Wigan 1-1 Everton
West Brom 2-1 Aston Villa
Sunderland 0-3 Fulham
Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham
Blackpool 0-0 Stoke
Blackburn 1-0 Bolton
Manchester City 2-1 West Ham
Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle
Birmingham 1-1 Wolverhampton
Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United
Goal of the weekend: Sandro’s amazing strike against Chelsea
Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier was taken into a Birmingham hospital last night with chest pains.
The 63 year old had major surgery to help with heart problems when he was manager of Liverpool FC in 2001.
Mr Houllier’s condition is reported as stable.
Aston Villa’s Gary McAllister will take charge on Saturday as Villa take on Stoke at Villa park
There were 3 matches held midweek, results as follows:
Manchester United vs Newcastle United: 0-0
All in all a disappointing game for fans. A poor United performance saw them blow a chance to go 9 points clear of second place in the premier league. Taking nothing away from Newcastle who definitely deserved the point and could have got more after Lovenkrands thought he was fouled in the box.
Tottenham vs Arsenal 3-3
A thrilling game at White Hart lane saw 3 goals in the space of 12 minutes. This was a must win for Arsenal for them to still be in contention for the premier league trophy, it seems now that it might be just out of reach. However a brilliant game for the neutral the pace of the match was unbelievable, and the two keepers had to produce some fantastic saves just to keep the game at 3-3. It is now looking like another season without a trophy for Mr Wenger
Chelsea vs Birmingham city 3-1
Chelsea added to their slim chance of retaining the title with an easy win over struggling Birmingham city. Florent Malouda scored twice as well as a brilliant solo effort from Salomon Kalou as the home team went into the break 3-0 up. Birmingham scored a penalty through Larsson after Matt Debyshire was fouled in the box, but Birmingham were outclassed here by the form team going into the last part of the season.
After a long build up finally we know who are the PFA winners this year.
Young Player of the year:
Up for the award were:
Jack Wilshere- Arsenal
Gareth Bale- Tottenham
Samir Nasri- Arsenal
Seamus Coleman- Everton
Joe Hart- Manchester City
Javier Hernandez- Manchester United
Nani- Manchester United
Winner: Jack Wilshere- Arsenal
PFA Player of the year:
Charlie Adam- Blackpool
Gareth Bale- Tottenham
Samir Nasri- Arsenal
Scott Parker- West Ham
Carlos Tevez- Manchester City
Rafael van der Vaart- Tottenham
Nemanja Vidic- Manchester United
Overall winner : Gareth Bale-Tottenham
With Manchester United defeating Chelsea in the Champions League, eight points clear at the top of the Premiership and facing Manchester City in the Semi final of the FA cup this weekend, is the treble still in reach for Fergie and his team?
Having last won the treble 12 years ago with that famous Champions League comeback at the Nou camp overturning that 1-0 deficit and winning 2-1, with two last minute goals against Bayern Munich, can they do it again?
Being involved in all three competitions is a tough task and takes its toll on the players, however Fergie has said that ‘his side have just peaked and are ready for the task ahead’.
Let’s not forget that there are still a few games to be played in the Premier League and anything can happen. United still need to play Arsenal and Chelsea but it can be achieved.
One to look out for would be Schalke who beat the holders Inter Milan 7-3 over both legs, even though they are an average German team, they are the surprise package of this year’s Champions League, with Real Madrid legend Raul, helping them progress to the semis.
Finally the FA cup, United play Manchester City at Wembley this weekend and with City coming into this game after losing 3-0 to Liverpool, will they be able to contain this United team?
With Bolton and Stoke the other two teams left in the FA Cup, it looks like Manchester United will have their name on that Cup if they can overturn City at weekend. Schalke stand in United’s way of that Wembley final on the 28th May and with only a few games left in the Premiership it looks like United will win that 19th league title.
All will be decided after this weekend whether United will be able to achieve the treble, but what is for sure is that they are in the driving seat and at this time of the season, United seem to get that little bit better.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his treble 1999- Courtesy of Busby images
Another big weekend in the Premiership at both ends of the table. The table is still too close to call, who is going down and who is going to win? Who knows.
