Sunday, September 28, 2008

Premier League: Hull upset Arsenal, Defoe on form


Hull provided one of the shocks of the season this weekend as they upset Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates stadium on Saturday.

Empics

The Brazilian celebrates after his wonder goal.

The Gunners went ahead through a Paul McShane goal after good work from Theo Walcott, but were powerless to stop a stunning strike from Brazilian midfielder Geonvani finding the back of Manuel Almunia's net for the equaliser.

Not stopping there, Hull picked up an incredible win with a header from ex-Rangers striker Daniel Cousin that flew in over Cesc Fabregas on the Arsenal post. An incredible save in the final minutes from Boaz Myhill sealed the points and condemned the Gunners to their first home defeat of the season.

Ronaldo made a scoring return to Premier League action after a contentious penalty award from referee Rob Styles at Old Trafford against Bolton.

Defender Jlloyd Samuel appeared to get the ball when Ronaldo ran at him in the box and several United players giggled after Styles pointed to the spot. The Portuguese then picked himself up to net past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Wayne Rooney, who had been benched by Sir Alex Ferguson in favour of Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez, then sealed the points with a late strike to make it 2-0.

West Bromich Albion provided an upset of their own as they picked up three points from their trip to the Riverside with a 1-0 win.

Middlesbrough had no answer to Jonas Olsson's strike in the 53rd minute and the Baggies soaked up some pressure late in the second half to condemn Gareth Southgate's men to their fourth straight defeat in all competitions.

Jermain Defoe piled the misery onto his former club Tottenham by netting a penalty as Portsmouth ran out 2-0 winners on Sunday. The striker had a goal ruled out for offside in the first two minutes, but got on the scoresheet from the penalty spot after Jermaine Jenas had handballed.

Defoe also had a hand in the second as he set up Armand Traore's shot which rebounded onto the head of Peter Crouch and past Gomes, before Lassana Diarra was sent off late on for two bookable offences.

In the final game of the weekend, Wigan were given an easy penalty by referee Steve Bennett to beat Manchester City 2-1 at the JJB Stadium.

Antonio Valencia started the scoring with a stunning strike, which flew past City 'keeper Joe Hart, before Vincent Kompany levelled the scores with a close-range effort.

Wilson Palacios then made a meal of a tackle by Javier Garrido to win a spot kick, which Amr Zaki duely dispatched. City pressed for another equaliser, but only came close when Ched Evans' shot was cleared off the line.

Fernando Torres struck twice in three minutes in the 179th Merseyside derby on Saturday, as Liverpool ran out 2-0 winners to equal their best ever start to a season.

After a stale first half, the Spaniard rifled in a cross from strike partner Robbie Keane, before smashing home a second following a goalmouth scramble.

Under-fire referee Mike Riley later sent off Everton midfielder Tim Cahill for a fairly innocuous tackle on Xabi Alonso, but Everton failed to muster a single shot on target, so can have no complaints at the result.

Chelsea leap-frogged Liverpool and Arsenal at the top of the league with a 2-0 win over Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

Stoke were without their main attacking threat, Rory Delap, and were made to pay by full-back Jose Bosingwa after good work from Frank Lampard in the 36th minute.

Chelsea, who were never under much pressure from the Premier League newboys, finished the job with a goal from Nicolas Anelka.

Djibril Cisse gave Sunderland a shock lead at Villa Park, before a low 25-yard free-kick from Ashley Young levelled the scores.

The winger, left out by Fabio Capello in his recent England squads, netted his eighth goal in 15 games to force his claim for recognition and he had a hand in the second as well. His free-kick was charged down only for the ball to be helped into the box for John Carew to backheel Villa's winner, as Martin O'Neill's men ran out 2-1 winners.

Unfortunately for Young, Capello was at Craven Cottage to watch Fulham capitulate 2-1 at home to Gianfranco Zola's West Ham.

The Italian may have been impressed by Carlton Cole, who stabbed home the Hammers' first, or by Mark Noble and Matthew Etherington who combined well for the second just seconds before half-time, but would not have liked what he saw of Fulham striker Andy Johnson who was sent off for two yellow cards.

Fulham pulled one back, through a Danny Murphy penalty, but could never convert their chances and failed to get the equaliser.

Joe Kinnear was in the stands (serving his touchline ban) to watch his new Newcastle side take on Blackburn, but could do nothing as Christopher Samba leapt above Steven Taylor to head home from Carlos Villanueva's cross.

45,000 Toon fans turned up to watch, but left unhappy after their defence was ripped to pieces by Roque Santa Cruz, who headed the second.

Michael Owen got a consolation penalty for the Magpies, but their fifth defeat in a row has added more gloom to the clouds around St James's Park, as they went down 2-1.

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