OSG Prem: Arsenal's Wenger Has Fan Storming In Front Of Him

((HT: ArsenalGunnersTV))

Expect Southampton to get a letter from the FA over this action from one of their fans in the 2-0 win over Arsenal this afternoon


SkySports has the details of the arrest/storming:

The suspect, from Lymington, Hampshire, was still being questioned on Thursday night by Hampshire Constabulary officers.

A Hampshire Police spokesman said: "Police have arrested a 25-year-old man from Lymington following an incident on the pitch at St Mary's at the end of the Southampton versus Arsenal match.

"The man was arrested on suspicion of going in to an area adjacent to the playing area contrary to the Football (Offences) Act 1991.

"The man remains in police custody. Officers are investigating the circumstances to establish whether any criminal offences have been committed."

Here's Wenger after the match discussing the fan
((HT: Daily Mail))

OSG Prem: How Do You Allow 8 GOALS IN A GAME???!!!

((HT: NBCSN/BPL))

Honestly, the short answer is: Ask Sunderland manager Gus Poyet...

Who, in all actuality, may not be Sunderland manager after this display of epic failness and futility- losing 8-0 on the road at Southampton. The Saints are now third in the table because of an outburst we haven't seen in a while...

Two own goals added to six offensive displays put Sunderland on the ropes for the full 90 minutes.
This effort by Sunderland keeper Vito Mannone seems to sum the whole day up...


Graziano Pelle continues his torrid pace early on with two more goals on the day. Cork, Tadic (who is turning into a fantasy beast after a 4-assist day), Wanyama, and Mane all scored for the winners.

Remember all those people who thought all the sales to Liverpool and all the off-season change would be a disaster...???

Not yet...

Pelle was understated and sounds pretty shocked...

OSG Prem: Sunderland's Vergini Scores Gorgeous Fail

((HT: BPL on NBCSN))

It has been a horrible day on the pitch for Sunderland- down 3-0 at the break against Southampton

This play seems to personify the whole day...

Defender Santiago Vergini scores a beautiful goal, but on his own keeper as he was trying to clear...


See...???

Gorgeous, but in the wrong direction...

OSG Prem: The Bottom Get Closer, The Middle Get Closer

((HT: BPL on NBC/BBC Sport))

Just when you thought things couldn't get any tighter...

Wins from the bottom by Fulham and Cardiff make the relegation battle even more interesting...

Let's review... and, let's face it, Norwich has zero offense, van Wolfswinkle has zero confidence in his game, and the Canaries are in deep doo-doo especially after their last reasonable chance at a three points losing to Fulham at Craven Cottage 1-0.

Caretaker manager Neil Adams thought his team played well, though...


Cardiff took advantage of a Jay Rodriguez-less Southampton and won 1-0 as well...
Mauricio Pochettino was not pleased in defeat...
((HT: Southampton their own selves))


Combine that with Everton's 1-0 defeat of Sunderland and the bottom of the table looks like this...
18 Fulham 30
19 Cardiff City 29
20 Sunderland 25

Sunderland still has two games in hand, however...

West Brom had a chance to get out of the danger zone just north of relegation, but they squandered a 3-0 versus Spurs and only left with a point in a 3-3 draw. Five points only separate 11th from 17th at the end of today and here is the game-tying goal...


Stoke continued their mid-table play with a 1-0 win over Newcastle and Tony Pulis continued his run as manager of the year as Crystal Palace beat Villa 1-0 as well...

OSG Prem: Saints-Newscastle Spiral Out Of Control

((HT: NBC Sports/BPL))

Newscastle manager Alan Pardew was let go by Southampton a few years ago and wasn't too happy about it...

They played for the first time in the Premier League and the game, understandably, degraded at the end...

First, the ref gets popped in the nose by an inadvertent shot as Sissoko was mad at the Southampton goalie.
Then, the benches go after each other in stoppage time...

Not out of the ordinary for these two...
Evidence below...

OSG Prem: Why Soccer Goalies Shouldn't Handle the Ball

If you are an English Premiere League Soccer fan, you may have seen this actually happen in real time. If you are a soccer fan, you may…or may not have seen this early on a fall Saturday morning.

If you are a sports fan, this is just kinda funny.

Check out what happened early in the Arsenal/Southampton game Saturday morning. Around the 21 minute mark, Southampton goalie Artur Boric tries to go and corral the ball in the goal area, but gets challenged by Arsenal's Olivier Giroud.

Boric vainly tries to shake Giroud, but it doesn't go so well. Giroud ends up plucking it from him and waltzes in for the very easy goal to make it 1-0.

Arsenal won 2-0...
((HT: NBC Sports/BPL))

OSG Prem: Stoke's Begovic Scores... And It's A Big Deal...

((HT: BPL on NBC))

After just 12 seconds in today's Stoke-Southampton match, Potters goalie Asmir Begovic scored for Stoke City- joining the likes of Tim Howard, Paul Robinson, and Peter Schmeichel as goalies who scored in Premier League action.

It was 1-1 at the break...

Enjoy...

OSG Prem: FIFA Investigating Spot-Fixing Claim

FIFA are investigating former Southampton defender Claus Lundekvam's claims that he was involved in spot-fixing... not match-fixing...

Lundekvam claimed he, team-mates and opposing captains were involved in betting fraud. He claimed it took place in the Premier in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

In a TV interview in Norway with NRK, Lundekvam has denied fixing matches, but said players fixed individual acts such like the first throw-in to rig props:

"It's not something I'm proud of.

"For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money. We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a free-kick.

"Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over."

"The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing."

FIFA said in one of those prepared statements: "FIFA is monitoring this issue and involved its chief investigator in England. Once all information is known it will be decided who is leading the investigations."

Here's a piece of video the HQ found where Lundekvam scored an own goal when he played for Southampton against Everton- a 4-1 loss in 1999


Don't think the hammer will fall down hard if any of this stuff can ever be proven or traced backwards. But the question is: What do you do to all of the individuals allegedly involved...??? And how far back do you go...???

It's common knowledge that Lundekvam fell victim to some demons after retirement. The question there is: Is he just trying to get attention or is he trying to come clean as part of recovery and cleansing his conscience...???

The motivation will be interesting to see...