Manchester City Breeze By West Bromwich

 3-1 

Manchester City hosted West Bromwich Albion today in a relatively easy fixture for the home team.  West Bromwich are floating around the relegation zone while City are trying to work back into the top spot in the Premier League table.  City came into the match in third place with two fewer games played than Liverpool and Chelsea, the first and second place teams respectively.  

Manchester City got on the board very quickly today when fullback Zabaleta pushed forward and benefited from a free shot by Agüero.  West Bromwich keeper Ben Foster blocked the initial shot by Agüero, but the rebound setup Zabaleta who scored with a diving header to take an early lead (3').

Soon after Agüero scored one on his own to extend the lead for City.  The West Bromwich defense could not close down the striker and Agüero was able to fire a shot from outside the penalty box into the far corner of the net (10').

West Bromwich got one goal back moments later on a well executed counter-attack.  Zabaleta lost possession to Liam Ridgewell who then play the ball forward to Sessegnon making a break.  Sessegnon picked out forward Vydra, then a final pass to Graham Dorrans led to the goal.  Dorrans did well to avoid Clichy inside the box and scored the only goal for West Brom against the scrambling City defense (16').

City managed to score one more goal in the first-half from a corner-kick to reestablish a two goal lead.  Nasri delivered the cross into the box and Kompany managed to get just a piece of the ball with a header to flick the ball on to Demichelis at the far-post.  Demichelis was left unmarked and scored an easy tap in for the final goal of the match (36').

The second-half was less eventful than the first as neither team were able to change the score.  The most crucial moment in the second-half came from an injury sustained by David Silva.  The midfielder came away from a challenge holding his ankle and had to be taken off on a stretcher.  We will have to wait and see how serious the injury is, but it could mean the end of the season for the Spanish international.  

Anichebe Saves West Bromwich From Defeat, Tie Chelsea

 1-1 

First-place Chelsea travelled to face West Bromwich Albion in a midweek Premier League match.  Samuel Eto'o started as striker for Chelsea while two new players, Saido Berahino and Thievy Bifouma, started for West Brom.

As expected Chelsea had the majority of possession and in the first-half alone earned seven corner-kicks.  It was on the final corner-kick of the first-half that Chelsea managed to score durring stoppage-time.  Willian delivered a low driven cross that David Luiz flicked-on.  The flicked ball came to Ivanovic waiting at the far-post for the easy finish (45 +3').

West Bromwich did not offer much offensively, though Thievy Bifouma looked quite good when he did have the ball.  After half-time West Brom made the two wingers Chris Brunt and Morgan Amalfitano switched sides and the team was able to attack more effectively.  Also Victor Anichebe was brought in to give fresh legs up top, a move that saved the home team late in the match.  Anichebe scored with a header when Berahino picked him out with a cross (87').

Chelsea remain in first place for now, but by the end of tomorrow could find themselves in third place.  Arsenal and Manchester City could both leap Chelsea if they win tomorrow.  West Bromwich's next match is home to Fulham while Chelsea have a huge FA Cup match Manchester City this weekend

West Bromwich Draw Aston Villa, Level in Points

 2-2

Two mid-table teams met for the Monday night Premier League match with West Bromwich Albion hosting Aston Villa.  Coming into the match both clubs were even with fifteen points for the season and the goal differential slightly in West Bromwich's favor.

The home side were the better team in the first-half and grabbed a very early lead.  A deep pass from behind midfield by Chris Brunt found Shane Long in the box.  Long brought the ball down perfectly with his first touch before cutting to his left foot for the clean strike (3').  Minutes later Long got another clean shot when Villa defender Leandro Bacuna turned the ball over with a bad pass.  Long read the play and intercepted the pass to score his second early goal (11').

After half-time it was obvious Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert was not satisfied with his offense and made all three substitutions at once before the hour mark.  Agbonlahor, Weimann, and Delph all came into the match and the effect was positive.  Weimann got an assist when he flicked a cross from Bacuna on to Karim El Ahmadi in the box.  El Ahmadi got the final touch to beat the West Brom keeper and give new life to Aston Villa (67').

West Bromwich then conceded the equalizer when defender Goran Popov made a poor clearance out of the box.  His header was short and fell right to Ashley Westwood who stepped into the shot from distance and found the net (76').  West Brom chased the winning goal and took out Popov for striker Anichebe, but the match ended in a draw.

The two clubs share one point and neither make ground on the other.  Next weekend West Bromwich travel to Newcastle and Aston Villa will host Sunderland.

Gunners Eye Top-Four Finish

2-1

Arsenal, like many teams in the Premier League, are just trying to keep up with the leaders and finish in the top-four.  The Gunners are just out of place as the table stands, but a road win today against West Bromwich puts pressure on the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham.  

Rosicky has had limited starts for Arsenal this season, and today he made the most of his opportunity.  Gervinho did well to work some space in the box after getting defender McAuley turned around.  It looked as though Gervinho was attempting to curl a shot towards the far-post, but Rosicky saw it as a cross.  Using quick reflexes, Rosicky scored with a header for the only goal of the first-half (20').  

Though he is not known for scoring many goals, the Czech international scored a second shortly after half-time.  Aaron Ramsey played him into space and Rosicky had his initial shot saved by the keeper.  Ben Foster could not control the shot and Rosicky was able to follow up his own rebound for the goal (50').  

The match stayed close and West Bromwich managed to keep things interesting when they scored from the Penalty spot.  Forward Shane Long controlled a ball in the box with a nice chest-trap before he was caught from behind by defender Mertesacker.  The Arsenal centerback was sent off for the challenge and James Morrison scored the ensuing penalty shot (71').  

West Bromwich used the advantage to press the ball forward for the remainder of the match and worked a few more good chances.  However Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger used all his substitutes to bring on defensive players Vermaelen, Gibbs, and Coquelin to retain the lead.