Global Football Today

The two main stories of the weekend are the Premier League revival of two Northeast teams in Newcastle United and Sunderland and Manchester United‘s amazing comeback against Chelsea after falling behind 3-0. It’s too early to gild the lily, to be sure, but the more nurturing management styles of Alan Pardew and Martin O’Neill have drastically changed the fortunes of two clubs overflowing with young, sensitive talent. Having put lots of money into its scouting system, Newcastle have raided a number of French, Dutch and Belgian clubs for dirt-cheap bargains with the right kind of personality. Well drilled by the mellow Pardew, Newcastle now look capable of hanging in there in the top eight till May. Having spent much more money before firing a much more combustible personality in Steve Bruce, Sunderland have seemed like an oddity for years. A mix of aging big-club veterans like Wes Brown and John O’Shea have added confidence to a posse of talented ‘almosts’ like Stephane Sessegnon and Kieran Richardson and kids like James McClean. The revival of these two sides bodes well for the league itself and raises the quality of competition for everybody.

Arsenal may have won but a big 7-1 score, but Blackburn looked like eleven pallbearers, not footballers. The bigger story was at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea had United down 3-0. Two penalties awarded to the Red Devils by the strange, egotistical Howard Webb were both kind of ho-hum compared to the two vicious fouls he turned away in the first half. There’s a lot of finger-pointing going on at Chelsea right now, but the truth is that the club has deteriorated fast and that too many past-it professionals are still around. Roman Abramovich and his current manager Andres Villas-Boas may need to think in terms of a complete overhaul.

Arsenal  7 -1  Blackburn Rovers
Robin van Persie had yet another super day at the Emirates. The Arsenal captain scored a hat-trick and led his troops by the sweat of his brow. There was a brace for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a fantastic bending long-distance strike for Mikel Arteta, and a final nail in Blackburn’s coffin with a seventh goal from Thierry Henry.

The massacre began early, in spite of subzero temperatures. A minute and 22 seconds in, as right back Francois Coquelin sprinted all the way down the right flank before setting up a jinking dribble for Theo Walcott. An unstoppable Walcott snaked this way and that before setting up RVP, who only had to tap the ball home past Paul Robinson.

Moments later, Laurent Koscielny fouled Keith Andrews hard just outside the box. Morten Gamst Pederson took the ball and fired home a brilliantly struck 30-yarder to make the score 1-1. But that goal may have been the last moment of sustained possession kept by Blackburn for the rest of the match.  Les Gooners were soon back in front when a speedy Walcott was dished a cutback after a double give-and-go by Song and Van Persie. Slaloming in at the near post, Walcott touched the ball back past a stranded Paul Robinson for Van Persie to tap home in the 38th minute. Two minutes later, after defender Martin Olsson fouled Tomas Rosicky, but the referee André Marriner chose to let play carry on and the brilliant Van Persie fired a deft reverse pass straight to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who fired into the net for his first ever league goal.

Things then went from bad to disastrous for Rovers as a frustrated Givet, already on a yellow, hacked at Van Persie only to receive his marching orders. Three minutes into the second half it was more of the same as Mikel Arteta picked off the clearance of a RVP corner, rocketing home from 18 yards out. Then, after a mind-blowingly spectacular Theo Walcott run in and around a packed box, Oxlade-Chamberlain had plenty of time and room to side foot home in the 64th minute.
 
Then one hour in Les Gooners, moving around the pitch like a perfectly tuned engine, got the ball to Coquelin who made yet another brilliant, unchallenged run down the right wing before executing a perfect cross for Van Persie to stroke home his hat-trick. And finally, as the clock ticked down, manager Arsene Wenger substituted on Thierry Henry for Oxlade-Chamberlain. When Van Persie counterattacked down the middle, the Dutch striker fired an exquisite no-look pass to Henry, who was standing alone in the box. His shot was blocked by Scott Dann, but Henry was on the spot to shoot home his first league goal since his return to the club.

Chelsea  3 -3 Manchester United
For the first time ever in their history Chelsea blew a three goal lead against a spirited, determined Manchester United team that played some of both its best and worst football of the season at Stamford Bridge. A draw causes United to fall two points behind Manchester City at the top of the league. However, considering the three goal deficit they returned from, this may yet prove to be one of the club’s must important single points gained in a long, bumpy season. Indeed, while some pundits and fans  complain that United are not showing a whole lot of finesse and general quality, they still own the desire and persistence to stay on City’s shoulder all the way till May.

Despite missing two of his best defenders, manager Andres Villas-Boas had his back line good and ratcheted up early. Referee Howard Webb was amazingly jocular about some really hard fouling by Gary Cahill on Danny Welbeck at the edge of the box and a kamikaze-style ‘tackle’--again on Danny Welbeck--both of which could have made for valid penalty calls. These two missed calls and much racially-charged chanting aimed at Rio Ferdinand over his brother’s court case with Chelsea skipper John Terry, saw United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson stomping along the sidelines while screaming at the officials.

