Weekend Friendly Round Up

There were as many as 12 Premier League sides in action over Friday and Saturday for Fantasy managers to keep up to speed with. Michu was amongst the goals for Swansea, Jay Rodriguez netted again as Southampton hammered their lower tier Spanish opponents, Robin Van Persie scored as David Moyes registered his first win as United boss, Philippe Coutinho notched for Liverpool once more, while West Ham and Newcastle were left licking their wounds after being comprehensively beaten.

Colchester 0 Tottenham 0
Andre Villas-Boas named a strong starting line-up for Friday night’s match, though had to make do without Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon after both picked up knocks in training prior to the game. Danny Rose and Benoit Assou-Ekotto were each handed 45 minutes apiece at left-back, while Emmanuel Adebayor started the match before being replaced by Jermaine Defoe at the break. Villas-Boas continued to utilise the depth of his squad, making seven changes at half-time and a further four around the hour mark, giving 22 players a run out in the stalemate.

Yeovil 0 Swansea 5
Michael Laudrup’s side racked up a fifth consecutive pre-season win as they step up their preparation ahead of the Europa League third round qualifier against either Hibernian or Malmo. Michu opened the scoring with his third goal in three games, while Pablo Hernandez was a stand-out performer with a goal and pair of assists for the Welsh side. As per usual, Laudrup made changes aplenty as the second-half progressed, with Alejandro Pozuelo climbing off the bench to chip in with a goal and assist. Nathan Dyer and Rory Donnelly were also amongst the goals in a game that saw Chico Flores miss out with a thigh problem, while new boy Wilfried Bony was unavailable as he is still awaiting a work permit.

Wycombe 2 Aston Villa 2
Paul Lambert’s side produced their fourth successive pre-season draw yesterday afternoon. The midlanders were without the likes of Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor up top due to a lack of fitness and injury respectively – with new signing Nicklas Helenius also missing out, Andreas Weimann led the line but lasted less than half an hour before limping off with a knock. New boy Leandro Bacuna teed up Matt Lowton for Villa’s first, with Ashley Westwood dispatching the second courtesy of a smart 20-yard free-kick. Lambert rolled out a 4-2-3-1 system, with Antonio Luna handed the left-back berth, though the Villa boss also made changes aplenty, with 22 players handed game time over the course of the 90 minutes.

Dagenham 1 Crystal Palace 2
Ian Holloway’s side kicked off their pre-season programme with a narrow win yesterday afternoon. The Palace boss handed a handful of trialists the chance to impress and was rewarded when a couple of them combined for the opener, with Quincy Owusu-Abeyie supplying the assist for Atdhe Nuhiu to slot home. Having made 11 changes at the break, the visitors struggled to regain their momentum, though Owen Garvan’s cut-price Fantasy potential was highlighted after he notched the second from the spot after Quade Taylor was hauled down inside the box.

Indonesian XI 0 Liverpool 2
Brendan Rodgers rolled out a 4-3-3 formation yesterday afternoon, with Kolo Toure partnering Daniel Agger in defence, while Luis Alberto and Philippe Coutinho flanked Iago Aspas in the front three. Coutinho opened the scoring for the second successive match after being teed up by Alberto but despite creating several chances, Liverpool failed to kill the match off until late on. Raheem Sterling – one of 11 changes by Rodgers with just over 25 minutes remaining – prodded home from close range after a superb breakaway run from Jordan Ibe allowed Oussama Assaidi to supply the final pass.

A-League All Stars XI 1 Man United 5
Jesse Lingard and Danny Welbeck were both at the double as United recovered from a disappointing defeat in David Moyes’ first match in charge, while Robin Van Persie needed just 28 minutes to grab a goal and assist in a comfortable win. Moyes handed six players the full 90 minutes (including Phil Jones, at centre-half, and Wilfried Zaha), though reserved praise for Lingard and Welbeck in particular. Moyes hinted that the latter could play a bigger part for the first-team next term after admitting he’d had a one-on-one meeting with the forward the previous evening:

“I told him that if he continued to work as hard as he has done, he’d get the rewards. I think he showed a little bit of versatility in everything he did tonight..I think it was impressive that Danny scored a couple of goals – he might have got four or five on another night. The keeper saved one from him with his feet in the first half and he was a bit unlucky. He made a couple of great runs…Jesse played well and I was hoping he would get a hat-trick because I think for a young boy to do that for Manchester United is a big thing. But his performance was very good – he set Robin up for his goal as well with a nice weighted pass. And not only did he play well, he worked hard and showed maturity.”

