West Ham 0 - 4 Chelsea 

Hammers get lesson at Upton Park. Chelsea took their Carling Cup frustrations out on their hosts early. Even the loss of Frank Lampard to a silly red card did little to brighten the day for West Ham. Lampard opened up the scoring for the Blues by converting the penalty earned by Salomon Kalou when Anton Ferdinand brought him down in the box. Joe Cole doubled the scoreline three minutes later when he powered home a pass from Nicolas Anelka. Michael Ballack turned the match into a rout two minutes later when he got on the receiving end of a Lampard cross. So when the whistle blew for the half to end the hosts were already down 3-0, though it should have been 4-0 as Anelka was wrongly judged to be offside when he scored.

The Blues withstood a concerted effort by West Ham to get back into the game and dashed all hope when Ashley Cole finished them off with a 64th minute goal. Chelsea needed the boost before they host Olympiacos on Wednesday. What they didn’t need was for Lampard to have to sit out for the next three domestic matches.

  Arsenal 1 - 1 Aston Villa 

Gunners escape at Emirates. Aston Villa made the trip to London a memorable one as they showed a lot of fight. Arsenal had the better of the statistics, but I didn’t see it. The Villans kept slipping through and challenging the Arsenal defense. Gabriel Agbonlahor’s speed kept the Gunner defenders on their back foot as the England U-21 international made run after run at Manuel Almunia’s goal. Aston Villa got their goal when Philippe Senderos knocked a beauty into his own net in the 27th. There was some question about Agbonlahor being offside in the build up, but no flag went up and he sent in a fantastic cross that the Swiss international deflected into his own net.

Arsenal threw what they had at Scott Carson in the last ten minutes and the defense rose to the occasion over and over. Then they failed to clear a cross into the box and the defender knocked the ball in front of Nicklas Bendtner, who slotted home from close range and rescued a point and a slim lead in the Premiership.

One last point. Theo Walcott needs to get over himself. He had a couple of opportunities to find teammates for a good shot on goal and instead he took some pretty lousy shots. Nice one Theo.

  Birmingham 4 - 1 Tottenham 

Blues spoil party at St Andrews. A quick word of advise to the Hotspurs…FOCUS! Birmingham City didn’t just beat Tottenham, they demolished them. Mikael Forssell welcomed himself back to the starting line-up with a hat-trick. Forssell has had a recent history of injury though you would never have guessed as he showed that he has lost none of his skill. Sebastian Larsson added to the Blues talley with a great free kick of his own.

Jermaine Jenas scored in stoppage time for the Spurs, but the points all went to the home side. Tottenham tried to claw themselves into this match, but couldn’t beat Maik Taylor. City have had two great results in the last two weeks and are playing some good football.

  Fulham 0 - 3 Man Utd 

Red Devils run riot at Craven Cottage. Sir Alex rested his big guns for long stretches during their trip to the capital. Fulham had some good chances that they just could not put away in the match and United made them pay for it. Owen Hargreaves got a rare chance at a free kick and sent it into the upper right hand corner to give Manchester United the lead at the 15 minute mark for his first United goal. Park Ji-Sung scored a superb header at the end of the first half to make the Fulham task even harder. The Cottagers hopes were dashed midway through the second half when Simon Davies sent the ball through Antti Niemi’s wicket and into the net.

Brian McBride and Eddie Johnson formed an all American front line for Fulham with Johnson getting off a couple of good shots at Edwin Van Der Sar. McBride has been out for a long time through injury and was unable to resurrect the form he has shown so often at Craven Cottage. Sadly the run in will probably be the end of his stay in England.

Elsewhere: Derby County 0-0 Sunderland; Middlesbrough 0-1 Reading; Newcastle United 0-1 Blackburn Rovers; Manchester City 0-0 Wigan Athletic.

  Birmingham 2 - 2 Arsenal 

Travesty at St Andrews. Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo can only be described as horrendous. Sadly the early information doesn’t bode well for his future. Taylor was sent off with a straight red card in the 3rd minute leaving the Blues to play the entire match with 10 men. The loss of their striker so early and having to watch him being treated for eight minutes definitely had an impact on the Gunners.

