AFTER the excitement of the FA Cup and with the rumour mill at full steam in the transfer window, the Premier League returned to action, bringing with it intense rivalries, some with real history and others more recently established.
First up at the weekend was Harry Redknapp’s first match against his previous employers as QPR hosted Spurs in a match with added spice after Redknapp appeared to aim a dig at his successor, Andre Villas-Boas, by stating that only a ‘dope’ could fail at Chelsea.
It’s amazing the difference a year can make. Last year when bringing Spurs to Loftus Road he rued the performance of the Hoop’s ‘keeper as they lost 1-0. Sitting on the other side of the fence he was this time delighted to see the home goal in-tact as Cesar produced a string of superb saves for a goalless draw.
While these comments were clarified after touchline hugs they appeared to have taken the sting out of Spurs who looked lacklustre after Defoe and Adebayor were crucially denied in the opening minutes, setting the tone for the entire match.
The faithful in Shepherd’s Bush will take anything they can get and this solitary point, for a few hours at least, raised QPR off the bottom of the table and brought a standing ovation.
They remained in 19th position in the ‘real-time’ table until the last eight minutes of Reading’s match against West Brom, during which time they found several new gears that had been missing for the majority of a game that they looked destined to lose.
Tottenham will view this as a missed opportunity, although Villas-Boas preferred to find the positives from remaining in fourth position, a great irony given it was Redknapp’s ‘failure’ to raise them higher up the table that quickened his dismissal. Spurs has loftier ambitions these days.
Fast forward, to another ‘Super Sunday’. It started with one of the oldest and richest rivalries in world football – Liverpool’s fixture against Manchester United. Tracing the roots of this to the building of the Manchester Canal in the 1890s, the recently-turned 71-year-old manager of United, Sir Alex Ferguson claimed not to know how far ahead of Liverpool his team had raced.
The antipathy runs so deep that no player has even been allowed to move directly between these clubs for almost half a century. Gabriel Heinze was the last to try although he ended up at the Bernabeu rather than Merseyside!
The two most successful teams in English football still trade verbal insults, comparing domestic success to European, although it was the Uruguyan, Luis Suarez, who created greater friction last season with his racial insults towards Patrice Evra and his subsequent refusal to shake his hand on returning from an eight match ban.
Ferguson did admit to grudging respect for Saurez although mused, when asked whether he expected to see him positioned on the right wing, that he would prefer to see him at right-back – as far away from goal as possible.
Clearly he was not expecting this as he paired his trusted centre-backs, Ferdinand and Vidic, together for the first time since September to nullify the threat.
It was Evra who had the last laugh on this occasion finding a level of performance not seen previously this season, creating both goals in a 2-1 victory, although he was unlucky not to claim the second for himself as his goal-bound header unwittingly flicked off the head of his defensive partner, Vidic. United have now won eight of their last nine league encounters at Old Trafford.
While much has been made of United’s porous defence (having now conceded more goals than any team to have won the league), United now sit on 55 points after 22 matches, the highest total they have ever managed.
United will be relieved to have secured three points and remain seven points clear of City, their main title rivals, with Liverpool now a massive 24 points adrift.
Their manager, Brendan Rodgers, claims to be only one-win away from finding the confidence to make healthy strides up the table. With new signing, Daniel Sturridge, and the returning Fabio Borini, they at least offered a more varied goal threat in the closing stages.
While it was this match that many believed would have brought the greatest levels of aggression (having witnessed more red cards than any other rivalry with the exception of the Merseyside derby), it was the second match between Manchester City and Arsenal that witnessed the greatest animosity on the playing surface.
Despite a suspicious package being found outside the ground before the match, the spark was provided to an explosive match when Arsenal defender, Laurent Koscielny, was sent off in the 10th minute for wrestling Edin Dzeko to the floor as he shaped to score.
Although he missed the resulting penalty (meaning the two Manchester clubs have now missed five between them all season – one less than the other 18 teams combined), the greater number of players ensured a comfortable victory for City, in the process destroying one of the longest-standing head-to-head losing records.
Heading into the weekend City had not beaten Arsenal since 1975.
While the referee gave Koscielny some Kompany, also sending the City captain for an early bath, it came too late in the game to allow Arsenal an opportunity for a comeback.
This result keeps Man City hopeful that the current seven point deficit can be overhauled in the same manner as last season’s eight-point arrears that led to them lifting the Premier League title.
The next month could be crucial as they will be missing Yaya Toure to the African Cup of Nations and now their skipper, Vincent Kompany, unless they are successful in appealing against a three-match ban for his red card. Missing these two stalwarts would normally see them drop points, although they are somewhat fortunate that they have an easy run of games during their absence.
Arsenal fans are starting to feel the pain of being six points behind arch rivals, Spurs, although this, more crucially, also represents the fourth league position and qualification for the Champions league.
Having recently scored 17 goals in five home games there is real hope amongst some that the revitalised Walcott can combine with the excellent Cazorla and Podolski to win matches while they refind the defensive solidity with which they started the season. The great enigma for this Arsenal team is their consistency.
I will leave you with my favourite moment of the weekend, when the assistant referee instructed the City players to celebrate their victory with their traveling fans having had to pay a well-publicised £62 (BD38) for the privilege of watching!
