What a morning for the beautiful game. We had upsets, exciting goals, late action and controversy that brought everything together this morning. Let’s get right to it, here’s the roundup.
Chelsea 1-1 Burnley
This game checked off everything we had mentioned before. It had an upset, exciting goals, late action and controversy throughout the game. I even made it a point to mention that I felt Burnley could get the draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
I can see Burnley competing with Chelsea and, while a long shot, I can see them getting a draw.
— 32 Flags (@32flags) February 21, 2015
Don’t ever underestimate a team having to play midweek against a weaker team who didn’t have to play for a week and a half.
Chelsea got the scoring started early as Eden Hazard sithed through the Burnley defense and placed it to Branislav Ivanovic, who easily got the goal. After Nemanja Matic received a straight red card for his retaliation on Ashley Barnes’ rough tackle, Burnley got something going. Ten minutes after the red, Ben Mee headed home the equalizer and Burnley escaped with the draw.
Jose Mourinho, not wanting to risk getting fined by the FA again, wouldn’t say much and just kept repeating the numbers 30, 33, 43 and 69 like he was on the TV show Lost. He wants the “honest and professional media” to look at the moments in those minutes and make his case for him. To be honest, he does have a point and Chelsea got screwed out of a couple points. I don’t think he’s going to get much sympathy from fans since Chelsea is so far ahead in points and Burnley needed points to stay in the EPL.
Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal made rather short work of Crystal Palace and it seems as if the Alan Pardew honeymoon at Palace is over. I’m not saying that Crystal Palace fans want him gone already but their good run of form since he took the job has sort of evened out. Fans though aren’t completely happy and took things out on the ownership.
Crystal Palace supporters make their point clear in game versus Arsenal today #EPL #CPFC pic.twitter.com/7UQr2CGSHO
— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) February 21, 2015
Arsenal started things off with a Santi Cazorla converted penalty for a foul that could’ve been argued to be committed outside the box. Either way, it’s was 1-0. Right before half, Olivier Giroud made it 2-0. A Glenn Murray goal late in stoppage time wasn’t enough and Arsenal won 2-1.
Sunderland 0-0 West Bromwich Albion
Nothing happened, sounded like it was a horrible game to watch, moving on.
Aston Villa 1-2 Stoke City
In Tim Sherwood’s debut as Aston Villa manager, he got Villa to score first and within 20 minutes. For a team that can only score a couple times a month, this was huge. That miracle may actually turn things around for Aston Villa. Yeah…that lasted for about a half hour or so.
Stoke got things even right before halftime with a Mame Diouf goal. Then late in the game, Stoke received a gift from Aston Villa’s captain Ron Vlaar. Vlaar’s heavy first touch gave the ball to Victor Moses and after a foul from behind in the box, Vlaar got his second yellow and Moses converted the PK to grab the 2-1 win.
Hull City 2-1 Queens Park Rangers
This game begins and ends with Joey Barton. Barton’s slap received a red card and possible extended suspension and arguably cost QPR the win. Even though QPR scored six minutes after Barton’s red to equalize, it wasn’t enough as Hull got the winner thanks to Dame N’Doye in the 89th minute. The result was huge for Hull to temporarily get out of the relegation zone while QPR is right in the thick of it in relegation.
Swansea City 2-1 Manchester United
Swansea and Manchester United brought it today. First, Ander Herrera saved a sure Swansea goal, then scores for United just minutes later.
Then when Man United was just getting settled in after the goal, Swansea scored with a Sung-Yueng Ki goal. After some back and forth action, Jonjo Shelvey ripped a goalazo that deflected off of Bafetimbi Gomis and sealed the upset win for Swansea.
Barcelona 0-1 Malaga
While not an EPL game, this was certainly a big upset. Malaga took advantage of a mistake by the Barcelona back line and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and took the lead early. Malaga fought like hell for the rest of the 83 minutes and faced lots of shots but they escaped with the win. The loss gives Real Madrid a chance at being four points up in the table.