James McFadden gave City the lead in the 28th with a sublime free kick that Manuel Almunia just couldn’t get to. The goal seemed to spark the visitors and they stepped up the attack, but  they were unable to break through at the half. Theo Walcott finally got on the Premiership score-sheet when he poked home a Maik Taylor loose ball to knot the score at 1-1. Walcott doubled his league total with a weaving run that culminated with a fantastic shot to the corner of the net. Three points seemed to belong to Arsenal until Gael Clichy brought Stuart Parnaby down in the box. McFadden slotted home the penalty and stole a not necessarily earned point.

  Liverpool 3 - 2 Middlesbrough 

Torres’ pays off at Anfield.£20 million 21 goals. Definitely showing that he is well worth the money. If Rafa Benitez would play the young Spaniard more, Liverpool might be challenging for the title. Middesbrough played well throughout the match and could have added to the domestic woes of the Merseysiders. Tuncay Sanli found the net early with a fine header for Boro. But, Fernando Torres fired off two quick goals two minutes apart. Boro could have done some damage as the Reds showed some lack of concentration and opened the door a couple of times.

Torres fired home his third early in the second half which should have put an end to the match. Middlesbrough didn’t get the memo though as Stewart Downing kept his side in it with a late goal at the 83rd minute mark. But, the wheels came off as Jeremie Aliadiere smacked Javier Mascherano after an altercation. Liverpool won the game, however they could have easily lost. Benitez is living with uncertainty and I’m concerned that with the whinging that has hit the media from the changing room recently is showing in their performance.

  Newcastle 1 - 5 Man Utd 

Ron and Roo thump Toon at St James’. Manchester United took a little bit of time to hit their stride, but when they did it was amazing. Wayne Rooney has been a terror in the pitch lately. Today was no different. The Tynesiders had an equal share of possession they just couldn’t come through defensively. Rooney volleyed in a beautiful cross from Ronaldo for the first goal of the night. The Portugese winger turned from provider to finisher at the half from a Michael Carrick pass. He did it again at the start of the second half when he slid around Steve Harper and popped in United’s third of the match.

Newcastle winger Damien Duff and Charles N’Zogbia gamely both fought on and came close to netting for the home side. Abdoulaye Faye was the one who finally broke through the Red Devil defense and put Kevin Keegan’s lads on the board in the 79th. In a display that showed who was the boss of this match, Rooney calmly scored a minute later to restore the three goal margin. Louis Saha finished the job at the end of the match with a well directed shot from a Rooney square.

Newcastle is still looking for their first victory under King Kev and unless they pull out of their free fall they could be challenging for the 18th position in the league when all is said and done. Manchester United moved to within 3 points of Arsenal with today’s demolition of Newcastle.

Other Saturday results- Fulham 0-1 West Ham; Portsmouth 1-0 Sunderland; Wigan Athletic 2-0 Derby County.

With twelve weeks left in the Premiership season things are going to get dicey for those in the Relegation Race. Every match is another step closer to making the rounds of the Championship grounds next season. Let’s look at the results from those lurking at the bottom of the table.

Spurs cruise at Pride Park. Paul Jewell tried his best to help the Rams avoid the drop in January when he brought in a seasoned group to help shore up all areas of their game (see January 10th posting). Even with the new arrivals Derby have only 9 points in 26 matches this season. Tottenham didn’t give the home side a chance to move off of the bottom of the League. The first half held some opportunities for Derby as they hassled the Spurs enough to provide some chances for themselves. Giles Barnes came close a couple of times and could have given Jewell his first win since taking the helm.

The second half saw Juande Ramos adjusting early to counter a very game Rams attack and was rewarded by Robbie Keane’s 68th minute cleanup of a Roy Carroll rebound. Younes Kaboul and Dimitar Berbatov drove the point home with late goals for the visitors. Jewell has to be proud of the effort put forth by the lads today. I am concerned for his ability to hold onto players like Barnes and Kenny Miller when they go down. Tottenham 3-0 Derby County.

Fulham falls at the Riverside. Gareth Southgate trotted out new signing Afonso Alves early in the second half, but Boro’s record signing was overshadowed by Jeremie Aliadiere’s early goal. The Teesiders three points gave them a little room for themselves from the drop zone while the Cottagers supporters are already getting the train schedule for Hull City pinned to the fridge. The early goal put Fulham on their back foot for much of the game until Clint Dempsey and Leon Andreasen gave the home supporters a couple of moments on edge. In the end Roy Hodgson might be available for Finland again this summer. Middlesbrough 1-0 Fulham.

