Robin van Persie produced a goal and an assist as Manchester United overcame Hull City 3-0 to restore their fourth position in the Barclays Premier League.
The Dutchman had been criticised for his performance by Louis van Gaal in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Arsenal, but his role in two goals at Old Trafford on Saturday will help restore his manager’s faith as United registered three wins in a row for the first time this season.
Chris Smalling opened the scoring in scrappy fashion in the 16th minute, after Angel Di Maria left the field clutching his right hamstring. Van Persie teed up Wayne Rooney to smash in a second from 20 yards three minutes before half-time and the 31-year-old rounded off the win with a left-footed strike. Hull have gone six matches without a win and sit above the bottom three on goal difference alone.
Aaron Cresswell scored his first goal for West Ham United as they ended 10-man Newcastle United‘s winning run with a 1-0 victory at the Boleyn Ground. In the meeting of two of the top-flight’s form sides, Newcastle, who were searching for their seventh straight triumph in all competitions, were undone by a Hammers side who have picked up 13 points from their last five home matches.
Cresswell, the 24-year-old left-back who joined West Ham from Ipswich Town in July, settled the match with a close-range strike from Cheikhou Kouyate’s mishit shot in the 56th minute as Alan Pardew’s defence was breached for the first time this month. In a match of few clear-cut opportunities, Newcastle could not find their goalscoring touch and their frustration was compounded when Moussa Sissoko was sent off for two yellow cards in less than a minute. West Ham’s sixth league win lifted them above Newcastle in the table.
Glen Johnson’s late goal ended Liverpool‘s four-match winless run in the Barclays Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Stoke City. Brendan Rodgers’ men had not won since October but Johnson bravely headed in with five minutes remaining after Rickie Lambert’s looping header had crashed back off the underside of the crossbar. A nervy end to the game ensued with seven minutes of stoppage time, but Liverpool held on with the help of a stunning save from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who tipped a wonderful Bojan Krkic volley over the bar.
Mile Jedinak’s first-half penalty secured a 1-1 draw for Crystal Palace as they battled back to earn a point at Swansea City. A strike from the spot earned a Barclays Premier League point for the Londoners at the Liberty Stadium last season and history repeated itself. Wilfried Bony gave the home side the lead inside a quarter of an hour, turning his man to fire home, but Jedinak’s fifth goal of the campaign came after Jonjo Shelvey had brought down Marouane Chamakh.
Charlie Austin gave Queens Park Rangers a 3-2 victory over Leicester City at Loftus Road to move the hosts off the foot of the table. Austin forced home the winner with a close-range header in the 73rd minute, his seventh league goal of the season, to send Leicester to the bottom. His goal came just six minutes after Jeffrey Schlupp had pulled Leicester level, and lifted QPR above both their opponents and Burnley.
Esteban Cambiasso’s had given Leicester the lead four minutes into the first half, but QPR levelled in the 37th minute through Wes Morgan’s own goal and went in ahead at the interval through Leroy Fer’s first goal for the club, a close-range half volley. The visitors rallied in the second period and equalised through Schlupp’s strike from just outside the penalty area, but Harry Redknapp’s side soon regained the advantage through Austin for a third triumph of the season.
Aston Villa‘s winless run was stretched to nine BPL matches as Danny Ings’s late penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw for Burnley. Joe Cole’s first-half effort set Villa on course for a much-needed three points as Paul Lambert’s injury-hit side put in an encouraging display at Turf Moor, but Ings pegged them back with an 87th-minute spot-kick. Villa had claimed two points from their previous eight league matches, but carved through the Burnley defence at will during the first 25 minutes, with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ciaran Clark going close. Cole gave the visitors a deserved lead in the 38th minute with an instinctive finish, but Burnley improved after the break. Sean Dyche’s men saw their persistence pay off when Jores Okore bundled over Lukas Jutkiewicz inside the area and Ings buried the penalty to earn a point with three minutes remaining.
source: premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 