2 September 2007
ASTON VILLA 2 (Knight 47, Agbonlahor 88)
CHELSEA 0
Chelsea slump to their first defeat of the season at Aston Villa, a ground where they've not won in eight years. After a goalless first half Villa went ahead when Gareth Barry's corner was headed firmly in by
debutant Zat Knight who ironically played against Villa last week for Fulham and scored an own goal! Chelsea had stacks of possession but created little and late on as Ashley Young broke down the left, his effort at goal was hammered in at the near post by Gabriel Agbonlahor to clinch the points.
Attendance : 37,714
Assists : Barry (ck), Young
BLACKBURN 1 (McCarthy 13)
MANCHESTER CITY 0
Attendance : 26,881
Red Card : Dunne 65 (Manchester City)
Assist : n/a
ARSENAL 3 (Adebayor 8 Pen, Fabregas 35, Rosicky 59)
PORTSMOUTH 1 (Kanu 60)
Arsenal remain unbeaten and move into second place after a comfortable win against Portsmouth despite playing much of the second half with ten men. The Gunners began well and went ahead early from an Emmanuel Adebayor penalty after Robin Van Persie had been caught in full flight by keeper David James. The lead was doubled when a near post corner was headed on by Gilberto Silva and although Sean Davis blocked it, Cesc Fabregas was on the spot to turn and bobble the ball in. Early in the second half Philippe Senderos held back Nwankwo Kanu as he tried to get free on goal and was shown a straight red card but ten minutes later Arsenal wrapped it up when a quick free kick by the corner flag saw Fabregas find Tomas Rosicky and he drilled in from a tight angle. Straight from the kick off, John Utaka crossed for Kanu who tried to control the ball only for it to bounce off both legs and into the bottom corner for one of the most bizarre goals you'll see but it mattered little in the end.
Attendance : 60,114
Red Card : Senderos 49 (Arsenal)
Assists : RVP (won pen), Gilberto Silva, Fabregas (fk), Utaka
1 September 2007
BOLTON 1 (Anelka 54)
EVERTON 2 (Yakubu 11, Lescott 89)
Bolton's poor start continues as they slumped to a last minute defeat at home to Everton. The visitors were ahead at half time after Andy Johnson broke clear and slotted the ball across for debutant Yakubu to tap into a gaping net, however Bolton levelled early in the second half when El Hadji Diouf's cross wasn't cleared and Nik Anelka volleyed in off the bar. Everton clinched it late on thanks to a far post header by Joleon Lescott from Thomas Gravesen's corner.
Attendance : 22,064
Assists : Johnson, n/a, Gravesen (ck)
FULHAM 3 (Dempsey 42, Smertin 77, Kamara 90)
TOTTENHAM 3 (Kaboul 9, Berbatov 28, Bale 61)
According to one commentator, this was the most one-sided 3-3 draw you'll ever see as Spurs missed a host of chances and allow Fulham to come from two down to earn a point. Spurs raced into a 2-0 lead as Gareth Bale's corner wasn't dealt with by keeper Antti Niemi and Younes Kaboul was left with a tap in and then Robbie Keane sent Dimitar Berbatov clear to crash in the second. It should have been at least double that before Fulham pulled one back as Clint Dempsey thumped in a header from a Simon Davies corner. The second half was more of the same including Steed Malbranque almost breaking the post with a stinging drive. Spurs regained their two goal lead when Keane sent Bale through to slot in, however a grandstand finale was on the cards when Dempsey found Alexei Smertin whose shot from the edge of the area took a freak deflection off of Ricardo Rocha to loop in. With time running out, Fulham struck again as Dempsey's back header wasn't cleared and Diomansy Kamara's overhead kick again looped over Paul Robinson to earn Fulham an unlikely point.
Attendance : 24,007
Assists : n/a, Keane, Davies (ck), Keane, n/a, n/a
MIDDLESBROUGH 2 (Wheater 11, Downing 37)
BIRMINGHAM 0
Middlesbrough move into mid table after a comfortable win against Birmingham. Both goals came in the first half, the first was a crashing header by David Wheater from Andrew Taylor's cross and Taylor was also
involved in the second as his deep ball was nodded down by George Boateng and finished easily by the unmarked Stuart Downing.
Attendance : 22,920
Assists : Taylor, Boateng
LIVERPOOL 6 (Xabi Alonso 26 fk, Babel 45, Torres 56, Xabi Alonso 68, Voronin 75, Torres 78)
DERBY 0
Liverpool went into overdrive without Carragher, Gerrard and Crouch and blitzed Derby with six of the best. They took a while to get going but once Xabi Alonso's curling free kick found the bottom corner having by-passed everyone in the area, it was one way traffic. The lead was doubled before half time when Alvaro Arbeloa set up Ryan Babel who wrong footed two defenders on the edge of the area before firing into the corner. Four goals in a blistering twenty minute spell ended the torture for Derby, starting with Fernando Torres run and neat finish after Javier Mascherano had caught Robert Malcolm in possession. Alonso added his second with a side-footed effort from the edge of the area after Yossi Benayoun had been the victim of a crunching, but fair, tackle in the area before Andriy Voronin got onto the score sheet with a close range effort bundled in after Dirt Kuyt's shot had been saved. The rout was completed by Torres two minutes later as he capitalised on awful control from Andy Todd from Voronin's looped pass and rounded the keeper for the sixth. The result left both clubs at literally the opposite ends of the table ahead of the Sunday games.
Attendance : 44,076
Assists : Pennant (won fk), Arbeloa, Mascherano, n/a, Kuyt, n/a
NEWCASTLE 1 (Owen 87)
WIGAN 0
Newcastle left it late to see off ten man Wigan thanks to Michael Owen late header. After a goalless first half, Wigan were soon down to ten men when Kevin Kilbane was shown a second yellow card, harshly, after a late headed challenge on Alan Smith. They looked to have held on until the latter stages when Obafemi Martins crossed to the near post for Owen to head home.
Attendance : 50,461
Red Card : Kilbane 45 (Wigan)
Assist : Martins
READING 0
WEST HAM 3 (Bellamy 6, Etherington 48, Etherington 94)
West Ham showed their intent this season with a cruising win at Reading. The hosts won this game 6-0 last season but it was the Hammers who were on song this time around and ahead early on as Lee Bowyer put Craig Bellamy clear to finish well from the edge of the area. Early in the second half, Bellamy was the middle man in a one-two with Matty Etherington who ran on to fire into the roof of the net. Reading had a chance when Hammers keeper Robert Green clattered into Dave Kitson, however he made amends by saving Kevin Doyle's penalty and in the final minute, Etherington added his second on a breakaway having been put through by Carlton Cole.
Attendance : 23,533
Assists : Bowyer, Bellamy, Cole
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Saha 71)
SUNDERLAND 0
Man United move into the top six with a hard fought home win against Sunderland. Billed as Fergie v Keane, the latter had the tactical advantage during an unremarkable first half that saw Sunderland frustrate United with an organised display that kept the hosts at arms length with any rare efforts at goal coming from long range with Paul Scholes coming as close as anyone on half time with a shot that deflected inches wide. United brought on Louis Saha to replace the ineffective Andersen for the second half and within minutes he'd helped set up Carlos Tevez whose shot, again from range, was well handled by Craig Gordon. Saha then produced a superb turn and shot forcing an equally good save from Gordon and from the resulting corner, Nemanja Vidic volleyed over from close range as United looked to turn possession into goals. They finally managed to do just that with nineteen minutes left when Nani's near post corner was nodded in by Saha as the defence remained static.
Attendance : 75,648
Assist : Evra (ck)
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