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Serie A Round 1

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:30:45 +0100

30 August 2010

BOLOGNA 0
INTER 0

Attendance : 29,000
Assists : n/a

29 August 2010

BARI 1 (Donati 43)
JUVENTUS 0

Attendance : 46,000
Assist : Alvarez

CHIEVO 2 (Moscardelli 14, Pellissier 82 Pen)
CATANIA 1 (Ricchiuti 22)

Journeyman striker Moscardelli marked his Serie A debut with a fine goal. Pellissier charged down a clearance and the ball broke for the 30 year old, he checked inside a defender before sweeping low into the left corner. Capuano played a pass into Mascara who dummied it taking two players with him, Ricchiuti ran into the space and lobbed over Sorrentino. Alvarez pushed over Pellissier to concede the game winning penalty.

Attendance : 7,329
Assists : Pellissier, Capuano, Pellissier (won pen)

FIORENTINA 1 (D'Agostino 50)
NAPOLI 1 (Cavani 7)

Cavani scored his first league goal for Napoli after just seven minutes. Hamsik spread the ball out wide to Lavezzi and Cavani met his first time cross with a bullet header which rebounded off the underside of the crossbar and just over the line, maybe. Frey ensured his team went into the half only a goal. Gilardino trapped Kroldrup's raking crossfield pass on his chest, flicked the ball forward with his right foot and D'Agostino blasted a half volley into the bottom corner. Vargas was sent off for head butting Campagnaro in the face. Blasi threw away his teams numerical advantage by diving in studs up for a 50-50 ball with Marchionni who was fortunately not injured despite taking a whack on his left ankle.

A touch match for Gervasoni in his first full year as a Serie A ref. Fiorentina have followed in Barcelona and Aston Villa's footsteps but having a charity as their shirt sponsor - Save the Children. Let's hope it's a growing trend.

Attendance : 25,025
Red Cards : Vargas 67 (Fiorentina), Blasi 73 (Napoli)
Assists : Lavezzi, Gilardino

MILAN 4 (Pato 16, Thiago Silva 23, Pato 28, Inzaghi 90)
LECCE 0

Pato took advantage of poor positioning from Lecce goalkeeper Rosati to blast Milan into the lead. Thiago Silva bundled in a second from a corner. Ronaldinho ripped apart the Lecce defence with a fabulous disguised pass, Pato rounded the 'keeper and tapped into an empty net. Dead man walking Borriello (possibly off to Juve) made way for Inzaghi who immediately clipped the outside of a post. He tapped in an injury time fourth following a raid by Gattuso and Boateng.

Attendance : 37,177
Assists : Ambrosini, n/a, Ronaldinho, n/a

PALERMO 0
CAGLIARI 0

Attendance : 26,612
Assists : n/a

PARMA 2 (Bojinov 10, Morrone 48)
BRESCIA 0

It took all of ten minutes for Giovinco to demonstrate some of the magic contained in his tiny feet. He took the ball off Bojinov, dummied a defender then dropped an audacious lob over the Brescia defence and Bojinov tapped wide of SERENI. Why is he still playing football? Giovinco swung a free kick over to the back post, Lucarelli headed across goal, Martinez failed to clear and Morrone tapped in Parma's second.

Attendance : 12,799
Assists : Giovinco, n/a

SAMPDORIA 2 (Cassano 60 Pen, Guberti 71)
LAZIO 0

Lichtsteiner sacked Dessena to concede the penalty. Lazio's coach was sent off for complaining about it. Muslera got caught in traffic on a corner, flapped at the ball as he tried in vain to recover and Dossena touched the ball back to Guberti who lobbed into an empty net.

Pauper's Lazio currently don't have a shirt sponsor.

Attendance : 22,000
Red Card : Reja 62 (Lazio)
Assists : Dessena, Dessena

28 August 2010

UDINESE 0
GENOA 1 (Mesto 81)

Attendance : 15,000
Assist : Dainelli

ROMA 0
CESENA 0

Attendance : 36,000
Assist : n/a

STANDINGS
3 points - Milan, Parma, Sampdoria, Chievo, Genoa, Bari

EPL Round 3

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:28:41 +0100

29 August 2010

ASTON VILLA 1 (Young 9)
EVERTON 0

Aston Villa ended a dismal week with a win against Everton who have now made their worst start to a season in more than ten years. The only goal came early as Ashley Young latched onto a mistake from Marouane Fellaini to set up Luke Young who scored with an excellent shot into the corner. Everton deserved a point from the game and came desperately close when Stephen Pienaar clattered a curling shot against the crossbar.

