PREMIER LEAGUE 2009/10

Andy, Who's a Happy Boy today then....

Arsenal 3 - 1 Burnley
Despite all the prophets of doom predicting that Arsenal would lose the plot after the Ramsey injury nothing could have been further from the truth. That Cesc Fabrega went off injured will be far more of a blow to any Arsenal ambitions if it proves to be serious or long lasting.
Arsenal were pretty efficient apart from allowing Burnley to equalise and really were the only team who were going to win this one, although in fairness to Burnley, the 2 goal margin was probably a little flattering.
Arsenal are now level on points with Chelsea but have played 1 game extra. I still fancy that the extra depth in squad will favour Chelsea in who finishes where in the League though.
Burnley remain 2nd. bottom and are running out of games to drag themselves out of it. Although Wigan & Wolves are hardly racing up the table away from the drop either.

West Ham 1 - 2 Bolton
This was really a game to win for the Hammers. A win would ease then two wins above the relegation zone & inflict pain on one of the teams below them. That was not to be.. Bad defending let Bolton cruise to 2 goals ahead and they had no issues until they had Tamir Cohen sent off after 70 minutes. It was a result that defied the form & bookies, as all data said that the worst the Hammers could expect would be a 0-0.
Bolton move above West Ham by 2 points, still not out of problems but a win away from home is a serious boost.
For West Ham the looking over their shoulders will go on, especially if (& it seems to be a big if) those below can put some results together.

Wolverhampton 0 - 1 Man Utd
Well Wolves must still be wondering how....
No Rooney, no Owen for the rest of the season it was time for Berbatov and Nani to show why they are being paid. Sadly I cannot answer that question. I can only assume that the create a wonderful dressing room attitude as their displays on the pitch were woeful. The managers at the less popular club often complain that the ones at the top have all the cards & can get who they want. On this display I think McCarthy would show either of them the door.
Berbatov, it was said at Spurs, is lazy. He is. I expended more effort watching the game than he did on the pitch.
Nani seems to have no idea why he is on the pitch. He tries tricks on the half way line when a simple pass is the answer and seems lost for an idea once he is near the penalty area.
The only bright spot is Valencia is starting to look the player he was said to be. I am not surprised he is starting to look class. Compared to some of his team mates he would look good with 1 leg tied behind his back.
Paul Scholes scored is 100th, goal in the League for United showing all his class and while keeping a cool head. However, the fact that him, Giggs & Neville can still get a game does not bode well for the future at Old Trafford.

I only watched the Man Utd game and agree with your summary.berbatov is very complimentary to others in the box with his flicks etc.,but they just are not suitable at midfield.The Wolves could have easily won this game as they seem to have the best chances.Nani seems better from the right side,but Valencia is definitely in the groove over there!
I never thought I would be I would be sweating out the clock against the Wolves,but I was last night,it felt like we were lucky to get the win,let alone a tie!

5-1 To The Toffees, But COULD well have ended in Double Figures,Another GOOD Team Performance 6 Premier League Home wins on the bounce now.....

Great result for certain 747..
Arteta back is a great boost.
Donovan going back to USA will be a BIG blow though. Everton's form started to improve when he joined on loan..

Bob, I heard during the match commentary that He might be staying a while longer, There is talk of a players strike in the U.S & that their league season maybe delayed......Yeah,And did'nt Mikky Play well,I think he must have covered EVERY Blade of grass yesterday .......

