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Premiership matchday 34 ~ Review

last updated Tuesday 15th April 2014, 10:37 AM


Premier League matchday 34 saw Liverpool move closer to the title, Chelsea continue to snap at their heels and Arsenal and Everton swapping places. Fulham and Cardiff City both picked up vital victories in the battle for Premier League survival as Everton moved into the top four after beating bottom club Sunderland.

Premier League MatchDay 34
Saturday 12th April 2014
DateK.O.HomeRes.AwayRefereeVenue Att. TV
12:04 15:07C. Palace(0) 1-0 (0)Aston VillaHoward WebbSelhurst Park 25,564
12:04 15:07Fulham(1) 1-0 (0)NorwichMike Dean Craven Cottage25,026
12:04 15:07Southampton(0) 0-1 (0)CardiffJonathan MossSt Mary's Stadium 30,526
12:04 15:07Stoke(1) 1-0 (0)NewcastleMike Jones Britannia Stadium27,400
12:04 15:07Sunderland(0) 0-1 (0) Everton Lee ProbertStadium of Light 38,445
12:04 15:07West Brom(3) 3-1 (3)TottenhamNeil SwarbrickThe Hawthorns 25,398
Sunday 13th April 2014
DateK.O.HomeRes.AwayRefereeVenue Att. TV
13:04 13:37Liverpool(2) 3-2 (0)Man CityMark ClattenburgAnfield 44,601Sky1
13:04 16:07Swansea(0) 0-1 (0) Chelsea Phil DowdLiberty Stadium20,761 Sky1
West Brom blew a three-goal lead in a six-goal thriller at home to Tottenham, while Crystal Palace climbed up to 12th in the table after edging Aston Villa.

Newcastle United, meanwhile, continue to see their season peter out to a tame conclusion after suffering defeat at in-form Stoke City.

Crystal Palace inched their way towards Premier League safety after Jason Puncheon handed them a 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Villa suffered their fourth straight defeat with a toothless display and slipped to four points off the bottom three. They are now without an away win since New Year's Day.

Premiership table - after 13th April
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1 Liverpool 34 15 1 1 51 15 9 4 4 42 27 51 77
2 Chelsea 34 15 2 0 42 9 8 4 5 24 15 42 75
3 Man City 32 14 0 1 52 10 8 4 5 34 22 54 70
4 Everton 33 12 3 1 32 13 7 6 4 21 18 22 66
5 Arsenal 33 10 5 1 29 10 9 2 6 27 30 16 64
6 Tottenham 34 9 3 5 24 22 9 3 5 24 26 0 60
7 Man Utd 33 7 3 6 22 19 10 3 4 34 19 18 57
8 Southampton 34 7 5 5 29 22 6 4 7 21 23 5 48
9 Newcastle 34 7 3 7 19 26 7 1 9 19 26 -14 46
10 Stoke 34 9 6 2 23 15 2 4 11 15 33 -10 43
11 West Ham 33 6 3 8 23 25 4 4 8 14 19 -7 37
12 C. Palace 33 8 2 7 15 18 3 2 11 9 21 -15 37
13 Hull 33 7 4 6 20 16 3 2 11 14 24 -6 36
14 Aston Villa 33 5 2 10 19 28 4 5 7 16 21 -14 34
15 Swansea 34 5 5 7 29 24 3 4 10 16 26 -5 33
16 West Brom 33 3 9 5 22 25 3 6 7 18 26 -11 33
17 Norwich 34 6 6 5 15 13 2 2 13 11 40 -27 32
18 Fulham 34 5 1 11 20 34 4 2 11 14 40 -40 30
19 Cardiff 34 5 4 8 18 32 2 4 11 12 32 -34 29
20 Sunderland 32 3 3 10 14 24 3 4 9 15 30 -25 25
Hugo Rodallega's first-half goal was enough to give Fulham a crucial 1-0 victory in their pursuit of Premier League survival and condemn Neil Adams to defeat in his first game as Norwich manager. Norwich, who have now lost their past seven away fixtures, arguably had the better chances in a pulsating contest at Craven Cottage but the visitors lacked incision in the final third.

