.
| Premiership Results |
|
Saturday 05 March
|
| 12.45 |
Birmingham |
1-3 |
West Brom |
| 15.00 |
Arsenal |
0-0 |
Sunderland |
| 15.00 |
Bolton |
3-2 |
Aston Villa |
| 15.00 |
Fulham |
3-2 |
Blackburn |
| 15.00 |
Newcastle |
1-2 |
Everton |
| 15.00 |
West Ham |
3-0 |
Stoke |
| 17.30 |
Man City |
1-0 |
Wigan |
|
Sunday 06th March |
| 13.30 |
Liverpool |
3-1 |
Man Utd |
| 16.00 |
Wolves |
3-3 |
Tottenham |
|
Monday 07th March |
| 20.00 |
Blackpool |
1-3 |
Chelsea |
|
Top 4 |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Bottom Half |
Relegation |
|
Fulham came out on top in a topsy-turvy encounter against Blackburn with a brace from Damien Duff and a welcome goal from Bobby Zamora.
Elsewhere Man Utd get beaten at Liverpool with a number of controversial incidents, Arsenal remain three points adrift of Manchester United, Chelsea win at Blackpool lying in fourth place with a game in hand, there was derby delight for West Brom and West Ham clambered out of the relegation zone.
Everton recovered from going a goal down to see off Newcastle, Bolton and Aston Villa also played out a thriller, with their contest producing five goals and a missed penalty.
In the Saturday evening kick-off, Manchester City kept their title dreams alive with a narrow victory over local rivals Wigan.
Fulham (1) 3 Blackburn (1) 2
Damien Duff bagged a brace and Bobby Zamora was back among the goals as Fulham edged out Blackburn.
| Premiership table |
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Man Utd |
29 |
13 |
1 |
0 |
39 |
9 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
24 |
21 |
33 |
60 |
| 2 |
Arsenal |
28 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
30 |
12 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
27 |
15 |
30 |
57 |
| 3 |
Man City |
29 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
23 |
11 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
22 |
14 |
20 |
53 |
| 4 |
Chelsea |
28 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
26 |
9 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
25 |
15 |
27 |
51 |
| 5 |
Tottenham |
28 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
19 |
10 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
22 |
24 |
7 |
48 |
| 6 |
Liverpool |
29 |
9 |
4 |
2 |
26 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
13 |
24 |
3 |
42 |
| 7 |
Bolton |
29 |
8 |
5 |
2 |
28 |
19 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
14 |
21 |
2 |
40 |
| 8 |
Sunderland |
29 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
18 |
14 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
15 |
21 |
-2 |
38 |
| 9 |
Newcastle |
29 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
32 |
22 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
19 |
3 |
36 |
| 10 |
Everton |
28 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
21 |
18 |
3 |
7 |
5 |
16 |
19 |
0 |
36 |
| 11 |
Fulham |
29 |
6 |
6 |
3 |
20 |
16 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
12 |
15 |
1 |
35 |
| 12 |
Stoke |
29 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
20 |
15 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
12 |
23 |
-6 |
34 |
| 13 |
Aston Villa |
29 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
22 |
16 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
15 |
34 |
-13 |
33 |
| 14 |
Blackburn |
29 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
17 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
20 |
38 |
-12 |
32 |
| 15 |
Blackpool |
29 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
23 |
27 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
20 |
31 |
-15 |
32 |
| 16 |
West Brom |
29 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
22 |
23 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
17 |
31 |
-15 |
32 |
| 17 |
West Ham |
29 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
20 |
21 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
16 |
28 |
-13 |
31 |
| 18 |
Birmingham |
27 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
14 |
18 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
12 |
20 |
-12 |
30 |
| 19 |
Wolves |
29 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
24 |
22 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
10 |
27 |
-15 |
29 |
| 20 |
Wigan |
29 |
3 |
6 |
6 |
16 |
30 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
11 |
20 |
-23 |
27 |
Paul Robinson will feel he should have done better for the opening goal, with a low shot from Duff allowed to ricochet in through his legs.
He was let off the hook in first-half stoppage-time when a hopeful effort from Grant Hanley took a wicked deflection off Brede Hangleand and left Mark Schwarzer wrong-footed.
The Cottagers rallied again after the interval and Duff's fizzing 20-yard drive on 59 minutes restored their advantage.
Blackburn, however, were able to respond again, with Jason Roberts keeping the ball alive for David Hoilett to thrash home an equaliser.
Fulham then pushed ahead for the final time as Hanley was penalised for holding inside the box and substitute Zamora calmly slotted home from the spot.
A disappointing day for Rovers was compounded after the final whistle when Gael Givet, who had been taken off during the game, was shown a red card for confronting the match officials.
Fulham Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Hangeland, Salcido, Duff,Etuhu, Murphy (Zamora 70), Dempsey, Johnson,Dembele (Kakuta 78).