The scores are as follows:
Wigan 0-0 Spurs
A valuable point for Wigan who are still locked at the bottom of the table and a disaponting result for Harry Redknap and his team, who have been showing inconsistency all the way through the season. Tottenham will have to pick their game up if they want to progress in the Champions League and achieve a higher place in the Premier League.
West Ham 2-4 Manchester United
Manchester United showed why they are favourites for the league title after recovering from a 2-0 deficit, thanks to a superb hat-trick by one Wayne Rooney. The game was full of controversy as usual when Rooney is around. There were calls for Vidic to be sent off, and whether Rooney’s third was a penalty? Well i don’t think it was but champions make their own luck. Nevertheless a much needed victory for Sir Alex.
West Brom 2-1 Liverpool
West Brom manager Roy Hodgson had a score to settle against his old club Liverpool, and prove it he did, coming from a goal behind West Brom showed the heart and spirit to keep fighting on and it paid off as Chris Brunt slotted home 2 penalties to win them the game. The first time West Brom have beaten liverpool in a long time
Stoke 1-1 Chelsea
A must win game for Chelsea if they are to have any hope of winning the title, and again they slipped up. Even with a fantastically taken header by Didier Drogba (showing why he should play and not Torres) it was not enough as chelsea wasted too many opportunities, and with a defence that is supposed to be tighter than any in the league, they made an easy time for Stoke who equally had many opportunities to win the game.
Newcastle 4-1 Wolves
It is not looking good for Mick Mcarthy’s men as they were thrashed by a Newcastle team who walked ring around them. Wolves made it too easy for Newcastle, the defenders were too lax and let Newcastle dictate the game. It did not help matters that due to injury Wolves were without a few key players, such as Doyle, leaving Ebanks-Blake a lone striker, a role he is not too comfortable with. All in all, not a good result for Wolves who are back in the relegation zone.
Everton 2-2 Aston Villa
An important game for Gerrard Hollier and his men, as they looked to get out of the relegation battle they are in. It didnt start well as Villa went a goal down, however a spirited fight back prompted an equaliser and then another 10 minutes later, both at the hands of England superstar Darren Bent, then 7 minutes from time Phil Jagielka dived in Villas box and won his team a penalty which was promptly scored. A point away at Goodison park is not what Hollier was aiming for, but it could have been much better, building confidence for the team that they can score goals and avoid relegation.
Birmingham 2-1 Bolton
Bolton slipped up away to blues, In a fine run of form lately they slipped away to a loss against blues, after an early goal from kevin phillips Boltons heads dropped, all they could scrape was possibly the goal of the weekend, a fantastic volley by Elmander.
Arsenal 0-0 Blackburn
Arsenal’s woes continue as they limped to a 0-0 draw with Blackburn, rarely looking dangerous even while being at home. Maybe it is time for a change at the Emirates, as at the moment Arsenal could not win a raffle.
Man city 5-0 Sunderland
Mancini again leaves viewers in speechless, how does a team that can comfortably destroy a decent Sunderland team, look so poor elsewhere? Nevertheless Manchest City outplayed Sunderland in every aspect and were rewarded with a big win and second place. Is there hope left for City to get the title?
Fulham 3-0 Blackpool
Not a good day for Blackpool, in a game where nothing seemed to be going right for them. Another loss at the hands of a comfortable Fulham side with striker Bobby Zamora, means they are slowly slipping down the table after such a great start to the Premier league. What is in store for Blackpool? Who knows, all i know is Ian Holloway needs to get his team back winning, as that is what they are lacking at the moment.
With the Premiership returning this weekend after an International break what a surprise it has been with Arsenal and Chelsea both dropping points.
The early kick off between West ham and Manchester United was a chance for United to go eight points clear at the top of the league and put pressure back on Arsenal and the chasing pack.
With West Ham going 2-0 up in the first 25 minutes with the help of Mark Noble and his spot kicks. They continued to dominate the league leaders in the first half, with Vidic lucky to still be on the pitch with his outrageous defending.
