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Tuesday January 18, 2011

Chelsea Back To Winning Ways

Chelsea 2 Bolton Wanderers 0
Chelsea finally stopped the rot as arguably their best Premier League performance for more than two months saw them beat Blackburn Rovers and climb back into the top four.
Looking to end their worst run in the league for almost 15 years after winning just one of their previous nine matches, the Blues dominated from start to finish at Stamford Bridge.
Both their goals came from corner kicks courtesy of Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka, with their final ball continuing to let them down in open play.
The duo also found the net against Rovers back in October to keep Chelsea five points clear at the top of the table, but their efforts were arguably even more precious.

Manchester City 4 Wolves 3

Edin Dzeko made his £27m introduction for Manchester City - and was immediately upstaged by strike partner Carlos Tevez as the Blues secured top spot in the Premier League by edging a seven-goal thriller at Eastlands.
The fiery South American joined Dimitar Berbatov at the head of the Premier League goalscoring charts with a second-half double to take his tally to 14, accompanying Kolo and Yaya Toure on the scoresheet.
It must have been quite an eye-opener for Dzeko, who produced an encouraging performance on his debut and appears willing to do the hard work in his partnership with Tevez in addition to the glamourous stuff.
The Bosnian was also given an instant lesson in the difficulty of securing points in England as City, having been totally outplayed for the first half-hour, then needed to resist a late Wolverhampton Wanderers surge after the plucky Black Country outfit had pulled themselves back into a contest that had already been turned on its head after their initial heroics.

Stoke City 2 Bolton Wanderers 0

The smile was back on the face of Stoke City manager Tony Pulis as goals from Danny Higginbotham and Matthew Etherington gave his side victory against Bolton Wanderers at the Britannia Stadium.
Pulis was a happy man thanks to a comfortable win with the goals coming either side of half-time.
Even though they were bolstered by the return of midfielder Stuart Holden, Bolton were always second best as they slumped to their fifth successive defeat on the road.

West Bromich Albion 3 Blackpool 2

Two-goal Peter Odemwingie ended West Bromwich Albion's five match losing streak with a late winner against Blackpool at The Hawthorns.
David Vaughan had put Blackpool in front but Albion replied through Odemwingie and James Morrison only for Gary Taylor-Fletcher to level for the Seasiders.
But then Odemwingie struck with three minutes remaining to move Albion away from the relegation zone.
Blackpool, fresh from their mid-week triumph over Liverpool, played with their customary freedom with the in-demand Charlie Adam in fine form in midfield.
But they were left to rue two missed chances by the normally deadly DJ Campbell.

Wigan Athletic 1 Fulham 1

Andrew Johnson's late deflected strike earned Fulham a point at fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic.
The hosts went ahead in the 57th minute through Hugo Rodallega, who neatly guided the ball over David Stockdale.
Substitute Johnson drew things level with four minutes of normal time remaining with a shot that hit Gary Caldwell on its way towards goal, leaving Ali Al Habsi unable to stop it going in.
The result saw Wigan move out of the Premier League drop zone to 17th but they are only a point clear of the bottom three, while Fulham are one point better off in 15th.

West Ham United 0 Arsenal 3

Bottom club West Ham United fell to a heavy 3-0 defeat at home to Premier League title chasing Arsenal.
Arsenal, who moved to within two points of top spot, showed Avram Grant's team no mercy as goals from Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott put them in command at half-time, before the Dutchman wrapped things up with a penalty on 77 minutes.
Arsenal finally produced a complete passing display to bounce back from the disappointment of their midweek Carling cup defeat at Ipswich Town as they moved to within two points of top-of-the-table Manchester City.

Birmingham City 1 Aston Villa 1

James Collins rescued a precious point for Aston Villa in a pulsating relegation match with local rivals Birmingham City at St. Andrew's.
Blues defender Roger Johnson put Alex McLeish's side in front early in the second period.
But Collins made no mistake from close range to salvage a share of the spoils for Villa.
Villa dominated the opening phase and final part of the match and hit the woodwork on three occasions.
But Birmingham also squandered several clear-cut opportunities.
Blues had defeated Villa in the Carling Cup quarter-final last month but Collins' point-saver means they have not beaten their rivals in a league match for nearly six years.

Sunderland 1 Newcastle United 1

Record singing Asamoah Gyan got Sunderland out of jail with a last-gasp equalizer to deny Newcastle United a derby double.
Magpies skipper Kevin Nolan looked to have won the match with his audacious 52nd-minute strike, but with the clock having ticked into the fourth minute of injury time, Gyan almost involuntarily nudged the ball over the line after keeper Steve Harper could only parry Phil Bardsley's shot to snatch a point his side barely deserved.
Newcastle left the Stadium of Light bemoaning the loss of two points which were firmly within their grasp for all but a few seconds of a tense encounter despite the absence of Andy Carroll, Cheik Tiote and Steven Taylor, three of the club's most impressive performers this season.
They dominated the match after Nolan's strike, his 10th of the season - the first time he has reached double figures in the Premier League - and headed off on the short trip back to Tyneside kicking themselves.
In the long run a return of four points from a possible six against their arch-rivals will be more than satisfactory, and a face-saving draw will do little to quell the disappointment for the bulk of a crowd of 47,864.

Liverpool 2 Everton 2

It was not an entirely happy homecoming for Kenny Dalglish on his first match at Anfield since becoming Liverpool manager for the second time but a draw in an entertaining 215th Merseyside derby represented some progress.
The club's legendary former player went into the fixture on the back of successive defeats to Manchester United and Blackpool but the result against their closest rivals at least ensured his first point.
However, there are still many issues to address as Liverpool's defensive frailties let an early advantage slip in a frenetic six minutes after half-time and their pride was only salvaged by a penalty in the final quarter.
Raul Meireles picked the perfect time to score his first goal to give the club he joined in the summer an interval lead but Sylvain Distin and Jermaine Beckford soon turned that around after the break.
But the Reds earned a deserved draw when Dirk Kuyt stroked home his fifth derby goal from the spot.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Manchester United 0

Brazilian full-back Rafael was sent off but 10-man Manchester United still kept their unbeaten record as they went back to the top of the Premier League on goal difference after a frantic encounter at White Hart Lane.
Wayne Rooney brought a couple of smart saves from Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes and Rafael van der Vaart also went close on two occasions for Tottenham.
But in the end the two sides cancelled each other out in a match which proved the title race is going to be tight right until the end.
The draw sees Tottenham, who have not beaten United since May 2001 in a run which now stretches 24 matches, stay fifth a point behind Chelsea and outside the Champions League places after a match which was long on effort and passion but short on quality.
The most explosive incident was the one concerning Rafael who was shown a yellow card for a foul on full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto after having earlier been booked for a challenge on Wilson Palacios.
Yet while Tottenham showed how far they have come under Harry Redknapp it was United who also proved their resilience.