Stoke and Spurs Through Via Shootouts

An exciting Capital One Cup Fourth Round saw two tense penalty shootouts and four sides hitting for goals including two in the same game.

Leicester came out on top in a seven goal thriller at home to Fulham by winning 4-3, Rodallega gave the Cottagers an early lead but a Morgan and Wood double put the Foxes 2-1 up at the break with a goal for either side in the space of two minutes with Miquel for Leicester in the 53rd minute swiftly followed by Rodallega's second in the 54th. Karagounis levelled with three minutes to go to set up extra time but Fulham's hopes were crushed by a winner in the final minute from Dyer.

Chelsea advanced with a 2-0 win against a youthful Arsenal with goals from Azpilicueta and Mata while Man City needed extra time to defeat Newcastle win goals from Negredo in the 99th minute and Dzeko in the 105th to seal the win.

Man United smashed Norwich 4-0 with a brace from Hernandez who opened the scoring from a penalty and hit a second early in the second half but the win was easily secured by a 88th minute strike from Jones and with the last chance of the game, Fabio hit a fourth.

West Ham secured a safe passage with two late penalties from Taylor and Collison the second of which saw Burnley's Treacy dismissed. Stoke and Birmingham both showed the game was important to them as they finished the 90 minutes at 3-3 with Assaidi giving the Potters an early lead and Birmingham had Ellliot sent off at half time to dent their hopes and two more goals from Crouch and Arnautovic put Stoke 3-1 up with 20 minutes remaining but a Lovenkrands brace in the 85th and 90th minute ensured extra time.

Jones gave Stoke a 4-3 lead in the 94th minute and the lead held until two minutes from the end when Lee levelled in the 118th minute to set up a penalty shootout which Stoke won comfortably at 4-2.

Tottenham defeated Hull 1-0 on Sunday but last night was a tougher game despite them taking an early lead through Sigurdsson but a Friedel error gave Hull an equaliser and they held on for extra time, Hull went 2-1 up in the 99th minute thanks to McShane but Kane equalised in the 108th minute to set up a tense shootout which needed sudden death as Tottenham won 8-7.

So an exciting couple of nights were joined by Wednesday's delayed tie between Sunderland and Southampton which saw both sides make changes from the weekend and saw the home side go through with a 2-1 win with Bardsley and Larsson securing a safe passage despite a late goal from Yoshida. 

Late Winners Help Top Six

Another exciting weekend in the Premier League saw four sides score crucial winning goals in the final minutes with two others confirming wins with second goals but the Gunners still remain top after all the action.

Arsenal faced a trip to Crystal Palace in the early kick-off and came away with a 2-0 win after an Arteta pen handed them the lead but the Spaniard was dismissed later on before Giroud confirmed the win three minutes from the end.

Everton continued their good form with a 2-0 win at Aston Villa with goals from Lukaku and Osman while Liverpool hit West Brom for four in a 4-1 home win that saw a first Anfield hat-trick from Luis Suarez followed by a Morrison penalty with Sturridge adding a spectacular fourth in the 77th minute.

Stoke are cursing their luck after letting a 2-1 half time lead at Old Trafford slip to lose 3-2 to a second half United comeback, Crouch put the Potters ahead in the 4th minute with Van Persie equalising two minutes from the break but Arnautovic gave Stoke a 2-1 lead right on half time and late goals from Rooney and Hernandez sealed the win.

Norwich and Cardiff drew 0-0 while Southampton beat Fulham 2-0 in the late kick off with goals from Lambert and Rodriguez while Sunday's early game was the Tyne/Wear derby that saw bottom side Sunderland shock neighbours Newcastle with an early opener from Fletcher with Debuchy equalising in the second half and Borini hit a superb winner with six minutes remaining.

A Joe Hart howler saw Torres hit the winning goal in a tense battle between Chelsea and Manchester City with the home side leading through Schurrle on the half-hour with Aguero levelling for City early in the second half with the Torres winner coming in the final minute for a 2-1 win.

Swansea and West Ham drew 0-0 while Tottenham won the first of two games this week against Hull (League Cup -midweek) with a 80th minute penalty from Soldado sealing the win.

English Continue Unbeaten Run

Matchday three in the Europa League saw all three English sides maintain their unbeaten run while Valencia were the round's top scorers after hitting five.

