Friday 29 December 2017

Unstoppable City



With the Premier League only just passing its halfway point, Manchester City are darting towards the finish line 15 points ahead of their closest rivals Manchester United.
Week 11- Manchester United lost to a single goal at Chelsea and Crystal Palace fell to the same scoreline against Tottenham at Wembley while Manchester City enjoyed a 3-1 home victory over Arsenal and Everton came from 2 down against Watford to score a winning penalty in front of their home crowd in stoppage time with the visitors missing a penalty even later in the game. Mohamed Salah scored twice for Liverpool as West Ham suffered a 4-1 home hammering that resulted in the sacking of Slaven Bilic while Leicester City drew 2-2 at Stoke City. Burnley moved into 7th place with a 1-0 win at Southampton and Bournemouth broke the deadlock in stoppage time to win at Newcastle while a single goal gave 10-man Huddersfield victory at home to West Brom and Brighton won by a goal to nil at Swansea.
Week 12 – In the north London Derby Arsenal defeated Tottenham 2-0 at the Emirates while Chelsea bagged 4 goals at West Brom with Eden Hazard netting a brace and Newcastle United retuned from Manchester United 4-1 losers. Manchester City scored either side of the break to win at Leicester and Burnley scored twice in the first half to win at home to Swansea.
A hat-trick from Callum Wilson helped Ten-man Bournemouth to a 4-0 win over their visitors from Huddersfield while Mohamed Salah struck twice as Liverpool beat Southampton 3-0 at Anfield and Everton drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace. On Sunday West Ham lost 2-0 at Watford and on Monday evening Stoke City drew 2-2 at Brighton and Hove Albion.   
Week 13 – Liverpool and Chelsea shared 2 goals and points at Anfield as had West Ham and Leicester on Friday night at the London Olympic Stadium while Tottenham dropped points at home as they drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion and Bournemouth played a goalless match at Swansea. Crystal Palace fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 at home to Stoke with the winner coming deep into stoppage time and Arsenal scored a stoppage-time penalty to break the deadlock at Burnley while Manchester United defeated Brighton with a controversial goal at Old Trafford and Manchester City came from behind to win 2-1 at Huddersfield Town. Charlie Austin scored twice as Southampton disposed of Everton 4-1 at St Mary’s while Newcastle were soundly beaten 3-0 in front of their home crowd by their visitors from Watford.
Week 14 – In midweek the Hornets were stung by Young as Ashley put 2 past Watford in Manchester United’s 4-2 victory at Vicarage Road while Tottenham lost 2-1 at Leicester and Newcastle came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at West Brom and Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at Brighton. Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick including a goal from inside his own half as Manchester City hammered West Ham 4-0 in Manchester while Mohamed Salah scored twice for Liverpool as they won 3-0 at Stoke and Olivier Giroud netted a double as Arsenal gunned down Huddersfield 5-0 at the Emirates. A single goal gave Chelsea a home win over Swansea while Burnley won 2-1 at Bournemouth and Manchester City defeated their visitors from Southampton 2-1 with the last kick of the game.  
Week 15 – After 2 early goals, despite being reduced to 10 men, Manchester United held on to enjoy a 3-1 victory at a dominant Arsenal with Jesse Lingard netting twice while Roberto Firmino scored twice for Liverpool who battered Brighton 5-1 at the south coast and Chelsea came from a goal down to power past Newcastle 3-1 at Stamford Bridge with a double from Eden Hazard. Huddersfield Town lost 2-0 at Everton and ten-man Tottenham drew 1-1 at Watford while an early goal was enough to give Leicester City a home win over Burnley. Crystal Palace picked up a point with a goalless draw at West Brom and Stoke City overcame an early setback to win 2-1 at home to Swansea while on Sunday Southampton drew 1-1 at Bournemouth and league leaders Manchester City came from behind to win 2-1 with a late goal at home to West Ham United.   
