2 October 2011

BOLTON 1 (Boyata 46)
CHELSEA 5 (Sturridge 2, Lampard 15, Sturridge 25, Lampard 27, Lampard 58)

Chelsea move into third after blitzing Bolton with a four goal salvo before half time. With Fernando Torres suspended, former Bolton striker Daniel Sturridge was handed a start and after 92 seconds, he put Chelsea ahead with a comfortable header from Juan Mata's corner and after a quarter of an hour, a fine passing move ended with Sturridge squaring the ball for Frank Lampard to sweep in. The home fans could only look on in disbelief as Sturridge struck again ten minutes later as he collected a pass from David Luiz and cut in from the right before firing a shot near post which took an awkward bounce in front of keeper Adam Bogdan and flew over his hands and into the net and two minutes later it was four as Bogdan spilled a powerful shot from Luiz, allowing Lampard to pounce for his second. After the break, Bolton pulled one back inside a minute of the restart as Boyata headed in a free kick from Martin Petrov, however any hopes of a Newcastle-style comeback were halted when another fine move ended with Lampard completing his hat trick as he slotted in Didier Drogba's pass. Bolton should have had a second late on when Kevin Davies forced the ball over the line before Branislav Ivanovic cleared and although replays showed the ball had crept in, it would have made little impact on the scoreline.

Attendance : 24,657
Assists : Mata, Sturridge, Luiz, n/a, Petrov, Drogba


FULHAM 6 (Johnson 2, Murphy 20 Pen, Johnson 38, Johnson 60, Dempsey 65, Zamora 74)
QPR 0

Andy Johnson hit a hat trick as Fulham collected their first league win of the season as they walloped fellow West London side QPR for six. Johnson netted the quickest goal of the Prem season so far after just 79 seconds when he tapped in a rebound after Moussa Dembele's shot was saved and the lead was doubled by Danny Murphy from the penalty spot after Johnson had been upended by keeper Paddy Kenny. Johnson's second - Fulham's third - came from close range as he netted from Bobby Zamora's low cross and he completed his hat trick just before the hour with a low drive after he was found from a quickly taken free kick by Murphy. It was then time for others to get in on the act as Clint Dempsey firing in from 12 yards after Johnson had turned provider and Zamora completed the rout with a low angled shot after being set up by Dempsey.

Attendance : 23,766
Assists : Dembele, Johnson (won pen), Zamora, Murphy, Zamora, Dempsey


SWANSEA 2 (Sinclair 9 Pen, Graham 85)
STOKE 0

Swansea move into the top half of the table and remain unbeaten at home after a goal in each half saw off Stoke who may still be suffering from their European exploits. The Welsh side led early when Ryan Shawcross clattered into Wayne Routledge in the area and Scott Sinclair calmly found the bottom corner from the penalty spot. Stoke had chances, notably when Glenn Whelan thumped a free kick against the post but Swansea clinched it late on when a tackle in midfield saw the ball squirm through to Danny Graham who beat his man and clipped past the onrushing keeper from the edge of the area.

Attendance : 19,523
Assists : Routledge (won pen), n/a


TOTTENHAM 2 (van der Vaart 40, Walker 73)
ARSENAL 1 (Ramsey 51)

Spurs won the North London derby against Arsenal and move into sixth in the table. The game really sprang into life just before the half hour when both clubs missed great chances within a minute of each other as Rafael Van Der Vaart found himself unmarked but was denied at close range by keeper Szczesny and then Gervinho should have put the Gunners ahead but dragged wide from 12 yards with the goal gaping. The Spurs man made amends five minutes before the interval as he collected a chipped pass from former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor, controlled it - possibly with his arm - and shot across the keeper and inside the far post. After the break, Arsenal deservedly levelled as Alex Song found space on the right and as the home defence went AWOL, his cross was thumped into the roof of the net by Aaron Ramsey. Spurs regained the lead out of nothing after a Luka Modric shot was blocked, it fell to Kyle Walker 35 yards out and having taken a touch, his drilled effort surprised the keeper and arrowed low into the net.

