What a return from Liverpool in Craven Cottage, Arsenal and Manchester United work for others Chelsea cant find own stability.

Fulham 2 Liverpool 3:Reds getting closer to top

Fulham refused to play like a team at the foot of the Premier League and while Liverpool were dominant for large periods after equalising near the end of the first half the Cottagers will rue seeing a point slip away after Steven Gerrard converted a late penatly.

Toure gave the home side the lead in comical fashion after just eight minutes, slicing a harmless Richardson cross past Simon Mignolet and into his own net.

Liverpool played well after the early setback with Luis Suarez particularly lively, but Toure was doing his best to hog the limelight, crashing into referee Phil Dowd and accidentally sending the official sprawling on his way back from a corner.

Fulham were sitting deeper as the half wore on with Liverpool limited to a speculative effort from Daniel Sturridge that proved no problem for Martin Stekelenburg.

Indeed, the Cottagers could have extended their lead before half-time but Darren Bent headed badly over after more good work from Richardson.

And they were punished with the half drawing to a close when Sturridge latched on to a gem of a ball from Steven Gerrard and steered past Stekelenburg to equalise in the 41st minute.

Suarez came closest to giving Liverpool the lead in the early stages of the second half with a 40-yard free kick that narrowly missed going in at the far post.

Mignolet did make a save as Steve Sidwell launched an audacious shot from inside his own half but it was Liverpool in the ascendancy halfway through the second half.

Sturridge and Suarez continued to combine well but even when they were able to create a chance, playing the ball across the face of goal, there was nobody there to finish.

Moments later Suarez hit the post as Liverpool really ramped up their efforts but Richardson was able to capitalise on another defensive mistake – this time from Martin Skrtel – to put Fulham back in front in the 63rd minute.

Ten minutes later Liverpool were once again level when Philippe Coutinho cut inside a curled a shot past Stekelenburg with the help of a deflection off the unlucky John Heitinga.

Stekelenburg was replaced by David Stockdale in the 76th minute after picking up a knock to the head saving at the feet of Luis Suarez and Brendan Rodgers threw on Joao Carlos Teixeira to make his debut in the closing stages in the hope of taking all three points.

In the dying minutes Sascha Riether made a silly challenge to bring Sturridge down in the box and Gerrard stepped up to give the Reds all three points.

The result sees Liverpool maintain their three point lead over fifth placed Tottenham, while Fulham remain bolted to the foot of the Premier League table.

Fulham vs Liverpool Match Stats

FULHAM (4-2-3-1): Stekelenburg 6(Stockdale 76); Riether 6, Heitinga 6, Burn 6, Riise 6; Sidwell 7, Kvist 7; Tunnicliffe 6, Holtby 7, Richardson 7 (Kacaniklic 71); Bent 6. SUBS: Hangeland, Kasami, Duff, Cole, Parker.

BOOKINGS: Kvist, Riether, Richardson

GOALS: Toure 8 og,Richardson 63.

MANAGER: Rene Meulensteen 6

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Mignolet 6; Flanagan 6, Skrtel 5, Toure 5, Cissokho 6; Coutinho 6 (Agger 90), Gerrard 7, Henderson 6; Suarez 7, Sturridge 7, Sterling 6 (Teixeira 82). SUBS: Jones, Kelly, Allen, Moses, Aspas.

BOOKINGS: Coutinho, Henderson, Gerrard

GOALS: Sturridge 41,Coutinho 72,Gerrard 90 pen.

MANAGER: Brendan Rodgers 6

MOM: Lewis Holtby

REFEREE: Phil Dowd 6

ATT: 25,375

Fulham 2 Liverpool 3 Match Video

[media id=1038 width=610 height=340]

Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0:Melting both together

A largely dull affair came to life in the closing stages with both keepers pulling off top saves but neither side was able to score a winning goal.

Robin van Persie should have put United ahead in just the first minute after a mistake from Mikel Arteta, but the Dutchman shot straight at Wojciech Szczesny.

Arsenal hit back quickly and could have taken an early lead themselves first through Jack Wilshere – whose shot was blocked by Chris Smalling – and then through Giroud who headed wide.

United were lacking conviction, both at the back and up front, and van Persie again failed to make the most of good work from Juan Mata by shooting wide after delaying his shot.

Giroud and Rafael both needed treatment after clashing as they competed for a header, and the United defender was replaced at half-time by Rio Ferdinand.

After a dull start to the second period Arsenal came close in the 62nd minute when Laurent Koscielny powerfully met a corner to get an effort on goal only for Antonio Valencia to head off the line to keep United on terms.

The game came to life a bit after the chance and Vidic was lucky not to be punished after appearing to push Giroud in the back inside the box before Mata fired a shot wide up the other end.

Arsenal looked the more likely to break the deadlock in the final 15 minutes and Giroud was inches away from converting Bacary Sagna’s cross in the 77th minute.

Two minutes later though the Gunners needed an exceptional save from Szczesny to keep a van Perise header out, after Wayne Rooney’s pinpoint chip alluded the Arsenal defence.

Not to be outdone, David De Gea pulled off a miraculous save of his own after Santi Cazorla exchanged passes with Mesut Ozil and shot from just inside the box.

The result sees Arsenal stay in second place, a point behind Chelsea, while Manchester United remain in seventh.

Arsenal vs Manchester United Match Stats

Arsenal: Szczesny 7; Sagna 6, Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 7, Gibbs 6; Arteta 5, Wilshere 5; Rosicky 6 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 75, 6), Cazorla 6, Ozil 6; Giroud 5. 

Subs not used: Podolski, Monreal, Fabianski, Sanogo, Bendtner, Jenkinson 

Manager: Arsene Wenger 6. 

