Hello everyone! Long time no speak, but as you can see in the title, I have apologised for being such a terrible person. All I can say is that I accept all your loathing and endeavour to move on with things this week. Do you know what's pathetic? I haven't done a blog post since 17th September. That is stunningly absent-minded, but all I can say is that I have been very busy with work and my new post as Ponthir 2nd's Match Reporter (www.ponthirafc.co.uk incase you fancy checking out those match reports) so I only hope you'll tune back into the blog from this week onwards.
So this week I caught just one of the Barclays Premier League matches, but fortunately, it was the best one of the weekend as Liverpool took on Chelsea at Anfield yesterday afternoon. I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking Liverpool would surely be in for an absolute hiding from a Chelsea side who have been dominating English football this season. They did however throw a surprise into the line-up as Drogba was told he would not start, but would instead play from the bench. Despite the non-presence of my blog (I'm sorry I haven't got a really good jounalist-y word for that one yet) we all know Liverpool have been struggling in the early part of this season and that Fernando Torres has been ridiculously under-par. Cometh the hour, cometh the man then as Torres finished a wonderful move in the 11th minute to send Anfield into delighted applause. Dirk Kuyt lifted the ball over the Chelsea defence for Torres who cushioned the ball with his first touch, and then powered the ball past Pepe Reina into the net. That was an absolutely stunning start and Chelsea looked shell-shocked as they hadn't really got going against their illustrious opponents. As the first half drew to a close, Torres once again thought he would underline his return to form with a stunning turn inside the Blues defence and smashed the ball back across the goal past the outstretched hand of Petr Cech. This seemed to totally deflate the Premier League champions and even the introduction of Didier Drogba at half-time didn't spark them into life and they couldn't fashion any chances against a resolute Liverpool defence meaning that Anfield could celebrate a fantastic victory against the biggest of the big four teams. That victory also means Manchester United close to within just 2 points of their biggest rivals after their late, late win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The full classified results from last weekend's Premier League matches is as follows then:
Birmingham City 2-2 West Ham United
Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Wigan Athletic
Blackpool 2-2 Everton
Bolton Wanderers 4-2 Tottenham Hotspurs
Fulham 1-1 Aston Villa
Manchester United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sunderland 2-0 Stoke City
Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle United
West Brom Albion 0-2 Manchester City
Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea
The big, big game of the weekend in the Championship was of course, the South Wales derby. Cardiff City, sitting second in the table, took on their arch rivals Swansea City, sitting third, but 6 points behind Cardiff, in the table. This was perhaps the biggest derby of recent history, and both clubs were desperate to win in order to give their promotion chances that added boost that comes when you win against your hated rivals. As a Swansea fan, I think it was obvious which team I wanted to win Sunday lunchtime. We have never ever won at the Cardiff City Stadium, but after an absolutely stunning performance, we came away with a 1-0 win courtesy of loanee Marvin Emnes' second league goal in just 4 league games. I have to say, we were absolutely stunning with the midfield of Joe Allen, Andrea Orlandi and Mark Gower breaking up play at every opportunity and spreading the ball fantastically to the forward 3 of Nathan Dyer, the previously mentioned Emnes and our brilliant new winger Scott Sinclair. Cardiff barely showed up, and the chances that they did create were either fluffed by Craig Bellamy or fantastically defended by the away side. I have to say, I think the performance was one of the best I have ever seen from Swansea, and the result was absolutely fantastic for us as it closes that gap between us and Cardiff to just 3 points and also puts us 5 ahead of 4th place. I know this seems harsh on Cardiff, but I think most of their fans will tell you they were absolutely useless yesterday, but I also think they will be promoted at the end of the season, hopefully alongside Swansea City. Time for the full round-up of Championship games then:
Barnsley 0-2 Leicester City
Bristol City 1-1 Preston North End
Coventry City 2-3 Leeds United
Derby County 2-0 Portsmouth
Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Millwall
Hull City 0-1 Scunthorpe United
Middlesbrough 2-1 Crystal Palace
Norwich City 2-2 Burnley
Queens Park Rangers 3-1 Reading
Sheffield United 1-2 Ipswich Town
Watford 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Cardiff City 0-1 Swansea City
Usually, we have a look at League One and Two here. I say usually because this week those teams were in FA Cup action and so didn't take to the field in their respective leagues. I know that Newport County lost 2-1 against Barrow in the Conference and so they're out of the promotion places at the moment. That's unlucky for them, but I expect them to bounce back sooner or later as Dean Saunders isn't the sort of guy who will let his team get slack when they are so close to the League system once again.
That's all for this week guys, and once again, I'm soooo sorry I haven't been at the races recently. I will be alot better from now on I promise. See you soon guys!
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