31 October 2011
STOKE 1 (Walters 75 Pen)
NEWCASTLE 3 (Ba 12, Ba 40, Ba 81 Pen)
Newcastle move into third place after a Demba Ba hat trick saw off Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. After a cagey start, the visitors took the lead with a route one type goal as a long ball forward was nodded on by Leon Best for Gabriel Obertan and his first cross was slightly behind Ba who adjusted well to head into the roof of the net. He doubled his and Newcastle's tally when a ball into the area wasn't dealt with and as Best's shot was miss-hit, Ba was on hand to tap in from inside the six yard box. Despite plenty of pressure in the second half, Stoke couldn't break through but they were handed a lifeline when Ba bundled over Peter Crouch as they went for a high ball and Jonathon Walters almost burst the net with the penalty. Remarkably, five minutes later, Best was pushed in the opposing area by Robert Huth, allowing Ba to step up and complete his hat trick from the spot.
Attendance : 26,564
Assists : Obertan, Best, Crouch (won pen), Best (won pen)
30 October 2011
TOTTENHAM 3 (Bale 20, der Vaart 33, der Vaart 72)
QPR 1 (Bothroyd 62)
Two Gareth Bale goals helped Spurs into fifth place with a comfortable London derby win against QPR. Spurs had the better of the opening stages but ironically took the lead just as Rangers were beginning to get a foothold as Aaron Lennon flicked the ball onto the onrushing Bale to arrowed a bullet of a shot low into the net from the left edge of the area. They doubled matters when a wayward shot from Ledley King fell nicely to Rafael Van Der Vaart who slotted the ball calmly into the net to score for the fifth successive game. Rangers gained some unlikely hope on the hour when Jay Bothroyd nodded in after Heidar Helguson had helped on a corner but the two goal buffer was restored when Bale added his second of the game with a lovely curling effort after a nifty one-two with Lennon.
Attendance : 36,147
Assists : vdv, n/a, Helguson, Lennon
29 October 2011
CHELSEA 3 (Lampard 14, Terry 45, Mata 80)
ARSENAL 5 (Van Persie 36, Santos 49, Walcott 55, Van Persie 85, Van Persie 92)
Chelsea conceded five at home in the Premier League for the first time as they were put to the sword by Arsenal for who Robin Van Persie scored three in a remarkable, topsy-turvy eight goal thriller.
Chelsea began the stronger but it was the visitors who missed the best early chance when Gervinho slotted wide from six yards with only the keeper to beat and a minute later, Theo Walcott - who had set up the chance - crossed for Van Persie to volley a slightly harder opportunity over the bar. It proved vital as Chelsea made them pay almost instantly when Juan Mata made space on the right and his pinpoint cross was headed powerfully in by Frank Lampard from around the penalty spot. Daniel Sturridge could have doubled matters but sliced a shot wide from a good position and again it proved important as the Gunners pulled level as Aaron Ramsey's through ball sent Gervinho through and as the keeper came out, he squared it for Van Persie who had a tap in. Chelsea regained the lead in scrappy fashion just before the interval as Lampard's corner found it's way to John Terry who managed to bobble the ball in from six yards.
Things continued in the same vein after the break as Arsenal took next to no time in levelling again as Ramsey sent Andre Santos away down the left and as Petr Cech came out, he slid it under the keeper to equalise, however within a minute, Ashley Cole found space at the other end and was tripped on the edge of the area by visiting keeper Wojciech Szczesny who was shown a yellow despite the home fans screaming for a red card. Amazingly, Arsenal then went ahead with a brilliant solo goal by Walcott who beat three players and stumbled to the ground among it all, before drilling a shot low inside the near post to leave the hosts stunned! The game quietened down until the latter stages when a Chelsea equaliser lifted the roof as Juan Mata collected the ball from Juan Meireles and arrowed in a beauty from 25 yards although Arsenal were angry about a foul against Santos in the build up which wasn't given. The visitors then went ahead again in remarkable circumstances as a pass towards his own goal from Florent Malouda to Terry saw the Chelsea captain slip and let Van Persie go clear to run in on goal, dribble around Cech and slot the ball with ease into the gaping net. Chelsea pushed forward for another equaliser only to get caught on the break in stoppage time resulting in Mikel Arteta finding Van Persie who thumped in his hat trick goal inside Cech's near post.
Attendance : 41,801
Assists : Lampard, Gervinho, n/a, Song, n/a, Meireles, Gervinho, Arteta
EVERTON 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Hernandez 19)
Man United bounced back from last weeks local derby horror with a narrow win at Everton. The only goal came when Patrice Evra's cross was turned in from close range by Javier Hernandez, although Everton came desperately close to equalising when Leighton Baines hit the underside of the bar with a free kick.
