Arsenal Stymied by Sunderland; City Gifted Victory

Arsenal drops 2 crucial points with a 0-0 draw against Sunderland at the Emirates.  This game will be remembered for two crucial referee errors that cost Arsenal the three points.  In the 81^stAndrei Arshavin was pushed in the back by Titus Bramble that should have easily been called a penalty.  In the 87^th minute, Arshavin again was in the box thanks to a nice through ball from Nicklas Bendtner but was wrongfully called offside.  The game was evenly matched and Arsenal had other chances that they wasted but also could have conceded as Sunderland started the game off brightly.Manchester City gains ground on Arsenal and Manchester United with an unimpressive 1-0 win over bottom dwellers Wigan Athletic.  In the 38^th minute, Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi let an innocent David Silva shot hit his hands and go right through his legs for a goal.  Wigan had plenty of chances in the second half to equalize, including a Conor Sammon shot that rolled wide of the goal post near the end of the game.  The mistake cost Wigan a point as City did not really control the match nor do anything to deserve the victory. West Brom and West Ham move out of the drop zoneWest Brom secured 3 crucial points with a nice 3-1 victory on the road against Birmingham City.  West Brom was first on the scoreboard with a Youssuf Mulumbu shot from inside the box that beat keeper Ben Foster.  A minute later, Birmingham equalized with a cross redirected in by Jean Beausejour.  In the 58^th minute, West Brom regained the lead thanks to an impressive strike from just outside the box by James Morrison.  West Brom added a Paul Scharner goal in the 72^nd to ensure three points. West Ham moves out of the drop zone with a 3-0 thrashing of Stoke City at Upton Park.  Demba Ba kicks off the scoring in the 21st with an empty net goal.  The Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic rushes out to defend the run and misses, which leaves Demba Ba with only the Stoke defender to fight off in order to score the goal.  In the 28^th, Manual De Costa adds to the lead with a headed ball from a Thomas Hitzelsperger free kick.  Hitzelsperger himself ends the scoring with an 83^rd minute finish to give the Hammers another huge victory.

Fulham, Bolton, and Everton pick up victoriesFulham was able to get an important 3-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Craven Cottage. Damien Duff opens the scoring for Fulham with a left footed strike from inside the box in the 37^thminute.  Blackburn equalizes with a deflected Grant Hanley goal in first half stoppage time. Fulham goes up 2-1 in the 59^th again thanks to a Damien Duff goal on an absolute scorcher from outside the box.  In the 65^th Blackburn are able to equalize with a David Hoillett goal.  Then, on a Fulham corner late in the game, Chris Samba was called for a foul in the box giving a penalty to Fulham.  Bobby Zamora finished the penalty and collects all 3 points for Fulham his squad. 3-2 was the score line for Bolton’s home victory over Aston Villa.  The scoring began in the 15^th with a cross redirected in by Darren Bent.  Bolton equalized in first half stoppage time with a corner kick headed in by defender Gary Cahill.  Aston Villa took the lead once again in the 64^th from a cross volleyed in by Marc Albrighton.  Ashley Young could have secured the game when he was awarded a penalty soon after the Albrighton goal, but he could not take advantage and the penalty was saved.  This opened the door for Bolton, who scored with another Gary Cahill goal off of a corner kick in the 75^th before they earned the victory in the 86^th with an Ivan Klasnic goal.Everton earn a 2-1 victory over Newcastle at hostile St. James’ Park.  Newcastle began the scoring in the 23^rd with a goal headed in by Leon Best after a ricochet off of Everton Keeper Tim Howard.  In the 31^st Mikel Arteta picked out an unmarked Leon Osman in the box who slotted in a shot beating keeper Steve Harper.  Everton took the lead for good in the 36^th minute with a Phil Jagielka goal.