5 December 2011
FULHAM 1 (Dempsey 77)
LIVERPOOL 0
Fulham edged out ten man Liverpool to move up to 13th. Move clubs came close as Jordan Henderson hit the inside of the post for Liverpool whilst Stuart Downing had a shot tipped onto the post by home keeper Mark Schwarzer. Clint Dempsey clattered the bar for Fulham before the major talking point as Jay Spearing was shown a straight red card despite winning the ball but catching Moussa Dembele on his follow-through. Fulham clinched the win late as Danny Murphy's shot was fumbled by Jose Reina and Dempsey scored with the follow up from close range.
Attendance : 25,688
Assist : n/a
4 December 2011
EVERTON 0
STOKE 1 (Huth 15)
Stoke ended a good week with a superb win at Everton. The hosts were rarely in the game and Stoke won it early on as Robert Huth helped in a shot from Dean Whitehead.
Attendance : 35,000
Assists : Whitehead
WOLVES 2 (Fletcher 73, Fletcher 81)
SUNDERLAND 1 (Richardson 52)
Wolves edged the battle of the strugglers as they came from behind to see off Sunderland who new boss, Martin O'Neill, was watching from the stands. Wolves had the better chances in a tepid first half as Steven Fletcher's header was saved right on the line by keeper Kieran Westwood whilst the stopper also made a stunning close range save from Steven Hunt's goalbound shot. Sunderland came close when Stephane Sessegnon's effort was blocked on the line by Stephen Ward. The second half was a vast improvement and saw Sunderland take the lead when the broke quickly from defending a corner and after Sessegnon found Kieron Richardson, he unleashed a belter which flew into the roof of the net. They then blew a golden chance to double the lead when Jody Craddock was judged to have fouled Sebastien Larsson who did make a meal of it, however justice was done when Larsson's spot kick was saved by Wayne Hennessey. Wolves took full advantage and levelled within half a minute as Matt Jarvis crossed for Fletcher to head home. The hosts won it late on as Fletcher was again on hand to turn and drill home after being set up by Jamie O'Hara, possibly after a hand ball.
Attendance : 25,145
Assists : Sessegnon, Jarvis, O'Hara
3 December 2011
NEWCASTLE 0
CHELSEA 3 (Drogba 38, Kalou 89, Sturridge 93)
Chelsea leap above Newcastle after inflicting the Geordies first home defeat of the campaign. The hosts will feel unlucky as Chelsea should have been down to ten men very early on as David Luiz was only shown a yellow for bundling over Demba Ba as he burst through on goal whilst Ba also hit the post. The visitors were then awarded a penalty after Daniel Sturridge was tripped by Cabaye however Frank Lampard's effort was tipped onto the post by Tim Krul. Shola Ameobi almost broke the crossbar with a bullet shot after the break whilst his brother, Sammy, had a shot kicked off the line by John Terry. Chelsea were ahead at half time as Juan Mata crossed for Didier Drogba to head home. It was in the balance until very late on as Chelsea doubled the lead when late sub Salomon Kalou converted after a decent run and cross by fellow sub Fernando Torres, the ball just dribbling in after the keeper got a hand to it. In stoppage time, Chelsea rubbed salt into the wounds when Sturridge capped a fine display as he fired in after cutting in from the right.
Attendance : 52,305
Assists : Mata, Torres, Ramires
BLACKBURN 4 (Yakubu 20, Yakubu 45, Yakubu 57, Yakubu 82 Pen)
SWANSEA 2 (Lita 35, Moore 66)
Blackburn moved off the foot of the table as Yakubu netted all four goals as they saw off Swansea. His first came midway through the first half as he found the roof of the net having been set up by Gael Givet. Swansea pushed them all the way and levelled when Leroy Lita headed in off the post from Mark Gower's deep cross. Rovers regained the lead in first half stoppage time as Yakubu headed in Simon Vukcevic's volleyed cross and he completed his hat trick with a close range header after Chris Samba had kept Morten Gamst Pedersen's corner alive. The Welsh side pulled another back as Wayne Routledge's cross was parried by keeper Paul Robinson, Luke Moore belted in the loose ball. It all then collapsed for Swansea in the space of a minute when Joe Allen was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Junior Hoillet and from the free kick, Vukcevic was fouled in the area by Neil Taylor allowing Yakubu to grab his fourth with a confident penalty.
