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CONTRIBUTIONS
BY DAVID BLOOD
The Gunners misfire while Spurs fire in 9 against the Latics David Blood Sunday, November 22, 2009
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It was another predictable weekend in the Premiership, with Chelsea and Man United winning, another draw for Man City, this time against Liverpool, a couple of low scoring matches, while the Match of the Day on Saturday had to be the 3-3 draw between Hull and West Ham.
While on Sunday you could have got a 1000/1 against Tottenham scoring 9 goals against Wigan.
The early match on Saturday saw Manchester City travel to Anfield with Mark Hughes’ men on a mission to prove that they were more worthy than the Reds of a top 4 slot, behind Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal, but it was never going to be easy with Gerrard back in the line-up and making most of the play on the left. After a goalless first half it was a City mistake that allowed Gerrard to float in the free kick for Martin Skrtel to knock home in the 50th minute.
Adebayor equalized for City with a well taken header in the 69th minute from a curling Bellamy corner and then they took the lead in the 76th minute after Tevez – who came on after an hour – and Wright-Philips combined beautifully to give Stephen Ireland an easy goal.
Just when it looked as if City would add to Rafa’s misery with a victory a poor cross from Ngog was deflected by a static City defence into the path of Benayoun who scored the equalizer. Mark Hughes must have been livid! Final score Liverpool 2 – 2 Manchester City.
Chelsea were at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues fielding a makeshift line-up missing Lampard, Drogba, Deco and Ballack, so Wolves must have thought that they were in with a chance of at least a share of the points, but it was all one-way-traffic as first Malouda sent in a cracker from 20 meters, then two from Michael Essien in the 12th and 22nd minutes sealed Wolves fate. Mick McCarthy could hardly watch as his pathetic defence crumbled in the face of the Blues onslaught, with Joe Cole adding the 4th in the 2nd half. Final score Chelsea 4 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After the match Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for his big Ghanaian mid fielder, calling him one of the best in world football.
Manchester United had an easy match against Everton at Old Trafford. It was a nothing match until Darren Fletcher fired in a volley in the 35th minute to open the score. Valencia’s header looked innocuous enough but Fletcher struck it beautifully on the rise into the top corner of the net.
It was Ryan Giggs who marshaled the troops for United and when he spotted Carrick on the edge of the area the Welshman’s pin point pass was slammed into the net to double the lead.
Another United veteran Paul Scholes laid on the 3rd for Valencia to tap home in the 76th minute. Final Score Manchester United 3 – 0 Everton.
Lee Bowyer scored the only goal in a rather dull affair at St Andrews as Birmingham City managed a surprising 1-0 victory over Fulham, to end their 5 match unbeaten run.
Martin O’Neil took his Villa squad to Turf Moor expecting to come away with three points but Steven Caldwell gave them an early shock with a goal in the 9th minute. History was not to be ignored as Villa have not won at Turf Moor in their 22 encounters and it looked like being repeated as the boys from Villa Park couldn’t fin the net. Only an inspired substitution which brought Emil Heskey into the attack saved the day as he equalized in the 86th minute to salvage a point for Villa.
Final score Burnley 1 – 1 Aston Villa.
Shock of the day came at the Stadium of Light as the Black Cats lined up against the high flying Gunners, who have scored 36 goals this season. The Arsenal scoring machine was blocked at every opportunity.
Arsenal were without the star goal scorer Robin van Persie, who is undergoing radical treatment for an ankle injury, but with their depth of talent they should have found at least a draw to counter Darren Bent’s 71st minute goal which ended a 14 match undefeated streak.
Final score Sunderland 1 – 0 Arsenal.
That loss effectively wipes out the Gunners’ one match advantage over Manchester United.
The Match-of-the-Day on Saturday saw relegation contenders Hull City and West Ham United do battle at the KC Stadium. The visitors looked like running away with it when they scored in the 5th and 11th minutes through Guillermo Franco and Jack Collison.
Hull had a stroke of luck when Carlton Cole deflected a Jimmy Bullard free kick into his net and then Kamil Zayatte equalised with a powerful volley in the 44th minute after which Jimmy Bullard made no mistake from the penalty spot to take the Tigers in, a goal to the good at halftime.
