Everton 2-3 Aston Villa
Tony Burns: Everton were cruelly denied a deserved point when Lescott's late, late equaliser was cancelled out by an even later winner from Ashley Young. The Blues can at least draw some comfort from the way we dominated against Villa for long spells - it's just a pity we gifted them a couple of very soft goals with defensive naivety.
Jerrad Peters: Steve Sidwell promptly put a stop to Aston Villa's scoring drought. After drawing blanks against Fulham and Manchester United - and dropping a 2-1 decision to Zilina in the UEFA Cup on Thursday - Villa made the most of their opportunities to earn a well-deserved three points at Everton. That said, the visitors were the beneficiaries of several howlers from the home side. Phil Jagielka's perfectly-timed back pass to Ashley Young, in particular, summed up Everton's overall concentration on this night. Young, for his part, was simply world class. Capello: take note.
Fulham 1-1 Manchester City
Tom Wille: It is now five straight gmaes without a defeat in Premier League. That has been no easy task as this streak included impressive draws on the road at Liverpool and Aston Villa. In eight league matches the Cottagers have won five, drawn twice and lost only once. This kind of play at the Cottage has propelled the team into 9th place and has many supporters enthusiastic about the prospects for the remainder of the season. Saturday saw the Cottagers fight back from an early one goal deficit to Manchester City to earn a draw and fan favorite Jimmy Bullard scored his first Premier League goal of the season. While City opened the match as the dominant team, it was Fulham that established themselves as the team on the attack throughout much of the final sixty minutes. While a win would have been nice, Fulham remain in a comfortable position. Fulham has not scored that many goals compared to most other teams in the league. However, defensively Fulham have been rock solid in the back and that is something we have not seen in a Fulham team in quite some time.
Wallace Poulter: A tricky trip saw City visit the team with the greatest chant in the Premier League; "There's only one F in Fulham!" Must admit I pegged Roy Hodgson's team as potential relegation bait when looking at the start of the year and if it was not for Hull's amazing run, it would be Fulham that would be considered the surprise package of the season. As such the 1-1 result should be considered a point won rather than two points lost, especially given what is becoming a troubling injury list at the club. With Jo's confidence apparently in tatters it was very good to see Benjani, another confidence player, get the City goal.
Blackburn Rovers 1-3 Liverpool
Alan Griffiths: Looking at the first half display no one would have know that this was a 'Top v Bottom' clash, however come the second half, Liverpool stepped up a gear and were worthy 3-1 winners. That's not to say that the Rovers players deserved some reward for their battling performance, something that has been lacking for some months. Liverpool may have stepped up a gear earlier, if Reina hadn't tipped over Pederson's first half long range screamer and things may have been different if Santa Cruz's header hadn't gone wide when Rovers were just 1-0 down. But ifs and buts don't win games and Rovers extended their losing streak. What was evident from Saturday's performance was that the fans got behind the team and the players put in a battling performance. Whether the battling performance will have been enough to save the manager is another question.
Kevin Brodie: Liverpool huffed and puffed during the first half at Blackburn and another goalless draw looked to be on the cards. With one £20 million striker back in Spain and the other on the bench Liverpool looked toothless in attack, their best chance falling to Yossi, who failed to get a shot off after a neat move by Kuyt and Gerrard. Blackburn hit the crossbar after a fantastic effort was pushed onto the post by Reina. This was the closest either team came in a dreadful first half. Liverpool increased the tempo in the second half and got more men forward. I would not say a goal looked inevitable but it did look possible. Finally Liverpool got a break when the ball spun to Alonso and his shot rolled towards goal. It was a cheeky attempt and the delight was evident in Alonso's face. Liverpool played well after that and deserved their second from the otherwise disappointing Yossi. Liverpool made the last six minutes or so nervy when Blackburn capitalized on a short corner but Gerrard made sure of all three points in the last seconds.
Arsenal 1-0 Wigan Athletic
David Young: Whilst the result was of overriding importance, the performance itself was totally uninspiring and hardly fuelled confidence that the Gunners have turned a corner following their victory at Stamford Bridge last week. The main talking point following the game was the jeering of Emmanuel Eboue as he was subbed off towards the end. Many have condemned the fans who booed their own player but, although this was not a pre-meditated act, it was the culmination of frustration with a player who has underperformed for several seasons and has shown a worrying lack of spirit and character when wearing an Arsenal shirt. His display on Saturday was the straw that broke the camel's back. The jeering was also an expresson of exasperation with Arsene Wenger who has persisted with Eboue when it seemed evident a long time ago that he was not much more than a squad player. With young players like Jack Wilshere on the bench, who had already proved he had the measure of Wigan on the left side of midfield in the Carling Cup, why did the manager put on a half-fit Eboue who had just come back from injury with such a long time left in the game? The debate about the fans' reaction and whether the Ivorian is good enough will rage on but Wenger also has a few questions to answer in the midst of all this.