Attendance : 34,725
Assist : Kuyt

BOLTON 2 (Davies 71 Pen, Blake 81 fk)
BIRMINGHAM 2 (Johnson 4, Gardner 50)

Bolton came from a man down and two goals down to earn a home draw against Birmingham to keep both clubs unbeaten this season. The visitors took an early lead as the Bolton defence was caught napping when Lee Bowyer found space on the left and his cross was touched on by Cameron Jerome and prodded into the net by Roger Johnson. The game took a remarkable twist later in the half when the goalscorer jumped for a high ball with Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and although Johnson caught him with an arm into the chest, he offered an apology straight away only for the usually calm stopper to raise his hands and slap Johnson in the face, earning him an instant red card! Reserve keeper Adam Bogdan came on for Martin Petrov to at least keep a recognised keeper between the sticks but Bolton were numerically down! The second half began in the same manner as the first with an away goal as the Bolton defence fell asleep. James McFadden's cross found an offside-looking Jerome to nod the ball across goal for Craig Gardner who missed his kick from four yards before eventually firing into the gaping net. Replays showed Jerome to be level and onside. Bolton were handed a lifeline when Johnson barged Kevin Davies in the back as they leapt for a high ball in the area and Davies took the penalty himself and made no mistake into the roof of the net and ten minutes later they were level when former Birmingham striker Robbie Blake curled in a beauty of a free kick from 20 yards which found the top corner, giving the keeper no chance.

Attendance : 18,139
Assists : Jerome, Jerome, Davis (won pen), Cahill (won fk)

LIVERPOOL 1 (Torres 65)
WEST BROM 0

Liverpool made hard work off seeing off ten men West Brom as Fernando Torres ending his goal drought with a bouncing volley from the edge of the area from Dirk Kuyt's cross. James Morrison was shown a straight red
card late on for a late challenge on Torres.

Attendance : 41,194
Assist : Kuyt

SUNDERLAND 1 (Bent 94 Pen)
MANCHESTER CITY 0

Sunderland shocked Man City with a late penalty winner but the headlines fell to City striker Carlos Tevez for the wrong reasons. Tevez, one of the stars of the World Cup in the summer, was guilty of a stunning miss of Ronnie Rosenthal proportions as he was presented with an open goal, twelve yards out, after a superb run by Yaya Toure but somehow scooped the ball over the bar. The game was heading for a goalless draw before Darren Bent was bundled over in the area by Micah Richards and calmly converted the penalty to notch up an excellent win.

Attendance : 38,610
Assist : Bent (won pen)

28 August 2010

BLACKBURN 1 (Diouf 27)
ARSENAL 2 (Walcott 20, Arshavin 51)

Arsenal went top ahead of the afternoon games with a goal in each half to see off Blackburn at Ewood Park. Arsenal almost netted early on when Rovers failed to clear a corner and a shot from Abou Diaby, thudded against Vince Grella on the line then against keeper Paul Robinson before somehow rebounding to safety, although just minutes later at the other end, Ryan Nelsen had a header cleared off the Arsenal line as the Gunners looked equally fragile at the back. As the rain hammered down, the visitors took the lead with a clinical move that saw Blackburn sliced apart, notably with a lovely through ball from Robin Van Persie to Theo Walcott who drilled a low drive across goal which fizzed inside the far post. The lead lasted seven minutes as Arsenal were caught out on their right as El Hadji Diouf beat his man to into the area and he kept his head to cut the ball across to present Mame Diouf with a six yard tap in. Arsenal won it early in the second half when excellent work on the right from Bacary Sagna saw Cesc Fabregas go for goal and after his effort was blocked, Andrey Arshavin slotted in.

Attendance : 25,059
Assists : Van Persie, Diouf, n/a

BLACKPOOL 2 (Pantsil 71 og, Varney 76)
FULHAM 2 (Zamora 35, Etuhu 87)

Blackpool, in their first ever Prem game at home, shared four goals in a highly entertaining clash with Fulham. The Londoners led at half time when Moussa Dembele crossed for Bobby Zamora to head in from close range. After the break Blackpool stormed back but needed an element of luck to get level as Luke Varney's shot was deflected and John Pantsil, in an attempt to clear, got himself in a tangle and belted the ball into his own net. Five minutes later, Blackpool led as Varney was sent clear by Brett Ormerod and his low shot sailed into the corner. Fulham earned a point late on when the impressive Dembele sent Dickson Etuhu through to clip in the equaliser.

