6th feb EPL fixtures |African Discussion Forum

A wonder strike from Wayne
Rooney handed Manchester
United a 2-1 victory over
Manchester City at Old Trafford
in the Premier League,
maintaining their advantage over
rivals Arsenal.
- Rooney delight at best ever
strike
- Palmer: Gunners'
bouncebackability
- Jolly: Dalglish remains Kop King
- Premier League gallery
One week after slumping to
defeat against Wolves, United
looked to be heading for another
setback when David Silva's
fortunate equaliser cancelled out
Nani's opener - but Rooney came
to the rescue with his fifth
league goal of the season. The
result leaves City eight points
behind leaders United, who have
played a game less than their
Manchester rivals.
Arsenal ensured United's lead at
the top remains at four points
after they eased to a 2-0 victory
over Wolves at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners face Barcelona in
the Champions League on
Wednesday, but there were no
signs of them taking their eye off
domestic matters as they
triumphed through a Robin van
Persie brace.
It took all of 16 minutes for the
Gunners to strike as Cesc
Fabregas, once again linked to
Barcelona during the week, put a
left-footed cross in for Van
Persie, who produced a clever
volley to beat Wayne Hennessey.
Fabregas should then have
scored himself moments later,
following fine approach play by
Andrei Arshavin, but Richard
Stearman somehow kept the ball
out.
Theo Walcott, in particular, had
plenty of chances to add to the
Arsenal lead, but they did not
find a second until close to the
hour mark, when Van Persie cooly
slotted past Hennessey after
Walcott's pass.
Tottenham are up to fourth
after they came from behind to
beat Sunderland 2-1 in the day's
late game. Victory moves Spurs
ahead of Chelsea, who visit
Fulham on Monday, and it came
after Asamoah Gyan had opened
the scoring for Sunderland,
swivelling brilliantly to drive the
ball past Heurelho Gomes while
William Gallas was off the pitch
changing his boots.
However, the scores were level
at the break as Spurs, returned
to their full compliment, equalised
through the head of Michael
Dawson. The script was left for
Niko Kranjcar, hero against Bolton
last weekend, to repeat his
winning act with a technically
excellent strike from the edge of
the area. Kieran Richardson sent
a deflected effort against the
bar as Sunderland searched for
an equaliser, but the Black Cats
remain behind Liverpool in
seventh.
Liverpool's renaissance under
Kenny Dalglish lost momentum at
Anfield as the Reds drew 1-1 with
Wigan. Raul Meireles' strike was
cancelled out by Steve Gohouri as
Dalglish's side failed to move
within three points of the
Champions League qualifying
spots.
Shorn of the services of Steven
Gerrard and Daniel Agger,
Liverpool handed a first start to
Luis Suarez, but it was the prolific
Meireles who opened the scoring.
Capitalising on a mistake from
James McCarthy, the Portugal
international sent a superb volley
past Ali Al Habsi for his fifth goal
in six matches.
However, Meireles was forced off
through injury in the second
period, and Wigan deservedly
equalised on 65 minutes, Gohouri
poking home at the back post.
Suarez rattled the bar from a
free-kick in response for
Liverpool, but the Reds could not
find a winner.
At the bottom of the table, West
Ham's fine week off the field
looked set to end in
disappointment at the Hawthorns,
but Avram Grant's men produced
a stunning fightback from three
goals down to draw 3-3 against
West Brom. The result sees the
Hammers move up to 19th, two
points adrift of safety.
The Baggies were playing in front
of new boss Roy Hodgson, and
they responded within three
minutes as Graham Dorrans bent
a beauty into the top corner.
That lead was doubled moments
later as Jerome Thomas waltzed
through for the second, leaving
Grant to look on in disgust at the
lack of effort from his side. In
fairness, the Hammers should
have halved the deficit midway
through the first half, only for
the linesman to wrongly rule out
Carlton Cole's effort, and within
minutes the error was
compounded as Winston Reid
inadvertently found his own net
at the back post.
However, West Ham began to hint
at a fightback when Demba Ba
netted early in the second
period, and the prospects of a
miraculous recovery grew further
still when Cole converted on the
hour. Ba then struck again seven
minutes from time to grab what
could be the most priceless point
of West Ham's season.
Blackpool's own survival bid is
capitulating quickly, with ten-man
Aston Villa claiming a 1-1 draw at
Bloomfield Road. The result leaves
Ian Holloway's men hovering two
points above the relegation zone,
while Villa drop to 15th.
Gabriel Agbonlahor was the man
to open the scoring, drifting in
unmarked to score the type of
goal that has been happening on
an all-too-regular basis to
Blackpool this season. However,
Holloway's men are rarely
involved in a boring game, and
they hit back immediately with
Elliot Grandin glancing home
Charlie Adam's corner, before
Jean Makoun was sent off late on
for Villa.
Birmingham found a late winner in
their relegation battle, triumphing
1-0 at home to Stoke. Alex
McLeish handed a debut to
Obafemi Martins at St Andrew's,
and they grabbed three points in
injury-time thanks to Nikola Zigic.
Elsewhere, Newcastle and
Blackburn produced a forgettable
0-0 stalemate at Ewood Park.

	Author	Topic: 6th feb EPL fixtures (Read 260 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.