Tuesday 24 September 2013

Week 5: Premier League Action Summary

Sports - Football - Premier League - Action Summary - Week 5

The fifth week of action saw 10 games, 29 goals, 12 in the first half, 17 in the second half, 3 in injury time; 253 attempts, 83 on target and 119 corners; 202 fouls, 23 bookings, 1 red card, 1 penalty scored, 1 penalty saved.

Most scored: Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium with 4 goals.

Top creators: Tottenham at the Cardiff City Stadium with 21 attempts, 12 on target, 12 corners and 63.7% possession.

Main offenders: West Ham at Upton Park with 17 fouls, 2 yellow cards and 1 sending off.

Norwich 0-1 Aston Villa:

Libor KozakAston Villa recorded their first clean sheet in 27 league games as they beat Norwich 0-1 at Carrow Road. An action-packed first half started off with the home side on top winning a penalty after just six minutes when Cieran Clark handled the ball. But Brad Guzan made a fine save diving to his left and denying Robert Snodgrass from the spot. The Canaries saw Andreas Weimann's shot for Villa come off he post before sub Libor Kozak who replaced injured Christian Benteke scored 90 seconds after coming on just before the half-hour mark. Having missed a one-on-one chance against Norwich keeper John Ruddy, the ball came back to Gabriel Agbonlahor who was unselfish enough to cut it back to Kozak who netted it gratefully. After an entertaining end-to-end encounter, Paul Lambert can thank Guzan for some fine saves and helping his side to victory against his former employers. Norwich have only lost two of their last 12 league games at Carrow Road - both against Aston Villa.

Liverpool 0-1 Southampton:

Dejan LovrenLiverpool were denied their best ever start to a Premier League season by a defiant Southampton after losing 0-1 at Anfield despite a heroic performance by Simon Mignolet. The Belgian goalkeeper made save after save including a breath-taking triple-save denying Steven Davis. Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren were also denied by the stopper before the latter held off Daniel Agger to head in the winner for Mauricio Pochettino's men. Saints keeper Artur Boruc denied Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge with some impressive saves of his own but all in all the home side struggled to create chances and break through a stubborn back line. This was the second home defeat of 2013 for Brendan Rodgers men, both against Southampton.

Newcastle 2-3 Hull City:

Sone Aluko and David MeylerA Loic Remy double was not enough for Newcastle as they fell to a stunning Sone Aluko strike losing 2-3 against Hull City at St James Park. Remy had given the hosts the lead heading in Papiss Cisse's miscued shot. Robbie Brady equalised with a low volley before Remy netted his second off Yohan Cabaye's attempt. Ahmed Elmohamady glanced in Brady's free kick to make it 2-2 after the break before Aluko smacked in the winner from 18 yards. Alan Pardew's men came into the match on the back of two wins on the trot over Fulham and Aston Villa. After an entertaining encounter Steve Bruce was delighted with his side's display, the Tigers putting an end to the home side's run picking up seven points from their opening five games in their first season back in the Premier League after three years in the Championship.

West Brom 3-0 Sunderland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24089796West Brom condemned Sunderland to their fourth Premier League defeat of the season thrashing them 3-0 at the Hawthorns. Debutant Stephane Sessegnon scored against his former side netting an easy rebound after Keiren Westwood initially denied Scott Sinclair. Liam Ridgewell doubled the score with a one-touch bang of a shot before the Black Cats were forced to play the last 15 minutes reduced to 10 men after manager Paulo Di Canio had already made all three available substitutions and then lost Steven Fletcher to injury. Morgan Amalfitano completed the Italian's miserable afternoon and run by making it 3-0 with an angled shot in injury time and making it three defeats on the trot with just one point out of five games for the visitors. The traveling fans showed their frustration at the bottom club's manager when he went to applaud them which turned out to be a peculiar encounter in front of the cameras. The bigger the worry and despair got for Di Canio, the greater the relief and celebration was for Steve Clarke after his side finally recorded their first win to see them climb out of the relegation zone and up to 15th.

West Ham 2-3 Everton:

Leighton Baines scores for Everton against SunderlandEverton produced a perfect turnaround as they twice came from behind to beat 10-man West Ham at Upton Park. Roberto Martinez's men thereby remain the last unbeaten side in the Premier League this season in sixth place on nine points out of five games. Ravel Morrison's deflected shot from the edge of the box got the scoreboard rolling and the hosts ahead before Leighton Baines levelled the score with a spectacular free kick bending and swerving the ball across and past a helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen. The Hammers restored their lead against the run of play thanks to Mark Noble's penalty conversion after skipper Kevin Nolan drew a foul from James McCarthy after a fine build-up in the box. But the game took a decisive twist when Noble was given a second booking for a tackle from behind on Toffee midfielder Ross Barkley. Baines struck again netting another stunning free-kick in the opposite corner. Substitute Romelu Lukaku completed the perfect turnaround heading in the winner for the visitors and condemning Sam Allardyce's men to their second defeat of the season and down to 14th.

