Premier League MatchDay 25
saw erstwhile League leaders Arsenal sinking to a miserable 5-1 loss at Liverpool in the
Saturday lunchtime kick-off and City held 0-0 at Norwich, Chelsea moved a point clear at the top of the pile courtesy of a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle at Stamford Bridge.
Eden Hazard's hat-trick ensured the "little horse", as Jose Mourinho described
Chelsea after victory at Manchester City, took full advantage
of
Newcastle.
Hazard, this week dubbed the best young player in the world by his manager, went a long way to living up to that billing as he swept home a fine opener from the edge of the box on 27 minutes
.
While Chelsea appear to be hitting their straps in the title race, the opposite is true of Manuel Pellegrini's City.
After Monday's damaging 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea,
Manchester City were expected to get back to their free-scoring ways at
Norwich but came up short as Chris Hughton's hosts earned a notable shut-out.
City's woes were nothing compared to those of
Arsenal, however, who shipped four goals in the opening 20 minutes against a rampant
Liverpool.
Martin Skrtel hit a brace inside the opening 10 minutes for Brendan Rodgers' men, while Raheem Sterling also claimed a brace of his own either side of Daniel Sturridge's strike as Liverpool hit five against the Gunners in the league for the first time since 1964.
Away from the title battle, the action was just as heated at the foot of the table with Swansea, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Hull each claiming key wins in their fight to beat the drop.
| Premiership table
- after 10th Feb 2014 |
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
| 1 |
Chelsea |
25 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
28 |
9 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
19 |
11 |
27 |
56 |
| 2 |
Arsenal |
25 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
22 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
26 |
20 |
22 |
55 |
| 3 |
Man City |
25 |
11 |
0 |
1 |
42 |
9 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
26 |
18 |
41 |
54 |
| 4 |
Liverpool |
25 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
38 |
9 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
25 |
21 |
33 |
50 |
| 5 |
Tottenham |
25 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
15 |
18 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
17 |
14 |
0 |
47 |
| 6 |
Everton |
25 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
23 |
10 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
14 |
16 |
11 |
45 |
| 7 |
Man Utd |
25 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
18 |
12 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
23 |
19 |
10 |
41 |
| 8 |
Newcastle |
25 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
17 |
15 |
6 |
1 |
6 |
15 |
19 |
-2 |
37 |
| 9 |
Southampton |
25 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
21 |
16 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
15 |
13 |
7 |
36 |
| 10 |
Swansea |
25 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
24 |
20 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
15 |
-3 |
27 |
| 11 |
Hull |
25 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
16 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
9 |
21 |
-5 |
27 |
| 12 |
Aston Villa |
25 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
12 |
21 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
15 |
15 |
-9 |
27 |
| 13 |
Stoke |
25 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
16 |
13 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
10 |
27 |
-14 |
26 |
| 14 |
C. Palace |
25 |
6 |
2 |
5 |
13 |
15 |
2 |
0 |
10 |
5 |
19 |
-16 |
26 |
| 15 |
West Ham |
25 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
15 |
19 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
11 |
14 |
-7 |
25 |
| 16 |
Norwich |
25 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
11 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
8 |
26 |
-18 |
25 |
| 17 |
Sunderland |
25 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
13 |
21 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
12 |
17 |
-13 |
24 |
| 18 |
West Brom |
25 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
14 |
14 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
15 |
23 |
-8 |
23 |
| 19 |
Cardiff |
25 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
12 |
18 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
7 |
26 |
-25 |
21 |
| 20 |
Fulham |
25 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
14 |
25 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
10 |
30 |
-31 |
20 |
In the evening kick-off, Garry Monk's audition to become
Swansea'ss next manager got off to the perfect start with a handsome 3-0 victory over local rivals
Cardiff in a frenetic south Wales derby.
Earlier, no fewer than three debutants were on the scoresheet as
Crystal Palace ran out 3-1 winners at home to
West Brom, who now find themselves inside the bottom three.
