Aaron Ramsey steps out of Cesc’s shadow to down Man United and offer Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea hope in their defence of the league title. Liverpool continue their impressive progress since the return of Kenny Dalglish by sweeping aside Newcastle to leapfrog Tottenham in fifth place. Birmingham and Wolves share the spoils at St Andrews and Man City pick up another home win to leave West Ham rooted to the bottom of the table. Here’s the notes on yesterday’s games…
Thanks to spot-kick duties in the absence of Steven Gerrard, Kuyt continued his recent scoring spree by grabbing his eighth goal in seven games for the Reds in an Anfield stroll over Newcastle. Kuyt also picked up an assist and 2 Bonus Points for a 13 point return, thoroughly justifying his place at the top of our captain’s poll for gameweek 35. Andy Carroll’s second-half introduction looks like ending the Dutchman’s role up front, though, with a return to his right wing position for next week’s trip to Fulham most likely.
Drafted in by 33,000 Fantasy Managers ahead of this gameweek, the Uruguayan returned their faith with another eye-catching performance that brought about a goal, an assist and 3 Bonus Points. Suarez has picked up Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points in every home start since arriving in January.
The Toon Army have seen their favourites score just one goal in the last four games, as Newcastle’s form drops dramatically in this latter part of the season. Alan Pardew’s side have just one win in their last eight games, and, despite their current 41 point tally, need another victory to secure survival. Their remaining fixtures (BIR, che, WBA) offer hope as far as the home matches are concerned, and they’ll be relying on top-scorer Kevin Nolan to fire them to safety. Luckily for Pardew, Nolan tends to keep his goals for home occasions; ten of his twelve have came at St James’ Park.
The Scotsman continues to impress up front for Wolves; his penalty opener in the derby draw at Birmingham was a third goal in six games. It says a lot for his contribution to the cause that Mick McCarthy’s side have only scored seven goals over that period, showing just how crucial he has been of late. Incidentally, Wolves haven’t lost in that six game period when Fletcher has found the net. With (WBA, sun, BLA) still to come, his goals could be the key to their survival.
Birmingham’s home draw with Wolves came at a cost; top scorer Craig Gardner was sent off after picking up two yellow cards and now misses next week’s trip to Newcastle. The point puts them four points clear of the drop zone and with (FUL, tot) to follow, another win should see them safe. Alex McLeish will be hoping Roger Johnson is fine next week; reports indicate the centre half was limping towards the end of the game, though no possible injury has been suggested as of yet.
Arsenal may have lost Cesc Fabregas to a thigh injury suffered in Saturday’s training session, but the Welshman -making his fourth league appearance all season- proved his class on the big occasion. Fabregas has played 13 league games in 2011 and has yet to find the net; Ramsey managed it in this, his second start, grabbing the only goal of the game to hand Chelsea a lifeline in the race for the title.
The Gunners boss was delighted with Arsenal’s performance and although his team are firm outsiders for the title, he still holds some hope in the race at the top:
”For me, it was immense pressure to be out of the title race, believe me, because I felt so strongly we would win this championship. We want to fight until the last second of the season. I have not given up any hope. We were really unlucky this season until now, let’s hope we have a bit more luck in the final three weeks. You never know.”
The Arsenal boss also revealed Samir Nasri was taken off at half time due to a “small” hamstring problem.
A win would have set them up perfectly for next weekend’s Old Trafford showdown with Chelsea, but Man United were deservedly beaten at the Emirates. The league leaders have tasted defeat in three of their last five matches on the road now, falling to Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. United were the polar opposite of the team that swept aside Schalke in midweek, and have scored just one goal in the last three league games.
The United centre half was more than a little fortunate to escape a deliberate handball in the area, a moment of folly which could easily have earned him a red card and handed Arsenal a spot-kick. Considering any dismissal would also have also made him ineligible for next week’s crucial Old Trafford showdown with Chelsea -where a win would leave United six points clear with two games to play- Vidic can count himself lucky, in spite of this defeat.
Roberto Mancini’s side took a big step towards cementing fourth stop -at least- with their 2-1 home win over West Ham. The club’s form at Eastlands has been fantastic of late, with seven wins and a draw from their last eight home games. City play twice at Eastlands in the next two weeks, including the upcoming double gameweek (eve & TOT, STK, bol) and look primed for Fantasy Investment ahead of this weekend.
Nigel De Jong opened the scoring -his first for the club- but failed to emerge for the second forty-five due to the recurrence of a hip injury picked up a couple of days ago. Pablo Zabaleta suffered shin and ankle knocks but after the game Mancini revealed both should be fine for next weekend. Micah Richards is looking good for the Everton game and as for a certain Señor Tevez:
“Carlos is doing some work now and we will see“.
With two games in a week and the forthcoming FA Cup Final in mind Mancini even hinted at rotation, no doubt to the annoyance of many Fantasy Managers:
“I have picked the same team for the last three games but maybe we will change things at Everton and against Spurs.”
Five defeats on the trot, bottom of the league. Relegation form? Definitely. A look at West Ham’s last three fixtures, however, (BLA, wig, SUN) shows just why they still harbour hopes of staying up, as Avram Grant‘s side go head to head with three of the worst form teams in the league. Demba Ba’s goal was only the Hammers’ fourth in the last six league games, a worrying sign for Grant as the trap door inches closer.
