The Weekend's EPL Results Analysis:

EPL Results:

Round 26.

Saturday's Action:

Chelsea 3 Bolton Wanderers 0
This match was played at Stamford Bridge as 5th placed Chelsea hosted 19th placed Bolton. 
Defender David Luiz opened the scoring for The Blues in the 48th minute. Striker Didier Drogba doubled the hosts lead in the 61st minute to score his first goal since going to the African Cup of Nations. Midfielder Frank Lampard capped off the match with a goal to make it a 3-0 win to Chelsea after 79 minutes.

This means that Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas lives to fight another day in the EPL, while Bolton boss Owen Coyle is in no better position with lowly Bolton.

FACT: This is Chelsea's first win in 5 matches (against QPR in the FA Cup).

Midfielder Frank Lampard celebrates his 12th goal of the season against Bolton in the 79th minute to put Chelsea 3-0 up.

Newcastle United 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
This match was played at The Sports Direct Arena as 6th placed Newcastle hosted 16th place Wolves.
Striker Papiss Demba Cisse scored his second goal for his new club after only 6 minutes. Midfielder Jonas Gutierrez scored a belter from 25 yards out to double the Geordies' lead in the 18th minute. Winger Matthew Jarvis halved the hosts 2-0 lead in the 50th minute and gave Wolves hope to salvage something away from home. Striker Kevin Doyle equalised in the 66th minute for Wolves and that is how the match finished. 

Newcastle will feel disappointed that they gave up a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, but grateful they did not lose and are still in 6th place. Wolves will feel happy that they cameback from 2 goals down, but unlucky not to win the match and are still in trouble, seven points off 15th placed Aston Villa - still in relegation trouble.

 

QPR 0 Fulham 1
The first London derby of this weekend was between QPR and Fulham.
Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the only goal of the match for the away side after 7 minutes. QPR midfielder Samba Diakite picked up two yellow cards in the space of 14 minutes and brought QPR down to ten men - on his debut after moving to Rangers in the January TW. 

Fulham celebrate striker Pavel Pogrebnyak's early 7th minute goal to win the match against QPR at Loftus Road...

Fulham beat QPR again for the second time this season, but it was less routine than the 6-0 win in October 2011.

West Bromwich Albion 4 Sunderland 0
15th placed West Brom hosted an in-form Sunderland side in 9th place, who were only 10 points off 4th place. 
Striker Peter Odemwingie broke the deadlock for the home side after only three minutes into the match to put West Brom ahead. Midfielder James Morrison scored a header to made it 2-0 to WBA in the 41st minute. Odemwingie scored his second of the match, three minutes after the start of the second half to put The Baggies in a surprising controlled position. Midfielder Keith Andrews rubbed salt in the wounds, making ut 4-0 in the 90th minute on his debut scoring his first goal for WBA.

Wigan Athletic 0 Aston Villa 0 
This match was hosted at the DW Stadium as 20th placed Wigan hosted 14th placed Aston Villa.
This match ended in a goalless draw, with both teams staying in their same respective positions but only a point ahead from their last matches.
Villa will feel upset that they could not get the job done against a weak Wigan side stuck in 20th place, while Wigan will feel relieved that they did not lose at home, but could have moved further off the bottom of the table with a win.

Manchester City 3 Blackburn Rovers 0
1st placed Manchester City hosted 18th placed Blackburn at The Ethiad Stadium. 
Striker Mario Balotelli broke the deadlock for the home side in the first half (30th minute). Striker Sergio Aguero scored his 20th goal of the season to double the lead in the 52nd minute after capatalizing on goalkeeper Paul Robinson's fumble out towards him. Fellow striker Edin Dzeko ended the match in the 81st minute to give City a 3-0 convincing lead and keep the pressure on rivals United in 2nd place, two points behind them.

Striker Sergio Aguero scoring City's second against Blackburn on Saturday.

FACT: City are now unbeaten at home in one whole year at The Ethiad.


