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23 August 2010

MANCHESTER CITY 3 (Barry 13, Richards 52, Tevez 68 Pen)
LIVERPOOL 0

Man City recorded an excellent win at Eastlands as they swept Liverpool aside with a three goal salvo. City led at the break with a goal made in the Midlands as debutant James Milner found space to set up former Aston Villa team mate Gareth Barry to score with a composed side footed finish. Some doubt over the scorer of the second as Micah Richards headed a corner goalwards and Carlos Tevez, positioned right in front of the keeper turned and may have got the slightest of touches to take the ball in. Midway through the second half, Adam Johnson waltzed through the Liverpool defence and was fouled by Martin Skrtel and Tevez made no mistake from the penalty spot to add a third goal for the hosts.

Attendance : 47,087
Assists : Milner, Milner (ck), Johnson (won pen)


22 August 2010

NEWCASTLE 6 (Barton 12, Nolan 31, Carroll 34, Carroll 67, Nolan 87, Carroll 93)
ASTON VILLA 0

Newcastle thumped Aston Villa 6-0 at St James Park in one of the more eye-opening results of the season so far with Geordie Andy Carroll grabbing a hat trick. Villa blew a glorious early chance to take the lead when Ashley Young broke clear only to be brought down by keeper Steve Harper. Up stepped John Carew and on a weekend of penalty failures, his was the mother of them all as he went for power and sent his kick sailing over the bar and into Row Z. They were made to pay big time throughout the first half as inside three minutes, Jonas Gutierrez found Joey Barton and he walloped a shot from 25 yards into the top corner as the ball swerved viciously in the air. The lead was doubled just after the half hour with Jose Enrique providing the assist as his deep cross was nodded back across goal by Carroll and although Kevin Nolan's first header was parried by Brad Friedel, Nolan was first to the loose ball and nodded it over the line. Villa were all over the place and went further behind shortly afterwards as a corner was kept in the danger zone by Mike Williamson and after Richard Dunne made a hash of clearing, Carroll was left with a straightforward finish to increase the lead. After the break, Villa showed little in the way of improvement as the hosts kept the ball well but without creating the chances that fell before the interval. Midway through the half they finally added to their first half tally as Villa again struggled to clear their area and after Williamson hooked the ball into the danger zone from the edge of the box, Carroll was quickest to react to volley in his second and Newcastle's fourth. They could have added more as Carroll was denied a hat trick thanks to Friedel's close range save and then Ryan Taylor wasn't far away with a curling free kick. Nolan collected his second late on as Taylor's deep corner was kept alive by Shola Ameobi and he acrobatically netted from inside the six yard box. With almost the last kick, Carroll completed a dream treble as he continued running after finding sub Xisco and was found superbly with a return pass and managed to slot in before Stuart Downing got back. Fantastic result for Newcastle. Would it have been different had Carew's early penalty not gone it orbit?

Attendance : 43,546
Assists : Gutierrez, n/a, n/a, Williamson, Ameobi, Xisco


FULHAM 2 (Davies 57, Hangeland 89)
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Scholes 11, Hangeland 84 og)

High drama at Craven Cottage and Fulham and Man United shared four goals, including a drama soaked final six minutes which saw a missed penalty and Brede Hangeland score at both ends! United, without the ill Wayne Rooney, began well with Dimitar Berbatov forcing a superb reaction save out of David Stockdale and from the resulting corner, Ji-Sung Park found Berbatov in the area and he set up man of the moment Paul Scholes to drill a lot shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards for his 150th goal for United. Fulham came close to levelling when Dickson Etuhu's effort was saved by keeper Edwin Van Der Sar however he looked certain to score from the rebound only for Van Der Sar to divert the ball over after Etuhu's prodded it goalwards again. Fulham levelled early in the second half as Damien Duff showed excellent skill to bamboozle Patrice Evra and then send Bobby Zamora down the right. His cut back was behind almost everyone except Simon Davies whose first time shot found the bottom corner via the hand of Van Der Sar. United regained the lead with six minutes to go as one of their leading scorers from last season netted his first of the new campaign as a corner from Ryan Giggs hit Hangeland's leg and bobbled in for an own goal! Two minutes later, they should have wrapped it up as Damien Duff's attempted clearance hit his hand and the ref awarded a penalty only for Nani's spot kick to be well saved by Stockdale. Amazingly, Fulham went up the other end and won a corner, swung in by Duff for Hangeland of all people to head a sensational equaliser!

Attendance : 25,643
Assists : Berbatov, Zamora, n/a, Duff


21 August 2010

ARSENAL 6 (Walcott 12, Arshavin 32 Pen, Walcott 39, Diaby 49, Walcott 58, Chamakh 83)
BLACKPOOL 0

Theo Walcott grabbed a hat trick as Arsenal brought Blackpool well and truly down to earth after their sensational opening to the season last weekend. Walcott's first came after a fine passing move saw him slot in from the edge of the area after being set up by Andrey Arshavin. The big decision of the day came when Ian Evatt brought down Marouane Chamakh and although contact came initially outside of the area, the ref awarded a penalty and sent the Blackpool man off. Arshavin converted the penalty to double the lead and by half time, Walcott doubled his own tally when he collected a pass from Jack Wilshire, turned his man and drilled a low shot past the keeper. Within fifteen minutes of the restart, the Gunners had gone into overdrive as Abou Diaby drilled in a cross from Bacary Sagna and then Walcott completed his treble with a low shot after a decent pass from Diaby. They wrapped it up late on when Chamakh - who earlier missed an open goal from 5 yards - sent a stinging header in from a Cesc Fabregas corner.

