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Tuesday March 16, 2010

The Top Four Keep Marching On...

Portsmouth 1 Birmingham City 2

On Tuesday afternoon, Birmingham City gained revenge for their weekend FA Cup exit against Portsmouth after sending the Premier League's bottom club closer to relegation with a 2-1 triumph at Fratton Park.
Despite going down 2-0 on the south coast last Saturday, two goals from Cameron Jerome gave them the three points.
Substitute Nwankwo Kanu pulled one back in the dying minutes but with Pompey already five points from safety, this proved of little consolation in their uphill battle for survival.

Sunderland 4 Bolton Wanderers 0

Darren Bent chose the perfect moment to score his first hat-trick for Sunderland, with owner Ellis Short on Wearside to check on his investment.
The £10 million striker lifted the pressure on the Black Cats and manager Steve Bruce with a well-taken treble which helped lift the club six points clear of the relegation zone and into 13th place in the Premier League.
Bolton Wanderers were the fall guys on a night when the home side ended their wait for a league win at the 15th attempt, a run which dated back to November 21st last year.
Fraizer Campbell set the ball rolling after just 41 seconds with his first league goal for the club, but Bent took over after the break as he extended his personal tally for the season to 19.
He struck after 64 minutes, from the penalty spot 10 minutes later following defender Sam Ricketts' dismissal for a second bookable offence, and then again two minutes from time, and that for a team which had previously scored just two goals in six matches.

Burnley 1 Stoke City 1

In the only Premier League game on Wednesday, David Nugent salvaged a point for struggling Burnley against Stoke City at Turf Moor with his sixth goal for the club.
He headed home in the 52nd minute after Martin Paterson turned Danny Collins inside out before delivering a superb cross from deep.
However, although Burnley moved above Hull City they remain in the Premier League relegation zone after Tuncay Sanli's first-half goal for Stoke.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Blackburn Rovers 1

In the early game on Saturday morning, Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko was on target again to help defeat Blackburn Rovers at White Hart Lane and strengthen his side's hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Before the weekend, Redknapp set his side the target of 19 points to finish in fourth position this season, with Blackburn designated as a must-win fixture given a run-in that includes Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea.
The odds were with them too because Allardyce's side have only recorded one league victory away from Ewood Park during the campaign, with only their home form getting them within sight of safety.
Jermain Defoe opened the scoring against Sam Allardyce's men, then Pavlyuchenko doubled the lead before Christopher Samba pulled one back.
Hopes of a Blackburn comeback were dashed when Pavlyuchenko scored his eighth in his last six matches.

Birmingham City 2 Everton 2

Lifelong fan Craig Gardner scored his first Birmingham City goal as Alex McLeish's side recovered to earn a point against Everton and preserve their six-month unbeaten home record.
Everton, knocked out of the FA Cup by Blues at Goodison Park this season, had taken control with two goals in three minutes mid-way through the first half from Victor Anichebe and Ayegbeni Yakubu.
But Birmingham's fighting spirit has shone through on countless occasions and it again surfaced. Cameron Jerome's third goal in the last two matches gave them a life-line before Gardner's moment of glory following his £3 million January move from local rivals Aston Villa.
Mikel Arteta, who played under McLeish at Rangers, produced an impressive display in front of his former manager. But another ex-Ibrox player in Barry Ferguson was an influential figure in the centre of the park for City.

Bolton Wanderers 4 Wigan Athletic 0

Owen Coyle saw his Bolton Wanderers side gain their third win in four Premier League matches and edge closer to safety with victory over relegation rivals Wigan Athletic.
The Glasgow-born manager was recruited from Burnley in January to try to secure the club's status and his methods appear to be working.
Johan Elmander made the breakthrough and second-half goals from Kevin Davies (pen), Fabrice Muamba and substitute Matt Taylor secured an emphatic victory. Given they had beaten Liverpool only last Monday, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez would have expected much more from his side.
Instead they were off the pace and it was a day to forget for former Celtic defender Gary Caldwell.

