Premier League Roundup: 4/13/09

One thing is for sure about the Easter weekend, there were plenty of goals to go around. Liverpool really kicked things off on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers, in which golden boy Fernando Torres scored twice. Chelsea didn't get away quite as cleanly, but they did manage to get away with all three points in the bag. Chelsea was up 4-0 before the 70th minute, however Bolton got three quick goals which was probably enough to send Guus Hiddink to his knees. Luckily for the Blues they managed to come away with the win. Also on Saturday Middlesbrough beat Hull city 3-1 , Manchester United were able to remain on top of the table with an away win against Sunderland. However it was close and United were only able to win thanks to the super sub Frederico Macheda who came on in the 75th minute for Berbatov and scored only a minute later with a well placed deflection off a Michael Carrick shot. Tottenham Hotspur come away with three points as well on Saturday with a 1-0 win over West Ham. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the winner in the 65th minute after coming on as a Sub for Darren Bent. At Fratton Park on Saturday, Portsmouth drew 2-2 with West Brom. West Brom remains at the very bottom of the table with only 25 points while Portsmouth stays not too far away from Relegation trouble with 34 points. On Sunday the relegation battle raged on between Newcastle and Stoke City the game ended 1-1 with Newcastle's Andrew Carroll scoring a late equalizer. Newcastle sits 2 points behind Sunderland and safety from relegation. Meanwhile Aston Villa and Everton came to a 3-3 draw in a thrilling game at Villa Park on Sunday. The result keeps Villa only one point ahead of Everton. My favorite game of the weekend was Fulham's 3-1 win over Manchester City, in which American Midfielder Clint Dempley scored twice. City had to sit a few placers out including Robinho and Sean Wright Philips. The reason that i liked this game so much is simple, Clint Dempsey, An American, had a very big game.

As far as what all of this means for the title and relegation battles, very little has changed from before. Manchester United still find themselves at the top of the table with a one point lead on Liverpool, while West Brom, Newcastle, and Middlesbrough remain at the bottom of the table. Both the battle for the title and the battle to fight relegation are still very close, and by close im talking 1 or 2 points. The next few weeks are very important especially for Manchester United and Chelsea who will play two games within the next ten days. This will give Manchester United a chance to extens it's premiership lead and will give Chelsea the chance to catch up to Liverpool.

Cheers,