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| Arteta celebrates his goal against Manchester City thesun.co.uk |
Manchester City’s race for the title hit a road bump at
Arsenal thanks to a late goal from Mikel Arteta. Hated rivals Manchester United
capitalized on their chances at home against Queens Park Rangers and are now
sitting high at the top of the table eight points clear of their neighbors.
Tottenham lost their third place spot to their North London rivals after
Arsenal’s victory and Chelsea and Newcastle continue to close down on the top
four, still in the running for Champions League football next season. The
relegation battle at the other end of the table also continues. Wolves remain
at the bottom as they fell to Stoke and Wigan and Blackburn Rovers occupy the
other three red zone spots. QPR and Bolton are safe for now, but only a point
and goal difference separate the sides in the 16th through 19th
place positions.
Friday April 6th,
2012
Swansea City 0-2
Newcastle United: The Welsh side were looking for a win to regain their
higher league poisoning after some iffy performances recently. Meanwhile
Newcastle are on a quest for Champions League football. They are level on
points with Chelsea, who sit right above them in 5th place and are
chasing Arsenal in 4th place who have only two more points than the
North England side.
Early on Swansea had a good look at goal, but the effort
went wide. Instead, they were the ones to concede early. It was his eighth goal
in eight games as Newcastle newcomer Cisse opened the scoring against Swansea
City in the 4th minute of the match. A calm collection of the assist
and a smooth finish from the Senegalese striker put Newcastle up 1-0 as they
battled for a shot at a Champions League spot in the Liberty Stadium in
Swansea. Swansea’s impressive portion of the possession was noticed as they
dominated the match after conceding, making multiple attempts on goal and
hardly turning the ball over to the visiting side. Despite the strong showing
and possessive performance, the score was 1-0 to Newcastle at the half.
Dire and Sigurdsson were the first to get down to business
in the opening minute of the second half, coming agonizingly close to putting
their side on the score line. They were able to force a corner from the
Newcastle defense but failed to convert it to a goal. Swansea were quicker to
press the Newcastle goal but the visitors were able to deal with the possessive
and quick-passing play of the Welsh side. Swansea were unable to find a
breakthrough despite holding the ball in Newcastle’s half for a good portion of
the match. Cisse was sure to get his name on the score sheet again in the 68th
minute and it was done with even more finesse and flair as the first goal. With
a cheeky through ball from the midfielder, Cisse collected it and executed an
even cheekier dipping chip over the head of Vrom and into the back corner.
In spite of their impressive 68% of possession, Swansea were
unable to find the back of the net. Newcastle were far from dominant but the
clinical finishing of Papiss Cisse was worthy of the three points they took
away from the fixture. Newcastle are still very much in the running for a spot
in Champions League football sitting just three points below Tottenham. Swansea
are one point away from the 40 point safety zone but are safely separated from
the relegation zone.
Saturday April 7th,
2012
Sunderland 0-0 Tottenham
Hotspur: Spurs haven’t been convincingly consistent lately and seem to be
struggling from “Liverpool Syndrome”: failing to produce valuable points
against teams that they are favored to defeat. Sunderland on the other hand
were unable to capitalize on a draw against Manchester City and also fell
victim to sloppy playing.
It was a frustrating match for Tottenham and Sunderland fans
alike at the Stadium of Light. Both sides came agonizingly close to chances on
goal but heroic antics from both keepers as well as poor finishing techniques
kept the ball out of the back of both nets. Tottenham were the dominant side,
holding an impressive 71% of possession over the home side but Sunderland
forced eleven corners from the visitors and had nine shots on target.
The second half of the match was subject to some of the
worse turnover statistics in the history of football with both sides barely
managing to put together two passes before sloppily losing the ball. Redknapp’s
triple attacking substitution of Lennon, Saha and Defoe were still unsuccessful
in finding the back of the net and Nicholas Bendtner was unable to follow up on
a fantastic performance against Manchester City last weekend.
In the end, it was a stalemate and Tottenham went home with
just a point. Tottenham are still in the final Champions League spot, but the
two point drop was not helpful to their push for the top four finish. They were
surpassed by North London rivals Arsenal but are still three points above
Chelsea. Sunderland are just a point behind Liverpool in 9th place.