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Manchester United 1-0 Sunderland
Mark Payne: We played well in the first half, passing around the ball well but you do worry about our finishing some of the time. We have had seventy-three shots in the last three league games for a return of two goals. Sunderland's full-backs played well, all eleven of them, and Villa too were well organised, but we should be scoring more. That said, we will definitely look back on this as an important win and despite the worrying nature of Ronaldo's exit I feel more confident than I expected to at this stage of the season.
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West Ham United 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Billy Blagg: Defeat at home against our deadliest rivals is about as bad as it gets but, sadly, I can comment no more as I saw none of this at all due to the fact that I am temporarily helping out on the Christmas post, (Well, I had a black and white cat already so I thought...) working a late shift and didn't even see it on TV. Blagg Jnr. watched it for me though and described it as 'lame'. We've now lost far too may games at home pre-Christmas and, despite our recent little goalless run, can now look at this season as a relegation fight. The irony in having had to lose to Spurs - themselves candidates previously but pulling away fast and probably with another Cup Final in their sights - to highlight our predicament only highlights our continuing slump.
Colin McCullough: Another three points for Spurs, all the more valuable for having been achieved against a team in the bottom half of the table. West Ham United had not conceded in their last three games and it took a header from a player who had not scored in three years to break the deadlock. Ledley King's opener was followed by a great strike from O'Hara, which killed off the game and moves Spurs up to 15th in the table.
Hull City 2-1 Middlesbrough
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Daniel Gray: Another week, another late capitulation. When the clock ticks 80, Boro begin to exhibit all the concentration and focus of a meandering, baffled toddler. If we were a factory worker, we'd have been sacked for repeatedly clocking off early. Heartbreaking and awful. It wasn't a penalty, but Everyone's Second Favourite Team This Year will always get the benefit of the considerable doubt. Bring on the stale atmosphere of a lunchtime thrashing from Arsenal.
West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Portsmouth
Peter Crouch's second-half equaliser denied West Bromwich Albion their first win in nine games and keeps Tony Mowbray's side rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. The England striker smashed home his ninth goal of the campaign to earn a 1-1 draw for Portsmouth on the day owner Alexandre Gaydamak confirmed the south coast club was up for sale.
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Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Chelsea
Bolton manager Gary Megson summed it up when he complained about the lack of a penalty for handball. "I've said it before, and I'll reiterate it, but bigger teams get the decisions. I didn't think that that kind of decision would go our way. I have to admit I didn't see it properly. I just saw the shot and our players appeal, but it's no surprise it wasn't given. It would have been more of a surprise if it had.''
David Esposto The Blues turned on the style to charm their way into the record books in Saturday's win at the Reebok, recording their 11th consecutive top-flight victory. It took Nicolas Anelka just nine minutes to strike against his former side, as the Blues dominated the game with 59% of the overall possession, and continued their dominance with their sixth victory at Bolton without conceding a goal. Deco snatched the three points in supreme style with an exquisite scissor kick in the 21st minute, putting an end to his goalless streak. The Blues struck quick and fast and once again showed just how dangerous they can be. With the win, Chelsea's sights are still keenly set on upending Liverpool for top spot of the table, putting to rest any rumours of controversy or rifts within the west London club.
Newcastle United 2-2 Stoke City
Even Michael Owen's return to goalscoring form could not bring Newcastle a victory as former Magpie Abdoulaye Faye snatched a 2-2 draw for Stoke City. Owen struck twice inside the opening 24 minutes to give his side the perfect platform at St James' Park.
Sean Kesluk What a glorious performance by the Potters. Some awful defending saw Newcastle take an early lead - it never feels good to watch your team concede to Michael Owen once, let alone alone twice - but the squad exhibited marvelous determination - and dare I say class - to claw their way back into the game and get an injury-time equalizer. Two goals lacking any Rory Delap involvement certainly lends a breath of fresh air to a side who were beginning to look a bit one-dimensional (really?). Tony Pulis even confessed to mildly disappoint at his charges failure to take all three points, and I for one am enjoying this newfound confidence. Bring on midtable anonymity!
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