SERVICES

Tuesday December 3, 2008

Gunners Take Three Points From Chelsea At The Bridge!

Aston Villa 0 Fulham 0

Gareth Barry squandered the chances to lift Aston Villa into third place in the League - 24 hours after pledging his immediate future to the West Midlands club.
The English midfielder, who has vowed to remain with Villa until at least next summer, could have had a hat-trick but his finishing touch deserted him.
Victory would have taken Martin O'Neill's side above Manchester United but the Cottagers followed up their goalless draw at Liverpool with another determined effort.

Middlesbrough 0 Newcastle United 0

Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins very nearly snatched a derby victory at Middlesbrough as Toon manager Joe Kinnear celebrated the news he will be staying until the end of the season with a precious away point.
The Nigerian international hit the bar 10 minutes before the break as the Magpies threatened to claim their first League away win of the season at the Riverside Stadium.
However, keeper Shay Given had to make a fine 75th-minute save from full-back Justin Hoyte as the Teessiders piled on the pressure after record signing Afonso Alves had passed up a series of chances.

Stoke City 1 Hull City 1

New boys Stoke City and Hull City emerged from the fog at the Britannia Stadium with a point apiece.
With Stoke seeking a fifth straight League victory on home turf and the Yorkshire club defeated only once on the road this season, something had to give.
Marlon King curled Hull in front on the stroke of half-time but Jamaican international team-mate Ricardo Fuller equalised from the penalty spot after the break.
Sixth-placed Hull have now taken 15 of their 23 points on the road but faced a barrage into their penalty area to do so.
Rory Delap's long throws were predictably the likeliest threat of a goal throughout and Stoke's more physical approach always posed problems.

Sunderland 1 Bolton Wanderers 4

Sunderland squandered an early lead and pressed the self-destruct button against Bolton at the Stadium of Light.
Johan Elmander took advantage of two defensive mistakes to send Bolton soaring to their second win in the north-east in seven days in some style.

Wigan Athletic 2 West Bromwich Albion 1

Wigan Athletic manager Steve Bruce saw his side chalk up back-to-back wins in the League for the first time since he took charge a year ago.
But his nerves must have been shot to pieces as Emmerson Boyce secured the victory with two minutes remaining.
That capped a good fightback by the home side with Henri Camara equalising in the 61st minute after Ishmael Miller had opened the scoring for the visitors.
West Bromwich Albion were left cursing Latics goalkeeper Chris Kirkland as he made a string of fine saves to keep them at bay and rooted to the foot of the table.

Manchester City 0 Manchester United 1

Wayne Rooney's 100th club goal was enough for Manchester United to confirm local supremacy over City at Eastlands - but Cristiano Ronaldo did not help with a red card.
Ronaldo was sent off midway through the second half, after receiving his second yellow card for a deliberate hand-ball in the box.
Already booked, referee Howard Webb duly produced a second yellow card, condemning United to a nervy finish in which Patrice Evra cleared off the line from Richard Dunne although Joe Hart also denied Rooney seconds later.
It meant Rooney's first goal for a month turned out to be the matchwinner, allowing United to record their third away win of the season in the League.

Portsmouth 3 Blackburn Rovers 2

Sean Davis was the unlikely hero of Portsmouth's first home win under new manager Tony Adams after another two-goal giveaway against Blackburn Rovers gave Fratton Park a fright.
On Thursday, Pompey blew a 2-0 lead against Italian giants AC Milan and had already surrendered vital points under Adams with late collapses from winning positions.
It looked like more of the same when brilliant strikes by Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe had Pompey skating ahead again eight minutes after the break but Matt Derbyshire dragged one back with a simple header after replacing Benni McCarthy 30 seconds earlier in the 62nd minute.
Tugay, the brilliant Turkish veteran, rifled Rovers level with Pompey ball-watching again four minutes later.
This time, though, Pompey were still up for finishing the job. It took a cool finish by substitute Davis - on two minutes earlier for Armand Traore - after Paul Robinson beat out Papa Bouba Diop's shot for his first goal since March 2006.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1

David Moyes marked his 300th match as Everton boss with a victory over Tottenham courtesy of Steven Pienaar's deflected winner.
Pienaar caused a delay at the start of the second half as he was wearing the wrong shirt - then six minutes after the restart he found the back of the net when his shot cannoned in off Vedran Corluka.
It was Everton's third win in a row at White Hart Lane and also meant a first home defeat for Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.

Chelsea 1 Arsenal 2

Robin van Persie put Arsenal back into the title race with a superb second-half double to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Van Persie struck twice in three minutes after the Blues had taken a first-half lead through a fortuitous Johan Djourou own goal.
But while the Dutch striker's second goal was sheer class, his equaliser was clearly scored from an offside position.
The victory helped Arsenal to move back into the top four and cut the gap between them and Chelsea to seven points.

Liverpool 0 West Ham United 0

Liverpool moved top of the table as the Hammers produced a minor miracle of their own at Anfield.
It is 45 years since they have won at this stadium, so this first point in nine years at Liverpool was a fine achievement.
West Ham have never been known for their defensive reliability at Liverpool, but they were magnificent as they stretched an unbeaten run to three matches.