Weekend Review: Goals, goals, goals

It was a weekend to remember for the neutral as it rained goals all over the country - in fact, there was not a single goalless draw in any of the top four divisions in England this weekend! Add to that twelve red cards across the leagues and we've certainly got plenty to chew over in this review. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Premier League this weekend came at Carrow Road where Norwich beat Arsenal for the first time in 20 odd years. The Canaries came flying out the traps and really got in the Gunners' faces which really unsettled them and knocked them out of their usual passing rhythm. Maybe Arsene Wenger will draw 'jetlag' from his lucky dip of excuses this week after it was revealed that the team flew from Luton to Norwich, yes, flew. Fourteen minutes from take off to landing! All to avoid a rail replacement bus. Surely somewhere in amongst all those incoming transfer fees and those sky-high season ticket prices they are able to find funding for a team bus? Norwich's performance in this game reminded me a little of Arsenal's last away league defeat - away at Loftus Road in March. The winning goal itself was somewhat fortuitous, Grant Holt tapping in after a Mannone spill (in fairness, it was another 'swerver' which many a Premier League keeper has struggled with so far this year - and the ball bounced right in front of the keeper). Santi Cazorla was pretty absent in contrast to his excellent appearances this season, and that was a big reason that Arsenal managed to have 72% possession during the game and yet not score a single goal. The strikers look like they might struggle to create chances by themselves and if Cazorla's service isn't up to scratch there doesn't appear to be much other alternative. Now we've said that though, they are shoo-ins for goalscorer bets against QPR next weekend at the Emirates.

Liverpool managed a first home win of the season against Reading but it was hardly convincing against a side you'd really expect them to beat comfortably. Raheem Sterling scored his first league goal, which feels like it has been a long time coming. The best QPR youth product in years is living up the all the hype and I've no doubt that this kid is going to be a 'top top player' (Redknapp, 2012). Yet again though we saw that rat boy Suarez can't finish to save his life for all his trickery and build up play. Liverpool just don't look like they have a goalscorer at all in their ranks and the long standing issue of not scoring or winning enough games at home looks set to continue for another year. Liverpool had a staggering 27 shots on goal during the game and yet only managed to get 7 of those efforts on target, and score from the one. Suarez had 10 shots alone in this game and yet only 1 of these efforts was on target, while Raheem Sterling had 5 shots with 3 on target. Even Glen Johnson had more shots on target than Suarez in this game (6 shots 2 on target)!  The need for a finisher is ever more apparent each week at Anfield and it does make you wonder why on earth they let Andy Carroll go out on loan? It seems like Liverpool have been missing wide men for years to provide service for the likes of Crouch and Torres yet when they finally have some exciting wingers it's strikers they lack!

In the preview I said that Chelsea hadn't impressed me so far this season and I was most definitely proved wrong in their 4-2 victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Chelsea were exceptional and it is hard to look past them being the team to beat this year after their showings so far. They are still unbeaten in the league so far this year, but perhaps more impressively they are playing in a wholly un-Chelsea like style this year. Their swashbuckling style with Juan Mata as the spearhead is reaping dividends for Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea dominated possession against last season's 4th place team and had 58% possession. They were also clinical and scored their 4 goals from just 10 shots, while Spurs scored 2 goals from 26 shots. Chelsea had a shot accuracy of 70%. Juan Mata as mentioned before was unplayable at times and he scored twice and assisted one other goal for Chelsea picking Kyle Walker's pocket before laying the goal up on a plate for Daniel Sturridge. Mata seems to be relishing his freedom this year. Last year he was the only real creative spark in a very rigid Chelsea team but this year he has Oscar and Hazard to share the burden so he has freedom to roam about and more inspiring runs and contributions from his teammates. However, Spurs probably won't be too disheartened by this loss. They were without Gareth Bale, Moussa Dembele, Scott Parker, Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto - all of whom would arguably be in and around the first team when available. Their lack of depth in midfield, especially on the left, was very apparent and neither Clint Dempsey nor Gylfi Sigurdsson are wingers and both toiled there. All in all, an impressive victory for Chelsea and it is hard not to see them scoring numerous times against the leaky Man United defence.

Elsewhere in the football league it was a good weekend for Leicester City who, in spite of drawing in this particular round of fixtures, moved top of the Championship on goal difference after playing out an entertaining draw at St Andrews. This was by virtue of the fact that all the teams around them failed to pick up points. In fact, the Championship is filled with sides that have started the season consistently inconsistent and it really does look as though anyone can beat anyone in that division this year. Just six points separate the top thirteen sides and the rest of the division are only a couple of points behind that (excluding Ipswich and Peterborough, who are by no means cut adrift). Just think, Watford fans, a couple more wins to add to your three in the last four games and you'll be top of the league!

