Great night’s football but all a bit familiar as Chelsea teach Hull a lesson

What a great night of Premier League football we had last night. I was privileged to watch the game between Arsenal and Tottenham which was right up there as one of the best games of the season.

Unrecognisable

Tottenham were almost entirely unrecognisable from the side I watched a couple of weeks ago under Juande Ramos. The personnel were the same, but the spirit, determination, confidence and even at times, ability, was so completely different.

Arsenal were their usual exquisite selves and played football of breathtaking quality for much of the game but somehow managed to leave the pitch with just one point.

Wonderful

The quality of the football in the 4-4 draw was matched by the quality of some of the goals. The pick of the bunch being a truly wonderful forty yard strike by the revitalised David Bentley. The run and curling shot of Jermaine Jenas and the excellent header from William Gallas are also deserving of a mention.

Apart from this game which had everything a neutral could want from a game of football and included so many twists and turns, the other games last night had a slightly familiar look about them. As the season begins to take shape I am beginning to develop a fear that the pre-season predictions of the shape of the Premiership may start to prove to be pretty accurate.

Shape of things to come

With Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton all winning and Sunderland, Bolton, Hull and Wigan all losing, I wonder if we are seeing the shape of things to come. There have been some real surprises this season so far, with Hull being the main one, but they were firmly put in their place last night by Chelsea. The 3-0 victory didn’t flatter Chelsea and if you haven’t seen the delightful chipped goal by Frank Lampard in the third minute you really must try to do so.

It was such a good goal that it led to Luis Felipe Scolari saying after the game,

“I think Frank Lampard’s goal was one of the best in the Premier League. It was a fantastic goal – only Frank Lampard can make this goal. It was one of the best goals I have seen in my life. He is a very intelligent player and he is a man that is never tired. There are many very good players in England, and one of the best is Frank.”

So does Scolari like Lampard or not!?

There were some other great performances last night with Stoke City getting a crucial 1-0 win over Sunderland. It won’t be enough to save them but they are far from being disgraced in the top league. Middlesbrough won 2-0 against Manchester City to ease slight worries that may have been developing at the Riverside and to increase the pressure on Mark Hughes to try to get some sort of level of consistency out of his talented but unpredictable bunch of players.

Inexplicable

Portsmouth produced an excellent performance at Anfield in their first game under Tony Adams but an inexplicable handball in the area by Papa Bouba Diop after seventy-five minutes allowed Steve Gerrard to score from the spot and leave Pompey with nothing for their efforts.

Fulham got back to winning ways and Andy Johnson found his goalscoring boots by getting both goals in the 2-0 over Wigan. That result will come as a relief to Fulham who have flattered to deceive so far this season and will be a worry to Wigan who are sliding down the table alarmingly at the moment.

Worried

All in all, it was a great night’s entertainment but the outcome just worried me slightly. I suddenly saw, for the first time this season, a top four of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. I saw a relegation battle involving Stoke City, West Brom, Bolton, Wigan and Sunderland. I saw lower mid-table finishes for Middlesbrough and Newcastle and mid-table endings for Tottenham and Blackburn. The final Uefa cup places could be a battle between Aston Villa, Everton and Portsmouth.

Sadly, all of the above could have been, and were, predicted by many people before the season started. It would be a shame if the league fell into such a recognised pattern with the teams all falling into their natural positions.

Defying the odds

Despite their footballing lesson from Chelsea last night, fifth placed Hull City are still the team who are defying all the odds. I say long may it continue because we need the Premier League to be shaken up. We need that top four to be really challenged.