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Tuesday February 8, 2011

Wolves Ends United's Unbeaten Run

Stoke City 3 Sunderland 2

In the early match on Saturday morning second-half double from Robert Huth helped Stoke City come from behind to claim a 3-2 win at home to Sunderland.
The Black Cats appeared to be moving to within four points of the Champions League places after Asamoah Gyan's ninth goal of the season put them 2-1 up early in the second half.
But Huth claimed an equalizer seven minutes from time after John Carew had cancelled out Kieran Richardson's second-minute opener just after the half-hour, and the German then slid home the winner in stoppage time to stun the visitors.

Aston Villa 2 Fulham 2

Clint Dempsey's 10th goal of the campaign rescued a point for Fulham, after they had twice trailed to Aston Villa in a ding-dong Premier League match at Villa Park.
Villa twice looked set for victory after a John Pantsil own goal and Kyle Walker's first ever league goal put them in the ascendancy.
But Andy Johnson and then Dempsey struck back for Mark Hughes's side.
Villa dominated the first half with winger Stewart Downing causing plenty of problems and linking up well with full-back Walker down the right flank.
Newcomer Jean Makoun also impressed in the middle of the park and Villa deservedly led through the unfortunate Pantsil.
He had also scored an own goal in the corresponding fixture last season.
But it was a different story in the second half as Villa lost momentum and the visitors grew in confidence with skipper David Murphy impressive in the middle of the park.

Everton 5 Blackpool 3

Louis Saha scored four and Jermaine Beckford was also on target as Everton came from behind to beat Blackpool in an eight-goal thriller.
Blackpool had come from 2-1 down to lead 3-2 with just over an hour gone of a frenetic Premier League match at Goodison Park.
But Saha's third levelled the scores and he completed the scoring with his eighth goal in his last six matches after a superb Beckford volley.
Saha had opened the scoring after 20 minutes but Blackpool equalized when Alex Baptiste made sure Ian Evatt's effort crossed the line.
Saha scored again in the second half but Blackpool roared back in characteristic fashion with goals from Jason Puncheon and captain Charlie Adam.
However, as has also been their way recently, Blackpool let their opponents back in and are now slipping alarmingly towards the relegation zone.

Manchester City 3 West Brom 0

Carlos Tevez celebrated his 27th birthday by keeping Manchester City on course for a Champions League spot with a first-half hat-trick in the 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion.
It was the Argentina striker's third treble of his City career and took his tally for the season to 20 goals. He was given a standing ovation when he came off four minutes from time.
It was just the result manager Roberto Mancini was looking for as it came on the day a minute's applause was held in memory of former favourite Neil Young, who died recently after a long battle against cancer.

Newcastle United 4 Arsenal 4

Cheik Tiote's first goal in English football secured a remarkable point for Newcastle United as they fought back from 4-0 down against 10-man Arsenal.
The Ivory Coast international pegged back the Gunners with a stunning 87th-minute volley after Joey Barton had scored twice from the penalty spot either side of Leon Best's fourth goal of the season.
Alan Pardew's men were in complete disarray as the Gunners raced into a 4-0 lead at St James' Park within the opening 26 minutes.
Goals from Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou and a Robin van Persie double looked to have wrapped up the points and allowed Arsenal to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester United.
But after midfielder Abou Diaby had been sent off for pushing Barton to the ground after a no-holds-barred 48th-minute challenge, Newcastle, roared on by a crowd of 51,561, pulled off the most unlikely of recoveries.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Bolton Wanderers 1

Substitute Niko Kranjcar struck in injury time to give Tottenham Hotspur a 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on a compelling afternoon of action-packed football at White Hart Lane.
It was a spectacular 25-yard strike from the Croatian who has struggled this season to impress manager Harry Redknapp.
The victory keeps Tottenham in the chase for a Champions League place but it was harsh on Bolton, who deserved something after levelling 10 minutes into the second half following a first period which saw Tottenham handed two penalties within 60 seconds.
Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart netted the first but missed the second after being ordered to retake it by referee Mark Clattenburg, who had spotted players encroaching into the area.
But that hardly tells the story of a match which saw two teams intent on attacking at all cost.

Wigan Athletic 4 Blackburn Rovers 3

James McCarthy scored twice in a thrilling encounter at the DW Stadium as Wigan Athletic ended their eight-match winless run in the Premier League to climb out of the bottom three.
The hosts were second best for much of the first half and Blackburn Rovers deservedly took the lead through Jason Roberts only for James McCarthy to draw Wigan level 10 minutes before half-time.
The match really got going in the second half as Hugo Rodallega and McCarthy put the Latics two goals ahead before Christopher Samba pulled one back. Ben Watson and David Dunn then netted a penalty apiece as Wigan held on for a priceless victory.

Wolves 2 Manchester United 1

The 41st goal of a record day for scoring in the Premier League ended Manchester United's long unbeaten run as Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed another notable scalp at Molineux.
United's name can now go alongside Manchester City and Chelsea as title contenders who have lost at the Black Country venue after Wolves bounced back from an early goal, then repelled a fierce second-half pummelling.
By the final whistle, the Red Devils had lost their cool, reduced to the desperation of Paul Scholes trying to push the ball into the net to salvage a point.
It did not work and Wolves were able to celebrate thanks to a George Elokobi header which levelled Nani's third-minute opener and a winner whose scorer was disputed - Elokobi and Kevin Doyle both claimed to get the final tough to Nenad Milijas' 40th-minute free-kick - but whose value was unquestioned.
Indeed, as the frenzied roar greeted the final whistle, it seemed somehow in keeping with an extraordinary day, that the top club should lose to the bottom, their lead at the top trimmed to four points over a team that themselves tossed away a four-goal lead.

West Ham United 0 Birmingham City 1

Avram Grant endured a nightmare 56th birthday at Upton Park as his side sunk to the bottom of the Premier League table after losing to fellow strugglers Birmingham City.
Nikola Zigic dealt the fatal blow midway through the second half when he nodded home from a Sebastian Larsson free-kick to seal the win and move Blues up to 16th.
Substitute Demba Ba rattled the woodwork on his debut but, otherwise, the Hammers rarely threatened the visitors' goal and looked poor throughout.

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 1

Fernando Torres' much-anticipated Chelsea debut ended in disappointment for player and club as Raul Meireles sealed a memorable win for the Spaniard's former Liverpool team-mates.
Meireles hooked home from close range after 68 minutes to take the match - and potentially any lingering title aspirations - from the big-spending Blues.
It was a different story for £50m Torres though, with the most expensive player in British football history hauled off after 65 minutes.