Weekend In Review: 1/19

Weekend In Review:

Blackburn Rovers 3-0 Newcastle United
Blackburn own the second half with three goals, assisted by the red card to Nicky Butt Rock, who then retired to the locker room to listen to Hinder.

Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Manchester United
Berbatov, 90th minute. Fuck Bulgaria. That is all.

Chelsea 2-1 Stoke City
I was going to make a joke about how Chelsea saved their season by winning at Southend United midweek, because the Blues were behind into the 88th minute. Then Belletti and Lampard happened, and I was not laughing anymore.

Manchester City 1-0 Wigan
City gets a goal early in the second half, then Richard Dunne sees red for kicking at Amr Zaki when they were both on the ground, but City manages to hold on. Surely City can find easier ways to win once they have spent the GDP of England on January transfers.

Sunderland 1-2 Aston Villa
The Villans maintain their grip on a Champions League berth thanks to Gary Barry at the penalty spot. After typing that, I understand much better why he goes by Gareth.

West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Middlesbrough
The bottom-feeding Baggies beat Boro badly, and the relegation fight somehow becomes more entangled than ever.

Hull City 1-3 Arsenal
When Daniel Cousin tied this one up in the second half, I was all prepared to write about how Arsene should have known about and been wary of “Dangerous Cousins”. Then the Gunners went and ruined the joke. Not that I didn’t just post it anyways.

West Ham United 3-1 Fulham
The Hammers take down Team USA in the all-London battle.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Portsmouth
Ledley King and Roman Pavlyuchenko both leave due to injury, but Spurs have escaped rock bottom of the league thanks to Jermaine Defoe. Furthermore, according to BBC, Gareth Bale has now equalled a record for most appearances without a Premier League win, at 21. So that means he’s due for a win next time out, right?

Liverpool 1-1 Everton
Rafa finally decides to play Robbie Keane and Fernando Torres together, but to no effect, though, as Liverpool didn't break through until Keano was lifted from the match. Stevey G put the Reds ahead for a time, but in the end Tim Cahill spoils the derby for the Reds in the 87th minute. Another interesting stat from BBC: Everton have been awarded precisely one penalty in the last 71 years at Anfield.

Top of the table:

Man U 47 Pts +24
Liverpool 47 Pts +22
Chelsea 45 Pts +29
Aston Villa 44 Pts +13
Arsenal 41 Pts +13

Man U’s late, late victory on Saturday sent them to the top, and Chelsea’s miraculous finish kept them squarely in the race for the title.

Relegation Musical Chairs:


Fulham 26 Pts +2
Man City 25 Pts +9
Portsmouth 24 Pts -12
Bolton 23 Pts -8
Sunderland 23 Pts -9
Newcastle 23 Pts -9
Tottenham 21 Pts -6
Blackburn 21 Pts -11
Middlesbrough 21 Pts -15
Stoke City 21 Pts -16
West Brom 21 Pts -17

Fulham joins the race, despite being 10th in the league, because they’re still only 5 points clear of the bottom. Making things crazier this week than last is that there are now five teams tied on points at the bottom, with Tottenham and Blackburn currently with their heads above water and Middlesbrough, Stoke and West Brom drowning.

For The Record:

Your current promotees to the 2009-10 Prem would be Wolverhampton Wanderers and Reading, with the ensuing playoff between Birmingham City, Sheffield United, Preston North End and Cardiff City.

Elsewhere:

Barcelona continues to make a habit of 5-0 wins, and they remain 12 points clear of second place Real Madrid. Consolation spots in the Champions League also belong to Sevilla and Valencia. Villareal and Atletico Madrid hold down the UEFA Europa League spots.

In Italy, Inter stays top despite suffering only their second loss of the league campaign. Juventus could only make up one point on Sunday, and are now behind by 3 points. Also, as it stands, AC Milan would return to Champions League, and Genoa have jumped Napoli for Italy’s final spot. Napoli and Fiorentina would see the lower European tier.

No Rest For The Weary:

In England, it’s the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-finals, and while Tottenham look highly likely to reach the final for the second consecutive year, the real drama will be at Old Trafford on Tuesday, with Manchester United looking to overturn a 1-0 defeat to, of all teams, Derby County, last year’s worst Premier League side, and the worst Premier League side ever. There are also some quarterfinals in Copa Del Rey and Coppa Italia.

Weekend In Review appears on Sunday or Monday.