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Tuesday March 22, 2011

West Ham Hold Spurs Goalless

Tottenham Hotspur 0 West Ham United 0

Tottenham Hotspur lost further ground in the race for fourth place as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw in their London derby against West Ham United at White Hart Lane.
Just 24 hours after being paired with Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, Spurs' chances of qualifying for next year's competition took a big blow despite dominating for large parts of the match.
Michael Dawson, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon all rattled the woodwork and Jermain Defoe was guilty of missing several good opportunities to break the deadlock, while West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green performed superbly.
It is the sixth time that Spurs have failed to take all three points following a Champions League fixture and last week's aggregate win over Milan now seems a distant memory.
The result means Tottenham trail Chelsea by two points ahead of their match against Manchester City while a rejuvenated West Ham moved out of the relegation zone.

Blackburn Rovers 2 Blackpool 2

Junior Hoilett's injury-time header earned a vital point for Blackburn Rovers in a breathless Premier League encounter with fellow strugglers Blackpool.
The visitors were in total control at half-time after captain Charlie Adam, back from a two-match ban, had netted a contentious 25th-minute penalty and curled in a sublime free-kick four minutes later.
But Christopher Samba pulled a goal back for Blackburn four minutes into the second half and their incessant pressure finally paid off when Richard Kingson failed to get hands to a free-kick from opposite number Paul Robinson and Hoilett headed in.
The result keeps both sides a point above the relegation zone, but Blackpool will know this was a great chance to take a giant step towards safety.

Manchester United 1 Bolton Wanderers 0

Dimitar Berbatov struck three minutes from time to give 10-man Manchester United a precious Premier League win over Bolton Wanderers.
The hosts were already labouring badly when Jonny Evans was sent off for a reckless second-half challenge on Stuart Holden.
But United made light of the handicap and after Matthew Taylor had failed to take a glorious chance for the visitors, Berbatov pounced, netting his 21st goal of the season after the normally reliable Jussi Jaaskelainen had failed to hold Nani's long-range effort.

Stoke City 4 Newcastle United 0

Stoke City scored four goals for the first time in a Premier League match as they defeated Newcastle United.
A week after securing a place in the FA Cup semi-finals, Tony Pulis' side cruised past the Tynesiders with a clinical display which moved them above their opponents and into the top half of the table.
Jon Walters opened the scoring after 28 minutes and the floodgates opened after the break with Jermaine Pennant, Danny Higginbotham and Ricardo Fuller completing the rout.
Newcastle have taken just one point from their last three matches and may now start looking over their shoulders with only a four-point buffer separating them from the relegation zone.

West Brom 2 Arsenal 2

Arsenal's title challenge suffered a blow as their late rally was only enough to secure a draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Albion were 2-0 up just before the hour mark when Peter Odemwingie capitalised on a mix-up between Manuel Almunia and Sebastien Squillaci to add to Steven Reid's early header.
The Gunners staged a comeback with goals in the 70th minute from Andrey Arshavin and 78th from Robin van Persie, but they could not find a winner and are now five points behind League leaders Manchester United, who beat Bolton Wanderers 1-0.

Wigan Athletic 2 Birmingham City 1

Defender Maynor Figueroa was Wigan Athletic's unlikely saviour as he smashed home a late winner to ignite his side's survival battle in the Premier League.
The Honduran international has found the net only three times in his three-year Latics career but the importance of his latest strike could not be underestimated.
His side appeared to have been frustrated in their bid for victory despite throwing everything at the visitors in the latter stages of the second half after Tom Cleverley had equalized Liam Ridgewell's disputed opener in the 25th minute.
But when the impressive Cleverley rolled the ball back from the byline in the second of five minutes of added time the left-back switched it on to his weaker right foot before smashing a shot past goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Figueroa has history for dramatic interventions, with his previous goal being the 60-yard effort at Stoke City last season.
Whether this latest effort will be enough to keep Wigan in the top flight remains to be seen but it lifted the bottom side to within two points of safety.
More importantly, only a second league win in 12 matches will boost confidence for the remaining eight fixtures.
It also sucked Carling Cup winners Birmingham City further into the dogfight as they slipped to second bottom, just a point above the Roberto Martinez's side.

Everton 2 Fulham 1

Seamus Coleman and Louis Saha struck as David Moyes began his 10th year as Everton manager as his started his first, by beating Fulham.
Coleman ignited the affair at Goodison Park with a well-placed header 10 minutes before the break.
Former Fulham striker Saha doubled the Toffees' lead from a free-kick early in the second half but a Clint Dempsey strike prevented the home side easing to victory.

Sunderland 0 Liverpool 2

Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez fired Liverpool to victory at Sunderland as the Reds made amends for their beachball disaster on Wearside last season.
Kuyt set the visitors on their way with 33 minutes gone when he converted a hotly-disputed penalty, and Suarez completed the job with 13 minutes remaining.
But the Black Cats trudged off the pitch on the final whistle hugely aggrieved at the penalty decision with defender John Mensah, who was later shown a straight red card for a professional foul on Suarez, appearing to trip Jay Spearing outside the box.
However, while they may have had reason to feel hard done by, Steve Bruce's men were rarely a threat despite enjoying the greater share of possession, and Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina did not have a save worthy of note to make until he plucked substitute Lee Cattermole's long-range effort out of the air four minutes from time.
Liverpool were much more effective despite £35m man Andy Carroll enduring a quiet afternoon on his league debut for the club, and home goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had to pull off good saves from Kuyt, Suarez and Spearing to keep the scoreline respectable in front of a sell-out crowd of 47,207.

Chelsea 2 Manchester City 0

Another virtuoso display from David Luiz helped keep Chelsea's faint title hopes alive and kill off Manchester City's at Stamford Bridge.
Defender Luiz put a clutch of the world's most expensive strikers to shame by breaking the deadlock late on before Ramires wrapped up the points in stoppage-time.
The win lifted Chelsea above City into third place and back within nine points of Manchester United with a game in hand, while City are now 10 adrift having played the same number of matches.