It threatened to be a low-key Premier League weekend, with only a couple of fixtures looking anything like an enticing way to spend a couple of hours. But the self-proclaimed ‘best league in the world’ pulled one out of the bag with a few cracking clashes, no shortage of Sunday afternoon drama and plenty of entertaining goals.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Everton
The Toffees got Saturday’s Premier League goalscoring underway when Yakubu was felled 25 yards from goal and Leighton Baines fired a stunning free kick past Heurelho Gomes and into the top corner. After a draining match in Milan, Tottenham’s salvation came in the shape of a flapping Tim Howard, who allowed a cross to pass him, hit Peter Crouch and get tapped over the line by Rafael van der Vaart.
Birmingham City 2-0 Blackpool
A good, open game in Birmingham was won by the hosts, but Blackpool certainly played their part. Nikola Zigic played a part in both goals, heading against the crossbar to set up Liam Ridgewell for the first, and pouncing on a lazy touch by Charlie Adam to poke in the second. Ben Foster had a decent afternoon in the Blues goal, albeit not a particularly challenging one.
Chelsea 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Chelsea got the expected win over Wolves at Stamford Bridge but they were made to work for it by a decent performance from Mick McCarthy’s side. Florent Malouda’s seventh league goal of the season was assisted by Yuri Zhirkov, and Salomon Kalou secured the points late on after coming on as a substitute.
Sunderland 1-0 Aston Villa
Stewart Downing hit the post early for Villa and Nigel Reo-Coker thought he’d been fouled in the penalty area (the chances of Villa ever getting a decision from Mark Halsey are less than or equal to zero), but it was Sunderland who scored the decisive goal at the Stadium of Light. Richard Dunne’s own goal was a real clanger, the Irishman turning Steed Malbranque’s cross past Brad Friedel under pressure from nobody apart from his own central defensive partner.
West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Fulham
Fulham took the lead at the Hawthorns when former Albion midfielder Zoltan Gera’s shot hit the post and rebounded over the line off the back of goalkeeper Scott Carson. Diomansy Kamara then clipped the post and Albion soon equalised through Youssuf Mulumbu, who bagged his first of the season. Chris Brunt and Jerome Thomas combined to set up Marc-Antoine Fortune’s winner, but Fulham were unhappy and argued that both Albion goals had been offside. West Brom felt they should have been awarded a second half penalty.
Wigan Athletic 1-1 Bolton Wanderers
Wigan lost James McCarthy to injury early on and the same fate looked set for Hugo Rodallega. Instead, the Colombian played on and was crucial to much of Athletic’s good work against Bolton. The highlight was his crisp finish to put Roberto Martinez’s side in front, although Franco Di Santo played him through on goal and was himself offside. Johan Elmander’s fifth of the season earned a point for Owen Coyle’s team but it looked under threat on more than a few occasions. Martinez should be unhappy with Wigan’s finishing.
West Ham United 1-2 Newcastle United
It couldn’t have been scripted any better. In the late game on Saturday West Ham, who’d taken the lead through Carlton Cole, were ultimately beaten by the men of the moment on Tyneside. Kevin Nolan equalised after a superb cross by Joey Barton and a knock-down from his on-bail tenant Andy Carroll, and the young striker notched the winner himself with a header set up again by Barton, who had a storming game for the Magpies.
Stoke City 1-2 Manchester United
A traumatic week at United ended at the Britannia, where Alex Ferguson’s side again threw away a lead, only this time they found a winner. Javier Hernandez used the back of his head to find the net from Nemanja Vidic’s header across goal, but it was Gary Neville who stole the headlines in the first half. The former England man was lucky to escape dismissal and was substituted shortly after the break. Tuncay’s equaliser for Stoke was a fantastic curling effort, but Hernandez had another trick in his locker. The Mexican tucked the balled home at the end of a patient United move.
Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
Liverpool bagged their second home league victory of the season, defeating Blackburn 2-1 with an all too familiar foe getting the winner against Rovers. Sotirios Kyrgiakos headed Liverpool’s opener with a little help from a deflection over the line, but an own goal from Jamie Carragher pulled the visitors level. But it was Fernando Torres, who has a knack of scoring against Blackburn, who was in the right place at the right time to sidefoot the winner for the Reds.
Manchester City 0-3 Arsenal
Manchester City’s afternoon went from bad to worse after Dedryck Boyata’s sending off in the first five minutes at Eastlands. Samir Nasri’s assured finish gave the Gunners a 1-0 lead, and although City acquitted themselves brilliantly with ten men throughout it was Arsenal who had the cutting edge thanks to their extra man. Alex Song took advantage of a fortunate bounce in the box to thrash in the second, and substitute Nicklas Bendtner finished well to add a flattering third. At 1-0, Cesc Fabregas had a penalty saved by Joe Hart.
Top Five Players: Chris Brunt (West Bromwich Albion), Joey Barton (Newcastle United), Alexander Hleb (Birmingham City), Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal), David Silva (Manchester City)