With the January transfer window done and dusted, all the Premier League clubs turned their attention to the mid-week games. All the big shots, namely Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, were in action on Tuesday with 3 points of utmost importance. iSport Bureau brings to you a snapshot of all the action.
The Gunners hosted the toffees, Everton, minus their star striker Tim Cahill, who was jet-lagged to say the least after his exploits with Australia in the Asian Cup. Arsenal were looking to make it 4 wins out of 4 in the league and continue their chase of league leaders, Manchester United.
A controversial offside decision in the league came to the fore once again which presented the toffees with the lead on 25 mins. Laurent Koscielny, being the last defender, accidentally nudged a Sheamus Coleman pass to an offside Luis Saha, who subsequently drilled it past Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczęsny, to give the toffees a 1-0 lead at the break.
The 2nd half saw Arsenal throwing bodies forward and hurrying Everton in search of an equalizer. It took them almost 70 mins to finally break Everton’s strong resilience. Andrey Arshavin side footed an air ball straight into Tim Howard’s net after it came off the head of an Everton defender. With the crowd urging them on, Arsenal took the lead just 5 minutes after the equalizer, courtesy some shambolic defending by Everton.
Koscielny found the entire Everton penalty area to himself as he headed in the winner following a Van Persie corner on 75 mins. The Gunners once ahead kept possession and held on for all 3 points. A great come-back victory which will surely boost their confidence for the title run-in!
However, the masters of come-backs are Manchester United and Manchester United alone. Just a week ago, the Red-devils covered up a two goal deficit to win at Blackpool 3-2 which kept their unbeaten record intact. They were thus firing on all cylinders when they hosted a struggling Aston Villa side last night.
Barely a minute in and Manchester United were ahead. A long free kick from Edwin Van-der Sar caught the Villa back line off-guard and fell right on the feet of Wayne Rooney, who controlled it expertly to volley past a hapless Brad Friedel. A huge burden lifted off the shoulders of Rooney who scored his 1st goal since the West Brom game.
He was looking menacing and in fine touch and just on the stroke of half time, he scored again. Nani superbly tricked his marker on the wing and crossed in an inch perfect ball right on the feet of Rooney, who could not miss even if he wanted to. Rooney got his 2nd of the night and United were cruising.
A little hiccup in the 2nd half saw Darren Bent pull one back for the visitors. It didn’t ruffle United’s feathers though as they went down the other end and scored their 3rd. Nemanja Vidic once again proved to be the scourge of the Villains as he fired in a ‘striker-like’ shot to put United two goals ahead and out of sight. The Red-Devils with this win maintain their 5 point lead at the top and are on course for their 19th title.
With Manchester United stacking up victories, Chelsea knew that they could not afford to fall further behind. Thus 3 points were of top priority when they traveled to the North-east, to take on a dogged Sunderland side which had left Chelsea humiliated in their reverse fixture, 3-0 winners at the Bridge. Thus the blues had an added incentive, Revenge.
It started horribly for Ancelloti’s men when a 4th minute strike from Phil Bardsley swerved out of Cech’s reach and into the back of net, much to the delight of the Sunderland fans who were witnessing a possible double over the Champions. However parity was restored 10 mins later. Ashley Cole was adjudged to have been fouled in the box and Chelsea were thus awarded a penalty. Frank Lampard stepped up and slotted the penalty in, cool as a cucumber.
The come-back was complete when Chelsea took the lead on 22 mins. Kalou raced through on goal as Gordon charged off his line prematurely. The Ivorian was smart and took his shot early; sending it past the stranded keeper, which trickled over the line to give Chelsea the lead. A huge sigh of relief for all the traveling supporters!
Their relief was short lived as 3 mins later; the game was back at level pegging. Elmohamady twinkled through the Chelsea defense only to be brought down at the edge of the Chelsea area. Richardson’s following free-kick zipped under the Chelsea wall and into the bottom right-hand corner for the 4th goal of the game.
Chelsea then onwards started piling the pressure on the Sunderland defense. They got their reward in the 75th min when a shot deflected into the path of John Terry, who made no mistakes and slotted home the winner. Chelsea subsequently grabbed a 4th from Anelka in injury time which keeps them very much in the hunt.
With all the big title contenders winning last night and the season being as close as ever, it promises to be a treat of a finish.
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