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Manchester United – Wayne Rooney & Robin Van Persie Save the Day Again
On one end it was Robin van Persie, this time not as a scorer, but as a goal-line savior. On the other end it was Wayne Rooney, in excellent form of late, enjoying a huge Fulham mistake to give him and Manchester United the only goal of the match, and a 10 point lead on top of the Premiership.
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Chelsea FC – Both Demba Ba & Fernando Torres Were Useless
Another match, another loss, and another press conference in which Rafa Benitez has to make up some excuses for his team, while Frank Lampard can’t stop scoring, Juan Mata keeps playing like the best on the pitch while his striker, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres, hardly make any sort of impact.
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Arsenal FC – Lukas Podolski Needs a Little Bit of Luck
Lucky win? Arsenal did deserve to come out as the winners for once, but not with the usual style their known for, that hasn’t been bringing them lots of points this season. Lukas Podolski scored the winning goal, needing a lucky touch to actually see it go in, but winning ugly is something Arsenal might need to start doing more often.
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Real Madrid – Cristiano Ronaldo Setting a New Kind of Record
Losing matches on the road isn’t something new for Real Madrid this season, dropping three points away from home for the fifth time this season. The real change comes from Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring the first own goal of his career in the only real incident in a terrible match for the La Liga champions.
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Biggest January Transfers – Mateo Kovačić, Mario Balotelli & Willian
The FIFA financial fair play is a meaningless attempt at stopping spending in global football. That isn’t stopping teams with and without ample streams of revenue to spend big, even outside the Premier League or the profitable Bundesliga. The three biggest moves in January were a bit surprising – Mario Balotelli to AC Milan, Willian to Anzhi Makhachkala and youngster Mateo Kovačić to Inter.
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English Premier League 2013 January Transfer Window Signings
Not the busiest of transfer windows, but still with a few notable moves, as every January brings us – Liverpool purchasing Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea and Philippe Coutinho from Inter; Newcastle raiding the French league, Chelsea buying Demba Ba; Arsenal landing Nacho Montreal from Malaga and QPR, also very busy, signing Christopher Samba.
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Chicago Bulls – Derrick Rose Getting Better, So Does Team
Some things happen to be a coincidence, but the effect of belief and morale improvement on athletes despite no change in the personnel means one thing: The news of Derrick Rose getting closer to his return, taking full contact in Chicago Bulls practices, has actually made his teammates better.
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Manchester United – Wayne Rooney Stars in Comeback for Once
This is Manchester United this season, and most of the time as well: A team that doesn’t need a great match or even to get more chances at home to mount yet another comeback victory and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League. The hero this time wasn’t Robin van Persie, but Wayne Rooney with a quick first half double.
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Chelsea FC – Juan Mata Isn’t Enough With Terrible Defense
An easy match and suddenly, another disappointing result. Juan Mata continues to be the only stable thing in the Chelsea strutcture, as their defense, without the leadership of John Terry, continues to give away goals and points while Rafa Benitez is off to a worse start for the Blues than Roberto Di Matteo had through his first 12 matches.
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Liverpool FC – Luis Suarez & Steven Gerrard Deserve Better Tactics
When you’re facing a team that utterly panics each time Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturrdige come at their defenders, it’s a wise choice to keep attacking with a few players, even if you’re naturally trying to hold on to a lead in an away match. Brendan Rodgers wasn’t too far away from his biggest win as Liverpool manager, but his conservatism blew it once again.