Bolton 0 - 0 West Brom
3 world-class saves, 2 goals ruled offside, 1 uncertainty of whether the ball crossed the goal line and 0 goals. That about summarises that whole match. In the first half, Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen dived and saved at fingertip from a Morrison's curling shot from 25 yards while West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson was not to be out done and produced a equally impressive save from a Riga freekick that was going into the top corner. Jaaskelainen again denied West Brom max points when a Do-Heon Kim 30 yard drive hit the cross bar and bounce down onto the line into the path of Miller but Jaaskelainen was on hand to parry the effort away from point blank range.
Nearing the end of the game, Davies looked to have secured the win for Bolton when his fierce shot flew into the roof of the net, however it was correctly ruled out for offside. In the last minute, Davies again had an effort ruled offside and the game ended in a goal-less draw.
Everton 0 - 3 Portsmouth
Jermaine Defoe was the star of the match. He netted a brace and added in an assist to round off an impressive performance for England boss Fabio Capello to seriously think about bringing back Owen. Defoe opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a typical predatory goal and assisted Glen Johnson 5 minutes later with a superb pass. In the 69th minute, Defoe showed his class when he chipped the ball into the net with deadly accuracy and brilliant technique. David James also laid strong claims to be back as England's number one when he saved Yakubu's penalty 2 minutes into the second half. Having lost their two opening matches, Pompey bounced back and sent Everton into a deeper crisis, having lost two home games in three weeks.
Hull 0 - 5 Wigan
Wigan thrashed newcomers Hull in a one way traffic game. Hull never seem to threaten Wigan too much but their defending was disastrous. As early as the 4th minute, Wigan took the lead in bizarre fashion as a mis-kicked corner from Kilbane dropped to the near post, Hull defender Ricketts, in a hurry to clear the ball, slipped and somehow sliced the ball into his own net. Wigan widened the gap 10 minutes later as a Hull corner was cleared to Zaki and he flicked the ball to Valencia on the half-way line, who burst clear through the wide gaps in the Hull defense and slot the ball under goalkeeper Myhill and into the net. A consistently impressive Zaki ended any hope of a Hull comeback as he scored the third goal from a Valencia pass, while strike partner Emile Heskey took advantage of a suicidal short backwards header to round Myhill and pass the ball into an empty net. Zaki compounded Hull's misery and added his third goal in three games for Wigan in the 80th minute when he smashed the ball off the crossbar which cannoned downwards and cross the line from a shot outside the penalty area. The rout is completed and the Tigers were made to look like tamed pussy cats.
Middlesbrough 2 - 1 Stoke
Boro won but they scarely deserve it. They were wasteful in front of goal and Downing even managed to miss a spot kick, shooting the ball against the crossbar. Stoke had defended resolutely for 35 minutes before midfielder Faye made a rash tackle on Boro's Shawky and was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Dean. Boro scored from the resulting free-kick, Alves curling the ball pass the goalkeeper and into the net. Aliadiere, Tuncay, Downing and Alves are all guilty of wasting goal scoring chances. If they had taken their chances, they would have killed off the game latest by 10 minutes into the second half. However, they were almost made to pay if not for Tuncay.
In the 71st minute, new signing Hoyte scored an own goal on his debut. He was under intense pressure from Kitson when a cross came in and he could only bundle the ball into his own net. With 5 minutes remaining, Tuncay controlled a mishit shot from Digard and fire pass goalkeeper Sorensen to snatch the win.
West Ham 4 - 1 Blackburn
Paul Ince suffered his first defeat as Blackburn manager and what a thrashing his team got. A Davenport header from a corner and a Samba own goal gave West game a 2-0 lead just 20 minutes into the game. Jason Roberts scored and pulled Blackburn back into the game and the score remain 2-1 till half-time. Roberts failed to take his chance shortly after the break as his penalty was saved by West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green. Green saved again from a Emerton close-range header to protect West Ham's slim lead. West Ham waited till late to seal the win as Bellamy latched onto a through-ball from Lucas Neill and shoot pass goalkeeper Robinson at the start of the 5 minutes stoppage time. Chalton Cole still had the time to blast a fourth goal with the last kick of the game. The game ended 4-1 and Blackburn's misery was compounded as their star striker Santa Cruz was injured.
Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle
The Gunners are back to their winning ways with a 3-0 hammering of The Magpies. Arsenal are a different team with Fabregas back and it showed as passes were flowing. However, the night belonged to Robin Van Persie as he netted a brace; one from the penalty spot and another from a superb backpass from Eboue inside the penalty box. Arsenal was awarded a penalty when Charles N'Zogbia handled after 18 minutes from a cross by Adebayor. Arsenal's third goal came from youngster Denilson as a flowing move starting with Nasri tapping the ball to Adebayor and he laid it sideways where Denilson shoot past a defender and a wrong footed Shay Given. Arsenal could have been further ahead but the bar had denied Van Persie as his shot from almost on the goal-line ricocheted off the underside of the bar at the near post.
Shay Given was at his best to prevent Newcastle from being beaten too badly as he produced an excellent reaction save at point-blank range to keep out Toure's header and diving at full stretch to keep out a Nasri curling free-kick. Given is an execllent goalkeeper and Newcastle would have conceded more goals if not for his heroics. The game ended 3-0 which reflected Arsenal's superiority.
Chelsea 1 - 1 Tottenham
Spurs got their first point of the season while ruining Chelsea's perfect start to the season by holding them to a draw at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had dominated the start, peppering the Spur's goal with several long range shot, two in particular was on target and perfectly executed. The first was from Frank Lampard, who received a Joe Cole flick and upon sighting Spurs goalkeeper Gomes off his line, chipped the ball perfectly to dip under then crossbar but Gomes tracked back in time and tip the ball over. The second was a 25 yards piledriver from Essien which rattled the crossbar. The ball was cleared for a corner. From the resulting corner, Belletti diverted the ball into the net with his left thigh after Bent failed to connect with and clear the ball before it reach Belletti.
Chelsea looked good for their lead, however, on the stroke of half-time, Tottenham levelled through Bent. A challenge on Modric by Lampard caused the ball to roll into the path of Bent which left him on a 1 on 1 situation with Peter Cech. Bent duely slot the ball under a diving Cech and into the net. The game that followed after the break was a scrappy affair as both Tottenham start to find their rhythm and trouble Chelsea. However, Chelsea looked dangerous on the break and Tottenham had defended with seven or even eight men behind the ball. Chelsea was still dominating possession but failed to breakdown the Tottenham rearguard and the scoreline shows 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.
Sunderland 0 - 3 Manchester City
Roy Keane's expensively assembled squad looked lost and devoid of ideas and creativity. They lack bite in attack and did not create any straight forward chances to trouble the Man City goalkeeper. Their defense looked to be in disarray as men were left unmarked and large gaps were left in the defense. The end state after 90 minutes? The Black Cats got a whipping by the boys from the blue side of Manchester. Manchester City opened the scoring through Ireland who stabbed the ball home after a Michael Johnson's cross was cleared into his path inside the penalty box just before the break.
Five minutes into the restart, Manchester City widened the gap when an unmarked Shaun Wright-Phillips, back for a second stint with a 9 million pounds price tag from Chelsea, tapped the ball into an empty net after Jo drilled the ball across the goal-mouth. Eight minutes later, Wright-Phillips again scored after Michael Ball had lifted the ball over the defense. Wright-Phillips first burst into the scenes with Manchester City before he was sold to Chelsea and he is back to relaunch his career. His 2 goal debut will no doubt do his confidence some good and he is fast becoming a Manchester City favorite if he keeps up his performances.
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
A win was all Liverpool needed to go top of the table was Chelsea was held to a draw in the earlier game. However, Villa appear in no mood to roll over and let Liverpool win and both teams seem to cancel each other out. Villa's rearguard was marshaled by a solid Martin Laursen, Captain of The Villains. Villa looked a match for Liverpool in all departments and moments when they threatened to score. The most notable one was a pass from Ashley Young to John Carew who was only about eight yards out from goal and his placed shot was saved by Jose Reina. Liverpool themselves threatened constantly with Kuyt looking dangerous.
Liverpool suffered a setback after 27 minutes when their star striker, Fernando Torres was substituted after pulling a hamstring when chasing after a loose ball. With both team cancelling each other out, the match turned out to be rather boring and a big disappointment.
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