Toffees unimpressive at Goodison. Everton looked like anything but a Champions League hopeful as they downed a scrappy Reading side through Phil Jagielka’s header in the 62nd. David Moyes’ boys had some unbelievable chances to put the wood to the Royals, they just couldn’t find the net. What happened to Andy Johnson by they way? The man will run all day and his tenacity is unquestionable, BUT when the keeper is out of the goal and nothing is stopping you how can you miss that badly???? In the end Everton did just enough to pull this game out, Reading should have probably gotten a draw though.

Stephan Hunt could have given the Royals a very early lead with a 25 yard free kick that gave Everton keeper Tim Howard fits. Nicky Shorey also had a good opportunity to get the visitors ahead when he found David Kitson for a header that sailed over the bar. Steve Coppell likes an ugly match and this one was ugleee. Everton 1-0 Reading.

Elsewhere: Sunderland helped their cause as they dumped Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light 2-0. Bolton couldn’t find the net at the Reebok, but Portsmouth did 0-1. West Ham hosted Birmingham City to a draw 1-1. Aston Villa watched Michael Owen put Newcastle ahead, then thumped the travelling Toon 4-1.

Gunners gutted at Emirates. How Arsenal didn’t get full points in this match is the mystery. Birmingham City had two shots in the game to Arsenal’s sixteen. Usually if there is that much of a discrepancy you would expect the more active team to win. Emmanuel Adebayor’s  penalty in the 21st minute seemed to be a harbinger of things to come, but, the Blues had a stifling defense that had an answer for every flashy move that the Premiership leaders tried. A Gary O’Connor header from a Sebastian Larsson corner in the 48th minute leveled the score and the Arsenal rush was on. At the end of the game the London side spent as much time in  the City box as Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor. They just couldn’t find the twine and in the end they had to settle for the draw. Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham City

Ronaldo adds to Toon Woes.  Like him or not, that boy can score. The Red Devils opened the match with plenty of shots at Shay Given. Wayne Rooney had enough chances in the first half hour to match most people for an entire game. The England international kept the Newcastle keeper limber he just couldn’t get the ball in the net. Alan Smith welcomed himself back to Old Trafford with a foul on Ryan Giggs that should have resulted in a penalty to open scoring in a scrappy first half, but referee Rob Styles set the tone by ignoring one of a string of fouls on both sides.

The second half opened up when Styles finally joined the game mentally and gave a free kick to Ronaldo after Smith fouled him just outside the box. The Portuguese winger drove the shot from 20 yards out under the jumping wall and past Given to open his account. When all was said and done the little diver finished with a hat-trick while Carlos Tevez tallied two and Rio Ferdinand (not to be outdone by his brother’s earlier game winner) drove in a header from a Rooney cross. Steven Taylor was amazing at the beginning of the second half as he kept Man U off of the scorecard with an amazing display of defense on his own goal line. In the end the Red Devils went back on top of the table on goal difference. Manchester United 6-0 Newcastle United.

No Derby day at Pride Park. Four new players went from signing a few days ago to starting for the Rams today. Robbie Savage, Emanuel Villa, Laurent Robert and Hossam Ghaly all made their debut for Derby County, but none were able to bring a victory to the beleaguered cellar dwellers. Savage and Ghaly were able to give some backbone to the midfield, which was comforting, and they were able to give the defense some much needed help.

The Latics had the lion’s share of shots (13-3) but just could not break through until Steve Bruce sent in Antoine Sibierski in the 81st minute. Forty-three seconds on the pitch and the Frenchman broke Derby’s heart by slotting home the winner. Wigan earned their first away win of the season while pushing the Rams ever closer to the precipice. Derby County 0-1 Wigan.

Missing African players, same result at Stamford Bridge. Avram Grant got his man when he brought in Nicolas Anelka this week for 15 million pounds. But he really didn’t need him for this one. Tottenham Hotspur played hard but Juliano Belletti put them behind early with a brilliant shot from thirty yards out. Dimitar Berbatov had a chance to tie with a free kick from just outside the penalty area in the 69th minute. The visitors had to watch as his shot went just wide. Shaun Wright-Phillips sunk the dagger in the 80th with a low drive. The final score really isn’t a good snapshot of this match, they both played well.