Swansea had to settle for a 1-1 draw despite leading through Michu as they conceded a late penalty which was scored by former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse who dented the Swans 100% record while St Gallen were demolished 5-1 away to Valencia with Garcia opener followed by a quick brace from Cartabia and a Costa strike gavr them a 4-0 half time lead with Canales adding a fifth before Nater hit a consolation fot the Swiss.

Dinamo Zagreb and PSV drew 0-0 while Ludogrorets top the group after a 1-0 win at Chornomorets with a winning goal from Zlatinski. Esbjerg claimed a 2-1 win over Elfsborg with a Andreason brace sandwiching a Jonsson leveller. 

Salzburg maintained their 100% record with a 2-1 win over Liege in a bad tempered game which saw three players given their marching orders, Mane and Carcela meant both sides had 10 men at half time but Salzburg took a lead in the 53rd minute through Soriano and Liege went down to nine as Dos Santos was sent off in the 66th minute, both sides scored late on as Ramalho made it 2-0 but Bia scored a penalty ensured a tight finish.

Wigan are still unbeaten after coming from behind at home to Rubin after Prudnikov gave the Russians a 15th minute lead but an equaliser from Powell gave the Latics a well deserved point and continued their push for the knockout stages while Maribor won 3-1 away to Zulte despite falling behind to a De Fauw opener as Crnic levelled with Mertelj and Megza sealing the win and they held on at 3-1 despite having Milec sent off in the 57th minute.

Fiorentina maintained their 100% record with a 3-0 victory over Pandurii with goals from Rodriguez, Santos and Cuadrado while Dnipro beat Pacos 2-0 with a late show with Rotan and Konoplyanka scoring in the 83rd and 86th minutes.

Bordeaux won 2-1 against APOEL with Sane giving them a 1-0 lead after 24 minutes only for Silva to equalise for the Greeks but the win was sealed for the Ligue 1 side with a late strike from Henrique, Frankfurt defeated Maccabi Tel-Aviv 2-0 with goals from Kadlec and Meier either side of the dismissal of Chaim for the visitors.

Dynamo Kyiv claimed a 3-0 win over Thun with goals from Yarmolenko, Mbokani and Gusev sealing the points and Genk and Rapid Wien drew 1-1 after a Gorius opener was cancelled out by Sabitzer's late equaliser.

Slovan Liberec drew 1-1 at home to Sevilla despite finishing with ten men after leading with a Rabusic goal and having Kovar sent off in the 78th minute but Sevilla's Perez scored a late leveller to share the points.

Freiburg and Estoril also drew 1-1 after Darida's 11th minute opener was cancelled out by Junior's second half equaliser while in group I, Lyon secured a 1-0 win over Rijeka with a second half winner by Grenier. Betis won 1-0 at home to Guimares with a winner from Vadillo.

Apollon and Lazio drew 0-0 while Trabzonspor secured a 2-0 win over Legia after taking an early lead through Janko and Adin sealed the win with eight minutes remaining.

Anzhi put aside their domestic woes to win 1-0 at home to Tromso courtesy of an 18th minute strike from Burmistrov while Tottenham put themselves on the fringe of qualification with a 2-0 win over Sheriff with an early goal from Vertonghen while Defoe continued his scoring run in the competition with a 75th minute strike.

Karagandy and Alkmaar drew 1-1 after two early goals with Finonchenko giving the hosts the lead after 11 minutes only for Gudmundsson to level in the 26th minute for the Eredivise side to share the points while PAOK capped a excellent comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at home to Maccabi Haifa, the visitors led with goals from Ndlovu and Galasa in the 13th and 21st minutes but the Greeks scored a quick double through Vitor and Ninis to send the sides level at the break and their comeback was complete when Salpingidis struck the winner in the 66th minute.

So a good week for the English sides with Tottenham and Swansea both well placed and Wigan looking good behind Rubin with the sides due to meet again in the reverse fixture in a fortnight.

Ibrahimovic Hits Four While Bayern Strike Five

Matchday three in the Champions League and we saw two teams hit five with one player scoring four goals for his team as Wednesday saw a goal fest in contrast to Tuesdays more closer games.

Chelsea ruined Schalke's good start to the group with a 3-0 away win thanks to a Torres brace and a late Hazard strike while Steaua and Basel drew 1-1 with Diaz giving the Swiss the lead just after half time and Tatu levelling for the Romanians with two minutes remaining to seal a point.

Arsenal suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Dortmund despite levelling through Giroud just before half time after Mkhitarayan gave the Germans a 19th minute lead but the home fans hopes of a draw were crushed by a 82nd minute winner by Lewandowski. Marseille remain pointless after a 2-1 home loss to Napoli who too a 2-0 lead courtesy of strikes from Callejon and Zapata with Ayew scoring late on to give the French side hope.

