Premier League Update: Manchester United and Chelsea held to draws
It was another action-packed weekend in the English Premier League where Manchester United and Chelsea both drew their matches and Arsenal gained ground on Chelsea to propel themselves to the second spot in the Premier League by beating Birmingham
at the Emirates.
On Saturday, Tottenham Hotspurs ended Fulham’s unbeaten record in the league while Newcastle fought back from 2-0 down against Wigan to salvage a point at the St James Park. Bolton left it late to beat Stoke City and Hammers continued their dismal start
to the season with another draw.
The top of the table, apart from Chelsea who have a 5 point cushion at the top, is a tight affair as Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham are all tied on 14 points with only goal difference separating these sides.
Manchester United went into the game against West Brom on the back of 4 consecutive away draws but had a chance to put pressure on Chelsea as the London blues were not playing until later that day.
Wayne Rooney had to grace the bench as Sir Alex Ferguson opted for Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov up front and the decision looked vindicated only five minutes into the game as Chicharito pounced on a goalkeeping error by Sorenson
to give United an early lead.
A thunderous free-kick by Nani was too hot to handle for Sorensen as he could only touch the ball away and Chicarito was the quickest to react to give United the early lead and calm their nerves.
United doubled their advantage in 25 minutes when a slip by Nicky Shorey allowed Nani space in the attacking third and the Portuguese masterfully combined with Berbatov to score United’s lead on the night.
The teams went into break with score being two-nil in favour of the hosts and it looked like it was going to be easy sailing for United but for the third time in the season, United threw away a two goal lead.
West Brom got themselves back in the game when a low cross from a corner caused havoc in the United box and Patrice Evra deflected the ball into his own net.
Just five minutes later, the travelling fans were in dreamland as a rare and shocking error by Edvin Van der Sar gifted Baggies an equalizer.
The Dutchman failed to catch a bread and butter ball in the box and spilled it onto the way of Somen Tchoyi, who bundled the ball into an empty net.
Sir Alex threw Rooney into the fray late but the England striker failed to inspire a win as United only had to be content with a draw.
This result means that West Brom are now sixth in the league table and have not lost in their last six outings that include draws against Liverpool and United along with a win at Emirates.
Over at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea failed to take full advantage of the slip up by United as the free scoring Blues fired black at Gerrard Houllier’s Aston Villa.
Chelsea went into the match without Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard and the Champions clearly lacked creativity and panache. The Villains almost took the lead early on but Stephen Ireland fluffed a gilt-edged chance to shoot wide off the
post.
The first half was a drab affair but things livened up in the second as Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka plundered their shot against the cross bar while Ciaran Clark also hit the upright for the visitors.
In the dying second of the match, Villa had a chance to leave Stamford Bridge with all three points but Nigel Reo Coker spurned his chance and both the sides had to be content with a draw.
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