Attendance : 15,529
Assists : Dembele, n/a, Ormerod, Dembele

CHELSEA 2 (Malouda 32, Drogba 77 Pen)
STOKE 0

Chelsea remain top with a 100% record and are still yet to concede after a comfortable win against Stoke. They should have led early but Frank Lampard's penalty taking duties could be under threat as his poor kick was saved by Thomas Sorenson after Ryan Shawcross brought Florent Malouda crashing down. They did take the lead through Malouda later in the half as he fired past the keeper having been found in space by John Terry. The lead remained precarious until another penalty, converted by Didier Drogba after Nik Anelka was clattered to the ground in full flow by Sorensen.

Attendance : 40,931
Assists : Terry, Anelka (won pen)

MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Rooney 33 Pen, Nani 50, Berbatov 69)
WEST HAM 0

Man United moved to within two points of Chelsea and level with Arsenal as they swept West Ham aside at Old Trafford. United deserved led at the break although they needed a penalty to break the Hammers down as veteran Ryan Giggs was brought down by Jonathon Spector and Wayne Rooney netted from the spot, his first goal since last March. It didn't take United long to double the lead after half time as Nani collected a pass from Rooney and then waltzed through the away back line before finding the net from the edge of the area. The game rapidly turned into the footballing equivalent of a stroll in the park as the hosts controlled the game completely and it was no surprise to see a third goal go in as Nani crossed deep for Dimitar Berbatov to send an acrobatic volley ripping into the net. United made a triple change with seventeen minutes to go but it had little effect on the game or scoreline.

Attendance : 75,061
Assists : Giggs (won pen), Rooney, Nani

TOTTENHAM 0
WIGAN 1 (Rodallega 80)

Spurs suffered a Champions League hangover as they slumped at home to Wigan who had shipped ten goals in their previous two games! Wigan, thumped 9-1 by Spurs last season, had the better of things throughout as Steve Gohouri smashed a shot against the bar and Antolin Alcaraz somehow missed an open goal from two yards. They eventually broke through when a long pass from Mohamed Diame found Hugo Rodallega on the edge of the area and his low drive found the bottom corner although keeper Carlo
Cudicini could have done better.

Attendance : 35,101
Assist : Diame

WOLVES 1 (Ebanks-Blake 43)
NEWCASTLE 1 (Carroll 62)

Honours even in a bruising encounter as Newcastle came from behind at Wolves. The hosts led just before the interval when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake controlled a cross from Jelle Van Damme and then volleyed in past the keeper. Geordie Man of the moment Andy Carroll netted his fourth goal in two games to earn his side a point when he headed in Joey Barton's free kick.

Attendance : 27,745
Assists : Van Damme, Barton (fk)

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

EPL Round 2

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:07:52 +0100

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/
Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it

EPL Round 1

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 03:07:56 +0100

16 August 2010

MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Berbatov 33, Fletcher 41, Giggs 85)
NEWCASTLE 0

Man United emulated Chelsea with a home win against a promoted club in the opening game as they swept aside Newcastle at Old Trafford. In a high tempo opening, the visitors had the best chance as Andy Carroll sent a free header wide from close range when it really looked easier to at least hit the target. To his credit it didn't hinder his confidence as he drilled a shot straight at keeper Edwin Van Der Sar a few minutes later as Newcastle continued to hold their own. The hosts were dominating possession but struggling to break Newcastle down as both Nani and Wayne Rooney smashed free kicks into the wall. On the half hour, Rooney hooked a shot over from Dimitar Berbatov's header and it was the latter who finally broke the resistance as he was played in by Paul Scholes and then drilled home a low shot under the keeper. The lead
was doubled shortly afterwards when Patrice Evra's drilled cross was touched by Rooney and fell nicely for Darren Fletcher who turned and scored with ease from four yards. In the second half Man United could have increased the lead with both Rooney and Berbatov clear on goal only to waste both chances before Rooney was taken off to be replaced by Javier Hernandez for his league debut. Newcastle refused to roll over
and give up and had a chance to get back into it when sub Shola Ameobi headed wide at the far post whilst at the busy end, Berbatov waltzed through again only to prod his close range effort at keeper Steve Harper. Five minutes from time, two of the old stagers combined to add a third as a crossfield pass from Scholes found sub Ryan Giggs on the left edge of the area whose volley sailed across the goal and nestled sweetly inside the far post. Giggs has now scored in every single season for the last 21 years!! WOW!

