Football Recap Sept 24th (Saturday), Sept 25th (Sunday)

Manchester City VS Everton (2-0)

Manchester city defeated Everton in the earliest match of the day by 2-0. Substitute Mario Balotelli put Manchester City in front at the 68^th minute kicking a low 20-yard shot which deflected by Phil Jagielka into the bottom right corner of the goal. A far strike by David Silva at the defence line substituted by James Milner made it two goals up for Manchester City at 89^th minutes of the match.

Everton's Tim Cahill challenges Gareth Barry of Manchester City

Wigan VS Tottenham (1-2)

First-half goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Bale from Tottenham triumph over Wigan by 2-1. Tottenham’s Rafael scored a goal at the 3rd minute. Bale then scored another goal for Tottenham at the 23rd minute. The revenge of Wigan by Diame hit their hopes of a comeback at the second-half of the match (50^th minutes). However, Wigan’s hopes was not achieved by losing at 1-2.

Van der Vaart fires Tottenham ahead in the opening at Wigan.

West Brom VS Fulham (0-0)

The fans thought Fulham had scored when Pajtim Kasami strike the ball into the back of the net, but it was called offside by the referee. Both teams had disappointing starts towards the Premier League campaign after both teams did not score any goals at all.

Steven Reid and Dempsey battle for the ball.

Newcastle United VS Blackburn (3-1)

Newcastle United won the match by three goals to one from Demba. Demba scored the first goal at the 27^th minute. Three minutes later, Demba scored again. However, Hoilett from Blackburn saw an opportunity and took revenge at the 37^th minute. The spirit of the day, Demba, makes it 3-1 for Newcastle United at the 54^th minute. Demba was the star player of the day that brought victory for the Magpies.

Demba make his first goal for Newcastle.

Liverpool VS Wolves (2-1)

Richard Johnson’s own goal, diverting in Charlie Adam's shot at the 11^th minute. Continued by Luis Suarez scoring another goal for Liverpool at 38^th minute. However, Steven Fletcher pulled one back early in the second-half at 49 minutes, who was guilty of missing a number of opportunities to make the victory easier than it turned out to be. 4 yellow cards were shown to O’Hara, Henry, Ward and Hunt from the Wolves at the first-half of the match.

Liverpool’s second goal by Luis Suarez.

Chelsea VS Swansea (4-1)

Chelsea took the lead in the 29^th minute when Juan Mata chipped a ball over the top and Torres scored the goal. Chelsea’s Ramires added another goal to the score at 36^th minutes by Ashley Cole, who drilled the ball through Michael Vorm’s legs. Unlucky Torres was sent off three minutes later for a two-footed lunge on Mark Gower. At 75^th minute, Ramires scored another goal for Chelsea but Ashley Williams pulled one back for Swansea at the 86^th minute. After four minutes, the forth goal was scored by Chelsea’s Didier Drogba. Chelsea had the most amount of goals scored for the day with four goals.

Chelsea’s Fernando Torres is shown red card by referee Mike Dean.

Arsenal VS Bolton (3-0)

After a goalless first half, Arsenal took just forty seconds to score at the second-half by Van Persie. Persie scored another goal at the 71st minute. David Wheater was sent off for pulling back Theo Walcott at the 55^th minute and it resulted in Bolton having to work harder towards victory. At the 89^th minute, Alex Song added another goal for Arsenal in the final minutes of the match. Bolton was defeated 3-0.

David Wheater is shown red card by referee.

Stoke City VS Manchester United (1-1)

Top at the table, Manchester United had a battle with Stoke City and conceded an unbelievable result, a draw. Manchester United went into the match without Wayne Rooney - rumoured to have picked up a hamstring injury - and lost Javier Hernandez early on after he was tackled by Jonathan Woodgate. However, they took the lead in 27^th minute, played by  Nani. At the 52nd minute, Stoke City’s Crouch pulled one back for his team. After an acuity battle, both teams only manage a point each from the match.

Nani made first score for Manchester United.

QPR VS Aston Villa (1-1)

Queens Park Rangers snatched back a draw at the last minutes of the match. At first-half match, both team didn’t score any goal. Armand Traore’s fouled in the box, gives a chance to Bannan to have a penalty shot. In the last minutes of the match, Traore was sent off for a second bookable offence and within the minutes both home side equalised when Richard Dunne turned the ball into his own net.

Both team’s player struggle for the ball.

Norwich VS Sunderland (2-1)

Leon Barnett(centre-back)made Norwich took the lead at 31^st minute after Elliott Bennett(winger) skipped into the right side of the penalty area. Substitute Steven Marison fired in a bullet header at the start the second-half(48^th minute) scored another goal for Norwich. However, after Sunderland loss 2 points, Richardson put more effort and pulled one back at the last four minutes.

Connor Wickham heads towards the Norwich goal.

