Premier League review: Manchester United reclaim top spot
Manchester City made the most of their game against West Ham United on Saturday to climb to the top of the Premier League, beating the Hammers 3-1 at Upton Park. With Chelsea playing Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and Manchester United and Arsenal playing on Monday, City clinching victory thanks to a Yaya Toure goal and Robert Green own-goal, Adam Johnson added a third goal for City to secure a 3-1 victory, after James Tomkins scored a late consolation goal for the hosts.
The defeat leaves West Ham bottom of the Premier League as City are level on points with Arsenal at the top of the league, Arsenal having a superior goal difference. After a turbulent week for the Blues with rumors of player malaise, the name of Roberto Mancini was chanted by fans in the city for much of the game.
Aston Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in the West Midlands derby, giving Villa their first win in five games. Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey scored Villa’s goals and Paul Scharner scored a late goal for the visitors, moments later West Bromwich could have snatched a dramatic equalizer, but they squandered the chance.
Blackpool continued their impressive start to the Premier League with a tough 1-0 win over Stoke, as they progressed to 9th place, DJ Campbell scoring the only goal of the game.
Everton and Wigan battled to a 0-0 draw, as did Fulham and Sunderland, leaving Fulham perilously perched above the relegation zone on goal difference alone.
Saturday night’s game saw Newcastle secure an empathetic 3-1 win over Liverpool. After a turbulent week on Tyneside, which saw Newcastle sack manager Chris Hughton and deputy Alan Pardew as his replacement, Newcastle fans protested against owner Mike Ashley before the game, the win serving to appease fans as that Newcastle is now in eighth place. in the league
Games on Sunday saw Bolton secure a dramatic 2-1 win over Blackburn. Bolton had Mark Davies sent off and as Blackburn looked to take advantage of the extra man, it was the home team that took the lead through Fabrice Muamba, Mame Diouf equalized but seconds later Stuart Holden secured the points with a great volley goal, in a vibrant end of the match.
Wolves picked up three much-needed points with a 1-0 win over Birmingham, which still sees Wolves in the relegation zone, but Birmingham are now just three points clear of them. Steven Hunt scored the goal for Wanderers as they kept a clean sheet for the first time this season.
Chelsea, experiencing their worst run of results in 10 years, drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea enjoyed more of early possession to little avail and were punished as Spurs took a 1-0 lead through Roman Pavlyuchenko after 15 minutes. Didier Drogba, who had started as a substitute, first proved a hero when he scored a second-half equalizer and then became a villain by missing a stoppage-time penalty that could have sealed the three points for Chelsea, who it now slips to fourth in the league. .
Monday night’s game between Manchester United and Arsenal sent United back to the top of the Premier League and they are now two points clear with one game less. Park Ji-sung scored the biggest goal with a header in the first half, which proved enough to win the game 1-0. United should have scored more and wasted a host of scoring opportunities, including a second-half penalty from Wayne Rooney that he sent over the crossbar. Arsenal were disappointing at best, and once again the Gunners are left reflecting on a missed opportunity.
