Arsenal beats Liverpool 2 – 0 to extend their Lead at the top to five points as Man City thrash Norwich 7 - 0.

It was yet another exciting and busy weekend in the English Premier League with a clash of titans in the late kick off on Saturday involving league leaders Arsenal and third placed Liverpool at the Emirates.

Ramsey scores the second for Arsenal from 25 yards.

Arsenal showed resilience and quality to maintain their fine start to the season and stretch their advantage by beating Liverpool 2 – nil. Santi Cazorla gave Arsenal the lead with a fine first-half strike after his header struck the post and Aaron Ramsey scored his 10th goal of this campaign with a spectacular long-range effort on the hour. It can be argued that the win was down to Cazorla and Ramsey for their goals but captain Mikel Arteta gave a midfield masterclass which overshadowed his Livepool counterparts, setting the platform for a crucial win. The defensive discipline of Arsenal’s back four also contributed significantly to the win because Sturridge and Suarez were kept quite the whole game and had very few chances. Arsenal’s advanced midfielders; Carzola, Ozil and Ramsey roamed the field with such worrying ease that resulted in a comfortable win to push the Gunners five points clear at the top.

In the early kick off Chelsea were away to Newcastle United at St James Pack and what was thought to be a routine three points in the bag and a chance to move to the top of the league’s standings turned horribly wrong. Newcastle who have had a bad start to this campaign turned the heat on Chelsea and beat them by two goals to nil. They grew in confidence from a solid defensive first half and their offensive play in the second half paid off when Gouffran headed home Yohan Cabaye's free-kick. The final nail on Chelsea’s coffin came when Roic Remy curled in a shot from Vurnon Anita's pass. Apparently Mourinho has never won a single game at the Magpies home ground.

Manchester United who were away to Fulham continued their resurgence with a 3 – 1 win over Fulham. They scored three goals in a span of 13 minutes to pile pressure on Martin Jol. Antonio Valencia gave the defending champions the lead with an easy finish while Robin van Persie scored the second by rifling in at the near post before Rooney tapped in after 22 minutes. Fulham responded through Alex Kacanilic’s deflected shot with Darren Bent hitting the bar.

Sunderland suffered their eighth defeat in 10 premier league games after Lee Cattermole and Andre Dossena were sent off in the first half at Hull. An own goal by Carlos Cuellar earned Hull manager Steve Bruce victory over his former club at the KC Stadium. The result means Sunderland remain at second last with only 4 points.

Manchester City highlighted their credentials as title contenders with an emphatic win over jaded Norwich. City’s attacking took centre stage as the thrashed their opponents 7 – 0. Bradley Johnson’s own goal put City ahead before David Silva, Matija Nastasic and Alvaro Negredo struck. Yaya toure scored a free-kick, Sergio Aguero fired in before substitute Edin Dzeko swept home a seventh. This win is City’s biggest in the EPL. Norwish dropped into the bottom three. City are now fifth after Totenham’s goal les draw with Everton on Sunday.

Stoke who were playing Southampton at Britannia Stadium earned a one all draw courtesy of a goal from their goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. It was a bizarre goal which came from a long kick 97.5 yards away from goal. The kick cleared Southampton’s defence before bouncing over visiting goalkeeper Artur Boruc. Southampton restored parity when Jay Rodriguez scored the equalizer.

West Brom who were at home beat Crystal Palace 2 – 0 thanks to goals from Saido Berahino and Gareth McAuley.

West Ham drew 0 - 0 with Aston Villa. This ended a run of three home premier league deafeats. Christian Benteke came closest to scoring for the visitors when he headed Matthew Lowton's deep cross against the crossbar from six yards out.

Everton and Tottenham both passed up the chance to go second in the Premier Laegue after a frustrating standoff. Roberto Soldado missed with a header from Aaron Lennon’s cross. Hosts Everton improved after the interval ans they saw a penalty appeal rejected when Seamus Coleman went down under Jan Vertonghen’s challenge. Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris played on despite suffering a heavy knock to the head from Romelu Lukaku.