Week 16 – West Ham United defeated reigning champions Chelsea with an early goal at the London Olympic Stadium while a late goal earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw at Southampton and Everton secured the same result with a penalty at Liverpool. Manchester City continued their winning streak with a 2-1 victory at Manchester United while Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham swept Stoke City aside 5-1 at Wembley and Steve Mounie scored both goals of the match as hosts Huddersfield beat Brighton and Hove Albion. Jermain Defoe struck twice for Bournemouth in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace with the hosts missing a stoppage-time penalty while Leicester City won 3-2 at Newcastle and there were 1-0 away losses for 10-man Watford at Burnley and WBA at Swansea City.    
Week 17 – In midweek David Silva scored twice when Manchester City travelled to Swansea and sailed past the Swans 4-0 to break a record having won their 15th Premier League match in a row while Manchester United picked up a home win with a single goal against Bournemouth and Chelsea won 3-1 at Huddersfield. Arsenal who were held to a goalless draw at West Ham sank to 7th place overtaken by Burnley who broke the deadlock in the last minute at home to Stoke City while Tottenham overtook Liverpool with 2 goals at home to Brighton as the Reds could only manage a goalless draw with West Brom at Anfield. When Watford were reduced to 10 players late on in the game, hosts Crystal Palace overturned an early goal to win with 2 goals in the dying minutes while Newcastle United who also ended the match with 10 men lost 1-0 at home to Everton and a brace from Shinji Okazaki helped Leicester City to a 4-1 win at Southampton.   
Week 18 – Crystal Palace moved clear of the relegation zone with a convincing 3-0 win at 10-man Leicester while Aaron Mooy scored twice as Huddersfield walloped hosts Watford 4-1 with both teams reduced to 10 men and West Ham United enjoyed a 3-0 victory at Stoke City. There were 1-0 home wins for Chelsea over Southampton and Arsenal against Newcastle while Raheem Sterling claimed a brace as Manchester City crushed Tottenham 4-1 at the Etihad and Liverpool battered hosts Bournemouth 4-0. Manchester United got the better of West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the Hawthorns and Burnley drew 0-0 at Brighton with their hosts missing a penalty while on Monday evening Wayne Rooney missed and scored a penalty as Everton registered a 3-1 home win over Swansea. 
Week 19 – Immediately after going 2-0 down at the Emirates, Arsenal hit back with 3 goals in under 5 minutes but drew 3-3 with Liverpool on Friday evening while on Saturday 10-man Leicester City earned a 2-2 draw with the last kick of the match against Manchester United with Juan Mata having scored a double for the visitors and Chelsea drew 0-0 at Everton. Sergio Aguero netted twice for Manchester City who swept aside their visitors from Bournemouth 4-0 while Burnley were Kaned 3-0 by Harry who claimed a hat-trick for Tottenham on their travels and Stoke City enjoyed a much-needed 3-1 home win against West Brom. Newcastle United won 3-1 at West Ham and a single goal gave Brighton 3 points at home to Watford while there were 1-1 draws for Crystal Palace at Swansea and Huddersfield Town at Southampton.
Week 20 – Harry Kane scored another hat-trick to become the highest scorer in Europe in 2017 as Tottenham demolished Southampton 5-2 at Wembley om Boxing Day while Liverpool slaughtered Swansea 5-0 at Anfield with Roberto Firmino netting a brace and Chelsea put 2 past Brighton without reply at Stamford Bridge. Burnley had their 2-goal lead at Old Trafford wiped out as Jesse Lingard scored his 2nd goal of the match in added-on time to give Manchester United a 2-2 draw and in a 6-goal thriller Bournemouth earned a 3-3 draw with a controversial goal in stoppage time at home to West Ham United while Leicester City lost 2-1 at Watford and there was a 1-1 draw between Huddersfield Town and Stoke City and a goalless match for Everton at WBA. On Wednesday evening Manchester City continued their winning ways with a goal at Newcastle and on Thursday evening Alexis Sanchez scored 2 goals in quick succession as Arsenal got the better of Crystal Palace 3-2 at Selhurst Park.

