Here’s the roundup of what went around in the Premier League in the last week of 2012.
Midweek (Boxing day) games :
The busy boxing day arrived after the festivities of Christmas. There were a total of 9 Premier League fixtures on the 26th of December. Javier Hernandez scored a late winner against Newcastle United in a thrilling game which ended 4-3 to Manchester United in the dying stages. Noisy neighbours Manchester City slipped up at Sunderland as ex-Manchester City winger Adam Johnson notched the winner, 1-0, it ended. Chelsea went 1-0 up thanks to a Juan Mata beauty and it stayed that way at the final whistle, as Mata marked his 50th Premier League appearance in style. Aston Villa, after being thumped 8-0 by Chelsea last week, faced another thumping. This time it was Tottenham Hotspur who beat them 4-0 thanks to a Gareth Bale hat-trick. Everton continued their impressive run with a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic. Reading and Swansea played out a goalless draw, while Queens Park Rangers lost once again 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion and Fulham played out a 1-1 draw with the Saints. Arsenal’s game with West Ham United was postponed and Stoke City registered an impressive 3-1 win over Liverpool.
Results :
Everton 2 – 1 Wigan Athletic
Fulham 1 – 1 Southampton
Manchester United 4 – 3 Newcastle United
Norwich City 0 – 1 Chelsea
Reading 0 – 0 Swansea
Sunderland 1 – 0 Manchester City
QPR 1 – 2 West Bromwich Albion
Aston Villa 0 – 4 Tottenham Hotspur
Stoke City 3 – 1 Liverpool.
Weekend games :
The weekend was a fiesta of goals with a staggering 41 goals scored in the 10 matches that took place. A great way to mark the end of 2012. Here’s what happened in this thrilling weekend of the Premier League :
Sunderland took the lead against the Spurs but weren’t able to hold it, as Spurs came from behind and won the game 2-1. Manchester United took the lead in the first half against West Brom, but looked nervy in the second. But Robin van Persie came off the bench to make it 2-0 and three points in the bag. Ten-men Manchester City won a thrilling 7-goal encounter 4-3 against Norwich City, Edin Dzeko with a brace. Reading, meanwhile, got a much needed win over West Ham United, 1-0 while Aston Villa were thrashed 3-0 by Wigan Athletic and a Michu-less Swansea got three points against Fulham as the game ended 2 – 1. Stoke City and Southampton played out a thrilling 3-3 draw, Kenwyne Jones with a stunning late goal to equalise for Stoke. The late Saturday kick-off turned out to be a goal-fiesta in it’s own as Arsenal beat Newcastle 7-3, Walcott with a hattrick and Giroud with a brace. Sunday saw a great encounter between Chelsea and Everton at Goodison Park where Chelsea came from 1-0 down to beat Everton 2-1 as Frank Lampard scored both the goals and kept the pressure on the Manchester clubs at the top. QPR had to deal with another thrashing as a Luis Suarez brace so the hosts go down 3-0 to Liverpool.
Results :
Sunderland 1 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa 0 – 3 Wigan Athletic
Fulham 1 – 2 Swansea
Manchester United 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion
Norwich City 3 – 4 Manchester City
Reading 1 – 0 West Ham United
Stoke City 3 – 3 Southampton
Arsenal 7 – 3 Newcastle United
Everton 1 – 2 Chelsea
QPR 0 – 3 Liverpool.
Konark Antani (@ExorbitantBlue)
