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Tuesday November 5, 2008

Gunners' Title Hopes Sunk By Stoke

Everton 1 Fulham 0

Everton finally look to have got their season going after Louis Saha's first goal for the club secured a late victory over Fulham.
Saha, who joined in the summer produced the one moment of genuine class from a scrappy match to take Everton's points tally for the week to seven.
The French striker netted with a powerful header just three minutes from time at Goodison Park, his first goal in the Premier League since February.

Chelsea 5 Sunderland 0

If the mission was to make Stamford Bridge the fortress it had been for the past four and a half years before Liverpool barged down the gates last week then this was a splendid start.
A short-range effort from Brazilian defender Alex notched up the 1,000th Chelsea goal in the Premier League. A Frank Lampard header gave the Chelsea midfielder the 100th league goal of his career. And a Nicolas Anelka hat-trick completed a rout which had the home jokers chanting: "Boring, boring Chelsea."

Manchester United 4 Hull City 3

They may not have won, or even claimed a point, but Hull City's triumphant march on the Premier League won fresh admirers after they finally gave way in a pulsating duel with Manchester United.
At 4-1 up just before the hour mark, the League and European champions should have cruised home.
Instead, they reached the final whistle severely rattled as Bernard Mendy and Geovanni breathed new life into the contest and forced Sir Alex Ferguson's men to cling on for maximum points, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting a double.

Middlesbrough 1 West Ham United 1

Mido came off the bench to help sluggish Middlesbrough claim a share of the points from their encounter with West Ham United.
The visitors had dominated large periods of the match with some enterprising play and had taken a deserved lead in the 21st minute when Hayden Mullins volleyed home.
But second-half substitute Mido, a replacement for the lacklustre Afonso Alves, smashed a 83rd-minute free-kick past Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green.

Portsmouth 1 Wigan Athletic 2

England striker Emile Heskey ended Wigan's miserable run of four defeats and left them singing in the rain with a late, late winner at drenched Fratton Park.
Papa Bouba Diop gave away his second penalty in four days when he brought down Wigan's Titus Bramble for Amr Zaki, the prolific on-loan Egyptian ace, to fire the penalty past David James just seconds before half-time.
After a whole host of near misses substitute Niko Kranjcar appeared to have saved a point for the new manager with an 82nd-minute strike but Heskey pounced even later to snatch the points.

Stoke City 2 Arsenal 1

Long-throw specialist Rory Delap continued his domination of Premier League defences, setting up both goals as Arsenal's season took another bad turn with a 2-1 defeat at Stoke City.
Delap, whose deadly delivery from the touchline has already proved crucial to the Potters' hopes of survival, found Ricardo Fuller after 11 minutes, then helped set up Seyi Olofinjana for the hosts' second before a deflected Gael Clichy effort reduced arrears.
It was a case of bad to worse for Arsenal after the dramatic 4-4 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in midweek and a red card for Robin van Persie, coupled with injuries to Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott, made it a grim day indeed for Arsene Wenger.

West Bromwich Albion 2 Blackburn Rovers 2

Keith Andrews scored his first goal for 10-man Blackburn Rovers to salvage a point against Tony Mowbray's side at The Hawthorns.
Andrews, signed from MK Dons in August for £1.3m, drilled a low 20-yard cross-shot past Baggies' goalkeeper Scott Carson.
Striker Benni McCarthy put Blackburn ahead from the penalty spot before being sent off for two bookable offences.
Goals from Roman Bednar and Ishmael Miller looked to have sealed victory for Albion before Andrews' late strike.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Liverpool 1

Roman Pavlyuchenko pounced on the stroke of full-time to lift Tottenham Hotspur off the foot of the League.
Liverpool took the lead with just two minutes on the clock through a magnificent finish by Dirk Kuyt that saw Heurelho Gomes exposed.
Carragher's own goal looked to have salvaged a point for Spurs but Redknapp's side had grander ideas.
With injury time approaching, Pavlyuchenko tucked home a Darren Bent pass to deny the Reds their return to the summit of the table and end the top flight's last unbeaten record.

Bolton Wanderers 2 Manchester City 0

On Sunday morning, Ricardo Gardner eased the pressure on Bolton Wanderers with a goal and an assist to give them a 2-0 win over Manchester City.
The victory was enough to lift them off the bottom of the Premier League and out of the bottom three.
The Jamaica international replaced the injured Mustapha Riga shortly before half-time against Manchester City at the Reebok Stadium and applied the finishing touch to a wicked low cross from Gretar Steinsson in the 77th minute.
It was the Trotters' first goal for five hours and 50 minutes and Gardner then turned provider by crossing low for City skipper Richard Dunne to put through his own goal with two minutes remaining.
Victory breathed new life into Bolton's campaign and gave the Lancashire outfit their first home win since the opening day of the season.

Newcastle United 2 Aston Villa 0

Obafemi Martins blasted Newcastle United out of the Premier League's relegation zone as Joe Kinnear's battlers claimed a second successive victory, 2-0 over Aston Villa.
The Nigeria international scored for the second time in six days to hand his side a win which lifted them to 14th place, ahead of arch-rivals Sunderland on goal difference.