Coming out of another international break, the entire Premier League just looked glad to be back. We had some of the top teams playing each other as well as some bottom of the table battles. Her we go again.

Norwich 1-2 Arsenal

Robin van Persie to the rescue. That line could have been used in virtually all of Arsenal’s wins this season and it was used again on Saturday. First, it was Norwich who made the breakthrough when Steve Morison took advantage of terrible defending by Per Mertesacker. RVP was ready to respond. He leveled in the first half after great play from Theo Walcott then made it 2-1 with a nice finish on his “weaker”, right foot. Walcott and van Persie are starting to link up really well as Arsenal won again.

Everton 2-1 Wolves

Neither of these teams is playing very well at the moment but Everton will always be favored in this match up. Wolves took the lead, however, when Stephen Hunt scored thanks to Marouane Fellaini’s late challenge. Phil Jagielka then scored to make it 1-1 before halftime. Louis Saha drew a penalty late in the match, which Leighton Baines converted to give the Toffees three points.

Manchester City 3-1 Newcastle

It was 1 (City) v. 3 (Newcastle) but the goal tally would end up the opposite of these two clubs places in the table. Mario Balotelli and Demba Ba exchanged first half chances for their clubs before the former converted a penalty after a handball knocked down a Yaya Toure shot. It was then 2-0 to the league leaders after Sergio Aguero played in right back Micah Richards who scored a nice goal for a striker, let alone a defender. Halftime was needed for the Geordies and they came out better in the second half with Ben Arfa even hitting the post for them. Unfortunately for the away side it was Richards who would haunt them again, drawing another penalty that Aguero put home this time. Dan Gosling got a consolation goal thanks to some good hustle but it didn’t matter. 3-1 City, again.

Stoke 2-3 QPR

I have to admit I did not see Stoke struggling this much this season. Things started brightly at the Brittania with Jon Walters scoring first. Heidar Helguson continued his nice streak of matches with a headed goal to level. Luke Young then finished off a great passing sequence before Helguson got his second thanks to a fantastic Joey Barton cross. Ryan Shawcross pulled one back for Stoke and there was suddenly belief for an equalizer. Stoke probably should’ve had a penalty and Glen Whelan had two great chances but it wasn’t meant to be and QPR came out on top.

Sunderland 0-0 Fulham

Both of these managers could use a win so of course it just ended 0-0. I would give Wood Work the man of the match in this one.

West Brom 2-1 Bolton

How would Bolton respond to their five goal thrashing of Stoke last time out? Well, they responded promptly with a loss. Jerome Thomas got the first for West Brom but Ivan Klasnic then made his penalty to tie it. In the second half Shane Long rose and headed home the winner.

Wigan 3-3 Blackburn

Two teams who are struggling mightily ended up having the highest scoring match of the weekend. Yakubu got the first for Blackburn on a very strange goal. Jordi Gomez then put one home for Wigan to even things up. Wigan then took the lead in the first half when a corner was headed in by Gary Caldwell. David Dunn was sent off for his second yellow early in the first half but Blackburn didn’t seem to be affected as David Hoilett scored to make it 2-2. Wigan took the lead again through little known Albert Crusat but then things got strange. Late in the match Blackbun got a corner which goalkeeper Paul Robinson came up on. In the scramble, Robinson was kicked in the face and drew a penalty. Yakubu scored it and everyone went home with a 3-3.

Swansea 0-1 Manchester United

The string of 1-0 league results continued for United on Saturday with a victory in their first visit to Swansea in the Premier League. Chicharito got the lone goal on a set piece but the coolest part of this match was that the Welsh fans got to see their national hero, Ryan Giggs, for the first time as a United player. Those fans gave him a great ovation as Sir Alex Ferguson subbed him out in a nice gesture after the Manchester United win was sealed.

Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool

This was smash and dash football as the first half was played at a frenetic pace. Didier Drogba started over Fernando Torres for Chelsea and Drogba looked good early on. Liverpool would strike first though. Mikel lost possession, after a weak goal kick by Petr Cech, for Chelsea and a combination of Craig Bellamy, Luis Suarez, and Maxi Rodriguez got the goal. Daniel Sturridge came on for Mikel at halftime and got the goal to equalize as Chelsea started to look like the team that would grab a winner. Chelsea’s failure to finish cost them in the end though, because Glen Johnson would rise to the occasion and score with a little left footed shot after a great run to get him in scoring position. This was Liverpool’s second win at Stamford Bridge in a row, and what a huge win it was.

Tottenham 2-0 Aston Villa

Emmanuel Abebayor’s brace gave Tottenham their fourth win in a row. Spurs haven’t lost since August and have moved into third despite playing a game less than all the clubs around them.

This week’s team of the week is Liverpool for their victory at Chelsea. Kenny Dalglish finally put the right combination of players out there and starting Maxi Rodriguez in his first meaningful game of the season was a great move. Player of the week could go to Robin van Persie again but I will make it a joint award with RVP’s former club mate, Emmanuel Abebayor, joining him. Both players got a brace while extending their respective club’s winning streaks.