Burnley 1 Wolves 2

Clarke Carlisle's unfortunate own goal proved the difference as Mick McCarthy's Wolverhampton Wanderers clung on for three potentially priceless points at Turf Moor.
Carlisle deflected a shot by Adlene Guedioura past helpless home keeper Brian Jensen in the 47th minute to add to an opener from Matt Jarvis.
Jarvis had snatched his opportunity to fire the visitors in front in the 26th minute when a back-header from Tyrone Mears fell short and left Jensen stranded.
Brian Laws' men hit back through substitute Steven Thompson in the 73rd minute but the home side failed to grab a point and blew their bid to clamber out of the drop zone at Wolves' expense.
The last chance fell to substitute Robbie Blake in injury time but the striker's rising shot from eight yards was parried by Marcus Hahnemann and the home side's hopes were over.

Chelsea 4 West Ham United 1

Chelsea went back to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable win over West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.
Brazilian defender Alex headed Chelsea in front in the 15th minute but Scott Parker levelled with a stunning volley on the half-hour mark.
Didier Drogba rose unmarked to restore Chelsea's lead in the 55th minute before Florent Malouda's 20-yard effort in the 76th minute and Drogba's second put Carlo Ancelotti's side one point clear of Manchester United at the summit.
Chelsea goalkeeper Ross Turnbull made his league debut for the club and looked confident enough ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League last-16 return leg against Inter Milan.
The keeper, third choice all season, will be asked to play against Inter, who lead 2-1 from the first leg, due to injuries to Petr Cech and Hilario.

Stoke City 0 Aston Villa 0

Aston Villa missed the chance to reduce their deficit in the race for the final Champions League place after being held to a goalless draw at Stoke City.
The Britannia Stadium has become a tough venue for most visiting sides but for a team with aspirations of mixing it with Europe's elite next season Villa did not test goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen nearly enough.
The closest they came to making a breakthrough was three minutes after half-time when Stewart Downing's shot inadvertently deflected off team-mate John Carew but hit the side-netting with Sorensen wrong-footed.
With fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur winning earlier in the day the gap between them and Villa, in seventh, is now six points - although Martin O'Neill's team have two matches in hand.
If they are to make a bid for the top four, however, they are going to have to find a way of grinding out results in matches such as these.

Hull City 1 Arsenal 2

Nicklas Bendtner struck in stoppage time as Arsenal kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League with victory at 10-man Hull City.
The title-chasing Gunners went in front when Andrey Arshavin prodded in after 14 minutes but Jimmy Bullard levelled with a penalty after 28 minutes following a clumsy Sol Campbell challenge on Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Arsenal struggled to break down Hull following the 45th-minute dismissal of George Boateng but Bendtner earned a fifth straight win by netting after Denilson's swerving shot was not dealt with by Boaz Myhill.
Arsenal were far from their fluid best - illustrated in the 5-0 Champions League win over Porto in midweek - but Hull must be given credit for disrupting the visitors' rhythm and were ultimately unlucky to suffer a fourth straight loss.
The Tigers remain in the relegation zone with nine matches remaining.

Manchester United 3 Fulham 0

In the early game on Sunday Wayne Rooney took his goal glut to 32 with another fine double to take Manchester United back to the Premier League summit.
Although they wasted a huge number of chances United did enough to re-establish their dominant position with eight matches of the campaign remaining.
Rooney provided a suitably quick-fire response after a goalless first half and after he converted Dimitar Berbatov's cross seven minutes from time to leave him just 10 adrift of Cristiano Ronaldo's massive total of two years ago, Berbatov ended a frustrating afternoon by finally getting his name on the scoresheet.

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 1

Local boy Adam Johnson returned to haunt Sunderland as Manchester City snatched a dramatic equalizer on Wearside to maintain their Champions League hopes.
The substitute, who turned down a January move to the Stadium of Light to head for City instead, came off the bench to level in stoppage-time and finally end the home side's stubborn resistance.
It was hard luck on Black Cats' goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who pulled off five fine second-half saves, three of them from Newcastle United old boy Craig Bellamy, to protect the lead given to his side by Kenwyne Jones' ninth-minute header.
Sunderland were within seconds of clinching back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since December 2008, a run of 48 matches.
However, they were warmly applauded from the pitch by a crowd of 41,398 after very nearly adding City's scalp to those of Liverpool and Arsenal five days after ending their 14-match winless league run against Bolton Wanderers.
The visitors, who have a match in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, are now just two points adrift, but they came desperately close to leaving the north east empty-handed despite rallying well after a dismal first-half display.

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