Zenit claimed a 1-0 win away to 10 man Porto who had Herrera sent off in the sixth minute but looked to be holding on for a draw until Kerzhakov hit a breakthrough winner in the 85th minute while Atletico Madrid maintained their 100% record with a 3-0 win over Austria Vienna thanks to an early Garcia strike and a brace from the in-form Costa.

Celtic sealed a 2-1 win at home to Ajax with a Forrest penalty on half time followed by Kayal strike but with two minutes to go they had Biton dismissed and Schone pulled a goal back to set up a tense finish but the Bhoys held on for the win. A meeting between two European giants at the San Siro saw AC Milan and Barcelona draw 1-1 with Robinho giving the Italians and early lead and after returning from injury, Messi equalised to share the points.

Groups A-D have shook the competition with a number of one sided games and this week was no different, Leverkusen stunned Shakthar 4-0 with a Kiessling brace and strikes from Rolfes and Sam while in the other game in the group, Manchester United won 1-0 at home to Real Sociedad after a second minute own goal from Martinez sealed the three points.

Galatasaray claimed a 3-1 win at home to Copenhagen after Melo opener set them on their way with Sneijder and Drobga scoring before half time with Claudemir scoring a late consolation for the Danes. Just like the previous night, two European giants faced off this time in the guise of Real Madrid and Juventus and in what is becoming a tradition for the Spaniards, Ronaldo scored both goals either side of a leveller from Llorente and Juve's hopes suffered a blow with the dismissal of Chellini early in the second period.

Benfica and Olympiakos drew 1-1 with the Greeks taking a first half lead through Dominguez but their hopes of a win were dashed by a 83rd minute leveller by Cardozo to ensure a sharing of the points but the story of the night came as PSG trounced Anderlecht 5-0 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring four including a 36 minute first half hat-trick with Cavani striking in the second half before the Swede hit his fourth to condemn the Belgians to a heavy loss.

Manchester City came back from an early Tosic strike to claim a 2-1 win away to CSKA Moscow with a brace from Aguero  ensuring their long trip home would be a happy one but in the other game another five star performance saw defending champions Bayern Munich thrash Plzen 5-0 with a Ribery brace sandwiching a goal from Alaba to put them 3-0up on the hour mark with Schweinsteiger's strike and a late fifth from Gotze confirming the win.

So an exciting week with a couple of surprise defeats for Arsenal and Shakthar but the 5-0's for PSG and Bayern again prove that despite their opponents being champions, they are not necessarily in the same league in terms of skill.

 

Four Is The Magic Number

This weekend saw the most goals so far this season in a gameweek which is no surprise with four sides hitting four goals in wins while four sides failed to score in an exciting three days.

The early kick off on Saturday saw Liverpool salvage a 2-2 draw away to 10-man Newcastle who took the lead through Cabaye but had Yanga-Mbiwa sent off three minutes from the interval and Gerrard dispatched the spot-kick to send them in level but a new name in Dummett set Newcastle ahead again before Liverpool's 'SAS' combined to level at 2-2 with Sturridge's equaliser.

Liverpool's draw gave Arsenal the chance to go clear at the top and they did so in style with a 4-1 win at home to Norwich with Wilshere giving them an early lead which increased with Ozil's strike but Howson's goal put Norwich back in the game but their hopes were dashed by Ozil's second and a late sealer by Ramsey.

Chelsea joined Liverpool in second after a 4-1 win over Cardiff but they had to comeback from a shock opener from Mutch which gave Cardiff hopes of an upset and even Hazard's equaliser on 33 minutes didn't damaged the Bluebirds hopes, that was caused by a second half treble with Eto'o giving the home side the lead with Oscar and Hazard's second goal sealing the win.

Everton continued their good run of form with a 2-1 victory over Hull thanks to goals from Mirallas and Pienaar either side of a Sagbo leveller while Stoke and West Brom played out a dull stalemate.

Manchester United looked to be on for a rare win this season after Van Persie continued his scoring streak after hitting a hat-trick during the international break by giving them a 28th minute lead and things were going great until Lallana deflected the ball past De Gea in the 89th minute to stun the Old Trafford faithful and push Southampton, yes Southampton into the top four until Sunday at least while United sat eighth.