Although European football is an unrealistic goal, they can still hope for a
finish as high as 7th place at the end of this season.
Bolton Wanderers 0-3
Fulham: Bolton are struggling to get the points that will keep them afloat
in the Barclays Premier League next season. Owen Coyle’s men have rallied after
the FA Cup incident with midfielder Fabrice Muamba, but their three wins in
four games turned to two losses in five games after they dropped points at home
against Fulham.
Bolton were on the attack, knowing that although they are
out of the relegation zone, every point and goal counts. Petrov had earned his
side a corner kick by the second minute, but Bolton were unable to convert it
and Fulham were in possession. The visitors slowed play down early on and began
their dominance, passing the ball around and not really threatening the goal
until the fifth minute when Bogdan was forced to come off his line and make a
save. In the 29th minute, American Clint Dempsey scored the opener
off of a free kick after Diarra was brought down by N’Gog. He struck his 20th
goal of the campaign in style with a fantastic lofty free kick over the hands
of Bogdan and placed perfectly in the top corner. Fulham continued to dominate
and Dempsey’s second goal of the match came from a brilliant header from an
equally brilliant cross in the last minute of regulation time in the first
half. Fulham headed into the locker rooms for the break with a 2-0 lead.
Chris Eagles had a chance at goal when he tried to imitate
Dempsey’s first half goal but his effort went wide of the net. Fulham were soon
back in position and the second half began to shape up much like the first half
had with Fulham possessing. Bolton were a little more ambitious as they pushed
towards goal than they had been at the close of the first half, but they were
unable to find the back of the net for the remainder of the half. Bolton played
hard and managed to keep the Fulham attack at bay until the 80th minute when Diarra put the icing on the cake
for Fulham and the nail in the coffin for Bolton with a great effort to get on
the end of the cross from Risse.
At the end of the day, Fulham were clearly the better team.
Bolton had their chances but they were dominated by the visiting side. Fulham
are sitting comfortably in 10th place level on points with
Sunderland and just two points away from the 7th place finishing
spot. Bolton are a point clear of the relegation zone, but if it came down to
goal difference, the three goals were a hefty blow to their hopes of staying up
for another season of Premier League football.
Chelsea 2-1 Wigan
Athletic: Chelsea’s home fans were able to celebrate their side marching on
to the semi finals at midweek and, despite the tight score line and a less than
convincing performance, were able to celebrate another win for the London side.
Yet another three points confirms that Di Matteo has successfully revived
Chelsea after they suffered from a losing streak and poor form under Portuguese
manager Andre Villas-Boas.
The first half opened slowly with the home side controlling
the pace of the game and working the ball around the pitch comfortably. Wigan
were the first to threaten the goal with former Chelsea man Di Santon forcing a
corner from his youth club. Maloney was able to put the ball back into the box
after the corner was played short but it was snuffed out by the Chelsea
defense. As the half progressed, Chelsea began to show that they were the
dominant side, forcing much more action from the Wigan defense than they did in
the opening minutes of the match. Wigan were good at holding possession once
they maintained it though and also saw some good looks at goal themselves. At
the halftime break, the score was 0-0 with neither team managing to find the
back of the net.
At the start of the second half, Wigan were again the first
to threaten the Chelsea net but the defense managed to keep them at bay in the
opening minutes. Chelsea again took some time to find a rhythm and the visitors
were able to get some chances on goal before the London side made any real
threats on goal. Drogba and Sturridge both had their fair share of chances, but
the first goal of the match would come from Chelsea defender Ivanovic in the 61st
minute. Maloney’s late challenge on the Russian defender earned him a yellow
card and earned Chelsea a free kick from a dangerous angle. Spanish U21
international Juan Mata took the original kick before Raul Meireles put the
ball back in to a questionably offside Ivanovic. After consulting with his
assistant, the goal was allowed by the center referee but video review showed
that the defender was easily a yard offside. No sooner had he put the ball in
the back of the net for his side, Ivanovic had some defensive heroics in front
of his own goal as he cleared a shot from Di Santon away from the front of the
open net. Wigan managed to rally after the wrongly allowed goal. A fantastic
strike from substitute Diame put the visitors level with Chelsea; the 1-1 score
line reflecting the nearly equal performances from both sides. It looked as
though the hopes of a top four finish and three points from the fixture were
fading by the end of regulation time, but Juan Mata would be the hero for his
side when he scored the winner in dramatic style after putting Fernando Torre’s
post rattling volley into the back of the net.
