Premier League round-up

Wins for City, Reds and Hammers as other five games end all-square

Last updated: 27th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Premier League round-up

Mancini: First game, first win

Click below for individual match reports and statistics
Birmingham 0 Chelsea 0
Fulham 0 Tottenham 0
West Ham 2 Portsmouth 0
Burnley 1 Bolton 1
Man City 2 Stoke 0
Sunderland 1 Everton 1
Wigan 1 Blackburn 1
Liverpool 2 Wolves 0

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Roberto Mancini enjoyed a winning start to his Manchester City reign, Chelsea were held by Birmingham City and West Ham United beat Portsmouth at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Liverpool overcame Wolves, Tottenham Hotspur missed out on the chance to gatecrash the top four after drawing at Fulham and Everton battled back for a point at Sunderland.

A brace of North West derbies also finished all-square as Burnley and Wigan Athletic both came from behind at home to draw with Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers respectively.

The furore surrounding Mark Hughes' dismissal as manager may soon be forgotten if new Man City manager Mancini can continue how he has started following a 2-0 home win over Stoke City.

City took the lead against the run of play on 28 minutes when Martin Petrov side-footed home at the far post after Robinho had missed Carlos Tevez's low cross.

And it was 2-0 to the hosts on the stroke of half-time when Gareth Barry nodded down Pablo Zabaleta's cross for Tevez to steer past Thomas Sorensen.

Birmingham City made it 10 games unbeaten in the top flight for the first time in over 100 years after holding leaders Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at St Andrews.

In an open encounter, Christian Benitez harshly saw a close-range finish ruled out for offside in the first half, while Alex thundered the crossbar with a stunning free-kick for Chelsea.

Joe Hart was in impressive form between the posts for Birmingham as Chelsea finished the match with 10 men after Florent Malouda picked up a second yellow card for a needless challenge on Stephen Carr a minute from time.

Liverpool clambered back up to seventh spot in the table after a 2-0 victory over 10-man Wolves at Anfield.

The hosts were struggling to break down their opponents until Stephen Ward was shown a second yellow card on 53 minutes after a push on Lucas.

Reds captain Steven Gerrard headed his team in front on 62 minutes and Yossi Benayoun made certain of the points with a deflected effort on 70 minutes.

Tottenham's bid to move into the UEFA Champions League places was thwarted by Fulham after the London derby finished 0-0 at Craven Cottage.

Fulham struck the crossbar through Clint Dempsey's free-kick in the first half and the American, along with team-mate Bobby Zamora, was denied by Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes in the second period.

Spurs had a late chance to nick all three points, but Fulham shot-stopper Mark Schwarzer was on hand to keep out Peter Crouch and Jermaine Jenas.

West Ham climbed out of the bottom three after a vital 2-0 victory over fellow strugglers Portsmouth at Upton Park.

The hosts were good value for the win as Alessandro Diamanti converted a first-half penalty and Radoslav Kovac headed a late second to deflate a disappointing Pompey.

Bolton slipped into the relegation zone after failing to hold on to the lead in a 1-1 draw at local rivals Burnley.

Matt Taylor's stunning free-kick sent Bolton into the break in front, but David Nugent headed home a deserved equaliser for the Clarets on 56 minutes.

Steve Bruce endured more frustration at the Stadium of Light as Sunderland were pegged back for a 1-1 draw by Everton.

Sunderland made the breakthrough on 17 minutes when Kenwyne Jones clipped in an inch-perfect cross for strike partner Darren Bent to head beyond Tim Howard.

Everton snatched a point in the 85th minute when Tony Hibbert's cross was flicked on by a Sunderland player and Marouane Fellaini took a touch before lashing the ball home.

Wigan and Blackburn failed to give their battles for survival a much-needed shot in the arm following a 1-1 draw at the DW Stadium.

Blackburn took the lead on the half-hour mark when Ryan Nelsen headed a deep free-kick back across goal and the unmarked Benni McCarthy placed his shot past Chris Kirkland.

But Wigan battled back in the second period and levelled on 53 minutes when Charles N'Zogbia's cross from the left was headed home by Hugo Rodallega.