Tom Ince, signed from Blackpool on deadline day, marked his Eagles bow with a goal after 15 minutes, while Joe Ledley, freshly arrived from Celtic, made it two just before the half-hour.
Sam Allardyce's
West Ham set aside the controversy over their failed bid to overturn Andy Carroll's recent red card as they claimed an eye-catching 2-0 win at
Aston Villa.
Kevin Nolan scored twice for the visitors, the first coming within a minute of the restart and the second just two minutes later as West Ham moved out of the relegation zone.
Hull wrapped up a double over
Sunderland
In Saturday's other game, at St Mary's, Southamptonon and
Stoke played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
A Rickie Lambert free-kick put the Saints into the lead but Stoke pulled level seven minutes before the break through Peter Odemwingie.
The hosts immediately restored their advantage as Steven Davis fired home, but the Potters levelled a second time through Saints old boy Peter Crouch.
On Sunday, not for the first time, Tim Sherwood had reason to be grateful to Emmanuel Adebayor.
Tottenham Hotspur had laboured against an Everton team that is not easily broken and who had certainly enjoyed the better of the first half. The angst was rising in the home seats at White Hart Lane. But Adebayor turned the story upside down in the 65th minute when he found a way to make the difference.
Up to the 80th minute Fulham appeared to be inflicting defeat on Manchester United in their most difficult of seasons. To lose to the bottom-placed club would have caused the darkest of glooms to descend on David Moyes and his struggling champions. After then appearing to have rescued the three points United were crushed by a Darren Bent's equaliser in the fourth minute of added time.
|
12:45 Liverpool FC (4) 5 Arsenal (0) 1 ~ BTSports 1
|
At Anfield, Liverpool reignited their title challenge with a sensational 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal, who had begun the day in top spot and were on an eight-game unbeaten run.
Martin Skrtel got a knee to Steven Gerrard's free-kick after just 52 seconds, and the same combination helped the Reds double their lead when Skrtel flicked in a header from Gerrard's corner on 10 minutes.
Luis Suarez then volleyed against the post from another Gerrard corner, but a third goal would arrive on 16 minutes when Suarez crossed from the right for Raheem Sterling to score.
Four minutes later, Daniel Sturridge grabbed the fourth from a superb Philippe Coutinho through-ball.
Kolo Toure's pass over the top was converted by Sterling at the second time of asking for a fifth goal on 52 minutes, and Arsenal - who had Jack Wilshere back in their side - were only able to muster a penalty goal consolation from Mikel Arteta (69).
It was the first time Liverpool had hit five against the Gunners in the league since 1964 - and Brendan Rodgers' men are only six points off top spot.
Liverpoolol (4-2-3-1): Mignolet 7: Flanagan 8, Skrtel 9, Toure 8, Cissokho 7: Gerrard 8 (Ibe 76mins 6), Henderson 8: Sturridge 8 (Allen 66mins 6), Coutinho 8, Sterling 9: Suarez 9 (Aspas 86mins)
Subs not used: ones, Luis Alberto, Moses, Kelly
Scorers: Skrtel 1, Skrtel 10, Sterling 15, Sturridge 20, Sterling 52,
Booked: Henderson
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny 4: Sagna 4, Mertesacker 4, Koiscielny 4, Monreal 3 (Gibbs 61mins); Arteta 5, Wilshere 4: Oxlade-Chamberlain 6, Ozil 3 (Rosicky 60mins 6), Cazorla 3: Giroud 4 (Podolski 60mins 5)
Subs not used: Fabianski, Bendtner, Jenkinson, Gnabry
Scorers: Arteta pen 69
Booked: Henderson, Giroud, Wilshere
Attendance: 44,701
Referee: M Oliver 8
|
15:00 Aston Villa (0) 0 West Ham (0) 2 |
West Ham moved up to 15th, two points clear of the drop zone, as Kevin Nolan continued his excellent run of goals against Aston Villa in a 2-0 away victory.
Carlton Cole replaced the banned Andy Carroll for the Hammers, while Gabby Agbonlahor returned to captain Villa.
