Premier League Round-up

Another action packed weekend in the English Premier League provided a fair amount of talking points and controversial matches, none more so than the two fiercely contested derby matches in Liverpool and then London.

On Saturday it was the Merseyside derby, as Everton hosted Liverpool at Goodison Park. The atmosphere was electric and the players were fired up, and considering this is statistically the most ill-disciplined derby in the English top flight, there was little surprise that a red card was shown. However, Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell had every right to be baffled by the decision to give him his marching orders, as he appeared to cleanly slide the ball away from Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.

 The Uruguayan didn't cover himself in glory as he theatrically threw himself to the ground in apparent agony, but referee Martin Atkinson should really have seen through such an act. The one man advantage noticeably altered the match, as Everton had been competing well with their arch rivals until that point. They did however last until half time with the scores tied at 0-0, largely thanks to goalkeeper Tim Howard who impressively saved a Dirk Kuyt penalty. Eventually though the home side succumbed to Livepool pressure, and goals from Andy Carroll and Suarez himself gave the red half of Liverpool the spoils. Carroll found himself with acres of space in the area after a clever duck from Kuyt had allowed a Jose Enrique cross to find him, and the big English international made no mistake with his left foot. The home defence gifted Suarez his goal, after Sylvain Distin failed to clear the ball, the Uruguayan easily rolled the ball past the helpless Howard. Everton will feel rightly aggrieved after this defeat though, as one dreadful decision proved costly for the Toffees.

Also playing on Saturday were the two Manchester clubs, who both currently lead the Premier League table. Manchester United laboured to a home win over Norwich, as Paul Lambert's Canaries gave the Old Trafford crowd a few scares with some good chances of their own. But, as Manchester United so often do, they managed to grind out a 2-0 result through an Anderson header, and a late Danny Welbeck goal.

Manchester City destroyed struggling Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, with Adam Johnson's well placed effort from over 20 yards the pick of the goals. Balotelli, Nasri and Savic also scored to make it a 4-0 rout for Roberto Mancini's title contenders.

The rest of Saturday's EPL results;

Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan

Sunderland 2-2 West Brom

Wolverhampton 1-2 Newcastle

On Sunday and the highest profile clash took place at White Hart Lane, as Tottenham Hotspur hosted Arsenal in the North London derby.  Arsenal have had a terrible start to the season, and found themselves 1-0 behind with 5 minutes remaining in the first half.  But there was an air of controversy about the goal, as scorer Rafael van der Vaart seemed to control the ball with his arm before expertly firing the ball into the Arsenal net.  Television replays appeared to support Arsenal's claim, but there was little to explain why they were defending so wretchedly.  The Gunners did, however, manage to draw level in the second half through Aaron Ramsey.  But the match winner was to come in the shape of a Spurs player, and on this occasion it would be full back Kyle Walker, scoring his first goal for the club.  He caught a long range right foot drive very sweetly, drilling it into the bottom corner of the net, but Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny will be disappointed that he didn't keep the ball out.  The defeat leaves Arsenal in 15th place in the league, whilst their local rivals remain in 6th.

Also on Sunday was bottom of the table Bolton taking on Chelsea at the Reebok. This match was effectively over before half time, as Chelsea ran rampant and found themselves 4-0 ahead. Daniel Strurridge, who was on loan at Bolton last season, opened the scoring with a simple header before Frank Lampard added a second. Sturridge made it 3-0 with just 25 minutes played, although stand-in Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan made a mess of the shot, and it was a match to forget for the Hungarian. The hero of the day was to be Lampard though, as he confounded his critics by completing an impressive hattrick. Boyata did pull a goal back for the home side before Lampard added his third, and Chelsea's fifth, but it made little difference to the outcome. Chelsea continue to put pressure on the Manchester clubs, but Bolton manager Owen Coyle will really be feeling the pressure now after a sixth consecutive home defeat.

The rest of Sunday's EPL results;

Fulham 6-0 QPR

Swansea 2-0 Stoke

Premier League Table

1	Man Utd	7	19	19
2	Man City	7	18	19
3	Chelsea	7	9	16
4	Newcastle	7	5	15
5	Liverpool	7	2	13
6	Tottenham	6	1	12
7	Aston Villa	7	4	11
8	Stoke	7	-4	9
9	Norwich	7	-3	8
10	Swansea	7	-3	8
11	QPR	7	-8	8
12	Fulham	7	3	7
13	Everton	6	-2	7
14	Wolves	7	-4	7
15	Arsenal	7	-6	7
16	Sunderland	7	1	6
17	West Brom	7	-5	5
18	Wigan	7	-6	5
19	Blackburn	7	-9	4
20	Bolton	7	-12	3

By Laurie Dunsire