Chelsea and City Win; Gunners Fire Four Past Toon and United Win Again Leader’s Chelsea put the disappointment of their loss against Newcastle behind them with a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Hull on Saturday. Chelsea missed the creative influence of Fabregas in the middle of the park and were far from their illustrious best; however they controlled the game from start to finish and were rarely troubled by Hull, who remain in the relegation zone. The game was marred by some controversial diving incidents; bad tackles and while the referee penalised the majority of players correctly he caused confusion by not showing Cahill a second yellow for simulation in the Hull box. Eden Hazard was the star man on the day scoring the first, assisting Costa’s second and generally running Hull ragged. The win maintained Chelsea’s three point lead over City at the top of the Premier League and they now have a well earned rest before they play their final league fixture before Christmas Day away to Stoke next Monday. Arsenal banished the demons from their embarrassing loss against Stoke last weekend, recording their second comprehensive win in four days this time against Newcastle. They thrashed Galatasary 4-1 midweek in the Champions League with a performance full of attacking verve, clinical finishing and dished out the same treatment against Newcastle on Saturday. It was another impressive team performance, especially going forward. Cazorla, Giroud and Sanchez received the plaudits in attack while their fullbacks Bellerin and Gibbs also impressed; defending their space well and providing pace and support on the counter attack. Cazorla marked his 30th birthday with a Man of the Match performance and a brace, the first of which was an exquisite individual goal. Giroud was not to be outdone netting a brace, and has now scored six goals against Newcastle, more than any other side in the Premier League. Top scorer Sanchez did not manage to extend his Premier League tally to ten goals, but was instrumental in attack, turning provider with two assists for Giroud’s and Cazorla first goals. Newcastle battled well in the first half and did well to keep the deficit to one goal, they nearly equalised when Colbacks pin point cross was nearly put away after two attempts, but Arsenal keeper Szczesny pulled off to remarkable back-to-back blocks on the line to deny them. This was as close as they came however, and they could only manage a consolation goal after this when they were already 3-0 down. The win lifts Arsenal to sixth level with Southampton while Newcastle drop to eighth after Spurs beat Swansea on Sunday. Manchester City maintained the pressure on Chelsea with a narrow hard fought 1-0 win away to Leicester on Saturday. Frank Lampard finished off a well worked attack set up by Man of the Match Nasri and his goal was another landmark for the England star, drawing level with Theiry Henry’s 175 Premier League goals, a remarkable achievement considering he is a midfielder. City were not at their best against a hard working Leicester side and with none of their three strikers available and 18 year old midfielder Pozo having to take this responsibility on his young shoulders it is obviously not surprising. They lost Dzeko in the warm up, Jovetic’s return has been delayed further and with Aguero out until the New Year it is going to be a tricky festive period for City. The sooner they get Dzeko and Jovetic back the better however, their next three Premier League games are against teams in the bottom half of the table and with two of these at home they should be able to get through this period without losing to much ground on leaders Chelsea. Sixth placed Southampton lost their fourth Premier League game in a row away against a spirited Burnley on Saturday, and need to address this alarming run of form if they are to maintain their European qualification challenge. They were arguably the better side dominating possession and creating numerous scoring opportunities before missing a guilt edge chance to take the lead in the second half when Tadic missed Southampton’s first penalty after scoring 29 in a row which was saved Heaton who was arguably the Man of the Match for Burnley. Southampton would live to rue their missed opportunities when Barnes bagged a deflected winner for Burnley soon after and while Southampton continued to press for the equaliser their lack of confidence in the final third of the pitch continued to be their undoing. The eagerly anticipated Midlands derby between West Brom and Aston Villa was somewhat spoiled by an early sending off for Aston Villa’s Richardson for a dangerous tackle. As expected the game was a feisty and at times bad tempered affair, however Villa fought valiantly to keep West Brom at bay for the majority of the match, but the Baggies eventually made their numerical advantage count when former Villa player Gardner came back to haunt his old club to bag the winner midway through the second half. The win was West Broms first in five Premier League games and a vital one which lifted them three points clear of the relegation zone and two points behind Midlands rivals Aston Villa in twelfth pace. West Ham failed to maintain third place and keep the pressure on leaders Chelsea and Man City against draw specialists Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland, who recorded their tenth draw of the season in the league took, the lead midway through the first half when they were awarded a soft penalty after Adam Johnson made the most of contact with Tomkins, and Gomez slotted it home to take the lead. The lead was short lived however, when Man of the Match Downing equalised with a deflected shot minutes later. West Ham were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty in the second half when Sakho was clearly held back on the edge of the six yard box by Wes Brown. The Hammers top scorer was denied a clear shot on goal with just the keeper to beat and Carroll could have made amends when the ball fell to him, but he chose to chip instead of shoot and his attempt just crept over the bar. Crystal Palace faced Stoke at Selhurst Park, where the spoils were shared after two first half goals within two minutes of each other. McArthur opened the scoring for Palace when Bolasie provided a perfect cross for him to nod over Stoke keeper Begovic however, Stoke were level almost immediately after the kick off when Walters and then Bojan attacked down the right setting up