Nine minutes before half time, with United still raging angry over Ivanovic laying out Welbeck as he was just about to shoot home a perfect Rooney pass, Chelsea scored a shock first goal off a counterattack. After a nice run by Malouda, Torres dragged Ferdinand wide of the goal mouth and Daniel Sturridge dodged his way past Evans, picked up the ball, skinned Evra and fired at goal. With goalie David de Gea pulled left to counter the shot, Jonny Evans charged forward to head the ball away, but it bounced off his temple into the net.

Thus after a fairly even first half, United, surely subject to the Gaffer’s hairdryer treatment, came out grim-faced and determined. But only a bare minute in, after a fine bit of run-and-gun by Fernando Torres on the right wing, he put in a supremely measured cross for Juan Mata to sweetly volley home to make it 2-0. Then, only four minutes later, Evans committed a silly foul on Torres. Mata took a perfect free kick, lobbing into a scrum of defenders gathered on the edge of the six-yard box for David ‘Sideshow Bob’ Luiz to head in. Poor David de Gea might have saved it with an outstretched hand, but a diving Rio Ferdinand’s shoulder got in the way and the ball glanced into the net.

With Stamford Bridge locked into a state of rock ‘n’ roll euphoria, Chelsea took their foot off the accelerator. In the 58th minute, as Patrice Evra made one of his patented head-down runs in the box, Daniel Sturridge, back in the box to help his defense, tripped over the awkward Frenchman and the referee Howard Webb blew his whistle for a penalty. Wayne Rooney stepped up and blasted the ball home to make it 3-1. 11 minutes later, Danny Welbeck, who ought to have been rewarded with two penalty calls in the first half, was awarded a spot kick after being brushed aside by Ivanovic. Rooney then made it 3-2 with his 69th minute penalty and Chelsea fell into a kind of collective panic.
 
With defensive midfielder Orel Romeu brought on for Daniel Sturridge, who was definitely Chelsea’s best player on the day, Chelsea went into defensive mode. But with Rooney covering every blade of grass, it was difficult for Cahill and Luiz to mark him zonally. When Rooney made a diagonal run into the box, Cech somehow pawed away his hard rising shot, but the evergreen Welsh wizard Ryan Giggs was waiting to  lob a beauty into the box which a newly substituted Javier Hernandez was there to head home in the 84th minute.

Last but not least, a mention has to go out to David de Gea. In spite of much criticism vis-à-vis his lack of physical power when it comes to dealing with crosses and goal mouth scrambles, the skinny Spaniard is a fantastic shot stopper. He made three jaw-droppingly brilliant saves, two in the dying moments of the match. The first, off a free kick by Juan Mata, saw him twist his body like a stick of licorice as he pushed aside an absolutely perfect shot. Seconds later, just before the final whistle blew, De Gea timed a high leap perfectly, pushing away a radar accurate Gary Cahill shot.

Liverpool  0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
After weeks of analysis and commentary, Luis Suarez's return failed to either inspire Liverpool when they were held to a draw by Spurs in a sleep-inducing Anfield snorer. His boss--King Kenny Dalglish--used the opportunity offered by the post-match press conference allowed him to re-proclaim his belief in Suarez’s ‘innocence,’ thus  further ratcheting up the state of undeclared war between the two Northwest clubs. Don't be fooled into making any more of it than an old codger trying to run his mind-games on his odd Glasgow nemesis Sir Alex Ferguson a week before Manchester United go to war with his lads again.

The Uruguayan striker wasted no time in testing F.A. officials when he came on as a second half sub, after receiving a rapturous reception having serving an eight-game suspension imposed by the Football Association for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra. Three minutes after his arrival Suarez, standing directly in front of referee Michael Oliver, put a wild studied kick into the solar plexus region of Spurs’ captain Scott Parker’s chest and presented himself before the official, giving him a look of absolute contempt upon receipt of a yellow card.

Missing on the day was Spurs’ boss Harry Redknapp, who had to have loved their disciplined back line and midfield which never faltered despite being short of its key midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart. On such a night, with Liverpool choosing to be careful instead of adventurous, chances were few and far between. Only Gareth Bale had a single clear chance in the first half  as he sprinted into the Red Scousers’ box but shot straight at the legs of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepé Reína.

Suarez also had a quick chance to return with a goal when he hoovered up a Steven Gerrard free-kick , but could only head it straight at Spurs keeper Brad Friedel. Settling for a draw satisfies neither side’s desire to finish in the top four. Surprisingly little else of note happened beyond Daniel Agger receiving a late yellow card after yet another foul to slow down Gareth Bale. A booking for Gareth Bale, too, as he was given a yellow for simulation. His second of the season.

