Premiership round up - Week 27

Everton v Man United - 3:1 - The game was a little slow to start with and Everton looked the more ambitious side early on, before Berbatov made something out of very little and scored with a decisive strike (16). Within three minutes, unfazed by this ill-fortune, Bilyaletdinov had whacked the ball past Van de Saar to equalize (19). There followed good chances for Rooney and Donovan, but both missed. In the second half Fletcher missed narrowly with a good strike as ManU began to take more of the initiative. Then Everton’s two super-subs stepped forward; first Gosling steered the ball into the net, profiting from a defensive error (76) and finally Rodwell went through on his own to seal it (90). Everton seem be be back at their best, with Pienaar at the heart of most Evertonian moves, whilst Rooney was not firing on all cylinders (only 5 or so).

Wolves v Chelsea - 0:2 - Wolves made all the early chances but Drogba slid home the first goal with a tidy tap-in from a good cross by Zhirkov (40). Wolves were not deterred and continued to press hard but Drogba turned Wolves over again, following a long punt up-field by Cech, which Drogba nodded down and past the keeper before passing the ball into the net (67). Anelka might have had another but could not beat all three defenders he was facing. McCarthy - ‘I had a bit of a chew at the lads. We had our chances… We let ‘em off the hook.’ Ancelotti - ‘There’s eleven games to go… Nothing is decided at this point.’ But there is that 4 point lead, Mr Ancelotti.

Arsenal v Sunderland - 2:0 - Walcott’s pace was telling, allowing him to skin Sunderland’s defenders with ease. Bendtner nearly got a goal which was blocked and bounced up and over the bar. Eboue made a great run into the box and Bendtner tapped it in (27). Jones missed a sitter at the other end shortly after. Walcott went on a run of his own and nearly scored, as did Bent, but both keepers did well. Eboue cut back gloriously but Ramsey missed, then Nasri missed, then missed again, but Fabregas earned and scored a penalty in the dying moments of the game (90+3). Sunderland might have got into the game at only one down but Arsenal were at a clay pigeon shoot and were lining them up. Fortunately for Sunderland Arsenal could not knock off most of their chances. Wenger - ‘We had good rhythm in the first half, less in the second.’ Bruce - ‘When you come here you don’t get many (chances). We had one or two good ones, and missed them, but overall I’m delighted with our performance.’

West Ham v Hull - 3:0 - All West Ham who delivered their best performance of the season by far - Diamanti's fine free kick in the first minute was met with a good save, but the Hammers had set out their store from the off. Two minutes later Behrami let fly with Swiss precision for West Ham’s first (3). Behrami thumped another close range shot soon after which was saved and was denied on his third attempt following a great cross by Diamanti. Finally Green was forced to do a bit of work at the West Ham end, but saved at full stretch. Fagan’s second yellow, pulling back on Diamanti, reduced Hull to 10 men. The Hammers took full advantage and before long Carlton Cole had scored competently from an inch-perfect Faubert forward pass (59). Diamanti was having a very good day and chanced his arm with a shot from inside his own half, almost clearing the keeper - one for the photo album had it gone in. In extra time Gardner was stretchered off after what looked like an awkward fall reducing Hull to nine men and Faubert ran up the pitch and scored well from range across the goal-mouth (90+3). Zola - ‘It was good, I think we can do better. The difference was the way we started, we started very well.’ Games like this demonstrate why managers (and players) can become frustrated - without wishing to second guess Zola Your Ear can’t help but wonder whether ‘Why can’t they always play like that?’ ran through his mind.

Portsmouth v Stoke - 1:2 - Stoke remain unbeaten in 2010, but whatever their financial troubles off the pitch Portsmouth came to this game well-prepared and took the initiative from the outset. First Piquionne was given offside (wrongly) for what would otherwise have been neat meat. Belhadj then had a go from range but his shot went over. Finally, Owusu-Abeyie did some sterling work on the left wing, ran in, had his forward pass laid off back to him by O’Hara, let loose a fierce shot which the keeper blocked but failed to hold and Piquionne scored his fourth of the season from a narrow angle (35). All very good work by Portsmouth, but things turned sour for them in the second half. Stoke’s Tuncay shot directly at James, which he saved easily but shortly after a Wheelan corner delivered Huth with a free header from which he scored Stoke’s equalizer (50). Wilkinson was sent off for a second yellow and Portsmouth seemed to have the edge over Stoke’s ten men, but Fuller ran the ball deep into the Portsmouth 6 yard box, James dived at his feet and Fuller managed to cross the ball for Diao to push home (90+1), taking all three points. Poor ol’ Portsmouth, when you’re down, you’re down.

