SERVICES

Tuesday November 16, 2010

The Blues Trip Over Black Cats

Aston Villa 2 Manchester United 2

In the early game on Saturday, Manchester United launched a stunning comeback to rescue a point through goals by Federico Macheda and Nemanja Vidic after Aston Villa looked set for their first home win over the Red Devils in 15 years.
Villa, lacking nine players through injury or illness, stunned United as Ashley Young and Marc Albrighton put them in command with only 15 minutes remaining.
But United rallied through Macheda and skipper Vidic to maintain their unbeaten record this season.
Nevertheless, they remained three points behind leaders Chelsea who had a match in hand against Sunderland on Sunday.

Manchester City 0 Birmingham City 0

Manchester City were forced to settle for a second goalless draw on home soil in four days as they failed to break down Birmingham's defensive barrier.
James Milner came closest to breaking the deadlock when his shot was booted off the line by Stephen Carr 15 seconds from the restart.
Just as against Manchester United on Wednesday, the entertainment value was somewhat lacking, except this time City were playing against a side in the lower reaches of the table.
It was not impressive stuff though for a side who, whilst remaining in a Champions League position, have now won just one match from their last five Premier League outings and have not scored a league goal on home soil since the beginning of October.

Newcastle United 0 Fulham 0

Newcastle United's striker Andy Carroll was denied an eighth goal of the season by a stunning save from Mark Schwarzer as Fulham fought their way to a point at St James' Park.
A crowd of 44,686 thought the 21-year-old had opened the scoring with a stinging 52nd-minute volley, only for the Australian goalkeeper to claw it out of the bottom corner.
Schwarzer also made two good saves from Peter Lovenkrands to preserve his clean sheet on another frustrating afternoon for Chris Hughton's men on their own park.
It could have been worse for the Magpies, who saw Moussa Dembele's 70th-minute volley come back off the crossbar after Tim Krul had kept out three efforts from Clint Dempsey and another from Zoltan Gera.
But they at least claimed another point to add to their survival fund with the total now standing at 18.
St James' Park was something of a fortress for the Magpies last season when they went through the entire campaign without a single defeat on home turf.
This time around, however, their fortunes have been mixed to say the least with thumping victories over Aston Villa and Sunderland having gone hand in hand with depressing defeats at the hands of Blackpool, Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers.

Tottenham Hotspur 4 Blackburn Rovers 2

Tottenham Hotspur cruised to their first league win in five matches thanks to another impressive performance from two-goal Gareth Bale.
Bale put Spurs in front with a header in the 16th minute and after Roman Pavlyuchenko had missed a penalty, he made amends by heading the second four minutes before the interval.
Peter Crouch added a third in the 68th minute before Bale scored his second of the match from a cross by Alan Hutton.
Blackburn rallied too late with goals from substitute David Dunn in the 79th minute and a Gael Givet effort in the closing stages.

West Ham United 0 Blackpool 0

Bottom club West Ham United were again frustrated as Blackpool's all-changed XI held them to a goalless draw at Upton Park.
Ian Holloway had threatened to quit if fined for making 10 alterations for the midweek defeat at Aston Villa, and had recalled his main men for this encounter.
However, it was referee Kevin Friend who took center stage when he denied the home side two possible first-half penalties, with Avram Grant's men then unable to make the most of their opportunities.

Wigan Athletic 1 West Brom 0

Victor Moses stepped off the bench to help secure Wigan Athletic's first win in six Premier League matches and ease their relegation nerves in the process.
The 19-year-old showed remarkable maturity in front of goal to steer his effort beyond West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Scott Carson and into the corner.
Moses had good cause for celebration in the 70th minute as it was his first league goal this season, although he found the target in the Carling Cup victory against Hartlepool United.
It was a cool finish by the midfielder, who arrived from Crystal Palace at the end of the January transfer window for £2.5m.

Wolves 2 Bolton Wanderers 3

Bolton Wanderers survived a late comeback by Wolverhampton Wanderers to take all three points from a thrilling contest at Molineux.
The hosts dominated the opening period but shot themselves in the foot - as they had in their previous match - by conceding a goal in the first minute, Richard Stearman heading past his own goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.
Second-half strikes from Johan Elmander and Stuart Holden gave Bolton a 3-0 lead, and although Kevin Foley and Steven Fletcher swiftly reduced the deficit, Mick McCarthy's side were unable to find the equalizer.
While the visitors will be delighted to have held out to keep their impressive form going, McCarthy's side remain in the Premier League's bottom three.
They have earned plaudits for their football over the last few weeks, but have taken only nine points from 13 league fixtures and results need to improve fast.

Stoke City 2 Liverpool 0

Liverpool's mini-revival petered out as they lost 2-0 to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
A six-match unbeaten run came to end as they were outfought, outplayed and outmanoeuvred by Tony Pulis' side.
Ricardo Fuller opened the scoring just after half-time and Kenwyne Jones completed a comprehensive victory in the final minute before Lucas Leiva was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Roy Hodgson's side appeared unprepared and unable to deal with their hosts' brash, energetic approach which allowed them to dominate the match from first to last.

Everton 1 Arsenal 2

On Sunday morning, goals from Bacary Sagna and Cesc Fabregas proved decisive as Arsenal held off an Everton fightback to move second in the Premier League.
Sagna opened the scoring after 35 minutes at Goodison Park with a ferocious strike from a tight angle and Fabregas doubled the lead early in the second half.
Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh spurned glorious chances to add to the lead but Everton produced a thrilling finish and deservedly pulled one back through Tim Cahill late on.
The Gunners also had Lukasz Fabianksi to thank for their three points, the goalkeeper having produced fine saves to deny Jermaine Beckford, Steven Pienaar and Louis Saha.
Jack Rodwell also blazed a fine chance over as Everton refused to surrender their seven-match unbeaten run without a fight.

Chelsea 0 Sunderland 3

Goals from Nedum Onuoha, Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck gave Sunderland a deserved 3-0 victory over League leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It was Chelsea's first home defeat since March and their first at the hands of Sunderland since 2001.
The visitors stunned Carlo Ancelotti's side on the stroke of half-time when Onuoha dribbled his way through the home defence to score.
Gyan added the second just after half-time and Welbeck seized on a poor backpass by Ashley Cole in the 87th minute to hand Chelsea their second defeat in three matches.