FA Cup review - 15/16 February 2014

The FA Cup fifth round matches took place over the weekend and Man City beat Chelsea by two goals to nil. 

This was a good win for Man City and keeps them on track to win four trophies. For Man City this win against Chelsea would have worried their domestic rivals about the ease in which they beat Chelsea. 

For Chelsea this would have been very disappointing. The fact they were unable to score any goals was very strange. 

However it means that they now focus on the titles they are chasing so it could end up being a blessing in the sky. 

On Sunday Arsenal beat Liverpool by two goals to one. This result comes after Liverpool beat Arsenal by five goals to one in the premiership last week. 

Arsenal played well and it was a surprise line up which included  Lukas Fabianski, Yaya Sanogo and the returning Mathieu Flamini. 

For large parts of the game Arsenal where in complete control but Liverpool played well and where robbed of a penalty which might have least given them a draw. 

Arsene Wenger's  gamble paid off as he rested at least four first team players. Which gave an opportunity for players like Yaya Sanago to come on and help to secure the win. 

For Liverpool this would have been a tough loss so soon after beating Arsenal so comprehensively last weekend. It also

means that they can focus on winning the premiership or at the very least a top four finish. 

Premiership review - 12 February 2014

In Wednesday's  premiership games Arsenal drew nil nil with Manchester United. It was a quite drab grame with both teams not really having killer instincts. 

For Manchester United I'm sure they where relieved that they did not concede or lose the match as they looked like a team who lacked in confidence. 

For Arsenal they would be disappointed but relieved they did not lose the match. Arsenal are seriously lacking a player with the kind of pace that Theo Walcott has. 

 This even more apparent when it is notable that Olivier Giroud does not have this kind of pace. 

So Arsenal are at the stage of season where the games will come thick and fast. They need to be able to respond or else it will be another trophy less season. 

Elsewhere Tottenham beat Newcastle United by four goals to nil and this again has helped them to shore up their fifth place. 

 

Liverpool beat Fulham by three goals to two in a nailbiliting but pulsating match. The third goal was scored by their skipper Steven Gerard. Steven is probably key to how successful Liverpool will be this season. 

Premiership review -11th February 2014

In yesterday's premiership games Chelsea drew one all to West Bromwich Albion.

This was definitely a surprise result as Chelsea had the opportunity to go four points clear.

For West Brom this was another good draw against a top team. The fact they scored in last minute must made getting draw the even sweeter. 

For Chelsea this draw would have been bitterly disappointing as it gives there three rivals to catch up or overtake them. 

So Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool have a real chance to capitalize on Chelsea's draw. 

Fed Cup Great Britain v Austria 9th February 2014

In the ninth place play off Tara Moore beat Tamira Paszek in straight sets. This was a good win for Tara as it was a first her first ever Fed Cup game and she beat a former top thirty player. 

Then Heather Watson beat Yvonne Meusberger in straight sets and this win rounded off a good week for Heather. As she was able to record this as a fourth straight singles win. 

So the GB's campaign ended on a positive note but there is a lot of work to be done before GB can return to the elite World Group.

Fed Cup Great Britain v Latvia 5th February 2014

The first day of the Fed Cup and Heather Watson beat Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets. 

This was a good but expected win for Heather as she has a higher ranking than Jelena. 

Johanna Konta beat Diana Marcinkevica in three sets. It was an enthralling match and at one point Johanna was several match points down but managed to come back and win. 

In the doubles match Diana Marcinkevica  and Jelena Ostapenko then beat Heather Watson and Jocelyn Rae in a close three set match. 

I had not heard of Jocelyn Rae before this Fed Cup so it looked like a strange pairing to me. But I was pleased that both Heather and Johanna got wins. This meant that GB won the tie 2 1.  

Fed Cup Great Britain v Romania 7th February 2014

Second round Robin match and Heather Watson beat Sorana Ciresta in three sets. This was a very good win for Heather as Sorana is a top thirty player. 

Simona Halep then beat Johanna Konta in straight sets. This would have been a very tough match for Johanna as Simona is a top ten player. 

Then in the doubles match Irina-Camela Begu and Monica Niculescu beat Jocelyn Rae and Heather Watson in straight sets. 

This was always going to be a tough tie to win. But it was good that Heather got that win against a top player like Sorana. 

Premiership review - 9th February 2014

In today's premiership games Tottenham beat Everton by one goal to nil. This was was a good win for Tottenham as they come closer to securing that European place. 

Manchester United drew two all with Fulham and this was a surprise result. Man United where playing at home so I thought that they where going to win comfortably. 

But Fulham got an early goal and held on to this lead for almost an one hour. That's when Man United came back into the game and they thought they had won the match and then Fulham got the ninety minute equaliser.

This was a bad draw for Manchester United with their title aspirations all but gone they are now fighting for a European place. 

This fight is probably proving more difficult than they imagined and to be fair they have not been in this position before. 

However United are a formidable team and I am sure they will get one of those European  spots.