Manchester United thrashed Wigan Athletic 5-0 at Old Trafford with Dimitar Berbatov claiming a hat-trick; a victory that drew them level on points with Manchester City, who only managed a goalless draw at West Brom, at the top of the table and also reduced the goal difference between the two sides to 5 goals. United remain in second position but those who have wrote off United since the 6-1 defeat to their massive rivals may be thinking again about the outcome of the Premier League title race. Liverpool dropped more points at home to end a difficult week for the club; a 0-0 draw with Wigan midweek followed the FA’s confirmation of an eight match ban for Luis Suarez after he was found guilty of racial abuse towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra and the Reds drew 1-1 with struggling Blackburn Rovers. Newcastle United ended a difficult period of bad results with a 2-0 win at the Reebok Stadium against Bolton whilst Fulham earned a valuable point away at Chelsea. Arsenal didn't take the chance to go above Chelsea as they drew with Wolves, QPR held Swansea for a draw and Spurs went four points clear of Chelsea as they defeated Norwich 2-0.
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| Berbatov on form for United |
Manchester United ran out comfortable winners against an on form Wigan who have had a good string of results lately. But Man United were in no mood to allow this form to continue. A hat-trick from Dimitar Berbatov including a penalty along with a goal each from Ji-Sung Park and Antonio Valencia who hit a delightful strike against his former club. Wigan had Sammon sent off in the first half which bemused Roberto Martinez but Wigan now look to turn things around against Stoke on New Year's Eve.
At the Hawthorns a resilient West Brom held the league leaders Man City to a 0-0 draw which certainly frustrated Roberto Mancini as this allowed Man United to reach the same amount of points as City but the blue side of Manchester are still superior on goal difference. However, two 5-0 victories for the Red Devils against Fulham and Wigan have certainly been helpful in reducing the difference from their rivals.
At the Reebok Stadium it was a contest between two sides desperate for a win. Bolton were confident after their 2-1 victory away at Blackburn on Tuesday night whereas Newcastle were coming in on the back of a 3-2 defeat at home to West Brom. However, it was the visitors who claimed the 3 points as goals from Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba both in the second half ensured a 2-0 victory for the Magpies to get them back to winning ways.
Liverpool dropped points at home to a Blackburn Rovers side rooted to the bottom of the table and they had to come from behind as Charlie Adam scored an own goal on the brink of half-time to make it 1-0 to Rovers. In the second half Liverpool needed to come out and after unconvincing performances recently, they had to go for the win. They got themselves back in the game through an equaliser from Maxi Rodriguez in the 53rd minute. Goalkeeper Bunn made some important saves in the latter stages of the game to deny Liverpool a winner and meant that the under pressure Steve Kean had something to smile about before his team face another daunting away trip; this time to Old Trafford against Manchester United to end the year.
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| Dempsey celebrates his equaliser |
Chelsea did not build on an excellent second half performance and result against Spurs on Thursday as they had to settle for a draw against their West London rivals Fulham. Despite Juan Mata giving the home side the lead in the second half, USA international Clint Dempsey grabbed a precious goal to give Fulham a point as they looked to recover from their 5-0 defeat to Man United earlier in the week. Andre Villas-Boas reflected on the result and concluded that it would be difficult to win the title after the draw.
Sunderland drew 1-1 with Everton at the Stadium of Light with Martin O’Neill’s side taking the lead with Jack Colback getting his first goal for the club making it 1-0 midway through the first half. Six minutes in to the second half and a penalty was awarded to Everton after referee Howard Webb assumed Leon Osman had been tripped inside the box. However, replays show that this was a very controversial decision as Osman had merely lost balance and caught himself causing him to go down. Leighton Baines stepped up and converted and the game finished that way at 1-1. Martin O’Neill was understandably infuriated and David Moyes admitted that it should not have been a penalty for his side.
Stoke City drew with their opponents Aston Villa with the result being 0-0 at the Britannia Stadium in the live evening fixture. Villa thoroughly deserved a point at a difficult place to visit but Stoke never really sparked and failed to conjure up fluent attacks. There were a few occasions when they looked dangerous but they found it difficult to get through a strong, disciplined Villa defence. Substitute Nathan Delfouneso also came very near to scoring when Gabriel Agbonlahor used his pace to get the ball and play it across evading Huth with Delfouneso getting the touch but Thomas Sorensen made an excellent stop to concede a corner. Stoke came closest when a corner found Marc Wilson who’s header struck the underside of the bar and bounced back down the chest of Agbonlahor on the line and was cleared. Replays show that not the whole of the ball was over the line and Agbonlahor didn’t handle it when it came down from the bar so it wasn’t a goal or penalty.
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| Hennessey making an important save to deny Vermaelen |
Arsenal missed out on the opportunity to climb in to the top four as they didn’t capitalise on Chelsea’s dropped points by drawing 1-1 with Wolves at the Emirates Stadium. Gervinho gave the Gunners a 1-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes but Wolves equalised through Steven Fletcher who headed home from a Stephen Hunt effort before half-time. A remarkable display from Wayne Hennessey in the Wolves goal ensured Wolves took a point from this fixture. Wolves had Milijas sent off harshly after he appeared to win the ball when going into a challenge with Mikel Arteta.
At the Liberty Stadium, Swansea drew 1-1 with QPR with the visitors goal being just the third goal Swansea have conceded at home; quite an impressive record so far. Danny Graham gave the Swans the lead and there were appeals for handball when the striker controlled it but the referee allowed the goal to stand. In the second half QPR came back stronger with Joey Barton forcing Michel Vorm into a fine save from long range and before Jamie Mackie equalised in the 58th minute. The game ended level with a point each that was beneficial for Neil Warnock’s side to steer away from danger.They're now 3 points above the relegation zone.
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| Bale gets his second goal of the night |
In the evening game, Norwich played high flying Spurs and Gareth Bale inspired a 2-0 victory scoring both goals. Norwich had done well in the first half, it was 0-0 at half-time but Spurs came to life in the second half and Emmanuel Adebayor had good feet to set up Bale inside the box to put it past John Ruddy for the first goal. It was more class from Bale for the second goal as he went on a long run charging through the Norwich defence and he delicately chipped the ball over Ruddy across the line to give Spurs a 2-0 lead and virtually kill the game off.