In a first half lacking any real quality, Stewart Downing missed his kick right in front of goal before Matt Jarvis drove his sliding right-footer wide of Brad Guzan's near post.
Marco Borriello replaced Cole at the break, and within three minutes, West Ham had scored twice through Nolan.
First, Downing turned Ryan Bertrand inside out before his low cross was superbly turned home thanks to some brilliant improvisation by Nolan, scoring with a backheel.
Then Nolan nipped in to steal the ball off Fabian Delph before slotting his right-footer beyond Guzan into the far corner for his fourth goal in two games.
Aston Villa:a: Guzan 6, Lowton 5 (Albrighton 56, 7), Clark 5, Baker 5, Bertrand 5 (Bennett 74, 5), Bacuna 5, Westwood 5, Delph 5, Weimann 4 (Holt 71, 6), Benteke 6, Agbonlahor 4.
Subs not used: Bennett, El Ahmadi, Helenius, Albrighton, Steer, Sylla, Holt.
West Ham: Adrian 6, Demel 6, Collins 7, Tomkins 7, McCartney 6, Noble 6, Taylor 6, Jarvis 6 (Reid 74, 6), Nolan 8 (Nocerino 68, 6), Downing 7, Carlton Cole 7 (Borriello 45, 6).
Subs not used: Armero, Reid, Collison, Jaaskelainen, Borriello, Johnson, Nocerino.
Scorers: Nolan 46, Nolan 48
Booked: Collins, Tomkins
Referee: Mike Dean
Attendance: 36,261
|
15:00 Chelsea (2) 3 Newcastle United (0) 0
|
Hazard scored all three goals as Chelsea saw off Newcastle 3-0 to go top of the table for the first time since September.
The Blues were without John Terry for the first time this season in the league due to a muscular strain. David Luiz switched to centre-back, with Frank Lampard and Oscar coming in. Luuk de Jong started for Newcastle for the first time, while Cheick Tiote was out injured.
Hazard's first goal came on 27 minutes, the Belgian getting on the end of a Branislav Ivanovic pass from the right towards the edge of the area and slotting across Tim Krul.
Soon afterwards, Petr Cech saved from Moussa Sissoko in a one-on-one situation, and Chelsea scored again on the counter-attack. Willian spread the play wide left to Hazard, who ran into the area and executed a classy one-two with Samuel Eto'o before finishing coolly.
Newcastle lost Mathieu Debuchy to injury before the break, and fell further behind when the defender's replacement Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa flattened Eto'o off the ball. Hazard stepped up and completed his treble.
Chelsea: Cech 6, Ivanovic 7, Cahill 7 Luiz 7 Azpilicueta 7, Matic 7, Lampard 7, Willian 7 (Salah 78) Oscar 7, Hazard 9 (Schurrle 84), Eto'o 8 (Ba 71).
Subs not used: Cole, Ramires, Mikel, Schwarzer.
Scorers: Hazard 27, Hazard 34, Hazard pen 63.
Newcastle: Krul 5, Debuchy 5 (Yanga-Mbiwa 40, 5) Williamson 5, Steven Taylor 5, Dummett 5, Anita 6 (Marveaux 84), Santon 5, Ben Arfa 5 (Gosling 64), Sissoko 5, Sammy Ameobi 5, De Jong 4.
Subs not used: Haidara, Elliot, Shola Ameobi, Armstrong.
Booked: Yanga-Mbiwa, Sammy Ameobi, Sissoko.
Referee: Howard Webb 6.
Attendance: 41,387.
|
15:00 Crystal Palace (2) 3 West Brom (0) 1
|
Crystal Palace leapfrogged West Brom and dumped their opponents into the relegation zone with a 3-1 victory at Selhurst Park.
Scott Dann, Tom Ince and Joe Ledley all made their Eagles debuts and the latter two were able to mark the occasions with goals.
Youssouf Mulumbu cleared Dann's header off the line early on, but Ince gave the Eagles the lead on the quarter-hour mark when he lifted the ball over Ben Foster after good work from Yannick Bolasie.