Manchester City 3-0 Fulham
Despite a doozy of a snow storm, Manchester City spent the early part of the game energized. After grabbing two early goals, they more or less shut up shop and wore down Fulham’s anemically weak  midfield. Their two point lead at the top of the league restored, the pressure is still on Manchester United. Still, after last week’s loss to Everton, a strong comeback was of the essence for City.

Completely dominant when the match began, City already had Fulham against the ropes after a couple of Dzeko misses. Ten minutes in their tricky winger Adam Johnson was yanked down in the box by both Chris Baird and Brede Hangeland. The referee Mike Dean pointed instantaneously toward the spot and Sergio 'Kun' Aguero casually stepped up to fire his spot kick past keeper Mark Schwarzer. 

Along with the coming of the snow, Fulham tried to fight back as both Johnson and Silva came close with long-distance rockets at Joe Hart’s goal. Thirty minutes in, however, Kolarov lobbed a cross into Fulham’s box which was well hit by Aguero. A desperate Chris Baird dived in there, but only managed to divert the ball into his own net.
 
There was even more snow falling by the time the second half began and Danny Murphy really tested Hart before Mike Dean blew his whistle for a stoppage upon the hour mark. Finally, in the 72nd minute, after great setup work by Aguero, the little Argentine lost his marker, Philippe Senderos, and slotted in a perfect setup for Edin Dzeko to sprint home and score.

Newcastle United 2-1 Aston Villa
An ecstatic Papisse Cisse gave his new club, Newcastle United, a much-needed victory after firing home a spectacular goal in the 72nd minute. Partnered by his fellow Senegalese international, Demba Ba, the Magpies often looked unbeatable up front. Their fine victory lifts them into a well deserved fifth place. Just as valuable to Newcastle is their ever-improving goalkeeper Tim Krul, who twice saved efforts from Darren Bent, then Stilyan Petrov, and the effervescent Robbie Keane. It was not all good for Newcastle, however, as both Leon Best and RyanTaylor had to be stretchered off after collision injuries.

Villa proved to be much more ambitious than usual early on. Krul frustrated them repeatedly and then they got caught on the counterattack in the 39th minute as Marc Albrighton and Petrov played a pretty double give-and-go through the middle before dishing to Danny Guthrie. Guthrie’s shot bounced off James Tompkins, but Demba Ba, only had to poke home past a stranded Shay Given.

Villa did not abandon their attacking game, however, and it paid off well for Charles N’Zogbia who finally got free on the left flank five minutes into injury time. Leaving Danny Simpson in the dust, N’Zogbia slotted in a perfect cross for Robbie Keane to tap home at pointblank range.

The second half was more of the same with their £10m signing coming close with headers three times. Ultimately, with Jonas Guttierez finally able to get past a stranded Ciaran Clarke, Guttierez put in a perfectly measured cross which the unmarked Cisse fired home on the half-volley.

Villa are now in 13th place and, despite their taking a loss to a very well drilled Newcastle side, proved to be far more entertaining to watch in attack mode than their usual claustrophobically narrow midfield doodling.

Norwich City 2-0  Bolton Wanderers
An injury -ravaged Norwich City still managed to outwit Bolton Wanderers at Carrow Road. It was their fifth home win of the season. Norwich now sit ninth, while Bolton slid back into the relegation zone.  Norwich may have lost center backs Zak Whitbread and Daniel Ayala, but they somehow hung in there. Bringing on Russell Martin and Elliott Bennett did not seem to affect them badly at all.

Aside from a pair of long distance efforts by Martin Petrov, Bolton were kept quiet in the first half. And aside from a long-distance Grant Holt effort, Norwich played their usual nine-men-behind-the-ball counterattacking game.
 
Simeon Jackson proved to be the difference on the day. Repeatedly cutting inside from the right flank, he forced a number of superb saves from Adam Bogdan. Finally, 70 minutes in, Jackson charged inside neck and neck with his marker Tyrone Mears, before pulling back the ball for an unmarked Andrew Surman to fire home. Finally, five minutes before the final whistle, when Adam Bogdan failed to hold on to a 35-yard rocket from Russell Martin, Anthony Pilkington was there to collect the spill, round Bogdan and tap home.

Queen’s Park Rangers 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
This season’s two Jekyll & Hyde premiership teams both had to work extremely hard to blow their chances. Yet, inevitably, both did. It was the Golden Brummies’ first win in ten matches and looks to have saved manager Mick McCarthy from bring fired, at least for this week. Having drawn their last three games, Wolves looked anemic throughout the first half.

It was certainly no surprise when in the 16th minute, after some delightful midfield interplay, Adel Taarabt passed to Djibril Cisse, who supplied a beauty for Shaun Wright-Phillips, who took on the whole Wolves back line before squaring to Bobby Zamora who basted it home.