Chelsea 2-0 Fulham:

John Mikel ObiChelsea put their worst start to a league season in 10 years behind them after beating Fulham 2-0 at Stamford Bridge going top of the table for 24 hours at least. Jose Mourinho laughed off all fears and critics in the post-match interview after watching Oscar and John Mikel Obi score two second-half goals to settle the bout and bag three points for the Blues. After a less entertaining, more hard-working first half where Darren Bent's shot at home keeper Petr Cech was the closest either team got, Oscar settled Chelsea's nerves with a fine finish from close range. Mikel doubled the score with his first league goal in 185 games to end a four-game winless run for Roman Abramovich's men. The result took Chelsea above Liverpool at the top of the table before Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City leapfrogged them with their wins on Sunday (see summaries below).

Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City:

Per MertesackerArsenal recorded their seventh win on the trot after beating Stoke convincingly 3-1 at the Emirates to send them top of the table ahead of bitter London rivals Tottenham on goal difference. Aaron Ramsey opened the scoring after just five minutes netting his seventh goal in eight games for the Gunners by tapping in the rebound after Asmir Begovic had pushed Mesut Ozil's free kick straight at him. The Potters were level 20 minutes later after Geoff Cameron netted Marko Arnautovic's shot that came off the post. But Per Mertesacker put the home side back ahead and in command before the break heading in Ozil's corner with keeper Begovic all over the place again. Bacary Sagna made it three goals and three points for Arsene Wenger's men later on in the second half, heading in Ozil's free kick with a nice leap into the left corner leaving the keeper stranded yet again. Ozil had a hand in all three Arsenal goals on his home debut for the club, showing how pivotal the German has already become for the club, especially with the long injury list they still have.

Crystal Palace 0-2 Swansea:

MichuSwansea bossed the game from start to finish brushing aside a poor Crystal Palace side 2-0 at Selhurst Park. Striker Miguel Michu fired the ball under Palace keeper Julian Speroni to open the scoring after just 80 seconds, producing a banging start for the Swans. Nathan Dyer doubled the home side's lead soon after the break hammering a rebound high into the net after some great work by Michu in the build-up again setting up Alvaro Vazquez whose shot was saved by Speroni. Michu had the ball in the back of the net again before the final whistle, connecting to Jonathan de Guzman's long through-ball, but the goal was disallowed for offside. It was almost like a training match for Michael Laudrup's men, dominating in possession, territory and chances, Ian Holloway admitting post-match how awful his side were.

Cardiff 0-1 Tottenham:

Spurs players celebrate winning in CardiffWelsh hearts were broken in stoppage time as Paulinho scored a stoppage-time winner for Tottenham in a tense encounter at the Cardiff City stadium. Malky Mackay's men were out to frustrate and stun Spurs as they did in their 3-2 home win against Manchester City with keeper David Marshall starring, producing one brilliant save after another. The London side dominated possession and produced plenty of chances keeping Marshall more than busy. But Cardiff's defence was finally breached in the dying seconds when Brazilian Paulinho connected onto Erik Lamela's cross with a cheeky back-heeler netting three crucial points for Andre Villas-Boas men putting them level on points with rivals Arsenal at the top of the table before their big derby clash against Chelsea next weekend.

Manchester City 4-1 Manchester United:

Yaya ToureManchester City thrashed bitter rivals Manchester United 4-1 in a gob-smacking derby at the Etihad Stadium. It was the first derby for both David Moyes and Manuel Pellegrini, the first time two new managers took over the derby since 1947. The energy levels were high from kick-off with end-to-end stuff before Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for the home side with a marvellous finish off a fine link between Samir Nasri and Aleksandar Kolerov. Yaya Toure doubled the lead just before the interval tapping in a deflected corner finding himself in plenty of space with the United defence totally zoned out. Whatever Moyes' team talk was at half time, it did not show much effect as seconds after the break, United were carved open again, Alvaro Negredo's clip-in finding Aguero free, completing the move with a simple left-footed finish to make it 3-0. And five minutes later City tore United apart again, Vincent Kompany running in on the right finding Nasri whose right-footed smacker made it 4-0. It was a wonderful carve-finish, from one end to the other and stunned United, leaving everyone wonder how much worse the thrash score line could get. In the end, it stayed four for City but Wayne Rooney did pull one back for United, curling a free kick into the top right corner past Joe Hart's glove, a superb jump beaten by a superb goal. It was merely a consolation goal though, as City recorded an emphatic win against the Red Devils, leaving Moyes wondering whether he can ever win a derby as he was unable to beat Liverpool in his 11 years as Everton boss.

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