The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsA review of all the weekend’s Premier League action. Leicester increased their lead at the summit of the table by five points after picking up a narrow win at Vicarage Road, while Arsenal and Tottenham played out a tight draw in the early Saturday kick off.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Arsenal.
The first Premier League game of the weekend was at White Hart Lane, where both north London teams picked up a point each. Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld scored for the hosts, while Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez netted for the Gunners.
David Ospina was called into action early when he was needed to prevent Erik Lamela from opening the scoring. Francis Coquelin then picked up a booking for a deliberate hand ball, breaking up a Tottenham counter attack. Hector Bellerin’s cross was met by Aaron Ramsey whose inventive finish beat Hugo Lloris in the Spurs net.
Coquelin got himself sent off early into the second period, an unneeded lunge on Kane was deemed worthy of the Frenchman’s second yellow. Alderweireld then got Spurs’ first of the afternoon, his quality finish from close range gave Ospina no chance. Two minutes later and Kane put the home side ahead. His brilliant finish from a tight angle, curled past Ospina and White Hart Lane erupted. Tottenham could not hold on though, as Bellerin got his second assist to play in Sanchez who beat Lloris to salvage a much needed point for Arsenal.
Watford 0-1 Leicester City.
The fairy tale continues as the Foxes picked up maximum points to sit comfortably at the top of the table. A single goal from Riyad Mahrez was the difference, and what a goal it was.
Troy Deeney saw his shot saved early on, as Watford were the better of the two teams in the opening exchanges. Christian Fuchs then saw his effort comfortably stopped by Heurelho Gomes. On loan Chelsea midfielder Nathan Ake, almost put the Hornets in the lead, his headed effort hitting the bar. At the other end, Jamie Vardy should’ve opened the scoring when he was left with an open net, the Englishmen couldn’t get his effort on target as the first half remained goalless.
Leicester were ahead in the 56th minute, Mahrez receiving the ball, he ran into a tight angle before unleashing the ball into the top corner. Robert Huth almost doubled the foxes lead but his header into the ground was kept out well by Gomes. Mahrez could’ve had his second, once again Gomes with an impressive save. Odion Ighalo should have put the hosts back on level terms late into the game, his free header missing the target.
Everton 2-3 West Ham.
Everton threw away 77 minutes of hard work as their dismal home form continued. Romelu Lukaku and Aaron Lennon scored for Everton before Michail Antonio, Diafra Sakho and Dimitri Payet ensured the points would be going back to London.
Lukaku opened the scoring in the 13th minute from a tight angle to give his team the perfect start. Kevin Mirallas then picked up a yellow card for simulation midway through the first period. Ross Barkley almost doubled the hosts lead with an outrageous volley from the edge of the box, a great stop by Adrian to keep the deficit to one. Mirallas picked up his second yellow for a late challenge and was given his marching orders just prior to the interval.
Despite being down to ten men, Everton increased their lead when Lukaku played in Lennon who’s first touch and finish was excellent. Lukaku had a glorious opportunity to secure the points for Everton midway through the second half, his soft penalty was saved and it seemed to spark life into the hammers. Mark Noble produced a great cross in the 78th minute for Antonio to head home as the Hammers started to believe they could get something from this game. Payet’s cross three minutes later was converted into the net by Sakho. Payet completed the comeback in stoppage time with a neat finish from close range to break hearts all around Goodison Park.
Newcastle 1-3 Bournemouth.
Bournemouth worked hard for their victory over fellow relegation rivals Newcastle Saturday afternoon. Joshua King, Charlie Daniels and an own goal from Steven Taylor was enough to see the hosts home. Ayoze Perez scored for Newcastle.
Afobe had the first effort of the afternoon, his shot over the bar as the Cherries were the quickest out of the blocks. The deadlock was broken in the 28th minute when King’s cross was met by Taylor’s stretched leg and deflected into his own net. The centre back almost made amends late into the first half when his volley was just wide of the target.
King got his first goal since December in the 70th minute, his powerful finish went straight into the top corner to give the visitors some breathing space. That breathing space lasted all of ten minutes as Newcastle hit back through Perez. Jonjo Shelvey’s incredible ball played Perez through on goal, the Spaniard kept his cool and slotted home. Daniels secured the points in stoppage time, his impressive run and finish was drilled low into the bottom corner as Bournemouth picked three vital points.
Manchester City 4-0 Aston Villa.
City cruised to victory as they finally broke their league losing streak. Goals from Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure and two from Sergio Aguero blew away their Midlands visitors.
Villa managed to frustrate City during the first half defending well and looking like they might be able to get something out of the game. Brad Guzan was called into action to prevent Aguero from opening the scoring, his fingertip save pushing the ball onto the bar and over. Jordan Ayew had a good chance for Villa, but Joe Hart produced a good save to keep the game level.
It took Manchester City all of three minutes into the second half to get ahead. David Silva’s pass was met by a first time finish from Toure and the hosts finally broke down their visitors. Aguero doubled the deficit two minutes later when Micah Richards failed clearance rebounded off the Argentine and into the open net. Aguero then got his second ten minutes later, the forward latched onto a good pass from Silva to volley into the bottom corner. Jesus Navas then produced a good cross for Sterling to convert into the net, as City really stepped it up a gear. Aguero missed a penalty to deny his hat trick as the score remained 4-0.
