Arsenal beats Villa to go top in England
Source: Agencies |
November 28, 2010, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ARSENAL took over at the top in England, at least for a couple of hours, after overcoming Aston Villa 4-2 yesterday with Jack Wilshere scoring his first Premier League goal for the Gunners.
Arsene Wenger's men, still smarting from their 2-3 defeat to North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and a 0-2 Champions League loss to Braga in midweek, eased a point clear of champion Chelsea which is at Newcastle United today.
Manchester United, with Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up against 11th-placed Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford, is level on 28 points with Chelsea and can leapfrog Arsenal later in the day.
Arsenal missed a fistful of chances at a freezing Villa Park while youngster Ciaran Clark scored twice for the home side in the second half to turn what should have been a comfortable afternoon for the Gunners into a nervy final 20 minutes.
The first half was all Arsenal, with Villa flattered to stay on level terms for 39 minutes before a defensive howler allowed Andrei Arshavin to scamper into the box and beat the outstretched Brad Friedel.
Samir Nasri could have made it 2-0 a minute later after being played through and rounding Friedel only to see his tightly angled shot hit the side netting.
Friedel had to make another crucial save from a powerful Marouane Chamakh header in the 44th before Nasri finally got on the scoresheet on the stroke of halftime.
Diving in vain
The Frenchman's volleyed shot off a Arshavin corner took a deflection off Villa defender Luke Young with Friedel diving in vain to keep it out.
Villa's French manager Gerard Houllier took off former Arsenal midfielder and compatriot Robert Pires at half time and it was a changed side after the break.
Clark chested the ball down on the edge of the area in the 52nd and lashed it past Lukasz Fabianski to pull a goal back, although John Carew appeared to be in an offside position.
The Villa joy was short-lived, with Chamakh restoring the two-goal advantage in the 56th with a right-footed prod at full stretch past Friedel. Clark restored its hopes with Richard Dunne nodding on the ball from a corner for him to head home in the 70th. Teenage midfielder Wilshere then made sure of all three points with a diving header three minutes into stoppage time.
In Germany, Mainz beat Nuremberg 3-0 on Friday to consolidate second place in the Bundesliga.
Andre Schuerrle scored in the 27th after a corner and helped create the second in the 54th, redirecting with his heel a low free kick from Christian Fuchs for Nikolce Noveski to prod home from close range. Substitute Sami Allagui completed the victory in the 86th.
Mainz improved to 30 points and will remain second behind Borussia Dortmund no matter what happens in the other matches over the weekend.
Arsene Wenger's men, still smarting from their 2-3 defeat to North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and a 0-2 Champions League loss to Braga in midweek, eased a point clear of champion Chelsea which is at Newcastle United today.
Manchester United, with Wayne Rooney in the starting line-up against 11th-placed Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford, is level on 28 points with Chelsea and can leapfrog Arsenal later in the day.
Arsenal missed a fistful of chances at a freezing Villa Park while youngster Ciaran Clark scored twice for the home side in the second half to turn what should have been a comfortable afternoon for the Gunners into a nervy final 20 minutes.
The first half was all Arsenal, with Villa flattered to stay on level terms for 39 minutes before a defensive howler allowed Andrei Arshavin to scamper into the box and beat the outstretched Brad Friedel.
Samir Nasri could have made it 2-0 a minute later after being played through and rounding Friedel only to see his tightly angled shot hit the side netting.
Friedel had to make another crucial save from a powerful Marouane Chamakh header in the 44th before Nasri finally got on the scoresheet on the stroke of halftime.
Diving in vain
The Frenchman's volleyed shot off a Arshavin corner took a deflection off Villa defender Luke Young with Friedel diving in vain to keep it out.
Villa's French manager Gerard Houllier took off former Arsenal midfielder and compatriot Robert Pires at half time and it was a changed side after the break.
Clark chested the ball down on the edge of the area in the 52nd and lashed it past Lukasz Fabianski to pull a goal back, although John Carew appeared to be in an offside position.
The Villa joy was short-lived, with Chamakh restoring the two-goal advantage in the 56th with a right-footed prod at full stretch past Friedel. Clark restored its hopes with Richard Dunne nodding on the ball from a corner for him to head home in the 70th. Teenage midfielder Wilshere then made sure of all three points with a diving header three minutes into stoppage time.
In Germany, Mainz beat Nuremberg 3-0 on Friday to consolidate second place in the Bundesliga.
Andre Schuerrle scored in the 27th after a corner and helped create the second in the 54th, redirecting with his heel a low free kick from Christian Fuchs for Nikolce Noveski to prod home from close range. Substitute Sami Allagui completed the victory in the 86th.
Mainz improved to 30 points and will remain second behind Borussia Dortmund no matter what happens in the other matches over the weekend.
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