Subs Not Used: Stockdale, Kelly, Gudjohnsen, Greening, Davies.
Booked: Etuhu, Baird.
Goals: Duff 37, 59, Zamora 89 pen.
Blackburn Robinson, Salgado (Emerton 90), Hanley, Samba,Givet (Pedersen 76), Hoilett (Rochina 82), Jermaine Jones,Nzonzi, Olsson, Roberts, Diouf.
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Kalinic, Andrews, Santa Cruz.
Booked: Roberts, Hanley, Jermaine Jones.
Goals: Hanley 45, Hoilett 65.
Att: 25,687
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Arsenal (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 0
Arsenal knew victory over Sunderland would see them pile pressure on league leaders Manchester United ahead of their trip to Liverpool on Sunday, but they could only muster a goalless draw on home soil.
| Up-Coming Premiership games |
|
Wednesday 9th March
|
| 20.00 |
Everton |
v |
Birmingham |
|
|
Saturday 19th March
|
| 12.45 |
Tottenham |
v |
West Ham |
Sky2 |
| 15.00 |
Aston Villa |
v |
Wolves |
|
| 15.00 |
Blackburn |
v |
Blackpool |
|
| 15.00 |
Man Utd |
v |
Bolton |
|
| 15.00 |
Stoke |
v |
Newcastle |
|
| 15.00 |
West Brom |
v |
Arsenal |
|
| 15.00 |
Wigan |
v |
Birmingham |
|
| 17.30 |
Everton |
v |
Fulham |
ESPN |
|
Sunday 20th March |
| 13.30 |
Sunderland |
v |
Liverpool |
Sky1 |
| 16.00 |
Chelsea |
v |
Man City |
Sky1 |
|
Top 4 |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Bottom Half |
Relegation |
|
As expected, the Gunners saw plenty of the ball at Emirates Stadium but were unable to break down stubborn resistance from the Black Cats.
Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh, who hit the woodwork, came close to forcing a breakthrough in the second half, but there was to be no way through.
Arsene Wenger's men remain very much in the title hunt.
Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy,Denilson (Chamakh 61), Wilshere, Nasri, Diaby (Rosicky 77),Arshavin, Bendtner.
Subs Not Used: Almunia, Ramsey, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs.
Booked: Wilshere, Koscielny, Nasri.
Sunderland Mignolet, Ferdinand, Mensah, Bramble, Bardsley,Henderson (Colback 87), Muntari, Malbranque (Welbeck 68),Richardson, Sessegnon, Gyan (Elmohamady 78).
Subs Not Used: Gordon, Riveros, Knott, Noble.
Booked: Richardson, Henderson, Colback.
Att: 60,081
Ref: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Birmingham (0) 1 West Brom (0) 3
Birmingham, fresh from their Carling Cup heroics last weekend, were brought crashing back down to earth by West Midlands rivals West Brom at St Andrews.
It took until two minutes into the second half for the game to burst into life, as Peter Odemwingie bundled the ball through to Youssouf Mulumbu to prod past Ben Foster.
The hosts, having been given a rude awakening, levelled inside 60 seconds as Lee Bowyer was freed down the right and his low cross to the front post was turned home by Jean Beausejour.
It was to be the Baggies who claimed local bragging rights, though, as James Morrison crashed a stinging left-footed drive past a helpless Foster and Paul Scharner squeezed a header past the Blues keeper from an acute angle to wrap up a 3-1 win.
Birmingham Foster, Carr, Johnson, Davies,Ridgewell (Murphy 79), Beausejour (Phillips 67), Fahey, Bowyer,Bentley, Jerome, Martins.
Subs Not Used: Doyle, Larsson, Zigic, Parnaby, Mutch.
Booked: Bowyer, Ridgewell, Fahey.
Goals: Beausejour 48.
West Brom Carson, Reid, Olsson, Meite, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu,Scharner, Thomas (Jara 66), Morrison (Tamas 77),Fortune (Odemwingie 46).
Subs Not Used: Myhill, Tchoyi, Vela, Cox.
Booked: Scharner.
Goals: Mulumbu 47, Morrison 58, Scharner 72.
Att: 27,013
Ref: Mike Jones (Cheshire).
Bolton (1) 3 Aston Villa (1) 2
Darren Bent was on target again for Aston Villa against top-six chasing Bolton, but was upstaged by an unlikely hero in the form of Gary Cahill.
The England striker was in the right place at the right time on 15 minutes to divert a low cross from the impressive Kyle Walker into an unguarded net.
The Trotters hit back through Villa old boy Cahill on the stroke of half-time, with the centre-half able to glance a Martin Petrov corner past Brad Friedel at the near post.
