First Half: Schurrle puts a sliding effort from close range just wide of the far post following a low cross from Azpilicueta. Bolasie puts an effort into the side-netting. Jerome has a penalty appeal turned down. Bolasie has a penalty appeal turned down.
Half Time: 0-0.
Second Half: Goal! 1-0, Palace take the lead as Terry heads into his own net at the near side trying to clear away a cross. Hazard has a low shot from the edge of the box across goal parried away. Puncheon fires a low shot from the edge of the box across goal just wide of the far post. Terry heads just over the bar. Hazard has a shot across goal superbly parried behind. Jerome hits a low shot against the near post. Ledley volleys wide across goal. Puncheon has a driven shot saved at the near side. Torres chips an effort over the bar.
Full Time: 1-0.
Palace 17>16th, 28>31pts
Chelsea 1>2nd, 69pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was Speroni. Palace upset Chelsea at Selhurst Park. That was a miraculous performance from the Palace players who simply wanted to win more than Chelsea did. They battled hard throughout and kept Chelsea at bay for most of the game. The goal came by rather fortunate circumstances as Terry headed into his own net but I can't say they didn't to deserve a goal. Speroni had one of those games where nothing was going to get past him. He made a number of really important and top saves to keep out Chelsea. Very impressive and it will give them a huge boost in their bid for survival. I think they'll be okay after that and Pulis is doing a marvellous job there. With those three points, Palace move up one place into 16th.
Chelsea were poor and failed to get going. It was a very similar performance to the one when they lost 1-0 away to Villa. Hazard and Torres were not on form as a lack of a cutting edge up front was plain to see. Mourinho and Chelsea will be devastated after losing that game as they fall behind Liverpool in the title race. Things need to improve away from home for Chelsea who are playing themselves out of the title race. With that defeat, Chelsea fall one place down into 2nd.
Arsenal 1 v 1 Manchester City Silva (18), Flamini (53)
First Half: Navas curls a shot just wide of the far post. Rosicky has a penalty appeal turned down. Goal! 0-1, City take the lead as Dzeko strikes a fierce shot against the near post but Silva is on hand to tap in the rebound from close range at the near side. Flamini has a goal ruled out for offside.
Half Time: 0-1.
Second Half: Dzeko puts a close range effort just wide of the near post. Cazorla has a low shot from long range parried away. Goal! 1-1, Arsenal equalise as a low Podolski cross is slotted in by Flamini whose effort finds the far bottom corner. Podolski has a low shot blocked past the near post. Fernandinho has a long range driven shot tipped over the bar. Yaya Toure has an effort blocked before Dzeko has a shot that deflects wide of the near post.
Full Time: 1-1.
Arsenal 4th, 63>64pts
Man City 3rd, 66>67pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was Flamini. Arsenal hold City at the Emirates. It was a slow start to the game from Arsenal who didn't really get going until the second half where they then looked like the better team. Flamini took his goal really well as the momentum shifted in the favour of Arsenal but they couldn't find a second and seemed to settle for a point. A win would have put Arsenal back in the title race but a point just might not cut it as they fall further behind Liverpool.
City started the game strongly and deservedly took the lead through David Silva. However, they couldn't make their dominance pay as they only went into half time one goal up. They were left to rue that as they spent most of the second half on the back foot. They struggled to create much going forward and ended up trying to contain Arsenal. They conceded shortly into the second half and spent most of the rest of the half holding on for a point. In the end it was a point gained for City but I felt it could have been two more had they really gone for it.
West Bromich Albion 3 v 3 Cardiff City Amalfitano (2), Dorrans (9), Mutch (30), Caulker (73), Thievy (90+4), Daehli (90+5)
First Half: Goal! 1-0, West Brom take the lead as Amalfitano scores with a long range shot/cross into the far top corner. Morrison has a volley denied by a great save across goal. Goal! 2-0, West Brom double their lead as Vydra lays the ball off to Dorrans who scores with a low shot from close range into the far bottom corner. Goal! 2-1, Cardiff halve the deficit as Mutch scores with a long range shot/cross into the far top corner.
