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.

 

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."