Premiership festive football round-up

THE festive football period has bought its usual share of drama, controversy and spectacular action that is simply loved by passionate football fans in the Barclays Premiership.  Despite the best efforts of the weather, most of the matches went ahead, which saw the tussle at both ends of the table tighten up even more.

SOLE: Danny Wellbeck's goal beat Bolton on December 18

The final weekend before Christmas saw matches blighted and wiped out by the Big Freeze.  Just three out of the scheduled ten matches beat the weather, with Chelsea v Manchester United being the biggest casualty.  On Saturday December 18, Sunderland went up into sixth spot, with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.  Danny Wellbeck scored the solitary goal and Craig Gordon pulled off several spectacular stop to deny the visitors.  Steve Kean’s first match in charge of Blackburn Rovers saw his side struggle to a 1-1 draw with bottom side West Ham United.  Despite Junior Stanislas late equaliser, the Hammers remained bottom of the league on Christmas Day, meaning that with regular patterns, they were written off by most experts and bookmakers.  Two nights later, Manchester City missed their chance to go top, slipping to a 2-1 loss against Everton.  The Toffees came to Eastlands with an excellent record in previous years and goals from Tim Cahill and Leighton Baines in the first twenty minutes helped them to a fourth successive victory over Mancini’s men.  Victor Anichebe and Kolo Toure both saw red in the second half.

HOLY: Fabregas looks to the skies, as he fires Arsenal to glory

Blackpool v Liverpool and Everton v Birmingham City fell by the wayside on Boxing Day, but the pick of the fixtures was Arsenal v Chelsea on Monday December 27.  Chelsea’s worst run in the Premiership for a decade continued at the Emirates, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side producing a limp attacking display and diabolical defending display, to lose 3-1 to their bitter London rivals.  West Ham climbed off the bottom of the table, producing a stirring 3-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day.  Carlton Cole scored twice, his first brace ever in the Premier League.  That loss dropped Fulham into the relegation zone, replacing Wigan Athletic, who won the other six pointer clash with Wolves, 2-1 at Molineux.  Two horrible defensive misjudgements in the first ten minutes allowed Manchester City a comfortable 3-1 success at Newcastle United, while Tottenham kept the pressure up; Rafael van der Vaart’s double saw Spurs winning 2-1 at Aston Villa, despite playing for more than an hour with ten men after Jermain Defoe saw red for elbowing James Collins.

LATE: Lee Bowyer rescued a last-gasp draw for Birmingham

Two nights later, a controversial equaliser from Lee Bowyer earnt Birmingham City a priceless 1-1 draw with league leaders Manchester United.  Bowyer could have been penalised for a possible offside call, whilst Nikola Zigic looked to have handled and fouled Nemanja Vidic in the build-up to the goal.  Manchester City went level on points with United, hammering lifeless Aston Villa 4-0; Mario Balotelli hitting a hat-trick, although two of these strikes came through penalties.  The pressure intensified on Roy Hodgson after Liverpool crashed to a shock 1-0 loss at home to bottom side Wolves.  Despite earning another hard-fought point, 1-1 at home to Everton, West Ham sank to the bottom of the table again.  Arsenal missed the chance to hang onto the coattails of the two Manchester sides, drawing 2-2 at Wigan Athletic.  Arsene Wenger’s decision to make eight changes from the Chelsea game badly backfired on him.  Blackpool’s first match in sixteen days ended with a rewarding 2-0 triumph at Sunderland and lifting the incredible Tangerines into the top eight.

TIME: Joe Cole bought Roy Hodgson some much-needed time

On New Year’s weekend, Joe Cole scored his first Premiership goal for Liverpool, as they showed real fight and charisma to overcome Bolton 2-1 at Anfield, and lift some of the major pressure that had been placed on the beleaguered Hodgson.  Manchester United won 2-1 at West Brom to stay top; but lucky to survive not going down to ten men at the Hawthorns, when Gary Neville chopped down Graham Dorrans when the Scot was in on goal.  Wayne Rooney scored the opener, his first goal in open play this season.  For Chelsea, their struggles continued, after they were held to a 3-3 draw by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.  Villa led 2-1 with eight minutes to go, but late strikes from Didier Drogba and Captain John Terry looked to have got the West London side’s season back on track.  However, a stoppage time equaliser from Ciaran Clark rescued a point for the Villains, and left Ancelotti fuming.  A solitary Adam Johnson goal beat brave Blackpool at the City of Manchester stadium and another strike from the outstanding Gareth Bale helped Tottenham to a 1-0 triumph over Fulham.  The main winners of the festive season were West Ham, who beat Wolves 2-0 at Upton Park to climb out of the bottom three for the first time this season.

So, there is a brief lookback at the festive action and there’s more this midweek.  Who will win the league and who will go down?  At this stage, no-one knows.