Welsh Ramsey moved Arsenal in Wales, Manchester United 1 step forward 2 step back, Liverpool lost in Yorkshire, Chelsea silent but good.

Cardiff City 0 Arsenal 3:Welsh wizard Ramsey make spell in Wales capital

“I’d imagine he does pretty well at fantasy football,” said Szczesny after watching Ramsey score his 14th and 15th goals of the season for club and country.

Everything Ramsey touches at the moment seems to turn into gold. His 29th-minute header was a work of art as Mesut Ozil’s cross was dispatched beyond Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall. It was reminiscent of England and Manchester United legend Paul Scholes in his pomp, arriving late into the penalty box and finishing with unerring ease.

“It was obvious that if anyone was going to score it would be Aaron,” said goalkeeper Szczesny. “I thought he was respectful not to celebrate. We were delighted for him and, although he didn’t show it, he must have been delighted.

“We’re so pleased for him. He’s been through a lot, but come back so well and I just hope he continues.

We always knew that he could play well, but to score as many as he has, any striker would be delighted with that. He’s been so good.”

Ramsey said he opted not to celebrate out of respect for his former club Cardiff. The midfielder, who joined Arsenal from the Bluebirds for £4.8?million in 2008, was booed by fans of his hometown club on his last visit to the Welsh capital within a year of the move.

But the contrast on this appearance at the Cardiff City Stadium was significant, as the home faithful hailed one of their own, applauding both efforts as the 22-year-old continued his scintillating start to the season.

And Ramsey, who was unsure what type of reception he would receive, admitted he was overwhelmed by the joyous homecoming.

Ramsey said: “It was a great day and one that I will remember. I was really pleased with the way the fans reacted.

“I have a lot of respect for them. This is where I started off my career and they realised I needed to make the next step. They were really respectful and I gave them my respect by not celebrating.”

Asked if he was worried he would not get a positive reception after being jeered in that 2009 FA Cup tie at Ninian Park, Ramsey said: “You always have things going through your mind, but I thought the fans were fantastic.

“Hopefully, I put on a performance for them. They’ve seen the player that they produced.”

Ramsey’s excellent showing laid the foundations for confident and swashbuckling Arsenal to drive on towards another impressive victory.

Yet, with two of their goals scored in the final four minutes – his efforts came either side of a rare Mathieu Flamini strike – the points may not have been secured without Szczesny’s superb reflex save to deny Fraizer Campbell in the 50th minute.

It was a turning point, as Cardiff were building some momentum, but Arsenal’s last line of defence was more interested in praising the central-defensive partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.

Szczesny, who will face Hull at the Emirates on Wednesday night, added: “I’ve kept clean sheets but there are other players who deserve more credit than me.

“We’ve conceded one goal in November and if Per and Laurent don’t get nominated for Player of the Month then there is something wrong.

“They’ve been absolutely fantastic. It’s a pleasure playing behind them every week.

“It’s very good to have that cushion at the top of the table. But if we want to win the league we must do our job very professionally to beat teams like Hull.”

Cardiff have now slipped to 17th and face a crunch week with trips to potential relegation rivals Stoke and Crystal Palace.

Manager Malky Mackay said: “We’re playing away from home, which is tough, but I’m not putting any special pressure on it.”

Cardiff City vs Arsenal Match Stats

Cardiff City: Marshall 6; Theophile 6, Caulker 6, Turner 6, Taylor 7 (Cornelius 87); Cowie 5, Medel 6, Kim 6 (Noone 76), Mutch 5, Whittingham 6; Campbell 7 (Odemwingie 64, 6).

Subs not used: Hudson, Gunnarsson, Lewis, Bellamy.

Arsenal: Szczesny 7; Sagna 6, Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 6, Gibbs 6; Arteta 7, Wilshere 7 (Monreal 80); Ramsey 8, Ozil 7 (Walcott 90), Cazorla 5 (Flamini 77); Giroud 5.

Subs not used: Vermaelen, Rosicky, Fabianski, Gnabry.

Booked: Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey.

Goals: Ramsey 29, 90, Flamini 86.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 6.

MOM: Aaron Ramsey.

Att: 27,948.

Cardiff City 0 Arsenal 3 Match Video

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Tottenham 2 Manchester United 2:United is melting every week

But now they need to back that up with the cool-headed ruthlessness to win all their games until Christmas – just as they did last year in the corresponding fixtures.

No quarter is being given to Andre Villas-Boas. Although warm applause was given to the players after a performance much improved from the 6-0 humiliation they suffered on the blue half of Manchester last week, there was little but criticism for their manager.

The Portuguese was openly booed when he decided to replace Aaron Lennon, rather than the ineffectual Nacer Chadli , with his first substitute Andros Townsend. And the individual taunts ranged from the inevitable “you don’t know what you’re doing” to a more general query about where exactly Villas-Boas had learned his football.

However, ultimately it was not the decision-making of the manager which prevented this from being a far more impressive bounce-back than Tottenham actually managed.

Twice Kyle Walker was found wanting in that department, showing a rare naivety that ruined an otherwise strong performance.

