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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 Fifteen.... Round Fourteen.... Round Thirteen.... Round Twelve.... Round Eleven.... Round Ten

Arsenal Go Top

 

Arsenal 2 - Fulham 1

Arsenal make the most of Man United's postponed game at Blackpool with a home win over Fulham that takes them to the top of the table. Mark Schwarzer had already been called into action to deny Andrei Arshavin, before Samir Nasri gave the Gunners a fourteenth-minute lead when he collected the Russian's pass before dancing his way past two defenders and burying a shot into the roof of the net. The Cottagers survived another couple of close calls before getting back into the match on the half-hour. Sebastian Squillaci misjudged a high ball and, in trying to retrieve the situation, nutted defensive partner Laurent Koscielny. With the Frenchman concussed, Clint Dempsey latched onto the loose ball and put in Diomansy Kamara to finish with a first-time shot beyond Lukasz Fabianski. Both sides could then have taken the lead but it was Arsenal who scored what proved to be the winner with a quarter of an hour to go, again thanks to Nasri's quick feet. The midfielder ran onto Robin van Persie's short ball into the area and weaved past a couple of attempted tackles before taking the ball beyond Schwarzer. It looked as if he may have taken the ball too wide but was able to turn and hook the ball in to beat the retreating Brede Hangeland.

 

Birmingham City 1 - Tottenham Hotspur 1

Birmingham grab a late equaliser to earn a draw against Tottenham at St. Andrew's. The Londoners enjoyed by far the better of the first half and were ahead on nineteen minutes when Sebastien Bassong reacted first to slam the ball into the net after Ben Foster had failed to get enough distance on his clearing punch. City improved after the break, with Craig Gardner central to most of which was good about them, but it looked as if the points were headed to London with ten minutes to go. However, Scott Dann then launched a hopeful ball upfield which the towering Nicola Zigic got his head to and Gardner steamed in to put a header beyond Huerelho Gomes for the equaliser.

 

Blackburn Rovers 3 - Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

Blackburn recover from last week's humping to take a comfortable home win against Wolves. Wanderers belied their position at the foot of the table with a bright start that saw them hit the woodwork twice in quick succession, with first Stephen Ward hitting the post before Ronald Zubar's effort came back off the bar. They were made to pay just before the half hour when Ryan Nelsen recovered a ball on the byline and David Dunn's weak header just about made it over the line. Shortly before the interval, it was two, after Jason Roberts outmuscled Steven Mouyokolo before laying the ball off for Brett Emerton to steam a shot into the roof of the net. Any hopes of a Wolves comeback were then ended ten minutes into the second half, when Nelsen was allowed a free run onto Morten Gamst Pedersen's free-kick to steer the ball home.

 

Chelsea 1 - Everton 1

Chelsea slip to third after failing to win again as Everton peg them back at Stamford Bridge. The defending champions have endured a poor run of form of late but had seemed to put that behind them with a decent first-half showing. Salomon Kalou had contrived to glance a free header wide and John Terry had seen a delicate effort come back off the bar, before the Blues were given the chance to take the lead from the penalty spot three minutes before the break. Phil Neville's awful back pass was intercepted by the lively Nicolas Anelka, who looked to run into Tim Howard as the keeper came out to cover. Referee Lee Probert had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, though decided not to show the keeper a red card, and Didier Drogba blasted his penalty home. However, the Toffees came out strongly for the second half and the home side started to look strangely fragile. Jack Rodwell was denied an equaliser by the width of a post whilst, in an increasingly rare attack from the home side, Ashley Cole failed to get a touch on Paulo Ferreira's cross which would have all but put the game safe. Ultimately, it was the visitors who got the next goal, with Jermaine Backford on hand to head past Petr Cech from Tim Cahill's nod back, after the impressive Leighton Baines had embarked on a weaving run down the left.

 

Liverpool v Aston Villa (Play Monday, report follows)

 

Manchester City 1 - Bolton Wanderers 0

Ten-man City earn a narrow home win over the in-form Wanderers. Carlos Tevez put his side ahead in the fourth minute, running onto Yaya Toure's pass before clipping a low finish past Jussi Jasskelainen, and his side went on to dominate much of the rest of the match. The Sky Blues were then denied the chance of another when David Silva was wrongly flagged for offside, just before squaring to Tevez, and then survived a brief flurry of Bolton pressure before seeing both Silva and Mario Balotelli strike the woodwork. Wanderers were thrown a lifeline with ten minutes remaining, when Alexander Kolarov picked up a second yellow card for a stupid challenge on Sam Ricketts, and poured forward looking for an equaliser. City's ever-solid backline was able to hold firm, though, and they end the weekend just three points off the top.

 

Sunderland 1 - West Ham United 0

West Ham's mini-revival proves short-lived as they go down at Sunderland. Both sides started the match positively but clear-cut chances were at a premium until the home team took the lead on thirty-four minutes. A nice passage of play saw the Black Cats ping the ball about before Asamoah Gyan was released down the right. The striker took a look before picking out Jordan Henderson's late run and the youngster planted his inch-perfect cross past Robert Green with little fuss. The Hammers threatened briefly at the start of the second half, with Carlton Cole going close with a cross-shot, but the game fizzled out a little in the last quarter and the home side held on to the win relatively comfortably.

 

West Bromwich Albion 3 - Newcastle United 1

West Brom post a comfortable home win against Newcastle to keep themselves in the top half of the table. After a thoroughly awful opening, the game came to life just after the half hour when Somen Tchoyi stepped inside before curling a great finish past Tim Krul; the keeper perhaps distracted by the presence of the offside Peter Odemwingie. The second half proved better entertainment as the visitors finally looked to threaten the home side's goal but it was the Baggies who were next to score. With twenty minutes left, Odemwingie latched onto the ball after Danny Guthrie had slipped in the centre-circle and ran at the hesitant Sol Campbell and Steven Taylor. Despite losing his footing, the Nigerian was able to wrong-foot the veteran and steer a shot through the youngster that beat Krul to the far corner. The game was then made safe a minute from time, with Odemwingie again making the most of some poor defending to race away and convert Marek Cech's long pass from the back. Peter Lovenkrands picked up a late consolation in injury time, tapping home after Scott Carson had blocked an Andy Carroll effort, but his side were second best on the day.

 

Wigan Athletic 2 - Stoke City 2

Wigan twice come from behind to earn a draw in a lively home encounter with Stoke. City took the lead in the eighteenth minute when Robert Huth's long-distance free-kick attempt dribbled agonisingly past Ali Al-Haabsi after catching a huge deflection in the Wigan wall. The Latics were level on the half-hour when Danny Collins could only deflect Ben Watson's free-kick into his own net under pressure from Antolin Alcaraz but parity was short-lived. Just a minute later, the Potters were ahead again, with Matthew Etherington running in to convert Ricardo Fuller's lay-off in the area. Ten minutes later and the home side were on terms again, as Tom Cleverley's speculative drive from outside the area caught Rory Delap before finding its way into the bottom corner past the wrong-footed Asmir Begovic. The second half was just as action-packed but, perhaps in the absence of further telling deflections, the two keepers proved equal to everything thrown at them. A draw was, on balance, pretty fair to both teams.