Today's Action:

Arsenal 5 Tottenham Hotspur 2
North London Derbies between these two teams never seem to disappoint, and today's was not stalemate either.... Striker Louis Saha put the away side in-front after only 4 minutes, before former Gunner forward Emmanuel Adebayor doubled Spurs' lead with a penalty, 30 minutes later to give Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger a real headache. Full-back Bacary Sana halved the 2-0 lead in the 40th minute, before captain and striker Robin Van Persie curled a stunning shot past Brad Friedel to equalise for the home side. Midfielder Tomas Rosicky scored his first goal at The Emirates since 2010 to make it 3-2 in the 51st minute before a Theo Walcott doubled in the space of three minutes (65th and 68th min) allowed Arsenal a 5-2 comfortable scoreline.

Striker Robin Van Persie celebrates scoring to equalise for Arsenal against Tottenham in the 43rd minute. He has now scored 29 goals this season in all competitions.

Norwich City 1 Manchester United 2

Stoke City 2 Swansea City 0

Carling Cup Final: 

Cardiff City 1 Liverpool 1 (AET 2-2) (Pens 2-3)

Well, well, well! What a match at Wembley! Everyone (except me) thought that this would be a rout in Liverpool's favour.... but it was nothing but!

Defender Martin Skrtel equalised for The Reds in the 60th minute after striker Joe Mason had put The Bluebirds ahead after only 19 minutes... The 90 minutes was over and the match went to extra time. Striker Dirk Kuyt made it 2-1 to Liverpool, three minutes after coming off the subs bench (in the second half of extra time). Everyone thought it was over, but defender Brian Turner shot through Pepe Reina's legs from a corner in the 118th minute to make the match go to penalties.
Liverpol captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard missed his penalty, along with Charlie Adam (who skied his to Row Z). 5 penalties scored later, Steven Gerrard's cousin Antony stepped up to take it, but his shot narrowly missed the left post and Liverpool prevailed!

Liverpool's jubilant celebration after beating Cardiff on penalties to win their first trophy in 6 years.

Is this a sign of things to come for King Kenny's men?
Is this the start of a new Liverpool generation??

EPL LIVE Saturday Special:

Hello and welcome to the 25th Round of EPL Matches in the 2011/12 Season. 
This is going to be an interesting week of football with five clubs playing in Europe next week.


Watch out for Tottenham vs Newcastle and Blackburn vs QPR which could be goal feasts.....


Today's EPL Matches:

Early kick-off:
Manchester United vs Liverpool: LIVE (started) at 12:45pm

Interesting match ahead at Old Trafford as striker Luis Suarez returns from an eight match ban to face the team who gave his the ban - Manchester United. Liverpool are eyeing the last Champions League spot while United will be desperate to continue pressurising rivals City in 1st place.

United will be looking for revenge after losing to The Reds in the FA Cup 4th Round who are on a high after beating both Manchester clubs and have won three matches in a row. Expect drama and shots.

Man Utd: De Gea, Rafael Da Silva, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Welbeck.
Subs: Amos, Berbatov, Park, Hernandez, Fabio Da Silva, Cleverley, Pogba.
Weaker than usual?
United are wearing their home kit and are weaing black armbands because this is their first home match since Monday's anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Spearing, Henderson, Kuyt, Gerrard, Downing, Suarez. Subs: Doni, Carroll, Carragher, Adam, Shelvey, Kelly, Bellamy.
Adam should be playing instead of Spearing....?
Liverpool are wearing their alternate (white and blue) kit.

