I know that this is short notice, but I have decided to take my blog in a new direction. I will no longer be covering American football, and there will be no further attempts at baseball either. Instead, I have grown into being a big fan of soccer/association football/futbol (it all depends on what you want to call it). With this change, I will continue coverage for the USA's Major League Soccer, and also add the Barclays Premier League. These will be paired with hockey in both the NHL and KHL as I have done for the past two seasons. I hope to attract a more global audience with this change, and I apologize to those who read my NFL coverage, but it is simply too intense to keep up with while I am attending college. With that, the 2014-2015 Premier League season begins with...
Manchester United hosting Swansea City. Lukasz Fabianski and David de Gea are in goal. Swansea City's Nathan Dyer was first in the book with a yellow card for a foul in the twenty-sixth minute. Swansea City took the lead with a Ki Sung-Yueng goal in the twenty-eighth minute, made possible by Gylfi Sigurdsson. In the forty-eighth minute, Swansea City took another yellow card for a foul by Neil Taylor. Manchester United tied it on a fifty-third minute goal by Wayne Rooney from in close. In the fifty-fourth minute, Jonjo Shelvey was given a yellow card for Swansea City. Swansea City took the lead back on a seventy-second minute goal by Sigurdsson, with the help of Wayne Routledge. Swansea City's Sung-Yueng took a yellow card for a foul in the eighty-second minute, but this was matched by Manchester United a minute later for Tyler Blackett's yellow card earning foul, and again by Ashley Young's foul and yellow card in the eighty-sixth minute. Swansea City came away with an impressive 2-1 victory to open the season.
Moving along to Leicester City welcoming Everton. Tim Howard and Kasper Schmeichel are the goalies. In the twentieth minute, Aiden McGeady was able to corral the ball after a corner kick and put it in the upper right corner for an early Everton lead. In the twenty-second minute, Leonardo Ulloa answered with his own goal following a corner kick to tie the game for Leicester City. Everton retook the lead as Steven Naismith ricocheted the ball off the crossbar and into the top left corner in the forty-fifth minute, with an assist by Steven Pienaar. In the sixty-eighth minute, Everton's Gareth Barry was shown a yellow card for a foul, but this was matched by Leicester City's Liam Moore getting a yellow card for a handball. In the eighty-sixth minute, Leicester City got the equalizer with a Chris Wood goal. This held up for a 2-2 draw.
Next up, the Queens Park Rangers bring in Hull City. Allan McGregor and Robert Green are guarding the nets. In the twenty-seventh minute, Curtis Davies of Hull City was shown a yellow card for a foul. Hull City took the lead in the fifty-second minute, as James Chester headed the ball in off a cross from the assisting Stephen Quinn. The sides exchanged yellow cards later, with QPR's Richard Dunne getting one for his sixty-ninth minute foul, followed by Hull City's foul in the seventy-ninth minute, committed by Nikica Jelavic. The Chester goal held up to give Hull City the 1-0 win.
On to Stoke City hosting Aston Villa. Brad Guzan and Asmir Begovic are the keepers. Aston Villa had a yellow card shown to Ashley Westwood in the fourteenth minute for a foul. Aston Villa took the lead with a fiftieth minute goal by Andres Weimann. Aston Villa was booked for two more yellow cards, going to Alan Hutton in the eightieth minute and Gabriel Agbonlahor in the eighty-sixth minute. They still hung on for a 1-0 win, beginning their season on the right foot.
Following that, West Bromwich Albion welcomes Sunderland. Vito Mannone and Ben Foster are in the six-yard boxes. In the fifth minute, Lee Cattermole put Sunderland up with a goal after a set piece. West Brom had three yellow cards in a row, going to Craig Dawson in the tenth minute, Graham Dorrans in the thirtieth minute, and Jonas Olsson in the thirty-second minute. The first two were for fouls, while the third went undefined. In the forty-second minute, Valentin Roberge of Sunderland was shown a yellow card for a foul, allowing West Brom to tie the game on the ensuing penalty kick by Saido Berahino to the bottom left corner of the net. Berahino struck again in the seventy-fourth minute, converting a cross from Craig Gardner from in close. Sunderland salvaged a point as Sebastian Larsson scored in the eighty-fifth minute with an assist by Patrick van Aanholt. This made it a 2-2 draw in the end.
