Premiership table - 02:02:12
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Man City	23	11	0	0	34	6	6	3	3	26	13	41	54
2	Man Utd	23	9	1	2	35	14	8	2	1	21	7	35	54
3	Tottenham	23	9	2	1	24	10	6	2	3	20	15	19	49
4	Chelsea	23	7	1	3	24	16	5	5	2	17	10	15	42
5	Newcastle	23	6	3	2	16	11	5	3	4	18	19	4	39
6	Liverpool	23	4	7	0	14	8	6	1	5	14	13	7	38
7	Arsenal	23	7	2	2	17	8	4	2	6	22	25	6	37
8	Sunderland	23	5	4	3	19	11	3	2	6	13	13	8	30
9	Stoke	23	4	4	3	15	13	4	2	6	8	22	-12	30
10	Everton	23	4	3	5	12	13	4	2	5	11	13	-3	29
11	Norwich	23	4	4	3	17	15	3	4	5	15	24	-7	29
12	Aston Villa	23	3	4	5	14	16	3	6	2	14	15	-3	28
13	Fulham	23	5	4	3	22	18	1	5	5	7	14	-3	27
14	Swansea	23	5	6	1	16	7	1	3	7	8	21	-4	27
15	West Brom	23	2	2	7	8	14	5	3	4	15	18	-9	26
16	QPR	23	2	4	5	12	18	3	2	7	12	21	-15	21
17	Bolton	23	2	2	8	14	25	4	0	7	14	22	-19	20
18	Blackburn	23	3	0	9	16	24	1	6	4	17	23	-14	18
19	Wolves	23	3	2	7	16	23	1	4	6	9	20	-18	18
20	Wigan	23	1	4	6	10	21	2	2	8	10	27	-28	15

On Tuesday when what happened on the field appeared to be almost a sub-plot to what was happening off it, Manchester United were the big winners as Sir Alex Ferguson's side moved level on points with neighbours City at the Premier League summit.

While United were cruising to a 2-0 defeat over Stoke City at Old Trafford, Manchester City continued their miserable recent run against Everton by falling to an eighth defeat in their last ten matches against David Moyes' side.

Premiership Games
Tuesday 31st January 2012
19:45	Swansea	1-1	Chelsea
19:45	Tottenham	3-1	Wigan
19:45	Wolves	0-3	Liverpool
20:00	Everton	1-0	Man City
20:00	Man Utd	2-0	Stoke
Wednesday 1st February 2012
19:45	Aston Villa	2-2	QPR
20:00	Blackburn	0-2	Newcastle
20:00	Bolton	0-0	Arsenal
20:00	Fulham	1-1	West Brom
20:00	Sunderland	3-0	Norwich

Liverpool continued their good form with the easiest of 3-0 wins at Wolves, while Tottenham were similarly comfortable in seeing off Wigan 3-1 at White Hart Lane.

Premiership Games
Saturday 4th February 2012
13:00	Arsenal	v	Blackburn
15:00	Norwich	v	Bolton
15:00	QPR	v	Wolves
15:00	Stoke	v	Sunderland
15:00	West Brom	v	Swansea
15:00	Wigan	v	Everton
17:30	Man City	v	Fulham	ESPN
Sunday 5th February 2012
13:30	Newcastle	v	Aston Villa	Sky1
16:00	Chelsea	v	Man Utd	Sky1
Monday 6th February 2012
20:00	Liverpool	v	Tottenham	Sky1

Over at the Liberty Stadium few would deny Swansea deserved all three points at home to Chelsea but a last-gasp own goal from Neil Taylor ensured they had to settle for just one.

On Wednesday Arsenal had the chance to move above Liverpool into fifth, but they could not find a way past Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium as they drew 0-0.

The Gunners now find themselves down into seventh, after Newcastle climbed into fifth courtesy of their 2-0 win at third-from-bottom Blackburn Rovers.

Djibril Cisse scored on his QPR debut against Aston Villa but it wasn't enough to avoid the game ending in a draw .  Post Zamora Fulham managed to score but wern't able to stop West Brom getting a draw. />
Martin O'Neill continues lead Sunderland onwards and upwards with  a 3-0 win over Norwich allowing them to claim a top ten spot.






A nip and tuck first half at the Liberty Stadium saw both sides guilty of profligacy before Swansea forward Scott Sinclair haunted former club Chelsea five minutes before the break.

Brendan Rodgers' stylish Swans had fired a warning shot earlier in the half when Danny Graham saw his rebound cleared off the line after Gylfi Sigurdsson had been denied by Petr Cech.