Roundup of our sides

Finally a week where we can report points gained for all of our sides! 

Chuks Aneke was the unlikely hero for Crewe as they salvaged a stoppage time equaliser to earn a 'Desmond' at the Banks's Stadium. Aneke was on hand to head in a Mathias Pogba cross to make amends for a dreadful showing at Portsmouth last weekend. 

However a first league win of the season still eludes QPR who were made to settle for a point by the ten men of Everton at Loftus Road on Sunday. C's report will be online later this week.

Man Utd beat Stoke 4-2 in an eventful game at Old Trafford on Saturday. United's games this season are becoming a bit silly and they seem to be giving opponents a head start by giving a goal away early and then seeming to start performing after 20 minutes. The attacking trio of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck were all superb and the two crosses by Van Persie and then Rooney for each other's goals were sublime. Just wondering: did Wayne Rooney get to keep the match ball for that hat trick or not?!

Union Berlin beat FSV Frankfurt 1-0 thanks to a Torsten Mattuschka penalty. This was a very decent win for Union at home as they won for the third time there this season. Having not won away from home yet the Stadion An Der Alten Forsterei needs to become a bit of a fortress to keep Union from being sucked towards the relegation zone. This win sees Union sit in 10th place in the league but only three points away from third bottom. Overall though a much needed win, and a move in the right direction.

What we learned this week

• If you want to please Edin Dzeko, you could do worse than calling him a super sub - we've heard he really enjoys being called that!
• Southampton's 'attack is the best form of defence' philosophy is continuing to fail at the top level. This week they shipped another four goals. That's now 24 goals shipped in eight league matches, a Premier League record. Changing goalkeeper for the third time this season didn't improve their defending one iota. 
• We think Manish Bhasin and Leroy 'Absolutely' Rosenior decided to make this week's Football League Show a love-in for Wilfried Zaha. Yes, he is in sparkling form and looks a decent shout for a move to the Premier League, but other players deserve some praise too at Palace for their excellent run!
• Chris Eagles has found his level again - not good enough for the Premier League, too good for the Championship. This weekend he notched his 6th of the season and inspired a Bolton comeback from 2-0 down at home to Brizzle City to win 3-2.
• Staying in Lancashire, Charlie Austin netted a 13th goal of a so far terrific campaign up front for Burnley, who as a team haven't exactly set the world alight either - a testament to what an achievement that is!
• £1 million Ipswich flop Jay Emmanuel-Thomas managed a first goal in 13 games but it still couldn't stop Paul Jewell's side chalking up yet another defeat, after they lost to two goals scored by another striker struggling to live up to his price-tag so far this season, £2.5 million Hull summer signing Nick Proschwitz
• 'Marvellous Marvin' Morgan went from hero to zero in thirty seconds at Fratton Park this weekend. The Shrewsbury striker scored, then was booked for a foul following the restart after his goal, only to be given a second yellow card moments later for the protest against his first booking. Madness!
• The FA Cup 1st round draw will have really given Coventry fans a harsh dose of reality - pitting them against Arlesey Town, who will no doubt miraculously find a thousand 'die hard' glory hunting fans from the street to take to the Ricoh. Hereford v Shrewsbury and the potential for Chelmsford v Colchester were further highlights of the draw
• Not particularly specific to this week, but we're hearing ever increasing use of the shout 'AWAY!' by goalkeepers in the Football League as an instruction to defenders to clear their lines when crosses come in. On Match of the Day the yell could be heard from custodians Guzan, Friedel, Begovic and Hart

A minute of madness

Match Review: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

Onlookers will see the scoreline and think this was a routine Tottenham home win and an equally routine abject QPR away performance. Those who were at the game will know the true story. For QPR fans it was an absolute travesty to come away with nothing. And it all boiled down to one mad second half minute...

QPR went into this one with long odds against their name and a patched up team with no less than four defensive absentees (Traore, Fabio, Ferdinand and Mbia). Four became five just three minutes in to the game when Jose Bosingwa felt his hamstring go and immediately signalled to the bench to be taken off. Emergency wing back Kieron Dyer was thrust into action, himself a man made of glass. However, what was to follow was a remarkable performance from Dyer and the rest of the patched up Rangers side.

