Premier League Round-up 15th/16th October: City Top the Table, Chelsea ... - Isport.in

Goals from Balotelli, Johnson, Kompany and Milner helped Manchester City overtake Manchester United at the top of the table as the home team crushed Aston Villa 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

A late equaliser from substitute Javier Hernandez (81) helped Manchester United gain a crucial point against Liverpool after Steven Gerrard's spectacular freekick had given the home team a 1-0 lead in the 68^th minute at Anfield.

Chelsea cruised to a thumping 3-1 win over Everton at the Stamford Bridge courtesy goals from Sturridge, Terry and Ramires.

Robin Van Persie's spectacular brace helped Arsenal labour to a 2-1 victory over Sunderland at the Emirates.

Liverpool hosted Manchester United at Anfield. Both teams went into the match with following line-ups:

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Enrique, Carragher, Skrtel, Lucas, Adam, Gerrard, Downing, Kuyt, Suarez.  Subs: Doni, Bellamy, Carroll, Henderson, Spearing, Robinson, Agger.

Manchester United: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Young, Jones, Fletcher, Park, Giggs, Welbeck.  Subs: Lindegaard, Anderson, Rooney, Hernandez, Carrick, Nani, Valencia.

A listless first half saw just a single chance created by Luis Suarez with a trademark twist, turn and shoot straight at De Gea inside the box as both teams went into the break 0-0. Steven

Gerrard, making his first start of the season, brought the game to life after the break in the 68^th minute as he gave Liverpool the lead via a spectacular freekick. Liverpool earned a freekick after Rio Ferdinand fouled Charlie Adam on the edge of the box. Skipper Gerrard stood up to the occasion and caressed the ball through the United wall an into the bottom corner to make it 1-0 for Liverpool.

United responded by introducing Rooney, Nani and Hernandez in place of Young, Park and Jones and the move payed rich dividends as Hernandez equalised via a crunching header in the 81^st minute. Welbeck got a neat flick-on from the corner kick, and Hernandez, who was unmarked at the back post, produced a crunching header to beat Reina and make it 1-1.

Liverpool stepped up a gear in the dying minutes of the game, but United keeper, De Gea, made sure that United didn't leave Anfield empty handed as he produced a string of spectacular saves to deny Kuyt at first from a close range and then Jordan Henderson with a dipping volley in the injury time.

Manchester City hosted Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium. Both teams went into the match with following line-ups:

Man City: Hart, Richards, Lescott, Kompany, Clichy, De Jong, Barry, Johnson, Y Toure, Milner, Balotelli. Subs: Pantilimon, K Toure, Kolarov, Hargreaves, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Dunne, Clark, Warnock, Ireland, Petrov, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Bent, Delph. Subs: Guzan, N'Zogbia, Albrighton, Cuellar, Bannan, Weimann, Herd.

Without the likes of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli who started as lone striker upfront, gave City the lead in the 28^th minute via a neat overhead kick from eight yards out.

City doubled their lead two minutes into the second half courtesy Johnson's cool finish into the bottom corner. Johnson was quick to capitalise on Warnock's slip at left-back and then slid the ball past Shay Given into the bottom corner.

It was game set and match for City in the 52^nd minute when Vincent Kompany headed home Johnson's corner to make it 3-0. Warnock scored a consolation goal in the 64^th minute when he smashed home off the underside of the bar, but Milner completed the rout six minutes later with a stunning curling effort from 20 yards to seal an emphatic victory.

Chelsea hosted Everton at Stamford Bridge. Both teams went into the match with following line-ups:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Bosingwa, Terry, Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Mata, Drogba, Sturridge. Subs: Turnbull, Alex, Romeu, Malouda, Meireles, Lukaku, Anelka.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Coleman, Cahill, Osman, Fellaini, Rodwell, Saha. Subs: Mucha, Heitinga, Neville, Bilyaletdinov, Drenthe, Stracqualursi, Vellios.

Chelsea opened the scoring in the 31^st minute courtesy Daniel Sturridge who headed home Ashley Cole's brilliant floated cross. John Terry doubled the lead seconds before the half-time interval when he headed home a brilliant Lampard freekick.

Ramires finished off the match in the 62^nd minute when he prodded home the third from Juan Mata's accurate left-wing cross. Apostolos Vellios' got one back nine minutes from time but the strike was just a consolation as Toffees slipped to a third straight defeat.

Arsenal hosted Sunderland at the Emirates. Both teams went into the match with following line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Song, Arteta, Rosicky, Walcott, Gervinho, Van Persie. Subs: Fabianski, Andre Santos, Djourou, Frimpong, Arshavin, Benayoun, Park.

Sunderland: Mignolet, O'Shea, Turner, Brown, Richardson, Elmohamady, Cattermole, Colback, Vaughan, Larsson, Sessegnon. Subs: Gardner, Dong-won, Meyler. Westwood, Wickham, McClean, Laing.

Robin Van Persie opened the scoring in as early as the 29^th second after the kick off to give Arsenal the lead. Rosicky started the move with a lobbed pass to Gervinho who squared a pass across the edge of the box to Van Persie. The Dutchman drilled low past Simon Mignolet from 18 yards to record the fastest goal of the season.

Arsenal dominated the early minutes and should have doubled their lead in the 12^th minute when an audacious chip by Van Persie hit the post. Two minutes later the Dutchman shot just wide from 25 yards.

Arsenal were made to pay for their missed chances when former Gunner Larsson equalised against his former club, with a wonder strike, a magnificent curling freekick on the half hour mark. A brilliant save by Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny, diving full length to save a close range Cattermole header, made sure that Arsenal went into the break on level terms.

The second half totally belonged to Arsenal as substitute Arshavin danced past three defenders inside the area but drilling his shot wide. Arsenal dominance payed off nine minutes from time when Van Persie curled in sublime freekick into the top left corner of the Sunderland goal after being brought down by Brown's clumsy challenge on the edge of the penalty area to secure three crucial points for Arsenal.

Premier League Results 15^th/16^th October 2011

Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United

Manchester City 4-1 Aston Villa

Wigan Athletic 1-3 Botlon Wanderers

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Blackburn Rovers

Stoke City 2-0 Fulham

Norwich City 3-1 Swansea City

Chelsea 3-1 Everton

West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Arsenal 2-1 Sunderland

Newcastle United 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur

17 Oct, 2011

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