Rangers remained dominant until Djibril Cisse exploded with rage after suffering an extremely late, studs-up tackle from Roger Johnson. Grabbing Johnson’s throat, Cisse instantaneously heard referee Mark Clattenburg’s whistle. With a one man advantage, Mick McCarthy removed center back Richard Stearman, substituting striker Kevin Doyle. And there was almost instantaneous payback when the new half began as a beautiful pass from Doyle landed right at the foot of Matty Jarvis, who slotted gently home past Paddy Kenny.
 
From then on, it was all Wolves. Both Steven Fletcher and Kevin Doyle had headers saved by Kenny. Kevin Doyle was on fire, however, and having pulled two further great saves off a flying header and a long-distance blast. Finally, in the 71st minute, Doyle scooped up a Jamie O’Hara pass and fired past an advancing Kenny.

Stoke City 0-1 Sunderland
Despite playing away from home in one of the most rabid fan domiciles in Brtain, Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland maintained their revival. Rookie winger James McClean’s solo goal gave them their fifth win in their last six Premiership matches over a weakened ten-man Stoke City. Snow fell throughout the match and white lines all over the field had to be painted blue. Conditions spoiled any chance of a free-flowing contest and both managers protested to no avail, but it proved to be a fine distraction, nevertheless.

During a dull first half little of note happened until Stoke’s big defender Robert Huth tried to slide-tackle Martin Meyler. The referee Martin Atkinson instantaneously wielded a red card. Abandoning their usual long ball approach to the game, manager Tony Pulis had them playing with nine men behind the ball. Finally, 60 minutes in, the young, spring-heeled James McClean hoovered up an exquisite Stephane Sessegnon pass, and jinked by Shawcross before firing home a cool finish past Sorensen.
 
West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Swansea City
The Swans won only their second away win of the season thanks to some sterling work from striker Danny Graham. West Bromwich Albion played awkwardly throughout and now have a negative home record only equaled by Wigan. Suddenly Baggies fans are baying for Roy Hodgson's head, but one has the right to wonder if it's just the personnel.

An incredibly boring first half was just a tease because both teams played the second half as if it were the end of the world. Indeed, suddenly out of nowhere, there were three sudden goals scored in five minutes. First, in the 52nd minute, Gylfi Sigurdsson was in the box unmarked to fire home a Neil Taylor cross. Then Marc-Antonio Fortune glanced home after being put through by an Pisson flick after a superb Graham Dorrans corner.
 
But only two minutes later, Swansea’s on-loan little Icelandic play maker Gylfi Sigurrdson fired home a sweet left-footed equalizer after a cross from Neil Taylor. Sigurrdson then took charge of the match and in the 59th minute he squared a perfect corner to an unmarked Danny Graham in the box, which he flicked home.

Wigan Athletic 1-1 Everton
Wigan Athletic have now played nine P.L. matches without a win. This dull contest was mostly spent behind the ball by nine players in each team and only came to true life in the 75th minute.

In the 75th minute as newly substituted winger Jean Beausejour bombed down the right flank, Phil Neville ran out of position to tackle him. Neville’s crunching tackle sent the ball flying in on goalie Tim Howard. Somehow, in a rare error, Howard misjudged the ball’s movement and it bounced into his own net.

Yet seven minutes later, the Toffees were back in it. Having played so well to beat Manchester City last week, Everton still looked tired. It was only a beautiful setup dribble-and-pass move from an inspired Marianne Fellaini that set up a powerful header by Victor Anichebe to share the points. 

Get all of the latest online betting tips today with OneBooker. They give you up to date tips so you can put them straight into use and hopefully win big today. Don't waste another second! 

The title race between Manchesters City and United heats up while Liverpool looks to stay red hot

England's top flight is back in action after the FA Cup took over the weekend

The bipolar brilliance that is both the making and looming ruin of Mario Balotelli leaves you gobsmacked. His utter brilliance during the 6-2 dismantling of Manchester United last September was special to behold, even for this United fan. Atypically, having missed six matches through injury, Mario arrived off the bench against Spurs on Sunday and proceeded to destroy their tired defense after it had been softened up by Edin Dzeko, drawing a crucial foul in injury-time and taking an exquisite penalty with the alacrity of a rattlesnake that hadn’t bitten anything in a month. Unfortunately, along with this moment of brilliance, there was also a regrettable incident involving the Italian striker in a clash with Tottenham’s feisty midfielder Scott Parker. Whether it was a deliberate stamp on Parker’s head or not, Balotelli has received a four match ban retroactively. The upshot of all this is that, naturally, Balotelli is upset and his agent is already talking about his player returning to Italy. Personally, I hope not. This incident, among scores of others, is one more little blip in the learning curve for a shockingly brilliant but terribly immature young man. Wouldn't hurt if he said he was sorry, either!

