Feature Matches
Sunderland v Newcastle
Arsenal v Liverpool
Aston Villa v Blackburn
Man City v Bolton
Man Utd v Tottenham
TAYLOR-MADE VICTORY FOR MAGPIES ON DERBY DAY!
Sunderland 0 - 1 Newcastle
Taylor 62'
The Tyne-Wear Derby is the biggest in the North-East of England, a massive rivalry that has produced some high quality matches down the years with the likes of Quinn, Shearer and Phillips often headlining.
This game however, was not such a quality occasion with chances few and far between. Fortunately the derby day tension was still there, so there was no quarter given by either team.
Newcastle should have had a stone-wall penalty in the first half after Seb Larsson saved Joey Barton's point blanc header with his arm just before the ball crossed the line. Luckily for Larsson, neither the referee, nor his assistant spotted the misdemeanour, and him and his team got away with the incident, leaving Newcastle incensed and feeling hard done by.
The game carried on, with the midfields battling hard to gain sustained pressure and possession without much success. Gyan went closest yet with a great effort from 25 yards with his left foot, which dipped to graze the bar on it's way through with Krul beaten.
The opening goal, and winner, came just after the hour mark when the Magpies got a free kick on the left flank. Ryan Taylor stood over the ball and put in what looked like a half cross, half shot. The ball sailed across goal, evading everyone in the box, to nestle neatly into the far corner, sending the home fans into pandemonium.
Newcastle held out to keep their second clean sheet of the season and second favourable result. Sunderland though, will be dissappointed that they managed to take a point away from Anfield, but had no such luck at St James'.
DEVASTATED GUNNERS LOSE MORE GROUND!
Arsenal 0 - 2 Liverpool
Ramsey OG 78'
Suarez 90'
Arsenal fans journeyed to the Emirates in the hope that their team would banish the ghost of Cesc Fabregas' departure with a victory of Liverpool. What a got was not far short of a shambles.
The rain pelted down in North London, conditions which fitted in perfectly with the emotions surrounding Arsenal.
In spite of his near-certain imminent transfer to Man City, Samir Nasri started as Jenkinson and Frimpong made their debuts. Luis Suarez was benched after showing fatigue.
The first twenty minutes came without chances, the first such attempt resulted in a save from Szcesny as Andy Carroll powered a header.
Emanuel Frimpong made a surging start with a drive through the midfield and rifling off a shot from 25 yards that Reina was forced to palm round the post. Indeed the rookie made a good start, one that was unfortunately marred by his 2nd yellow card in the 70th minute after a poor tackle as Wenger labelled him "the victim of his own passion".
The game then only started to hot up again after the hour mark. Robin Van Persie's close range effort required a good save from Pepe Reina.
Then, with 78 minutes on the clock, Arsenal's luck showed foul once more. Substitue Miquel was attempting to clear the ball, but only managed to hit Ramsey in the face as the ball ricocheted over Szcesny and into the goal.
Then as injury time began, the Arsenal defenders backed off the oncoming Liverpool players as the ball was slipped to Meireles. Meireles then squared to Suarez who was able to slide the ball in.
Despite of the criticism against the Arsenal boss after another questionable result, Kenny Dalglish gallantly stated, "no one can take away what Arsene Wenger has done for this football club". This may be true, but will the football club soon has to take away what Wenger wants to do in the future?
VILLA RUN RIOT TO SEND ROVERS BOTTOM!
Aston Villa 3 - 1 Blackburn
Agbonlahor 12' Pedersen 52'
Heskey 25'
Bent 67'
Villa were the picture of unity following this dominant victory. So far maligned boss Alex McLeish was in charge of his first home game at Villa Park. "We believe in the manager" were Darren Bent's words following this victory. It must be a much better environment after the unfortunately sequence of events that unfolded during Gerard Houllier's tenure.
Proceedings started early on as Gabby Agbonlahor put his team in the lead with a outstanding effort. He jinked one way, then another to put Salgado off-balance down Villa's left flank. He then cut in and let fly with a curling effort that evaded Paul Robinson's outstretched arms to settle in the back of the net after 12 minutes.
New Blackburn signing Goodwillie had his first chance at glory soon after, but he could only spurn it by blasting it just over the bar from a tough angle. Down the other end, Agbonlahor was at it again, cutting in once more to hit another swerving shot. This time however, Robinson managed to cling onto the ball with a flying catch.