Attendance : 36,274
Assists : Adebayor, Song, Modric


1 October 2011

EVERTON 0
LIVERPOOL 2 (Carroll 71, Suarez 82)

Liverpool edged the Merseyside derby with had it's usual share of thrills, spills and controversy. The latter arrived midway through the first half when Jack Rodwell was shown a straight red for a challenge on Luis Suarez when, having played the ball, he caught the Liverpool striker with his studs on the follow through - very hard. Just before the interval, Liverpool were awarded a penalty when Suarez was clattered in the area by Phil Jagielka however Dirk Kuyt's spot kick was well saved by Tim Howard. Charlie Adam smashed a shot against the underside of the bar shortly afterwards but the visitors eventually broke through inside the final twenty minutes as Jose Enrique's cross was dispatched by Andy Carroll with a bobbled volley and then Suarez doubled the lead with a simple finish after Everton duo Leighton Baines and Sylvain Distin gifted him the ball in the area.

Attendance : 39,510
Assists : Jose Enrique, Kuyt


ASTON VILLA 2 (Agbonlahor 36, Bent 62)
WIGAN 0

Villa remain unbeaten with a goal in each half to see off Wigan who are struggling to stay out of the drop zone. They opened the scoring when Barry Bannan sent Gabriel Agbonlahor away down the left and after cutting inside, he walloped a shot into the roof of the net. The win was secured when Agbonlahor's superb cross was perfect for Darren Bent to net with a first time half volley.

Attendance : 30,744
Assists : Bannan, Agbonlahor


BLACKBURN 0
MANCHESTER CITY 4 (Johnson 56, Balotelli 59, Nasri 73, Savic 87)

In a week dominated by a player who wouldn't play, the ones who did take the field for Man City proved too much to handle for Blackburn who were swept aside at Ewood Park. It took City almost an hour to break through when Adam Johnson curled in from the edge of the area after a corner was only partially cleared. Former bad boy Mario Balotelli started for City and he doubled the lead three minutes later with a superb near post volley after a fine cross from Samir Nasri. The ex-Arsenal man added the third himself with a deflected effort having been set up by David Silva and, late on, Nasri's corner was well headed in by Stefan Savic.

Attendance : 24,760
Assists : Kolarov, Nasri, Silva, Nasri


MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Anderson 68, Wellbeck 87)
NORWICH 0

Man United remain top by just one goal after surviving a scare or two against Norwich. The newly promoted side defended well but also created chances, notably for Anthony Pilkington who was clean through but slotted past the keeper and just wide of the post. United took the lead minutes later as Anderson headed in from close range after Wayne Rooney nodded the ball goalwards. Pilkington then hit the inside of the post as his shot took a huge deflection off of the earlier United goalscorer. Late on though, they doubled matters as Danny Wellbeck played an excellent one-two with Ji-Sung Park before slotting in from close range.

Attendance : 75,514
Assists : Rooney, Park


SUNDERLAND 2 (Bendtner 24, El Mohamady 26)
WEST BROM 2 (Morrison 4, Long 5)

Sunderland and West Brom's season is still awaiting a kick start after they shared four goals in the opening twenty six minutes as the Stadium of Light. The Baggies began in sensational style and were two up inside five minutes as, firstly, James Morrison nodded in Chris Brunt's free kick and then a ricochet in midfield sent Shane Long clear to fire in the second. To their credit, Sunderland bounced back with an equally quick-fire response as Nicklas Bendtner latched onto Sebastien Larsson's back heel and his deflected shot looped in and within two minutes they were level when Bendtner crossed for Ahmed Elmohamady to score with a powerful header.

Attendance : 34,815
Assists : Brunt, n/a, Larsson, Bendtner


WOLVES 1 (Fletcher 88)
NEWCASTLE 2 (Demba Ba 17, Gutierrez 38)

Newcastle are up to third and are still unbeaten after seeing off Wolves after a controversial finale at Molineux. Newcastle looked to be cruising after Demba Ba netted his fourth goal in two games when he headed in Johan Cabaye's corner and before the interval, it was two as Jonas Gutierrez embarked on a solo run, beating four men before firing low under the keeper. Wolves pulled one back with two minutes left when Adam Hammill crossed for Steven Fletcher to headed in. The hosts were denied a clear penalty in the first half when they were wrongly awarded a free kick just outside the area and in stoppage time, they were doubly aggrieved when Kevin Doyle bundled the ball only for the goal to be ruled out when the initial cross was judged to have drifted marginally out.

Attendance : 26,561
Assists : Cabaye, n/a, Hammill

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