1 December 2008
LIVERPOOL 0
WEST HAM
Liverpool go a point clear at the top after their second successive goalless draw at home, this time against West Ham. Liverpool came close when Hammers keeper Rob Green saved well from Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt although the visitors came closer when Craig Bellamy cracked a shot against the post.
Attendance : 41,169
Assists : n/a
30 November 2008
CHELSEA 1 (Djourou 31 og)
ARSENAL 2 (Van Persie 59, Van Persie 62)
Arsenal came from behind to beat leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with two quick fire second half goals. Chelsea led at half time thanks to Arsenal's own inabilities. Keeper Manuel Almunia caught a corner but his distribution was poor and only found Jose Bosingwa and after a good interchange of passes, he crossed from the right and Johan Djourou could only slide the ball inside his own near post. The Gunners levelled just before the hour when Denilson's pass gave Robin Van Persie a shooting chance on the edge of the box and he drilled it in despite replays showing him to be just offside. Three minutes later, a header from Emmanuel Adebayor fell for Van Persie and he turned in the area and fired a first time shot across goal and into the bottom corner.
Attendance : 41,760
Assists : n/a, Denilson, Adebayor
MANCHESTER CITY 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Rooney 42)
Man United moved to within five points of Chelsea and Liverpool with a narrow win at local rivals Man City. United had by far the better of the first half and took a deserved lead just before half time as Michael Carrick's shot across goal was saved by Joe Hart but it fell nicely for Wayne Rooney who tapped the ball into an empty net from close range. City were better after the break with Vincent Kompany and Benjani both just off target before Cristiano Ronaldo, having already been booked, handled in the City area and was shown a second yellow and subsequent red as the Portuguese star claimed that he'd heard a whistle. After his initial booking, he was perhaps lucky to stay on as he sarcastically applauded the referee, an act that saw Rooney dismissed in Europe a couple of seasons ago. City struggled to take advantage of the extra player until stoppage time when Richard Dunne had an effort cleared off the line although as play continued, they almost conceded as Hart, who had come up for the initial corner, was caught out of his goal yet just got back to deny Rooney who shot from just inside the City half.
Attendance : 47,320
Red Card : Ronaldo 68 (Manchester United)
Assist : n/a
PORTSMOUTH 3 (Crouch 49, Defoe 53, David 79)
BLACKBURN 2 (Derbyshire 62, Tugay 67)
Blackburn stay in the bottom two despite coming from two down at Portsmouth only to lose late on. After a goalless first half, Pompey burst into life with two quick fire goals as Peter Crouch headed in Glen Johnson's cross and then Niko Kranjcar sent Jermain Defoe through and he beat his marker before slotting past the keeper. Portsmouth lost a two goal lead in midweek and they did the same this weekend as sub Matt Derbyshire came on and netted within a minute with a looping header from Morten Gamst Pedersen's cross before they allowed Tugay to run unchallenged before firing in from 25 yards. Derbyshire then had a goal ruled out for a foul on the keeper before Portsmouth won it after a surging run from Papa Bouba Diop ended with his shot saved, however Rovers failed to clear the loose ball and sub Sean Davis nipped in to
prod in the winner.
Attendance : 18,111
Assists : Johnson, Kranjcar, Pedersen, Warnock, Kanu
TOTTENHAM 0
EVERTON 1 (Pienaar 51)
Everton's good away form continued with a narrow win at Spurs who remain just above the drop zone. The only goal came early in the second half as a quickly taken free kick from Mikel Arteta gave Steven Pienaar a shooting chance and his effort from the edge of the box took a deflection which wrong footed the keeper and arrowed inside the near post.
Attendance : 35,742
Assist : n/a
29 November 2008
ASTON VILLA 0
FULHAM 0
No goals at Villa Park as Aston Villa and Fulham both drew 0-0 for the second week in a row. Villa keeper Brad Friedel broke the Prem record for successive games as his 167th in a row beat the previous best held by David James as he saved well twice from Clint Dempsey. Villa had the best chances though as Steve Sidwell missed a sitter when he headed over from close range whilst Gareth Barry had an effort brilliantly saved by Mark Schwarzer.
Attendance : 36,625
Assists : n/a
MIDDLESBROUGH 0
NEWCASTLE 0
A poor game at the Riverside as Middlesbrough and Newcastle failed to ignite the Tees-Tyne derby. Obafemi Martins hit the bar for Newcastle before storming down the tunnel after being substituted whilst Boro's best chance fell to Justin Hoyte whose shot was saved.
Attendance : 32,160
Assists : n/a
STOKE 1 (Fuller 73 Pen)
HULL 1 (King 47)
Stoke had the better of things at home to Hull but had to come from behind to earn a point. The visitors were ahead on half time when Marlon King turned fell to fire high into the net after Dean Marney nodded on a free kick from Sam Ricketts. Ricardo Fuller then won a penalty as he was fouled by keeper Boaz Myhill however he very nearly kept the kick out as he got fingertips to Fuller's low effort.
Attendance : 27,500
Assists : Marney, Fuller (won pen)
SUNDERLAND 1 (Cisse 11)
BOLTON 4 (Taylor 18, Cahill 21, Elmander 39, Elmander 55)
Bolton came from behind to wallop Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, leaving home boss Roy Keane questioning his own future. It began well for the Black Cats as Steed Malbranque's measured pass set up Djibril Cisse to slot his shot in off the far post. Sunderland's defence then fell apart as Gretar Steinsson's cross was met by Matt Taylor and his looping header beat the keeper. The hosts then failed to deal with another ball into the area as Andy O'Brien's free kick was not cleared and fell nicely for Gary Cahill to drill the ball in. Sunderland thought they'd levelled when Cisse's smashed in from eight yards only for it to be disallowed, harshly, for a foul by Kenwyne Jones as he headed against the bar however it was Bolton who added to the scoreline as a long ball from Cahill was miss controlled by Danny Collins and Johan Elmander broke clear to net from a tight angle. Bolton wrapped it up after the break as Dean Whitehead lost possession to Kevin Nolan who found Elmander who thumped into the roof of the net.
Attendance : 35,457
Assists : Malbranque, Steinsson, n/a, Cahill, Nolan
WIGAN 2 (Camara 61, Boyce 87)
WEST BROM 1 (Miller 47)
Wigan came from behind to beat bottom club West Brom although home keeper Chris Kirkland was largely responsible for keeping his team ahead with a series of fine saves. West Brom went ahead just after half time as Titus Bramble lost control of the ball and gifted it to Ismael Miller who scored inside the near post. As fog descended, Paul Robinson's weak back header in his own area was never going to reach his keeper but full credit to Henri Camara who twisted his body to acrobatically find the net. Wigan won it late on with a rare goal from Emerson Boyce who headed in brilliantly from a corner from Jason Koumas.
Attendance : 17,054
Assists : n/a, n/a, Koumas (ck)
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