Gerrard arrested

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was arrested after some sort of incident/”bar brawl” at a club last night.  Details are extremely hazy.  Gerrard spent the night in jail and was being questioned over the incident by the police today.

Thanks for totally ruining the fact that the Reds are top of the table going into the new year.  Now, there’s a good chance that this could all turn out to be nothing, but at the same time, why, oh why are athletes so devoid of common sense?  I could write a 4,000 page dissertion on the lack of common sense by athletes – I won’t get into it here.

Sunday’s Premier League Results

Xabi Alonso converts a penalty in Liverpool's 5-1 drubbing of Newcastle.

Newcastle 1, Liverpool 5 - Thank you for the birthday present Liverpool!  The Reds dominated this one with Gerrard scoring twice and Hyypia, Babel and Alonso also adding goals.  Martin Skrtel also made his first appearance as a sub since getting injured in September. With the victory and a Chelsea draw, the Reds are now three points clear at the top going into 2009.  Way to end the year…Liverpool…not Newcastle.

Blackburn 2, Manchester City 2 – Robinho scored the equalizer for Manchester City in the 94th minute.  Blackburn dropped desperately needed points and now sits above West Brom only on goal difference.

Arsenal 1, Portsmouth 0 – Portsmouth went winless in the month of December thanks to an 81st minute William Gallas goal.  Arsenal has regained their top in the top four, at least until Aston Villa plays Hull on Tuesday.

Bolton 0, Wigan 1 - Amr Zaki converted a spot kick just before halftime and that was all Wigan needed for the three points and the seventh spot in the table.  

Everton 3, Sunderland 0 - Everton took an early 2-0 lead thanks to Mikel Arteta and added a third goal in the second half.  Everton has now gone unbeaten in their last four and are sixth in the table.

Clint Dempsey scored both Fulham's goals in their 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

Fulham 2, Chelsea 2 - Clint Dempsey was the hero for Fulham today (USA baby!).  He put the home side up one in the tenth minute, only to see the Blues take a 2-1 lead thanks to two goals from Frank Lampard.  Dempsey gave his team a precious point when he equalised in the 90th minute.  The loss puts Chelsea three back from Liverpool.

West Brom 2, Tottenham 0 - West Brom scored two late goals and clinched their second victory in three matches.  The Baggies are still at the bottom of the table and Tottenham isn’t much better, only two points ahead.

West Ham 2, Stoke City 1 - Diego Tristan scored an 88th minute winner for West Ham after Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller had been sent off earlier in the half.  

Monday, Dec. 29

Manchester United vs. Middlesbrough

Tuesday, Dec. 30

Hull City vs. Aston Villa

Premier League Schedule for Dec. 28-29

The final match day of 2008 – enjoy it since it could be the last time you see your favorite team as is.

Sunday, Dec. 28

Newcastle vs. Liverpool – A birthday victory from the Reds is all I ask for.

Arsenal vs. Portsmouth

Bolton vs. Wigan

Everton vs. Sunderland – 1:30 p.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Delayed)

Fulham vs. Chelsea – 9:00 a.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live)

West Brom vs. Tottenham – 5:00 p.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Delayed)

West Ham vs. Stoke

Blackburn vs. Manchester City – 11:00 a.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live)

Monday, Dec. 29

Manchester United vs. Middlesbrough

Friday’s Premier League Results

Aston Villa 2, Arsenal 2 - Villa went in a 2-0 hole, but leveled the game on a 92nd minute goal from Zat Knight.  Arsenal is now three points off the top four.

Liverpool 3, Bolton 0 - Albert Riera got the scoring started and Robbie Keane found the back of the net twice (3 goals in 2 games!) as the Reds stayed one point clear at the top with the win.  Despite the talk of a potential Torres appearance, the striker wasn’t even on the bench.

Robbie Keane scored twice for Liverpool in their 3-0 win over Blackburn.

Manchester City 5, Hull City 1 - Man City leapfrogged from 18th to 15th with a resounding win over Hull.  City went up 4-0 before Hull found extremely extremely slight consolation in a late goal before Stephen Ireland made them feel even worse when he made the scoreline 5-1.

Middlesbrough 0, Everton 1 - Everton moved up to sixth in the table thanks to a Tim Cahill goal at the beginning of the second half. 

Sunderland 0, Blackburn 0 - Sunderland is now unbeaten in their last three while Rovers are unbeaten under new manager Sam Allardyce.  Blackburn still sits second from bottom in the table.

Wigan 2, Newcastle 1 - Wigan went up 2-0 before a late goal from Newcastle’s Danny Guthrie made the last few minutes quite exciting. 

Chelsea 2, West Brom 0 - Chelsea stayed second in the table with a shutout win over the Baggies.  Didier Drogba put the Blues up only three minutes in, while Frank Lampard added a second just before halftime.

Portsmouth 1, West Ham 4 - Portsmouth got on the board first, but West Ham came roaring back to score four unanswered with Craig “Crazy Ass” Bellamy notching two.  Portsmouth is still winless in Premier League this month.

Tottenham 0, Fulham 0 - Fulham is now unbeaten in eight straight and sits in eighth with a game in hand.

Stoke 0, Manchester United 1 – Carlos Tevez scored the late winner for United against 10-man Stoke.  MU takes back the No. 3 spot in the table with the win.

Happy Holidays & Boxing Day Fixtures

Happy Holidays to one and all and a hearty thank you to the readers of this blog.

Fernando Torres might actually potentially make an appearance for Liverpool against Bolton.

Friday’s Fixtures (Dec. 26)

Stoke City vs. Manchester United - MU returns to Premier League action as “World Champions” after winning the Club World Championships.

Chelsea vs. West Brom - 8 a.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live) – West Brom is winless against Chelsea in eight tries, but the Baggies need to pick up points to try to escape the bottom spot on the table.

Portsmouth vs. West Ham - 2:30 p.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Delayed) – West Ham is coming off a rough 1-0 loss to Aston Villa and is looking to put a little space between themselves and the bottom three.  Portsmouth is looking for it’s first Premier League win of the month.

Tottenham vs. Fulham – Tottenham is still looking to continue their slow climb from the bottom, while Fulham has not lost since Nov. 1.

Liverpool vs. Bolton - Bolton hasn’t won at Anfield since 1954.  Please keep that streak alive.  There is also a chance that Fernando Torres (you know, the Reds’ striker) might make an appearance. Woohoo.

Manchester City vs. Hull City - 10 a.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live) – Hull looks to keep their place in the table, while Manchester City looks to move out of the relegation zone.

Middlesbrough vs. Everton - Everton has won four of their last five away games.  The earlier match between the two ended in a 1-1 draw.

Sunderland vs. Blackburn - Sunderland looks to continue their newfound goal-scoring ways, while Blackburn is also trying to build on their first victory under Sam Allardyce.

Wigan vs. Newcastle - Newcastle got a bit of good news when Michael Owen announced he will not decide on his future until the summer.  Newcastle is unbeaten in their last six.  Wigan is back in action for the first time since Dec. 13.

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal – 12 p.m. EST/Fox Soccer Channel (Live) – Cesc Fabregas is out for approximately four months after tearing his medial ligament against Liverpool last weekend. Huge blow for the Gunners to lose their captain and central midfielder for that long.  Aston Villa looks to maintain their place in the top four.