If anyone is at fault in this situation, however, I have to point a finger at Balotelli’s belligerent boss, Roberto Mancini. Having spent over a quarter of a billion pounds sterling on a team and temporarily lost his best performer to the African Nations Cup, the Il Duce of the Etihad has now got to do without two more players to suspension because his team are incapable of exercising self-control on the pitch. And, as much as Mancini likes to complain and utilize paranoid rhetoric about the league and its officials, he has to take responsibility for his team’s destiny.

Special congratulations are in order for Clint Dempsey. The King of Nacogdoches became the first Yank to ever score a hat-trick in the Premier League during Fulham's brilliant 5-2 victory over the well regarded Newcastle United.

Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United    
A brilliantly taken late strike from Danny Welbeck gave hard working Manchester United a well deserved win at the Emirates, insuring they remained only three points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City. A third successive defeat was tough on Les Gooners, who were much improved in the second half and, although they were never any danger of repeating their dreadful 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford in September, Arsenal still showed too many frailties to end up a top four club in May.

The game was slow and cautious through much of the first half. Starting for the first time, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain proved to be poised and brilliant in support of Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott. The three speedy forwards often switched roles, playing off each other's shoulders, stretching United’s second-choice center backs, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling to the max. With Rio Ferdinand missing because of back trouble, things went from difficult to something worse when an ankle injury forced Phil Jones off early. Yet, despite United's problems at the back, Arsenal were unable to find a consistent tempo. With Arsenal unable to find their fluency, it was United who kept most of the possession.

After near misses by Patrice Evra and Nani scared Arsenal’s back line, United finally took the lead one minute into first half injury-time when an unmarked Giggs dribbled solo into the box and fired a perfectly subtle floating cross which Antonio Valencia charged for, running neck and neck with Thomas Vermaelen, before leaping high to nod past keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

With Johann Djourou repeatedly being skinned by both Nani and Evra, his manager Arséne Wenger brought on the 18-year-old Nicholas Yennaris to replace him at half-time. Shutting down Nani--at least temporarily--helped a lot. A slip on the wet turf by Chris Smalling should have given Arsenal an equalizer as Tomas Rosicky snapped the ball back to Van Persie, who ducked around two defenders but then blasted his shot wide. Then Oxlade-Chamberlain, who grew in confidence every time he got on the ball, squared to Aaron Ramsey who blasted his shot wide.

After a further pair of controversial referee calls by Mike Dean, when he allowed first Mertesacker and then Szczesny to get away with high-kicking defense clobberings of both Rooney and Nani, Arsenal finally calmed down enough to play their first deft football of the match. 71 minutes in, Laurent Koscielny calmly played his way out of defense and found Rosicky, who carefully located Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a beautiful seeing-eye pass. The impressive debutante zigzagged inside and delivered a perfect pass for Van Persie to slam home.

Ten minutes later however, with Arsenal seemingly the less tired club, Oxlade-Chamberlain was withdrawn in favor of Andrey Arshavin much to the stated chagrin of the home fans and, surprisingly, their usually quiet captain Van Persie. A single minute later the Russian avoided colliding with a fast-moving Luís Antonio Valencia. Valencia accelerated into the box before laying off to Welbeck, who calmly powered the ball home to score the winner.

There were too many mistakes on both sides for this to be described as a great game. Nevertheless, the match turned out to be a fine entertainment and the large number of young players picked by both bosses showed the promise of a bright successful future.

Bolton Wanderers 3-1 Liverpool
Liverpool look like a boat without an oar these days. Minus the presence of their brilliant Uruguayan striker, Luís Suarez, who is still out serving a suspension, the club’s goal scoring statistics are at their lowest at this stage of the season since the opening of the Premier League 20 years ago. Yet just as questionable, all of a sudden, is their defense. Famous for the parsimony of its center backs, Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger, they were up against a Bolton Wanderers side with the worst attacking record in English football. A team who had won only one of its ten home games and kept only two clean sheets. Only Manchester City have conceded fewer goals than Kenny Dalglish's side, but that was all smashed to smithereens in the game’s first half-hour.

Only four minutes in, Bolton’s hard-tackling midfielder Mark Davies was inexplicably allowed to carry the ball unhindered from midway inside the Liverpool half to their box. With three static defenders looking on, Davies accepted their invitation and fired a well-measured beauty into the bottom corner of the net past a puzzled-looking Pepé Reína.

Sloppy in midfield, definitely missing the presence of the injured Lucas Leiva, the Red Scousers had problems holding onto possession throughout. Nigel Reo-Coker added a second 29 minutes in when winger Chris Eagles zigzagged past Gerrard and Johnson before finding Reo-Coker with a deft little chip. The former Hammer and Villa skipper drifted right before blasting the ball home from six yards out.

Eight minutes later striker Andy Carroll, who has gone without scoring for ten consecutive games, proved more effective as a dish artist than a finisher. First, he sent in a clever cross from the left and then his neat give-and-go pass freed Bellamy whose delicately delivered chip slipped past a stranded Adam Bogdan.

