After the leading 5 teams in the Barclays Premier League hogged their fair share of the limelight on Deadline Day, it was the turn of supporting cast to grab the headlines on Wednesday night. The biggest team in action was Arsenal, whose trip away to Bolton turned into another in a long series of disappointments with Robin van Persie denied twice by the woodwork. Newcastle took advantage of Arsenal’s slip up to jump to fifth in the League table courtesy of a 2-0 away win at Blackburn Rovers. Fulham – West Brom and Aston Villa – QPR played out contrasting draws, while Sunderland leapt into the top half of the table thanks to a comfortable 3-0 home win against Norwich City.
Bolton 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal dominated the first half and should have really been ahead if not for the wasteful nature of Arsenal’s midfield runners with Ramsey, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain all missing gilt-edged chances. Bolton had a couple of great opportunities of their own with David N’Gog denied once by Szczesny and then missing another after harrying the Arsenal back line. The second half saw Robin van Persie denied by the woodwork twice, first ghosting in to hit the near post from Sagna’s cross and then seeing a delightful chip come back off the crossbar. Arsenal were fortunate not to concede a late penalty after Mark Davies made a nuisance of himself inside the box and the referee have a couple of opportunities that he could have pointed to the spot. Arsenal though hung on to end their run of three consecutive league defeats.
Blackburn 0-2 Newcastle
Newcastle took a very fortuitous early lead in this game with Ryan Taylor’s effort from distance poked into his own net by Scott Dann, who really should have known better than to just stick out an errant leg with no real conviction. Blackburn should have been level in the first half, but Tim Krul saved David Dunn’s penalty and Gael Givet’s follow-up after Anthony Modeste appeared to have been knocked over inside the box. Blackburn had some chances, but really missed Yakubu tonight, and Newcastle made them pay for some poor finishing by grabbing a second late on through Gabriel Obertan to leapfrog into 5th place in the League table ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal.
Fulham 1-1 West Brom
Fulham’s shocking decision to sell England striker Bobby Zamora looked set to haunt them as the home side lacked a player capable of playing with his back to goal and bring his midfielders into play. Instead, it was West Brom who created the better chances, but were largely wasteful in front of goal. Bryan Ruiz and Clint Dempsey though looked keen to ensure that the home fans had something to cheer about with the Costa Rican international setting up the red hot American to put the Londoners ahead. West Brom got a deserved equalizer through substitute Simon Tchoyi late in the game to earn his side a share of the spoils.
Sunderland 3-0 Norwich
Despite making some late loan moves on Deadline Day, Sunderland stuck with the tried and tested as they played host to Norwich on Wednesday night. Former Manchester United youth product Frazier Campbell, returning to the side after a long term cruciate ligament injury, scored his second goal in as many games, producing a gorgeous strike from distance to give his side the early lead. Campbell then turned provider for Sunderland, as he whipped in a beautiful cross from the right which an on rushing Stephane Sessegnon nodded home from point blank range to finish a move he started. A Daniel Ayala own goal in the second half allowed the hosts to celebrate a big win.
Aston Villa 2-2 QPR
QPR’s deadline day transfer dealings seemed to have paid off instantly with Djibril Cisse scoring inside 15 minutes of his return to the Premier League, smashing a loose ball home with aplomb from just inside the area. His somersault celebration that followed was easily just as good as the goal! QPR were then handed a freebie as Stephen Warnock decided to plant his header into his own net under no pressure whatsover from a Taiwo cross coming in from the left wing. Villa were unfortunate to see Robbie Keane’s effort bounce off the post minutes later, but did get back in the game through an easy finish for the ever reliable Darren Bent from an Alan Hutton cross. Charles N’Zogbia drew Villa level in the second half with a gorgeous volley from Petrov’s cross to prevent Mark Hughes’ side from leaving with more than a point.
(TheSportsCampus)
