It was a great weekend in the Premier League for Arsenal, who moved up to second while Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City all dropped points. There were three goalless draws but the games at Villa Park, White Hart Lane and Molineux more than made up for that in the goalscoring stakes.
Aston Villa 2-2 Manchester United
A disgraceful refereeing performance from the criminally inept Mike Dean soiled a stunning second half performance from an Aston Villa side littered with youth products. Barry Bannan and Marc Albrighton shone as Villa hit the woodwork twice before taking the lead with 20 minutes left. Wes Brown downed Ashley Young for the penalty which was coolly converted by the Villa midfielder despite the unsporting conduct of United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. Young and Stewart Downing combined superbly to set up Albrighton for the second.
United’s comeback always seemed on the cards and came through Federico Macheda’s strike and a Nemanja Vidic header which was celebrated with some verve. Javier Hernandez should have seen red - his booking should have been his second after he somehow completely escaped censure for hoofing the ball into the Holte End after being flagged offside in the first half.
Manchester City 0-0 Birmingham City
If you don’t think Roberto Mancini’s under pressure, it’s time to reconsider. Another dire 0-0 draw featuring Manchester City didn’t go down well at all with pundits or the home supporters but it could all have been so different had Carlos Tevez not used his arm to put the ball into the net in the first half. The criticism of Mancini reached a crescendo when he substituted Tevez and replaced him with Gareth Barry, and there was some booing at full time as well. Expectations are high at City these days and if Mancini is going to play negative football he’ll need start delivering results again. A quick glance at the league table makes all this very confusing.
Newcastle United 0-0 Fulham
Two uninspired sides met at Newcastle, with the hosts coming the closest with a block off the Fulham line and then a save by Mark Schwarzer foiling Andy Carroll and Peter Lovenkrands respectively. United seemed to miss Joey Barton and despite their good start to the season the presence of one or two names on Saturday’s teamsheet suggests that depth may become an issue as the season develops.
Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 Blackburn Rovers
Spurs cruised to victory at home before letting Blackburn make the score look more respectable in the dying minutes. Gareth Bale headed in Tottenham’s first and they had a great chance for a second after Jermaine Jenas was supposedly hauled down in the area, but Roman Pavlyuchenko put the penalty wide. He soon made up for it with a header from Bale’s cross just before half time. Peter Crouch added a third after Gael Givet’s sleepy defending gifted him the ball, and Bale’s scruffy fourth put the result beyond any doubt. David Dunn’s deflected effort made it 4-1 and Givet embarrassed Gomes for 4-2.
West Ham United 0-0 Blackpool
Yet more changes for Ian Holloway’s Blackpool and yet another superb football match involving his side. How it remained goalless is a mystery and surprised the BBC’s radio reporter, Ian Holloway and callers to 6-0-6. Victor Obinna’s shot was handled by Craig Cathcart in the first half and Marlon Harewood had a goal disallowed for offside, seemingly wrongly. A number of excellent chances were wasted by both sides, most notably by Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Carlton Cole.
Wigan Athletic 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
Albion have started the season well but came up against the good side of Wigan on Saturday and left with nothing. Charles N’Zogbia’s brilliant, determined run allowed him to play in Victor Moses, who neatly slotted the winning goal past Scott Carson. I’d love to say more about this game but I can’t.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Bolton Wanderers
It took just 46 seconds for Bolton to take the lead in the Black Country, with Richard Stearman heading past his own goalkeeper under pressure from Matt Taylor. Johan Elmander’s goal was absolutely out of this world and was put away after a pass from Stuart Holden, who scored himself for Bolton’s third. Kevin Foley’s neat curling effort gave Wolves hope and Stephen Fletcher’s headed provided further encouragement, but Bolton held on to another impressive three points.
Stoke City 2-0 Liverpool
After a step forward, Liverpool again took two steps back in the late game on Saturday. Ricardo Fuller prodded in Stoke’s first in the second half after a Delap-inspired chaotic moment and the crisis returns to Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool. Kenwyne Jones killed the game in the last minute after Stoke pounced on a horrendous loose pass by Steven Gerrard and the Potters sealed their first win over Liverpool in my lifetime. Lucas was dismissed for a second bookable offence late on.
Everton 1-2 Arsenal
Arsenal went second with a win over Everton that was arguably more comfortable than the result suggests. Bacary Sagna’s blast from close range gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead at half time. Cesc Fabregas’ goal to make it 2-0 was a work of real beauty around the edge of the penalty area and was neatly finished. Tim Cahill got Everton back into the game but it was too little too late as Everton went all out for an equaliser.
Chelsea 0-3 Sunderland
Chelsea’s amazing home form took a hefty dent in an entirely unexpected defeat to Steve Bruce’s Sunderland. Chelsea squandered early chances but were limp and ineffectual as the Black Cats destroyed them in the second half after a dramatic end to the first. Branislav Ivanovic should have been sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity but escaped with a yellow card, and Nedum Onuoha scored a superb opener for Sunderland, who’d forced several good saves from Petr Cech in the last ten minutes of the first half.
After the break, Asamoah Gyan made it 2-0 after fantastic passing by the visitors. Danny Welbeck’s late third was the direct result of an awful error by Ashley Cole.
Top Five Players: Barry Bannan (Aston Villa), Stewart Downing (Aston Villa), Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Welbeck (Sunderland), Samir Nasri (Arsenal)
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