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Tuesday December 12, 2007

Arsenal Stumble Against 'Boro

Manchester United 4 Derby County 1

In Saturday's early game Utd cruised past bottom club Derby. Goals from Ryan Giggs - his 100th league goal - and Carlos Tevez broke stubborn Derby's resistance. Giggs struck the post with a crisp volley after 58 minutes before Tevez netted his second a minute later with a powerful drive into the bottom corner. Steve Howard netted a consolation for Paul Jewell's side after 76 minutes. Ronaldo added a fourth from the penalty spot for the Reds in stoppage time after he had been hauled down in the area.

Reading 3 Liverpool 1

Liverpool went behind to a dubious penalty. Stephen Hunt scored from the spot but only after Jamie Carragher's trip on Brynjar Gunnarsson appeared to be outside of the area. Liverpool soon equalized through Steven Gerrard. Reading went ahead again - Kevin Doyle glancing in Nicky Shorey's free kick on 59 minutes. Gerrard rattled the bar in the search for a second equalizer but less than a minute later Reading broke and James Harper rounded Jose Reina to make it 3-1.

Chelsea 2 Sunderland 0

Andriy Shevchenko took full advantage of Didier Drogba's absence to set Chelsea to their way to a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. The Ukrainian striker gave the Blues the lead after 23 minutes with his second goal of the season. Any hopes Sunderland had of clawing their way back into the game were dashed when Frank Lampard netted from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining after Danny Higginbotham had been adjudged to have fouled Alex. Sunderland's miserable day was compounded when Liam Miller was dismissed two minutes from time for pushing Claudio Pizarro in the face.

Newcastle United 2 Birmingham City 1

Habib Beye's stoppage-time goal eased the pressure on Sam Allardyce as Newcastle secured a 2-1 win over Birmingham. Alex McLeish's side got off to a dream start as Cameron Jerome gave Blues the lead with his fifth goal of the campaign. Allardyce's side pulled level nine minutes before the break, though, as Martins scored from the penalty spot after the Nigerian had been brought down by Mat Sadler. As the game looked to the petering out for a draw, Beye met Emre's corner from close range.

Everton 3 Fulham 0

Ayegbeni Yakubu's hat-trick inspired Everton to a 3-0 win over Fulham at Goodison. His first came after Tim Cahill's volley was parried by Antti Niemi and the Nigerian striker was on hand to poke the rebound home. He netted his second just after the hour with a simple header from Mikel Arteta's inswinging corner, and his treble was completed with a cool finish into the bottom corner after 78 minutes.

Aston Villa 1 Portsmouth 3

In the early kick-off on Sunday, Sulley Muntari's double strike helped secure a sixth successive away win for Portsmouth. The £7million summer signing from Udinese gave Villa goalkeeper Scott Carson no chance with two stunning left-foot drives to double his goal tally for the campaign. A Craig Gardner own goal had set Pompey on their way to victory and all the home side could muster in reply was a late Gareth Barry penalty.

Middlebrough 2 Arsenal 1

Boro ended Arsenal's unbeaten start to the EPL season with a 2-1 win at the Riverside. A Stewart Downing penalty and a Tuncay Sanli strike, his second in two games, earned the Teessiders the win - their first in the Premier League since September 1 - and also denied the Gunners the chance to stretch their one-point lead at the top of the table. Tomas Rosicky fired low into the corner deep into stoppage time, but it was too little too late for Arsene Wenger's men.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Manchester City 1

Jermain Defoe came off the bench to condemn City to a 2-1 defeat, denying them a place in the top four. Rolando Bianchi cancelled out Pascal Chimbonda's controversial opener before Defoe grabbed the winner with seven minutes left, just after Stephen Ireland was given a straight red card for an awful two-footed lunge at Young-Pyo Lee.

Bolton Wanderers 4 Wigan Athletic 1

Gary Megson's men recorded their biggest win of the season, 4-1 against neighbors Wigan to leave the Latics deep in relegation trouble. Paul Scharner headed into his own net to give the Trotters the lead and although Denny Landzaat equalised for the visitors, Kevin Nolan put Bolton back in front before the break, with Kevin Davies and Nicolas Anelka, who also missed a penalty in the first half, finishing off an easy win.

West Ham United 1 Blackburn Rovers 0

Dean Ashton's goal ensured Alan Curbishley celebrated a year in charge of West Ham with a 1-0 victory over Blackburn. Substitute Ashton struck seven minutes into the second half as the Hammers made it four successive wins over Rovers to lift themselves into the top half of the table.