On 27 minutes, Tony Pulis' men doubled their lead as a corner whipped in by Ince was met by an unmarked Ledley
Immediately after the break, Thievy pulled a goal back for Albion with his first touch since coming on as part of a double switch by Pepe Mel. Victor Anichebe, on the left wing, played a lovely ball back to the on-loan Espanyol forward, who fired in an unstoppable finish.
But Marouane Chamakh restored Palace's two-goal advantage from the penalty spot, after referee Chris Foy adjudged that Foster had brought down the Moroccan in the area.
Crystal Palace:e: Speroni 7; Ward 6, Dann 6, Delaney 6, Ledley 7; Jedinak 7, Dikgacoi 6; Puncheon 6 (Murray 72), Ince 8, Bolasie 7 (Parr 76); Chamakh 7 (Thomas 83).
Subs not used: Gayle, Gabbidon, Hennessey, Bannan.
Scorers: Ince 15, Ledley 27, Chamakh pen 69
West Brom: Foster 6; Jones 6, McAuley 6, Dawson 6, Ridgewell (Sinclair 46); Gera 5 (Thievy 46), Yacob 5 (Berahino 71), Mulumbu 6, Brunt 5; Morrison 6; Anichebe 7.
Subs not used: Myhill, Lugano, Dorrans, Vydra.
Booked: Jones, Yacob, Brunt.
Scorers:Thievy 46.
Referee: Chris Foy 5.
Attendance: 24,501.
|
15:00 Norwich City (0) 0 Manchester City (0) 0 |
Norwich dug in to hold Manchester City to a goalless draw at Carrow Road.
James Milner, Gael Clichy and Stevan Jovetic all started for Manuel Pellegrini's side, with Edin Dzeko dropped to the bench. January signing Joseph Yobo and transfer rebel Wes Hoolahan were included in the Norwich line-up.
The Canaries thought they had gone ahead on 18 minutes. Joe Hart could only parry Leroy Fer's powerful header and the ball dropped to Gary Hooper, who poked it over the line - only to see the flag had gone up.
On 36 minutes, Jesus Navas' corner was glanced on by Martin Demichelis and Alvaro Negredo thumped a header off the face of the crossbar.
The visitors threw everything at Chris Hughton's side in the second half but could not find a way through.
Norwichch (4-2-3-1): Ruddy 7; Martin 7, Yobo 7, Bassong 7, Olsson 7; Tettey 6, Johnson 7; Pilkington 6 (Whittaker 90), Fer 8, Redmond 7; Hooper 6 (Van Wolfswinkel 68, 5).
Subs not used: Bunn, Hoolahan, Garrido, Becchio, Murphy.
Booked: Tettey, Van Wolfswinkel.
Manchester City (4-4-2): Hart 6; Zabaleta 7, Kompany 7, Demichelis 5, Clichy 6; Navas 7, Milner 7, Toure 6, Silva 6; Jovetic 5 (Dzeko 61, 5), Negredo 6 (Kolarov 77).
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Richards, Lescott, Rodwell, Lopes.
Booked: Milner.
Referee: Jon Moss 6.
Attendance: 26,832.
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15:00 Southampton (2) 2 Stoke City (2) 2 |
Southampton drew 2-2 with another mid-table side Stoke at St Mary's.
After a needless sixth-minute handball from Charlie Adam, Rickie Lambert opened the scoring as his free-kick flew across goal and over Asmir Begovic into the far corner.
Peter Odemwingie equalised on 38 minutes. A wonderful Adam pass carved Saints open and put the Nigerian through to slide the ball past the onrushing Artur Boruc.
Three minutes later, Steven Davis cut inside and whipped an excellent cross into the middle, which bounced, evaded everyone, and was then carried in by the wind.
However, Stoke levelled before the break when Peter Crouch took advantage of sloppy marking and headed in Adam's corner.