We continue to where West Ham United brings in Tottenham Hotspur. Hugo Lloris and Adrian are playing in goal. Tottenham Hotspur went down to ten men in the twenty-ninth minute as Kyle Naughton was given a red card. West Ham's James Collins got a yellow card for a fifty-fourth minute foal, but he was later ejected in the sixty-third minute for a second yellow card on another bad foul. West Ham had another yellow card issued to Cheikhou Kouyate in stoppage time for a foul, and about forty-seconds later, Eric Dier gave Tottenham Hotspur the win with a late goal, assisted by Harry Kane on the through ball. Tottenham Hotspur took the game 1-0.
The last game for Saturday's opening festivities was Arsenal hosting Crystal Palace. Julian Speroni and Wojciech Szczesny protect the nets. Brede Hangeland put Crystal Palace up first with a thirty-fifth minute header goal, assisted by Jason Puncheon with the cross. In the forty-fourth minute, Calum Chambers of Arsenal was given a yellow card for his foul. Just into stoppage time for the first half, Arsenal tied it up on a Laurent Koscielny header goal via Alexis Sanchez off the set piece. Crystal Palace's Puncheon was given a yellow card in the forty-eighth minute. In the sixtieth minute, Arsenal's Santiago Cazorla was given a yellow card for his foul. Crystal Palace was booked three more times in the game, with a sixty-eighth minute yellow card to Marouane Chamakh for a foul, a Martin Kelly yellow card for a foul in the seventy-seventh minute, and then Puncheon's second yellow card got him ejected in the eighty-ninth minute for his foul. With the manpower advantage, Arsenal cashed in as Aaron Ramsey scored from close range thirty-five seconds into stoppage time, coming off a corner kick. The final stood favoring Arsenal 2-1.
Sunday had two games, the first from Liverpool, who welcomed in Southampton. Fraser Forster and Simon Mignolet guard the nets. Liverpool started in the twenty-third minute with a Raheem Sterling goal, made possible by Jordan Henderson with the through ball. Liverpool's Javier Manquillo took a yellow card for his foul in the thirty-fourth minute. Nathaniel Clyne put Southampton level with a goal in the fifty-sixth minute, guided in by Dusan Tadic. In the sixty-fifth minute, Morgan Schneiderlin of Southamption was shown a yellow card for his foul, followed by another yellow to Steven Davis in the seventy-eighth minute. Liverpool was able to build from here and score in the seventy-ninth minute as Daniel Sturridge buried a header pass from Sterling. Liverpool held on for the 2-1 win.
The other Sunday game saw Newcastle United bring in Manchester City. Joe Hart and Tim Krul are the goalies with short names. In the thirty-fourth minute, David Silva was booked for Manchester City on a yellow card foul. Silva made up for his error by putting Manchester City ahead in the thirty-eighth minute with a goal off a pass from Edin Dzeko. The next bit of action was three consecutive yellow cards issued to Manchester City players, beginning in the fifty-fourth minute with Martin Demichelis, followed by Aleksandar Kolarov's foul in the fifty-seventh minute, and Vincent Kompany's foul in the seventy-fifth minute. Daryl Jaanmat picked up a yellow card for Newcastle United in the seventy-seventh minute, also for a foul. Manchester City had the last yellow card in the eighty-seventh minute on a Fernando foul. About a minute and a half into stoppage time, Manchester City iced it at 2-0 with a Sergio Aguero goal, coming from an odd angle but finding the net.
Finally, on Monday, Burnley hosts Chelsea to wrap up the first week. Thibaut Courtois and Tom Heaton are the keepers. In the fourteenth minute, Burnley struck first with a goal by Scott Arfield, assisted by Matthew Taylor. Chelsea tied it in the seventeenth minute on a Diego Costa goal. In the twenty-first minute, Chelsea took the lead on a beautiful goal by Andre Schurrle, kicking on the half-volley after a well-placed pass by Francesc Fabregas. In the thirty-first minute, Costa was booked for a foul while trying to outrun Heaton for the ball. Chelsea added on with a thirty-fourth minute goal by Branislav Ivanovic, off of a corner kick by Fabregas. Burnley's Marvin Sordell got a yellow card for a foul in the eighty-seventh minute. Chelsea shut it down in the end for a 3-1 victory to ascend to the top of the table at the end of the first week.
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