There was a triple bill today in the Premiership full of the usual thrills and spills. Nine yellow cards, two red cards, two penalties and a half-time bust-up was the story of the first game. It was the Tyne-Wear derby at St. James Park and it all kicked off after just 30-seconds when Lee Cattermole was booked for a challenge he may well have been sent off for. Mike Williamson became a Toon villain when he pulled on Michael Turner's shirt to concede a penalty. Nicklas Bendtner stepped-up and narrowly avoided Tim Krul's diving hand to give Sunderland the lead after 24-minutes. The closest Newcastle came to an equaliser in the first half was Demba Ba hitting the woodwork close to half-time.
After a half-time bust-up in the tunnel, the teams came out and continued their tempestuous battle. It threatened to boil over a few times and Stephane Sessegnon let his emotions get the better of him when he elbowed Cheick Tiote. He was shown a straight red card and Sunderland had over half an hour to keep the game in their hands. To their credit, Sunderland defended extremely well although Hatem Ben Arfa caused Kieron Richardson a plethora of problems. The had a great chance to equalise when substitute Frazier Campbell slid in on fellow substitute Shola Ameobi. Ba stepped-up but Simon Mignolet superbly saved it to deny Newcastle yet again. But the hosts would make the man advantage count with Ameobi snatching his seventh derby goal in injury time to earn the point. Even though the final whistle had gone, the game wasn't over; Cattermole had far too much to say and found himself sent off despite the game already being finished. Newcastle now move to within two points of Chelsea.
Fulham faced Wolves in game two and Pavel Pogrebnyak became the first Fulham player in 54-years to score in each of his first three games, but bettered that by scoring a perfect hat-trick. Wolves never really came out of the blocks and despite setting up defensively, didn't particularly defend very well at all. They managed to hold on until nine minutes before half-time when Pogrebnyak headed home from a corner. But Wolves failed to keep it at 1-0 at half-time as Pogrebnyak turned in a low cross with his right foot after poor defending allowed Fulham the chance to break.
It was 3-0 11-minutes into the second half when Clint Dempsey was able to round Wayne Hennessey and put the ball into the net. Steven Fletcher came on at the hour mark but it was already too late and a minute later Pogrebnyak used his left foot to tap in Fulham's fourth. The final goal of the game came seven minutes from time when a 22-pass move was fantastic finished off by Dempsey to make it 5-0. The result sees Fulham move into eighth whereas Wolves slip into the relegation zone on goal difference.
The final game of the day saw Tottenham host Manchester United. It would be one of those games where United didn't play well but somehow managed to get a result. Tottenham bossed the possession throughout the game and could have been 1-0 up but Emmanuel Adebayor's goal was ruled out for handball on the goal-line after initially blocking Aaron Lennon's shot accidentally. But United would take the lead just before half-time with Wayne Rooney heading home from a corner.
It was a lead they probably didn't deserve and remained on the back foot for most of the second half. But the visitors managed to break and a Nani cross was deflected into Ashley Young's path, the midfielder was able to stab the ball home from a tight angle to doubled United's advantage. With the big games resulting in quite unbelievable score-lines this season, United were still in a dangerous position despite being 2-0 up and still on the ropes. But Ashley Young found himself in space about 25-yards from goal and managed to hit a perfect shot into the top corner to make it 3-0 and arguably game over. Spurs were able to get a consolation when substitute Ryan Giggs played a poor ball which landed into the path of fellow substitute Jermaine Defoe. Defoe hit the shot early which completely caught David De Gea unaware and rippled the net to make it 3-1. A result that may flatter United based on their performance but a result that keeps them two points behind City. Tottenham nay have to begin looking over their shoulders as they are only four points behind Arsenal in third.
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