Barclays Premier League Roundup, 11th, 12th and 13th Dec 2011

By Raghavan,

It's the big match week again, or the rich match week, should I say?? So much happened going into the week with Manchester (both clubs) suffering an early exit from the UEFA Champions League. London (Chelsea and Arsenal) went through and so Andre Villas-Boas seemed to be releasing all the pressure inside him after the 3-0 win over Valencia (by lashing out at the media) and made a habit to continue empty rhetoric every morning from the win over Valencia to this match weekend that Chelsea are still in the title race. Both Manchesters vowed to bounce back and City in particular emphasizing that a win at Stamford Bridge would erase CL memories, and Gael Clichy was the one who assured that the most.

Chelsea vs Manchester City was the last game of the week, on Monday, and so we shall come to that last.

Manchester United put an end to their unity (i.e one goal a week) and deposited 4 past Hennesey's net, Nani was the player of the match. His trademark run along the edge of the box and shoot opened the scoring for united, then provided a simple assist to Rooney who scored from just outside the box for his first goal in 8 games. Steven Fletcher pulled a goal back for Wolves 2 minutes into the second half, after he rose well above Patrice Evra to direct home Matt Jarvis's cross. Antonio Valencia who started in place of Ryan Giggs/Ashley Young drove a low cross for Nani to net his second from close range. Rooney netted his second soon after when he prodded in another cross from the right from Valencia. A good response after a heavy dose of criticism for three days, a dominating performance that underlines why United are ALWAYS in with a great chance to retain the title no matter what.

Shock result #1. Somebody put 4 past Tim Krul. But that says the story of Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini. Both were out injured, Perch and Santon who are both wingbacks played in the heart of defence and it was all in disarray. Dan Gosling who had been booked for a foul on Grant Holt saw a direct red later for a two footed challenge on Russell Martin. Wes Hoolahan opened the scoring when Andrew Croft's header was pushed away by Krul  but went in off Hoolahan. Replays showed that the corner to which Crofts got his head was not one as Krul had managed to keep the ball in play. Newcastle's RvP, Demba Ba, gathered Yohan Cabaye's excellent through pass and finished neatly past Ruddy barely few minutes later though. In the second half Grant Holt restored the lead for Norwich after his header was parried by Krul, but the Holt was able to reach the rebound and finish. Steve Morison soon got Norwich's third after, another header, powering in Crofts' cross. This was followed by Gosling's marching orders. Sholay Ameobi then powerfully won the lofted ball in midfield and released Ba again, who scored to set up a close finish with only 70 minutes gone. However Norwich sealed the match in the 82nd, when Holt, with yet another header delivered Bradley Johnson's cross into Krul's net. The result pushes Newcastle to a less dreamlike 7th from 4th a couple of weeks ago.

Arsenal saw off Everton after exchanging roles with Manchester United, the only goal coming after Arsenal's goal scorer (stop watching BPL if you need me to name him) beautifully slotted an overhead pass from Alex Song, without even bothering to take a controlling touch. Something that Thierry Henry enjoyed from the stands and felt a tinge of pride go up his head. A goal that gave extra shine to the statue of Henry unveiled earlier in the week, a fitting goal for the 125th anniversary.

Swansea continued their good run at home after winning 2-0 against Fulham. Scott Sinclair opened the scoring after his shot was taken past mark Schwarzer by an unlucky deflection from Clint Dempsey. The day got worse for Dempsey as he had his penalty saved brilliantly by the amazing Michel Vorm, before Danny Graham sealed the game in added time.

And a breather for Wigan. They won, and it came away from home too - at the Hawthornes. Defender Steven Reid opened the scoring with a blinding free kick. Victor Moses' curling effort brought Wigan back into the match before Jordi Gomez's penalty turned into the goal that eventually got Wigan indescribably precious 3 points that took them past Blackburn and Bolton in the table.

Liverpool dropped Andy Carroll from the starting XI and Maxi Rodriguez started on the right of midfield. Liverpool played as they have played many a match this season, pushing and dominating midfield and faltering in the final third. It came down to Stewart Downing's cross from play resulting from his own corner, Luis Suarez finally finding the goal with his head. Craig Bellamy was introduced later to put the result beyond doubt but the result stayed the same. 

Bolton Wanderers went down 2-1 at home to Aston Villa in a result that further piles the pressure on Owen Coyle and his men. Gabriel Agbonlahor's low cross was slotted in by Marc Albrighton and Stiliyan Petrov's long range effort made it 0-2 at 45 minutes. Ivan Klasnic scored a consolation. Bolton remain at the very bottom. BIG PROBLEMS...

