Aston Villa 0 – 0 Sunderland

The Black Cats earn a much needed point at Villa Park.  This one was a little uninspiring.  The Villains were looking for back-to-back home wins for the first time since August of 2010.  Prince William showed up to support the home side.  But alas, not even he could spark the home side.  The result was better for the visitors as they broke a three away match losing streak.  They came closest to winning the match in the second half when Fabio Borini’s 66^th minute header from an Emanuele Giaccherini let-wing cross bounced off the crossbar. Although Black Cats boss Gus Poyet would have preferred three points to one, he knows that every little bit helps when you’re in a relegation battle.

Cardiff 0 – 3 Arsenal

Jack Ramsey gets a brace to help the Gunners secure their hold of the top spot.  This is where it all started for the Welsh international midfielder.  He joined the club as a kid and came through their academy.  So he had a good idea what to expect when he lined up against them on Saturday.  Cardiff took points from both Manchester clubs when they came to Cardiff City Stadium.  They looked to do the same to the league leaders and had a chance to open the scoring in the 10^th minute when Frazier Campbell’s header of a Kevin Theophile-Catherine cross was just off target to the left.  The Gunners had a chance to take the leadin the 15^th minute when Olivier Giroud had a major brain cramp.  The Gunners striker thought he was offside when Mezut Ozil tried to flick the ball over to him.  He was in alone against Cardiff keeper David Marshall.  But instead of playing to the whistle (which hadn’t sounded) or to the assistant’s flag (which hadn’t gone up), he hesitated.  By the time he realized that he was not going to be penalized for being offside, Steven Caulker had gotten back to help defend and blocked the shot on goal.  But the Gunners’ did take the lead in the 29^th minute when Ozil hit a great cross to pick out Ramsey’s decisive run into the Cardiff penalty area.  The Gunners’ player of the year headed the ball past Marshall’s reach for the goal.  Incredibly, the home fans gave their former player a standing ovation for the goal.  Ramsey nearly made it two goals for the Gunners right at half time when he was put through on goal by Olivier Giroud.  His shot was just wide of the goal.  Cardiff have never quit on their home ground and they nearly equalized in the 51^st minute.  Winger Kim Bo-Kyung hit a telling cross into the Gunners’ area that Campbell headed on target.  Gunners’ keeper Wojciech Szczesny was able to get down quickly and make the save to preserve the Arsenal advantage.  But that’s as close as the home side would come and they conceded the second in the 85^th minute when Mathieu Flamini was put through on goal by a great Ozil through-pass that the midfielder was able to poke home.  Ramsey put the cap on the match in stoppage time when he curled his shot into the top right corner of the goal.

Everton 4 – 0 Stoke

The Toffees get and easy win over the Potters.  This match featured on-loan 19-year-old Gerard Deulofeu who was given a debut start by Toffees boss Roberto Martinez.  The kid has made several appearances from the bench this season, so Martinez thought it would be a good idea to let him start on Saturday.  Deulofeu nearly scored in the third minute of his debut when his shot to the upper corner of the goal was saved by Potters’ keeper Asmir Begovic.  Begovic was by far the busier keeper throughout the first half as he made key saves from Gareth Barry, Deulofeu again, and later Leon Osman.  But it was the kid who would get the better of Begovic right at first half stoppage time.  He was put through on goal by a great pass from Gareth Barry and he knocked the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.  The Toffees continued their domination in the second half and made it 2-0 in the 48^th minute when Seamus Coleman’s left footed shot found the top right corner of the goal.  Deulofeu played a hand in the third goal in the 58^th minute.  Bryan Oviedo met the Spaniard’s corner kick with his left foot and powered home past Begovic.  Romelu Lukaku, not wanting to be left out of the scoring fun, got his goal in the 79^th minute when he powered Oviedo’s pass into the center of the goal.  Nikica Jelavic nearly scored the fifth for Everton when he was set up by Deulofeu’s great pass.  Begovic was able to make the save and keep the damage to four goals.