Liverpool began to dominate over the late few minutes of the half and kept up the pressure when the game began again. But sloppy play by Skrtel allowed Bolton to nick a corner. Martin Petrov's corner  curled into the six-yard box and Bolton's center back David Wheater out jumped Agger by the far post  and headed the loose ball into the path of Gretar Steinnson who volleyed home a third in the 50th minute.

Now Liverpool must face its crucial week of the season thus far in cup ties against the two Manchester clubs. Luckily Luís Suarez will be back soon!
   
Everton 1-1 Blackburn Rovers   
Blackburn Rovers picked up another deserved point at Everton thanks to David Goodwillie's equalizer, yet  they still remain in the Premier League's bottom three. Both sides have had a lot of difficulty scoring goals this season, but Blackburn always looked the more likely of the two teams to break the deadlock early on. With David Dunn in lively form for the third week running, it took three fantastic saves from Tim Howard to keep Dunn and then Scott Dann from scoring.

Yet it was Everton who stole the lead as Timmy Cahill scored his first goal in 34 games, tapping in from close range after a fine run and then a beautiful pass from central midfielder Marouane Fellaini backed off the opposition. 

Blackburn refused to back down, however,  and worked diligently for an equalizer. Yet only Goodwillie and Dunn came close after much hard work and both were frustrated by Howard again. Blackburn pressed even harder in the second half, but still struggled to create clear chances minus the presence of their big, bullish Nigerian striker Yakubu, and only Radosav Petrovic got close, blasting a 30-yarder that was still a foot wide of Howard's post. When the Rovers finally did score an equalizer it seemed to more pure luck than anything as a Morten Gamst Pedersen free kick into the box was bobbled by Howard. Cahill then lunged in to clear the ball off the line, but it bounced against Goodwillie and then took a further ricochet into the net. Everton came on like gangbusters for the final five minutes of the match but Blackburn’s keeper Paul Robinson was more than up to the task, saving well from Shane Duffy, Fellaini, and Denis Stracqualursi.

Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City proved to be about as jammy as jammy can be when Mario Balotelli's injury-time penalty gave the Premier League leaders a gut-wrenching victory after a brilliant Tottenham comeback seemed to have earned Harry Redknapp’s lads a point at The Etihad. All of both teams virtues and vices were laid out for all to see in a fun, exciting match.

Things were cautious and even-Steven as both sides probed each other patiently during a first half in which the midfielders, Nasri and Milner for City and Modric and van der Vaart for Spurs took turns probing each other and turning in some fine flowing runs. There was nothing but frustration for City’s striker Kun Aguero, however, as keeper Brad Friedel brilliantly saved from him on five separate occasions. But it was City who finally struck lethally early in their second half platform for a win early in the second half with two quick goals from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott.

The first came 56 minutes in as the brilliant David Silva threaded a pass through to a speeding Samir Nasri, who slalomed through Spurs’ two slow center backs before firing hard past Friedel. And then, three minutes on, Lescott fumbled home a Dzeko flick off a Nasri corner.

The status quo did not last however. An hour in, City’s reserve center back Stefan Savic failed to clear a corner. He headed the ball  straight to Defoe, who accepted the gift with relish as he rounded City keeper Joe Hart to score. And then, five minutes later Jermain Defoe made an exquisite pass to the brilliant left foot of a flying Gareth Bale, who crashed through Tottenham’s defense before firing an unstoppable curving beauty past an overmatched Joe Hart to tie the game in the 65th minute.
 
The City manager Roberto Mancini’s simple masterstroke soon followed as Mario Balotelli came off the bench for the disappointing Eden Dzeko and attacked the opposition like some warrior hound of hell, almost instantaneously picking up a booking for a foul on Benoit Assou-Ekotto then escaping punishment after committing a far more severe stamp on Scott Parker which the referee Howard Webb saw up close and let him get away with.

It was then that Defoe missed scoring what surely be remembered as the sitter of the season after a fantastic run by Bale gave him all the time and space in the world. Then, well into injury-time, with only seconds remaining, Balotelli made the most of a 50/50 tackle in the box by Lesley King, diving dramatically in midair like a seagull murdered by a sniper. Thus, five minutes into injury-time with seconds on the clock, the ultra-calm Balotelli swiveled his hips and feinted to the right before drilling an unstoppable spot kick past Friedel.

Norwich City  0 - 0 Chelsea
As four of the P.L.s top five clubs met on Sunday, Chelsea blew a wonderful chance to reduce their 11 point gap on leaders Manchester City. Having not scored in 17 games, 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres suffered yet another afternoon of torture at Carrow Road as a superbly organized Norwich City team stymied Chelsea to earn a point and hurt the West Londoners in their quest for what at best will be a top four finish. Particularly impressive was Norwich’s goalie John Ruddy who definitely stopped the bleeding for a team which has allowed 38 goals in 21 matches.

