Martin Lipton's Premier League review: The Monday Morning Manager
The Daily Mirror's Chief Football writer Martin Lipton will be here every Monday morning to the weekend's Premier League fixtures. And come back ever Friday when Laptop will provide his expert analysis on the weekend ahead and unveil his predictions..
Well, who saw all that coming?
Certainly not me, after a spectacular, 100 per cent set of results prediction. 100 per cent wrong, that was, to go along with my confident belief that David Miliband would be elected by the Labour Party and that Lewis Hamilton couldn't possibly crash again.
But when the dust settled down after a truly remarkable Premier League weekend - or, seemingly, we should all be saying "Barclays Premier League" weekend - perhaps the most relieved man was the one who, at 2.45 on Saturday afternoon, thought he was going to have 24 hours to forget.
Carlo Ancelotti had never bought into the idea of Chelsea going through the season unbeaten yet the way his side's 100 per cent start to the league campaign was ended at Eastlands will have been chastening to the Blues boss.
Admittedly, at half-time, if there was going to be a winner you'd have suggested it would be Chelsea.
They had not threatened too much, aside from Branislav Ivanovic's header against the post, yet with Manchester City leaving Carlos Tevez isolated up front there was a sense of controlled purpose about the easy possession which suggested an expectation the breakthrough would eventually come.
Instead, once Roberto Mancini had ordered his midfield to play higher up the pitch, closing down Chelsea's passing options, the balance of the game shifted irrevocably in City's favour.
Chelsea, suddenly, were being forced backwards, while City, with Yaya Toure driving forward and Nigel De Jong and Gareth Barry snapping into the tackles, were on the front foot.
That the decisive goal came from precisely the type of counter-attacking move Ancelotti had warned his players of the need to prevent was another black mark.
Ramires, sluggish in the extreme and suggested as a latter-day Kleberson by the Manchester hack-pack who witnessed United's Brazilian import fail so badly, was caught in possession by James Milner and than Chelsea stood off as Tevez ran from half-way before drilling through Ashley Cole's legs and in off the post.
In the end, there could be no complaints, with City deserved winners and proving, once again, they can be a problem for all of the big boys.
What matters now for Mancini's side is that they show the same attitude and desire against more modest opponents, the failure to do which cost them a shot at fourth spot last term, but no wonder the mood around Eastlands was so upbeat.
Yet while Ancelotti feared Chelsea would suffer badly from their poor day at the office, what followed was quite remarkable - and will have given the Italian a huge boost.
If anybody truly tells you they expected West Brom to win at Arsenal, on an afternoon where Arsene Wenger's folly in not buying a top-class keeper this summer was brutally exposed, you can either call them a liar or subscribe to their tipping service.
The Gunners do occasionally lose away to lesser clubs, especially those who want to scrap and kick. But West Brom do not kick, they go out to pass the ball and play football, and that is normally a recipe for a thumping at The Emirates.
That it was not was fantastic news for football but a shocker for Wenger and his players, who, like the Chelsea squad, declined to talk after the game.
But the upsets kept on coming. Spurs, with their minds on the looming Champions League game with Twente, succumbed to West Ham, as Avram Grant, perhaps, started to get some credit for staying calm when the flak was flying.
Liverpool were grateful to referee Stuart Attwell for even getting a point at home to Sunderland, first for allowing the opening goal - come on man, it was blatantly obvious what had happened and if you didn't see it, why didn't your assistant? - and then giving Steven Gerrard the benefit of the non-existent doubt over that swinging elbow which should have reduced Roy Hodgson's side to 10 men.
And the final surprise came at the Reebok yesterday, as United paid the price, once again, for poor defending and Kevin Keegan of all people became the back page lead for his criticisms of Wayne Rooney's form and off-field arrangements.
Sir Alex Ferguson will not take lightly Keegan's attacks on his striker, even if the former England skipper was evidently speaking from personal experience of the potential effects of trying to play the public spotlight game.
But the United boss will surely be more worried about the goals his side are starting to conceded, seven in their last three league games, most of them poor in the extreme.
The fact is that United conceded as many at Bolton as Chelsea have so far in the whole season and Fergie will know, particularly in light of what happened to Arsenal, that this was a horribly missed opportunity.
So Chelsea remain in the ascendant despite their blip, while Everton find themselves bottom. The only plus note for David Moyes is that it surely cannot last, that his team have got far too much to stay in the drop zone. Except, of course, for my unerring track record when it comes to these things...
What do you think of Martin's weekend assessment? Let us know by leaving a comment below...
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