| |
The Championship - Week 7 review / Week 8 preview
Thursday 17 September 2009
Week 7 - Having led the table following the weekend’s matches, Newcastle were brought crashing down to earth by Ian Holloway’s Blackpool. An unbeaten start to the season and the concession of just one goal in six league games was not enough for the Magpies, as the Tangerines laid siege to Steve Harper’s goal throughout. It was the visitors who made the breakthrough first, Andy Carroll arriving at the back stick to head home a Joey Barton cross. Newcastle’s lead lasted barely five minutes, Brett Ormerod pouncing on the rebound from a Charlie Adam effort to level the scores with seconds left to play in the first-half. Veteran striker Jason Euell struck midway through the second period to seal the points for Blackpool who have lost just once all season, and not at all at Bloomfield Road.
Newcastle’s defeat left them below West Brom and Middlesbrough, both of whom played a day earlier on Tuesday night. It was a similar story in both games, with each team recovering from conceding an early goal to win by a 3-1 scoreline. The Baggies played host to Doncaster and Waide Fairhurst struck only Rovers’ second away goal of the season in the seventh minute. Jonas Olsson struck twice to put West Brom ahead before Chris Wood put the seal on West Brom’s third straight home win. Middlesbrough’s goals came from Jeremie Aliadiere and Adam Johnson as well as a Darren Purse own goal as they rallied to beat Sheffield Wednesday. Luke Varney struck for the Owls as early as the second minute but it was not enough to prevent a first home reverse of the season.
Having claimed just one point from their first six games, Barnsley picked up their first win of the season in new manager Mark Robins’ second game in charge. When Rob Hulse headed Derby in to the lead, it looked like being the same old story for the Tykes. Adam Hamill’s long range beauty, Andy Gray and Anderson De Silva turned the tide for Robins’ new charges and Shaun Barker’s stoppage time consolation for the Rams failed to prevent Derby being condemned to a third straight defeat. Barnsley’s place at the foot of the table was taken by Plymouth who fell to Tom Cleverley’s fourth minute strike for visitors Watford.
Three of last season’s play-off qualifiers suffered defeats with Reading losing at home to Cardiff, Sheffield United going down by the odd goal in five at Coventry and Preston crashing at Scunthorpe. It was Scunny’s second straight win after a miserable start that had brought four defeats in five matches. Gary Hooper struck twice having set up Grant McCann for the opener with Jon Parkin netting Preston’s sole reply. There were draws in the games between Ipswich and Nottingham Forest, and Leicester and Peterborough, leaving both the Tractor Boys and Posh searching for their first wins of the campaign. The match between Swansea and Bristol remained goalless, while the match between London rivals QPR and Crystal Palace was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and will be played at a later date.
Full Results
Tuesday September 15, 2009
Coventry 3-2 Sheffield United
Derby 2-3 Barnsley
Ipswich 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Leicester 1-1 Peterborough
Plymouth 0-1 Watford
QPR P–P Crystal Palace
Scunthorpe 3-1 Preston
Sheffield Wednesday 1-3 Middlesbrough
Swansea 0-0 Bristol City
West Brom 3-1 Doncaster
Wednesday September 16, 2009
Blackpool 2–1 Newcastle
Reading 0–1 Cardiff
Week 8 - The Steel City derby is the pick of the weekend’s ties as United host Wednesday in the battle of Sheffield’s finest. Wednesday did the double over United for the first time in 95 years last season, and the scorer of the winning goal in the Bramall Lane fixture last time, Marcus Tudgay, has been in fine form so far this season. The Blades could be without key defender Matt Kilgallon who is suffering from a chest infection. Kilgallon was dismissed at Hillsborough a year ago and is likely to miss out on the chance to make amends. Both sides lost on their last outings in midweek - United’s defeat their first of the season – but both sit in the top half of the table, separated by just three points.
Saturday sees a top of the table clash at the Riverside between Middlesbrough and West Brom. Boro are unbeaten at home and the Baggies are yet to lose on the road so a tight game is on the cards. Adam Johnson has been in fine form for Gareth Southgate’s team, his five goals showing that there is life after Stewart Downing. Jeremie Aliadiere has been among the goals too, hitting three in the last two matches. Sean St Ledger should make his home debut having played against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek. St Ledger signed for Boro from Preston on an initial three-month loan and the move is expected to be made permanent in January. West Brom have scored six goals in their last two games, but all but a single Chris Wood strike were scored by defenders. Roberto Di Matteo will welcome goals from all over the park but will hope for more of a contribution from his frontmen.
Two teams in form meet at Vicarage Road with Leicester the visitors to Watford. Both teams have 12 points and sit just outside the top six. For the Hornets, Tom Cleverley has looked top quality since arriving on-loan from Manchester United. The versatile midfielder scored at Old Trafford in pre-season against Valencia and has continued his goalscoring form with three goals so far, including the midweek winner at Plymouth. The twenty-year-old was on-loan at opponents Leicester last season as the Foxes claimed promotion as League One champions but will not be doing his old side any favours on Saturday. Watford have enjoyed an impressive start to the season under Malky Mackay having recovered from the blow of losing boss Brendan Rodgers to Reading, and both Cleverley and his manager will hope to continue the success with another three points.
Newcastle will look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season when they face Plymouth at St James Park. With the Pilgrims rock bottom of the league and in abysmal form in Paul Sturrock’s second spell in charge at Home Park, the Magpies could not have asked for a better fixture to get back on track. Newcastle were thoroughly outplayed by Blackpool but will be able to welcome back Alan Smith after he missed the game suspended. Andy Carroll replaced Nile Ranger up front at Bloomfield Road but Chris Hughton might decide to start with both players, reverting to two up front.
Week 8 Fixtures
Friday, 18 September 2009
Sheffield United v Sheffield Wednesday, 19:45
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Barnsley vs. Swansea, 15:00
Bristol City vs. Scunthorpe, 15:00
Cardiff vs. QPR, 15:00
Crystal Palace vs. Derby, 15:00
Doncaster vs. Ipswich, 15:00
Middlesbrough vs. West Brom, 15:00
Newcastle vs. Plymouth, 15:00
Nottingham Forest vs. Blackpool, 15:00
Peterborough vs. Reading, 15:00
Preston vs. Coventry, 15:00
Watford vs. Leicester, 15:00
The Championship 2009/10 Week 1 review / Week 2 preview - August 12
Week 2 review / Week 3 preview - August 18
Week 3 review / Week 4 preview - August 20
Week 4 review / Week 5 preview - August 26
Week 5 review / Week 6 preview - September 2
Week 6 review / Week 7 preview - September 14
Week 7 review / Week 8 preview - September 17
Related Articles
| |
