EPL Weekend Round-Up
By Sam McPhee
Well, as usual, the action in the Premier League this past weekend had several shock results, several refereeing decisions that caused controversy & the table is getting pretty crowded at the bottom with numerous clubs either directly involved in or in real danger of getting drag into the relegation fight.
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Arsenal hit the bar twice, had a penalty shout turned down & had a goal ruled out for offsides but bottom line was Sunderland defended well all day long, especially Man of the Match goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, & nearly won the match late on with a Danny Welbeck effort that was well saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
Birmingham City 1-3 West Bromwich Albion
Birmingham must’ve been suffering some Carling Cup winning hangovers as they were beaten handily by a West Brom side that will be chuffed with the victory against a fellow potential relegation club.
Bolton Wanderers 3-2 Aston Villa
Bolton got a big win that will boost their hopes of playing in Europe next season as they downed a Villa side courtesy of a late Ivan Klasnic goal as the Trotters erased deficits twice to come away with the victory in the end. Darren Bent got another goal for Villa & seems to be the best value so far in return of the big $ January moves so far.
Fulham 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
Fulham got a brace from veteran Irish winger, Damien Duff, & a late penalty for the winner by Bobby Zamora, who was returning from a long-stint out of the squad with injury, to offset goals by Grant Hanley & Junior Hoilett by Blackburn. Fulham & Blackburn are still in danger of getting suck into the relegation battle which seems to be expanding week after week, so the Cottagers getting all 3 points will be welcomed by the Whites supporters.
Manchester City 1-0 Wigan Athletic
Man City came away with what could be argued as a lucky win over a Wigan side that now finds themselves at the bottom of the table despite putting in decent performances in their last 3 matches. David Silva scored Man City’s goal & it was in truth, a gift of a goal from Wigan’s Omani ‘keeper, Ali Al-Habsi.
Newcastle United 1-2 Everton
Everton’s roller coaster form continued with a 2-1 road win over Newcastle with goals from Leon Osman & utility man, Phil Jagielka, after the home side had initially taken the lead through Leon Best. The win sees the Toffees pull level on points with the Geordies but behind on goal difference in 10th place but with a game in hand.
West Ham United 3-0 Stoke City
The Hammers continued their recent revival & with the likes of Demba Ba & Thomas Hitzlsperger now in the lineup look a good bet to avoid the drop now. West Ham got a massive 3-0 win over Stoke who are just a completely different side away from their Britannia Stadium fortress. Hammer goals were provided by the aforementioned ,Demba Ba & Thomas Hitzlsperger, & Manuel Da Costa. Please, Hammers, don’t hurt ’em!
SUNDAY’S RESULTS
Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United
A really surprise result here, not so much the actual result, but the scoreline & in the emphatic way that Liverpool beat Man U. For the 2nd straight match Man U was shockingly pushed around on the pitch & a Dirk Kuyt hat-trick outweighed a late goal by Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. To be fair, Kuyt owes a massive amount of credit to his hat trick to the work of Luis Suarez on the day who gave the Red Devils’ backline fits all day long & had a huge hand in 2 of ‘Pool’s 3 goals. The match was also noteable for a hard tackle by Jamie Carragher on Nani, where the English defender likely should’ve been sent off, but Nani didn’t help himself after the challenge with theatrics despite leaving the pitch minutes later on a stretcher. Lastly, Alex Ferguson caused a stir again, this time not by what he said, but what he didn’t say as the Man U camp had a post-match media blackout. Ooh, big tough guy can’t even gather himself to talk to the media in press conference.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur
More controversy was found in Wolves v Spurs as Wolves had a goal ruled out for a foul on Spurs’ keeper Heurelho Gomes, before finding the eventual equalizer late on. Jermain Defoe scored two goals for Spurs to break his long-term goal drought & Kevin Doyle had his own brace for Wolves including one from the spot. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored Spurs’ 3rd with rifled shot before Wolves’ sub Steven Fletcher saved a point for them with a looping header only 3 minutes from time.
MONDAY’S FIXTURES
Blackpool v Chelsea
The EPL’s final fixture of the week sees the underdog Tangerines host a Chelsea side that will be buoyed by their win over league leaders Man U in midweek. Blackpool have been dropping many matches of late & their league survival which once looked a decent possibility has now seen their form drag them square into the relegation dogfight. Their task this evening certainly doesn’t look like helping them in that regard.
The current EPL table pending tonight’s Blackpool-Chelsea match-up:
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