Leicester City 4-2 Manchester City
Well this was a bit of a mad one wasn't it? Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick to ease Leicester's relegation worries and put Manchester City's title bid in real turmoil. If Chelsea beat West Brom at home today, they'll move seven points clear of City, and worse, after City's battering at the hands of the Champions, if Spurs win today then the pre-season title favourites won't even be in the top four (unless Liverpool lose by five goals, which even in my most pessimistic moods I don't think will happen).
So what happened? Well Jamie Vardy happened. After a very lethargic few months, in which Vardy has been struggling to score goals, Vardy came to life in this fixture and caused City endless problems. It didn't help that City's defensive organisation was absolutely woeful. City's defensive problems have been mentioned already this season, but in this game they were more abundantly clear than ever. It didn't take a lot of movement or pace for Vardy to exploit the horrible gaps in this City back three/four (I'm not even 100% sure they knew what it was). He simply ran into the channels, broke in behind, and put Leicester 1-0 up inside two minutes. His second goal once again came from simple football. A clever pass by Mahrez yes, but a simple run into space from Vardy, nobody running with him and slotting the ball into the back of the net.
And if the fourth goal, Vardy's hat-trick goal, was gifted to him by a horrible error from John Stones, then he still made the most of it with his pace and energy, and a sensational, Divock Origi-esque finish at the end of it.
For Leicester and Vardy everything was simple. Everything worked perfectly. Play the ball into space behind the high defensive line and let Vardy chase. But for Man City, who scored two late consolation goals so worthless that they're barely worth mentioning, this was a horror show. Defensively they were simply all over the place. They were playing a system that they didn't understand with one recognised central defender, and that central defender played horribly. It would be unfair to pin this defeat solely on Stones' shoulders, and I'll come to calamity Bravo in a moment, but he did not look like a £50m+ defender. His total lack of awareness of where Jamie Vardy was was nothing short of baffling. After the first goal, you'd have thought that Stones would stick to Vardy like glue, take responsibility, but that didn't happen. As I've said, organisation was as much a problem for this defence as individual errors, but Stones' error for the 4th goal was a clanger.
And Claudio Bravo had another very bad day at the office. He was nowhere near any of the four goals, and should really have been saving at least one or two of them. He should have saved the second for sure, Andy King's excellent ranged effort caught him slightly off guard but should have been kept out. And for the final two goals, he was off his line far too quickly, making it far too easy for Vardy to slot home.
In terms of where this leaves City. I said after they lost to Chelsea that they were still bang in the title race and very much Chelsea's equals. But this complete shambles has to make you think. Seven points is a big number, even in December, and City have a lot of problems to work on. It would be foolish to suggest that the title race is over already, especially with Arsenal and Liverpool looking strong, but Man City now have a mountain to climb unless West Brom do them a huge favour.
As for Leicester, this was a vintage 2015 Leicester performance, full of energy and pace and finishing. Vardy looked back to his best and Mahrez and Slimani were both excellent too. Leicester have been one of the teams flirting with relegation recently, but I think that results and performances like this demonstrate why they'll stay up. Because they are a better team with more at their disposal than three or four at least of the teams below them. And they have formidable home form.
Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City
With Man City's title charge seemingly spontaneously imploding, Arsenal's is plodding merrily along as they swept aside Stoke City despite a first half scare. The Gunners look the real deal and have a lot of talent at their disposal, and whilst this game was a lot more closely contested than the scoreline suggests, the truth is that if you're going to get into an attacking: who can score more goals match with Arsenal, you're going to lose. Unless you're Liverpool apparently.
In any case, it was the Gunners who produced the best moments in this match, Walcott with a deft finish after an excellent cross from Bellerin, a brilliant goal from Mesut Ozil after a stunning pass from Oxlade-Chamberlain, and then a terrific rifled finish from substitute Iwobi to seal the win. Stoke did play very well, but simply they couldn't outgun the Gunners.
