| The season of twists & unexpected turns continued last night in England. Manchester United struggled against Burnley, but has continued to show us again this season and for most of last, that they are a second half team. Sunderland made Chelsea look good with some horrendous marking, totally the opposite of their performance at Old Trafford and against Arsenal at home. They have now gotten the undesirable reputation of being Chelsea's punching bag. Last season they were whipped at the same venue by a similar margin, the only difference being they manged to get on the scoresheet last night.
Steven Pienaar put in a magnificent
display to bury Mancini's men.
Liverpool again faltered at Stoke City, as they did last season but I am unconvinced that Rafa Benitez will get the sack now, not if Liverpool had to pay an estimated £20mil compensation to the Spaniard. Wonder if the fans will still sing his praises and still opt to blame the boardroom instead. Manchester City flattered to deceive, and looked mediocre against a potent Everton. This was Roberto Mancini's real test against opponents that are not consideted relegation candidates and failed. The hype around Carlos Tevez being a reborn player seems to have died together with the team's performance last night.
Elsewhere, Tottenham can count themselves unlucky not to beat Hull City at home after Boaz Myhill put on a brilliant individual performance between the sticks for the visitors. Harry Redknapp had no complaints over the performance of his boys and summed it up by saying it was just one of those days. Luckily for them, the point earned pushed them a further ahead of fellow pretenders, Man City.
The second coming of David Beckham to Milan may just signify a return of glory for one Milan club and put pressure on another as league leaders Inter Milan stuttered against Bari and this has opened up a chance for Beckham's Milan to close the gap on them. However, the man that has followed Beckham's footsteps at Manchester and now at Madrid suffered a backward turn of fortunes after Real Madrid lost to a gritty Atletico Bilbao. No such problems for Barelona who thumped Sevilla 4 - 0 at the Nou Camp, just days after being ousted by the same club ib the King's Cup.
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