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Tuesday September 3, 2008

Chelsea Held At The Bridge By Spurs

Arsenal Stomp The Toon, Villa Hold Liverpool

West Ham United4 Blackburn Rovers 1

A Upton Park Blackburn went down 4-1 to West Ham. West Ham took the lead through a Calum Davenport header and went further ahead through a Christopher Samba own goal. Roberts pulled one back soon after but Craig Bellamy and Cole then both scored in injury time to give a lopsided impression of the game as Rovers attacked. Jason Roberts missed a penalty for Rovers.

Everton 0 Portsmouth 3

Jermain Defoe scored a brace as Portsmouth claimed a 3-0 victory at Everton for their first win of the season. Defoe gave the visitors the lead and then played in Glen Johnson to make it 2-0. Everton had the chance to get back into the game shortly into the second half when Johnson fouled James Vaughan in the area, but David James saved Yakubu's penalty. Defoe then put the result beyond doubt with a chip which bounced down off the crossbar after looping over Tim Howard.

Middlesbrough 2 Stoke City 1

This game turned on its head 10 minutes from half-time when Amdy Faye was sent off for serious foul play for a challenge on Mohamed Shawky. From the resulting free-kick Afonso Alves scored his first goal of the season with an unstoppable 25-yard shot. Boro failed to take advantage of a spot-kick awarded when Seyi Olofinjana fouled Alves. Downing hit the crossbar and Stoke pulled level with a contentious goal which was given as an own-goal against debutant Justin Hoyte. Boro finally managed to get a second goal through Tuncay after everyone had stopped for offside five minutes from time.

Hull City 0 Wigan Athletic 5

At the KC Stadium, Hull were brought crashing down to earth as Wigan claimed a 5-0 win. The visitors went ahead through a Sam Ricketts own goal and extended the lead through Antonio Valencia. Amr Zaki made it three in the 63rd minute before Emile Heskey got in behind the defense and rounded the goalkeeper to make it 4-0 in the 69th minute. Zaki's long-range shot was then adjudged to have crossed the line to complete a miserable afternoon for Phil Brown's side.

West Bromwich Albion 0 Bolton Wanderers 0

At the Reebok, Bolton and West Brom played out a 0-0 draw. Scott Carson and Jussi Jaaskelainen each produced outstanding saves and Do-Heon Kim's long-range shot also came back off the bar. The Trotters were then denied a late winner after Kevin Davies was twice correctly ruled offside.

Arsenal 3 Newcastle United 0

At the Emirates, Arsenal swept aside Newcastle 3-0 as Robin van Persie hit a brace. Charles N'Zogbia was deemed to have handled a cross from Emmanuel Adebayor after 18 minutes, and the Dutch striker made no mistake from 12 yards. Newcastle could have leveled through Michael Owen, before van Persie made it 2-0 with four minutes to go to the break and Brazil youngster Denilson wrapped things up in the second half.

Chelsea 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

At Stamford Bridge, Tottenham striker Darren Bent scored in the 1-1 draw and end Chelsea's perfect start to the season. Spurs were soaking up the pressure and staring at defeat until Bent pounced to earn Juande Ramos' men their first Premier League point of the season. Chelsea had deservedly led through Juliano Belletti, but Bent's first goal of the campaign provided a reminder to Ramos of what he can deliver.

Liverpool 0 Aston Villa 0

Rafael Benitez saw his Liverpool side miss out on the chance to go top after a goalless draw against Villa. Villa fans taunted the Reds boss with chants of "There's only one Gareth Barry" after the collapse of the England midfielder's move to Liverpool. John Carew came closest to winning the game for Villa, while David Ngog - a replacement for the injured Fernando Torres - was only inches too high with a chip for Liverpool.

Sunderland 0 Manchester City 3

Shaun Wright-Phillips scored twice to launch his second spell as a City player. The £9 million former Chelsea winger struck five minutes after the break and then again eight minutes later as City eased to a 3-0 victory. Stephen Ireland had put the visitors ahead in first-half injury-time, but a crowd of 39,622 saw Roy Keane's expensively assembled squad wilt alarmingly after the break.