Premier League winners and losers: United keep up the pressure
By Ty Finch
The Premier League continued into it’s 10th week of play over the weekend. Here are this week’s winners and losers.
After week 10 of the Premier League, the table is beginning to really take shape. The top six are Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, which anyone with a mouth could have predicted at the beginning of the season. The rest of the table has thrown up a few more surprises, with none of the newly promoted sides in the bottom three. While some bigger sides toil away in the relegation zone and are have been forced to say goodbye to their managers, other smaller ones are beginning to get a foothold in the league.
Here are the winners and losers of the 10th week of Premier League action.
Winner: Jose Mourinho
The last time a Jose Mourinho side went up against a top six opponent, the match came and went without much fuss. The 0-0 draw away to Liverpool two weeks ago was as much fun as watching a tug-of-war game between toddlers; it didn’t go anywhere and nothing really happened. I even wrote two weeks ago that fans shouldn’t be lulled into the allure of a big game involving United, mainly because Mourinho will suck all the fun out of it.
That wasn’t the case against Tottenham. United came out of the gates swinging and rightfully took home all three points on Saturday. Mourinho’s switch of Marcus Rashford for Anthony Martial in the 70th minute proved to be the correct call as the French striker tucked home the game-winner in the 81st minute after a flick-on from Romelu Lukaku.
The match itself was a joy to watch. Both sides created good scoring chances throughout, but it was United who took control in the second half. Lukaku forced a superb save from Hugo Lloris and hit the post as well before his flick for Martial led to the only goal of the match.
Mourinho knew his side needed a win, and he set up his team to do that perfectly. Manchester City look unstoppable and have built a five-point lead over second-place United, so even this early in the season, a draw wouldn’t do. The Dec. 10 contest between the two Manchester clubs will be vital in terms of deciding the champions of the Premier League.