EPL 2011-2012 Round 6

Title: EPL 2011-2012 Round 6

Description: 26 September 2011 Norwich 2 (Barnett 31. Morison 48) Sunderland 1 (Richardson 86) Not a game to catch the eye on the fixture list but it wasn't bad entertainment as Norwich narrowly saw off Sunderland at Carrow Road. Norwich went ahead just after the half hour as the visitors defence was split apart by neat passing as a quick one-two sent Elliott Bennett away on the right and his low cross was turned in by the unmarked Leon Barnett from close range. The hosts began the second half well and they doubled the lead quickly as a clipped cross from Marc Tierney was headed in powerfully by Steve Morison, however with four minutes up Sunderland set up a dramatic finale as Dong-Won Ji found Kieron Richardson on the left edge of the area and his shot arrowed through a crowd of players and nestled inside the far post. Norwich actually played the five minutes of stoppage time with ten men as James Vaughan went off injured after they'd used all their subs but they held on amid intense pressure. Attendance : 26,107 Assists : Bennett (ck), Tierney, Ji Dong-Won 25 September 2011 QPR 1 (Dunne 93 og) Aston Villa 1 (Bannan 58 Pen) SENT OFF : Traore (QPR) 90 QPR grabbed a deserved draw thanks to a freak own goal in stoppage time at home to Aston Villa. Rangers dominated a goalless first half but Villa improved significantly after the break and went ahead with a controversial penalty as Traore was judged to have pulled the shirt of Gabriel Agbonlahor as the pair battled for a cross. The decision surprised most in the stadium, even the Villa fans who were literally yards from the action but didn't screech for a penalty! Barry Bannan found the bottom corner from the spot although keeper Paddy Kenny guessed right. The hosts seemed to have lost any hope when Traore was shown a second yellow for a late challenge on Marc Albrighton, however they threw caution to the wind and in the third minute of stoppage time, Heidar Helguson's drilled cross was thumped clear by Stephen Warnock only for it to hit Richard Dunne on the knee and rebound in. Attendance : 16,707 Assists : Agbonlahor (won pen), n/a 24 September 2011 Manchester City 2 (Balotelli 68, Milner 88) Everton 0 Man City go top ahead of Man United's game in the evening but took a while to break down Everton. Bad boy sub Mario Balotelli broke the deadlock midway through the second half as he collected a back heel from Sergio Aguero and found the net with a well placed effort from the edge of the area. The win was secured late on as David Silva sent James Milner through and he just reached the ball ahead of the keeper and prodded it under him and into the net. Attendance : 47,293 Assists : n/a, Silva Arsenal 3 (Van Persie 46, Van Persie 71, Song 89) Bolton 0 SENT OFF : Wheater (Bolton) 55 Arsenal began to get their season back on track with a comfortable win against ten man Bolton. After a goalless first half, it swung the Gunners way in the opening minute of the second as Robin Van Persie collected a pass from Aaron Ramsey and after driving into the area, he fired a shot inside the near post. Bolton's cause wasn't further damaged by an injury to Gary Cahill and a red card to David Wheater for pulling back Theo Walcott as he burst clear. The hosts took full advantage as Walcott crossed for Van Persie to flick in the second - his 100th for Arsenal - and late on Bacary Song set up Alex Song to fire in from the edge of the area. Attendance : 59,727 Assists : Ramsey, Walcott, Ramsey Chelsea 4 (Torres 29, Ramires 36, Ramires 76, Drogba 94) Swansea 1 (Williams 86) SENT OFF : Torres (Chelsea) 39 Chelsea remain on the heels of the two Manchester clubs with a win over newly promoted Swansea although Fernando Torres again grabbed the headlines for the wrong reasons. In fairness to the Spaniard, it began well as he controlled Juan Mata's cross before turning and firing in. Seven minutes later, Ramires doubled the lead with a low shot after being found by Ashley Cole, however Torres was then shown a straight red card for a two footed lunge on Mark Gower. It didn't make too much difference as Ramires added a third as he slotted in Jose Bosingwa's pass and although the Welsh side pulled one back as Gower's free kick was nodded in by Ashley Williams but with almost up, Chelsea added a fourth as sub Didier Drogba was found by Florent Malouda and turned on the edge of the area and found the bottom corner. Attendance : 41,800 Assists : Mata, Cole, Bosingwa, Gower (fk), Malouda Liverpool 2 (Johnson 11 og, Suarez 38) Wolves 1 (Fletcher 49) Liverpool are up to fifth but didn't have it all their own way