Wednesday 4 January 2017

Blue year



Week 11 - Chelsea demolished Everton 5-0 at Stamford Bridge to move above Manchester City and Arsenal as Middlesbrough earned a 1-1 draw with a last gasp goal at the Etihad and Arsenal drew their north London derby 1-1 with Tottenham at the Emirates, but Liverpool go into the international break at the top of the Premier League table after slaughtering Watford 6-1 at Anfield with Sadio Mane twice on the scoresheet. Burnley foiled Crystal Palace's 2 goal comeback, hitting them on the counter attack with the last kick of the game to win 3-2 at Turf Moor while 10-man Sunderland came from behind to win 2-1 at Bournemouth and Stoke picked up a 1-1 draw at West Ham. Leicester City lost 2-1 at home to West Brom while Hull City put an early setback behind them with 2 goals in quick succession for a 2-1 home win over Southampton and Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted twice as Manchester United won 3-1 at Swansea.        
Week 12 - Tottenham trailed West Ham United with a minute to go but turned the match around with a late brace from Harry Kane to win 3-2 at White Hart Lane while Arsenal needed a late goal to draw 1-1 at Manchester Untied and Manchester City won 2-1 at Crystal Palace with a double from Yaya Toure, but Chelsea went top with a single goal at Middlesbrough as Liverpool drew blanks at Southampton. Everton salvaged a 1-1 draw with a last-minute goal at home to Swansea while the match between Watford and Leicester was settled in the first 15 minutes 2-1 in favour of the hosts and Victor Anichebe scored twice at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland ran out 3-0 winners over Hull. Bournemouth were 1-0 winners at Stoke and on Monday evening Burnley were taken apart 4-0 at West Brom.
Week 13 - Tottenham took the lead at Chelsea but lost their unbeaten record after the league leaders struck just before and after the break while Manchester City also registered a 2-1 win as they came from a goal down at Burnley with a double from Aguero and Liverpool left it late to put 2 past Sunderland at Anfield. Crystal Palace, who had taken the lead at Swansea City, fell behind 3-1 thanks to 2 goals from Leroy Fer but regained the lead only to suffer a 5-4 defeat with Fernando Llorente netting twice in stoppage time for the Swans while Leicester City converted 2 penalties including one in stoppage time to cancel out a double from Middlesbrough's Negredo at the King Power Stadium and West Bromwich Albion drew 1-1 at Hull. Alexis Sanchez netted a brace as Arsenal sent Bournemouth home 3-1 losers while West Ham drew 1-1 at Manchester United and there were 1-0 wins for Stoke City at Watford and Southampton at home to Everton.
 Week 14 – Chelsea came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Manchester City who ended the match with 9 men while West Ham were humiliated 5-1 at home by Arsenal thanks to an Alexis Sanchez hat-trick and Swansea were taken apart 5-0 at Tottenham with doubles from Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen. Bournemouth came from 3-1 down to score in stoppage time and celebrate a 4-3 home victory over Liverpool while Christian Benteke bagged 2 goals for Crystal Palace as they won 3-0 at home to Southampton and Burnley lost 2-0 at Stoke. Sunderland moved off the bottom of the table after a 2-1 home win over reigning champions Leicester while 10-man Watford lost 3-1 at West Brom and Everton earned a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United. On Monday evening one goal was enough to give Middlesbrough a win over Hull at the Riverside.    
Week 15 – Manchester City were taken apart at Leicester with 3 goals in the first 20 minutes and ended the match 4-2 losers thanks to a Jamie Vardy hat-trick while Arsenal conceded a penalty but fought back to win 3-1 at home to Stoke and go top for a day before being replaced by Chelsea who managed a 1-0 home win against West Brom. Fernando Llorento scored twice as Swansea celebrated a 3-0 victory over their visitors from Sunderland while Tottenham lost 1-0 at Manchester United and West Ham drew 2-2 at Liverpool. Crystal Palace drew 3-3 at Hull City while Stefano Okaka and Romelu Lukaku scored twice each for Watford and Everton respectively as Watford ran out 3-2 winners at Vicarage Road and Burnley enjoyed the same result at home to Bournemouth. A single goal gave Southampton a home win over Middlesbrough. 
