Arsenal give their boss something to smile about with a gritty win in Udinese. Blackburn and Everton grab their first victories of the season in the Carling Cup. Luis Suarez takes Exeter apart to earn Kenny Dalglish his two hundredth win as Liverpool boss. Tuncay sparkles on his Bolton debut with a goal and an assist. Daniel Levy tells Chelsea to drop their interest in Luka Modric yet again while Joey Barton tweets as he prepares to join QPR. Here’s this morning’s Scribbles, folks:
Everton made amends for their poor start to the season with a 3-1 win over Sheffield United. The Toffees bounced back from last weekend’s 1-0 home loss to QPR, with youngster Ross Barkley again a stand-out. Mikel Arteta and Marouane Felliani both completed the ninety minutes and Louis Saha had a half hour cameo ahead of the trip to Blackburn.
Kenny Dalglish’s starting XI saw Luis Suarez selected for the trip to Exeter City. The Uruguayan again showed his class, scored one and assisting two in the 3-1 win. The Liverpool boss saw Raul Meireles leave the proceedings early on and confirmed after the game the midfielder will be out for a “few weeks” after injuring his collarbone.
Steve Kean picked up his first win of the season as Blackburn beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Ewood Park. Rovers got off to a flier, scoring three goals in the first seven minutes and significantly for Kean, it was two of his signings that grabbed all the goals- the former Barcelona midfielder Ruben Rochina scored twice while David Goodwillie also netted.
On-loan Tuncay spared Bolton’s blushes with an impressive Trotters debut. With his side one-down at home to Macclesfield, the new boy helped turn things round with a goal and an assist in the 2-1 win. It was Martin Petrov who grabbed the winner, continuing his good early season form for Owen Coyle’s side.
Arsenal showed a real strength of character to send Udinese crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers. Despite going a goal behind, the Gunners proved too good for their hosts and thanks to goals from Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott, as well as an outstanding penalty save from Wojciech Szczesny, cemented their place in the Group Stages with a morale-boosting victory. Arsene Wenger was delighted with the win:
We have been a little bit under pressure and for us not to play the Champions League and with the players who left, that pressure would’ve increased, understandably. Since the beginning of the season, I feel a very strong, determined attitude within the team. We responded in a very positive way, even being down 1-0.
Harry Redknapp is convinced the Luka Modric to Chelsea story is now dead in the water. The Spurs boss revealed that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had spoken to the Stamford Bridge club and told them to forgot about signing the player:
“The chairman made another statement last night that he is definitely not going. He said he spoke to Chelsea and he told them, ‘Let’s put an end to this because it’s not going to happen’.”
Redknapp has admitted he will play Modric tonight in the Europa League match with Hearts- the midfielder’s involvement in the game means he would be unable to play in the Champions League until February, if he does leave White Hart Lane before the end of the month.
With Juan Mata joining Chelsea yesterday, there are whispers in the air that Florent Malouda could be on his way to Juventus. While Mata can also play through the middle, his arrival places question marks against Malouda’s game time on the left and with the Frenchman a sub in last week’s home game against West Brom, the link may be stronger than just paper talk.
Joey Barton moved a step closer to a Newcastle exit yesterday. The midfielder underwent a medical ahead of a move to QPR and perhaps unsurprisingly, took to twitter to express his feelings on the situation:
Going for a medical now, still no contract offer from NUFC…….think that just about makes my mind up.Don’t want to leave Newcastle……..I’ve made that clear but my hands are tied.
