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Tuesday September 28, 2010

Chelsea Feeling The City Blues

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0

After handing Chelsea the title the day before, Roberto Mancini watched his Manchester City side promptly snatch it away again as Carlos Tevez's second-half strike ended the Champions' 100 per cent record.
In a tactical battle with defences largely on top throughout, Tevez's moment of inspiration just before the hour proved to be decisive.
Chelsea were unable to halt the South American's burst from halfway and he found the perfect finish too, through Ashley Cole's legs and in off the post.
Carlo Ancelotti's men battled hard to force an equalizer, but, just as they had done for most of the contest, they failed to open up a disciplined City defence and came no nearer than the header Branislav Ivanovic struck the bar with before half-time.

Arsenal 2 West Brom 3

West Bromwich Albion destroyed Arsenal's chance to close the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League with a thrilling victory over the Gunners at the Emirates.
Three second-half goals from Peter Odemwingie, Gonzalo Jara and former Arsenal player Jerome Thomas put Albion in front before Samir Nasri scored two late goals for Arsene Wenger's side.
It was Arsenal's first home defeat since they lost to Manchester United last January and kept them four points adrift of leaders Chelsea while Albion moved up into fifth place.

Birmingham City 0 Wigan Athletic 0

Birmingham created a slice of club history but Cameron Jerome's failings in front of goal meant they had to settle for a goalless draw against Wigan Athletic at St Andrew's.
And an afternoon of frustration for Blues was compounded when top scorer Craig Gardner was shown a straight red card for a lunge at Franco Di Santo in the last minute.
Alex McLeish's side equalled City's best top flight unbeaten home run of 18 matches stretching back exactly 12 months.
But Jerome, last season's leading scorer with 11 goals, missed two golden first-half chances to earn his side all three points.
It was a below-par performance from the home side who have won only two of their last sixteen League fixtures.
McLeish is fully aware that he is still searching for the right combination in the final third of the pitch.
City struggled to impose themselves on the Latics, who followed up their win at Spurs with a solid performance.

Blackpool 1 Blackburn Rovers 2

Brett Emerton grabbed a last-gasp winner as Blackburn Rovers snatched victory in a compelling Lancashire derby at Blackpool.
The Australian struck four minutes into injury time after Blackpool substitute Matt Phillips thought he had earned a point with an 87th-minute equalizer at Bloomfield Road.
Blackburn had led since the 20th minute of the encounter when the otherwise excellent Charlie Adam inexplicably headed into his own net.
It was only Blackburn's second win of the season and brought relief to their manager Sam Allardyce - sacked by Blackpool 14 years ago - after squandering leads in four previous matches.
Defeat was harsh on the Seasiders in their first League meeting with their neighbours for 30 years.
They started and finished strongly and Adam went close to making amends for his error three times.

Fulham 0 Everton 0

Everton sank to the foot of the Premier League to complete a miserable week for manager David Moyes.
The Toffees were held to a drab draw at Craven Cottage but despite securing a point, they propped up the table after West Ham beat Spurs.
Having crashed out of the Carling Cup with a midweek defeat at Brentford, they must now wait at least another week to claim their first League win of the season.
Moyes will be the more satisfied manager after Everton controlled long spells of a dire match that did not show any sign of life until the final half hour.
Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer made a fine save from Yakubu in the 78th minute and the later stages were lit up by a duel between the rivals that the Australian clearly won.
But the afternoon reflected poorly on both teams with each suffering from their lack of firepower having lost key strikers to the treatment room.

Liverpool 2 Sunderland 2

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard once again came to his side's rescue in 2-2 draw against Sunderland at Anfield.
Dirk Kuyt got opening strike, Darren Bent hit back with a penalty and a header either side of half-time before Gerrard nodded in Fernando Torres' near-post cross to salvage a point.
Liverpool were again indebted to their inspirational captain for only briefly dragging them out of mediocrity.
Torres also played his part early on but cut an increasingly frustrated figure as Liverpool seemed to go backwards.

West Ham United 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0

Frederic Piquionne reached a milestone by scoring the 10,000th Premier League goal with a Nike match ball in West Ham United's win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The goal was scored in the 29th minute and was netted with the Nike Total 90 Tracer.
Piquionne's first-half header also gave West Ham their first League win of the season in a thrilling London derby at Upton Park.
It was no more than West Ham deserved as they showed the grit and determination which manager Avram Grant will need to see more of if they are to avoid relegation this season.
Goalkeeper Robert Green also made a string of athletic saves, including one from Luka Modric in the first half which was a candidate for save of the season.

Bolton Wanderer 2 Manchester United 2

Michael Owen rescued a point for Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson's men twice had to come from behind against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium.
Owen nodded home Nani's free-kick 16 minutes from time to ensure United did not join the other victims on a weekend of shock defeats to Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Yet it was hardly a pleasing outcome for Ferguson, who would have hoped for better once Nani levelled Zat Knight's early effort but instead saw his team fall behind again thanks to Martin Petrov.
As United have now conceded nine goals in five Premier League matches and trail leaders Chelsea by three points, it was not the best of weekends for them, nor an out-of-sorts Wayne Rooney, who was replaced by Federico Macheda half-an-hour from the end.

Wolves 1 Aston Villa 2

Emile Heskey's late goal enabled new Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier to emerge triumphant from his first Premier League match in charge of the club at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The former England striker celebrated his first league start for six months by heading home an 87th-minute cross from Stephen Warnock.
Matt Jarvis' first goal of the campaign looked to have rescued Wolves a point after Stewart Downing's close range effort separated the sides at half-time.
Villa were the better side in the first half with Ashley Young impressing in his role just behind the revitalised Heskey.
Nigel Reo-Coker was dominant in midfield while Carlos Cuellar made a series of crucial interceptions when Wolves did threaten.
But Wolves were better in the second 45 minutes with Brad Friedel the busier of the two goalkeepers.
It means Villa are unbeaten in 17 matches with Wolves stretching back 30 years.

Newcastle United 1 Stoke City 2

James Perch's own goal handed Stoke City all three points as Newcastle United lost at home for the second time in a row.
The full-back headed Matthew Etherington's corner into his own net under pressure from Robert Huth to complete a concerted fightback by the Potters.
Kevin Nolan's 43rd-minute penalty had given the Magpies a deserved half-time lead, but Stoke responded after the break and were back on terms with 67 minutes gone when Sunderland old-boy Kenwyne Jones, who had earlier hit both the post and the bar, headed home from close range.
But there was still a twist to come five minutes from time when Perch's unwitting intervention handed the visitors victory in front of a crowd of 41,915.