SERVICES

Tuesday September 2, 2009

Own Goal Downs Arsenal

Chelsea 3 Burnley 0

Chelsea moved to the top of the Premier League for a few hours at least with a fluid destruction of new boys Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
Burnley, victors over Manchester United and Everton in their last two matches, were no match for an exciting Chelsea side.
Goals from Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole ensured Chelsea retained their 100 per cent record.
But for an inspired performance by Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen, the margin of victory would have been much greater.

Blackburn Rovers 0 West Ham United 0

Blackburn Rovers teenager Junior Hoilett spurned the best chance of a fairly tedious goalless draw against West Ham at Ewood Park.
The 19-year-old substitute's 20-yard chip over Robert Green in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper dropped onto the top of the net in the 77th minute.
Prior to that Carlton Cole had the visitors' best effort, curling wide a 20th-minute shot from a narrow angle while Rovers defender Chris Samba fired over from the edge of the penalty area in the first half.
Hoilett's 30-minute cameo was one of the few positives on a frustrating afternoon for Blackburn.
The other was securing their first point of the season - after defeats to Manchester City and Sunderland - which meant they avoided equalling their worst start to a season since 1947/48.

Bolton Wanderers 2 Liverpool 3

Steven Gerrard responded perfectly to having his early season form questioned by manager Rafael Benitez when he belted Liverpool's winner at the Reebok Stadium.
But the visitors were made to fight desperately hard by a Bolton Wanderers side who were down to 10 men for much of the second period.
In fact, Gary Megson's men had been ahead twice through Kevin Davies and Tamir Cohen, and Liverpool only really got on top when Sean Davis was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Glen Johnson had fired one equaliser in the first half, before Fernando Torres pulled Liverpool level at 2-2 a couple of minutes after Davis trudged off.
Then Gerrard struck with a fierce drive seven minutes from the end to lift at least some of the pressure from Benitez.

Stoke City 1 Sunderland 0

Dave Kitson is finally beginning to find his feet at Stoke City, 13 months after a £5.5m move from Reading.
The 29-year-old striker scored the winner in the 43rd minute with his first Premier League goal for the club.
It came after he had also found the target in the Carling Cup victory against Leyton Orient in midweek.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Birmingham City 1

If you want thrills in the Premier League at the moment then White Hart Lane is the place to be as Aaron Lennon's winner in the last throes of injury time kept Spurs' 100 per cent record intact.
It was only right and just. Tottenham were the better team. They played the fancy football. They showed all the ambition.
And it would have been cruel in the extreme if Lee Bowyer's second half tap-in had seen them come away with only a point when they had appeared to have done all the hard work.
The truth is Tottenham should have won this wonderfully entertaining match by a landslide. They rained shots in on Birmingham City goalkeeper Joe Hart's goal all afternoon.
Ironic, in the end, however, that they were thankful to the Route One option provided by substitute Peter Crouch - who came on and gave them the lead with a trademark towering header.

Wolves 1 Hull City 1

Record signing Kevin Doyle was denied a late winner which would have capped an impressive full Premier League debut for Wolves against Hull City at Molineux.
The £6.5m capture from Reading saw his close-range shot somehow blocked on the line by Tigers captain Michael Turner.
Geovanni had given Hull a third-minute lead but Wolves grabbed a deserved point through defender Richard Stearman early in the second half and had the chances to claim victory.

Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1

Arsenal were denied a last-gasp equaliser in a thrilling encounter with Manchester United which they eventually lost 2-1.
Andrey Arshavin capped a brilliant first half by putting Arsenal ahead and if Ben Foster had not denied Robin van Persie with a brilliant feet-first save, Arsenal would probably have won.
Instead, Wayne Rooney won a penalty when he went down under Manuel Almunia's challenge, and scored it himself before Abou Diaby turned Ryan Giggs' free-kick into his own net to give the hosts their victory.
Van Persie thought he had equalised deep into stoppage time but his effort was ruled out for an offside against William Gallas, and Arsene Wenger's protest against the disallowed goal led to him being sent from the dug-out.

Portsmouth 0 Manchester City 1

Emmanuel Adebayor scored his third goal in as many Premier League matches as City condemned Portsmouth to their fourth defeat of the season.
City are certainly benefiting from their new signings - they only won two away fixtures last season and have matched that total already in their 100 per cent start to the season.

Everton 2 Wigan Athletic 1

Everton grabbed their first league points of the season thanks to an injury-time penalty from Leighton Baines after struggling to subdue a defiant Wigan Athletic.
With the score level at 1-1 as the match headed in to injury time at Goodison Park it looked as if Roberto Martinez's men were going to grab a point at least.
They led early in the second period through a Paul Scharner header before Louis Saha grabbed his fourth goal of the season to pull Everton level.
And the home side had to wait until the third minute of injury-time and Emmerson Boyce's foul on Jo for Baines to have the chance to smash home the penalty winner.

Aston Villa 2 Fulham 0

Gabriel Agbonlahor helped Aston Villa bounce back from their European exit as they easily defeated Fulham 2-0 to register their first home Premier League win of the campaign.
The England striker's pressure forced Fulham defender John Pantsil to head into his own net for the opening goal after three minutes.
Then Agbonlahor struck the decisive second goal 14 minutes into the second period - his first of the season - to wrap up the points for Martin O'Neill's side.
It was the perfect pick-up for Villa after failing to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League after being beaten on away goals by Rapid Vienna.