Attendance : 23,080
Assists : Givet, Gower, Vukcevic, Samba, Routledge, Vukcevic (won pen)
MANCHESTER CITY 5 (Aguero 32, Nasri 51 fk, Toure 68, Balotelli 88, Johnson 91)
NORWICH 1 (Morison 81)
Man City remain clear at the top as they blitzed Norwich at the Etihad. They took a while to break through but did so when Micah Richards cut the ball back for Sergio Aguero and as he twisted and turned a number of defenders around the six yard box, he somehow threaded a low toe-poke inside the far post. Early in the second half, Samir Nasri's free kick drifted past everyone and keeper John Ruddy reacted too late and could only help the ball into the net. Yaya Toure added a third when he collected Nasri's pass to curl in from the edge of the area although Norwich did grab one back as Steve Morison headed in Marc Tierney's cross, however it only delayed the inevitable. City's fourth came from sub Mario Balotelli who was found by Adam Johnson and after his first effort was saved, the ball looped up and he helped it over the line with his shoulder! Johnson wrapped the rout up when he slotted in a low shot after being set up by Vincent Kompany.
Attendance : 47,201
Assists : Richards, Dzeko (won fk), Silva, Tierney, Johnson, Kompany
QPR 1 (Helguson 20)
WEST BROM 1 (Long 81)
Honours even at Loftus Road as West Brom grabbed a late equaliser to deny QPR a win. Rangers led when Joey Barton's cross was nodded in by Heidar Helguson. The leveller came from Shane Long who bundled in at the far post from Peter Odemwingie's cross.
Attendance : 17,290
Assists : Barton, Odemwingie
TOTTENHAM 3 (Bale 7, Lennon 50, Defoe 60)
BOLTON 0
A walk at the Lane for Spurs who won six Prem games in a row for the first time as they made short work of Bolton. They led early on as Gareth Bale flicked in Luka Modric's corner and then held up his boot in tribute to his Welsh boss Gary Speed. Bolton were reduced to ten men when Gary Cahill lost the ball to Scott Parker in midfield and then brought him down to he looked to break clear. Somewhat surprisingly, a red card was produced - a crazy decision especially considering the yellow shown to David Luiz at St James Park! Spurs took full advantage and went two ahead early in the second half as Jermaine Defoe found Aaron Lennon who cut inside before firing home and then on the hour Defoe added a third from close range as Bale helped on another Modric corner.
Attendance : 35,896
Assists : Modric, Defoe, Bale
WIGAN 0
ARSENAL 4 (Arteta 28, Vermaelen 29, Gervinho 61, RVP 79)
No problems for Arsenal at Wigan and their revival continues. Two goals in as many minutes set the Londoners a good foundation as firstly Mikel Arteta collected a pass from Thomas Vermaelen and his speculative shot from 30 yards seemed to go through the hands of diving keeper Ali Al Habsi and then Vermaelen added the second himself with a header from Robin Van Persie's corner. The third came on the hour as Van Persie's shot was saved and Gervinho made no mistake with the rebound and it was Van Persie who wrapped it all up from Theo Walcott's cut back.
Attendance : 19,280
Assists : Vermaelen, RVP, RVP, Walcott
ASTON VILLA 0
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Jones 20)
Man United remain five points behind Man City after a narrow, yet comfortable, win at Villa Park. United dominated the opening stages despite an early injury to Javier Hernandez which saw him replaced by Antonio Valencia and their dominance was rewarded when Patrice Evra found Nani who crossed from the left for Phil Jones to sweep in his first ever league goal. Villa were also forced into a change before the interval as keeper Shay Given seemed to pull a hamstring as he burst from his area to clear the ball and was replaced by Brad Guzan. Both injuries led to eight minutes of first half stoppage time although much like the rest of the half, Villa never threatened and United never needed to break into a sweat. After the break, very little changed although after an hour, United keeper Anders Lindegaard actually had a shot to save although it was more of a cross from Gabriel Agbonlahor. Enter sub Emile Heskey for the hosts who came as close as any of his team mates as he headed a corner over the bar whilst James Collins forced a good save from Lindegaard as Villa woke up for the latter stages.
Attendance : 40,053
Assists : Nani
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