Weekend Review: Wilshere sees red, Latics delight at The Lane

Another weekend and plenty to discuss in the weekend review. This was a weekend that saw supposedly struggling teams pick up points and 2 of the big 3 dropped points.

This weekend saw 2 sides struggling yet again who have somehow managed to avoid the glaring stare of the media. Both Sunderland and Stoke sit in 15th and 16th place having lost to teams who seem destined to be embroiled in a relegation battle this year. Both their woes seem to centre on the fact they can't score. Sunderland are the league's lowest scorers with just 6 goals in 9 games, and incredibly their top (and only) goal scorer in the League in October was Demba Ba (yes - Newcastle's Demba Ba!). Steven Fletcher remains their only goal scorer from their team, and their woes were compounded in Saturday's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa. During the game Sunderland actually had 12 shots on goal and yet they somehow managed to get 0 on target! Last year's bright sparks for the Black Cats like Sessegnon and Larsson just haven't fired this season at all, and Adam Johnson seems to be showing why Mancini never took to him at Man City as he is too predictable constantly cutting in onto his left foot from the right side. Meanwhile, Stoke succumbed to Norwich in another 1-0 loss. Stoke's troubles have also come in front of goal as they've only scored 8 in 10 games in the league. Only 3 of their players have scored so far this season (Crouch 4, Walters 1, Kightly 2) and it seems like Tony Pulis' signings in the summer to make Stoke more of a footballing side have actually had an adverse effect on their attacking threat. Charlie Adam is yet to get an assist this season (which he has surely been bought for primarily with his free kick and corner kick taking prowess).Stoke had 9 shots in the game with 4 on target yet failed to find the back of the net and they haven't won in 4 now. Both sides need to start picking up points soon or we imagine that their managers could find themselves under pressure sooner rather than later.

The headline fixture of the weekend didn't disappoint as Manchester United overcame Arsenal by two goals to one. United were visibly (and understandably) disappointed to concede a goal late on to Santi Cazorla, which in spite of being merely a consolation and the last kick of the game, will have had SAF tearing his hair out. He, like all managers, will have identified Santi as the Arsenal danger man to be marked at all times, and quite frankly he was given far too much space to produce the crisp finish that he did. However, overall United can be very pleased with their afternoon's work. They could (and probably should) have had 5 or 6 with RVP, in particular, missing a few gilt-edged chances. However, the difference between these 2 sides this season was particularly evident in a comparison between United's Van Persie and his replacement at Arsenal, Olivier Giroud. Van Persie had 41 touches in the game whilst Giroud had 37 so they had similar opportunities on the ball throughout the game, yet RVP completed 87% of his passes while Giroud completed just 72%. RVP won 50% of his aerial duels in the game while Giroud (supposedly a more physical presence) won just 22% of his aerial battles. Giroud had 3 shots with only 1 on target whereas RVP had 4 shots and 4 on target, with his first touch in the game itself being a goal. Arsenal's first shot on target didn't come until injury time through Giroud just before Cazorla's goal! In essence United had 13 shots to Arsenal's 7 with 6 shots on target to Arsenal's 2. This game was a strange case of 2-1 not telling the story and actually flattering Arsenal.

Swansea grabbed an 88th minute leveller (and a beauty it was) through Pablo Hernandez to snatch a point off of Chelsea, who lead through Victor Moses' first goal for the club. It was a deserved point for the Jacks who had looked like they had run out of steam at the time but had played extremely well for large parts of the game.

The biggest surprise of the week was at White Hart Lane, where a lacklustre Tottenham Hotspur were out-foxed and out-fought by Wigan Athletic. Perhaps we should have known - they've been here and done it before, they've been to the Emirates and done it before. Martinez got his set up and approach spot on here and Wigan were very assured in their play. Incredibly, Ben Watson was confirmed as being the first Englishman to score for the side from the North West in 2012!

Roundup of our sides

Man Utd beat Arsenal 2-1 as detailed above.

In the Hoops Hoopla (trademark pending) QPR took a battling point against Reading in a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road. C's match report from the game will be appearing next week but it was an entertaining affair of 2 halves, which saw Rangers come back into the game after going down in the first half to yet another goal against his old team from Kaspars Gorkss. Djibril Cisse equalised for Rangers to leave both sides with a fairly deserved point. Check the blog in the next week or so for C's thoughts on the game and the result.

Crewe came from a goal down to beat Wycombe 4-1 in the FA Cup First Round. An early Matthew Spring (remember him?!) goal put Wycombe in front, but 2 goals either side of half time saw Crewe comfortably into the 2nd Round. Mathias Pogba, Mark Ellis, Chuks Aneke and Luke Murphy all got in on the goalscoring act for the Alex and it's a morale boosting win after last weekend's loss to Yeovil. They will face either Burton or Altrincham in the next round at home, after those sides played out a 3-3 draw - a very good result for non-league Altrincham against the League Two side! Either way it won't be a long trip in the next round for either side's supporters!

Meanwhile in Germany in the derby at Dresden Union Berlin ran out 2-0 victors against Dynamo Dresden in an excellent result for the team. The result sees Union sit in 10th place in the league now and they are 6 points from the relegation zone now. A Fabian Schonheim double either side of half time was enough to see off Dynamo for Union - a remarkable achievement for the defender! This result stops Union's run of 2 losses in a row and is very welcome as it is their first away win of the season. Let's hope it's the first of many!

What we learned this week

- For all the positives to come out of Goodison Park this season, Everton have developed a nasty habit of conceding early goals and giving themselves mountains to climb in games. The 7th minute goal they conceded at home to Fulham was the 7th goal they have conceded in the opening 25 minutes of games in their last five league matches.
- Wayne Rooney has a pretty dismal penalty record having missed 7 of the 20 penalties he has taken in his career - surely he shouldn't be the number one choice?!
- What is with players wearing short sleeve shirts and gloves?! Nani was a culprit and we spotted 3 alone for Man City - with Nasri, Dzeko and Balotelli all guilty of this ridiculous fashion faux pas.

- Strikers still on QPR's books are finding the net again in the Championship - DJ Campbell scored the winning goal at St Andrews for Ipswich, who began life under Mick McCarthy with a win, whilst Rob Hulse scored a first since a header away at Scunthorpe in April 2011

- Fernando Forestieri was the difference between Watford and high-flying Leicester City at Vicarage Road. The Argentinian has adapted well to the English game and is showing he is just too good for the Championship after running the game here. Maybe there are some benefits from being Udinese Reserves?!

- Big Jon Parkin only scores for Fleetwood in the presence of an ESDB Football blogger - read J's match report from Fleetwood v Bromley later this week.

- Efe Sodje saw red again for Bury this weekend, his 14th sending off of an illustrious career

C&J