Premier League Results: Gameweek 8 - Arsenal, City and Chelsea cruise; Liverpool and United held

West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City:

Sergio Aguero of Manchester City celebrates his goal with team mates during the Barclays Premier League match between West Ham United and Manchester City at the Boleyn Ground on October 19, 2013 in London, England.

Sergio Aguero scored twice in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory against West Ham United at Upton Park. David Silva and Ricardo Vaz Te also got their names on the scoring sheet in a game where the Hammers’ defence was torn apart. The first half saw just a solitary goal scored by Aguero, capitalizing on a through ball from Fernandinho.

Aguero and David Silva were involved in both the second half goals for the visitors. While Aguero headed in a cross from Silva to double the lead, the Spanish international, assisted by Aguero, unleashed a left-footed shot from the centre of the box in the 80th minute to seal a comfortable win for Manchester City. Vaz Te briefly entertained West Ham’s hopes by pulling one back in the 58th minute but City were clinical enough to see off the threat. The win takes City to the fourth spot.

Chelsea 4-1 Cardiff City:

Eden Hazard of Chelsea (L) celebrates with teammate Oscar (R) after scoring his side’s fourth goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Cardiff City at Stamford Bridge on October 19, 2013 in London, England.

A double from Eden Hazard and a goal each from Samuel Eto’o and Oscar helped Chelsea register a thumping 4-1 victory over Cardiff City at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were one goal down in as early as 10th minute of the game, courtesy of David Luiz’s mistake as Jordon Mutch gave the visitors an unexpected lead.

Chelsea’s leveller came 23 minutes later, albeit in a controversial manner. Eto’o kicked the ball away after Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall had bounced it, only for Hazard to score the Blues’ first goal in bizarre circumstances. From then, it all went downhill for the Bluebirds as Chelsea went on a rampage to add three more to the overall tally. Besides scoring a couple, Hazard stole the show when he also turned the provider for the goal scored by Eto’o in the 66th minute.

Oscar’s thunderous effort from 20 yards in the 78th minute sealed the match. The impressive victory took Chelsea to the second spot, above Liverpool courtesy of goal difference.

Arsenal 4-1 Norwich City:

Arsenal’s German midfielder Mesut Ozil (Centre R) celebrates with Arsenal’s Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey after Ozil’s second goal against Norwich during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Norwich at the Emirates Stadium in London, on October 19, 2013.

Mesut Ozil scored twice while Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey netted one each to give Arsenal, who had looked sluggish in the first half, a thumping 4-1 over Norwich City and take the Gunners to the top of the table, two points clear of Chelsea. The loss has left Norwich City, who looked promising at several points of the game in the attacking front, in the bottom three. Wilshere scored the only goal of the first half, a volley in the 18th minute.

As the second half resumed, Mesut Ozil doubled up the lead with a header from Olivier Giroud’s near-perfect cross. Jonathan Howson pulled one back in the 70th minute to make the game interesting. But Ramsey’s ninth goal of the season and Ozil’s double on the day, in the last 10 minutes, put to rest any hopes of an upset at the Emirates Stadium.

Manchester United 1-1 Southampton:

Michael Carrick, Ryan Giggs, Adnan Januzaj, Robin van Persie, Phil Jones and Jonny Evans of Manchester United react to concedin a late goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton at Old Trafford on October 19, 2013 in Manchester, England.

Manchester United’s disappointing start to the Premier League campaign continued as they were held for a 1-1 draw by Southampton at Old Trafford. Adnan Januzaj, who had signed a five-year contract with the Red Devils earlier today, was at the centre of it all for the second consecutive time after a spectacular showing in United’s last EPL clash. The 18-year-old opened up the Saints’ defence with a fine through ball only for Robin Van Persie to score the opener in the 26th minute.

Southampton, despite going behind, kept pushing through and eventually found the leveller in the dying minutes of the game to leave David Moyes plenty to ponder with. Dejan Lovren netted the equaliser from a James Ward-Prowse’s corner in the 89th minute to give a heart-break to the thousands of Manchester United supporters at the stadium. Wayne Rooney and Januzaj could have taken the game out of the Saints’ reach earlier in the game, if not for the crossbar.

Newcastle United 2-2 Liverpool:

Liverpool players celebrate with English midfielder Steven Gerrard (2nd L) after he scored his team’s first goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James’ Park in Newcastle Upon Tyne, northeast England, on October 19, 2013.

Goals were expected at St.James’ Park as only one fixture (Arsenal v Tottenham – 125 goals) in the history of Premier League had seen more goals than this one and they did come including the 100th Premier League goal of the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard.

The Reds, despite a good start to the game, were made to pay for the missed opportunities by Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, as Yohan Cabaye unleashed a screamer from 25 yards that found its way past Simon Mignolet.

The Liverpool defenders, who were backing off to give enough space for Cabaye’s first goal, did not seem to learn from their mistake as Cabaye nearly scored a second from the same distance. However, the home team ceded the advantage by conceding a penalty as Suarez was pulled down by Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. The 42nd minute penalty was easily converted by Gerrard. To add insult to injury, Newcastle were also reduced to 10-men as the defender was also shown a red card for the foul.

As the second half resumed, the visitors were pegged back again. The 22-year-old Newcastle defender Paul Dummett side-footed a floating free kick from Yohan Cabaye into the net. Liverpool were maintaining the edge throughout the second half, courtesy of a 10-man Toon army, and it always appeared like a goal was around the corner.

Suarez, capitalising on a fantastic pass by Victor Moses, found Sturridge near the face of the goal who scored a diving header to bring the game back to level 2-2 in the 72nd minute. Newcastle did well to soak up a lot of pressing from Liverpool to salvage a crucial point from the game. On the other hand, Brendan Rodgers would be left ruing the fact that they let go of a great chance to go on top of the table.