Don’t write off United

Monday, 06/02/2012

by Ger McCarthy

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 3

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side produced the comeback of the season to earn a point at Stamford Bridge having been 3-0 down in the second half. A Jonny Evans own goal handed Chelsea a 1-0 interval lead and when Juan Mata volleyed home a majestic effort only to be followed by a David Luiz header the game looked up for the reigning Premier League Champions. Wayne Rooney had other ideas however and converted two consecutive penalties to reduce the deficit before a late Javier Hernandez header earned United a share of the spoils. The Old Trafford club stay two points behind Man City at the top while Chelsea remain fourth.

Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 1

Papiss Demba Cisse marked his debut for Newcastle United with a stunning winner in the 2-1 victory over Aston Villa. The Senegal striker wore the famous number nine jersey for the first time and arrowed a magnificent left foot effort into the top corner of the net to keep the Magpies in fifth. Cisse’s international strike partner Demba Ba had earlier fired Newcastle in front with his 15th goal of the season before Robbie Keane drew Villa level on the stroke of half time. Cisse’s winner keeps Alan Pardew’s team on track for a European place.

Arsenal 7 Blackburn 1

Arsene Wenger’s side recorded their first league win of 2012 with a 7-1 thrashing of Blackburn at the Emirates. Robin van Persie continued his remarkable campaign with a hat-trick that gave him 28 goals this season. Rising star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain weighed in with a brace of goals (his first in the Premier League) and Mikel Arteta made it six with a fine strike. Blackburn’s cause wasn’t helped by the dismissal of Gael Givet but Morten Gamst Pedersen did score the best goal of the afternoon with a pin-point free-kick. There was just enough time for Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to come on and score the seventh and final goal on a memorable afternoon for the North London club.

Norwich 2 Bolton Wanderers 0

Norwich’s fifth home win of the season came at the expense of relegation threatened Bolton  at Carrow Road. Described as one of the best performances during his time in charge, Paul Lambert saw two late goals from Andrew Surman and Anthony Pilkington secure an eighth win of the campaign for the newly promoted side. Bolton’s sixteenth defeat of the season has the Trotters stuck in the bottom three and Owen Coyle’s side simply must defeat Wigan in their next fixture to have any hope of staying up this term.

QPR 1 Wolves 2

Wolves moved out of the relegation zone thanks to a stirring second half comeback at Loftus Road. The home side hit the front courtesy of a debut Bobby Zamora goal but the course of the match changed with the dismissal of Djibril Cisse shortly afterwards. Cisse was given his marching orders for raising his hands to Roger Johnson following a reckless challenge by the Wolves defender. The visitors drew level a minute after the restart when substitute Kevin Doyle picked out Matt Jarvis who scored with a low shot. Doyle netted the winner minutes later with a close range finish to move Wolves level on points with QPR and a point outside the bottom three.

Stoke City 0 Sunderland 1

A snow-bound Britannia Stadium witnessed Stoke City’s fourth home loss of the season after James McClean’s 60th minute winner earned Sunderland a victory. Tony Pulis was irate with match official Martin Atkinson for sending off defender Robert Huth for a sliding challenge on David Myler which appeared to make minimal contact. The score was 0-0 when Huth was dismissed and Sunderland took full advantage to rack up their fifth win in six fixtures since the arrival of Martin O’Neill at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats are just five points behind Liverpool and beginning to dream of European qualification having looked like relegation candidates only a few months ago.

West Brom 1 Swansea 2

Brendan Rodger’s Swansea travelled to the Hawthorns and recorded only their second away win of the campaign. The Welsh club returned to the top ten of the Premier League having fallen behind to a Marc-Antoine Fortune opener for West Brom after 54 minutes. Swansea levelled within a minute of falling behind when Gylfi Sigurdsson connected with a low cross. The visitors grabbed all three points shortly afterwards when Danny Graham slid home his tenth strike of the season to elevate Swansea out of the bottom half of the table. West Brom’s eighth home defeat of the campaign leaves Roy Hodgson’s side just six points above the drop zone.

Wigan 1 Everton 1

Wigan’s torrid season continued with a 1-1 draw against Everton leaving Roberto Martinez’s side rock bottom of the Premier League. A dull game remained scoreless until 15 minute from the end when Phil Neville deflected a cross beyond the reach of Tim Howard to hand Athletic a 1-0 lead. The home side looked set for a much needed win until substitute Victor Anichebe pounced to earn his side a share of the spoils with only four minutes left.

Man City 3 Fulham 0

Roberto Mancini’s side remain top of the Premier League following an astonishing twelfth consecutive home win of the season at the expense of Fulham. Despite snowy conditions Sergio Aguero broke the deadlock from the penalty spot following a contentious decision. Adam Johnson had a fine game for the Citizens and his low cross was turned into his own net by Chris Baird on the half hour to make it 2-0. The game looked in danger of being called off as the snow intensified but the players persisted and Edin Dzeko finished off a flowing move involving Aguero once again to round off another home victory for the Premier League leaders.

Follow Ger on Twitter: @offcentrecircle

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