Cardiff City gave their chances of survival in the Premier League a boost with a 1-0 victory over Southampton at St Mary's. Juan Cala's goal in the 65th minute proved to be enough for Cardiff to pick up a win which leaves the Welsh side second from bottom in the table, with 29 points from 34 matches.

A fortuitous Erik Pieters goal was enough to give Stoke City a win over Newcastle United, their fourth-straight Premier League home win. Both sides had glorious chances to break the deadlock in the first-half, with Stoke's Peter Crouch heading against the post whilst Dan Gosling scooped over a great chance from six yards out. Newcastle had chances to equalise through Mike Williamson's close range shot and Vurnon Anita's late header, but Stoke's defence remained firm throughout.

Wes Brown's 75th-minute own goal gave Everton a 1-0 victory at Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday. The Toffees' seventh win in a row moves them up to fourth in the table, two points above Arsenal with five games to go in the race for a Champions League qualifying berth. They have now amassed their highest points tally - 66 to date - in a single Premier League campaign, surpassing the 65-mark they reached in 2007-08. In contrast, the Black Cats remain bottom with no wins in eight games. They are now seven points from safety, although they do have two games in hand on the three clubs immediately above them.

Premier League MatchDay 35
Saturday 19th April 2014
DateK.O.HomeAwayRefereeVenue TV
19:0412:45TottenhamFulhamLee Probert White Hart LaneBT1
19:0415:00Aston VillaSouthamptonLee Mason Villa Park
19:0415:00CardiffStokeHoward Webb Cardiff City Stadium
19:0415:00NewcastleSwanseaChris Foy St James' Park
19:0415:00West HamC. PalaceMartin Atkinson Upton Park
19:0417:30Chelsea SunderlandMike Dean Stamford BridgeSky1
Sunday 20th April 2014
DateK.O.HomeAwayRefereeVenue TV
20:0412:00NorwichLiverpoolAndre Marriner Carrow RoadSky1
20:0414:05HullArsenalJonathan Moss KC. StadiumSky1
20:0416:10EvertonMan UtdMark Clattenburg Goodison ParkSky1
Monday 21st April 2014
DateK.O.HomeAwayRefereeVenue TV
21:0420:00Man CityWest BromPhil Dowd Etihad StadiumSky1
Christian Eriksen's late stunner earned a point for Tottenham as they came from three goals down to draw 3-3 in a thriller at West Brom. Spurs did little to alleviate the pressure on rookie boss Tim Sherwood with some woeful defending allowing the home side to race into a three-goal lead without having to do a great deal.

Liverpool took a giant stride towards the Premier League title with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester City on an emotionally-charged afternoon at Anfield. Philippe Coutinho scored the winning goal after City had fought back from 2-0 down with a superb first-time finish from the edge of the box 12 minutes from time after a blunder from Vincent Kompany as the Reds secured their 10th win in succession.

Demba Ba proved to be Chelsea's goalscoring hero for the second time in a week after his second-half finish secured a 1-0 win over 10-man Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. Just a few days after poaching the goal which sent Chelsea into the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, the striker's crucial effort in south Wales kept Jose Mourinho's side firmly in the title race after Liverpool had beaten Manchester City 3-2 earlier in the day.


Premier League ~ Saturday 12th April March 2014


Premier League ~ 15:07 Crystal Palace (0) 1-0 (0) Aston Villa

Crystal Palace beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Selhurst Park to leapfrog their opponents in the table and continue their excellent form under Tony Pulis.

Palace edged ahead in the 76th minute when Yannick Bolasie's cross fell to Jason Puncheon and he turned Ryan Bertrand before firing a low shot in off the post.

