Premier League Round-up, 21st-22nd November
Written by: Phil Viles
23 November 2009
4 Comments
Crestfallen Wigan boss Roberto Martinez
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Undoubtedly the result of the weekend, and the game on everyone’s lips, is Tottenham’s 9-1 thrashing of hapless Wigan.
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Jermain Defoe emphatically joined Alan Shearer and Andy Cole in the Five-Goals-In-A-Premier-League-Game club, while
Aaron Lennon, Peter Crouch, David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar grabbed the other goals in a bizarre game which could’ve produced a scoreline more akin to a cricket score such was Spurs’ insurgence.
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Paul Scharner’s goal was little consolation, and although Martinez put a brave face on things in the post-match analysis, he must be absolutely shell-shocked by his defense’s complete implosion.
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Also amongst the goals were Chelsea, who could’ve had a figure nearing Spurs’ tally themselves had it not been for a combination of Wolves’ ‘keeper Wayne Hennessey and some wayward finishing denying them.
Double top: Essien gets a brace to send Chelsea eight points clear at the top.
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With a whole midfield missing due to injuries (including Deco, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard), Michael Essien grabbed the bull by the horns and netted a brace, his shoot-on-sight mentality paying dividends.
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Florent Malouda and Joe Cole – his first since his comeback – also netted.
With the victory, Chelsea maintained their five-point gap from Manchester United at the top of the Premier League, United coasting to a comfortable 3-0 home success over a dispirited Everton side.
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Darren Fletcher’s arrow-like volley put United ahead; Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia finished Everton off.
Bent's goal seperated Sunderland and Arsenal.
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Arsenal’s depleted team went down 1-0 at Sunderland, with a solitary Darren Bent goal doing the damage. Arsene Wenger is without his first-choice strike pair of Robin Van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner, and his regular left-backs Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs. And although he’ll use it as an excuse, Arsenal’s side still contained enough quality to succeed. But their first defeat in 14 matches is a major dent in their title aspirations, even at this early stage of the season.
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Both Liverpool and Man City have had an indifferent spell of late, with The Reds’ problems well documented and City seemingly unable to finish teams off, settling for a succession of draws in recent games. So maybe it was no fluke that this game ended 2-2.
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Martin Skrtel put Liverpool in front but Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland took advantage of Liverpool’s static zonal marking system to send City ahead, but Yossi Benayoun equalised minutes after Ireland had hit the second leaving City with yet more point-sharing grievances.
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At the other end of the table Hull City and West Ham served up a dazzling game at the KC Stadium. The Hammers raced into a 2-0 lead with early headed goals from Guillermo Franco and Jack Collison – the latter coming after a dreadful defensive mix-up between Andy Turner and ‘keeper Matt Duke.
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But Hull failed to cave in, and a deflected Jimmy Bullard freekick spun into the top corner of Robert Green’s goal to give them hope, before they equalised via a volley from Guinea defender Kamil Zayatte. The game was then turned on its head when an innocuous-looking tussle between Hammers defender Julien Faubert and Craig Fagan ended with a harshly adjudged penalty decision from ref Mark Clattenburg.
Jimmy Bullard celebrates netting from the spot.
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Despite the angry pleas from West Ham, Jimmy Bullard fired the penalty beyond a seething Robert Green for 3-2…and it wasn’t even halt-time!
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In the second half, Hull had Bernard Mendy sent off for a dreadful challenge which denied Scott Parker a clear goalscoring opportunity. It seemed to unhinge the Tigers, and West Ham were soon rewarded for a good spell of pressure when they pulled themselves level after 68 minutes as Hull failed to clear a corner and Paraguayan defender Manuel Da Costa blasted in the equaliser from close range.
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From six goals in Hull to just one at both St. Andrews and the Britannia Stadium, where Birmingham beat Fulham and Stoke beat Portsmouth respectively.
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In a drab game Lee Bowyer produced a rare bit of class to casually lob the on-rushing Mark Schwarzer, while in Stoke, Ricardo Fuller applied a clinical finish to a neat passing move to give Stoke a 1-0 victory over Pompey.
Portsmouth did themselves no favours when Kevin-Prince Boateng missed an eighth-minute spot-kick. They also lost David James to injury in the warm-up.
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Elsewhere at the bottom, Blackburn edged a fierce Lancashire derby with Bolton 2-0 at the Reebok, with goals from David Dunn and a disastrous own goal from Sam Rickets, who headed into an unguarded net when Jussi Jaaskelainen had recklessly charged out of his goal.
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The win for Blackburn means they end a run of 10 successive away league defeats, and it gives stricken manager Sam Allardyce something to smile about as he undergoes heart surgery.
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And lastly, substitute Emile Heskey rescued a point for Aston Villa with his 86th-minute header against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Burnley captain Steven Caldwell had put his side ahead with a ninth-minute header from Robbie Blake’s free-kick.
Can’t believe Spurs put 9 goals past Wigan.
Could’ve been 15!
Could’ve been 16!!
You’re havin a laugh!
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