Arsenal hold City, Chelsea slip up, and Liverpool batter Spurs

Here with the round up to the Premier League matches this game week. As per usual, there were its accustomed shocks...

Manchester United v Aston Villa

Both the Red Devils and the Villains were looking to bounce back after humbling defeats midweek to City and Stoke respectively. The match was marred by a plane flying over head trailing a distasteful banner saying "Wrong choice Moyes out." Ashley Westwood stunned the Old Trafford faithful after David de Gea was unable to keep his curling free kick from nestling in the back of the net. United's saviour, Wayne Rooney, equalised 7 minutes later after heading a Shinji Kagawa cross past the Villa keeper, Brad Guzan. A nice turn from Juan Mata invited Leandro Bacuna into a silly challenge which resulted in a penalty for Rooney to slot for his 17th goal of the season. Mata scored his first goal for the Red Devils and Javier Hernandez netted the fourth goal on 90 minutes to ruin my 3-1 prediction and send Villa back to Birmingham empty handed. A bigger task will be faced on Tuesday as United welcome treble winners Bayern Munich to the Theatre of Dreams.

Crystal Palace v Chelsea

A 1-0 result at home to Chelsea boosted Crystal Palace's chances of survival and hindered Chelsea's title aspirations. The first chance fell to Chelsea's Andre Schurrle who had an excellent opportunity to open the scoring but couldn't turn in a Eden Hazard cross. Yannick Bolasie couldn't control a powerful cross fired in from the left with a heavy touch and a rushed shot, he only managed to find the side netting. The goal came when John Terry turned a Joel Ward cross past his keeper in the second half to cap a miserable afternoon for the captain. Chelsea did have chances to get back into the game with chances from Hazard but each drew spectacular saves from Speroni. O'Keefe nearly gifted Chelsea an equaliser as a stray back pass was latched onto by Fernando Torres, but the Spaniard was unable to hit the target with an audacious lob. The jubilation around Selhurst Park was inevitable once the 4 minutes of injury time was up after a superb defensive effort and more will be required if they are to survive.

Southampton v Newcastle

A mid table derby took place at St. Mary's where Southampton gave the Toon Army a footballing lesson. This game saw equisite performances for The Saints' attacking trio and will give Hodgson a head ache for the World Cup. Southampton started brightly with excellent chances from Rodriguez, Lovren and English starlet Adam Lallana but failed to put the ball in the back of the net. The deadlock was finally broken in stoppage time of the first half when Rickie Lambert squared the ball for Jay Rodriguez to put the ball into the back of the net. The Saints deserved the 1-0 lead into the break. The Saints managed to pick up where they left off in the second half. Rickie Lambert managed to beat the offside trap and send an Adam Lallana cross into the roof of the net. Adam Lallana strengthened the his argument for going on the plane to Rio after a thunderous shot from outside the box to score the third.

Stoke City v Hull City

The victory for Stoke will only boost the confidence as they attempt to solidify a solid mid table finish, while Hull slip further down the table after 2 losses in since last weekend. The first chance of the game fell to Tom Huddlestone who unleashed a venomous shot but Asmir Begovic tipped it around the post. Hull appeared more threatening and this was confirmed with a shot that deflected off a Stoke defender which Asmir Begovic parried only for Nikica Jelavic to scuff wide. The deadlock was broken when Peter Odemwingie latched onto a poor pass from Elmohamedy before bearing down on goal and sliding it past Steve Harper. A nice flick by Odemwingie allowed Arnautovic to play through Stephen Ireland but he couldn't double the Potter's lead. Odemwingie has scored goals in his last 3 matches and Stoke are on course to achieve a top 10 finish. Hull are flirting with the drop zone, but couple of wins should see them stay in the Premier League for another season.

Swansea v Norwich

A comfortable 3-0 victory for the Swans appears to have secured Premier League football for next season. The game was a one sided affair in favour of Swansea while Norwich were extremely poor. The scoring opened when Jonathon de Guzmann fired a shot past John Ruddy after a knock down from Michu. The Dutchman netted his and Swansea's second after a perfect 1-2 with Wilfried Bony who poked it past the Norwich keeper. Once the Canaries managed to get possession off a dominant Swansea side, Ricky Van Wolfswinkel managed to fire a powerful shot past Michel Vorm only for Ashley Williams to block the shot. A disguised pass from Jonjo Shelvey allowed Wayne Routledge to drag the ball past a helpless John Ruddy completed the rout for the Swans in a superb performance. As for Norwich, Chris Hughton will go back to the drawing board to try and rectify what was a mistake ridden game if they want to stay up.

