Manchester City 4-3 Wolves
12'- Milijas
40'- Toure
49'- Tevez
66'- Tevez
68'- Doyle (PK)
86'- Zubar
Man City responded from an early deficit, and then held off a late Wolves comeback to momentarily move to the top of the table.
The visitors took a surprise lead just 12 minutes in through Milijas. A fortuitous deflection from a corner set him up with the goal at his mercy, and he made no mistake from 5-yards away.
City equalized with a similar goal five minutes before halftime. Vincent Kompany's flick fell to the feet of Toure, whose driven shot was too powerful for David Jones, and the ball came off of him and into the net.
Then they took the lead just moments after the opening of the second half. A moment of sheer brilliance from Carlos Tevez saw him skip past the challenge of three defenders before slotting home the finish.
The home side were firing on all cylinders. And they notched a third in the 54th. A fine run from debutant Edin Dzeko turned a defender, and his subsequent through ball to Toure left him in behind the defense, and his left-footed strike beat Hennessey.
Zubar nearly brought Wolves back into it with yet another set piece chance. But his powerful header from a Jarvis corner dipped onto the crossbar.
The result appeared to be done and dusted when a beautiful cross from Zabaleta somehow found the head of the diminutive Tevez, who finished well into the top corner.
Needing three goals in 25 minutes, Mick McCarthy's side appeared beaten. But they made sure not to go down without a fight.
In the 68th, a clumsy and unnecessary challenge from Lescott on Kevin Doyle resulted in a penalty kick for Wanderers. The Irish International took the spot kick and finished well.
In the 83rd, a poor giveaway from Christophe Berra resulted in another one-on-one chance for Toure. But Hennessey did well to cut off the angle and save.
Soon after, Zubar made for a grandstand finish when he won another header from a corner, and the ball crossed the line and was ruled a goal by the linesman before De Jong could clear.
Wolves pressed furiously over the final minutes. But the biggest chance fell to Milner, whom Hart played behind the defense with a brilliant punt. But Hennessey did well once again.
Tottenham 0-0 Manchester United
73'- Rafael (RED CARD)
Ten-man Manchester United survived a late onslaught from Tottenham to escape White Hart Lane with a scoreless draw.
In an extremely entertaining match, the two teams traded punches but were unable to find the net over the first 70 minutes. But then referee Mike Dean turned the match on his head. He incorrectly showed a second yellow card to Rafael for what appeared to be incidental contact. Sir Alex Ferguson had his team get back and defend from there on out, and his side defended valiantly to hold on for a point.
The visitors started strong with two chances for Rooney within the first 20 minutes. First he missed wide left just two minutes in. Heurelho Gomes saved his long range effort later with Man U on the counter.
Spurs struck back in the ninth minute when a fine low cross from Hutton was met by a volley from Crouch, who missed wide from a great position.
Rooney had a third chance in the 23rd after a cheeky lay-off from Berbatov allowed him to one-touch a shot from distance, but Gomes somehow got a hand to the dipping strike to deflect it wide for a corner.
Van der Vart would have the final chance of the half, but his glancing header hit side-netting.
The second half would be played at a blistering pace. But actual goal-scoring opportunities were few and far between. The big moment came in the 73rd after Dean's mistake resulted in Rafael being sent off.
The Red Devils dropped back and defended the rest of the way. They did so brilliantly, with Vidic and Ferdinand handling the aerial threat in Crouch, and stifling the pace of substitute Jermaine Defoe up front.
Van der Vaart had Spurs' best chance. Darren Fletcher didn't deal well with an Aaron Lennon corner kick, and the ball rolled to the onrushing Dutchman, but his curling strike sailed just over the top corner.
Arsenal 3-0 West Ham
14' Van Persie
40'- Walcott
77'- Var Persie (PK)
Arsenal kept the pressure up at the head of the table in a convincing 3-0 win at Upton Park.
The game took place amidst a media storm regarding Avram Grant's job security. And the Hammers did little to cure his anxiety, getting off to a slow start.
Arsenal started off on the front foot, and got on the board 13 minutes in when Theo Walcott broke down the right side, he crossed low into the box and a clever dummy from Nasri froze the defense as the ball fell to Robin Van Persie, whose right footed strike beat Robert Green.
Walcott should have made it 2-0 in the 19th minute. A fine long ball from Fabregas played him behind the defense, and he tried to take the bouncing ball out of the air on his left foot from close range, but his attempt was sub-standard and rolled harmlessly to Green.
Some sloppy defending allowed West Ham two cracks at goal later on. Johan Djourou's back pass to keeper Szczesny was intercepted by Carlton Cole, but the onrushing Pole saved the one-on-one opportunity. Still the Hammers got the ball back quickly, and Zavon Hines' powerful strike from close-range sailed just over the cross bar.
Van Persie and Walcott combined for the second goal of the match just before half. Van Persie was played through down the left wing and he did well to control and send a pass back across the grain, resulting in Wayne Bridge overrunning the ball, while Walcott was well placed behind him to fire a strike into the upper-netting.
Cole squandered another nice opportunity just before the half, heading a well-placed cross from Freddy Sears off of Djourou's shoulder and out for a corner.
Arsenal cruised for much of the second half and didn't break much of a a sweat.
Bridge was at fault again in the second half, barging into Walcott inside the area for a penalty. Van Persie placed the spot kick low to the right corner for a 3-0 lead.
Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn
57'- Ivanovic
76'- Anelka
Things were far different for Chelsea when these sides last met. On Oct. 30, the Blues won at Ewood Park to go five points atop the table. Yesterday's victory over Blackburn drew them within five points of table-topping Man U.
The hosts had their chances in the first 45 minutes. But things were looking dire once again for Ancelotti's bunch as they went to dressing room scoreless.
Ramires hit the bar from a corner just three minutes in, beating Hoilett to the ball and launching a one-time strike from the far post.
It was Anelka's turn to hit the bar moments from halftime. He met a teasing low cross from Drogba with a powerful strike and CFC were once again unlucky.
Chelsea turned it back around in the second half with a pair of goals from set pieces.
A scramble in front of the net saw the ball come to Ivanovic at the far post. And he controlled nicely and finished for his fifth goal of the season.
Ivanovic won the ball out of the air on another corner with 15 minutes left. His powerful header slammed downwards onto the foot of Anelka inside the 6, who finished with composure.
It wasn't a pretty match at Stamford Bridge. But it's something to build on for Chelsea, who had 11 attempts on target to just 2 for Rovers. The defending was better than in past weeks, and the gap could have been wider if they had a little more luck in the first half.
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