Friday, 27 December 2013

Review of EPL: Boxing Day win puts Arsenal top of the table



THEO WALCOTT'S double spared Arsenal's blushes at West Ham, while there were also wins for Chelsea, Southampton, Newcastle and Manchester United.

THEO WALCOTT'S second brace in 12 days took Arsenal back to the top of the Barclays Premier League, at least temporarily.

Fit-again England flyer Walcott spared Arsenal's blushes at West Ham as Arsene Wenger's men came from behind to win 3-1 at Upton Park.
Jay Rodriguez scored twice and set up a Rickie Lambert goal as Southampton heaped yet more misery on Cardiff manager Malky Mackay.

Mauricio Pochettino's Southampton swatted Mackay's men aside in Wales, top-scorer Rodriguez making the early inroads before Lambert completed a 3-0 drubbing.
Loic Remy scored twice and missed a penalty as Newcastle overwhelmed nine-man Stoke 5-1 at St James' Park.

Remy's double and Yoan Gouffran's eighth league goal of the season helped the Magpies build on last weekend's 3-0 victory at Crystal Palace.

Yohan Cabaye notched a fourth from Mathieu Debuchy's assist, while Papiss Cisse scored his first goal in 10 games as the tie wound up a complete mismatch.

Stoke had Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson sent off in a frenetic first half, and those dismissals ultimately turned the game in Newcastle's favour.
The visitors took the lead when Oussama Assaidi slotted home, but Whelan picked up two yellow cards in the space of six minutes for Stoke's first dismissal.

Then Wilson produced a professional foul on Remy for his early bath, only for Remy to miss the resulting spot-kick.
Dwight Gayle's first goal in eight games stole a priceless Crystal Palace victory at Aston Villa.

The former Peterborough striker's brilliant last-minute effort secured a 1-0 win for Tony Pulis' side at the end of a gritty Villa Park contest.
Scott Parker's late strike, his second Premier League goal of the season, secured Fulham's second win in six league games at Norwich.

Rene Meulensteen's men came from behind to claim 2-1 victory at Carrow Road and leapfrog West Ham as they moved out of the relegation zone.
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard's red card gifted Sunderland a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park.

The American stopper struggled to deal with Leon Osman's undersold back-pass, and paid the price when he tripped Black Cats midfielder Ki Sung-yueng.

Ki netted the resulting penalty, with Joel Robles unable to stop Sunderland taking the lead after replacing Osman.

And the visitors held out to grind to victory.

Jose Mourinho kept his promise to mix up selection for Chelsea's home clash against Swansea, restoring Ashley Cole at left-back.

And the England defender promptly repaid that call by laying on the pass that allowed Eden Hazard to score the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory.

Tottenham's first-half lead lasted just two minutes in Tim Sherwood's first match in full charge of Spurs.

Christian Eriksen's free-kick put the home side ahead but Spurs were pegged back by Jonas Olsson's goal after 38 minutes.

Spurs pushed and pushed after the break but could not find a winner, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

It had been a dream start but a nightmare finish for Hull City defender James Chester in the day's lunchtime kick-off, as he scored for both teams in Hull's agonising 3-2 defeat to his former club Manchester United.

Chester and David Meyler handed Steve Bruce's side a 2-0 lead after just 13 minutes at the KC Stadium.
Alvaro Negredo proved the match-winner as he took advantage of an error by Simon Mignolet to preserve Manuel Pellegrini's side's 100 percent home record in the Premier League

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