26 December 2010
ASTON VILLA 1 (Albrighton 82)
TOTTENHAM 2 (Van der Vaart 23, Van der Vaart 67)
Spurs retain fifth place as a goal in each half saw off Aston Villa. Spurs had the ball in the net after a quarter of an hour of an open game when Younes Kaboul volleyed in but the assistant ruled that the initial cross had sailed out of play. Replays proved little either way as it was very close. It was only a prelude for the opener as a superb cross-field pass found Alan Hutton on the right and his low cross was slotted in by Rafael Van Der Vaart, however within four minutes they were down to ten men as Jermain Defoe led with his arm as he jumped for the ball with James Collins and was shown a straight red card, possibly harshly. Villa struggled to make any impression on their numerical advantage and midway through the second half, Spurs doubled the lead. A Villa attack broke down and Gareth Bale sped clear with the ball and having travelled half the length of the pitch, found Aaron Lennon who in turn set up Van Der Vaart to slot in a superb breakaway goal. Villa pulled one back when Marc Albrighton's inswinging cross was missed by everyone and nestled inside the far post but the equaliser wouldn't arrive.
Attendance : 39,411
Red Card : Defoe 27 (Tottenham)
Assists : Hutton, Lennon, Albrighton
BLACKBURN 0
STOKE 2 (Huth 51, Wilson 93)
A goal in each half gave Stoke an excellent win at Blackburn. They led just after half time when Robert Huth headed in Matty Etherington's corner and with time edging away, Marc Wilson thumped in Ricardo Fuller's cross after taking a touch to control.
Attendance : 25,440
Assists : Etherington, Fuller
BOLTON 2 (Taylor 40, Elmander 86)
WEST BROM 0
Bolton consolidate sixth spot with a comfortable win at home to West Brom. The hosts led just before the interval when Matt Taylor was given a tap in after Chung Yong Lee had rounded the keeper and they clinched it with four minutes to go when Johan Elmander netted after his initial effort was blocked as he burst clear.
Attendance : 23,413
Assists : Lee, n/a
FULHAM 1 (Hughes 11)
WEST HAM 3 (Cole 37, Piquionne 46, Cole 73)
Fulham (17th) hosted bottom club West Ham in the London derby which saw the visitors come from behind to win away for the first time since the opening day of LAST season. Fulham led early when a corner wasn't properly cleared and as the ball was played back to the original taker Simon Davies, his cross found Aaron Hughes totally unmarked to head home. Despite continuing to dominate, Fulham then conceded twice before the break as Freddie Sears crossed and it should have been dealt with by Dickson Etuhu however he miss controlled it and it fell nicely for Carlton Cole to bobble the ball inside the far post. Remarkably, in first half injury time, Scott Parker's cross was volleyed in at the far post by Frederic Piquionne to put the Hammers ahead. They clinched the win after the break when Danny Gabbidon's ball into the area found Cole who turned sharply and drilled in with a shot across goals.
Attendance : 25,332
Assists : Davies (ck), n/a, Parker
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Berbatov 5, Berbatov 57)
SUNDERLAND 0
Man United go two points clear with two games in hand of second place Man City after two Dimitar Berbatov goals saw off Sunderland. The Bulgarian's first came early when he headed in Wayne Rooney's cross and into the second half he doubled the lead when he latched onto a flick from Andersen to score via a major deflection. United were superb throughout, especially early on with Berbatov and Andersen both hitting the woodwork.
Attendance : 75,269
Assists : Anderson, n/a
NEWCASTLE 1 (Carroll 72)
MANCHESTER CITY 3 (Barry 2, Tevez 5, Tevez 81)
Man City keep the pressure on local rivals United at the top with a fine win at Newcastle. City blazed into a two goal lead inside the opening five minutes as home keeper Tim Krul made a hash of a clearance and after Carlos Tevez intercepted, he found Gareth Barry to slot in the opener. Within three minutes, another error as Cheik Tiote lost possession to Tevez who found James Milner wide and then swept in the cross from the midfielder. Newcastle pulled one back when Andy Carroll thumped in a header from Joey Barton's cross but late on, Tevez wrapped it up when he exchanged passes with Andy Johnson and found the net courtesy of a huge deflection.
Attendance : 51,635
Assists : Tevez, Milner, Barton (ck), Johnson
WOLVES 1 (Fletcher 87)
WIGAN 2 (Rodallega 9, Cleverly 20)
Wigan move out of the drop zone with a narrow win at Wolves who go bottom. They effectively won it in the opening twenty minutes as Hugo Rodallega thumped in a superb volley on the turn after a corner wasn't properly cleared and then Tom Cleverly added a second as he slotted past the keeper having been found by Rodallega. Wolves did grab a late consolation when Steven Fletcher prodded in after a penalty area scramble but they couldn't muster a leveller.
Attendance : 26,901
Assists : Caldwell (ck), Rodallega, Ebanks-Blake
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