Crystal Palace: Speroni (7); Mariappa (6), Dann (6), Delaney (6), Ward (6); Jedinak (6), Dikgacoi; Puncheon (7), Ledley, Bolasie (8); Jerome (6)
Subs not used: Hennessey, Gabbidon, Parr, Ince, Gayle, Murray, Chamakh (7)

Scorers: Puncheon 76

Aston Villa: Guzan(6); Lowton (6), Vlaar(C)(6), Baker (6), Bertrand (6); Clark (6), Westwood (6), Delph (5), El Ahmadi (6); Agbonlahor (5), Holt (5)
Subs not used: Steer, Bennett, Sylla, Albrighton, Tonev, Bowery, Weimann (6)

Booked: Baker, Bertrand

Referee: Howard Webb

Attendance: 25,564

Premier League ~ 15:07 Fulham (1) 1-0 (0) Norwich City

Hugo Rodallega scored the winner for the second week in a row as Fulham closed the gap on Norwich City to two points following a nerve-jangling 1-0 win at Craven Cottage. Fulham grabbed the only goal five minutes before half-time when Steve Sidwell flicked on Lewis Holtby's free-kick from the left and Rodallega swept the ball home from close range.

Norwich, under Neil Adams for the first time following the sacking of Chris Hughton, now face a daunting final four games against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in their fight for survival.

Fulham: Stockdale, Riether, Heitinga, Hangeland, Amorebieta, Kasami (Dejagah 57), Sidwell, Diarra (Kvist Jorgensen 85), Richardson, Holtby (Parker 69), Rodallega.
Subs not used: Stekelenburg, Riise, Roberts, Bent.

Booked: Kasami.

Scorers: Rodallega 40.

Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin, Turner, Olsson, Johnson, Fer (Hoolahan 68), Howson (Murphy 79), Snodgrass, van Wolfswinkel (Hooper 60), Redmond.
Subs not used: Bunn, Garrido, Ryan Bennett, Tettey.

Booked: Fer, Whittaker, Snodgrass.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).

Premier League ~ 15:07 Southampton (0) 0-1 (0) Cardiff

Juan Cala fired home an unlikely winner as Cardiff picked up a surprise 1-0 victory at Southampton to sit just three points from safety.

Cardiff made the breakthrough 20 minutes into the second half when Cala, who had remained forward following a set-piece, steadied himself on the edge of the box before drilling a left-footed shot beyond Paulo Gazzaniga.

Southampton: Gazzaniga 6; Chambers 6.5 (Clyne 67, 6), Fonte 6, Lovren 6, Shaw 6.5; S Davis 6, Schneiderlin 7, Cork 6 (Do Prado 78); Ramírez 6.5 (Gallagher 66, 6), Lambert 6.5, Lallana 6.5.
Subs not used: Cropper, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Hooiveld.

Cardiff City: Marshall 7.5; Theophile 5.5, Caulker 6, Cala 7, Fabio 5.5 (McNaughton 78); Kim 6, Mutch 6, Medel 5.5 (Zaha 61, 6), Whittingham 6, Daehli 6.5 (Bellamy 87); Campbell 6.
Subs not used: Lewis, Turner, Eikrem, Gunnarsson.

Scorers: Cala 65

Referee: Jon Moss 6.5

Attendance: 30,526

Premier League ~ 15:07 Stoke City (1) 1-0 (0) Newcastle United

Stoke cemented their position in the top half of the table after Erik Pieters' fluky first-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Newcastle at the Britannia Stadium. In a largely uneventful encounter, Stoke scored the only goal three minutes before half-time when Pieters' attempted cross from the left flew over Tim Krul and bounced in off the post.

Boos from the travelling fans greeted the final whistle, with a 'Pardew Out' banner displayed. Newcastle have taken just 13 points from 16 games since beating nine-man Stoke at St James' Park on Boxing Day.