Wigan came disappointingly close to a good result, even a
win, at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea were too determined to keep their hopes of
Champions League football in the 2012/2013 campaign alive. In the end Chelsea
were the victors and remain in fifth place by just two points as Newcastle and
Liverpool close in and Tottenham and Arsenal remain in the last two Champions
League spots. Wigan sit barely inside the relegation zone. Despite a great
performance against a big team, they were not able to get the result they
needed. Tied with Blackburn with 28 points, they sit in 19th place,
separated from the safety zone only by goal difference.
Liverpool 1-1 Aston
Villa: Again, Liverpool found themselves in a frustrating situation as they
outplayed their visitors from Birmingham. Suarez and Kyut came agonizingly
close to scoring the goal that would have won the Scousers the full three
points but instead they would have to settle for just one point and remain in 8th
place just one spot behind neighborhood rivals Everton.
The 1-1 score line certainly reflected the match. Liverpool
were arguably the better team, but their performance was not convincing.
Brazilian goalkeeper Doni was in the Liverpool lineup for his competitive debut
after Pepe Reina saw red last week against Newcastle. Andy Carroll lost his
starting spot after his poor performance against his former side. Agbonlahor
and Heskey were quick to pick apart the Liverpool defense, forcing a corner
kick early on in the 5th minute and the first real attack of the
match. The home side was able to fend off the attempt and was quick to get a
shot off at the other end. Liverpool fans believed that Dirk Kuyt’s shot
crossed the line when it was stopped by Shay Given, but the referee awarded a
corner kick after the ball went out of play. Video replayed showed that the
ball did indeed cross the line, but no goal was awarded. Villa were on the
attack again but the ball was turned over to Liverpool and the two sides
continued to battle evenly until the 10th minute when Herd scored
the opener for the visitors. Herd’s fantastic strike came after Doni was unable
to collect the cross and instead deflected it back out to Bannan, who was
prowling on the edge of the box for Villa. The visitors carried the 1-0 lead up
to the half time break despite much controversy including a questionable missed
call on a handball by the Aston Villa defense. Liverpool really should have
been up by at least two goals to one by the half, but instead they found
themselves in need of at least one if they were to draw at least a point from
the match.
Liverpool rallied after the halftime break but seemed unable
to score to save their lives. The ball came off of the bar and worked its way
around Aston Villa’s back third of the field but seemingly refused to go into
the back of the net. At the end of the day Liverpool held 65% of possession
throughout the match but Aston Villa was able to catch them sleeping on the
counter attack, making their fair share of opportunities but unable to
capitalize on the 1-0 lead. Captain Steven Gerrard, veteran defender Danny
Agger and leading goal scorer Luiz Suarez were able to connect to put Liverpool
level. Suarez followed up on Agger’s saved free header, putting Liverpool level
1-1 with ten minutes of regular play left.
The home side pressed Aton Villa hard for the remaining
minutes of the match, coming painfully close to scoring the winner, but the
Reds were unable to produce the goal and the game finished out in a draw.
Liverpool were unable to overtake city rivals Everton, who sit just one point
above them in 7th place. Aston Villa are potentially in the danger
zone in 15th place but consistent performances should ensure their
spot in the Barclays Premier League next season.
Norwich City 2-2
Everton: After conceding early at Fulham last week, Norwich were sure to
keep the ball out of the back of their own net early on. Everton have passed
city rivals Liverpool on the Barclay’s Premier League table and are now able to
look towards European football as they close in on Newcastle United. Although
over ten points separate them from the sixth place spot, crazier things have
happened.