Half Time: 2-1.
Second Half: Vydra has a low shot blocked before Morrison blazes a shot over the bar. Goal! 2-2, Cardiff equalise as Caulker heads into the far top corner from Medel's free kick. Daehli has a low shot across goal saved. Goal! 3-2, West Brom score a dramatic late goal as a low cross falls to Thievy who scores with a low shot under the keeper at the near side. Goal! 3-3, Amazingly Cardiff equalise in the dying moments as Turner lays the ball off to Daehli who swivels and fires a shot into the near top corner.
Full Time: 3-3.
West Brom 16>17th, 28>29pts
Cardiff 19>18th, 25>26pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was Caulker. Six goal thriller at the Hawthorns. West Brom got off to a lightning quick start as they were two goals up in the first ten minutes. However, some sloppy defending in the second half saw them fall back to 2-2. They must have thought that they had won the match in the 94th minute as Thievy put them ahead at 3-2 and I certainly presumed they had. Incredibly, they failed to see the game out as Cardiff equalised in the 95th minute. Unbelievable scenes but it really was a case of two vitally important points lost. With that point, the Baggies still fall one place down into 17th.
Cardiff had a disastrous start to the game and will bemoan their defending early on in the game. However, they fought back valiantly and managed to get themselves back on level terms. Cardiff must have thought they had cruelly lost the game when they conceded a late injury time goal but they threw everyone forward and took that one last chance as Daehli skilfully scored into the top corner. Amazing game and finale. Cardiff desperately needed something from that game and they will savour a point from how things developed. They are still in trouble but that point moves them up one place into 18th.
Swansea City 3 v 0 Norwich City De Guzman (30,38), Routledge (75)
First Half: Michu fires a shot from the edge of the box wide of the near post. Routledge has a close range effort parried away. Goal! 1-0, Swansea take the lead as De Guzman scores with a low shot from the edge of the box into the far bottom corner. Goal! 2-0, De Guzman plays a nice one-two with Bony before scoring with a deft chip over the keeper into the far bottom corner. Martin has a volley saved at the near side.
Half Time: 2-0.
Second Half: Snodgrass has a low volley cleared off the line. Goal! 3-0, Shelvey plays in Routledge who scores with a low shot into the far bottom corner.
Full Time: 3-0.
Swansea 15>13th, 30>33pts
Norwich 14>15th, 32pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was De Guzman. Swansea ease past Norwich. That was a pretty solid and confident display from Swansea who comfortably defeated Norwich by three. They scored some really good goals whilst De Guzman in particular put in a brilliant performance. Exactly what Swansea needed after a sluggish few weeks and three points that moves them safely towards the middle of the table. With that win, the Swans move up two places into 13th.
Norwich were largely outplayed and looked second best all afternoon. They came closest through Snodgrass who had an effort cleared off the line but apart from that there really weren't too many positive things to write home about. Everyone knows how tough a run in Norwich have and they will be desperate to pick up some points from their next couple of games. With that defeat, Norwich drop down one place into 15th.
Manchester United 4 v 1 Aston Villa Westwood (13), Rooney (20,45pen), Mata (57), Hernandez (90+1)
First Half: Goal! 0-1, Villa take the lead as Westwood scores with a free kick into the near top corner. Clark heads over the bar. Goal! 1-1, United equalise through Rooney who heads in a Kagawa cross into the far bottom corner. Penalty! Mata is fouled inside the box by Bacuna. Goal! 2-1, United take the lead as Rooney slots the penalty into the far side.
Half Time: 2-1.
Second Half: Benteke spurns a decent chance and fires wide of the near post. Benteke heads just over the bar. Goal! 3-1, Mata scores with a low shot into the near bottom corner. Rooney has a shot stopped by a great save. Benteke spurns another chance on the slide. Goal! 4-1, Hernandez volleys in from a Januzaj cross at the far post.