Swansea ruined Gus Poyet's debut as Sunderland manager with a 4-0 thrashing which was a surprise when the sides were level at 0-0 after 56 minutes but own goals from Bardsley and Fletcher either side of a De Guzman strike and Bony penalty sealed a comfortable victory for the Swans.

Sunday saw away wins for Manchester City and Tottenham with City winning 3-1 against West Ham courtesy of an Aguero brace and Silva strike sandwiching a Vaz Te goal while Tottenham beat Aston Villa 2-0 with goals from Townsend and Soldado.

Monday night saw Fulham crush fellow city rivals Crystal Palace 4-1 despite slipping behind to a Mariappa opener in the 7th minute but a spectacular chested volley from Kasami brought the Cottagers level with Sidwell scoring just on half time as they went into the break leading 2-1 and second half strikes from Berbatov and Senderos propelled them out of the bottom three and completed a high scoring weekend.

Arsenal And Liverpool Top Into International Break

Arsenal retained top spot on goals scored over Liverpool after a 1-1 draw away to a tough West Brom who took a first half lead through Yacob with his first goal for the club but an equaliser came from Wilshere who struck his first goal of 2013 and ensured they returned to the top.

They had been knocked down to second by Liverpool who thanks to the new 'SAS' secured a 3-1 win at home to Cryatal Palace with early goals from Suarez and Sturridge who seem to be forming a powerful partnership and a Gerrard penalty late in the half gave them a 3-0 lead but a Gayle strike in the second half gave Palace something to be proud of.

Manchester City faced Everton in Saturday's early kick-off and despite going behind to an Lukaku opener they equalised instantly through Negredo before goals from Aguero and a  Tim Howard own goal after a shot hit him after glancing the post sealed a 3-1 win.

A Loic Remy double gave Newcastle a 2-1 win away to Cardiff who had hopes of a comeback with a second half strike from Odemwingie but the Magpies held on for the win. Hull and Aston Villa drew 0-0 in a game in which neither side excelled and as such a draw was a fair result. A new hero is in the minds of Manchester United fans after they came back from 1-0 down after an early opener from Gardner to win 2-1 away to Sunderland as Adnan Januzaj scored a famous double in the 51st and 61st minute to seal the win.

Fulham struck a 83rd minute winner through Darren Bent to secure a 1-0 win over Stoke while Southampton continued their brilliant start to the season that sees them in fourth place after a 2-0 win at home to Swansea with goals from Lallana and a late strike from Rodriguez maintaining their European hopes.

After 83 minutes at Carrow Road, the home fans thought they were on for a deserved draw against Chelsea after Pilkington ha cancelled out Oscar's opener but a double substitution for the Blues saw Hazard and Willan make instant impacts by scoring in the 85th and 86th minutes to seal a 3-1 win for Chelsea and ruin Norwich's hopes.

If Norwich had held on it would have been the shock of the weekend but that came at White Hart Lane as Tottenham were hammered 3-0 by a revitalised West Ham who were drawing 0-0 until Reid opened the scoring in the 66th minute and a second from Vaz Te minutes later meant Spurs needed a miracle and the spectacular came but not for Spurs but the Hammers as Morrison raced from his own half to hit past Lloris and seal a shock win.

So Arsenal and Liverpool seem to be setting the pace which is a surprise for both teams fans having had to see their Manchester rivals battle it out for the title in recent years but the international break could see a change with Liverpool playing the opening game of the next week against Newcastle in the early kick-off.

EPL Trio Continue Unbeaten Run

Gameweek two of the Europa League saw success for all three English sides who remain unbeaten after claiming wins last night, Rubin Kazan seem to be the team to catch having hit nine goals in the opening two games and face Wigan in the next two games.

A
Swansea top the group with 1-0 home win against St Gallen courtesy of a Wayne Routledge goal in the 52nd minute while Valencia made up for their defeat to Swansea in GW1 by claiming a 2-0 win away to Kuban with goals from Garcia and Feghouli.

B
Ludogorets seem to be surprise package in this group with two wins in a row after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0, they led 2-0 at the break with goals from Junior and Misidjan with Dyakov securing the win on the hour mark. PSV claimed their first win with a 2-0 victory at Chornomorets with goals from Depay and Josefzoon sealing their first points.

C
Salzburg top the group after a 2-1 away win against Esbjerg in which a Carvalho brace gave them a 2-0 lead at the halfway point but a late Diouf strike made for a frantic finish but the Austrians held on for the win. Elfsborg and Liege drew 1-1 after an eighth minute opener from Claesson was cancelled out by Bia's equaliser just after the hour mark.

