Cardiff 3 Manchester City 2
It was expected that Cardiff would have a defensive attitude against Manchester City, but they took that to the extreme during the first half with all their defensive lines being placed way back in the field. It was common to see their two defensive lines formed by four players being almost inside their own area! I don't know if City was ready for such defensive attitude from Cardiff, but the truth is that they struggled in creating scoring chances during the first half, even though they had over 70% of ball possession. I have to give credit to Cardiff who had committed a lot of defensive errors at West Ham on Round 1, but they improved a lot their defensive coordination on this game. During the second half, Edin Dzeko scored the 1-0 for the City on an individual play and common sense would tell that us that Cardiff would be forced to abandon their defensive mindset, something that would give City more space to attack, but the truth is Manchester City committed several defensive errors that allowed a great comeback from Cardiff. It was an awful performance from their right back Pablo Zabaleta, who was to blame on the three goals scored by Cardiff, as he was the player who was doing a man to man cover on Frazier Campbell that scored the second and third goals with two headers. Joe Hart also seems to be out of form and so, Vincent Kompany needs to comeback quickly, as Javi Garcia is merely a filler for center back. Despite having 70% ball possession, City's coach Manuel Pellegrini was outcoached on this contest.
Tottenham 1 Swansea 0
For the second consecutive week, Tottenham wins their game by 1-0 due to a penalty kick from Roberto Soldado, but they produced enough for a more comfortable win. I don't know if physical/mental fatigue was an issue for the Welsh team after their midweek game for Europa League, but the truth is that Tottenham's pace was always superior to Swansea's during the whole game. They created more chances by using the superior skills of Paulinho as expected, but Swansea's GK Michel Vorm made some awesome saves, while the referee also helped the Welsh team by not calling a clear penalty favoring Tottenham during the first week. The only negative aspect for Tottenham during the game was their lack of a true playmaker and this was why they wanted Willian, who ended up in Chelsea. With Gareth Bale's sale to Real Madrid, Tottenham will need some new blood on this area. Regarding Swansea, their energy level seemed lower than usual. They will play in Romania next Thursday, so they'll need to be able to find a way soon to play well twice a week and not just once.
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