Premier League round-up

Fellaini rescues Toffees; United drop points; delight for Richardson

Last updated: 25th October 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Premier League round-up

Derby delight for Sunderland

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Everton 1 Manchester United 1
Sunderland 2 Newcastle 1
West Brom 0 Hull City 3
Blackburn 1 Middlesbrough 1

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On an afternoon when it was derby day delight for Sunderland over Newcastle, Manchester United dropped points at Everton and Hull City's remarkable start to the season continued at West Brom.

Kieran Richardson's lashed free-kick from the edge of the box gave Sunderland their first win on home soil against their neighbours since a 1-0 victory at Roker Park back in April 1980.

Manchester United will rue missed first half chances at Everton as Marouane Fellaini's second half header cancelled out Darren Fletcher's opener in the first period.

At The Hawthorns an absorbing contest between two promoted clubs saw Hull take the spoils over West Brom, a 3-0 win that consolidates their position in third, behind only Chelsea and Liverpool on goal difference.

Battling point

In the noon kick-off, Manchester United travelled to Goodison Park chasing a seventh successive win in all competitions. In the first period Everton could not have been more accommodating, as Fletcher's composed finish from Ryan Giggs' clever pass gave United a deserved half-time lead.

Had it not been for Tim Howard in the home goal the contest would have been over at the break as Nemanja Vidic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Giggs all threatened to add to Fletcher's opener.

It was, though, a different Everton that emerged after the interval as Fellaini's towering header, which saw him rise above Vidic, gave Phil Neville's looped delivery the finish it deserved.

With the home crowd buoyed after a subdued opening period, Everton went for the jugular and would have grabbed all three points had Edwin van der Sar not pushed Yakubu Aiyegbeni's shot onto the post, after an uncharacteristic Rio Ferdinand error.

Explosive derby

The Tyne-Wear derby was the type of high-octane clash of yesteryear, as Sunderland stole bragging rights with their first home victory from this fixture in 28 years.

Roy Keane's Black Cats snarled into their visitors from the off as Djibril Cisse broke the deadlock in the 20th minute, when his outstretched leg diverted Steed Malbranque's screwed shot beyond Shay Given.

Joe Kinnear has if nothing else instilled greater steel to his Newcastle side and a travelling Toon faithful were rewarded for their partisan support, as renaissance man Shola Ameobi restored parity on the half hour mark.

Geremi was the architect as his free-kick was headed in by Ameobi, who has now scored in successive games.

At Craven Cottage last week Richardson was left to rue the width of Fulham's woodwork, as his free-kick hit the frame of the goal a remarkable three times. There was no such reprieve for Newcastle though, as the one-time England midfielder scored a stunning winner in the 75th minute, via an explosive effort from the edge of the box.

The final whistle was marred by ugly scenes involving supporters, while Joey Barton was targeted as he warmed up before making a late second half appearance as a substitute.

Sixth win for City

Hull completed a remarkable smash-and-grab job on the road as they left an evenly contested clash with West Brom with three points and as many goals.

West Brom played some enterprising football of their own but were again undone by a familiar Achilles heel: profligacy in front of goal.

Boaz Myhill was outstanding in Hull's goal as superb saves denied Robert Koren, Borja Valero and James Morrison, while Jonas Olsson hit the crossbar with a close-range header.

Hull had to wait until the second half to break the deadlock, as Kamil Zayatte was left with a criminal amount of space in the box to smartly prod home a Dean Marney corner from close range.

If Hull's first goal owed much to West Brom's defensive deficiencies, their second was a cleverly constructed effort, which saw Geovanni lob the ball into the path of Marlon King, whose ball back to the Brazilian was just the tonic for a diving header that beat Scott Carson at his far post.

As West Brom threw more and more men forward in a bid to get back into the game, a long ball exposed a porous backline as King's astute first touch presented him with enough time to gleefully slot home past Carson.

Late drama at Ewood

An injury time header from Benni McCarthy saved Blackburn as they claimed a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough at Ewood Park.

Rovers dominated possession for much of the game, but Boro were always in the match.

Both sides struck the woodwork in the opening 45 minutes and the away side saw a goal harshly chalked off for offside as Tuncay Sanli was wrongly flagged after an acrobatic overhead finish.

The Teessiders then looked as if they had snatched victory as Afonso Alves lashed an excellent finish home from the edge of the box.

Then four-minutes into injury time and unmarked McCarthy rose to head home and seal a share of the spoils for Rovers.