Former Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson was the
first to have a look at goal but his powerful shot went wide. Everton continued
to press at the Norwich goal, forcing some brilliant defending, but they were
unable to convert their chances to goals early on. The breakthrough came in the
21st minute after Everton defender Phil Jagielka found Jelavic in
the box and put the ball in the back of the net. Tim Cahill nearly found the
back of the net again when he faced a nearly open goal after the ball came off
of the crossbar, but his sliding effort went straight into the hands of the
keeper. Everton were soon caught on the defense as Norwich pressed forward,
looking for a response to conceding the first goal of the match. In the 39th
minute, the home side was able to go level with a fantastic first goal for
Norwich City from Howson. At halftime the score was 1-1 with both sides
creating plenty of good chances.
At the start of the second half at Carrow Road, the match
remained very tight. At the end of the day Everton had slightly more
possession, but both teams were creating plenty of good chances at a shot on
goal. Jelavic would be the hero again for Everton has he put his side in the
lead in the 60th minute with a cool finish to the far post. Norwich
were unhappy with the goal being allowed, thinking that they deserved a free
kick, but the goal stood and Norwich were in need of a goal. Everton continued
to press, but it was still a very evenly matched game with both sides still
getting forward and pressing towards the goal. In the 76th minute,
Holt produced the crucial goal for his side. Grant Holt had been prowling
around inside the box as Everton struggled to handle some good movement and
foot skills from Wildbraham.
For the remainder of the match, the two sides managed to
hold each other off and keep the score line at a 2-2 draw despite some close
chances for the home side and their guests. With the point, Everton were able
to remain in 7th place with 44 points. Norwich were able to reach
the crucial 40 point mark which means that they will be participating in the
Barclay’s Premier League next season and are safely out of reach of the hands
of relegation.
West Bromwich Albion
3-0 Blackburn Rovers: Blackburn arrived at the Hawthorns in need of at
least a point as they find themselves caught up in the tight relegation battle
at the bottom of the table. They currently sit just inside the red zone with
only a point and goal difference separating them from safety. Albion are just a
point away from their 40 point marker and are safe of the relegation zone and
chasing higher league positioning.
An unfortunate own goal from Olsson early on in the first
half got the match off to the wrong start for a visiting side who are looking to
escape the relegation zone. By the 8th minute, West Bromwich Albion
were in the lead and Blackburn were in desperate need of a goal and at least a
point from the fixture. They nearly managed to do so but Albion’s goalie Ben
Foster made some fantastic back-to-back saves to deny the visitors.Blackburn
were able to hold off the Albion for the remainder of the first half and the
halftime score remained 1-0 to the home side.
In the second half, the visitors conceded two. The first one
came in the 69th minute from Fortune off of an assist by Brunt.
Blackburn had an even deeper hole to dig themselves out of, but at the end of
the day they were outplayed by West Bromwich Albion and conceded another goal
in the 85th minute. Substitute Anthony Modeste saw red in the 90th
minute after being on the pitch for approximately ten minutes. Despite
dominating the match overall in terms of possession, the visitors only had four
corner kicks to the eight of West Brom and five shots on target to the seven of
the home side.
Blackburn were unable to produce the win they desperately
needed while West Brom were happy to take all three points from the fixture.
The Albion sit in 13th place level on points with Swansea City and
ahead only by goal difference. Blackburn are level on points with Queens Park
Rangers and Wigan Athletic, who sit on either side of them in the table in 17th
and 18th place. Blackburn will need to capitalize on their midweek
fixture against Liverpool if they want to have any hopes of staying up next
season.
Stoke City 2-1
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Wolves’ woes continue as they drop yet another
three points at Stoke City and sit at the rock bottom spot in the Barclay’s
Premier League table a daunting six points behind the 19th and 20th
place teams. Stoke fell to Wigan Athletic last weekend after a great
performance and stunning goal for Peter Crouch the week before against
Manchester City.
Wolves were the first ones to get onto the score sheet when
Knightly and Edwards connected to get Knightly’s third goal this season. Unfortunately
for the visitors, their Swiss cheese defense crumbled and the home side were level
by the 37th minute after Huth was able to find the back of the net
with the help of Shawcross. At half time the teams were level 1-1.