Anelka came on mid-way through the second half. He failed to score, but Chelsea are going to have to bend the crossbar back into shape after it stopped a rocket from the Frenchman. His second attempt was palmed away by the keeper. If Grant can convince him to play with Didier Drogba this will be a duo to be reckoned with.

Paul Robinson had to watch this one from the bench as Radek Cerny got another start ahead of him. Cerny said earlier this week that he felt Juande Ramos was going to bring in a new keeper which doesn’t bode well for either of the two he already has. Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur.

Aston Villa 3-1 Reading; Everton 1-0 Manchester City; Middlesbrough 1-1 Liverpool; West Ham 2-1 Fulham

It’s been an exciting year for football and we have finally reached the last weekend of 2007. Hopefully these games will give us all something good to remember when the clock strikes midnight. On with the show:

Goodison Park will be electric when the ball starts rolling on Saturday. Everton has played well lately and they know that they have a prime opportunity to put their stamp on the title race. Arsenal comes off of a disappointing draw with Portsmouth on Boxing Day, so they know that they have to beat the Toffees on the road. David Moyes will be without Leon Osman, Alan Stubbs, Leighton Baines and possibly Tomas Graveson for this match. But, everyone else will be ready to take on the Gunners. Arsenal might have William Gallas, but they will be without Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott.

Everton has a great chance to beat Arsenal. The Toffees have a record of 6W-1L-1D in December with their only loss at Manchester United (2-1). If anyone is in the right form to beat Arsenal it’s Everton. They have shown an ability to play stifling defense while looking to strike on the counter attack. Arsenal have a potent attack of their own, but they showed that they had trouble with Pompey’s defense on Wednesday. I’m going with the upset in this game. 1-0 Everton.

Sam Allardyce’s woes will continue on Saturday. Chelsea will be without Frank Lampard, John Terry, Florent Malouda, Ricardo Carvalho (r.c.), Ashley Cole (r.c.) and Claude Makelele this weekend. Newcastle will be without Joey Barton because he’s in the nick. They might have Michael Owen back from his thigh injury, but he’ll injure something else after fifteen minutes. Newcastle can’t seem to get things together and Chelsea are infinitely better than Wigan. The Toon Army will be screaming for Big Sam’s sacking unless he gets a big win over the Blues. Not happening. Even though they are depleted Chelsea are better than Newcastle. 3-1 Chelsea.

West Ham have a full squad for this match with League leading Manchester United. Unfortunately for Alan Curbishley, he can’t put all of them on the pitch at the same time. The Red Devils will have everyone but Edwin Van der Sar (groin). Carlos Tevez is making his return to Upton Park where he single handedly kept the Hammers in the Premiership. With Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo all on the attack Robert Green will get quite a workout in the West Ham goal. The Hammers did the double over Man U last season so Sir Alex will have no trouble firing up his lads for this game.

Tevez isn’t the only Red Devil to have played for West Ham. Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand both got their start at Upton Park. Kinda like old home week. Don’t expect mercy from these three on Saturday. United need a win to keep the pressure on Arsenal and Cristiano Ronaldo is just unstoppable this season. If West Ham gives up a free kick anywhere inside their own half Ronaldo will most likely make them pay. 3-0 Manchester United.

Wigan have beaten Blackburn (5-3) and Newcastle (1-0), drawn Manchester City (1-1) and Fulham (1-1) and lost to Bolton (1-4) in December. So they are playing better than their League standing suggests. Aston Villa are coming off of three straight draws (Sunderland, Manchester City and Chelsea). So on form Wigan should win this game. Not so fast. Villa have Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young on the wings. Their speed is amazing! The Latics will struggle to keep them from finding Big John Carew in the centre. Marcus Bent will give Wigan some hope in the offense as he will take advantage of the Villans missing defender Zat Knight (r.c.).

If Martin O’Neill’s boys play half as well as they did against Chelsea on Boxing Day, the J.J.B. will be a sad stadium. 3-1 Aston Villa. 

