SERVICES

Tuesday December 7, 2010

Gunners Shoot Into The Lead

Arsenal 2 Fulham 1

Two magical goals from Samir Nasri rescued Arsenal as they moved to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Fulham at the Emirates Stadium.
The France star's jaw-dropping composure was in stark contrast to that of his team-mates, who almost threw away another three points in front of their own fans.
Nasri put them ahead early on but a clash of heads between Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci allowed Diomansy Kamara to equalize before Nasri netted a glorious winner.
With Manchester United's match postponed due to the big freeze and Chelsea held by Everton, the victory sent Arsenal a point clear at the summit.
But this was far from a champion performance, more from a side that had lost their last two home league matches.

Birmingham City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Craig Gardner dented Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of cementing a place in the Premier League top four with a late equalizer for Birmingham City at St. Andrew's.
Spurs had looked the better side in the opening period and deservedly took the lead through Sebastien Bassong's first goal for 16 months.
But Gardner salvaged a point for the Carling Cup semi-finalists 10 minutes from time with his fifth goal of the campaign.
The pace of Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale was always a threat to City and Jermain Defoe looked sharp in his first start since September.
But Birmingham's never-say-die spirit again surfaced and they posed more of a threat in the second period before Gardner levelled matters.

Blackburn Rovers 3 Wolves 0

Morten Gamst Pedersen's set-piece magic helped Blackburn Rovers ease out of their Old Trafford hangover and send Wolverhampton Wanderers to the bottom of the Premier League at Ewood Park.
Pedersen had a hand in goals for David Dunn and Ryan Nelsen which sandwiched a fine strike by Brett Emerton and consigned Rovers' 7-1 defeat to distant memory.
The Norwegian was too much for Wolves to cope with and manager Mick McCarthy must now try to lift a team who sunk below West Ham United on goal difference after Nelsen hit Rovers' third.

Chelsea 1 Everton 1

Chelsea's mid-season slump continued after a late equalizer from Everton substitute Jermaine Beckford robbed them of the chance to go back to the top of the Premier League.
Didier Drogba's 41st minute penalty looked to have earned Chelsea all three points but Beckford headed a shock leveller four minutes from time.
The result left Chelsea with just one win in their last six league matches.

Manchester City 1 Bolton Wanderers 0

Carlos Tevez sealed Manchester City's victory with his 10th goal of the season to keep up the pressure on the Premier League leaders.
However the Argentina striker seemed ill at ease as Bolton Wanderers' five-match unbeaten run came to an end.
Tevez picked up his fifth booking of the campaign and will miss the match against West Ham United on Saturday.
So too will Aleksander Kolarov who is also banned after being dismissed by referee Andre Marriner after picking two yellow cards.

Wigan Athletic 2 Stoke City 2

Deflections were the order of the day as Wigan Athletic and Stoke City had to settle for a point apiece at the end of a lively Premier League encounter at the DW Stadium.
All the goals came in the first half, with Robert Huth getting the ball rolling with an 18th-minute free-kick that deflected in off Mohamed Diame in the wall.
If the Latics were cursing their luck, they got some of their own half an hour in as Danny Collins diverted Ben Watson's free-kick past his own keeper.
A minute later Matthew Etherington put Stoke back in front before Tom Cleverley levelled again five minutes before the break when his shot flew in off Rory Delap.
The result made it only one win in nine league matches for Wigan, who will look back at a bad miss from Hendry Thomas as well as a late Charles N'Zogbia shot against the post as evidence they could well have claimed all three points.

West Brom 3 Newcastle United 0

West Bromwich Albion climbed into the top half of the Premier League as two-goal Peter Odemwingie and Somen Tchoyi earned them a first league win over Newcastle United for 26 years.
Tchoyi's first goal at the Hawthorns gave the Baggies a deserved half-time lead after they dominated the opening 45 minutes.
Then Odemwingie wrapped up the points with his fifth goal of the campaign and another in the closing seconds to take his side past the 20-point mark before Peter Lovenkrands' last-gasp reply.
It sealed back-to-back league wins for Roberto Di Matteo's side after a slump in fortunes in November and their first over the Geordies in 18 attempts.
Newcastle could have no complaints about the outcome with Chris Brunt sparkling in a central midfield role and Odemwingie causing constant problems.
Andy Carroll hardly had a look-in and Newcastle's mini revival after the break was too little, too late.

Sunderland 1 West Ham United 0

Jordan Henderson's first goal of the season sent West Ham United back to the foot of the Premier League table as Sunderland ended their recent revival with a 1-0 win.
The 20-year-old England international struck 11 minutes before the break to give his side an advantage they refused to surrender despite second half pressure from the visitors.
Victor Obinna came closest to snatching a point with a 79th-minute effort which hit the outside of the post, but the Black Cats were good value for a victory which left them in seventh place.
Manager Steve Bruce has spent much of the season to date pleading with his midfielders to help out strikers Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan on the goals front, and Henderson's contribution will have been as welcome to him as it was to the bulk of a crowd of 36,940 on a bitterly cold Wearside afternoon.