Premier League’s Opening Weekend Winners And Losers
By Chris Jones
Loser: Petr Cech
While West Ham United impressed this past Sunday, it was partly because of Arsenal’s new goalkeeper Petr Cech, who definitely had a debut to forget.
After joining the Gunners after being on the bench for Chelsea last season, expectations were high for Cech after Arsenal had to deal with a long list of sub-par goalkeeper performances. Chelsea defender John Terry even believed that Cech’s addition could make a 12-15 point difference for Arsenal.
So far, his tenure at the Emirates Stadium is off to a poor start.
Cech’s mistakes culminated in the concession of both of West Ham’s goals on Sunday. The first came on a free kick, where Cech made a late and probably ill-advised decision to come out and attempt to punch the ball away, but it found the head of West Ham’s Cheickou Kouyate head before he could get there. The second came off of the foot of Mauro Zarate, who shot from outside the box and was given the benefit of Cech going the wrong way to start.
Both goals could have been prevented, but their concessions and the result of the game has placed a majority of the blame on the goalkeeper.
Arsenal, who currently sit at 19th on the table in this embryonic season, now face a tough trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace, who started the season with a 3-1 win at Norwich City.
If the Gunners can not come away with a result, the pressure will continue to mount. In order to get that result, they need an in-form Petr Cech.
Next: Winners