Derby 0 - 1 Man United 

Ronaldo stars at Pride Park. Rams supporters have to be very proud of their club today as they almost took a point from the champions, and deservedly so. Robbie Savage did exactly what he was brought in for by shutting down United players all over the park. The Red Devils came out firing in the first half and should have gone up by a couple, but yet again they would have been more successful on a rugby pitch. When they were on target Roy Carroll was there. Carroll had a great day in the net and was surely the star of the show for Derby.

On the other end of the pitch Ben Foster made his first start for Manchester United and put in his claim for the future starters job. Derby only had a few chances but they could have scored twice through Kenny Miller before the half. Foster was up to the task though and kept his side from being even more embarrassed at the break. The Red Devil attack kept coming with Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs working the home defense. Ronaldo came through in the 76th minute with a super volley just out of Carroll’s reach for the winning goal. Manchester United have made the last few matches much more difficult than they needed to and they had better get their heads out or the season will be circling the drain soon.

  Liverpool 2 - 1 Reading 

Torres continues tear at Anfield. Liverpool reasserted their claim as a top four Premiership club by coming back from an early deficit and putting in a solid performance. In a perfect execution of a free kick with an amazing finish by Marek Matejovsk in the 5th minute. Javier Mascherano matched the performance with a power shot of his own in the 19th to even the score. Just after the break Fernando Torres slid unmarked around the crowd and headed in the winner.

I have been impressed with Torres this season and his almost effortless ability of finding the goal. Not impressed however with Steven Gerrard. Watching him dive with minimal contact from Andre Bikey then give the Reading defender a bollocking showed me that he is not only a world class diver, but a whinging prat.

 Arsenal 1 - 1Middlesbrough

Gunners escape at the Emirates. Arsenal again pulled a late escape as Kolo Toure scored from a deflected ball with his noggin in the 86th minute to save major blushes for the hosts. Middlesbrough had gone ahead early through Jeremie Aliadiere’s finish of a controversial play. Mark Schwarzer booted a long kick into the Boro offensive half that was met by an apparently offside Tuncay Sanli. The flag stayed down and the Turk found Aliadiere who calmly slotted home. Arsenal had the best of the possession throughout the match, they just could not crack the Boro defense until deep into the match.

The Gunners seemed to have joined Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the petulant club with their oh so professional performance after the final whistle. Watching Emmanuel Eboue verbally assault referee Mark Halsey after the match is indicative of the top four mentality that they deserve to be treated differently than everyone else.

Other action- Portsmouth 2-0 Aston Villa; Sunderland 0-1 Chelsea; West Ham 2-1 Blackburn

  Reading 1 - 2 Aston Villa 

Villans roll at the Madejski. Reading’s woes continued today as their guests gave a good demonstration of dominance. James Harper got things off to a rousing start for Reading when he created a scoring opportunity in just thirty seconds. Scott Carson smothered the chance and set the tone for the rest of the match.

The Royals’ defense could have used some extra bodies as Ibrahima Sonko and Kalifa Cisse seemed confused in the centre of the defence. Cisse gave up an iffy penalty for handling the ball. But, karma came quickly when Gareth Barry sliced his shot wide. Ashley Young broke the stalemate at halftime as Gabriel Agbonlahor gave him the ball with yards of space and he slotted it home. Marlon Harewood drove the final nail in at the 83rd minute with a curling shot into the upper corner of the goal. Nicky Shorey got a consolation goal in the 90th from his free kick, but it was too little too late as the Villans came away with all three points.

  Blackburn 4 - 1 Bolton 

Wanderers penalized at Ewood. It’s hard to win a match when you give up two penalties. Blackburn was gifted the first penalty and Benni McCarthy took full advantage. As he did after Gary Cahill fouled David Dunn for the second in answer to Kevin Davies’ leveler. David Bentley’s header and Morten Gamst Pedersen’s injury time goal added to Bolton’s troubles.

Bolton played well they just couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities. Brad Friedel deserves full credit for keeping Bolton at bay with some great saves from El Hadji Diouf and Ricardo Gardner. Blackburn’s victory came at a good time, they needed the points and the confidence.

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.

 Fulham feeble at Craven Cottage. Just how many players did Arsenal have on the pitch in the second half? Though up 2-0 in the second half from two Emmanuel Adebayor headers, the Gunners showed their quality by not letting up on the struggling Cottagers. Every time Fulham tried to bring the ball forward they seemed to have fifteen red jerseys surrounding them. When Czech winger Tomas Rosicky poked home Arsenal’s third goal in the 81st minute the air went out of the stadium.

I don’t know what Roy Hodgson is going to do to pull the club out of the nose dive their in. Is this a result of Lawrie Sanchez’s poor selection of talent? I think that they have some good players, however Al Fayed’s patience is going to be over if they go down to the Championship next season.

Arsene Wenger has his side playing like champions. The run in to the title is going to be fun to watch. Fulham 0-3 Arsenal.

 United maintain at the Madejski. Wayne Rooney took a bevy of shots last week against Newcastle and wasn’t able to make the score-sheet in the end. I felt sorry for Marcus Hahnemann coming into this match. But, the American keeper made some great saves and got a gutty performance from his defense to keep the Royals in the match. Until Carlos Tevez found Rooney in the left side of the box. Wayne stuck out his foot and redirected the ball  into the far corner. Not a power shot from the United striker, but a beautiful piece of skill. Cristiano Ronaldo kept up the scoring run with a goal deep into injury time as he counter attacked the Reading counter attack.

Manchester United retain the top spot in the Premiership on goal difference, but this race is far from over. Reading 0-2 Manchester United.

