#Golazo!

Dani Osvaldo shows a touch of class for this one. Picking the ball up out wide, he jinks into the penalty area, leaves Vincent Kompany on the floor with tricky footwork and then calmly curls the ball into the top corner over the goalkeeper.

Southampton started this season with one of the league’s best defensive records, but since the injury of goalkeeper Artur Boruc they’ve begun to weaken.
https://twitter.com/JamesMawFFT/status/409339795945422849
Taking a point (let alone three) would be a great result for them. They come into this fixture having lost their last three, and all at the club will be keen to see their good form return.

In the end, the home side will feel unlucky not to win. It was an intense attacking match in which Southampton controlled possession. Manuel Pelligrini’s substitutions, which repeatedly switched City’s formation from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1, didn’t help them settle into a decent rhythm.

The young German forward gives Chelsea an early advantage with a nice solo goal. He picks up the ball from Jon Obi Mikel, creates space for himself just outside the penalty area with some nice trickery, and picks out the bottom corner with his shot.

https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/409331183739105281
Newcastle United win at Old Trafford for the first time since 1972, and Man United lose successive home matches for the first time in over a decade.

Alan Pardew’s side took the lead after the hour and defended well for the remainder of the match. United’s star striker Robin van Persie didn’t look fully recovered from his recent groin injury, and his only real contribution was a headed goal rightfully disallowed for offside. Newcastle looked the more cohesive unit. We’re beginning to see teams enjoy themselves away at Old Trafford for the first time in decades.

Manchester United remain ninth, and could find themselves tenth by the end of the week. Nobody expected United to find adjusting to life without Alex Ferguson easy, but David Moyes will be desperate to at least remain in touch with the top four in his debut season in charge.

AFCON champions Nigeria are once again the world’s premier feel-good footballing side. Led by the charismatic Stephen Keshi, they play with youthful spirit and pace. They have enough power on the counter to upset teams technically better than they are, and with Victor Moses, Emmanuel Emineke and Ahmed Musa, they have a forward line able to convert every chance they are afforded.

This is probably the Ivory Coast’s last bite of international glory for a little while. Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba are genuinely amongst the world’s best, and are both capable of changing games alone, but this will probably be the last international tournament of both their careers.

They’re an old squad, and of their under-25’s only Wilfried Bony and Lacina Traore have proven themselves capable at an international stage. Ivory Coast have been the dark horses for every major tournament for the last decade – enjoy this status while it lasts.

It has come as a surprise to many that Switzerland came into this draw ranked 8th in the world, but they suddenly find themselves in possession of some great players.

Xherdan Shaqiri is starring for European champions Bayern Munich, and they have several other players familiar with Europe’s highest divisions including Stocker, Dzemaili, Gokhan Inler and Kasami.

Their main concern is a lack of mettle up front – none of their out-and-out strikers have consistently provided goals since the retirement of Alexander Frei.

This group has potential for some exciting matches. You’d expect Germany will finish top, but the battle for second could be close. Portugal relied on the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo to squeeze through qualifying, Ghana were the underdog stars of World Cup 2010 and the USA are managed by Germany legend Jurgen Klinsmann.