SERVICES

Tuesday November 26, 2008

Manchester City Put The Gunners To The Sword

Chelsea 0 Newcastle United 0

Chelsea squandered a great chance to pull clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League as stubborn Newcastle held them to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea dominated the match but could not find a way to break the deadlock.
Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given saved superbly from Frank Lampard while Ashley Cole went agonisingly close with a header - but Chelsea failed to capitalise on Liverpool's home draw with Fulham.
The Blues remain top on goal difference but failed to win at home for the second successive match.

Manchester City 3 Arsenal 0

Arsenal suffered their fifth defeat of the season as they were well-beaten at Eastlands.
A wonder goal from Robinho after Stephen Ireland had made the breakthrough gave Manchester City the victory they deserved on the balance of play.
Substitute Daniel Sturridge completed a miserable day for Arsenal by scoring from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Middlesbrough 1 Bolton Wanderers 3

Bolton's record signing Johan Elmander showed a glimpse of the reason why Gary Megson stumped up £10m for him in the summer with a stunning late strike to sink Middlesbrough 3-1.
Elmander chested down a Jlloyd Samuel cross in the 78th minute before lashing an unstoppable left-foot shot past Ross Turnbull.
His late heroics extinguished Boro hopes of a grandstand finish after Stewart Downing had given them hope of extending their unbeaten record to six matches with a low strike two minutes earlier.
But the truth was Boro never deserved a thing from an afternoon in which they started appallingly and found themselves two goals down after strikes by Kevin Davies and Matt Taylor with just 10 minutes on the clock.

Liverpool 0 Fulham 0

Chelsea's draw and Arsenal's heavy defeat were the only things to cheer a frustrated Liverpool crowd as they saw their side waste a golden chance to take over at the top of the League by drawing 0-0 with Fulham.
Liverpool did not have Steven Gerrard around to save them this time, his torn groin muscle having a damaging impact on Rafael Benitez's side.
Fulham, with one of the best defensive records in the top flight, have never won at Anfield and rarely looked like doing so this time.
But their dogged performance claimed only their second away point of the season and also secured their third goalless draw in eight visits to Anfield.

Portsmouth 2 Hull City 2

Hull City twice came from behind to pick up another point, this time 2-2 at Portsmouth.
But Pompey had to rue some missed chances to bury the battling Tigers and how they could have done with top-scorer Jermain Defoe, who was ruled out by the calf injury sustained playing for England in Germany on Wednesday.
Strike partner Peter Crouch, required to play just 28 seconds for his country in Berlin, headed Pompey in front in the 21st minute after they dominated matters with a flying start.
Michael Turner nodded a far-post equaliser nine minutes after half time before right-back Glen Johnson restored Pompey's lead with a 25-yard stunner.
But Noe Pamarot - under pressure from 39-year-old Dean Windass - headed an 89th minute own goal to earn Hull a point.

Stoke City 1 West Bromwich Albion 0

Mamady Sidibe headed a late winner for Stoke City as they condemned fellow League newcomers West Bromwich Albion to a third successive defeat at the Britannia Stadium.
The re-match between the top two in last season's Championship fell some way short of top-flight standards for long periods in a match heavy on industry but short on attacking flair.

Aston Villa 0 Manchester United 0

Manchester United missed the chance to close the gap on League leaders Chelsea and Liverpool as Martin O'Neill's side deservedly ended their long-losing sequence against the Red Devils.
United could have cut the deficit to six points after the leading two were both held earlier in the day but a run of 14 successive victories over Villa came to an end.
The fit-again Wayne Rooney squandered their best chance when he fired over from close range in the second half.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Blackburn Rovers 0

Roman Pavlyuchenko's winner at White Hart Lane lifted Spurs out of the relegation zone and plunged 10-man Blackburn Rovers deeper into trouble.
Martin Olsson was guilty of an error in the build-up to Pavlyuchenko's sixth of the season, and the Rovers full-back's afternoon was finished off within 39 minutes when he was dismissed for two bookings.
Rovers boss Paul Ince did not make eye contact as Olsson made for the tunnel after his two fouls on Aaron Lennon - the visitors were left a man short and have now gone eight league matches without a win.

Sunderland 0 West Ham United 1

Valon Behrami's first West Ham goal ended their search for a League victory at the eighth attempt as Sunderland were once again made to pay for missed chances.
The Switzerland international struck with 20 minutes gone and then passed up a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0 when he hit the bar from six yards in first-half injury-time.
Roy Keane's side dominated for long periods, but were unable to make the most of their possession with striker Djibril Cisse in particular guilty of a series of misses.

Wigan Athletic 1 Everton 0

Henri Camara finally gave the JJB Stadium reason to cheer as his first League goal in almost two years catapulted Wigan out of the relegation zone and put in-form Everton to the sword.
The Senegal international striker replaced the ineffective Olivier Kapo at half-time and needed just six minutes to rifle home a clinical low shot after a delightful piece of skill from Antonio Valencia.
It proved enough to give Steve Bruce's men only their second home league win of the season and their first since beating Manchester City 2-1 almost two months ago - but Tim Cahill squandered a chance to equalise in injury-time when he shot over when well placed.