By Simon Wright – Follow
me on Twitter @Siwri88
The final
Saturday of August produced some great goals, even though the lack of efforts
in the Barclays Premier League was pretty startling. In fact, there were just three goals in the
four 3pm kick-offs to produce the lowest total of strikes on a Premier League Saturday
since the 24th November 2001.
The tally was
only boosted by Crystal Palace’s first victory back in the elite in the
Saturday evening kick-off. They beat
Sunderland 3-1 at Selhurst Park. The
game was locked at 1-1 when John O’Shea was given his marching orders for
bringing down Dwight Gayle in the penalty area.
It looked like the correct decision, and Gayle dusted himself down to
stroke the penalty past Black Cats keeper Keiran Westwood. Stuart O’Keefe scored a late goal in stoppage
time to put further gloss on the scoreline.
The result leaves Sunderland in the bottom three and potentially ending
up bottom of the league come the end of Sunday’s action.
Newcastle
United finally scored for the first time in the Premier League this season. A tremendous effort from the usually
unpredictable Hatem Ben Arfa was enough for the three points at home to a
stubborn Fulham outfit. It was the same
scoreline at Carrow Road where Nathan Redmond (pictured celebrating with Leroy Fer) struck the only goal of a tight
clash between Norwich City and Southampton.
The Canaries first win of the campaign will give them encouragement
going into the international break.
Jermaine
Pennant struck a superb free-kick for Stoke City as they recorded only their
second away win of the calendar year at West Ham. Pennant had been released by the club under
Tony Pulis before his departure in May, but Mark Hughes re-signed him and the
move seems to have worked off. Stoke
fully deserved the points against a Hammers side that showed absolutely nothing
going forward and probably can’t wait for Andy Carroll’s expected return from
injury in a fortnight.
In the
lunchtime kick-off, a resilient Hull City side were seen off by Manchester City
at the Etihad. City were well below
their best again, but this time took all three points after having to deal with
unexpected Hull pressure in the first half.
Alvaro Negredo and Yaya Toure got the goals after the interval in a 2-0
win, but there must be some private concerns over the unconvincing
performance. The game between Cardiff
City and Everton was a dour occasion and unsurprisingly finished 0-0.
Blackpool
returned to the top of the Championship with a late 1-0 victory over
Watford. Thomas Ince punished the
Hornets for several missed opportunities, which included a missed first half
penalty from Troy Deeney. Overnight
leaders Nottingham Forest lost their unbeaten record as they slipped to a 2-1
defeat to FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic.
QPR are only
below Blackpool on goal difference. A
header from Clint Hill was enough to overcome Leeds United in a bruising clash
at Elland Road in the early kick-off.
Burnley climbed into the top three with an impressive 3-0 away victory
against Derby County. Bolton dropped to
the bottom of the table, as they were routed 4-1 in the Lancashire derby by
Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Jordan
Rhodes found the target again twice.
With just two points from five games, the Trotters are performing well
below expectations as they were one of the early season promotion
favourites.
Charlton Athletic’s 2-1
success against Leicester City took them out of the bottom three, and they are
replaced by Yeovil Town who were beaten at home by Reading. Adam Le Fondre’s penalty took the Royals to
their first win since the opening weekend and inflicted a fourth successive
reverse on Gary Johnson’s team.
Leyton Orient
maintained their perfect start to the campaign in League One. It is five wins from five for Russell Slade
and his Londoners as they got the better of Colchester United 2-1. The winner came from the in-form Kevin Lisbie
against his former employers.
Peterborough United lost their 100 per cent record, crashing to a
surprising 2-0 home defeat to Crawley Town.
Both the goals for the visitors came from Gary Alexander. Wolves replaced them in second spot after
overcoming Port Vale 3-1 at Vale Park.
All the goals came in the second half from the away side, as Kenny
Jackett continues his revival of the former Premier League side. Antony Kay’s 87th minute header
gave Milton Keynes Dons a fantastic 1-0 away victory at struggling Sheffield
United and Carlisle United collected a morale boosting point in a goalless draw
with fourth-placed Brentford.
It has been a
tough start to life in League Two for Portsmouth and it continued on Saturday
as the hosts slipped to a 2-0 defeat at home to early pacesetters Chesterfield
and finished with 10 players.
Chesterfield are two points clear of the chasing pack, as morning
leaders Oxford United surrendered that position after being held to a 1-1 home
draw by Rochdale. Burton Albion snatched
a dramatic late win against Accrington Stanley.
Adam Reed struck in the eighth minute of injury time to help Gary
Rowett’s ever-improving side into the top three and leave Accrington propping up
the table. Hartlepool join them in the
bottom two despite collecting a gritty point in a 0-0 draw with Torquay
United. However they are the only side
in the Football League yet to register a goal so far this season.
Cambridge
United lead the Skrill Conference Premier on goal difference following a
comfortable 3-0 triumph over Tamworth, with Barnet staying right on their
coattails after a 3-2 success against Hyde.
In Scotland, two more goals from the red-hot Dave McKay keep Inverness
CT top in a 2-0 win over Hearts. Celtic
remain second despite a 1-0 away win over Dundee United and Partick Thistle’s
impressive return to the Scottish top flight continued with a fine 2-1 away win
against St Mirren.
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