Aston villa v Burnley - 5:2 - To begin with Burnley thought they might lay the ghost of their poor away form to rest, having gone one up by merit early in the game (Fletcher, 10). It took Villa twenty minutes to make their reply when Young got a goal, possibly after two deflections (32). but at half time the game looked fairly even. The second half proved to be more interesting. Downing got his first Villa goal with an accurate strike across the face of the goal (56). Then Downing turned on a sixpence and pounded another low strike deflected in off Fox for Villa’s third (58). Heskey made no mistake for their fourth from Agbonlahor’s cross (61) Agbonlahor got the next one, sliding in from Heskey’s accurate lay-off, returning the favour. Paterson got one back (90+2) from a good cross, but it was too little, too late. Overall, Burnley had no answer to Villa’s pace.

Man City v Liverpool - 0:0 - A fairly quiet first half produced a few errors but not many opportunities to score. The best chance of the match fell to Adebayor after an hour, who drove a low shot, straight and true, but Reina saved well. Towards the end Liverpool seemed to have the upper hand, but the match fizzled out to a goal-less draw.

Wigan v Spurs - 0:3 - After their appalin’ maulin’ last time around at White Hart Lane, Wigan looked good from the off with crisp chances falling particularly to Rodallega. Defoe equalled his season’s best (22 goals) with Spurs’ first goal, an easy take from a good cross by Bale (27). Wigan were unlucky, Defoe was miles offside, but the goal stood and it was one nil at half time. There followed chances at either end but Defoe was very lively and cracked in a couple of shots which were saved. Modric struck one off the post into Kirkland’s grateful arms. Palyuvchenko got his first Premiership goal of the season, then his second in quick succession. The first was a good clipped finish from an excellent Modric pass (84), the second an opportunist strike after Boyce failed to clear (90+3). Three goals for Spurs and Modric had a very good game. Understandably, Martinez was not a happy bunny, particularly with the first goal and then one or two Defoe challenges, but mainly with the referee’s decisions - ‘I think from small decisions to big decisions the referee made the game impossible for us.’

Fulham v Birmingham - 2:1 - An unfocussed Baird forgot which end of the pitch he was at, and he headed in the first goal for his opponents with great accuracy (o/g, 3). Duff scored a brilliant goal with his left foot in-off the post to equalize (59). Fulham won the game when Zamora curled in a wonderful free kick in the late stages (90+1). Hodgson - ‘We got off to the worst possible start with the own goal after three minutes. But to come in at half-time 1-0 down after the way we had played was harsh on the players. We had more shots, more opportunities and more of the play - we had to dig deep and score two great goals to win it, but we got there in the end.’ McLeish - ‘We lost because of two pieces of inspiration from Fulham, the finishes were brilliant. That’s the difference in quality we have to aspire to. And Bobby Zamora was the big difference. Today my players had a hard game against one of the best strikers in the league. If they are going to step up to the next level they have to overcome players like him.’ Praise indeed - does England beckon?

Blackburn v Bolton - 3:0 - Heavy snow did not deter the determination of either side and both teams went at it hammer and tongs from the outset. Blackburn nearly went ahead and Bolton had chances as well, but neither side took the advantage until Kalinic got a a deflection off Knight (41). Roberts got Blackburn’s second with an overhead kick (73) and Givet their third with a glancing header (84) earning a precious three points for the home side. Allardyce (smug against his old club) - ‘It's our biggest win of the season. We're making everyone sit up and think what a game they're going to get here - and they certainly are. The second goal knocked the stuffing out of Bolton and we just opened them up if and when we saw fit.’ Coyle - ‘It's no excuse to say you've played a lot of games, we still expect better than what we offered today. The goals we lost, I wouldn't expect to lose those in the school playground. That was really disappointing.’

Man Utd v West Ham - 3:0 - Rooney’s seasonal tally rises to 27 as United beat West Ham soundly. Although the first half was evenly contested Rooney made no mistake with a firm header from Valencia's top volleyed cross (38). Twenty minutes later in the game another Valencia cross was headed home by Rooney for United’s' second (55) before Owen clipped a late third from a Scholes' pass (80). West Ham battled throughout, but were outclassed. Ferguson - ‘We had to win and we did that. In the second half, especially, we played some really good football and it could have been more. But we're happy with the three points. Wayne Rooney was magnificent again. They were two excellent headers, although there was also some good play from Antonio Valencia.’ Zola - ‘We played some good football and looked like we were in the game for most of the first half, but after that we did not play as well. Manchester United are a fantastic team and we could not live with them. We probably played them at the wrong time after their defeat on Saturday and, in Rooney, they have a player who turns everything to gold. He is one of the most complete strikers in the world. Now we look ahead to the game against Bolton, which is absolutely massive for us.’