Premier League Weekend Round-up, Aug. 29 and 30

For many teams, the excitement of the beginning of another Premier League season is wearing off and the harsh realities of the strenuous 38-game season are hitting home. For others, the magic and mystique of the world's greatest league is still overwhelming, and, for small clubs like Burnley and Wolves, it's simply an amazing ride.

This weekend saw all twenty of the Premier League clubs in action, and there were heartbreaks and heroes all around England.

Chelsea 3-0 Burnley

Under new manager Carlo Ancelotti Chelsea have a perfect record, and this weekend their streak remained intact. Nicolas Anelka combined well with Didier Drogba just before halftime to put the Blues 1-0 up, and Michael Ballack and Ashley Cole scored five minutes apart at the beginning of the second half to leave Burnley down and out for the count.

Chelsea's convincing performance yet again makes them favorites for the Premier League crown this season. The combination of Anelka and Drogba up top is the most dynamic and dangerous duo in the Barclays Premiership. Burnley, meanwhile, have been brought down to earth after two huge upsets against defending Premiership champions Manchester United and Everton.

Tottenham 2-1 Birmingham

If anyone got past one of the most boring first halves in league action to date they would have witnessed a stunning and dramatic second half. Tottenham dominated throughout the match but failed to find the back of the Birmingham net until Peter Crouch came onto the field as a substitute and scored off a towering header in the 72nd minute.

To the despair of the home Spurs fans, three minutes later Lee Bowyer levelled the score at one apiece. Birmingham's goal came against the run of play and took the wind out of Tottenham's sails.

A clearly unhappy Harry Redknapp urged his squad on from the sidelines, and in second half stoppage time their persistence paid off. Aaron Lennon proved to be the hero once again as he slotted home a goal in the final minute of the match to give Tottenham a 2-1 win and maintain their 100% start to the season.

Blackburn 0-0 West Ham

Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United played out to a boring 0-0 draw at Ewood Park on Saturday. The result leaves Blackburn winless in their first three matches as they sit in the relegation zone. West Ham, meanwhile, can be content after picking up a point away from home as they sit in eleventh in the league.

Bolton 2-3 Liverpool

In what some call the match of the weekend, Bolton Wanderers impressed fans as they twice pulled ahead of title contenders Liverpool. Kevin Davies got things started at the Reebok Stadium with his goal following a Bolton corner kick, but Glen Johnson's laser from distance levelled the match. Tamir Cohen put the hosts ahead right after the break only for Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to spoil the party. Liverpool finished 3-2 winners following Gerrard's late goal in the 83rd minute, and the pressure is slowly coming off Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.

Stoke 1-0 Sunderland

Sunderland have had an impressive start to the season riding on the sensational form of new striker Darren Bent and his strike partner Kenwyne Jones, but Stoke City proved to be too much to handle at home. Dave Kitson scored the only goal of the match as he slotted home in the 43rd minute.

Stoke surprisingly stand in fifth place in the league following this result while Sunderland have dropped all the way down to ninth.

Wolverhampton 1-1 Hull

These two relegation candidates proved to be equal competitors on Saturday afternoon. Hull's catalyst of last season, Brazilian Geovanni, scored an early goal in the 3rd minute, but it was too early for Hull to hang on to. Wolves' Richard Steadman scored the equalizer immediately following halftime in the 46th minute and the match remained drawn at the end of 90 minutes. The two sides remain tied on points near the bottom of the table, where they are expected to remain for the rest of the season.

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal

In the biggest clash of the weekend, title hopefuls Arsenal took on defending Premier League champions Manchester United. Arsenal took an early and controversial lead following Andrei Arshavin's goal in the 40th minute following a strong penalty claim from Arsenal.

United came out strong in the second half following what was definitely a heated halftime talk from manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Wayne Rooney was taken down in the penalty box by Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and the England international put the ensuing penalty kick into the back of the net. It was 1-1 but Arsenal remained in control.

United got a further break five minutes later when they got a free kick 35 yards from goal. Ryan Giggs floated the ball into the Arsenal penalty box, and with no red shirts of United anywhere in sight, Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby had a moment of madness and headed the ball into the back of his own net. His own goal made the score 2-1 and that proved to be enough for United to win the match and hand Arsenal their first loss of the season.

Portsmouth 0-1 Manchester City

Portsmouth fell at the hands of Manchester City in what turned out to be an easy stroll in the park for Mark Hughes and his City team. Emmanuel Adebayor scored the only goal of the match off a header in the 30th minute and it was all the blue shirts of City from there on out. Portsmouth had one chance that fell to the feet of substitute David Nugent, but the striker could only put it straight into the hands of City's waiting goalkeeper Shay Given.

Everton 2-1 Wigan

This match had more late drama than even the Tottenham match. Both sides left it until the second half as Paul Scharner finally got things going in the 57th minute with a brave diving header that flew past American goalkeeper Tim Howard and into the back of the net.

Everton's Louis Saha scored after a goalmouth scramble in the 62nd minute to setup a barnstorming end to the game. In stoppage time the ref blew for a penalty following a silly tackle by Wigan's defender Maynor Figueroa in the box, and Everton's Leighton Baines made no mistake about it as he blasted the ball into the back of the net from the penalty. 2-1 to Everton and a crucial three points for David Moyes and his squad.

Aston Villa 2-0 Fulham

The weekend action finished without a flurry at Villa Park in Birmingham as Aston Villa comfortably saw off the threat of Fulham. A clear indication of the match's outcome came in only the 3rd minute when Fulham's John Pantsil put the ball into his own net to make it 1-0 to Aston Villa. Gabriel Agbonlahor put the nail in the coffin in the 59th minute to give Aston Villa the 2-0 win.

Villa now stand in eigth place in the league with a match in hand while Fulham find themselves stagnant in fifteenth.

The Premier League takes a break from matches until September 12th due to international fixtures.

Sources:
Live Scores - Premiership Talk - http://www.premiershiptalk.com/scores/