Prediction: Manchester United win as they are at home, they want revenge against Liverpool and are looking to get their 20th EPL title this season..
Even though The Reds have the second best defensive record in the EPL this season, United have the second best goal record this season.....
0: The match is finally underway here between Manchester United and Liverpool. The main story in the last 5 minutes is that Suarez has snubbed a handhake from Evra.
1: Defender Rio Ferdinand is needing treatment after Suarez barged he onto Evra and on the floor.
6: Antonio Valencia is fouled by Jose Enrique just outside the box on the right hand side. Giggs delivers the ball in and Glen Johnson heads it behind with Rooney lurking. The corner falls to Rooney but his header is weak and into the hands of Pepe Reina.
10: Luis Suarez is getting unsurprisingly booed here.
12: Liverpool holding the ball, trying to dominate here.
26: Giggs on the ball, passes straight to Rooney who drills a shot low and hard from 25 yards out.... WIDE!!!
30: Cross by Valencia into the box for Scholes who heads the ball towards goal...... Reina parries and Skrtel clears the ball out of the danger area.
Close from United, finally starting to play like champions....
34: Giggs finds Valencia who whips a ball into the box, high for Patrice Evra who jumps over the defender and heads the ball.... OVER THE BAR!!!
37: Danny Welbeck runs at the Liverpool defence and finds himself inside the box before taking a shot.... WIDE!
Good play by the young striker.
41: Midfielder Steven Gerrard takes a shot..... deflected for a corner.
44: Liverpool midfielder Stewart Downing gets the first yellow card of the match after a late tackle.
45: The fourth official signals 2 minutes of stoppage time to be added on.
45+2: The referee blows the whistle for half-time here.
United should be in-front at half-time due to their chances, but don't be surprised if they come out in the second half all guns blazing against Liverpool who want to keep them grounded.

45: The referee blows the whistle to start the second half here.
46: United win a corner in the opening minute of the second half. Ryan Giggs flicks the ball into the box for Wayne Rooney who volleys the ball towards goal.... GOAL!!!! 
In the first minute of the second half, what a reaction by United!
50: Midfielder Jay Spearing loses the ball to United's Valencia, he passes the ball to striker Wayne Rooney and he slots the ball past Pepe Reina into the goal to double United's lead in the space of 3 minutes.
What a start to the second half for United!
53: 'Suarez, Suarez, what's the score' rings out around Old Trafford as the United fans celebrate. Striker Andy Carroll is currently warming up on the touchline.
80: Midfielder Michael Carrick is cautioned with a yellow card after a tackle. 
Striker Luis Suarez shoots inside the box..... GOAL!!!
Is it too little, too late for Liverpool?
90: The referee blows the final whistle here at Old Trafford. 
United move up to 1st place, 1 point ahead of rivals City who face Aston Villa at 4pm tomorrow. Liverpool stay in a lowly 7th place with 39 points from 25 matches.


Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1

Today's 15:00pm kick-offs (unless stated):

Sunderland vs Arsenal
Blackburn vs QPR
Bolton Wanderers vs Wigan Athletic
Everton vs Chelsea
Fulham vs Stoke City
Swansea vs Norwich
Tottenham Hotpsur vs Newcastle United: LIVE at 17:30pm


15:00: The 15:00pm kick-offs have all kicked off in the EPL.


15:05:
Everton vs Chelsea: LIVE
On loan midfielder Steven Pienaar scores for Everton on his second spell for the club after 5 minutes! Chelsea are behind away from home after 5 minutes.

Midfielder Steven Pienaar celebrates after beating goalkeeper Petr Cech to put his side 1-0 up in the 5th minute against Chelsea.

15:15:
Blackburn vs QPR: LIVE
Nigerian striker Yakubu scores his 13th goal of the season for Blackburn to break the deadlock for the home side after 15 minutes. 


15:16:
Fulham vs Stoke: LIVE
Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak (what a tongue twister!) scores his first goal for his new club after moving in the January Transfer Window.

Pogrebnyak: New Fulham goal-scorer???

15:23:
Blackburn vs QPR: LIVE
Miidfielder Steven NZonzi doubles Blackburn's lead in the 23rd minute to put the home side 2-0 ahead.


15:28:
Fulham vs Stoke: LIVE
Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has scored a goal here - an own goal. Doubles Fulham's lead.


Swansea vs Norwich: LIVE
Striker Danny Graham opens the scoring with his 12th of the season at The Liberty Stadium to put Swansea 1-0 ahead. 


15:43: 
Bolton vs Wigan: LIVE
Defender Gary Caldwell scores for Wigan to put the away side in-front just before half-time. Roberto Martinez' team talk is going to change now....


