Spurs turn Chelsea over
Every good thing associated with Tottenham Hotspurs for the last two years was on display as unbeaten Chelsea visited Wembley on Saturday. In the end, the 3-1 result was rather flattering to Chelsea, than it was exciting to Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino noticed two vital weak points in this Chelsea system and exploited them to good effect. Spurs laid the marker from minute one as they took the game to Chelsea, marking out the spaces and channels available to Jorginho, and then capitalising on the lacklustre defending from David Luiz. The Brazilian defender looked to have took his body out of the way of Kane’s 35- yard shot for Spurs’ second and also allowing Son to easily sell him a weak feint before he finished his amazing solo goal for their third. Alli and Son benefited from Eriksen’s creativity all evening and had they been a bit more clinical in front of goal, it would have been a different story for Maurizio Sarri’s men. Spurs showed they can turn it up against the big boys yet again with their second consecutive 3-1 victory over their London rivals. Next is Inter in the Champions League and then the North London Derby. With 5 straight wins, Spurs are in the best position for what could be a huge week in their league and Champions League campaigns.
Chelsea,on the other hand, even though dissapointed, will come out of this game feeling lucky to not have conceded more. Spurs posed seerious threats and at times, they looked helpless in defence. They were unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty or two but focusing your lens on that would be clutching on a very weak straw. The unbeaten run has ended, and in the coming weeks, we will know the severity of this setback.
Familiar problems resurface at Madrid
The post Lopetogui era got off to a fine start with 3 wins out of 3. On Saturday,however, Santiago Solari suffered his first defeat in a 3-0 loss to a fearless Eibar side. The absence of Casemiro didn’t help as Ceballos, who was given the role at the heart of the midfield was out run several times leaving the defence very much exposed. Madrid have conceded 19 goals in La Liga already this season, which is more than they have conceded in each of the last 10 seasons at this stage of the season. To add to their defensive woes, Their best attacking duo of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema have not been at their best. The Welshman himself, who has been in and out of the team due to injury has failed to score since September 19. Sergio Ramos, speaking after the game said, “When you don’t show the right attitude, these things happen,”. Something must change, and maybe this is the real indication to Solari of how tough the task ahead is.
Salah slowly getting back to his best
After a slow start to the season where the whispers of ‘one season wonder’ were steadily growing into higher decibels, Mohammed Salah, with 4 goals in his last 5 games, is finding his feet yet again. He opened the scoring in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Watford and looks to be getting back to his best form that saw him clinch the PFA player of the year award. His total for the season is 7 , 1 behind Sergio Aguero and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang in the goal king chart. With Liverpool aiming for the title, this will be a breath of fresh air for Klopp’s charges.
Black Maidens
The Black Maidens crashed out of the on-going FIFA U-17 women’s championship on Sunday after losing 4-2 on penalties. They had taken the lead twice before surrendering it each time in a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes. Coach Addotey didn’t hold back as he blamed his goalkeepers for the defeat. Maybe he could have controlled his emotions better but he was right in feeling dissapointed and frustrated as the quality his side has shown in this tournament gave the indication that they could go all the way. Individually, several players in the team, including Suzy Teye, Grace Anima and captain Abdulai Mukarama( competition’s top scorer on 7 goals) have made a name for themselves and would be keen on continuing their progression through the ranks.
Avot.
The Green Turf 