SERVICES

Tuesday September 27, 2011

The Potters Hold United

Manchester City 2 Everton 0

Substitute Mario Balotelli came to Manchester City's rescue by inspiring Roberto Mancini's men to a 2-0 victory against bogey team Everton.
As always, City were finding it sticky going against the Toffeemen.
Balotelli's introduction after an hour changed all that, the Italian's shot flying in off Phil Jagielka to put the Blues on the way to a precious victory at the Etihad Stadium that was sealed by James Milner in the final minute.

Arsenal 3 Bolton Wanderers 0

Robin van Persie scored his 100th Arsenal goal as the Gunners put their recent troubles behind them with a comfortable victory over 10-man Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium.
After a drab first-half display the Gunners sprang in to life in the second and opened the scoring when Van Persie beat Jussi Jaaskelainen at his near post just 40 seconds after the break.
David Wheater then saw red for pulling back Theo Walcott when he was through on goal before Van Persie brought up his ton with a clever flick and Alex Song struck near the death to complete the morale-boosting win. The victory, Arsenal's second of the season, moved them away from the relegation zone and ended a difficult seven days for the club.
After having come from behind to beat League Two Shrewsbury in midweek, and seeing Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis give him his full backing, manager Arsene Wenger will sleep a lot easier than he did last Saturday when his team crumbled against lowly Blackburn Rovers.

Chelsea 4 Swansea City 1

Fernando Torres' mixed fortunes continued as he found the net before seeing red for an ugly challenge in Chelsea's comfortable Premier League victory over Swansea City.
Sunday's defeat at Manchester United had seen £50m man Torres score for only the second time in his Blues career before missing an open-goal.
He scored here with another fine finish before seeing red for inexplicably diving in studs first on Mark Gower in between a Ramires brace, which was followed by Ashley Williams' consolation and a comeback goal for Didier Drogba.
But being down to 10 men for more than half a match for the second time in four days - Chelsea suffered the same fate in their midweek Carling Cup win over Fulham - was hardly ideal preparation for Wednesday's Champions League showdown in Valencia.
Torres' dismissal also meant a three-match domestic ban and ensured he would once again make headlines for the wrong reasons, despite beginning to repay his record-breaking transfer fee in earnest.

Liverpool 2 Wolves 1

Liverpool returned to winning ways but made hard work of it at home to Wolves as defensive frailties and equally-fragile confidence levels were almost exposed for a third successive week.
Everything appeared to be going to plan as a Roger Johnson own goal, diverting in Charlie Adam's shot, and another magical Luis Suarez strike appeared to have put the Reds in the comfort zone at half-time.
But substitute Steven Fletcher pulled one back within minutes of the second half starting to ratchet up the pressure on the hosts, who were guilty of missing a number of opportunities to make the victory easier than it turned out to be.

Newcastle United 3 Blackburn Rovers 1

Demba Ba opened his Newcastle United account with a hat-trick as the Magpies brushed Blackburn Rovers aside to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
The Senegal international scored twice inside three first-half minutes to give his side a commanding lead, and then after Junior Hoilett had pulled one back for the visitors, who had Martin Olsson sent off, headed home a third with 54 minutes gone.
Alan Pardew's men might have won even more comfortably with Leon Best passing up two late opportunities to add to his three goals for the season, but they were good value for a win which took them to 12 points from a possible 18 and stretched their run to eight matches without defeat in all competitions during the current campaign.

West Brom 0 Fulham 0

West Bromwich Albion keeper Ben Foster made up for his error in the last home match with a superb double save to rescue a Premier League point against fellow strugglers Fulham at The Hawthorns.
Foster had gifted Stoke City substitute Ryan Shotton a last-gasp winner but atoned with superb stops in quick succession to keep out Cottagers defender John Arne Riise and substitute Bryan Ruiz.

Wigan Athletic 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale struck early to claim three Premier League points for Tottenham Hotspur at the DW Stadium but they were almost undone by a stirring fightback from 10-man Wigan Athletic.
Harry Redknapp's men should have been out of sight at half-time but they only had two early efforts to show from 45 minutes in which they were totally dominant.
A neat 49th-minute finish from Mohamed Diame thrust the Latics back in to contention and, despite Steve Gohouri's 63rd-minute red card, Roberto Martinez's men threatened right to the end.

Stoke City 1 Manchester United 1

Manchester United's 100 per cent start to the Premier League season came to an end at the Britannia Stadium thanks to Peter Crouch's first goal for Stoke City.
United went into the match without Wayne Rooney - rumored to have picked up a hamstring injury - and lost Javier Hernandez early on after he was tackled by Jonathan Woodgate, but took the lead in the 27th minute when Nani played a one-two with Darren Fletcher before clipping the ball past Asmir Begovic.
Red Devils goalkeeper David de Gea then pulled off great stops to deny Andy Wilkinson and Jon Walters, but it came as little surprise that the hosts' 52nd-minute equalizer came from a corner, which Crouch, recruited from Tottenham Hotspur for a record £10m last month, met with his head to open his account for his new club.

QPR 1 Aston Villa 1

Richard Dunne's last-gasp own goal helped 10-man QPR grab a deserved 1-1 draw from Sunday's Premier League match with Aston Villa.
The Hoops dominated play in the first period but were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal after referee Michael Oliver awarded Villa a penalty the 58th minute.