Hull were reduced to 10 men early in the 2nd half when Mendy was given his marching orders. Gianfranco Zola’s Hammers could not take advantage of the extra man as Hull held on gamely, but it was Da Costa who scored the equalizer in the 69th minute to give both teams a share of the spoils. Final score Hull City 3 – 3 West Ham United.
With Sam Allerdyce booked in for heart surgery Blackburn Rovers headed off to Bolton hoping to be=ring home 3 points for their manager. David Dunn scored the Blackburn goal in the 32nd minute after Bolton had rocked their crossbar less than a minute earlier.
The match was sealed when Jaaskelainen failed to communicate with Ricketts and the defender turned the ball into his empty net, with the goalkeeper almost 20 meters out of place. Final score Bolton Wanderers 0 – 2 Blackburn Rovers.
At the Britannia Stadium Stoke City entertained bottom of the log Portsmouth and Pompey were dealt an early blow when their England goalkeeper David James was injured in the warm up, so it was young Jamie Ashdown who had to step up. Portsmouth missed an early opportunity when Kevin-Prince Boateng duffed a penalty in the 8thminute. Both sides missed plenty of chances but it was Ricardo Fuller who eventually found the Pompey net in the 74th minute and that is how it stayed. Final score Stoke 1 – 0 Portsmouth
If you had offered me a 1000/1 on Tottenham Hotspur scoring 9 goals against Wigan, I would have laughed at you but Harry’s Hotshots have a habit of doing the absurd. No not a Hat-trick, but 5 goals from Jermaine Dafoe, with goals from Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar, completed the rout. Only a lone goal from Paul Sharner with a hint of the “Terry Henry” prevented and complete whitewash. Well done Spurs!
That win lifts them into 4th spot on the table and does wonders for their goal difference. Final score Tottenham Hotspur 9 – 1 Wigan Athletic.
While on Sunday you could have got a 1000/1 against Tottenham scoring 9 goals against Wigan.
The early match on Saturday saw Manchester City travel to Anfield with Mark Hughes’ men on a mission to prove that they were more worthy than the Reds of a top 4 slot, behind Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal, but it was never going to be easy with Gerrard back in the line-up and making most of the play on the left. After a goalless first half it was a City mistake that allowed Gerrard to float in the free kick for Martin Skrtel to knock home in the 50th minute.
Adebayor equalized for City with a well taken header in the 69th minute from a curling Bellamy corner and then they took the lead in the 76th minute after Tevez – who came on after an hour – and Wright-Philips combined beautifully to give Stephen Ireland an easy goal.
Just when it looked as if City would add to Rafa’s misery with a victory a poor cross from Ngog was deflected by a static City defence into the path of Benayoun who scored the equalizer. Mark Hughes must have been livid! Final score Liverpool 2 – 2 Manchester City.
Chelsea were at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues fielding a makeshift line-up missing Lampard, Drogba, Deco and Ballack, so Wolves must have thought that they were in with a chance of at least a share of the points, but it was all one-way-traffic as first Malouda sent in a cracker from 20 meters, then two from Michael Essien in the 12th and 22nd minutes sealed Wolves fate. Mick McCarthy could hardly watch as his pathetic defence crumbled in the face of the Blues onslaught, with Joe Cole adding the 4th in the 2nd half. Final score Chelsea 4 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After the match Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was full of praise for his big Ghanaian mid fielder, calling him one of the best in world football.
Manchester United had an easy match against Everton at Old Trafford. It was a nothing match until Darren Fletcher fired in a volley in the 35th minute to open the score. Valencia’s header looked innocuous enough but Fletcher struck it beautifully on the rise into the top corner of the net.
It was Ryan Giggs who marshaled the troops for United and when he spotted Carrick on the edge of the area the Welshman’s pin point pass was slammed into the net to double the lead.
Another United veteran Paul Scholes laid on the 3rd for Valencia to tap home in the 76th minute. Final Score Manchester United 3 – 0 Everton.
Lee Bowyer scored the only goal in a rather dull affair at St Andrews as Birmingham City managed a surprising 1-0 victory over Fulham, to end their 5 match unbeaten run.
