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24 March 2010

ASTON VILLA 1 (Carew 30)
SUNDERLAND 1 (Campbell 22)

Attendance : 37,473
Assists : Richardson, Young


BLACKBURN 2 (Dunn 5, Dunn 67)
BIRMINGHAM 1 (McFadden 55 fk)

Attendance : 23,856
Assists : n/a, Johnson (won fk), Diouf (ck)


MANCHESTER CITY 0
EVERTON 2 (Cahill 33, Arteta 85)

Attendance : 45,708
Assists : Baine (fk), Rodwell


PORTSMOUTH 0
CHELSEA 5 (Drogba 32, Malouda 50, Malouda 60, Drogba 77, Lampard 94)

Attendance : 18,753
Assists : Deco, Lampard (fk), n/a, Mikel, Drogba


23 March 2010

WEST HAM 1 (Franco 93)
WOLVES 3 (Doyle 28, Zubar 58, Jarvis 61)

Attendance : 33,988
Assists : n/a, n/a, Jones, Behrami


21 March 2010

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Rooney 12, Park 60)
LIVERPOOL 1 (Torres 5)

Man United return to the summit of the Premier League after coming from behind to see off Liverpool at Old Trafford, denting the visitors European hopes in the process.

The game could hardly have started in a more dramatic fashion with both sides netting early as Dirk Kuyt crossed for Fernando Torres to head home superbly to put Liverpool ahead and then Antonio Valencia burst through only to be held back by Javier Mascherano and win a penalty although it may have been just outside the area. Man of the moment Wayne Rooney saw his penalty brilliantly saved by Jose Reina only for Rooney to converted the rebound easily. Tempers were simmering on and off the pitch and after Ji-Sung Park headed just wide for the home side, Torres was booked for persistant fouling just midway through the half. Ironically things seemed to settle for a while after that until stoppage time when Rooney's free kick was comfortably saved by Reina.

The second half took a while to take off although United continued to have the lions share of possession and on the hour it told as Darren Fletcher put in a peach of a cross where Park converted with a diving header from the edge of the six yard box. The goal upped the tempo and tempers as Fletcher and Kuyt tangled and embarked on some handbags at dawn among themselves. Chances remained at a premium but United were looking exceptionally comfortable, restricting Liverpool to occasional spells of possession. With eleven minutes to go, Ryan Giggs entered the fray after returning from a broken arm as Liverpool began to see a little more of the ball although Rooney came closest as he dragged a shot wide of the near post after cutting inside. In the final minute of normal time Liverpool had a chance as Torres scuffed a shot from 12 yards and from the loose ball Yossi Benayoun looped a tame header into the hands of Edwin Van Der Sar. Five minutes of stoppage time made little difference as United held on with ease.

Attendance : 75,216
Assists : Kuyt, n/a, Fletcher


FULHAM 1 (Murphy 75 Pen)
MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Santa Cruz 7, Tevez 36)

Man City moved to within two points of fourth placed Spurs and have a game in hand after a fine win at Fulham. City went ahead after Zoltan Gera had an effort cleared off the line for the home side, the visitors broke and when Craig Bellamy's shot was deflected against the post, Roque Santa Cruz bundled in the loose ball. They doubled it when Bellamy found Tevez and having sidesteped his man, he slotted past the keeper. Fulham grabbed a late consolation through a Danny Murphy penalty after Gareth Barry was harshly judged to have handled Damien Duff's cross. Late on, Fulham had an even better shout for another penalty when Vincent Kompany handled but this one was waved away. Attendance : 25,359
Assists : n/a, Bellamy, n/a


BLACKBURN 1 (Diouf 70)
CHELSEA 1 (Drogba 6)

Chelsea lost ground in the title race after being held to a draw at Blackburn. Chelsea dominated the first half and led at the interval after a superb run down the right from Nik Anelka who crossed for Didier Drogba to drill low into the bottom corner. Rovers improved massively after the break and levelled with twenty minutes to go when Michel Salgado crossed for El Hadj Diouf to send an excellent far post header inside the post. Chelsea remain third, four points behind leaders Man United but with a game in hand.

Attendance : 25,554
Assists : Anelka, Salgado


20 March 2010

ARSENAL 2 (Denilson 5, Fabregas 83 Pen)
WEST HAM 0

Arsenal recorded their sixth win in a row and top the table after victory against West Ham who remain three points above the drop zone. Arsenal cruised through most of the first half, aided by an early goal as Denilson exchanged passes with Niklas Bendtner before finding the bottom corner with a crisp shot from the edge of the area. With half time approaching, the visitors blew a golden chance to level as Guillermo Franco broke away from Thomas Vermaelen and then went down under minimal contact resulting in a penalty and a red card to the Gunners defender. Alessandro Diamanti took the spot kick which was superbly saved by Manuel Alumunia although he clearly moved off of his line before the kick was taken. The second half saw chances at both ends with the best falling to the visitors as Carlton Cole clattered a shot against the post. It proved vital as Matt Upson handled a chip from Cesc Fabregas allowing the Arsenal man to send Robert Green the wrong way from the penalty spot and wrap up the points.