It was the England full-back who had put Tottenham in front in the first place – a sublime set-piece for which an assist has to go to Villas-Boas’s scouting department for the quality of their homework.

Clearly the Spurs hierarchy had decided that United’s defensive wall tends to jump in the air to make itself higher in the face of direct assault.

Sure enough, as he ran up they sprang into the air as one. Deftly, Walker drove a daisy-cutter along the deck straight into the United net.

However, just as it looked as though Tottenham could nurse their advantage to the break, a moment of panic by Walker gifted Wayne Rooney, of all people, an equaliser. A Phil Jones cross landed at the feet of the fullback after a missed header from Michael Dawson and, unsure what to do, Walker knocked the ball back into the danger area. Rooney hammered it home.

Spurs then regained the lead.
Sandro did not have the pace to break past Tom Cleverley in midfield so instead turned him inside-out to create space to curl a delicious 30-yarder into the top corner of the static David de Gea’s net.

But then, when Chadli played an erroneous crossfield pass, Walker dashed 40 yards to make the ball good.

That was 10 out of 10 for determination and work ethic. However, Nemanja Vidic won a 60-40 ball and Rooney made full use of the space Walker had left by feeding in Danny Welbeck. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris arrived in an instant but his outstretched hands found Welbeck’s trailing leg and referee Mike Dean pointed to the spot. Rooney made no mistake.

Perhaps the defining moment of Tottenham’s season so far had already come and gone just before the half-hour mark.

Roberto Soldado combined cleverly with Paulinho, only for the Spanish striker, 12 yards out and with the top corner at his mercy, to fire high over instead of bursting the net. A £26million fee should be enough money to ensure that sort of moment produces a final product worthy of an end-of-season highlights DVD. Certainly, unless he starts putting those chances away sooner rather than later, Tottenham’s season could be over rather sooner than anybody could have possibly predicted.

Tottenham vs Manchester United Match Stats

Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Lloris 6, Walker 6, Dawson 6, Chiriches 6, Vertonghen 6, Sandro 7, Paulinho 7, Lennon 7 (Townsend 65, 6), Dembele 6, Chadli 5 (Sigurdsson 84), Soldado 5 (Defoe 71, 4).

Subs not used: Kaboul, Holtby, Capoue, Friedel.

Goals: Walker 18, Sandro 54

Booked: Lloris

Manager: Andre Villas-Boas 6

Man United (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6, Smalling 6, Vidic 6, Evans 7, Evra 6, Cleverley 5, Jones 6, Valencia 6 (Nani 83), Kagawa 6 (Young 83), Welbeck 5 (Hernandez 72, 4), Rooney 8.

Subs not used: Rafael Da Silva, Anderson, Lindegaard, Fellaini.

Booked: Evra, Jones, Vidic

Goal: Rooney 32, 57 (pen)

Manager: David Moyes 6

MOM: Wayne Rooney

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) 6

Att: 35,884.

Tottenham 2 Manchester United 2 Match Video

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Hull City 3 Liverpool 1:Liverpool lost in North Yorkshire

A deflected strike from Jake Livermore and second-half efforts from David Meyler and Tom Huddlestone secured victory for the Tigers after a Steven Gerrard free-kick looked to have got Liverpool back into the game before half time.

After a quiet start where Hull fans’ protests against Assem Allam’s handling of the club’s proposed name change were the focus, the Tigers took the lead in the 20th minute through Livermore.

The Spurs loanee exchanged passes with Meyler in midfield and hit a speculative shot from 25 yards that took a huge deflection off Martin Skrtel before floating over Simon Mignolet and into the net.

Liverpool where back in the game seven minutes later though when Gerrard stepped up to put an inch-perfect free kick around the wall and past Allan McGregor to bring the Reds level.

Luis Suarez was looking isolated up front for Liverpool and Victor Moses and Raheem Sterling were failing to provide him with the service he needs to flourish.

Liverpool failed to assert themselves in the second half, and Hull started to get a foothold in what was becoming a scrappy affair.

Brendan Rodgers turned to Philippe Coutinho as he looked for a spark and with  20 minutes remaining the Brazilian combined with Suarez to give Moses a chance but the winger saw his effort smartly saved by McGregor.

And just moments later Hull were ahead again when Kolo Toure failed to clear his lines and David Meyler steered a neat left-footed finish past Mignolet.

Liverpool upped the tempo in pursuit of another equaliser but Hull were looking more dangerous and with four minutes remaining they benefitted from another deflection when Skrtel got his head to Huddlestone’s effort to beat Mignolet and put the result beyond doubt.

The win sees Hull move up to tenth place in the Premier League, while Liverpool drop to third ahead of this evening’s late kick-offs.

Hull City vs Liverpool Match Stats

Hull City: McGregor 8, Davies 7, Bruce 7, Figueroa 8, Elmohamady 7, Meyler 8, Huddlestone 8 Livermore 8, Brady 7 (Boyd 90), Koren 6 (Rosenior 66, 6), Sagbo.