Anton Ferdinand was sitting amongst the travelling support

The R's had started brightly and were pushing the ball around the makeshift side nicely. Hoilett, starting in an unfamiliar striker's role alongside Zamora, seemed to adapt well to the short passing game and possession football was the order of the day. Granero and Faurlin picked up where they left off against Chelsea and sprayed the ball all over the park all game - yet again they appeared a classy combination. It did look as though the defence was vulnerable to the trickery of Bale and pace of Lennon and Walker down the Spurs right hand side. But Rangers dominated possession with neat play which meant Bale et al were given a taste of their own medicine for a change and were left chasing Rangers shadows. Even when the R's did lose the ball, they were very effective at winning it back again through the once again outstanding Ji-Sung Park and Granero. The attacking mentality instilled by Hughes was a joy to watch given how hopeless QPR have been on the road for the last season (and in many gone by). A further plus for the R's was the quality of Granero's delivery from corners - for years now QPR have suffered from Adel Taarabt's bizarre corner routines but now we really do look a threat from them. This all gave Brad Friedel plenty of work to do and his first half performance was a stylish retort to the suggestions made by a certain Monsieur Barthez during the week that he didn't deserve to be first choice at the club and should immediately have been displaced by the incoming Lloris. However Friedel couldn't keep out Bobby Zamora in the 33rd minute, who scored with a fine finish after clever play from Faurlin.

After the goal, there was more of the same from the away side and the home fans grew in frustration in a half in which they were totally outplayed, and where Cesar did not have a save to make. Spurs' best chance fell to Dembele who hit a shot high and wide from range. Spurs did have the ball in the net but that was about thirty seconds after play had been stopped due to Defoe being offside (Rangers caught him off three times in the first half). I'm sure that not playing to the whistle earned a certain Robin Van Persie a second yellow in the Nou Camp in a Champions League game once upon a time, and since that day I don't think I've seen a single player receive a card for committing that offence. Where's the consistency?!

This was without doubt the best away performance I've seen for QPR since they played Ipswich in a midweek game at Portman Road in the promotion winning campaign. White Hart Lane was a library and Spurs were there for the taking. The only regret was that for all the Hoops' endeavours it was only 1-0...

Tottenham emerged after the break with a tactical substitution from AVB, with Gylfi Sigurdsson withdrawn to make way for Steven Caulker to both shore up the defence and allow Bale and Walker to push further forward and force the issue. It was clear straight away that Clint Hill was vulnerable to the pace of the Tottenham attack (particularly Lennon and Defoe) and the second half wasn't going to be as easy a ride as the first. However, QPR still continued to dominate possession and looked as though they could continue to cause the Spurs defence problems themselves. But then, on 59 minutes, disaster. A harmless looking corner had been partially cleared and then pinged back into the box. The ball was met inexplicably by a defending Alejandro Faurlin who put through his own net to gift Spurs a foothold in the game.

This visibly lifted the crowd and Spurs players and, with their tails up, they immediately pressed for a second goal. And somehow, within a minute of the own goal, QPR's game plan was in tatters as Spurs carved the defence open and scored a second, with Defoe driving home a rebound from a shot which Cesar had brilliantly tipped on to the bar. It was gut-wrenching.

QPR were forced to open up as they went in search of an equaliser which left them short at the back when Tottenham countered, but Cesar was solid and kept them in the game. Zamora soon tired and Hughes should have taken him off earlier than he did. However, his replacement, Djibril Cisse, looked off the pace and out of form when he entered the fray, perhaps an explanation as to why Hoilett was preferred to him for a starting position. At this stage Hoilett and Wright Phillips' play was diminishing in quality and Hoilett took far too much time over a one on one situation with Friedel which allowed a defender to get back and steal the ball from him just as he was about to pull the trigger. This was to be the best chance for an equaliser and in spite of the fact that the R's continued to make all the running in the game and dominate possession, they couldn't create any further clear cut chances before full time.

The result leaves us languishing in 19th spot in the Premier League with just two points from five games. The moral of the story? If you don't score when you're on top in a game, you'll get punished. And that is especially true against the top sides (and Tottenham). QPR have got to start turning performances into points. And that ought to start at home to West Ham on Monday night, in what is now a hugely important game for us.

Man of the match: Yet again I find myself spoilt for choice with candidates, but this week I definitely will award the coveted accolade to Ji-Sung Park, who has been everything QPR fans hoped he would be since joining the club and whose tireless work rate and outstanding ability are a pleasure to watch. An excellent choice for captain by Hughes, too, I must add.