SERVICES

Tuesday August 23, 2011

The Gunners Look Lost...

Sunderland 0 Newcastle United 1

Ryan Taylor wrote his name into Geordie folklore by firing Newcastle United to a 1-0 derby victory at Sunderland.
The full-back, who played for Steve Bruce at Wigan Athletic, curled home a superb 62nd-minute free-kick to win a hard-fought contest which the home side dominated for long periods, but failed to take their chances.
Alan Pardew's men, who were denied late on at the Stadium of Light last season by Asamoah Gyan's last-gasp equalizer, might have won more comfortably had they been awarded a first-half penalty.
Black Cats keeper Simon Mignolet had to make good saves from Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Gutierrez, while Tim Krul had to be similarly alert to keep out two Stephane Sessegnon efforts.
However, the home side simply did not make the most of their share of the possession and the bulk of a sell-out crowd of 47,751 left in sombre mood.
Bruce is yet to taste derby victory in three attempts and Sunderland have now won just once on home soil against their neighbours in 31 years.
But there was unbridled joy for Newcastle, who triumphed without a specialist left-back and against the backdrop of seemingly continuous turmoil off the pitch.

Arsenal 0 Liverpool 2

Liverpool recorded their first away win over Arsenal since 2000 to heap more misery on the Gunners - who saw Emmanuel Frimpong sent off and lost injured centre-back Laurent Koscielny in a 2-0 defeat at Emirates Stadium.
Samir Nasri impressed for the Gunners but the home side's luck ran out after Aaron Ramsey's own goal and a last-minute strike from substitute Luis Suarez handed victory to the visitors.
Arsene Wenger - who now has half his first-choice team out because of suspension or injury - must regroup his squad for next week's crucial Champions League play-off second leg in Udinese and the small matter of a trip to Manchester United.

Aston Villa 3 Blackburn Rovers 1

Alex McLeish was able to savour the applause of the Aston Villa faithful at the end of a convincing first home victory as manager.
Goals from Gabriel Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey and Darren Bent also gave McLeish his first Premier League win over a fellow Scot in charge at his 12th attempt.
For Blackburn manager Steve Kean, he will be seeking some improvement after recording back-to-back losses, following last week's defeat to Wolves.

Everton 0 QPR 1

Everton's delayed start to the season began with a home defeat to newcomers QPR.
With a number of senior first-teamers still not fully fit, Moyes' resources were stretched even thinner and QPR took full advantage to snatch a 1-0 win.
Tommy Smith scored the goal just past the half-hour - securing their first points of the season - in what was probably the visitors' only real chance to inflict Everton's first home defeat since December.
It was also the visitors' first top-flight away win since February 1996.
In fact, the last time QPR beat Everton 15 years ago they did so with the help of the likes of Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley.

Swansea City 0 Wigan Athletic 0

Goalkeeper Michel Vorm was the hero for Swansea as he saved Ben Watson's penalty to earn the Welsh club their first Premier League point at the Liberty Stadium.
The Dutchman got down low to his right to make the stop after captain Ashley Williams gave away a 73rd minute spot-kick for a foul on Jordi Gomez.
It earned the hosts a point they thoroughly deserved after dominating large parts of the match, with Danny Graham having a series of chances and Scott Sinclair firing wide.

Chelsea 2 West Brom 1

Florent Malouda spared Andre Villas-Boas' blushes on his home debut as Chelsea manager with his late winner.
Malouda lost his place in the starting line-up but was brought on in the first half and came to the rescue by converting Jose Bosingwa's cross with seven minutes remaining.
Villas-Boas had been heading for his first league defeat for more than 16 months when Shane Long continued his dream start to life at Albion by giving them a half-time lead but Nicolas Anelka equalized with a deflected shot before Malouda pounced.
But Chelsea looked anything but title challengers and are in desperate need of the type of midfield inspiration the likes of transfer targets Luka Modric and Juan Mata would doubtless provide.

Norwich City 1 Stoke City 1

Ten-man Norwich City were denied a first Premier League win when Kenwyne Jones headed in a stoppage-time equalizer for Stoke City at Carrow Road which last hosted top-flight football in May 2005
Ritchie de Laet had scored against his old club to put the Canaries in front at the break.
After Jon Walters saw his penalty saved following Leon Barnett's red card on the hour, it looked as if Norwich would hold on - only for Stoke's pressure eventually to tell with Jones nodding in from close range.

Wolves 2 Fulham 0

Wolves' impressive start to the season continued as goals from Kevin Doyle and Matt Jarvis earned them victory over Fulham at Molineux.
Doyle, who had already missed a good opportunity, opened the scoring in the 42nd minute when he collected Jarvis' pass and smashed a shot past Mark Schwarzer.
Jarvis doubled the hosts' advantage moments later, pouncing after Roger Johnson's header had come back off the woodwork.
The result means Wolves, who triumphed 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers last weekend, have recorded back-to-back league wins at the start of a campaign for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

Bolton Wanderers 2 Manchester City 3

Carlos Tevez returned to Manchester City colors but Roberto Mancini's side showed they no longer need to rely on the Argentinian for goals with a fluent display in beating Wanderers to go top of the fledgling Premier League table.
By the time the Argentinian came on as a second-half substitute, City had scored three times through first-half goals from David Silva, with a shot Jussi Jaaskelainen should have saved, and Gareth Barry, and another right at the start of the second half from Edin Dzeko.
The only negative for Mancini was that City allowed Bolton to stay in the match, Ivan Klasnic reducing the deficit just after Barry's superb strike and Kevin Davies netting the final goal of the game in the 62nd minute.