The statistics speak in favor of Wolves, the score line says
otherwise. Wolverhampton held 55% of the overall possession and almost an equal
number of shots on target to the home side. They also earned themselves eight
corners overall but failed to convert any of them to goals. In the 61st
minute, Peter Crouch put the nail in the coffin for Wolves with some help from
Jermaine Pennant and Stoke were able to claim all three points while Wolves
went home empty handed and remain at the bottom of the table with only 22
points.
Sunday April 8,
2012
Manchester United 2-0
QPR: Manchester United are sitting high at the top of the table now while
Manchester City are losing their grip on the top spot. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side
is proving that stamina and experience are what wins the English Premier League
marathon. Queens Park Rangers were hoping to capitalize on the poor results of
their relegation rivals on Saturday but Manchester United were not about to
drop precious points to secure them success at the other end of the table.
Things did not get off to a good start to for the visiting
side. Manchester United began their domination early in the game. By the time
Wayne Rooney was able to slam home a penalty kick in the 15th
minute, his team had already spent the majority of their time in the final
third of QPR’s half and Kenny had already made some quality saves. In the 13th
minute, Derry was caught on the wrong side of Ashley Young and conceded a
controversial penalty in addition to being sent off. It was an unfair double
whammy for the visitors, as Young was easily a yard offsides and left a
trailing foot to get the call. Rooney slammed the penalty home despite Kenny
guessing the correct side and the home side had the lead. They were still on
the attack but Kenny and his defense was able to deny United another goal in
the first half and the score line was 1-0 after the first 45 minutes.
United were off and running in the opening minutes of the second
half, working their way quickly up to the QPR goal but were broken up by the
visitor’s defense. Queens Park Rangers certainly didn’t look like a team that
was down a man. To their credit, they were able to keep the score line to 1-0
until the 68th minute when Manchester United legend Paul Scholes
scored with his famous hammer shot. QPR failed to clear a corner kick and with
some help from Rafael, the ball fell right to Scholes’ feet and he was able to
fire the shot past Kenny.
The match finished out 2-0, but Queens Park Rangers had a
strong performance despite playing for 75 minutes without their captain.
Manchester United took all three points and are now at the top of the table by
eight points. Queens Park Rangers escaped the relegation zone by a goal difference
and currently sit in 17th place with 28 points.
Arsenal 1-0
Manchester City: City failed to close the growing gap between themselves
and city rivals Manchester United at the top of the table. Meanwhile Arsenal
were able to move up to third place over their North London rivals Tottenham
Hotspur after they only managed a draw at Sunderland. A dramatic late goal from
Arteta made the difference for Arsenal as Manchester City start to lose their
grip on the title.
Arsenal were on the attack right away, forcing a hard tackle
from Toure. He was punished with a yellow card. Multiple fouls and offside
calls broke up play in the early minutes of the match, but each team was able
to find enough of a rhythm to threaten the other’s goal. Arsenal created more
chances than the visiting side, but Manchester City’s defense were able to
break up the attacks and Joe Hart was able to stay on his line. Despite close
chances from both sides, especially the Gunners, the halftime score was 0-0.
Again the home side were quick to push forward and played a
high line of pressure in the opening minutes of the second half. Thomas
Vermaelen dealt with an early effort on goal from Aguero but Manchester City were
starting to find their rhythm. Arsenal were the dominant side though, holding
64% of the possession at the end of the day and shooting on target seven times
to the two on-target efforts of the visitors. As the game went on, it looked as
though neither side would be able to break through, but Mikel Arteta would be
the hero for the London side, putting the ball in the back of the net in the 86th
minute after a long period of box-to-box action. Arteta was quick to dispossess
the Manchester City midfield and fire home a curling shot past Joe Hart to give
his side the late 1-0 lead. The controversial and entertaining Mario Balotelli
saw red in the 90th minute after he collected his second yellow card
of the game after a late foul on Sanga.
Balotelli now faces a lengthy ban after earning 22 yellow
cards and 4 reds for his immature on-field antics. At the end of the day
Arsenal kept the three points and Manchester City had to go home empty handed and
watch their hated rivals get further and further out of reach at the top of the
table. Arsenal are now two points above Tottenham in 3rd place with
Champions League football in their future. Manchester City is sitting in 2nd
place with 71 points while United are eight points clear of them in the number
one spot.
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