Aston Villa 0 – 0 Newcastle

The Villains and the Magpies play to a goalless draw at Villa Park. Villa boss Paul Lambert (sorry for getting his name wrong last week,Villa fans) should be pleased with the start his side has made. It’s still very early in the BPL season, but by gaining four points from their first two matches, the Villains sit in the upper half of the BPL table. The Magpies, on the other hand, don’t look good at all. They’re lucky not to be in the bottom three, but they need to get their act together. Boss Alan Pardew is not happy with the fact that the Magpies still haven’t scored yet. They did come close to getting their first goal in the 32nd minute from Emmanuel Riviere’s left foot, but Villains’ keeper Brad Guzan was able to make the save. In the 50th minute, Guzan was called again to save from Daryl Janmaat’s header from Michael Williamson. Janmaat had another opportunity in the 55th minute, but this time his curling shot just missed the top left corner of the goal. Philippe Senderos should have put the home side into the lead in the 75th minute when he headed Ashley’s free-kick off to the right of the goal. But try as they might, neither side was able to finish any of the opportunities. Newcastle shot themselves in the foot in stoppage time when Williamson was sent off for his second booking. He committed a bad foul on Fabien Delph in the Magpies’ defensive third and the referee had no choice but to show the defender his second yellow card. It looks like they’ll be in another relegation fight again this season unless something drastic changes.

Chelsea 2 – 0 Leicester City

The Blues make it two wins in a row. While watching this match, I couldn’t help but note how well Leicester fought in this match. They pushed the home side pretty hard in the first half at Stamford Bridge and that is something that just isn’t done. They nearly scored in the 32nd minute when Riyad Mahrez’s shot was saved by Blues’ keeper Thibaut Courtois. The save was impressive and increased speculation that Petr Cech might just be on his way out. But “The Special One” is who he is because he can pick the right players at the right time and his replacement for Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas, nearly got things started right at half time. Fabregas showed his great passing skills again when he but Andre Schurrle through on goal, but the winger was flagged for being offside. When the second half started, the Blues began to prove why Stamford Bridge is such a hard place for opponents to play. Branislav Ivanovic nearly headed in the opening goal in the 48th minute when his header from a Cesar Azpilicueta cross was saved by Leiscester keeper Kasper Schmeichel. Deigo Costa scored the opening goal in the 62nd minute when poked home a loose ball that the City defense failed to clear. Eden Hazard nearly made it two in the 68th minute when his shot from a Costa assist was saved by keeper Schmeichel. Hazard would score in the 76th minute when he would slot home a Fabregas pass into the center of goal. That was all the Blues’ needed for the win. And the Jose Mourinho march toward the BPL trophy continues forward.

Crystal Palace 1 – 3 West Ham

The Hammers get an easy win over manager-less Palace. Poor Palace are still a hot mess and it looks like it is not going to improve anytime soon. Chairman Steve Parish reached out to David Moyes (yes, that’s right) and the former Manchester United manager is rumored to have fallen on the floor laughing. Palace also made a move for Malky Mackay that was halted after there were several stories about texts that he had shared with Palace sporting director Iain Mood that led to the latter’s departure from the club. So if fortune has been hiding from anyone, it was definitely Palace. They went down a goal in the 33rd minute when Mauro Zarate poked home a loose ball from a corner-kick. Goal number two for the Hammers followed shortly afterward in the 37th minute when Stewart Downing eased home a Cheikhou Kouyate pass into the bottom left corner of the goal. Palace thought they had a ray of hope in the 48th minute when Marouane Chamakh scored from a Mile Jedinak assist. But that hope was doused in the 61st minute when Carlton Cole scored from a free-kick. The visitors nearly made it four in the 77th minute when Diagra Sakho’s header from a Downing cross just missed the goal off to the right. The loss leaves Palace in the bottom three and it looks like they will be one of the first teams relegated this season.

Southampton 0 – 0 West Bromwich Albion

The Saints and the Baggies share the points at Saint Mary’s stadium. This one was a bit dull as the Baggies defense proved to be too tough for the Saints to get through. The closest any would come to getting a goal would be midfielder James Ward-Prowse. His 70th minute free-kick from distance clipped the left post. It was a tough draw for new boss Saints’ Ronald Koeman who replaced Mauricio Pochettino this summer. While it’s their first point, they look like they will be struggling a bit as the look to get used to their Dutch manager.

Swansea 1 – 0 Burnley

The Swans extend their undefeated streak over the BPL new-comers. They’re really impressive so far this season. It’s not that the Welsh side are sitting in fourth place on the table with two wins. It’s how they’re winning. They take no match for granted and work hard for 90 minutes. Burnley were not bad themselves, but they are currently suffering from the problem most newly promoted sides experience when they get into the BPL. The play is so much better and they’re not ready for it yet. They did manage to hold their own until the 23rd minute. Swans’ midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson set up Nathan Dyer and the striker finished off his chance into the bottom right corner of the goal. Wilfried Bony nearly made it two in the 42nd minute when his shot was saved by Burnley keeper Tom Heaton. Burnley almost drew level in the 67th minute when David Jones’ shot was saved by Swans’ keeper Lukasz Fabianski. But they just didn’t have any finishing power in front of goal. It looks like this will be a long BPL season for the Clarets.

