Another Week, Another Clean Sheet for United

A great individual effort from veteran winger Ryan Giggs saw Manchester United rack up another 1—0 win, their ninth such victory of the season, Sunday at West Ham.
Another Week, Another Clean Sheet for United
MR. CLEAN: Manchester United’s goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar holds the record with 13 consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. ( Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
2/8/2009
Updated:
2/8/2009
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/vandersar_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/vandersar_medium-319x450.jpg" alt="MR. CLEAN: Manchester United's goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar holds the record with 13 consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. ( Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)" title="MR. CLEAN: Manchester United's goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar holds the record with 13 consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. ( Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-138066"/></a>
MR. CLEAN: Manchester United's goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar holds the record with 13 consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League. ( Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
A great individual effort from veteran winger Ryan Giggs saw Manchester United rack up another 1–0 win, their ninth such victory of the season, Sunday at West Ham.

United regained top spot in the Premier League, two points ahead of Liverpool who had won on Saturday.

Coming into the game, West Ham was looking to extend their six-game undefeated run—but it was not to be.

Ashley Cole, Jack Collinson, and Lucas Neill all had great chances for the Hammers but they could not get it past Edwin van der Sar.

Fabio Capello was there to watch the match as England manager. Carlton Cole was one of the reasons he was there, as the West Ham forward will be making his debut for England in their next game.

The win sees United memorialize a 13th-straight Premier League clean sheet.

Blackburn 0, Aston Villa 2

Aston Villa moved into third place in the Premiership and set their Premier League club record for the number of consecutive away wins with seven.

James Milner took the visitors ahead from a well-worked play by blasting a shot to the far post after a corner kick mid-way in the first half.

Emile Heskey should have made it two but headed wide from close range in the second half.

Gabriel Agbonlahor had a goal ruled off for offside but he managed to get on the score sheet at the very end to seal the match.

Villa lies five points behind the league leader Manchester United and three back of Liverpool in second.

“We never really played to our best,” said Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce.

“Credit to Villa as they didn’t just stop us playing but played well themselves. They deserved the win.”

Portsmouth 2, Liverpool 3

Liverpool substitute Fernando Torres scored the winner in a five-goal thriller, which briefly took the Reds to the top of the table before Manchester United played on Sunday.

David Nugent put the home side ahead with a low shot to the far side but Fabio Aurelio equalized from an indirect free kick in the penalty box.

In the second half, Hermann Hreidarsson put Portsmouth in front again off a header.

With five minutes left in the match, Liverpool’s Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt scored from a tight angle over David James’s shoulder and then Torres headed home the winner in stoppage time.

Chelsea 0, Hull 0

Chelsea will need to put this disappointment behind them. They looked like a team low in confidence after failing to dominate the game.

Chelsea captain John Terry was guilty of shooting over the bar from three yards out.

Michael Ballack also came close by hitting the post but the final whistle brought a chorus of boos from the home supporters.

The Blues have now fallen into fourth place, seven points behind Manchester United and five points above fifth place Arsenal.

Tottenham 0, Arsenal 0

Robbie Keane made his debut for Spurs after not getting a fair shot in his brief stint with Liverpool.

The match’s flashpoint had Emmanuel Eboue being sent of for a petulant kick at Luka Modric in the first half.

To go with the three-match suspension that Eboue will receive, Arsenal will also be without Emmanuel Adebayor who picked up a hamstring injury and will be out of action for three weeks.

Modric had a great chance in stoppage time but Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia rushed out to block.
 
The Gunners did well to battle it out with only 10 men for nearly 60 minutes but will be disappointed as they continue to lose ground on fourth spot.