Premiership Fixtures
Tuesday 27th November 2012
KO	Home		Away	Ref	TV
19:45	Sunderland	0-0	QPR	A Marriner
20:00	Aston Villa	1-0	Reading	L Probert	Sky2
Wednesday 28th November 2012
19:45	Chelsea	0-0	Fulham	A Taylor
19:45	Everton	1-1	Arsenal	M Oliver
19:45	Southampton	1-1	Norwich	M Clattenburg
19:45	Stoke	2-1	Newcastle	H Webb
19:45	Swansea	3-1	West Brom	L Mason
19:45	Tottenham	2-1	Liverpool	P Dowd
20:00	Man Utd	1-0	West Ham	M Jones
20:00	Wigan	0-2	Man City	M Halsey	Sky2

soccernet Wednesday in the Premier League's midweek Match Day 14 saw Rafael Benitez's testing start to life at Chelsea become even tougher on Wednesday as the Blues were held to a 0-0 draw by Fulham in the West London derby. The failure to overcome The Cottagers was made worse as both Manchester clubs won and left Chelsea 7 points behind leader Manchester United.

A Robin Van Persie strike proved enough for Manchester United against West Ham. The results allowed United to maintain their one-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Premiership table - after 28th Nov 2012
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Man Utd	14	6	0	1	19	9	5	0	2	14	9	15	33
2	Man City	14	6	1	0	18	5	3	4	0	9	5	17	32
3	Chelsea	14	4	3	1	14	7	3	2	1	10	6	11	26
4	West Brom	14	6	0	1	14	5	2	2	3	10	13	6	26
5	Tottenham	14	4	2	2	13	10	3	0	3	12	13	2	23
6	Everton	14	3	4	0	12	8	2	3	2	12	10	6	22
7	Arsenal	14	3	2	1	16	8	2	4	2	8	6	10	21
8	Swansea	14	3	4	1	13	10	2	1	3	8	7	4	20
9	Stoke	14	4	3	0	7	2	0	4	3	6	10	1	19
10	West Ham	14	3	3	1	11	6	2	1	4	5	10	0	19
11	Fulham	14	3	1	2	13	7	1	4	3	12	16	2	17
12	Liverpool	14	2	3	2	8	7	1	4	2	10	11	0	16
13	Norwich	14	3	2	1	6	6	0	5	3	5	14	-9	16
14	Newcastle	14	3	1	3	7	9	0	4	3	7	12	-7	14
15	Wigan	14	2	2	4	11	15	2	0	4	4	10	-10	14
16	Sunderland	13	1	3	2	5	7	1	4	2	7	9	-4	13
17	Aston Villa	14	2	3	2	8	8	1	1	5	3	14	-11	13
18	Southampton	14	2	3	3	13	12	1	0	5	8	19	-10	12
19	Reading	13	1	4	1	9	10	0	2	5	7	13	-7	9
20	QPR	14	0	3	3	4	12	0	2	6	6	14	-16	5

Manchester City laboured for long periods but eventually claimed a 2-0 win at impressive Wigan with late goals from Mario Balotelli and James Milner to keep on the tail of United

Amongst the rest of the chasing pack Tottenham defeated Liverpool to boost their Champions League qualification hopes leaving Liverpool in 12th spot and Manager Brendan Rodgers complaining about Ref Dowd.

Arsenal and Everton drew at Goodison Park which satisfied Mr Wenger in light of recent results.

Newcastle lost another game, away at Stoke, and find themselves just 2 points away from the relegation zone. They need to win at home on Monday when they welcome Jekyll and Hyde Wigan.

At the bottom Southampton drew at home to Norwich which left them in the drop zone but one point further away from stranded QPR.

On Tuesday evening Aston Villa had leapfrogged over Southampton, out of the drop zone, with a 1-0 home win against fellow strugglers Reading. Harry Redknapp was pleased to lead his new outfit QPR home to West London with a point from Sunderland but that still left them 4 points adrift at the bottom of the league.




Benitez said the only way he would overcome his icy welcome at Stamford Bridge would be to start delivering results, and a second consecutive goalless draw was not what he had in mind as Chelsea were held 0-0 by west London rivals Fulham. Fernando Torres again failed to fire for the Blues, who are now seven points off top spot.

