Manchester United giving lesson to Stoke City, Tottenham cant beat Chelsea again, be careful West Ham United risng from east London Barclay premier League Match Video and results.

Manchester United 4 Stoke City 2: Wayne Rooney and Van Persie Show

Rooney scored his first Barclays Premier League goal ten years ago this week but it initially looked like it would be an unhappy anniversary as he headed the ball into his own net from Charlie Adam’s free-kick, under pressure from Ryan Shawcross, to put the Potters in front after just 11 minutes.

Stoke did not sit back on their lead and enjoyed a fine spell when they could have struck again, with Adam and Peter Crouch posing problems and David de Gea forced into a couple of decent saves.

Manchester United hit back on 27 minutes, though, with Rooney making amends for his earlier mistake by heading in at the right end from Robin van Persie’s sumptuous cross.
The Red Devils then took control and, after Danny Welbeck skimmed the top of the crossbar with a rasping long-range effort, Van Persie made it 2-1 with a classy finish as he opened his body up to smartly divert the ball past Asmir Begovic.

Danny Welbeck gave United a two-goal cushion immediately after the break when Rooney delivered invitingly from the right and he dived to head home.

Michael Kightly reduced Stoke’s arrears just before the hour mark with a shot that crept over the line after hitting the post, although Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans should not have allowed him to bulldoze through the United defence.
It was left to Rooney to settle United’s nerves as he poked home from close range after Stoke had failed to deal with a corner, and even the introduction of Michael Owen as a substitute against his former club was not enough to change the course of the game.

The result keeps United within four points of Chelsea at the Premier League summit, while Stoke remain in the bottom half after suffering their second defeat of the season
United manager Alex Ferguson said: “Most of the games at home this season we’ve had terrible starts. When we did get going we played some terrific football
“I was pleased with the performance after the first 20 minutes.’

And the thrills will only partially divert attention away from Rio Ferdinand’s decision to snub Sir Alex Ferguson by refusing to wear the Kick It Out anti-racism T-shirts worn by all his outfield team-mates in the pre-match warm-up.

Ferguson said on Friday he felt Jason Roberts was misguided in his determination not to wear the shirts, s
Ferdinand’s reasoning will be interesting, even if his position is somewhat easier to understand given the year-long dispute between brother Anton and former England team-mate John Terry.

Away from the politics, Ferguson had described Stoke as the “jolly green giants” prior to the game.
Yet it was Tony Pulis’ side who looked like they had the magic beans, such was the gusto with which they attacked their hosts.

Adam in particular was a major threat, providing Stoke with the kind of direct midfield momentum United so obviously lacked.
It was the Scot’s touchline free-kick that Rooney ended up nudging into his own net. In a packed six-yard box, under pressure from Shawcross and facing his own net, Rooney was in an impossible situation once Adam had drilled the ball beyond the near-post.

It was not the way Rooney would have wanted to score for the first time this season, and condemned United to conceding the opening goal for an incredible seven occasions out of 11 games in all competitions.

And the damage was nearly much worse as Adam chanced his luck from the opposite touchline, forcing De Gea into a fine reaction save as the United defence was almost caught out.

Ferguson has spoken optimistically of United’s defence becoming more secure once there is consistency in selection.
It does not seem to be happening though, despite Ferdinand and Evans playing alongside each other in central defence for the fifth time on the trot, with the exception of a Capital One Cup tie.

However, if defending remains a chore, United are thrill-a-minute heading the other way. Danny Welbeck, twice, and Patrice Evra all wasted glorious opportunities before Van Persie and Rooney linked up to drag the hosts level.

Rooney fed his strike partner to the left before heading off into the box, where an inch-perfect cross was delivered.
From a similar position to the one he found himself in at the other end, Rooney again found the net.
Stoke continued to forage but United were now on one of those familiar rolls, and the visitors had no way of halting the steamroller.
Welbeck should have put his side in front from Rooney’s cross, then clipped the crossbar with a curling effort.

