Shinji Kagawa ensured he'd be the man making the headlines in Sunday's papers after his wonderful hattrick helped Manchester United to a comfortable 4-0 win over a woeful Norwich at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
There were also vital victories for Chelsea and Everton in the fight for the Champions League places on a busy day of Premier League football, whilst QPR were the big winners in the relegations crap after a 2-1 win at fellow strugglers Southampton.
Manchester United are back to 15 points clear at the top of the table after their win, with City not playing until Monday at Aston Villa. Kagawa became the first Asian player to ever score a hattrick in the Premier League, and Wayne Rooney reminded everyone what a top player he remains with a stunning effort to make it four. Norwich were never in the game and ended the day in 13th place but with their goal difference taking a significant hit.
Rafa Benitez's midweek outburst did him no favours in the eyes of the Stamford Bridge faithful as the home fans continued to hurl abuse at their manager. Despite the hostile atmosphere Chelsea did manage to grab 3 crucial points against West Brom thanks to a 20th minute goal from Demba Ba. The goal drought continued for Fernando Torres. The Baggies dropped 2 places to 9th after the defeat.
Everton had taken just 1 point from a possible 9 leading up to the visit of Reading, but Brian McDermott's side have been awful away from home this season and it was the case again as The Toffees earned a 3-1 win. Marouane Fellaini, Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas put them 3-0 up before a late consolation goal from Hal Robson-Kanu.
There had been plenty of bad press for Harry Redknapp and QPR in the build-up to their trip to the manager's former side Southampton, but they came out on top on the south coast thanks to an 84th minute Jay Bothroyd strike. January signing Loic Remy had given the away side the lead before Gaston Ramirez levelled it for the hosts, but ultimately they fell to their second consecutive defeat and sit just 3 points above the drop zone. QPR have moved within 4 points of safety.
The reason for it being just a 4 point gap is because a dreadful Wigan Athletic were thrashed 4-0 at home to Liverpool. Louis Suarez scored a hattrick and even Stewart Downing managed to score as the Reds boosted their chances of qualifying for Europe next season.
Newcastle have actually been performing well in Europe this season but their domestic form has suffered, and they were beaten 1-0 away at Capital One Cup winners Swansea thanks to a Luke Moore goal 5 minutes from time. Alan Pardew's side are just 6 points from safety with 10 games remaining whilst the Swans are up to 8th.
The Magpies local rivals Sunderland fared better as they came from 2-0 down at home to Fulham to secure a 2-2 draw and end a run of 3 straight defeats. Dimitar Berbatov scored a cool penalty after 16 minutes and Sascha Riether doubled the lead for Martin Jol's side 20 minutes later. Sunderland made a quick response through Craig Gardner with a penalty of their own after 37 minutes, before Stephane Sessegnon secured the point 20 minutes from time.
Elsewhere Stoke's poor home form continued as they were beaten 1-0 against West Ham in the battle between the Premier League's two most attractive footballing teams. That might be a typo. Jack Collison scored the only goal.
0 comments:
Post a Comment