Everton 2 – 2 Arsenal

The Toffees blow another two goal lead to draw versus the Gunners. What on earth is going on with Everton? They started out so well against the visitors at Goodison Park. They kicked the Gunners in the backside 3-0 last April and started the rumors about Arsene Wenger leaving. It might be the due to the injury loss of winger Steven Pienaar who came off in the ninth minute due to injury. But that couldn’t have been it because they scored the opening goal in the 18th minute when Seamus Colman was found unmarked in the Arsenal area by Gareth Barry’s cross and the midfielder headed it home. They nearly had the second in the 41st minute when Romely Lukaku’s left-footed shot was blocked by the Gunners’ defense. When they did score the second in the 44th minute, they looked really great doing it. Lukaku was able to cut through the Gunners’ defenders and set up Steven Naismith whose right footed shot went in past Gunners’ keeper Wojciech Szczesny. Perhaps Everton’s problem is their seeming inability to kill off a match they’ve dominated. They didn’t expect the Gunners to come out of the locker-room at half time all fired up. But whatever Wenger told his boys worked because they took the initiative and pushed the home side hard. It took them until the 57th minute to get something on goal, but Aaron Ramsey’s shot from a Mathieu Flamini pass was just deflected away by defender Leighton Baines. The home side had the chance to put the match away in the 69th minute when Lukaku’s shot from a Phil Jagielka pass was blocked again by the Gunners’ defense. They would regret that miss in the 82nd minute when Aaron Ramsey would knock home a cross from substitute Santi Cazorla for the first Gunners’ goal. They leveled the score right at the death when Nacho Monreal’s cross was headed home by Olivier Giroud past Toffees’ keeper Tim Howard. So Roberto Martinez has to find a way for his boys to win these matches if the Toffees have any chance at a top four finish.

Hull 1 – 1 Stoke

Ryan Shawcross gets a lucky goal to earn the Potters a draw. This one was a weird match. Things started in the 14th minute when Tigers’ defender James Chester was sent off for a really bad foul on Potters striker Glenn Whelan. Then, incredibly they took the lead in the 41st minute when a Tom Huddleston shot wasn’t cleared by the Potters’ defense and Nikica Jelavic was able to poke home the rebound to put the Tigers into the lead. The Potters dominated the second half, but they just couldn’t get any quality chances on goal. It took a bit of fortune through a bad referee decision in the 82nd minute to get the leveler for the Potters. The assistant referee incorrectly awarded the Potters a throw-in which they were able to capitalize on. Phil Bardsley’s shot bounced off the post and the rebound ended up coming to Ryan Shawcross who bundled in the goal. Tigers’ boss Steve Bruce was visibly fuming on the sideline and had to be restrained by the fourth official. The Tigers’ nearly got the winner in stoppage time when Huddlestone’s shot was blocked and Ahmed Elmohamady put his shot from a David Meyler pass just over the bar. But that’s how this game of our goes somedays.

Tottenham 4 – 0 Queens Park Rangers

Spurs get an easy win at White Hart Lane to go to the top of the BPL table. Yep, that’s right. Spurs are at the top of the table. They are doing well under new boss Mauricio Pochettino and opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Nacer Chadli eased home an Emmanuel Adebayor pass. QPR had no answers as they got dominated. Not even former Manchester United start Rio Ferdinand could muster the Rangers defense to any sort of effectiveness and they gave up goa number two in the 30th minute when Eric Dier headed in a cross from Erik Lamela. Chadli got goal number three for Spurs when Lamela found him with another killer cross to head in for the score. The only real chance QPR could muster came in the 61st minute when Steven Caulker’s header of a Joey Barton corner-kick missed harmlessly off to the left of the goal. Adebayor capped off the scoring in the 64th minute when he tapped home a Danny Rose pass. So the result sees Harry Redknapp’s boys at the foot of the table and Spurs flying high. Could there have been some transfer of that winning energy from San Antonio to London?

Sunderland 1 – 1 Manchester United

Louis Van Gaal earns his first point in charge of the Red Devils. The one thing that the Dutch manager has always known since taking the job, was that it is one of the hardest jobs in sports. Although he is not a direct descendant of Sir Alex Ferguson, Van Gaal must know that he will be compared to the legend. Such was the case as the match progressed on Sunday. There were times when United looked absolutely lost in defense. The Red Devils’ attack still carries a punch and they scored in the 16th minute when Juan Mata knocked home a deflected pass from Antonio Valencia. But the problems the Red Devils have had for the past couple of seasons were exposed in the 30th minute when Jack Rodwell was left unmarked for a Black Cats’ corner kick and he headed in the equalizer. The match seemed to grind out slowly from that point forward as neither side wanted to give anything away. Tyler Wickham nearly got the winner for the home side toward the end of the match but his shot bounced off the post. So the quest for a win continues on while for Van Gaal.

Manchester City 3 – 1 Liverpool

Stevan Jovetic scores twice as the Champions dominate the Reds at the Etihad Stadium. Liverpool, who finished second to Citeh last season, had a point or two to prove. They had their new signing Mario Balotelli sitting in the stands watching his new team as they pressed the home side for much of the first half. Philippe Coutinho nearly got the opening goal for the Reds in the sixth minute when his shot was blocked by defender Martin Demichelis. Raheem Sterling had a chance in the ninth minute when he was put through on goal by a fine pass from Steven Gerrard, but the forward’s shot was just wide of the goal. Daniel Sturridge should have scored in the 32nd minute when he was put through on goal by Sterling, but Citeh keeper Joe Hart was able to make the save to keep the score at zero. Jovetic would open the scoring in the 40th minute when he curled his shot into the top right corner of the goal. He got number two when Samir Nasri’s pass cut through the Reds’ defense and Jovetic slotted his shot past keeper Simon Mignolet. The goal of the week came in the 68th minute. Sergio Aguero came on for Edin Dzeko. He was found 30 seconds later by a wonderful Jesus Navas through pass which the Argentine International powered home underneath Mignolet’s grasp. Although the Reds’ would get a goal from a mistake from Citeh defender Pablo Zabaleta, they were truly dominated. So now we shall see if Reds’ Crazy Striker 2.0 can help Liverpool in their quest to win the BPL. They could sure use his scoring prowess.