ROUND UP OF EPL WEEK 1

To start the season campaign, on saturday 16 July, 2014 Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United faced Swansea at old Trafford. Louis Van Gaal didn’t get the exact opening every new manager was looking for as his side lost 2-1 to   the Swans, goals came from Ki in the 28th minute , Rooney in the 53th minute and Sirgurdsson in the 72nd minute . Van Gaal used a 3 back line as his defense , they played well completing a lot of passes in the game but the swans managed to keep up their tempo and took their chances. 

Van Gaal in his interview stated that he was disappointed in his squad.

Newly promoted side Leicester City took on Everton which ended in a 2-2 draw , goals came from McGeady in the 20^th minute and Naismith in the 45^th minute for Everton. For Leicester their goals came from Ulloa in the 22^nd minute and Wood in the 86^th minute. It was a farely balanced game with end to end action Leicester however proved themselves by coming from behind on 2 occasions.

 Both coaches had to something to  say about their teams .

West Ham also took on Tottenham on open day and it ended 0-1 in favor of Tottenham, West Ham looked the more dangerous as they had more shots than Tottenham. Both teams ended the game with 10 men but Tottenham proved the more compact as their  premier league debutant Dier got the only goal in the 90^th minute , what a way to start his campaign winning the London durby in the dying embers of the game.

 Stats from the game.

Queens Park Rangers also took on Hull City as they looked to secure a vital home win , things didn’t go as planned as the lost at home 0-1.  The goal came from Chester in the 52^nd minute but the game was well balanced with both teams sharing 50 a piece on ball possession , and with shots   QPR having the most shots.

 Stats from the game

West Brom took on Sunderland which produced 4 goals, the game ended 2-2 with goals coming from Cattermole  in the 5th minute for Sunderland and Berahino scoring from the spot kick  in the 42^nd minute for  West Brom in the first half. In the second half Berahino scored in the 74^th minute giving West Brom the lead but Sunderland came level in the 85^th minute through Larsson.

It was a fairly entertaining game but the penalty decision from the referee caused  a lot controversy in the game.

 Stats from the game

Stoke City took on Aston Villa  and it ended 0-1 in favor of Aston Villa . The only goal of the game came in the second half through Weimann in the 50^th minute. Stoke City played well creating chances and having 12 shot at goal as to Aston Villa’s 7. Stoke City also had 64% of possession as to Aston Villa’s 36%.

 Stats from the game

Arsenal took on Crystal Palace and won 2-1 at the Emirates, during the first half the goals came from Hangeland in the 35^th minute for Crystal Palace and an equalizer from Koscielny in the 45^th minute.

The winner for Arsenal finally came in the 90^th minute through Ramsey, at the end of the day Arsenal proved they were once again ready to challenge for the title as the manage to get the 3 points when needed.

On Sunday Liverpool got their campaign to a bright start with a 2-1 win over Southampton, Southampton who before coming into the game had lost a lot of vital players in their previous starting line up to Liverpool and Manchester United. They  proved the still had quality players to bring into the set up and didn’t look short on quality at all.  Goals came from sterling in the 23^rd minute for Liverpool ending the first half. In the second half Clyne pulled even for the saints in the 56^th minute. Liverpool then got the winner through Sturridge in the 79^th minute. Overall shots saw both teams level as Liverpool seemed to have taking their foot of the gas a bit in the second half. But a positive Liverpool could take out of the game was that they had more possession and completed a lot of passes.

In the other game   Newcastle took on the champions Manchester City  in a highly entertaining game with Alan Pardew using 7 debutants who impressed in the beginning of their campaign. Newcastle team showed a lot of promise from attack to defense and it’s a positive the fans can take home. The first goal came from Silva in the 38^th minute and that ended the first half. The second goal came in the second half from Aguero in the 90^th minute and that put the game to rest.

On Monday night newly promoted Burnley faced Chelsea and the blues made sure to get their 3 points. Burnley took the lead through Arfield in the 14^th minute but his  celebration was short lived  as debutant Costa scored in the 17^th minute for Chelsea , Schurrle then made it 2nd in the 21^st minute and it was later followed by a 3^rd from Ivanovic in the 34^th minute , all goals scored in the first half. Chelsea by far proved they were a better side with the likes of Fabregas and Matic taking control of the midfield.