Crouch for an easy tap in at the back post. Both teams continued to push for the winner and created chances to break the deadlock but ultimately their defensive units stood firm and a draw was a fair result. On Super Sunday the eagerly anticipated big clash between rivals Manchester United and Liverpool failed to live up to the hype on this occasion. Some awful defending and poor finishing from the visitors, and stand-out performances from United keeper de Gea and Man of the Match Van Persie resulted in a 3-0 win for the home side. Liverpool did cause United problems putting pressure on them from the off, and Sterling’s pace caused United’s makeshift defence no end of trouble however, Sterling’s finishing was not up to that of his world class counterparts Rooney and Van Persie who proved to be the difference between the two sides. Both managers tinkered with their line ups and formations again, but it was under pressure Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers attempts to improve his side’s fortunes, playing three at the back and upfront that backfired. Rooney and Mata netted first half goals, Van Persie bagged his fourth goal in as many games to end another miserable day for the Reds and heap more pressure on the under fire Liverpool boss. In the other Super Sunday fixture Spurs road their luck and jumped above Swansea in the league after a last gasp winner from Dane Eriksen handed them a 2-1 win and the three points. The impressive Harry Kane opened the scoring for Spurs after only four minutes and along with Eriksen continued to cause headaches for the Swansea back four throughout the match. Swansea’s top scorer Bony continued his great scoring run in 2014 with his 20th and fourth in five games to draw his side level straight after the break. He could have added to his tally with two more great opportunities, the first set up by arguably the best player on the pitch midfielder Montero, but the Ivorian was denied by a superb last gasp challenge by former Swansea defender Davies. The defeat will have left a bitter taste in the mouth of the players and manager, but they really only had themselves to blame, especially for Spurs winner as Williams dithered at the back and mishit his attempted clearance, which Eriksen punished him them for immediately with the winner. Cherries and Boro Go Top; Derby Lose Out and Birmingham hit Reading for Six In the Championship it was all change at the top when Boro made home turf count in the lunchtime kickoff replacing Derby at the top with a comfortable, hard working 2-0 win. They opened the scoring through the impressive Bamford, who was on loan at Derby only last season, and the youngster caused all sorts of problems for the visitors back four throughout the game. Captain and star man Leadbitter put the game out of Derby’s reach with a 62nd minute penalty, which was won by Bamford, and was the captain’s fifth penalty of the season. Bournemouth went joint top of the Championship on Saturday with a resounding win against Cardiff at Deane Court. They took the lead after only a minute through the impressive Ritchie then four goals, two either side of half time sparked the game in to life again. Bournemouth went three nil up with two more just before half time, the first from star man Arter, and the second from Marc Hugh. Cardiff finally got on the score sheet straight from the off when Kenwyn Jones and Sean Morrison reduced the deficit to one goal setting up a thrilling finish. Bournemouth looked to have put the game to bed when Kermorgant fired in their fourth however; Cardiff still had fight left in them and reduced the lead to one again when Morrison got his second. Callum Wilson ended their dreams of a grabbing a point with Bournemouth’s fifth in the 89th minute, sealing the win and putting the Cherry on top of a sweet performance. It was all one way traffic at St Andrews when Birmingham continued their transformation under manager Garry Rowett thrashing Reading 6-1. Birmingham were long gone before half time when star man Grey bagged two of his three goals, while Caddis, who opened the scoring, Shinnie and Cotterill also got in on the act. Reading’s season continues to go from bad to worse and they need to address their slump quickly. They have only managed three wins in their last fourteen league games and if this continues they could easily find themselves sucked in to the relegation battle if the teams below them start picking up more points. Elsewhere in the Championship fourth placed Ipswich failed to grab the win that would have taken them two points clear at the top, managing only a goalless draw away to Bolton. Brentford maintained their promotion challenge recording their sixth win in eight games with an emphatic 3-1 win against Blackburn. Norwich climbed to seventh in the league and extended their good record against 10-man Huddersfield at Carrow road, dishing out a five goal thrashing. Forest and Charlton failed to maintain their play off place challenge only managing draws against relegation threatened Rotherham and Blackpool respective, while Watford maintained their promotion challenge with a hard fought win against relegation threatened Wigan at Vicarage Road. City and Swindon Both Win; Yeovil Shock Oldham In Skybet League One Bristol City fired a late winner scraping past Crawley 1-0 to stay top while Swindon continued their great run making it five wins in a row thrashing seventh placed Notts County 3-0 to stay second. In the big match of the day third placed MK Dons travelled to fourth placed Preston where the spoils were shared, leaving them level on points and still and two points behind Swindon. Rochdale picked up their first win in four games hitting four past Colchester at the Community stadium to go sixth while 10-man Peterborough also ended their barren run of six games without a win heaping more misery on relegation threatened Leyton Orient with a 2-1 win. Fifth placed Sheffield United failed to close the gap on Preston and MK Dons only managing a 1-1 draw away to Fleetwood. Down at the bottom there were vital wins for Gillingham away to fellow strugglers Doncaster, Scunthorpe beat bottom club Crewe 2-1 at home extending their winless run to six while Yeovil turned on the style away at eighth placed Oldham for only their second win in eight games, firing four past them without reply from the home side.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 08:55:38 +0000
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