Portsmouth 2-0 Burnley
There was really nothing too exciting about this game as it was a very tame, non-motivational performance by the home team as Burnley loss again away from home. Hreidarsson’s semi-dive (if there’s such a thing) presented Pompey with a chance to take the lead but a very poor penalty and rebound effort by Dindane ensured it remained scoreless at the half. One scarce bright point of this game was the introduction of Kanu in the early stages of the second half. His touches on the ball proved to be impactful for Pompey and gave the home side a lot more bite upfront to take the lead. Hreidarsson’s gets onto one of Kanu’s flicks on a marginal call for offside and puts it away nicely. Kanu’s presence in the box proved vital as Burnley defenders focused on him which left Dindane unmarked to head in the nail in the coffin for Burnley.
Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City
Goals from Andrey Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey helped the Gunners to a much needed win after the last few miserable weeks. It was a typical Arsenal show of obsession with possession but slack in final third pass to kill off games. Arshavin had a very good game as the lone striker upfront a role he wasn’t so sure he’ll be able to do because of his size. Stoke’s long throw expert Rory Delap with his monsterous throws proved a whole lot tricky for Almunia but all in all the defense was up to the task, thankfully. Fabregas missed a penalty and a glorious chance to put Arsenal two up half way into the first half but managed to hit Eboue on the goal line? Emmanuel Eboue came out injured in the second half joining the injury list on the day with Eduardo who had to pull out of the game during warm up also.
Aston Villa 3-0 Hull City
Phil Brown’s four successive games without a loss come to a screeching halt thanks to the Villans. One highlight of this game was James Milner’s goal which was as a result of a throwing conceded by Duke, the Hull goalkeeper who decides early to come out and clear the ball. A quick throwing from Gabriel Agbonlahor to Milner and he lobs the ball from about 20 yards out straight into the net while Duke was still racing back to his goal. Richard Dunne opened scoring for the Villan’s with a Milner assist while John Carew converted a spot kick to make is 3.
Blackburn 0-0 Liverpool
Big Sam was back in the gaffer’s seat for Blackburn after his heart operation which was good to see. I had a chance to see the highlights from this game and David N’gog missed a sitter from the inside of the 18 hitting the crossbar after an amazing dash forward from Glen Johnson. To be fair to N’gog though, the ball bounced in front of him which might explain the flight of the ball towards the cross bar rather than in the center of the net. Blackburn on the other hand had a glaring chance to win the game in the dying minutes but Benni McCarthy shoots just wide of the goal. There’s a picture of Steven Gerrard in the game that accurately sums up Liverpool’s current run at the moment. He looked devastated, tired and burned out. Reports from the game say the same – a lack of conviction and drive performance.
Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea
I would have liked to see what the odds was that Adebayor would be the first person to score in this game. But I don’t think that anyone would have thought it would be in his own goal in the 8 minute of the game. Shay Given who I think is one of the best goalkeepers in the World had done all he could to prevent the ball from going in with two fantastic saves. Unfortunately for him and Adebayor, Given’s second clearance bounces off Adebayor’s back for the first goal of the game. Adebayor later made amends by scoring on the other side for Man City as he was quickest with a left foot shot after claims of handball against Micah Richards in the Chelsea 18 was ignored by the ref.
This was an interesting game to watch. Man City’s work rate and commitment was there for all to see. I was impressed by how much they fought in every area of the field. I don’t think Nigel DiJong has had a better match in City blue since he joined them. He arguably was the best man on the pitch. Carlos Tevez scored the second goal from a free kick with Petr Cech doing an Almunia-resque dive in an effort to reach the perfect placed ball in the right corner of the post.
Chelsea had a chance to equalize with Onuoha bringing down Drogba in the box but Frank Lampard’s penalty unconvincing as it was gave Given the chance to save it with minimum difficulty.
Manchester City finally get their first win after their record setting seven straight draws. They also did their rivals across town a huge favor by cutting down Chelsea’s lead on the league table to two points.
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