Premier League Recap (April 30-May 1)

Sunderland 0-3 Fulham

Sunderland wins one game and many people thought they were out of their funk, but no, they respond with a poor performance Saturday afternoon. On loan forward, Gael Kakuta, scored Fulham’s first goal before Simon Davies doubled the lead. Sunderland looked awful as Davies scored again to make it 3-0. Fulham continues their good run.

Blackburn 1-0 Bolton

Blackburn has to take points wherever they can get them and all three against Bolton never hurts. Olsson got the winner on a strange looking shot. Bolton needs to find the form they had early in the season if they want to stay in the top half.

Blackpool 0-0 Stoke

Both teams could have used a win but Blackpool really needed it as they are edging ever closer to a return to the Championship. The teams each walked away with a point in this goalless draw.

West Brom 2-1 Aston Villa

Both of these will be safe but this was a chance for one of them to jump a spot in the table and West Brom took that chance. Villa got an own goal to gain an advantage but they couldn’t score themselves. Peter Odemwingie scored again for the club and this one leveled the match at 1-1. Paul Scharner was then sent off for West Brom but it wouldn’t matter. A winner would come from Mulumbu as the home fans celebrated as they knew their club was safe.

Wigan 1-1 Everton

Charles N’Zogbia opened the scoring for Wigan with a perfect left footed strike. Everton would answer with a penalty that Mikel Arteta missed. They would get another chance as Wigan gave away another penalty, this time for a handball. Leighton Baines scored it and both teams got a point.

Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham

A win for Chelsea and they would keep the pressure on Man United in the title race while a win for Spurs would keep them in the race for the fourth Champions League spot. Sandro got the scoring going with a rocket of a shot in the first half. Chelsea had chance after chance and it finally materialized when Frank Lampard’s shot had Gomes scrambling and the ball trickled over the line, in the eyes of the assistant at least. Upon replay, however, it looked like the ball did not totally cross the line. It was 1-1, nonetheless. In the second half it was Salomon Kalou who poked home the winner after a scramble in the box.

Birmingham 1-1 Wolves

Both teams are struggling but Wolves needed a win more than Birmingham did. A win wasn’t in the cards but rather a draw. Birmingham gave up a penalty when Ben Foster charged off his line and brought down the man in the box. Steven Fletcher scored it to give Wolves the lead. The home side had chances and Sebastien Larsson finally took one to make it 1-1 going into halftime. Birmingham had a Craig Gardner sent off when he got a second yellow for diving. The second half didn’t yield any goals so Wolves would have to be satisfied with a draw.

Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle

Yet another impressive win for Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool. This team looks like they are having fun playing together and Maxi Rodriguez looks like a new player. He got the opener while Dirk Kuyt got a penalty, drawn by Luis Suarez, who later made it three for Liverpool. The win vaulted the historic club into 5^th place.

Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United

Everyone was waiting for Arsenal to show some heart and win a game that really meant something. They finally did that at home against the league leaders Manchester United. The Gunners came out to win and played their usual free flowing game but just as it started to look like another disappointing outing for the home fans, something weird happened. They scored. Yes, Arsenal’s passing amounted into a big goal from Aaron Ramsey, by way of Robin van Persie, and gave the club a valuable lead. We all know Arsenal hasn’t been good at holding leads but this match was different as they held on for a massive win.

Manchester City 2-1 West Ham

Man City all but locked up the fourth spot with this win, in my opinion. I guess a collapse isn’t beyond the realm of possibility but a 2-1 win at home with a performance that showed that they can grind it out said that a collapse probably won’t happen. Goals from Nigel de Jong, oddly enough, and Pablo Zabaleta made it 2-0. West Ham would pull one back through Demba Ba but it wouldn’t matter as City held on for the victory.