But when Van Persie stole into space to meet Antonio Valencia’s cross, the deft-close range finish rolled into the corner.
A minute after the break, United had another. Rooney was the provider this time with a cross that invited Welbeck’s flying header.
Jonny Evans was denied a fourth by Asmir Begovic’s magnificent save and Welbeck was inches away from turning home Rafael’s cross as he slid in at the far post.
Nothing is secure for this United team, though. Kightly’s charge straight down the centre of the pitch has been seen far too often for comfort, and after a fortunate ricochet off Ferdinand, the midfielder calmly finished.

It was the seventh goal the Old Trafford outfit had conceded on home soil in four league games this season, a quite startling statistic considering they have kept a clean sheet in that run.

Rooney was destined to end a hero, though.
Twenty-seven on Wednesday, the Merseysider was captain fantastic for England in San Marino, hooked and humbled in Poland.
On Sunday he completed his double century of club goals for United and Everton in the easiest manner possible as Van Persie’s low cross bobbed about in the six-yard area before rolling to the far post, where an unmarked Rooney tucked home.

MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6; Rafael 6, Ferdinand 5, Evans 6, Evra 7; Carrick 6, Scholes 7 (Anderson 70, 5); Valencia 7 (Nani 74, 5), Rooney 8, Welbeck 8 (Hernandez 78, 5); Van Persie 9. Booked: Scholes. Goals: Rooney 27, 65, Van Persie 44, Welbeck 46.

STOKE CITY (4-5-1): Begovic 7; Cameron 6, Huth 5, Shawcross 6, Wilson 5; Walters 6 (Etherington 70, 5), N’Zonzi 5, Adam 6, Whitehead 5 (Palacios 86), Kightly 6 (Owen 74, 5); Crouch 6. Booked: Kightly. Goals: Rooney 11 og, Kightly 58.

Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire).

Watch Manchester United vs Stoke City Match Video:

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Tottenham 2 Chelsea 4 : Blues victory to White Heart Lane

Exactly a year ago today, the Blues travelled to Loftus Road with a chance to close in on the leaders after scoring 12 in their last three Premier League games.

It has been well documented what went on that evening and just four wins in 11 games running up to New Year’s Eve cost Chelsea their title challenge and, ultimately, Andre Villas-Boas his job.

That is why, after masterminding an irrepressible performance at White Hart Lane, Mata is convinced the hard work starts now.

“Tottenham was a good start before playing Manchester United and Shakhtar Dontesk this week,” he said. “Now we have to take advantage of this moment.

“The next two months will decide the title. It’s always like that in November and in December. You have a lot of games so we have to keep fighting for the title in those two months

It was the sort of emphatic Chelsea response Villas-Boas was brought in to engineer.

“We had different players last season and we had to play differently to get the best out of our team,” said his former assistant Roberto Di Matteo, now Chelsea manager.

“I liked my team last year as well and I enjoy watching them this season.

“What has changed is our attitude. We go away and play with the same attitude we have at home, so we take the initiative, we don’t just give it to the opposition.

“We want to impose ourselves, whether it is away or at home.that’s probably a little change.

“We are playing well and the consequence is that we are winning games and getting the chance to win games. We are trying to have a good balance in the team.

“The players have bought into this little change along with the integration of the new players. Who knows where this is going to take us.”

It all sounds well and good but there is still one more factor to throw into the mix. Villas-Boas has settled nicely into his role and was determined not to allow his very personal experiences at Chelsea to get in the way of that.

He was successful in that right up until a radio interview an hour before kick-off.

“I never had any problem with the players,” he said. “I have one big fault – maybe the way I was educated in Porto’s organisation has led me to believe in certain principles: the principle that no single individual is bigger than the club.

“This is something that it is easy to say with your mouth, but you have to apply it properly.”

