool’s performances. Adam did however pick up his fifth booking of the season and will now miss the home clash with Spurs next weekend.
Blackpool continue to defy the pundits and have now scored in 6 of their last 7 games, wrecking the myth that they are whipping boys that offer strong clean sheet prospects for their opponents. Blackpool have only failed to score in 4 of their 16 games so far this term.
Sunderland’s back four kept an eighth clean sheet of the season at Craven Cottage, their third in five games. John Mensah took the plaudits with maximum FPL Bonus and Nedum Onuoha gathered 2 Bonus Points for the second consecutive week; his price continues to rise and he now stands at 5.4. Steve Bruce’s side now face three of the next four at the Stadium of Light (BOL mun BLP BLA) and appear to offer very exceptional defensive value in the low-to-mid price bracket.
Fulham’s miserable run in front of goal continues. The stalemate with Sunderland means that Mark Hughes’ side have scored just 4 goals in their last 7 league outings. The Fulham boss was unable to call on Mousa Dembele on Saturday but will surely restore the Belgian international if he’s fit enough to return next weekend. Those holding the seemingly inconsistent Liverpool defenders following the 3-1 defeat to Newcastle, can at least take some comfort from the fact that Roy Hodgson’s side will be facing his mis-firing former club next Gameweek.
Wolves earned a 1-0 win over local rivals Birmingham without Kevin Doyle and Matt Jarvis in their lineup. Both missed out through injuries which saw starts for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Stephen Hunt. The two worked in combination to score the winner, Hunt converting a cross from Ebanks-Blake – both earned FPL Bonus Points as a result of their performances. David Edwards and Richard Stearman returned to a much-changed Wolves lineup. Stearman helped Mick McCarthy’s side to their first clean sheet of the season.
Like Fulham, Birmingham are in awful scoring form with just 3 goals in their last 5 games. Alex McLeish has failed to find a combination up front which can unlock returns and failed again at Molineuz, despite restoring the giant Nikola Zigic and Seb Larsson to supply crosses, to his starting lineup. Three home games in four at least offer some potential for revival but United and Arsenal are two of those three sides to visit St Andrews, with Alan Pardew’s Newcastle coming next.
At the other end Ben Foster continues to excel. He failed to return a clean sheet but did gather 2 more Save Points with 7 recorded saves. Foster has scored at least one Save Point in his last 10 league matches, keeping 4 clean sheets in the process. Despite the defeat, Foster has conceded just 3 goals in his last 5 starts.
