8th December

Reading 3 - Liverpool 1

Torres struck an early shot on goal from 8 yds out to be blocked by Hahnemman. Carraher fouled Gunnerson and was debated if it was in the area on replay's it showed the call was right and a penalty awarded, Hunt took and scored on the 17th min. Moments later Convey sent a rocket shot just over the bar. Gerrard Got through the Reading defence to make a goal look easy and put away on 28th min. Gerrard was then booked for a foul on Hunt free kick given and Shorey took good ball on target helped in by Doyle with just the slightest flick on the 60th min. Gerrard took a shot hit the woodwork high left, Harper got a break away ball and ran the length to get around Riena and score ( very Henry like goal)on the 67th min. Harry Kewell sent a ball across the goal mouth but no one there to finish, Crouch took a long low shot hitting the wood work on the far post
Reading got a deserved win and where the underdogs in this match, not many teams can beat the top 4 , Bolton beat Man Utd , Reading beat Liverpool keeps thing interesting.

Reading: Hahnemann, Murty (Cisse 90), Sonko (Bikey 81), Ingimarsson, Shorey, Hunt, Harper, Gunnarsson, Convey (Lita 88), Doyle, Kitson.
Subs Not Used: Federici, Long.

Goals: Hunt 17 pen, Doyle 60, Harper 67.

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher (Hyypia 82), Hobbs, Riise, Gerrard (Babel 71), Mascherano, Sissoko, Voronin, Torres (Kewell 61), Crouch.
Subs Not Used: Itandje, Kuyt.

Booked: Gerrard.

Goals: Gerrard 28.

Att: 24,022

Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).
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Aston Villa 1 - Portsmouth 3

Pompey looking stronger and stronger all the time and today was no exception. Benjani struck the ball Gardener tried to clear it and sent it in the back of the net earning him an own goal on the 10th min. Laursen sent the ball wide with a glancing header. Muntari scored with a rocket low shot from 25yds out on the 40th min, and then again low shot in on the 61st min. Villa where arwarded a penalty Barry took and scored on the 72nd min.

Aston Villa: Carson, Mellberg, Knight, Laursen, Bouma (Berger 54), Gardner (Harewood 70), Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Carew, Agbonlahor.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Davies, Maloney.

Booked: Carew, Berger.

Goals: Barry 72 pen.

Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Pamarot, Utaka (Kanu 64), Diop, Pedro Mendes, Muntari, Kranjcar (Taylor 88), Mwaruwari.
Subs Not Used: Begovic, Hreidarsson, Nugent.

Booked: Pedro Mendes, James, Pamarot, Kranjcar.

Goals: Gardner 10 og, Muntari 40, 61.

Att: 35,790.

Ref: Mike Riley (Yorkshire).
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Newcastle 2 - Birmingham 1

Jerome opened the scoring in the 9th minute as Newcasle made an error which gave the ball away and jerome jinked around the keeper and scored. Taylor did very well today first free kick kept out just on the line. Martins was brought down by Sadler and awarded a penalty Martins took and scored on the 37th min. Newcastle freekick taken Taylor just managed to keep out sending the ball over the bar, Newcastle hit the woodwork with another attempt. Birmingham lucky to have not given away another penalty as Jerome stuck his arm out to block the ball from a freekick. Beye was the hero of the day as he charged in to the near post to head in a corner on the 91st min for the winner.

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Man Utd 4 - Derby 1

Bywater kept an early shot out which would have put Derby on the back foot straight away. Ronaldo then took a rocket shot , low deflected off Bywater for Giggs to finish and score his 100th league goal on the 40th min. Rooney then looked set to score as he sent Bywater the wrong way and sent the ball low towards the far opst and hitting the post and not the net. Ronaldo then took a free kick the trick didnt work first time , a slow shot Tevez didnt make contact 1st time but did the 2nd time and scored sending the ball high right on the 45th min. Tevez scored again on the 60th min as he struck a low shot from a pass through ball from Brown. Howard managed to claim a goal a scrappy goal but they all count on the 76th min. Utd then wrapped it up when Ronaldo was brought down in the area giving them a penalty , Ronaldo took and scored on the 92nd min.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand (O'Shea 71), Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Anderson (Fletcher 62), Giggs (Saha 64), Rooney, Tevez.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Nani.

Goals: Giggs 40, Tevez 45, 60, Ronaldo 90 pen.

Derby: Bywater, Griffin, Moore, Davis, McEveley (Howard 46), Leacock, Fagan (Mears 46), Oakley, Pearson, Barnes (Teale 61), Miller.
Subs Not Used: Price, Earnshaw.

Booked: Davis, Griffin.

Goals: Howard 76.

Att: 75,725

Ref: Chris Foy (Merseyside).
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Everton 3 - Fulham 0

Arteta worked the keeper with an early free kick on target. Cahill had a shot block but deflected out for Yakubu to score with the ball dribbling over the line on the 51st min. Murphy had a good shot on target but Howard took care of it. Arteta then delivered a corner for Yakubu to score again with a header near post on the 61st min. Yakubu then wrapped it all up on the 79th min as he got through the Fulham defence taking advantage of a good pass from Pienaar and curling the ball in.

Everton: Howard, Neville, Lescott, Yobo, Baines (Jagielka 23), Osman, Arteta, Cahill (Johnson 82), Carsley, Pienaar, Yakubu (McFadden 82).
Subs Not Used: Wessels, Anichebe.

Goals: Yakubu 51, 61, 79.

Fulham: Niemi, Omozusi, Hughes, Stefanovic, Konchesky, Davies, Davis, Murphy (Ki-Hyeon 74), Kamara, Kuqi, Dempsey (Healy 64).
Subs Not Used: Warner, Bocanegra, Baird.

Booked: Kamara, Omozusi.

Att: 32,743

Ref: Steve Bennett (Kent).
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Chelsea 2 - Sunderland 0

Drogba out for the time bieng whilst he has an operation on his knee, so enter Shevchenko. Cole took a corner with Kalou hitting the underside of the cross bar in the opening minutes. Shevchenko headed in a goal on the 23rd min taking Chelsea in front. Free kick to Chelsea Lampard took and a penalty awarded for shirt pulling in the area (stupid mistake). Lampard tok the penalty and scored on the 75th min. Liam Miller thre his toys out of the pram as he pushed Pizzaro in the face and earned himself a straight red. Wood work saved Sunderland from a 3rd as Lampard struck the postin the final minutes.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Belletti, Alex, Terry, Ashley Cole, Wright-Phillips, Obi, Lampard, Joe Cole (Sidwell 85), Kalou (Pizarro 66), Shevchenko.
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Bridge, Ben-Haim.

Goals: Shevchenko 23, Lampard 75 pen.

Sunderland: Ward, Halford, McShane, Higginbotham, Collins, Miller, Leadbitter (Stokes 70), Etuhu, Whitehead, Wallace, Jones (Murphy 67).
Subs Not Used: Gordon, Yorke, Cole.

Sent Off: Miller (88).

Booked: Wallace.

Att: 41,707

Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).
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