It was a busy weekend in the Premier League with eight matches on Saturday, leading up to the two huge matches Sunday. It was a wild Saturday and London v. Manchester round 2 on Sunday, so lets get right in it…

Norwich 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea needed to get the job done away at Norwich but some staunch defending from Norwich and general poor play from Chelsea made sure that the Blues didn’t get what they wanted. It wasn’t necessarily a boring match but the lack of talking points in the early morning kickoff makes it hard to watch. Luckily for Chelsea the teams around them didn’t fare too well, either.

Everton 1-1 Blackburn

Tim Cahill finally got back on the score sheet after over a year to give the home side the lead. Blackburn leveled in the second half when Tim Howard whiffed on an attempted punch and David Goodwillie poked in the rebound. The Toffees had chances late and really could’ve used a win here, but had to settle for a point instead.

Fulham 5-2 Newcastle

Newcastle came into Craven Cottage on a nice run of form but they weren’t ready for Clint Dempsey, who may be in even better form. Danny Guthrie didn’t get that memo though as he rounded off a good first half for Newcastle with a blast of a goal. Danny Murphy tied it on a controversial penalty. Dempsey then scored with his mid section before conventionally finishing an attack for his second, Fulham’s third. The home side got another penalty and Bobby Zamora put that one away for 4-1. Hatem Ben Arfa pulled one back after a great run but Dempsey finished off his hat trick with another clinical finish.

QPR 3-1 Wigan

New QPR boss, Mark Hughes, had his side up for it Saturday and the home win sent visitors, Wigan, to the bottom of the league. QPR went up on a Heidar Helguson penalty and doubled it on an Akos Buzaky free kick, all in the first half. Hugo Rodallega scored a free kick of his own to make it 2-1. Helguson then missed a penalty but Tommy Smith would leave no doubt and round off the win with a great strike for 3-1.

Stoke 1-2 West Brom

This was an odd result. Stoke are usually good at home and West Brom are usually average on the road. James Morrison opened the scoring for West Brom when Thomas Sorensen spilled his shot over the line. Stoke got a penalty that they probably wouldn’t have received on the road but Jon Walters missed the kick, and as Rasheed Wallace would say, “that ball don’t lie”. Cameron Jerome did eventually make it 1-1 for Stoke but Graham Dorrans sent a low free kick through everyone for the three points.

Sunderland 2-0 Swansea

Swansea were coming in off the back of their best win of the season and Sunderland, under Martin O’Neill, are looking better each week. Stephane Sessegnon and Craig Gardner scored sensational goals in the 13^th and 85^th minutes to get the home win.

Wolves 2-3 Aston Villa

The scoreline was the same as City-Spurs would be, even if it were not as important of a match. Darren Bent scored a penalty in the 11^th minute to give Villa the lead. Michael Kightly and David Edwards flipped the game on its head before halftime and gave Wolves the advantage. Loanee, Robbie Keane, made it two each in the second half on a nice finish. Karl Henry (who might be my least favorite player in the League) was then sent off for a backeel on Marc Albrighton’s chest. With one extra player, Villa went on and won the match when Keane blasted home with just seven minutes to go.

Bolton 3-1 Liverpool

Liverpool was absolutely terrible on Saturday and Kenny Dalglish has the right to be upset at his players, as he was after the match. They went down 2-0 on Mark Davies and Nigel Reo-Coker goals. Craig Bellamy got one back but Greitar Steinsson ended any ideas of a comeback with a great finish after a corner fell to his feet, early in the second half. Like I said, Liverpool were awful, but to be fair to Bolton, they looked much better than their counterparts on the day.

Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham

The first half was mostly a tense affair where both teams felt each other out. The second half was anything but that. There were four goals in a nine minute stretch that ignited both teams fans and lead to a great finish. First it was Samir Nasri finishing off a beautiful David Silva pass then it was Joleon Lescott bundling over the line for 2-0. Spurs looked dejected but a mistake at the back, by Stefan Savic and Joe Hart, led to Jermaine Defoe pulling one back. Gareth Bale brilliantly leveled for Tottenham on a curling shot that wouldn’t have been saved by any keeper in the world. Mario Balotelli came on for Edin Dzeko in the 65^th and made quite an impact. First he is yellow carded, then should’ve been sent off for a mini stomp, then brought down for a penalty, then converting said penalty to win the match in stoppage time. More and more people will ask, why always him?

Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United

This match was a big one for soccer in the U.S. It was the first ever, Premier League match broadcasted live on a major network (FOX). The first half wasn’t classic stuff and Arsenal’s defense looked terrible. Antonio Valencia finished off a Ryan Giggs cross just before halftime to give United a well deserved lead. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the Arsenal youngster, led the Gunners in the second half and looked great while on the pitch. His run and pass set up Robin van Persie’s to make up for an earlier miss with the equalizer. Chamberlain was then mysteriously taken off to boos around the Emirates. It stayed at one each until Danny Welbeck got the winner for Man United with an emphatic finish.

What a great weekend of matches. The Sunday games, specifically Manchester City v. Tottenham, lived up to the hype and as usual, there were plenty of talking points. As great as that second half was, my player and team of the week go to Clint Dempsey and Fulham, respectively. His three goal performance was the first by an American in the Prem.