EPL: Day 10, Part 1

Posted by Pierre Igot in: Football
October 25th, 2003 • 11:45 pm

The Manchester United vs. Fulham game at Old Trafford, won 3-1 by the Londoners, was absolutely brilliant. Man U were obviously not prepared for the challenge posed by this decidedly surprising Fulham team. They were 1 down after five minutes and were very lucky not to be two or three goals down by the end of the half. They were even luckier to get level thanks to a Forlan goal during injury time.

The second half simply confirmed what the first half had indicated, i.e. that Fulham were the better team, and deserved to win. Ferguson appeared to think that the problems in the first half were mostly due to a poor performance by Silvestre, who was substituted at half-time after giving away the ball leading to the early Fulham goal. But the problem was more serious, and it was far too easy for Fulham to threaten Howard.

On days like this, it does look as if Man U’s reign at the top of the EPL might be about to end. They simply were rather ordinary, and too easily outclassed by Fulham. The third goal by Inamoto was great, but it’s really the team’s performance all the way to the end of the game that should be remembered.

It should also be remembered that the Fulham team is essentially the same as last year. So full credit goes to Chris Coleman for getting such good results out of his players. Watching Fulham play last year, I always felt that they could play far too well to be stuck in the second half of the TABLE and threatened by relegation. They seem to be confirming their potential this year. They might be one of the teams to watch and become the surprise story of the year, replacing Everton, who seem to be specializing in 0-0 draws this year — rather than their 1-0 victories last year.

So here ends a long stretch of home invincibility for Man U at Old Trafford in the EPL (last beaten at home by Bolton back in September 2002). Can Arsenal capitalize on this and widen their lead at the top? We’ll see how well they will have recovered from their Champions League woes tomorrow at The Valley against Charlton.

In other news, Chelsea once again fail to impress but win at home 1-0 against Manchester City. I suppose it’s better to win without impressing than to impress without winning, but if this keeps up they are going to win the Premier League in a very unimpressive fashion, and will prove that too much money just rots the game for everyone.

Liverpool win 3-1 against Leeds at home and Houllier thinks it’s a turning point. A victory against Leeds? At home? With the help of the referee? Might be jumping to conclusions here, GÈrard.

Birmingham continue their surprising run by beating Bolton on Bolton’s home turf. And Wolves recover from a 3-0 deficit at half-time to win 4-3 against Leicester! The week-end highlights should be an interesting watch. Much still depends on what happens tomorrow afternoon, though…


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