SERVICES

Tuesday September 15, 2009

City Are The Real Deal After Shooting Down The Gunners

Blackburn Rovers 3 Wolves 1

Jason Roberts helped banish the goalscoring gloom over Ewood Park as his stellar second-half performance finally helped bring Blackburn their first League win of the season.
Roberts' slight touch on Gael Givet's header was enough to steer Rovers' second past Wayne Hennessey, and he did all the hard work to tee up his side's third for David Dunn.
El-Hadji Diouf had celebrated his return to the starting line-up by giving his side a 19th-minute head-start when he raced clear and slotted the opener through Hennessey's legs.
It was the emphatic response required by Rovers to concern over their bite in front of goal after their first three league matches yielded the sorry statistic of just a single strike.
And it could have been more against a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who caved in after a bright start to the second half, with Morten Gamst Pedersen ramming the post and Keith Andrews forcing a fine save out of Hennessey.

Liverpool 4 Burnley 0

Liverpool's season is firmly back on track after a Yossi Benayoun hat-trick left promoted Burnley overwhelmed.
The top-flight new boys had started the season so well with wins over Manchester United and Everton but have now suffered successive defeats at Chelsea and now Liverpool - conceding seven in the process.
They could not live with a vibrant Liverpool, who kept up an impressive high tempo throughout and are slowly wiping away the memory of those two early league defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.
Benayoun scored his first from the edge of the box, and saw his shot parried by the overworked Brian Jensen for Dirk Kuyt to add the second before the break.
Steven Gerrard's pass set up Benayoun for his second, a close-range tap-in, before the Israeli was sent clear by substitute Andriy Voronin for his third and Liverpool's fourth.

Manchester City 4 Arsenal 2

Emmanuel Adebayor scored the decisive third goal in a pulsating encounter from which Manchester City emerged with their 100 per cent record intact.
Two weeks after dominating at Old Trafford, yet finishing on the losing side against Manchester United, Arsene Wenger experienced similar emotions on the blue half of the city after a staggering contest where for long periods, they appeared the most likely winner.
When Shaun Wright-Phillips sent over a vicious cross, ex-Gunner Adebayor had no intention other than to find the net, which he duly did, sending a capacity crowd into ecstasy.
It meant City have now won four matches, the Togo striker scoring in the lot.

Portsmouth 2 Bolton Wanderers 3

Bolton Wanderers snatched their first points of the season after Gary Cahill netted a controversial winner a minute from time at Portsmouth.
Tamir Cohen fired the Trotters ahead after 13 minutes, only for Younes Kaboul to head Portsmouth level after 22 minutes.
Matthew Taylor's penalty put Bolton back in front six minutes before the break. Kevin-Prince Boateng then struck an equaliser on his Portsmouth debut, but Cahill scored at the death to leave the home side without a point from five matches.

Stoke City 1 Chelsea 2

Carlo Ancelotti saw his Chelsea side stretch their 100 per cent record to five matches at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a goal in stoppage time from Florent Malouda.
The Italian coach must have been living on his nerves as Stoke City threw themselves into every challenge and looked like taking a point.
However Chelsea kept plugging away and got their rewards when Malouda finished well following a knock back from Nicolas Anelka.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis has assembled a team that battles and scratches for every 50-50 ball.
It almost did the trick again and Chelsea were rattled, especially in the first half, and It is doubtful if they have had many tougher physical tests.
Stoke lost two players in the first half with James Beattie and then Thomas Sorensen going off injured but refused to cave in.

Sunderland 4 Hull City 1

Darren Bent continued his resurgence as he claimed a double to help Sunderland to a comprehensive victory over Hull City.
The former Tottenham Hotspur striker took his tally for his new club to four with a 13th-minute penalty and a 66th-minute solo effort as the Black Cats eased past the Tigers.
He was given a standing ovation when he was replaced by Kenwyne Jones with 16 minutes remaining with three more League points safely banked.
Steve Bruce's men always had too much for the visitors, who had got themselves back into the game with Kamil Zayatte's 43rd-minute header.
But Andy Reid's 49th-minute strike set the stage for Bent to cement the win, and Michael Turner - making his debut against the side who sold him to Sunderland - forced Zayatte to put through his own net for the fourth 14 minutes from time to rub salt into Hull's wounds.
The home fans among a crowd of 38,997 headed home eagerly anticipating fixtures with promoted Burnley and Wolves in their side's next two league matches, while the visitors left contemplating a long, tough winter.

Wigan Athletic 1 West Ham United 0

Striker Hugo Rodallega's second goal of the season was enough to see Wigan Athletic beat West Ham United at the DW Stadium.
The Colombia striker pounced in the 55th minute to stab home Jason Koumas' blocked shot and end a run of three successive League defeats.
Prior to that the main point of interest had been the form of England goalkeeper Robert Green, who produced decent saves to deny Rodallega and Jordi Gomez in the first half.
The Hammers have scored only three goals in four matches and drawn a blank in their last two.
However, Rodallega's goal was also Wigan's first at home in three matches and only their fourth all season, which gives an indication of where Martinez's side have to improve.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Manchester United 3

Manchester United were behind after a minute and reduced to 10 men but still recorded victory in a pulsating match at White Hart Lane that ended Tottenham Hotspur's 100 per cent start to the Premier League season.
Spurs were ahead less than a minute into the match when Jermain Defoe acrobatically found the net to continue his hot streak of goalscoring.
Defoe spent the summer in the gym bulking up his physique and the result has been an explosive start to the campaign - his spectacular opener after 50 seconds was his eighth in as many matches for club and country.
United's equaliser came from the familiar source of Giggs. Palacios had received a yellow card for the tackle on Berbatov that led to the free-kick, 25 yards from goal. Giggs' set-play curled over Keane in the wall and into the top corner.
Anderson's goal came four minutes before the break. The Brazil midfielder drilled into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after Scholes' long-range effort was blocked by Ledley King.
Scholes was booked for tripping Defoe, then King was cautioned for exacting revenge a minute later.
Scholes received his marching orders just before the hour mark for his second caution, this time for a clumsy tackle on Huddlestone.
Rooney's goal came 12 minutes from full-time. He raced onto Fletcher's pass and cut inside Alan Hutton before squeezing his finish through Cudicini's legs.

Birmingham City 0 Aston Villa 1

Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor scored a late winner to settle a scrappy west Midlands derby against Birmingham City at St Andrew's.
Agbonlahor struck with six minutes remaining to lift Martin O'Neill's side into sixth.
City had dominated the second period but failed to create anything of note to trouble Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel and they paid for their lacklustre display when Agbonlahor pounced to score from close-range.

Fulham 2 Everton 1

Damien Duff produced a moment of magic at Craven Cottage to defeat Everton and kick-start Fulham's Premier League campaign.
Everton looked comfortable at half-time when they led through Tim Cahill's header but Paul Konchesky's deflected equaliser gave the home side momentum.
Irish winger Duff beat Howard with a powerful drive before the end for his first Fulham goal, giving them their first victory since the opening weekend of the season.
It leaves Everton in trouble as they only have three points from their first four league matches, while Fulham can look towards mid-table.