The early kick off at Ewood Park saw a seven goal thriller finish in favour of Blackburn Rovers and three players get their first goals for their new clubs. Arsenal twice threw away the lead as Rovers’ never-say-die attitude saw them through in this tough game. It was an own goal from Laurent Koscielny which ultimately won it for the hosts although they didn’t start too well though with visitors Arsenal dominating the opening stages of the game. Winger Gervinho scored his first goal for the club when he finished from inside the box with a well-placed shot after a precise through ball from midfielder Alex Song. Still, Rovers had chances of their own. The aerial threat of captain Christopher Samba was constantly a danger to the Arsenal goal, especially from set pieces, but he wasted a free header from inside the six-yard box. They soon drew level though after a defence splitting pass from Junior Hoilett saw debutant striker Yakubu take his chance to shoot early, toe poking the ball past Wojciech Szczesny into the back of the net for his first goal in Rovers colours. The Gunners however, soon re-established their lead after clever off the ball movement from Aaron Ramsey saw him find himself in space and able to cut the ball back for Mikel Arteta to the ball into the top of the goal with ease making it a memorable first goal for Arsenal. As the game moved into the second half, Blackburn equalised for the second time of the afternoon when Alex Song failed to react to Ruben Rochina’s chipped free kick, dosily letting the ball hit him on the leg and trickle into his own goal. Arsenal’s defence were all over the place by this point and were caught napping when in a packed penalty area they failed to pick up Yakubu as he turned in Steven Nzonzi’s drilled low cross from close range for his second, and Rovers third, of the afternoon. Then following a swift counter attack involving Hoilett, Yakubu and Martin Olsson, Koscielny’s horrendous gaffe came. The French defender somehow managing to bundle Olssons cross into his own net to make the score 4-2 to Blackburn. At the other end, Marouane Chamakh gave Arsenal hope when with five minutes to go he headed home a whipped centre from Robin Van Persie. Arsenal then piled the pressure on ensuring a nervous final few minutes for Rovers fans with Gunners players Per Mertesacker and Chamakh both squandering late chances to equalise.
Everton carried on with their uncharacteristically good start to the season with three points at home to Wigan Athletic. The 3-1 score line complimented the Blues but they will nonetheless be happy with the performances of two of their match-winning substitutes Apostolos Vellios and Royston Drenthe. With his side struggling to break down the Latics resilient defence and the score level at 1-1, manager David Moyes first introduced Drenthe in place of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov then soon after brought the Greek youngster Vellios on for Seamus Coleman. The changes worked a treat as the pair both went on to score their first Everton goals. Vellios put the Toffees ahead with a terrific towering header from a pin point Tony Hibbert cross, while Drenthe sealed the win deep into injury time as he raced onto a flick on from debutant Denis Stracqualursi, getting clear of the Wigan defence before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. Wigan got the first goal of the game when Franco Di Santo’s shot from a tight angle deflected in off Hibbert past Everton stopper Tim Howard, but within two minutes the scores were level once again. Tim Cahill headed Leon Osman's corner against the bar and Phil Jagielka, captain in the absence of Phil Neville, reacted to send a header of his own past Ali Al Habsi. Then game then seemed to die off a little with a draw looking the most likely result, until the arrival of Everton two super subs.
Everton carried on with their uncharacteristically good start to the season with three points at home to Wigan Athletic. The 3-1 score line complimented the Blues but they will nonetheless be happy with the performances of two of their match-winning substitutes Apostolos Vellios and Royston Drenthe. With his side struggling to break down the Latics resilient defence and the score level at 1-1, manager David Moyes first introduced Drenthe in place of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov then soon after brought the Greek youngster Vellios on for Seamus Coleman. The changes worked a treat as the pair both went on to score their first Everton goals. Vellios put the Toffees ahead with a terrific towering header from a pin point Tony Hibbert cross, while Drenthe sealed the win deep into injury time as he raced onto a flick on from debutant Denis Stracqualursi, getting clear of the Wigan defence before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. Wigan got the first goal of the game when Franco Di Santo’s shot from a tight angle deflected in off Hibbert past Everton stopper Tim Howard, but within two minutes the scores were level once again. Tim Cahill headed Leon Osman's corner against the bar and Phil Jagielka, captain in the absence of Phil Neville, reacted to send a header of his own past Ali Al Habsi. Then game then seemed to die off a little with a draw looking the most likely result, until the arrival of Everton two super subs.
