Southampton are back to fourth and United have climbed back to the third. Going by the recent results, we can assume that these positions will have tentative occupants.
Manchester City survived the cold rainy night in Stoke and they did it in style too. Sergio Aguero has started banging in goals again and he is now only one goal behind the top goal scorer, Diego Costa (17). The Argentine scored a brace at the Britannia Stadium and the match ended 1 – 4. For Stoke City, Peter Crouch scored an header and he is now only two headers behind Alan Shearer, who holds the record for the most headed goals in the Premier League history.
The favorites for the title, Chelsea also earned three points in these midweek matches. Everton were the visitors at the Stamford Bridge and it was impossible to separate these two sides until the 89th minute mainly because of the commendable performances of the goal keepers on either end. Willian broke the deadlock in the dying minutes of the game. Branislav Ivanovic wasn’t booked during the match but the Serb could now be in trouble following the alleged head butt on an Everton player.
Louis van Gaal’s blushes were saved by Chris Smalling, who came off the bench and scored twice. Robin van Persie slotted a perfect penalty for the Red Devils as they won 3 – 1 at Old Trafford. Burnley were very impressive in the first half, but they couldn’t keep up with the English giants after the break. United’s closest rival for the third spot is Ronald Koeman’s Southampton. Sam Allardyce’s West Ham were able to hold the Saints in a goalless draw at the St. Mary’s Stadium. Last weekend, the Hammers shared points with Manchester United.
Steve Bruce’s Hull City won 2 – 0 against the Villas. After the loss, Aston Villa sacked Paul Lambert and are now in the relegation zone with 22 points in 25 games. Burnley and Leicester are the only two teams below them on the table. Leicester didn’t pick up any points at the Emirates this week. Koscielny and Walcott got on the score sheet for the North Londoners and the final score at the end of the match was 2 – 1.
The most interesting clash this week was at Anfield. Spurs traveled to face off with the 18-time English champions. It was an end to end game between the two sides on Tuesday. Gerrard and Markovic scored the first two goals for Liverpool, while for Tottenham, Dembele and the unstoppable striker Harry Kane netted a goal each. The winning goal came from a very unlikely source. Mario Balotelli scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool and what an occasion he picked to score it. Liverpool are now edging closer to compete with the other contenders of the Champions League spot.
Alan Pardew faced his former club at the Selhurst Park and the match ended in a stalemate. Cisse headed the ball and put the Toons ahead before the half time break, but Campbell equalized in the 71st minute to earn a point for the Eagles. The final result after ninety minutes: Crystal Palace 1 – 1 Newcastle United.
QPR and West Brom won with the same score line against Sunderland and QPR respectively. The only difference was that QPR won 2 – 0 away from home, whereas West Brom were the winners at the Hawthorns.