Wigan 1 - 0 Liverpool
Oh my, I know it was away from home...but.....
Pool had just about their best squad out & did not play well. They also had 5 players booked - including the 'golden two' of Torres & Gerard.
I did not see the game, but match reports seem to say that the result was no fluke & the better side on the night won.
For Wigan it was a great result in a game that they must have thought would be a 1 point result at the very best. They rocket up to 14 and are 4 points above the drop. With those around them struggling for results this could be a season saving result for them.
Liverpool's disappointing season carries on. May just cannot come soon enough for them I guess. They are now in 6th. place & a point behind Citee who are in the last European spot. Citee have now played 2 games less than Pool now though!! Villa are 3 points behind Pool, but have played 3 games less!!
Winning the new Europa Cup now looks Pools best chance of an European place next year - that will not be an easy task either!!
Serious summer changes look inevitable at Liverpool. That it will start at the top I now think is certain. However if that means a change of owner, or a change of manager is still in doubt. The fans would undoubtedly favour the first as The Spanish Waiter is still held in quite high regard - even if results suggest that he has more than a little of the blame to carry as well..

Portsmouth 1-2 Birmingham
Well what a difference a competition makes....couple of days ago, in FA cup, Portsmouth pretty easily beat Brum 2-0.
This time Birmingham cruised into a 2 goal lead before half time. Portsmouth put in a lot of effort without much direction but did manage to pull one back late into stoppage time. Portsmouth are now 4 points adrift at the bottom, rules say that they must also lose another 9 points for going into administration. That would leave them 14 points away from safety. While those above them are not exactly playing inspiring football they will need David Copperfield's help to avoid the drop.
Brum are now in 8th. place on 43 points. A very satisfactory season for them but I don't think I would be rushing to pay to watch them play. Dour is probably a flattering assessment - McLeish's reply would probably be unprintable & mention cash & making the best of a situation &, in that much he is correct....but so am I..

Sunderland 4-0 Bolton
After a great last result away at West Ham, Bolton revert to type at Sunderland. Fraizer Campbell (who many - including me- thought could be the next big thing, but has not made it yet) started Sunderland along the yellow brick road after only 41 seconds. They then looked in control (Bolton have had a bit of a problem scoring goals all season) but didn't score again until the second half when Bent hit his first of 3. It was over as a contest when Sam Ricketts got sent off & gifted Bent his second from the spot.
Sunderland looked like a Premiership side early in the season but have had an horrific run of 14 games in the league without a win which has dragged them deep into a relegation fight. This win takes them above Bolton into 13th. place. This is 6 points clear of the real scrap & they must hope it is a bit of a springboard for the remaining part of the season.
Bolton have eased themselves away from the dead zone as well - the last couple of wins over fellow strugglers West Ham & Wolves are the sort of results that keep teams up. However they have lost much of the ability to battle & sneak results that they used to have. I am not sure if they currently know what sort of football they want to play, but maybe Owen Coyle can decide that next season if they can remain in the Premiership.

The positions in the Premier League are starting to get interesting now.
At the top Chelsea & Arsenal took advantage of United playing today to post good results & go above them. This has been a season where often, so far, the big 3 have seemed reluctant to take advantage & all have lost games that would have seen them edge ahead. Arsenal seemed to have drifted out of contention as potential winners but a series of winning results probably actually makes them slight favourites now. They certainly have the easier run in now with Chelsea & United having to play each other & a United v Pool outstanding as well.
Spurs ease up to 4th. place & should stay there after today's results unless Citi can hand out a serious thrashing away at Sunderland today. Citi will still have the comfort of a game in hand though.
Villa really fluffed their chances of having a top 5 shout in only managing a 0-0 at Stoke.
Pool have an easy Portsmouth at home chance on Monday night to grab 3 points....but that cannot put them above Spurs & they would have then played at least 1 game more than those above them..
Brum & Everton battled out a 2-2 draw in the second city ( ) which seems a fair result given they are next to each other in the table. So Brum carry on with their 'hard to beat' (but who would want to watch ) tag & The Toffees continue their good second half of the season form.
Bolton put 4 past Wigan to ease their own relegation worries & cause Wigan supporters to start to look at other Premiership results with trepidation. Bolton are now 8 points clear of the drop while Wigan are 6 (two wins).
Wolves had a great 2-1 away result to Burnley. This sees them rise to 4th. from bottom & puts Burnley firmly in the drop zone along with Hull...

