Premier League Round Up

Manchester United continued their slump in form with a surprise defeat to Fulham on Saturday. The champions, keen to put their defeat to Liverpool behind them came unstuck by two Fulham goals, with two players sent off. Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney saw red as United dropped more points. Liverpool took full advantage of Uniteds slip up by smashing 5 goals past woeful Aston Villa, to close the gap to one point. A Gerrard hat-trick, and goals by Riera and Kuyt gave Liverpool another morale boosting victory. Chelsea failed to capitalise on Uniteds defeat as they suffered their first loss under the Hiddink regime. Arsenal own at Newcastle after avoiding an early set back. Goalkeeper Manuel Alumina conceded a first half penalty, but redeemed himself by saving the spot kick from Martins. The gunners ran away 3-1 winners. The result left them 3 points clear of Aston Villa.

Everton were beaten by Portsmouth who eased their relegation worries after 2 goals from Peter Crouch. Sunderland continued their slump, loosing to Man City (1-0), Middlesborough lost to fellow strugglers Stoke (1-0), Blackburn drew (1-1) with West Ham, and Hull lost to Wigan (1-0).

With the international break now upon us, many teams will be pleased to have a break from the league.

Premier League Round Up

The main story of last weeks football action was the humbling result at Old Trafford, where Champions Manchester United were beaten 4-1 by chasing Liverpool. The result closed the gap between the two teams to four points, but United still have one game in hand which would see the gap restored at seven points. United captain Rio Ferdinand has said the defeat was a wake up call, and maintains that such a result will not happen again. In contrast, Rafa Benitez has told all clubs in the league that United are beatable. Chelsea are on the same points as Liverpool after beating Manchester City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. Michael Essien, who was starting his first league game since August scored the winning goal in the first half.

Arsenal moved into fourth with a 4-0 victory over Blackburn. Andrei Arshavin scored his first goal for the gunners, with Eboue scoring two. Aston Villa continued their slump in form with a home defeat to Tottenham. The villains lost 2-1, after goals from Jenas and Bent severely dented their champions league push. They have yet to win in 4 league games, and remain on the same points as Arsenal, but remain 5th on goal difference. Everton continued their push for 4th with a 3-1 victory over stoke.

In the relegation scrap, Middlesborough salvaged a draw against Portsmorth after going one nil down and one man down. They could have snuck the victory but Alfonso Alves failed to score, and the pressure remains on manager Gareth Southgate. Fulham finally won away for the first time at Bolton (3-1), Wigan beat Sunderland (2-1), and Newcastle and Hull shared the spoils at the KC Stadium (1-1). West Ham drew with bottom club West Brom this evening (0-0).

Manchester United Maintain 7 point lead

Manchester United relieved the pressure from title rivals Chelsea and Liverpool by registering an away win against relegation battlers Newcastle United. Edwin Van Der Sar conceded his first premier league goal since November but it was not enough to stop the reds from securing their 11th straight win in the league, 3 wins short of the record set by Arsenal. Goals from Rooney and Berbatov cancelled out the shock opener from Lovenkrank.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa dropped points in the race for 4th place after loosing 2-0 to Manchester City. Goals from Elano and Wright-Phillips continued Villa's miserable run of one point out of a possible nine. The result leaves Arsenal 3 points behind. Everton in 5th drew with struggling Blackburn, but fellow strugglers Stoke picked up 3 crucial points defeating Bolton 2-0. Hull recorded their first win in 18 league games, scoring a late winner at Fulham (1-0). Tottenham got over their Carling Cup defeat by hammering Middlesborough 4-0, and West Ham beat Wigan 1-0 with Carlton Cole scoring his 11th goal of the season.

Tuesdays Results

Pompey 0-1 Chelsea

Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland

West Brom 1-3 Arsenal