Arsenal left it late to grab the winner to beat Cardiff City 2-0 at the Emirates courtesy of Nicklas Bendtner’s 88th minute opener and Theo Walcott’s goal in injury time.
Walcott had a couple of chances in the first half but failed to hit the target while Jordon Mutch shot straight at Wojciech Szczesny from an acute angle. The Gunners continued to create chances in the second half with Jack Wilshere hitting the post and Per Mertesacker heading a cross wide from a good position and heading a corner onto the outside of the upright. The goal eventually arrived when Bendtner smashed in the rebound after David Marshall had saved Bacary Sagna’s initial header from Nacho Monreal’s cross from the left. Walcott made it two when he collected Wilshere’s neat flick to lift the ball over an onrushing Marshall.
Manchester City beat Swansea City 3-2 in Wales thanks to Aleksandar Kolarov’s third goal for the visitors. Fernandinho put City in front on 14 minutes with a powerful shot but Wilfried Bony levelled things in first half added time with a cool header. He was offside though. Yaya Toure put City ahead in the 58th minute and Kolarov’s third 8 minutes later proved to be decisive as Bony pulled one back for the Swans in injury time.
Chelsea comfortably beat Southampton 3-0 at St. Mary’s thanks to goals from Fernando Torres, Willian and Oscar. Torres sent an effort over in the first half and Ramires drew a save from Kelvin Davis. Chelsea survived a goalmouth scramble soon after the restart and it was the introduction of the Brazilian duo in Oscar and Willian that made an impact. Oscar was booked soon after when he rounded Davis and when he could have gone onto score, he opted to take a dive. He may have been looking to get the keeper sent off and win a penalty. Davis misjudged Oscar’s deflected cross and it ricocheted off the post to Torres who headed the Blues in front on the hour mark. Willian made it two when he sent a powerful shot into the bottom corner after collecting Oscar’s pass and Oscar completed the scoring when he latched on to Eden Hazard’s through ball to score.
Liverpool avenged their loss at the KC Stadium by beating Hull City 2-0 at Anfield. Daniel Agger put the Reds in front on 36 minutes heading in Philippe Coutinho’s corner. Luis Suarez made it two on 50 minutes when curled a superb free kick into the top corner from 25 yards out. It was the Uruguayan’s 20th goal of the season and that too in just 15 games.
Manchester United succumbed to their fourth home defeat and sixth overall when they lost 2-1 at home against Tottenham Hotspur. Hugo Lloris saved an early effort by Chris Smalling but it was Spurs who created the first proper chance. Patrice Evra was caught napping when Roberto Soldado’s through ball found Aaron Lennon but David De Gea saved his poor effort. Despite all their attacking, the hosts went behind on 34 minutes when Emmanuel Adebayor headed in Christian Eriksen’s cross from the right. Spurs could have been two to the good before the break had Soldado managed to tap in Lennon’s wonderful low cross from the right. Adebayor was the instigator as United failed to contain him. United went on the offensive and were hit on the break on 66 minutes when Antonio Valencia’s defensive mistake allowed Eriksen to head in Lennon’s deflected cross. The hosts were asleep till then and awoke a minute later when Danny Welbeck scored after latching onto Javier Hernandez’s through ball to dink one over Lloris. Adnan Januzaj curled an effort wide and his low cross from the right after some good work was flicked towards goal by Hernandez but was saved by the feet of Lloris. Ashley Young was brought down inside the box by Lloris but a penalty was denied. Young’s antiques as a diver may have deterred Howard Webb. Lloris kept out Wayne Rooney’s low effort and denied Nemanja Vidic with another save. Vidic had another effort blocked and then sent a free header over from Rooney’s cross. United’s late revival proved futile as Spurs hung on for another good win.
Leighton Baines scored an injury time penalty to cancel out Oussama Assaidi’s opener for the Potters as Everton drew 1-1 away at Stoke City. Jason Puncheon scored his first goal of the season when he converted a spot kick to level things after Bradley Johnson’s opener as Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at home against Norwich City. Leroy Fer was sent off for a second bookable offense as the Canaries played the final 10 minutes with ten men. Fulham came from behind to beat West Ham United 2-1 at Craven Cottage thanks to Dimitar Berbatov’s winner after Steve Sidwell had cancelled out Mohamed Diame’s opener. Kevin Nolan was shown a straight red and this affected the Hammers. Lee Cattermole’s error allowed Gabriel Agbonlahor to score as Aston Villa beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light. Saido Berahino scored from the spot to win it for West Bromwich Albion as they beat Newcastle United 1-0 at the Hawthorns. Mathieu Debuchy was sent off for a two footed tackle soon after the hour mark.
