16 November 2008
EVERTON 1 (Yakubu 65)
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (O'Neil 8)
Honours even at Goodison as Everton came from behind to earn a point against Middlesbrough to keep both clubs in touch with the top six. Boro took an early lead when they broke swiftly as an Everton attack broke down and as Stuart Downing approached the edge of the area, he spotted Gary O'Neil in miles of space and he kept his composure to slot the ball in off the near post. Everton were not fluent but had chances to level as Yakubu broke clear only to be denied by keeper Ross Turnbull. Joleon Lescott had a cross which hit the post and Tim Cahill sent a free header wide from close range. Everton equalised after the interval when Mikael Arteta's fierce free kick from the left went in via the back of Yakubu.
Attendance : 31,063
Assists : Downing, Arteta (fk)
HULL 2 (Cousin 14, Kompany 61 og)
MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Ireland 37, Ireland 45)
Four goals at the JJB as both Hull and Man City took turns in front in a hugely entertaining game.
Hull took the lead as their opponents pressed the self destruct button at the back. Hull put pressure on the away defenders and as they passed the ball between themselves resulting in Tal Ben Haim horrendously under hitting a back pass and Daniel Cousin nipped in to prod the ball under the keeper from eight yards. The incident resulted in an injury to keeper Joe Hart who collected a foot knock and was replaced by sub Kasper Schmeichel. As if to balance matters out, Hull then gifted Man City an equaliser as an awful through ball by Robinho was heading for keeper Boaz Myhill however his defender Kamil Zayatte took command but took too heavy a touch on the ball and handed Stephen Ireland a tap into an empty net. Ireland's second owed nothing to luck though as Javier Garrido found space on the left and his square ball found Ireland on the edge of the area and after a touch to control, he curled a beauty just inside the far post.
Hull began the second half well and within four minutes Geovanni sent an acrobatic effort just over and Marlon King had a decent shot saved by the keeper. Parity was eventually restored just after the hour when Hull won a disputed free kick 25 yards out. Geovanni's shot was on target but took a significant deflection off of the wall and wrong footed Schmeichel and found the net. A minute later King had a great header saved as Hull looked, but ultimately failed, to press home their advantage.
Attendance : 24,902
Assists : n/a, n/a, Garrido, n/a
15 November 2008
ARSENAL 0
ASTON VILLA 2 (Clichy 70 og, Agbonlahor 80)
Arsenal's title hopes are in tatters after slumping to a fourth defeat of the season at home to Aston Villa. It could have been worse for the Gunners as Villa also missed a first half penalty when Ashley Young's kick was saved by Manuel Almunia after he'd been fouled by Theo Walcott. The visitors struck with twenty minutes to go as a cross from Young was headed powerfully into his own net by Gael Clichy under pressure from Gabriel Agbonlahor. The lead was doubled and secured ten minutes later when Agbonlahor latched onto a clearance from Martin Laursen and having held off the attentions of William Gallas, fired in from the edge of the area. Bring back the Gunners Carling Cup Kids!!
Attendance : 60,047
Assists : n/a, Laursen
BLACKBURN 1 (Samba 47)
SUNDERLAND 2 (Jones 49, Cisse 71)
Sunderland came from behind to win at Blackburn and gain revenge for their midweek Carling Cup defeat. Rovers went ahead on half time when Christopher Samba headed in Morten Gamst Pedersen's corner. Sunderland battled back after the interval and were level when keeper Paul Robinson's weak punch was helped back into the danger zone and hooked in by Kenwyne Jones. They won it when Steed Malbranque sent Djibril Cisse through and he just reached the ball before the keeper to stab it into the net.
Attendance : 21,798
Assists : Pedersen (ck), n/a, Malbranque
BOLTON 0
LIVERPOOL 2 (Kuyt 28, Gerrard 73)
Two headed goals gave Liverpool three points at Bolton to go top at least for a couple of hours. Liverpool dominated the first half and went ahead when Dirk Kuyt headed superbly in from a deep cross by Fabio Aurelio and the lead should have been doubled only for Robbie Keane to totally miss his kick from two yards out with the goal gaping. Kuyt had earlier hit the bar for the visitors although just before the break, Gary Cahill was unlucky to have a goal disallowed for Bolton for a foul on the keeper. Bolton were better after the interval and should have equalised when Ricardo Gardner burst through and having rounded the keeper, he slipped and screwed the ball wide as Daniel Agger collided with the post and a Bolton player as he battled back to cover, resulting in him apparently losing a tooth! Sub Fernando Torres then crossed for Steven Gerrard who copied Keane earlier and missed from close in. He made amends when Andy O'Brien twice failed to clear the ball and Torres crossed for Gerrard to glance in a header from Close range. Further goals should have followed but Torres hit the post when he should have netted and late on, Gerrard's cross was headed wide by Leiva Lucas.