In the Welsh Derby, Cardiff City beat Swansea 1 nil to move above them in 12^th place with 12 points while Swansea moved down one position to 13^th with 11 points from ten games. Steven Caulker’s towering header gave Cardiff victory. He rose above visiting defender Chico Flores after 62 minutes to direct Craig Bellamy’s corner past goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

 

Great results for the top teams in the English Premier League

Luis Suarez scores against West Brom at Anfield

Well well well..... the English Premier League season 2013-2014 is well underway and nine games down the line, Arsenal is still at the top of the log with 22 points thanks to the inform Ramsey who has scored five premier league goals this season and their top quality signing from Real Madrid Mezut Ozil not forgetting Mathieu Flamini, followed by Chelsea on 20 points same as Liverpool who have an inferior goal difference. Tottenham have 19 points, Southampton 18, same as Everton while Manchester City have 16 points. Former champions Manchester United have 14 points showing the transition from Alex Fergusson their former manager to their new one David Moyes hasn’t been easy.

Last weekend saw Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace. Arsenal managed to get a win of 2 – 0 with Arteta turning from hero to villain. He scored the first goal from the penalty spot following a foul on Gnabry but got sent off rather harshly for a foul on former gooner Chamakh, 35 yards away from goal. Arsenal got the second goal from the hardworking Giroud with the assist coming from one Ramsey ‘Rambo’.

Chelsea got a huge result against Man City at Stamford Bridge beating them 2 – 1 thanks to Torres capitalising on a Joe Hart mistake on ninety minutes. He continued with his fine form from his Champions League exploits to punish Man City towards. He had missed a great opportunity to put Chelsea ahead but turned provider for the opening goal for his team which was tucked in by Andre Schurrle.

Manchester United put a stop to their terrible start in defence of the title by coming back from behind twice to beat Stoke 3 goals to 2 at Old Trafford.

Liverpool who are a team that appear unstoppable at the moment due to the great partnership of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge upfront comprehensively beat West Brom 4 – 1 at Anfield with the Uruguayan scoring a hat-trick.

Tottenham Hotspur beat a stubborn Hull City from the penalty spot to earn a crucial three points.

The season is quite unpredictable with the number one spot having exchanged between so many teams, I have even lost count. Maybe the top six teams excluding Manchester United who are having  a difficult post Alex Fergusson season. Arsenal have remained at the top for several weeks though and whether that continues remains to be seen bearing in mind they will be meeting with Liverpool next Saturday (Nov 2) at the Emirates Stadium..... for now let’s see how Asene Wenger boys perform in the League One Cup tie against Chelsea tonight.

Photo Courtesy: BBC SPORT 

Man City opens a three point gap as Man U falls to a resolute Newcastle United

It was an interesting and a very busy week in the English Premier League.

Man City recovered after that shocking defeat of 1 – 0 by Sunderland when they beat Liverpool 3 – 0 at home. Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina's error gifted Sergio Aguero an early goal and Yaya Toure rose to head home David Silva's corner for a second before the break. Milner converted the penalty for the third after a foul on Yaya Toure by Skrtel.

They opened a three point gap at the top of the premier league table after Manchester United lost their second game in a row when they were beaten by Newcastle United 3 – 0. Demba Ba was on target to net in his 15^th goal of the season. Yohan Cabaye doubled Newcastle's lead with a 30-yard free-kick before Phil Jones diverted in a late own goal.

Arsenal were on away duty to Fulham. They dominated for the first 45 minutes and their only reward was a headed goal from defender Laurent Koscielny in the 21^st minute. Gervinho was, however, unlucky not to win a penalty when he was tripped by Senderos after good work from Robin van Persie. Arsenal however were wasteful in attack, with Theo Walcott and Gervinho particularly frustrating in their inability to finish off some free-flowing moves.

Fulham had a great turn around in the second half. Steve Sidwell headed an equaliser in the 85th minute and Zamora volleyed home to seal a dramatic victory. Arsenal’s Manager, Arsene Wenger criticized the referee decisions among them the sending off of Djourou for a foul on Zamora.

Lampard steers in his 89th-minute winner.

Chelsea beat a determined Wolverhampton when Frank Lampard scored a last-gasp winner as Chelsea secured a first win in five matches with a gutsy and much-improved display against Wolves at Molineux. Stephen Ward seemed to have earned the hosts a point when he smashed Steven Fletcher's cross low into the net.

Tottenham kept up the pressure on the title-chasing Manchester clubs with a hard-fought victory over West Brom. The Baggies frustrated Spurs for more than an hour before striker Jermain Defoe broke their resolve. The diminutive striker, spun on the spot before firing in after good work by Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale.