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Manchester top city



After 10 weeks Manchester lead the English Premier League with City at the top followed by United with the London teams of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal hot on their heels.
Week 1 – The Premier League began on Friday evening with Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette scoring in under 2 minutes of his competitive debut for the Gunners who needed 2 late goals to win 4-3 in front of their home crowd after Jamie Vardy had twice given Leicester City the lead. On Saturday champions Chelsea, who suffered an early dismissal, attempted to come back from 3 down but ended up with 9 players and a 3-2 defeat at home to Burnley with Sam Vokes having netted twice for the visitors while newcomers Huddersfield Town thumped Crystal Palace 3-0 in South London with Steve Mounie claiming a brace. Watford twice took the lead but needed a last-gasp equalizer to draw 3-3 at home to Liverpool while there were 1-0 home wins for Everton and West Bromwich Albion against Stoke City and Bournemouth respectively with Wayne Rooney scoring on his long-awaited return to Everton and Swansea returned from Southampton with a goalless draw. Manchester City broke down Brighton’s resistance with 2 goals at the Amex Stadium while on Sunday Tottenham put 2 past 10-man Newcastle at St James’ Park and Manchester United hammered West Ham 4-0 at Old Trafford with a double from new acquisition Romelu Lukaku to go to the top of the table on goals difference.   
Week 2 – Three late goals in quick succession at Swansea gave Manchester United another 4-0 win to keep them at the top of the Premier League table on goal difference ahead of Huddersfield who put a single goal past their visitors from Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion who enjoyed the same result at Burnley despite ending the match with 10 players. Ten-man West Ham United fought back from 2 down at Southampton but lost 3-2 to a stoppage-time penalty while Arsenal lost 1-0 at Stoke and Liverpool defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 at Anfield. There were 2-0 wins for Watford at Bournemouth and Leicester City at home to Brighton & Hove Albion while Marcos Alonso netted twice at Tottenham’s adopted home ground of Wembley to give Chelsea a 2-1 victory over their London rivals and on Monday evening Manchester City and Everton who each had a player sent off drew 1-1 in Manchester.
Week 3 – Huddersfield Town remain unbeaten in the Premier League after their goalless draw at home to Southampton and with West Bromwich Albion drawing 1-1 at home to Stoke, Manchester United, who put 2 past Leicester at Old Trafford, are the only team with a 100% winning record. Manchester City scored their 2-1 winner at Bournemouth with the last kick of the game and Burnley earned a 1-1 draw with a goal in stoppage time against Spurs at Wembley while Arsenal were humiliated 4-0 at Liverpool and Chelsea defeated Everton 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. West Ham’s losing streak continued with a 3-0 loss at Newcastle and Crystal Palace lost 2-0 at home to Swansea while 10-man Watford drew blanks at home to Brighton.  
Week 4 – Ten-man Liverpool were steamrollered 5-0 at Manchester City with Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane each scoring a double while a double for Harry Kane took him over the 100-mark as Tottenham won 3-0 at Everton and there was a 3-0 win for Arsenal as Danny Wellbeck scored twice at home to Bournemouth. Chelsea were 2-1 winners at Leicester City while 2 goals for Pascal Gross helped Brighton and Hove Albion to their first win of the season as they defeated guests West Bromwich Albion 3-1 and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored both goals for Stoke as they sent Manchester United home with a 2-2 draw. Southampton lost 2-0 at home to Watford while Crystal Palace lost 1-0 to an early goal at Burnley and Newcastle United won by the same result at Swansea. On Monday evening West Ham United put 2 past their visitors from Huddersfield without reply.
