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Tuesday January 19, 2010
Liverpool's Woes Continue With A Draw In Stoke
Stoke City 1 Liverpool 1Liverpool were denied a victory when Stoke City grabbed a last-ditch equaliser at the Britannia Stadium. It was never pretty, but Liverpool stood up to be counted in a physical showdown. And they went ahead when Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos scrambled home his first goal for the club early in the second period of a bitterly contested battle. But Stoke's relentless aerial assault produced an equaliser from Robert Huth in the 89th minute. It was a terrible blow for a Liverpool side facing pressure from all quarters, and they were even denied a winner in injury-time when Dirk Kuyt's diving header hit a post. Fabio Aurelio had the chance to send Mascherano away on his own but tried a ridiculous 40-yard attempt to expose an out-of-position Thomas Sorensen that sailed miles wide. Chelsea 7 Sunderland 2Chelsea maintained their slender lead at the top of the Premier League by hitting sorry Sunderland for seven at Stamford Bridge. Carlo Ancelotti's side proved they can prosper without their quartet of African stars as goals from Nicolas Anelka (two), Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard (two) and Michael Ballack set the seal on a fine afternoon for the Blues. It kept them one point ahead of Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League with a match in hand on their rivals. Sunderland managed two consolation goals through substitute Bolo Zenden and Darren Bent but Steve Bruce's side have now failed to win in their last eight league matches. Manchester United 3 Burnley 0Manchester United claimed a much-needed victory over Burnley at Old Trafford. A five-minute purple patch just after the hour brought Dimitar Berbatov's seventh goal of the season and Wayne Rooney's 16th. And, with new-boy Mame Biram Diouf adding another near the end, United had regained a sense of superiority, even if the outcome could have been vastly different if either Steven Fletcher or David Nugent had taken golden opportunities when Brian Laws' first match in charge was still deadlocked. Tottenham Hotspur 0 Hull City 0Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp endured a frustrating 500th match as a Premier League manager after heroics from Boaz Myhill earned Hull City a valuable point at White Hart Lane. Myhill pulled off a string of fine saves to deny Spurs, who equalled their club record of five consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. But the home side will be disappointed not to have found a way past the Tigers' goalkeeper. Hull have not won in seven matches but will see the draw as a point gained after withstanding pressure and threatening to follow the example of Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, who won at Spurs' ground earlier in the season. Those defeats have dented Spurs' ambitions of Champions League football next year and again they struggled to break down a team looking to frustrate them. Aside from a couple of long-range efforts, there was little in the way of entertainment for fans who waded through torrential rain to get to the stadium. Wolves 0 Wigan Athletic 2James McCarthy celebrated his first start in the Premier League by setting Wigan Athletic on the way to their first win in six matches against fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. McCarthy, signed last summer from Hamilton Academical, followed up his debut goal against Hull City in the FA Cup with the 59th-minute opener before Charles N'Zogbia added the second for the Latics. Wolves goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann also saved a Hugo Rodallega penalty and both sides ended the match with 10 men as Wolves defender Richard Stearman and Wigan midfielder Hendry Thomas were sent off. Everton 2 Manchester City 0Roberto Mancini received a reminder, if he needed one, at Goodison Park of how tough life can be in the Premier League. After seeing his Manchester City side win their first four matches in all competitions, the Italian manager had to endure the bitter taste of defeat. Goals from Steven Pienaar and Louis Saha, from a penalty, gave Everton a deserved victory and reason to be optimistic for the remainder of the campaign. Aston Villa 0 West Ham United 0In Sunday's early fixture, Villa failed to cash in on slip-ups by their Champions League-chasing rivals as West Ham United earned a surprise share of the spoils to move out of the Premier League's bottom three. Villa could have closed the gap on the top four after Manchester City, beaten at Everton, and Tottenham, held at home by Hull, both dropped points. But a combination of a below-par performance and some fine saves by Robert Green meant they had to settle for their first goalless draw of the league campaign. It means the Carling Cup semi-finalists have taken only one point from the last nine. Martin O'Neill's side barely woke from their slumbers during the opening 45 minutes against a side ravaged by injury problems. They dominated the second period but only spasmodically threatened to find a way past England keeper Green. In contrast, the Hammers were cock a hoop after gaining the point which moved them above Hull City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Blackburn Rovers 2 Fulham 0Blackburn Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen put the seal on his side's long-awaited return to winning ways with the second goal against Fulham at Ewood Park. Nelsen applied the lightest of touches to Benni McCarthy's 24th-minute free-kick to give Rovers their first three-point haul since November. Defender Chris Samba had settled the home side's nerves with a fortuitous 24th-minute opener after he ricocheted home an attempted clearance by former Rover Damien Duff. And despite some crisp counter-attacking and the acrobatics of Clint Dempsey, who saw a 36th-minute overhead kick beat Paul Robinson but crash back off the bar, Fulham threatened little. Bolton Wanderers 0 Arsenal 2In the last game of the weekend, Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas produced an impressive display on his return from injury to spoil new Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle's ''homecoming' at the Reebok Stadium. The Spanish midfielder, who missed three matches with a hamstring injury, scored his 10th league goal of the season in the 28th minute after a neat one-two with Eduardo. His surging run then led to substitute Fran Merida scoring the second 12 minutes from time as former Wanderers' player Coyle's reign got off to a losing start. Portsmouth P Birmingham City PThis game at Fratton Park was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch |
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