The weekend’s Premier League action was engaging and exciting in patches but Saturday was dominated by draws. Thrilling derbies in the West Midlands and the North West provided plenty of goals and drama, while Chelsea and Manchester United pick up a couple of points over Arsenal, who were the victim of a late, late goal at Sunderland.
Stoke City 1-1 West Ham United
The weekend’s first game was the second of the week at the Britannia, and struggling Stoke and West Ham came face to face with the home side bouyant after a late victory against Villa on Monday. Scott Parker’s opening goal was nothing like his brilliant goal last week but gave the Hammers an important foothold after four consecutive defeats. Frederic Piquionne hit the bar before half time and it made all the difference - Kenwyne Jones equalised with his head to leave West Ham rooted to the foot of the table.
Aston Villa 1-1 Bolton Wanderers
Kevin MacDonald’s last game in charge of Villa resulted in yet more dropped points. After a dominant start, Ashley Young’s brilliant free kick made it 1-0 and the home side looked set for a pleasant afternoon at the office. But Kevin Davies equalised with his 100th league goal and Villa fans will be looking forward to seeing what Gerard Houllier is capable of after another disappointing result. In the end, they had Brad Friedel to thank for preventing it from being worse.
Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Fulham
Blackburn took the lead through a header by Chris Samba after El-Hadji Diouf’s cynical body-check on Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, an incident that rightly angered Mark Hughes. Carlos Salcido’s cross laid on Clint Dempsey’s headed equaliser just before the hour mark. Sam Allardyce also has cause for complaint after Schwarzer escaped censure for handling outside his area.
Everton 0-1 Newcastle United
Newcastle bounced back well from defeat by Blackpool with a win at Goodison. Hatem Ben Arfa’s first goal for Newcastle was a blistering strike from distance but David Moyes will be furious with the home players around him, who allowed him all the time in the world to pick his spot. Marouane Fellaini, yet again, got away with a blatant elbow which was seen by the referee. He was booked for it, but he should’ve been booked for an early shove on Wayne Routledge. Andre Marriner also missed a clear penalty shout for Newcastle.
Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Spurs had to come from behind to beat Wolves, who looked like giving them a nasty European hangover on Saturday afternoon. Marcus Hahnemann had kept it level before Stephen Fletcher tapped in to put Wolves in front. Substitute Alan Hutton was up-ended in the box after a lovely run from his own half and Rafael van der Vaart equalised from the spot. Roman Pavlyuchenko’s late goal banked the three points and Hutton’s goal put the cherry on top after a shocking error by Richard Stearman.
West Bromwich Albion 3-1 Birmingham City
In-form Birmingham got no joy in their West Midlands derby against West Brom on the day Alex McLeish’s new contract was announced. Scott Dann’s header set up Cameron Jerome for an easy finish to start things off well, but the second half was Albion’s from start to finish. Peter Odemwingie’s pressure forced an own goal from Dann to make it 1-1 and goals from the Nigerian and Jonas Olsson turned the result on its head.
Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal
Only a late goal from Cesc Fabregas earned Arsenal a solitary point in their previous two visits to the stadium of light, and it was his freak goal that got the scoring underway at Sunderland in Saturday’s late kick-off. The Gunners lost Alex Song to a dismissal earned through a bookable offence either side of the break, but had a golden chance to seal victory which went begging when Tomas Rosicky’s appalling penalty flew high and wide. Darren Bent fired the equaliser into the roof of the net in the 95th minute.
Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool
There was fantastic entertainment on offer on Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford, where Liverpool visited arch-rivals Manchester United. Dimitar Berbatov headed United into the lead and then hit a breathtaking overhead kick in off the crossbar to make it 2-0. The cushion was short-lived, Steven Gerrard coolly making his mark from the spot after Jonny Evans’ clear foul on Fernando Torres.
John O’Shea could and possibly should have been dismissed in the 68th minute for hauling down Raul Meireles who was through on goal, but Howard Webb presumably bottled the decision deemed the ball to be out of Meireles’ reach. Incredibly, Gerrard punished United by finding a gap in the wall and netting the free kick. But the fifth goal of the day went the way of United and Berbatov, who brilliantly headed in the winner.
Wigan Athletic 0-2 Manchester City
Carlos Tevez got City underway at the DW, latching on to Joe Hart’s kick and dinking it teasingly over Ali Al-Habsi just before half time. Tevez again pounced on a Wigan error to cross for Yaya Toure who couldn’t miss. Not necessarily an easy win for City, but one that was dumped right on a plate for them by generous hosts.
Chelsea 4-0 Blackpool
Easy does it yet again for Chelsea. Saloman Kalou swept in a second minute opener and from there the result was inevitable. Didier Drogba set up Florent Malouda for a simple second, and Drogba’s deflected goal made it 3-0. Malouda made it 4-0 before half time to keep my fantasy team in good nick, but there were no more goals in the second half.
Top 5 Players: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur), Alan Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur), Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United), Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United), Andre Marriner (Everton)