soccer-europe.com

13 December 2010

MANCHESTER UNITED 1 (Park 41)
ARSENAL 0

Man United go two points clear at the top of the table and they have a game in hand, after a narrow win against second placed Arsenal. The match never lived up to the pre-match potential with United rarely looking in any danger, especially after taking the lead when Ji-Sung Park twisted his neck to somehow nod in Nani's deflected cross. They should have put the game out of sight when Gael Clichy saw the ball hit his hand after Nani ran at him and the ref harshly awarded a penalty. Up stepped Wayne Rooney to commit the cardinal sin of not hitting the target as he thumped his kick over the bar. Arsenal could have grabbed a late leveller but sun Theo Walcott volleyed over at the far post.

Attendance : 75,227
Assist : Nani


12 December 2010

BOLTON 2 (Muamba 65, Holden 88)
BLACKBURN 1 (Diouf 87)

Ten man Bolton grabbed a vital late win against East Lancashire rivals Blackburn at the Reebok. After an uneventful first half, the game burst into life when Mark Davies was sent off for Bolton for leading with his elbow as he jumped with Phil Jones to earn a second yellow card. Enter sub Patrice Muamba to put the ten men ahead as he was allowed space and time after a free kick wasn't cleared to take two touches and drill a low shot past three men on the line. The visitors rallied and levelled with three minutes to go when a good passing move ended with Jason Roberts finding Mame Diouf and he finished superbly to clip a shot over keeper and defender. Bolton could not have been much quicker regaining the lead as they launched a ball forward straight from the restart which was nodded on by Kevin Davies and volleyed in brilliantly by Stuart Holden. Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce was sacked 24 hours later.

Attendance : 24,471
Red Card : Davies 56 (Bolton)
Assists : n/a, Roberts, Davies


TOTTENHAM 1 (Pavlyuchenko 15)
CHELSEA 1 (Drogba 70)

Chelsea missed a stoppage time penalty as they earned a point against Spurs at White Hart Lane. Spurs led after an even start when Jermaine Defoe found space on the left and despite looking offside, play continued and he crossed for Roman Pavlyuchenko to take a touch to beat his man and the arrowed a low drive inside the post. Enter Didier Drogba from the Chelsea bench for the second half and he made little impact for ten minutes before a long range effort was easily pushed wide by Heurelho Gomes and a minute later he made a better save from his own player as Wilson Palacios totally miss-directed a header. The pace was relentless and the was end-to-end but it took a mistake to get Chelsea level as a long kick forward by Petr Cech found Drogba who muscled past Michael Dawson and having walloped a shot at goal from a tricky angle, Gomes got his hands to the ball but couldn't hold it and it looped over him and bobbled agonisingly over the line. With fifteen minutes left, Frank Lampard returned from injury to play his first football in three months as he replaced Florent Malouda whilst the Spurs goalscorer was subbed for Robbie Keane to make an appearance. A minute into stoppage time, Drogba's flick fell to Ramires in the six yard box and having won the ball he was absolutely clattered to the ground by Gomes for a penalty. Up stepped Drogba whose firm kick was superbly kept out by the faltering keeper.

Attendance : 35,787
Assists : Defoe, Cech


11 December 2010

ASTON VILLA 2 (Downing 25, Heskey 80)
WEST BROM 1 (Scharner 89)

Aston Villa won the second city derby despite a nervy finale when they almost blew a two goal lead. The hosts led when Stuart Downing converted a far post cross from Marc Albrighton. They doubled the lead with an Emile Heskey header from Albrighton's cross but the Baggies battled back and pulled a goal back when Paul Scharner headed in a corner from Chris Brunt. Jerome Thomas almost levelled in stoppage time but shot over as he burst clear.

Attendance : 37,015
Assists : Young, Albrighton, Brunt (ck)


EVERTON 0
WIGAN 0

No goals at Goodison as Everton dominated against Wigan. They came desperately close when Tim Cahill's header clattered against the post. Remarkably Wigan nearly snatched it at the end when Ronnie Stam's shot was superbly tipped wide by Tim Howard.

Attendance : 32,853
Assists : n/a


FULHAM 0
SUNDERLAND 0

Oh dear, this was poor! Two ex-Man United team mates led their clubs to a dire goalless draw as Mark Hughes' Fulham and Steve Bruce's Sunderland failed to warm up the West London crowd.

Attendance : 24,462
Assists : n/a


NEWCASTLE 3 (Nolan 15, Barton 80, Carroll 91)
LIVERPOOL 1 (Kuyt 49)

Newcastle's regime under Alan Pardew began with a superb win against Liverpool whose away day woes continue. The hosts led at the break when Joey Barton's chipped free kick was nodded across goal by Andy Carroll and slotted in first time by Kevin Nolan who may have been millimetres offside. Liverpool levelled after half time as a long ball forward hit the retreating Sol Campbell on the back and as Dirk Kuyt collected the loose ball, his run and eventual shot took a big deflection to find the bottom corner. With ten minutes to go, Newcastle regained the lead as Carroll's header found it's way through to Barton to prod the ball past the advancing keeper and in stoppage time they clinched the win with a beauty when Jose Enrique found Carroll who given acres of space to size up a shot which he arrowed from 25 yards low into the corner.

Attendance : 50,137
Assists : Carroll, n/a, Enrique, n/a


STOKE 0
BLACKPOOL 1 (Campbell 48)

Blackpool's cracking season continues with a narrow win at Stoke, moving them above their hosts in the table. The only goal came early in the second half as a fine move ended with Charlie Adam's shot flicked in by DJ Campbell. In fairness Stoke were unlucky as Ricardo Fuller crashed a shot against the bar and Rory Delap had a header ruled out for a foul on the keeper in the first half and after the Blackpool goal Matt Etherington's free kick also clipped the bar. Gary Taylor-Fletcher also struck the bar with a powerful header for the visitors during a pulsating second half.

Attendance : 26,879
Assist : Adam


WEST HAM 1 (Tomkins 89)
MANCHESTER CITY 3 (Yaya Toure 30, Green 73 og, Johnson 81)

Man City move into second, level on points with leaders Arsenal, ahead of the Sunday and Monday games after a comfortable win at West Ham who remain bottom. City led when Gareth Barry crossed for Yaya Toure to wallop a shot into the roof of the net and it was Toure involved in the second as his run ended with a shot against the post that hit keeper Rob Green on the back and bounced in. Sub Adam Johnson - on for the petulant Mario Balotelli - added the third as he was sent clear by David Silva to round the keeper and roll the ball in. The Hammers did grab a late consolation thanks to a James Tomkins header from Victor Obinna's corner.

Attendance : 32,813
Assists : Barry, Silva, Obinna (ck)

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Yahoo Groups Premier-L list
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/premier-l/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it