Premier League Weekend Round-Up
Arsenal Beat Manchester United But Chelsea and Liverpool pull away
In the game of the weekend, two goals from Samir Nasri at the Emirates saw Arsenal overcome Premier League champions Manchester United, for whom Brazilian right-back Rafael scored a late stunner to bring a nervy ending to the match. The Gunners held on though six minutes of injury time to take the game 2-1 and overtake the holders in the table, moving into third.
The game itself was a classic affair, with both teams fully committed and desperate to win. The two ae old rivals and it certainly shone through, with strong challenges flying in around the pitch. In an end-to-end affair, Arsenal ran out deserved winners and carved out the better chances. Nasri and Fabregas were the main men, running the midfield and playing some lovely football that Man Utd struggled to live with.
Chelsea and Liverpool win to go six points clearBoth teams at the top of the table also won their matches to keep themselves ahead of the chasing pack and are now level on 29 points. Liverpool went top briefly, after defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-0 with two goals from Robbie Keane and a late strike from full-back Arbeloa. Keane's goals were his first in the Premier League since moving from Tottenham Hotspur and will give him a much-needed confidence boost. West Brom stay bottom after this defeat.
On a wet Sunday afternoon, Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers. Two goals from Nicolas Anelka, the first seemingly striking his hand before rolling past the stranded Rover's goalkeeper Paul Robinson. The former England number 1 was particularly unlucky as his performance had kept the Blues at bay with a string of superb saves.
Everton climb as Villa and Hull both loseEverton moved to within two points of Aston Villa and suprise package Hull City with a late turnaround against West Ham United, who will have been furious to lose at home having been 1-0 up with just ten minutes to play. Jack Collison had put Gianfranco Zola's team in front, but an incredible late fightback from the Toffees saw them strike three times to win 3-1. Jolean Lescott levelled the scores with a header, before two late goals from Louis Saha broke West Ham hearts.
Aston Villa produced two shocking defensive errors against Middlesbrough to lose 2-1 at home. First, Nicky Shorey failed to clear a cross and Tuncay profited from the mistake. Steven Sidwell then levelled the game for the Villa, but then inexplicably attempted a pass back that was too weak and Tuncay again profited to seal the game for the travelling team.
Meanwhile, Hull were kept at bay by some fantastic goalkeeping from Bolton Wanderer's stopper Jussi Jaaskaleinen. He produced a man of the match performance and some stunning saves, before Matthew Taylor struck at the other end to give Bolton a much-needed away win.
Newcastle stay in bottom three after defeat to FulhamAt the other end of the table, Newcastle failed to move out of the relegation zone after being beaten 2-1 by Fulham at Craven Cottage. Andy Johnson fired the Cottagers in front, before Shola Ameobi levelled the scored, although he looked to be offside when he struck. However, Johnson then won a penalty, which Danny Murphy converted for his 100th league goal and a precious win for Fulham.
Sunderland were also beaten 2-1, this time by Portsmouth who produced a first victory for new manager Tony Adams. Djibril Cisse opened the scoring for Sunderland in the third minute to send the home fans wild, but they were soon silenced as Nadir Belhadj stuck a powerful equaliser. Then, in the last minute, Glen Johnson was fouled in the box and Jermain Defoe smashed home the penalty to take all three points.
Spurs win again over billionaires Man CityIn the other top-flight games, Spurs continued their revival with a 2-1 win over Man City, Darren Bent scoring twice to cancel out Robinho's opener for the home side. Three players were sent off in what was a bad tempered encounter. Finally, in a very dull game Wigan drew 0-0 with Premier League new-boys Stoke.
A footballer kicking a ball
|
What do you think about this article?
Latest Articles