The mid-season awards
A few contenders. Hatem Ben Arfa’s long-range blast for Newcastle against Aston Villa was the best individual effort of the season so far, although Luis Suarez’s glorious piece of control for his goal against the Magpies runs it close. But the best goal was a team effort that came earlier this month when Aston Villa’s Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke combined for a glorious goal against Liverpool at Anfield. Weimann found Benteke and continued his run before firing home when the Belgian’s perfectly weighted first time back heel was played back into him.
Again a few contenders. Oliver Giroud’s miss from eight yards in Arsenal’s opening game against Sunderland had the Emirates natives pining for Robin van Persie but the Dutchman endured his own horror-moment when he blazed wide of a gaping goal after dispossessing Adam Federici in Manchester United’s 4-3 win at Reading. The award though goes to Sunderland’s Matt Kilgallon who someone fired over a gaping goal from eight yards after Craig Gardner’s free-kick had come back off the post in the 2-1 defeat to Norwich.
The season started with a flourish in terms of exquisite saves with David de Gea producing a number of outstanding stops in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Everton on the opening weekend. An incredible reaction save to deny a close-range Leon Osman strike was the pick of De Gea’s stops but the award goes to Wigan’s Ali Al Habsi who somehow readjusted his body sufficiently to keep out a heavily deflected free-kick from Stoke’s Charlie Adam.
While Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and Liverpool’s Luis Suarez are out on top in the prolific diving department, there can only be one winner. Santi Cazorla’s fall to engineer a penalty in Arsenal’s win over West Brom was so convincing that on first viewing it actually looked a penalty. Replays told a far different story.
A clear winner here. Alex Ferguson’s claim that a ball kicked at Robin van Persie’s head by Swansea’s Ashley Williams on Sunday ‘‘could have killed the lad’’ was just a tad over the top. Honourable mention to Andre Villas-Boas’s claim Tottenham ‘‘were in control from first minute to the last’’ of the North London derby. A bizarre analysis of a game that ended Arsenal 5 Tottenham 2.
Again plenty of contenders. Juan Mata has been exceptional for Chelsea, Michu has scored 13 league goals for Swansea, Robin van Persie has hit the ground running at Manchester United, establishing himself as their main man but the award goes to Luis Suarez, whose form has lit up Anfield and almost single-handedly hauled Liverpool into contention for a top-four finish.
Given his impact last season Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse has been a major disappointment but for his capacity to consistently infuriate the award has to go Arsenal winger Gervinho.
The Manchester derby earlier this month was an outstanding game, particularly the second half featuring a fine comeback and a dramatic late twist. But the gong goes to another 3-2 match involving United, their win at Chelsea. Like the Manchester derby, Ferguson’s men raced into a 2-0 lead. There was also a stirring recovery from the opposition before a late United winner. Javier Hernandez’s decisive strike was controversial though as replays showed the Mexican was offside. The game included two dismissals. Fernando Torres, controversially, saw red while Branislav Ivanovic, less controversially, got his marching orders too. Incredible drama and that’s without even mentioning the Mark Clattenburg saga...
There’s been a few demolition jobs this season but Chelsea’s 8-0 victory Aston Villa on Sunday is the only choice. The fact the scoreline actually flattered Paul Lambert’s side says just about everything.
Christian Benteke has proved an inspired signing for Aston Villa for £7m while Sebastien Bassong, signed for £4m from Tottenham, has been a revelation for Norwich. It’s impossible to look beyond Michu though. Thirteen league goals from a player Swansea signed for £2m says it all.
Another award that requires little consideration. Raheem Sterling has been a sensation this season even if tiredness has inevitably caught up in recent weeks. The teenager is critical to Liverpool’s long-term hopes.
Results may have trailed off recently but West Brom’s Steve Clarke has successfully made the seismic step from number two to one. Honourable mention goes to Michael Laudrup who, despite a mini early-season blip, has kept Swansea on an upward curve.
A new look, swashbuckling Chelsea started the season in imperious form, picking up 22 points from the first 24 available and looked real title contenders. Few, if any would have predicted after their 4-2 win at Tottenham that the Blues would pick up just four points from their seven league games, a shocking run of results that leaves them facing a massive uphill task to contest for the title. Honourable mention to Chris Hughton whose Norwich side looked relegation bankers in the early part of the season before going on a 10-game unbeaten run to shoot up the table.
The length of time it took for Chelsea to hand Roberto Di Matteo the managerial job on a full-time basis last summer suggested that even a Champions League win wasn’t enough to convince Roman Abramovich that the Italian was the right man for the job. Consequentially it was no great surprise that Di Matteo quickly received his P45 from the most trigger-happy owner in football.
James McCarthy has consistently excelled for Wigan, Seamus Coleman has impressed at Everton but Shane Long has been the best of the Irish. The West Brom striker has five league goals and five assists to his name and is a constant menace to opposing defences.
Samir Nasri. Who else could it have been? Nasri’s decision to hide behind the wall rather than stand as part of it as Robin van Persie lined up an injury-time free-kick in the Manchester derby could ultimately prove the decisive moment in the title race.
Javier Hernandez may not like it but he is the very definition of a super-sub, coming off the bench and scoring on four occasions this season, a contribution that has helped Manchester United earn eight extra points. Honourable mention goes to Eden Dzeko who has fulfilled the same role for City, scoring four times after his introduction as a sub to keep Roberto Mancini’s men in the hunt to retain the title.
Two contenders here. Last month Manchester United trailed Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park with little over a half an hour to play. But two goals from Javier Hernandez sandwiching a Ron Vlaar own goal turned the game on its head. But the award goes to Manchester City, who overcame the first half dismissal of James Milner and the concession of a 67-minute opening goal to Shane Long to secure an unlikely 2-1 win at West Brom thanks to two goals from Eden Dzeko in the final 10 minutes.
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