Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Goal Zone Premier League Team of the Week

There always tends to be one coupon-buster on the opening weekend of the Premier League season and the bookmakers were not to be disappointed once again.

Arsenal were the unfortunate ones on this occasion, while champions Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by Swansea City at Stamford Bridge.

Elsewhere, there were victories for the two Manchester clubs, as well as for Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leicester City and Crystal Palace.

There was to be no winner in the games at Goodison Park and St James' Park, both of which saw the sides on show share four goals evenly.

Following all the action, Goal Zone picks its best XI, as well as selecting the biggest villain and best goal.

Adrian (West Ham United)
The Spaniard may not have been as busy in North London as he had been expecting, but he was still required to make a couple of smart stops at crucial moments. Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez in particular were left frustrated by the West Ham goalkeeper, who helped the visitors to pull off a shock victory.
Pape Souare (Crystal Palace)
His arrival at Selhurst Park back in January went a little under the radar, but people may well start to take notice of the left-back after his showing at Carrow Road. The Senegal international offered a real attacking outlet for Palace and also linked ever so well with Wilfried Zaha in front of him. If Zaha decided to cut inside, Souare was a willing runner down the left flank. His performance was capped by the clever role that he played in Palace's second goal.
Winston Reid (West Ham United)
Youngster Reece Oxford, who you will read more about shortly, was full of praise for Reid after West Ham's win at the Emirates Stadium. The midfield teenager revealed that he had been coached through much of the encounter by Reid, who put in a true leader's performance. In total, the New Zealander made three crucial blocks inside the West Ham penalty area.
Micah Richards (Aston Villa)
With the greatest of respect it seemed for a long while that Richards's career - one that had promised so much in his younger days - was drifting nowhere in particular. If his debut for Villa away at Bournemouth is anything to go by, perhaps the former England international has been revitalised by the move back to his native Birmingham. His seven interceptions helped Villa to record a crucial clean sheet.
Matteo Darmian (Manchester United)
Ever since Louis van Gaal arrived at Old Trafford last summer, he has had a problem at right-back. He decided very early on that Rafael da Silva was not the player for him, which forced Antonio Valencia, who is a winger, to drop back. However, the signing of Darmian appears to have fixed all that. Typically Italian, the 25-year-old was solid in defence and offered support to Juan Mata going forward against Spurs.

Marc Albrighton (Leicester City)
Having suffered a family tragedy during the summer, to Albrighton's credit his mind was fully on football at the King Power Stadium. Earlier in the game he set up a couple of goals and then went on to get his name on the scoresheet when he slotted in a low shot from close range.
Reece Oxford (West Ham United)
What were you doing at 16? Well, this youngster was busy strutting his stuff at the Emirates Stadium. Despite being a natural centre-back, Oxford was asked to play in midfield by manager Slaven Bilic and he looked the part as he recorded a 95% successful pass rate. All this from a player that does not turn 17 until December!
Dimitri Payet (West Ham United)
Much was expected of the summer signing from Marseille and he didn't disappoint on what was his West Ham debut. Having arrived with the reputation of being an assist-maker, it was fitting that Payet set up the away side's opening goal. More performances like this one and his £10m transfer fee is going to look incredibly cheap.
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City)
The Algerian recently signed a new contract, and Leicester's faith was instantly repaid with a display that is still probably giving the Sunderland defenders nightmares. He scored his side's second goal with a header, before rolling in a penalty that he had won. Mahrez thought that he had scored a hat-trick after the restart, only for his effort to strike the post.
Jefferson Montero (Swansea City)
Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic is widely regarded to be one of the Premier League's best right-backs, but even the tough-tackling Serbian found it almost impossible to put a lid on Swansea's flying winger. Time and again the positive Ecuadorian twisted the home defender one way and then the other - just as he did for the Welsh side's first goal in West London.

Arouna Kone (Everton)
He may have only played the last 28 minutes at Goodison Park, but without the Ivorian's introduction, there's a fair chance that Everton would have been beaten by Watford. He created the home side's opener for Ross Barkley, before going on to score himself late on to salvage a point.

Numpty of the Week
Petr Cech (Arsenal): Chelsea skipper John Terry insisted that Cech would be worth around 15 points for Arsenal this season, but on what was his competitive debut, the goalkeeper ultimately cost his new side the game.

Perhaps the Arsenal rearguard was a little too high for the first West Ham goal, but that was still no reason for the experienced Cech to come racing off his line - a decision that gave Cheikhou Kouyate a simple headed chance to break the deadlock. Then, after the restart, the 33-year-old will have been disappointed that Mauro Zarate got the better of him at his near post. There is little doubt that Cech will be a positive addition for the Gunners, but it's not the best of starts to his career in North London.

Goal of the Week

Philippe Coutinho - Stoke City vs. (Liverpool): The Brazilian is starting to make a habit of scoring memorable goals from distance. It seemed that the visitors were going to have to settle for a 0-0 draw when Joe Gomez rolled the ball into Coutinho, who instantly and sharply spun away from his marker Steve Sidwell.

The 23-year-old then advanced towards the Stoke penalty area, but before he reached it, the playmaker unleashed a curling effort that flew beyond the reach of Jack Butland and into the net, much to the delight of the travelling faithful behind the goal. It was a goal worthy of winning any Premier League encounter.



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