Southampton 1-1 Sunderland.
A game of few chances finished level as both teams struggled going forward. Jermain Defoe put the visitors head before Virgil Van Dijk cancelled out the Englishman’s opener late into second half stoppage time.
Dusan Tadic saw his early shot saved as the Saints were looking to get ahead early. Fraser Forster was then almost caught out by a looping free kick from Wahbi Khazri that the Englishmen had to save onto the bar. Fabio Borini came close just prior to the half time whistle when his volley was just over the bar.
Jose Fonte was sent off with twelve minutes to play for bringing down Borini and being last man. Sebastian Larsson took the free kick but it was well saved by Forster. Defoe did get the breakthrough in the 85th minute, his close range finish looked to secure the points for the Black Cats. With seconds remaining the home side equalized through their summer signing, Van Dijk. Tadic’s cross was met by the Dutch international who produced a great finish to salvage a point for Southampton who were far from their best.
Swansea City 1-0 Norwich City.
Swansea picked up huge three points in their bid to stay in the Premiership next season. Norwich now look to be in real trouble after another loss and remain in 18th position, one point from safety. A Gylfi Sigurdsson cool finish as the difference between the two teams.
Nathan Redmond registered the first attempt for the visitors, his shot well saved by Lukas Fabianski to keep the scores level. Cameron Jerome had a good effort for the Canaries shortly after but Fabianski did well once again to keep his clean sheet intact. Norwich had the better chances of the first half and were made to rue their early misses as Swansea finally turned up during the second half.
Sigurdsson broke the deadlock in the 61st minute. The Icelandic international kept his head to place his effort into the bottom corner, ex Norwich City player Leroy Fer with the assist. Sigurdsson saw his impressive free kick kept out by John Ruddy to keep the deficit just to one. Redmond had a late chance to salvage a point for his team but his effort was wide of the target.
Chelsea 1-1 Stoke City.
Stoke picked up a good point on their travels to Stamford Bridge Saturday afternoon. Bertrand Traore with a brilliant strike to open the scoring, only for Mame Diouf to cancel out the striker’s goal late on.
Diouf had two glorious chances to open the scoring early on, both wide of the target. Chelsea got the breakthrough in the 39th minute, Nemanja Matic played the ball into Traore for him to turn and unleash an absolute screamer that flew into the top corner of Jack Butland’s net.
Thibaut Courtois was called into action early into the second period, keeping out Marko Arnautovic with a good save. The Belgian then made another impressive save to keep out Xherdan Shaqiri as Stoke were knocking on the door. The Potters relentless attitude finally paid off in the 85th minute when a rare Courtois error gave Diouf the opportunity to head home from close range, the Senegalese international did not need asking twice as Stoke took a huge point back to the Britannia with them.
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool.
Palace tasted defeat right at the death with their home clash with Liverpool, after conceding a penalty five minutes into second half stoppage time. Joe Ledley recorded his first goal of the season to give the Eagles their lead before Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke secured the points for the Kop.
Firmino had an early chance to put the visitors ahead, Alex McCarthy with a good save. Almost immediately at the other end Yannick Bolasie had a good attempt at goal only for his shot to be kept out by Simon Mignolet. Emmanuel Adebayor hit the bar midway through the first half as Palace started to grow more confident into the match. Yohan Cabaye then saw his effort fly into the side netting before James Milner was cautioned for a late tackle on the Frenchman.
Ledley opened the scoring in the 48th minute, drilling his effort low into the bottom corner to give Palace a deserved lead. Milner picked up his second booking for another late challenge, this time on Wilfred Zaha. Ironically as Liverpool went down to ten men their performance improved drastically. Firmino equalized for the visitors in the 72nd minute after pouncing on a poor clearance from McCarthy. Alberto Moreno came close to putting Liverpool ahead late into the game when his long range strike hit the post and back into play. Then a moment of pure controversy. As Benteke got goal side of Damien Delaney, the centre back decided to put in a tackle, after realising it was silly to go to ground from there, the Irishman tried to back out of the tackle only to catch Benteke’s trailing leg and bring the Belgian down. Liverpool’s new signing took the responsibility himself and placed the penalty into the bottom corner to complete the ultimate come back for his new team.
West Brom 1-0 Manchester United.
A shock win for the Baggies as the Red Devils played more than an hour with ten men. Juan Mata’s needless sending off was the difference as Solomon Rondon made the Manchester team pay the ultimate price midway through the second half with a smart finish.
Anthony Martial had an early chance for the visitors, his shot was saved with ease by Ben Foster. Mata picked up his first yellow for preventing the Baggies taking a free kick quickly, a silly and unprofessional booking to pick up. Within three minutes Mata was given his marching orders for a mistimed tackle on Darren Fletcher. Craig Dawson almost opened the scoring for the home side when he went close with his long range effort.
Jesse Lingard tried to inject some pace into the game, his effort flying comfortably over the bar. Rondon did get the only goal in the 66th minute, with a sublime first touch it set him up well for a good first time finish to beat David De Gea. For the remaining 24 minutes United failed to trouble the Baggies defence as they held on for an historic win against arguably the biggest team in England.