The visitors got their noses in front again on 64 minutes as Stewart Downing surged down the flank and crossed for Marc Albrighton to hit a volley into the ground and over Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Villa should have pulled further clear shortly after, but Ashley Young, who was felled inside the box by David Wheater, saw a penalty beaten away by Jaaskelainen.
He was made to pay for his failure from 12 yards on 75 minutes when Cahill, having seen an initial header saved by Friedel, lashed home from close range.
Things then got even worse for Villa as time ticked down, with Ivan Klasnic latching onto a nod down from Kevin Davies to seal an unlikely win.
Bolton Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Wheater, Cahill, Robinson,Elmander (Klasnic 67), Holden, Muamba (Mark Davies 60),Petrov (Lee 60), Kevin Davies, Sturridge.
Subs Not Used: Bogdan, Taylor, Moreno, Alonso.
Booked: Elmander, Holden, Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Wheater.
Goals: Cahill 45, 75, Klasnic 86.
Aston Villa Friedel, Walker, Clark, Baker, Luke Young,Reo-Coker, Delph (Petrov 77), Albrighton (Agbonlahor 83),Ashley Young, Downing, Bent.
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Pires, Bradley, Heskey, Herd.
Booked: Clark, Walker.
Goals: Bent 15, Albrighton 64.
Att: 22,533
Ref: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).
Newcastle (1) 1 Everton (2) 2
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew kept faith with Leon Best despite having Shola Ameobi available again for a home date with Everton and saw that decision rewarded inside 23 minutes as the in-form striker nodded home from close range after a Kevin Nolan shot squirmed through the hands of Tim Howard.
The Magpies were unable to hang onto that lead, though, and were pegged back by Leon Osman as he was left all alone inside the area to stroke past Steve Harper.
Phil Jagielka then completed the turnaround for the Toffees as he met a Leighton Baines free-kick and controlled the ball in off the underside of the crossbar.
Best thought he had snatched a point for Newcastle with 10 minutes remaining, but saw a towering header ruled out by referee Howard Webb.
Newcastle: Harper, Steven Taylor (Ferguson 65), Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique (Ameobi 43), Simpson, Tiote, Nolan, Gutierrez, Best (Kuqi 85), Lovenkrands.
Subs Not Used: Krul, Guthrie, Perch, Richardson.
Booked: Steven Taylor, Nolan.
Goals: Best 23.
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman (Coleman 85), Neville (Heitinga 52), Rodwell, Arteta, Beckford (Anichebe 69), Saha.
Subs Not Used: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Duffy, Baxter.
Booked: Hibbert, Anichebe, Heitinga, Baines.
Goals: Osman 31, Jagielka 36.
Att: 50,128
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
West Ham (2) 3 Stoke (0) 0
West Ham have their heads above water again after picking up three priceless points in a 3-0 victory over Stoke.
Demba Ba has been a revelation for the Hammers since his January arrival and he was on target again against the Potters, making the most of a defensive mix-up between Asmir Begovic and Marc Wilson to slide into the net.
Another leading figure in West Ham's recent revival has been the fit-again Thomas Hitzlsperger and it was from his free-kick that Manuel Da Costa rose highest to power a header low into the bottom corner just before the half-hour mark.
Hitzlsperger than got his name on the scoresheet with seven minutes remaining as a loose ball fell his way and he made no mistake from 10 yards out.
West Ham: Green, Tomkins, Upson, da Costa, Bridge, Noble, Parker (Gabbidon 90), Hitzlsperger, Piquionne, Cole (Obinna 86), Ba (O'Neil 82).
Subs Not Used: Boffin, Spector, Hines, Jacobsen.
Goals: Ba 21, da Costa 29, Hitzlsperger 83.
Stoke: Begovic, Wilson, Huth, Shawcross, Pugh, Pennant (Etherington 51), Delap (Jones 68), Whitehead, Whelan, Walters, Carew (Fuller 65).
Subs Not Used: Sorensen, Collins, Diao, Wilkinson.
Booked: Wilson, Shawcross, Pugh.
Att: 33,066
Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).
Man City (1) 1 Wigan (0) 0
Manchester City will also feel that they could still get their hands on the top flight crown, with a 1-0 win over Wigan keeping them within seven points of the summit.
The Blues were thankful to a goalkeeping howler from Ali Al Habsi for three points on Saturday, with the Latics keeper enduring an evening to forget.
He allowed a tame effort from the lively David Silva to slip through his grasp, through his legs and trickle over the line.
That fortuitous effort was enough for City, whose next Premier League fixture is away at Chelsea.
Man City Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Vieira, Barry, Silva (De Jong 83), Toure Yaya, Balotelli (Kolarov 68), Tevez (Dzeko 86).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Boateng, Jo, Boyata.
Booked: Richards, Barry, Kompany.
Goals: Silva 38.
Wigan Al Habsi, Lopez (Gohouri 69), Gary Caldwell, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Watson, Diame (Sammon 84), Moses (N'Zogbia 60), McCarthy, Cleverley, Rodallega.