At the Liberty Stadium, Swansea got their first win and first goals of the season against West Bromwich Albion. Scott Sinclair wrote his name into the history books as he successfully scored from the penalty spot becoming the Swans first ever Premier League goal scorer. The penalty was awarded after the eccentric Paul Scharner upended Joe Allen with a clumsy challenge giving the referee any easy decision to make. Sinclair stepped up, calmly sending the goalie the wrong way as he passed the ball into the goal to put the Welsh side ahead. Albion could easily have drawn level but Shane Long sent his shot from the edge of the area flying over the crossbar and into the crowd. Things got worse for them soon after when Leroy Lita, a replacement for the injured Danny Graham, stabbed the ball in from close range to double Swansea’s lead. To add to West Brom’s misery, the Swans went further ahead when Nathan Dyer used his blistering pace to get on the end of Lita’s flick on before sliding the ball through Ben Foster’s legs to make it 3-0. A memorable day for Swansea was marred however when after a clash of heads between Albion’s Peter Odemwingie and defender Neil Taylor, the Welsh international had to be stretchered off the pitch wearing an oxygen mask, but this no doubt will be a day that lives long in the memory of the Swans fans.
QPR got their second away win of the season as they battered Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 at Molineux. Larger than life captain Joey Barton got the London club underway in the 8th minute, before a couple of minutes later Alejandro Faulin doubled the lead, striking from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the Wolves goal. Barton’s nemesis Karl Henry could have given Wolves a lifeline but his drive from long range hit the post. Despite a hectic first twenty minutes, there was only one team in the game with the home side looking increasing lethargic. Shaun Wright-Phillips’ pace was causing Wolves all sorts of problems and with three minutes to go he exploited the sleepiness of their defence as he linked with Armand Traore who in turn set up DJ Campbell to put Rangers 3-0 up. Game over. Or was it? There was still time for Barton and Henry to add to their running feud. First, Barton skinned Henry before he was immediately scathed down by the former Wolves captain then when no free kick was given he knelt on the ground gesturing ‘3-0’ with his fingers at the jeering home crowd. The final whistle went but that didn’t stop Barton and Henry continuing to argue as all the players shook hands after the game.
QPR got their second away win of the season as they battered Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 at Molineux. Larger than life captain Joey Barton got the London club underway in the 8th minute, before a couple of minutes later Alejandro Faulin doubled the lead, striking from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the Wolves goal. Barton’s nemesis Karl Henry could have given Wolves a lifeline but his drive from long range hit the post. Despite a hectic first twenty minutes, there was only one team in the game with the home side looking increasing lethargic. Shaun Wright-Phillips’ pace was causing Wolves all sorts of problems and with three minutes to go he exploited the sleepiness of their defence as he linked with Armand Traore who in turn set up DJ Campbell to put Rangers 3-0 up. Game over. Or was it? There was still time for Barton and Henry to add to their running feud. First, Barton skinned Henry before he was immediately scathed down by the former Wolves captain then when no free kick was given he knelt on the ground gesturing ‘3-0’ with his fingers at the jeering home crowd. The final whistle went but that didn’t stop Barton and Henry continuing to argue as all the players shook hands after the game.
Bolton again failed to take any points from their game at the Reebok stadium with Norwich City as they slumped to another home defeat. Summer signing Anthony Pilkington put Norwich ahead when the Bolton defence failed to pick him up only to see him turn in Steve Morison’s cross with ease. Wanderers were soon further behind when their poor marking allowed Bradley Johnson to glance a free header past the helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen further highlighting the defensive frailties shown in last week’s 5-0 thumping at the hands of Manchester United. Things got worse for Bolton though when they were reduced to ten men after striker Ivan Klasnic saw red for his supposed head butt on Marc Tierney. The Croat was unlucky to go as the contact with Tierney was minimal although the intention was there. It was a day to forget for Klasnic, first he was sent crashing to the ground when he was accidently jumped upon by Norwich’s Leon Barnett and then his own stupidity got him sent off shortly before half time. A Martin Petrov penalty got Bolton back into the game, but they couldn’t get an equaliser and the match finished 2-1. A penalty for the home side was almost a certainty seeing as Norwich have conceded a penalty in every single Premier League game they have played this season.
Two unbeaten teams met at Villa Park, as Aston Villa hosted Newcastle United. Villa have won just once all season but remain unbeaten after another draw. Scoring for the second successive match, Gabby Agbonlahor put the Villains in front sliding his shot under Dutch keeper Tim Krul. Villa’s £24m record signing Darren Bent couldn’t however put them further ahead as he missed a glorious opportunity that was actually easier to score than miss. Yohan Cabaye was looking the most likely to score for Newcastle, with the Frenchman regularly testing the excellent Shay Given from long range. Given however was helpless to stopping the Magpies equalise when Richard Dunne’s missed header allowed Leon Best to pounce. Given fantasically saved the initial shot from Best but the rebound fell straight to the striker to crash into the back of the net. Bent could have won it for Villa when he swooped on Steven Taylor’s mistake only to see his chip cleared away from the recovering Taylor.
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