Sunday night's English Premier League action in Anfield between Liverpool and Swansea City was indeed the thriller I had predicted it would be.
A poor game of football, but highly entertaining nonetheless as Liverpool play to the Florentino Perez Galactico era motto "defence doesn't matter as long as we score more than the other team". The final result: Liverpool 4 Swansea City 3.
It seems to be working, as Jordan Henderson continues to come into his own as a midfield force.
Steven Gerrard was largely anonymous after a far more pronounced performance against Fulham.
The ease at which Swansea's passing game literally passed him by is a worry when facing top quality opposition who also rely on technical ability and midfield dominance.
Liverpool are most at home with the triple-S threat of Raheem Sterling, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge and it showed with the trio being directly involved in three of Liverpool's four goals.
When canaries trump cockerels
The 1-0 home win for Norwich City was a huge boost for Spurs old boy Chris Hughton, whose job was potentially on the line according to whispers in the media.
At the same time, the result was also a blow to Tim Sherwood's intentions of grabbing a UEFA Champions League spot next season ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool.
Being one up with five minutes to go, Norwich struck the crossbar before Nathan Redmond forced a super stop from Spurs goalie Hugo Lloris.
Holding on to what seemed like a precarious lead, Norwich kept attacking but failed to penetrate further – Tete failing to check himself, squandering a potential tap-in opportunity after great play by Gary Hooper past Michael Dawson.
By going with two up front, Sherwood announced his intentions to get a result from Carrow Road, and frustration boiled over as Dawson got himself booked needlessly and that summed up a disappointing day for Spurs.
Roberto Soldado's first touch after coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute was to fire wide with probably Tottenham's best opportunity in the second half, doing his confidence no good.
This defeat leaves Spurs six points off the fourth and final Champions League spot, behind a surging Liverpool squad no less. Sherwood would do well to go far in the Europa League at the very least.
Better late than never for Mourinho
As we feared, the Special One relied on the patented Chelsea FC "moment of magic" to settle the tie against Everton on Saturday.
This time, it was John Terry rolling back the years with a bundling finish from a Frank Lampard cross; a potentially historic moment as the two old men of Stamford Bridge look to chase Premier League glory one more time in the twilight of their careers.
A third consecutive defeat against top-drawer opposition (a thumping at the hands of Liverpool, followed by a defeat to Tottenham Hotspur) means that Roberto Martinez's men still have some ways to go in being able to compete with the big boys, though the performances have been encouraging.
Second-half redemption for Red Devils
In a match so exhilaratingly mediocre, Manchester United grabbed all three points from a visit to Crystal Palace.
Akin to watching two individuals shadow-box, both sides failed to truly cause any trouble for one another, long periods of time involving Manchester United with nary a clue, attempting to penetrate Palace's deep, disciplined defending.
Just what would be a game changer? Why, a Manchester United penalty of course!
Patrice Evra drew a foul from Marouane Chamakh and Robin Van Persie duly obliged, a goal providing solace from what could otherwise be deemed an uninterested performance from the Dutchman.
Wayne Rooney's thunderbolt added gloss to a peripheral performance from the Englishman, fresh off signing what is reportedly the largest contract offer in English football history.
All that matters for David Moyes is three points right now if Manchester United are to have any chance at competing in Europe next season.
Special mention to Michael Carrick for completing 135 out of 143 passes, the most from any player in a match in the Premier League this season.
Elsewhere on the continent, in the German Bundesliga to be more precise, Bayern Munich totally dominated Hannover 96 in an emphatic 4-0 win that puts the defending champions a massive 19 points ahead of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
A bullet header by Thomas Muller, followed by a thumping strike from Thiago Alcantara gave Bayern Munich a comfortable 2-0 lead going into half-time in Hannover.
Bastian Schweinsteiger was instrumental in both goals, a delightful chip over the defence releasing Thiago from the left to finish brilliantly.
Toni Kroos seems to have a little competition for a spot in this star-studded midfield line-up. Kroos came on for Mario Gotze, a scary thought of the bench for any side to face when four-nil down.
Having Arjen Robben come on when three down isn't good news either, replacing a clinical Thomas Muller whose role as a self-styled "Raumdeuter" (Space Investigator in German) was justified as Muller ruthlessly exploited it on his way to a brace. – February 25, 2014.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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