United show their resilience to fight back and down a valiant Blackpool. Villa grab their second win on the spin and start to climb the table, while Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers will forever recall the Gameweek as “Berbatov week”, with the Bulgarian’s five goal, 29 point haul haunting those who opted for Wayne Rooney instead. Elsewhere, Arsenal overcome Ipswich to reach the Carling Cup Final and possibly create some Gameweek 28 fixture congestion, although that’s all dependant on rescheduling…
United once again showed a never-say-die attitude, going 2-0 down to Blackpool before a resurgent performance in the latter stages of the second half maintained their unbeaten league record. Sir Alex Ferguson started with a 4-3-3 formation, with Chris Smalling continuing in the centre of defence at the expense of the injured Rio Ferdinand, before changing to 4-4-2 on the half-hour mark.
The introduction of Ryan Giggs on the United left made the difference, and, after Dimitar Berbatov pulled one back, it was Giggs who supplied the killer pass for Javier Hernandez’s equaliser before Berbatov scored the winner, his fifth of this double Gameweek. Wayne Rooney started on the left-flank and was a peripheral figure throughout; he was subbed midway through the second half. A head injury to right-back Rafael will need to be monitored by his Fantasy Owners, with the youngster stretchered off and taken to hospital late on following a nasty clash of heads. Concussion will likely see him miss the weekend FA Cup tie with Southampton but he could well be fine for a return against Villa in Gameweek 25. Ferguson had this to say on that situation in his post-match comments…
“He’s gone to hospital…We just hope he’s okay. He’s got concussion, we know that, we just hope everything else is okay.”
Blackpool ran out of steam in their bid to end the league leaders’ unbeaten run, and have now lost three games on the trot. Goals from Craig Cathcart and DJ Campbell topped an outstanding first half performance but, in the end, it seemed Ian Holloway’s side had nothing left in the tank as United hit back, with the pace of Hernandez coming off the bench proving a decisive switch by Ferguson.
Two Charlie Adam assists and three Bonus Points will no doubt please his Fantasy Owners, but it could have been more; Blackpool were denied what seemed a certain penalty with the score at 2-0, and the decision left Holloway livid on the sidelines. They’ll need to pick themselves up quick for the next league game, at home to West Ham.
Gerard Houllier surprised many by dropping Marc Albrighton to the bench for the visit to Wigan. The Villa boss also changed his central midfield pairing from the weekend win against Man City, giving Jean Makoun his debut and bringing Nigel Reo Coker back into the fray. Young Nathan Baker made his debut at left-back in the vital 2-1 win which saw Villa edge away from the drop zone. Baker came in for Ciaran Clark who is nursing a hamstring problem – Houllier is hopeful that he’ll be back in contention for the weekend Cup tie.
Interestingly, Ashley Young took the penalty to put Villa 2-0 up, despite new boy Darren Bent being on the pitch, an indication of Young, perhaps, being the number one for spot-kicks. Young, subject of this week’s Technical Area, also grabbed the three Bonus Points for his performance.
James McCarthy was welcomed back by Wigan following a three month absence and, despite the young midfielder finding the net from 25 yards out, it wasn’t enough to prevent Roberto Martinez’s side from slipping to defeat in this vital match. Martinez made a number of changes from the weekend defeat at the Emirates, ultimately with little effect. Wigan have now won just one of their last nine league games, a worrying sign for fans of the Latics. Double Gameweek returns from Wigan were predictably scarce.
Arsene Wenger ensured there were no slip-ups in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi with Ipswich as he fielded a strong side, including Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie, for the 3-0 Emirates win to clinch a spot in the final. Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott took their place on the Arsenal bench and, with an FA Cup game with Huddersfield this upcoming weekend, Wenger will surely rest more of his major players ahead of next week’s home league match with Everton. Bacary Sagna is a doubt for the weekend Cup tie – he suffered concussion in a collision with keeper Wojciech Szczesny and was taken to hospital.
With the Carling Cup Final taking place in the weekend of Gameweek 28, this could possibly put the Gunners match with Spurs at risk, though there’s every possibility the match could be rescheduled for midweek of the same game week, as Mark‘s article last night pointed out.