Stoke (4-4-1-1): Begovic 6; Cameron 6.5, Shawcross 7, Wilson 6, Pieters 6.5; Ireland 5.5 (Adam 66, 6) Nzonzi 7, Whelan 6, Arnautovic 7.5; Odemwingie 6.5 (Walters 87, 6); Crouch 7
Subs not used: Sorensen, Muniesa, Palacios, Guidetti, Wilkinson

Scorers: Pieters 42

Booked: Pieters

Newcastle (3-5-2): Krul 5; S Taylor 6 (Yanga-Mbiwa 61, 5.5) Williamson 6, Coloccini 6; Anita 5.5, Gosling 6.5 (Ben Arfa 73, 5), Tiote 6, Gouffran 5, Dummett 7; Sh Ameobi 6, Cisse 5.5 (Armstrong 73, 6)
Subs not used: Elliot, Haidara, Bigirimana, de Jong

Booked: Coloccini

Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)

Attendance: 27, 400

Premier League ~ 15:07 Sunderland (0) 0-1 (0) Everton 

Everton climbed above Arsenal in the quest for UEFA Champions League football after Wes Brown's own goal condemned Sunderland to a 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light.

The hosts fell behind in luckless circumstances with 15 minutes to go when Gerard Deulofeu got down the right and the on-loan winger's cross was turned into his own net by Brown, whose side are seven points from safety with six games to play.

Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone 6; Bardsley 5.5, O'Shea 6, Brown 6, Alonso 5; Cattermole 6; Johnson 6.5, Ki 6.5, Colback 5 (Larsson 70, 6), Borini 6; Wickham 4.5.
Subs not used: Ustari, Gardner, Giaccherini, Cuellar, Vergini, Scocco.

Booked: Johnson, Bardsley, Larsson.

Everton (4-4-1-1): Howard 6.5; Coleman 7, Stones 7.5, Distin 7, Baines 6.5; Osman 6 (Barkley 58, 6.5), McCarthy 6.5, Barry 6.5, Deulofeu 8 (McGeady 78); Naismith 6.5; Lukaku 5.5.
Subs not used: Robles, Hibbert, Mirallas, Garbutt, Alcaraz.

Scorers: Brown og 75

Referee: Lee Probert 6.

Booked: Coleman.

Attendance: 38,445.

Premier League ~ 15:07 West Bromwich Albion (3) 3-3 (1) Tottenham Hotspur

West Brom fluffed a golden chance to edge closer to survival after Tottenham came from three goals down to snatch a 3-3 draw at The Hawthorns.

The home side were in front after just 28 seconds when Morgan Amalfitano's low cross from the right was pushed out by Hugo Lloris straight to Matej Vydra, who fired home. The lead was doubled just three minutes later following another cross from the right as Steven Reid's centre was helped on to the far post where Chris Brunt was waiting to volley past Lloris.

Spurs wasted the chance to pull a goal back on 16 minutes when Emmanuel Adebayor's weak penalty was easily saved by Ben Foster after Amalfitano had nudged Danny Rose over. Pepe Mel's side notched a third goal just past the half-hour mark when Younes Kaboul's misguided header allowed Stephane Sessegnon a run on goal and, after he had held off Vlad Chiriches, he finished beyond Lloris.

The visitors did get a goal back on 34 minutes thanks to a slice of good fortune as Kyle Naughton's low cross deflected off Jonas Olsson and looped over goalkeeper Foster. Spurs scored again with 20 minutes to go when Aaron Lennon found space on the right and his chipped cross to the six-yard box was headed home by Harry Kane.

And, in the fourth minute of added time, Spurs pinched a point when the ball found its way to Christian Eriksen in the box and he smashed a fine shot into the top corner.

West Brom (4-2-3-1): Foster 6.5, Reid 6, Olsson 6 (Dawson 77, 6), McAuley 6, Ridgewell 6; Mulumbu 6.5, Dorrans 6.5; Amalfitano 7.5, Sessegnon 7 (Yacob 58, 6), Brunt 7; Vydra 7 (Berahino 72, 6.5)
Subs not used: Myhill, Anichebe, Jones, Thievy.

Booked: Reid, Dorrans, Foster, Ridgewell.

Scorers: Vydra 1, Brunt 4, Sessegnon 31.

Spurs (4-4-2): Lloris 6, Naughton 6.5, Kaboul 5.5, Chiriches 5 (Fryers 46, 6), Rose 5 (Townsend 85), Lennon 6.5, Paulinho 6.5, Chadli 6 (Sigurdsson 78, 6), Eriksen 7, Adebayor 5.5, Kane 6.5.
Subs not used: Friedel, Bentaleb, Veljkovic, Winks.

