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Tuesday December 17, 2008

Villa Moves Into The Top Four After Win Over Bolton

Middlesbrough 1 Arsenal 1

Former Arsenal player Jeremie Aliadiere delivered another blow to Arsenal's fading title hopes by securing a point for Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.
Aliadiere pounced in the 35th minute with a fine glancing header from a Tuncay Sanli cross after Emmanuel Adebayor had headed the visitors into a 17th-minute lead.
Boro could have gone ahead in the second half when Manuel Almunia made a fine save to deny Stewart Downing, while at the other end Robin van Persie sprang clear but shot across the face of goal.

Aston Villa 4 Bolton Wanderers 2

Gabriel Agbonlahor took his goal tally for the season into double figures as Villa climbed above Arsenal into fourth place with this resounding victory.
Agbonlahor netted twice as Martin O'Neill's side took advantage of the Gunners being held at Middlesbrough in the lunch-time kick-off to move a point clear.
Victory extended Villa's unbeaten league run to five matches but this was only their second home top flight win since September.

Liverpool 2 Hull City 2

Liverpool struggled to their third successive home league draw as new boys Hull City produced another stunning away performance.
The Tigers had already won at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur and scored three in a narrow defeat at Manchester United.
And if not for Steven Gerrard they might well have ended Liverpool's season-long unbeaten home record.
Hull City were two ahead through Paul McShane and a Jamie Carragher own goal before Gerrard scored twice in eight minutes, taking his tally for the season to 11.

Manchester City 0 Everton 1

Tim Cahill answered the call as an emergency striker to give Everton a dramatic victory at Eastlands after David Moyes lost striker Victor Anichebe before kick-off as he failed a fitness test on his back.
Pushed up from midfield, he grabbed the vital goal deep in stoppage-time to stun Manchester City. It was no more than Everton deserved as they dominated the match for most of the 90 minutes.

Stoke City 0 Fulham 0

Fulham's long wait for an away win continues after they fought out a scrappy goalless draw with Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.
Both sides had their moments but lacked an obvious cutting edge in a League contest at the Britannia Stadium which saw neither goalkeeper tested.
Stoke missed the best chance late in the first half when Richard Cresswell scooped over from 10 yards.
For Tony Pulis' men it was another valuable point but Fulham have now failed to score in four consecutive away matches and have still not won on their league travels this term.

Sunderland 4 West Bromwich Albion 0

Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones nudged West Bromwich Albion closer to the League's trapdoor as life after Roy Keane took a turn for the better.
The £6 million man scored twice inside a minute to put the Black Cats on the road to just their second victory in nine attempts and end a run of four successive home defeats.
Andy Reid's 39th-minute header wrapped up the points before the break and Djibril Cisse converted a 47th-minute penalty to ease the Wearsiders out of the bottom three and present caretaker boss Ricky Sbragia with a first victory.
It also handed chairman Niall Quinn breathing space as he attempts to find the right man to replace Keane.

Wigan Athletic 3 Blackburn Rovers 0

Wigan Athletic put on a sparkling performance to condemn Paul Ince's Blackburn Rovers to another defeat.
Winger Antonio Valencia was the star for the hosts, crossing in the 10th minute for Emile Heskey to cleverly backheel past England team-mate Paul Robinson before firing in the second two minutes later.
He then provided the assist for Lee Cattermole's 77th-minute effort.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Manchester United 0

Heurelho Gomes left White Hart Lane a hero as his last-minute save denied Manchester United a vital win at Tottenham Hotspur.
And as United desperately searched for a winner to ensure they left for Club World Cup duty in happy mood, the Brazilian produced a fingertip save to turn away a Ryan Giggs free-kick that was going to creep in.
It left the Red Devils rueing their failure to take advantage of second-half superiority and opened the door for Chelsea to surge clear in the title race by beating West Ham on Sunday.
Dimitar Berbatov will have been particularly disappointed at his failure to make an impact, which just gave the Spurs fans - so used to losing this fixture - more reason to cheer.

Portsmouth 0 Newcastle United 3

Michael Owen celebrated his 29th birthday by putting Newcastle United on their way to a vital victory at Portsmouth that lifted the Magpies out of the relegation zone.
The striker executed a fine chip in the 52nd minute of an entertaining match at Fratton Park, before Obafemi Martins and Danny Guthrie sealed Newcastle's first league win in five attempts and their first away triumph this season.
Martins hit a post in the first half, but Pompey and Jermain Defoe in particular will be ruing missing a host of chances.

Chelsea 1 West Ham United 1

Gianfranco Zola returned to Stamford Bridge and watched his West Ham United side keep Chelsea off the top of the Barclays Premier League by holding them to a draw.
The Hammers stunned Chelsea when Craig Bellamy put them ahead in the 33rd minute with a well-taken shot from 12 yards.
Chelsea levelled in the 50th minute when Nicolas Anelka pounced for his 16th goal of the season and his 100th Premier League goal overall but the home side failed to win at Stamford Bridge in the league for the third match in succession.