30 August 2008
WEST HAM 4 (Davenport 12, Samba 19 og, Bellamy 93, Cole 95)
BLACKBURN 1 (Roberts 22)
West Ham's rollercoaster season continued with a crushing win against Blackburn. The Hammers began strongly and roared into a two goal lead as Callum Davenport headed in a Julian Faubert corner and then Mark Noble's bobbled shot was sliced into his own net by Christopher Samba. Rovers pulled one back within two minutes as a header from Morten Gamst Pedersen found Jason Roberts who turned well and prodded inside the far post and sub Matt Derbyshire was unlucky to have a goal ruled out for offside when he looked level. Roberts should have equalised from the penalty spot after Carlton Cole handled Steven Reid's free kick however his kick was well saved by Robert Green. The hosts wrapped it up with two goals deep into stoppage time when Lucas Neill's long ball caught Rovers square and Craig Bellamy smashed into the net with time to spare and then Scott Parker set up Cole to bundle in the fourth.
Attendance : 32,905
Assists : Faubert (ck), n/a, Grella, Behrami, Parker
BOLTON 0
WEST BROM 0
No goals at the Reebok although either club could have won it. Bolton had two late goals correctly ruled out for offside, both netted by Kevin Davies whilst West Brom missed a glorious chance when Kim Do-Heon hit the bar and Ishmael Miller headed the rebound straight at the keeper.
Attendance : 20,387
Assists : n/a
HULL 0
WIGAN 5 (Ricketts 4 og, Valencia 12, Zaki 62, Heskey 67, Zaki 80)
Hull's Premiership honeymoon period is well and truly over after they were walloped at home to Wigan. The Latics, previously without a point, were off to a dream start when Sam Ricketts sliced a Kevin Kilbane corner into his own net despite being under no pressure. Eight minutes later, a through ball from Amr Zaki found Antonio Valencia who showed sensational speed to outpace the defenders and finish clinically past the keeper. Zaki added the third after the hour with a low drive into the corner after Valencia's cut back wasn't dealt with and it wasn't long before keeper Chris Kirkland's long ball had Wayne Brown in trouble and his poor back header was latched onto by Emile Heskey who rounded the keeper and thumped into the net from a tight angle. Hull's dismal day was complete when Michael Brown found Zaki whose blistering shot hit the underside of the bar and bounced just over the line with full credit to the linesman for signalling the goal.
Attendance : 24,282
Assists : n/a, Zaki, Valencia, n/a, Brown
MIDDLESBROUGH 2 (Alves 37 fk, Tuncay 84)
STOKE 1 (Hoyte 70 og)
Middlesbrough moved into fifth place but left it late to see off ten man Stoke. It looked good for Boro when Stoke's were reduced to a man short thanks to Amdy Faye's two footed challenge on Mohamed Shawky and from the resulting free kick, Afonso Alves curled the ball in off the bar from 25 yards. Boro should have put the game out of reach after Alves was tripped in the area by George Olofinjana, however Stuart Downing almost broke the crossbar with his penalty. Stoke grabbed an equaliser with twenty minutes to go when Justin Hoyte sent a cross from Liam Lawrence into his own net although he seemed to be pushed by Dave Kitson in the process. It mattered little though as Boro won it when Didier Digard's poor shot found Tuncay in the area and he found the bottom corner.
Attendance : 27,627
Assists : Shawky (won fk), n/a, Digard
EVERTON 0
PORTSMOUTH 3 (Defoe 11, Johnson 39, Crouch 68)
Portsmouth netted their first goals and won their first points of the season with a superb win at Everton. Jermaine Defoe scored twice, firstly with a low near post shot after showing excellent close control in the area after collecting a flick on from Peter Crouch. Pompey keeper David James made a superb save from a close range shot by Mikael Arteta before the lead was doubled when Glen Johnson exchanged passes with Defoe before slotting inside the post. Everton blew a chance to get back
into it when Yakubu's penalty was brilliantly saved by James after Johnson had barged James Vaughan over in the area. Defoe added the third after collecting a pass from Sean Davis and then chipped against the underside of the bar which bounced over the line although Crouch was on hand to head in just in case.
Attendance : 34,418
Assists : Crouch, Defoe, n/a
ARSENAL 3 (Van Persie 17 Pen, Van Persie 40, Denilson 58)
NEWCASTLE 0
Arsenal move into second place with a comfortable win over Newcastle.
Arsenal dominated the first half and held a deserved two goal lead at the break. After William Gallas missed an early sitter, Emmanuel Adebayor's cross was handled by Charles N'Zogbia and Robin Van Persie drilled the penalty into the bottom corner. More could, and should, have followed, however the Dutchman doubled the lead and his personal tally when he ended a sweeping move by thumping a cheeky back heel by Emmanuel Eboue into the roof of the net.
Newcastle actually began the second half reasonably well however after Nicky Butt hit the bar, Arsenal again burst into action with another fine build up, culminating in Denilson slotting in after being found by Adebayor. Van Persie came within inches of a hat trick when he hit the bar from a tight angle before limping out of the game to be replaced by Carlos Vela. Kolo Toure then headed straight at the keeper whilst Theo Walcott shot wide with only the keeper to beat as Arsenal continued to control the game. Newcastle sub Joey Barton came on with a few minutes to go and got a taste of what is likely to face him from the fans for the foreseeable future.
Attendance : 60,067
Assists : n/a, Eboue, Adebayor
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