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Five Spices From Chairman Damon

Log on to this page after each round of games for the lowdown on how each team fared. He’s harsh, but fair and you won’t find anything quite like it elsewhere. Enjoy our Chairman’s pithy post match analysis of the overpaid heroes and goats that make up the “Happy Band” of the EPL. If you're in the prawn sandwich and skim latte club, or part of the "Dippy Darling" brigade this column is not for you!!

Who's hot? Who's not? Who's left their bottle at home? Watch this space carefully as the season unwinds.

Who was hot before?  Visit Damon's 2008/09 season archives to find out!

Previous Analysis:

Round Eighteen.... Round Seventeen.... Round Sixteen.... Round Fifteen.... Round Fourteen.... Round Thirteen

Chelsea Out Of Contention?

 

Arsenal 3 - Chelsea 1

Arsenal end their poor recent set of results against Chelsea and perhaps end the defending Champions' remaining title aspirations. The Blues are still looking like a side who enjoyed their last hurrah in winning the double last term and were second-best throughout. Alex Song put the home side ahead seconds before the interval, poking the ball past Cech after being found by Cesc Fabregas. Any hopes Chelsea had of a comeback were dealt a double blow within ten minutes of the restart. With fifty-one minutes on the clock, Theo Walcott pounced on Michael Essien's poor pass to put in Fabregas, who beat Cech easily. The Spaniard then returned the favour two minutes later, sending Walcott through to make it three. Branislav Ivanovic quickly headed a goal back from Didier Drogba's free kick but his side were unable to mount any serious pressure on the Gunners' goal and they crashed to a fifth loss of the campaign.

 

Aston Villa 1 - Tottenham Hotspur 2

Tottenham close to within a point of Chelsea after a good win at Villa Park. Rafael van der Vaart gave the visitors the lead after twenty-three minutes, getting on the end of a sweeping move involving Luka Modric and Alan Hutton. Things were in danger of going off the rails just four minutes later, when Jermain Defoe saw red for a swing of the elbow at James Collins, but Spurs hardly looked like a side playing a man down. They scored their second on sixty-seven minutes, with Gareth Bale storming upfield before giving the ball to Aaron Lennon, who's smart pass was again converted by van der Vaart; the Dutchman having released Bale initially. Villa were struggling to turn possession into chances but were given a lifeline with eight minutes left, when Marc Albrighton's cross sailed beyong Huerelho Gomes. A second goal never really looked likely, however, and the Londoners held on comfortably for a good win.

 

Blackpool P - Liverpool P (Game called off due to frozen pitch)

 

Blackburn Rovers 0 - Stoke City 2

Stoke take advantage of the turmoil at Ewood Park to register a comfortable win that takes them into the top half of the table. Matt Etherington should have given the Potters a first-half lead, only to somehow contrive to miss from a yard out. Six minutes into the second half, it was the winger's corner than Robert Huth connected with to send a powerful header beyond Paul Robinson and give the away side the lead. Rovers responded but, Asmir Begovic's misjudgement of a Morten Gamst Pedersen free-kick aside, it was City who looked the more likely scorers until the impressive Etherington was forced off with an injury. The last twenty minutes saw Blackburn camped in the Stoke half but the home side struggled to carve open a resilient Potters' defence and were then stung with a late second, Marc Wilson turning onto Ricardo Fuller's pass into the area and firing home.

 

Bolton Wanderers 2 - West Bromwich Albion 1

Bolton maintain their unlikely charge for Champions' League football with a hard-fought home win against the Baggies. Albion took some degree of control of the game after a fairly cagey opening first quarter of an hour but with Peter Odemwingie having a game to forget, it was the home side who took the lead, with Matt Taylor converting Chung Young-Lee's return ball five minutes before half time. West Brom continued to carve out the better chances after the interval, only to be let down by some wayward finishing and James Morrison's poor first touch. The Trotters weathered the storm and were able to play out the last quarter of an hour fairly comfortably, Johan Elmander making the game safe with four minutes left when finding the net from an acute angle.

 

Everton P - Birmingham City P (Game called off due to burst pipes)

 

Fulham 1 - West Ham United 3

The pressure is mounting for Mark Hughes after West Ham take a win at Craven Cottage that lifts them off the bottom of the table. The Cottagers play some neat stuff but injuries to their main strikers have largely denuded the side of any kind of goal threat. They took the lead on eleven minutes when Aaron Hughes crashed home Simon Davies's cross after a corner but, with Andrew Johnson still looking understandibly rusty, could and perhaps should have seen off their visitors before they had a chance to get back in the game. As it was, Dickson Etuhu's half-hearted attempt at cutting out Freddie Sears's cross saw a sharp chance fall to the lurking Carlton Cole, who converted well to level with eight minutes of the first half remaining. The turnaround was completed at the end of the half, with Frederic Piquionne volleying home Scott Parker's cross after Fulham had failed to clear their lines from a corner. With fifteen minutes left, Cole got a deserved second, muscling his way through the Fulham defence to despatch Danny Gabbidon's long ball up the middle. His side are now just two points from safety.

 

Manchester United 2 - Sunderland 0

Manchester United take control of the table with a comfortable home win against Sunderland. United knew a win would heap the pressure on both their London challengers and started briskly and Dimitar Berbatov swept home Wayne Rooney's far-post cross with five minutes on the clock. Sunderland, missing seven players to injury, struggled to cope and both Berbatov and Anderson saw efforts come back off the woodwork as the home side dominated. Just before the hour, Berbatov scored his second, with the Bulgarian's shot taking a deflection off the unlucky Anton Ferdinand that took it past Craig Gordon. The game won, the Red Devils were happy to play down the clock and reserve their energy for what could prove to be the pivotal period of the season.

 

Newcastle United 1 - Manchester City 3

City put their own title tilt back on track with an away win at Newcastle. It took just two minutes for the away side to go ahead, with Tim Krul needlessly gifting the ball to Carlos Tevez and Gareth Barry firing the Argentinean's pass through the keeper's legs first time. Newcastle were given no time to regroup as they found themselves two down with just five minutes on the clock. Tevez, this time, side-footing home James Milner's return ball from close range. The Magpies recovered well enough to probably shade the rest of the first half, with the ever-impressive Andy Carroll causing the Sky Blues' defence problems. It was Carroll who gave his side some hope with twenty minutes left, his powerful downward header from Joey Barton's corner bouncing up into the roof of the net. City, however, were able to head any fightback off with ten minutes left, with Tevez's hopeful thrash catching a sizeable deflection off Fabricio Coloccini that gave Krul no chance.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 - Wigan Athletic 2

Wigan earn a crucial win at Wolves that takes them out of the relegation zone and leaves the home side bottom. Hugo Rodallega put the visitors ahead in the ninth minute when he turned smartly onto Gary Caldwell's flick to beat Wayne Hennesey. The Colmbian then turned provider on twenty minutes, slipping in Tom Cleverley with a made-to-measure pass the youngster couldn't fail to convert. Wanderers needed a strong response but, though they enjoyed more possession as the game wore on, weren't able to create much in the way of chances until Stephen Fletcher was first to the ball in a goalmouth scramble with just three minutes left. Though the goal set up a lively last few minutes, a second proved beyond the home side who now hold up the table.