Chelsea looked to be tired and out of sorts during the first half. Only three efforts came close as Ruddy saved well from Mata, Torres, and Ramires. Chelsea’s keeper Peter Cech cut a frustrated figure as, free and clear, Raul Meireles blasted over the bar and Fernando Torres squandered the penultimate chance of the match when, alone and unmarked, he blasted the ball wide from an almost point-blank eight yards out after a superb set up on the right wing by Jose Bosingwa.

It was definitely the Canaries lucky day, although both Zak Whitbread and Daniel Ayala were outstanding in support of Ruddy. Their strikers Grant Holt and Steve Morison, ably supported by Anthony Pilkington were a constant physical threat for the back line of  Bosingwa, Terry, Luiz and Cole, all of whom were forced to stay back in their own half.

Pilkington came close for the Canaries several times in the second half, shooting barely an inch over the bar  after a brilliant mazy 40-yard run. Standing with his arms folded, Manager Andres Villas-Boas looked crestfallen throughout as his team struggled to transition from possession to execution throughout.

Fulham 5-2  Newcastle United
Having gone from ignominy at the beginning of the season when so many pundits had predicted relegation or a position close to it, Newcastle seem to have slipped into a sudden state of static complacency after having picked up a number of high profile victories over the likes of Manchester United. At any rate, Craven Cottage did nor roll out its red carpet for the Magpies and their midfielder Clint Dempsey scored a hat-trick as Fulham laid waste to Newcastle.

Newcastle could not cope at all without Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba, both of whom are away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Both of whom have been fundamental to the Magpies' successful campaign. With Danny Guthrie in for Tioté and Hatem Ben-Arfa for Ba, Newcastle dominated most of the first half.Yet, although they rarely relinquished possession. They also rarely threatened Fulham’s goal until two minutes before the break. After Fabio Colocccini was left alone to blast wide from right in front of goal, Ben Arfa, robbed Bryan Ruiz of the ball in the Fulham half and, a flying Guthrie let loose a thunderous left-footed 35-yarder past a hopelessly stranded David Stockdale to make it 1-0. 

No sooner had the second half begun, however, when the Fulham left winger Damien Duff was shoved in the back in the penalty box by full-back Davide Santon. Danny Murphy’s spot kick sent Dutch keeper Tim Krul the wrong way and the match was tied. Fulham suddenly exploded and transformed into something lethal. Seven minutes later, Andrew Johnson led a pacy counterattack, passing to a big, hard-running Zamora. Zamora had his shot saved by Krul before it was turned in by Dempsey. Dempsey then scored off a counterattack in the 68th minute as he intercepted a bad Guthrie pass and he and Damian Duff worked a double give-and-go before they reached the Newcastle box and Zamora fired home.

Unable to put up any resistance, Newcastle were shell-shocked and had no answer to Fulham's second-half onslaught. The home side's incessant pressure meant a fourth goal was never far away and when center back Mike Williamson body-blocked Andy Johnson in the box, and Zamora calmly walked up and hammered the penalty down the middle to make it 4-1 in the 68th minute.

Brilliant all day, save for never playing defense, Ben Arfa closed the gap to two goals in the 85th minute when he ran a diagonal off the the right flank and fired a lovely low shot inside the near post.

Finally, a couple of minutes later, Dempsey got his hat-trick when he darted between Williamson and Coloccini to latch on to Murphy's long ball and fired in the first Premiership. 

Queens Park Rangers 3-1 Wigan Athletic
Q.P.R.’s home win over Wigan Athletic was Mark Hughes' first Premier League victory and only their second home win of the season. Out of the relegation zone for the first time in more than three weeks, Sparky and company can exhale a sigh of relief while Wigan remain rock bottom of the Premiership on 15 points.

Wigan started a little brighter as Victor Moses and Jamie McArthur fired in precise crosses which striker Hugo Rodallega missed both times. Meanwhile, scorching shots by Luke Young and Jamie Mackie had Wigan’s lithe, brilliant goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi making two fantastic saves. Rangers began to dominate and took a lead in the 33rd minute after James McCarthy accidentally handled in the box while defending a corner. Striker Heidur Helguson stepped up and casually beat the diving Al Habsi, who guessed the right way to dive for the ball, but couldn't keep it out. Then, just before the half time whistle, Akos Buzsaky fired  a blistering free-kick in off the post from the edge of the area to make it 2-0.

A Hugo Rodallega free-kick around the Q.P.R. wall in the 66th minute after a barely questionable Anton Ferdinand tackle just outside the box, pulled a goal back for Wigan before Smith sealed the win with a long-range effort.