Martin O’Neil took his Villa squad to Turf Moor expecting to come away with three points but Steven Caldwell gave them an early shock with a goal in the 9th minute. History was not to be ignored as Villa have not won at Turf Moor in their 22 encounters and it looked like being repeated as the boys from Villa Park couldn’t fin the net. Only an inspired substitution which brought Emil Heskey into the attack saved the day as he equalized in the 86th minute to salvage a point for Villa.
Final score Burnley 1 – 1 Aston Villa.
Shock of the day came at the Stadium of Light as the Black Cats lined up against the high flying Gunners, who have scored 36 goals this season. The Arsenal scoring machine was blocked at every opportunity.
Arsenal were without the star goal scorer Robin van Persie, who is undergoing radical treatment for an ankle injury, but with their depth of talent they should have found at least a draw to counter Darren Bent’s 71st minute goal which ended a 14 match undefeated streak.
Final score Sunderland 1 – 0 Arsenal.
That loss effectively wipes out the Gunners’ one match advantage over Manchester United.
The Match-of-the-Day on Saturday saw relegation contenders Hull City and West Ham United do battle at the KC Stadium. The visitors looked like running away with it when they scored in the 5th and 11th minutes through Guillermo Franco and Jack Collison.
Hull had a stroke of luck when Carlton Cole deflected a Jimmy Bullard free kick into his net and then Kamil Zayatte equalised with a powerful volley in the 44th minute after which Jimmy Bullard made no mistake from the penalty spot to take the Tigers in, a goal to the good at halftime.
Hull were reduced to 10 men early in the 2nd half when Mendy was given his marching orders. Gianfranco Zola’s Hammers could not take advantage of the extra man as Hull held on gamely, but it was Da Costa who scored the equalizer in the 69th minute to give both teams a share of the spoils. Final score Hull City 3 – 3 West Ham United.
With Sam Allerdyce booked in for heart surgery Blackburn Rovers headed off to Bolton hoping to be=ring home 3 points for their manager. David Dunn scored the Blackburn goal in the 32nd minute after Bolton had rocked their crossbar less than a minute earlier.
The match was sealed when Jaaskelainen failed to communicate with Ricketts and the defender turned the ball into his empty net, with the goalkeeper almost 20 meters out of place. Final score Bolton Wanderers 0 – 2 Blackburn Rovers.
At the Britannia Stadium Stoke City entertained bottom of the log Portsmouth and Pompey were dealt an early blow when their England goalkeeper David James was injured in the warm up, so it was young Jamie Ashdown who had to step up. Portsmouth missed an early opportunity when Kevin-Prince Boateng duffed a penalty in the 8thminute. Both sides missed plenty of chances but it was Ricardo Fuller who eventually found the Pompey net in the 74th minute and that is how it stayed. Final score Stoke 1 – 0 Portsmouth
If you had offered me a 1000/1 on Tottenham Hotspur scoring 9 goals against Wigan, I would have laughed at you but Harry’s Hotshots have a habit of doing the absurd. No not a Hat-trick, but 5 goals from Jermaine Dafoe, with goals from Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar, completed the rout. Only a lone goal from Paul Sharner with a hint of the “Terry Henry” prevented and complete whitewash. Well done Spurs!
That win lifts them into 4th spot on the table and does wonders for their goal difference. Final score Tottenham Hotspur 9 – 1 Wigan Athletic.
And you write under which byline?
So I got one result wrong! and by the way the "Goon Show" was one of the best in its day!
Was it predictable that the Goons would lose to Spuraland? Great goal Darren!!!
Was it predictable that Tottenham would hammer 9 (NINE!) past woeful Wigan?
Was it predictable that this weekend would produce the highest scoring game EVER in the Premiership? 10 goals!
Was it predictable that one game would produce 9 (NINE!) second half goals? Another record!
Was it predictable that a player would score 5 (FIVE) in the second half? A unique achievement!
Was it predictable that Spurs would make the FRONT page of both The Times AND The Independent?
Was it predictable that David Blood (WHO?) would relegate a 9-1 sensation to his 18th and last paragraph?
Perhaps it WAS predictable that such a well informed (!) journalist couldn't get "Jermaine Dafoe" or "Terry Henry" right or write a grammatical sentence.
Perhaps that misnomer was a clue that he's a closet Goon with a grudge?