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Tuesday October 5, 2010

Blackpool Take Three At Anfield

Wigan Athletic 2 Wolves 0

Goals from Jordi Gomez and Hugo Rodallega lifted Wigan Athletic out of the bottom three and condemned 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers to a fourth successive league defeat.
Gomez put the hosts ahead at the DW Stadium with a brilliant free-kick in the 65th minute and Rodallega deflected in a second five minutes from time.
Wolves were up against it from the 11th minute, when captain Karl Henry was sent off for a bad challenge on Gomez, but it was the Wigan midfielder who had the last laugh.

Birmingham City 0 Everton 2

Everton registered their first win of the season thanks to Roger Johnson's own goal and a late header from Tim Cahill as they shattered Birmingham City's 13-month unbeaten home record.
David Moyes' side moved off the bottom of the table and it was no more than they deserved after dominating possession for long periods and looking the more threatening.
Johnson could only deflect a low cross from Leon Osman past Blues keeper Ben Foster nine minutes into the second half and, in injury time, Cahill turned in Leighton Baines' center.
Everton's performance belied their lowly position in the Premier League, with Mikel Arteta, Leon Osman and Marouane Fellaini controlling the midfield, and they had enough opportunities to have been in front before Johnson's error put them on the way to victory.
This setback ended Birmingham's hopes of setting a new club record of 19 successive league matches at St. Andrew's without defeat.

Stoke City 1 Blackburn Rovers 0

Jon Walters condemned his former club to defeat after scoring his first goal for Stoke City in the Premier League.
The £2.75m summer signing from Ipswich Town scored the winner in the 47th minute at the Britannia Stadium.
It was a special moment for Walters given that he played for Blackburn Rovers in his youth before joining Bolton Wanderers.
The 27-year-old has been on a long journey but has settled in quickly in his new surroundings.
It was Stoke's second successive victory following the win over Newcastle United and Blackburn could have little complaint.
They rarely looked an attacking force with Mame Diouf ploughing a lone furrow up front.
Not only that, Matthew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant were both busy down the flanks for the home side while Dean Whitehead put in a hard shift in the middle of the park.

Sunderland 0 Manchester United 0

Edwin van der Sar was Manchester United's saviour as Sunderland manager Steve Bruce came close to breaking his duck against Sir Alex Ferguson.
The veteran Dutchman produced a fine 16th-minute save to deny Steed Malbranque and then saw compatriot Bolo Zenden hit a post eight minutes before the break as the home side enjoyed much the better of the first half.
Half-time substitute Dimitar Berbatov had a 48th-minute strike ruled out for offside and after Nani had forced a good stop from Simon Mignolet, fired inches wide 10 minutes from time as United improved after the restart. However, the Black Cats were more than good value for their point in front of an appreciative crowd of 41,709.
There is a new-found confidence about Sunderland this season fostered by a home victory over Manchester City and, in their last two Premier League matches, more than creditable draws against Arsenal and Liverpool.
That, coupled with Bruce's determination to finally get one over on his old manager after years of trying in vain, ensured the visitors would not have things all their own way.

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Aston Villa 1

Rafael van der Vaart cemented his status as Tottenham Hotspur's new talisman as they came from behind to beat Aston Villa in the Premier League and once again avoid a European hangover.
Van der Vaart scored twice to take his tally to four goals in three appearances at White Hart Lane, his £8m signing looking more of a bargain by the day.
Not for the first time after a Champions League match this season, Spurs paid for a slow first half and Marc Albrighton's first Villa goal almost handed the visitors a half-time lead but Van der Vaart levelled deep into stoppage time before rifling home a 75th-minute winner to end Gerard Houllier's winning start as Villa manager.
It was a virtuoso performance by the transfer-deadline-day capture from Real Madrid following his Jekyll-and-Hyde display against FC Twente in midweek, demonstrating just how much he will be missed for this month's trip to Inter Milan.

West Brom 1 Bolton Wanderers 1

West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers a point each from a lively Premier League encounter at The Hawthorns.
Wanderers went in front mid-way through the second half thanks to a strike from Johan Elmander.
The Baggies responded well, though, and drew level in the 78th minute when James Morrison nodded in Peter Odemwingie's cross.

West Ham United 1 Fulham 1

West Ham sank to the foot of the table despite battling back from Clint Dempsey's goal to salvage a point in the London derby against Fulham.
Dempsey, who humiliated Robert Green 112 days ago at the World Cup, beat the England stopper from 12 yards with a volley after 32 minutes as Fulham ended a bruising first-half 1-0 up.
Any hopes of a first league away win in 13 months were dashed by Frederic Piquionne, who leapt unmarked in the box to nod past Mark Schwarzer.
Wigan's win over Wolves, and Everton's first win of the season at Birmingham City mean the Hammers dropped back to the bottom of the pile despite extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to four matches.

Manchester City 2 Newcastle United 1

Adam Johnson was an instant hit for Manchester City at Eastlands.
Three minutes after being introduced into a fractious encounter that was overshadowed at the start when Hatem Ben Arfa suffered a suspected broken leg, Johnson provided a moment of magic to turn the contest his side's way.
Collecting James Milner's square pass, Johnson wriggled between Jose Enrique and Joey Barton before rifling a precise shot past Tim Krul.
It was harsh luck on the Magpies, who responded superbly to the loss of Ben Arfa and penalty from Carlos Tevez and seemed good value for a point once Jonas Gutierrez had levelled.
But Johnson had other ideas as he kept City's multi-million pound bandwagon rolling, even if manager Roberto Mancini continues to insist the Premier League title is out of reach.

Liverpool 1 Blackpool 2

Liverpool slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Premier League newcomers Blackpool.
Charlie Adam's penalty and Luke Varney's perfectly-timed run and finish did the damage in the first half and although Sotirios Kyrgiakos's header pulled one back Liverpool will spend the next fortnight rooted in the bottom three because of the forthcoming international break.
Blackpool, to their credit, were well worth their win on their first-half performance but it should not be forgotten that they are a side who went to Arsenal and Chelsea and were beaten 6-0 and 4-0.
Prior to kick-off they had conceded more away goals than any of their rivals (10) but that record was not something which was exploited at all by their hosts.
They were not helped by the 10th-minute loss of striker Fernando Torres to a suspected groin injury, but even then they should still have at least dominated possession, but they did not get the chance as Blackpool attacked from the off.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0

Chelsea moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League after a goal in each half from Didier Drogba and Alex earned them a vital victory over London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
Drogba backheeled Ashley Cole's low cross into the net at the near post five minutes before the break for his 13th goal against Arsene Wenger's side in 11 starts.
Defender Alex settled the contest with a powerful 30-yard free-kick in the 85th minute to hand the Gunners their second successive league defeat.