Southamptonon (4-2-3-1): Boruc 4; Clyne 5 (Chambers 80), Fonte 5, Yoshida 4, Shaw 5; Cork 5, Schneiderlin 5; S Davis 6, Lallana 5, Rodriguez 5; Lambert 6
Subs not used: K Davis, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Guly, Hooiveld, Isgrove
Scorers: Lambert 6, Davis 41
Stoke City (4-4-2): Begovic 4; Cameron 5, Shawcross 4, Muniesa 5, Pieters 5; Odemwingie 6, Adam 6 (Nzonzi 79), Whelan 5, Assiadi 5 (Guidetti 84); Walters 5, Crouch 6
Subs not used: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Shotton, Palacios, Ireland
Booked: Adam, Crouch, Odemwingie, Walters
Scorers: Odemwingie 38, Crouch 44
Referee: Craig Pawson
Attendance: 27,987
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15:00 Sunderland (0) 0 Hull City (1) 2
|
Promoted side Hull City are in 11th spot after securing a 2-0 win away to 10-man Sunderland.
England boss Roy Hodgson was watching at the Stadium of Light, with the Black Cats' Adam Johnson having netted seven in seven prior to this game - but he was unable to impress on this occasion.
In the fourth minute, Wes Brown was shown a red card - Sunderland's fifth under Gus Poyet - for hacking down Shane Long when the Hull striker was through on goal. Brown's error came from a dreadful pass from Phil Bardsley which put his team-mate in trouble.
Vito Mannone saved Tom Huddlestone's resulting free-kick and Fabio Borini was sacrificed by Poyet in order to bring on Santiago Vergini, but on 16 minutes, Hull went in front.
Huddlestone's corner was headed away from Mannone by Jozy Altidore but Jake Livermore guided the ball back into the danger zone and Long was lurking to head home from close-range.
Jelavic scored a second with a 62nd-minute header after the ball had looped up off the heels of Vergini from Maynor Figueroa's drive. The Black Cats are 17th, one point above West Brom.
Sunderlandnd (4-1-4-1): Mannone 7; Bardsley 5, Brown 3, O'Shea 6, Alonso 6; Bridcutt 6 (Wickham 75); Johnson 6, Ki 5 (Gardner 70, 6), Colback 6, Borini 5 (Vergini 11, 6); Altidore 5. Subs not used: Larsson, Giaccherini, Cattermole, Ustari.
Booked: Bridcutt.
Sent off: Brown.
Hull City (4-4-2): Harper 7; Rosenior 6 (Koren 46, 6), Davies 7, McShane 7, Figueroa 6; Elmohamady 6, Huddlestone 8, Livermore 7, Meyler 7; Long 9 (Brady 89), Jelavic 7 (Aluko 78). Subs not used: Bruce, Boyd, Sagbo, Jakupovic.
Scorers: Long 16, Jelavic 62
Booked: Rosenior, Livermore, Jelavic.
Referee: Mike Jones 5.
Attendance: 42810
|
17:30 Swansea City (0) 3 Cardiff City (0) 0 ~ SkySports1
|
Swansea won 3-0 at home to Cardiff to return to the top half of the table.
Monk, installed as Michael Laudrup's replacement in midweek, enjoyed a dream first game in charge as the introduction of Pablo Hernandez inspired a second-half surge from his Swans side.
Hernandez stabbed a through-ball for man-of-the-match Wayne Routledge to score the first two minutes after the interval, and after Craig Bellamy had hit the crossbar at the other end, Routledge crossed for Nathan Dyer to head home a second on 79 minutes.
Wilfried Bony wrapped up the win five minutes from time when he nodded in Pablo's free-kick, as Cardiff remained in 19th position, three points from safety.
Swanseaea (4-2-3-1): Vorm 6, Rangel 6, Flores 7, Williams 8, Davies 6, Britton 7, De Guzman 5 (Canas 68, 6), Emnes 7 (Hernadez 46, 7), Dyer 8 (Taylor 88), Routledge 8, Bony 7
Subs not used: Amat, Lamah, Tremmel, Ngog.
Booked: Hernandez.