Villa were not kept waiting much longer though, a ball into Agbonlahor saw him with his back to goal, and a defender behind him. He squared to an on-coming Emile Heskey who was able to slide the ball round a defender, and more importantly round Robinson to find the net for the first time this season.
The Yorshire side then got an excellent goal back when Junior Hoilett used his quick feet to beat three men wide on the left. He then hit a beautifully flighted cross which was met by the on-rushing Morten Gamst Pedersen and past a helpless Given to get the second half of to a good tempo.
With half an hour to go, Albrighton rifled off a cross goal effort that went narrowly wide of goal from 25 yards. Then five minutes later, Darren Bent pounced on a poor clearance to squeeze a shot of that past Robinson for a typical goal from the Londoner.
Villa sealed the points with some good defending in the last 20 minutes. It was a strong showing from the Clarets, far better than they were this time last year, and they will hope to continue this.
Blackburn on the other hand are now the lowest of all the teams that have played two games.
RANGERS ADD TO EVERTON WOES AT GOODISON!
Everton 0 - 1 QPR
Smith 31'
On the half hour, Buszaky rolls Tommy Smith in after Jagielka mis-cleared the ball to him. Smith expertly turns and curls the ball into the far corner as Jagielka fails to stop him.
WIGAN DENIED BY ANOTHER VORM SPECIAL!
Swansea 0 - 0 Wigan
20 minutes from time, Gomez rattles the crossbar with a great dipping shot.
3 minutes later Moses clatters the bar at the same end. This is followed by Gomez being brought down by Williams. Watson steps up to take the penalty, but is saved expertly by Vorm.
CHELS DO IT THE HARD WAY!
Chelsea 2 - 1 West Brom
Anelka 53' Long 4'
Malouda 83'
Alex is bullied off the ball fairly softly by Shane Long, who then beats him for pace and slips past Hilario to put the Midlands team 1 - 0 up early on.
Anelka equalises early into the second half moments after Lampard is denied a penalty. He shoots across goal and the ball deflects into the far corner of Olsson.
Chelsea then began to apply the pressure on the Brom back-line. This pressure finally told when Malouda completed the turn around in an almost identical match to West Brom's previous game against Utd. Bosingwa crosses into back post where Malouda is ready and waiting for a tap in.
This result gave Chelsea the much-vaunted three points they were wanting after Stoke denied them so keenly the week before. For West Brom, they must be the league's unluckiest team so far. They went ahead against Utd and lost and then again to Chelsea and ended up losing there too. They are playing good football and should keep doing what they are doing as it will reward them against the lesser teams as the season goes on.
JONES RESCUES POTTERS WITH A BIT OF MAGIC!
Norwich 1 - 1 Stoke
DeLaet 36' K. Jones 90+1'
Ritchie DeLaet hooked onto a great delivery from a wide free-kick with a glancing header that got Norwich into the lead.
Barnett was sent off on the hour for a last man tackle that also conceded a penalty. Walters failed to convert the following spot-kick.
Whelan put in a great cross in injury that Kenwyne Jones rose to head home, saving Stoke a point.
WOLVES KEEP UP 100% RECORD!
Wolves 2 - 0 Fulham
Doyle 42'
Jarvis 43'
Doyle collected a pass from Matt Jarvis, before letting fly to beat Mark Schwarzer.
Jarvis doubled the lead minutes later, pouncing on a header from Johnson that hit the crossbar.
CITY COME OUT ON TOP IN FIVE GOAL THRILLER!
Man City 3 - 2 Bolton
Silva 26' Klasnic 40'
Barry 38' Davies 63'
Dzeko 47'
This fixture bought a clash between the top two teams in the Premier League after the first weekend. Both had put four goals past their opponents without reply, and had looked impressive doing so.
In spite of this, the first ten minutes of the game was spent getting into the rhythm of the game by both teams. Eagles and Knight went close early doors, Eagles with a testing, low free kick and then Knight tapping narrowly wide from a corner. Indeed, Bolton's corners were where they looked most dangerous in the opening part of the match. They were constantly pressuring the City defence with well directly balls in.
After fifteen minutes, the tide began to change. Jussi Jaaskelainen was forced into his first big save from James Milner as he met Kolarov's cross with a tough effort. Three minutes later, Aguero missed a sitter from 8 yards as he ploughed the ball over the bar.
The pressure soon told, just shy of the half hour mark as Man of the Match, David Silva cut into the box after a pass from Micah Richards and then hit a low, swerving shot past Jaaskelainen from the edge of the box to put his team ahead.
