SERVICES

Tuesday February 9, 2010

Chelsea Shoot Down The Gunners At The Bridge

Liverpool 1 Everton 0

In the early game on Saturday morning, striker Dirk Kuyt scored his 50th Liverpool goal giving his side a 1-0 victory in this fiery, 213th, Merseyside derby at Anfield which saw both teams reduced to 10 men.
The Dutchman scored for the fourth time in as many matches with a close-range header 10 minutes after half-time.
Liverpool played the last 55 minutes at a numerical disadvantage after Sotirios Kyrgiakos was dismissed for a two-footed challenge on Marouane Fellaini, while Steven Pienaar was shown a second yellow in second-half injury time.
It threatened to overshadow a fiercely-contested encounter until Kuyt struck early in the second half to ensure Everton's winless run at Anfield since 1999 continued.
Liverpool have now gone seven Premier League matches without defeat, keeping six clean sheets in the process.
By contrast, Everton's nine-match unbeaten run came to an end. The last team to beat them before Saturday had been Liverpool at Goodison in late November and they have now won just two of the last 21 league derbies.

Bolton Wanderers 0 Fulham 0

Kevin Davies had a late winner disallowed as struggling Bolton Wanderers missed the chance to beat out-of-form Fulham.
The Trotters captain saw his last-minute header ruled out for a push in a dramatic end to this Premier League clash at the Reebok Stadium.
Moments earlier Johan Elmander had also missed a good opportunity by shooting wide.

Burnley 2 West Ham United 1

Debut boy Danny Fox handed Brian Laws his first win as Burnley manager with a stunning second-half free-kick but the Clarets were left clinging on desperately for the points.
The former Celtic left-back landed at Turf Moor last month in a £1.8 million switch and it looks like money well spent after Fox helped his new side back to winning ways.
First he delivered the long ball in the 14th minute for David Nugent to lob home the opener. Then his curled free-kick from a tight angle in the 55th minute found the top corner.
It was just what Laws required after three straight league defeats since he replaced Owen Coyle - and a club run stretching back 12 long matches to the end of October.
But it was still almost denied them as Hammers substitute Ilan reduced the deficit 10 minutes from time before Mido's low effort struck the base of the post with seconds remaining.
However, the late pressure could not hide another poor performance from the visitors, who have their own relegation battle to contend with after seeing their run extended to one league win from 10.

Hull City 2 Manchester City 1

Hull City followed up Tuesday's draw with League leaders Chelsea by defeating Manchester City at the KC Stadium to climb out of the relegation zone.
Phil Brown's side had not won since November but were buoyed by their performance against the Blues and deservedly took a 31st-minute lead through the impressive Jozy Altidore.
City then found themselves two down nine minutes after the break thanks to a rocket from George Boateng and, although Emmanuel Adebayor quickly pulled one back, they rarely threatened to equalise.

Manchester United 5 Portsmouth 0

Wayne Rooney collected the Barclays Player of the Month award before kick-off then helped steer Manchester United back to the top of the table with a resounding 5-0 victory over struggling Portsmouth.
The England striker broke Pompey's resistance with his 23rd goal of the season, equalling a career-best total.
The only surprise, given United's possession, was it took them until the 40th minute to make the breakthrough.
However that goal gave Sir Alex Ferguson's side the impetus they needed and Portsmouth collapsed.
United added a second on the stroke of half time with Nani's effort taking two deflections.
Michael Carrick had similar luck in the second half and Dimitar Berbatov was also on target before Marc Wilson put the ball into his own net.
It was poignant day at Old Trafford as the club commemorated the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster in which 23 people, eight of them players, died. Old Trafford manager Ferguson will no doubt feel the result did the occassion justice.

Stoke City 3 Blackburn Rovers 0

On the day the club commemorated Sir Stanley Matthews' final competitive appearance in a Stoke shirt 45 years ago, Tony Pulis' players produced a fitting performance for the occasion, continuing their unbeaten start to the New Year with a comprehensive victory over 10-man Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium.
Full-back Danny Higginbotham produced the finish of a striker in the ninth minute as he sent a volley past Paul Robinson before Mamady Sidibe made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Etherington then added a third in the second half shortly after Chris Samba had been sent off for pulling back Ricardo Fuller.

Sunderland 1 Wigan Athletic 1

Kenwyne Jones came to Sunderland's rescue as the Black Cats staged a second-half fightback to deny Wigan Athletic victory.
The Trinidad and Tobago international headed home after 64 minutes to ease the growing unrest on Wearside after Mohamed Diame had blasted the visitors into a 20th-minute lead.
It was Jones' seventh goal of the campaign and could hardly have come at a better time with his side staring down the barrel of an uncomfortable scrap for top-flight survival.
Steve Bruce's men produced an ineffective first-half display but rallied after the break to claim a point which did little to ease their troubles in the lower reaches of the League table.
Sunderland are now without a win in 11 league matches and have claimed only five of the last 33 points they have contested, although there was as much relief as disappointment for a crowd of 38,350 as they headed home knowing things could have been much worse.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Aston Villa 0

Tottenham Hotspur could not find a way past Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel as two of this season's top-four hopefuls in the Premier League cancelled each other out.
Visiting goalkeepers have enjoyed the limelight at White Hart Lane this season and Friedel was at his dependable best this time, denying Ledley King with his best save.
Spurs thought they could have had a last-gasp penalty when Jermain Defoe was challenged by Stiliyan Petrov - but it remained goalless.
It means Liverpool have edged Harry Redknapp's side out of the Champions League places to give the top of the league a familiar look.

Birmingham City 2 Wolves 1

Early on Sunday morning, veteran striker Kevin Phillips came off the substitutes' bench to earn a dramatic victory for Birmingham City with a two-goal blast against local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Kevin Doyle looked to have given Wolves manager Mick McCarthy the perfect present on his 51st birthday by breaking the deadlock shortly before half-time.
But then 36-year-old Phillips replaced the injured Christian Benitez and struck twice in six minutes to leave the visitors in the bottom three.
It was rough justice for Wolves, who had been a match for City for lengthy periods with Doyle a constant threat to the normally solid Blues rearguard.
But Birmingham's battling spirit again surfaced, with midfielder Barry Ferguson driving them on before Phillips' decisive contribution.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0

In the late Sunday game, Chelsea moved back to the top of the League thanks to two first-half goals from Didier Drogba.
The victory restored Chelsea's two-point lead over Manchester United at the top of the table and, more significantly, increased the gap over third-placed Arsenal to nine.
The outcome was never in doubt once Chelsea's other talismanic figure had put them in front with a simple volley at the far post.
Drogba's 21st goal of the season was the perfect start for Carlo Ancelotti's side and with their confidence sufficiently rocked, Arsenal failed respond before the Ivory Coast striker added his second.
When Arsenal did manage to get past the imposing John Terry, they were wasteful with Andrey Arshavin the main culprit.