Joy for Reds as Arsenal, City roll on
Source: Agencies |
January 3, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MANCHESTER City grounded out win to stay clear at the top while Arsenal remained in dogged pursuit with a 3-0 victory at Birmingham City on Saturday.
At the other end of the table, Joe Cole struck in stoppage time to earn Liverpool a much-needed 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Earlier, Manchester United was well below its best but triumphed 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion with goals by Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez after the hosts missed a penalty.
Carlos Tevez also missed a spot kick but City got away with it as Adam Johnson's 34th-minute goal was enough to clinch a 1-0 home win over Blackpool.
United has 41 points from 19 games with City also on 41 from 21 matches. Arsenal is third with 39 points from 20.
Arsenal will be delighted to have succeeded where United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur failed this season by winning at St Andrews.
It took the lead after 13 minutes when Robin van Persie's freekick took a deflection and doubled it after 58 when Samir Nasri expertly finished off a quickfire move with his 13th goal of the season.
Birmingham, perhaps tired from the fightback which earned a 1-1 draw against United in midweek, struggled to keep up and when Nasri and Cesc Fabregas caused mayhem in the home defense after 66 minutes a Roger Johnson own goal completed the victory.
Tottenham moved back to fourth on 36 points after Gareth Bale's early header secured a 1-0 victory over Fulham.
Sunderland, which suffered its first home defeat of the season against Blackpool in midweek, recovered with a 3-0 home win over Blackburn Rovers to rise to the heady heights of sixth.
West Ham beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 to climb off the bottom and out of the relegation zone after two wins and two draws from its last four games. Stoke City also overcame Everton 2-0.
Tevez will rarely have had so many chances without scoring as he was on the end of most of City's attacking moves.
After a couple of early near misses the visitors went ahead when Johnson's deflected shot flew in and then Tevez struck a penalty wide.
The Argentine was through on goal twice more in the second half without finding the net and, having fallen out with the fans last month after briefly saying he wanted to leave, found time to apologize to a section on Saturday after one of his misses.
If Tevez was relieved to hear the final whistle it must have been nothing compared to the feelings of Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson.
After his team's home defeat by Wolves in midweek it was doom and gloom all round when Bolton went ahead through Kevin Davies late in the first half.
Fernando Torres showed a rare glimpse of form with an excellent equalizer before substitute Cole, who has struggled since his close-season move from Chelsea, enjoyed his finest moment to date in a red shirt.
"I thought we played so well, even at 1-1 I wouldn't have been desperately disappointed," said Hodgson.
"It showed the character of the players and their determination to turn things round and give us a better 2011 than 2010."
At the other end of the table, Joe Cole struck in stoppage time to earn Liverpool a much-needed 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Earlier, Manchester United was well below its best but triumphed 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion with goals by Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez after the hosts missed a penalty.
Carlos Tevez also missed a spot kick but City got away with it as Adam Johnson's 34th-minute goal was enough to clinch a 1-0 home win over Blackpool.
United has 41 points from 19 games with City also on 41 from 21 matches. Arsenal is third with 39 points from 20.
Arsenal will be delighted to have succeeded where United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur failed this season by winning at St Andrews.
It took the lead after 13 minutes when Robin van Persie's freekick took a deflection and doubled it after 58 when Samir Nasri expertly finished off a quickfire move with his 13th goal of the season.
Birmingham, perhaps tired from the fightback which earned a 1-1 draw against United in midweek, struggled to keep up and when Nasri and Cesc Fabregas caused mayhem in the home defense after 66 minutes a Roger Johnson own goal completed the victory.
Tottenham moved back to fourth on 36 points after Gareth Bale's early header secured a 1-0 victory over Fulham.
Sunderland, which suffered its first home defeat of the season against Blackpool in midweek, recovered with a 3-0 home win over Blackburn Rovers to rise to the heady heights of sixth.
West Ham beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 to climb off the bottom and out of the relegation zone after two wins and two draws from its last four games. Stoke City also overcame Everton 2-0.
Tevez will rarely have had so many chances without scoring as he was on the end of most of City's attacking moves.
After a couple of early near misses the visitors went ahead when Johnson's deflected shot flew in and then Tevez struck a penalty wide.
The Argentine was through on goal twice more in the second half without finding the net and, having fallen out with the fans last month after briefly saying he wanted to leave, found time to apologize to a section on Saturday after one of his misses.
If Tevez was relieved to hear the final whistle it must have been nothing compared to the feelings of Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson.
After his team's home defeat by Wolves in midweek it was doom and gloom all round when Bolton went ahead through Kevin Davies late in the first half.
Fernando Torres showed a rare glimpse of form with an excellent equalizer before substitute Cole, who has struggled since his close-season move from Chelsea, enjoyed his finest moment to date in a red shirt.
"I thought we played so well, even at 1-1 I wouldn't have been desperately disappointed," said Hodgson.
"It showed the character of the players and their determination to turn things round and give us a better 2011 than 2010."
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