Manchester and Chelsea fans unite in woe

SAY MY NAME — Willian and Diego Costa celebrate the take back. Willian was Chelsea’s Player of the year last season, with some excellent performances and many converted free kicks. Diego is certainly aiming to be that, this year. (Photo: Wikimedia)

Chelsea and Manchester United woe as both their teams suffered huge defeats while Arsenal fans rejoiced. Chelsea, in an attempt to leave last season’s terrible form behind them, started this season strong by securing three straight wins. Their last two games, however, have not followed the same trend. The game against Swansea City FC was a draw as Diego Costa brought the team back from a deficit to secure it and grab a point against the resilient Swansea side.

In these last two games, it seems Costa may be the brightest beacon of hope for the Blues, as he is in great goal-scoring form. He has netted five goals in five games so far and is joint top-goal scorer beside Michail Antonio, from West Ham FC. Costa also scored one of the goals of the week by performing a superb overhead kick against the same Swansea side. In the loss this Friday, however, Costa did score a goal, but it was not enough to get past Liverpool FC. Jurgen Klopp’s men came out ready and outplayed Chelsea FC with stellar defense. The game ended 2-1 in Liverpool’s favor, with a great finish from Dejan Lovren and a long range screamer from Captain Jordan Henderson. The skipper was exemplary as he scored the winning goal and also grabbed a man-of-the-match award. He showed signs of the previous captain, and Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard.

Going into a new season saw the addition of David Luiz who returned to Chelsea from PSG in France, and although he played well defensively, he did not have the dream debut, as his side fell. Head coach Antonio Conte seemed disappointed at the press conference but is ready to rally his side against Arsenal FC in the upcoming London derby.

Arsenal FC supporters feel the opposite way. Coming into the season, there was the need for a new striker and a new defender at the club. With the additions of Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez, they have bolstered their defensive and attacking options, which is what the fans wanted. This weekend Arsenal secured a win and are now above both Chelsea and Manchester United on the Premier League table. Arsenal as expected, is in fourth place, while Chelsea and United are fifth and seventh respectively. Arsenal got a 4-1 win over Hull City, with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Granit Xhaka. Xhaka capped off the match by scoring a well-struck long range goal. That marks his first goal in the Premier League, and the fans were happy to see that coming into place.

Arsene Wenger, the head coach of the gunners, has been under fire going into this season because of a lack of trophies. The club has gone over ten years without winning a Premier League title and the gunner fans have produced classically chanted songs, such as “We want Wenger out” and “Arsenal, are you mad?” The Gaffer would be happy that the fans are chanting praises now, due to better performances in recent games.

Manchester United came into this season with high expectations with the addition of big names such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jose Mourinho. They also started well with a 3-0 record but have fallen since with two straight losses in the Premier League and a disappointing one in the Champions’ League group stage. Paul Pogba has also not lived up to his transfer fee as he is still yet to get on the score sheet, and he has been deemed “invisible” in many games. This week, the Red Devils fell to Troy Deeney and Watford FC getting only a goal from Marcus Rashford, the 16-year-old Manchester United golden boy.

Regardless of Rashford’s great performance, the win was not secured and to rub it in the face of the United fans, the Watford players celebrated their goals by dabbing at the fans, a goal celebration very much associated with Manchester United players Jesse “Dabber Man” Lingard and Paul Pogba. After the match, Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho said, “I am always concerned when we don’t get the results we want.” He goes on to say, “Lady Luck will arrive at the moment she decides to arrive.” Mourinho is known to be one of the best managers and he looks forward to the next match against current Premier League champions Leicester City FC.

Manchester City are yet to tarnish their unbeaten record, having played five games and secured all wins. They are in excellent form even with the absence of star striker Sergio Aguero. They play Swansea City in their next fixture.