Attendance : 24,893
Assists : Aurelio, Torres
FULHAM 2 (Gomes 33 og, Johnson 70)
TOTTENHAM 1 (Campbell 81)
Spurs tasted defeat for the first time under Harry Redknapp as Fulham won the London derby. The home side went ahead when a cross from Simon Davies flicked off the head of Jonathon Woodgate and although keeper Heurelho Gomes should have dealt with it easily, he somehow fumbled the ball in at the near post. The second was also down to poor defending as Spurs failed to deal with a corner and after a touch from Davies, Andy Johnson fired in from close range. Spurs grabbed a late consolation when David Bentley set up Frazier Campbell to blast in his first league goal but Spurs go second bottom.
Attendance : 25,139
Assists : n/a, Davis, Jenas
MANCHESTER UNITED 5 (Ronaldo 3 fk, Carrick 46, Berbatov 49, Wellbeck 84, Ronaldo 89 fk)
STOKE 0
No shocks at Old Trafford as Man United hit Stoke for five. It started and ended in the same way with a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick, the first of which swerved wickedly to beat the keeper and the last saw sheer power take it in for his 100th and 101st goals for United. Between those efforts came three more as Ronaldo set up Michael Carrick to wallop in an unstoppable effort and then a Carlos Tevez cross found Dimitar Berbatov to turn and shoot in at the near post. 17-year old Danny Wellbeck grabbed his first for the club with a superb 30 yard effort which clipped the ball having been found by Alberto Manucho before Ronaldo wrapped it up late on.
Attendance : 75,369
Assists : Tevez (won fk), Ronaldo, Tevez, Manucho, Carrick (won fk)
NEWCASTLE 2 (Owen 80, Martins 87)
WIGAN 2 (Taylor 3, Bramble 89)
Former Newcastle defender Titus Bramble headed a late equaliser for Wigan to deny his former club a comeback win. Wigan took at early lead as Ryan Taylor's speculative effort looped over the keeper from 20 yards however the game changed when Emerson Boyce was sent off for a tackle on Shola Ameobi to earn a second yellow although replays showed that it was actually a good tackle and he clearly played the ball. Cue a dramatic last ten minutes as the home side equalised with a Michael Owen tap in after the keeper couldn't hold a shot from Ameobi and then they took the lead when Charles N'Zogbia set up Obafemi Martins to blast in the second. Ten man Wigan bounced straight back and grabbed a draw when Daniel De Ridder's corner was headed powerfully in by Bramble despite Damien Duff almost clearing it off the line.
Attendance : 47,657
Red Card : Boyce 54 (Wigan)
Assists : Kapo, n/a, N'Zogbia, De Ridder (ck)
WEST BROM 0
CHELSEA 3 (Bosingwa 34, Anelka 38, Anelka 46)
Chelsea regain top spot with a comfortable win at bottom club West Brom. The Baggies held their own for half an hour before Chelsea hit them with a goal blitz before the break. Nik Anelka was at the heart of everything as he found Jose Bosingwa wide and with everyone expecting a cross, he went for goal from the left edge of the area and found the top corner inside the near post although keeper Scott Carson got his hands to it. Florent Malouda's header then sent Anelka clear and he waited for Carson to dive at his feet before clipping it over him and into the net. In first half stoppage time, a good run from Salomon Kalou ended with a pass to Anelka to fired first time inside the near post.
Attendance : 26,322
Assists : Kalou, Malouda, Kalou
WEST HAM 0
PORTSMOUTH 0
No goals at Upton Park as West Ham and Portsmouth failed to break each other down. Former Hammer Jermain Defoe came closest for the visitors but his stinging shot was pushed over by keeper Robert Green and at the other end, Craig Bellamy almost broke the deadlock but his free kick rattled the bar. This was West Ham's first clean sheet of the season.
Attendance : 32,328
Assists : n/a
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