Booked: Rose, Eriksen.

Scorers: Olsson og 34, Kane 70, Eriksen 90.

Referee: Neil Swarbrick 5.5


Premier League ~ Sunday 13th April March 2014


Premier League ~ 13:37 Liverpool (2) 3-2 (0) Man City ~ SkySports 1    

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard cried tears of joy as his team moved a step closer to a first league title in 24 years with a thrilling 3-2 win over championship rivals Manchester City at Anfield. Philippe Coutinho's strike 12 minutes from time settled a pulsating encounter, which went all the hosts' way in the first half with goals from Raheem Sterling and Martin Skrtel.

However, City showed their resolve to bring it back to 2-2 in the second half as David Silva and a Glen Johnson own goal pulled them level, but a sliced clearance from City captain Vincent Kompany fell kindly to Coutinho to rifle in the decisive fifth goal of the match.

Liverpool: Mignolet 7, Johnson 7.5, Skrtel 8.5, Sakho 7, Flanagan 8, Henderson 7, Gerrard 9, Coutinho 9.5 (Moses 89), Sterling 9 (Lucas 90), Suarez 6, Sturridge 5.5 (Allen 66, 7).
Subs not used: Brad Jones, Toure, Agger, Aspas.

Scorers: Sterling 6, Skrtel 26, Coutinho 78.

Booked: Suarez.

Sent off: Henderson (90).

Man City: Hart 7.5, Zabaleta 7, Kompany 5.5, Demichelis 7, Clichy 5, Toure 5 (Javi Garcia 19, 6), Fernandinho 7, Jesus Navas 4.5 (Milner 50, 7), Silva 6.5, Nasri 6.5, Dzeko 4.5 (Aguero 68, 6).
Subs not used: Lescott, Negredo, Kolarov, Pantilimon.

Scorers: Silva 57, Johnson og 63.

Booked: Javi Garcia, Fernandinho, Zabaleta.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).

Attendance: 44,601.

Premier League ~ 16:07 Swansea (0) 0-1 (0) Chelsea ~ SkySports 1  

Demba Ba struck another priceless goal following his Champions League heroics to keep Chelsea firmly in the Premier League title race after a 1-0 win at Swansea.

Ba's 68th-minute strike finally broke the 10-man Swans' resistance for a victory that leaves Chelsea two points behind leaders Liverpool with four games remaining. And it followed the winner he struck against Paris St Germain five days ago that booked the Blues' place in this season's Champions League semi-finals.

Chelsea, who visit Anfield in a fortnight's time, were made to sweat and toil by the Swans following Chico Flores' 17th-minute sending off. Flores was dismissed on receipt of a second yellow card - his cautions came just over two minutes apart - but Swansea scrapped for everything before Ba struck and left Garry Monk's men just three points above the relegation zone.

Swansea (4-2-3-1): Vorm 5; Rangel 6.5, Flores 3, Williams 6.5, Davies 6; Britton 6.5 (De Guzman 86), Shelvey 6.5; Dyer 6 (Ngog 73, 6), Hernandez 6 (Amat 19, 6), Routledge 7; Bony 6.5.
Subs not used: Taylor, Tremmel, Fulton, Emnes.

Booked: Flores 14

Sent off: Flores 16

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech 6.5; Ivanovic 6.5, Cahill 6.5, Terry 6.5, Azpilicueta 6; Ramires 5.5 (Oscar 45, 6), Matic 7.5; Salah 5.5, Willian 6, Schurrle 6 (Eto'o 46, 4.5); Ba 6.5 (Mikel 79)
Subs not used: Cole, Luiz, Torres, Oscar, Mikel, Schwarzer.

Booked: Schurrle, Mikel.

Scorers: Ba.

Referee: Phil Dowd 7

Attendance: 20,761

Source Sky/ Sporting Life/ESPN
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