Wayne Rooney United saw off Fulham 3-0 (the man himself only managing to score 2 ) in what was an entertaining game. It was 0-0 at half time. Fulham showed what they are all about under Hodgson. They are not the most skillful side but they do have some skillful players & they all work extremely hard for each other. While it remained scoreless United did not look comfortable as Fulham are not an easy side to break down. However immediately after half time Rooney netted & the game changed. Fulham now had to look for a goal themselves & so more space became available. Zamora found himself 1 on 1 with van der Saah but before he could make a decision Vidic had recovered & rescued the situation. From then on it all became rather easy for United as they netted twice more & turned on the style.
There next two games are Liverpool & Chelsea so anything less than a win here really would have put them on the back foot.
As for Fulham they rest safely in 10th. place and will continue to be a difficult side for anyone that faces them. I still think that their Europa Cup journey is all but over unless they play far better than this in the next leg.
In the other game (Sunderland at home to Citi) Sunderland must be wondering just how they managed to drop any points. In the first half Citi were poor. They just about got what they deserved - being 1-0 down at half time. Team changes saw them play better football in the second half but Sunderland's keeper Gordon was having an inspired match when they did threaten. Then, 2 minutes into stoppage time Citi finally equalised through a quite brilliantly taken goal from Johnson.
Sunderland will be gutted. 3 points would have seen them move into 13th. place & within touching distance of safety for another year. As it is they will have to worry on for a little longer. I do not know what their run in looks like but on last nights' showing they look like they will give most team a run for their money - especially at home. With the 3 up front they have players who can score a few, which is certainly an issue with most of the team below them.
Citi stay in 5th. 2 points behind 4th. placed Spurs but with a game in hand. However Pool should really push them down to 6th. after their game with Portsmouth tonight.
The race is still very much on for the 4th. place though - with Villa (despite some poor results of late) still in the mix.

Your analysis and decriptions of the game,are perfectly ''on the money'',IMO!''pot on'',to most of you!

Yes, ever since the Africa Cup and the worthy praise that he received, Khun Helm has taken on the task of providing spot-on analysis of the big matches of the day, be it rugby or football.

I hope he stays away from Canadian, and American College, football as that is territory that will not be surrendered easily.

Thanks for the always entertaining summing up by one of the best presenters on the old telly. Do we have a budding Motson to call the actual play?

Well thank you gentlemen....I really have gone quite now!!
I always thought that being a sport's journalist must really be one of the best jobs in the world.
Getting into major sporting events for free & then being paid to utter your thoughts about the event must be wonderful.
On the "Motty" front he really is a star. I read somewhere that any historical snippets he comes out with during a game come straight out of his memories & not from a crumpled bit of paper supplied by the statisticians like most commentators.
There is no fear of your North American sports reporting being usurped by me Tilo - really not games I understand at all & have certainly never played..

Back to the Premiership...
Pool did what was expected and ran out easy 4-1 victors against Portsmouth. It was more than over as a contest within the first half hour - during which Liverpool netted three times. Portsmouth did manage to get 1 back right near the end, but Torres had scored his second by then to put it out of all doubt.
Portsmouth are well rooted to the bottom now & 8 points away from safety. even without a probable 9 point deduction for going into administration they have looked doomed for a long time now.
Wigan play Aston Villa tonight in what has been yet another long dragged out EPL weekend. Villa can go above Citi into 6th. but not above Pool into 5th. with a win. Wigan are pretty desperate for 3 points as well as it would give them a 7 point safety net above the drop. Has all the makings of a cannot afford to lose 0-0 draw...

I See Stevie G is likely to be investigated by the FA For APPEARING To strike Pompeys Michael Brown......Stevie letting his fists do the work AGAIN ?????

747 youve got it all wrong michael brown head butted stevies arm but on a different note perhaps stevie should put himself in the same mould of that well known ambassador of fair play Drunken duncan ferguson