Norwich 1 – 0 Crystal Palace

Tony Pulis starts his reign in charge of Crystal Palace.  He has been brought in to try and rescue the London side’s season.  But from the look of things, there isn’t too much hope.  Although they won their last match, they just don’t seem to have enough to make any sort of run at survival.  The Canaries, on the other-hand moved themselves four places away from the drop zone.  It looks like the pressure has eased a bit on boss Chris Hughton for the time being.  Gary Hooper’s 30^th minute goal was enough for the win that snaps a seven match losing streak.  So let’s see if Pulis, who has never been in charge of a side that has been relegated, can pull off the miracle.

West Ham 3 – 0 Fulham

The Hammers get a vital win over their London rivals and get Martin Jol fired.  It was kind of obvious that changes were coming to the Cottagers.  They’re sitting in the relegation zone and there is no fire in the side.  The Hammers haven’t looked much better and many fans were angry with boss Sam Allardyce.  To his credit, Allardyce changed the team tactics a bit and they seemed to work as Matt Jarvis and Stewart Downing pressed the Cottagers defense.  Although the first half ended goalless, it was the home side that looked the better of the two sides.  They opened the scoring right from the start of the second half when Mohamed Diame hit a free-kick that flicked off defender Fernando Amorebieta’s leg and into the goal past Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.  The goal gave the home side confidence and they nearly got a second in the 60^th minute when Stekelenburg had to save Modibo Maiga’s shot from outside the box.  As they continued to wear down the visitor’s opposition, the traveling fans chanted “Jol out!” for the rest of the match.  Things went from bad to worse for the Cottagers in the 82^nd minute as Carlton Cole poked home Stewart Downing’s cross to make it 2-0 for the Hammers.  Substitute Joe Cole completed the Cottagers’ humiliation in the 88^th minute with his shot into the middle of the goal.  So Jol has joined Paolo DiCanio in the ranks of the unemployed.

Newcastle 2 – 1 West Bromwich Albion

The Magpies get the victory over the Baggies at St. James’ Park.  It was their fourth successive victory and it has moved them up into sixth place in the BPL table.  Yoan Gouffran opened the scoring in the 36^th minute when he headed home from a corner kick.  Although the Baggies have lacked some quality in front of goal lately, they did manage to level the score in the 52^nd minute when Chris Brunt finished Shane Long’s headed effort.  But Moussa Sissoko got the winner in the 57^th minute when his shot from outside the area went into the top right corner of the goal.  Loic Remy narrowly missed a shot to make it three for the Magpies in the 63^rd minute.  Mathieu Debuchy and Shola Ameobi both had their shots saved by Baggies keeper Boaz Myhill.  But the Baggies weren’t able to make any more attacks on goal and the Magpies sealed the victory.

Hull 3 – 1 Liverpool

Hull gets a shock win over the Reds.  It was the first time the Tigers had ever beaten the Reds and moved them down to fourth place on Sunday.  The Reds were missing striker Daniel Sturridge who suffered a training injury and will be out of action for the next eight weeks.  Boss Brendan Rodgers decided to start Raheem Sterling and put Luiz Suarez up front on his own.  But the Reds were missing the combination play of “The Three Amigos” and went behind in the 20^th minute when Jake Livermore curled in a shot from outside the penalty area into the left corner of the goal.  The Reds got an opportunity to level the score in the 25^th minute when Hull defender Curtis Davis brought down Jordan Henderson just outside of the penalty area.  Reds’ captain Steven Gerrard lined up the free-kick and hammered it into the bottom right corner of the goal for the equalizer.  Both sides battled for the go-ahead goal for the remainder of the half.  Tom Huddleston had his 35^th minute shot from outside of the box saved by Reds’ keeper Simon Mignolet and Sterling’s was saved by Tigers’ keeper Allan McGregor.  In the 44^th minute, Hull striker Robbie Brady went down in the Reds’ penalty area, but it was an obvious dive and so he received a yellow card.  Reds’ central midfielder Kolo Toure had an attempt blocked right as the halftime whistle blew.  The second-half was more of the same as nether side could muster any sustained attack on goal.  In the 65^th minute, Hull boss Stephen Bruce decided to replace striker Robert Koren with Liam Rosenior.  Rodgers made his move at the same time replacing Sterling with Philippe Coutinho.  At first it seemed that the changes benefited the Reds more than the Tigers as Suarez nearly scored in the 67^th minute and Moses had a sure goal saved in the 70^th minute.  But it was the Tigers who broke the deadlock in the 71^st minute when David Meyler took advantage of the Reds failure to clear a loose ball and scored the go-ahead goal.  Goal number three for the Tigers came in the 86^th minute through huge piece of bad luck.  Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone, who has promised to cut his hair when he scores, took a shot from just inside the Reds’ penalty area.  The shot was going wide of the goal, but Martin Skrtel misplayed the ball and re-directed into his own net.  The win may help quiet things down between Hull owner Assem Allam and the fans.  They’re not happy with his proposal to rename “Hull City” to “Hull Tigers”.  Perhaps if they win more, they can find a way to make peace.