Week 5 – Watford lost their unbeaten record as they were thrashed 6-0 at home to Manchester City with Sergio Aguero claiming a hat-trick while Manchester United hosted and humbled Everton 4-0 with 3 of the goals coming in the last 10 minutes. Arsenal drew 0-0 at Chelsea who ended the match with 10 men while Tottenham drew 0-0 at home to Swansea and there was a goalless draw for West Ham at West Brom. Crystal Palace, under newly appointed Roy Hodgson, broke the unwanted record of not having won or even scored in their first 5 matches of the season as they lost 1-0 to an early goal at home to Southampton while there were 1-1 draws for Burnley at Liverpool and Leicester City at Huddersfield Town. Newcastle United were 2-1 winners at home to Stoke while on Friday evening at Bournemouth the hosts came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Brighton.         
Week 6 – Manchester City continued their explosive form putting 5 past hapless Crystal Palace with Raheem Sterling netting twice at the Etihad while a single goal was enough to give Manchester United victory at Southampton and an Alvaro Morata hat-trick helped Chelsea to a 4-0 win at Stoke. West Ham United failed to come back from 3 down against 10-man Tottenham, for whom Harry Kane had scored twice, and ended up 3-2 losers in front of their home crowd while Leicester City lost by the same scoreline having missed a penalty against their visitors from Liverpool and Huddersfield town played out a goalless draw at Burnley. Watford scored a last-minute 2-1 winner at Swansea and Everton came from behind with 2 goals from Oumar Niasse to win 2-1 at home to Bournemouth while on Sunday a single goal gave Brighton a home win over Newcastle and on Monday evening WBA fell to 2 goals from Alexandre Lacazette at Arsenal.
Week 7 – Manchester City continued their winning ways with a single goal at Chelsea while Manchester United eased past rock-bottom Crystal Palace 4-0 at Old Trafford with a brace from Marouane Fellaini and Tottenham enjoyed the same result at Huddersfield with Harry Kane adding another 2 goals to his tally. Watford came from 2 down to earn a 2-2 draw with the last movement of the match at West Brom while West Ham broke the deadlock in the 90th minute to win at home to Swansea and Stoke City registered a 2-1 home win against Southampton. Leicester City played a goalless match at Bournemouth while on Sunday Arsenal defeated Brighton 2-0 at the Emirates, Liverpool drew 1-1 at Newcastle and Everton’s poor run of results continued losing 1-0 at home to Burnley.
Week 8 – Crystal Palace finally broke their duck and scored their first goals of the season to defeat champions Chelsea 2-1 at Selhurst Park while Watford came from behind to score a 2-1 stoppage-time winner at home to Arsenal leapfrogging the Gunners in the table and Manchester City demolished Stoke City 7-2 at the Etihad with Gabriel Jesus netting twice for the hosts. One goal was enough to see Tottenham win at home to Bournemouth while Tammy Abraham scored both goals in Swansea’s home win over Huddersfield and ten-man West Ham drew 1-1 at Burnley. Southampton drew 2-2 at home to Newcastle with Manolo Gabbiadini scoring both goals for the Saints while a last-minute penalty gave Everton a 1-1 draw at Brighton and Manchester United played out a goalless draw at Liverpool. On Monday evening WBA drew 1-1 at Leicester who parted with manager Craig Shakespeare.    
Week 9 – Huddersfield Town recorded a historic 2-1 home win over Manchester United while Chelsea fell behind at Stamford Bridge but hit back with late goals to enjoy a flattering 4-2 victory against Watford with Michy Batshuayi twice finding the net for the Blues and Manchester City claimed another 3 points with 3 goals at home to Burnley. Late goals condemned Crystal Palace and West Bromwich Albion to 1-0 defeats at Newcastle and Southampton respectively while there were 2-1 wins for Bournemouth at Stoke and Leicester at Swansea. The weekend began on Friday with Glenn Murray scoring twice for Brighton in West Ham’s 3-0 home humiliation and ended on Sunday with Tottenham smashing Liverpool 4-1 at Wembley thanks to a brace from Harry Kane and Arsenal brushing 10-man Everton aside 5-2 at Goodison Park which led to the dismissal of manager Ronald Koeman.   
