Premier League Wrap (Week Two)

It was another week dominated by impressive and somewhat surprising blowouts in the English Premier League, catch up on all the action after the jump.

Saturday, August 21 – Arsenal 6, Blackpool 0

Led by a Theo Walcott hat trick, the gunners managed to outshoot a newly-promoted Blackpool side 30-5. It wasn’t particularly surprising, even with the fact that Blackpool beat Wigan Athletic 4-0 in their Premiership opener last week. It figures to be a long season for the Tangerines, who earned their Premiership berth by way of playoff. Also scoring for Arsenal were Andrei Arshavin off a PK, Abou Diaby and Marouane Chamakh.

Saturday, August 21 – Birmingam 2, Blackburn Rovers 1

Craig Gardner scored a brace for Birmingham as they came from behind to knock off Blackburn. Morten Gamst Pederson had a prime chance to open up the scoring for Rovers, but managed to miss a 50th minute PK. Four minutes later, Steven Nzonzi put the first score on the board with a header. Gardner would equalize in the 57th and then strike for the game winner in the 71st with a 30-yard strike.

Saturday, August 21 – Everton 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

Despite appearing to be dominated much of the match, Wolves utilized a 74th minute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake score to draw with the Toffees. The score was a bit controversial as much of the talk after the match centered around a decidedly harsh challenge to win possession and start the dangerous counter that led to the score. Tim Cahill scored the first Everton goal of the season off a rebound from a Mikel Arteta free kick from the edge of the penalty area.

Saturday, August 21 – Stoke City 1, Tottenham Hotspur 2

A Gareth Bale brace led Spurs to a controversial win over Stoke City. The 21-year old opened the scoring in the 19th minute, but the Potters found an equalizer six minutes later upon the feet of Ricardo Fuller. Bale would again strike in the 30th minute with an outstanding volley from the left side of the penalty area to the top corner of the far post. Jon Walters for Stoke appeared to equalize late in the match, as the ball appeared to cross the goal line, but the keeper parried it away as the official refused to signal a score.

Saturday, August 21 – West Bromwich Albion 1, Sunderland 0

With nine minutes remaining in the match, Peter Odemwingle, who joined West Brom just 24 hours prior to the match, scored the game’s lone goal. The match had an ebb-and-flow to it, but despite Sunderland’s hopeful start to the second half, they couldn’t find the back of the net.

Saturday, August 21 – West Ham United 1, Bolton Wanderers 3

It was certainly a day to forget for the Hammers as they dropped their seventh straight to Bolton. Carlton Cole had an opportunity to open the scoring for West Ham, but managed to miss a penalty kick in the 33rd minute. The first half was totally dominated by West Ham, but the London-based club just couldn’t score. Early in the second half, Hammer defender Mattew Upson did find the back of the net, but for the wrong team, to put Bolton up 1-0. John Elmander extended that lead with a 68th minute strike, his first of two on the day. Mark Noble cut the deficit in half with a 79th minute penalty, but Elmander would put the game out of reach in the 84th.

Saturday, August 21 – Wigan Athletic 0, Chelsea 6

For those counting at home, Wigan Athletic now holds an aggregate score of 0-10 in Premiership play this season after an embarrassing loss to Chelsea. It was an impressive second half performance for the Blues after defeating West Brom last week 6-0. Florent Malouda scored the lone goal of the first half, and similar to last season’s final performance against Wigan, the second half was almost completely one way traffic for Chelsea. Nicolas Anelka scored a pair of goals in a four minute span towards the start of the half. Soloman Kalou scored a brace of his own with 78th and 90th minute scores, and Yossi Benayoun put the finishing touches on with a goal late in stoppage time. It must be said that Wigan did have a number of opportunities, and even outshot Chelsea, but the game was never really in doubt once the second half started.

Sunday, August 22 – Newcastle United 6, Aston Villa 0

An Andrew Carroll hat trick propelled Newcastle to surprising  dismantling of Aston Villa. The Lions were playing after a hectic week which saw young English international James Milner leave for Manchester City while still looking for an answer to their current manager situation. Joey Barton opened the scoring in the 12th minute for the Magpies, and Kevin Nolan scored a brace. It appeared as if Villa would get on the board first, but John Carew missed a 10th-minute penalty.  Newcastle outshot Aston Villa 17-6, with 11 credited as being on target.

Sunday, August 22 – Fulham 2, Manchester United 2

In one of the surprises of the weekend, Fulham played a very even, very entertaining match vs. Manchester United. Paul Scholes scored the game first goal with an outstanding strike from beyond the penalty area, but Simon Davies netted an equalizer after the half in the 57th minute. Brede Hangeland appeared to become the goat for Fulham, scoring an own goal off a corner kick in the 84th minute, a seemingly harsh turn for Fulham who had controlled good stretches of the second half. A foul in the penalty area seemed destined to put the game on ice, but David Stockdale made a diving save on Nani’s 87th minute penalty effort. Two minutes later Hangeland made up for his earlier mistake with a last-minute header from a Fulham corner.

Monday, August 23rd – Manchester City 3, Liverpool 0

After a depressing offensive performance last week for Man City fans, they came out swinging against Liverpool. Gareth Barry opened the scoring in the 13th minute thanks to an assist from newcomer James Milner. Carlos Tevez would double the lead in the 52nd, and put the game out of reach for good with a 68th-minute penalty kick. Liverpool did put five shots on target on the day, but Joe Hart stopped all of them in his second start after surprisingly taking over for Shay Given last week.