English Premier League Midweek Roundup - Part 1
The race for Premier League intensified as Manchester United were denied victory at the St. Andrews Stadium last night. Still, a draw was good enough for Sir Alex’s side to return to the top of the perch but just barely as they are level
on points with City but are better on goal difference.
Earlier in the day, Manchester City had claimed the top spot by beating Aston Villa 4-0, while Tottenham Hotspur also registered a vital win that keeps them in the title hunt.
Mark Hughes’ Fulham also registered a rare away win on the night while West Ham missed a chance to climb out of the relegation zone.
Also on the night, Steve Kaen registered his first win as the manager of Blackburn Rovers but Sunderland were humbled at home.
Manchester United looked to be heading into 2011 with 2 points cushion at the top of the table but a late and controversial header by Lee bowyer pegged them back.
Dimitar Berbatov continued his goal glut as he fired his team into the lead in the second half after a slick back heel by him set up Darren Gibson on the run and just on the edge of the box, Gibson plated the ball back to the Bulgarian and
after an excellent first touch to control the ball, Berbatov slotted past Foster to beat him at his near post.
However, Birmingham’s resilience paid off just minutes before the final whistle when Lee Bowyer nodded home a Nicola Zigic’s knock down that came off the substitute’s hand but the goal was allowed to stand and it finished 1-1.
A few hours earlier in Manchester, City turned on the style as a hat-trick by Mario Ballotelli ensured that Roberto Mancini’s side kept pace with their City rivals.
City opened the scoring on 13 minutes when Balotelli scored from the penalty spot and a Jolean Lescott header put them in a comfortable position just minutes later.
Villa tried to get back into the game but to no avail as City increased their advantage in the 27th minute when the striker slotted his second on the night.
On Tuesday morning, reports emerged in the papers that Balotelli was not happy with his stay in England and was feeling homesick but Roberto Mancini handed the striker a start by resting Carlos Tevez for the match. The former Inter Milan man rewarded his
manager by completing his hat-trick soon after his second.
Villa were completely out of sorts in the match as some dominant midfield play by City starved them of any space in the middle of the park.
The loss for Villa means that they have now won only 2 of their last 13 fixtures.
In another match of the night, Harry Redknapp’s Spurs climbed above Chelsea in the league table as they defeated Newcastle United 2-0 at the White Hart Lane.
The first half of the match was a drab affair as both the sides failed to break the deadlock but Spurs did hit the upright through Pavlyuchenko but that was as close as either side came to open the scoring on the night.
In the second half, Aaron Lennon dazzled through the midfield and fired a thunderbolt past Krul to give his side a deserved lead, but the replay showed that the shot had taken a deflection off James Perch but Spurs didn’t care.
Younus Kaboul was then sent off in the second half as Spurs had to finish their second match in a row with a man disadvantage.
The man deficit did not affect the team much as Gareth Bale scored the second goal of the night to make sure Spurs registered their second win with 10 men in just 2 days.
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