Chelsea 3 – 1 Southampton

The Blues bounce back from an early goal to claim the win and second place in the BPL table.  So the home record at Stamford Bridge is 67 wins for Jose Mourinho, but that streak was in jeopardy in the first minute when Jay Rodriguez caught the Blues defense napping and grabbed the early goal.  Michael Essien made an absolutely horrible back pass to keeper Petr Cech and Rodriguez was able to nick the ball away and punish the error.  The rest of the half was one that Mourinho and the Blues would want to forget as the closest they came to any sort of attack was in the 44^th minute when Fernando Torres had his header from Juan Mata cross saved by Saints’ keeper Artur Boruc.  Mourinho was visibly angry at halftime and took off Essien in favor of Demba Ba as the second half got underway.  The Blues did get themselves kicked into gear and substitute Frank Lampard nearly leveled the score in the 54^th minute when his shot was saved by Boruc.  They finally did level the score in the 56^th minute.  Mata’s corner kick was headed on by Branislav Ivanovic to Ba whose header bounced off the bar.  The ball eluded Boruc’s attempt to clear and was headed home by Gary Cahill.  The match was delayed as Boruc was injured in the exchange and had to be replaced by Paulo Gazzaniga.  The Blues took the lead in the in the 61^st minute when John Terry headed home Mata’s corner kick for his 400^th goal for the Blues.  With the win and the streak safe, “The Special One” looked relieved on the touchline.  The exclamation point for the Blues came in the 89^th minute when Ba knocked home a Ramires cross.  Could we be looking a London fight for the BPL trophy?

Manchester City 3 – 0 Swansea

Samir Nasri gets a brace as Citeh win at the Etihad again.  Ho-hum, Citeh win another home match.  They haven’t lost at home since their neighbors beat them last season.  This one was over in the eighth minute when Alvaro Negredo scored from a free-kick.  Swans tried their best to put up a fight, but the one thing that Manuel Pellegrini has figured out for winning the BPL is to win all matches at home and the visitors never had a chance.  There have been some whispers about keeper Joe Hart and he sat this match out in favor of Costel Pantilimon again.  But the goal was rarely troubled for most of the first half and the home side took their lead into the interval.  The second half saw Pantilimon forced into a save in the 50^th minute as Jonathan De Guzman tried to chip the Citeh keeper.  But in the 58^th minute, Nasri made the margin two goals when he was put through by Yaya Toure and slotted home his shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.  Sergio Aguero, one of the contestants for the “Golden Boot” this season, should have scored in the 72^nd minute when he was found by substitute James Milner’s free-kick.  His shot went just wide of the goal, but Nasri did get the third goal in the 76^th minute.  Pablo Zabaleta was able to find Nasri’s run through the Swans defense and the winger scored into the bottom right corner of the goal.  It was an easy win for Citeh and lefts them into the top three of the BPL table.  Now if only Pellegrini could figure out how to win on the road, he might just be able to claim the BPL trophy again for the “Blue Half” of Manchester.