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Tuesday October 27, 2009

United Outclassed By Liverpool In Anfield

Wolves 1 Aston Villa 1

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored his first goal of the season to rescue a well-deserved point for Wolverhampton Wanderers and deal a blow to Aston Villa's European hopes.
Gabriel Agbonlahor maintained his hot scoring streak by netting for the sixth time in eight matches to put Villa ahead with 10 minutes remaining.
But three minutes later Ebanks-Blake levelled from the penalty spot after Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell had brought down Michael Kightly.
It was no more than Wolves deserved after a committed and tenacious performance although they were under the cosh for the majority of the second period.
They restricted the visitors to only a handful of clear-cut chances with Jody Craddock impressing at the heart of the Wolves defence.
Villa looked only a shadow of the side which had taken seven points from three meetings with Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in recent weeks.
And it will be of concern to manager Martin O'Neill that they have in contrast dropped points against the likes of Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and now their struggling midlands rivals.

Birmingham City 2 Sunderland 1

Birmingham City claimed a third Premier League victory of the season after beating Sunderland.
Former Blues manager Steve Bruce could only look on as his side fell 2-0 behind with 48 minutes gone.
Strikes by defender Liam Ridgewell and midfielder James McFadden doubled City's league tally at home this season and were ultimately enough to clinch the points, although only just.
Sunderland gave themselves a lifeline when Scott Dann put through his own goal with eight minutes remaining, but substitute Fraizer Campbell and leading scorer Darren Bent passed up late opportunities to wrestle back a point.
But that would have been harsh on the home side, who dominated much of what had gone before in front of a delighted crowd of 21,723.

Burnley 1 Wigan Athletic 3

Hugo Rodallega's two goals helped end Burnley's 100 per cent record at Turf Moor since stepping up to the Premier League.
The Colombia striker has now scored five goals this season, with all four of Wigan's wins coming when he has been on the scoresheet.
After cancelling out Steven Fletcher's fourth-minute opener just 11 minutes later, Rodallega added his second early after the restart.
That was before a rare Emmerson Boyce strike assured Wigan a first away win since the opening day of the campaign.
Burnley were a shadow of the energetic team that had caused such a stir after victories over Manchester United, Everton, Sunderland and Birmingham City on this ground, as they lacked momentum and ideas.

Hull City 0 Portsmouth 0

Hull City and Portsmouth settled for a point apiece from a dismal Premier League basement scrap.
Chances were few and far between the two lowly sides as they struggled for inspiration at the KC Stadium.
With both sides struggling in the bottom three, the match was always likely to be tense even if Pompey, having scored just five times this season, might have been confident against the competition's leakiest defence.
The best opportunity fell to bottom side Pompey just after the hour as Aruna Dindane and Hassan Yebda were denied by Boaz Myhill.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Stoke City 1

Stoke City substitute Glenn Whelan snatched a late winner at White Hart Lane to ruin Harry Redknapp's first anniversary as Tottenham Hotspur manager.
With Jermain Defoe suspended for the match, Spurs could not unlock a Stoke defence assembled by boss Tony Pulis, who was a player under Redknapp at Bournemouth.
Peter Crouch had two efforts cleared off the line, both by James Beattie, and Niko Kranjcar struck the post - then the visitors stung them at the end in spectacular fashion when Whelan found the top corner.
It was this weekend last year that Redknapp arrived from Portsmouth to save Spurs from relegation and in the end they nearly ended up qualifying for Europe.
Spurs have not looked back since and have Champions League ambitions after their promising start to the campaign. A video shown on the big screen marking the fifth anniversary of Bill Nicholson's death, their double-winning manager, shows what they have to live up to.
Stoke did too by frustrating them and hitting them with a sucker punch at the death. They showed why they have top-half aspirations of their own.

Chelsea 5 Blackburn Rovers 0

Chelsea gave Carlo Ancelotti a perfect tonic as they soared back to the top of the Premier League with a 5-0 demolition of Blackburn Rovers at Stamford Bridge.
Ancelotti, back in the dugout after visiting his seriously ill father in Italy in midweek, watched his side produce a fabulous performance against to go two points clear at the summit.
Chelsea destroyed Sam Allardyce's outfit with two goals from Frank Lampard, one a penalty, plus others from Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and an own goal from Gael Givet.
The match was so one-sided that had Chelsea taken all their first half chances, the scoreline could have been in double figures.
But four goals in a 15-minute second half spell handed Rovers their biggest defeat since Allardyce took charge at Ewood Park and kept Ancelotti's 100 per cent home record intact.

Bolton Wanderers 3 Everton 2

Bolton Wanderers survived a comeback from Everton before sealing their first home win of the season in the Premier League.
Gary Megson's side triumphed at the Reebok Stadium as substitute Ivan Klasnic scored his first goal for the club with the decisive strike in the 87th minute.
The hosts had been well in control as goals from Lee Chung-Yong and Gary Cahill put them 2-0 ahead.
Everton hit back with a wonder-strike from Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini's second-half equaliser, but Klasnic settled the issue late on.

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0

Fernando Torres and substitute David Ngog left Manchester United reeling as Liverpool brilliantly halted their four-match losing streak.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had said prior to the match that one win would change everything, and what a result his team delivered to ease the pressure on the Spaniard.
The champions were eventually beaten after a stunning performance of defiance from the home side.
In this cracking Premier League battle, Liverpool restored their pride with a victory over, for them, the best opponents possible.
Torres forced his injured frame through the match and grabbed his ninth goal of the campaign midway through the second half to get Liverpool really firing.
Ngog hit the second in stoppage-time, with the match at boiling point. United had by that stage lost defender Nemanja Vidic to his third red card in successive matches against Liverpool.
Javier Mascherano saw red too, but it was Liverpool who inflicted the second league defeat of the season on United to restore faith among their fans.

Manchester City 2 Fulham 2

Clint Dempsey capped a storming Fulham recovery as Mark Hughes' shell-shocked Manchester City were forced to settle for their third straight Premier League draw.
Hughes' men were cruising home when Martin Petrov fired home their second on the hour, seven minutes after Joleon Lescott had knocked home the opener.
But eight minutes later the visitors were back on level terms when first Damien Duff then Dempsey fired past Shay Given to lend another twist to an action-packed match.
It could have been worse for City as Bobby Zamora brought a late save out of Given as memories inevitably flicked back to Fulham's 'great escape' from relegation with a 3-2 win at Eastlands in 2008.

West Ham United 2 Arsenal 2

Arsenal missed the chance of a fifth straight Premier League win as West Ham United battled back to earn a 2-2 draw at Upton Park.
The Gunners had looked in complete control following first-half goals from Robin van Persie and William Gallas.
However, Carlton Cole pulled a goal back before substitute Alessandro Diamanti netted a late penalty.
West Ham finished with 10 men when Scott Parker was shown a second yellow card, but were not to be denied a much-needed positive result.