PremWatch 27th October 2008

On a weekend which saw the NFL rockin' it up at Wembley, proper football provided plenty of drama to show who's boss in England. Here's what happened:

Manchester United went ahead at Goodison Park with a neat finish from Darren Fletcher. Marouane Fellaini's second half header levelled for Everton, earning the Toffees a valuable point even as Wayne Rooney kissed the United badge and found himself substituted to avoid a red card.

The Wear-Tyne derby was massively lacking in quality before Djibril Cisse put Sunderland ahead by being in the right place at the right time. The play improved and Shola Ameobi thundered in a header to equalise for Newcastle United. Kieran Richardson won it for the Black Cats with a stunning free kick. Crowd trouble followed, but the furore which surrounded one idiot and his coin at Villa Park last week has still received more press.

Hull City stuck three past West Bromwich Albion in a second half demolition which leaves them flying high. Kamil Zayatte put impressive Hull ahead, and Geovanni and Marlon King finished Albion off.

In Saturday's other game, Middlesbrough were robbed of a perfectly legitimate Tuncay Sanli goal by an incorrect offside decision. Afonso Alves eventually put Boro ahead, but returning Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy grabbed the equalised at Ewood deep into stoppage time.


The UEFA Cup competitors played on Sunday, but all eyes were on two Champions League hopefuls slogging it out at Stamford Bridge. Xabi Alonso's deflected goal helped Liverpool to a famous victory over Chelsea, giving most Chelsea fans their first taste of home defeat by ending their impressive unbeaten run at the Bridge. Liverpool are three points clear at the top.

Manchester City saw the best of Robinho at home to Stoke City. The Brazilian scored a tidy hat-trick, but the best factor for me was the vision and cunning of Daniel Sturridge in providing two of those goals in quite brilliant fashion.

Peter Crouch and Clint Dempsey scored as managerless Portsmouth held Fulham to a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park. I saw a bunch of Fulham fans giving it the big 'un at Waterloo station late last night. Big brave 12-year-olds with fluffy facial hair and barnets like an electrocuted duck's arse. Terrifying, it was.

Ex-Pompey quitter manager Harry Redknapp has been taking plenty of credit for Tottenham Hotspur's first win of the season, at home to Bolton Wanderers. Obviously this credit is entirely deserved, what with Redknapp signing goalscorers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent - along with the rest of the winning team - during his five minutes in charge at White Hart Lane. Eh? Oh. Gavin McCann picked up a soft red card for Bolton.

Arsenal took a long old while to beat West Ham United, but eventually bagged all three points at Upton Park. Unfortunate Julien Faubert scored an own goal for 0-1, and Emmanuel Adebayor took advantage of plenty of space to secure the win in stoppage time.

At the JJB, Aston Villa dismantled Wigan Athletic, netting four times to keep Steve Bruce's side near the foot of the table. Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew and Steve Sidwell scored, and Wigan might just regret playing so well but not picking up the points so far this season.

So, Liverpool top the Premier League from Chelsea and Hull, with Arsenal in fourth and Villa in fifth. Spurs remain bottom, but are now just one point short of disastrous Newcastle. Stoke make up the bottom three.

(Photo Credits: BBC Sport)