Then a slowwitted Gary Caldwell conceded a second penalty for the visitors, pulling down Helguson just inside the area. Luckily, Al-Habsi guessed right as Herlguson hit his penalty kick in the same place again. Despite the Omani goalkeeper’s heroics, Wigan were never quite in it again and substitute striker Tommy Smith scored a beauty from 25 yards out which flew into the top left-hand corner to secure the score at 3-1 for Rangers in the 81st minute.

Stoke  City 1-2  West Bromwich Albion    
Graham Dorrans' injury-time free-kick earned West Bromwich Albion their first league win of 2012 as they edged past Stoke City. The Baggies, whose inconsistent form this season has surely been driving their fans to the cusp of insanity, were suffering from three consecutive Premiership defeats in a row, instigating a precipitous slide down the table from a previously comfortable mid-table position at Christmas. Stoke came into the game with just one win over their last five league games, but only a solitary defeat in nine.

Indeed, despite the largely partisan Potters crowd, James Morrison was able to give West Brom the lead when his soft curving effort from the edge of the box was completely misjudged by Stoke’s goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

The woodwork again denied Morrison after the restart when the midfielder controlled the ball on the edge of the area and fired past Sorensen, only for it to bounce off the upright.

Stoke then won a penalty in controversial circumstances as Gareth McAuley brought down Walters in the box.The referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot. However, Ben Foster stooped down to save Jon Walters' powerful spot kick. This prompted Stoke’s boss Tony Pulis to pull Ryan Shotton and bring on Cameron Jerome. The striker arrived along with fellow substitute Jermaine Pennant and he headed Pennants free-kick to bring the game level with four minutes to go.

That looked to have been it but, in injury time, Graham Dorrans' stepped up to take a free-kick out wide on the left. His seeing-eye effort somehow found its way through a thicket of players before flying in the bottom corner to earn West Brom a deserved victory.

Sunderland 2-0 Swansea City
Two absolutely fantastic goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Sebastian Larsson maintained the revival of  Martin O'Neill’s Sunderland, while bringing to an end Swansea's four-game unbeaten run.

Basically, although Swansea dominated possession throughout and were brilliant to watch, their oft-stated inability to offer a cutting edge in their away matches showed up once again, evidenced by the Mackems’ goalie, Simon Mignonette having to make two saves throughout. It was the Swans’ seventh away defeat in 11 matches. Coincidentally, Sunderland’s win lifts them above Brendan Rodgers’ club into 10th place in the E.P.L.

Sunderland's first goal happened 14 minutes in as their Newcastle-reject winger James McClean sprinted superbly down the left flank. Sessegnon ran parallel, pirouetted in midair to chest down the perfectly placed ball before letting loose with an unstoppable volley into the top right corner of Michael Vorm’s net.

Swansea counterattacked with a vengeance, but Sunderland defender Wes Brown, just back after a three-game injury absence, denied the tricky Nathan Dyer with a perfectly timed tackle. This was followed by an even better Phil Bradley tackle which stopped Scott Sinclair only six yards out.

Swansea dominated possession, nevertheless, and Sunderland’s Belgian keeper Mignonette was never tested until the 57th minute when he punched clear a Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick. But, finally, with only five minutes left in regular time when substitute Craig Gardner struck a 25 yard rocket that flew into the top corner of the net.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Aston Villa        
On loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane made a dream return to Molineux the home ground from the days when he began his professional career as a Wolverhampton Wanderer 15 years ago. Meanwhile, Wolves have now gone eight league games without a win and their manager Mica Mccarthy teeters on the verge of being fired. Worse, the Golden Brummies’ hard-man midfielder Karl Henry was sent off for deliberately kicking Marc Albrighton in the midriff, while Keane hammering home his fantastic winner.

Villa drew first blood when a clumsy Christopher Berra, perhaps fantasizing he was Rio Ferdinand, tried dribbling the ball. Dispossessed by, of all people, Darren Bent, an embarrassed Berrar hacked down the Villa and England striker who stood up to convert the spot-kick in the 11th minute.

Wolves equalized soon after as Roger Johnson flicked on a Jarvis corner in the 21st minute for Kightly to slam home. Then, ten minutes later, they stole the lead as David Edwards headed a superb Kightly pass home past Shay Given.

Unfortunately, Wolves lost the discipline and concentration they had shown early once Emmanuel Frimpong was carried off on a stretcher. The referee Michael Oliver had to tack on another one eight extra minutes after the on-loan Arsenal midfielder needed prolonged treatment when he was caught in the face by Stiliyan Petrov's boot as he attempted a diving header following a corner.

Robbie Keane had been invisible until six minutes into the second half as Ciaran Clark trapped an errant Albrighton pass and dished it to Keane, who executed a wicked three-quarter turn before firing a beautiful dipping shot that completely surprised Wayne Henley. But Keane wasn’t finished and, in the 84th minute, he seized on an Agbonlahor pass after a beautiful  sprint down the right wing. Keane took the ball and somehow managed to fire a hard vertical curer over the big body of Henley into the net.