against Wolves. They led early in freak circumstances as Charlie Adam's off target effort was nodded into his own net by Roger Johnson. The lead was doubled before half time as Jose Enrique sent Luis Suarez clear and after twisting his marker inside-out, he drilled a low shot inside the near post. Wolves battled back when Steven Fletcher volleyed into the roof of the net from Steven Hunt's cross but they couldn't muster a leveller. Attendance : 44,922 Assists : n/a, Enrique, Hunt Newcastle 3 (Ba 27, 30, 54) Blackburn 1 (Hoilett 37) SENT OFF : Olsson (Blackburn) 69 Demba Ba scored an excellent hat trick as Newcastle saw off ten man Blackburn. He netted twice in four minutes in the first half as he collected Leon Best's cross and turned before walloping into the roof of the net. Rovers had barely recovered when Ba struck again with a close range header after Steven Taylor nodded the ball across goal. The visitors pulled one back when Martin Olsson crossed for Junior Hoilett to take a touch and blast in from the edge of the area. The hat trick was completed early in the second half when Ba looped in a header from Cheik Tiote's cross although Rovers wanted a foul as Best went for the ball before it drifted in. Olsson was then red carded as he fouled Best, his second booking of the game. Attendance : 46,236 Assists : Best, n/a, Olsson, Tiote West Brom 0 Fulham 0 Goalless at the Hawthorns leaving West Brom and Fulham in the bottom four. Fulham hit the woodwork twice in the second half but the Baggies almost won it in stoppage time as Chris Brunt's cross crashed against the inside of the post before bouncing to safety. Attendance : 23,835 Assists : n/a Wigan 1 (Diame 50) Tottenham 2 (Van Der Vaart 3, Bale 23) SENT OFF : Gohouri (Wigan) 63 Spurs' recent good run continued with a good win at Wigan. They struck early as Emmanuel Adebayor capitalised on a defensive mix up to set up Rafael Van Der Vaart to sweep the ball in and by half time, the lead was doubled after Gareth Bale glanced an excellent header inside the far post from a corner by Luka Modric. Wigan pulled one back early in the second half as Ronnie Stam found Mohammed Diame and as the defence backed off, he turned and slotted low inside the post, however any real chance they had disappeared when Steve Gohouri was shown a second yellow for a clattering challenge on Bale. Attendance : 18,788 Assists : Adebayor, Modric (ck), Stam Stoke 1 (Crouch 51) Manchester United 1 (Nani 27) Man United stay top but loose their perfect start to the season after they were held to a draw at Stoke. The game began somewhat physically with Stoke doing their best to kick United off the pitch resulting in a penalty claim turned down after Javier Hernandez was clearly pushed in the area and a booking for Glenn Whelan for a crunching challenge on Patrice Evra. The push on Hernandez resulted in the Mexican colliding with the keeper and picking up an injury which saw him replaced by Michael Owen and all inside the opening ten minutes. When the game eventually settled, United led as Nani played a neat one-two with Darren Fletcher, waltzed past four defenders and slotted a shot low into the bottom corner. Stoke almost levelled straight away as Andy Wilkinson's stinging shot was tipped against the bar by keeper David De Gea. The stopper then made an equally good save from Jonathon Walters whose cross-shot looked to be heading for the far post. After the break, Stoke grabbed a well deserved equaliser from the traditional set piece route as a Matt Etherington corner was headed in powerfully by Peter Crouch. The former Spurs man should have netted again shortly afterwards but managed to fire against the arm of the keeper from point blank range. Marc Wilson's bullet free kick was also pushed away by De Gea although United could have had a penalty when Evra's shot was clearly handled by Ryan Shawcross. Crouch was the major danger for United late as he headed wide and then bobbled another effort wide when better contact would have been a test for De Gea. In the first minute of stoppage time, sub Ryan Giggs blazed a golden chance wide from Nani's perfect cross and with it went United's 100% record. Attendance : 27,582 Assists : Fletcher, Etherington (ck)

LEADERS
16 points - Manchester United, Manchester City
13 points - Chelsea
12 points - Newcastle
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin YahooGroups Premier-L list http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/premier-l/ Leeds United and Scotland and proud of it

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Publish Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:54:01 +0100