And Harry Redknapp's men were downed by the Potters (Ironic!). An Mathew Etherington brace in plays resulting from Ryan Shotton's long throws (no Rory Delap) put Stoke on top at half time. Emmanuel Adebayor fired up hopes after converting the penalty won by Luka Modric after being fouled by Glen Whelan. Thereafter it was all about referee Chris Foy. Jermaine Defoe went down in the Stoke penalty box and when Yunus Kaboul's shot was handled by Ryan Shawcross, Foy denied the penalty again. Foy also blew the whistle for offside when Adebayor tucked in the loose ball when replays indicated he was onside. Kaboul who was booked earlier, later received his second yellow for bringing down Walters on a late counter-attack. The ensuing reports have now shifted much of the focus to Chris Foy. Nonetheless a good result for Stoke who are now unbeaten for 3 weeks. And this game against a good opponent.

Sunderland saw off Blackburn at the Stadium of Light by registering a 2-1 win. Sunderland left it very very late after Simon Vukcevic opened the scoring inside 20 minutes. David Vaughan equalised in the 84th minute and Seb Larsson provided a jaw dropping masterpiece with his trademark free kick in the 2nd minute of extra time to register a dramatic victory for the Black Cats. The win kept Sunderland a touch above the relegation zone while Blackburn still seeth under pressure after Wigan had earlier climbed above them.

And now the 'El Cashico' as many called it. Team news: Chelsea start with back to form veteran Didier Drogba up front. Raul Mereiles keeps Frank Lampard on the bench, while Jose Bosingwa got a start instead of Alex, while Branislav Ivanovic shifted to play alongside John Terry. Manchester City started Mario Balotelli in place of Edin Dzeko while Pablo Zabaleta replaced the injured Micah Richards and James Milner started keeping Samir Nasri out. It was a blistering start for the run away leaders. Sergio Aguero picked out Mario Balotelli with an incisive through ball and indecisive defending from Ivanovic helped Balotelli go through to round Petr Cech and put the ball into the wide open net. A goal inside 2 minutes. Aguero was involved again as he beat Ashley Cole towards the Chelsea goal and tried to turn to face Cech and score at the near post. But Cole just slide and cramp Aguero's space in time to make Aguero finish poorly and shoot wide. Referee Mark Clattenberg was then involved in a controversial decision when Bosingwa brought down David Silva  5 yards in front of him. But Clattenberg just asked Silva to get up. Didier Drogba had Chelsea's first good chance of the match when he powered past the City defence and tried to force the shot between Joe Hart and the near post but only got a corner from it. Chelsea equalised in the 35th minute when former Citizen Daniel Sturridge tricked his way past Gael Clichy and delivered an incisive ball into the center of City's penalty box for Raul Mereiles to bury it. There was a scuffle that ensued, once again pointing to poor refereeing by Clattenberg, when Juan Manuel Mata was fouled on the right flank by Yaya Toure. Yaya then kicked Mata on his hamstring asking him to get up which went unnoticed by Clattenberg. Mata then went verbal against Yaya asking why he kicked him for which Yaya slapped Mata, and Clattenberg looked away at the exact moment though he was just a few feet away (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvyrpsUiSdA). Mata however made no issue of it and continued to let his football do the talking as he then kept having the better of Yaya. Things soon took a downturn for City as Ramires's domineering burst through the middle by Clichy's late tackle that saw him pick up his second booking. Though City started to dominate possession for 5 mins after the sending off, Mancini in a panic decision, removed Sergio Aguero for Kolo Toure and soon later David Silva for Nigel de Jong. Villas-Boas took off the booked Raul Mereiles for Frank Lampard. At 78 minutes, Daniel Sturridge was picked out in the box and his shot found the high flying hands of Joleon Lescott. Lampard smashed the penalty straight down the middle, taking big pressure off himself after his miss against Newcastle last time. While Villas-Boas brought on Florent Malouda and John Obi Mikel for Sturridge and Mata, Mancini in a last gasp brought on Edin Dzeko for Lescott. But in the end Chelsea registered their first win against a top 6 team for the first time this season and Manchester City lost their first ever BPL match this season.

Winners: Chelsea & Andre Villas-Boas- a win against the hithero invincible, and a comeback from behind, too flattering to say their title ambitions are back, but a big load off Villas-Boas; Wigan Athletic- a win and 3 'oh so dear' points; Stoke City -  a hard fought win at home against the team third on the table at the start of the match; Swansea - they continue their solidity at home; Norwich - fully capitalised against a depleted Newcastle side to hit 4 and register a good win to keep up a decent position on the table; Manchester United - a slap on the face to critics, United show they are still a great force and that they can still score more than a goal a game; Arsenal - a memorable way to celebrate 125 years.

Losers: Manchester City- An end to their unbeaten BPL run days after a first round CL exit, and opening up the gates for United to approach; Newcastle United - feel sorry for their injury woes, but it does hurt to slide from 3rd to 7th, though 7th is something they would have been happy with at the start of the season; West Brom - A loss at home to a team in dire straits in the relegation zone; Wolverhampton- alright they lost only to a big team,but they were expected to put up a better show against a United that has failed to score than once in their previous 4 matches, perhaps taking some inspiration from FC Basel; Tottenham- okay, they will cry about Chris Foy, but it doesn't change the fact that they came up short against Stoke's physical play and long throws. A bad result when there was a chance to go 5 points clear of 4th place and within 2 points of 2nd place.