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Tuesday February 27, 2008

The Red Devils Hold Geordie Masterclass

United Close The Gap With The Gunners To Just Three Points

Birmingham City 2 Arsenal 2

In Saturday's early game, James McFadden scored a last-minute penalty to give 10-man Birmingham a 2-2 draw against EPL leaders Arsenal. Gunners' striker Eduardo da Silva suffered a broken leg in the third minute after a tackle by Martin Taylor, who was sent off. McFadden gave Birmingahm the lead in the 28th minute but Theo Walcott equalized five minutes into the second half. Walcott then put the Gunners ahead five minutes later before McFadden equalized from the spot in injury time after Gael Clichy had fouled Stuart Parnaby inside the area.

Newcastle United 1 Manchester United 5

United made up some ground on Arsenal by thumping Newcastle 5-1. Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo both netted twice for the Red Devils. Rooney opened the scoring midway through the first half slotting home a Ronaldo cross. Ronaldo doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time, running onto a Michael Carrick pass before sliding the ball home. Ronaldo made it 3-0 early in the second half rounding Steve Harper to score. Abdoulaye Faye did grab a consolation for the Toon 11 minutes from time but Rooney added a fourth soon after with a curling shot from just outside the box. Then in injury-time Rooney turned provider to set up substitute Louis Saha for the fifth.

Liverpool 3 Middlesbrough 2

A Fernando Torres hat-trick helped Liverpool claim a 3-2 win over 'Boro at Anfield. The visitors took the lead through Tuncay Sanli in the ninth minute after he headed a Stewart Downing free-kick past Jose Reina. Torres equalized in the 28th minute and the Spanish international put Rafael Benitez's side ahead in spectacular fashion a minute later with a 25-yard shot. Torres scored his third in the 61st minute after a defensive mix-up between Schwarzer and defender David Wheater to lift the ball into the net. Stewart Downing pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 83rd minute with a superb run before Jeremie Aliadiere was sent off.

Fulham 0 West Ham United 1

Fulham remain in trouble after they suffered a 1-0 defeat by West Ham at Craven Cottage. Nolberto Solano challenged goalkeeper Antti Niemi in the box and bundled the ball home from inside the six-yard box before Leon Andreasen was dismissed for a second-bookable offence.

Wigan Athletic 2 Derby County 0

Wigan boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 over Derby at the JJB. Paul Scharner put Steve Bruce's side ahead in the 60th minute and Antonio Valencia added a second with a curling finish in the 84th minute.

Portsmouth 1 Sunderland 0

Jermain Defoe scored the only goal of the game from a penalty to give Portsmouth a 1-0 win over Sunderland at Fratton Park. In the 69th minute, Phil Bardsley brought down Pompey midfielder Niko Kranjcar inside the penalty area. Defoe took the spot-kick and smashed the ball past goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Reading 1 Aston Villa 2

In Sunday's early game, Goals from Ashley Young and sub Marlon Harewood were enough for Villa to take the points against Reading. Villa could have triumphed by a much larger margin, especially as Gareth Barry missed a first-half penalty. Nicky Shorey's 90th-minute free-kick - Reading's first goal in 540 minutes of play - had no bearing on the game.

Blackburn Rovers 4 Bolton Wanderers 1

In Sunday's other game at Ewood Park, Benni McCarthy scored two spot-kicks as Blackburn won an incident-packed Lancashire derby 4-1. Bolton had burst out at the start of the second half and Kevin Davies' equalized in the 49th-minute - after McCarthy's opening penalty. McCarthy scored again from the spot and five minutes later the match was effectively over when David Bentley nodded home Rovers' third at the far post, with Morten Gamst Pedersen bagging an injury-time fourth.