Swans spoil Henry’s second coming

As one of the division’s best passing teams and one with an excellent home record, Brendan Rogers’ Swansea are one of the few sides capable of taking on Arsenal in a battle of slick possession football. So it proved as the Gunners went down 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday – the hosts had 55% of the ball and looked far more coherent than their illustrious visitors from North London, who were badly missing the calming influence of Mikel Arteta in midfield. Not for the first time, Arsene Wenger’s side, who took an early lead through Robin van Persie, were architects of their own demise; the penalty from which Scott Sinclair equalised was questionable, but Nathan Dyer made it 2-1 when Aaron Ramsey and Andrei Arshavin contrived to surrender possession to the excellent Joe Allen, and Thierry Henry, making his second Premier League debut for Arsenal, repeated the trick to help create Danny Graham’s winner just seconds after Theo Walcott levelled the scores.  

A longer-term concern for Wenger is his lack of effective options in the attacking roles either side of van Persie. Walcott, his goal aside, was largely a non-entity and seems to have gone backwards this season, while Arshavin’s almost comical ineptitude was again on show. Gervinho, away at the Africa Cup of Nations may have been a wasteful finisher, but the Ivorian’s direct, incisive running will be sorely missed. With Henry unlikely to have the energy to take up a wide position at this stage of his career, Wenger may mind himself needing to feature teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain more than he would have liked.  

Wolves ride luck to frustrate Spurs

Their outstanding first half of the season has rightly led to Tottenham being elevated to the rank of title contenders, but Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wolves meant Harry Redknapp’s side missed a golden opportunity to cement that status and draw level on points with the two Manchester clubs. It was the type of game that was a common occurrence last season: a ‘home banker’ against a relegation-threatened opponent which saw a sloppily conceded goal and a failure to capitalise on massive advantages in both possession and chances. Luka Modric’s second-half equaliser was all the hosts could muster, with Aaron Lennon guilty of firing straight at prone Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey with the goal gaping. It’s too early to draw any conclusions from the result, what with Manchester United having recently fallen 3-2 to lowly Blackburn at Old Trafford, but this would be a very inopportune time for Spurs to revert to the profligacy in front of goal that plagued them last season.  

Wolves did have their share of good fortune – Steven Fletcher’s opening goal came from a corner that should have been given as a goal kick, while Emmanuel Adebayor’s close-range effort, which would have made it 1-1 in first-half stoppage time, was incorrectly ruled out for offside. Then again, manager Mick McCarthy has seen his side on the wrong end of several key decisions this season, so it’s hard to begrudge his charges a bit of luck on this occasion.  

Scholes scores in Old Trafford return

Despite a slightly frustrating first half which included a missed penalty by Wayne Rooney, there was never any chance of Manchester United reprising that Blackburn debacle as Bolton visited Old Trafford on Saturday. The woeful Trotters were fortunate when Zat Knight’s foul in the box on Danny Welbeck was deemed only a yellow card, even more so when the Rooney’s spot-kick was pushed wide by the excellent Alan Bogdan. It fell to Scholes, making his first league appearance for the Red Devils since shockingly coming out of retirement last Sunday, to break the deadlock just before the break with a typical poacher’s finish, and the second half saw Welbeck and Michael Carrick stretch the margin of victory to a comfortable 3-0.  

The game was noteworthy for the contrasting fortunes of United’s two wingers. On the right, Antonio Valencia was a constant menace, combining with right-back Rafael (who also impressed) to torment the hapless Sam Ricketts and Martin Petrov on the Bolton left. However, Nani was decidedly less effective on the left, and illustrated his confounding tendency to go from invincible to invisible from game to game. Since wreaking havoc at Fulham three weeks ago, the Portuguese international has turned in four anonymous displays, despite playing three of the league’s cellar-dwellers during that time. With trips to Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham along with a home date with Liverpool to come over the next two months, the champions need Nani to quickly rediscover his brilliant best if they want to remain within touching distance of neighbours Manchester City.