Richards then got a goal disallowed as his cross fed Aguero's tap-in finish as he had barged Petrov just before crossing.
By this point, City were thoroughly dominating both play and possession. Aguero missed another chance with his head. Then came a second magic moment for City. James Milner hit a variation corner out to Gareth Barry, who was 25 yards out. Barry got the ball out of his feet and hit an arrow of a shot with his left foot in the the top corner to double City's advantage.
Bolton threw themselves a lifeline when Klasnic hit a beautifully executed half-volley from a Petrov cross with his left foot on the twirl.
City soon got the upper hand once again, two minutes into the second half, they were 3 - 1 up as Dzeko capitalised on Paul Robinson's mistake to break clear and hit a well timed effort underneath the Finish keeper.
Kevin Davies scored what was to be the last goal with half an hour left on the clock with a superb jump to outleap Lescott to head home from a free kick. David Silva was narrowly stopped from scoring again thanks to a brilliant block from Zat Knight as the Spaniard was almost clean through.
The game had been going at such a furious tempo, that for such an early game in the season, players were beginning to tire, City's men in particular as they struggled and strained to keep the Bolton offenses at bay. That said, Adam Johnson almost scored 5 minutes from time, when he sold Zat Knight, only to dribble the ball just wide of the target.
But when the game was all said and done, City managed to get the result and the three points with it to take them top of the table. They may have looked slightly defensively frail at times, but another fluorescent performance from David Silva guided them to victory.
UNITED RAMPANT TO RE-INTRODUCE SPURS!
Man Utd 3 - 0 Tottenham
Welbeck 61'
Anderson 76'
Rooney 87'
A big game early is the season for United, Tottenham presented a big hurdle coming up to Manchester. Having been postponed last week, this was Spurs' first game of the season and it was always going to be a tough ask.
The first half was fairly even with both sides coming close at times, but struggling most with a quality final ball to find a goal. Friedel was forced into several good saves from Cleverley and Young. Young went closest with a floating header after a great chipped ball in from Rooney.
United really began to turn the screw as the second half went it's course. Young, Anderson and Rooney all had the American goalkeeper stretching to make fine saves to keep Tottenham level.
He could not however, keep them out forever as United's youngsters combined brilliantly for the opener. Cleverley whipped in a fantastic cross which Welbeck was able to guide into the far corner excellently with his head.
This opened the gate somewhat for the Red's as they soon applied more and more pressure on the Tottenham backline. Friedel produced his best save of the match to keep out an in-direct Rooney free kick with superb flexiblity at his near post.
The build up for United's second goal was almost mesmeric. Rooney played the ball to Welbeck, whose amazing vision saw him backheel to a running Anderson who creamed the ball into the corner.
The trio was rounded off nicely when Giggs put in a lovely floating cross for Rooney to have an easy header to give him his second goal in as many games to guide his team to a nigh on flawless win.
MY TEAM OF THE WEEK;
GK - Vorm (Swansea), RB - Bosingwa (Chelsea), LB - Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham), CB - Carragher (Liverpool), CB - Smalling (Man Utd), RM - Young (Man Utd), LM - Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), CM - Nasri (Arsenal), CM - Silva (Man City), CF - Welbeck (Man Utd), CF - Rooney (Man Utd).
Showing posts with label Premier League Football.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Premier League Football.. Show all posts
Friday, 26 August 2011
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND-UP WEEK 3
I’m afraid that due to the amount of time it takes to write 10 400 or so word match summaries that I am going to have to limit myself to doing 5 in-depth records instead, with the other 5 more general. This week’s in-depth reports are on; Blackburn vs Arsenal, Aston Villa vs Everton, Chelsea vs Stoke, Wigan vs Tottenham and Sunderland vs Man City. In the weeks to come I shall choose the matches on Friday’s – before the games – so that I can more unbiased towards the most entertaining games
ARSENAL BEAT BLACKBURN’S BRUTE FORCE AS THEO RULES ROOST!
BLACKBURN 1 - 2 ARSENAL
M.B. Diouf 28’ Walcott 20’
Arshavin 51’
Arsenal must have come into this game with some trepidation about the kind of treatment they would receive at the hands of the Blackburn player’s after Arsene Wenger’s midweek comments about some teams turning Football into Rugby. Sam Allardyce have been the crux of Arsene Wenger for many years now, with his Bolton side in particular always having been a bogey team for Arsenal whilst Big Sam was their manager.
