Fernando Torres scored a late winner as Chelsea beat Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
English Premier League
Torres missed a great chance early on when he beat the offside trap and chested down a cross from the right but lacked the composure as he shot over unopposed. He made amends though when he beat Gael Clichy down the right flank and found Andre Schurrle with a low cross which the German tapped in gleefully. Torres then made a terrific run down the left but his shot hit the woodwork. Sergio Aguero restored parity 4 minutes after the restart when he rushed on to Samir Nasri’s through ball and his left footed strike was too powerful for Petr Cech who could only watch the ball pass him into the top corner. Javi Garcia had a header saved afterwards and was later booked for a body check on Torres. Cech then made a save with his left foot to deny David Silva. Aguero came close to scoring but his chipped effort went just wide. Torres won it for the Blues on 90 minutes when he made the most of a defensive mix-up to tap home after Matija Nastasic’s back header had looped over Joe Hart who should have stayed on his line where he would have easily collected the ball. Another costly error by the England number 1 cost City valuable points. That did not matter to Jose Mourinho who celebrated by jumping into the crowd. A distraught Manuel Pellegrini refused to shake hands after the final whistle as he stormed down the tunnel.
Crystal Palace may have expected the worst at Selhurst Park with the visit of Arsenal after their defeat to Fulham on Monday but did quite well to give the league leaders a good run for their money. Olivier Giroud had the first chance of the game but headed over Bacary Sagna’s cross from the right. Marouane Chamakh drew a save from Wojciech Szczesny with a shot from distance after which Barry Bannan saw his shot like cross miss the head of Damien Delaney by a whisker. Santi Cazorla then sent a shot just wide and Aaron Ramsey was denied by Julian Speroni. Arsenal had a call for a penalty denied when Delaney fouled Serge Gnabry but only a free kick was awarded. A spot kick was awarded soon after the restart when Gnabry was brought down by Adlene Guedioura and Mikel Arteta stepped up to convert. Arteta turned villain on 65 minutes when he being the last man, brought down Chamakh and was sent off. In fairness it looked like a clashing of feet. Szczesny made two great saves to preserve the lead for Arsenal as he first saved Joel Ward’s powerful drive from distance and then denied Mile Jedinak with a flying save. Arsenal sealed the win 3 minutes before time when Ramsey did well to hold off and find Giroud with a chipped ball to head in past Speroni.
Liverpool ran riot at Anfield as they beat West Bromwich Albion 4-1 with Luis Suarez scoring a hat trick. Suarez opened the scoring on 12 minutes when he nutmegged Jonas Olsson outside the box and fired into the bottom corner leaving Boaz Myhill in goal no chance. He made it two to the good 5 minutes later when he headed in a cross from 16 yards out. The Reds had the chance to make it 3-0 soon after but Martin Skrtel failed to connect with Steven Gerrard’s cut back from Suarez’s clever free kick. Suarez then saw a free kick go wide. Jordan Henderson had a chance to increase the score but his effort went just over with Myhill rooted to the spot. Nicolas Anelka did well to guide a long ball past Simon Mignolet but Skrtel tracked back well to deny the veteran striker. Daniel Sturridge shot a powerful curling free kick just wide after which Suarez completed his hat trick. Gerrard delivered a beautiful free kick from the left and the Uruguayan helped it on with his head into the net. Sturridge came close yet again when he stung the crossbar with a powerful shot. West Brom were awarded a penalty when Billy Jones looked to have been brought down in the box and James Morrison stepped up to convert. Sturridge finally got his goal when he chipped the ball over the keeper restoring the 3 goal cushion.
Javier Hernandez played the role of super sub for Manchester United as they came twice from behind to beat Stoke City 3-2 at Old Trafford. If the Potters were hoping to get a good start, they got a great one after 4 minutes. Erik Pieters was allowed far too much space on the left and he picked out Peter Crouch with a good cross and the striker scored with his second effort after David De Gea had brilliantly saved his initial shot. Crouch had another chance less than 10 minutes later but shot over after Jonathan Walters had done well to find him inside the box. Crouch then laid off a ball by Steven Nzonzi with his chest for Walters but his effort was blocked by De Gea. Wayne Rooney was the first to genuinely threaten the Stoke goal but saw his dipping shot from outside the box tipped over by Asmir Begovic. United drew level 2 minutes before the break when Robin Van Persie tapped home the rebound after Begovic had saved Rooney’s header from a cross. Stoke responded immediately through Marko Arnautovic whose free kick was too good for De Gea and the visitors went into the break with a much deserved lead. Stoke were happy to defend and let United come at them and looked to hit on the break. On 78 minutes, the hosts drew level when Rooney brilliantly glanced home a corner from Van Persie. Substitute Hernandez won it for the Red Devils 2 minutes later when he headed in Patrice Evra’s cross from the left. It was a much needed win for United and David Moyes but Stoke will consider themselves to be very unlucky after a good performance.
