Saturday 20 October 2012

Arsenal Holted, Chelsea, United and City Come From Behind

Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea: Andre Villas-Boas' first game against his former employers ended in defeat during a topsy-turvy affair. The league leaders took the lead on 17-minutes when William Gallas' defensive header from a corner was then volleyed home by Gary Cahill. Chelsea then conceded for the first time in the second half  in the league this season when Gallas turned a Jan Verthonghen flick across the goal from a Tom Huddlestone free-kick into the net just two minutes into after the restart. Tottenham took the lead seven minutes later when a wayward Aaron Lennon shot was taken and placed past Petr Cech by Jermain Defoe, his 200th league goal. The visitors levelled on 66-minutes when a Gallas clearance was taken by Juan Mata who coolly placed it into the bottom corner, his fifth goal in five games. It was two goals in three minutes for the Spaniard when he was played through before slotting past Brad Friedel to give the lead back to Chelsea. Their unbeaten run was guaranteed to continue when substitute Daniel Sturridge tapped the ball into the net after Mata played the ball across goal to the striker. Chelsea remain four points clear and score four goals in their third consecutive game.

West Brom 1-2 Manchester City: City are getting rather good at winning games in injury time. City were down to ten men on 23-minutes when James Milner received his first ever red card for bringing Shane Long down in a last man/goal-scoring opportunity. But it took until the 67th minute before West Brom took full advantage of the man advantage; substitute Peter Odemwingie took a shot that Long intercepted to poke it past Joe Hart. Edin Dzeko continued to do his super sub role and equalised ten minutes from time with a header from a Sergio Aguero free-kick which Ben Foster tried to collect but came nowhere near. The Bosnian then stole the three points in injury time when he finished off a rapid counter attack,

Manchester United 4-2 Stoke: Wayne Rooney becomes the first United player to score at both ends since David Beckham in 2001. It was the striker who broke the deadlock on 11-minutes but it was to give Stoke the lead when a Charlie Adam free-kick came off his face and into the net. Rooney then redeemed himself on 27-minutes when he headed a Robin Van Persie cross home, his first goal of the season in the league. United were ahead just before half-time when Antonio Valencia's cross was guided home by Van Persie. It was 3-1 in the first minute of the second half when Rooney's cross was headed home by Danny Welbeck, also his first of the season. Michael Kightly pulled one back on 58-minutes when he managed to run past most of the team before his shot rolled in off the post. The points were wrapped up on 65-minutes when Rooney finished off a corner that saw the ball ricochet around beforehand.

West Ham 4-1 Southampton: After a goalless first half, the goals flew in at Upton Park. The avalanche began immediately in the second half when a Mark Noble free-kick missed everyone as it went into the net, scoring the first goal against Artur Boruc on his Saints debut. It was 2-0 two minutes later when Yossi Benayoun's low cross was tapped home by Kevin Nolan. Adam Lallana scored his first goal in the Premiership with a clever finish on the turn on 63-minutes to make it 2-1. West Ham's two goal cushion was restored on 72-minutes when Andy Carroll was hauled down during a free-kick aerial battle, Noble stepped up and placed it into the corner. The points were well and truly wrapped up three minutes from time when Modibo Maiga also scored his first Premiership goal with a great finish into the corner.

Norwich 1-0 Arsenal: Grant Holt's 19th minute goal was enough to see the hosts secure a shock victory over Arsenal, Chris Hughton's first in the league as manager of Norwich. Alexander Tettey had the initial shot that ended up being parried by Vito Mannone and into the path of Holt who calmly slotted past the keeper, putting his name on the scoresheet for the third consecutive game. Arsenal looked largely lacklustre for a lot of the match and it perhaps more about Norwich increasing their lead than Arsenal equalising. Michael Turner put a free header wide in the first half and the hosts spurned numerous counter attacks in the second. On a better note for Arsenal, Jack Wilshere returned to the squad as an unused substitute.

Swansea 2-1 Wigan: Another game with a goalless first half as Swansea continue their good form at the Liberty stadium. The three games all came within the space of four minutes Pablo Hernandez scored his first Swansea goal on 65-minutes with a cute shot on the turn through a pair of defending legs. It was 2-0 two minutes later when Michu headed a corner home at the front post. Emerson Boyce finished the frantic four minutes with a backwards, aerial flick from a Shaun Maloney shot. Arouna Kone thought he had equalised when a cross came off his face, but the linesman flagged for offside when he was arguably onside.

Liverpool 1-0 Reading: Liverpool win their first game at Anfield this season, leaving Reading still without victory this season. Raheem Sterling became Liverpool's second youngest goalscorer after he was played through by Luis Suarez just before the half hour mark.

Fulham 1-0 Aston Villa: The three points were sealed for Fulham six minutes before the end. Chris Baird tapped a John Arne Riise corner past Brad Guzan for his third goal in his career for Fulham, his first since December 2010.


No comments:

Post a Comment