Does Manchester clubs win against their London rivals make the race for the title a two horse race?
It was yet another busy weekend in the English Premier League, with the super Sunday clash between the Manchester Clubs and London clubs. Man City were at home to Tottenham while Man U traveled to Emirates to face Arsenal.
Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 3 – 2 to maintain their lead at the summit of the Barclays Premier League while Manchester United who were away at Emirates beat their bitter rivals Arsenal 2 – 1 to keep up with pace of the league leaders.
Mario Balotelli won it for City with an injury-time penalty giving the Premier League leaders a vital victory after Tottenham's stirring comeback looked set to earn them a point at Etihad Stadium.
The great match however was marred by Balotelli who appeared to stamp on the head of Tottenhams’ Scott Parker after a clash. He is now facing a four-match ban after being charged with violent conduct by the Football Association. In my own opinion it was an intentional stamp and somehow a stupid move from him and he deserves to be banned. I just hope that he will grow up and stop this “Why always me” attitude.
Danny Welbeck's late strike gave Manchester United victory at Arsenal and kept them three points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
After a quiet opening Ryan Giggs picked out Antonio Valencia to head United in front at the far post.
Arsenal improved after the break and although Robin van Persie missed a clear chance, he made amends by finding the bottom corner from 15 yards out.
But United won it as Valencia ghosted through and Welbeck lashed home.
It was the third successive defeat for the Gunners who had lost to Swansea and Fulham in their previous league matches.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was very impressive on the wing and gave Manchester United right back Patrice Evra a torrid time. Arsenal were on the verge of adding a second but that tempo was drastically diminished when Wenger brought in Arshavin in place of the Ox, much to the disapproval from the fans and other players including the Captian, Robin Van Persie. Djourou was substituted on the interval after a poor performance in the first half. He had a hard time containing Nani. His replacement, 18-year-old Nicholas Yennaris did a much better job.
On Saturday, Bolton surprised by beating Liverpool 3 – 1 to move out of relegation for the first time this season. M Davies scored in the fourth minute, Reo-Coker 29th minute and Steinsson sealed the win in the 50th minute. Bellamy pulled one back in the 37th minute but it wasn’t enough.
Everton drew one all with Blackburn, Fulham thrashed Newcastle 5-2 with Clint Dempsey scoring a hart trick. Chelsea had a disappointing barren draw at Norwich, QPR beat Wigan 3 – 1, Stoke were beaten at home by two goals to one by West Brom, Sunderland beat Swansea 2 – 0 at home while Aston Villa beat a stubborn Wolverhampton by 3 – 2 who were at home.
These results leaves both Man City and Man U ahead of the pack with five points between Man U and third placed Tottenham. By the look of things, the two Manchester clubs are really in the battle for the title, while the London clubs: Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal seem destined to battle for Champions League spots so far. Whether this will change or not, only time will tell. They had a great opportunity to change all that and make the title race wide open last weekend but they failed.
Below is the Premier League table as it stood on Sunday, 22 January 2012 17:58 UK
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | 22 | 42 | 54 | |
2 | 22 | 33 | 51 | |
3 | 22 | 17 | 46 | |
4 | 22 | 15 | 41 | |
5 | 22 | 6 | 36 | |
6 | 22 | 2 | 36 | |
7 | 22 | 4 | 35 | |
8 | 22 | -10 | 30 | |
9 | 22 | -4 | 29 | |
10 | 22 | 5 | 27 | |
11 | 22 | -3 | 27 | |
12 | 22 | -3 | 26 | |
13 | 22 | -4 | 26 | |
14 | 22 | -4 | 26 | |
15 | 22 | -9 | 25 | |
16 | 22 | -15 | 20 | |
17 | 22 | -19 | 19 | |
18 | 22 | -12 | 18 | |
19 | 22 | -15 | 18 | |
20 | 22 | -26 | 15 | |
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