The young French international Samir Nasri struck twice as Arsenal beat Manchester United 2–1, restoring their reputation as Premiership contenders after a bad week.
Nasri opened the scoring with a deflected shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the 22nd minute.
Nasri then made it two soon after the break, finishing a delightful Arsenal move of 15 passes with a thunder struck shot from top of the 18-yard box.
After falling last week to Stoke, Arsenal showed their continued willingness to play open attacking soccer and to not focus on a physical game. The result created some of the most entertaining play in the league.
The first half saw many chances at both ends and Man United coach
Mike Phelan said to the BBC, “You don’t want and game of football [soccer] that goes goalmouth from one end to the other. The fans will love it but from a coach’s point of view it was too open and we suffered from that.”
Arsenal was without their top two strikers, the injured Emmanuel Adebayor and the suspended Robin van Persie.
United had the opportunities to score with Wayne Rooney missing badly on a couple of occasions. Then in the second half, Carlos Tevez set up Ronaldo only for him to side-foot the ball across the goalmouth.
Nicklas Bendtner should have scored twice after getting on the end of two crosses but failing to convert.
United pulled one back in the last minute of regulation time as Rafael chested the ball down and finished with a great volley from a badly cleared ball.
There was a tight finish to the game as six minutes of extra time were added for an injury where Michael Carrick kicked Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia on the side of the face. Almunia left the pitch later, and was replaced with Lukasz Fabianski.
But it was not to be for United and the Gunners held on for the victory.
Midlands club West Brom traveled to Anfield for a difficult fixture for them. Liverpool were in impressive form and dominated the game with a notable performance from Robbie Keane, the Republic of Ireland international, who scored his first league goals for the Reds since signing this summer.
The first goal saw Steven Gerrard feed Keane into space and he emphatically took the lead in the 34th minute. Up until this point, West Brom had a lot possession but after the goal, the Reds dominated the play and Keane got a second in the 43rd minute when Javier Mascherano put him through to fire into an open goal from a tight angle.
Reds boss Rafael Benitez told the BBC, “Robbie has told me he has got a monkey off his back, not an expression I had heard before but I understand it.
“It was only a matter of time before he scored in the league. He is quick and can punish any mistakes that defenders make, and that is what he did.”
Nicolas Anelka scored twice as the Londoners traveled up North to play under very wet conditions. It was by no means easy for the visitors as Blackburn showed a gritty display of determination.
Blackburn played with a lone striker due to Bennie McCarthy being suspended and Roque Santa Cruz being injured and it was clear that the counter attack was going heavily used.
Anelka’s opener was from a deflection from a shot by Jose Bosingwa who was particularly in form throughout the match.
At half time, the pitch was examined due to the level of water and it was decided to play on.
Some pressing by Frank Lampard enabled Anelka to chip the ball over keeper Paul Robinson for his second.
Elswhere in the Premiership, Tottenham continue their resurrection by beating Manchester City 2–1.
Robinho opened the scoring for the home team but it was not enough. Darren Bent then went on to score two and a 10-man Tottenham beat a nine-man side of Man City after three players in total were sent off.
Nasri opened the scoring with a deflected shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the 22nd minute.
Nasri then made it two soon after the break, finishing a delightful Arsenal move of 15 passes with a thunder struck shot from top of the 18-yard box.
After falling last week to Stoke, Arsenal showed their continued willingness to play open attacking soccer and to not focus on a physical game. The result created some of the most entertaining play in the league.
The first half saw many chances at both ends and Man United coach
Mike Phelan said to the BBC, “You don’t want and game of football [soccer] that goes goalmouth from one end to the other. The fans will love it but from a coach’s point of view it was too open and we suffered from that.”
Arsenal was without their top two strikers, the injured Emmanuel Adebayor and the suspended Robin van Persie.
United had the opportunities to score with Wayne Rooney missing badly on a couple of occasions. Then in the second half, Carlos Tevez set up Ronaldo only for him to side-foot the ball across the goalmouth.
Nicklas Bendtner should have scored twice after getting on the end of two crosses but failing to convert.
United pulled one back in the last minute of regulation time as Rafael chested the ball down and finished with a great volley from a badly cleared ball.
There was a tight finish to the game as six minutes of extra time were added for an injury where Michael Carrick kicked Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia on the side of the face. Almunia left the pitch later, and was replaced with Lukasz Fabianski.
But it was not to be for United and the Gunners held on for the victory.
Liverpool 3, West Brom 0
Midlands club West Brom traveled to Anfield for a difficult fixture for them. Liverpool were in impressive form and dominated the game with a notable performance from Robbie Keane, the Republic of Ireland international, who scored his first league goals for the Reds since signing this summer.
The first goal saw Steven Gerrard feed Keane into space and he emphatically took the lead in the 34th minute. Up until this point, West Brom had a lot possession but after the goal, the Reds dominated the play and Keane got a second in the 43rd minute when Javier Mascherano put him through to fire into an open goal from a tight angle.
Reds boss Rafael Benitez told the BBC, “Robbie has told me he has got a monkey off his back, not an expression I had heard before but I understand it.
“It was only a matter of time before he scored in the league. He is quick and can punish any mistakes that defenders make, and that is what he did.”
Blackburn 0, Chelsea 2
Blackburn played with a lone striker due to Bennie McCarthy being suspended and Roque Santa Cruz being injured and it was clear that the counter attack was going heavily used.
Anelka’s opener was from a deflection from a shot by Jose Bosingwa who was particularly in form throughout the match.
At half time, the pitch was examined due to the level of water and it was decided to play on.
Some pressing by Frank Lampard enabled Anelka to chip the ball over keeper Paul Robinson for his second.
Elswhere in the Premiership, Tottenham continue their resurrection by beating Manchester City 2–1.
Robinho opened the scoring for the home team but it was not enough. Darren Bent then went on to score two and a 10-man Tottenham beat a nine-man side of Man City after three players in total were sent off.