I don’t talk about the Brummies much. They haven’t been overly impressive this season with 5W-11L-3D. But, they’re playing at St. Andrews and Fulham suck something awful. Roy Hodgson will take over for the Cottagers against Chelsea, but he’s going to have to watch them lose again before then. Alex McLeish will field the same team that beat Middlesbrough 3-0. Antti Neimi got waxed by Tottenham as they sunk five goals on the Finnish keeper. He might want to fake a knock in this one and let Kasey Keller take the beating against Chelsea on New Years Day. Birmingham shouldn’t struggle in this one. 2-0 Birmingham City.

Manchester City have only beaten Liverpool once in a home Premier League game since 1995. However, the Blues are stronger this season than they have been in a long time. Sven-Goran Eriksson has this squad believing that they belong in the title race so they will not fear Liverpool for a change. The Reds struggled with Derby in their last outing and would have gone home with a draw if Steven Gerrard hadn’t beaten the rookie keeper in the waning moments (people are giving Gerrard way too much credit on this one). City won’t be a pushover and they have a better attack than the Rams did. They will challenge Pepe Reina.

No major injuries for either team makes this a good match. Daniel Agger might be back for Rafa Benitez, but Sami Hyypia will be out so that’s a wash. I think City are going to be charged up for this game. 2-1 Manchester City.

Early Christmas for Arsenal. Tottenham had the lion’s share of possession in this match (69% – 31%), but were unable to give the league leaders their second loss of the season. Emmanuel Adebayor opened the scoring just after halftime with a wicked finish from a Cesc Fabregas feed. Eighteen minutes later Dimitar Berbatov squeezed the ball between two defenders to even the score. Kolo Toure handed the Spurs a golden opportunity when he brought Berbatov down in the box. Gunner’s keeper Manuel Almunia saved Robbie Keane’s penalty and four minutes later substitute Nicklas Bendtner headed home the winner to keep Arsenal atop the Premier League standings. If Berbatov stays at White Hart Lane in January, I can’t think that it will be his choice. Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham.

Wanderers show Blues the door at the Reebok. Birmingham had a couple of early chances to take control of the match, but Bolton’s defense were able to keep the Blues off of the score-sheet and in contention for the relegation zone. El-Hadji Diouf broke the deadlock when he fired home in the 72nd minute. Nicolas Anelka added to the Birmingham woes when he intercepted a defensive throw in and dented the net from a tight angle in the 78th minute. The Birmingham defense gave the ball away in stoppage time and Anelka made them pay with his second goal of the match. I know that the money is tempting, but Bolton need to try and hold onto Nicolas Anelka in the transfer window. Bolton 3-0 Birmingham.

Torres tortures Pompey at Anfield. Liverpool always looked like they were in control of this one as Portsmouth never really showed much of an attacking attitude. The Reds opened up the scoring when Yossi Benayoun sent a rocket past David James from twenty yards out.  Sylvain Distin got on the board for Portsmouth three minutes later as he put the ball past James and into his own net. The look on Distin’s face showed his disbelief. The goal was actually set up by Fernando Torres as he flicked the ball at Distin in the Pompey box with enough pace to get the accidental deflection into the net. Torres’ pace tormented Portsmouth throughout the game and he could easily have had more than the two goals in the second half. Benjani Mwaruwari brought Portsmouth to 2-1 when he scored early in the second half, however, Portsmouth never had the control of the ball when they had possession. It was a bit like watching the five year olds kicking it around at the park. Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth.

Slugfest at Craven Cottage. This match was very much like watching a fight between two well matched boxers. Both threw everything they had at each other creating a game that was just fun to watch. The first half was highlighted by scrambles in front of both nets, with near misses for both teams. Both keepers came up with good saves with Fulham putting a bit more pressure on Chris Kirkland. Marcus Bent looked as though he was going to hand the Latics their second consecutive victory with a brilliant display of control and finishing in the 70th minute. But, Clint Dempsey fired a cracker in from the right corner of the box to give the Cottagers a well deserved point. I thought that there would be more scoring in this one, and there could have been. It was a fun watch though. Fulham 1-1 Wigan.

Other scores: Aston Villa 1-1 Manchester City; Middlesbrough 1-2 West Ham; Reading 2-1 Sunderland.