The Barclays Premiership’s action on the weekend of the 25th and 26th September will go down as one of the most surprising rounds of action in Premier League history. None of the established big three won and Liverpool v Sunderland provided us with another controversial goal to talk about.
Saturday 25th September: Arsenal 2-3 West Brom
West Brom put in a resilient and commitment performance to stun a very lacklustre and error-prone Arsenal at the Emirates. The game might well have put the final coffin in the Gunners career for the under-fire Manuel Almunia, whose nightmare afternoon began when he hacked down Peter Odemwingie in the penalty area. At this stage, Almunia redeemed himself by saving comfortably a tame spot kick from Chris Brunt. Arsenal fell apart though in the second half, as Roberto di Matteo’s side charged into the top six in the Premiership. The inspired Odemwingie game them the lead, with a tap-in at the near post, before Gonzalo Jara was fed through by Brunt, and hit a soft error that Almunia spilt through his grasp. Former Arsenal trainee Jerome Thomas made it three, after Almunia went walkabouts in his penalty area again. Although his defenders had a dismal day, Frank Spencer would have been better in goal for the home team! Samir Nasri woke up to score two late goals and set-up a grandstand finish, but West Brom held on for a thoroughly deserved victory, their first away at Arsenal for twenty-nine years.
Saturday 25th September: Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
Chelsea’s 100% record came to a shuddering halt at Eastlands, as Manchester City recorded their third successive Premiership victory over the defending champions. In a tight and tense encounter with few chances, the game was settled by a fine solo effort from City captain Carlos Tevez.
Sunday 26th September: Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Manchester United
Manchester United’s iffy away start continued, as they failed to capitalise on the defeats of Chelsea and Arsenal. They fell behind at an ever-improving Bolton Wanderers to a header from Zat Knight. Nani equalised, but Owen Coyle’s side continued to press forward and regained their lead, when Darren Fletcher deflected a Martin Petrov shot past a helpless Edwin Van der Sar. It took substitute Michael Owen to rescue a point for a frustrated United’s side, flicking in Nani’s well-executed free-kick.
Saturday 25th September: Liverpool 2-2 Sunderland
A thrilling match at Anfield ended with honours even, though Sunderland will feel that they were robbed of three points. The controversy happened on ten minutes, when Michael Turner rolled the ball back to goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. Referee Stuart Attwell, a controversial figure at the best of times claimed that Turner had taken the free-kick, so Fernando Torres ran onto the loose ball and squared it for Dirk Kuyt to finish. Understandably, Steve Bruce called the goal ‘a joke.’ Darren Bent turned the game around, with two goals either side of half-time. The first came from a penalty, after a blatant handball from Christian Poulsen. The second came from an outstanding cross by Jordan Henderson. Steven Gerrard levelled the scores, heading in from Torres deflected cross. Gerrard was lucky not to see red soon afterwards, after he deliberately elbowed Danny Wellbeck in the face. Liverpool can count themselves lucky to even get a draw out of a very winnable fixture.
Sunday 26th September: Wolves 1-2 Aston Villa
Gerard Houiller’s first game as manager of Aston Villa ended with victory over Wolves in a hotly-contested Midlands derby at Molineux. Villa went infront, when the impressive Marc Albrighton sent in a tasty cross that was nodded in by Stewart Downing. Wolves dominated after the restart, and got on level terms, when Matt Jarvis cross managed to evade all the Villa backline and beat Brad Friedel. The visitor’s winner came in the last ten minutes, when Emile Heskey, making his first Premiership start in six months powered a header past the despairing Marcus Hahnemann to earn the points for Houillier.
Saturday 25th September: West Ham United 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
At the sixth attempt of asking, West Ham achieved their first Premiership win of the season, beating Tottenham in a captivating London derby at Upton Park. Frederic Piquionne won the match for the Hammers in the 29th minute, steering in Scott Parker’s corner. Tottenham showed their general inconsistency so far this season, failing to muster any clear-cut chances and actually, had it not been for a couple of smart stops by Carlo Cudicini, West Ham could have won by a far greater margin.
Saturday 25th September: Blackpool 1-2 Blackburn Rovers
Another derby and another dramatic finish, as Blackburn won their first match since the opening day of the season. The visitors went infront, when Blackpool captain Charlie Adam got his wires badly crossed with keeper Matt Gilks. It was a brilliant header, just a shame that it was in the wrong end. Substitute Matt Phillips, making his maiden Premier League appearance rifled in a low drive with just nine minutes left to play and it looked like Ian Holloway’s side had earned another precious point. This was denied by Brett Emerton’s dramatic injury-time strike, the Australian’s first goal for the club in two years.
Sunday 26th September: Newcastle United 1-2 Stoke City
A powerful performance from ex-Sunderland man Kenwyne Jones steered Stoke City to a deserved victory at St. James’s Park over an inconsistent Newcastle United side. A lifeless first half came to life, when Robert Hutch fouled Alan Smith in the penalty area, and the spot kick was struck home casually by Kevin Nolan. Stoke came alive after the restart and Jones headed the away side level, after Huth became a nuisance in the other penalty area. Despite losing Ricardo Fuller to a shoulder injury, Stoke grew stronger as the game wore on, and snatched a deserved winner, when James Perch headed into his own net with just four minutes to go.
Saturday 25th September: Fulham 0-0 Everton
Everton ended the weekend on bottom of the Premier League and the only club in England’s top flight to still be looking for their first win, after earning a valuable point at draw specialists Fulham. In a game of few chances, Mikel Arteta came closest in the first half, but was denied by the ever-improving Mark Schwarzer, who seems to have put the speculation about his future behind him.
Saturday 25th September: Birmingham City 0-0 Wigan Athletic
In a match when both sides were clearly lacking a cutting edge, a 0-0 scoreline was inevitable between Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic. The referee was the busiest person in the ground all afternoon and sent off Craig Gardner late on, for scything down Franco di Santo. The result extended Birmingham’s unbeaten home run to nineteen games, equalling a full year.
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