Here is a snapshot of all the results during the week.

2 Jan 2012 23:59 UK

• Aston Villa 0-2 Swansea
• Blackburn 1-2 Stoke
• Fulham 2-1 Arsenal
• QPR 1-2 Norwich
• Wolves 1-2 Chelsea

3 Jan 2012 23:59 UK

·  Man City 3-0 Liverpool

·  Tottenham 1-0 West Brom
·  Wigan 1-4 Sunderland

4 Jan 2012 23:59 UK

• Everton 1-2 Bolton
• Newcastle 3-0 Man Utd

Today there is a cracker of a match in the FA Cup. It will be a derby at Etihad Stadium between Man City and Man U. Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has claimed that rivals Manchester United are still the team to beat but I think he is playing mind games as usual. We wait and see how his team performs without his Talisman Yaya Toure and his Brother Koro Toure who are off to play for Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations.

United boss Alex Ferguson has played down the significance of "two bad results" ahead of the derby and Mancini also refuted suggestions that City's neighbours are on the slide.

Is the Premier League a Two Horse Race?

The premier league is slowly taking shape to a predictable two horse race between the two Manchester Clubs (United and City). I don’t know if I have spoken too early (it’s been only 18 games) into the season but the other three teams coincidentally from London (Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham) don’t look keen on fighting for the premier league title. Tottenham can be exempt from this group since they won their game against Norwich to garner 38 points from 17 games. This means they have a game in hand and can move to within four points of league leaders Manchester City.

Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey makes yet another save

Manchester United was the only team at the top end of the table to have a real boxing day. They moved level on points with Man City after thrashing a miserable Wigan 5 – 0 with Dimitar Berbatov scoring a hat-trick.  Manchester City had a goalless draw with West Brom. Arsenal drew with Wolves at the Emirates in a game that they were in total control. Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey rose up to the occasion time and time again to deny Arsenal the three points they desperately needed to reap flog Chelsea to fourth place after the Blues had drawn with Fulham on boxing day. Liverpool had a one all draw with lowly placed Blackburn Rovers.

 

Premier League results

26 Dec 2011 23:59 UK

• Bolton              0-2       Newcastle
• Chelsea            1-1       Fulham
• Liverpool          1-1       Blackburn
• Man Utd          5-0       Wigan
• Stoke               0-0       Aston Villa
• Sunderland       1-1       Everton
• West Brom       0-0       Man City

27 Dec 2011 23:59 UK

• Arsenal             1-1       Wolves
• Norwich           0-2       Tottenham
• Swansea           1-1       QPR

All we can do is hope that the London teams will redeem themselves in the upcoming matches starting today 30^th December 2011 otherwise; the title will surely remain in Manchester.

Up coming Fixtures

Friday, 30 December 2011

Liverpool v Newcastle,             19:45

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Saturday, 31 December 2011

Man Utd v Blackburn,              12:45

Arsenal v QPR,                        15:00

Bolton v Wolverhampton,         15:00

Chelsea v Aston Villa,              15:00

Norwich v Fulham,                   15:00

Stoke v Wigan,                        15:00

Swansea v Tottenham,              15:00

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Sunday, 1 January 2012

West Brom v Everton,              12:30

Sunderland v Man City,            15:00

Monday, 2 January 2012

Aston Villa v Swansea,             15:00

Blackburn v Stoke,                   15:00

QPR v Norwich,                      15:00

Wolverhampton v Chelsea,       15:00

Fulham v Arsenal,                    17:30

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Tuesday, 3 January 2012

Tottenham v West Brom,          19:45

Wigan v Sunderland,                19:45

Man City v Liverpool,              20:00

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Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Everton v Bolton,                      20:00

Newcastle v Man Utd,              20:00

I wish all my followers and readers a Happy and Prosperous Year 2012.

Manchester United Thrash Fulham 5 - 0 to keep up the pressure on League Leaders Man City on a busy Wednesday night in the EPL.

Hello people, it’s turning out to be a very busy week in the English Premier League that’s its tough to keep up with the pace. On Wednesday night there were seven premier league games. Arsenal were playing Arston Villa away, Everton were at home to Swansea, Fulham were at home against Manchester United, Manchester City were at home to Stoke, Newcastle played Norwich City at home, Queens Park Rangers were also at home to Sunderland and Wigan was at home against Liverpool.

