English Premier League - Match Results
Liverpool and Chelsea both Dropped Points on Sunday in the EPL
Sep 7, 2008
All the action from Stamford Bridge, The Stadium of Light and Villa Park in the English Premier League.
Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
At Stamford Bridge, Juande Ramos' Spurs side gained their first point of the season. With 'Big' Phil Scolari hoping to preserve Chelsea's 100% record, the home side picked an attacking 4-5-1 formation, with Nicolas Anelka spearheading an attacking midfield which featured Michael Essien and Frank Lampard. Tottenham also only had one striker, although this was through necessity rather than intention, with wantaway Bulgarian again ont in the squad. Darren Bent started alone, in front of a midfield featuring Croatian Luka Modric and Jermaine Jenas. Chelsea took the lead through Belletti, after a corner was controversially awarded following a passage of play in which Chelsea winger Joe Cole looked offisde. However, from the resultant set-piece, Darren Bent's air-kick gave Belletti an easy chance and the full-back made no mistake. However, the North London club snatched an equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Lampard, so often hailed a hero by the West London faithful inadvertently played in Bent, who eagerly made amends for his earlier mistake by slotting the ball underneath Petr Cech. In the second half, Chelsea pressed forward but were largely held at bay by a strong Tottenham midfield, who introduced Tom Huddlestone and Jamie O'Hara to good effect late on.
Sunderland 0-3 Manchester City
Sunderland manager Roy Keane met up with his ex-Manchester United team-mate Mark Hughes at the Stadium of Light. But he was left disappointed by a combination of a poor display by his team and some clinical finishing by a returning hero. With City's £9m bid accepted by Chelsea just one day , Shaun Wight-Phillips returned to Eastlands on Friday, and having fully registered, played his part on Sunday afternoon. With the half-time whistle approaching, Sunderland were cut open and Stephen Ireland applied the finishing touch to a flowing move, sweeping into the net and giving City a half-time lead. After the break, City drove forward and with Shaun Wright-Phillips netting at the far post, broke again minutes later to complete a stunning period of scoring that left the North-East side unable to get back into the game.
Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool
At Villa Park, the two clubs who had been embroiled in a fascinating tug-of-war for the services of England midfielder Gareth Barry played out a frustrating stalemate. With managers Rafa Benitez and Martin O'Neill shaking hands before the match, the action got underway at a good pace, with Villa breaking quickly to form a chance between the effective combination of John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Liverpool looked to utilise the pacy Spaniard Fernando Torres upfront, but when he pulled up with a hamstring problem, the game slipped away as a spectacle, with both sides reduced to long shots. In the second half, Villa pressed Liverpool keeper Jose Reina into a couple of reaction stops as the home side looked to grab a narrow win. But the Spanish stopper held out to ease his team a scrappy point.
