SERVICES

Tuesday November 8, 2011

Spurs Maul The Cottagers

Newcastle United 2 Everton 1

Ryan Taylor blasted Newcastle into second place in the Premier League as the Magpies extended their unbeaten start to 11 matches.
Taylor's stunning 29th-minute volley ultimately edged the tightest of contests in front of a season's best crowd of 50,671 to take Alan Pardew's side, for a few hours at least, ahead of Manchester United.
The victory ensured they matched their best unbeaten openings to a campaign in 1950-51 and 1994-95.
However, it came at a cost as Yohan Cabaye and Sylvain Marveaux joined Cheik Tiote on the injured list with daunting trips to both Manchester clubs to come after the international break.

Arsenal 3 West Brom 0

Another Robin van Persie-inspired performance saw Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion.
The Holland international started the dreary midweek Champions League draw with Marseille on the bench, but was recalled to the starting line-up as Arsenal won their 400th Premier League game.
While unable to match his hat-trick heroics at Chelsea last weekend, Van Persie was the difference once more as he netted the first and then turned provider for both Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta.
Aaron Ramsey's exquisite through-ball helped the Arsenal skipper net his 11th league goal of the campaign, finishing from close range after Ben Foster blocked a Theo Walcott effort.
Vermaelen then netted his first goal for almost two years as he turned in a Van Persie cross and, after the break, Arteta fired home after neat work between the Dutchman and substitute Tomas Rosicky.

Aston Villa 3 Norwich City 2

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent silenced the Norwich City boo boys and warmed up for England's forthcoming internationals with a two-goal blast to seal victory over the Canaries.
But his strike partner Gabriel Agbonlahor also did his international hopes no harm by setting up both of Bent's goals and scoring one himself.
Norwich had taken the lead through an Anthony Pilkington free-kick but crumbled once Bent had levelled before half-time although Steve Morrison's late goal gave the home side a nervy finale.

Blackburn Rovers 0 Chelsea 1

Frank Lampard directed a second-half header past Paul Robinson as wobbly Chelsea beat Blackburn Rovers.
Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas knew his side could not think about any more dropped points after two consecutive Premier League defeats including their 5-3 loss to Arsenal.
And while Lampard did the business by stooping to nod home a low Branislav Ivanovic cross on 50 minutes, struggling Rovers had numerous late chances to claim at least a draw.
In a stirring reaction to Lampard's opener, Rovers poured forward with both Grant Hanley and Ayegbeni Yakubu bringing fine saves out of visiting goalkeeper Petr Cech.
And with four minutes left on the clock Ivanovic almost gifted Rovers a point when his attempted clearance from a Morten Gamst Pedersen corner ricocheted back off the underside of the crossbar.
Ultimately the result left Rovers rooted in the bottom three.

Liverpool 0 Swansea City 0

Striker Andy Carroll was the fall-guy for Liverpool after missing a golden first-half chance in the goalless draw at home to Swansea City.
For the second successive home match against a newly-promoted team Kenny Dalglish's side failed to convert their chances.
Carroll's was the miss everyone will remember, although there were enough opportunities created afterwards to have prevented a third home draw in a row.
The £35m club-record signing side-footed against the crossbar from just six yards with the goal at his mercy.
In the end they were fortunate to escape with a draw as Swansea improved as the match progressed and could have snatched victory in the closing stages.

Manchester United 1 Sunderland 0

Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years in charge of Manchester United with victory over Sunderland thanks to a helping hand from one of his former players.
The Scot, who took over at Old Trafford on 6th November 1986, walked onto the pitch through a guard of honor made up of both teams and former United defender Steve Bruce, now manager of Sunderland, before chief executive David Gill announced the north stand was being renamed in his honour.
The match, which will certainly not live as long in the memory, was settled in the hosts' favour in first-half injury time when former United man Wes Brown headed into his own net on his first return to Old Trafford.

QPR 2 Manchester City 3

Manchester City had to cope with the unique experience of falling behind at Loftus Road before they battled back to defeat QPR 3-2.
They had that familiar winning feeling as Yaya Toure's winner kept them five points ahead of Manchester United in the Premier League title race.
Coming off worst in a five-goal thriller will be scant consolation for QPR.
They became the first team to take the lead against City in the Premier League this season, courtesy of Jay Bothroyd's fine header.
And they had the spirit to respond through Heidar Helguson after Edin Dzeko and David Silva turned the match on its head either side of the break.
However, from Toure's 73rd-minute header, there was no response, Helguson coming closest when he struck the bar eight minutes from time.
Yet, for all QPR's agonies, this City side are proving immensely hard to stop. Even if they only managed half the six goals they scored in their last away game at Old Trafford, they have now racked up 39 in 11 matches, dropping only two points in the process and look more like title winners with every performance.

Wolves 3 Wigan Athletic 1

Wolves eased their relegation fears and increased those of Wigan as second-half goals from David Edwards and Stephen Ward clinched victory in the Premier League clash at Molineux.
Jamie O'Hara's opener for the home side was cancelled out by Ben Watson before the interval after Wayne Hennessey had saved his initial penalty.
But Edwards and Ward secured Wolves' first win in nine games and doomed the bottom-placed Latics to an eighth successive loss.

Bolton Wanderers 5 Stoke City 0

Bolton Wanderers hammered five past Stoke City to gain a measure of revenge for last season's FA Cup semi-final defeat by the same opponents.
Ivan Klasnic and Chris Eagles both struck twice at the Reebok Stadium as the struggling Trotters secured a win that could kickstart their troubled season.
Captain Kevin Davies also got on the scoresheet as Owen Coyle's men claimed the first points of the campaign on their home ground.
Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was at fault for both Bolton's opening goals but there was no doubting the superiority of the hosts after that.
The Potters were no doubt drained from Thursday's Europa League trip to Tel Aviv but Bolton were in no mood to spare them.
The Trotters' decline can perhaps be traced back to that 5-0 drubbing by Stoke at Wembley last April, after which they had lost 13 of 16 Premier League fixtures ahead of this match.

Fulham 1 Tottenham Hotspur 3

Tottenham Hotspur survived a second-half onslaught at Craven Cottage to deny Fulham manager Martin Jol a satisfying Premier League victory over his former club.
Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon struck to give Spurs a commanding interval lead in a lively London derby, but they were over-run when play resumed.
Fulham dominated with Younes Kaboul's 57th minute own-goal the direct result of relentless pressure from the rampant home side.
But despite their overwhelming superiority, the Cottagers were unable to secure the equalizer after failing to convert a series of chances.
During a chaotic five-minute spell of injury time Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker appeared to handle the ball, but referee Peter Walton declined to award a penalty.
To rub salt into the wound, substitute Jermain Defoe scored with virtually the last kick of the match.
Jol will have felt the disappointment more than anyone as he oversaw his first encounter against his former paymasters since leaving White Hart Lane in acrimonious circumstances three years ago.