With the festive period in full swing it meant a mid-week feast of Premiership football. Seven of the ten games took place yesterday with the usual intrigue, although not everyone understands the good will to all men part of the festive spirit.
Tottenham made it two wins from two in the festive period with also two men sent off in two games. They entertained Newcastle and it took twelve minutes into the second half for Aaron Lennon to break the deadlock. Younes Kaboul received a second yellow card after 65 minutes, much to Joe Jordan's disgust, to leave Tottenham down to ten men again. But again it didn't deter Spurs and Bale went onto seal the game nine minutes from time to put Tottenham fourth in the league.
Blackpool continued their unbelievable season with yet another away win, this time against injury stricken Sunderland. DJ Campbell put the Tangerines ahead five minutes into the second half before adding a second in injury time. Blackpool now sit eighth and are just six points behind Chelsea but now two points behind seventh place Sunderland, but Blackpool have games in hand.
Manchester City temporarily went top of the Premiership with a resounding 4-0 win over troubled Aston Villa. It started bad for Villa when they conceded a penalty after just eight minutes which Balotelli converted. Lescott doubled the advantage five minutes later and Balotelli added his second and City's third after 27 minutes. Balotelli finished the rout with his hat-trick with another penalty ten minutes into the second half. Villa still sit in fifteenth but are now only a point from relegation.
West Brom nor Blackburn understood the good will to all men as both teams finished the match with ten men. Blackburn got off to a great start with Niko Kalinic putting them ahead after just three minutes. Tamas equalised for West Brom after seventeen to make it 1-1 at half-time. Kalinic restored Balckburn's lead eight minutes into the second half. Mame Diouf made it 3-1 after 62 minutes before Kalinic was shown a straight red two minutes later. West Brom levelled the man count when Tamas also received a straight red three minutes from time.
The shock of the day possibly came from the Britannia Stadium after Fulham beat Stoke 2-0. The scoreline may not have been too much of a surprise but the scorer certainly was. Chris Baird had scored one goal in his last 193 games but managed to score two goals inside ten minutes to give Fulham a much needed win.
The day's tea-time kick-off was at Upton Park as West Ham entertained Everton. West Ham took the lead through an own goal by Tony Hibbert after sixteen minutes. Everton equalised three minutes from half-time when an unmarked Seamus Coleman converted an inch perfect cross. The draw means West Ham are now just two points from safety.
The day's late kick-off was at St.Andrews with Birmingham hosting Manchester United. United knew that just a draw would take them back to the top on goal difference with games in hand. Both teams looked set for a 1-0 win with neither goalkeeper having much work. United failed to break down the Birmingham defence despite Giggs' early miss-hit cross that hit the post. The only time United did breakdown the defence they scored, a quick interchange between Berbatov and Gibson allowed the Bulgarian to net his fourteenth goal of the season thirteen minutes into the second half. Birmingham equalised just before injury time with a controversial goal, it seemed that substitute Zigic handled the ball to pass it to an offside looking Lee Bowyer who converted the opportunity.
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