English Premier League 23/24 October
October 25th 2010 12:33
Link: twitter.com/mattsaltmer
This weekend saw a number of very entertaining matches in the English Premier League, with the first and last games of the weekend not failing to impress. The opening match saw Tottenham face Everton, with Eastlands signed the weekend off, Man City hosting Arsenal. There were other matches with plenty at stake as well, with the Premier League table being shook up and re-arranged once again.
Leighton Baines was the man to kick start the high quality football on display all weekend, as his stunning free-kick put Everton 1-0 up at White Hart Lane, in Saturday's lunch time kick off. Following an error from Toffees keeper Tim Howard, Rafael Van der Vaart was able to equalise for Spurs. That keeps up the Dutch star's record, of scoring in every home game for his new club. Having come from behind to win three of their last four games, Tottenham pushed for a winner, but couldn't find it. Given his heroics in mid-week, scoring a hat-trick in the San Siro, Gareth Bale failed to get that involved. The game finished 1-1, a decent result for both sides, with Everton boss David Moyes being delighted with the point.
Another 1-1 draw on Saturday came at the DW stadium, between Wigan and Bolton. This will be seen as a point gained, but maybe two lost for both teams. With both sitting mid-table, victory could have propelled them away from the drop zone, in this incredibly close league. Elmander cancelled out Rodallega's goal, as both men continued their impressive goal-scoring form so far this season. Meanwhile Birmingham City picked up a vital three points, goals from Ridgewell and Zigic giving them a 2-0 win against Blackpool.
West Brom's incredible season continued, coming from behind to beat Fulham 2-1, thanks to goals from Mulumbu and Fortune. The cottagers had earlier lead after Scott Carson brilliantly saved a long-range effort, only for the ball to hit the post, and go in off the back of his head. Champions Chelsea extended their lead at the top to five points, with a routine 2-0 win at home against Wolves. Malouda and Kalou provided the goals. The evening match saw Newcastle United pick up a fantastic victory away at West Ham. After Carlton Cole had put the Hammers in front, goals from Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll, turned it around, keeping West Ham bottom of the table, and moving the Magpies up to 9th.
My favourite story from this weekend, is the battle for the Premier League's all time own goal specialist. Going into this round of games, Richard Dunne held the all time record for most own goals scored in the division, with 8. Liverpool's Jamie Carragher is one behind in second place. Villa defender Dunne scored yet another one in the wrong net on Saturday, giving Sunderland a 1-0 win. However, not to let his rival pull away, Carragher also put through his own net on Sunday. So the battle now stands at 9-8 to the Irishman.
Despite Carra's og, Liverpool did finally win their second league game of the season on Sunday. Goals from Kyriakos and Fernando Torres, gave the Reds a 2-1 win at home against Blackburn. Despite the win, Liverpool are still in the relegation zone. This game came after Manchester United had battled to victory away against Stoke City. A double from Mexican forward Javier Hernandez gave United a 2-1 win, meaning they stay five points behind Chelsea in 3rd.
But ahead of the Red Devils in 2nd place, are Arsenal. After Boyata recieved a red card for Manchester City after just five minutes, the Gunners romped to a 3-0 victory. Undoubtedly one of the most talented teams in world football, it is Arsenal's inability to win these crunch matches which often costs them trophies. But there were no such slip ups yesterday, as goals from Samir Nasri, Alex Song, and Nicklas Bendtner saw them pick up a vital three points. This was after Joe Hart had brilliantly saved a Fabregas penalty. The defeat leaves City in fourth place. But after this fine display, I believe Arsenal were definitely the big winners this weekend.
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And in terms of Newcastle, I have faith we'll stay up, just little worried that 9 games in we've already played Wigan, Stoke, Wolves, West Ham and Blackpool, lot of tough games to come!