A thrilling weekend in the Prem. You were made a fool if you stopped watching any of the games early, as the late goals poured in. Fulham and Man City drew 1-1 as Mark Hughes' side continue to struggle. The Fulham defense has really stepped it up, and Schwarzer has been incredible between the sticks to save them some blushes. Jimmy Bullard controlled the game from midfield and scored Fulham's goal, impressing Capello(in the stands). Joe Hart's performance must have also impressed the England coach, but the sheiks won't be happy that City is in 14th. Hull defeated Middlesbrough 2-1 thanks to some dodgy refereeing. Boro thought they had done it again when Tuncay scored in the 79th minute. Boro were unlucky when a shot came off the post, hit Ross Turnbull and went in. Then David Wheater was red carded for a soft foul on Geovanni, and Turnbull got a touch on the pk, but Marlon King got it past. The win sees Hull move up to sixth. Arsenal defeated Wigan 1-0 thanks to an Adebayor goal in the 16th minute. Credit to Wigan, they came to the Emirates and were all over Arsenal. Arsenal kept possession well, but each team had the same number of chances and Wigan will feel hard done by to walk away with nothing. Nasri left the game injured, and Eboue was really given stick(crap) by the crowd and was subbed out in the 90th minute after coming on for Nasri. Liverpool defeated Blackburn 3-1 to stay at the top of the table and add to the woes of Paul Ince. Blackburn were able to hold them until the 69th minute, when Xabi Alonso latched onto a blocked shot and put it into the bottom corner. Yosi Benayoun got the second, until Roque Santa Cruz got one back, but when Paul Robinson came out, Steven Gerrard was left with an empty net and converted. Blackburn currently sit in 19th, and I think it's only a question of time until Ince is gone.
Manchester United defeated Sunderland 1-0 thanks to a 90th minute goal by Nemanja Vidic. The game was incredibly one sided, with Sunderland not even registering a shot on goal. Marton Fulop was great in goal for Sunderland, but when he parried a shot in the 90th minute, Vidic was up the pitch(field) to put it away. Ronaldo left in the 65th minute after holding his hip like a baby. The loss sees United in third, and Sunderland in 18th. Chelsea defeated Bolton 2-0 to maintain a perfect record on the road with eight wins. Anelka scored the opener in the 9th minute, and Deco added a second in the 21st. Bolton had some chances late, but Chelsea really struggled to put away the game. They seem to be missing that killer edge right now, but sit a point behind Liverpool in second. Newcastle and Stoke tied 2-2 as Newcastle were buoyed by a Michael Owen brace. Sidibe struck back in the 60th minute thanks to a Ricardo Fuller run, before Gardner was given a very soft free kick and former Newcastle player Abdoulaye Faye converted the set piece in the 90th minute. Joe Kinnear was sent from the game after complaining about the soft foul on Fuller. The tie gets Newcastle out of the drop zone, and they sit in 16th.
They saved the best for last, as Sunday had a couple of thrillers. Portsmouth and WBA drew 1-1, and Albion now have two points from their last nine fixtures. West Brom will feel they should have won the game, but Jonathan Greening's put back from a free kick was their only goal from a dominant first half. Portsmouth were obviously tired from their Thursday match against Wolfsburg, but in the second half started to up the tempo. Peter Crouch hit a great volley, that with the help of a deflection, equalized for Porsmouth. Glen Johnson made another marauding run, but his shot flew over the goal. Ishmael Miller, who was involved in a number of chances for the Baggies, was injured in a collision with David James. Tony Mowbray will now be forced to do some striker shopping in January. Aston Villa defeated Everton 3-2 in the most exciting game of the Premiership season. Villa went ahead after 34 seconds thanks to a perfect strike by Steve Sidwell. Villa ran Everton ragged the first quarter of the game, with Barry, Sidwell and Young all popping up and creating chances. The tide started to turn, and as Tim Cahill pushed up alongside Anichebe, Everton started to pepper the Villa goal. A set piece in the 30th minute found Joleon Lescott's head, and he found the back of the net. Everton continued to dominate, and Villa tried to play the counter attack. They got lucky when a terrible backpass by Phil Jagielka was picked off by Ashley Young, who found the back of the net. Everton continued to push Villa, and two minutes into injury time another set piece found its way to Lescott, who this time used his feet to find the goal. The celebration was short lived, as after the kickoff Agbonlahor won a knock down and after Young beat Lescott, he also beat Howard for the winner. Villa are only a point out of fourth place, and showed that they will be nipping at the heels of the Big 4 all year. And Everton showed they need a striker, because they seem to be relying on defenders to score right now.
