Another Premier League Recap?

9:54 AM Unknown 0 Comments

For the second time in half a week, all 20 Premier League teams played this weekend, a true test of the depth of each squad. There was nothing going on around the world really, as most European and South American leagues are on a short holiday break.

And I swear, if one more commentator uses the word "sterling" to describe a player's defensive work in a Liverpool game, I will not hesitate to write an angry letter to NBC Sports. Yes, I understand that Liverpool has a player named Sterling. Now stop making puns and get over yourself.

But anyway... here is how the weekend shaped up:

West Ham 3-3 West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa 1-1 Swansea City
Hull City 6-0 Fulham
Manchester City 1-0 Crystal Palace
Norwich City 0-1 Manchester United
Everton 2-1 Southampton
Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal
Tottenham 3-0 Stoke City
Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool

Obviously, the first result that sticks out is the Hull City thrashing of Fulham. The introduction of loanee Clint Dempsey could not come soon enough for Fulham, because they vitally need some creativity going forward.

Manchester City left it quite late to beat a Palace side that did have its fair share of chances, and caused the home side quite a bit of worry. However, Jesus Navas was just too much of a menace throughout the day, and it's no surprise to me that he finally got himself an assist in the 66th minute (to Edin Dzeko).

At Carrow Road, Norwich gave Manchester United all it could handle, but the defending champions showed some grit that they had largely been lacking all season. Ryan Giggs definitely showed every single one of his 40 years, and his replacement by Danny Welbeck at halftime made all the difference for David Moyes.

In the Sunday lunchtime game, Olivier Giroud finally broke his duck for Arsenal (that means he finally scored after not having scored for a long time, you amateurs), as the Gunners went back to the top of the table.

For a second consecutive game, Liverpool went into a game down 2-1 at halftime, and for a second consecutive game, next to nothing happened in the second half. As they famously did in the Champions League final against Bayern, Chelsea "parked the bus" for the last 40/45 minutes of the match. I was most impressed with the ball control and poise of young Brazilian, Philippe Coutinho, as well as the intelligence of another young Brazilian, Oscar.

Later this week, I'll make sure to write about something besides the Premier League. But for now, there's not much else going on. Hope you enjoyed the read!