24^th September 2011

Manchester City	2-0	Everton
Wigan Athletic	1-2	Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion	0-0	Fulham
Newcastle United	3-1	Blackburn Rovers
Liverpool	2-1	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Chelsea	4-1	Swansea City
Arsenal	3-0	Bolton Wanderers
Stoke City	1-1	Manchester United

25^th September 2011

QPR	1-1	Aston Villa
Norwich City	2-1	Sunderland

Reference list:

http://www.flashscore.com/soccer/england/?gclid=CP3P2pietqsCFUF_6wodsGKYfw

http://www.premierleague.com/page/HeadlinesIndex

Heng Zefong

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United Takes on Chelsea. Arsenal and Liverpool Both Struggle for Triumph

Has Arsene Wenger lost grasp of his team? The Gunners faced a shocking defeat to the Rovers while Liverpool suffers to the Spurs. Manchester City did just enough to remain with the Devils. Speaking of the Devils, has there ever been a team hotter than Manchester United is now? It was a weekend packed with goal bonanzas and shocking results in this weekend’s line up.

Arsenal on the verge to nowhere

Arsenal suffered their third defeat of the 2011/2012 English Premier League season with a hugely disappointing  4-3 loss to Blackburn at Ewood Park. It was a dream start turned to a war battle. The Gunners enjoyed a strong first half as they had a 2-1 advantage. Twice the visitors led, through Gervinho and Mikel Arteta. Twice their focus lapsed, allowing Aiyegbeni Yakubu to score, and twice they turned the ball into their own net.

In just 10 minutes from the kick off, Arsenal led with a cheeky run from Gervinho into the penalty area, making a quick shot into the back of the net, leaving Blackburn’s keeper to a standstill. Not long after that, Arsenal’s poor defending led to Yakubu opportunity to level the scores in the 25^th minute. Arsene Wenger’s side went on to take the lead once again with a pass from Van Persie to Mikel Arteta to blast the ball into the top of the net in the 34^th minute, leaving the keeper no chance at all.

Aiyegbeni Yakubu giving his best performance. 

Disaster took place five minutes into the second half of the match when the Rovers had a corner kick resulted in an own goal by Alexandre Song, leaving Arsenal in disbelief. Blackburn scored their third goal from another corner kick in the 59^th minute. This time, the scorer was on their team as Yakubu deflected the ball pass the keeper. He was in an offside position in the replays but was called good by the referee. 10 minutes after that, Arsenal were in despair with another own goal by Koscielny, making it 4-2. Yakubu, who performed stunningly, attempted to make a cross but the ball was deflected by Koscielny into the net. Arsenal then pushed harder to make it 4-3 with a solid header by Chamakh in the 85^th minute but it was too late to even up the score.

Arsenal players react after Blackburn Rovers' Yakubu (unseen) scored during the match.



The struggling Rovers secured an unlikely victory and ensured that manager Steve Kean was able to handle the amount of imposing pressure. Wenger could not be anymore frustrated with their unlucky streak.

  “It’s just not good enough and, of course, we are very frustrated. The spirit in the team is quite willing but if you look at the number of goals we have conceded it is just not good enough. You cannot come here and concede four goals the way we did today. On the other hand I believe that the group will take off but it is important that we can get results."

Arsenal had conceded 14 goals in 5 matches. That is already 50% of the amount they conceded in the last 2010/2011 season. Clearly, the Frenchman needs to make drastic changes to his squad or risk falling further in the league.

Under pressure: Arsene Wenger is feeling the strain after another poor defensive game against the Rovers.

Watch the match highlights.



Dreadful day for Liverpool

It was a suffering afternoon for the Reds as they were tormented 4-0 to the relentless Tottenham Hotspurs at White Hart Lane. Tottenham erased any memories of the drubbing to Manchester City as home debutants Emmanuel Adebayor and Scott Parker started against a Reds side who never looked like winning. Spurs delivered to boost their morale for a first home win of the season and Adebayor scored a double on his home debut. Liverpool were as frustrated as the number of bookings given by referee Probert during the match, mostly to the Reds with four yellow cards and two of their players sent off.

Luka Modric provided the opening goal in the 7^th minute with a fireball 20-yard strike into the top left-hand corner of the net. In the second half, Spurs almost scored within a minute when Kyle Walker crossed for Adebayor to Jermain Defoe but his poor shot was wide from six yards. Followed by a booking given to Charlie Adam by Probert for a foul on the goal scorer. He was then sent off in the 28^th minute. Defoe calmly slotted a second goal for Spurs in the 66^th minute just after Martin Skrtel was sent off thanks to Gareth Bale in the second half. Just two minutes passed, Adebayor scores a third for Tottenham after Reina spilled Defoe’s shot and the former Gunner’s man reacted quickly to lift the ball above the scrambled Spaniard to score. With Liverpool’s morale brought to an all time low, Adebayor took the advantage to make it 4-0 in the final seconds when he collected Assouto-Ekotto’s cross and calmly volley past Reina to seal the win in stoppage time.

Adebayor celebrates after scoring against Liverpool.





Liverpool's Charlie Adam takes out  Scott Parker right in front of referee Michael Jones.

Liverpool were struggling to get in to the game and at times, their passing was poor. Tottenham looked unstoppable but their performance were also assisted by the two dismissals. Tottenham’s manager, Harry Redknapp now has something to be delighted about while Kenny Dalglish’s squad have got to bounce back when they take on the Wolves at home.

