31 December 2011
ARSENAL 1 (Van Persie 60)
QPR 0
Arsenal ended 2011 in fourth as Robin Van Persie netted again to see off QPR who are just two points above the drop zone. The only goal came on the hour as a neat pass from Andrey Arshavin put Van Persie through and his slotted in low. It took the Dutchman to 35 goals for the calendar year - ahead of the club record of 34 set by Thierry Henry but on short of Alan Shearer's Premier League record.
Attendance : 60,067
Assist : Arshavin
BOLTON 1 (Ricketts 22)
WOLVES 1 (Fletcher 49)
Bolton end the year bottom of the table after being pegged back to a draw at home to Wolves who are two places and two points above the bottom three. Sam Ricketts celebrated his return after ten months out through injury with a beauty to open the scoring as he collected a pass from Nigel Reo-Coker and after cutting inside, he curled a lovely effort inside the far post. Wolves levelled early in the second half when Steven Fletcher stooped to nod in a cross from Matt Jarvis.
Attendance : 20,354
Assists : Coker, Jarvis
CHELSEA 1 (Drogba 23 Pen)
ASTON VILLA 3 (Ireland 28, Petrov 83, Bent 86)
Just a few hours after Man United's shock home defeat, Chelsea fell to the same fate despite taking the lead at home to Aston Villa. They led early when Richard Dunne fouled Didier Drogba for a clear cut penalty, converted by Drogba although keeper Brad Guzan seemed to dive over it. Villa were level inside five minutes when forgotten man Stephen Ireland collected a pass from Charles N'Zogbia and after his first shot was blocked, he fired in the rebound. As the game wore on, Chelsea pushed for a winner only to be caught twice on the break! Villa took the lead with seven minutes to go as Ciaran Clark played in Stiliyan Petrov to slot in and with the hosts still recovering, Frank Lampard gifted the ball to Ireland in midfield and he unselfishly set up Darren Bent to score an easy third.
Attendance : 41,332
Assists : Drogba (won pen), N'Zogbia, Clark, Ireland
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Berbatov 52, Berbatov 62)
BLACKBURN 3 (Yakubu 16 Pen, Yakubu 51, Hanley 80)
Bottom club Blackburn moved up two places as they stunned second placed Man United with a sensational win at Old Trafford. United dominated the opening 15 minutes only, remarkably, to concede a penalty as Dimitar Berbatov hauled over Chris Samba in the area and the Rovers striker made no mistake from the spot, sending keeper David De Gea the wrong way. For a club that had scored ten in their last two games, United were astonishingly ineffective despite seeing plenty of the ball and their first effort on target didnt arrive until the half hour as a close range shot from Phil Jones was blocked by his team mate Javier Hernandez. A minute from half time, Nani forced the first save out of Mark Bunn. Enter Andersen for the start of the second half to replace Hernandez and initially it made little difference as a throw in found Yakubu on the edge of the area and with a combination of skill and good luck, he battled past three defenders before blasting in his, and Rovers' second. United were stunned but pulled one back 23 seconds after kicking off as a poor clearance found Rafael and his cross was nodded in at the near post by Berbatov. Ten minutes later, it was no surprise to see the equaliser as Antonio Valencia surged into the area and his low cross was thudded in by Berbatov. Blackburn held on amid United pressure and then regained the lead with ten minutes left as a deep corner from Morten Gamst Pedersen tempted De Gea off his line only for Grant Hanley to nod the ball into the air away from him and then head into the net from a matter of two yards.
Attendance : 75,146
Assists : Samba (won pen), n/a, Rafael, Valencia, n/a
NORWICH 1 (Jackson 94)
FULHAM 1 (Sa 7)
Norwich struck very late to salvage a point at home to Fulham. The London side led early when Orlando Sa was found by Moussa Dembele and curled in a fine effort and it looked to be enough until the fourth minute of stoppage time whem Simeon Jackson headed in Elliott Bennett's cross.
Attendance : 26,406
Assists : Dembele, Bennett
STOKE 2 (Walters Pen 77, Jerome 84)
WIGAN 2 (Moses 45, Watson 87 Pen)
All sorts of drama at the Britannia as Stoke and Wigan shared four goals. For a game which didnt exactly excite on paper, it was an entertaining encounter as Wigan led at the interval as Victor Moses walloped in Hugo Rodellega's cross. Stoke levelled with thirteen minutes to go from the penalty spot after Gary Caldwell handled Cameron Jerome's goalbound header and whilst it was a little unsavoury to see certain Stoke players waving the imaginary card at the ref, a straight red was no real surprise. Jonathon Walters walloped in the spot kick and within minutes, Stoke led as Walters nodded the ball through to Jerome who curled the ball low past the keeper and just inside the far post. Amazingly, the ten men battled back as Rodellega went down after having his shirt pulled by Ryan Shotton for another penalty, however in a further twist, Wigan boss Roberto Martinez brought on Ben Watson who thumped in the penalty with his first touch.
Attendance : 26,595
Red Card : Caldwell 76 (Wigan)
Assists : Rodallega, n/a, Walters, Rodallega (won pen)
SWANSEA 1 (Sinclair 84)
TOTTENHAM 1 (van der Vaart 44)
Spurs missed out on the chance to gain ground at the top as they were held at Swansea. The hosts are generally strong at home but went behind when Beniot Assou-Ekotu's cross was converted by Rafael Van Der Vaart with a deflected volley. It looked to be enough but late on, keeper Brad Friedal fumbled a cross from Angel Rangel and Scott Sinclair was left with a tap in.
Attendance : 20,393
Assists : Ekotto, Rangel
30 December 2011
LIVERPOOL 3 (Bellamy 29, Bellamy 67, Gerrard 78)
NEWCASTLE 1 (Agger 25 og)
Liverpool came from behind to see off Newcastle at Anfield to go level on points with Chelsea ahead of the rest of the weekend programme of games. After a largely uneventful start, Newcastle shocked the home crowd by taking the lead, albeit in fortunate circumstances as Ryan Taylor's cross was glanced on by Yohan Cabaye and although Demba initially looked to have diverted the ball in, replays showed it wrong-footed the keeper by going in via the arm of Daniel Agger. The lead lasted five minutes before a cross from Charlie Adam was half cleared and fell nicely to Craig Bellamy to drill in from 15 yards. Midway through the second half, Bellamy put the hosts ahead with a 25 yard free kick, aided by Danny Simpson who broke from the wall towards his own line which did nothing but confuse his own keeper and ten minutes later, Jordan Henderson sent sub Steven Gerrard through to clip in fromm a tight angle. Ba did have a goalbound effort cleared off the line at 2-1 whilst former Newcastle striker Adndy Carroll thudded a header against the bar.
Attendance : 44,372
Assists : n/a, Adam, n/a, Henderson
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin YahooGroups Premier-L list
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/premier-l/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it