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Tuesday December 1, 2009
Chelsea Power Past The Gunners To Stay Top
Hull City 3 Everton 2On Wednesday, Hull City held off an Everton fightback to continue their recent resurgence with a remarkable win at the KC Stadium. The struggling Tigers raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from Stephen Hunt, Andy Dawson and Dean Marney inside the opening half hour. Two Kamil Zayatte errors, an own goal and conceding a penalty which Louis Saha converted, gave Everton hope but Hull held on. Fulham 3 Blackburn Rovers 0In the other Wednesday night game, Fulham returned to winning ways courtesy of Clint Dempsey's double as Blackburn Rovers failed to provide Sam Allardyce with another Premier League victory during his absence for heart surgery. Rovers manager Allardyce is scheduled to have an operation on a coronary artery and could be back next week - and despite the scoreline he is certain to highlight the match at Craven Cottage as a missed opportunity. Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson did not have a save to make until Erik Nevland squeezed a finish in at the near post after 43 minutes, and the match was still up for grabs until Dempsey tapped in with 23 minutes remaining. He then grabbed his second just before the end meaning the visitors failed to build on their win over Bolton Wanderers at the weekend. Blackburn Rovers 0 Stoke City 0Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce stayed away once more after having treatment on a heart complaint and his side failed to deliver in his absence. Rovers were hoping to chalk up a fifth successive home win in the league and give Allardyce a boost in the process. Instead, with assistant Neil McDonald in charge, they had to settle for a point against a Stoke City side that continue to improve. Fulham 1 Bolton Wanderers 1Fulham winger Damien Duff grabbed a second-half equaliser to deny Bolton Wanderers their first win in four matches. Ivan Klasnic put Wanderers in front in the 34th minute when he fired home from close range. But a second-half onslaught from Fulham finally paid off when Duff drilled a right-foot shot into the bottom corner to earn Roy Hodgson's side a share of the spoils at Craven Cottage. The result keeps Bolton entrenched in the bottom three of the Premier League while Fulham stay 10th. Manchester City 1 Hull City 1Joker Jimmy Bullard performed a repeat of Phil Brown's famous half-time team-talk - but after rescuing a point for Hull City on their return to Manchester City. Brown's amazing decision has been cited by many as the moment the Tigers fortunes began to nosedive last season. Yet Bullard could not stop himself having a laugh at his manager's expense after his 81st minute equaliser from a spot-kick. From virtually the exact spot where Brown delivered his address, the former Fulham star pointed to all his team-mates in turn to give the gleeful Hull fans a repeat performance. As well as maintaining Hull's recent revival, it condemned City to a seventh successive Premier League draw. Portsmouth 1 Manchester United 4Avram Grant's reign at Chelsea ended with defeat on penalties to Manchester United and his first match in charge of Portsmouth saw Red Devils forward Wayne Rooney score two crucial spot-kicks within his hat-trick at Fratton Park. Grant, who has taken over from Paul Hart and will be rubber-stamped as manager next week when paperwork is completed, could not have asked for a tougher opening match than against the Premier League champions but there was hope of a result when Kevin-Prince Boateng levelled, also with a penalty. Sir Alex Ferguson will have no complaints with the way Rooney wrapped up the points after the break. Ryan Giggs added the fourth late on. West Ham United 5 Burnley 3Relegation-battlers West Ham United moved clear of the bottom three as Burnley were beaten 5-3 at Upton Park. Gianfranco Zola's men recorded only their third Premier League win of a difficult campaign after three goals in the first half put them in command. Jack Collison capitalised on some static defending to race on to Scott Parker's free-kick and fire the Irons ahead on 18 minutes. Junior Stanislas slotted home a second, before Carlton Cole converted a penalty as Burnley were made to pay for poor defending after what had been a bright start by the visitors when Clarke Carlisle's header was cleared off the line. It was damage limitation for the Clarets - who have just one point from seven away matches on their return to the top flight - after the hard-working Guillermo Franco headed in a fourth on 51 minutes. However, there