The former Liverpool boss took a giant gamble prior to kick-off, benching star of the season Juan Mata, and after 16 minutes Benitez was made to suffer another show of appreciation from the Chelsea fans for axed manager Roberto Di Matteo.

Torres had arguably the best chance of the first period but scuffed his shot as the Spaniard continued to look out of form up front.

An even better opportunity fell the way of John Arne Riise early in the second half, breaking in behind the Chelsea defence, but the Fulham man made a mess of things with Dimitar Berbatov free inside the penalty area. Moments later Riise did much better with a further opening, but Petr Cech produced a wonder save to earn Benitez a much-jeered a point.

Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Romeu, Ramires, Hazard (Marin 82), Oscar, Bertrand (Mata 63), Torres.
Subs not used: Turnbull, Mikel, Moses, Ferreira, Cahill.

Booked: Ivanovic, Romeu, Luiz

Fulham: Schwarzer, Riether, Senderos, Hughes, Riise, Duff, Diarra (Baird 64), Sidwell, Karagounis (Frei 73), Rodallega (Petric 83), Berbatov.
Subs not used: Etheridge, Kelly, Kasami, Dejagah.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Attendance: 41,707



Arsenal drew for the second match running as their bid for a Champions League qualifying spot limped along with a 1-1 draw at Everton. The Gunners failed to build on Theo Walcott's first-minute strike, with Marouane Fellaini equalising to leave Arsenal seventh, five points off fourth place with Everton a point better off.

It took 53 seconds for Walcott to hand the Gunners a flying start on Merseyside, beating Tim Howard with a deflected effort for what was the fastest goal in the Premier League this season. That record lasted a matter of minutes before Van Persie bettered it at Old Trafford.

Everton found a response on the half-hour through Fellaini, who stroked the ball home with his left foot from 20 yards after Bacary Sagna gave the ball straight to the Belgium international. Both sides had chances to win it, with Everton denied a strong penalty claim against Mikel Arteta, but a draw was a fair result.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Naismith (Oviedo 61), Gibson (Hitzlsperger 72), Osman, Pienaar, Fellaini, Jelavic
Subs not used: Mucha, Heitinga, Gueye, Barkley, Vellios

Goal: Fellaini 28

Booked: Gibson, Oviedo

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny (Gibbs 4), Vermaelen, Walcott, Ramsey (Gervinho 79), Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla (Coquelin 90), Giroud
Subs not used: Mannone, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson

Goal: Walcott 1

Booked: Gibbs

Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)

Attendance: 37,141



Southampton stay in the relegation zone after they drew 1-1 with Norwich City at St Mary's. Rickie Lambert scored for the Saints but a goalkeeping howler saw them pegged back by the Canaries.

A breakthrough arrived in the 32nd minute for the home side, as Lambert prodded home from close range after a couple of ricochets inside the Norwich area. However, they could not hold on until half-time due to keeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who allowed a soft Robert Snodgrass free-kick to find its way into the back of the net.

Southampton: Gazzaniga, Clyne, Yoshida, Fonte, Shaw (Reeves 85), Puncheon (Rodriguez 88), Schneiderlin, Cork, Lallana, Lambert, Ramirez.
Subs not used: Kelvin Davis, Hooiveld, Steven Davis, Do Prado, Mayuka.

Booked: Clyne.

Goal: Lambert 32.

Norwich: Bunn, Whittaker, Ryan Bennett, Bassong, Garrido, Snodgrass (Elliott Bennett 88), Johnson, Tettey, Pilkington, Hoolahan (Howson 90), Holt (Morison 81).
Subs not used: Rudd, Martin, Jackson, Barnett.

Booked: R Bennett.

Goal: Snodgrass 45.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg.

Attendance: 29,325.



Newcastle United may feel a Champions League spot is beyond them after they were beaten 2-1 by a late Stoke City rally at the Britannia. The Magpies missed out on their first away win of the campaign as Papiss Cisse's strike was cancelled out by Jonathan Walters, with Cameron Jerome netting the winner.

Stoke were first to threaten when a mix-up in the Newcastle defence saw Mike Williamson deflect the ball onto the frame of his own goal. However, it was Cisse who netted the opener from a rebound two minutes into the second period for Alan Pardew's men.

Stoke looked a beaten side but they pegged Newcastle back nine minutes from time through Walters, before Jerome won it four minutes later.