Attendance : 75,221
Assists : n/a, Rooney, Scholes

15 August 2010

LIVERPOOL 1 (Ngog 46)
ARSENAL 1 (Reina 91)

A freak own goal from Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina gifted Arsenal a point after the hosts played the entire second half after Joe Cole was sent off on his debut for Liverpool. The first half was a bit of a non-event until the late stages when Glen Johnson had a shot tipped over and from the corner David Ngog had a header blocked on the line and as the ball was cleared, so the back page headlines were written as Cole launched into a late challenge on Laurent Koscielny and although some refs would have shown yellow, Martin Atkinson chose red and Cole was off to the astonishment and anger of the home players and fans. Koscielny was stretchered off as the half time whistle blew but did recover enough to start the second half and within a minute, the ten men went ahead! Arsenal failed to clear from their final third and Javier Mascherano played a lovely ball into the area to Ngog who absolutely walloped a first time shot past Manuel Almunia and into the roof of the net at the near post. They almost doubled the lead two minutes later when Martin Skrtel glanced a header wide as they made a mockery of being a player down. Eventually Arsenal began to get a foothold and should have levelled when Thomas Vermaelen headed wide from a good position and then Reina tipped a Theo Walcott free kick wide. Having used all their subs, Liverpool were effectively down to nine men for the last ten minutes with Daniel Agger picking up a head knock and they were almost made to pay when Tomas Rosicky burst through only for Reina to produce a fingertip save to push the ball over. The incessant pressure finally paid off when a near post cross tempted Reina off his line only for Marouane Chamakh to beat him to it and bundle the ball against the post, however Reina reacted sharply to collect it as it rebounded into play but somehow managed to fumble it into his own net! Amazingly in stoppage time, Steven Gerrard's stinging free kick was superbly saved as Liverpool went for a winner before it was ten v ten as Koscielny was shown a second yellow for a deliberate handball. Cracking game if you
ignore the opening 44 minutes!

Attendance : 44,722
Red Cards : Koscielny 95 (Arsenal)
Assists : Mascherano, n/a

14 August 2010

TOTTENHAM 0
MANCHESTER CITY 0

Last seasons fourth met last seasons fifth at White Hart Lane as Spurs and Man City opened the season with a goalless draw. The hosts dominated the first half and the only surprise was how they didn't score with City keeper Joe Hart making a series of decent saves whilst Gareth Bale came desperately close with a stinging low drive which flew across goal and cracked against the foot of the far post. Ironically, within seconds of
the restart City blew a golden chance as Shaun Wright-Phillips broke the offside trap but took too long to shoot with only the keeper to beat, allowing Benoit Assou-Ekotto to nick the ball away from him. The second half was a more even game though as Carlos Tevez had a shot deflected just over whilst Spurs sub Roman Pavlyuchenko was twice denied by Hart in a minute. Bale scuffed a late effort wide as Spurs put on some late
pressure but it ended as the first 0-0 on the opening weekend of the Prem in three years and the first on the opening day in five years.

Attendance : 35,928
Assists : n/a

WOLVES 2 (Jones 37, Fletcher 39)
STOKE 1 (Diagne-Faye 55)

Wolves began with a win after two quick fire goals was enough to see off Stoke. The opening goal was straight off of the training ground as Wolves had a free kick on the edge of the area and after Karl Henry rolled the ball back to David Jones, he flicked it into the air and crashed a volley in off the bar. Two minutes later it was 2-0 as a deflected cross from Christophe Berra looped over the keeper and was nodded in from almost on the line by Steven Fletcher. Abdoulaye Faye's thumping header from Matty Etherington's corner gave Stoke a consolation but they were missing new £8m signing Kenwyne Jones who hit the bar early on only to then collect a knee injury and was forced off in tears after just 14 minutes of his debut.

Attendance : 27,850
Assists : Henry (fk), n/a, Etherington (ck)

ASTON VILLA 3 (Downing 15, Petrov 40, Milner 66)
WEST HAM 0

Aston Villa, still reeling from the shock resignation of boss Martin O'Neill under a week ago, still look good on the pitch as they swept aside West Ham at Villa Park. Stuart Downing had the distinction of netting the first goal of the 2010-11 season, netting a few seconds before Blackburn scored against Everton as he tapped in from close range after Marc Albrighton's volley was parried away although the Hammers wanted an offside flag against Downing earlier in the move. The lead was doubled just before the break when Ashley Young's was headed in well by Stiliyan Petrov. Midway through the second half, Villa added a third as James Milner - possibly on his way to Man City - drilled in from the edge of the area after excellent work from youngster Albrighton who had a superb game throughout. John Carew should have made it four but sent a free header miles wide to the extent that it finished nearer the corner flag and then saw a later effort hit the inside of the post.

