Premier League Results: Week 6 - Arsenal win, Chelsea and Tottenham share points as Manchester falls
Tottenham Hotspur (Gylfi Sigurdsson 19′) 1-1 Chelsea (John Terry 65′)
Chelsea’s English defender John Terry (2-L) heads the ball to score a goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at White Hart Lane in London on September 28, 2013.
Tottenham and Chelsea met at White Hart Lane for what was touted to be a grudge match between Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Tottenham manager and former protege Andre Villas Boas.
As expected, the game got off to an exciting start as both teams made their attacking intent clear. Gylfi Sigurdsson opened the scoring for the home team in the 19th minute with a neat finish after striker Robert Soldado teed him up inside the six-yard box.
The game continued at a high tempo as both teams tried their best to put pressure on the opposition defenders. Spurs had the best chances in the first half as Brazilian Paulinho managed to hit the post towards the end of the first half. The first half ended 1-0.
Juan Mata replaced John Obi Mikel at the start of the second half as Chelsea played a much improved game as compared to the first half.
The substitution almost paid off in the 57th minute as Mata put the ball past Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris only to be flagged for offside.
The Chelsea pressure finally paid off as captain John Terry scored via a thumping header in the 65th minute off a Juan Mata free kick.
Andre Schurrle was played in by Fernando Torres in the 75th minute and almost put Chelsea in the lead, but Lloris pulled off a great one-on-one save to deny the German forward.
Chelsea chances of winning the game were seriously dented as Fernando Torres received a second yellow card for clashing with Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen in the 80th minute.
Sigurdsson almost added a spectacular second in the 86th minute from a 25 yards, but missed the goal by a whisker.
Spurs kept the pressure on the Chelsea right till the end but were unable to find the winner as both teams left White Hart Lane with a point each.
Manchester United 1 (Wayne Rooney 57′) – 2 West Bromich Albion (Morgan Amalfitano 54′, Saido Berahino 67′)
Saido Berahino (L) of West Bromwich Albion celebrates with team mates after scoring West Brom’s second
Manchester United hosted West Brom as manager David Moyes made quite a few changes to the squad that was comprehensively routed by cross city rivals Manchester City last weekend.
Nani, Shinji Kagawa, Alexander Buttner and Javier Hernandez all started for United in a must-win game. Robin van Persie and captain Patrice Evra started on the bench for this encounter.
United got off to a positive start and the midfield looked threatening all throughout the first half. West Brom, too, had a couple of chances through counter attacks, but neither team was able to break the deadlock as an eventful first half ended 0-0.
However, the second half had to tell a different story altogether as West Brom stunned United in the 54th minute. Morgan Amalfitano opened the scoring as he slotted in a goal into bottom right corner from inside the box. United, to their credit, came back almost immediately as Wayne Rooney equalised three minutes later via a free kick.
West Brom continued to threaten United and David De Gea had to make a couple of smart saves to keep West Brom out. But Saido Berahino scored a fantastic goal from outside the box to give the Baggies the lead in the 67th minute.
Marouane Fellaini thought he had equalised for United in the 85th minute, but was flagged for offside.
In the end, the scoreline remained unchanged as West Brom came away from Old Trafford with all three points.
Aston Villa 3 ( Karim El Ahmadi 51′, Leandro Bacuna 73′, Andres Weimann 75′) – 2 Manchester City (Yaya Toure 45′, Edin Dzeko 56′)
Aston Villa player Andreas Weimann celebrates in front of the Holte end after scoring the third Villa goal
Meanwhile, in-form Manchester City made the trip to Villa Park to face Aston Villa, who were playing without star striker Christian Benteke. City, on the other hand, had to drop Sergio Aguero due to injury fears and their upcoming Champions League match.
Neither team was able to create any real chances as a majority of the first half was played in midfield. However, just before the half-time whistle, Yaya Toure found the back of the net yet again to give City a slim 1-0 at the interval.
The second half was a different story altogether as a rejuvenated Aston Villa equalised in just six minutes after kick off as Karim El Ahmadi scored from outside the box in the 51st minute.
City, too, responded soon after through Edin Dzeko, who headed in a goal in the 56th minute as score read 2-1 in City’s favour.
But at this point, the City defence came undone and Aston Villa pumped in two goals in two minutes via a Leandro Bacuna free kick and an Andres Weimann shot from outside the box to give the home team a 3-2 lead.
Despite City’s best efforts, they were unable to find the equaliser and Aston Villa recorded a famous victory against the Manchester Club.
Southampton 2 (Osvaldo 47′, Lambert 49′) – 0 Crystal Palace
At St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton eased to a 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace. Goals early in the second half from Pablo Osvaldo and Rickie Lambert were enough for the Saints to register their second consecutive win in the Premier League, after their upset win at Anfield last weekend.
Fulham 1 (Ruiz 47′) – 2 Cardiff City (Caulker 12′, Mutch 90+2′)
Jordan Mutch scored a late goal to give Cardiff City all three points at Craven Cottage. Cardiff opened the scoring via a Steven Caulker header from a Peter Whittingham corner in the 12th minute. On the stroke of half time, Fulham equalised through from a stunning strike from Bryan Ruiz.
Hull City Tigers 1 (Brady 12′) – 0 West Ham United
An early penalty from Robert Brady was enough for Hull City, as they continued their impressive start to life in the Premier League with a 1-0 win against West ham United at home.
Swansea City 1 (Ben Davies 82′) – 2 Arsenal (Gnarby 58′, Ramsey 62′)
Arsenal survived a late push from Swansea City as the Gunners held on to win their 12th consecutive away game in all competitions.
Serge Gnarby opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 58th minute of the match. The lead was doubled four minutes later when Aaron Ramsey scored for Arsenal after some slick passing outside the Swansea penalty box, which concluded when Olivier Giroud played the ball to Ramsey.
However, it was not supposed to be an easy outing for Arsenal as Ben Davies pegged a goal back in the 82nd minute after Wilfried Bony tapped the ball in his way.
First half was quite a drab one with both the teams sitting back and happy to feel the pace of the match. Second half started on a different note as Arsenal won a corner within 60 seconds of the restart.
Aaron Ramsey, with his goal, stole the show and was rightly announced as the man of the match.
Arsenal, now, sit on the top of the league with two point lead over North London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, who drew 1-1 with Chelsea earlier in the day.