It was the Gunner’s however, that started the brighter of the two teams by quite a distance. Abou Diaby had his effort saved of the line by a mixture of Grella and Paul Robinson after Fabregas and Robin Van Persie caught out the Blackburn defence with a short corner taken quickly. Shortly afterwards, there was a brief bust-up between El-Hadji Diouf and Manuel Almunia following on from the flair up they had at the Emirates after Diouf put in a very poor and rather intentional challenge on Almunia.
Blackburn then had a chance of their own saved off the line when Christopher Samba rose highest only for an alert Fabregas protecting the far post to react quick enough to save an early opening goal. Samba followed this up with another two headers as he dominated aerially, with one looping effort taking a good save from Almunia who bashed his head against the post to make it, and another just over the bar.
Arsenal did not take these warnings lightly, with 20 minutes gone, Arshavin had the ball in the centre circle, with a loose touch he had to struggle to beat his man and pass on to Robin Van Persie, who, with an elegant swish with the outside of his left foot picked the gap in the defence to find Walcott running onto the ball. Without breaking stride, the England winger took one touch and fired the ball across goal into the bottom left corner on the half-volley with an awesome strike. One that even managed to break a section of the net! This prompted the after match comment of “well, I can hit them quite hard these days” from Mr Walcott, a man whose confidence is growing vastly having scored 4 goals in the last 2 games.
This served to spice up the game, with the tempo lifting somewhat. This lead to Samba dispossessing an Arsenal player and striding to the centre circle to then deliver a wonderful ball down the channel to El-Hadji Diouf who cut in, skinned Koscielny for pace and delivered the ball across to his name-sake Mame Birme Diouf for him to get his first goal for the club five minutes before half time.
The winner though, came the same amount of time after the half-time whistle. Bacary Sagna was able to sprint down the right wing, whip in an excellent cross that fell to Fabregas, whose blocked shot came straight to the feet of Arshavin who had no hesitance in slotting the ball into the corner past Robinson and his supporting defenders. Arsenal should really have gone on to confirm the victory sooner with a Theo Walcott effort from 30 yards that went narrowly over as well as a Wilshere one on one effort when Walcott had slipped the ball across to him.
Arsene Wenger will not mind though, he will be delighted that his team - often mooted as weak and unphysical – have managed to go to Ewood Park and collect the points necessary to keep up with Chelsea. They go into the international break in 2nd, 2 points behind the pace.
NEW BOY VARNEY THE HERO AS BLACKPOOL TAKE POINT
Blackpool 2 - 2 Fulham
Pantsil (OG) 71’ Zamora 35’
Varney 76’ Etuhu 87’
• Dembele produced a flat cross for Zamora to head home.
• Pantsil sliced a kick into his own goal to give Blackpool an equaliser.
• New signing Varney then put Blackpool ahead as he picked his way into between two Fulham defenders to get onto a through-ball and finish calmly from the edge of the box.
• Etuhu got Fulham a share of the points with a late chipped effort.
NOT SIX, BUT CHELSEA STILL STROLL
CHELSEA 2 - 0 STOKE
Malouda 32’
Drogba (Pen) 77’
At the close of play, Ancelotti and his boys may well be upset no to have kept up their 6 goal-scoring momentum, but they still have absolutely nothing to be complaining about, they still haven’t conceded yet this season and have a goal difference of +14.
They didn’t quite manage to create the same amount of chances as they normally do; probably illustrating that Stoke had been doing their homework properly. Having said that though, the game was over before Drogba’s converted his penalty with consummate ease in the 77th minute. Drogba’s wasn’t the only penalty of the day though, with Shawcross tripping up Florent Malouda early on in the first half, only for Frank Lampard to miss his third penalty in a row, a record he will most certainly not be boasting about!
The felled Malouda made up for the erring of Lampard with a nice curled finish around Sorensen from the edge of the area to continue his good start to the season. He is a player who quickly establishing himself as one of Chelsea’s main danger men alongside Lampard and Drogba.
Before the half was out, Ashley Cole attempted a truly outrageous volley. A throw in from the left flank came over his shoulder, he swung with his left foot, unleashing an amazing shot to rattle the crossbar. Stoke had their own effort hit the crossbar, with Glenn Whelan hitting a good 25 yard effort that had Cech beaten.
