AN EXTRAORDINARY weekend of Premiership football took place last week, with forty-one goals in ten matches and an extraordinary performance from an under-fire striker, who found the net no fewer than five times in a game, an incredible feat.
Saturday 27th November: Manchester United 7-1 Blackburn Rovers
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| EXTRAORDINARY: Dimitar Berbatov hits the target again |
DIMITAR Berbatov became only the fourth player in Premier League history to score five goals in a game, as magnificent Manchester United crushed Blackburn Rovers. Within the opening 90 seconds, Berbatov had United infront, flicking on Wayne Rooney’s deft touch after Anderson had been stronger in a 50:50 challenge with Paul Robinson. Ji-Sung Park made it 2-0, before a terrible back pass from Pascal Chimbonda allowed Berbatov in for a simple second. His second hat-trick of the season was of the highest quality, beginning the move in his own half and finishing it off from Nani’s ball into the box. Nani made it 5-0, cutting inside Chimbonda, before lashing a shot past the helpless Robinson. Berbatov’s fourth goal was scrappy, but he couldn’t care less and then, looking for Rooney, the brilliant Bulgarian accidentally found the corner of the net for 7-0. Christopher Samba’s header powered past a frustrated Edwin Van der Sar to get a very scant consolation for a battered Blackburn side.
Saturday 27th November: Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal
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| HI-FIVE: Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin celebrate |
ARSENE Wenger will be relieved to see his Arsenal side not throwaway another advantage, beating Aston Villa 4-2 at Villa Park. Andrei Arshavin scored seven minutes before half-time, when James Collins and Luke Young showed no communication and ran into each other. Samir Nasri was given the freedom of Birmingham to strike a beautifully deflected effort past Brad Friedel to give the Gunners a worthy 2-0 lead. Villa got back into the game six minutes into the second half, when Ciaran Clark produced a cracking shot, his team’s first shot on target. The two goal buffer was restored, as Marouane Chamakh slid the ball past Friedel from Tomas Rosicky’s lovely ball. Clark then stretched to reach Richard Dunne’s header that crept over the line against the underside of the bar. Clark’s brace were his first goals for Aston Villa at senior level. Arsenal were finally handed the points, when Chamakh lobbed Friedel, which allowed teenager Jack Wiltshire to head home from close range.
Sunday 28th November: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Liverpool
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| TERRIFIC: Aaron Lennon completed Tottenham's fightback |
A TERRIFIC match in North London saw Tottenham produce another stirring fightback to beat a Liverpool side that spurned several great chances. Spurs suffered a blow early on, losing Rafael van der Vaart to a suspected hamstring injury. Martin Skrtel scored on 42 minutes, poking in a shot on the second attempt, when the home side failed to deal with a set-piece. Maxi Rodriguez and Fernando Torres then missed glaring chances at the end of the first half, and this came back to haunt Roy Hodgson’s side. David N’Gog blocked a Gareth Bale free-kick in the wall with hand, but Jermain Defoe dragged the resulting penalty horribly wide. Moments afterwards, Skrtel had scored at both ends, sticking out a leg to prevent Luka Modric’s cross reaching Peter Crouch. Tottenham won it in stoppage time, when Aaron Lennon ran past a dithering Paul Konchesky to beat Pepe Reina and move Harry Redknapp’s side into the top five. Liverpool stays in a disappointing mid-table position.
Sunday 28th November: Newcastle United 1-1 Chelsea
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| ADVANTAGE: Carroll holds off Mikel to give Toon the lead |
CHELSEA lost top spot in the Premiership, with another shoddy performance at a very snowy St. James Park. Andy Carroll scored again after only six minutes, taking full advantage of a Chelsea defense that looked in a complete mess. Both Alex and John Obi Mikel made shocking errors of judgement in the build-up. Chelsea equalised on the stroke of half-time, when Salomon Kalou controlled Florent Malouda’s pass beautifully, before hitting a shot, which took two big deflections to take it past Tim Krul.
Saturday 27th November: Wolves 3-2 Sunderland
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| EQUALISER: Bent's goal wasn't enough to prevent a loss |
WOLVES recorded a priceless victory over high-flying Sunderland, but still remain in the bottom three. After early domination from the home side, Kevin Foley fired Wolves into the lead in the second half in clinical fashion, after Craig Gordon had beaten away Matt Jarvis’s shot. Darren Bent capitalised on a poor Richard Stearman error to make it 1-1 and the Black Cats went infront soon afterwards, Danny Wellbeck guiding a header into the bottom corner past Wayne Hennessey, making his first appearance in goal for Wolves this term. A double substitution turned the game around for Mick McCarthy, Stephen Hunt tapping the ball in during a packed penalty area and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake scored a huge winner, a magnificent finish past the luckless Gordon in the 89th minute.
Saturday 27th November: West Ham United 3-1 Wigan Athletic
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| OPENER: Valon Behrami gives the Hammers the lead |
WHEN you get banners to saving our season in November, you know that your club is in serious trouble. However, West Ham responded to the call from its fans, with a brilliant win over underachieving Wigan. Valon Behrami hit a crucial opener, under pressure from two Wigan defenders and Victor Obinha found a crisp finish to put the Hammers on the way to sealing three priceless points. Mauro Boselli’s first touch in the match for Wigan was a poor one, his spot kick being simply saved by Robert Green, before Obinha found the inform Scott Parker to seal the game. A terrific goal from Tom Cleverly was no more than a scoreline response for the visitors.
Saturday 27th November: Everton 1-4 West Brom
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| COMPETITION: West Brom and Thomas were far stronger |
WEST BROM’s fortunes turned around, with a super win at a surprisingly flat Everton. Paul Scharner scored his first Baggies goal with 15 minutes gone, before Chris Brunt scored a free0kick in spectacular fashion, a shot that Tim Howard never looked like saving. Tim Cahill netted again for the Toffees, his sixth goal in nine league game, but any hope of Everton getting back into the match went when a blatant double stamp on Gonzalo Jara saw Toffees captain Mikel Arteta rightfully dismissed. Tchoyi and Youssouf Mulumbu wrapped the result up in the last quarter of an hour, though Mulumbu blotted his copybook with a late dismissal for two yellow cards, which did look a rather soft decision.
Saturday 27th November: Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Blackpool
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| EXTENDER: Varney doubled Blackpool's lead |
A CRACKING match at the Reebok saw Bolton recover from 2-0 down to rescue a draw against a hard-working Blackpool side. Tangerines defender Ian Evatt gave the visitors the lead, attacking far more than Johan Elmander at the near post and heading the ball away from Juusi Jaaskelainen. Luke Varney headed in a second, when Wanderers struggled to deal with another set-piece, but the introduction of Bulgarian Martin Petrov turned the match Bolton’s way. A fantastic strike from Petrov bought Owen Coyle’s men back into proceedings and Mark Davies finished a brilliant team goal to make it 2-2, after a quality build-up involving Elmander and Kevin Davies. A share of the spoils was a fair result.
Saturday 27th November: Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City
IT WAS a tight game at the Britannia, which Micah Richards looked to have settled in the last ten minutes, with a nice turn and a thundering finish underneath the body of Asmir Begovic. Matthew Etherington grabbed a dramatic equaliser, two minutes into time added on as Stoke fought back to deserve their draw.
Saturday 27th November: Fulham 1-1 Birmingham City
BIRMINGHAM CITY and Fulham shared the points at Craven Cottage. A terrific piece of acceleration from Aleksandar Hleb, squared the ball for Sebastian Larsson, who placed a shot past Mark Schwarzer, his first goal since last December. Clint Dempsey drew Fulham back on level terms, heading home from close range.
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