Connect with us
Sign up with Hollywoodbets for 50 free spins and R25 bonus=

Soccer

EURO WRAP: Arsenal on the dodge, Dortmund firing, relegation drama and more!

Arsenal on the dodge, Dortmund piling on the pressure and the Premier League relegation scrap heating up! Damien Kayat looks back at the weekend that was.
Ken Sema of Watford - Premier League
Image Copyright - Steve Haag Sports

Arsenal on the dodge, Dortmund piling on the pressure and the Premier League relegation scrap heating up! Damien Kayat looks back at the weekend that was.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

Premier League Relegation Saga

While the destination of the Premier League title seems more certain with every passing week, the relegation battle is approaching fever pitch, with four teams battling it out to avoid the dreaded drop.

Norwich’s exceptional win over a beleaguered Everton side turned out to be exceptionally consequential. It relegated Rafa Benitez to the ash heap of Premier League managerial casualties.

But it threw a massive spanner in the works for clubs such as Newcastle and Watford. The Canaries were supposed to be cut adrift from the pack, resigned to their fate as likely wooden spoon recipients. But now they have leapfrogged both Newcastle and Burnley.

Newcastle’ owners need more than Chris Wood to get themselves out of this mess. Their 1-1 home draw with Watford was an earth-shattering result in conjunction with the Norwich upset.

And you have Sean Dyche’s Burnley lurking in the background, accumulating games in hand with greedy malevolence. Why did Eddie Howe go so defensive after taking the lead?

He made his name as a progressive manager, always intent on taking the initiative in games. But it seems as if his Bournemouth reign and Newcastle tenure will have one thing in common: they will both end in relegation.

Arsenal on the dodge?

Have Arsenal done a bit of a dirty this weekend? The postponement of the North London Derby has opened up a pandora’s box of controversy regarding the legitimacy of certain clubs’ scheduling complaints.

Arsenal’s current squad issues has very little to do with Covid. It is more to do with the usual wear and tear of a football season. Leeds United made an absolute mockery of the Gunners, fielding a side with seven teenagers as they upset West Ham.

Thomas Tuchel must be wondering what he did to engender such hostility from the FA. He is the one manager who has been denied a fixture postponement. They requested a rescheduling of a December trip to Wolves.

And this with a squad that had been rocked by Covid and long-term injuries (Chillwell, James, etc). You can’t really blame Arsenal: they saw an opportunity and took it. It’s up to the FA to enforce these rules consistently. But how much worse is Arsenal’s situation in comparison to Chelsea’s from a month back?

It also makes Arsenal look like utter hypocrites when you consider their hysteria in the aftermath of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup postponement. It just feels like too many teams are starting to exploit these fuzzy Covid parameters.

Italian Cup

I love English football, don’t get me wrong. But sometimes it gets nauseating hearing the likes of Hargreaves and Sherwood waxing lyrical about how it’s undoubtedly the best league in the world.

Sure, at this point in time they may have a point. But there have been long spells over the past few decades where English football couldn’t lay a glove on some of the other European leagues.

There’s also this myopic dedication to the notion that only the Premier League can produce wild 4-4 draws. Italian football- long derided as the bastion of dull, pragmatic football- is fast becoming the go-to arena for pulsating football matches.

Hot off the heels of last week’s incredible 4-3 Serie A match between Juventus and Roma, Napoli hosted Fiorentina in an electric Coppa Italia clash last Thursday. 10-man Fiorentina beat 9-man Napoli 5-2 after extra-time, with Arsenal target Dusan Vlahovic once again getting on the scoresheet (isn’t there more than a touch of Robin Van Persie about him?).

I just feel duty-bound to remind the footballing world that other countries also feature exciting football matches. As far as the league is concerned, Inter dropped two valuable points away at Atalanta.

This has opened the door for bitter rivals Milan, who now have the opportunity to regain top spot with victory against Spezia tonight.

Dortmund keep in touch of Munich

Marco Rose’s Dortmund produced arguably their best performance of the season, annihilating SC Freiburg 5-1 at Signal Iduna Park. Erling Haaland broke a mini scoring drought when he netted a clinical brace.

I was extremely impressed with Mo Dahoud, a player who has often flattered to deceive in the midfield. He dominated the centre of the park and really dictated the flow of the game.

Can they maintain this momentum and make themselves viable title contenders? The Bundesliga desperately needs them to: Bayern Munich have won the last nine consecutive league titles. As for Bayern- they absolutely dominated Koln.

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick, netting his 300th Bundesliga goal in the process. He is the first man since the recently deceased Gerd Muller to reach that mark.

Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane picked up two assists each in a comfortable stroll for the Bundesliga behemoth. They also set a new record by scoring in their 66th consecutive league game.

Perhaps it’s just a case of wishful thinking to think that Dortmund can keep up with this lot. But it’s about time that the Bundesliga experienced a semblance of tension.

Spanish Super Cup

The Spanish football federation came in for huge criticism after deciding to stage the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. Many have sighted this as yet another example of football’s indulgence of Saudi Arabia’s image-washing tactics.

Getting all the politics out of the way, Carlo Ancelotti managed to win the first trophy of his second stint as Real Madrid manager. Los Blancos comfortably held off a spirited Bilbao side in the final. But it was their victory in the semi-final against Barcelona that really stood out.

Their 3-2 victory highlighted both the prowess of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s potential under the stewardship of Xavi. Spanish football has certainly been through a sticky patch of late.

But there was enough quality present in this match to suggest that there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema once again excelled for Real, linking up with near-telepathic synchronicity.

But you can’t help but admire the girt that Barcelona have shown since Xavi’s arrival. The likes of Ansu Fati and Pedri hint at an extremely bright future in this post-Messi era.

Player of the Week- Karim Benzema

I think it’s high time that Benzema gets the credit that he deserves. Long underappreciated as a creative foil to Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema has emerged from the Portuguese’s formidable shadow over the last few seasons.

His stats this season make for incredible reading. He has 17 goals and 7 assists in LaLiga alone. Right now, he is the only man who could possibly compete with Lewandowski for the title of world’s best number 9.

And he showed off all of his best traits during Real’s Super-cup run. This was particularly noticeable in their 3-2 victory over FC Barcelona. His ability to hold up the ball is unparalleled and he was a constant menace inside the box.

Register Now with Hollywoodbets Mobile
Related Topics
Register Now with Hollywoodbets Mobile

More in Soccer

Official Partners