Podolski Powers Arsenal Over West Ham

 3-1 

Arsenal came into today's Premier League match against West Ham in fifth place, just two points behind Everton.  That fourth place position of course crucial for Champions League qualification and the Gunners hoped to replace Everton with a win today.  West Ham have not been great as of late, but as they showed in their last match against Liverpool, they do not go down without a fight.

West Ham took the lead late in the first-half when Antonio Nocerino got in behind the Arsenal defense.  Nocerino fired a shot from a tight angle and keeper Szczesny made the save, but the ball stayed in front of the goal.  Matthew Jarvis came in late and finished the loose ball with a header to put the visitors ahead (40').

Arsenal managed to respond in the few minutes left in the first-half thanks to a poor clearance by Stewart Downing.  The winger's clearance was left short and fell right for Santi Cazorla at the edge of the box.  Cazorla quickly played a through-ball for Podolski who made a good turn and shot to find the net and level the score (44').

After half-tim West Ham were rather deflated and Arsenal were able to take control of the match.  Oliver Giroud scored a go-ahead goal shortly after the break with a spectacular trap inside the box.  Vermaelen played a lofted ball into the box and the striker perfectly controlled the ball before shooting to put the Gunners in front (55').

Later in the half Aaron Ramsey came into the match and got an assist for the final goal of the day.  Ramsey played Podolski in behind defender Tomkins with a header and Podolski scored with a well struck first-touch shot (78').

Podolski is not always prefered by manager Arsene Wenger, but today he made the most of his inclusion in the line-up.  With this win Arsenal claim three points and pull ahead of Everton in the table.  Everton will have a chance to jump back ahead of Arsenal when they play Crystal Palace tomorrow at Goodison Park.

Liverpool Win Ninth Straight

 1-2 

West Ham United hosted a red-hot Liverpool team today, coming into the match with an eight game winning streak.  Liverpool needed only a draw to take the first-place position back from Chelsea, but realistically needed to win in order to stay alive in the title race.  West Ham have been on a decent run of late despite sitting in the bottom half of the league table.

Andy Carroll and Steward Downing went up against their former club while Suarez and Sturridge led the attack for the visitors.  The match was wide open from the start with equal chances for both clubs.  Only one shot was on target though, and the first-half seemed likely to end scoreless until some late excitement arose.

Luis Suarez created the first goal-scoring opportunity when a counter-attack left him one-on-one with centerback James Tomkins.  Suarez was likely to score on his own, but Tomkins was caught playing the ball with his hand and a penalty was awarded for Liverpool.  As usual, Gerrard stepped in to take the penalty and he scored the spot-kick to take the lead (44').

In the few moments before half-time, West Ham were fortunate to equalize on a terrible missed call.  A corner-kick by West Ham was claimed by keeper Mignolet out of the air and Andy Carroll knocked the ball loose with a raised arm allowing Guy Demel to tap home the loose ball (47').  What's worse is the sideline referee called the foul, but it was ignored by head referee Anthony Taylor and the goal was counted.

Neither team truly took control in the first-half, and after half-time the match remained in close contest.  It was not until another decision by the referee that enabled Liverpool to retake the lead.  Lucas came on at the start of the second-half and played Jon Flanagan in-on-goal with an early cross.  Flanagan was first to ball and was fouled by keeper Adrián in the box to earn another penalty.  Gerrard again stepped up to take the shot and scored the penalty (71').

With the lead re-established Liverpool were able to play the possession game and managed to keep West Ham from scoring another equalizer.  The Reds are now back at the top of the Premier League table with two points over Chelsea in second place.  Next week will be a tougher test though, as Liverpool host Manchester City.  Liverpool need to play better than they did today if they want to beat City and keep the league title dream alive.

Negredo Scores Hat-Trick, Manchester City Cruise

 6-0 

Manchester City and West Ham United met today for the first-leg of a Capital One Cup semifinal.  Manchester City have only conceded one goal in the tournament and finished ten in the first three matches.  West Ham had a big win against Tottenham to reach this stage of the Cup, but their last result was a dreadful 5-nil loss to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.

Playing at home, Manchester City got off to a hot start and scored three goals in the first-half.  Álvaro Negredo scored the first two, both coming from well played through-balls.  Yaya Touré first played a long though-ball from behind midfield that split the West Ham centerbacks.  Negredo timed his run perfectly and finished with a confident first-touch finish (12').

Negredo then linked up with fellow striker Edin Dzeko to get behind the West Ham back line.  Dzeko played the ball forward into space and Negredo was able to beat keeper Adrián coming off his line with a sliding shot (26').

Yaya Touré scored the last goal of the first-half with an impressive individual effort.  Touré jumped on a loose ball at midfield and found space to run at goal.  The West Ham centerbacks did not step to Touré and allowed him to dribble all the way into their own box.  Touré was more than obliged to take the space and scored rather easily (40').

West Ham had nothing to build on heading into the second-half, and only found themselves further down by the end of the match.  Negredo scored a third goal for City when a pass from David Silva was deflected inside the West Ham box.  Negredo did not appear to be the intended target, but off the deflection, Silva's pass fell right in front of him and he finished first-touch to complete his hat-trick (49').

The other striker Dzeko was able to add to the goal tally late in the match as West Ham had less and less to play for.  Two crosses from the left flank gave Dzeko a pair of scoring opportunities that the striker capitalized.  First Clichy rolled a cross to the near-post that Dzeko finished with a sliding effort (60').  Then substitute Kolarov played a cross to the middle of the box that Dzeko was able to step into and drive into the net (89').

West Ham have now conceded eleven goals in their last two match.  The Hammers will have a second chance to get back at City when the two clubs replay on the 21st, but it will take a miracle to overcome this deficit.  Manchester City in all likelihood will reach the final and could face rivals United if they rally back to beat Sunderland in their second-leg meeting.

Crystal Palace Creep Up the Table

 1-0 

Last-place Crystal Palace hosted West Ham United in the rare Tuesday Premier League match.  Crystal Palace have had a tough go in the Premier League with only two wins and two draws in the first thirteen games played.  A change in management was made just days ago, and new manager Tony Pulis had the home side in better shape than the former manager Ian Holloway.

Crystal Palace took the lead late in the first-half with a second-effort chance following a set-piece.  Barry Bannan played a cross into the box that found Marouane Chamakh right in front of goal.  The forward flicked his header towards the back corner and scored for the home side (42').

West Ham created more chances over the course of the match, but could not find the equalizer.  Offsides were the biggest problem for West Ham with a total of eight ending attacking chances.  Also starting center-forward Carlton Cole struggled to get involved and had no shots on goal by the time he was pulled out before the hour mark.  Ravel Morrison was active in the attack, but too many times he made the mistake of taking on too many defenders only to lose possession.

Crystal Palace now sit one place above Sunderland at the bottom of the Premier League with the win today.  West Ham are only five points better than Crystal Palace and need to get their offense going if they don't want to end up in a relegation battle late in the season.  Up next Crystal Palace host Cardiff City and West Ham get a tough test playing Liverpool at Anfield.