Manchester United: De Gea 5; Rafael 5 (Ferdinand 46, 6), Smalling 6, Vidic 6, Evra 6; Carrick 6, Cleverley 6;
Valencia 5, Rooney 6, Mata 5 (Januzaj 75, 6); Van Persie 6. 

Subs not used: Lindergaard, Hernandez, Buttner, Fellaini.

Booked: Young

Manager: David Moyes 6 

MOM: Laurent Koscielny 

Referee: Mark Clattenburg 6 

Att: 60,021

Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0 Match Video

[media id=1039 width=610 height=340]

West Brom 1 Chelsea 1:Blues mist a big opportinity

The Baggies are fighting at the opposite end of the table to the title-chasing Blues but answered the jibes thrown at them by Jose Mourinho.

This was not Mickey Mouse, it was more Desperate Dan as West Brom stood toe-to-toe with Chelsea and fought back from a goal down to earn a draw with a late strike from substitute Victor Anichebe.

The equaliser, after Branislav Ivanovic’s first-half strike, lifted West Brom out of the bottom three.

Mourinho did not have to look far to find reason to be aggrieved, though, as his defender Gary Cahill had picked up an injury just before the goal was scored.

Mourinho had labelled West Brom a “Mickey Mouse” club after Albion were denied victory by a controversial late penalty at Stamford Bridge three months ago when.

The Baggies’ objective had to be to prove Mourinho wrong, even though a disastrous run of one win in 15 league games, dumping them into the relegation quagmire, would seem to suggest he was correct.

Chelsea on the other hand had stormed to the top of the table with 26 points from the past 30 on offer, a 10-game unbeaten run in direct contrast to Mourinho’s claim they cannot win the league.

West Brom manager Pepe Mel had the memory of beating Mourinho’s Real Madrid when he was in charge at Real Betis two years ago to fall back on, and his side were content to smother Chelsea as best they could, relying on the speed of Thievy Bifouma, making his full debut, and Saido Berahino on the counter-attack.

Willian threatened for the visitors with a 25-yard drive that sailed wide and, when Albion’s contain-and-hit policy was employed to effect, Bifouma was presented with a chance but failed to control the ball and get a shot on target.

Mourinho’s argument about not being able to win the league is born from the absence from his side of strikers to score the goals. It was a point validated somewhat by the way Chelsea played one-twos in front of West Brom’s defence with little penetration in the first half. West Brom’s Craig Dawson needed to slide in to quell some danger, but Chelsea were generally tepid.

Willian tried again with a long-range volley four minutes before half-time that went over the crossbar and frustration looked likely to be Chelsea’s companion in the dressing room.

But just seconds before the break, Albion’s concentration was lost and they were suddenly a goal down. Willian took a corner, David Luiz got a little touch, and Ivanovic was allowed to storm in and get his shot away for his third goal of the season.

Albion’s problem was now to get back into the game, simply defending deep was not enough. It meant the Baggies had to open up a little – and that gave Chelsea more scope, as Willian showed in the 50th minute with a cute pass to Samuel Eto’o.

Eto’o’s drive was powerful but Albion keeper Ben Foster, not at all busy in the first half, made a good save at his near post.

Willian also brought a good save out of Foster eight minutes later, but the Baggies would not surrender.

They resolutely kept to their game plan and Chelsea were still severely restricted in what they were able to create, giving Albion the continual hope that they might, deservedly, snatch something back.

Bifouma had a superb chance to make a name for himself in the 75th minute with a shot across Chelsea’s goal and Chris Brunt did the same a couple of minutes later, but was not was anywhere near as close. It all got a bit much for Chelsea, who were under a lot of pressure, with Ivanovic having a row with a linesman and being booked and his keeper, Petr Cech, coming out to appease him.

Further problems arose when Cahill limped to the sidelines with what looked to be a calf injury but then returned to the fray as Chelsea attempted to see the game out. But they finally cracked in the 87th minute with Anichebe getting in front of Luiz to head in Saido Berahino’s cross.

And it could have been even worse with Brunt going close with a shot from distance as West Brom set their sights in on an unlikely win.

West Brom vs Chelsea Match Stats

WBA (4-4-2): Foster 7, Reid 6, McAuley 8, Dawson 6, Ridgewell 6; Amalfitano 6, (Anichebe 73, 6) Morrison 6, Yacob 6, (Mulumbu 63, 6) Brunt 6; Berahino 7, Bifouma 6. (Vydra 78, 6) 

Subs not used: Myhill, Lugano, Dorrans, Gera.

Goals: Anichebe 87 

Bookings: Amalfitano, Yacob 

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech 6, Ivanovic 7, Cahill 7, Luiz 7, Azpilicueta 7; Ramires 6, (Salah 89) Matic 7; Willian 8, Oscar 6, (Mikel 79, 6) Hazard 7; Eto’o 6. (Torres 69, 5) 

Subs not used: Schwarzer, Cole, Lampard, Schurrle.

Goals: Ivanovic 45

Bookings: Willian, Ivanovic, Luiz

Referee: A Taylor – 7

Attendance: 24,327

Man of the match: Willian

West Brom 1 Chelsea 1 Match Video

[media id=1040 width=610 height=340]

English Premier League Match Week 26 Results

Tuesday, 11 February

West Ham 2 Norwich City 0

Hull City 0 Southampton 1

Cardiff City 0 Aston Villa 0

West Brom 1 Chelsea 1

Wednesday, 12 February

Man City Postponed Sunderland

Stoke City 1 Swansea City 1

Everton Postponed Crystal Palace

Arsenal 0 Man United 0

Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4

Fulham 2 Liverpool 3

Barclays Premier League Match Week 26 Table

 

[adrotate group=”12″]