It was a warning Chelsea failed to heed when after failing to fully clear a Swansea setpiece, Sinclair was allowed to hook a looping volley beyond Cech; albeit slightly fortuitously as the ball looked to have come off his shin.

Chelsea toiled to find a leveller but Swansea were compact and defended well, with frustrations boiling over five minutes from time when Ashley Cole was sent-off for a second booking after a clumsy tackle on Nathan Dyer.

Rodgers' side looked full value for the win when in injury-time Jose Bosingwa's cross was deflected past Michel Vorm off Taylor, for the most fortuitous of levellers.

Swansea Vorm, Rangel, Caulker, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Allen, Sigurdsson (Agustien 67), Dyer, Graham, Sinclair (Moore 77).
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Routledge, Monk, Lita, Richards.

Booked: Taylor, Rangel.

Goals: Sinclair 39

Chelsea Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Meireles, Romeu (Essien 65), Malouda (Lukaku 80), Sturridge, Torres, Mata.
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Cahill, Bertrand, Piazon.

Sent Off: Cole (86).

Booked: Cole, Malouda, Meireles.

Goals: Taylor og 90

Att: 20, 526

Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).



Wigan headed to White Hart Lane as the proverbial lambs to the slaughter and so it transpired in North London as Tottenham cruised to a maximum haul.

Chances were created and spurned prior to Gareth Bale's opener just shy of the half hour mark but from the moment the Welshman bagged his eighth of the campaign, there was only to be one winner.

Luka Modric was the architect as he arrowed a pass from left to right that Bale took on his chest to make space before calmly poking past Ali Al Habsi from around six yards.

Wigan's Achilles heel all season has been a powder puff defence and it flared again before half-time when Modric capitalised on Jordi Gomez's abject attempt to clear on the edge of his own box.

When the ball ricocheted into his path a smart turn and instinctive shot gave Al Habsi not a prayer.

There was precious little respite after the interval for a beleaguered Wigan as Bale underlined all his class once again as his arrow-like angled drive, after being fed by tormenter-in-chief Modric, gave Spurs a third.

Credit to Wigan for refusing to capitulate amidst an onslaught as they reduced the deficit before the end as substitute James McArthur's deflected effort deflected over Brad Friedel.

Tottenham Friedel, Walker (Sandro 75), Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Kranjcar, Modric, Parker, Bale, Adebayor (Lancaster 78), Van der Vaart (Livermore 31).
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Dawson, Rose, Pienaar.

Goals: Bale 29, Modric 34, Bale 64

Wigan Al Habsi, Stam, Boyce, Caldwell, Figueroa, Moses, Watson (Crusat 87), McCarthy, Beausejour, Gomez (McArthur 70), Di Santo (Sammon 74).
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Gohouri, Jones, Rodallega.

Booked: Crusat.

Goals: McArthur 80

Att: 35, 801

Ref: Lee Probert (Wiltshire).




Amid fevered speculation over his future this week Andy Carroll finally had something to smile about, as his first half effort at Molineux set Liverpool on course for a cruise control victory against a poor Wolves side.

Charlie Adam's wand like left peg arched a lovely ball in from the flank and having darted in front of his marker the £35million misfit produced a decent finish past Wayne Hennessey.

Wolves' response was insipid and there were few inside Molineux surprised when Craig Bellamy continued his excellent recent form with a second.

Given criminal licence to travel with the ball from the halfway line the Welshman sauntered to the edge of the box before embarrassing Hennessey with a daisy-cutter that was tepid at best.

It would get no better for Wolves as Dirk Kuyt wrapped up an excellent night's work when he exchanged passes with the impressive Adam, before firing the final nail in the home side's coffin.

Wolves Hennessey, Foley, Berra, Johnson, Ward, Kightly (Hunt 62), Frimpong (Milijas 84), Jonsson (Ebanks-Blake 62), Jarvis, Edwards, Fletcher.
Subs Not Used: De Vries, Elokobi, Stearman, Doyle.

Booked: Edwards.

Liverpool Reina, Johnson, Agger (Carragher 81), Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Spearing, Adam (Shelvey 81), Bellamy, Kuyt (Aurelio 90), Carroll.
Subs Not Used: Doni, Coates, Downing, Kelly.

Booked: Adam, Bellamy, Agger.

Goals: Carroll 52, Bellamy 61, Kuyt 78

Att: 27, 447

Ref: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).




Sir Alex may have sold Darron Gibson in the winter window but there seems to be no animosity between the pair as the Irishman's goal for Everton saw off Manchester City at Goodison Park.