Stoke: Begovic, Shotton, Shawcross, Huth, Cameron; Walters, Nzonzi, Whelan, Etherington (Jerome 68); Adam (Kightly 67); Crouch (Jones 40).
Subs not used: Sorensen, Palacios, Whitehead, Upson

Goals: Walters 81, Jerome 85

Booked: Cameron, Adam

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon; Anita (Ameobi 87), Perch, Tiote, Gutierrez; Cisse (Ranger 87), Ba.
Subs not used: Elliott, Bigirimana, Marveaux, Ferguson, Tavernier.

Goal: Cisse 47

Booked: Santon, Anita

Referee: H Webb

Attendance: 26,793



West Bromwich Albion started the day third but dropped to fourth after they were beaten 3-1 by Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. The Baggies' campaign to date has been built on an impressive home record, but their away form is not so good, having now won two of seven fixtures on their travels thanks to goals from Michu and Wayne Routledge (2).

The home side were two ahead inside 11 minutes as Michu opened the scoring from Pablo Hernandez's pass, before Routledge latched onto another Hernandez assist to double the lead. By half-time it was three as Routledge notched his second from Ben Davies' low cross, although the Baggies did pull one back on the stroke of the interval through Romelu Lukaku.

Swansea: Tremmel, Rangel, Williams, Chico, Davies, Britton, Hernandez (De Guzman 74), Ki, Dyer (Moore 64), Routledge, Michu (Agustien 86).
Subs not used: Cornell, Monk, Shechter, Tiendalli.

Goals: Michu 9, Routledge 11, 39.

West Brom: Myhill, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Jones, Yacob, Morrison, Mulumbu, Brunt, Odemwingie, Lukaku.
Subs not used: Daniels, Popov, Rosenberg, Long, Dorrans, Tamas, Fortune.

Booked: McAuley, Brunt, Olsson, Jones.

Goal: Lukaku 45.

Referee: Lee Mason.

Attendance: 20,377.



Tottenham Hotspur leapfrogged their north London rivals into fifth after a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at White Hart Lane, which ended the Reds' eight-match unbeaten streak in the league. Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale found the net as Andre Villas-Boas got the better of Brendan Rodgers.

Bale tormented the Liverpool defence to create Spurs' opener after seven minutes, flying past two challenges before crossing for Lennon, who capitalised on the dormant Stewart Downing to knock home.

Liverpool should have levelled immediately but Jordan Henderson failed to capitalise on Hugo Lloris' error, and the midfielder then contributed to Spurs' second as he inadvertently diverted Bale's free-kick past Pepe Reina.

The visitors wasted plenty of chances to get back into the game, with Jose Enrique particularly guilty on more than one occasion, but they were gifted a reply in the 72nd minute when Steven Gerrard's header was cleared off the line by Lennon - but he only succeeded in kicking the ball into Bale's face and it ricocheted into the net.

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Vertonghen, Gallas, Dawson, Walker, Dempsey (Sigurdsson 63), Lennon, Bale, Sandro, Defoe, Dembele (Huddlestone 88)
Subs not used: Friedel, Naughton, Livermore, Townsend, Carroll

Booked: Bale

Goals: Lennon 7, Bale 16

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Jose Enrique, Agger, Skrtel, Gerrard, Henderson (Shelvey 63), Downing, Allen, Sterling (Assaidi 78), Suarez,
Subs not used: Jones, Carragher, Wisdom, Sahin, Suso

Booked: Skrtel, Enrique

Goal: Bale (og) 72

Referee: Phil Dowd

Attendance: 36,162



Manchester United maintained their status as league leaders with a comfortable 1-0 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford, courtesy of a rapid strike from Robin van Persie.

Prior to the game Ruud van Nistelrooy tipped Van Persie to become a United great, and the former Arsenal man took 33 seconds to show why. Spinning past his marker Van Persie gave United an instant lead, albeit with a huge deflection off James Collins.

United's passing was slick but they failed to kill the game off despite a host of chances in the second period, and significantly their goal difference remains inferior to neighbours City.