The results were as varied as they were surprising, at least some were. Fulham who play very well against the top teams each and every season without conceding many goals was a different side on Wednesday night. They were thrashed ruthlessly by Manchester United, five goals to none. A lack luster Arsenal needed a Benayoun strike in the eighty seventh minute to claim all the three points from Villa Park while Man City dispatched Stoke City by three goals to nil. Newcastle continued with their downward spiral when they were beaten by three goals to two by West Brom. QPR were also beaten by Sunderland by three goals to two while Wigan earned a point from their goalless draw with seventh placed Liverpool.

Here is a snapshot of the results for Wednesday, 21^st December, 2011

·  Aston Villa    1-2      Arsenal

·  Everton         1-0       Swansea

·  Fulham          0-5       Man Utd

·  Man City      3-0       Stoke

·  Newcastle    2-3       West Brom

·  QPR            2-3       Sunderland

·  Wigan          0-0       Liverpool

Arston Villa’s Marc Albrighton scored the 20,000th goal in Premier League history after capitalizing on an Arsenal defensive error.

On Thursday Chelsea traveled to White Hart Lane to face third placed Tottenham Hotspurs in a London derby. It was an exciting and a balanced match with both teams sharing a point thanks to a resurgent Chelsea and in particular Captain John Terry. Despite having a lot to worry about a day after learning he will face a racially aggravated public order charge following an incident with QPR's Anton Ferdinand in the west London derby in October, he concentrated with football and helped Chelsea share the spoils with Tottenham by making a block after Petr Cech was beaten by Adebayor in the dying minutes of the game.

The results didn’t do much to any of the teams as Tottenham remains third with 35 points, 9 points adrift of Manchester City but with a game in hand while Chelsea remained fourth with 33 points which is 1 point more than fifth placed Arsenal.

Chelsea manager, Andre-Villas Boas was very happy with the results and said that they are still in the title race. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was satisfied with the 'fair result' but had his concerns about the absence of Rafael van der Vaart who has a harmstring problem all the time. He said “He is a great player but we need to keep him fit."

Arsenal go down 1 - 0 to Man City in the Super Sunday clash as Barcelona wins Club World Cup

What an exciting weekend of fine football! I know some people are wondering what was so exciting? I for one didn’t like it one bit because my team, Arsenal lost to Manchester city 1 – 0. Arsenal didn’t just loose but they lost a chance to close in on the league leaders to within six points. Now they are twelve points adrift and Arsene Wenger already admitted to giving up on the English Premier League Title. Wenger isn’t a Manager who is used to giving up but he admitted that the gap is too big for his team to catch up and it would take quite an effort to do that.

Arsenal did give a good account of themselves and we’re it not for the defense reshuffle after Johan Djourou got injured, they would have gotten a positive result. I think most players gave a good account of themselves but I may fault Wenger for believing in such players as Arshavin and Chamakh to make any difference. If Arsenal relies on such subs for a positive result against a team like Man City, then they are doomed. What Arshavin does is just walk on the pitch while Chamakh can’t or won’t score! There were claims of a handball and a wrong offside decision but with referee Phil Dowd ‘Doughnut behind the whistle (we all know what you did last season), there wasn’t much to expect from the game. I just have one big question, why put Arshavin ahead of such a great player as Tomas Rosicky???

Manchester united beat the dipping in form Queens Park Rangers (QPR) 2- 0 to climb to the top of the table briefly while Liverpool got a similar result away to Aston Villa. Tottenham beat Sunderland 1 – 0 at white hart lane to keep up with the pace and leapfrogged Chelsea to third place. Chelsea were held to an embarrassing 1 – 1 draw at DW Stadium by Wigan on Saturday, a team that has become the whipping boys of the premier league.

Here are the results from all the games played during the weekend.

