Shane Long was again on-target as West Brom moved up to third in the Premier League table with a 4-2 victory at Sunderland
This weekend’s Premier League programme kicked off at the Stadium of Light, where West Brom defeated Sunderland 4-2.
The Baggies took the lead with a superb curling effort from Zoltan Gera.
Just before the interval Shane Long capitalised on an awful error from Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet to score a tap-in.
Sunderland got a goal back in the 73rd minute through a deflected free-kick from Craig Gardner. West Brom restored their two goal lead in the 81st minute.
Liam Ridgewell was fouled in the penalty area and substitute Romelu Lukaku scored from the resulting spot kick.
Stephane Sessegnon got a goal back for the Black Cats in the 87th minute with a close-range effort. However, deep into injury-time another substitute Marc-Antoine Fortune made the points safety for the away side. The victory moved West Brom up into third place in the Premier League title.
Manchester United recorded a 3-1 victory over QPR at Old Trafford, despite going a goal down. The Hoops took the lead in the 52nd minute, Jamie Mackie scoring from close-range after Anders Lindegaard had parried Kieron Dyer’s cross.
United equalised in the 64th minute, Jonny Evans scoring from close-range after QPR failed to clear a corner. Four minutes later the home side took the lead, Darren Fletcher heading home from Wayne Rooney’s corner.
United extended their lead in the 72nd minute. Anderson found fellow substitute Javier Hernandez and Mexican finished in typically cool style. The victory took United to the top of the league table. New Hoops boss Harry Redknapp will have been given some food for thought from this clash.
Aston Villa and Arsenal drew 0-0 in the late kick-off at Villa Park. The biggest talking point of the game was a rightly disallowed Andreas Weimann offside effort. The draw moves Villa out of the relegation zone.
Norwich claimed a last-gasp 1-1 draw at Everton to extend their unbeaten run to six matches. Everton dominated in the early stages of the clash and took the lead on 12 minutes.
Bryan Oviedo’s cross was turned home by Steven Naismith from close-range. It was the Scot’s third goal in as many games for the Toffee’s. Norwich got back into the game in the second half and finally got their reward in the dying moments.
Javier Garrido’s curled in a free-kick and centre-back Sebastian Bassong headed home to give the Canaries a share of the points.
Elsewhere, Stoke claimed a 1-0 victory over Fulham at the Britannia Stadium. The Potters took the lead on 26 minutes, Peter Crouch heading down a Ryan Shotton cross for Charlie Adam and the Scot made no mistake from close-range.
Stoke moved up to 11th place in the Premier League table, just a point below the Cottagers. Stoke have still only conceded one goal on their home turf.
Wigan defeated Reading 3-2 in an enthralling encounter at the DW Stadium. The visitors took the lead on 35 minutes, defender Sean Morrison heading home from Nicky Shorey’s free-kick.
Wigan equalised in the 58th minute, Spanish midfielder Jordi Gomez reacting first to an Adam Federici fumble to score. The Latics then took the lead in the 68th minute, Gomez scoring with a diving header from Jean Beausejour’s superb cross.
Reading were level in the 80th minute. Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi produced a moment he would rather forget. The Oman keeper pushed the ball against the bar, before it rebounded off the former-Bolton keeper into the net.
However, Al Habsi’s blushes were spared in the injury-time. Arouna Kone found Gomez inside the area and the Spaniard kept his cool to complete his hat-trick. Reading are now back in the relegation zone. Wigan have moved up to 15th in the Premier League table.
Can West Brom continue their good form and claim a Champions League place?
