17 January 2010
ASTON VILLA 0
WEST HAM 0
West Ham move out of the bottom three after a creditable draw at Villa Park, leaving the hosts unable to capitalise on the failings of Liverpool, Spurs and Man City yesterday. The Hammers held their own but aside from a solo run and shot early on from Frank Nouble they posed little threat. Villa rarely dominated but came close through James Milner who hit the post and late on as Gabriel Agbonlahor broke clear but took an extra touch allowing keeper Rob Green to smother.
Attendance : 35,646
Assists : n/a
BLACKBURN 2 (Samba 25, Nelsen 54)
FULHAM 0
Blackburn move up to mid table with a goal in each half to see off Fulham. Benni McCarthy's low near post corner was turned away by Damien Duff on the post but Christopher Samba reacted quickly to prod in the opener and after half time, McCarthy was again the provider as his free kick was glanced in by the head of Ryan Nelsen as keeper Mark Schwarzer looked to collect the cross.
Attendance : 21,287
Assists : n/a, McCarthy (fk)
BOLTON 0
ARSENAL 2 (Fabregas 28, Merida 78)
Arsenal keep pressure on Man United and Chelsea as they ruined Bolton boss Owen Coyle's homecoming with a goal in each half. Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring with a neat finish into the corner after being set up by Eduardo and after Matt Taylor blazed over early in the second half for the hosts, Arsenal wrapped it up when Eduardo's cross was controlled and slotted inside the far post by Fran Merida.
Attendance : 23,893
Assists : Eduardo, n/a
16 January 2010
STOKE 1 (Huth 90)
LIVERPOOL 1 (Kyrgiakos 57)
A last minute equaliser from Stoke denied Liverpool a vital away win after another poor week at Anfield. Liverpool went ahead with a scramble effort from Sotirios Kyrgiakos after keeper Thomas Sorensen dropped a free kick from Fabio Aurelio. Stoke earned a point thanks to Robert Huth's late prod at the far post after Danny Higginbotham nodded a corner across goal. Liverpool almost won it with the late kick but Dirk Kuyt thumped a header against the post.
Attendance : 27,247
Assists : n/a, Higginbotham
CHELSEA 7 (Anelka 8, Malouda 17, A Cole 22, Lampard 34, Ballack 52, Anelka 65, Lampard 90)
SUNDERLAND 2 (Zenden 56, Bent 92)
Chelsea maintain top spot after hammering Sunderland at Stamford Bridge. The game was effectively won by the midway point in the first half by which time the hosts had netted three times, starting with Nik Anelka who collected a through ball from Michael Ballack before rounding the keeper and rolling the ball in. The lead was doubled when Florent Malouda won the ball in midfield and was allowed to run deep into the area and fire a shot across the keeper and into the bottom corner. The third wasn't long in coming as John Terry's long ball found Ashley Cole who avoiding the sliding tackle from a defender and clipped it in over the keeper for the 18,000th goal since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. Frank Lampard added a fourth before half time when he volleyed in Cole's cross and after the break they didn't let up as Ballack headed in Joe Cole's cross. Sunderland did grab a consolation when former Chelsea man Bolo Zenden netted from the edge of the area with a low shot from Kenwyne Jones's header however Anelka made it six when keeper Marton Fulop flapped at a cross from Yuri Zhirkov's cross, leaving him with a gaping goal and he should have grabbed his hat trick but shot straight at the keeper from close range. The icing on the cake arrived late with Lampard's far post header from Anelka's cross although the visitors had the final say when Darren Bent scored from close range after Paulo Di Silva's shot flew across goal. It's the first time Chelsea have scored seven in the Premier League.
Attendance : 41,776
Assists : Ballack, Belletti, Terry, A Cole, J Cole, Jones, Zhirkov, n/a, Anelka, n/a
MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Berbatov 64, Rooney 69, Diouf 91)
BURNLEY 0
Man United stay hot on the heels of Chelsea but took over an hour to break down Burnley under the management of Brian Laws for the first time. The visitors had chances to go ahead but United finally broke through when Wayne Rooney found Dimitar Berbatov who took a touch before clipping a lovely effort across goal and inside the far post. Rooney added the second although he took his time to steady himself after Berbatov's effort was saved. Late on United made it three with a first ever goal for Mame Diouf who nodded the ball past the out rushing keeper Brian Jensen to convert Antonio Valencia's cross.
Attendance : 75,120
Assists : Rooney, n/a, Valencia
TOTTENHAM 0
HULL 0
Spurs move into fourth but will be disappointed only to have drawn at home to lowly Hull. The visitors had keeper Boaz Myhill to thank for a series of saves that lifted them out of the bottom three, most notably two brilliant double saves from Wilson Palacios and Robbie Keane efforts in the first half and then having blocked a Luka Modric shot, he recovered quickly to deny Keane again.