Chelsea finally killed the game off with 15 minutes left on the clock, Anelka was fouled by Sorensen for a stone-wall penalty, which Drogba scored to present him with his 4th league goal this season. Still having their 100% record, Chelsea are still hot favourites to lift the trophy even with the league still in its embryonic stage.
AL-HABSI POINTS!
TOTTENHAM 0 – 1 WIGAN
Rodallega 80’
When Wigan lost 9-1 at White Hart Lane last season, Roberto Martinez was backed for the sack, before Saturday’s game, he was in the same position after two bad losses this season. He would most likely not have dreamed of being able to beat Spurs on their own patch.
However an 80th minute winner from Hugo Rodallega got them three massive points to get them off the mark for the season. It was a goal fully against the run of play, but one that no one associated with Wigan will refuse.
Wigan also had the first meaningful chance of the match with centre-back Steve Gohouri hitting the crossbar early on. Ekotto was almost punished on two separate occasions for dawdling on the ball as he was dispossessed but McCarthy and Bosselli couldn’t quite work things into a goal.
Tottenham then began dominating the game, with a Wigan handball and in-turn penalty appeal being turned down. Jermaine Defoe, who had put his groin operation on hold to play, then forced a sharp reaction save from Al-Habsi when he turned and shot fluidly from an Assou-Ekotto cross.
As the 2nd half pressed on Alcaraz somehow managed to miss from 3 yards, a miss only equalled by Carlos Tevez’s howler. This was followed from an over the bar volley from Jordi Gomez and Wigan started to get nearer. Rodallega then scored his goal to put Wigan into an unlikely lead.
The game came to an end after Krancjar hit a brilliant 30 yard shot that was stopped again by Al-Habsi, followed up by another save with Dawson and Younes Kaboul missed a guilt-edge header. Wigan had smashed and grabbed a victory here and will be delighted with their effort, this will have helped Roberto Martinez keep his position to no end.
CARROLL SONG STILL ECHOING AROUND MOLINEUX
Wolves 1 - 1 Newcastle
Ebanks-Blake 43’ Carroll 62’
• Ebanks-Blake scores again to put Wovles ahead just before half time with a strong touch- down and strike.
• Jarvis was not awarded clear penalty after a tackle from Perch.
• Carroll headed into the back of the net from a Joey Barton free-kick on the hour.
UNITED TAKE IT EASY AS ROO FINALLY SCORES
Man Utd 3 - 0 West Ham
Rooney (Pen) 33’
Nani 50’
Berbatov 69’
• Rooney finally breaks his long-lived deadlock from the spot after Giggs was tripped in the box.
• Nani cuts in onto his left foot and curls the ball into the corner from 18 yards.
• Berbatov finishes the job with an excellent horizontal volley from a Nani cross.
JUSS A BIT STUPID FROM JAASKELAINEN AS 10-MAN BOLTON SCRAPE A POINT
Bolton 2 - 2 Birmingham
K. Davies 71’ R. Johnson 4’
Blake 81’ Gardner 50’
• Jaaskelainen got sent off after slapping R. Johnson.
• Craig Gardner finished from Cameron Jerome’s strong knock-down.
• Johnson brought a man down in the area to allow Kevin Davies to convert a good penalty.
HODGSON’S HOME DELIGHT AS TORRES RETURNS
Liverpool 1 - 0 West Brom
Torres 65’
• Torres volleys Liverpool to three points for edge of the early to end a torrid time personally.
• Both Liverpool and Wigan are turned down debatable penalties, in particular Wigan’s after Olsson was pulled down by him.
• Morrisson sent off for a dangerous tackle on Torres with 5 minutes remaining.
SUNDERLAND GRAB THE POINTS AS CITY SLICKERS SLIP
SUNDERLAND 1 - 0 MAN CITY
Bent (Pen) 90’
Sunderland came out looking for a big 3 points today in a match that was always going to be tough for both teams. Carlos Tevez will no doubt be left hanging his head in deep shame after a shocking miss from 10 yards with the goal gaping opening.
Sunderland came back at City after this early miss with one narrow one of their own, a 30 yard effort from Henderson that had Hart watching. Lescott and Turner then got involved in a mean tackle with the Wear-side player coming off worse for wear in the tackle. This preceded an even nastier moment for Frazier Campbell off as his knee jarred in the ground, an injury that can now be confirmed as a tear of his cruciate ligaments leading to an absence of around six months.
