SERVICES

Tuesday October 4, 2011

Toons Still Riding High

Everton 0 Liverpool 2

Liverpool claimed victory in the 216th Merseyside derby against 10-man Everton at Goodison Park.
Andy Carroll's first Premier League goal of the season and another from Luis Suarez gave the Reds all three points.
The hosts had Jack Rodwell sent off in the 23rd minute for a sliding tackle but despite the disadvantage they matched their near-neighbours for long periods.
Dirk Kuyt saw his first-half penalty brilliantly saved by Tim Howard but 19 minutes from time Carroll powered home Jose Enrique's cross and Suarez sealed the victory.

Aston Villa 2 Wigan Athletic 0

Striker Gabriel Agbonlahor inspired Aston Villa to their first ever home Premier League win over Wigan Athletic.
Agbonlahor scored his fourth league goal of the campaign to break the deadlock before the break and created the second for Darren Bent in the 2-0 victory.
Only a series of fine saves by Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi prevented Villa - still unbeaten in the league this season - from winning by a more emphatic margin.

Blackburn Rovers 0 Manchester City 4

Manchester City secured a comfortable Premier League win at Blackburn Rovers. Mario Balotelli capped a brilliant performance with a 59th-minute goal while other second-half strikes from Adam Johnson, Samir Nasri and Stefan Savic eased City home.
Blackburn's best chance fell to substitute Mauro Formica late on but it was not enough for the home fans.

Manchester United 2 Norwich City 0

Manchester United completed a club record 19th successive home league win - but few have been as unconvincing as this 2-0 triumph over plucky Norwich City.
The visitors carved out virtually all the best chances, with Anthony Pilkington hitting a post and rolling a shot wide after finding himself clean through.
Norwich were made to pay when Anderson powered home a close-range header midway through the second period before Danny Welbeck scored his third goal in a week, sliding in to finish off Park Ji-sung's cut-back.

Sunderland 2 West Brom 2

Ahmed Elmohamady's first goal for Sunderland helped the Black Cats pull off a timely rescue job at the Stadium of Light.
Steve Bruce must have feared the worst after his side conceded twice within a catastrophic opening five minutes as James Morrison and then Shane Long got West Brom off to a dream start.
But Sunderland responded to drag themselves back from the brink of disaster.
Nicklas Bendtner gave them hope with a 24th-minute strike, his first for the club, and Ahmed Elmohamady followed suit within two minutes in a chaotic first half.
A rejuvenated Sunderland enjoyed the better of the match from that point on, but were unable to make the pressure tell and had to make do with a point on a day when three were perhaps what was required.

Wolves 1 Newcastle United 2

Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul produced a man-of-the-match display to keep the Magpies riding high in the Premier League.
Krul conjured a handful of stunning saves as Wolves slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, despite Steven Fletcher setting up a frantic finish with a diving header in the 88th minute.
With Krul in magnificent form at one end, it was Demba Ba and Jonas Gutierrez who saw United home at the other to extend their unbeaten top-flight run to 10 matches.

Bolton Wanderers 1 Chelsea 5

Frank Lampard underlined his importance to Chelsea with a hat-trick at the Reebok Stadium as the Blues closed the gap at the top of the Premier League on an afternoon to forget for Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
With the visitors cutting through their opponents' defense at will, Lampard and Daniel Sturridge - scorer of eight goals in 12 games during a loan spell with Wanderers last season - both netted twice in the first half, two errors in quick succession by Bogdan allowing each player their second.
Dedryck Boyata scored his first Bolton goal soon after the restart, but it counted for little as Lampard dispatched his third of the day in the 59th minute.

Fulham 6 QPR 0

Andrew Johnson's hat-trick helped Fulham secure their first Premier League win of the season in resounding fashion against west London rivals Queens Park Rangers.
While some feared the Cottagers may struggle with a hangover from their midweek European exertions, they impressed from the offset and dominated throughout against their neighbors from less than three miles up the road.
Johnson handed the home side the lead after just 79 seconds and their strong start continued when Danny Murphy slotted home from the spot midway through the first period.
QPR looked poor in the rivals' first meeting since 2001 and hopes of securing their first win over Fulham since 1983 were all-but curtailed just before the break when Johnson tucked away his second of the afternoon.
The 30-year-old ensured he would leave Craven Cottage with the matchball in the 60th minute when latching onto Murphy's quick free-kick, before Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora wrapped up the 6-0 rout.

Swansea City 2 Stoke City 0

Record signing Danny Graham grabbed his first Swansea City goal as the Welsh club maintained their unbeaten home record in the Premier League with victory over Stoke City in a feisty Liberty Stadium encounter.
Scott Sinclair opened the scoring when he slotted his second penalty of the campaign in the 10th minute after Potters' captain Ryan Shawcross, on his 100th top-flight appearance, had made a rash challenge on Wayne Routledge.
Graham then made sure of the win with five minutes remaining as he came out on top in a challenge with Jonathan Woodgate to calmly fire home his maiden strike following a £3.5m move from Watford.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Arsenal 1

Kyle Walker wrote himself in to Spurs folklore by scoring a 30-yard screamer to give Harry Redknapp's team the spoils in the north London derby against Arsenal at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham took the lead through Rafael van der Vaart just before half-time, but Aaron Ramsey swept home just after the restart to make it 1-1.
The match seemed destined for a draw until the ball fell to Walker 17 minutes from time and the right-back hammered a bullet of a shot that flew past Wojciech Szczesny.