Things did start well for Stoke, with Arsenal's indiscipline once again proving a problem as Granit Xhaka thundered into a full blown collision with Joe Allen in the box, smashing him with his elbow and conceding a penalty. Xhaka was lucky to escape a booking, but Arsenal weren't lucky enough to avoid going 1-0 down. And Stoke created more decent chances throughout the game. But the lack of a recognised striker, with Arnautovic playing up front, cost them and they weren't able to wrestle themselves a second goal. And from the moment that Ozil headed Arsenal in front just after half time, the result was never in doubt.
From Stoke's perspective this is nothing to worry about. When you go to the Emirates you take what you can get and quite often that ends up being nothing. Stoke are solid in mid-table now and played well enough to suggest that they'll have no huge problems, although they will struggle when they travel to Anfield and Stamford Bridge before the year is out. They were simply beaten by a better team.
As for Arsenal, they're looking increasingly like they could seriously challenge for the title right now. They're Chelsea's closest challengers, and deservedly so, having not lost since the opening day of the season. They're grinding out important results, and that late equaliser at Old Trafford has turned things around for them after a sticky November period. This is Arsenal we're talking though, so we'll have to judge it week on week. For me, the crucial thing will be how they respond to a Chelsea slip up, should such a thing arise before the New Year.
Watford 3-2 Everton
Every single home team in the Premier League scored three goals or more on a truly bizarre Saturday of incredible football. And these two kicked it off with a brilliant game of football at Vicarage Road. These two have looked reasonably evenly matched all season and so they proved on the day, with the difference coming from Watford's Stefano Okaka, who scored two goals to see off a valiant Everton side.
This was a game that ebbed and flowed, neither team defending particularly well, but attacking with verve and purpose. Everton controlled the first part of the game, and were rewarded when a long ball upfield caught out Watford's defence, allowing Lukaku to steal in and prod home the game's opening goal. A goal that Lukaku himself desperately needed.
But after scoring Everton sat off and Watford controlled the game from that point on, deservedly leveling before half time when Okaka delightfully flicked in a great cross from Amrabat before Troy Deeney missed a big chance at the back post, Amrabat again the provider.
Everton started the second half well, but Watford kept coming on the counter-attack and hit Everton hard with a double-sucker punch: Sebastian Prodl and Okaka scoring headers off set pieces inside five minutes of each other midway through the second half to K.O the opposition.
Or so they thought. Despite Watford having a couple of other chances to kill the game, Stekelenburg brilliantly denying Prodl amongst that, Everton hit back, and Lukaku's late goal gave them hope of finding an equaliser, as Valencia and Barkley were thrown on and Deulofeu wreaked havoc. But in the end they just ran out of steam.
Whilst Okaka was the man of the moment with two brilliant finishes, the questions will justifiably be asked of Everton's defence. How did Okaka get two unchallenged finishes at our near post? Ashley Williams will be looking hard in the mirror for the first goal, but in general Everton's set piece defending was poor all day, and conceding two goals off set pieces is the kind of alarming signal that deserves a red alert.
There are certainly questions to be asked of how far Everton have progressed under Ronald Koeman, with their form rapidly declining. They sit 9th, having seemingly progressed from a mid-table team to a slightly higher mid-table team. They would have wanted to be comfortably ahead of Watford at this stage in the season, not deservedly behind them.
As for Watford, as I've said they've been blowing hot and cold all season but at times in this match they blew very hot indeed, and got the result that they just about deserved. It takes them 7th, level on points with Man United, and very much in the hunt for the Europa League spots, with nobody seeming willing to snatch that 7th spot up at present.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Wow Swansea. Wow Hull. Wow Burnley.
- England letting India dominate them. Again. Disappointing.
- Leicester thrashed by Munster 38-0. Mauling.
- And Anthony Joshua knocked out Molina in Round Three. Devastating.
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