Following such mean moments Yaya Toure was denied at close-range by Mignolet, who has been making quite a reputation for himself as a strong shot-stopper. This was backed up by his brilliant stretching save to stop a superb back-heeled effort from Emmanuel Adebayor late on in the 2nd half for 6 yards.
Then as the match seemed to be coming to a close, with the Match of the Day commentator tempting fate by saying, “it looks like Joe Hart is set to keep a fifth straight clean-sheet”. Micah Richard tugged all over the back of and brought Darren Bent down in the 3rd minute of 3 minutes of injury time to present Darren Bent with a penalty that would either secure 3 points for Sunderland or a share of the points. As it was Bent successfully put the penalty past a despairing Hart. This leaves City dropping more points to leave them 5 points adrift already, something that will not be likely to please Sheikh Mansour.
YOUNG THE THIEF AS VILLANS SOME TOFFEE
ASTON VILLA 1 - 0 EVERTON
L. Young 9’
After this latest disappointment, Everton have sealed their worst start to a season in 11 years with only 1 point from their 3 games. Considering they have played Blackburn away and Wolves at Goodison Park before today, David Moyes really will not be best pleased. Villa on the other hand were needing to make come-backs from the joint disappointments of crashing out of the Europa League and being beaten by Newcastle last weekend.
All in all it was a game dominated by Everton but the consistent as always Brad Friedel kept them at bay superbly, denying a late effort from Louis Saha at full stretch to save his team’s points with Jagielka heading over late-on as well. Not to be out-done, Tim Howard also made a good double-save from Carew and then Ashley Young stretching far and wide to prevent such efforts.
Mark Albrighton had a very good penalty appeal turned down by the referee when Pienaar was adjudged to have brought him down cleanly. This came after Villa’s enterprising opener and – in the end – winner. Luke Young made a curving, penetrative run into the box and was found by a ball from Ashley Young that was so well-timed and hit that Luke Young didn’t even have break stride to curve it first time with his left foot to score his 1st goal of the season.
ARSENAL BEAT BLACKBURN’S BRUTE FORCE AS THEO RULES ROOST!
BLACKBURN 1 - 2 ARSENAL
M.B. Diouf 28’ Walcott 20’
Arshavin 51’
Arsenal must have come into this game with some trepidation about the kind of treatment they would receive at the hands of the Blackburn player’s after Arsene Wenger’s midweek comments about some teams turning Football into Rugby. Sam Allardyce have been the crux of Arsene Wenger for many years now, with his Bolton side in particular always having been a bogey team for Arsenal whilst Big Sam was their manager.
It was the Gunner’s however, that started the brighter of the two teams by quite a distance. Abou Diaby had his effort saved of the line by a mixture of Grella and Paul Robinson after Fabregas and Robin Van Persie caught out the Blackburn defence with a short corner taken quickly. Shortly afterwards, there was a brief bust-up between El-Hadji Diouf and Manuel Almunia following on from the flair up they had at the Emirates after Diouf put in a very poor and rather intentional challenge on Almunia.
Blackburn then had a chance of their own saved off the line when Christopher Samba rose highest only for an alert Fabregas protecting the far post to react quick enough to save an early opening goal. Samba followed this up with another two headers as he dominated aerially, with one looping effort taking a good save from Almunia who bashed his head against the post to make it, and another just over the bar.
Arsenal did not take these warnings lightly, with 20 minutes gone, Arshavin had the ball in the centre circle, with a loose touch he had to struggle to beat his man and pass on to Robin Van Persie, who, with an elegant swish with the outside of his left foot picked the gap in the defence to find Walcott running onto the ball. Without breaking stride, the England winger took one touch and fired the ball across goal into the bottom left corner on the half-volley with an awesome strike. One that even managed to break a section of the net! This prompted the after match comment of “well, I can hit them quite hard these days” from Mr Walcott, a man whose confidence is growing vastly having scored 4 goals in the last 2 games.
This served to spice up the game, with the tempo lifting somewhat. This lead to Samba dispossessing an Arsenal player and striding to the centre circle to then deliver a wonderful ball down the channel to El-Hadji Diouf who cut in, skinned Koscielny for pace and delivered the ball across to his name-sake Mame Birme Diouf for him to get his first goal for the club five minutes before half time.
