Premier League round-up 27th – 28th January 08/09

29 January 09 by Roy Banks

Premier League Table as of 27/01/09 United kept their hold on top spot with a 5 – 0 win over West Brom on Tuesday night and it was left to the chasing pack to mount a challenge.

Nearest rivals Liverpool travelled to Wigan and when Yossi Benayoun put the visitors in front after 40 minutes it looked like they were going to secure the three points. That was until the 83rd minute when Lucas Leiva’s terrible tackle on substitute Jason Koumas allowed Mido to mark his Wigan debut with a goal from the spot. Torres had already been taken off at this point and true to his bizarre form, Benitez responded to the goal by taking off Steven Gerrard. Why would you do that? The match ended a draw, Liverpool’s third consecutive in the league and 4th in all competitions. Wigan 1 – 1 Liverpool.

Chelsea kept up their challenge for United’s crown with a 2 – 0 win over Middlesbrough.It wasn’t pretty and the Stanford Bridge crowd were far from impressed with what they saw. Boro defended for their life but were caught out by two set pieces (on 58 & 81 mins); Kalou getting on the end of both. Chelsea 2 – 0 Middlesbrough.

Arsenal could be all but out of the title challenge after needing a rocket from Robert van Persie to rescue a point at Goodison Park. Tim Cahill put Everton in front after he was given far too much space in the area for an Everton corner and headed the opener on the hour mark. Everton held out for the scheduled 90 minutes but in the 2nd minute of stoppage time Robert van Persie found enough space to rifle the ball past former Red, Tim Howard to earn Arsenal a point they probably didn’t deserve. Everton 1 – 1 Arsenal.

Aston Villa are still going strong and a debut goal from Emile Heskey after 20 minutes was enough to give Villa the three points against Portsmouth. Crouch missed a sitter and Nadir Belhadj spat his dummy out, earning himself a second yellow card in a game which sees Portsmouth sitting just 3 points off the bottom of the table. Portsmouth 0 – 1 Aston Villa.

Tottenham played host to Stoke in a comfortable victory which is sure to ease the threat of relegation for the North London outfit. Three goals in the opening 25 minutes did the damage for Spurs with goals arriving from Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Defoe and Micael Dawson. Stoke did pull one back through James Beattie but it was never going to be enough and Stoke still find themselves propping up the table with West Brom. Tottenham 3 – 1 Stoke City.

It was Sunderland who took all the points when Fulham visited the Stadium of Light keeping the Premier League table looking congested in the middle. It was striker Kenwyne Jones who blasted the only goal of the game on 55 minutes. Sunderland 1 – 0 Fulham.

Blackburn Rovers remain unbeaten under new boss Sam Allardyce ut had to fight from two goals down to earn a valuable point. Bolton had taken the lead after 15 minutes through Matthew Taylor’s tap in from close range and then Kevin Davies added to Rovers’ misery for Bolton’s second after 34 minutes. Blackburn didn’t give up though and pulled one back through Stephen Warnock. Rovers were then awarded a penalty when by Jaaskelainen who was already on a yellow card caught Roque Santa Cruz in the arae. The Fin avoided a second card and went on to save from Roberts’ poor kick before Benni McCarthy completed the Blackburn comeback on 86 minutes. Blackburn 2 – 2 Bolton.

West Ham produced an impressive performance to continue their good form by beating Hull City 2 – 0. In truth it could have been more with the Hammers missing a penalty and a host of chances. David Di Michele scored the opener on 33 minutes and Carlton Cole wrapped the game up on 50 minutes. Hull of now lost their last 6 Premier League fixtures as the new boys seems to be hitting freefall at the worst possible time. West Ham 2 – 0 Hull City.

Manchester City started the match against Newcastle with Robinho in the squad and the Brazilian showed his talent by setting up Wright-Phillips for the opener. Craig Bellamy, making his City debut, made it 2 with just under 15 minutes to go. Andrew Carroll pulled one back for Newcastle 4 minutes later but it proved to be no more than a consolation goal. Manchester City 2 – 1 Newcastle.