City beat second-bottom Bolton at home 2-0 in what was a very comfortable match. Bolton came to the Etihad where they put up no fight against Mancini's continued success. Controversy surrounded the games as Mario Balotelli, who started and scored one of City's two goals, was spotted leaving a strip club in the wee hours of the morning yesterday. This is of course against team policy and Mario now looks set to be hit with a £250,000 fine. On the day, it was still an easy win against Bolton putting the pressure on Man U tomorrow as they have to head to White Hart Lane to take on Spurs. This is particularly vital for the Red Devils' title hopes as they need a win to stay within two points of the league leaders across town.
Spur's manager, Harry Redknapp, continues to be linked with the open managerial position at England; a position that 'arry has previously referred to being "the pinnacle" of his coaching aspirations. Stuart Pearce, the England U-21 maanger, stepped in as caretaker manager of the English squad until the FA appoint a someone permanently. His first of three friendlies prior to the 2012 Euros was this past week against the Netherlands. The game ended in a 3-2 loss but there were some positives to be taken from it. The side was relatively young and largely experimental particularly up front with Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, and Fraizer Campbell. When asked if Pearce himself wanted the job full-time he responded that he was very willing to take on the position for the coming two friendlies as well as into the Euros, if necessary, but he was not to continue beyond the tournament. Yesterday the FA also announced that they would not appoint a manager until the club season had ended in May.
Arsenal were gifted a late win at Anfield despite very open admissions that they were outplayed. Liverpool's problems remain ever-present as Kenny Dalglish sticks to his conviction that the playing style is more important than the result. The win moves Arsenal three points clear of Chelsea and alone to 4th place in the table. To pull off a spot in the Champions League after easily their worst start to the season in somewhere around 50 years would be a testament to two very evident points seen in today's win against an in-form Liverpool side. The first is that if van Persie leaves, as he looks set to if they cannot finish top 4, the attack will be lost. His amazing movement and intelligent runs have led to shattered records this season as he's on 25 goals in league and 31 goals total. The other big thing that was exceedingly highlighted through the game was that Wojciech Szczęny is truly a world-class keeper. Stopping Kuyt's penalty as well as the rebound was only one of many brilliant plays from Szczęny throughout the game. It's hard to believe there was such a debate in the goal last season for Arsenal.
The Chelsea players put on a lackluster performance and ended up losing 1-0 away to West Brom whose home form may be picking up yet. Villas-Boas remains about as calm as he can be given the position his team is in, the possible candidates that wouldn't mind taking the job, and let's not forget the owner's itchy trigger finger of a track record when it comes to managerial dismissals.
Newcastle host Sunderland tomorrow in the North East's Tyne-Wear derby. Both teams suffered minor setbacks last week from what were looking to be two of the best runs of the season. Newcastle remain "punching above their weight" fiscally speaking as they're solidly 6th in the table surrounded by the biggest clubs in England. Sunderland also continue to climb the table and gather points under their new manager Martin O'Neal.
Other news in the table (I'm getting lazy so this will be much briefer), Stoke continue a very solid season as they're playing far too many games stretched between the league, local tournaments, and Europe. Norwich and Swansea remain testaments to what Philippe Auclair referred to as "one of the untold stories of English football," the increase in quality of play in the lower divisions, as these promoted sides look set to stay up this season (and possibly more seasons to come). Aston Villa and Blackburn's 1-1 draw helped neither manager as they each remain under fire from the fans. Wolves' new manager Terry Connor, who last week had a great comeback for a draw for his first match in charge, heads to the north bank of the Thames to face Fulham at Craven Cottage. Fulham's Clint Dempsey boasted his finishing talent in the week scoring the only goal in the friendly as the United States beat Italy for the first time ever.