Scorers: Routledge 47, Dyer 79, Bony 85
Cardiff (4-4-1-1): Marshall 6, Fabio 5 (McNaughton 69, 6), Caulker 6, Turner 5, John 6, Kim 6, Medel 7, Whittingham 6, Zaha 5 (Mutch 77), Bellamy 7, Jones 5 (Campbell 56, 6).
Subs not used: Noone, Torres Ruiz, Daehli, Lewis.
Booked: Mutch.
Referee: Andre Marriner.
Attendance: 20,402
|
13.30 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 Everton (0) 0 ~ SkySports1
|
Emmanuel Adebayor's second-half strike gave Tottenham a 1-0 Premier League home win over Everton on Sunday.
The two top-four chasers played out a goalless draw at Goodison Park in early November but on this occasion, Spurs' Togo international frontman was able to make the breakthrough when he brought down Kyle Walker's chipped free-kick in the 65th minute and fired past Tim Howard.
Everton looked to have a strong penalty claim when Spurs substitute Etienne Capoue caught Seamus Coleman in stoppage time, but referee Mark Clattenburg was unmoved.
The victory at White Hart Lane moved Tim Sherwood's side above the Toffees into fifth spot, three points behind Liverpool.
Tottenhamam 4-2-3-1: Lloris 6; Walker 6, Dawson 6, Vertonghen 7, Rose 6; Paulinho 6 (Capoue 67, 6), Bentaleb 6; Lennon 5 (Defoe 84), Dembele 6, Eriksen 5 (Townsend 58, 6); Adebayor 7
Subs not used: Friedel, Naughton, Kaboul, Soldado
Scorers: Adebayor 65
Booked: Dembele
Everton 4-2-3-1: Howard 6; Coleman 6, Jagielka 6, Distin 7, Baines 6; McCarthy 7, Barry 8; Mirallas 6, Osman 7 (McGeady 73, 5), Pienaar 6 (Barkley 63, 6); Naismith 6 (Deulofeu 72, 5)
Subs not used: Robles, Hibbert, Stones, Traore
Referee: Mark Clattenburg 7
Attendance: 35,944
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16:00 Manchester United (0) 2 Fulham (1) 2 ~ SkySports1 |
Manchester United endured more Old Trafford misery on Sunday as rock-bottom Fulham snatched a dramatic 2-2 draw.
The Cottagers took a shock lead through Steve Sidwell but were unable to keep United out as they fell under ever-increasing pressure and were beaten twice in the space of as many minutes by Robin van Persie and Michael Carrick.
Rene Meulensteen's men refused to throw in the towel, though, and grabbed a stoppage-time leveller through Darren Bent to pile more pressure on beleaguered United boss David Moyes.
Fulham took the lead on 19 minutes when Sidwell was allowed to drift untracked down the centre of the field and cushion a perfectly-weighted pass from Lewis Holtby past David de Gea and into the bottom corner.
The visitors were then faced with a United onslaught, which saw them pepper the penalty area with crosses, and their resistance was finally broken 12 minutes from time when Van Persie converted from close range.
Carrick then steered a 20-yard drive into the top corner two minutes later to turn the game on its head, but there was to be late drama as De Gea parried a Kieran Richardson shot and Bent stooped to turn the ball into an empty net.
Man Utd:d: De Gea 6; Rafael 5 (Valencia 69, 6), Smalling 6, Vidic 5, Evra 6; Fletcher 6 (Januzaj 62, 7), Carrick 7; Mata 7, Rooney 8, Young 6 (Hernandez 69, 6); Van Persie 6.
Subs not used: Ferdinand, Giggs, Lindegaard, Kagawa
Scorers: Van Persie 78, Carrick 80
Fulham: Stekelenburg 8; Riether 6, Burn 7, Heitinga 7, Riise 6; Tunnicliffe 6 (Parker 65, 7), Kvist 7 (Cole 80), Sidwell 7, Richardson 6; Holtby 7, Tankovic 7 (Bent 46, 6).
Subs not used: Hangeland, Kacaniklic, Stockdale, Duff
Scorers: Sidwell 19, Bent 90
Referee: Kevin Friend - 7
Attendance: 74,966