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Tuesday April 13, 2010

Manchester City Goes Clear In Fourth Place

Hull City 1 Burnley 4

Graham Alexander scored two penalties as Burnley came from behind to claim their first away win of the season and boost their hopes of Premier League survival.
On the day Portsmouth were relegated following West Ham United's win over Sunderland, Burnley looked like they would soon be following them out of the top flight when Kevin Kilbane headed Hull City into a third-minute lead.
But former Scunthorpe United forward Martin Paterson equalized after 35 minutes, Alexander tucked in penalties after 64 and 70 minutes and Wade Elliott curled in a stoppage-time fourth as the Clarets claimed just a second win in 14 Premier League matches since the appointment of manager Brian Laws.
Burnley and Hull remain in the relegation zone, four points adrift of safety.

West Ham United 1 Sunderland 0

Brazilian striker Ilan is fast emerging as West Ham United's unlikely saviour after he earned the relegation-threatened Hammers a vital Premier League lifeline.
The 29-year-old followed up his equalizer against Everton last weekend with the only goal against Sunderland as West Ham edged four points clear of the relegation zone.
Ilan was virtually unknown in England when Gianfranco Zola signed him from St. Etienne on deadline day.
Zola was hopeful that Ilan's first goal for the club at Goodison Park last week, when West Ham ended a miserable run of six straight defeats, would spark a turnaround in their fortunes.
Ilan was promoted into the starting side and he made the telling contribution after 51 minutes, when he latched onto Carlton Cole's downward header to earn West Ham their first win in eight matches.
West Ham are still far from safe but this result, combined with Burnley's victory at Hull City, means Zola can breath easier.

Wolves 0 Stoke City 0

Wolverhampton Wanderers took another step towards securing Premier League survival after repelling a long-throw bombardment from Rory Delap in the Staffordshire derby with Stoke City at Molineux.
The share of the spoils in a match of little quality moved Mick McCarthy's side six points clear of the bottom three with four fixtures remaining - and they also have a superior goal difference.

Blackburn Rovers 0 Manchester United 0

Manchester United's Premier League title challenge suffered a major set-back as they were held at Blackburn Rovers.
Despite dominating almost all their match at Ewood Park, Sir Alex Ferguson's men rarely looked like making their pressure tell.
Paul Robinson needed to make two excellent saves to deny Antonio Valencia before half-time, but afterwards, with United so desperate for the points, the former England number one had surprisingly little to do.
Chelsea now lead the Red Devils by a point, with a match in hand, knowing the main danger to their championship aspirations now lies much closer to home, at Arsenal.

Liverpool 0 Fulham 0

Liverpool badly missed Fernando Torres as they dropped two more points in their increasingly forlorn pursuit of fourth place in the Premier League.
The Reds had numerous opportunities to beat their fellow Europa League semi-finalists Fulham but, without the cutting edge of the injured Torres, drew a blank at Anfield.
They also came up against a goalkeeper in good form in Mark Schwarzer, who produced a number of saves including a fine stop from a powerful Ryan Babel drive.
Torres scored twice in Thursday's stunning victory over Benfica but left the field early to rest a knee injury.
Manager Rafael Benitez had expected the striker to be fit but he failed to even make the bench.
Liverpool dominated possession throughout and Jose Reina, fresh from signing a new six-year contract, barely had a shot to save.
Yet their dependence on Torres was again all too evident.
Fulham were able to boast their leading scorer and hero of their European run, Bobby Zamora, following a fitness test on an Achilles injury, but the England World Cup hopeful endured a quiet afternoon.

Manchester City 5 Birmingham City 1

Roberto Mancini saw his Manchester City side warm up for the derby in devastating style against Birmingham City.
More importantly for the Italian manager they cemented fourth place in the League table, which brings the reward of a Champions League slot.
Nedum Onuoha scored his first league goal of the season and Emmanuel Adebayor also weighed in with a brace.
With Carlos Tevez scoring his 27th of the season from the penalty spot and also getting a touch to Onuoha's header to score his 28th, City secured a comfortable victory.
They have now scored 14 goals in the last three matches which will put them in good heart for the match against Manchester United on Saturday.
Guest of honour at the match was former City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, 86, who broke his neck in the victory against Birmingham in the 1956 FA Cup final.