The second half was a totally different Manchester United. With the introduction to the 14 minute Wayne Rooney show where he scored a hat-trick helped by a late goal by Hernandez, clinching united all three points.
With Arsenal and Chelsea both kicking off at 3pm they would have seen United’s come back and known that they had to put in a performance, in order to stop them clinching that record breaking 19th title and overtaking Liverpool’s record of 18.
Arsenal where to play Blackburn at the Emirates which should on paper be three points to the Gunners. Blackburn had not won their last 9 away games and with Arsenal out of the Champions league, they can solely concentrate on winning the league.
Well the statistics did not help this game as Blackburn did all they could in order to keep Arsenal at bay. With Blackburn going down to 10 men and Arsenal having lots more possession, Blackburn could not get the ball. Due to this Blackburn defended well and certainly earned that deserved away point. Surely 2 points dropped by Wengers team much to the delight of United.
Meanwhile Chelsea travelled to Stoke and any team that play Stoke away from home know that they have a tough game on their hands. Stoke like usual shocked Chelsea when John Walters smashed in their first goal with only 10 minutes on the clock.
This too was turning out to be a bad day for Ancelotti and his team but with Drogba doing what he does best, and what Torres has failed to grasp, fired Chelsea level.
A match of high intensity, end to end football and the occasional shot against the ‘woodwork’ by both sides entertained a packed out Britannia Stadium.
With Chelsea and Stoke both drawing 1-1 is this Chelsea’s season now over, surely if they want to retain the title they need to be picking up more than a point away to Stoke?
What is for sure is that the title looks like it will either end up at Old Trafford or the Emirates but with this week’s results it may be heading north that little bit sooner unless Arsenal or the chasing pack stop dropping points.
The word drought is defined as ‘an extended shortage’ a lack of something which in most cases would be a lack of water, however not in this case. This drought is different, it could possibly be defined as ‘The World’s most expensive drought’ and this drought is affecting Chelsea.
Ever since Fernando Torres left Liverpool for Chelsea in the January transfer window for an estimated £50 million everybody had high expectations for this move. Fernando wanted to win trophies and excel at Chelsea, help them win titles and compete among the elite, score goals and win matches, but this is far from what we have seen.
Maybe he should have stayed at Liverpool, he certainly knew were the goal was on most games.
February the 6th was when Fernando made his Chelsea debut and ironically it came at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool. He did start and lasted into the second half but Chelsea lost 1-0. Since this game Chelsea has played eight games, two of them against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League and Fernando has started the majority of them and he still has not scored.
With people starting to judge this so called ‘world class striker’, pressure has mounted and people want a reaction. This reaction has seen Carlo Ancelotti saying to the media that ‘Chelsea have not bought Fernando to just score goals’ What sort of club pays 50 million to buy a player to not score goals?
Surely this is a backing that has helped Fernando settle in and make him just play his game. With more games going by and Torres looking that ever more lost on the pitch, the question is when will Torres once again, be able find his feet and show us what we have seen him do at Athletico Madrid and Liverpool?
So to today’s game at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have just beaten Manchester City 2-0 and Torres has still not scored. He has now gone 8 games without scoring a single goal. You would think that playing with a club with the likes of Lampard, Essien, Drogba and Anelka it would be a lot easier to score, however this has not been the case.
For now you could call this ‘The world’s most expensive drought’. What is true is that Fernando is not living up to this price tag and hopefully for the good of the English game he finds that net which will kick start his Chelsea Career.
Only time will tell, but with a player of Torres’s potential he surely should not be having such a major goal drought.
Is the goal drought affecting Torres? courtesy of mirror.co.uk
The Football Supporters Federation is to launch an online petition today to bring back terraces to Premier League stadiums.
Terraces have been banned since the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 96 people died and hundreds more injured due to a mass crush of people in the standing terraces.
Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said: “Our view is that the benefits of all-seater stadia far outweigh the return of standing areas.”
Sports minister Hugh Robertson said that he would look at all the evidence for standing stadiums and their safety but does not see a return to them likely.
Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson also said: “They [all-seater stadiums] have led to more women and more children attending the games and no matter how safe standing can be made, seating is always safer.”
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