St. James stalemate. With all of the excitement surrounding Kevin Keegan’s return Tyneside even non-Geordie fans had to expect some fireworks in his first match. Especially as they were at home in front of an ecstatic Toon Army. Even though the Newcastle squad seemed to be more free flowing than I’ve seen in awhile, they couldn’t break down a gritty Bolton defense.

Newcastle out shot the Trotters 2 to 1, but Bolton’s Jlloyd Samuels nearly pulled out a shocking victory for the visitors when he spun around to control a surprising through ball, then took a quick shot at point blank range. Shay Givens was lucky enough to have it hit his left leg and deflect out of bounds. This wasn’t how “King Kev” wanted to start. On the plus side last week they lost 6-0. Newcastle United 0-0 Bolton Wanderers.

The race for futility is in full swing as the bottom three teams lost by a combined score of 8-1 on Saturday. Sunderland is in a tight race with five other teams to stay in the top flight. However, Fulham and Derby County are definitely rejoining the ranks of the second tier. It’s sad that a team like Derby would only get one year up with the big boys before going back to the Championship. Fulham on the other hand has been on life support for a couple of years now and it would be merciful to the club and it’s fans to put it out of it’s misery.

Birmingham City 0-1 Chelsea; Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Middlesbrough; Portsmouth 3-1 Derby County; Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Sunderland.

Upton Park upset. The Hammers can now claim three straight victories over Premiership Champions Manchester United. With late goals by Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson West Ham continued their domination of the Red Devils. Cristiano Ronaldo put Man U up early with a brilliant header off of a Ryan Giggs cross. But, a spectacular miss by the Portuguese winger from the penalty spot gave the home side hope. West Ham capitalized on the momentum shift and took more control of the game. They dominated the visitors in shots and corners and were rewarded with the win.

Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick were missing from the Red Devils line-up with stomach viruses, but there was no excuse for United to perform so badly. Carlos Tevez made his return to Upton Park, but he made very little impact on the pitch and ended up making way for Anderson in the 64th minute. The fact that Sir Alex’s boys knew how much was at stake and still failed to come through does not bode well for them when the Champions League resumes.

The Hammers have knocked off one contender to the crown and on New Years Day they will get a shot at the other. Arsenal will have to be concerned that they might be the next to fall. West Ham 2-1 Manchester United.

Gunners regain lead at Goodison. I had hoped to see Everton at their best. Unfortunately, after a promising first half the Toffees fell apart. Tim Cahill put the home side ahead in the 19th minute and at the break it looked like they might just hold Arsenal off. De Silva Eduardo put that dream to bed two minutes in to the second half when he took control of a long ball and slipped the ball into Tim Howard’s net. Ten minutes later the Croatian striker did it again. Nicklas Bendtner was sent off after receiving his second yellow card. Even that didn’t slow down Arsenal as Emmanuel Adebayor put his own rebound into the net two minutes later. Tomas Rosicky finished the Toffees off after Mikel Arteta had been sent off. The Gunners took back the League lead convincingly. This race is far from over.

While Arsenal deserved to win this game, I was disappointed to see some of their players showing very little class in victory. Cesc Fabregas is a fantastic player and he doesn’t need to resort to cheap tricks to win. While he thinks nothing of scything down an opposing player from behind (against the rules I believe), he overacts drawing a red card on a Arteta for an inadvertent elbow (while he was doing the same thing to Arteta). Kolo Toure also spent an inordinate amount of time trying to draw fouls by bitching constantly about nonexistent fouls. Both players were guilty of the fouls they adamantly complained about. These players are better than that. Everton 1-4 Arsenal.

Lost. Any defense at White Hart Lane. Dimitar Berbatov scored four goals and so did Reading. Ten goals found the twine as the match turned into more of a track meet. Reading held the lead three times and still weren’t able come away with any points. Juande Ramos has the Spurs offense firing on all cylinders as they have scored 11 goals in the last two games. Berbatov was joined on the score sheet by Steed Malbranque and Jermain Defoe. Robbie Keane could have joined the fun, but apparently a bit more practice is required on penalties.

The Royals got plenty of goals from Kalifa Cisse, Ivar Ingimarsson and two from Dave Kitson, but when you give up six goals it’s a bit difficult to win. Giving up three goals in the last fifteen minutes will give Steve Coppell something to discuss at practice this week. He might want to find out how four officials missed seeing Defoe enter the box before Keane took the penalty? Just a thought. Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading.

Sunderland shines at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats pulled themselves out of the bottom three with a beauty of a win over Bolton. Kieron Richardson came back to the starting lineup with a shout as he opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Kenwyne Jones doubled the score just after the half hour mark with a fantastic header off of a Richardson cross. Danny Higgenbotham and Paul McShane kept the clamps on Nicolas Anelka, keeping the volatile Frenchman from becoming a factor. Daryl Murphy finished the Sunderland scoring in stoppage time with a finish from Jones’ flick on.

El-Hadji Diouf had the goal of the game as his free kick snuck through and slid just inside the far post in the 41st minute to give Roy Keane’s lads something to worry about. The Trotters couldn’t make a comeback though and were unable to sneak any points. Their current form has not been good so their visit to Derby January 2nd could be the tonic they need. Sunderland 3-1 Bolton Wanderers.

Birmingham City 1-1 Fulham; Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle; Portsmouth 0-1 Middlesbrough; Wigan 1-2 Aston Villa .

I have to say I was a bit suprised by this one. Although Reading was at the Madejski and Rafa was again more concerned with the Champions league than winning the Premiership. Good job Reading though. They took advantage of a couple of mistakes and were able to capitalize on them. Steve Coppell’s boys can definitely feel proud of this one.

Premier League – Reading bring Benitez to earth – Yahoo! Eurosport UK