Premier League Recap (Mar. 5-7)

In a wild weekend in the Premier League we saw the leaders lose, the second place team draw, and 18^th place team win. Arsenal moved closer to drawing level at the top of the table after Manchester United got embarrassed at Anfield by Liverpool, 3-1. There were some great, open matches this week like Bolton-Aston Villa and Birmingham-West Brom. Oh and you probably can’t guess where a 3-3 thriller took place. Here is how all the games shook out.

Birmingham 1-3 West Brom

The early ESPN2 game didn’t sound like an appealing one but it was somewhat worth the watch. Both teams attacked and the network did a good job of letting us know how the fans felt about Birmingham’s recent Carling Cup triumph. Unfortunately for the Blues, they didn’t play nearly as well on Saturday as they did last Sunday. Mulombu scored the opener before Birmingham leveled it through Beausejour. West Brom took control of the match in the second half with goals from James Morrison and Paul Scharner to give Roy Hodgson his first win as West Brom manager.

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland

This was a big two points dropped at home for the Gunners. Arsenal had the better chances in the match and the finishing of Robin van Persie was certainly missed. Arsene Wenger’s squad outshot Sunderland and had four more overall attempts on target but couldn’t find the goal that would have put them just one point behind Man Utd.

Manchester City 1-0 Wigan

This was a pretty boring one that Man City always seemed the more likely to win. Both teams had a few decent chances but the one goal came from a David Silva shot that Wigan keeper, Ali Al Habsi, fumbled into the net between his legs.

Fulham 3-2 Blackburn

Damien Duff struck twice but Blackburn scratched and clawed their way level. It would not matter, though, because Aaron Hughes was brought down in the box and Bobby Zamora scored the penalty in his first Prem. game this season.

Newcastle 1-2 Everton

Everton finally put two good matches together when they went to St. James’ Park and took all three points from Newcastle. Leon Best capitalized on a rebound from a Kevin Nolan shot to give the home side the lead but Everton would fight back. Goals from Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka (off a beautiful ball from Leighton Baines) gave Everton the win they probably deserved.

Bolton 3-2 Aston Villa

This was a cracking game that was played at a breakneck pace. Both teams carved out chance after chance until Darren Bent scored the first goal to give Villa the lead. Gary Cahill scored twice on either side of a Marc Albrighton goal (thanks to a Stuart Downing cross) to even the game at 2-2. Finally the winner would come for Bolton on an Ivan Klasnic goal after the commentator nearly had an orgasm explaining how great of an advert this match was for the Premier League.

West Ham 3-0 Stoke

The Hammers continued their good little run they are on by getting all three points at home against struggling Stoke City. Goals from Ba, Costa, and a Hitzelsperger rocket were more than enough to get the win for Avram Grant’s men.

Wolves 3-3 Tottenham

Kevin Doyle got the shock opener with a headed goal in the 20’ minute. Jermaine Defoe hasn’t scored in the Premier League at all this season, which is shocking considering the class of his two goals in this game that gave Tottenham a 2-1 lead. Wolves came back to tie the first time on a Doyle penalty that should’ve seen Alan Hutton sent off. Spurs took the lead again on a great left footed shot from Roman Pavlyuchenko, but Wolves would tie it again with a Steven Fletcher headed goal. This was a crazy one at Molineux. 

Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United

It was a Dirk Kuyt hat trick that sunk Manchester United and added another great chapter to this storied fixture. The first goal came from an incredible run by Luis Suarez that Kuyt just tapped over the line and the second was after a horrible clearance attempt by Nani that fell right to the Dutchman’s feet about seven yards out.  Things got heated after a couple of challenges that could have seen Carragher or Rafael sent off but, nonetheless, it was 2-0 Liverpool at halftime. The final nail was put in the coffin when Kuyt got his third on a rebound off of a Suarez free kick. Chicharito added a goal late to add to his tally but it wouldn’t ruin Liverpool’s great day.

Blackpool 1-3 Chelsea

The Premier League’s version of Monday Night Football was not a marquee matchup but Chelsea didn’t care, they needed three points. John Terry got the opener and Frank Lampard added two of his own before Blackpool got one back, but it wouldn’t matter because Chelsea moved firmly into fourth place with this win.