SERVICES

Tuesday December 22, 2009

Fulham Trounces Red Devils

Portsmouth 2 Liverpool 0

Liverpool suffered a wretched trip to Portsmouth after Javier Mascherano was dismissed during a miserable defeat at Fratton Park.
Pompey's victory, with the goals coming from Nadir Belhadj and Frederic Piquionne, will ignite hope of survival in the Premier League.
However, Liverpool's chances of finishing in the top four are uncertain - they missed a chance to record back-to-back league wins for the first time since September.
It means Avram Grant maintains his unbeaten record against Reds manager Rafael Benitez after recording two wins and two draws during his time at Chelsea in the 2008 season.
Back then he ended the Spaniard's Champions League hopes at the semi-final stage - this time he has dented their chances of even qualifying for the competition.
The defeat also meant there was no celebration to mark Jamie Carragher's 600th appearance for Liverpool - until Belhadj's strike he would not have enjoyed an easier 30 minutes in his previous 599.

Aston Villa 1 Stoke City 0

John Carew came off the bench to keep Aston Villa's Champions League push on target with the second-half winner against battling Stoke City at Villa Park.
The Norwegian international struck his fourth Premier League goal of the campaign after replacing the injured Emile Heskey midway through the first period.
It secured a fourth successive win for Martin O'Neill's side and completed a rewarding week after away wins over Manchester United and Sunderland.
This match was lacking in quality for long periods but O'Neill has often spoken of the need to acquire the winning habit when not firing on all cylinders.
With Liverpool faltering again at Portsmouth, Villa have a realistic chance of breaking into the top four.
O'Neill's side showed the resilience needed to sustain a successful campaign with Richard Dunne and Carlos Cuellar outstanding at the heart of their defence.
Skipper Stiliyan Petrov was also a key performer in the centre of the park for the home side.
Stoke were far from overawed with Tuncay a threat up front but they have now gone four matches without a win and will not want to be sucked into a relegation battle in the New Year.

Blackburn Rovers 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2

England striker Peter Crouch improved Tottenham Hotspur's chances of a Champions League place with a brace at Ewood Park.
Crouch struck either side of half-time to make it a miserable first anniversary for Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce.
When Allardyce arrived the club were second bottom of the table but under his stewardship relegation was avoided. However, they could be in for another battle to beat the drop after the manner of this home defeat.
In contrast Tottenham are looking up and this was their second win in a week as they continue to recover following their shock loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Fulham 3 Manchester United 0

Manchester United's pursuit of the Premier League title suffered a setback with a thrashing at Craven Cottage inspired by Bobby Zamora.
Danny Murphy opened the scoring from 30-yards after capitalising on an error by Paul Scholes and Zamora continued his rich vein of form with the second a minute after the interval.
It was Zamora's fifth goal in four matches and he heard his name chanted as he left the pitch to a standing ovation.
The former West Ham United marksman - a menace all afternoon - had helped complete the rout of the champions by setting-up the third for Damien Duff in the 76th minute.
Just as worrying for United side as their second Premier League defeat in three matches was the knowledge they were overwhelmed in every department.
Lacking in imagination and confidence, their crippling injury list has clearly caught up with them as they missed the chance to draw level with Chelsea at the top of the table and suffered a fifth loss of the season.
The result has strengthened Fulham's reputation as the scourge of the big four - earnt last season - and registered their second successive victory against United.
In March they beat Sir Alex Ferguson's side for the first time in 45 years by the same scoreline but this triumph was more comprehensive in every aspect.

Manchester City 4 Sunderland 3

Manchester City came out on top in a seven-goal thriller with Sunderland. Mark Hughes' men were forced to take the lead three times before finally securing only their second win in 11 matches.
Having taken the bold decision to drop underperforming £67.5 million pair Robinho and Emmanuel Adebayor, Hughes watched with pride as his team ripped the Black Cats apart.
Roque Santa Cruz - a man Hughes fought so hard to get from former club Blackburn Rovers - scored at the beginning and end of an extraordinary afternoon.
Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy also found the net to leave Sunderland empty handed, even though goals from John Mensah and Jordan Henderson had pulled them level from two adrift and Kenwyne Jones had nodded home another equaliser after half-time.

Arsenal 3 Hull City 0

Arsenal moved back into third place in the Premier League with a comfortable victory over relegation-threatened Hull City at the Emirates Stadium.
Goals from Denilson, Eduardo and Abou Diaby earned Arsene Wenger's side all three points.
But the Gunners also had to give credit to goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, who saved a penalty from Geovanni when the home side led 1-0.

Wolves 2 Burnley 0

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy had the last laugh as his recalled first-choice players overcame Burnley thanks to goals from Nenad Milijas and Kevin Doyle to move out of the Premier League's bottom three.
McCarthy had come in for heavy criticism after fielding a virtual reserve team at Manchester United in midweek to ensure his players were fresh to face the Clarets.
But any anger among the Wolves fans over that move was forgotten as Milijas and Doyle secured a third win in four matches for the Midlands club.
It moved them level on 19 points with Burnley who have now gone seven matches without a win.

Everton 1 Birmingham City 1

Birmingham City's five-match winning streak came to an end at Goodison Park as they were outplayed by Everton in a 1-1 draw.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's sixth-minute goal was all the hosts had to show for their early dominance and they were caught cold when Sebastian Larsson equalised with Birmingham's first shot of the match midway through the first half.
Everton continued to control the match after the interval but never really threatened to add a second.
Not only did the result end Birmingham's excellent run of results, it also extended Everton's sequence to just one victory in 11 league matches.
And David Moyes' side have not won at home since they beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 on 20th September.