West Brom v Cardiff

What do you get when you add 2 world class goals, shoddy defending and last minute drama? A typical Barclays Premier League relegation dog fight of course! Goals came from the start as a moment of magic from Morgan Amalfitano managed to send the ball from 35 yards past Marshall in the Cardiff net, before Graham Dorrans doubled the league within 10 minutes. A beautiful pin point shot from Jordan Mutch managed to catch Ben Foster of his line to half the deficit going into half time. Captain, Steven Caulker, looped a header over the West Brom keeper after a teasing cross from Gary Medel to complete the comeback. West Brom thought they had won the match when Espanyol loanee Thievy scored on only his second appearance. A last gasp equaliser from Mats Daehli secured the point on 95 minutes. Solskjaer will be happy with the result after a poor start from the Welsh side while Pepe Mel will be most likely wondering how his side has not managed to win this match.

Arsenal v Manchester City

A game at the Emirates between 2 teams who are fighting for the title and hellbent on attacking football... Ended in a draw. Early action included a Tomas Rosicky penalty shout but was denied by Mike Dean. The scoring opened after a sparkling run from David Silva allowed Edin Dzeko to create space out on the left and his shot rattled the post but the little Spaniard was in the right place at the right time to nudge the ball in. Arsenal equalised after a Lukas Podolski cross allowed Mathieu Flamini to turn the ball past City keeper, Joe Hart. Arsenal dominated the majority of the second half through chances from Lukas Podolski but were unable to score the winner. While Arsenal may have dominated most of  the second half, Man City did get chances. Yaya Toure managed to round Szczesny, but couldn't fire his shot past the scrambling defence. This result will delight Liverpool with two of their title rivals dropping points.

Fulham v Everton

The 3-1 win for Everton enabled them to capitalise on the dropped points from Arsenal as they aim to steal that 4th spot from under the Gunners' noses. Fulham on the other hand, will be biting their nails, as it seems they need a minor miracle to evade the drop. At half-time, Fulham felt they were in with a shout in this game, however a Naismith shot ricocheted off David Stockdale and ended up in the back of the net. Hope for Fulham was renewed after a sublime solo effort from Ashdan Dejagah profited from a James McCartney slip to beat Tim Howard at his near post. The lead was restored for Everton 8 minutes later when a Aiden McGeady ball split the Cottagers' defence and Kevin Mirallas added the finishing touch. Steven Naismith hammered the final nail in the Cottagers' coffin after a rather fortuitous goal off a Leighton Baines cross. This result leaves Fulham rooted to the bottom and Everton 4 points off Arsenal.

Liverpool v Tottenham

The 4-0 drubbing over Spurs sends Steven Gerrard's Liverpool top of the Premier League the first time since Christmas. The rout started inside 2 minutes through an overlapping run from Glen Johnson for him to send a teasing ball into the box, which was met by the unfortunate Younas Kaboul. Top goal scorer Luis Suarez capitalised on a poor pass from Michael Dawson to slide it past Hugo Lloris. The third goal followed after a superb piece of skill allowed Jon Flanagan to beat Aaron Lennon before releasing Phillippe Coutinho who laced a shot into the bottom left corner. Jordan Henderson's free kick epitomised a shameful defensive effort when it managed to travel through a sea of players to find the net unscathed. In summary, 4-0 flattered Tottenham as they slip further from the prized 4th spot. As for Liverpool, they may be just believing that this could be the year.

Sunderland v West Ham

A pulsating match was on offer at the Stadium of Light tonight, with West Ham taking the spoils. The loss for Sunderland puts a massive splinter in their hopes to stay up. Andy Carroll has been putting his hand up for a plane ticket in the summer with another goal inside 10 minutes, through a close ranged header from a Mark Noble cross. Carroll turned provider as he rose highest to knock the ball down for Mohamed Diame to bury the ball in the left-hand corner from the centre of the spot. Adam Johnson gave Sunderland a life line after a through ball from Craig Gardner, in what proved to only be a consolation. Both teams gave 110% and provided excellent entertainment for the neutral, with exciting end to end football. With away trips to Chelsea and both Manchester clubs, as well as a game against Everton, not many people tip the Black Cats to be in the Premier League next year, while Big Sam silenced the grumblings from the home game against Hull City.