Week 16 -  In midweek matches, Everton came from a goal down to beat Arsenal 2-1 at Goodison Park giving Chelsea the opportunity to extend their lead at the top with a single goal at Sunderland while Liverpool overtook the Gunners into 2nd place on goal difference after a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough with Adam Lallana netting twice. Salomon Rondon scored a headed hat-trick for West Brom in their 3-1 home win over Swansea City while Christian Eriksen scored a brace as Tottenham put 3 past their visitors from Hull without reply and Manchester City were 2-0 winners at home to Watford. Manchester United prevailed 2-1 at Crystal Palace and there were 1-0 home wins for Bournemouth over Leicester and West Ham against Burnley while Southampton drew blanks at 10-man Stoke City.
Week 17 – Chelsea extended their winning streak with a single goal at Crystal Palace while Arsenal took an early lead but lost 2-1 at Manchester City who overtook them into 3rd place behind Liverpool who broke the deadlock in stoppage time for a win at Everton in the Merseyside derby. Ten-Man Leicester fought back from 2 down to earn a late draw at Stoke while Middlesbrough swept Swansea aside 3-0 at the Riverside with 2 goals from Alvaro Negredo and Zlatan Ibrahimovich scored both goals for Manchester United at West Brom. There were 1-0 home wins for Sunderland over Watford and West Ham against Hull City while 2 goals from Jay Rodriguez helped Southampton to a 3-1 victory after an early setback at Bournemouth and Tottenham came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Burnley.
Week 18 – On Boxing Day Chelsea picked up another win with 3 goals at the Bridge against Bournemouth while Manchester City left it late to achieve the same result at Hull City and a late goal at Arsenal broke West Bromwich Albion’s resistance. Everton won 2-0 at Leicester and Manchester United were 3-1 winners at home to Sunderland while Swansea were humiliated 4-1 at home to West Ham, resulting in the sacking of American coach Bob Bradley. Newly appointed Sam Allerdyce took Crystal Palace to Watford where they drew 1-1 while Middlesbrough lost 1-0 at Burnley in a match that saw 11 yellow cards brandished. On Tuesday evening Liverpool came from behind to thump Stoke City 4-1 at Anfield and on Wednesday evening Tottenham did the same at 10-man Southampton with Dele Alli netting a brace.
 Week 19 – Liverpool moved into 2nd place after an early goal gave them a home victory over Manchester City who dropped down to 5th place in the table when they were overtaken on Sunday by Arsenal who put 2 past Crystal Palace at the Emirates and Tottenham who eased past hosts Watford 4-1 with a couple of goals each from Harry Kane and Dele Alli. Chelsea continued their winning streak 4-2 at home to Stoke City while Manchester United turned their match around with 2 late goals in quick succession to beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at Old Trafford and West Bromwich Albion came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton who finished the match with 10 men. Swansea sank to the bottom of the table after a 3-0 loss at home to Bournemouth with Hull City having earned a 2-2 draw at home to Everton on Friday evening and Burnley demolished their visitors from Sunderland 4-1 with a hat-trick from Andre Gray. Champions Leicester City ended the year with a 1-0 home win over West Ham United.
Week 20 – A double Dele Alli header at Tottenham finally ended Chelsea’s winning run in the sole match on Wednesday evening while on previous evenings Arsenal fought back from 3 down to draw 3-3 at Bournemouth who ended the match with 10 players and Manchester United won 2-0 at 10-man West Ham United. Jermain Defoe struck twice from the spot to earn Sunderland a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool while Manchester City defeated their visitors from Burnley 2-1 despite being reduced to 10 players in the first half and Everton left it late to strike 3 times at home to Southampton. Hull City lost 3-1 at West Brom and Swansea City picked up a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace while Watford lost 2-0 at Stoke and Leicester City played out a goalless draw at Middlesbrough. After 20 matches Chelsea are at the top of the table 5 points ahead of Liverpool.