Premier League Review

Sunday, 27/11/2011

by Ger McCarthy

Stoke 3 Blackburn 1
Tony Pulis’ Stoke proved too strong for struggling Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium to end a dismal run of form. Irish international Rory Delap netted the opener after 28 minutes and then his fellow countryman Glenn Whelan drilled a deflected effort home to make it 2-0. England striker Peter Crouch wrapped up the points with a fine finish and although Ruben Rochina scored a cracker late on it proved a mere consolation for under-fire Steve Kean’s Blackburn.

Bolton 0 Everton 2
Everton are up to eighth in the Premier League following their third away victory of the season. The early dismissal of David Wheater forced Bolton onto the back foot for much of the encounter but it took Everton 49 minutes to finally make their numerical advantage count when Marouane Fellaini slid home from close range. Tim Cahill setup Apostolos Vellios for Everton’s second and match-winning strike to heap more misery Owen Coyle and his relegation threatened Bolton side.

Chelsea 3 Wolves 0
Chelsea returned to winning ways following a difficult week for the Stamford Bridge club with Juan Mata inspiring the Blues to a much-needed victory at home to Wolves. Mata’s corner found the head of England international John Terry to open the scoring and the diminutive winger setup the impressive Daniel Sturridge for Chelsea’s second. The Spaniard flicked home a delightful third goal from an Ashley Cole cross before the interval and despite a much-improved Wolves second half performance Andres Villas-Boas’ team ran out comfortable winners.

Man United 1 Newcastle 1
Two crucial points dropped at home to Newcastle following a 1-1 draw will not have pleased Sir Alex Ferguson. The Manchester United manager was angry with the assistant referee’s decision to award the visitors a 64th minute penalty after Rio Ferdinand was adjudged to have brought down Hatem Ben Arfa. TV replays showed the England defender clearly got the ball first but Demba Ba converted the spot-kick to cancel out Javier Hernandez’ fortunate opener. United have now lost ground on league leaders Manchester City after wasting a plethora of chances and failing to find a way past inspired Newcastle keeper Tim Krul.

Norwich 2 QPR 1
The Canaries won the battle of the newly promoted clubs at Carrow Road with Paul Lambert’s side edging QPR in an entertaining affair. Russell Martin broke the deadlock by reacting quickest to a loose ball in a crowded penalty area but Luke Young displayed equally quick reactions to coolly finish off a rebound from a Jamie Mackie pile driver that struck the Norwich upright on the hour mark. Two substitutes combined to win it for the home side when Wes Hoolahan curled a cross into the penalty area and Grant Holt stooped low to earn Norwich all 3 points.

Sunderland 1 Wigan 2
Wigan Athletic secured only their second win of the campaign at the expense of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light whose manager Steve Bruce is under severe pressure to avoid an impending relegation battle. The three points was enough to move Roberto Martinez’s side off the bottom of the table but it was the Black Cats who scored first with the returning Seb Larrsson firing home from close range after eight minutes. Jordi Gomez equalised from the penalty spot a minute before the break and despite living dangerously for much of the second half Wigan snatched a late winner through Franco Di Santo after a defensive error from Wes Brown presented the Wigan striker with the easiest of tap-ins.

West Brom 1 Tottenham 3
Tottenham’s excellent run of form continued at the Hawthorns with a hard earned 3-1 victory for the North London club over West Brom. Roy Hodgson’s side began brightly with Youssouf Mulumbu heading home Steve Reid’s cross to put the Albion ahead. Emmanuel Adebayor leveled matters by flicking home a rebound from a scuffed penalty kick attempt. Spurs had to wait for a second goal until nine minutes from the end when Jermain Defoe combined with Adebayor to drill home a long range effort. Tottenham grabbed a third in injury time with Gareth Bale squaring for Adebayor and the Togolese striker made no mistake to wrap up the points and send Tottenham into third place in the league table.

Arsenal 1 Fulham 1
Arsene Wenger’s Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Fulham in the Saturday evening kick-off. A scoreless opening half but full of attractive football from both sides saw Thomas Vermaelen inadvertently put a John Arne Riise knockdown through his own net after 65 minutes. Arsenal poured forward in the latter stages in search of an equaliser and Vermaelen popped up to cancel out his earlier mistake with a thumping header to earn the home side a point.

Swansea 0 Aston Villa 0
Sunday’s fixture between Swansea and Aston Villa at the Liberty Stadium was completely overshadowed by the sudden and tragic death of Wales manager Gary Speed. A generous minute’s applause took place in memory of Speed prior to kick-off and not surprisingly it turned out to be a drab affair with the two sides cancelling one another out on a difficult afternoon for both sets of players.

Manchester City 1 Liverpool 1
Manchester City maintained their unbeaten Premier League record following an exciting 1-1 draw at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. Vincent Kompany headed City in front but a deflection off his central defensive partner Joleon Lescott handed Liverpool an equaliser shortly afterwards. Joe Hart performed heroics to earn City a point while substitute Mario Balotelli lasted just 18 minutes before being sent-off.

Follow Ger on Twitter: @offcentrecircle

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