was still time for substitute Luis Jimenez to net another penalty after he was brought down by keeper Brian Jensen to give the Irons a morale boost ahead of next week's visit of champions Manchester United. Steven Fletcher's late double gave Burnley some consolation, before Steven Caldwell was sent off during stoppage time and Chris Eagles then netted a third. Wigan Athletic 1 Sunderland 0Wigan Athletic produced the ideal response to last week's 9-1 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur as Hugo Rodallega''s solitary goal was enough to beat Sunderland. Former Latics manager Steve Bruce's return to the DW Stadium was an unhappy one as the striker he signed 10 months ago inflicted a fifth away defeat of the campaign. The Black Cats barely threatened throughout and after Wigan's Jason Scotland hit the post in the first half Rodallega's sixth Premier League goal of the season decided the contest. Wigan are now unbeaten in their last five home matches while the Black Cats have won just one of their last 17 away league fixtures. Aston Villa 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1Captain Michael Dawson's first goal of the campaign rescued a deserved point for Tottenham Hotspur after they had exerted relentless second-half pressure against Aston Villa. Gabriel Agbonlahor had given Martin O'Neill's side a half-time lead with his eighth goal of the season. But the second half was completely dominated by the visitors as Villa often dragged all 11 players behind the ball before Dawson broke their resistance. And only a series of excellent saves from Brad Friedel prevented Tottenham from chalking up their fourth away victory of 2009-2010. Wolves 0 Birmingham City 1Lee Bowyer was Birmingham City's match-winner for the second week in succession as his second-minute goal settled the derby meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The former England midfielder, who had netted the only goal in the home match with Fulham, lifted Alex McLeish's side into 11th spot in the Premier League with his fifth goal of the campaign. Victory also extended City's unbeaten league run to five matches, from which they have gathered 11 points - their best run without a defeat under McLeish who was celebrating two years in charge at St Andrew's. But defeat kept second from bottom Wolves four points adrift of the safety zone and they have now gone eight league matches without a victory. Everton 0 Liverpool 2Liverpool claimed a smash and grab Merseyside derby victory to claim fifth place in the Premier League on a day of raw tension at Goodison Park. But they will have sighed with relief after being pounded for almost all of this very local showdown, but somehow emerged with the points. An own goal from Joseph Yobo, deflecting a Javier Mascherano effort past Tim Howard saw Liverpool ahead at the break despite being almost permanently on the back foot as Everton poured forward. But their eighth win in their last 10 visits to Goodison Park was secured with 10 minutes to go when Dirk Kuyt scored from close range after another Yobo error. Everton were the dominant force, but could not turn their pressure into goals, with Liverpool now having lost just two of their last 20 league matches against the old enemy. Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3Chelsea tightened their grip on top spot in the Premier League and put a massive dent in Arsenal's own title ambitions with a convincing win at the Emirates Stadium. The Blues, then under Guus Hiddink, were the last team to beat the Gunners on their own ground, ripping them apart 4-1 here in May. While this encounter was nowhere near as much a one-sided affair, it still highlighted the gulf between the two sides' ability to produce a big performance when required. Chelsea - who restored their lead on Manchester United to five points - grabbed a brace at the end of a first half in which Arsene Wenger's men had enjoyed plenty of possession, but without really troubling Petr Cech. The Gunners were made to pay when Didier Drogba converted Ashley Cole's low centre, and Thomas Vermaelen's own goal effectively ended the contest before the interval, with the Ivory Coast striker drilling in a late free-kick to seal matters. There is, of course, plenty more football to be played before they crown the 2010 champions, but even with a match in hand, it is difficult to see Wenger's young squad - without Robin van Persie until at least April - clawing back what is now an 11-point deficit, and indeed they could still face a battle to secure a top-four finish. |
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