Premier League round-up

Hull shock Arsenal; derby delight for Reds; controversy at Old Trafford

Last updated: 28th September 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Premier League round-up

Hull celebrate their famous victory

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On a day when Liverpool made light work of ten-man Everton at Goodison Park, Hull recorded a famous victory against Arsenal, Manchester United got back to winning ways against Bolton and Chelsea were also comfortable on their travels to Stoke.

Fernando Torres was electric as Liverpool claimed a deserved win over their neighbours Everton, while Jose Bosingwa scored one and created another as Chelsea beat Stoke 2-0.

Wayne Rooney scored a stunning second goal in United's 2-0 win at Old Trafford but all the headlines will belong to Rob Styles, after he gifted the home side their opener in awarding a penalty, despite Jlloyd Samuel clearly taking ball not man in challenging Cristiano Ronaldo.

Newcastle's woes show no sign of improvement as Blackburn left St James' Park with a three-point haul, as new interim boss Joe Kinnear watched from the stands.

West Brom were also victorious in the North East as they earned a hard-fought 1-0 win at Middlesbrough, Aston Villa came from behind to take the spoils at home to Sunderland, while West Ham enjoyed their short trip across the capital as ten-man Fulham were seen off 2-1.

But the story of the day came at Emirates Stadium where Hull pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of the Premier League.

It was clear from the outset that Arsenal would have to work harder than expected for victory as Hull defended heroically in a goalless first half.

The breakthrough finally came in the 51st minute when Paul McShane scored an own goal after an excellent run by Theo Walcottt.

However, the drama was still to come as Geovanni equalised with a powerful strike from distance which flew past Manuel Almunia and into the top corner.

Daniel Cousin then headed Hull in front from a corner on 66 minutes and Arsenal could not respond despite laying siege to the visitors' penalty area.

Derby day

The 208th Merseyside derby was a typically robust affair that saw Everton slip to their third home league defeat in as many games and Liverpool continue to flourish in a campaign that matches their previous best ever start to a Premier League season.

Torres had endured a personal goal drought prior to the Goodison Park clash but the short trip across Stanley Park saw him in white hot form as his clinically taken brace ended a barren six-game run.

The first demonstrated the much feted Torres-Robbie Keane partnership is in full working order, as the Spaniard fired home a precision volley from the Irishman's pinpoint delivery.

Torres' second punished some hesitant Everton defending as he lashed the ball high past Tim Howard from close range.

A miserable afternoon for David Moyes was exacerbated by the sight of Mike Riley brandishing a red card in the direction of Tim Cahill, ten minutes from time, following the midfielder's late but hardly vindictive lunge on Xabi Alonso.

Jose impresses

Stoke contained Chelsea for 36 minutes at the Britannia Stadium but could do nothing about Bosingwa's finely constructed opener before the break.

A neat Chelsea move concluded with Frank Lampard's looped ball over the top of Stoke's backline and after taking the ball on his chest, a buccaneering Bosingwa rifled his finish past Thomas Sorensen and the despairing efforts of Andy Griffin on the line.

Chelsea's win was secured after the break when substitute Nicolas Anelka converted the impressive Bosingwa's low cross.

Sir Alex Ferguson decided to start with Rooney on the bench as Dimitar Berbatov was paired with Carlos Tevez and while United created chances, they were never quite at their fluid best in the first half against Bolton.

Jussi Jaaskelainen impressed with a series of excellent stops to deny Ronaldo, Berbatov and Tevez, but it was Bolton that conjured the best chance of the first half when Fabrice Muamba somehow contrived to screw the ball wide, when presented with a glorious opportunity no more than six yards from goal.

Bolton's goalkeeper could do little about Ronaldo's 60th minute penalty though as Gary Megson struggled to contain his rage, as the Portuguese expertly converted from 12 yards.

Styles controversy

If Rooney had a point to prove he did just that in coming off the bench to net a glorious second for United. After exchanging passes with Ronaldo the England man dummied, before bending a lovely shot beyond Jaaskelainen.

Gianfranco Zola's bright start to life as West Ham manager continued at Fulham as the Hammers took bragging rights at Craven Cottage.

Mark Schwarzer will enjoy better afternoons as his careless handling saw Matthew Etherington's cross spilled into the path of Carlton Cole, who put a tough week behind him with a tap in from close range.

Etherington then went from provider to goalscorer as he punished a piece of kamikaze goalkeeping, in finding the perfect finish from Mark Noble's lofted pass, to beat an on-rushing Schwarzer.

Andy Johnson's afternoon was curtailed in first half stoppage time when his late lunge at Lucas Neill saw referee Andre Marriner brandish a second yellow card.

West Ham appeared to be sailing but Neill made for an interesting second period when his handball in the area saw Danny Murphy reduce the deficit from the spot.

Out of Toon

Newcastle's beleaguered supporters were made to sit through a miserable first half against Blackburn, as lackadaisical defending gave Kinnear an indication of just what he has inherited.

Steven Taylor lost Christopher Samba from Carlos Villanueva's set piece to nod home an opener just past the half hour mark, before Roque Santa Cruz rose above Fabricio Coloccini to divert Brett Emerton's cross past Shay Given before the half-time break.

With the mood sinking to new depths inside St James' Park, Michael Owen partially rejuvenated spirits when he thumped a penalty past Jason Brown after being clipped from behind by Ryan Nelsen, at the start of the second period.

An entertaining affair in the Midlands saw Sunderland catch Aston Villa cold on ten minutes, as Djibril Cisse gave Steed Malbranque's exquisite slide-rule pass the finish it deserved as he clipped a first time effort beyond Brad Friedel.

The Black Cats' lead lasted just eight minutes though as Ashley Young extended an impressive goalscoring run to eight in his last 15 appearances as he bent a clever free-kick past Craig Gordon at his near post.

Young gun

It was another Young free-kick that led to Villa's second goal as his set-piece rebounded off the Sunderland wall and into the path of Stilian Petrov, whose drilled ball across goal was met by John Carew's clever backheel from close range.

Tony Mowbray enjoyed a dream return to Middlesbrough as his West Brom side came away from The Riverside with a 1-0 win, which owed much to some suspect goalkeeping on Ross Turnbull's part.

A scramble in Middlesbrough's box eventually saw the fall arrive at the feet of Jonas Olsson, whose close range stab for goal lacked any real venom but still had enough to beat a disappointed Turnbull.