15:45:
Blackburn vs QPR: LIVE 
Defender Nedum Onuoha scores the second own goal of the afternoon after his deflection from midfielder Junior Holiett's shot turned into his own net to put Blackburn comfortably 3-0 up at half-time.


15:48:
The 15:00pm kick-offs in the EPL have all grinded to a holt for fifteen minutes while the managers talk tactics to the players....


HALF-TIMES:
Blackburn 3 QPR 0
Bolton 0 Wigan 1
Everton 1 Chelsea 0
Sunderland 0 Arsenal 0
Swansea 1 Norwich 0
Fulham 2 Stoke 0


16:03:
The second halves have started in the EPL all over the country.


16:05:
Swansea vs Norwich:
And the first goal of the second half comes from The Liberty Stadium...
In-form English (hint hint) midfielder Grant Holt equalises for the away side after 47 minutes.

Norwich celebrate forward Grant Holt's equaliser in the 47th minute at The Liberty Stadium.

16:09:
Swansea vs Norwich:
Antony Pilkington puts The Canaries ahead in the match for the first time after 51 minutes to give Swansea a headache.
Quick start by Norwich in this second half....


16:21:
Swansea vs Norwich:
ANOTHER GOAL from The Liberty Stadium......
Grant Holt scores again to put Norwich 3-1 up in the 63rd minute!


16:25:
Bolton vs Wigan:
Midfielder Mark Davies scores an equaliser for Bolton after 67 minutes to make it 1-1 at The Reebok.


16:28
Sunderland vs Arsenal:
Finally a goal here at The Stadium of Light, but for the in-form hosts as midfielder Josh McClean opens the scoring in the 70th minute!

Midfielder Josh McClean opens the scoring for the home side against Arsenal after 70 minutes.

16:29: 
Blackburn vs QPR: LIVE
Striker Jamie Mackie brings a goal back for the away side as Rangers fight for a late comeback.


Everton vs Chelsea: LIVE
Denis Stracquarlursi doubles The Toffees' lead at Goodison Park against 4th placed Chelsea in the 71st minute!
Surely no way back for The Blues now!?!?


16:34:
Sunderland vs Arsenal: LIVE
Midfielder Aaron Ramsey comes off the Arsenal bench - three minutes later, he equalises for the away side! 1-1 with 15 minutes left of the game, it could still go either way here..

Ramsey's strike levelled the match against Sunderland in the 75th minute.

16:35:
Bolton vs Wigan: LIVE
James McCarthur puts the away side ahead once again after 76 minutes at The Reebok.


16:37:
Fulham vs Stoke: LIVE
Defender Ryan Shawcross halves Fulham's lead in the 78th minute... The Potters have faint hope of salvaging something in this match.


16:48:
Swansea vs Norwich: LIVE
Striker Danny Graham scores his second of the match from the penalty spot in the 89th minute to halve Norwich's 3-1 lead to 3-2...
1 minute plus stoppage time for Swansea to get something here...


16:49:
Blackburn vs QPR: LIVE
Striker Jamie Mackie scores his second of the day but surely it's too late...?
3-2 to Blackburn.


16:51:
Sunderland vs Arsenal: LIVE
Andrey Arshavin with a cross into the box for lurking striker Thierry Henry who heads the ball towards goal..... GOAL!!! Arsenal have stolen the match in the last dying seconds! 

Thierry Henry: What. A. Legend.

From 1-0 down, to 2-1 up!
And Henry is the scorer! What a finale to this match!


16:53:
The referees have all blown their whistles in the EPL 15:00pm kick-offs....


FULL-TIMES:
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 2
Thierry Henry marks his last EPL appearance in an Arsenal shirt before going back to New York Red Bulls with a goal as The Gunners made a remarkable 15 minute comeback. They move up to 4th place, in serious contention for the last Champions League spot at the end of the season.
FACT: Henry has scored more goals this year than £50million man Fernando Torres.. *cough*


Fulham 2 Stoke City 1
Although Stoke fought throughout the match, Fulham prevailed with new signing Pavel Pogrebnyak scoring on his home debut.


