Former SPL striker shows up Premiership 'strikers'
With Robin van Persie, Mario Balotelli and Fernando Torres suffering various levels of embarrassment in the opening matches the former SPL striker got off the mark with an opportunist strike for Croatia against Ireland.
Jelavic’s goal helped turn the game Croatia’s way as they went on to a 3-1 victory that leaves them on top of Group C ahead of their clashes with Italy and Spain.
The success of Jelavic is a complete contrast to the form of the other Premiership big guns and adds weight to the suggestion that the standard of the Premiership is slipping rapidly.
Although Chelsea lifted the Champions League both Manchester clubs tumbled out at the group stage with Arsenal quickly dismissed in the last 16 by AC Milan after being thrashed 4-0 in the San Siro.
The Gunners did give them a chance of turning the tie around but van Persie missed a snip at 3-0 in the return leg as Arsenal tumbled out.
That pattern continued on Saturday when the Arsenal striker was chosen ahead of Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar. Van Persie looked as if he had his boots on the wrong feet as he stumbled on half a dozen chances as the Danes ran out 1-0 winners.
Twenty four hours later it was Balotelli and Torres in the spotlight- £80m worth of Premiership strikers.
First in the spotlight was Balotelli who suddenly moved into slow motion when presented with a free run at goal allowing Sergio Ramos to intercept and clear the chance. Three minutes later the Manchester City striker was substituted by Antonio Di Natale who tucked away a chance within four minutes of coming on the pitch.
Disproving the supersub theory was Chelsea flop Torres who found himself left on the bench as Spain opted out of playing with a striker.
With Spain chasing a winner Torres replaced goalscorer Cesc Fabregas with 14 minutes left to play and turned in a performance that summed up the last 18 months of his career- with the exception of his exceptional strike against Barcelona in the Nou Camp.
Giving a passable impersonation of Filip Sebo the Chelsea man managed to miss two good chances, get himself booked and generally see his stock and reputation fall even further.
Later on Sunday night Jelavic, who’s spent most of the last two seasons in the supposed backwater of the SPL showed the Premiership strikers how to tuck away a half chance when he squeezed a shot past Shay Given to put Croatia on the path to victory.
Jelavic spent the first half of the season in the SPL, with Rangers owner Craig Whyte allegedly turning down a bid of over £10m for the striker in August before flogging the Croat to Everton for £5.5m in January.
The Everton striker said: “Obviously I had a great time at Rangers. It was a very special 18 months for me.
“I scored many goals for a great club and I enjoyed every single minute of it but when I signed for Everton I knew I had a new challenge to face.
“I’m just glad that I have also managed to score many goals for them. Now I’m here at this tournament with only one target — to score as many goals for Croatia as I can.
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