The Premier League season is slowly gathering momentum, with 2 weekends of the season now complete - and the second weekend of the season certainly gave talking points to discuss.
Man City prove they're strongest team on show, Liverpool getting results
Although they were unable to ultimately beat Tottenham, champions Manchester City were clearly the better team on show on the day, and ultimately it is worth noting that Tottenham only had 2 shots on target (and one off) compared to City's 14 shots in total. One must admit that Tottenham were extremely clinical when the chances fell their way, but Manchester City were absolutely dominant throughout the match and have so far shown that they are still the best team in the League.
It is also worth noting that Manchester City had a late winning goal disallowed by the VAR after a handball by Aymeric Laporte in the build-up, which created a lot of controversy. One cannot blame referee Michael Oliver or the VAR for disallowing the goal, as the new rule states that any handball in the build-up to the goal, intentional or not, will mean a goal is disallowed. However, it may very well be argued that Laporte's handball was unintentional and that it was harsh to disallow the goal. It is probably fair to say that it is harsh, however, the ruling is very clear and objective and will avoid any controversial decisions during the season regarding handballs in the build-up to a goal.
As for Liverpool, it has to be said that their performance away to Southampton was not that great (arguably City played better in their draw to Tottenham than Liverpool did away to Southampton), however, crucially they won the game and this is a trait that will be needed if they are to win their first title in 30 years, particularly given how strong Manchester City are.
United penalty debacle and match performance
In yesterday night's match, Manchester United were ultimately held to a 1-1 draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers. As for the match performance, it must be said that Manchester United were overall quite decent, however, in the second half Wolves improved dramatically, which may in part be attributed to the introduction of Adama Traore by Nuno Espirito Santo. Arguably, the bigger disappointment for United would not have been the goal they conceded - frankly there was nothing that either the defence or De Gea could have done about that, it was just pure quality - however, the penalty miss by Pogba will be disappointing.
Speaking post-match, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said that Pogba and Rashford are United's two penalty takers. This may indicate poor management, as arguably any team should have one designated penalty taker, with an alternative in the event that the regular penalty taker is not on the pitch - and arguably Rashford, who is very clinical from the spot and probably more so than Pogba. However, irrespective of the fact that Pogba took the penalty and failed to convert, what cannot be justified is racist abuse from supporters on social media which is absolutely disgraceful. We at Zarb times can absolutely NEVER justify such actions and urge such social networks to clamp down on this abuse.
Leicester demonstrate evident promise against Chelsea
After they drew their opening game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City faced a tough test away to Chelsea, for whom it was Frank Lampard's first game in charge at Stamford Bridge.
In the first half, Chelsea absolutely dominated the game and arguably warranted a bigger lead at the end of the half (they led 1-0 at that point thanks to Mason Mount's early goal). However, in the second half Chelsea faded big time, arguably in part due to their midweek exertions in Istanbul, and Leicester stepped up considerably. They were rewarded for it with an equaliser by Wilfred Ndidi after a James Maddison corner. However, in the end Leicester would probably have been disappointed not to win the game as they had several chances to score, notably Maddison as well as a chance for Tielemans. Therefore, whilst Leicester have shown immense promise - they will have to be more clinical in front of goal, and perhaps the same could apply to Chelsea.
Promoted teams' starts
Last season's Championship winners Norwich City suffered a humbling opening day defeat away to Liverpool, however, they did play quite well actually and showed promise. In their first home game, against Newcastle United, however, they absolutely ruthless and bounced back emphatically, thanks to an impressive Teemu Pukki hat-trick. Furthermore, it is worth noting that Pukki was signed on a free transfer last season when they were still in the Championship, and few would have expected him to bag four goals in the opening two games, and in fact he has scored all of Norwich's goals - whilst this is impressive, it will be important for other players to chip in with the goals during the campaign. It may be argued that their only disappointment from the game would be conceding a late consolation goal from Jonjo Shelvey., and Norwich have shown that, whilst they might struggle defensively, they will create chances and score goals.
As for Sheffield United, fancied by many before the season to go straight back down, it has been a brilliant start to the season. After they last week battled back from a goal behind to earn a point away to AFC Bournemouth, this week they beat Crystal Palace. It has to be said that the Blades fully merited their win, as they were extremely organised in defence and hardly gave Palace a sniff of goal - so much so that goalkeeper Dean Henderson hardly had a single save to make, and they did create promising moments, and were rewarded early in the second half with a John Lundstram finish. Also, many talk about the fact that Chris Wilder tends to use overlapping centre-backs, and this was noticeable in the goal the Blades did score, as Jack O'Connell made a brilliant overlapping run which created the space for Luke Freeman to shoot, before the loose ball fell to Lundstram. It is still of course very early days in the season, but Sheffield United last Sunday clearly demonstrated that they are well-organised in defence and can score enough goals to survive in the Premier League.
In relation to Aston Villa, so far they are without any points, despite showing reasonable promise against both Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth. It is worth noting that Aston Villa have made a considerable amount of signings in the summer, so their struggles may be partially attributed to the fact the new recruits still need to settle down. In addition, their second goal against AFC Bournemouth was an avoidable one after a mistake by midfielder Douglas Luiz, and in a League were the margins are incredibly fine, such mistakes cannot afford to be made as they will be punished. John McGinn has so far evidently shown potential in midfield and one may argue that he will be able to score a lot of goals. Ideally, Aston Villa need to get a win in probably one of their next two games, but whilst they so far have no points, they have certainly not been as disastrous as it might seem.
Newcastle and Palace look like they may very well struggle Whilst it may be a bit too early to derive any conclusions after just two games in the season, some clues as to how the season may pan out can be derived. During the summer, after very shoddy management by both Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley, Rafael Benitez left Newcastle United after his contract expired at the end of June, much to the fury of Newcastle fans. Benitez was eventually replaced by Steve Bruce, who with every due respect intended to him, arguably represents a downgrade (albeit it is far from easy to find an upgrade on Rafa Benitez as manager). Based on the evidence of the first two games so far, it certainly looks like Newcastle are going to struggle as, after a respectable opening day performance at home to Arsenal despite defeat, their performance away to Norwich was simply awful, and whilst Bruce should be given time, the team will have to improve rapidly if they are to survive this season. Another team who in the first two games have looked rather weak are Crystal Palace. During the summer they lost arguably one of their most influential players in Aaron Wan-Bissaka, whilst additionally their probably most influential player Wilfried Zaha was subject to much transfer speculation during the summer, which would not have helped matters either. The recruitment, however, left quite a lot to be desired, particularly as Wan-Bissaka was not adequately replaced and they failed to address the problem in attack. Also, in both key games Palace seemed to evidently lack a cutting edge, and they will need to start scoring quickly if they are to survive this season.
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