United go 15 points clear as City slip up at Goodison

Manchester United inched a step closer to their 20th domestic league title with a 1-0 win at home to Reading  that pushed their lead over defending champions Manchester City to 15 points.

It was a lackluster performance from the league leaders in the late kick-off of the day. In spite of playing a near full strength team, the Red Devils managed just the solitary goal, Wayne Rooney's shot taking a deflection en route to goal to secure 3 points for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Alexander Buttner & Chris Smalling came in for regular full-backs Patrice Evra & Rafael respectively. Michael Carrick & Tom Cleverley were also given a rest as Anderson & Ryan Giggs started in the middle of the park. Robin van Persie, Rooney & Danny Welbeck all started in a full-strength forward line.

It was Rooney who got the goal on 21 minutes, but all credit should go to Rio Ferdinand who showed just why he has been recalled into the England set up with a brilliant forward run from defence that caught Reading napping. He managed to lay the ball off to his English compatriot, whose scuffed shot into the ground took a deflection and looped over Adam Federici in goal. Otherwise, it was a dull affair in which United's centre-backs Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic starred repelling every attack from the visitors. Vidic was lucky though not to have conceded a penalty for a push on Adrian Mariappa during a corner in the 2nd half.

City fire blanks in loss to 10-man Everton

Everton rebounded superbly from their humbling exit in the FA Cup last week, to beat champions City 2-0 at home. It was an inspired performance from David Moyes' side in complete contrast to last week when they were jeered off the ground by their own fans. Leon Osman's pile-driver of a shot from 30 yards out gave the Toffees the lead.

Missing the services of captain Vincent Kompany & start striker Sergio Aguero, City were helped in their attempt to recover the situation when Steven Pienaar was sent off for a second bookable offence giving the champions a numerical advantage. However, Everton defended stoutly to snuff out the visitors before Nikica Jelavic put the result to bed late in stoppage time. City had a penalty claim in the 86th minute waived off when the ball struck Marouane Fellaini's arm inside the penalty box, but the referee deemed that it had occurred outside the D and awarded only a free-kick.

This is the fourth straight defeat for City at Goodison Park in what has become a graveyard fixture for them. It was also David Moyes' 6th victory over Roberto Mancini, the most by any opposing manager in the Premier League. Sir Alex Ferguson is second on the list with 3 wins.

Saints march towards safety

Southampton completed an impressive 3-1 win over Liverpool at St.Mary's to further their chances of surviving the drop. Liverpool were undone by a superb performance from Mauricio Pochettino's side that saw them dominate the first half. Goals from Morgan Schneiderlin and Ricky Lambert gave the hosts a much deserved 2-0 win and Southampton could very well have gone out of sight with better use of the chances that they created with the pairing of Adam Lallana & Gaston Ramirez taking Liverpool apart. Philippe Coutinho grabbed one back for Liverpool on the stroke of half-time to give them hopes of a revival.

The second half was a more even affair and Liverpool had their chances to pull level in the first 15 minutes. Southampton though got back in the game with better possession and when Jay Rodriguez scored the home side's third, it appeared to knock the stuffing out of the visitors. Southampton with the win go 7 points clear of the drop zone.

Villans emerge victorious in relegation scrap

Aston Villa won their 2nd game on the bounce, a thrilling 3-2 win over fellow relegation contenders QPR. QPR's heroes from last week, Jermaine Jenas and Andros Townsend were again on the score-sheet  but they were pipped to the post by Paul Lambert's Villa side.

Harry Redknapp had led QPR to 2 successive wins themselves coming into the game made the early running as Chris Samba went close to giving them the lead off set pieces on numerous occasions  Jenas did give them the lead on 23 minutes when he finished off a rebound off of Bobby Zamora's initial shot. Villa were toothless for much of the first half, but like last week, Gabriel Agbonhalor popped up with a goal in first half injury time to level the game.

Andreas Weimann then gave Villa the lead 14 minutes after the restart before Townsend scored for the 2nd game running to make it 2-2. The game looked to be heading for a draw when Weimann who had an impressive game, cut the ball back from the right to lay it into star striker Christian Benteke's path who made no mistake with the finish.


Arsenal boost Champions League hopes

An impressive away performance at Swansea saw Arsene Wenger's side emerge 2-0 victors from the Liberty stadium. They had lost by the exact same scoreline to the Swans in their first meeting at the Emirates. The hosts had the better of the opening exchanges, but Arsenal grew into the game as it progressed and looked much the sharper in the 2nd half. A first goal for Nacho Monreal broke the deadlock in the 75th minute before substitute Gervinho made sure of the points with an 89th minute strike. It was the second impressive away performance in a week that Wenger can take heart from after their 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena in Germany on Wednesday.

Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion played out a 0-0 draw in the other game on Saturday.

Sunday's fixtures
Sunderland vs Norwich City
Tottenham Hotspur vs Fulham
Chelsea vs West Ham United
Wigan Athletic vs Newcastle United

Barclays Premier League Results: March 09

With the big names missing in action due to FA Cup commitments, the Barclays Premier League saw the mid-table and relegation embattled teams take the field on Saturday.

West Brom 2-1 Swansea

The meeting between the Baggies and the Swans was really a game of two halves. Swansea were much the better side in the first half as they were content to sit back and hit West Brom on the counter. Michu spurned an easy chance early, but Luke Moore gave the visitors the lead on 33 minutes with a glancing header off a Jonathan de Guzman corner. West Brom couldn't get much going, but equalized through Romelu Lukaku 5 minutes from half-time when the Belgian ghosted into the penalty area to get in front of Gary Monk and slide in Graham Dorran's cross. The second half was a scrappy affair as neither side could get any sort of rhythm going and it suited the home side better as the Swans struggled to get going. Lukaku had a penalty saved but the hosts eventually did take the lead in the 66th minute when De Guzman headed into his own goal. Swansea were unlucky to not get anything from the game as substitute Roland Lamah found the back of the net in the 87^th minute, only for referee Lee Mason to have the goal disallowed for offside though replays showed otherwise.

QPR 3-1 Sunderland

QPR won two games back to back for the first time since December 1995 in a come from behind win over Sunderland at home. Rangers had three of their January signings to thank starting with Loic Remy who started the recovery when a friendly deflection saw the ball reach his feet, as he delivered a composed finish past Simon Mignolet for his 3^rd goal for Rangers. Steven Fletcher had earlier given the Black Cats the lead tapping in an Adam Johnson low cross. The teams went in level at the break before Andros Townsend unleashed an absolute screamer, unleashing a looping volley from 25 yards out, to put the Hoops in front. Jermaine Jenas then finished the job with a another long range effort from just outside the box to cap off a much needed win and 3 points for the London side. The win sees QPR move to 19^th, ahead of Reading on goal difference.

Reading 1-2 Aston Villa

The Madejski stadium played host to a relegation six pointer as Reading welcomed fellow strugglers Aston Villa. All 3 goals in the game were scored by Villa players, Nathan Baker putting through his own net to give the Royals the lead on 32 minutes. But, Villa failed to buckle and responded in fine fashion as leading marksman Christian Benteke leveled a minute later. Gabriel Agbonhalor then turned the game in Villa’s favor with a goal that almost ripped out the net in injury time in the first half. Paul Lambert’s men then held on in the 2^nd half to secure victory which saw them climb out of the bottom three and into 17^th place.

Norwich City 0-0 Southampton

The game at Carrow Road ended goalless, but not for lack of chances. Southampton were the better team on the day and fashioned many more chances than the home side who had goalkeeper Mark Bunn to thank as he pulled off a series of saves to keep Norwich in the game. The hosts chances were few and far between as the Saints took control of the game and threatened to come away from Carrow Road with a win. Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana all had chances to score, but found the firm hands of Bunn in the way. The game saw some late drama when Norwich were awarded a penalty for a foul on Grant Holt in stoppage time. But Artur Boruc saved Holt’s penalty to ensure both teams shared a point on a rainy afternoon in Norwich. 

PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND-UP: Saturday, Feb 23

Fulham 1-0 Stoke City

A fantastic volley from Dimitar Berbatov on the stroke of half-time was enough to secure a much needed win for the Cottagers. In his 200^th Premier League appearance, the Bulgarian with a pacy right footed volley broke the deadlock off Robert Huth’s clearance. Stoke had a chance to equalize from the spot in the 56^th minute, but Mark Schwarzer saved Jonathan Walters’ penalty. The hosts had further chances in the 2^nd half to extend their lead with Berbatov, Riise and Sidwell all going close.

QPR 0-2 Manchester United

An absolute screamer in the first half from right-back Rafael and a neat finish in the second from veteran Ryan Giggs gave Man United a 15 point lead at the top of the table as they came away from their Loftus Road encounter with a 2-0 win. United were largely untroubled, controlling the game for the most part. The only worry for United was when striker Robin van Persie suffered a hip injury as he fell into a cameraman on the side-lines.  He was replaced by Danny Welbeck at half-time.

Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa

Santi Cazorla was the hero at the Emirates, as his brace helped Arsenal to a much needed win over a fighting Aston Villa. Goals 5 minutes into the match and 5 minutes from the end of the match from the Spaniard helped ease some of the pressure on the club and their manager Arsene Wenger. Arsenal move within a point of 4^th placed Tottenham who play away at West Ham on Monday.

Norwich City 2-1 Everton

Norwich left it late against Everton, scoring 2 goals in the final 6 minutes to earn a come from behind victory against the Toffees. The home side created the better chances, but it was Everton who took the lead through Leon Osman on 39 minutes. Fighting back in the second half, the Canaries equalized through new boy Kei Kamara who powered a thumping header past Everton keeper Tim Howard. Captain Grant Holt then scored the winner in injury time ghosting in at the far post to tap the ball in to end Norwich’s barren run of 10 games without a victory.

West Brom 2-1 Sunderland

Two goals from Romelu Lukaku, one of them a penalty, saw the Baggies past Martin ‘O O'Neill's Sunderland at the Hawthornes. A first half penalty had given West Brom the lead, before Lukaku took advantage of a horror back pass from Titus Bramble to close down keeper Simon Mignolet forcing a clearance from his Belgian colleague that struck the onrushing Lukaku and went into goal. Sunderland did pull one back through Stephane Sessegnon, but West Brom held on for the win.

Reading 0-3 Wigan Athletic

Wigan took made full use of the man advantage, as they put 3 past Reading in a relegation 6 pointer at the Madejski stadium. Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was given his marching orders in the second half for a cynical foul on Maynor Figueroa. It was Figueroa who finished things off with the third goal on 48 minutes after Arouna Kone had scored a quick double in the closing minutes of the first half. With the win, Wigan leapfrog Reading into 17th place.

Manchester United Move into Last eight of FA Cup

Manchester United booked their place in the Quarterfinals of the FA Cup with a 2-1 home win against Premier league opponents Reading. Second half goals from Nani & Javier Hernandez were enough to see United through in spite of a late goal for Reading by Jobi McAnuff.

Sir Alex Ferguson made wholesale changes to his team with only goalkeeper David de Gea, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck retained from the side that faced Real Madrid. Chicharito started up front with Welbeck, Anderson and Tom Cleverley came into central midfield while Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young donned the flanks. Club captain Nemanja Vidic made his return to central defence in the company of Chris Smalling while Phil Jones relocated to right back and Alexander Buttner replaced Patrice Evra at left back. Regulars Robin van Persie, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick all started on the bench, while Evra, Rafael, Jonny Evans and Wayne Rooney sat out altogether.

United started slowly gradually working their way into the game as Reading were content to get bodies behind the ball keep the game level for as long as possible. The first real chance of the game came on 23 minutes when Cleverley let fly from just outside the box after the ball was neatly worked to him from the right by Jones and Valencia. Adam Federici saved the effort and off the rebound Ashley Young looked to pounce, but the flag had gone up for offside.

The first half continued to remain sluggish with United lacking incisiveness in the final third. On 41 minutes, Jones suffered a hard tackle and had to be subbed off as he looked to be moving gingerly. Portuguese winger Nani, who has seen few opportunities this season came on as Valencia went to right back. His first contribution was a superb first time volley from outside the box that clattered off the far post as Federici’s punch to keep out Welbeck’s effort fell to the Portuguese.

United came out much more positive in the second half with their midfield duo of Anderson and Cleverley beginning to exert more of an influence on the game. Anderson drove the Red Devils forward with his runs and crisp passing that opened up the Reading defence, United going ever closer to breaking the deadlock. Nani who looked sharp and menacing from the get go added much more impetus to United’s attack posing a bigger threat to Reading as the game went on. It was the Portuguese winger who gave United lead on 69 minutes as he took Valencia’s cut back on the run and toe poked it past Federici who was finally beaten. United doubled their advantage minutes later when Nani turned provider, whipping in a devilish cross from the right that Chicharito headed in.

United had further chances to tuck the game away, but Welbeck and Nani fluffed their efforts and off some lapse defending McAnuff pulled one back for the Royals. Sensing the danger, Sir Alex brought on Michael Carrick in place of Anderson to shore things up and hold the ball in midfield which helped the hosts eventually see out the game safely.

Man United will face the winners of the clash between Chelsea and Middlesbrough in the Quarterfinals.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Anderson/Nani – drove United forward from midfield and was instrumental in lifting the performance in the second half. Nani provided a spark to the side when he came on for the injured Jones and provided more of a threat from the right than earlier from Valencia.