Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United: Chelsea's first league defeat of the season sees two players sent off and a shroud of controversy. United started the better and were ahead after four minutes when a Robin Van Persie shot came off the post to hit David Luiz on the back before going in. It was 2-0 after 12-minutes when a quick United break saw Antonio Valencia pull the ball back for Van Persie to guide home. Chelsea grew into the first half and were soon dominating the match. They more than deserved to get back into the game when a Juan Mata free-kick found the net just before half-time.
Chelsea then started the second half the way they ended the first and it was no surprise to see the hosts level just eight minutes after the restart, Ramires heading an Oscar cross home. The game began to change on the 63rd minute when Branislav Ivanovic brought Ashley Young down as last man in a goal scoring opportunity, the busy referee, Mark Clattenburg, had no option but to send the Serbian off. It got even worse six minutes later when Chelsea were then down to nine men. Fernando Torres, who was lucky not to have been given more than his yellow for a first half challenge on Tom Cleverley that was chest high, fell under a challenge from Jonny Evans. Replays showed their was minimal contact, but Clattenburg deemed not enough to go down and gave the striker a second yellow for simulation.
The game was won 15-minutes from time in equally controversial circumstances; a Van Persie shot was fumbled just away from goal by Petr Cech. The bundled clearance fell to Rafael who smashed the ball across the six yard box for substitute Javier Hernandez, who was coming back from an offside position and did look offside, to tap home. Whether it should have been allowed or not shouldn't allow for what happened next; as Hernandez ran to the corner to celebrate, Chelsea fans threw chairs, coins and other missiles onto the pitch. One steward twisted his knee in his attempt to cool things down and while he was receiving treatment on the pitch, it was perceived that fans also hit him with missiles. To make things more distasteful, Chelsea have lodged an appeal to the FA for two apparent uses of racial language by Clattenburg to their players.
Everton 2-2 Liverpool: Everton comeback from 2-0 down to earn a point in a Merseyside derby without a red card. The visitors took the lead on 14-minutes when Luis Suarez smashed the ball across the goal where it rebounded off Leighton Baines and went into the net. It was 2-0 six minutes later when a Steven Gerrard free-kick was headed home by Suarez. Everton got back into the game when a loose ball fell to Leon Osman to guide a shot into the bottom corner on 22-minutes. They were level ten minutes before half-time when Steven Naismith scored his first Everton goal, a year since his last goal. Liverpool thought they had won it in second half injury time when Luis Suarez tapped home a Sebastian Coates knock down. After wheeling away in celebration, the linesman had put his flag up. The only problem is, if it was given offside then the linesman got it wrong but Coates had his hands on the shoulders of the defender which could have been deemed as a foul.
Southampton 1-2 Tottenham: Gareth Bale's return to St.Mary's saw the Welshman break the deadlock on 15-minutes after he headed home a Tom Huddlestone cross, but he didn't celebrate out of respect for his former club. Spurs were then 2-0 ahead when a Jermain Defoe shot was cleared off the line before Clint Dempsey bundled the ball over six minutes before half-time. Jay Rodriguez scored his first Premier League goal in 66-minutes from a corner after an initial attempt had been parried, to pull a goal back for Southampton but they couldn't force an equaliser.
Newcastle 2-1 West Brom: Newcastle steal the points in the depths of injury time. Demba Ba put Newcastle ahead ten minutes before half-time with a clever volley that was too hard for Ben Foster. West Brom were level ten minutes into the second half when Romelu Lukaku headed a Zoltan Gera cross past Tim Krul. Substitute Papiss Cisse deflected a Sammy Ameobi shot past Foster to open his account for the season and walk off with the three points.
Reading 3-3 Fulham: Reading remain without victory despite being embroiled in a six goal thriller. Mikele Leigertwood opened the scoring with a great goal into the top corner. Bryan Ruiz didn't want to be outdone and he equalised in a similar fashion just after the hour mark. Fulham then turned it around when Chris Baird headed his second goal in two games on 77-minutes. This time it was Reading's turn to equalise and it came five minutes from time through Garath McCleary. Parity only lasted for three minutes though and Dimitar Berbatov thought he had won the game with a beautifully guided shot into the bottom corner. But an injury time scramble saw the ball fall over the line courtesy of Hal Robson-Kanu to earn a point.
Arsenal 1-0 QPR: Arsenal scrape through with all three points in dubious circumstances. The action began ten minutes from time when Stephane Mbia was sent off for kicking out at Thomas Vermaelen after he had already been awarded the foul. A scramble then led to Mikel Arteta heading the ball home from an offside position. QPR are still without a victory this season.
Manchester City 1-0 Swansea: City join United by going one point behind leaders Chelsea after squeezing out victory against Swansea. The only goal of the game came just after the hour mark when Carlos Tevez scored from long range.
Wigan 2-1 West Ham: Wigan win their first home game of the season. Ivan Ramis smashed the hosts ahead after just eight minutes. James McCarthy made it 2-0 two minutes into the second half before James Tomkins headed a consolation in injury time.
Aston Villa 1-1 Norwich: 10-Man Villa failed to hold onto their lead against Norwich. Christian Benteke put Villa ahead on 27-minutes after being put through by Brett Holman. Joe Bennett was then sent off seven minutes into the second after receiving his second yellow for pulling Elliott Bennett back. Brad Guzan and co did their best to keep Norwich at bay but they ultimately crumbled when Michael Turner headed a corner home for his first ever Canary goal 11-minutes from time.
Stoke 0-0 Sunderland: Not even eight minutes of injury time could separate these two draw specialists.
No comments:
Post a Comment