Pointed indeed. Who could he be talking about? The man set to be given a break from his domestic ban to lead Chelsea into Europe against Shakhtar Donetsk tomorrow night, perhaps?

For the current Chelsea manager, the whole subject of John Terry is off-limits right now.

“We like to talk about football after an exciting game,” said Di Matteo. “It has been a delicate issue and we are going to continue working with the authorities to eradicate discrimination.

“The board has made the final decision now and we can focus just on our football side and keep in mind that we have responsibilities to keep working towards a more respectful world.”

TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Friedel 7; Walker 5, Gallas 5, Caulker 6, Vertonghen 6; Sandro 7, Huddlestone 6 (Livermore 67, 6); Lennon 8, Sigurdsson 6, Dempsey 5 (Adebayor 74); Defoe 7. Booked: Huddlestone, Gallas, Walker. Goals: Gallas 46, Defoe 54.

CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech 6; Ivanovic 6, Luiz 5, Cahill 7, Cole 7; Ramires 6, Mikel 7, Oscar 6 (Sturridge 83); Hazard 8 (Lampard 90), Mata 9, Torres 5. Booked: Ivanovic, Ramires. Goals: Cahill 17, Mata 66, 69, Sturridge 90.

Watch Tottenham vs Chelsea Match Video:

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West Ham United 4 Southampton 1: Mark Noble carried to West ham

West Ham know that set-pieces bring goals and in Mark Noble they have a player with the craft to take advantage, as he did in scoring twice.

Noble acknowledged Carroll’s groundwork in setting up his goals and said: “Andy’s a big man and if he doesn’t go down he won’t win any free-kicks, because the refs think that’s he’s too big to get a free-kick. But some of the challenges and elbows he put up with today were unbelievable. He got an elbow in the first half which went unpunished.

“Don’t get me wrong, when you’ve got somebody as big as Andy in the box he’s going to cause havoc. Centre-halves will be so desperate to win the ball that they’ll do anything.”

Carroll’s limited ability with the ball at his feet makes him surplus to requirements at Liverpool, a state of affairs Allardyce hopes will not change in January when he could be recalled from the loan.

“I don’t know what will happen,” said Allardyce. “He is still only a young man and he has a lot of improving to do. But he is such an important player for us already. We have got off to this start and everybody has played their part but, as the old saying goes, if the front man plays well, the team plays well.”

Southampton are facing a test of nerve after one win in eight. Adkins has won them back-to-back promotions, but that will buy him only a certain amount of grace if results do not improve.

The best player on the pitch was Southampton captain Adam Lallana, who struggled to explain why such a controlled first-half performance became a nightmare after the interval.

“If I knew the answer I’d tell you,” he said. “But lack of concentration comes to mind. Three minutes into the second half and two goals down, you just can’t do it at this level away from home.

“We’ve got to get together on the training pitch and stamp out these errors as a team. There’s 30 games left, but we need to start getting points on the board.”

West Ham (4-3-2-1): Jaaskelainen 7; Tomkins 6 (Spence 88), Collins 7, Reid 6, McCartney 6; Noble 8, Nolan 6, Diame 6 (O’Neil 68, 6); Jarvis 7, Benayoun 7; Carroll 5 (Maiga 82, 7). Goals: Noble 46, 72 pen, Nolan 48, Maiga 87.

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Boruc 5; Clyne 5, Fonte 6, Hooiveld 5, Yoshida 5; S Davis 6 (Ward-Prowse 89), Schneiderlin 7; Puncheon 6 (Mayuka 65, 6), Lallana 8, Do Prado 6; Rodriguez 7 (Lambert 65, 6). Booked: Hooiveld, Schneiderlin. Goal: Lallana 63.

 Watch West Ham vs Southampton Match Video:

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Barclay Premier League Other Results:

West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Manchester City

Liverpool 1-0 Reading

Swansea City 2-1 Wigan Athletic

Fulham 1 -0 Aston Villa

Norwich City 1-0 Arsenal

Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle United

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Everton

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