Manchester United 2 - 1 Manchester City
Nani 41’
Silva 65’
Rooney 78’
Review:
Manchester United managed to win the derby against City, thanks to a wonderfull goal from Rooney! Even though Manchester City played a strong football, they didn't manage to get more than one goal. Now the Red Devils are leading 8 points in front of City.
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Arsenal 2 - 0 Wolverhampton
van Persie 16’, 56’
Review:
Robin van Persie scored twice to secure Arsenal's victory over Wolves and keep them in touch with Premier League leaders Manchester United. The Dutchman sent a free-kick over and also sliced wide before scoring with a sweet volley from Cesc Fabregas' cross. Wayne Hennessey kept out Theo Walcott's shot and Richard Stearman blocked on the line from Fabregas within seconds. Walcott shot wide when he should have scored but the winger later squared for Van Persie to lash in his second.
The striker, who has now notched nine goals in five games, was in sparkling form once again and was matched by a stellar performance from midfielder Jack Wilshere. The pair were far too good for a Wolves side that have now lost 11 out of their 13 games on the road this season, and the visitors never looked likely to improve that woeful record at the Emirates.
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West Bromwich Albion 3 - 3 West Ham
Dorrans 3’ Ba 50’, 83’
Thomas 8’ Cole 58’
Reid 32’ (csc)
Review:
After a frantic Friday, awhirl with managerial appointments and new stadiums, back to the here-and-now of Premier League survival with West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United showing some of the necessary strengths but all too many of the frailties of struggling sides in a rollercoaster relegation epic in the Black Country. West Ham, looking forward to an exciting future at the Olympic Stadium from 2014, overcame a significant hurdle at the Hawthorns in their battle to preserve top-flight status as Avram Grant's men transformed an absurdly inept first-half performance into a magnificent three-goal fightback. They may still be in the bottom three but the vociferous travelling support headed back to London with renewed optimism for the fight ahead.
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Liverpool 1 - 1 Wigan
Raul Meireles 24’ Gohouri 65’
Review:
Liverpool's ambitions of staging a late charge for Champions League qualification suffered an untimely blow as bogey side Wigan ended their four-match winning run in a draw at Anfield. A fifth successive victory would have put the Reds within four points of fourth-placed Chelsea but despite dominating two-thirds of the game they failed to press home their advantage. Raul Meireles impressed once again, extending his remarkable goalscoring spree to five in his last six matches, but at the other end Jose Reina's goal was breached for the first time in 463 minutes when Steve Gohouri prodded home from close range.
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Blackpool 1 - 1 Aston Villa
Grandin 14’ Agbonlahor 10’
Review:
World Cup referee Howard Webb pointed to the penalty spot in injury time it would have been rough justice on Blackpool. But the way things have been going for Ian Holloway's side one suspected it was in the script. Thankfully it was not. For a split second, when Ashley Young collapsed under Alex Baptiste's challenge, a collective gasp hung in the seaside breeze. Not only would it have been a brave decision from Webb, given that he was in the centre circle, it would have been cruel on a Blackpool team who refuse to compromise on their principles despite a run of five straight defeats.
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Birmingham City 1 - 0 Stoke City
Žigic 90’
Review:
Stoke had a fully fit squad to pick from where as Birmingham were boosted by receiving international clearance to play Obafemi Martins. Birmingham produced the first chance of the game in just the fourth minute when Sebastian Larsson delivered a swinging cross to the back post which was met by the in-form Nikola Zigic but he couldn’t direct his header on target.
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Blackburn 0 - 0 Newcastle
Review:
Newcastle and Blackburn played out a goalless draw in a game that the Magpies dominated at Ewood Park. Rovers forward Roque Santa Cruz headed against the post after a flick-on by towering defender Chris Samba. Peter Lovenkrands went close for the Magpies, hitting the bar with a fine lob after he had been played in by the excellent Jose Enrique on the left.
Rovers keeper Paul Robinson was busy throughout, saving Leon Best's header and Fabricio Coloccini's volley. Newcastle kept faith with the same side that produced an amazing comeback against Arsenal last weekend and they started with plenty of endeavour at Ewood Park.
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Sunderland 1 - 2 Tottenham
Gyan 11’ Dawson 44’
Kranjcar 57’
Review:
Tottenham leapfrogged Chelsea and moved up to fourth in the Premier League table after coming from behind to beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. With William Gallas off the field changing his boots, Asamoah Gyan's skilful finish opened the scoring. But Spurs equalised on the stroke of half-time through Michael Dawson's thunderous header direct from a corner. Niko Kranjcar had an excellent game and the Croat gave the visitors all three points with a terrific volley. The north Londoners can now travel to Milan for their Champions League last-16 tie in good spirits, with manager Harry Redknapp hoping to add Rafael van der Vaart to his squad should the flying Dutchman recover from the injury that kept him out of this game.
