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Tuesday April 9, 2008

Liverpool Draw Ends Arsenal's Title Hopes

The Race Is On Between Chelsea And United

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1

In Saturday's early kick-off at the Emirates, Peter Crouch's ninth goal of the season gave Liverpool a 1-1 draw against Arsenal. In the 42nd minute, Crouch swopped passes with Yossi Benayoun before scoring in the bottom-left corner of the net. Nicklas Bendtner equalized in the 54th minute for Arsene Wenger's side, heading home a Cesc Fabregas free-kick.

Manchester City 0 Chelsea 2

At Eastlands, a tap-in from Salomon Kalou and an own-goal from Richard Dunne gave Chelsea a 2-0 win over City keeping the pressure on Man Utd. Chelsea took the lead in the sixth minute when Dunne turned a Nicolas Anelka cross past goalkeeper Joe Hart. Kalou then doubled his side's advantage in the 53rd minute.

Fulham 1 Sunderland 3

At Craven Cottage, goals from Danny Collins, Michael Chopra and Kenwyne Jones pushed Fulham a step closer to relegation and gave Sunderland a 3-1 win. Collins scored on the stroke of half-time and Chopra doubled the advantage with a volley in the 54th minute. David Healy pulled a goal back with a long-range effort in the 74th minute but Jones restored the Black Cats' two-goal cushion two minutes later.

Aston Villa 4 Bolton Wanderers 0

At Villa Park, two goals from Gareth Barry helped Villa to an easy 4-0 victory over Bolton. A close-range header from Barry gave the Villa the lead in the ninth minute and Gabriel Agbonlahor doubled the scoring in the 56th minute. Barry bagged his second with low shot from 20 yards and Marlon Harewood headed the fourth in the 85th minute.

Wigan Atheltic 2 Birmingham City 0

Ryan Taylor scored twice to give Steve Bruce a 2-0 win over his former club Birmingham, who were reduced to 10 men. Taylor netted from an Antonio Valencia cross in the 15th minute and then knocked the ball home from close range in the 55th minute. Birmingham captain Damien Johnson was shown a straight red card in the 37th minute for a tackle on Josip Skoko.

Newcastle United 3 Reading 0

At St James' Park, goals from Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka helped Newcastle to their third consecutive. Martins scored in the 18th minute and Owen doubled the advantage two minutes before the break when he lobbed Hahnemann. Viduka netted in the 58th minute to round off the scoring.

Blackburn Rovers 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

At Ewood Park, Morten Gamst Pedersen's goal cancelled out Dimitar Berbatov's early strike giving Blackburn a point against Spurs. Berbatov netted in the seventh minute when he ran on to a Jermaine Jenas' pass. But Pedersen equalized in the 30th minute when he tapped home a David Bentley cross.

Middlesbrough 2 Manchester United 2

On Sunday at the Riverside, Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his 37th goal of the season to open the scoring for United but Boro were well worth a point. Afonso Alves then scored twice and it was left to Wayne Rooney to grab an equalizer for the Red Devils when defeat was looming.

Everton 1 Derby County 0

In Sunday's other game, Leon Osman's seventh goal of the season kept a hugely-disappointing Everton in the hunt for a Champions League spot as they edged out Derby 1-0.