FC Mainz 05 4 West Ham 1
The Hammers four-match winning run came to an abrupt end in Germany yesterday afternoon. Sam Allardyce reshuffled his defence, with Joey O’Brien and Dan Potts starting in the full-back roles, while James Tomkins was selected at centre-half as James Collins was given the afternoon off for personal reasons. Allardyce’s tinkering prove detrimental and despite sending on the likes of Razvan Rat and Kevin Nolan after the break, the Hammers failed to recover – Joe Cole’s second goal in as many games was the only high point in a disappointing display. With Andy Carroll remaining on the sidelines with a heel injury, Modibo Maiga led the line, with Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te out wide.

Rio Ave 3 Newcastle 1
The Magpies have now shipped five goals in just two pre-season friendlies after yesterday’s loss. Alan Pardew started with the likes of Steven Taylor, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Davide Santon amongst the back-four, while Yoan Gouffran retained the lone forward role with Papiss Cisse omitted from the squad due to an ongoing dispute with the club. With his side three down within half an hour, Alan Pardew made eight changes in the second-half, which saw Moussa Sissoko fielded further forward in “the hole” behind a lone striker. Shola Ameobi – on for Gouffran just after the hour mark – notched the visitors consolation but was reportedly taken to hospital post-match after injuring his arm in an awkward fall. Hatem Ben Arfa, Fabricio Coloccini and Mathieu Debuchy failed to play any part – the trio are still working on their match-fitness.

Palamos 0 Southampton 8
Mauricio Pochettino’s side ran riot against their Spanish fourth division opponents, with Guly Do Prado the star of the show with a 10-minute second-half hat-trick. The Saints went in at the break 3-0 ahead thanks to goals from Adam Lallana, Jason Puncheon and Morgan Schneiderlin – Lloyd Isgrove, Danny Fox and Puncheon supplied the respective assists. Jay Rodriguez was one of 12 second-half changes – he replaced Rickie Lambert as the lone forward at half-time and slotted home a spot-kick, notching for the third time in two matches. Nathaniel Clyne also impressed in the second period – he assisted two of Do Prado’s strikes before fellow full-back Luke Shaw rounded off the scoring with a deflected effort near the end.

San Jose Earthquakes 1 Norwich 0
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Leroy Fer were each given a 45 minute run-out as their Canaries debuts ended in a disappointing defeat last night. Fellow new boy Nathan Redmond was handed his second successive start, though made way for Robert Snodgrass on the right after the break as Chris Hughton made 10 changes over the course of the second period. Jacob Butterfield and Wes Hoolahan were afforded a half apiece in the role in “the hole” behind the lone striker in a match that saw just one player – Russell Martin – last the full 90 minutes.

Deportivo Saprissa 2 Fulham 2
Bryan Ruiz scored for the third successive match as the Cottagers ended their tour of Costa Rica with a 100% record, having clinched victory5-3 on penalties. The likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Brede Hangeland and Maarten Stekelenburg were afforded the night off as Martin Jol handed Hugo Rodallega and Fernando Amorebieta their first starts of the pre-season – Rodallega promptly produced a goal and assist and also slotted home the final spot-kick. Unlike most managers over the weekend, Jol was a little reluctant to make any alterations – the Fulham boss used just four subs over the match, with Derek Boateng, Matthew Briggs, Ashkan Dejagah and Pajtim Kasami afforded game time off the bench later in the second-half.

Hull 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0
Steve Bruce continued with his preferred 3-5-2 formation in a match that took place on Portuguese soil. James Chester, Alex Bruce and Curtis Davies were fielded as the back-three against the Owls, while the Tigers boss named a strong starting midfield, which included Ahmed Elmohamady, Robert Koren and Robbie Brady. New loan acquisition Danny Graham climbed off the bench with half an hour remaining to make his debut but was unable to break the stalemate.