Barclays English Premier League

Goal fest at the JJB


SORRY THE HATTRICK DIDN'T WORK MATE: Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz (L) is congratulated by teammates Robbie Savage (R) and Morten Pedersen during their enthralling Premier League match against Wigan at the JJB Stadium on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Manchester City maintained their perfect home record this season as they moved into the top four of the Premier League with a 4-2 win against Bolton on Saturday.
City's ninth league win at Eastlands saw them leapfrog Liverpool into fourth spot ahead of Sunday's clashes between the 'Big Four' when leaders Arsenal face third-placed Chelsea while Liverpool take on Manchester United.
Portsmouth missed the chance to go fourth themselves as Tottenham's 1-0 win at Fratton Park gave Spurs their first away league victory of the season.
At the bottom of the table, Wigan ended a run of 14 matches without a win with a 5-3 victory over Blackburn, Marcus Bent scoring a hat-trick as did Rovers' Roque Santa Cruz.
Manchester City went ahead in the seventh minute through Rolando Bianchi before El-Hadji Diouf levelled in the 31st minute.
Bolton took the lead when Kevin Nolan turned in Ricardo Gardner's pull-back.
City drew level in the 48th minute when Lubomir Michalik headed into his own net and they were back in front when England forward Darius Vassell scored in the 77th minute. Kelvin Etuhu's last-minute goal sealed City's victory.
Wigan were 2-0 up inside 13 minutes at the JJB stadium through Denny Landzaat and Bent.
Blackburn missed a chance to pull a goal back when South Africa forward Benni McCarthy's penalty was turned round the post by Chris Kirkland.
Shortly before half-time Austria striker Paul Scharner headed in to make it 3-0 before Rovers, who had Brett Emerton sent off, hit back through Santa Cruz on the stroke of half-time.
The Paraguayan scored a second to make it 3-2 five minutes after the break and made it 3-3 just after the hour mark.
Bent put Wigan back in front in the 66th minute and made it 5-3 nine minutes from time as his team went six points clear of Derby but still stayed in the bottom three.
"You could see why we haven't won for two or three months. Panic set in," said Wigan manager Steve Bruce.
Aiyegbeni Yakubu, who scored Everton's winner in the League Cup quarterfinal at Upton Park on Wednesday, returned to haunt West Ham again with a goal on the stroke of half-time. Andy Johnson scored on the counter-attack in the 90th minute to make it 2-0 to Everton.
Portsmouth's three previous home league matches had ended in goalless draws but Spurs's Dimitar Berbatov ended that sequence when he turned in an 81st minute cross from Aaron Lennon.
Middlesbrough added to bottom-of-the-table Derby's woes when Tuncay Sanli volleyed in Stewart Downing's cross in the 38th minute for his third goal in three league games, Boro backing up their win over Arsenal.
In Saturday's late game, a stoppage time penalty from Joey Barton saw Newcastle win 1-0 away to Fulham as the London side slipped into the bottom three.
Referee Howard Webb had no hesistation in awarding the visitors the penalty at Craven Cottage after Elliot Omozusi brought down Alan Smith.
"It wasn't the prettiest but it's another last-minute winner and shows the lads are very fit," said Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce.
Danny Higginbotham put Sunderland in front in the 10th minute at home against Aston Villa with a fine header but Villa drew level through Shaun Maloney's free-kick 17 minutes from time.
It seemed as if Sunderland's Danny Collins had scored the winner in stoppage time but his header was ruled out by Steve Bennett for a foul.
Furious Sunderland manager Roy Keane risked punishment from the Football Association by suggesting Bennett had "cheated" his side out of victory.
"We scored a very good goal, a fair goal, and for some reason the referee's disallowed it," said Keane.
"I'm sure he will be delighted we're talking about him (Bennett) after the game. Our brilliant supporters, who travel up and down the country in unbelievable numbers, for them to be cheated today is really disappointing."

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