Attendance : 35,729
Assists : n/a
WOLVES 0
WIGAN 2 (McCarthy 60, N'Zogbia 72)
Two goals, two red cards and a missed penalty at Molineux as Wigan saw off Wolves. The first half ended with high drama as Richard Stearman was shown a second yellow card for tugging back James McCarthy in the area. Hugo Rodallega took the penalty but Marcus Hahnemann saved well and Paul Scharner sent the rebound wide. Wigan took the lead on the hour when McCarthy shot home after Rodallega's shot was saved. Seven minutes later it was all square as regards players on the pitch as Hendry Thomas, having already been booked, launched into a tackle on Stephen Ward and was rightly sent off. Ultimately it mattered little as Wigan wrapped it up when Charles N'Zogbia latched onto Rodallega's touch to run at the defence and fire in off the post.
Attendance : 27,604
Assists : n/a, Rodallega
EVERTON 2 (Pienaar 36 fk, Saha 48)
MANCHESTER CITY 0
Everton produced one of their best displays of the season as they swept Man City aside at Goodison. City were forced into a change inside ten minutes when the injured Roque Santa Cruz was replaced by Robinho and within a matter of minutes the sub had a great chance only to volley over from eight yards. Everton's loan signing Landon Donovan was seeing plenty of the ball and had one effort blocked and another which he clipped over the keeper but just off target whilst team mate Diniyar Bilyaletdinov came closer with a stinging volley tipped over by Shay Given. The hosts took a deserved lead when Steven Pienaar's free kick on the left edge of the area sailed over the wall and caught out Given to drift inside the near post. Craig Bellamy almost levelled but his shot was tipped wide and within a minute Everton doubled the lead as Louis Saha calmly converted a penalty after the linesman spotted Micah Richards tugging away at Saha's shirt. On the hour, the sub was subbed as Robinho was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips and it made little difference as Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill both hit the woodwork for the home side.
Attendance : 37,378
Assists : Saha (won fk), Saha (won pen)
11 January 2010
MANCHESTER CITY 4 (Tevez 7, Richards 39, Tevez 49, Tevez 91)
BLACKBURN 1 (Pedersen 71)
Man City move into fourth with a convincing victory at home to Blackburn, helped by a hat trick from Carlos Tevez. City took an early lead with a scrappy effort as Martin Petrov's corner was only pawed away by keeper Paul Robinson and although Benjani's bobbled effort was heading wide, Tevez put it in from close range with his knee. The second was a total contrast as Micah Richards burst through from his own half to set up Benjani whose should have scored only to hit the post, however Richards was following up and did superbly well to find the net from a tight angle and under pressure. After the break, Benjani did well on the right and his cut back was behind Petrov but fell nicely for Tevez to curl home from just outside the area. Rovers did grab a consolation when Vincent Kompany's poor touch allowed Morten Gamst Pedersen to nick the ball and curl in a beauty but into stoppage time, Tevez was found by Robinho and completed his triple from 20 yards.
Attendance : 40,292
Assists : n/a, n/a, Benjani, n/a, Robinho
9 January 2010
ARSENAL 2 (Osman 28 og, Rosicky 92)
EVERTON 2 (Osman 12, Pienaar 81)
Arsenal needed a stoppage time equaliser to salvage a point at home to Everton as they came from behind twice. New Everton loan signing Landon Donovan set up the opener as he out-swung a corner for Leon Osman to power in a header despite the man on the line. The hosts levelled via a stroke of luck as Eduardo set up Denilson whose shot from 20 yards took a strong deflection off of Osman and wrong footed the keeper. With just nine minutes to go, Everton regained the lead through Steven Pienaar who broke clear from Tim Cahill's pass and beat the keeper with an audacious chip as Manuel Almunia went to ground. It could have been 3-1 but James Vaughan burst clear only to be denied by the keeper and Arsenal took advantage as Abou Diaby's pass found Thomas Rosicky whose prodded effort took a deflection and drifted over keeper Tim Howard.
Attendance : 60,053
Assists : Donovan (ck), n/a, Cahill, n/a
BIRMINGHAM 1 (Jerome 39)
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Dann 63 og)
Man United failed to go top after coming from behind to earn a draw at Birmingham. United dominated the early possession with the hosts closing them down quickly and it paid off as Birmingham went ahead with their first real chance. A corner was only partially cleared by United and after Lee Bowyer nodded the ball back into the six yard box, Cameron Jerome swooped on a block by Johnny Evans and drilled in. The trend continued after the break and United eventually grabbed the equaliser they deserved when, after a series of blocked shots, the ball fell to Patrice Evra whose drilled cross was thumped into his own net by Scott Dann under pressure from Wayne Rooney. Initially the flag was up but after discussion, the goal stood and rightly so as there was no offside from Evra's effort. United's cause wasn't helped when Darren Fletcher was sent off for a trip on Jerome, his second yellow card of the game and within a minute Roger Johnson's volley was well saved by Tomasz Kuszczak as Birmingham went for the win. Six minutes of stoppage time failed to produce a chance as Birmingham go 12 games unbeaten in the top flight for the first time in their history.
Attendance : 28,907
Assists : n/a, n/a
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Yahoo Groups Premier-L list
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/premier-l/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it