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Tuesday December 15, 2009

Interesting Times In The Premier League

Stoke City 2 Wigan Athletic 2

Stoke City came from behind twice to earn a draw at home to Wigan Athletic but had goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen to thank for saving an 89th-minute Hugo Rodallega penalty.
Emmerson Boyce's early header was cancelled out by Tuncay Sanli's first goal for the Potters before the interval.
Maynor Figueroa scored one of the goals of the season with a 72nd-minute free-kick from inside his own half but Ryan Shawcross equalised with a header and then Sorensen saved from the spot

Birmingham City 1 West Ham United 0

Lee Bowyer scored the only goal of the match against his former club to secure Birmingham City's place in the top half of the table and increase the relegation worries of a West Ham United side who had Mark Noble sent off in the closing stages.
Bowyer, who made the permanent switch from Upton Park in the summer after an initial loan spell, settled the match with his sixth goal of the campaign.
It enabled City to record a fourth successive league win and equal their best top-flight run for five years and since the Steve Bruce era.
Birmingham were the dominant side for much of the match, with Barry Ferguson again impressing in the centre of the park.
But they had to survive a late onslaught and were indebted again to some rock solid defending from Roger Johnson and Scott Dann before claiming the points.

Bolton Wanderers 3 Manchester City 3

Carlos Tevez came to ten-man Manchester City's rescue at the Reebok Stadium by securing a point with 13 minutes remaining of a rousing encounter.
It was his second goal of the match and his eighth of the season after Craig Bellamy had been sent off for two yellow cards.
Tevez is now on a roll but the disappointing fact for City was that they failed to build on the splendid victory against Chelsea last weekend.
This was their eighth draw in nine league matches - yet it could have been a lot worse.

Burnley 1 Fulham 1

Wade Elliott fired his second goal of the season to salvage Burnley a potentially priceless point at Turf Moor and deny Bobby Zamora another week in the headlines.
Fulham striker Zamora - at the centre of an alleged row with his own club's fans - looked to have hit his second consecutive winner with a cool 50th-minute finish.
But Elliott had other ideas and his superb volley after Stephen Jordan's deep cross was deflected into his path ensured Owen Coyle's men maintained their fine home form.
For Coyle the importance of the point will not be under-stated after two big away defeats, while Fulham boss Roy Hodgson will wonder how his side were not out of sight by half-time.

Chelsea 3 Bolton Wanderers 3

Chelsea's poor defending from set-pieces threatens to upset their title ambitions as they failed to win for the fourth match in a row.
The Blues have now conceded 10 goals in their last four matches and all three Everton strikes arrived courtesy of a Chelsea defence that could have done better with free-kicks and throw-ins.
Everton became the first team this season to leave Stamford Bridge with any reward but Chelsea should have put this fixture beyond the Toffees long before half-time.
Everton took a shock 12th minute lead when a Louis Saha header off a Leighton Baines free-kick hit the post and rebounded into the net off the back of Petr Cech.
But Chelsea hit back and goals from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka put the Blues in front only for substitute Ayegbeni Yakubu to pounce from a throw-in to level the scores in first-half injury time.
Drogba restored Chelsea's lead but another error from a free-kick allowed Drogba's attempted clearance to bounce off the back of Saha to make it 3-3.

Hull City 0 Blackburn Rovers 0

Sam Allardyce failed to get the better of his former assistant Phil Brown as Blackburn Rovers and Hull City played out a goalless draw.
Hull had the best opportunities of a tight Premier League encounter at the KC Stadium.
Blackburn had their opportunities, particularly after the introduction of the lively Nikola Kalinic, but had to settle for a point.
The result kept Rovers above Hull in the lower reaches of the table and both sides may see it as a missed opportunity.
The match was billed as a battle between Brown and Rovers manager Allardyce, his former manager at Bolton Wanderers.
Brown was visible throughout on the touchline but Allardyce, recovering from a recent heart operation, remained in the stands until the closing moments.

Sunderland 1 Portsmouth 1

Portsmouth defender Younes Kaboul snatched another precious point for the Premier League's bottom club as Sunderland allowed victory to slip from their grasp.
The Frenchman struck three minutes into injury time and was promptly sent off for removing his shirt in celebration having already been booked.
Kaboul's strike sparked wild celebrations on the sidelines and among the small band of travelling supporters behind Marton Fulop's goal.
Their mood was in stark contrast to that of Black Cats manager Steve Bruce and the home fans among a crowd of 37,578, as Pompey became just the third side this season to leave Wearside with anything to show for their efforts.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Wolves 1

Tottenham Hotspur's Champions League hopes were dealt a blow by Wolverhampton Wanderers after Kevin Doyle scored the winner at White Hart Lane.
Harry Redknapp's men drew their previous two Premier League matches and this defeat had the hallmarks of Stoke City's smash-and-grab performance in October.
Mick McCarthy's side defended heroicly to hold onto their lead, earning them a fourth league win of the season and boosting their ambitions of survival this season.
Suddenly facing Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool before the end of the month is less daunting.

Manchester United 0 Aston Villa 1

Manchester United failed to produce any late heroics this time as Gabriel
Agbonlahor's first-half goal earned Aston Villa their first Old Trafford win since 1983.
Sir Alex Ferguson described Federico Macheda's sensational injury-time effort in the corresponding fixture last term as the defining moment of United's season.
It is too early for Agbonlahor's header to be described in the same way, but on a day when United were in action after Chelsea had stumbled unexpectedly on home soil, it was a poor result for the hosts.
Although Villa headed north without a win for so long, they did have the confidence of victories against both Chelsea and Liverpool this season to fall back on.
And while Villa themselves might not have enjoyed the best of times against United of late, Agbonlahor has not done too badly.
The England striker had scored in the past three seasons against the Red Devils, so he was completing a rather impressive four-timer when he nodded home Ashley Young's right-wing cross.

Liverpool 1 Arsenal 2

Arsenal grabbed the points after a stunning goal from Andrey Arshavin at Anfield.
The tempo and passion came from both sides and Liverpool could have had a goal in the opening 13 minutes.
First Fernando Torres broke away, fed Steven Gerrard to his right and then took the return before failing to lift the ball over Manuel Almunia when clear.
Arsenal survived, at times with difficulty, but still sought to play their intelligent, passing football out of defence. But four minutes from the break Arsenal finally cracked.
Aurelio lifted a free-kick into the six-yard box, where Almunia, under pressure in the air, managed only a weak punch and Kuyt fired home from 10 yards.
Arsenal came out after the break fired up for the challenge after some harsh words from Arsene Wenger and were level on 50 minutes.
Nasri tore down the right and fired in a low cross that Glen Johnson turned past Pepe Reina for an own goal with Theo Walcott lurking behind him.
Mascherano was soon booked for a foul on Fabregas and it was soon to get worse for Liverpool, and especially Johnson.
Fabregas' cross after 58 minutes eluded Johnson, who then failed to stop Arshavin turning to fire in off the post from 18 yards.
As much as the first half had been so positive for an aggressive Liverpool, the second was becoming deeply frustrating.
The passion had gone from Liverpool and the accomplished young Gunners had a measure of control they were not going to lose.