The winner though, came the same amount of time after the half-time whistle. Bacary Sagna was able to sprint down the right wing, whip in an excellent cross that fell to Fabregas, whose blocked shot came straight to the feet of Arshavin who had no hesitance in slotting the ball into the corner past Robinson and his supporting defenders. Arsenal should really have gone on to confirm the victory sooner with a Theo Walcott effort from 30 yards that went narrowly over as well as a Wilshere one on one effort when Walcott had slipped the ball across to him.
Arsene Wenger will not mind though, he will be delighted that his team - often mooted as weak and unphysical – have managed to go to Ewood Park and collect the points necessary to keep up with Chelsea. They go into the international break in 2nd, 2 points behind the pace.
NEW BOY VARNEY THE HERO AS BLACKPOOL TAKE POINT
Blackpool 2 - 2 Fulham
Pantsil (OG) 71’ Zamora 35’
Varney 76’ Etuhu 87’
• Dembele produced a flat cross for Zamora to head home.
• Pantsil sliced a kick into his own goal to give Blackpool an equaliser.
• New signing Varney then put Blackpool ahead as he picked his way into between two Fulham defenders to get onto a through-ball and finish calmly from the edge of the box.
• Etuhu got Fulham a share of the points with a late chipped effort.
NOT SIX, BUT CHELSEA STILL STROLL
CHELSEA 2 - 0 STOKE
Malouda 32’
Drogba (Pen) 77’
At the close of play, Ancelotti and his boys may well be upset no to have kept up their 6 goal-scoring momentum, but they still have absolutely nothing to be complaining about, they still haven’t conceded yet this season and have a goal difference of +14.
They didn’t quite manage to create the same amount of chances as they normally do; probably illustrating that Stoke had been doing their homework properly. Having said that though, the game was over before Drogba’s converted his penalty with consummate ease in the 77th minute. Drogba’s wasn’t the only penalty of the day though, with Shawcross tripping up Florent Malouda early on in the first half, only for Frank Lampard to miss his third penalty in a row, a record he will most certainly not be boasting about!
The felled Malouda made up for the erring of Lampard with a nice curled finish around Sorensen from the edge of the area to continue his good start to the season. He is a player who quickly establishing himself as one of Chelsea’s main danger men alongside Lampard and Drogba.
Before the half was out, Ashley Cole attempted a truly outrageous volley. A throw in from the left flank came over his shoulder, he swung with his left foot, unleashing an amazing shot to rattle the crossbar. Stoke had their own effort hit the crossbar, with Glenn Whelan hitting a good 25 yard effort that had Cech beaten.
Chelsea finally killed the game off with 15 minutes left on the clock, Anelka was fouled by Sorensen for a stone-wall penalty, which Drogba scored to present him with his 4th league goal this season. Still having their 100% record, Chelsea are still hot favourites to lift the trophy even with the league still in its embryonic stage.
AL-HABSI POINTS!
TOTTENHAM 0 – 1 WIGAN
Rodallega 80’
When Wigan lost 9-1 at White Hart Lane last season, Roberto Martinez was backed for the sack, before Saturday’s game, he was in the same position after two bad losses this season. He would most likely not have dreamed of being able to beat Spurs on their own patch.
However an 80th minute winner from Hugo Rodallega got them three massive points to get them off the mark for the season. It was a goal fully against the run of play, but one that no one associated with Wigan will refuse.
Wigan also had the first meaningful chance of the match with centre-back Steve Gohouri hitting the crossbar early on. Ekotto was almost punished on two separate occasions for dawdling on the ball as he was dispossessed but McCarthy and Bosselli couldn’t quite work things into a goal.
Tottenham then began dominating the game, with a Wigan handball and in-turn penalty appeal being turned down. Jermaine Defoe, who had put his groin operation on hold to play, then forced a sharp reaction save from Al-Habsi when he turned and shot fluidly from an Assou-Ekotto cross.
As the 2nd half pressed on Alcaraz somehow managed to miss from 3 yards, a miss only equalled by Carlos Tevez’s howler. This was followed from an over the bar volley from Jordi Gomez and Wigan started to get nearer. Rodallega then scored his goal to put Wigan into an unlikely lead.
The game came to an end after Krancjar hit a brilliant 30 yard shot that was stopped again by Al-Habsi, followed up by another save with Dawson and Younes Kaboul missed a guilt-edge header. Wigan had smashed and grabbed a victory here and will be delighted with their effort, this will have helped Roberto Martinez keep his position to no end.
