Premiership: Zamora Rocks United’s Defence
Manchester United’s makeshift defence of Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher finally came unstuck at Craven Cottage as Fulham won 3-0 on Saturday.
Danny Murphy continued his run of personal success against Sir Alex Ferguson’s men as his low finish gave the Cottagers the lead after 22 minutes.
England hopeful Bobby Zamora (pictured) showed why the Fulham faithful have warmed to him this campaign, doubling the lead from Clint Dempsey’s header, seconds after the break.
Zamora’s tenth goal of the season looked set to repeat Fulham’s 2-0 home victory over the Red Devils last season, where Murphy opened the scoring and Zoltan Gera’s acrobatic overhead sealed the points.
And in a bid to stave off a deserved defeat Sir Alex replaced Ritchie de Laet and Darren Gibson with Fabio Da Silva and Dimitar Berbatov.
It was to no avail as Damien Duff ensured the home side went one better than last year, rounding off the scoring after 75 minutes.
It was ’Bobatov’ Zamora who won the crowd’s plaudits as he was treated to a standing ovation when substituted for Eric Nevland in injury time.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 – Burnley 0
Under-fire manager Mick McCarthy saw his first choice side ease past Burnley and out of the relegation zone, courtesy of goals from Nenad Milijas and Kevin Doyle.
Brian Jensen did his best to halt Wolves opening the scoring, parrying a shot from Matt Jarvis only for Milijas to slot the rebound.
Northern Ireland frontman Doyle doubled the advantage when he beat Steven Caldwell to a hopeful long ball over the top and rounded Mike Duff to net after 50 minutes.
Owen Coyle’s Clarets saw a Caldwell header cleared off the line and Steve Fletcher denied two penalty claims as Wolves hit back at recent critics with their fifth League win.
West Ham 1 – Chelsea 1
Chelsea dropped two points and the chance to open up a lead on Manchester United on Sunday when West Ham held the visitors to a draw.
Alessandro Diamanti opened the scoring from the spot after Ashley Cole fouled Jack Collison and Frank Lampard answered with his own penalty after half-time.
Lampard described the Blues’ penalty award as lucky and stressed the need for Carlo Ancelotti’s men to get back to playing in the same vein as earlier in the season at training.
Manchester City 4 – Sunderland 3
Roque Santa Cruz’s double saw City edge past Sunderland in a seven-goal thriller at Eastlands on Saturday but it was not enough to save manager Mark Hughes.
Carlos Tevez had doubled City’s lead with his 12th minute spot kick but the Black Cats fought back to two all through John Mensah and Jordan Henderson.
Craig Bellamy, replacing Robinho, restored the lead before substitute Kenwyne Jones equalised and Santa Cruz netted the winner prior to Michael Turner’s red card.
Arsenal 3 – Hull City 0
Meanwhile, goals from Denilson, Eduardo and Abou Diaby ensured Arsenal kept up the pressure on Chelsea and United at the Emirates stadium on Saturday.
Samir Nasri trod on Richard Garcia prior to Denilson’s free kick, souring a flattering scoreline – Manuel Almunia’s penalty save from Giovanni kept the Gunners ahead.
Aston Villa 1 – Stoke City 0
Second-half substitute John Carew underlined Villa’s Champions League credentials, heading the winner that kept them above Tottenham at Villa Park on Saturday.
Blackburn 0 – Tottenham 2
Peter Crouch scored a goal in each half, first heading home Niko Kranjcar’s cross then slotting one-on-one, in Tottenham’s win, despite Benni McCarthy twice striking the post.
Portsmouth 2 – Liverpool 0
Nadir Belhadj and Frederic Piquionne sealed Portsmouth’s win over struggling Liverpool at Fratton Park as Javier Mascherano saw red for his tackle on Tal Ben-Haim.
Everton 1 – Birmingham 1
Sebastian Larsson got the equaliser necessary for Birmingham to climb above Liverpool into seventh on Sunday, cancelling out Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s first-half belter.
Wigan Athletic P – Bolton Wanderers P
Monday night’s scheduled clash between Wigan and Bolton has meanwhile been postponed as areas around the DW Stadium have been declared unsafe for supporters.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply
We're online newspaper, bringing you the best of British news from the real world and the web. There’s enough doom and gloom in the world that it’s sometimes hard to see the fun in life, the good things, that make us smile. we're here to do just that.