Attendance : 60,032
Assists : Arshavin, Chamakh (won pen), Wilshire, Sagna, Diaby, Fabregas (ck)


WEST BROM 1 (Odemwingie 81)
SUNDERLAND 0

West Brom new boy Peter Odemwingie capped a fine debut with a late winner against Sunderland. His big moment came when James Morrison slotted a through ball in for him and he found the bottom corner with a clinical finish.

Attendance : 23,624
Assist : Morrison


STOKE 1 (Fuller 25)
TOTTENHAM 2 (Bale 19, Bale 30)

Spurs withheld a furious Stoke onslaught to hold on to a controversial win as the calls for goal line technology again reared their heads. Gareth Bale scored both goals for the visitors although they could hardly have been more different! He opening the scoring when Peter Crouch's header was cleared off the line but rebounded in off of Bale's face. His second was superb as he sent a first time high volley sailing across goal and into the far top corner of the net after Aaron Lennon had crossed. Between his two efforts, Stoke did level matters when Ricardo Fuller prodded in after Spurs failed to clear a Matty Etherington corner. Stoke battled back after the break and should have levelled late on when Jon Walters headed goalwards only for Crouch to clear it from the line although replays suggested it may have been over the line before being bundled away.

Attendance : 27,243
Assists : n/a, n/a, Lennon


WEST HAM 1 (Noble 79 Pen)
BOLTON 3 (Upson 48 og, Elmander 68, Elmander 84)

Highly entertaining game at Upton Park as West Ham slumped to their second defeat of the season as Bolton take all three points back to Lancashire. The Hammers should have led at the interval but Carlton Cole's penalty was saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen after he was barged in the back by Gretar Steinsson. Bolton went ahead early in the second half when Matt Upson, under pressure from Kevin Davies stooped to head into his own net and ended up being subbed as he got a kick in the face as he found the wrong net. The lead was doubled through Johan Elmander who headed in well from Chung Yong Lee's cross. The Hammers pulled one back as Mark Noble converted from the penalty spot after Scott Parker had been pushed by Gary Cahill but Bolton clinched it five minutes later with Elmander's second of the game as he thumped the ball after Davies and Matt Taylor had the home defence in trouble.

Attendance : 32,533
Assists : n/a, Lee, Parker (won pen), n/a


EVERTON 1 (Cahill 43)
WOLVES 1 (Ebanks-Blake 74)

Wolves came from behind to earn a creditable draw at Everton. The hosts went ahead just before the interval when Mikel Arteta's free kick hit the wall and after a scramble, Tim Cahill thumped it high into the net. Wolves earned a surprise point after the interval when Sylvain Ebanks-Blake swept in a cross from Kevin Doyle.

Attendance : 37,767
Assists : n/a, Doyle


BIRMINGHAM 2 (Gardner 57, Gardner 71)
BLACKBURN 1 (Nzonzi 54)

Under the charge of 25-year old referee Michael Oliver - the youngest ever ref for a Prem game - Birmingham edged out Blackburn in the very epitome of a game of two halves. The first half was dire fare but it exploded into life after the break when the visitors were awarded a penalty when Christopher Samba was held in the area by Nikola Zigic for the sort of holding that you see at every corner and it's about time a foul was awarded. Home keeper Ben Foster did brilliantly to palm Morton Gamst Pedersen's drilled spot kick onto the bar. It was short lived though as Rovers went ahead four minutes later through Steven Nzonzi who headed in at the near post from Pedersen's corner. Enter the unlikely goal hero of Craig Gardner who equalised from close range from James McFadden's cross and then collected a pass from Sebastien Larsson to drill into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Attendance : 21,394
Assists : Pedersen (ck), McFadden (fk), Larsson


WIGAN 0
CHELSEA 6 (Malouda 34, Anelka 48, Anelka 52, Kalou 78, Kalou 90, Benayoun 93)

Chelsea remain on fire this season as they maintain their 100% start with a comfortable 6-0 win at Wigan. The home side actually looked the better side in the early stages but in typical Chelsea fashion they weathered the mini-storm and then ripped the hosts apart to take the lead. Ashley Cole found space on the left and found a low cross for Frank Lampard and although his prodded shot was parried by Chris Kirkland, Florent Malouda reacted quickest to tap the ball into an empty net from a tight angle. Chelsea started the second half by going route one with stunning effect as John Obi Mikel's ball over the top sent Nik Anelka clear and as Kirkland couldn't decide whether to come out or stay, he ended up somewhere in-between as the Frenchman drilled a low shot past him and inside the far post. Four minutes later, keeper Petr Cech's clearance sent Malouda away on the left and his deep cross was kept alive by Didier Drogba at the far post and Anelka nodded in from a matter of inches although replays showed that he was easily offside from Drogba's touch. Ten minutes later an offside flag was raised albeit correctly, as Wigan had the ball in the net when a deflected effort from James McCarthy hit the post and Mauro Boselli tapped in the rebound only to be disappointed. The Champions added a fourth when Wigan lost the ball in midfield resulting in Drogba being sent clear. As Kirkland came off of his line, Drogba unselfishly rolled the ball square for Salomon Kalou to slot into an empty net. The same pairing created the fifth as Drogba's floated cross from the left tempted the keeper off of his line only for Kalou to reach it ahead of him and glance the ball in. The cherry on the cake came with almost the last kick as Paulo Ferreira crossed low for Yossi Benayoun to sweep in to complete their second six goal rout in a row. Amazingly, despite having six goals, the game didn't see a single corner for either team!

Attendance : 14,476
Assists : n/a, Mikel, Drogba, Drogba, Drogba, Ferreira

Gary Dowden - Joint Admin YahooGroups Premier-L list
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/premier-l/
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