The 12th round of the Premier League started in mid-November. Liverpool continued their good momentum and won 2: 0 against Wigan Athletic in the away game. Qin Xiong scored from a penalty kick and Skrtel scored with a header from a set piece attack.
Chelsea won 1: 0 against Fulham at home.
Arsenal won 2: 0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the away game.
And the most eye-catching game in this round was the Manchester derby!
Manchester City faced the Red Devils Manchester United at home.
After a fierce 90-minute battle, the two teams tied with a goalless score of 0: 0 and made up!
The Red Devils Manchester United paid the price of two injured players and failed to get three points in the end.
Liverpool topped the table with 32 points, followed by Chelsea with 28 points. Arsenal's 22 points and Manchester United's 21 points had opened up a double-digit gap with Liverpool at the top of the table!
The Premier League this week was fast-paced. The 13th round of the competition followed three days after the 12th round.
Under the pressure of the competition schedule, the traditional BIG4 powerhouses who had to take into account the European competition did not perform well.
Manchester United took the lead in forcing a thrilling draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Before the 80th minute of the game, Manchester United was two goals behind. If it were not for the two saves by the goalpost, the score would have been 3: 0 or 4: 0. It was not until after the 80th minute that Manchester United equalized the score with two goals scored by young players Macheda and Vidic in five minutes. They were lucky to take away one point in the away game.
Arsenal performed well at Goodison Park. After taking an early two-goal lead, Everton only pulled one goal back at the last minute. In the end, they managed to win 2: 1 in the away game.
When it was time for Liverpool to take the field, Liverpool suffered a shocking defeat in the away game.
In the match against the "City in the Sky" Stoke City, Qin Xiong was substituted off the field in the 11th minute of the match due to muscle discomfort after a physical collision with his opponent. The team doctor diagnosed that he did not have enough rest. Qin Xiong was the offensive center of the team. In such a fast-paced match, especially when the opponent was Stoke City, who had the advantage in physical confrontations, Qin Xiong's unexpected injury sent the Red Army fans into an endless panic.
Stoke City swallowed their pride and played a defensive counterattack at home. They played high up in the air and finally defeated the defending champions, Liverpool, by 2: 0 at home!
Raúl's performance in this game had also declined significantly. He had previously played in La Liga, and perhaps it was only in November that he truly experienced the terrifying pressure of the Premier League's intense competition schedule.
After the game, Fleet Street scrambled to pay attention to Qin Xiong's physical condition. Qin Xiong did not say a word and did not accept any interviews. He sat quietly on the bus and left.
He needed rest and recuperation. He did not need the interference of others.
It was thought that the Red Army's loss would give Chelsea a chance to shorten the score gap.
But they did not expect the Blues to be more surprising than the Red Army. Liverpool, in any case, suffered an upset in the away game.
Chelsea was directly defeated by the Black Cats, Sunderland, by 0: 3 at home!
If it were not for Čech's high defense, Chelsea would have lost even more miserably at home!
After 13 rounds of matches, the competition schedule had just passed 13. Liverpool still led the table with 32 points, Chelsea with 28 points, Arsenal with 25 points, and Manchester United with 22 points were one point closer to the top of the table.
Comain gave Qin Xiong two days off to recuperate at home. He would not be arranged to play in the games on the weekend. The master and apprentice discussed everything over the phone. Qin Xiong also understood that Comain was doing this for his own good.
Moreover, Liverpool had already played all of their opponents for the title before the 12th round. There were no tough matches in the recent competition schedule.
At this time, Torres announced his comeback, Aurelio continued to recuperate from his injury, and Carragher's recovery speed was not ideal due to his age. It was expected that he would not be able to return to the team until January next year.
The 14th round of the Premier League began.
The North London derby was the first to start.
Arsenal's 2: 3 defeat to their neighbors, Tottenham Hotspur, at the Emirates Stadium became big news that shook the United Kingdom.
Arsenal had a two-goal lead, but Tottenham Hotspur's Van Der Vaart and Bale teamed up to stage a three-goal turnaround!
Wenger was all smiles when he had a two-goal lead, but after the team's turnaround, he went mad and smashed a mineral water bottle in the technical area!
During stoppage time, Wenger was even more hysterical. He squatted on the sidelines. When he saw Arsenal's attack was blocked, he actually slapped the turf with both hands and looked like he was pounding his chest and stamping his feet, crying and shouting. Unfortunately, the Gunners did not live up to expectations and lost 2: 3!
After the game, the Frenchman was still a little unreconciled. "Looking at the data, it's hard to understand how we lost. Today, we were always in a position to win. This result is too hard to swallow."
When Wenger first came to the Premier League, he was called a "professor", which referred to his elegant demeanor. However, in this game, the Frenchman did not have the slightest bit of elegance. In fact, in the past two years, Arsenal's manager had long been used to flipping out on the sidelines like other managers.
Tottenham Hotspur's manager, Old Redknapp, once commented, "When Wenger first came to the Premier League, I remember reading an article that said his behavior on the sidelines was like a professor. All the other lunatics were jumping up and down, shouting and screaming, but Wenger was different from them. He just sat there and observed everything on the field, like he was playing chess. At that time, Arsenal did not lose much. "
"Now Wenger has become one of the lunatics, and one of the biggest lunatics! This is the pressure you face, and now it has affected Wenger. He no longer sits quietly. He's there arguing with everyone. "
In the past few years, with the accumulation of the pressure of zero championships, Wenger's temper had become worse and worse. He and the former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jol, and the former West Ham manager, Pardew, had fought on the sidelines and almost came to blows. The professor who used to "play chess" on the sidelines was gone and was replaced by the crazy man today. In fact, Old Redknapp's words summed up a lot of things. When Wenger was like a professor, Arsenal did not lose much. Now that the team's results were not ideal, the Frenchman naturally had more worries.
The North London derby seemed to make this round of the Premier League destined to not end peacefully.
It was no surprise that the Red Devils' Manchester United beat Wigan Athletic 2: 0 at home.
Liverpool, in the absence of Qin Xiong and Torres's return, easily beat West Ham United 2: 0 at Anfield with goals from Gerard and Dirk Kuyt was a normal result.
However, Chelsea was defeated 0: 1 by Birmingham City in the away game!
In the last four Premier League games, Chelsea's record of 1 win and 3 losses made the news spread throughout the United Kingdom in less than three hours after the game!
"Sky Bet's" odds on Ancelotti's dismissal were adjusted from the original 101 to 64 in just three hours. The change was astonishing!
Fleet Street quickly exposed that Chelsea had terminated the contract renewal negotiations with Ancelotti!
The current Chelsea was suddenly in chaos and turmoil. First, the assistant manager, Wilkins, was unexpectedly driven away. Then, after the defeat at Anfield, the team inexplicably lost to Sunderland 3: 0 at home. Now, they lost to Birmingham City and suffered a rare two-game losing streak in the league. The season was not even halfway over and Chelsea had already lost four games in the league. Such performance was a sign that they were getting further and further away from the title!
Looking at the league table, Liverpool had 35 points, Chelsea had 28 points, Arsenal and Manchester United both had 25 points.
Chelsea did not have to compete with Liverpool for the title. It seemed that there was a great danger that they could not even keep their second place!
It was no wonder that Chelsea's senior management began to have the idea of selecting another talent.
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