Watch the match highlights.

United celebrates 5^th consecutive win at home side

It was the biggest match of the weekend and everyone were expecting a thrilling clash between the Devils and the Blues. However, it was Manchester United who were mostly expected to come on top in this match as they have been terrorizing every match they had played this season especially an 8-2 thrashing to Arsenal and 5-0 win against Bolton Wanderers last weekend. The expectations were true as United defeated Chelsea 3-1 at Old Trafford.

Sir Alex Ferguson.

It was the battle between the oldest and youngest manager in the league as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side took on Andre Villas-Boas's side. Chelsea was the better side in terms of tactical gameplay. At halftime, one side had created 12 chances (5 on target) to other’s 4 (3 on target) and that side trailed 3-0. I suppose age does matters as Fergie’s side had a few wise tricks up their sleeves to fumble the young manager’s side who played every move by the book. At the end of the day, the team who made the most of their chances, finished as winners.

Andre Villas-Boas.

The first goal was made from an excellent free kick by Ashley Young to a header by Chris Smalling in the 8^th minute. However, the United right back was at an offside position to score but no player or referee were near him, it was definitely questionable if he would had been marked if he were onside. Then again, relying on the linesman to make the correct call when the margin of error is no longer than a foot is always a gamble. In the 37^th minute, a well focused Nani drifted by Juan Mata to strike a beautiful shot into the top right corner to make it 2-0. What many viewers did not know was that Nani was coming back from an offside position to receive the long pass from Johnny Evans. Once again, it was a tight call for the linesman and a fortunate moment for United despite the brilliance of Nani. Not long after that, a fortunate Wayne Rooney scored the third goal to end the second half. The ball practically landed on Rooney’s foot when Chelsea skipper, John Terry attempted to clear the ball but knocked by his shins and allowed the Manchester United striker to tap it into the back of the net.

Manchester United's defender, Chris Smalling celebrates after scoring the opening goal.

Chelsea had to reformat their strategy to handle their invincible rival. Fernando Torres made a brilliant run forward to receive Anelka’s pass and maintained his composure and shot through the legs of David de Gea into the net in the 46^th minute. It is only Torres’s second goal for Chelsea. To highlight the second half of the match, it was filled opportunities but they were all taken with mistakes by both sides, with Nani hitting the bar and Rooney hitting the post and missed a penalty. It was an embarrassing moment for Rooney as he stumbled upon striking the ball which went wide; the score could have easily been 4-1 up. To add in to the clumsiness of United, Dimitar Berbatov wasted a late sitter as well. Chelsea would have scored one or two more goals if Torres did not felt under pressured. Torres fired wide of a completely empty net after rounding David de Gea which was astonishing. Despite that, Torres was playing well throughout the match, in fact, he was the savior that had given a little faith to Chelsea to keep fighting. A poor challenge to Hernandez by Ashley Cole made the young United star hopping away in pain. Reports are still pending to know if he will be fit to play next weekend.

Wayne Rooney fumbles during a penalty kick.

Fernando Torres in dismay after striking wide to an empty net.

It was a hectic, exhilarating game to watch although the scores may had turn out differently. Sir Alex Ferguson had expected this match to be the toughest to date and it sure turned out to be so. Manchester United currently leads at the top of the table with City trailing 2 points behind. Could this season be a clear run to a 20^th Premier League title for the Devils? Here are some facts that may answer that question, Torres was the 9th person scoring Chelsea's 10 goals. Last season, Park was the 6th person scoring United’s first 10 goals. Last season, defending champion Chelsea was on a rampage scoring streak but did not win the league. United, the defending champion this season started exactly like Chelsea. Now, we shall slowly see United’s growing injury list. The last time Manchester United were unbeaten for five games consecutively was 1985/1986 season. They however ended not winning the league, finishing only fourth. Liverpool on the other hand, won their 16th title. 20th? Not so smooth sailing, perhaps.

Hernandez in pain after receiving a poor challenge from Ashley Cole.

Watch the match highlights.

Fixtures and Results by week
Saturday, 17th September 2011

Blackburn Rovers	4-3	Arsenal
Aston Villa	1-1	Newcastle United
Bolton Wanderers	1-2	Norwich City
Everton	3-1	Wigan Athletic
Swansea City	3-0	West Bromwich Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0-3	QPR

Sunday, 18th September 2011

Tottenham Hotspur	4-0	Liverpool
Fulham	2-2	Manchester City
Sunderland	4-0	Stoke City
Manchester United	3-1	Chelsea

For official match statistics, log on to http://www.premierleague.com/

Reference links
http://www.eplmatches.com/2009/10/04/arsenal-vs-blackburn-highlights-2/
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/215614/20110917/soccer-football-premier-league-blackburn-arsenal-match-highlights-video-mertesacker-arteta-yakubu.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jonathan_wilson/09/18/united.chelsea/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deh36xoR64U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVEgUdukZBs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzhdoKWlyt4

Maverick Teh

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