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The
game of the Premier League weekend undoubtedly came at the Stadium of Light
where West Bromwich Albion came from behind twice to
eventually win 3-2. Sunderland seemed to be in complete
control as Nicky Shorey put through his own net for the away side before
Asamoah Gyan wasted a great goalscoring opportunity, but Peter Odemwingie fired
in from close range just before the half-hour mark to level the scores.
Within
three minutes, though, Sunderland full-back Phil Bardsley smashed in a
free-kick from thirty yards to restore the Black Cats’ lead. But then came the
fightback. Roy Hodgson’s side scored first through Youssuf Mulumbu and then
Paul Scharner to propel West Brom to 10th in the table.
It
can be safely assumed that West Brom’s Premier League status is all but safe
but, sadly, the same cannot be said of Wolves, who succumbed to a
3-0 home defeat to Everton. Despite Mick McCarthy’s side dominating
the opening twenty minutes it was Everton who took the lead through a Jermaine
Beckford header. Wolves’ ‘keeper Wayne Hennessey tried his best to keep his
side in the tie but he could do nothing about Everton’s second and third goals,
Phil Neville and Dinyar Bilyaleyetdinov firing in before half-time to condemn
Wolves to yet another week in the relegation zone.
A
Daniel Sturridge-led Bolton overcame West Ham, the
on-loan striker brilliantly curling a shot into the top corner to give Owen
Coyle’s side an early advantage. The young Englishman scored again just after
half-time after Chung-Yong Lee had doubled their lead. Sturridge’s parent club Chelsea were
kept at bay by an inspired Ali-Al Habsi in the Wigan goal but
Florent Malouda scored with twenty minutes left to keep The Blues’ title hopes
alive.
Manchester
United are
clear favourites for the title and they easily overcame Fulham at
Old Trafford, Dimitar Berbatov rounding off a neat move to give them the lead after
twelve minutes. Antonio Valencia then nearly finished for Rooney-less United on
the half-hour, heading in from close range.
Two
relegation candidates, Birmingham and Blackburn,
fought out a tense 1-1 draw at Ewood Park. Lee Bowyer had given Birmingham the
lead but Junior Hoillet equalised for Rovers just before half-time.
A
quite incredible first half at White Hart Lane saw five goals, three of which
went to Tottenham Hotspur as they attempted to recover from
their crushing Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in the week. Peter Crouch
scored two, going some way to making up for that ridiculous and pointless
red card, with Luka Modric getting a goal in between. Matt Etherington
scored a fine solo goal for Stoke and Kenwyne Jones scored
just before half-time, but neither side could gain an advantage in the second
half, leaving Spurs in fifth place.
Arsenal comfortably
defeated Blackpool at Bloomfield Road thanks to goals from
Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue and Robin Van Persie. The Tangerines looked
incredibly lax at the back and, within twenty minutes, Arsenal took the lead,
Diaby finishing with great ease from a Van Persie cross, before Eboue doubled
The Gunners’ advantage, firing past stranded ‘keeper Richard Kingson. Gary
Taylor-Fletcher did get a goal back for Blackpool but Van Persie rounded off
the victory, Theo Walcott squaring for the Dutchman to calmly slot home.
Blackpool
manager Ian Holloway bemoaned
the performance of referee Lee Mason (and, possibly, rightly so) but
his side were soundly beaten at home by a team who, after being ruled out of
the title race by most pundits just last week, seem to be right back in the mix
after this weekend.
Sunday’s
other game involved struggling Aston Villa host Newcastle
United in a match that saw just one goal. James Collins headed home in
the 25th minute to send Gerard Houiller’s side five points
clear of the relegation zone.
Monday
night’s game Liverpool walk all over Manchester City –
the Anfield club scoring three first half goals, two from an impressive Andy
Carroll and one from an outstanding Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman finished off
superbly with Carroll striking either side to leave Liverpool just five points
off a Europa League spot, a quite phenomenal turn-around given where they were
before Kenny Dalglish was appointed manager.
Matchday
32 results: Blackburn 1 – 1 Birmingham; Bolton 3 – 0 West Ham; Chelsea 1 – 0
Wigan; Manchester United 2 – 0 Fulham; Sunderland 2 – 3 West Brom; Tottenham 3
– 2 Stoke; Wolves 0 – 3 Everton; Aston Villa 1 – 0 Newcastle; Blackpool 1 – 3
Arsenal; Liverpool 3 – 0 Manchester City
Matchday
33 fixtures: Birmingham-Sunderland; Blackpool-Wigan; Everton-Blackburn; West
Brom-Chelsea; West Ham-Aston Villa; Arsenal-Liverpool; (Tuesday)
Newcastle-Manchester United; (Wednesday) Chelsea-Birmingham; Tottenham-Arsenal
This article
originally appeared on sports website Sports Haze, which is now unfortunately
defunct.
Image
from http://www.1000goals.com
