Chelsea would really cherish this hard-earned 3 points as they had to dig deep again to win by a solitary goal against a spirited Birmingham City side. Claudio Pizarro will be very happy to get his second league goal of the season. (ironically, his first goal was in the opening match against the same opponent)
Anelka was given his Chelsea debut at the expense of the Peruvian striker. The Frenchman failed to get a debut goal and it was Wright-Phillip's substitute, Pizarro, who will make the headlines after emerging from his goal drought.
Chelsea were almost forced to pay after another Petr Cech mistake, when he gave the ball to City's Cameron Jerome, who saw his header bounce off the post. In the end, Chelsea were lucky enough to notch their sixth straight win.
Arsenal kept up the pressure on league leaders Manchester United by smashing Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage. Last week's disappointing performance against Birmingham City was not to be repeated as the Gunners once again returned back to their efficient standards with Emmanuel Adebayor grabbing his 14th and 15th goals of the season in the first half. Their lead was hardly threatened by their less superior opponents and Rosicky's 82nd goal ensured that Arsenal went back with all three points.
Adebayor powers Gael Clichy's cross into the back of the net.
Emmanuel Adebayor rises above all to grab his second goal.
There was not to be any early Christmas celebrations at Ewood Park as Chelsea walked away with an unconvincing 1-0 victory thanks to a Joe Cole's solitary strike in the 22nd minute. There was not to be any presents from Roque "Santa Claus", despite Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech having to limp out during the match.
Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United an early Christmas present as he netted a brace to seal a 2-1 home win against Everton.
The mercurial winger opened the scoring by rifling home a left-footed strike in the 22nd minute, but Everton responded quickly through a Cahill header.
Ronaldo slotted in the winner from the spot after veteran Ryan Giggs had been tripped by Pienaar, and this win allowed the Red Devils to keep up the pressure on table-toppers Arsenal.
Sir Alex Ferguson must have been very pleased with Ronaldo's overall contribution, when he told ManUtd.com, "The boy really has got everything and we're expecting goals from him all the time. I don't think he ever made a mistake - he was absolutely perfect, it was a marvellous performance from him."
The visitors came to Old Trafford on the back of a 13-match unbeaten streak and started confidently even without their key midfielder, Mikel Arteta. David Moyes and his men had a very defensive game plan which looked to be working very well until Ronaldo stunned them with his first goal. The Portuguese international took the ball around Lee Carsley and released a swerving shot which left Tim Howard rooted to the ground.
Everton come out of their shell slowly and it took them only five minutes to equalize when United's defence failed to deal with Pienaar's cross, which was met by an unmarked Cahill.
Things were starting to look much brighter for Everton. They had a couple of good counter-attack chances in the second-half as Manchester United were visibly frustrated by the Great Blue Wall lead by Everton's central defensive pair Joseph Yobo and Phil Jagielka.
Tevez and Rooney both had great opportunities, but were either denied by Howard's excellent shot-stopping or their own wastefulness. The introduction of Louis Saha indicated the importance of collecting a 3 points, and United's big break finally arrived when Giggs was brought down by Pienaar's reckless trip which must have left David Moyes hugely disappointed.
Everton boss David Moyes was not too scathing about Pienaar's crucial contribution in conceding the spot kick. 'I thought it was a penalty. It was just a moment of madness for Steven,' he said.
Ronaldo displayed his nerves of steel as he converted the penalty and saved United yet again.
"I'm very happy with Christmas coming up. I think Father Christmas gave me my present early. With the next few games, there is not too much time to rest, so it was important to win to stay near the top.", said Ronaldo after the game.
With many more points waiting to be collected this festive period, Ferguson must be hoping Ronaldo will continue to receive more presents from Santa in the upcoming matches.
Arsenal defeated their fierce rivals Tottenham at the Emirates and will stay at top spot even if Manchester United win tonight. It was another breathtaking and brilliant North London derby on the Saturday afternoon.
Wenger retained his first XI who had beaten Chelsea last weekend, while Juande Ramos had to major injury worries to cope with, particularly in defence. Chimbonda was paired at the centre with Younes Kaboul while Teemu Tainio was played out of position at leftback. It did not look like Spur's leaky backline was going to improve and Arsenal were looking to exploit that weakness as soon as the first whistle blew.
Arsena's attacking prowess was putting Tottenham on the backfoot for most of the time. Flamini and Toure both had early chances to open the scoring for the Gunners, but Paul Robinson was looking much more confident after his torrid period at club and international level.
The crowd were getting impatient was both sides headed back to the dressing room at half-time. Arsenal came back to the field more fired up and the spark came on the 48th minute when Adebayor slid home his 10th Premier League goal of the season.
Spurs began to take the initiative and poured forward with more urgency, and the game now had end-to-end action. Robbie Keane smashed the ball against the bar from a Lennon cross. In the 66th minute, Tottenham were rewarded for their efforts when Berbatov shot from a narrow angle, and completely surprised Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia.
Tottenham's newfound confidence gave them a penalty in the 72nd minute when Toure clipped Berbatov in the box. However, Alumunia saved Keane's spotkick and the tide turned in the Arsenal's favour again.
3 minutes later, Tottenham paid the price for a missed penalty and some slack defending when substitue Nikolas Bendtner grabbed the winner as he powered home a header from close-range. The whole of Emirates roared and they knew that these 3 points will allow Arsenal to remain at the top for yet another weekend.
AC MILAN'S Brazilian star Kaka has been crowned 2007 FIFA Player of the Year.
Kaka of Brazil holds the FIFA World Player 2007 award during the awards ceremony in Zurich. Picture: Reuters
He took the award in front of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Kaka had already been named European Footballer of the Year and took another award from World Soccer magazine.
Kaka helped AC Milan to the European Champions League title in 2007 as well as the World Club Cup and European Super Cup.
The 25-year-old, whose full name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, succeeded Italian World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro.
“It's a very special day for me. When I was young, I dreamt of being a professional footballer for Sao Paulo and playing for the Brazilian national team,” said the attacking midfielder after receiving the award.
“But the bible says that life gives more than we can, and that has happened to me.”
The AC Milan playmaker, who is expected to sign a new contract with the Italian giants in the coming weeks that will keep him at the club until 2013, was also crowned player of the Club World Cup following Milan's successful campaign in which they beat Argentinian side Boca Juniors 4-2 in the final.
Kaka's impressive individual honours list for 2007 now includes the FIFA Player of the Year, Ballon d'Or, World Soccer Magazine, UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and FIFPro World Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old compatriot Marta was named women's FIFA Player of the Year for the second year running.
Goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder secured a comfortable 2-0 home win against Osasuna to maintain their four point lead at the top of the Primera Liga.
I am a 18-year old male who is extremely passionate about football. My favourite club is Manchester United and my favourite player is Ryan Giggs. You can contact me through email (silver_boi@hotmail.com) or visit my personal blog at secretoktober.blogspot.com.
