Premier League round-up

Chelsea march on as Arsenal lose and Man City hold Reds

Last updated: 21st November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Premier League round-up

Chelsea: Clear at the top

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Liverpool 2 Man City 2
Birmingham 1 Fulham 0
Burnley 1 Aston Villa 1
Chelsea 4 Wolves 0
Hull City 3 West Ham 3
Sunderland 1 Arsenal 0
Man Utd 3 Everton 0

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Chelsea continued their relentless march at the top of the table as Arsenal lost to Sunderland and Manchester City held Liverpool.

Manchester United defeated Everton, Hull City and West Ham shared the points in a six-goal thriller, while Aston Villa grabbed a late equaliser against Burnley and Birmingham beat Fulham.

Liverpool and Manchester City were both looking to prove their top-four credentials in the lunchtime kick-off at Anfield but they had to settle for a point apiece following a 2-2 draw that started off as a battle between two sides struggling for confidence but finished in thrilling fashion.

The first half was largely devoid of goalmouth incident but the game exploded into life in the 50th minute as Martin Skrtel provided the finishing touch to a free-kick from Steven Gerrard to fire the Reds in front.

Emmanuel Adebayor rose unmarked to head home a corner on 69 minutes and bring City level, before Stephen Ireland slotted in from close range seven minutes later after a neat turn and cross by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Liverpool responded immediately through Yossi Benayoun's tap-in but the result will have failed to lift the pressure on Rafa Benitez, while City have now played out six consecutive draws.

Both sides are now further adrift of leaders Chelsea after Carlo Ancelotti's men cruised to the most comfortable of 4-0 victories at home to Wolves.

The Blues were missing several key players but it took just five minutes for them to break the deadlock, Florent Malouda rifling an unstoppable effort into the top corner from distance.

Michael Essien then came to the fore with two goals in the space of 10 minutes, first nodding in a Malouda corner and then adding a composed finish from a Salmon Kalou pass.

It was a case of damage limitation for Wolves from then on but Chelsea did manage to notch a fourth early in the second period when Wayne Hennessey allowed Joe Cole's effort through his grasp.

Arsenal have been irresistible in attack so far this season but they were blunted by a battling Sunderland display at the Stadium of Light and went down 1-0.

Chances were few and far between until Darren Bent pounced in the 71st minute to seal a famous triumph for the Black Cats and leave the Gunners eight points behind Chelsea.

Manchester United capitalised on Arsenal's slip-up and moved up to second in the table with a straightforward 3-0 success at home to Everton.

Darren Fletcher set the Red Devils on their way with a fabulous volley from 20 yards that crashed in off the post towards the end of the first half.

Michael Carrick doubled United's lead with a fine finish from Ryan Giggs' cross midway through the second half and Antonio Valencia added late gloss to the scoreline with a deflected shot past Tim Howard.

Hull City and West Ham remain in trouble at the wrong end of the table but they served up a feast of football in a 3-3 draw at the KC Stadium.

Gianfranco Zola's Hammers made the perfect start as Guillermo Franco nodded in a Junior Stanislas corner after just five minutes and Jack Collison sent a looping header over Matt Duke to make it 2-0 six minutes later.

The Tigers responded in the 27th minute as Jimmy Bullard's free-kick took a couple of wicked deflections, the final one off Carlton Cole, to leave Robert Green with no chance.

Kamil Zayatte connected well with a Stephen Hunt set-piece to bring it back to 2-2 and Bullard had the final say of a sensational first half as he smashed in a penalty just before the interval after Julien Faubert was controversially adjudged to have fouled Craig Fagan.

Hull were reduced to ten men when Bernard Mendy was shown a straight red card for bringing down Scott Parker in a dangerous position and West Ham capitalised in the 69th minute as Manuel Da Costa reacted quickest to a loose ball in the box to equalise.

Burnley were denied their sixth win out of seven matches at Turf Moor as Emile Heskey salvaged a 1-1 draw for UEFA Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa with a header four minutes from time.

Steven Caldwell beat Richard Dunne and Brad Friedel in the air to head home Robbie Blake's free-kick and give the Clarets an early advantage, and it looked like proving decisive as Villa struggled to find their usual fluency.

Birmingham produced an impressive performance to draw with Liverpool prior to the international break and they picked up where they left off to overcome Fulham 1-0 at St Andrews.

Lee Bowyer netted the crucial goal for Blues with a delightful effort on 16 minutes, deftly volleying over Mark Schwarzer after latching onto a clever chip from James McFadden.