The Premier League had five games on show on Tuesday night as the fixtures went ahead under the shadow of Transfer Deadline Day. All top four sides were in action on a freezing night in England as the title race took another turn. Manchester United moved level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table after City lost 1-0 at Everton while United beat Stoke 2-0 at home. Third placed Tottenham kept up the pressure with a 3-1 triumph over Wigan while Chelsea needed a late own goal to save their skin in a 1-1 draw at Swansea. Finally, Liverpool hammered Wolves 3-0 at Molineux to leap frog Arsenal and Newcastle into 5th place.
Everton 1-0 Man City
The Toffees have been Roberto Mancini’s bogey team over the past few years, repeatedly grounding the mega-rich Mancunians at Goodison Park. The league leaders were once again made to look dishevelled by David Moyes’ side as a tight first half ensued. Denis Stracqualursi’s strike was cleared off the line by Joleon Lescott as early as the 5th minute while Samir Nasri’s long range shot against the post was the closest City came to an opener. While City did dominate possession, they lacked the usual rhythm and failed to test Tim Howard. When the clock hit the hour mark, Everton were in the lead as Darron Gibson scored his first goal for the club with an effort from the edge of the box that went past Joe Hart thanks to a deflection off Gareth Barry. The max City could muster in terms of a response were half-chances courtesy of Nasri. City continue in top spot while Everton jump to 9th place. (read more)
Man Utd 2-0 Stoke
An injury-ravaged Man United welcomed Stoke to Old Trafford looking to bounce back from their FA Cup defeat to Liverpool on Saturday. It was a tale of two penalties for the Red Devils as they collected a comfortable three points. A Paul Scholes effort aside, the home side didn’t threaten Thomas Sorensen in goal a great deal despite controlling the ball. But on the 37 minutes, Jermaine Penant tripped Park Ji-Sung inside the box to give away a penalty. Javier Hernandez stepped up to take his tally to seven goals. Eight minutes after the break, Stoke conceded another penalty as Jon Walters pulled down the marauding Antonio Valencia. Dimitar Berbatov stepped up to take the spot-kick this time and he confidently tucked the ball into the corner to make it 2-0. The win takes the Red Devils level on points with City in 2nd while Stoke stay in 8th. (read more)
Tottenham 3-1 Wigan
Tottenham got back to winning ways following last weekend’s dramatic loss to Manchester City as Wigan played the role of timid guests at White Hart Lane. Gareth Bale was the man in the spotlight once again as the Welsh wizard grabbed a brilliant brace. The first came on 29 minutes when he timed his run to perfection to collect Luka Modric’s cross-field ball before placing the ball past Ali Al-Habsi. Modric then turned scorer five minutes later as he bulleted the ball into goal from 20 yards out for 2-0. It wasn’t until the 64th minute that Spurs added a 3rd as Bale once again found the back of the net with a sublime strike from the edge of the box. James McArthur scored a consolation goal for Wigan ten minutes from time as the visitors launched a rearguard attack. But Spurs maintained their two-goal lead to move to within 5 points of the top two while Wigan remain bottom of the heap.
Swansea 1-1 Chelsea
With just one loss at the Liberty Stdaium all season, Swansea have been more than a match for anybody at home. Chelsea found that out the hard way yesterday as they lost further ground on Tottenham in 3rd. The Swans had the best of the early chances as Danny Graham twice had efforts blocked by Chelsea defenders while Gylfi Sigurdsson had a shot cleared off the line. Daniel Sturridge’s shot that flew wide was the closest Chelsea came to scoring before the home side took a deserved lead six minutes from the break. Jose Bosingwa’s weak headed clearance from a free-kick fell straight to Scott Sinclair, who gleefully lobbed the ball over the entire Chelsea defence and past Petr Cech.
Chelsea’s 2nd half dominance suffered a hiccup when Ashley Cole picked up a 2nd yellow card for a poor challenge as the Blues soldiered on in search of an equalizer. With the final whistle not too far away, Bosingwa’s attempted cross from the right took a wicked deflection off Neil Taylor to beat Michel Vorm at the near post. The cruel own goal meant that Swansea stayed in 13th while Chelsea continue in 4th. (read more)
Wolves 0-3 Liverpool
Mick McCarthy’s side fell deeper into the mire last night as Liverpool inflicted further pain on the relegation threatened club. All goals came in the 2nd half as Liverpool ran riot after the break. Andy Carroll got the opener on 52 minutes as he neatly tucked away Charlie Adam’s cross from the left. The Reds made it 2-0 in the 61st minute through Craig Bellamy, whose shot found the back of the net courtesy of some poor goal-keeping by Wayne Hennessey. The scoring was rounded off by Dirk Kuyt in the 78th minute as Liverpool temporarily jumped into 5th spot. Wolves on the other hand remain in 19th.
(TheSportsCampus)
