Premier League Results: Gameweek 7 - Chelsea outclass Norwich, West Ham stun Spurs; Arsenal held
West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Arsenal:
Arsenal were tested for perhaps the first time since their opening day defeat to Aston Villa and they managed to come out with a draw at the Hawthorns.
In the first half, Arsenal were not on top of their game while West Brom were putting pressure on the Gunners. Chances created by Arsenal were few and far in between and they could not convert the half chances they did manage to make. West Brom, on the other hand, were constantly getting to the by-lines and causing problems for the Arsenal defence.
In the end, the pressure paid for West Brom as they sneaked in a goal following a corner that did not connect and went into the half time break with a very important lead.
In the second half, Arsenal worked really hard to try and make a breakthrough but found it really hard to breach West Brom’s defence. It was left to Jack Wilshere, who had a torrid first half, to hit a piledriver that took a deflection off a West Brom defender and beat the goalkeeper. Arsenal continued to put pressure, but in the end had to settle for a point.
Though equal on points and goal difference with Liverpool, they remain on top of the table thanks to more goals scored, and they’ll have Ramsey to thank for that!
Norwich 1-3 Chelsea:
Eden Hazard and Willian scored in a span of two minutes in the dying moments of the game to seal a comfortable victory against Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Oscar’s first-half goal was nullified by Anthony Pilkington in the 68th minute, a goal that sparked life into the game. Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who got to Martin Olsson’s delightful cross ahead of John Terry, placed it well for Pilkington to score the leveller.
Chelsea went ahead early in the game, courtesy of the superb low finish from Oscar in the 4th minute. Frank Lampard opened up Norwich City’s defence for the goal, only for Demba Ba to release the Brazilian to open the scoring.
The former Newcastle man, who was involved in almost every telling move of the Blues in the opening half had a good outing, thus justifying Jose Mourinho’s decision to give him a chance.
The home team had a couple of good chances to level the score in the first half. Firstly, Anthony Pilkington was denied by a great tackle from Frank Lampard which was followed by Petr Cech’s crucial save to a volley from Jonny Howson.
The first half came to an end with Sebastien Bassong seeing his shot saved by the goalkeeper again, as Chelsea earned a deserving lead.
Southampton 2-0 Swansea City:
Jay Rodriguez scored the winner in the 83rd minute of the game against Swansea City at St.Mary’s stadium to continue Southampton’s impressive start to the season. The win has taken them to the fourth spot in the table while Swansea slumped to their fourth defeat in only seven games.
The visitors, despite playing an attacking game, found it difficult to find the back of the net. Earlier in the evening, minutes after Pablo Osvaldo missed a fine chance to score, Adam Lallana, with a screamer, netted the first goal in the 19th minute of the game.
Undeterred by the early blow, Swansea, who have been looking lacklustre till then, started to grow into the game. The Swans were probably unlucky going into the break one goal down, as Nathan Dyer hit the post as Michu and Wilfried Bony saw their efforts saved by Artur Boruc.
Tottenham 0-3 West Ham United:
West Ham United’s New Zealand defender Winston Reid (L) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at White Hart Lane in London on October 6, 2013.
Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te, Ravel Morrison scored a goal each as West Ham United pulled off a stunning 3-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Morrison, picking up the ball from his team’s half, got rid of Jan Vertongen only to nutmeg Michael Dawson and flick it over Hugo Lloris to score a breathtaking goal in the 79th minute, to seal the fate of the match. The first two goals by Reid and Vaz Te, which came against the run of play, had a bit of fortune added to them.
Spurs, who were just starting to find their feet with Defoe coming close to breaking the deadlock, were left stunned by the back-to-back goals.
The first half was pretty underwhelming. Andre Villas-Boas’ decision to start Jermain Defoe ahead of Roberto Soldado backfired as the England international hardly had a sighting of the opposition goalkeeper.
Andros Townsend was the one who posed any threat that Spurs offered and came agonizingly close to opening the scoring a number of times in the first half. West Ham’s best chance of the half came towards the end as Mark Noble’s clever free-kick saw Kevin Nolan volley it wide of the post.