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Thomas, Di Santo, Gomez.
Booked: Gary Caldwell.
Att: 44,864
Ref: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire).
Liverpool (2) 3 Man Utd (0) 1
Dirk Kuyt helped himself to the first hat-trick of his Liverpool career as Manchester United fell apart in a 3-1 defeat at the home of their bitter rivals.
The hard-working forward benefited from a sublime piece of skill from the superb Luis Suarez to open the scoring in the 34th minute before two defensive blunders saw the Red Devils suffer back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.
An enthralling encounter between the two teams who have each won the title on 18 occasions threatened to boil over before the interval with Jamie Carragher lucky to stay on the field after an ugly lunge on Nani, who had inadvertently set up Kuyt's second with a woeful header.
The United winger attempted to get to his feet to show referee Phil Dowd the wound before collapsing back to the turf and being stretchered off, while Maxi's lunge on Rafael went unpunished and the young full-back saw yellow for his two-footed tackle on Lucas in a manic few moments.
Any hopes United had of clawing their way back into the contest were extinguished in the 65th minute when their defensive wall parted obligingly for Suarez's free-kick and Edwin van der Sar's parry fell to Kuyt, who was the only player following up.
Kenny Dalglish was able to introduce £35million signing Andy Carroll in the 74th minute for his debut and the former Newcastle striker immediately demonstrated what he will bring to the side with his aerial prowess, while Javier Hernandez headed home a consolation in added time.
Liverpool Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel,Aurelio (Kyrgiakos 24), Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt,Meireles (Carroll 74), Maxi, Suarez (Cole 89).
Subs Not Used: Gulacsi, Ngog, Spearing, Poulsen.
Booked: Carragher, Skrtel.
Goals: Kuyt 34, 39, 65.
Man Utd Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (O'Shea 76), Smalling,Brown, Evra, Nani (Hernandez 45), Carrick,Scholes (Fletcher 83), Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Fabio Da Silva, Obertan, Gibson.
Booked: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Scholes.
Goals: Hernandez 90.
Att: 44,753
Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).
Wolves (2) 3 Tottenham (2) 3
Wolves and Tottenham played out a pulsating yet controversial 3-3 draw at Molineux as Steven Fletcher's late goal rescued a deserved point for Mick McCarthy's side.
The hosts had found themselves on the wrong end of a couple of key decisions, most notably when referee Mark Halsey disallowed a Richard Stearman header for a foul on goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes when the score was 3-2 in Tottenham's favour.
But justice was served in the 87th minute when Fletcher rose highest to direct a fantastic Matt Jarvis cross into the net.
Wolverhampton Hennessey, Foley, Stearman, Berra, Elokobi,Hammill (Fletcher 73), Henry, Ward (Ebanks-Blake 60), Milijas,Jarvis, Doyle.
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Craddock, Mouyokolo, Griffiths,
Doherty.
Goals: Doyle 20, 40 pen, Fletcher 87.
Tottenham Gomes, Hutton, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto,Pienaar (Bale 69), Jenas, Sandro, Modric (Kranjcar 84), Defoe,Pavlyuchenko (Lennon 74).
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Palacios, Crouch, Bassong.
Booked: Hutton, Dawson, Gallas.
Goals: Defoe 30, 35, Pavlyuchenko 48.
Att: 28,669
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).
Blackpool (0) 1 Chelsea (1) 3
Frank Lampard bagged a brace as Chelsea closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to nine points with a 3-1 win over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.
John Terry's header gave the visitors a half-time lead, although the hosts nearly levelled when Peter Cech parried Jason Puncheon's shot onto the post.
Chelsea were far from their best, but doubled their advantage just after the hour mark when substitute Salomon Kalou was brought down in the penalty area and Lampard took his chance from the spot.
The pair combined again moments later when Lampard collected Kalou's through-ball and the midfielder slotted home past Richard Kingson with consummate ease to make sure of the points.
Blackpool did find the back of the net when the lively Puncheon drilled a left-footed shot past Cech's outstretched arm following some poor defending by the visitors.
The win moves the Blues to within nine points of United with a game in hand on Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
Blackpool Kingson (Halstead 66), Eardley, Baptiste, Evatt, Crainey, Puncheon, Vaughan, Southern, Carney (Phillips 73), Reid (Ormerod 72), Beattie.
Subs Not Used: Taylor-Fletcher, Grandin, Varney, Kornilenko.
Goals: Puncheon 86.
Chelsea Cech, Bosingwa, David Luiz, Terry, Cole, Ramires (McEachran 74), Essien, Lampard, Zhirkov (Malouda 72), Drogba (Kalou 55), Torres.
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Anelka.
Goals: Terry 20, Lampard 62 pen, 66.
Att: 15,584
Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).