Week 10 – Crystal Palace came from 2 goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to West Ham United with a 97th minute equaliser while at the other end of the table Manchester City got the better of WBA 3-2 on their travels and Chelsea returned from Bournemouth with a 1-0 win. Tottenham lost 1-0 at Manchester United and Stoke City were victorious by the same result at Watford while Arsenal won 2-1 at home to Swansea and after missing a first-half penalty Liverpool put 3 past Huddersfield without reply in the second half at Anfield. On Sunday Everton lost 2-0 at Leicester and Southampton drew 1-1 at Brighton while on Monday evening Burnley picked up 3 points with one goal at home to Newcastle.  

Monday 22 May 2017

Chelsea superior



Week 31 - In midweek matches Eden Hazard scored both goals for Chelsea as they got the better of Manchester City 2-1 at Bridge while Tottenham overturned a 1-0 loss with 2 minutes remaining to win 3-1 at Swansea and Bournemouth opened and closed the scoring as they drew 2-2 at Liverpool. Manchester United needed a last gasp penalty to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Everton while Arsenal eased past West Ham 3-0 at the Emirates and 2 goals gave Leicester a home win over Sunderland. Hull City moved out of the relegation zone with a 4-2 victory at home to Middlesbrough while 10-man Watford held on to beat West Brom 2-0 at Vicarage Road and Stoke lost 1-0 at Burnley. Southampton came from behind to defeat Crystal Palace 3-1 with 2 late goals at St Mary’s.
Week 32 - Tottenham took Watford apart 4-0 at White Hart Lane with 2 goals from Son but Chelsea maintained the gap at the top with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth while Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at Stoke and Manchester City overpowered Hull City 3-1 at the Etihad. Ten-man Sunderland lost 3-0 at home to Manchester United and Southampton scored the only goal of the match at West Brom while Leicester City’s winning streak under Craig Shakespeare came to an end at Everton as Romelu Lukaku netted twice in a 4-2 victory for the Toffees while West Ham United picked up 3 points with a goal at home to Swansea and there was a goalless match between Middlesbrough and Burnley at the Riverside. On Monday evening Arsenal slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.    
Week 33 - Tottenham reduced the points deficit at the top with an emphatic 4-0 victory at home to Bournemouth as leaders Chelsea were beaten 2-0 at Manchester United while Manchester City won 3-0 at Southampton and a single goal gave Liverpool all 3 points at West Bromwich Albion. Leicester City let a 2-goal lead slip as they drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace and Sunderland earned a 2-2 draw with a last-minute goal at home to West Ham United while there were 3-1 wins for Everton and Stoke City at home to Burnley and Hull City respectively. Swansea lost 1-0 at Watford while on Monday evening, after Brighton and Hove Albion had gained promotion to the Premier League, Arsenal laboured to a 2-1 win at struggling Middlesbrough.
Week 34 - While Chelsea and Arsenal were booking their places in the FA Cup final at the expense of Tottenham and Manchester City respectively, Crystal Palace came from a goal down to beat Liverpool 2-1 with a Christian Benteke brace at Anfield and Manchester United won 2-0 at Burnley. Ten-man Middlesbrough were battered 4-0 at Bournemouth while Hull City who were also reduced to 10 men early in the match rallied to a 2-0 home win over Watford and Swansea enjoyed the same result at home to Stoke City while Everton played out a goalless match at West Ham. Newcastle United were promoted to the Premier League on Monday and on Tuesday a Diego Costa double helped Chelsea to a 4-2 win over Southampton at Stamford Bridge while on Wednesday a late own-goal gave Arsenal all 3 points against Leicester at the Emirates and there were also 1-0 wins for Tottenham at Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough at home to Sunderland. In the Manchester derby on Thursday evening United, who were reduced to 10 players late on in the match, held hosts City to a goalless draw.