Man Utd: Lindegaard; Rafael, Evra, Evans, Smalling; Anderson (Jones 84), Carrick, Cleverley (Young 66); Rooney (Welbeck 78), Hernandez, Van Persie
Subs not used: De Gea, Ferdinand, Buttner, Fletcher

Booked: Carrick

Goals: Van Persie 1

West Ham: Jaaskelainen; Reid, Tomkins, O'Brien, Collins, Demel; Nolan, Jarvis (Maiga 70), Taylor; Diame (O'Neil 76); Carroll (Cole 62)
Subs not used: Spiegel, Spence, Moncur, Lletget

Booked: Nolan

Referee: M Jones

Attendance: 75,572



Manchester City remain one point adrift of United after they came away from a tricky trip to Wigan Athletic with a 2-0 win at the DW Stadium. Mario Balotelli and James Milner were on the scoresheet for Roberto Mancini's side.

City had to wait until deep into the second half for their breakthrough, and Wigan keeper Ali Al-Habsi once again made a costly error as he spilled a shot straight to Balotelli, who converted at the second attempt. Milner then scored a cracking second from range three minutes later to ensure City's unbeaten record stayed intact for a 14th game.

Wigan: Al Habsi, Stam (McManaman 90), Boyce, Lopez, Figueroa, McCarthy, Jones (McArthur 74), Gomez, Kone, Beausejour, Di Santo.
Subs not used: Pollitt, Boselli, Fyvie, Golobart, Redmond.

Booked: Gomez

Man City: Hart, Maicon, Kompany, Nastasic, Zabaleta, Javi Garcia (Milner 59 (K Toure 81)), Y Toure, Silva, Barry, Aguero (Kolarov 68), Balotelli.
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Sinclair, Tevez, Dzeko.

Goals: Balotelli 69, Milner 72

Booked: Barry

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

Attendance: 19,623






Substitute Rob Green ensured Harry Redknapp's rein as QPR boss started with a positive result after making a stunning save to deny Steven Fletcher in a goalless draw at Sunderland.

Green replaced the injured Julio Cesar, who had earlier made a vital block to deny Fletcher, at the break and stood firm as the visitors turned in a spirited display at the Stadium of Light.

Home keeper Simon Mignolet also had to be at his best to keep out Sunderland old boy Djibril Cisse as well as Jamie Mackie and he was relieved to see midfielder Stephane Mbia blast a long-range effort inches wide.

Ultimately, Redknapp's men left the north-east still without a league win this season but with a fifth point of the campaign which extended the Black Cats' difficult run to just two wins in 21 outings.

Given the circumstances, it was never likely to be a classic, and on a night when Wearside was lashed by wind and rain once again, there was little genuine quality on show for much of a tight contest.

Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Kilgallon, Cuellar, Rose, Cattermole (Colback 6), Larsson, Gardner (Saha 78), Johnson (McClean 70), Sessegnon, Fletcher.
Subs not used: Westwood, Bramble, Vaughan, Campbell.

Booked: Cuellar.

QPR: Julio Cesar (Green 46), Traore, Hill, Nelsen, Bosingwa, Diakite (Park Ji-sung 65), Taarabt (Wright-Phillips 77), Granero, M'bia, Cisse, Mackie.
Subs not used: Ferdinand, Fabio, Derry, Hoilett.

Booked: Diakite, Hill, Mackie.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

Attendance: 36,513



Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert again excluded record signing Darren Bent but saw his replacement Christian Benteke score a late winner in the bottom-of-the-table clash with Reading at Villa Park.

The Belgium international ended a four-game run without a goal when he headed home an Ashley Westwood corner with 10 minutes remaining.

Villa's third win of the season moved them out of the Premier League bottom three in front of their lowest home league gate - 28,692 - for six years.

The game was not a classic but Villa deserved the three points after enjoying the bulk of possession and looking the more threatening.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Baker, Clark, Stevens (Lichaj 24), Holman (Ireland 67), Westwood, Bannan, Weimann (Albrighton 68), Agbonlahor, Benteke.
Subs not used: Given, Ireland, El Ahmadi, Albrighton, Delph, Bowery, Lichaj.

Booked: Clark.

Goal: Benteke 80.

Reading: Federici, Cummings, Morrison, Mariappa, Shorey, Robson-Kanu (McCleary 83), Leigertwood, Tabb, McAnuff, Roberts (Hunt 79), Le Fondre.
Subs not used: Taylor, Pearce, Pogrebnyak, McCleary, Harte, Gunnarsson.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire).

Attendance: 28,692.

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