CARROLL SONG STILL ECHOING AROUND MOLINEUX
Wolves 1 - 1 Newcastle
Ebanks-Blake 43’ Carroll 62’
• Ebanks-Blake scores again to put Wovles ahead just before half time with a strong touch- down and strike.
• Jarvis was not awarded clear penalty after a tackle from Perch.
• Carroll headed into the back of the net from a Joey Barton free-kick on the hour.
UNITED TAKE IT EASY AS ROO FINALLY SCORES
Man Utd 3 - 0 West Ham
Rooney (Pen) 33’
Nani 50’
Berbatov 69’
• Rooney finally breaks his long-lived deadlock from the spot after Giggs was tripped in the box.
• Nani cuts in onto his left foot and curls the ball into the corner from 18 yards.
• Berbatov finishes the job with an excellent horizontal volley from a Nani cross.
JUSS A BIT STUPID FROM JAASKELAINEN AS 10-MAN BOLTON SCRAPE A POINT
Bolton 2 - 2 Birmingham
K. Davies 71’ R. Johnson 4’
Blake 81’ Gardner 50’
• Jaaskelainen got sent off after slapping R. Johnson.
• Craig Gardner finished from Cameron Jerome’s strong knock-down.
• Johnson brought a man down in the area to allow Kevin Davies to convert a good penalty.
HODGSON’S HOME DELIGHT AS TORRES RETURNS
Liverpool 1 - 0 West Brom
Torres 65’
• Torres volleys Liverpool to three points for edge of the early to end a torrid time personally.
• Both Liverpool and Wigan are turned down debatable penalties, in particular Wigan’s after Olsson was pulled down by him.
• Morrisson sent off for a dangerous tackle on Torres with 5 minutes remaining.
SUNDERLAND GRAB THE POINTS AS CITY SLICKERS SLIP
SUNDERLAND 1 - 0 MAN CITY
Bent (Pen) 90’
Sunderland came out looking for a big 3 points today in a match that was always going to be tough for both teams. Carlos Tevez will no doubt be left hanging his head in deep shame after a shocking miss from 10 yards with the goal gaping opening.
Sunderland came back at City after this early miss with one narrow one of their own, a 30 yard effort from Henderson that had Hart watching. Lescott and Turner then got involved in a mean tackle with the Wear-side player coming off worse for wear in the tackle. This preceded an even nastier moment for Frazier Campbell off as his knee jarred in the ground, an injury that can now be confirmed as a tear of his cruciate ligaments leading to an absence of around six months.
Following such mean moments Yaya Toure was denied at close-range by Mignolet, who has been making quite a reputation for himself as a strong shot-stopper. This was backed up by his brilliant stretching save to stop a superb back-heeled effort from Emmanuel Adebayor late on in the 2nd half for 6 yards.
Then as the match seemed to be coming to a close, with the Match of the Day commentator tempting fate by saying, “it looks like Joe Hart is set to keep a fifth straight clean-sheet”. Micah Richard tugged all over the back of and brought Darren Bent down in the 3rd minute of 3 minutes of injury time to present Darren Bent with a penalty that would either secure 3 points for Sunderland or a share of the points. As it was Bent successfully put the penalty past a despairing Hart. This leaves City dropping more points to leave them 5 points adrift already, something that will not be likely to please Sheikh Mansour.
YOUNG THE THIEF AS VILLANS SOME TOFFEE
ASTON VILLA 1 - 0 EVERTON
L. Young 9’
After this latest disappointment, Everton have sealed their worst start to a season in 11 years with only 1 point from their 3 games. Considering they have played Blackburn away and Wolves at Goodison Park before today, David Moyes really will not be best pleased. Villa on the other hand were needing to make come-backs from the joint disappointments of crashing out of the Europa League and being beaten by Newcastle last weekend.
All in all it was a game dominated by Everton but the consistent as always Brad Friedel kept them at bay superbly, denying a late effort from Louis Saha at full stretch to save his team’s points with Jagielka heading over late-on as well. Not to be out-done, Tim Howard also made a good double-save from Carew and then Ashley Young stretching far and wide to prevent such efforts.
Mark Albrighton had a very good penalty appeal turned down by the referee when Pienaar was adjudged to have brought him down cleanly. This came after Villa’s enterprising opener and – in the end – winner. Luke Young made a curving, penetrative run into the box and was found by a ball from Ashley Young that was so well-timed and hit that Luke Young didn’t even have break stride to curve it first time with his left foot to score his 1st goal of the season.
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