Swansea 2 Norwich City 3
Grant Holt scored twice as Norwich became only the second team to win away from home against Swansea this season.
Opposite striker Danny Graham scored twice (once from a penalty) but it was not enough as Swansea drop to 11th place in the table while Norwich move up to a comfortable 8th. 
FACT: Danny Graham and Grant Holt have scored 23 goals combined this season, which is more than any player in the EPL (on their own) apart from Robin Van Persie. 


Everton 2 Chelsea 0
Chelsea fall to their 6th defeat of the season as they lost 2-0 to 10th placed Everton.


Blackburn 3 QPR 2
A 5 goalfeast at Ewood Park as Blackburn beat a newly renovated QPR side by 3 goals to 2.
Jamie Mackie scored twice but it was not enough as the home side won.
QPR are now currently in 16th while Blackburn are in 18th, with both teams level on points.


Bolton Wanderers 1 Wigan 2


Tottenham vs Newcastle United: LIVE at 17:30pm


Tottenham:
Friedel, Walker, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Parker, Kranjcar, Bale, Adebayor, Saha.  Subs: Cudicini, Lennon, Defoe, Rose, Livermore, Nelsen, Khumalo.


Striker Louis Saha starts for Spurs at home...

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Obertan, Guthrie, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba, Cisse. Subs: Elliot, Ben Arfa, Lovenkrands, Abeid, Gosling, Shola Ameobi, Ferguson.

17:34:

Full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto opens the scoring for Spurs in the 4th minute.

Assou-Ekotto opens the scoring for Spurs after 4 minutes against Newcastle.

17:36: 

Striker Emmanuel Adebayor passes the ball to Louis Saha who shoots from 12 yards, and scores from 12 yards to double the home side's lead after 6 minutes and score on his home debut.

Striker Louis Saha doubles Tottenham's lead - after only 6 minutes.

FACT: Adebayor has now made 8 assists this season, only Manchester City's David Silva and Manchester United's Antonio Valencia have more in the whole of the EPL.

Does not look good though for Newcastle....

17:50:
Assou-Ekotto passes a through ball to midfielder Luka Modric who crosses the ball into the box for Adebayor. He brings the ball back for Louis Saha who smashes the ball towards goal... and SCORES his second of the match after only 20 minutes in the first half!! 
9 assists...




17:54:
Tottenham defensive midfielder Scott Parker has been given a yellow card after a dangerous tackle on Newcastle striker Demba Ba from 25 yards out. It is also the first yellow of the match so far.


18:04:
Midfielder Niko Kranjcar scores  after Tim Krul parried Emmanuel Adebayor's shot. 4-0 now and Spurs are killing Newcastle at the moment....


18:09:
Full-back Kyle Walker has been given the second yellow card of the match after a late challenge on opposite full-back James Perch in the 39th minute.


18:14: The fourth official signals for three minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half.


18:17: The referee blows the whistle for half-time here.
FACT: This is the first time in EPL history that Tottenham have been 4-0 up at half-time.

18:51: Louis Saha crosses the ball into the box for Emmanuel Adebayor who volleys the ball towards goal..... GOAL!!! Adebayor scores his 10th goal of the season! 


19:20: The referee blows the whistle for full-time after playing three minutes of stoppage time at White Hart Lane.


Tottenham take advantage of earlier results with a five star performance from Adebayor and Saha.
They are now ten points clear of 4th placed rivals Arsenal, and only five points of 1st placed United.
Newcastle stay in 6th place, but fail to capitalize on Liverpool's 2-1 loss against United earlier in the afternoon.

Emmanuel Adebayor making it 5-0 to Tottenham against Newcastle after 64 minutes.

 




Thank you for reading my EPL Blog. 
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See you tomorrow for:
West Bromwich Albion vs Wolverhampton Wanderers: LIVE at 13:30pm
Manchester City vs Aston Villa: LIVE at 16:00pm