All is forgiven after Edin Dzeko apologises to Roberto Mancini following his Tuesday strop in Munich. Charles N’Zogbia reveals his left wing frustration, while Kenny Dalglish is cautious on the fitness of his skipper with Everton in mind. Elsewhere, Stoke, Spurs and Fulham all grabbed wins in Europe for a good side for the Premier League in last night’s Europa League group matches:
Edin Dzeko has been forgiven by Roberto Mancini after his touchline tantrum in the Allianz Arena. The Carlos Tevez saga has undoubtedly overshadowed the Bosnian’s own show of petulance, with the City boss claiming post-match that Dzeko would be benched for this weekend’s trip to Blackburn. Dzeko has since apologised for the incident but whether he will stay in the starting lineup perhaps remains doubtful for this game- Mancini may want to take a strong stance over this and starting Dzeko could be perceived as backing down.
Harry Redknapp gave run outs to the likes of Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko and both were amongst the goals in Spurs’ 3-1 Europa League win over Shamrock Rovers last night. Aaron Lennon was also included but was subbed off at half time after his ongoing groin problem flared up and the winger will be assessed today ahead of Sunday’s game with Arsenal.
With Bobby Zamora and Moussa Dembele both left behind in London, Andrew Johnson made his mark as Fulham won 2-0 in Odense. Johnson has now scored six goals in nine Europa League appearances and Martin Jol admitted the forward may feature in his thinking for the weekend home game with QPR.
He hasn’t done it in the league but sometimes you have to give him the opportunities too. I’m 100% certain that if I start Andy he won’t let anyone down.
Tony Pulis fielded a near-full strength team for Stoke’s 2-1 home win over Besiktas. The Stoke boss saw Peter Crouch grab a goal for the second home game in a row and was full of praise for the former Spurs striker post-match:
His contribution to the cause so far has been fantastic. Apart from his influence up front, a major part of his game was the way he defended set plays. The crowd like him and will enjoy him. He never stopped working. His attitude was fantastic.
Kenny Dalglish has hinted he’s quite happy to continue easing Steven Gerrard back into match action. With the small matter of a game against Everton next up on the agenda tomorrow, Dalglish is determined not to be swayed by sentiment, with his skipper likely to make do with a place on the bench:
The Merseyside derby isn’t the most important thing – Steven Gerrard is. We will manage him as best we can, and that has always been our attitude.
Charles N’Zogbia has been speaking of his poor start to the season at Aston Villa. The winger-so often a strong Fantasy prospect over the last couple of season- reckons he’s being played in the wrong position by new boss Alex McLeish:
The last two seasons for me were great. I was playing on the right side, where I’m really confident, but now I’m playing more on the left. If you want to get the most of me, I can do more from the right. I can kill any left-back.
But I have to accept what the manager wants from me and do my best. I can be an exciting player – if you play me in the right position.
