By Laurie Fitzgerald
The opening weeks of the Premier League season has seen plenty of talking points, from Arsenal’s struggles to plenty of high-scoring games.
But the biggest subject of debate has been the dominance of the two Manchester sides as they set the standard in these early weeks.
It says a lot when so much confidence is taken from a draw, but Fulham’s comeback from two goals down to earn a point against Manchester City needs to give belief to the rest of the league.
Those two points dropped at Craven Cottage were the first by either Manchester club as United marched on to their fifth straight league win with a 3-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford.
What has been so impressive, and so worrying for the rest, is the nature of the performances that have seen the duo make it five wins from five.
Both sides played out a brilliant Community Shield encounter at Wembley back in August, with Sir Alex Ferguson‘s team coming back from two goals down to win 3-2.
Since then it has been relentless, with a stunning array of attacking talent that has made them almost unplayable from day one.
United have began their title defence with wins over West Brom, Tottenham, Arsenal, Bolton before victory over the Blues on Sunday.
Meanwhile, City have also registered victories over Swansea, Bolton, Spurs and Wigan.
Not bad going; but it’s when you look at the results that makes you sit up and take notice.
United thumped Tottenham 3-0 and annihilated Arsenal 8-2, then followed it up with a 5-0 win at the Reebok.
City also gained eye-catching results with a 4-0 win over the Swans, a 3-0 win over Wigan and a stunning 5-1 triumph at White Hart Lane.
You don’t have to look too hard to see why United and City have been scoring goals for fun.
Wayne Rooney has been in sensational form having already bagged two hat-tricks this campaign, and has been ably supported by the brilliant Ashley Young, Javier Hernandez and Nani.
While City have had a front five of David Silva, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero – full of creativity, power and a prolific goalscoring platform (Aguero and Dzeko already have 14 goals between them.)
Many neutrals have been throughly enjoying the quality produced by the Manchester outfits.
However, it also leaves question marks on whether there is a gap between the two teams and the rest of the Premier League.
For years the Scottish Premier League has been a figure of mockery because of the dominance of the Old Firm, and La Liga is currently being dicatated by the overwhelming brilliance of Barcelona and Real Madrid, who seem to be racking up cricket scores on a weekly basis.
Now, with City’s billions and United the most profitable club in the land, Manchester has two sides that can go on and dominate in similar fashion.
So it’s up to the rest of English football to come up with answers mount a challenge. Otherwise the most unpredictable league in the world could end up becoming pretty straightforward.
So what do you think? Have the Manchester clubs opened up a gap between them and the rest? Or do the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool capable of making up the difference between now and the end of the season? Leave a comment and let us know your views.
