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On Sunday, three more matches of the 11th round were played in the English Premier League. The favorites from London, Arsenal, suffered unexpected defeats - they lost to the resurgent West Ham, while Chelsea had to admit Tottenham's superiority.
Playing at home, West Ham players started the match against Arsenal actively and tried to score an early goal, but the Gunners defended well, and soon it was the home team's goalkeeper, Robert Green, who had to do some work, deflecting a dangerous shot from Robin Van Persie in the 12th minute. In response, West Ham had an inaccurate attempt with a header from Yossi Benayoun, after failing to kick the ball away, Jens Lehmann.
In the 27th minute, Arsenal's Czech legionnaire Tomas Rosicky missed a great opportunity, missing a shot from Thierry Henry's excellent pass, and shooting from a bit too far and inaccurately.
The situation calmed down a bit until the middle of the second half, when in the 67th minute an emotional storm was caused by the referee's decision not to award a penalty in a questionable situation. West Ham defender Jonathan Spector brought down Alexander Hleb in the penalty area, but referee Howard Webb ignored the protests and allowed the game to continue, forcing Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger from France to remember, perhaps, not just one English curse word.
A few moments later, in the other half of the field, an impressive display by defender Gael Clichy in the last moments allowed Arsenal to escape from a certain goal, which would have been scored by experienced striker Teddy Sheringham from about 10 meters out.
In the 77th minute, West Ham fans were left holding their heads once again when Marlon Harewood, facing the opponent's goalkeeper, failed to outsmart the well-playing J. Lehmann. The response to this was a long and strong shot from defender Kolo Toure, next to which the defender swooped by.
Finally, in the last minute of regular time, a goal was scored - Matthew Etherington on the left side played a one-two with a teammate and, after shaking off the defender, passed the ball into the penalty area, where Marlon Harewood was waiting and sent the ball into the net with a precise shot.
While the striker was celebrating the goal, an incident occurred between the two team's coaches - Alan Pardew and Arsene Wenger. The latter, unable to cope with the equal score slipping away, pushed his colleague, and only the intervening players and a substitute referee saved him from more serious trouble.
Securing only their third victory this season, West Ham moved up to 16th place in the standings after 11 rounds. Meanwhile, Arsenal, with 18 points from just 10 matches played, occupies the 5th place.
There was no shortage of drama in the next London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea. The champions started the match actively and soon scored the first and, as it turned out later, the last goal of the match - midfielder Claude Makelele's unstoppable shot from nearly 30 meters left goalkeeper Paul Robinson with no chance. Interestingly, the Frenchman, who has represented the London club since 2003, scored only his second goal for the team in this match.
In the 18th minute, Michael Ballack could have doubled the lead, but his shot was caught by the goalkeeper. Nevertheless, the second goal did not have to wait long - during the next attack, after a corner kick, Didier Drogba scored with a header. However, referee Graham Poll noticed an infringement in the disputed situation, and the same scoreline - 1-0 - remained on the scoreboard.
The situation changed dramatically in the 25th minute when Tottenham unexpectedly and, perhaps not entirely deservedly, equalized - after a pass from Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson defeated John Terry in a duel and sent the ball into the helpless Portuguese Hilario's goal.
Inspired by success, the hosts continued to attack and soon could have turned the score in their favor, but Dimitar Berbatov's shot, rebounding off J. Terry, hit the post. Both teams had chances to score before the end of the first half, but the result remained level at 1-1.
Just 7 minutes into the second half, the situation turned upside down once again - Robbie Keane outsmarted Khalid Boulahrouz on the left side and passed the ball to Aaron Lennon, who also outsmarted the defender and beat Hilario with his left foot for the second time.
After conceding the goal, Chelsea crumbled, and the hosts could have capitalized on that, but Bulgarian D. Berbatov failed to score into practically empty goals in the 64th minute.
In the 72nd minute, the situation became catastrophic for the champions - John Terry was forced to leave the field after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Didier Zokora.
However, Chelsea had several opportunities to save the game - in the 80th minute, Salomon Kalou's shot was parried by P. Robinson, and in the 87th minute, luck smiled on the hosts when Arjen Robben, who had been playing actively throughout the match, shook the crossbar with a strong long-range shot.
By securing somewhat unexpected 3 points, Tottenham players climbed to 11th place in the standings, while Chelsea remained in 2nd place with 25 points. The team at the top of the table remains Manchester United, with 28 points.
In another match, Birmingham's Aston Villa defeated Blackburn 2-0 at home. The first goal came in the 41st minute after a dubious penalty, scored by Gareth Barry, and the lead was doubled at the beginning of the second half by Juan Pablo Angel.
Sunday's results:
Tottenham 2 - 1 Chelsea
West Ham 1 - 0 Arsenal
Aston Villa 2 - 0 Blackburn
Top scorers:
1. Kanu (Portsmouth) - 7 goals
2. Darren Bent (Charlton), Andrew Johnson (Everton) - 6 goals each
