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On Saturday, eight matches of the 12th round were played in the English Premier League. Manchester City drew with Newcastle, Chelsea crushed Watford, Manchester United narrowly defeated Blackburn, Middlesbrough beat West Ham, Wigan overcame Charlton in a fierce battle, Everton lost to Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Fulham ended in a draw, while Sheffield United achieved a 2-2 draw with Bolton.
Early in the match, the fluctuating Manchester City played against the struggling Newcastle. The visitors started the match more aggressively, but eventually Manchester City managed to take control. The home team captain Joey Barton had the best chance to score, but his shot was saved by the Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper. Shortly after, without stopping the ball, the same defender sent it over the goal bar.
In the second half, Manchester City continued to dominate. After a substitution, Italian forward Bernardo Corradi had two good opportunities, but failed to convert. The first attempt was saved by S. Harper, while the second one from a few meters away was also blocked by the Newcastle goalkeeper. Towards the end of the match, Newcastle could have stolen the victory, but Micah Richards blocked Kieron Dyer's shot, and Nolberto Solano's rebound hit teammate Antoine Sibierski, missing the goal.
After these goalless draws, Newcastle climbed from 19th place to 18th, while Manchester City remained in 13th position.
In another match at Stamford Bridge stadium, defending champions Chelsea faced newcomers Watford. The game started evenly, with Watford not allowing Chelsea to take the lead. In the 10th minute, the home team's striker Didier Drogba failed to score after a Geremi pass.
A bit later, after a Frank Lampard pass, Drogba again missed the goal. In the 28th minute, the first goal of the match was scored. Ricardo Carvalho passed the ball to Geremi, who sent it into the penalty area, and Drogba hit it into the net. The second goal was not far behind. In the 36th minute, Andriy Shevchenko passed the ball to Drogba, who skillfully placed it into the far corner.
In the second half, Chelsea continued to control the game. In the 52nd minute, Drogba passed the ball to Shevchenko, who found himself one-on-one with B. Foster and scored into an empty net.
The match ended with a 4-0 victory for Chelsea, with Didier Drogba scoring a hat-trick and becoming the top scorer in the Premier League. This victory allowed Chelsea to climb to the third position in the league.
(The text continues with summaries of the other matches.)