Tottenham were made to sweat for the 3 points at White Hart Lane as a spirited Hull City side kept the Spurs at bay for 80 minutes of the game. Jan Vertonghen’s shot was adjudged to have been handled by Ahmed Elmohamady inside the box and Roberto Soldado stepped up to score the only goal of the game from the spot.
After Christian Benteke missed an early penalty for Aston Villa, they were beaten 2-0 at Villa Park by Everton courtesy of goals from Romelu Lukaku and Leon Osman. Norwich City drew 0-0 at home against Cardiff City while Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez scored as Southampton beat Fulham 2-0 at home. Sunderland won the Wearside side derby against Newcastle United at the Stadium if Light thanks to Fabio Borini’s winner after Mathieu Debuchy had cancelled out Steven Fletcher’s opener for the Black Cats. Swansea City and West Ham United played out a goalless draw at the Liberty Stadium.
Spanish La Liga
Barcelona ensured themselves the bragging rights after they beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the most expensive El Clasico with the value of the two teams surpassing 400 million pounds. Neymar opened the scoring for the Catalan giants on 19 minutes with a neat finish from an acute angle after having been played in by Andres Iniesta. Lionel Messi had a chance to double the lead soon after but shot wide. Neymar had a chance to increase his goal tally but volleyed Iniesta’s long ball straight at Diego Lopez. Cristiano Ronaldo came close to equalising but his powerful shot was saved well by Victor Valdes. Angel Di Maria volleyed straight at Valdes from the resulting free kick after which substitute Karim Benzema’s powerful shot from distance crashed against the crossbar. Real had a clear penalty denied when Ronaldo was brought down by Javier Mascherano but their appeals fell on deaf ears. Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead for Barca soon after when he chipped the ball over Lopez after getting at the end of a through ball by Neymar with Raphael Varane sticking close to him. Jese pulled one back for the Los Blancos when he slotted in Ronaldo’s low cross.
David Villa scored a brace with Oliver, Diego Costa and Gabi also getting on the score sheet as Atletico Madrid thrashed Real Betis 5-0 at home. Sevilla beat Osasuna 2-1 at home while Villarreal beat Valencia 4-1 at home.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Hertha Berlin 3-2 at the Allianz Arena thanks to a brace by Mario Mandzukic and a third by Mario Gotze. Kevin Prince-Boateng missed a penalty as his Schalke side was beaten 3-1 at home by Borussia Dortmund. Bayer Leverkusen beat FC Augsburg 2-1 at home while Borussia Monchengladbach beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1 at home.
Italian Serie A
League leaders AS Roma continued their perfect start as they beat Udinese 1-0 away thanks to Michael Bradley’s solitary goal. Gonzalo Higuain scored two penalties as Napoli beat Torino 2-0 at home while Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez scored to help Juventus beat Genoa 2-0 at home. Inter Milan beat Hellas Verona 4-2 at the San Siro while Fiorentina beat Chievo Verona 2-1 away and Parma beat AC Milan 3-2 at home with Lazio beating Cagliari 2-0 at home.
French Ligue 1
St Etienne held Paris Saint-Germain to a 2-2 draw at home while AS Monaco beat Lyon 2-1 at home and Marseille were beaten 3-2 at home by Stade de Reims.
Dutch Eredivisie
Ajax Amsterdam 0-0 RKC Waalwijk
ADO Den Haag 3-2 Twente Enschede
Roda JC Kerkrade 2-1 PSV Eindhoven
Feyenoord Rotterdam 1-2 SC Heracles Almelo
PEC Zwolle 0-2 AZ Alkmaar
Portuguese Liga
Benfica 2-0 CD Nacional de Madeira
FC Porto 3-1 Sporting Lisbon
Maritimo 1-3 Estoril
Scottish Premiership
Partick Thistle 1-2 Celtic
St Johnstone 2-0 Motherwell
Dundee United 4-0 St Mirren
Hibernian 0-2 Aberdeen
