Anthony Martial’s artistry helps Wayne Rooney end top-flight goal drought, Daniel Sturridge’s old instincts kick in and wretched luck for Callum Wilson
1) Martial artistry spurring Manchester United
Striker
Anthony Martial
- Appearances
- 3
- Goals
- 3
- Shots
- 5
- Shots on target
- 60%
- Offsides
- 1
The delight in watching Anthony Martial is that he continues to force himself into the consciousness. At the moment all notices about the headline-making forward have to come with the caveat that he is only 19 and these are early days in his nascent Manchester United career. Martial’s display in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford, however, again pointed to how good he could be. This time there was no fifth goal in five appearances. Instead, every ball into him stuck. His pace stretched the opposition as a No9 in Louis van Gaal’s compact football “philosophy” has to. There was also a creative brilliance that ensured Wayne Rooney ended his Premier League goal drought on 999 minutes. Taking charge inside Sunderland’s area, Martial made mugs of two defenders before firing the ball straight to his captain, who finished. Afterwards Rooney said: “He’s been incredible. He’s a young lad, we have to remember that. He’s a 19-year-old lad who doesn’t speak English. Moving over to France from England with a young family, so we have to understand that, but the start he’s had has been incredible. He’ll be a big player for us throughout the season and in the future but we need to let him enjoy his football and I’m sure he’ll bring magic moments for us.” He already is – and there will be some surprise if he does not continue to do so. Jamie Jackson
2) Sturridge shows Liverpool what they were missing
Liverpool have a capacity to veer between extremes. In 2013-14, Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge scored 52 league goals between them. Last season, their four specialist strikers mustered a mere eight, which, to put it another way, was fewer than Everton’s back four managed. Sturridge struck twice in eight minutesagainst Aston Villa on Saturday, which was all the more remarkable as it was only the second game of his comeback and, until his lovely volley, he had looked decidedly rusty. Yet the old instincts kicked in when James Milner lofted a pass over the Villa defence. Lovely combination play with Philippe Coutinho and Danny Ings followed when he scored a second and could have completed a hat-trick. Sturridge, with 37 goals in 57 games, now has the best goal-per-game ratio of any Liverpool striker in the Premier League: better than Suárez, Fernando Torres, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. Potent strikers have the capacity to camouflage a myriad of failings elsewhere in the team. Sturridge’s unavailability for much of last season, and the reality that he was not fully fit for some of the 12 league games when he did take the field, is a cause of their underachievement in the past 13 months. Despite Liverpool’s decidedly mixed record in the transfer market, the pressure on the manager, Brendan Rodgers, may be rather less today if he had been able to call upon a fully fit Sturridge ever since Suárez was sold.Richard Jolly
3) Chelsea show signs of revival despite poor first-half showing
It’s always possible to read too much into anything that José Mourinho says but it was interesting that the Chelsea manager chose this game, a draw yanked from the jaws of defeat, to lay into his players, with previous adverse results this season supposedly the result of anything from refereeing decisions to cruel fate. Particularly since the belated revival at St James’ Park could be a further sign that their latent spirit is returning, perhaps even more so than a win over Arsenal because, well, Chelsea always beat Arsenal. Mourinho not defeating Arsène Wenger in a competitive game would be less a symbol of struggles at Chelsea and more a sign that the seas were about to boil, rise and claim us all. Sure, it took Chelsea about 75 minutes to wake up and there are troubling holes in their defence, easily unpicked by a Newcastle side who had previously scored three league goals all season and who lost to Sheffield Wednesday’s reserves in the week, but wake up they did. Ramires, a curious player who seems as likely to trip over his own shoelaces as score a screamer, did the latter and along with his countryman Willian provided some spark and purpose to Chelsea, as well as their two goals. Perhaps more encouraging were signs that Eden Hazard is showing some form, the Belgian buzzing around and doing his very best to create something – anything – to awaken his slumbering team. If the game had gone on for a further five minutes, Chelsea would probably have found another goal and all three points and the old cliche is that this sort of comeback is often regarded as the sign of champions. On the day that Manchester City suffered their second successive league defeat, crumbling alarmingly at Tottenham, there is enough to suggest that the obituaries for Chelsea’s season are premature. Nick Miller
4) Skill on show at King Power Stadium lifted the soul
It is, of course, up to advocates of “The Beautiful Game” to make their point with the result but sometimes you just need your soul lifting and Saturday’s matchbetween Leicester City and Arsenal did that. There will be sneering about tactical naivety, no doubt, but surely it can only be good to think there will have been be youngsters at the King Power Stadium inspired by the artistry and attitude on display, the skill and speed of thought, as well as of movement and, marvellously, the lack of cynicism. Oh, and one other thing: perhaps even his detractors, and there are many, will soon have to acknowledge Jamie Vardy – who not so long ago was playing non-league football and is clearly still learning, and improving with every game – is actually a better player than they are currently prepared to admit.Richard Rae
5) Lamela fires Pochettino’s feelgood factor
Mauricio Pochettino was in high spirits after Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 win over Manchester City and said he was ready to enjoy an evening at the rugby, having got tickets to England v Wales at Twickenham. Who would he support? “It’s difficult because my son has a Welsh girlfriend,” the Tottenham manager said with a smile. “But England, England, England.” There was also an acknowledgment from Pochettino about what is becoming his lucky suit. His parents, who watch Tottenham’s matches on TV in Argentina, have complained about him looking scruffy in a tracksuit and so Pochettino wore the suit for the Europa League win over Qarabag. He reverted to the tracksuit for the Capital One Cup defeat by Arsenal but he was back in the suit against City. His mother thinks he looksdelgado or slim in it. Surely, it has to stay? Life felt good for Pochettino and it was because of his players’ performance against City. There was a goal, at last, for Harry Kane and more encouragement from Eric Dier in defensive midfield but arguably the biggest boon was Érik Lamela’s man-of-the-match display. Lamela, the £30m record signing from Roma, has been eternally frustrating. The raw talent is there but, so often, his decision-making has been poor. There had been flashes in his previous three appearances – the vital assist at Sunderland; the well-taken goal against Qarabag and the role in the winning goal against Crystal Palace. Against City, it came together for him in a performance marked by nice touches, driving runs and even a handful of tackles. He set up the second goal; won the free-kick for the third; scored the fourth and departed to a standing ovation. Whisper it: is Lamela finding his groove? David Hytner
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