Attendance : 36,604
Assists : n/a, Young, Albrighton

BLACKBURN 1 (Kalinic 14)
EVERTON 0

Blackburn edged to a narrow win against Everton thanks to a howler from keeper Tim Howard. The usually reliable American international caught, and then fumbled, a bouncing ball in the area and allowed Nikola Kalinic to roll the loose ball into an empty net.

Attendance : 25,869
Assist : n/a

BOLTON 0
FULHAM 0

No goals at the Reebok as new Fulham boss Mark Hughes began with a clean sheet. Bolton had the better of things but Johan Elmander was denied twice in the second half by young keeper David Stockdale whilst Stuart Holden hit the outside of the post.

Attendance : 20,352
Assists : n/a

SUNDERLAND 2 (Bent 24 Pen, Carr 56 og)
BIRMINGHAM 2 (Dann 77, Ridgewell 88)

Arguably the game of the day came at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland and Birmingham shared four goals. Sunderland looked to be cruising when Darren Bent netted from the penalty spot after Frazier Campbell was clattered on the edge of the area by Stephen Carr and after the break, Carr's nightmare day got worse when he looped a header over his own keeper from a long ball forward from Jordan Henderson. Between the goals, Sunderland were reduced to ten men when Lee Cattermole was shown a second yellow card for a nasty tackle from behind on Lee Bowyer, although he had earlier escaped punishment for an elbow on Gary O'Connor which left the visiting player with blood streaming down his face. Credit to Birmingham for battling back when Scott Dann headed in Sebastien Larsson's cross and then they levelled late on when Liam Ridgewell got the final touch on Larsson's cross although how much he knew about it is open to debate with the player himself stating that he didn't think he got a touch to it!

Attendance : 38,390
Red Card : Cattermole 44 (Sunderland)
Assists : Campbell (won pen), n/a, Larsson, Larsson (fk)

WIGAN 0
BLACKPOOL 4 (Taylor-Fletcher 16, Harewood 38, Harewood 43, Baptiste 75)

Favourites for relegation Blackpool, in their first top flight game since 1971, walloped Wigan on their own turf in one of the most eye catching opening day results ever! The Seasiders began superbly and could have easily been ahead before Gary Taylor-Fletcher swept in Marlon Harewood's cross at the far post. The lead should have been doubled only for Taylor-Fletcher's effort to be ruled out for offside against Brett Ormerod even though he was taking no part in the build up. Ironically Wigan had a similar effort disallowed early in the second half when Steve Gohouri netted when he looked level! By then, Blackpool had put the game out of reach as Harewood took control of a long ball forward, held off the challenge of two defenders and with little danger seemingly on, his effort from the left edge of the area found the far corner but keeper Chris Kirkland should have done better having got his hands to the shot. Blackpool were rampant and added a third shortly afterwards with Harewood again on target after Elliot Grandin's shot had been saved. Wigan improved after the break but Blackpool had the final say when Chris Basham found Alex Baptiste wide and his attempted cross deceived the keeper and sailed inside the near post. Finally, a welcome back in this game to referee Mark Halsey, taking charge of his first Prem game since his recovery from cancer.

Attendance : 16,152
Assists : Harewood, Evatt, n/a, Basham

CHELSEA 6 (Malouda 6, Drogba 45, Drogba 55, Lampard 63, Drogba 68, Malouda 90)
WEST BROM 0

Champions Chelsea begin their defence of the Premier League with a comfortable win over newly promoted West Brom, aided by the second successive home hat trick from Didier Drogba. They took just over five minutes to open the scoring as Drogba's free kick wasn't held by keeper Scott Carson and although John Obi Mikel should have buried the loose ball, he didn't and it fell nicely to Florent Malouda to drill into a gaping net from close range. To be fair, the visitors then held their own until first half stoppage time when another Drogba free kick, this time further out and more to the right, flew through the wall and inside Carson's near post to double the lead. After the interval, Chelsea wrapped it up when John Terry headed a corner goalwards only to see it blocked and after Nik Anelka failed to convert the rebound, Drogba made no mistake from six yards to double his personal tally. It was like a training exercise at times for the hosts, none more so than the fourth goal as Anelka's reverse pass found Ashley Cole unmarked in the area who squared it to Frank Lampard to fire low inside the near post from 12 yards out. Drogba completed his hat trick five minutes later as Cole was tackled by the corner flag but the ball fell for the striker whose shot from the left edge of the area took a strong deflection and flew inside Carson's post. Having started the rout, Malouda finished it as he latched onto Anelka's superb chipped through ball, rounded the keeper
with his first touch and thumped it into the net via the near post.

Attendance : 41,589
Assists : n/a, Essien (won fk), n/a, Cole, n/a, Anelka

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