Barclays Premier League 2009 - 2010

Bobby Zamora opened the scoring for Fulham before a piece of Fernando Torres brilliance saw him equalise from 25 yards. Then Erik Nevland scored impudently to put Fulham ahead before Liverpool simply committed suicide with a double sending-off.

Phillip Degen, granted a rare start, was given a straight red for an assault on Clint Dempsey before captain Jamie Carragher was dismissed for a professional foul on Zamora. He protested long and hard but Liverpool were done, with Fernando Torres already subbed for teenager Nathan Ecclestone. Dempsey gained his own slice of revenge with a late strike as Liverpool boss Benitez left the field a haunted man.

Similarly shellshocked and perhaps even more uncertain of his future is Hull City manager Phil Brown, who is expected to be sacked on Monday after a 2-0 defeat at Burnley. Two goals from Graham Alexander and a disallowed Geovanni strike and subsequent red card turned Brown's famed tan a whiter shade of pale as chairman-in-waiting Adam Pearson looked on from the Turf Moor stands. His axe was not pictured but it will surely be wielded.

Hull's day was made worse at Fratton Park where Portsmouth's hopes of a first home win of the season were finally realised when Jekyll-and-Hyde team Wigan Athletic proved casual visitors. A 4-0 scoreline was more than deserved for Pompey and Aruna Dindane put behind him the foibles he had previously shown in front of goal with a trio of strikes. Frederic Piquionne's goal was straddled by his Ivory Coast colleague's hat-trick as Pompey's strikers finally got on the board this season in some style.

Leaders Chelsea made sure they could not be overtaken at the top of the division with a 4-0 win at Bolton Wanderers. A run of two consecutive away defeats was ended in style by Carlo Ancelotti's men. Frank Lampard scored from a penalty for which the award had led to the sending off of Jloyd Samuel just before half-time. Deco scored a breakaway goal from a Bolton corner to make it two and then Zat Knight scored an own-goal with the match already won. Didier Drogba completed the scoring very late on.

Goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney saw Manchester United overcome Blackburn 2-0 at Old Trafford to keep up the pressure on Chelsea. Berbatov made the breakthrough in the 55th minute and Rooney sewed the match up two minutes from time. United should have extended the scoreline but substitute Gabriel Obertan missed two sitters on his league debut.

Any talk of Tottenham Hotspur closing the gap on neighbours Arsenal has evaporated after their 3-0 defeat at the Emirates. Spurs captain Ledley King had a disastrous afternoon as Robin Van Persie, twice, and Cesc Fabregas profited from some shocking defending after Tottenham had comfortably negotiated their way through the first 40 minutes.


Another game of sendings-off was West Ham United's visit to Sunderland where the home team suffered the loss of Kenwyne Jones just prior to half-time and down to the Hammers. Goals from Guillermo Franco and Carlton Cole had Hammers fans believing they could get a win. Andy Reid converted a free-kick just before Jones was dismissed but the second 45 was a different story and Sunderland deserved the equaliser they grabbed through Kieran Richardson.

Another dismissal at Goodison Park where Russian Diniyar Bilyaletdinov suffered an afternoon of mixed fortunes. After putting Everton ahead against Aston Villa, he was sent off four minutes from time, to be followed down the tunnel in the last minute by Villa's Carlos Cuellar. Substitute John Carew had levelled for Villa a minute after coming on immediately after half-time.

Stoke City's Britannia Stadium fortress looks rather less a stronghold after their 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, especially considering their blowing of a 2-0 lead. An own-goal scored by George Elokobi with James Beattie lurking and a Matthew Etherington no doubt caused a testy half-time teamtalk by Wolves boss Mick McCarthy. It clearly worked and an unlikely brace from defender Jody Craddock secured them a deserved point.
 
Dah, hii hali ya hewa sasa inataka kutuharibia burudani,
Four Premier League weekend fixtures have fallen victim to the adverse weather conditions enveloping England, with Liverpool's clash with Tottenham Hotspur the latest to be called off.

Fulham's game against Portsmouth, Stoke's trip to Burnley and Sunderland's fixture against Bolton at the Stadium of Light have also been postponed. However, contrary to reports, Hull are "confident" their game with Chelsea will go ahead.

The big freeze has wreaked havoc with the fixture list in England this weekend with lower leagues also badly hit - not a single match will be played League Two or the Conference.

The Premier League fixture list had remained intact until Friday morning when it was announced that the game between Fulham and Portsmouth at Craven Cottage had been postponed.

A club statement read: "Saturday's Barclays Premier League fixture against Portsmouth at the Cottage has been postponed due to the adverse weather conditions which are not expected to improve over the next 24 hours.

"The safety of supporters is of paramount importance to the club and following an inspection of the areas surrounding Craven Cottage on Friday morning it was deemed unsafe for fans to travel.''

Burnley then announced that their game against Stoke City at Turf Moor will not be going ahead due to safety reasons before Bolton's trip to Sunderland was also called off.
Liverpool requested that their game with Spurs was postponed "for safety reasons" and by Friday afternoon the clash had been cancelled.

Birmingham have said that their pitch is completely playable ahead of their match against Manchester United on Saturday evening but, as with all games, there is a doubt about the pavements around the ground. Hull City have stated that if their game with Chelsea was due to take place on Friday it would have gone ahead, so expect the match to take place on Saturday lunchtime.

Meanwhile, Manchester United have rearranged their home game with Hull City for Saturday, January 23. The game should have been played at the end of the month but was postponed due to the rescheduling of the Carling Cup semi-finals.
 
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