Javier Hernandez, whose two goals helped Manchester United to a 3-2 win over Aston Villa
Aston Villa 2-3 Man United
It was a familiar story for Man United, as they had to come back from two goals to beat Aston Villa at Villa Park. An Andreas Weimann double had given Villa a deserved 2-0 lead, but Javier Hernandez sparked a typical United comeback, coming off the bench at half time to score a debatable hat-trick. He took the match ball home, even though his second goal appeared to be a Ron Vlaar own goal, but he again pushes for his place in the United starting 11.
United remain top, crucially 2 points ahead of their neighbours Man City and 3 ahead of Chelsea. Villa can feel heartened as their young team have shown much improvement. Yet, they are only 3 points off the Drop Zone in 17th.
Arsenal 3-3 Fulham
Mikel Arteta missed a penalty with literally the last kick of the game to give both Arsenal and Fulham a point at The Emirates. Fulham had to fight back from 2-0 down after goals from Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, with Dimitar Berbatov being the star of the show. He scored two and set up Alex Kacaniklic’s header, but Giroud got his second to make it 3-3. Arteta then missed a 90th minute penalty, after a handball.
Arsenal could have gone up to 6th, but instead drop to 8th. They are now level on 16 points with Fulham.
Man City 2-1 Tottenham
City remain unbeaten in the league and keep pace with their neighbours, despite initially going down to a 21st minute Steven Caulker header. City could have had 2 first half penalties, before Sergio Aguero equalised in the 65th minute. The Champions then had to rely on ‘super-sub’ Edin Dzeko to secure all 3 points on the 88th minute.
City are 2nd, 1 point ahead of Chelsea but 2 points behind United. Spurs drop to 7th, 10 points off the leaders and 3 points off 4th.
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
Chelsea were unable to see off Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in John Terry’s return from his 4 match ban. Terry’s joy from his 20th minute header quickly turned to agony, as he was stretchered off following an accidental collision with Luis Suarez. Of course it was the Uruguayan who got the equaliser, nodding in from close range on the 73rd minute. However, he did appear to push the defender to create the space for the header, which angered Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo after the match.
The Blues fall to 3rd on 24 points. This is a useful point for Liverpool, but they remain in 13th on 12 points.
Everton 2-1 Sunderland
The Toffees scored twice in 3 minutes to rescue a point against struggling Sunderland. Everton went behind early to Adam Johnson’s first goal for his club (45), but the Black Cats were unable to hold on. Marouane Fellaini in the 76th minute and Nikita Jelavic in the 79th minute gave the home side all 3 points and continued their impressive run of form.
Everton remain 4th in the table on 20 points, 4 points off 3rd. Sunderland meanwhile are still struggling in 16th, 3 points off the relegation zone. Steven Fletcher’s goals have dried up, and they have scored the least in the league, 7 goals in 10 games.
Wigan 1-2 West Brom
West Brom continue to impress with a 2-1 away to Wigan at the DW Stadium. They took the lead with a James Morrison header in the 31st minute, with a Gary Caldwell own goal in the 43rd minute doubling the lead. The home side got a consolation through Arouna Kone’s 44th minute goal but spurred chances to rescue a point.
Wigan drop one place to 14th. WBA are now just out of the top 4 on goal difference, but can they maintain their push for the rest of the season?
Newcastle 0-1 West Ham
Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan and Sam Allardyce all enjoyed their return to Newcastle, winning 3 points thanks to Kevin Nolan’s 37th minute winner. Demba Ba had thought he had scored shortly after half time until Jussi Jaaskelainen somehow clawed the striker’s towering header off the line, and West Ham clung on to bring the points back to London.
The Magpies have endured a frustrating start to this campaign. They stay in 10th, 6 points off 4th. They would surely love to be in The Hammers’ position, who sit in 6th on 18 points, just 2 points off the Champions League places.
Stoke City 1-0 QPR
Charlie Adam’s first goal for Stoke in the 52nd minute of the game piled more pressure on Mark Hughes and relieved some of the pressure on Tony Pulis.
Stoke’s second win of the season means that they move up to 12th on 12 points. QPR remain winless at the bottom, 5 points from sefety. They are creating chances, but their real problem is converting these chances into goals with only Sunderland scoring less than them this season.
Southampton 1-1 Swansea
It was the same problem for Southampton again as their defence couldn’t hold on to the lead to secure all 3 points. The Saints looked set for their second win of the season when Morgan Schneiderlin scored on the 64th minute, but a smart Nathan Dyer finish on the 73rd equalised for The Swans, who had more possession, but couldn’t create an opening to heap more misery on Nigel Adkins.
This win takes Southampton off the bottom on 5 points, 4 from safety. Swansea stay in 11th on 13 points.
Reading 0-0 Norwich
Reading and Norwich played out a goalless draw at the Madejski Stadium. Chances were scarce in this real ‘last on Match of the Day’ affair, with Reading still searching for their first win of the campaign. Reading stay in the bottom 3 on 6 points, while Norwich drop a place to 11th on 11 points.
