Premier League Goals and Championship Gaffs

Like a kid at Christmas, the waiting has been unbearable. The restless nights and the days filled with anticipation, before the moment finally arrives and you have the presents in your hands. Similarly, after waiting and waiting the Premier League finally got under way on Saturday and the days worth of football didn’t disappoint, with the possible exception of my team Aston Villa, who due to confusion surrounding the kick-off time failed to turn up and instead submitted eleven Madame Tussauds waxworks in the starting line-up.

By the time the whistle blew for kick-off around the country I was a mixing bowl of emotions, which included, excitement, anticipation and also relief that a summer of sports filled with beige woollen jumpers and breaks for tea was finally over.

Expecting fireworks from the opening days events, I was not disappointed. I was treated to a host of spectacular goals and shock results with Arsenal’s 6-1 drubbing of Everton being a particular highlight and kindly dominated back pages, forcing Villa’s 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Wigan away from further humiliation at the hands of the press.

With the Joleon Lescott transfer saga looming large over their opening game, Everton faced a difficult first fixture with a side unchanged from last season and a defender who reportedly said he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to play. In the end the comfortable hammering that Lescott and co. gifted to Arsenal felt more like a pre-season game against non-league locals than last seasons fourth and fifth place teams. Perhaps now Everton will accept the monstrous and overblown fee of £22 million for the average and want-away defender.

Elsewhere, Carlo Ancelotti was welcomed to the Premier League by Hull, who battled valiantly for 90 minutes to earn a draw, but were undone in stoppage time a Didier Drogba cross that floated into the far corner to give the Italian a vital three points, but hardly a convincing performance to build upon.

Manchester City’s dream-team got off to a winning start and upsettingly looked like a unified side that could cause the top of the table problems, instead of a bunch of multi-millionaire misfits. Goals from new signing Emmanuelle Adebayor and youth product Stephen Ireland saw off a battling Blackburn.

New boys Burnley were seen off by Stoke, who have continued where they left off at the tail end of last season and Mick McCarty’s abysmal record in the Premier League continued as his Wolves side were beaten 2-0 at home by West Ham. In the two remaining lifeless fixtures, Sunderland beat Bolton 1-0 and Portsmouth continued their slide from the dizzy heights of FA Cup winners in 2008, with a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Fulham.

And lastly without wishing to draw too much attention to it, Villa were convincingly beaten 2-0 at home by Wigan, who were by far the better team. Manger Roberto Martinez is surely a friend of Martin O’Neill’s as his first win as a Premier League was a gift, but was also fully deserved thanks to an impressive display of passing football.

On a day filled with anticipation and excitement, I was ultimately let down by my boys in claret and blue. However light relief in the world of football is never far away and was duly provided in the Championship by referee Rob Shoebridge. Crystal Palace’s on-loan striker Freddie Sears appeared to have given his side the lead when he beat the keeper to the ball and his strike bounced back out of the net, but after consultation with his linesmen, the ref decided it wasn’t a goal, much to the anger of manager Neil Warnock, who understandably danced around in a confused fit of rage for the remainder of the game and is probably still doing so. Just to a add further insult to injury, Bristol City snatched a late a winner.

If you enjoyed the comedy show put on by Rob Shoebridge, he will be appearing in panto this year as Mr Magoo at the Bristol playhouse.

Posted By Dan Mobbs - Sunday August 16, 2009.
Tags: Premier League, Arsenal