Arsenal Outgunned, Conte’s 3-5-2, Inter go top of Serie A, more.

Arsenal beat Huddersfield town 5-0 in midweek in what was a very comfortable win . However, for some odd 65 minutes in that game ,the gunners were at their complacent best and looked very sloppy in defence. This was repeated in the first ten minutes of the game against Manchester United. The difference; whereas Collins Quaker and Huddersfield town lacked the quality and efficiency to punish Arsenal, Jesse Lingard and Manchester United took full advantage of the situation and made Arsenal pay. After 11 minutes, Arsenal were 2-0 down. It is very difficult to break down a Jose Mourinho team(especially when you are a big six club and you are at home), an even tougher task when you are coming back from 2 goals down but when you have to face David De Gea in that kind of form in addition to all these , then you have a mountain to climb. Arsenal huffed and puffed and when Lacazette scored just after half time, the comeback was certainly on and it took a miraculous double save from David De Gea to keep United in the lead. The final nail in the coffin came in the 63rd minute when Jesse Lingard broke all gunners hearts with his second of the game to make the result safer for United. From then on, it was Arsenal trying to break down the great Wall in the United defence and even after having to play with 10 men for the last 15 minutes(after Paul Pogba was sent off),  Arsenal still failed to breach the United defence. United were very good on the day, themselves. The midfield pairing of Matic and Pogba presented a kind of physical strength the Arsenal just couldn’t cope with as both men ‘bullied’ their way through the Arsenal midfield with considerable ease. For the 75 minutes, he was on the pitch, Paul Pogba stood out for United . He produced a typical box-to-box midfielder’s performance and was a nightmare to the Arsenal midfield all night and his red card in the 75th minute was perharps the only stain in his squeaky clean performance.. David De Gea was awarded the man of the match and rightly so but maybe on another day, Paul Pogba’s performance would have been noticed. United will give everything to have him back for the derby next week .

3-5-2 the way to go for Chelsea

An Eden Hazard inspired performance inspired Chelsea to comeback from a goal down to beat Newcastle United 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.  Newcastle got into the lead after some sloppy play in defence saw Dwight Gayle score from about 8 yards out. Chelsea showed their class and undeniable quality from then onwards and produced a very inspiring performance. Antonio Conte’s newly found love for the 3-5-2 formation looks to be doing the trick as it is getting the best out of 2 of his 3 best players , Hazard and Morata( The other one doesn’t need any special formation to fit in).  With Hazard in a ‘supporting striker role alongside Alvaro Morata up front, it gives him a better sight at goal and it is no coincidence that in 8 games he has played in that role, he has scored 8 goals and assisted 4 more. The 3  central midfield system has given Cesc Fabregas  some sort of freedom to contribute more in attack with him being in a similar role as to that of Andrea Pirlo in Conte’s own great Juventus side. The only down side to this system is that sacrificing his two wingers for extra men in the middle has left Chelsea very weak on the flanks but you will agree with Conte for thinking that sometimes it is best to play a system that gets the best out of your key players.

Inter go top of Serie A

Napoli’s loss to Juventus on Friday meant Inter Milan could go top of the table with a win at home to Chievo Verona on Sunday afternoon. They did it in style as a hattrick from IvanPerisic and goals from Milan Skriniar and Mauro Icardi sealed a 5-0 win. It’s been a dream start to the season for Inter as they remain the only unbeaten side in the Serie A, with  Torino, Bologna and second place Napoli the only side to stop them from winning this season. A combination of defensive resilience and efficiency in attack has seen Inter players top almost every stat in the top division. Mauro Icardi leads the goalscoring chart with 16 goals, Antonio Candreva ,the assists chart with 7 assists and in defence, no team has conceded fewer goals than Inter’s 10 . Inter Milan games this season have been characterised with Hardwork ,Desire and  Teamwork. Luciano Spalletti deserves praise for how far he has brought this Inter team considering the skepticism from many fans,pundits and journalists alike after his appointment in the summer.  The defence has been a very solid unit with Milan Skriniar and Miranda at the centre of it all. Ivan Perisic’s skill and with a very key asset while Mauro Icardi has led from the front. It’s been Inter’s best start to a Serie A season with 39 points from  a possible 45 and it looks like the sleeping giants of Series A have had a very much needed awakening. Next up is a trip to champions Juventus and maybe that will give us a better idea of how far this Inter side can go but at the moment, you wouldn’t be crazy to bet on them.

Benevento

It’s been a long season already for Benevento as their debut season in the Serie A as they had lost their first 14 games of the season. They looked to be heading for a 15th straight defeat on the hands of AC Milan on Sunday. However, a Danilo Cataldi freekick met the head of goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli to draw them level and give them their first ever point in Serie A. They have had to endure some painful defeats this season as Torino, Cagliari and Sassuolo all secured wins after the 90th minute against them leaving them with no points prior to this weekend’s games and what better opponent to get your first point against than the mighty AC Milan. This might not be a win but one thing for sure is this game will remain on the minds of several Benevento fans for a long time to come. Milan on the other side had a heartbreaking start to the Gennarro Gattuso era with the former player himself describing the draw as more  ‘painful than a stabbing’. He faces a daunting task to get the Rossoneri back on track and more worrying is the fact that their Nerrazuri neighbours seem to be getting their act together.

PICK OF THE WEEK

33 shots faced, 15 on target and only one went in. It was an outstanding performance from the Manchester United goalkeeper as he stood tall to ensure there was no way back for Arsenal against Manchester United on Sunday. He bettered his personal best of 7 saves by a double and now holds the joint record of the most saves in a premier league game. There has never been a fax machine so important in football as the one that kept David De Gea at Manchester United. His performance of Saturday was as good as it gets. It was as though he had built a wall in the post that couldn’t even be brought down with the help of an ice dragon. His heroics have earned Manchester United a valuable point at Anfield and 3 points at the emirates. Some argue that some of his saves are overrated, and fair enough but with such performances, it would be absolutely stupid and ignorant to not consider him as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, if not the best.