Full Time: 4-1.
Man United 7th, 51>54pts
Villa 12th, 34pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was Rooney. United put four past Villa. I feared the worst when Villa went ahead but in the end United had too much for Villa going forward. There are definitely still some uncertainties at the back but Mata, Kagawa an Rooney were are playing well in attack. The game changed when United went ahead on the stroke of half time and once Mata scored his first goal for United everything seemed rosy. Four goals and three points later, Moyes will feel lots of relief as well as plenty of United fans.
Villa took the lead thanks to a brilliant free kick from Westwood but failed to capitalise as they defended poorly from then onwards. Bacuna slid in on Mata and gave away a silly penalty which put them behind going into half time. Benteke really should have scored today and missed some really good chances for Villa. On another day, the result could have turned out differently but today Villa were soundly beaten.
Southampton 4 v 0 Newcastle United Rodriguez (45+1,89), Lambert (49), Lallana (70)
First Half: Rodriguez puts an effort into the side-netting. Rodriguez has a header parried away. Ward-Prowse puts an effort into the side-netting. Lambert has an effort saved. Rodriguez has a close range effort parried away. Goal! 1-0, Saints take the lead just before half time as Lambert squares the ball across to Rodriguez who converts at the near side.
Half Time: 1-0.
Second Half: Goal! 2-0, Lambert fires into the near top corner from close range from Lallana's cross. Goal! 3-0, Lallana scores with a long range thunderbolt into the top near corner. Cisse puts a low shot into the side-netting. Goal! 4-0, Rodriguez cuts inside and scores with a low shot into the far bottom corner under the keeper.
Full Time: 4-0.
Saints 9>8th, 45>48pts
Newcastle 8>9th, 46pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was Lallana. Saints cruise past Newcastle. It was a very strong, deserved and dominant performance from the Saints who comfortably put four past a sorry Newcastle. The England trio up front scored the goals once again for Southampton as they vie for a spot on the plane to Brazil. Rodriguez scored twice but could have had another whilst Lallana scored an absolute corker from long range that rifled past Krul. Things are looking very bright down on the south coast and with that win, Southampton move up one place into 8th.
Newcastle were outplayed and looked simply woeful. Their fans must be thankful they are safe from relegation because that was yet another worrying display from them. They were pretty much steam rollered aside and couldn't get into the game at all. It's almost as if they are booking their summer holidays already because they certainly aren't up to scratch out on a football pitch these days. With that defeat, Newcastle move down one place into 9th.
Stoke City 1 v 0 Hull City Odemwingie (62)
First Half: Huddlestone has a long range driven shot parried past the far post. Rosenior heads over the bar.
Half Time: 0-0.
Second Half: Crouch has an effort that deflects wide of the post. Odemwingie has a low shot from the edge of the box saved at the near side. Meyler has long range shot that takes a deflection and is parried before Jelavic hits the rebound wide of the near post. Goal! 1-0, Stoke take the lead as Odemwingie scores with a low shot into the near side. Ireland has a shot from the edge of the box palmed over the bar.
Full Time: 1-0.
Stoke 10th, 37>40pts
Hull 13>14th, 33pts
My Opinion:
My man of the match was Begovic. Odemwingie strike sinks Hull. Stoke should heap huge amounts of praise upon their keeper today as Begovic pulled off some top saves to keep Hull at bay. They created more chances in the second half and eventually took the lead just after the hour mark through Odemwingie who took his goal well. Not the most entertaining of games but Stoke will be pleased they got the job done and took all three points.
Hull had the better of the first half but just came across a keeper who was in great form. I'm amazed they didn't score through the chances they had but like I said earlier, Begovic made some top saves. Hull will be desperately disappointed to have come away with nothing but that's just the way it went today. With that loss, Hull fall one place to 14th.
Best Goal: Flamini, Amalfitano, Mutch, Daehli, De Guzman, Westwood, Lallana, Odemwingie. Winner: Lallana.
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