Battle of Manchester

Monday, 23/01/2012

Manchester City and Manchester United are in the driving seat for the Premier League title after both winning against North London opposition.

There's some way to go before the trophy can finally be handed over but it's currently looking like a two-horse race between Roberton Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson

GER McCARTHY looks at the weekend's results.

Man City 2 Tottenham 3

A crazy ten minute second half period saw Premier League leaders Manchester City fly into a 2-0 lead only for Spurs to hit back and draw level at 2-2. Samir Nasri broke the deadlock minutes before Joleon Lescott doubled his side’s lead from close range. Tottenham’s response was instant with Jermaine Defoe capitalising on a Stefan Savic error to reduce the deficit. Gareth Bale produced a marvellous strike in the 65th minute to tie the score. Mario Balotelli could have been sent off for an apparent stamp on Scott Parker before converting an injury time penalty for a late 3-2 win.

Arsenal 1 Man United 2

Manchester United completed a league double over their rivals with a merited 2-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners suffered their third consecutive league defeat when Antonio Valencia headed in a Ryan Giggs cross in first half stoppage time. Arsenal improved significantly after the break with Robin van Persie netting a fine equaliser following good approach play from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. United won it with a superb Wellbeck strike to a chorus of boos from the home fans at the full time whistle.

Norwich 0 Chelsea 0

Norwich City’s first clean sheet of the season frustrated Andre Villas-Boas’ attempts to return Chelsea to the title race. Both sides wasted decent opportunities in an open encounter with Fernando Torres substituted after failing to find the net for a 17th consecutive game. John Ruddy was the busier of the two keepers, producing a string of important stops to deny the Chelsea attack but in the end a draw was a fair result. Norwich remain unbeaten in 2012 while Chelsea failed to score for the first time in 19 competitive games this season.

Everton 1 Blackburn Rovers 1

Tim Cahill netted his first Everton goal since 2010 to hand the Toffee’s a 1-0 lead but the Australian’s attempted clearance in the 72nd minute struck David Goodwillie and rebounded into the net to earn Blackburn a point. The visitors produced a battling display that merited at least a draw and had cause for complaint in the build-up to Everton’s goal as Marouane Fellaini appeared to handle the ball. Despite the encouraging display Steve Kean’s side stay in the bottom three and have yet to keep a clean sheet this season while David Moyes’ Everton remain in mid-table following their fifth draw of the campaign.

Fulham 5 Newcastle 2

Fulham and Newcastle served up a five goal thriller at Craven Cottage. Danny Guthrie’s stunning long range effort handed Newcastle a 1-0 interval lead but Martin Jol’s side responded magnificently after the break with Danny Murphy converting a penalty, Clint Dempsey netting a brace and then Bobby Zamora scoring Fulham’s second spot-kick of the afternoon. Hatem Ben Arfa scored a fine individual effort to bring the Magpies back into the game only for Dempsey to outpace the Newcastle defence and complete his hat-trick with a minute left. The result moved Fulham eight points clear of the drop zone while Newcastle lost ground on the Champions League places.

QPR 3 Wigan Athletic 1

Mark Hughes enjoyed a winning start in his first home Premier League game as manager of QPR with a 3-1 defeat of Wigan. Top scorer Heidar Helguson broke the deadlock from the penalty spot after 33 minutes when James McCarthy handled in the area. Akos Buzsaky curled in a majestic free-kick to hand Rangers a 2-0 interval lead only for Hugo Rodallega to convert from a similar distance for the visitors after 66 minutes. It was left to Tommy Smith to hammer home a long range thunderbolt to seal QPR’s win and take Hughes’ side out of the bottom three.

Stoke City 1 West Brom 2

West Brom handed Stoke City only their third Premier League loss at the Britannia Stadium following a 2-1 victory. James Morrison fired the Albion in front just past the half hour mark and Roy Hodgson’s side looked set for victory when Ben Foster saved a second half Jon Walters penalty. Substitute Cameron Jerome came off the bench to equalise for the hosts with five minutes to go but Graham Dorran’s injury-time free-kick somehow found its way through a crowded penalty area to win it for West Brom.

Sunderland 2 Swansea 0

It took two goal of the season contenders from Stephane Sessegnon and Craig Gardner to earn Sunderland all three points from an entertaining encounter with Swansea at the Stadium of Light. Sessegnon opened the scoring on the quarter hour mark with a sublime curling finish before Gardner unleashed a ferocious 25 yard effort in the 85thminute to secure the Black Cats’ fourth home win of the campaign. Both sides contributed to a high quality encounter but Swansea were unable to finish off many of the moves which earned them a victory at home to Arsenal last time out.

Wolves 2 Aston Villa 3

On-loan striker Robbie Keane grabbed the headlines with a sublime brace of goals to see off his former club and earn Aston Villa a thrilling 3-2 derby win at Molineux. A rip-roaring encounter saw the visitors hit the front through a converted Darren Bent penalty before Michael Kightly brought parity with a fine individual effort. David Edwards close range effort pushed Wolves in front until Keane’s marvellous volley levelled the score once again. Karl Henry saw red for Wolves before Keane’s magnificent winner in the 84th minute consigned Mick McCarthy’s side to their eighth home league game without a win.

Bolton 3 Liverpool 1

Kenny Dalglish was forced to criticise his players following Liverpool’s shock 3-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Bolton Wanderers in the Saturday evening kick-off. Mark Davies scored in the fourth minute for the hosts and Nigel Reo-Coker doubled Bolton’s advantage on the half hour. Craig Bellamy pulled one back for Liverpool shortly afterwards before Gretar Steinssons’ 50th minute strike secured a 3-1 victory for a delighted Owen Coyle to move Bolton out of the relegation zone.

Follow Ger on Twitter: @offcentrecircle

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