D
Rubin thrashed Zulte 4-0 to retain their place at the top of the group despite being held 0-0 at the halfway point but Dupuis' own goal just before the hour set them on their way with Eremenko, Ryazantsev and Natcho completing the rout. A famous night for Wigan as they played their first home game in Europe and secured a historical win by defeating Maribor 3-1 with Powell and Watson giving them a 2-0 half time lead before Tavares pulled one back in the 59th minute, Powell hit his second in the final minute to the joy of the DW crowd.

E
Fiorentina sealed a 2-1 win away to Dnipro with goals from Rodriguez and Ambrosini sandwiching an equaliser from Seleznyov while Pacos and Pandurii drew 1-1- with a Momocilovic opener for Pandurii and an equaliser from Rodrigues.

F
Frankfurt made it two wins in a row with a 3-0 win over APOEL thanks to goals from Alexandrou,  Lakic and Jung and Maccabi Tel-Aviv beat Bordeaux 2-1 despite going behind to a Vieira strike as they scored twice in six minutes to win with goals from Itzhaki and Micha.

G
Genk won 2-1 against Thun with strikes from Gorius and Vosssen though Thun scored late on through Martinez to set up a tight finish while Rapid Vienna and Dynamo Kiev drew 2-2 with Dynamo leading 2-0 at half time with goals from Yarmolenko and a Dibon own goal, Burgstaller pulled one back for Rapid before a last-gasp leveller from Trimmel secured a draw.

H
 Liberec claimed a 2-1 win at home to Estoril who went behing in the 15th minute after a goal from Sural but then had Sousa dismissed in the 37th minute, they levelled on halftime via Leal but fell behind again on the hour as Kovac scored and Liberec held on for the win despite having Sackey sent off eight minutes from the end. Sevilla won 2-0 against Freiburg who had Diagne sent off in the 62nd minute and Perotti scored the resulting penalty with Bacca sealing the win in the final minute.

I
 Lyon and Guimares drew 1-1 with Maazou giving Guimares a first half lead which was cancelled out by Gonalons' leveller and they held on for the draw depsite having Maazou sent off late on, Rijeka and Betis also drew 1-1 with an opener from Benko being cancelled out within minutes by Gerard.

J
Apollon secured a 1-0 win over Legia after a goal from Sangoy in the 56th minute and Trabzonspor and Lazio played out a thrilling 3-3 draw after Trabzon went in 3-1 up at halfway with early goals from Erdogan and Mierzejewski sandwiched a Onazi leveller and Fitho extended the lead minutes later, Floccari hit a late brace in the 83rd and 85th minutes to complete the comeback.

K
Anzhi lost 2-0 to Tottenham who sealed a win with goals from Defoe and Chadli while Tromso and Sheriff drew 1-1 with Ondrasek's opener being cancelled out by Mendes' leveller in the final minutes for Sheriff who had Alvarado sent off between the goals.

L
Karagandy and Haifa drew 2-2 with the home side taking a 2-0 lead into the break with goals from Finonchenko and Tarasov just before half-time but a Ezra strike in the 50th minute and a leveller by Turgeman in the 78th ensured the sides would finish with a point each. AZ and PAOK drew 1-1 after a late show as AZ took the lead in the 81st minute with a strike from Gouweleeuw but right at the death, Salpingidis levelled to deny the home side the win and mean a sharing of the points.


So, fine wins for all three English sides and a lot of draws make up this week's action and hopefully the next gameweek will be just as good.

Mitroglou Trebles for Olympiakos and Real Hit Four

Gameweek two of the Champions League and the pre-match news that neither Rooney or Messi would play disappointed the fantasy team managers out there who had banked their week on their stars, one star who played and contiued his great start was Ronaldo who hit his fourth and fifth goals of the gampaign after only two games.

A
Manchester United with Rooney missing had to settle for a 1-1 draw away to Shakthar after taking an early lead through Welbeck as they were pulled back in the 76th minute by a Taison strike, Leverkusen hit their first win with a 2-1 home win over Sociedad with Rolfes opening the scoring on half time and Vela levelling minutes later with the winner coming in the final minute via Hegeler.

B
Real Madrid hammered Copenhagen 4-0 with braces from Ronaldo and Di Maria though the Danes had gone in only 1-0 down at half time, Real over powered them in the second half to devastating effect. Juventus and Galatasaray played out a 2-2 draw with the Turks leading 1-0 at halfway after a Drogba opener, Vidal struck an equaliser with a penalty in the 87th minute before a frantic finish which saw Quagliarella give Juve a lead with Bulut levelling second later to claim a draw.