Subs not used: Chester, Nagy, Harper, Faye

Goals: Livermore 20, Meyler 72, Skrtel 88 (OG)

Booked: Davies, Brady

Manager: Steve Bruce 8

Liverpool: Mignolet 6, Johnson 5, Toure 5, Skrtel 6, Flanagan 6, Lucas 5, Gerrard 6, Moses 4 (Alberto 74, 4), Henderson 5, Sterling 4 (Coutinho 66, 6, Suarez 5.

Subs not used: Jones, Agger, Iago Aspas, Sakho, Allen

Goal: Gerrard 27

Manager: Brendan Rodgers 5

Man of the match: Tom Huddlestone

Ref: Howard Webb 7

Att: 24,940

Hull City 3 Liverpool 1 Match Video

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Chelsea 3 Southampton 1:Chelsea silently comes top

Mata is the romantic, the free spirit, full of glamour, inspiration and flair. Mourinho is the pragmatist, the man of steel and discipline, the clear thinker, who likes things to be rigorous and well-ordered.

It seemed for so long that the pair could not mix, that they were opposites seemingly never destined to entangle hearts and feelings, to trust one another.

Last night though, at an umpromisingly chilly Stamford Bridge, the love affair began to show its first signs of blossoming.

In his first start in the Premier League since November 2, and only his sixth all season, Mata simply ran the show as Chelsea came from behind to register a crucial win, and establish themselves in second place in the league behind Arsenal. The little Spaniard was simply magnificent, his crosses setting up the first two vital goals. And his unerring eye for the defence-splitting pass and the subtle touch turned a game that could have gone horribly wrong for Chelsea.

Demba Ba’s third, late goal capped a result that was testament to a vastly improved second half by Mourinho’s men, but actually very harsh on Mauricio Pochettino’s vibrant young team.

Mourinho’s treatment of Mata has puzzled many this season.

But the Special One had told Mata and Oscar that the place in the front three of midfield was between them.

The winner would keep the spot on the basis of his performances. So far this season Oscar’s greater athleticism and ability to tackle back earned him the slot.

Last night though, Mata, given a rare chance as Mourinho made changes after that desperately disappointing Champions League performance in Basle, showed exactly what he could do.

His touch, as ever, was sublime, his vision acute, his final ball deadly. Chelsea purred where so often this season they have stuttered.

Of course, it is early days in this new relationship. Things can go wrong, and there are suitors out there who have courted Mata this year. Don’t book the church yet – but things are looking up.

It did not, though, start well After just 13 seconds Chelsea, incredibly, were behind, as Michael Essien, another player back in the side this time after nearly 19 months away, blundered.

His wayward backpass went straight to Jay Rodriguez, who easily beat Petr Cech. Chelsea were at this stage floundering, but they gradually recovered as Gary Cahill and Oscar went close, and then Saints goalkeeper Artur Boruc pulled off an astonishing save from Fernando Torres’ header.

But, as Oscar limped off and then Essien was replaced by Ba and as Chelsea changed their shape, Mata came into his own.

First his corner was nodded down by Branislav Ivanovic, and as Ba thumped a ball against the post, Cahill twisted to nod the ball over the line with keeper Artur Boruc stranded in the back of his net.

Six minutes later Frank Lampard picked up the pieces on the edge of the area and cleverly fed Mata, whose lovely left-footed cross found John Terry lurking, and his glancing header flew in.

Saints, though still breaking swiftly and counter-attacking with an intent that has caught many a team out this season, never really recovered. Both Osvaldo and Rickie Lambert, relegated to the bench, had chances, but wasted them.

Ba broke clear but his low shot missed by an inch. Then, in the last minute, the Senegalese finally struck for his first league goal of the season.

This time it was Ramires who provided an excellent set-up, brilliantly twisting clear of several challenges before delivering a low cross that Ba diverted home.

But the night really belonged to Mata. One can only hope that Jose’s hard heart was melted. It should have been.

Chelsea vs Southampton Match Stats

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Cahill,  Terry, Mata, Essien (Ba, 45), Torres (Mikel, 84), Oscar (Lampard, 42 , Hazard

Subs not used: Cole, Schurrle, Willian, Schwarzer

Goals: Cahill 55, Terry 62

Booked: Essien

Southampton: Boruc, (Gazzaniga, 58), Clyne, Shaw,  Schneiderlin (Lambert, 67), Fonte, Lovren,
Ward-Prowse (Davis, 63), Wanyama, Osvaldo, Lallana, Rodriguez

Subs not used: Yoshida, Cork, Chambers, Hooiveld

Booked: Schneiderlin, Osvaldo, Lallana, Rodriguez

Ref: Michael Oliver

Att: 41,568

Chelsea 3 Southampton 1 Match Video

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English Premier League Match Week 13 Results

Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 0

Everton 4 Stoke City 0

Norwich City 1 Crystal Palace 0

West Ham 3 Fulham 0

Newcastle 2 West Brom 1

Sunday, December 1

Man City 3 Swansea City 0

Barclays Premier League Match Week 13 Table

 

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