Attendance : 60,077
Red Card : Vermaelen 44 (Arsenal)
Assists : Bendtner, n/a


ASTON VILLA 2 (Carew 16, Carew 82)
WOLVES 2 (Craddock 23, Milner 38 og)

Honours even in the Midlands derby as Wolves earned a well deserved point at fourth place hopefuls Aston Villa. Wolves led at the interval despite going behind as they allowed Ashley Young the freedom of Villa Park to cross from the left for John Carew to tap in from close range, although replays showed him to be marginally offside. Wolves levelled in odd fashion as a David Jones free kick was drifted into the six yard box where team-mate Ronald Zubar actually blocked the ball but it fell perfectly for Jody Craddock to thump home. Remarkably the visitors then went ahead as Matt Jarvis crossed from the left and James Milner prodded the ball into his own net under pressure from Jones who would surely have scored himself. After the break Villa dominated for long spells but rarely threatened until twenty minutes from time when Young's cross caused havoc but neither Carew or Emile Heskey could score from close in. Carew then headed over from yet another Young cross as Wolves continued to frustrate their hosts before they finally levelled via Route One as a long ball was nodded on by Carew, held up by Heskey who set up Steve Sidwell whose shot was touched in by Carew who was just onside this time.

Attendance : 37,562
Assists : Young, n/a, n/a, Sidwell


EVERTON 2 (Arteta 72, Pienaar 89)
BOLTON 0

Everton's European hopes remain intact after two late goals saw off Bolton who are eight points above the drop zone. The turning point came with twenty minutes left when Gretat Steinsson was sent off for bringing down Yakubu as he burst clear and from the resulting free kick, Mikael Arteta curled the ball past the flat footed keeper. They doubled the win late when Leon Osman set up Steven Pienaar to fire in the second.

Attendance : 36,503
Red Card : Steinsson 70 (Bolton)
Assists : Yakubu (won fk), Osman


PORTSMOUTH 3 (Smith 37, O'Hara 88, Kanu 89)
HULL 2 (Folan 27, Folan 73)

Bottom club Portsmouth recovered from their midweek deduction of ten points with a late rally to see off Hull, the club one place above them! New Hull boss Iain Dowie saw his side go ahead when Craig Fagan's shot took a number of deflections with the final touch going to Caleb Folan. Pompey levelled with an equally scrappy goal as Tommy Smith bundled the ball in from close range after Hermann Hreidarsson kept a corner alive with a far post header. Hull restored their lead with Folan again netting, this time sliding the ball past the keeper after being sent clear by Richard Garcia. They looked to be heading for a win before two late goals in as many minutes turned the game on its head as Jamie O'Hara found the top corner with a twenty yard free kick and then Garcia lost possession to Nadir Belhadj who crossed for Kanu to sweep in the winner.

Attendance : 16,513
Assists : Fagan, n/a, Garcia, Wilson(won fk), Belhadj


STOKE 1 (Etherington 64 Pen)
TOTTENHAM 2 (Gudjohnsen 46, Kranjcar 77)

Spurs have a four point cushion in fourth place after a narrow win at Stoke. The game turned in Spurs' favour early in the second half as firstly Eidur Gudjohnsen netted his first goal for the club when he ran onto a looping ball from Peter Crouch and after holding off his marker, walloped the ball into the roof of the net. Within three minutes the hosts were down to ten men when Dean Whitehead collected a second booking for a late bodycheck on Luka Modric. Stoke battled back though and were awarded a penalty when Beniot Assou-Ekotu flattened Dave Kitson with an awkward challenge and Matt Etherington calmly slotted in the spot kick. Ricardo Fuller had a chance to put Stoke ahead but blazed over from three yards with a goal gaping before Spurs collected a vital win when Niko Krancjar smashed in a cross from Assou-Ekotu which was well dummied by Gudjohnsen.

Attendance : 27,575
Red Card : Whitehead 49 (Stoke)
Assists : Crouch, Kitson (won pen), Assou-Ekoto


SUNDERLAND 3 (Bent 5, Bent 11, Campbell 88)
BIRMINGHAM 1 (Jerome 60)

Sunderland moved into mid table respectability with an excellent win against Birmingham. They were off to a flyer as Darren Bent scored twice early on as he fired home from close range after Benjani's shot was blocked and then he collected a pass from Steed Malbranque, cut inside and fired inside the near post. Bimingham pulled one back on the hour when Michel sent Cameron Jerome away down the left and he curled in a cracking shot from just inside the area. Sunderland confirmed victory late on when Frazier Campbell slid in a cross from Jordan Henderson.

Attendance : 37,962
Assists : n/a, Malbranque, Michel, Henderson


WIGAN 1 (Rodallega 93)
BURNLEY 0

Wigan netted a stoppage time winner to see off fellow strugglers Burnley at the DW. An drab game looked to grab the headlines for the wrong reasons when home keeper Chris Kirkland was struck by an object thrown from the crowd but his side clinched all three points in the dying embers of the match when Victor Moses crossed for Hugo Rodellaga to send a stunning header into the net.

Attendance : 18,498
Assist : Moses


16 March 2010

WIGAN 1 (Caldwell 27)
ASTON VILLA 2 (McCarthy 25 og, Milner 63)

Attendance : 16,186
Assists : N'Zogbia (fk), n/a, n/a


15 March 2010

LIVERPOOL 4 (Torres 26, Babel 28, Aquilani 32, Torres 77)
PORTSMOUTH 1 (Belhadj 88)

Attendance : 40,316
Assists : Maxi Rodriguez, Torres, Torres, Aquilani, Piquionne

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