C
Olympiakos got their first points with a 3-0 win away to Anderlecht thanks to a Mitroglou hat-trick and three seemed to be the number of the night as PSG also won 3-0 with a Ibrahimovic double sandwiching a Marquinhos strike as they went to the top of the group.

D
Bayern Munich made it two wins in a row with a 3-1 win away to Manchester City with goals from Ribery, Muller and Robben putting them clear before a 79th minute strike from Negredo and the late sending off of Bayern's Boateng gave City slight hope of a late comeback. In the early kick-off, CSKA defeated Plzen 3-2 despite falling behing in the fourth minute to a Rajtoral goal but an equaliser by Tosic and a Honda strike put them 2-1 up with a Reznik own goal giving them a two goal gap with a consolation for Plzen from Bakos in the final minute.

E
Chelsea bounced back in style with a 4-0 win away to Steaua with a brace from Ramires followed by a Georgievski own goal and a late strike from Lampard giving them a first win while Schalke topped the group after a 1-0 win over Basel with Draxler scoring the winning goal.

F
Arsenal made it two wins in a row with a 2-0 win at home to Napoli with goals from Ozil and Giroud while Dortmund bounced back with a 3-0 win over Marseille thanks to a Lewandowski double sandwiching a Reus strike.

G
Zenit and Austria Vienna drew 0-0 in Tuesday's early game which was ruined in the final minute of the first half by the slightly harsh dismissal of Zenit's Witsel which killed the attacking threat and dulled the game as a whole. Atletico Madrid came back to win 2-1 at Porto after a Martinez opener put Porto in front but the away team levelled through Godin and Turan struck a late winner.

H
Ajax and AC Milan drew 1-1 after two late goals with Denswil surely sealing a win for the home side before a last gasp equaliser from Balotelli shared the points while Barcelona avenged last season's defeat to Celtic with a 1-0 win which came after Celtic had Brown dismissed just before the hour mark and Fabregas sealed the win with a strike in the 75th minute for the Catalans.

 

North Londoners and Merseysiders Look Down on Manchester

Arsenal retain their place at the top of the league after a 2-1 victory away to Swansea on Saturday evening, the Gunners took the lead just before the hour mark with a surprising strike from Gnabry who was joined on the score-sheet by Ramsey but they were pulled back by a goal from Davies whose 82nd minute strike ensured a tight finish.

The early kick-off saw a London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea that made headlines for the wrong reasons, the game finished 1-1 after an early Sigurdsson opener was cancelled out by Terry's equaliser. However the dismissal of Torres ten minutes from the end came after a clash with Vertonghen which had earlier seen him booked but then as he struck the Belgian received his marching orders.

Shocks came in both games featuring the Manchester sides, Man City lost 3-2 away to Aston Villa despite taking a 1-0 half time lead through Yaya Toure and retook the lead via Dzeko after El Ahmadi had equalised but a superb free kick from Bacuna and a Weimann winner after a mistake in the City defence gave Villa a famous win.

United slipped to 12th in the league after losing 2-1 to West Brom after Amalfitano ripped through the defence to open the scoring but United equalised through Rooney before a strike from youth star Berahino gave the Baggies a crucial win.

 Cardiff increased the pressure on Martin Jol at Fulham with a 2-1 win, they led through Caulker's first gal for the club but were pegged back by a superb goal from Ruiz before securing the win in the final minute after Mutch struck to send the away fans home with joy.

Hull and Southampton continued their good starts to the season after promotion with wins against West Ham and Crystal Palace, Hull won 1-0 against the Hammers with a Brady penalty while Southampton beat Palace 2-0 with goals from Osvaldo and Lambert.

Super Sunday saw Stoke lose 1-0 at home to Norwich after a first half strike from Howson but the late game saw Liverpool go second in the table with a 3-1 win away to rock-bottom Sunderland
which saw Luis Suarez return with two goals sandwiching a Giaccherini goal after Sturridge had opened the scoring in the 28th minute.

The week came to an end with Monday Night Football which saw Everton beat Newcastle 3-2 after taking a 3-0 halftime lead thanks to a Lukaku brace either side of a Barkley goal, Newcastle pulled a goal back early in the second half through Cabaye before Remy scored with two minutes to go to setup a frantic finish but Everton held on for the win to go fourth in the table and complete a good weekend for the Merseyside based teams.