Week 35 - Sunderland were officially relegated after losing to a late goal at home to Bournemouth while at the top of the table Chelsea powered 3-0 past Everton at Goodison Park and Tottenham put 2 past Arsenal at White Hart Lane to guarantee finishing above their north London rivals for the first time in 22 years. Manchester City twice fought back to draw 2-2 at Middlesbrough while Manchester United drew 1-1 at home to lowly Swansea and Burnley stunned Crystal Palace 2-0 with their first away win of the season. A single goal gave Leicester City a win at West Brom and there were goalless draws for Hull City at Southampton and West Ham at Stoke. Liverpool maintained their 3rd spot in the table with a spectacular goal at Watford on Monday evening.   
Week 36 - The weekend began on Friday evening with Tottenham’s title hopes suffering a hammer blow as they lost 1-0 at West Ham. Crystal Palace were pounded 5-0 at Manchester City while Watford lost 3-0 at Leicester City and there were 2-2 draws for West Brom at Burnley and Stoke City at Bournemouth. While Swansea City were winning 1-0 at home to Everton, Hull City slipped into the relegation zone after losing 2-0 at home to already relegated Sunderland and on Sunday Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Southampton and Arsenal defeated Manchester United 2-0 at the Emirates. On Monday evening Chelsea brushed Middlesbrough aside 3-0 relegating their guests in the process and on Wednesday Arsenal were victorious 2-0 at Southampton.
Week 37 - On Friday evening Chelsea secured the Premier League title with a 1-0 win at West Brom with 2 matches remaining while Everton were 1-0 winners at home to Watford. Arsenal brushed hosts Stoke City aside 4-1 with a brace from Olivier Giroud while Manchester City got the better of Leicester City 2-1 at The Etihad and Southampton enjoyed the same result at Middlesbrough. Bournemouth picked up a 2-1 home win over Burnley and Swansea took a vital step towards safety with a 2-0 victory at Sunderland. On Sunday Hull City were relegated after being taken apart 4-0 at Crystal Palace while Liverpool strengthened their claim for a Champions League place with 2 goals from Philippe Coutinho in their 4-0 thumping of West Ham United at the London Olympic Stadium and Tottenham moved out of White Hart Lane with a 2-1 win over Manchester United. On Monday evening a much changed Chelsea side defeated Watford 4-3 in front of a celebrating crowd at Stanford Bridge while on Tuesday Manchester City moved into 3rd place with a 3-1 win at home to West Brom while a double from Alexis Sanchez at the Emirates gave Arsenal victory over Sunderland. Manchester United played a goalless match at Southampton on Wednesday and on Thursday Harry Kane took Leicester to the cleaners with 4 goals as Tottenham slaughtered their hosts 6-1 with Son Heung Min also netting twice.
Week 38 - Ten-man Arsenal beat Everton 3-1 at the Emirates, but Manchester City buried Watford 5-0 at Vicarage Road with a double from Sergio Aguero to finish 3rd and Liverpool defeated relegated Middlesbrough 3-0 at Anfield to secure 4th spot and deny Arsenal a place in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years. Newly crowned champions Chelsea came from behind in front of their jubilant crowd to slaughter Sunderland 5-1 with Michy Batshuayi netting a late brace in John Terry’s final match for the Blues while Tottenham annihilated hosts Hull City 7-1 with Harry Kane claiming a hat-trick and the Golden Boot. Bournemouth earned a 1-1 draw at outgoing champions Leicester while Manchester United ended their season with a 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace and West Ham came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Burnley as did Swansea to win at home to West Brom. A single goal gave Stoke a win at Southampton.


Pos.
Team
Points
1
Chelsea
93
2
Tottenham
86
3
Manchester City
78
4
Liverpool
76
5
Arsenal
75
6
Manchester United
69
7
Everton
61
8
Southampton
46
9
Bournemouth
46
10
West Bromwich Albion
45
11
West Ham United
45
12
Leicester City
44
13
Stoke City
44
14
Crystal Palace
41
15
Swansea City
41
16
Burnley
40
17
Watford
40
18
Hull City
34
19
Middlesbrough
28
20
Sunderland
24