Attendance : 35,494
Assists : Evra
MANCHESTER CITY 3 (Dzeko 52, Kolarov 67, Johnson 91)
WOLVES 1 (Hunt 75 Pen)
Man City remain five points clear at the top but made hard work of seeing off Wolves. The visitors held firm until early in the second half when keeper Wayne Hennessey's clearance was blocked by Sergio Aguero and fell perfectly for Edin Dzeko to take a touch and loop the ball into the empty net. The lead was doubled when Hennessey couldn't hold David Silva's shot and Aleksandar Kolarov tapped in the loose ball. Wolves were given some hope when Vincent Kompany was sent off for bringing down Kevin Doyle as he chased a rebound when Joe Hart failed to hold a shot from Adlene Guedioura and Stephen Hunt converted the penalty. City held on and grabbed a late third on the break as Mario Balotelli found Yaya Toure who set up Adam Johnson to curl in from 25 yards.
Attendance : 47,142
Red Card : Kompany 74 (Manchester City)
Assists : Aguero, n/a, Doyle (won pen), Toure
NORWICH 3 (Morison 53, Johnson 82, Holt 94 Pen)
BLACKBURN 3 (Hoilett 48, Yakubu 62, Samba 64)
Norwich needed a hugely controversial last minute penalty to rescue a point against luckless Blackburn in a six goal thriller. It was goalless until first half stoppage time when Martin Olsson found Junior Hoilett who skipped past a couple of players after cutting in from the left and arrowed a belter into the top corner from 20 yards. Norwich pulled level after the break as Leon Barnett's header set up Steve Morison to volley in an equaliser but Rovers looked to have it won with two goals in three minutes as Yakubu continued the trend of long range strikes with a shot from the right edge of the box which flew in at the near post after Mauro Formica set him up and then Christopher Samba headed in Morten Gamst Pedersen's cross at the far post to make it 3-1. Norwich are a resilient bunch of Canaries though and gave themselves hope when Bradley Johnson's deflected effort sailed in after his initial pass was blocked but fell nicely to him. With stoppage time almost up, Steven Nzonzi was left perplexed when he was sandwiched in the area and then had a penalty awarded against him as the ball rolled down his arm despite knowing nothing about it. Grant Holt found the bottom corner with the spot kick leaving Blackburn fuming.
Attendance : 26,440
Assists : Olsson, Barnett, Formica, Pedersen (fk), n/a, n/a
SUNDERLAND 2 (Wickham 38, Sessegnon 89)
ASTON VILLA 2 (Petrov 20, Dunne 85)
Sunderland twice came from behind to earn a point at home to Aston Villa. Former Sunderland man Darren Bent was predictably jeered throughout but it was his current club who led early with a beauty as Alan Hutton's square ball was walloped into the top corner by Stiliyan Petrov however the hosts levelled before the break as Stephane Sessegnon played in Connor Wickham who low shot across goal ripped into the bottom corner. With five minutes left, Villa felt they'd won it when Richard Dunne nodded in Petrov's free kick but the Black Cats bounced back again and levelled again with a minute left thanks to Sessegnon who headed in Sebastien Larsson's free kick from close range.
Attendance : 37,062
Assists : Hutton, Sessegnon, Petrov (fk), Larsson (fk)
SWANSEA 3 (Allen 49, Sinclair 57 Pen, Graham 93)
BOLTON 1 (Graham 73 og)
Swansea's fine home form continued as they made short work of seeing off struggling Bolton. After a goalless first half, the game changed when Bolton were reduced to ten men when Ricardo Gardner was shown a second yellow card for pulling back Nathan Dyer and within a minute Swansea led when Joe Allen was able to collect the ball from Mark Gower and run at the defence before scoring inside the near post. They doubled the lead from the penalty spot, easily converted by Scott Sinclair after Darren Pratley fouled Angel Rangel. Bolton had hope when Danny Graham sliced a cross from Chris Eagles into his own net but made amends in stoppage time when he was sent clear by Rangel and fired in the third.
Attendance : 19,477
Red Card : Gardner 48 (Bolton)
Assists : Gower (fk), Rangel (won pen), n/a, Rangel
WEST BROM 0
LIVERPOOL 2 (Adam 9 Pen, Carroll 46)
Liverpool move into fifth with an easy win away at an under par West Brom. Liverpool led earlier with a comfortably taken Charlie Adam penalty after Luis Suarez was bundled over by Jerome Thomas and although the award was actually given by the linesman, it looked to be the correct one despite the protests of the home players and fans. The visitors deservedly doubled matters on half time as, on a rare Baggies attack, they broke with purpose and Suarez sent Andy Carroll clear and although it looked as though he'd over-run the ball, he just poked it past Ben Foster and into the bottom corner.
Attendance : 25,522
Assists : Suarez (won pen), Suarez
WIGAN 0
FULHAM 2 (Dempsey 41, Dembele 86)
Wigan's dismal form continues as a goal at the end of each half gave Fulham a useful win. Clint Dempsey opened the scoring when he converted Bobby Zamora's cross from close range. Zamora hit the bar for Fulham and the hosts struck the woodwork twice but Fulham wrapped it up late on when Moussa Dembele fired in from the edge of the area having been sent through by Steve Sidwell after the home side lost the ball in midfield.
Attendance : 15,796
Assists : Zamora, Sidwell
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