Remarkable scenes ensued five minutes before half-time when a male supporter someone negotiated his way past stewards and onto the field before handcuffing himself to Joe Hart's post.

Players from both sides tried to placate him, as did police officers, before he was finally prised from Manchester City's goalmouth after a lengthy delay.

An evenly contested opening half saw Everton striker Denis Stracqualuris have a header cleared off the line, while at the other end Samir Nasri smashed a sumptuous drive from range off the underside of Tim Howard's bar.

When Everton's goal arrived there was an inevitability about the goalscorer as Gibson etched his name onto the scoresheet.

The midfielder still had a lot to do when Landon Donovan laid the ball into his path from Leighton Baines' cross but his shot was true, as it flew past Joe Hart via a deflection off Gareth Barry.

Everton Howard, Neville, Hibbert, Heitinga, Baines, Donovan, Gibson, Fellaini, Drenthe (Baxter 78), Cahill, Stracqualursi (Vellios 88).
Subs Not Used: Mucha, Gueye, Barkley, Forshaw, Duffy.

Booked: Drenthe.

Goals: Gibson 60

Man City Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott (Kolarov 68), Clichy, Barry (De Jong 86), Milner (Johnson 62), Silva, Aguero, Nasri, Dzeko.
Subs Not Used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Savic, Razak.

Booked: Kompany, Lescott.

Att: 29, 856

Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).



A pair of penalties at Old Trafford saw Manchester United deservedly beat Stoke City to draw level with Manchester City on 54 points from 23 games.

United's breakthrough goal, which arrived seven minutes before half-time, came courtesy of the spot after Park Ji-sung's surge into Stoke's box was curtailed by Jermaine Pennant's lunge from behind.

In Wayne Rooney's continued absence through injury Javier Hernandez kept his nerve from 12 yards to calmly slot past Thomas Sorensen.

After the interval Jonathan Walters demonstrated Pennant was not the only forward on show who hasn't quite mastered the art of tackling as his tug on Antonio Valencia gave United their second penalty of the evening.

This time Dimitar Berbatov was handed responsibility to the same end as his effort from the spot just about beat Sorensen, who guessed the right way to no avail.

Man Utd Amos, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Park, Berbatov, Hernandez (Pogba 72).
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Giggs, Welbeck, Fabio Da Silva, Rafael Da Silva, Will Keane.

Booked: Scholes.

Goals: Hernandez pen 38 , Berbatov pen 53

Stoke Sorensen, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Pennant, Palacios (Delap 75), Whitehead, Walters (Fuller 75), Jones, Crouch (Jerome 57).
Subs Not Used: Begovic, Whelan, Etherington, Woodgate.

Booked: Wilkinson, Walters, Huth.

Att: 74, 719

Ref: Mike Jones (Cheshire).






Aston Villa came from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw with Queens Park Rangers at Villa Park.

A brilliant debut goal from Cisse put QPR ahead before they doubled their lead thanks to a shocking own goal from Stephen Warnock as he headed past his own keeper Shay Given.

But Villa battled back and Darren Bent was soon on target as he converted Alan Hutton's cross.

Then with just ten minutes left Charles N'Zogbia was on hand to volley home and give Alex McLeish's men a share of the spoils.

Aston Villa Given, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland, Petrov, Clark (Bannan 70), N'Zogbia, Keane, Bent.
Subs Not Used: Guzan, Heskey, Weimann, Lichaj, Baker, Gardner.

Goals: Bent 45, N'Zogbia 79.

QPR Kenny, Young, Ferdinand, Onuoha, Taiwo, Wright-Phillips, Barton, Derry (Ephraim 73), Mackie, Hulse (Smith 54), Cisse (Macheda 81).
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Hill, Hall, Balanta.

Booked: Young.

Goals: Cisse 12, Warnock og 29

Att: 32, 063

Ref: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire).




Newcastle climbed into fifth courtesy of their 2-0 win at third-from-bottom Blackburn Rovers.

Newcastle took the lead early on as Scott Dann deflected Ryan Taylor's shot past his own keeper.

Blackburn battled and were unlucky not to find an equaliser, but it was Newcastle who sealed the win as Gabriel Obertan broke in injury time and fired home with great aplomb.

Blackburn Robinson, Lowe, Dann, Givet, Olsson, Hoilett, Dunn (Rochina 78), Nzonzi, Pedersen, Petrovic (Formica 66), Modeste.
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Slew, Vukcevic, Hanley, Henley.

Booked: Lowe.

Newcastle Krul, Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Santon, Ben Arfa (Perch 46), Guthrie, Ryan Taylor (Obertan 89), Gutierrez, Best (Lovenkrands 77), Shola Ameobi.
Subs Not Used: Elliot, Abeid, Gosling, Ferguson.

