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Tuesday October 20, 2009

United Leapfrog Chelsea After Blues Lose To Villa

Arsenal 3 Birmingham City 1

Arsenal continued their momentum with a 3-1 win over Birmingham City at the Emirates Stadium.
Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby had fired the Gunners into a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes.
However, Lee Bowyer capitalised on a mistake by young keeper Vito Mannone - preferred to fit-again Manuel Almunia - to pull a goal back before half-time.
After soaking up plenty of pressure during the second half from the battling Blues, Andrey Arshavin wrapped up the points late on as Arsene Wenger's side made it seven successive victories in all competitions this season.

Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 1

Defender James Collins scored his first goal for Aston Villa to condemn League leaders Chelsea to a second successive away defeat.
Martin O'Neill's £5m capture from West Ham took advantage of slack marking to head the winner after 52 minutes.
Didier Drogba had given the Blues the lead after 15 minutes but Collins' defensive partner Richard Dunne levelled before the interval.
Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti will be frustrated with his side's defending as two corners from Ashley Young presented Dunne and Collins with free far-post headers for the goals.
It completely undermined the threat posed by his side going forward, with Deco shining in a free role behind the strikers.
But Chelsea found Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel in inspired form with a series of excellent saves making amends for gifting Drogba the opening goal.
And Collins and Stephen Warnock also played their part in thwarting Chelsea with a series of excellent blocks.
Skipper Stiliyan Petrov was effective in the centre of the park as Villa maintained their push for a European spot.

Everton 1 Wolves 1

Everton staged a dramatic late rally as Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's first goal for the club rescued a point against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Goodison Park.
Wolves looked to be heading for a much-needed victory when striker Kevin Doyle put them ahead with his third goal of the season, after 75 minutes.
Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey had earlier produced a string of fine saves to keep Wolves in the match, but with two minutes of normal time left the £10m Everton new-boy struck with an equaliser.
Wolves ended the match with 10 men when substitute Stefan Maierhofer was sent off in injury time.

Stoke City 2 West Ham United 1

Striker James Beattie's first goals of the season earned Stoke City a 2-1 victory at home to West Ham United.
The burly forward scored his opener from an 11th-minute penalty, only for Matthew Upson to head an equaliser before the interval.
However, Beattie had the last word when he forced home Ricardo Fuller's cross at the far post with 20 minutes to go.
Those goals ended a run of four Premier League matches, which included successive home defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United, without a win for the Potters.
It was also only their second victory in 14 matches against West Ham United, who themselves have not won since the opening day of the season and are only one place off the bottom of the Premier League.

Manchester United 2 Bolton Wanderers 1

Manchester United received more last-gasp salvation at Old Trafford - this time from Edwin van der Sar as they scrambled back to the League summit.
Late goals against Manchester City and Sunderland have kept United afloat at Old Trafford this season. This time the drama was all at the other end.
Two goals up and cruising against Bolton Wanderers thanks to an early Zat Knight own goal and Antonio Valencia's first since a £17m summer move from Wigan Athletic, United looked destined to ease home.
Instead, the whole match changed following a series of superb saves from Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Matt Taylor pulled one back 15 minutes from time. And with almost the final touch, Gary Cahill went agonisingly close to snatching a point with a point-blank header which the returning veteran Van der Sar somehow managed to keep out.

Portsmouth 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp made a triumphant return to Fratton Park but Jermain Defoe was sent off for a stamp in their victory against Portsmouth.
After leaving Pompey nearly a year ago, Redknapp eventually took Defoe, Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar with him - and almost inevitably Defoe got on the scoresheet after Ledley King had broken the deadlock.
Defoe getting sent off, however, was not in the script - and it set up a thrilling finale after Kevin-Prince Boateng had pulled a goal back, although Pompey had Michael Brown dismissed late on.

Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0

Darren Bent staked a further claim for a place in England's World Cup squad as Sunderland heaped further misery on Liverpool.
Bent's eighth goal of the season came when his shot was deflected past goalkeeper Pepe Reina in the fifth minute by a red beach ball which had been thrown onto the pitch, although referee Mike Jones had little option but to award the goal.
But if the visitors felt aggrieved at the manner in which their third successive defeat in all competitions was sealed, they could have few complaints about the result in front of a crowd of 47,327 at the Stadium of Light.
With the injured Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres missing, they were a shadow of the side which pushed Manchester United so close last season as they slipped to their fourth league defeat of the campaign despite a late, late rally.

Blackburn Rovers 3 Burnley 2

Sam Allardyce saw his Blackburn Rovers side claim the local bragging rights over Burnley in the first top-flight meeting of the clubs for 43 years.
It was a comfortable victory as well after an early scare when Robbie Blake made the breakthrough for Burnley after five minutes.
However the home side effectively sealed the points before half-time thanks to goals from David Dunn, Franco di Santo and Pascal Chimbonda.
Substitute Chris Eagles scored a second for Burnley in stoppage time but they have now lost five successive matches on the road in the Premier League this season.

Wigan Athletic 1 Manchester City 1

Ten-man Manchester City needed a brilliant late save from Shay Given to earn them a point at Wigan Athletic.
The dismissal of Pablo Zabaleta for two bookable offences condemned the Blues to a difficult last 25 minutes.
And Hugo Rodallega thought he had profited with a close-range volley a minute from time, only for Given to deny him.
Wigan might grumble, although City were just about worthy of a point.
Not that it will save them from a few harsh words from manager Mark Hughes, who must have been disappointed with a poor first-half display, in which Charles N'Zogbia put the hosts in front before Martin Petrov levelled at the start of the second period.
Emmanuel Adebayor forced Chris Kirkland into one decent save and Carlos Tevez did not react fast enough when Maynor Figueroa nudged a header into his path. But there was a paucity of chances for the visitors that did not sit easily with the growing feeling they will be involved in the title shake-up.
In contrast, Wigan, limited as they were, always gave the impression of a side pushing themselves to the limit.