Saturday, 17^th December 2011

• Blackburn        1-2       West Brom
• Everton           1-1       Norwich
• Fulham            2-0       Bolton
• Newcastle       0-0       Swansea
• Wigan              1-1       Chelsea
• Wolves            1-2       Stoke

Sunday, 18^th December 2011

·   Aston Villa       0-2       Liverpool

·   Man City          1-0       Arsenal

·   QPR                 0-2       Man Utd

·   Tottenham        1-0       Sunderland

Premier league table as it stood on 18^th December, 2011

Position           Team              P          GD      PTS

1                      Man City         16         35        41

2                      Man Utd         16         23        39

3                      Tottenham       15         13        34

4                      Chelsea            16        15        32

5                      Arsenal            16         7          29

6                      Liverpool         16         7          29

7                      Newcastle       16          2          27

8                      Stoke               16        -7         24

9                      Norwich          16        -4         20

10                    Aston Villa       16        -3         19

11                    Fulham             16        0          18

12                    Swansea          16        -4         18

13                    West Brom       16        -8         18

14                    Everton            15        -3         17

15                    QPR                16        -13       16

16                    Sunderland       16        -1         14

17                    Wolves             16        -13       14

18                    Wigan               16        -15       13

19                    Blackburn         16        -13       10

20                    Bolton               16        -18       9

IN OTHER NEWS

Barcelona wins Club World Cup
Barcelona won Club World Cup in Yokohama, Japan by beating a hapless Brazil Santos 4 – 0 on Sunday. Lionel Messi scored twice as Xavi and Cesc Fabregas also got on the score sheet to earn Barcelona their second Club World Cup in three years. The match was billed as a showdown between Messi and Santos' 19-year-old Neymar but it was Mess who dominated.

The team has now won 13th trophies under coach Pep Guardiola, solidifying its stature as the best club team in the world.

UEFA Champions League last 16 Draw pairs Arsenal against AC Milan and Chelsea against Napoli ....Tough!

Tough draw for English teams in the final 16.

The much awaited Champions League last 16 draw is out. It’s a tough draw for English teams (read London) Arsenal & Chelsea. Arsenal will be facing Italian giants AC Milan while Chelsea will face the less fancied but tough opponents Napoli. It will be worth noting that Napoli beat Manchester City to finish as runners up behind Bayern Munich.

Below is how the teams were drawn in the cream of the crop Europe clubs competition:

• Lyon v Apoel
• Napoli v Chelsea
• AC Milan v Arsenal
• Basel v Bayern Munich
• Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona
• CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid
• Zenit St Petersburg v Benfica
• Marseille v Inter Milan

All the group winners will be away in the first legs between 14-15 and 21-22 February and at home in the return matches between 6-7 and 13-14 March, 2012.

Below are some collective thoughts from some players, managers and club officials just after the draw courtesy of twitter and bbc sports. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/front_page/9663176.stm

 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "You cannot avoid anybody. You would say Basel but they were a very difficult opponent for Manchester United. So you take the draw as it comes, analyse it and plan for the game. The Italian teams have a history but you don't know how it will go."

Arsenal Club Secretary David Miles: "It's probably the pick of the round. They'll be two fantastic games. If I'm being honest, there are some other teams I would have preferred. Last time we played them in season 07-08, we actually went through after winning 2-0 in the San Siro so our recent history against them is good."

Ac Milan Director Umberto Gandini: "Tie of the round. For the quality and the appeal of the two clubs it is a fantastic tie. Last time we lost 2-0 to Arsenal at the San Siro and we were knocked out by Tottenham last year. We are determined to go through. Last year we had lots of injuries but right now we are in a better status than Arsenal. But lots can change in two months. They have a great player in Robin van Persie and Arsene Wenger is a great coach."

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere on Twitter: "Hard draw but you have to beat the best to win it! Looking forward to it! #Gooners"

Cesc Fabregas on Twitter: "Woooow Arsenal vs Milan!!!! What a draw!!!!"

FAST FACT
In a knockout situation, no Italian side has ever beaten Arsenal. The English side have got through seven two-leg ties and one final.

Chelsea Club Secretary David Barnard: "It will be difficult. Napoli were in the same group as Man City and Man City are unfortunately no longer with us so that has some bearing on quality of Napoli. We all know that [Chelsea boss] Andre [Villas-Boas] has experience with Inter [Milan] so he will know the ins and outs of Napoli I'm sure. It will be an occasion. It will be a lot warmer, too as we could have got a Russian team where it would have been colder."

It will be the hope of the English teams managers that they get a good result in Italy in the away legs and also good results in London in the return legs to qualify for the quarter finals.

……………………………………………………….

In other news Manchester United draw Ajax, Manchester City will face Porto and Stoke City are paired with Valencia in the Europa League last 32.