Booked: Ryan Taylor, Williamson.

Goals: Dann og 12 , Obertan 90.

Att: 20, 817

Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).




Arsenal were condemned to a damaging goalless draw at Bolton after Owen Coyle's men produced a battling display to clinch an important point.

Chances came thick and fast throughout the Reebok Stadium encounter, with the visitors seeing most of the opportunities in a frenetic first half.

Prolific captain Robin van Persie saw a header cleared off the line, while Theo Walcott was denied by goalkeeper Adam Bogdan when clean through.

Van Persie came close again after the break, curling a classy shot towards goal from the edge of the box only to ping it off the crossbar.

But the clash ended with the Trotters in control after a hard-working performance and they saw a late penalty appeal turned down in the dying minutes after Wojciech Szczesny appeared to bring down Mark Davies in the box.

Bolton Bogdan, Steinsson, Knight, Wheater, Ricketts, Eagles, Reo-Coker (Pratley 89), Muamba, Petrov (Sanli 81), Mark Davies, Ngog (Kevin Davies 74).
Subs Not Used: Jaaskelainen, Klasnic, Boyata, Riley.

Booked: Steinsson.

Arsenal Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Ramsey (Rosicky 80), Song, Walcott, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Henry 69), van Persie.
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Park, Arshavin, Benayoun, Coquelin.

Booked: Vermaelen.

Att: 24, 371

Ref: Chris Foy (Merseyside).




Somen Tchoyi climbed off the bench to equalise Clint Dempsey's opener to earn West Brom a point at Fulham.

After a goalless first period, Dempsey put the Cottagers ahead on 69 minutes following an incisive pass by Bryan Ruiz.

But Tchoyi equalised with eight minutes to play after James Morrison's flick on to earn the Baggies a share of the spoils.

Heading into the match, Martin Jol ran with a line-up missing a recognised striker as new signing Pavel Pogrebnyak was not registered in time to feature and Andrew Johnson was left out on the 18-man squad and Bobby Zamora had switched to QPR on deadline day.

Reported Fulham target Peter Odemwingie was recalled to the West Brom starting line-up and was the only change made to the side that faced Stoke in the league 11 days ago.

It was a strong-looking line-up named by Baggies boss Roy Hodgson as he went in search of victory at his old stomping ground.

The match marked the former Fulham manager's first return to Craven Cottage after a highly successful spell that saw the west Londoners reach the 2010 Europa League final.

Hodgson received a standing ovation from the home support as the he made his way to the dugout, although there was no room for sentiment on the field.

Fulham Stockdale, Kelly, Hangeland, Senderos, John Arne Riise, Duff, Murphy, Sidwell, Davies, Dempsey, Ruiz.
Subs Not Used: Etheridge, Baird, Kasami, Gecov, Hughes, Frei, Trotta.

Booked: Murphy.

Goals: Dempsey 69.

West Brom Foster, Tamas, McAuley, Olsson, Shorey, Cox (Tchoyi 77), Morrison (Reid 88), Mulumbu, Dorrans, Fortune, Odemwingie.
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Allan, Dawson, Mantom, Thorne.

Goals: Tchoyi 82.

Att: 25, 689

Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).




Sunderland made it a very good night for the North East as they are now up to eighth following a comfortable 3-0 win over Norwich City at the Stadium of Light.

Two goals in the space of ten minutes before half-time set up the win for Martin O'Neill's men and Frazier Campbell was the hero for the home side.

After scoring on his return at the weekend, Campbell made it two in two with a wonderful volley on 20 minutes.

He then turned creator just minutes later when he crossed into the box for Stephane Sessegnon to head home.

Just after half-time and the win was sealed as Phil Bardsley saw his pull back diverted into the net by Daniel Ayala to compound a miserable evening for Paul Lambert's side.

Sunderland Mignolet, Bardsley, Turner, O'Shea, Richardson (Bridge 82), Larsson, Gardner, Colback, McClean, Sessegnon (Meyler 82), Campbell (Ji 74).
Subs Not Used: Westwood, Wickham, Elmohamady, Lynch.

Booked: Gardner.

Goals: Campbell 21, Sessegnon 28, Ayala og 54 .

Norwich Ruddy, Martin, Ayala, Whitbread, Naughton, Johnson (Bennett 62), Crofts, Surman, Hoolahan (Pilkington 62), Holt (Wilbraham 78), Morison.
Subs Not Used: Steer, Jackson, Fox, Ward.

Booked: Naughton.

Att: 34, 476

Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).

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