Toon Four Points From Relegation Trap Door

26 November 2012 11:22
Southampton manager Nigel Adkins denied predecessor Alan Pardew a winning return to St Mary's as the south coast club impressively despatched Newcastle 2-0.

Chelsea 0 - 0 Man City Tottenham 3 - 1 West Ham Southampto 2 - 0 Newcastle Swansea  0 - 0 Liverpool

Pardew was Saints boss for just over a year and led the club to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy title, but says he was "treated harshly" and exited the club after just 13 months.

Saints edged the first half and took a deserved lead through captain Adam Lallana, who linked with Jason Puncheon to set up Gaston Ramirez for their second goal after the break.

Newcastle were unable to find a response, meaning they have won just one of their eight Premier League matches since Pardew was awarded an eight-year deal, as Saints earned a first clean sheet of the season and three points to propel them out of the relegation zone.

1 Man Utd 30 2 Man City 29 3 West Brom 26 4 Chelsea 25 5 Everton 21 6 Arsenal 20 7 Tottenham 20 8 West Ham 19 9 Swansea  17 10 Fulham 16 11 Liverpool 16

Rafael Benitez was given a nightmare welcome from Chelsea fans on Sunday as the European champions ground out a dour 0-0 draw with Manchester City.

Former Liverpool boss Benitez was treated like a pariah in his first match in charge of the Blues but did manage to mastermind their first clean sheet in 11 matches and deny City top spot in the Premier League.

Sergio Aguero wasted the best chance of a turgid game in driving rain, which the visitors had the better of in the first half but the home side the second.

The draw moved unbeaten champions City to within a point of new leaders Manchester United, leaving Chelsea fourth.

Jermain Defoe scored two goals as Tottenham claimed a 3-1 victory over West Ham but the game was marred by a section of away fans taunting the hosts about the stabbing of one of their fans in Rome.

On the pitch, Defoe scored either side of half-time to sink his former club and Gareth Bale also found the net to give Tottenham a confident and morale-boosting win as they bounced back from last weekend's defeat at arch-rivals Arsenal.

The result moved the north London club above West Ham in to seventh while the only crumb of comfort for the visitors was Andy Carroll's late header.

Brendan Rodgers secured a point on his return to the Liberty Stadium but will feel his Liverpool side deserved more than a 0-0 draw at the home of his former employers Swansea.

The Reds had Jose Enrique's first-half strike ruled out for a marginal offside decision, while teenage prodigy Raheem Sterling rattled the bar and Jonjo Shelvey's late strike was beaten out by Gerhard Tremmel.

Man of the match Pablo Hernandez had Swansea's best chances. The Spain winger curled narrowly wide in the first half before having his low-free-kick brilliantly tipped wide by Jose Reina.

Ashley Williams, who shook hands with Luis Suarez prior to kick-off after his criticism of the Liverpool striker, also saw former Swan Joe Allen clear his header off the line.

Despite seeing his side only secure a point, which extended their unbeaten league run to eight games but keeps them below Swansea in the table, Rodgers will have taken heart from another promising performance as he looks to rebuild at Anfield, with Sterling, Enrique and Glen Johnson excelling.

 

Source: Newcastle United Mad

Source: FOOTYMAD