City back on top

Monday, 13/02/2012

by Ger McCarthy

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1

A Joleon Lescott volley proved enough to edge Manchester City past a resilient Aston Villa and back to the top of the Premier League. A scoreless first half saw Villa stifle City’s attacking threat with Adam Johnson’s low effort that rebounded off the woodwork the closest Roberto Mancini’s side came to breaking the deadlock. City’s pressing was eventually rewarded when Lescott turned home James Milner’s corner kick just past the hour. A magnificent Joe Hart stop denied Villa a point right at the death but City move back to the top of the League following their 18th win of the season.

Wolves 1 West Brom 5

Peter Odemwingie netted a devastating hat-trick to help West Brom to a Black Country derby at Molineux. Odemwingie's deflected opener gave Wayne Hennessy no chance just past the half hour but Steven Fletcher levelled right on half time to end an engrossing opening 45 minutes. The second half belonged to Roy Hodgson’s side that counter-attacked superbly and added four additional goals to move five points clear of the drop zone. Odemwingie completed his hat-trick with additional Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews goals completing a miserable afternoon for Mick McCarthy who faced the full fury of the Wolves faithful at full time.

Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1

Luis Suarez’s refusal to shake Patrice Evra’s hand in the pre-match build up to an intense derby between two bitter rivals threatened to boil over on an afternoon United returned to the summit of the Premier League. Two second half Wayne Rooney goals proved enough to earn the points despite a strike from Suarez giving Liverpool late hope. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side produced the better openings and United’s tenth home win of the campaign.

Blackburn 3 QPR 2

Rovers withstood a late QPR comeback to record a crucial victory in their battle to avoid relegation. The returning Yakubu lit up Ewood Park with a terrific individual display and broke the deadlock on the quarter hour. Additional strikes from Steven Nzonzi and a deflected Junior Hoilett effort handed Rovers a seemingly unassailable 3-0 interval lead. Mark Hughes’ QPR emerged a different side and substitute Jamie Mackie netted a fine brace of goals to reduce the deficit to one. Blackburn held on for only their fourth home win of the season and drag Rangers into the relegation battle.

Bolton 1 Wigan 2

Roberto Martinez’s Wigan Athletic secured a vital three points at Bolton. Gary Caldwell headed home from a corner minutes before half time to hand Wigan a 1-0 lead. Mark Davies levelled with a marvellous long range effort before a late James McArthur tap-in cemented a delighted Wigan’s fourth victory of the campaign and heaped further pressure on under-fire Owen Coyle.

Everton 2 Chelsea 0

Chelsea’s failure to win for a fourth consecutive Premier League fixture resulted in manager Andre Villas-Boas concluding that the 2-0 loss at Goodison Park was one of the Blues worst displays of the season. David Moyes’ side were full value for their win however following a vibrant display which saw the returning Steven Pienaar fire Everton in front early on. Chelsea pressed hard for an equaliser but couldn’t breach a tough Everton rearguard. On-loan Landon Donovan set up Denis Stracqualursi for Everton’s second after 71 minutes and maintain a five-match unbeaten League run.

Fulham 2 Stoke 1

Pavel Pogrebnyak grabbed the headlines on his debut for Fulham at Craven Cottage by getting on the scoresheet and escaping a red card for a rash challenge which drew the ire of Stoke manager Tony Pulis. The Russian signing walloped a left foot screamer into the top corner of the net after 15 minutes to set Fulham on their way to victory before a Sorensen own goal on the half hour cemented Martin Jol’s side’s sixth home victory of the campaign. A late Ryan Shawcross effort couldn’t prevent Stoke from losing for the fourth consecutive Premier League fixture as the Potters dropped to 13th in the table.

Sunderland 1 Arsenal 2

Thierry Henry marked his final Premier League appearance before returning to the MLS by netting an injury time winner for Arsenal at the Stadium of Light. Per Mertesacker’s unfortunate injury allowed in-form James McClean through on goal and the young Derry native made no mistake with an astute finish. Aaron Ramsey came on for the injured Mertesacker and equalised with a long range effort. The introduction of Henry saw the Frenchman complete his Arsenal career with a ’Roy of the Rovers’ moment as he guided an Arshavin cross into the net in the 90th minute to secure a 2-1 win and elevate Wenger’s team into the Champions League places.

Swansea 2 Norwich 3

Two newly promoted sides produced one of the games of the season at the Liberty Stadium with Norwich edging Swansea in a five-goal thriller. Swansea’s top scorer Danny Graham broke the deadlock after 23 minutes and the home side led 1-0 at the interval. Norwich stung their opponents with three quick-fire strikes early in the second period beginning with a Grant Holt leveller before Anthony Pilkington’s deflected shot pushed the Canaries in front. Holt’s second just past the hour mark looked to have secured the points but Danny Graham’s late penalty made for a nervy ending before Norwich eventually emerged with the points.

Tottenham 5 Newcastle 0

Harry Redknapp rounded off a positive week with a5-0 thumping of Newcastle at White Hart Lane. Emmanuel Adebayor was involved in all five goals beginning with Benoit Assou-Ekotto's angled drive after four minutes. Louis Saha marked his home debut with another goal two minutes later before making it 3-0 after 20 minutes. Niko Kranjcar completed a marvellous first half for the hosts with Spurs fourth minutes before the interval before Adebayor capped a terrific individual display with Tottenham’s fifth after 64 minutes. The result leaves Spurs just four points off the front two while Newcastle’s first defeat in three games drops the Magpies to sixth.

Follow Ger on Twitter: @germccarthy74

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